Every one who truly confenteth to the Baptifmal Covenant, hath right to the bleffings of the Covenant; God is his Father, Chrift is his Saviour, and the holy Spirit is his Sanctifier. Bur I do truly confent to the Baptifmal Covenant: Therefore I have right to all the benefits of it: God is my Father, &c.

Direct. 5. Remember that when you have got affurance, and bave truly gathered this conclufion, the continual and lively exercife of faith, is still neceffary to your actual joy.

For it is poffible for a man to have no notable doubtings of his own fincerity or falvation, and yet to have fuch dulness of foul, and fuch diverfions of his thoughts, as that he shall enjoy but little of the comforts of his own affurance. Therefore true joy requireth much more, than bare felf-examination,and difcern ing of our evidences, and right to life.

Dirca. 6. When doubts and troubles are caused by ignoranes or errour, about the true nature and figns of grace, and the way of afurance (which is very common) nothing then is more neceffa rytban a found and skilful Teacher; to work out those mistakes, and to help the ignorant Chriftian to a clearer understanding of the terms of the Covenant, and the fenfe of the Promife, and the true methods of Chrift in his gifts and operations. Otherwife the erring foul will be diftracted and loft in a wilderness of doubts, and either fit down at laft prefumptuously on falle grounds, or turn to one errour to cure the troubles of another, or languifh in defpair; fo lamentable a thing is it to be poffeffed with falfe principles, and to attempt fo great a work in the dark.

Direc. 7. And here there are these two extreams to be carefully avoided: 1. That of the Infidel and Jufticiary, who trufteth and teacheth others to truft to his own vertues and works without a Saviour, or afcribeth the part of a Saviour to them, 2. The Antinomian and Libertine, who teach men not to look at any thing in themselves at all, no not as an evidence, or condition, or means, much less as any cause of life; but to truft to Chrifts blood, to be to you inftead of Faith, and Repentance, and Obedience, and all your ufe of means; and do afcribe the part of thefe duties of man, to the blood of Chrift; as if it did belong only to Chrift to do that fame thing which belongeth unto them. Therefore

Therefore here you must be fure to be well acquainted what is truly the office and part of Christ, and what is truly the office and part of Faith, of Repentance, of Confeffion, of Prayer, c. And to be fure that you bolly trust Christ for bis part, and joyn not Faith, nor any of your own works or duties in the Icaft degree of that truft or bonour which belongeth to Chrift, and bis office and work; And that you faithfully ufe (yea I will fay, Truft too, though ignorance fnarl at it) your Faith, Repentance, Prayer, &c. in and for its own office and part; and do not foolishly blafpheme Chrift, by afcribing the part and office of your duty unto bim and his office, under pretence of giving him the honour of them. It is Chrifts office and honour to be a facrifice for fin, and a propitiation for us, and a perfect Saviour and Interceffor, and to give us the Spirit, by which we believe, repent, pray, obey, hope, love, &c. But not to be a penitent believing finner, nor to accept of an offered Saviour, nor to be

confenting Covenanter with God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, nor to be washed from fin in his blood, reconciled, adopted, nor to pray for pardon in the name of another, nor to trust upon a Saviour, nor to be a Difciple, a Subject, a Member of a Saviour, &c. Nor yet that his blood, or merits; or righteoufnefs, fhould be to you instead of thefe. No, thefe are to be done by you.

Direct. 8. In this cafe alfo take heed of thofe ignorant guides, who know not the errours of fancy, melancholy, or diAurbed paffions, from the proper works of the Spirit of God: For they wrong the Spirit, when they afcribe mens finful weakneffes to him: And they greatly wrong the troubled finner many waies: 1. They puff up men with conceits that they are under fome great and excellent workings of the Spirit, when they are the works of Satan, and their own infirmity or fin. 2. They teach them hereby to magnifie and cherish thofe difempers, and paffions, and thoughts, which they fhould refift and lament, and caft away. 3. And they fet them in an Enthufiaftick, or truly Fanatical way of Religion, to look for Reve lations, or live ftill upon their own fancies, and passions, and diftempers, and Satans temptations, conceiting that they live upon the incomes of God, and are actuated in all this by the Holy Ghoft. And of what mifchievous importance and confequence

&quence all this is, and how much hurt fuch zealous ignorance doth, both in the Teachers and the people, the thing it felf doth plainly fhew, and the fad experience of this age doth fhew it more plainly, in Ranters, Quakers, and other true Fanaticks, and in many women, and other weak perfons, of better principles than theirs.

And it is an unfafe courfe which many fuch weak perfons ufe, to think in their troubles that every text of Scripture which cometh into their mind, or every conceit of their own is a fpecial fuggeftion of the Spirit of God: You fhall ordinarily hear them fay, [Such a text was brought to me, or was fet upon my beart, and such a thing was fet upon my mind] when two to one, it was no otherwife brought unto them, nor fet upon them, than any other ordinary thoughts are; and had no fpecial or extraordinary operation of God in it at all. Though it is certain that every good thought which cometh into our minds, is fome effect of the working of Gods Spirit, as evéry good word, and every good work is; and it is certain that fometimes Gods Spirit doth guide and comfort Christians as a remembrancer, by bringing informing and comforting texts and doctrines to their remembrance; yet it is a dangerous thing to think that all fuch fuggeftions or thoughts are from fome fpecial or extraordinary work of the Spirit, or that every text that cometh into our minds, is brought thither by the Spirit of God at all.

The reafons are thefe,

1. Satan can bring a text or truth to our remembrance for his own ends, as he did to Chrift, Matth. 4. in his temptations.

2. Our own paffions or running thoughts, may light upon fome text or truth accidentally, as they do on other things which fo come in.

1 3. When the Spirit doth in an ordinary way help us in remembring or meditating on any text or holy doctrine, he doth it according to our capacity and difpofition, and not in the way of infallible infpiration, and therefore there is much of our weakness and errour ufually mixt with the Spirits help, in the product As when you hold the hand of a child in writing, you write not so well by his hand, as by your own alone, but

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your skill, and his weakness and unskilfulness do both appear in the letters which are made; fo is it in the ordinary affiftance of the Spirit in our studies, meditations, prayers, &c. otherwife all that we do would be perfect, in which we have the Spirits help; which Scripture, and all Chriftians experience do contradict.

4. And to afcribe that to the Spirit which is not at all bie work, or that which is partly our own work, so far as it is our own, and favoureth of our weakneffes and errour, is a heinous injury to the Spirit.

5. And it toffeth fuch miftaken Chriftians up and down in uncertainties; while they think all fuch thoughts are the fuggeftions of the Spirit, they meet with many contrary thoughts, and fo are carryed like the waves of the Sea, fometimes up,and fometimes down; and they have fometimes a humbling terrible text, and the next day perhaps a comforting text cometh into their minds, and fo are between terrours and comforts, diftracted by their own fantafies, and think it is all done by the Spirit of God.

6. And it is a perverfe abufing of the boly Scripture, to make fuch remembrances the Rule of your application of it to your felves: that text which you remember had the fame fenfe before you remembred it; and your fpiritual ftate was the fame before: If that text agree with your ftate, and either the tarrour or the comfort of it belong to you, this must be proved by folid reason, drawn from the true meaning of the text, and the true ftate of your fouls; and not fuppofed meerly because it cometh into your thoughts, or because it is fet upon your hearts: Do you think that your remembring it will prove that it fpecially belongs to you? Do not many comfortable texts come into the minds of Hypocrites, who are unfit for comfort? And many terrible texts come into the minds of humble fouls, that have right to comfort, and should not be more terrified? You may as well think that your money or eftate is another mans, because he thinketh on it: Or that another mans dangers and miferies are yours, because you think of them: Or that you are either Kings, or Lords, or beggars, or thieves, or whatever cometh into your minds; Or that another mans Leafes or Deeds by which he holdeth his Lands,

are

are all yours, because they are put into your bands to read.

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7. And if you go this way to work, you are in danger to be carryed into many other errours and fins, and think that all is of the Spirit of God, because you feel it fet upon your hearts. And fo you will feign the fan&ifying Spirit to be the author of fin, and the lying Spirit shall be honoured and called by his

name.

Mark well thefe following texts of Scripture, 2 Thef. 2. 1, 2, 3. We beseech you brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Chrift- that ye be not foon fhaken in mind, or troubled, neither by Spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Chrift is at band: Let no man deceive you---You fee here that Spirit, Word and Scripture may be pretended for an un

truth.

Mattb. 4. Satan often faith, It is written,

2 Cor. 11. 12, 13, 14, 15. False Apoftles, and deceitful workers may transform themselves into the Apostles of Christ, and Minifters of Righteousness; and no marvel, for Satan bimself is transformed into an Angel of light.

1 John 4. 1. Beloved, believe not every Spirit, but try the Spirits, whether they be of God.

Gal. 1.7, 8. If we or an Angel from Heaven preach any other Gopelto you, let him be accursed.

Queft. But how then shall I know when it is the Spirit which putteth any thing into my mind?

Aufw. 1. The matter it felf must be tryed, whether it agree with the facred Scripture, and must be proved true by the Word of God. 2. The end to which that truth is brought, must be proved to be juft and good: For Satan pleadeth truths to finful ends. 3. The application of them to your own case must be fuch as will hold tryal, and it must be proved by found argument, that indeed they do thus and thus belong to you: For Gods Spirit will not belys you, nor make you better or worse than you are; no more than he will belye the Scriptures.

Object. But is it not the fame Spirit which spake to the Apostles, which speaketh to us? If they were to believe him immediately, so must me, and feeing the Spirit is above the Scripture,

?