faith, but that a true believer may wait long, and conflict with many difficulties, before he be partaker of it: yet, being enabled by the Spirit to know the things which are freely given him of God, he may, without extraordinary revelation, in the right use of ordinary means, attain thereunto.' And therefore it is the duty of every one to give all diligence to make his calling and election sure;m that thereby his heart may be enlarged in peace and joy in the Holy Ghost, in love and thankfulness to God, and in strength and cheerfulness in the duties of obedience," the proper fruits of this assurance: so far is it from inclining men to looseness." III. 1 John v. 13. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. Isa. 1. 10. Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God. Mark ix. 24. And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief. [See Ps. lxxxviii. throughout. Ps. lxxvii. to the 12th verse.] 11 Cor. ii. 12. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. 1 John iv. 13. Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. Heb. vi. 11. And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence, to the full assurance of hope unto the end: Ver. 12. That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises. Eph. iii. 17. That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, be ing rooted and grounded in love, Ver. 18. May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; Ver. 19. And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. m 2 Pet. i. 10. Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall. Rom. v. I. Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ: Ver. 2. By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Ver. 5. And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us. Rom. xiv. 17. For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. Rom. xv. 13. Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost. Eph. i. 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: Ver. 4. According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love. Ps. iv. 6. There be many that say, Who will shew us any good? Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us. Ver. 7. Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased. Ps. cxix. 32. I will run the way of thy commandments, when thou shalt enlarge my heart. 1 John ii. 1. My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: Ver. 2. And he is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. Rom. vi. 1. What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? Ver. 2. God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Tit. ii. 11. For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Ver. 12. Teaching us, that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, IV. True believers may have the assurance of their salvation divers ways shaken, diminished, and intermitted; as, by negligence in preserving of it; by falling into some special sin, which woundeth the conscience, and grieveth the Spirit; by some sudden or vehement temptation; by God's withdrawing the light of his countenance, and suffering even such as fear him to walk in darkness, and to have no light: yet are they never utterly destitute of that seed of God, and life of faith, that love of Christ and the brethren, that sincerity of heart and conscience of duty, out of which, by the operation of the Spirit, in this present world. Ver. 14. Who may rejoice. Ver. 12. Restore unto gave himself for us, that he might me the joy of thy salvation; and upredeem us from all iniquity, and pu- hold me with thy free Spirit. Ver. rify unto himself a peculiar people, 14. Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, zealous of good works. 2 Cor. vii. 1. O God, thou God of my salvation; Having therefore these promises, and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy dearly beloved, let us cleanse our righteousness. Eph. iv. 30. And grieve selves from all filthiness of the flesh not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby and spirit, perfecting holiness in the ye are sealed unto the day of redemp fear of God. Rom. viii, 1. There is tion. Ver. 31, Let all bitterness, and therefore now no condemnation to wrath, and anger, and clamour, and them which are in Christ Jesus, who evil-speaking, be put away from you, walk not after the flesh, but after the with all malice. Ps. lxxvii. I. Spirit. Ver. 12. Therefore, brethren, cried unto God with my voice, even we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live unto God with my voice; and he gave after the flesh. 1 John iii. 2. Beloved, ear unto me. Ver. 2. In the day of now are we the sons of God; and it my trouble I sought the Lord: my doth not yet appear what we shall be: sore ran in the night, and ceased not: but we know that, when he shall ap- my soul refused to be comforted. Ver. pear, we shall be like him; for we 3. I remembered God, and was troushall see him as he is. Ver. 3. And bled: I complained, and my spirit was every man that hath this hope in him overwhelmed. Selah. Ver. 4. Thou purifieth himself, even as he is pure. holdest mine eyes waking: I am so Ps. cxxx. 4. But there is forgiveness troubled that I cannot speak. Ver. with thee, that thou mayest be feared. 5. I have considered the days of old, 1 John i. 6. If we say that we have the years of ancient times. Ver. 6. fellowship with him, and walk in I call to remembrance my song in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: the night: I commune with mine own Ver. 7. But if we walk in the light, heart; and my spirit made diligent as he is in the light, we have fellow- search. Ver. 7. Will the Lord cast ship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. IV. P Cant. v. 2. I sleep, but my heart waketh it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night. Ver. 3. I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them? Ver. 6. I opened to my beloved; but my beloved had withdrawn himself, and was gone: my soul failed when he spake: I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave no answer. Ps. li. 8. Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken off for ever? and will he be favourable no more? Ver. 8. Is his mercy clean gone for ever? doth his promise fail for evermore? Ver. 9. Hath God forgotten to be gracious? hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies? Selah. Ver. 10. And I said, This is my infirmity: but I will remember the years of the right hand of the most High. Matt. xxvi. 69. Now Peter sat without in the palace: and a damsel came unto him, saying, Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee. Ver. 70. But he denied before them all, saying, I know not what thou sayest. Ver. 71. And when he was gone out into the porch, another maid saw him, and said unto them that were there. This fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth. Ver. 72. And again he denied q this assurance may in due time be revived, and by the which, in the mean time, they are supported from utter despair. Go CHAP. XIX. Of the Law of God. I. OD gave to Adam a law, as a covenant of works, by which he bound him, and all his posterity, to personal, entire, exact, and perpetual obedience; promised life upon the fulfilling, and threatened death upon the breach of it; and endued him with power and ability to keep it. а with an oath, I do not know the man. Ps. xxxi. 22. For I said in my haste, I am cut off from before thine eyes: nevertheless thou heardest the voice of my supplications when I cried unto thee. [Ps. lxxxviii. throughout.] Isa. 1. 10. Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God. q 1 John iii. 9. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. Luke xxii. 32. But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. Job xiii. 15. Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him. Ps. lxxiii. 15. If I say, I will speak thus; behold, I should offend against the generation of thy children. Ps. li. 8, 12. [See letter P immediately before.] Isa. 1. 10. [See letter P immediately foregoing.] r Micah vii. 7. Therefore I will look unto the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me. Ver. 8. Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me. Ver. 9. I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against him, until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness. Jer. xxxii. 40. And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me. Isa. liv. 7. For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee. Ver. 8. In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer. Ver. 9. For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have Isworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. Ver. 10. For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee. Ps. xxii. 1. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? [Ps. lxxxviii. throughout.] I. a Gen. i. 26. And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. Ver. 27. So God created man in his own image: in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. With Gen. ii. 17. But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. Rom. ii. 14. For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: Ver. 15. Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or II. This law, after his fall, continued to be a perfect rule of righteousness; and, as such, was delivered by God upon mount Sinai in ten commandments, and written in two tables; the first four commandments containing our duty towards God, and the other six our duty to man." III. Besides this law, commonly called moral, God was pleased to give to the people of Israel, as a church under age, ceremonial laws, containing several typical ordinances; partly of worship, prefiguring Christ, his graces, actions, sufferings, and benefits; and partly hold else excusing one another. Rom. x. 5. For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them. Rom. v. 12. Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. Ver. 19. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners; so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. Gal. iii. 10. For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. Ver. 12. And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them. Eccl. vii. 29. Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions. Job xxviii. 28. And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding. II. b James i. 25. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. James ii. 8. If yẻ fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well. Ver. 10. For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. Ver. 11. For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now, if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law. Ver. 12. So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty. Rom. xiii. 8. Owe no man anything, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. Ver. 9. For this, Thou shalt not com mit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Deut. v. 32. Ye shall observe to do therefore as the Lord your God hath commanded you: ye shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. Deut. x. 4. And he wrote on the tables, according to the first writing, the ten commandments, which the Lord spake unto you in the mount, out of the midst of the fire, in the day of the assembly: and the Lord gave them unto me. Exod. xxxiv. 1. And the Lord said unto Moses, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first; and I will write upon these tables the words that were in the first tables, which thou brakest. Matt. xxii. 37. Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. Ver. 38. This is the first and great commandment. Ver. 39. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Ver. 40. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. d III. a [Heb. Chapter ix.] Heb. x. 1. For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices, which they offered year by year continually, make the comers thereunto perfect. Gal. iv. 1. Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; Ver. 2. But is under tutors and governors, until the time appointed of the father. Ver. 3. Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world. Col. ii. 17. Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ. ing forth divers instructions of moral duties. All which ceremonial laws are now abrogated under the New Testament." IV. To them also, as a body politick, he gave sundry judicial laws, which expired together with the state of that people, not obliging any other now, further than the general equity thereof may require. V. The moral law doth for ever bind all, as well justified persons as others, to the obedience thereof; and that not only in regard of the matter contained in it, but also in respect of the authority of God, the Creator, who gave it. Neither doth Christ in the gospel any way dissolve, but much strengthen this obligation.* 1 Cor. v. 7. Purge out therefore Ver. 14. Or unto governors, as unto the old leaven, that ye may be a new them that are sent by him for the lump, as ye are unleavened. For punishment of evil-doers, and for the even Christ our passover is sacrified for us. 2 Cor. vi. 17. Wherefore, come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. Jude, ver. 23. And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. Col. ii. 14. Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross. Ver. 16. Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holiday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath-days; Ver. 17. Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ. Dan. ix. 27. And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate. Eph. ii. 15. Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; Ver. 16. And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby. IV. [Exod. Chapter xxi. Exod. xxii. 1. to the 29th verse. See both in the Bible.] Gen. xlix. 10. The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be. With 1 Pet. ii. 13. Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supremie; praise of them that do well. Matt. v. 17. Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. With ver. 38. Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: Ver 39. But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil; but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. 1 Cor. ix. 8. Say I these things as a man? or saith not the law the same also? Ver. 9. For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen? Ver. 10. Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thrasheth in hope should be partaker of his hope. V. Rom. xiii._8, 9. [See above in letter b.] Ver. 10. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. Eph. vi. 2. Honour thy father and mother, (which is the first commandment with promise.) 1 John ii. 3. And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. Ver. 4. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. Ver. 7. Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment, which ye had from the beginning: the old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning. Ver. 8. Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you; because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth. i James ii. 10, 11. [See in letter b] Matt. v. 17 [See in letter ".] Ver |