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READER, thou hast in this small treatise set before thee
the several pieces of that great and glorious mystery, Jesus Christ, God
manifested in the flesh: and if thou art enlightened by the Spirit of
Christ, here thou mayst see by that Spirit how Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Son
of Mary, is both true God and true man, both natures making but one
Christ, one Jesus; as Phil. ii.5-9, where, speaking first of his being
God, and then of his taking upon him the nature of man; afterwards in
the 8th and 9th verses, he saith, he (meaning this Jesus) humbled
himself, &c., and God (meaning the Father) hath highly exalted him,
&c., ![[cited by Burrough]](../../pix/cited.gif)
speaking of both
natures, God and man, as together making but one Christ; who is the
Saviour, and is to be believed and trusted in for salvation, not
only as God, but as man also; and those who do not thus make him the
object of their faith, will surely fall short of pardon of sin, and of
salvation, (Acts xiii.38,39:) "Through this man," speaking of
Christ crucified at Jerusalem, "is preached unto you forgiveness of
sins." And, saith he, there is "one Mediator between God and
man," (1 Tim. ii.5,) "the man Christ Jesus;" and this
discovers the damnable errors of those commonly called Socinians, who on
the one hand deny him that was born of the Virgin Mary to be true God as
well as true man. And this is also quite contrary to those commonly called
Familists, Ranters, Quakers, or others, who on the other hand either
deny Christ to be a real man without them, blasphemously
fancying him to be only God manifest in their flesh; or else make
his human nature, with the fulness of the Godhead in it, to be but a
type of God, to be manifest in the saints; and so, according to their
wicked imagination, his human nature was to be laid aside after he had
offered it up on the cross without the gate at Jerusalem, contrary to
Acts i.1-3,9-11, compared with the last chapter of Luke, ver. 39,40,50,51, where it
is clearly held forth, that the man Christ rose again out of the grave,
with the same body which was crucified and laid in the grave, and was
taken up above the clouds into heaven with the same real body, and that
he shall again descend from heaven in that same glorious body of flesh,
as Acts i.9-11. And this sure truth of Christ being the Saviour and
Mediator, as man, and not only as God, will also show serious believers
what to think of some, who though they will not, it may be, deny that
Christ is a real man without them in the heavens as well as God, yet do
own him to be the Saviour only as God, first dwelling in that flesh that
was born of the Virgin, and then dwelling in saints, and thus both
beginning and perfecting their salvation within them; and so indeed do
hold Christ as man, to be only, I say to be only, the saved or glorified
one of God, together with the saints his members, only something in
another and more glorious manner and measure than the saints; and these
high-flown people are in this very like to Familists and Quakers,
undervaluing the Lord Jesus Christ, God-man, and though they may speak
much of Christ, yet they do not rightly and savingly lay him for their
foundation.
Now as a help
against all these dangerous things, thou hast here the main things
of Christ laid down before thee briefly, and fully proved by the
Scriptures.
First. Of his being true God out of flesh from eternity, and then of
his taking flesh, or the nature of man, upon him in the womb of the
Virgin, and so his fulfilling the law, his dying for sins at Jerusalem,
his rising again without, his ascending into heaven without, and not
into a fancied heaven only within, as some say; his interceding in
heaven for all his, and his coming again in his body of flesh to judge
the world. And if thou art yet in a state of nature, though covered
over with an outside profession, here thou mayest find something, if the
Spirit of Christ meet thee in reading, to convince thee of the sad
condition thou art in, and to show thee the righteousness thou art to
fly to by faith, and to trust in for salvation, when convinced of sin;
which is a righteousness wrought by
that God-man Jesus Christ without thee, dying without thee at
Jerusalem for sinners. Here also thou mayest see the difference between
true and false faith. If thou art a true believer, as these things are
the foundation of thy faith, so they may be of great use for thee to
meditate upon, and to exercise thy faith in, particularly in meditation,
and in this way to seek daily for a higher faith in these truths, to be
given into thy heart from heaven; and there is a great need of this, for
though these truths be commonly known amongst professors to the notion
of them, yet very few know or believe them aright: nay, it may well be
said in this age, that if the faith of the true saints was well sifted,
and tradition, notion, and the apprehensions of their own reason and
fancy were sifted out, most of them would be found to have very little
knowledge of, and faith in these common truths.
Secondly. These truths being put thus together, and plainly proved by the Scriptures, may be a great help, through the Spirit concurring, to strengthen thee against all those damnable heresies which are spread abroad, which deny the Lord Jesus Christ, either plainly, or more cunningly and mysteriously. And
Thirdly. The more thou art rooted and set down from heaven in the faith of these truths of Christ, to believe fully the glorious reality of them, and their interest in them, the more heavenly peace and joy thou wilt have, (1 Pet. i.7,8;) and also thou wilt hereby attain the more true holiness and purity of heart and life, purifying their hearts by faith. (Acts xv.9.) And then the more thou hast of the right faith of Christ, and of his things in thy heart, the more strong and valiant wilt thou be in spirit, to do any work private or public for Jesus Christ; like Stephen, (Acts vi.8,) who being full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, was also full of power.
In this book thou hast also laid down from the Scriptures, how Jesus
Christ is without the saints as man, and yet dwelleth within them; that
is, something of his divine nature or his blessed Spirit dwells within
them, which Spirit is sometimes called the Spirit of Christ, (Rom.
viii.9,) "He that hath not the Spirit of Christ," &c.; and
sometimes called Christ, "If Christ be in you," &c. (Rom.
viii.10.) And also how we may know whether it be Christ and the Spirit
of Christ within, or a false spirit calling itself Christ; and that is
thus. If it be indeed Christ within, that is, the Spirit of Christ
God-man; why then it teaches that man or woman in whom it is, to apply, and trust in Christ without
for salvation; Christ as born of the Virgin Mary, as fulfilling the
law without them, as dying without the gate of Jerusalem as a sacrifice
for sin; it teaches them to trust in the man Christ as rising again out
of the grave without them, as ascending into, and interceding in heaven
without for them; and as to come from that heaven again in his flesh to
judge the world. Thus the man Christ himself saith, "When he, the
Spirit of truth, is come, &c., he shall glorify me." (John
xvi.13,14.) He shall make you more to prize, admire, and glorify me,
who am both God and man, and who shall be
absent from you touching my body. Then follows, For he shall take
of mine (of my glorious things), and show them to you; he shall take my
divine and human nature, my birth, my person and offices, my obedience,
death, satisfaction, my resurrection, ascension and intercession, and of
my second coming in the clouds with my mighty angels to judgment, and
shall show them, or clear them up to you: He shall take of my salvation,
which I have wrought for you in my own person without you; and he shall
take of my glory and exaltation in the heavens, and show to you. Now to
mind this one thing, and to be set down in a right understanding of it,
by the Spirit, from the Scriptures, will be of great concernment to thee
and me; for, for want of this, many professors have split themselves,
some looking only on what Christ hath done and suffered without them,
resting in an historical, traditional, and indeed a fancied faith of it,
without looking for the Spirit of Jesus Christ to come with power into
their hearts, without which they cannot rightly know, nor rightly
believe in Christ the Son of God without them, so as to have any share
or interest in him: "If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he
is none of his." (Rom. viii.9.) Others have been depending too much
upon something they call Christ, and the righteousness of Christ within
them, in opposition to Christ and his righteousness without them, from
which all true saints have their justification and comfort, it being
received through the operation of the Spirit which dwells in them; and
however these may talk much of Christ within them, yet it is manifest,
that it is not the Spirit of Christ, but the spirit of the devil; in
that it doth not glorify, but slight and reject the man Christ and his
righteousness which was wrought without them. Reader, in this book thou
wilt not meet with high-flown airy notions, which some delight in,
counting them high mysteries, but the sound, plain, common, and yet
spiritual and mysterious truths of the gospel; and if thou art a
believer, thou must needs reckon them so, and the more, if thou hast not
only the faith of them in thy heart, but art daily living in the
spiritual sense and feeling of them, and of thy interest in them.
Neither doth this treatise offer to thee doubtful, controversial things,
or matters of opinion, as some books chiefly do, which when insisted
upon the weightier
things of the gospel, have always done more hurt than good: but here
thou hast things certain and necessary to be believed, which thou canst
not too much study. Therefore pray that thou mayest receive this word,
which is according to the Scriptures, in faith and love, not as the word
of man, but as the word of God, without respect of persons; and be not
offended because Christ holds forth the glorious treasure of the gospel
to thee in a poor earthen vessel, by one who hath neither the greatness
nor the wisdom of this world to commend him to thee; for as the
scripture saith, Christ, who was low and contemptible in the world
himself, ordinarily chooseth such for himself, and for the doing of his
work. (1 Cor. i.26-28.) "Not many wise men after the flesh, not
many mighty, not many noble are called: but God hath chosen the foolish
things of the world," &c. This man is not
chosen out of an earthly, but out of the heavenly university, the
church of Christ, which church, as furnished with the Spirit, gifts, and
graces of Christ, was in the beginning, and still is, and will be to the
end of the world, that out of which the word of the Lord, and so all
true gospel ministers, must proceed, (1 Cor. xii.27,28,) whether learned
or unlearned as to human learning. And though this man hath not the
learning or wisdom of man, yet through grace he hath received the
teaching of God, and the learning of the Spirit of Christ, which is the
thing that makes a man both a Christian and a minister of the gospel.
"The Lord God hath given me the tongue of the learned,"
&c., (Isa. l.4, compared with Luke iv.18;) where Christ, as man,
saith, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed
me to preach the gospel to the poor," &c. He hath, through
grace, taken these three heavenly degrees, to wit, union with Christ,
the anointing of the Spirit, and experience of the temptations of Satan,
which do more fit a man for that weighty work of preaching the gospel,
than all university learning and degrees that can be had.
My end in writing these few lines is not to set up man, but having had
experience with many other saints of this man's soundness in the faith,
of his godly conversation, and his ability to preach the gospel, not by human
art, but by the Spirit of Christ, and that with much success in the
conversion of sinners, when there are so many carnal empty preachers,
both learned and unlearned; I say, having had experience of this, and
judging this book may be profitable to many others, as well as to myself: I
thought it my duty upon this account, though I be very unfit for it, to
bear witness with my brother to the plain and simple and yet glorious
truths of our Lord Jesus Christ. And now, reader, the Lord give thee
and me a right understanding in these things, that we may live and die,
not with a traditional, notional, dead faith, but with a right spiritual
lively faith of Christ in our heart, wrought by the mighty power of God;
such a faith as may make Jesus Christ more real and precious to us than
any thing in the world, as may purify our hearts, and make us new
creatures, that so we may be sure to escape the wrath to come, and after
this life enjoy eternal life and glory through the Lord Jesus Christ, to
whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Farewell, thine to serve thee in the Lord Jesus,
JOHN BURTON.
the welfare of
thine immortal soul. And, indeed, this is the only thing necessary: it
is better to lose all that ever thou hast, than to have thy soul and
body for ever cast into hell; and, therefore, I beseech thee to consider
with me a few things touching the stratagems or subtle temptations of
the devil, whereby he lieth in wait, if by any means he may, to make
thee fall short of eternal life. (1 Pet. v.8.)
And, first of all, he doth endeavour by all
means to keep thee in love with thy sins and pleasures, knowing that he
is sure of thee if he can but bewitch thee to live and die in them. (1
Cor. vi.9,10. 2 Thess. ii.12.) Yea, he knows that he is as sure of thee
as if he had thee in hell already. (John iii.19.) And that he might
accomplish his design on thee in this particular, he laboureth by all
means possible to keep thy conscience asleep in security and
self-conceitedness, keeping thee from all things that might be a means
to awaken and rouse up thine heart: as, first, he will endeavour to keep
thee from hearing of the word, by suggesting unto thee this and the
other worldly business which must be performed, so that thou wilt not
want excuse to keep thee from the ordinances of Christ, in hearing, reading,
meditation, &c.; or else he seeks to disturb and distract thy mind
when thou art conversant in these things, that thou canst not attend to
them diligently, and so they become unprofitable; or else, if thou art a
little more stirred, he labours to rock thee asleep again, by casting
thee upon, and keeping thee in evil company, as among rioters,
drunkards, jesters, and other of his instruments, which he employeth on
purpose to keep thee secure, and so ruin thy soul and body for ever and
ever.
If not thus, then peradventure he will seek to persuade thee it is but a melancholy fit, and will put thee upon the works of thy calling, or thy pleasures, or physic; or some other trick he will invent, such as best agreeth with thy nature, and thus thy heart is again deaded, and thou art kept in carnal security, that thou mightest perish for ever. But if, notwithstanding these and many cunning sleights more which might be named, he cannot so blind and benumb thy conscience, but that it doth see and feel sin to be a burden, intolerable and exceeding sinful; then, in the second place, his design is to drive thee to despair, by persuading thee that thy sins are too big to be pardoned. He will seek by all means possible to aggravate them by all the circumstances of time, place, person, manner, nature, and continuance of thy sins; he will object in thy soul, thou hast outsinned grace, by rejecting so many exhortations and admonitions, so many reproofs, so many tenders of grace; hadst thou closed in with them, it had been well with thee, but now thou hast stood it out so long, that there is no hope for thee; thou mightest have come sooner, if thou didst look to be saved, but now it is too late. And withal, that he might carry on his design upon thee to purpose, he will be sure to present to thy conscience the most sad sentences of the Scripture, yea, and set them home with such cunning arguments, that, if it be possible, he will make thee despair, and make away thyself, as did Judas.
But if he be prevented in this his intended purpose, the next thing he
doth beset thee with, is to make thee rest upon thine own righteousness,
telling thee, that if thou wilt needs be saved, thou must earn heaven
with thy fingers' ends; and it may be, he represents to thy soul such a
scripture: "If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted?"
And thou, having, but in the strength of nature, kept thyself from thy
former grosser pollutions, and it may be from some more secret sins, art
ready to conclude, Now thou doest well; now God accepts thee; now he
will pardon, yea, hath pardoned thee; now thy condition is good; and so
goest on till thou meetest with a searching word and ministry, which
tells thee, and discovers plainly unto thee, that thou dost all this
while deceive thyself by a vain hope and confidence; for though thou
seek after the law of righteousness, thou hast not yet attained to the
law of righteousness, nor yet canst, because thou seekest it not by
faith, but, as it were, by works of the law. (Rom. ix.31,32.) Here,
again, thou art left in the mire, and now peradventure thou seest that
thou art not profited by the works of the law, nor thy own
righteousness; and this makes thee stir a little: but in process of
time, through the subtle sleights of the devil, and the wickedness of
thine own heart, thou forgettest thy trouble of conscience, and slippest
into a notion of the gospel, and the grace thereof, and now thou
thinkest thyself cock-sure; now thou art able to say, He that lives and
dies in his sins shall be damned for them; he that trusts in his own
righteousness shall not be saved. Now thou canst cry,
Grace, grace; it is freely by grace, it is through the death of the man,
Christ Jesus, that sinners do attain unto eternal life. (Heb. ix.14.)
This, I say, thou hast in the notion, and hast not the power of the same
in thine heart; and so it may be thine head is full of the knowledge of
the Scriptures, though thine heart be empty of sanctifying grace. And
thus thou dost rejoice for a time. Yet because thou hast not the root
of the matter within thee, in time of temptation thou fallest away.
(Luke viii.13.)
Now, being in this condition, and thinking thyself to be wondrous well,
because of that
notion of the truth, and that notion thou hast in the things of God; I
say, being in this state, thou art liable to these dangers.
First. Thou art like to perish if thou die with this notion in thine head, except God, out of his rich grace, do work a saving work of grace and knowledge in thine heart; for know this, thou mayest understand glorious mysteries, and yet be a cast-away. (1 Cor. xiii.1-3.) Or else,
Secondly. Thou art liable to the next damnable heresy that the devil
sendeth into the world. (See and consider Luke viii.13; 2 Tim. ii.18.)
I say, thou dost lie liable to be carried away with it, and to be
captivated by it; so that at last, through the delusions of the devil,
thou mayest have thy conscience seared as with a hot iron, so hard, that
neither law nor gospel can make any entrance thereinto, to the doing of
thee the least good. And, indeed,
who are the men that at this day are so
deluded by the Quakers' and other pernicious doctrines, but those
who thought it enough to be talkers of the gospel and grace of God,
without seeking and giving all diligence to make it sure unto
themselves? "And for this cause God" hath sent "them
strong delusions, that they should believe a lie; that they all might be
damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in
unrighteousness;" as it is written, 2 Thess. ii.11,12. And,
indeed, if you mark it, you shall
see that they be such kind of
people, who at this day are so carried away with the Quakers'
delusions, namely, a company of loose Ranters, and light Notionists,
with here and there a Legalist, which were shaking in their principles
from time to time, sometimes on this religion, sometimes on that. And
thus these unstable souls are deluded and beguiled at last. (2 Pet.
ii.14.) So that these who before, as one would have thought, had
something of God in them, are now turned such enemies to the glorious
truths of the gospel, that there are none so obstinately erroneous as
they. And, indeed, it is just with God to give them over to believe a
lie, (2 Thess. ii.11,) who before were so idle that they would not
receive the truth of God into their hearts in the love of it. And to be
bewitched by the devil to obey his temptations, and be damned, who would
not obey the truth, (Gal. iii.1,) that they might be saved.
But, you will say, what lies are those that the devil beguileth poor
souls withal? I shall briefly tell you some of them; but having before
said, that they especially are liable to the danger of them who slip
into high notions, and rest there; taking that for true faith which is
not, I shall desire
thee seriously to consider this one character of a Notionist. Such an one,
whether he perceives it or not, is puffed up in his fleshly mind, and
advanceth himself above others, thinking but few may compare with him
for religion and knowledge in the Scriptures, but are ignorant and
foolish in comparison of him. Thus knowledge puffeth up, (1 Cor.
viii.1;) whereas when men receive truth in the love of the truth, the
more the head or
heart is filled with the knowledge of the mystery of godliness, the more
it is emptied of its own things, and is more sensible of its own
vileness, and so truly humbled in its own eyes.
And further, a Notionist, though he fall from his former strictness and seeming holiness, and appear more loose and vain in his practices, yet speaks as confidently of himself, as to assurance of salvation, the love of God, and union with God, as ever. But now, to return, and declare some of those lies which the devil persuades some of these men to believe.
I. ![[editor's note]](../../pix/pencil.gif)
That salvation was not fully and completely wrought
out for poor sinners by the man Christ Jesus, though he did it gloriously, (Acts xiii.38,39,) by
his death upon the cross, without the gates of Jerusalem. (Heb. xiii.12,
compared with John. xix.20.)
II. This is another of his
lies wherewith he doth deceive poor sinners, bidding them follow the
light that they
brought into the world with them, telling them, that light will lead
them to the kingdom; for, say they, it will convince of sin, as swearing,
lying, stealing, covetousness, and the rest of the sins against the law.
(Rom. iii.20.) But the law is not of faith. (Gal. iii.13.) And then I
am sure that it, with all its motions and convictions, is never able to
justify the soul of any poor sinner. "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 that are written in the book of
the law to do them." (Gal. iii.10.) But that no man is justified
by the law is evident, for, "the just shall live by faith,"
(ver. 11.) Now, because I am not altogether ignorant of
the delusion of the devil touching this grace of faith also, I shall
therefore in short give thee, reader, a brief yet true description from
the Scriptures. 1. What
true justifying faith is, and what it lays hold upon. 2. I shall show who it
doth come from. 3. That every one hath it not. 4. What are the
fruits of it.
1. First,
therefore, true faith is a fruit, work, or gift of the Spirit of God,
(Gal. v.22. 2 Thess. i.11. 1 Cor. xii.9,) whereby a poor soul is
enabled, through the mighty operation of God, (Col. ii.12,) in a sense
of its sins and wretched estate, to lay hold on the righteousness,
blood, death, resurrection, ascension, intercession, and coming again of
the Son of God, which was crucified without the gates of Jerusalem, for
eternal life, (John iii.16,18, comp. with Matt. iii.17. Gal. ii.20. Rom.
v.8-10; iii.25. Acts xvi.31. Heb. xiii.12;) according to that saying in
Heb. xi.1, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the
evidence of things not seen;" that is, the things that are hoped
for faith sees, lays hold upon, and embraces them, (Heb. xi.13,) as if
they were present; yea, it seals up the certainty of them to the soul.
Therefore, saith the Apostle, it is the evidence, or testimony, or
witness, of those things that are not seen as yet with a bodily eye;
which are obtained by the blood of the man Christ Jesus, (Heb. ix.14,
compared with Heb. x.12,19,20,) by which the soul sees as in a glass the
things that God hath laid up for them that fear him. (1 Cor. xiii.12. 2
Cor. iii.18.)
2. If you would
know who this faith comes from, read Eph. ii.8. "For by grace are
ye saved," saith the Scripture, "through faith, and that not
of yourselves, it is the gift of God." Again, in Phil. i.29 it is
thus written: "For unto you," that are believers, "it
is given in behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to
suffer for his sake." And thus much do the Apostles hold forth to
us in their prayer, or request to the Lord Jesus, when they say,
"Lord, increase our faith," (Luke xvii.5;) and he is therefore
called the author and finisher of our faith, (Heb. xii.3) Also we find
in Jas. i.17, that "every good and every perfect gift is from
above, and cometh down from the Father of lights," &c.; and
therefore faith comes from God, for true justifying faith is a good gift, and
perfect in respect of the author, God, in respect of its object, Christ;
and in respect of the nature, though not in respect of the degree and
measure of it in us; even as a grain of gold is as perfect gold as a
pound of gold, though not so much.
3. All men have
not faith; this the Apostle witnesseth in so many words, as we find, 2
Thess. iii.2, and Deut. xxxii.20. Also in Tit. i.15: "Unto them that are
defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure," &c. It appeareth
also in this, that all do not attain salvation, which they must needs do
if they had true justifying faith. Compare Luke xiii.24, and 1 John
v.19, with Mark xvi.16; and Heb. iv.3 with ver. 6 and 11: "They
that believe shall be saved."
4. The fruits of
it are, (1.) to purify the heart, Acts xv.9, and 1 John
iii.3; and that, as I said before, by laying hold on what Jesus Christ
had done and suffered for sinners. (Acts xiii.38,39.) (2.) It fills the
soul with peace and joy, in that it lays hold on the things that are
obtained for it. (Rom. v.1. 2 Tim. i.9,10. 1 Pet. i.8.) (3.) It makes
the soul to wait patiently for the glory that is to be revealed at the
second appearing of the man Christ Jesus, whom God hath raised from the
dead, which hath also delivered it from the wrath to come; as in Tit.
ii.13,14. 1 Pet. iv.13; v.1,4. 1 Thess. i.10.
But how, may some say, doth the devil make his delusions take place in the hearts of poor creatures?
Answer. Why, 1. He labours to render the doctrine of the Lord
Jesus, and salvation by him alone, very odious and low; and also his
ordinances, as hearing, reading, meditation, use of the Scriptures,
&c.; telling poor sinners that these things are but poor, low,
carnal, beggarly, empty notions, preached up by the clergymen, who are
the Scribes and Pharisees of this generation; who have the letter, but
not the Spirit of God in them; which lead men into the form, but not
into the power of the Lord Jesus: and with this persuasion he also
represents the ungodly and base carriage or behaviour of some, who have
taken in hand to preach the doctrine of the Lord Jesus Christ, and
thereby he doth render the gospel of our Lord Jesus the more
contemptible and base. But woe, woe, woe, be to them by whom such
offences come! (Matt. xviii.7. Luke xvii.1,2.) 2. He pretends to lead
them up into some higher light, mysteries, revelations of the
Spirit, into which a very few have attained or can attain; also
bewitching their affections, and taking them with an earnest pursuit
after these his pretended truths; persuading them that they shall be as
God himself, able to discern between good and evil. (Gen. iii.5.) And
in this he is exceeding subtle and expert, as having practised it ever
since the days of Adam. These things being thus considered, and in some
measure hungered after, and the rather because they are good, as they
think, to make one wise, (Gen. iii.6,) the poor soul is all on the
sudden possessed with a desperate spirit of delusion, which carries it
away headlong with some high, light, frothy notions, and spiritual
wickedness, which drown it in perdition and destruction, that doth feed
and tickle the heart awhile, to the end it may make way for a farther
manifestation of itself in the poor deluded soul; which when it hath
attained to, it doth then begin to bring the soul into a clearer sight
of those things which it was loth it should know at the first; but
having fitted the soul by degrees for a further possession of itself, at last it begins to hold forth its new
gospel, showing the soul a new Christ and new Scriptures. The new and false Christ is a Christ
crucified within, dead within, risen again within, and ascended within;
in opposition to the Son of Mary, who was crucified without, dead
without, risen again without, and ascended in a
cloud away from his disciples into heaven (Acts i.9-11) without
them.
Now, this new and
false Christ hath a new and false faith belonging to his gospel,
which faith is this, to apprehend this Christ crucified within, dead
within, risen again within, and ascended within: but ask them for
a scripture that doth positively prove their doctrine, they also
have a scripture, but it is within; it doth bear witness within, and if
they had not that, though that be of the devil's making, I am sure they
would have none out of God's holy Scriptures, for they will allow of no
crucified Christ, but he that was crucified without the gates of
Jerusalem, (Heb. xiii.12. John xiv.17,18,) dead and buried in the
sepulchre of Joseph of Arimathea, (John xix.38-41;) was raised again out
of that sepulchre into which Joseph had laid him, (John xx.1-12;) who
went before his disciples into Galilee, (Mark xvi.7,) and to Emmaus,
(Luke xxiv.15;) showed them his hands and his feet, (Luke xxiv.39,40,)
where the nails had gone through; did eat and drink with them after his
resurrection; was seen of them on earth forty days after his
resurrection, (Acts i.3;) and after that ascended away in a cloud, out
of the sight of his disciples into heaven, (Acts i.9-11;) which Christ
ever lives to make intercession for us, (Heb. vii.24,25;) who will come
again also at the end of the world to judgment, (Acts x.42; xvii.31. 2
Pet. iii.10,11;) who also is the same that hath obtained eternal
redemption for us, (Acts xiii.37-39. Rom. iii.25. Eph. i.7. Rev.
i.5;)--this, I say, or rather the Scriptures say, is God's Christ,
(Matt. xvi.16,) in whom he is well pleased, (Matt. iii.17.) Neither
doth God own any other, or allow of any other; for "there is none
other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved, than
the name of Jesus of Nazareth," (Acts iv.10, compared with ver.
11,12.) But, as I told you before, the way to be thus
deluded, is first to render God's Christ odious and low, with a pretence
of some further light and revelations; and thus, professing themselves
to be wise, they became fools. (Rom. i.22.)
But, you will say,
doth not the Scripture make
mention of a Christ within? (Col. i.27. 2 Cor. xiii.5. Rom.
viii.10.)
I answer, 1. God's Christ was, and
is, true God and true man; he was born of the Virgin Mary, true God and
true man. (Matt. i.23.) "And they shall call his name Emmanuel,
which being interpreted, is, God with us," or God in our nature,
according to 1 Tim. iii.16, "God was manifested in the flesh;"
and John i.14, "The word was made flesh, and dwelt among us; and we
beheld his glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father, full
of grace and truth." And in Heb. ii.14, "Forasmuch, then, as
the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he," that is, God,
(Heb. i.8,) "also himself likewise took part of the same, that
through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is,
the devil." Now, as he was thus true God and true man, so he
became our Redeemer and Saviour. Compare the first and second chapters
to the Hebrews together, and you may clearly see that this is a glorious
truth, that he who is the first and the last, (Rev. i.17,18, and ii.8,)
humbled himself, and made himself of no reputation, and took upon him
the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. And was
this all? No. He humbled himself unto death, even the death of the
cross. (Phil. ii.7,8, compared with Rev. i.17,18; and Rev. ii.8, with
Gal. i.4.) Now, after this Christ of God, true God and true man, had
wrought out eternal redemption for us poor miserable sinners, (Heb.
ix.14 compared with 1 Tim. i.15,) I say, after he had done this, he
ascended up into heaven, and there ever lives to make intercession for
us. Now, this Christ, having thus completely wrought out our salvation,
sends his disciples abroad to preach the same to poor sinners, (Acts ii.
and 2 Cor. v.19,20;) and so many as were ordained to eternal life, when
they heard the word, or the gospel, preached by the Apostles, which
gospel was this Christ, (1 Cor. i.17 compared with ver. 23;) I say, so
many as were ordained to eternal life, when they heard the word, the
Holy Ghost or Spirit of Christ fell upon them, (Acts x.44 compared with
Acts xiii.48,) which did lead them into the redemption and glorious
things that the Lord Jesus had laid up and prepared for them. (John
xvi.13-15. 1 Cor. ii.9.) Which Spirit was the earnest of their
inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the
praise of his glory. (Eph. i.13,14.) The earnest of their inheritance was a glorious
encouragement, to them that had it, to hope for the glory that was to be revealed at the
appearing of Jesus Christ, which is the meaning of that place in Col.
i.27. And
that will be seen clearly, if we compare with Eph. i.13,14, before recited. Now this
Spirit, which sometimes is called the Spirit of Christ, (2 Cor. xiii.5;)
this Spirit, I say, being given to all those that were ordained to
eternal life, it must needs follow, that those that had not this Spirit,
but did live and die without it, were not ordained to eternal life, and
so were none of Christ's; but were reprobates, (Rom. viii.9;) for the
Spirit of Christ is the distinguishing character betwixt a believer and
an unbeliever; he that hath it, and is led by it, is a child of God,
(Rom. viii.14;) but he that hath it not, is none of Christ's.
So, then, the answer that I give to the question, is this.
The Spirit of Christ that is given to believers, is the earnest or hope
of that inheritance that Christ hath already purchased, and is now
preparing for so many as he hath given, or shall give, this Holy Spirit
unto. And for the proof hereof, read Eph. i.13,14. "In
whom," saith the scripture, "ye also trusted, after that ye
heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation." In whom
also, after that ye believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of
promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance, (which inheritance is
the eternal redeption that was purchased by Christ for poor sinners,
(Heb. ix.15;) until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the
praise of his glory. Again, (Gal. v.5:) "For ye, through the
Spirit, wait for the hope of righteousness by faith." And (Col.
i.27), the Apostle, speaking of this great mystery, saith, "To whom
God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery
among the Gentiles, which is, Christ in you the hope of glory;"
which glory was then revealed to the saints no otherwise than by faith,
as the Apostle saith, "We rejoice in hope of the glory of
God." (Rom. v.2.) Which hope is begotten by the Spirit's shedding
abroad the love of God in our hearts, (ver. 5,) which hope is not yet
seen, that is, not yet actually enjoyed; "For we are saved by hope:
but hope that is seen is not hope; for what a man seeth, why doth he yet
hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience
wait for it." (Rom. viii.24,25.) And as I say, the cause of
believers' hope is this, Christ, or the Spirit of Christ, in them, the
hope of glory. And indeed he may well hope for glory to come, who hath
already an earnest thereof given him of God, and that earnest no less
than the Spirit of the Lord Jesus. (Rom. viii.16,17).
But now, this Spirit, which is the cause of a believer's hope, all men
have not. (Jude 19. Eph. ii.12. Rom. viii.9. John xiv.16,17.) Therefore what a sad
doctrine is that which saith, Follow the light that Christ hath
enlightened every man withal which cometh into the world; which light is
the conscience, that convinceth of sins against the law.
And that you may see clearly if you mind that scripture, (John viii.9,)
which saith, that the Pharisees, which had neither the love of God, nor
his word, abiding
in them, (John v.38,43,) when they had heard Christ speaking thus to
them, "He that is without sin among you," &c., being
convicted by their own consciences, went out one by one, beginning at
the eldest, even to the least. But the devil, that
he might be sure not to miss of his design, labours by all means to
render the Scriptures also odious and low, telling them of the
scriptures within; which Christ never taught, nor yet his disciples.
But they, being given up of God to a reprobate mind, have given
themselves over, rather to follow the suggestions of the devil, than the
holy Scriptures which God hath commanded us to betake ourselves to,
(Isa. viii.20, compared with John v.39,) which scripture is called the
sword of the Spirit, (Eph. vi.17,) which weapon our Lord Jesus himself
held up, to overcome the devil withal. (Matt. iv.4,7,10. Luke
iv.4,8,12.) But this design,
as I told you, the devil carries on, by pretending to show them a more
excellent way which they may attain to, if they be but wise, and follow
what is made known unto them from the light within them.
But, reader, that thou mayest be able to escape the snare of this cunning hunter, I shall lay thee down some few directions, which, if the Lord give thee grace to follow, thou shalt escape these wicked delusions.
1. And, first of all, I do admonish thee to be very serious touching
thine estate and condition, and examine thine own heart by the rule of
the word of God, whether or no thou hast as yet any beginnings of
desiring after religion; and if thou findest that thou hast lived until
now in ignorance, and hast not set thyself to remember thy Creator as
thou art commanded, (Eccl. xii.1,) then I beseech thee consider that
thou art under the wrath of Almighty God, and hast been so ever since
thou camest into the world, (Eph. ii.1,2;) being thou in thy first
parents didst transgress against thy Maker. (Rom. v.18.)
"Therefore, as by the offence of one," that is, of Adam, (ver.
14,) "judgment came upon all men unto condemnation." Besides
the many sins thou hast committed ever since thou wast born--sins
against the law of God, and sins against the gospel of the grace of God;
sins against the long-suffering and forbearance of God, and sins against
his judgments; sins of omission, and sins of commission, in thoughts,
words, and actions. Consider, I say, thy condition; yea, get a very
great sense of thy sins that thou hast committed; and that thou mayest
so do, beg of God to
convince thee by his Holy Spirit, not only of sins against law, but
also of that damning sin, the sin of unbelief.
2. If
thou, by grace, art but brought into such an estate as to see thyself in
a lost condition because of sin, without the Lord Jesus, then, in the
next place, have a care of resting on any duty done, though it be never
so specious; I say, have a care of making any stay anywhere on this side
the Lord Jesus Christ: but, above all, strive to believe that that very
man that was born of the Virgin Mary did come into the world on purpose
to save thee, as well as other poor sinners: I say, thou must not be
content till thou art enabled to say, "He loved me, and gave
himself for me." (Gal. ii.20.) And that thou mayest be sure to attain to
this most precious faith, for so it is, be much in applying the freest
promises to thy own soul; yea, those that have no conditions annexed to
them, as these, or other like, Jer. xxxi.3. Jer. iii. John vi.37;
xiv.19. Hos. xiv.4. I say, labour to apply to thy own soul in
particular the most glorious and freest promises in the book of God.
And if at any time the devil besets thee by his temptations, (for so is
his wonted manner to do, and so much the more as he sees thee labour
to get out of his reach;) I say, when he assails thee with his fiery
darts, be sure to act faith on the most free promises, and have a care
that thou dost not enter into any dispute with him, but rather resist
him by those blessed promises that are laid down in the word of God.
And, withal, be sure to meditate upon the blood of the man Christ Jesus,
who also is the true God, and read those scriptures that do most fully
and clearly speak of it; as, 1 John i.7. Eph. i.7. Heb. ix.14. Rom.
iii.25.
3. But if you say, (as it is often the speech of poor souls lying under a sense of sin, and the apprehensions of wrath due to it,) I cannot apply the promises to mine own soul; and the reason is, because my sins are so great, and so many: consider, and know it for a truth, that the more and greater thou seest thy sins to be, the more cause hast thou to believe; yea, thou must therefore believe because thy sins are great: David made it an encouragement to himself, or rather the Spirit of the Lord made it his encouragement, to crave, yea, to hope for pardon, because he had greatly transgressed. (Ps. xxv.11.) "For thy name sake, O Lord," saith he, "pardon mine iniquity, for it is great." As if he had said, O Lord, thy name will be more glorified, the riches of thy grace will be more advanced, thy mercy and goodness will more shine, and be magnified in pardoning me who am guilty of great iniquity, than if thou pardonest many others who have not committed such heinous offences. And I dare say, the reason why thou believest not, is not because thy sins are great, but because thou dost reason too much with that wicked enemy of man's salvation, and givest way too much to the fleshly reasoning of thine own heart. For Christ hath said, "He that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out." (John vi.37.) And again, "Though thy sins be as red as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow." (Isa. i.18.) And Christ calleth those that labour and are heavy-laden to come to him, with promise to give them rest. (Matt. xi.28.) Wherefore thou must not say, My sins are too big; but thou must say, because I am a great sinner; yea, because I have sinned above many of my companions, and am nearer to hell and eternal damnation than they; because of my sins, therefore, will I cry unto the Lord, and say, O Lord, pardon my sins, for they are great!
Now, that thou mayest not be deceived in a matter of so great concernment, have a special care of these three things:--
1. First, have a care of putting off thy trouble of spirit the wrong way, which thou mayest do three ways.
(1.) When thy conscience flieth in thy face, and tells thee of thy sins, thou dost put off convictions the wrong way, if thou dost stop thy conscience, by promising to reform thyself and lead a new life, and gettest off thy guilt by so doing; for though thou mayest by this means still and quiet thy conscience for a time, yet thou canst not hereby satisfy and appease the wrath of God: yea, saith God to such, "Though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me." (Jer. ii.22.)
(2.) If when thou art under the guilt of thy sins, thou puttest off
convictions by thy performances or duties, and so satisfiest thy
conscience, then also thou dost put off thy convictions the wrong way:
for God will not be satisfied with anything less than the blood,
righteousness, resurrection, and intercession of his own Son, (Acts
iv.12;) and thou shouldest not satisfy thyself with any less than God
would have thee to satisfy thyself withal, and that is the water of
life, (Isa. lv.1,2), which water of life thy duties, and all thy
righteousness, is not; for they are as filthy rags. (Isa. lxiv.6.).
(3.) Have a care that, when thou art under conviction, thou dost not satisfy thyself with a notion of the free grace of the gospel; my meaning is, do not content thyself with any measure of knowledge thou canst attain unto, or bottom thy peace upon it, thinking thou art now well enough, because thou canst speak much of the grace of God, and his love in Christ to poor sinners. For this thou mayest have and do, and yet be but a companion for Demas; yea, for Judas and the rest of the damned multitude: as the Apostle saith, for all this thou mayest be but "as sounding brass, and as a tinkling cymbal;" that is, nothing but a sound. (1 Cor. xiii.1-3.)
2. But, secondly, if thou wouldest not be deceived, then have a care to avoid false doctrines, which are according to the spirit of the devil, and not after Christ. As,
(1.) If any
doctrine doth come unto thee, that tells thee, except thou art
circumcised after the manner of Moses thou canst not be saved; that is,
if any man come unto thee and tell thee thou must do such and such works
of the law, to the end thou mayest present thyself the better before
God, do not receive him; for "to him that worketh not, but
believeth in him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for
righteousness." (Rom. iv.5.)
(2.) If any
come unto thee, and bring such a doctrine as this; that thou mayest be
saved by grace, though thou walk in the imaginations of thine own wicked
heart; his doctrine also is devilish, do not receive him. (Deut.
xxix.19-23.)
(3.) But if any come unto thee, and doth in truth advance the blood,
righteousness, resurrection, intercession, and second coming of that
very Man in the clouds of heaven that was born of the Virgin Mary; and
doth press thee to believe on what he hath done, showing thee thy lost
condition without him, and to own it as done for thee in particular, and
withal doth admonish thee not to trust in a bare notion of it, but to
receive it into thy heart, so really that thy very heart and soul may
burn in love to the Lord Jesus Christ again; and doth also teach thee
that the love of Christ should and must constrain thee, not to live to
thyself, but to Him that loved thee, and gave himself for thee, (2 Cor.
v.14,15. Eph. iv.21-24. 1 Cor. vii.23;) "Ye are bought with a
price; be not ye the servants of men;"--if his conversation be also
agreeable to his doctrine, a believing, honest, loving, self-denying,
courteous conversation, he also is a true Christian. Receive that
doctrine, and
receive it really; for it is the doctrine of God and of Christ. (Gal.
iv.4; i.4. Eph. i.7. Rev. i.5. Acts xiii.38. John i.29. Acts iv.12;
x.40-42. 1 Thess i.10. Mark xiii.ult. 2 Pet. i.5-10.) Considering the
end of their conversation Jesus Christ, yesterday, and to-day and the
same for ever. (Heb. xiii.7,8.)
3. Again, if thou wouldest not be deceived, then beware of slighting any known truth that thou findest revealed, or made known to thee in the gospel; but honour and obey it in its place, be it, as thou thinkest, never so low. (John xiv.15.)
(1.) Have a care
that thou do not undervalue, or entertain low thoughts of God, Christ
the Son of Mary, and the Holy Scriptures; but search them, (John v.39,)
and give attention to the reading of them. (1 Tim. iv.13.) For, I will
tell thee, he that slights the Scriptures doth also slight Him of whom
they testify. And I will tell thee, also, that for this cause God hath
given up many to strong delusions, that they might believe a lie:
"that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had
pleasure in unrighteousness." (2 Thess. ii.11,12.)
(2.) Therefore I
say unto thee, in the name of the Lord Jesus, the Son of Mary, the Son
of God, the very Creator of heaven and earth, and all things that are
therein, have a care of thyself; for the devil doth watch for thee day
and night. (1 Pet. v.8.) Thine own heart also doth labour to deceive
thee, if by any means it may. (Jer. xvii.9.) Therefore do not thou
trust it; for if thou do, thou wilt not do wisely. (Prov. xxviii.26.) I
say, therefore, have a care that thou labour in the strength of the Lord
Jesus to escape all these things; for if thou fall into any one of them,
it will make way for a further income of sin and the devil, through
whose deceitfulness thy heart will be hardened, and thou wilt be more
incapable of receiving instruction, or reaping advantage, by and from
the ordinances of Jesus Christ; the rather, therefore, give all
diligence to believe in the Christ of God, which is the Son of Mary, and
be sure to apply all that he hath done, and is doing, unto thyself, as
for thee in particular; which thing if thou dost, thou shalt never
fall.
And now, reader, I shall also give thee some few considerations, and so I shall commit thee to the Lord.
1. Consider, That God doth hold out his grace and mercy freely, and that to every one. (Rev. xxii.17. Isa. lv.1-7.)
2. Consider, That there is no way to attain to this free mercy and
grace, but by him that was born of the Virgin Mary; for he himself
saith, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto
the Father but by me." (John xiv.6, compared with Matt.
i.20,21.)
3. Consider, If thou strivest to go over any other way, thou wilt be but a thief and a robber. (John x.1, compared with ver. 9.) And know that none of those, so continuing, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. (1 Cor. vi.9,10.)
4. Consider, That if the devil should be too hard for thee, and deceive
thee, by persuading thee to embrace, or entertain a new gospel, which
neither Christ nor his disciples did allow of, it would make thee gnash
teeth when it is
too late.
5. Consider, That though thou has been deluded by Satan to this day, yet if now thine eyes be opened to see and acknowledge it, though as yet thou hast been either exceedigly wicked, (1 Tim. i.13,) or an idle, (Matt. xx.6,7,) lukewarm, hypocritcal professor, (Rev. iii.17-19,) and hast stood it out to the last, (Ezek. xviii.20-22;) for all this there is hope; and if now thou receive the truth in the love of the truth, being as willing to be rid of the filth of sin as the guilt of it, thou shalt be saved.
6. Consider, That the Lord will call thee to judgment for all thy sins past, present, and what else thou shalt practise hereafter, especially for thy rejecting and trampling on the blood of his Son, the man Christ Jesus. And if thou dost not agree with thine adversary now, while thou art in the way, he will deliver thee to the judge, and the judge will deliver thee to the officer, and if he cast thee into prison, I tell thee, thou shalt not come out thence till thou hast paid the very last mite. (Luke xii.58,59.)
And, therefore, I beseech thee to consider; here is at this time life and death, heaven and hell, everlasting joy and everlasting torment set before thee. Here is also the way to have the one, and the way to escape the other. Now if the Lord shall do thee any good by what I have spoken, I hope it will be a means to stir me up to thank the Lord that ever he did use such a sinner as I am in the work of his gospel. And here I shall close up what I have said, desiring thee, if thou be a Christian, to pray for him who desires to continue,
Thy servant in the Lord Jesus Christ, though less than the least of all saints,
JOHN BUNYAN.
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