to the E P H E S{A N S. to the Soul. A man that is elected, and 'com·eth to lay hold upon the Blood of~ Chrirf, look as a man that is guilty of~urthe~ when he cometh to the dead Ser. XV. Body, the blood flo..yeth: fo when a man that IS a Behever looks upon Chrifl:, ~ there is a frelh flowmg of the blood, and that firengneth FaJth, ~o man looks upo11 Chrifi but comerh ~If more chearly; but tlus 1s .a weak Wn.nefs, Then cometh in Water, that Wltneifeth too ; but yet I fay! 1f you mark 1t! here IS the Spirit that differeth lrom b?th t~efe, therefore there tsa further tefl:1mony!h~ri · either from a man's Sancbficauon, or from meer Fanh; the Holy Ghorf Wit~ _ heireth with both the other: for your Sanctification cannot comfort you, if ii: were not for the Holy Ghojl; no, you~Faith could not comfort you, but that it is a workoftheHolyGho!t. I will gtveyoubutone place for tt, Rom,I).q, Heprayeth that God would make them a6otmd m hop~ through the power of the Holy Ghojl. If tholl hail: any hope wrought i'n thee, either by looking to Chrifl's Blood, or by feeing Grace in thy heart, it is by the power of the Holy, Gho!t. Well, why doth he fay Spirit dijferi11g from 6oth Blood il1Jd Water ? Bccaufe thereis an immediate tefiimony beyond all thefe; which the Holy Gholl; works in a man's ,Soul. Now, my Brethren, to anfwer you which Is meant here by the {rt1li11g of the Spirit? I Anfwer i~ two things. . . . Fir!t, I fay, That m a large and m a general fenfe all Aifurance wrought, whether byWater or by Blood, (for there are no other ways,) any Aifurance, what way foeveri.tbe,itisaSealof the Holy Ghoft, (I fhall give you fome– thiog to confirm it.) If you will take Sealing for?, giviug in Witneft in a large and common fenle; fo whAtfoever giveth a tefl:imoriy through the power of the Holy Gllofl:, is an irradiating of a Believer; and is the work of the Holy Ghofl:;' that may be faid to be a Seat. In John 3•33· you fhall fee the ufe of the phrafe of Sealing, it is ufed there for the giving of a Tefiimony , He that hath re– ceived hu teflimo11)', (namely by believing)hath Jet to his Seat that God;., tr11e. So that now, in a large and common fenfe, any Witnefs that is given to confirm a truth, is exprefl: in the .Scripture by fetting a &at unto; therefore now, when the Holy Ghofl: doth give in a witnefs, that you have grace by Blood, laid hold on by Faith, that you have grace by Watn·; if it be a Witnefs,it may be called a Seal. I will not exclude thofe two other ways of Aifurance. Witneifes did ufe to fet to their Seals as wltneifes, as well as the Conveyer of an Inheritance in · Ancient times. Therefore Divines make degrees of Sealing, they fay there is~ fealing by Blood, and there is a fealing byWater by Sanctification, and there is a fealing by the Spirit; they make them fevcral degrees; as in pa!Iirig a thing at Court, it paifeth the King, and then it paifeth the Privy Seal, and then it palfeth the Broad-Seal; thefe are but three feveral degrees of confirming the fame thing, but the Broad.Seal doth the bufinefs, whereby a man authentically qa.imeth it for ever. So that, I fay, in a large fenfe, t will not deny but that Seali11g here may be putfor all kind of Aifurance, But yet let me fay this, That that whieh is here more eminently meant, is t he immediate tefiimony of the Holy Ohofl:, the fpecial thing that is here aimed ,at; and my Reafons are thefe, . , ~irft, tf you follow the Metaphor clofe, every Witnefs is not a Seal in a fin~ fenfe, whefi there are Witneifes and a Sealer too; the Witneifes come in to confirm the Seal, or to cohfirm the Writing. Every Seal indeed is a Witnefs, ·and it is the highefl: witnefs that is; and therefore though the Spirit arid his im– mediate teftimoriy, !s call~d aWit11e{s, yet he is called a Seai too; but yet on the other fide, every Wttnefs IS hot a SeJI, hot in a firict fenfe. There are many things th~t are SigiiS that arenot Seals, as you have it Rom+ 11. There are– many .Witneifes ~hat are not Sealers, efpecially in matters of Inheritances,where there 1s a conveymg over by the Petfoli that fealeth. Then again afecond R.eafon is tl)is; If you obfervc thephrafe, it is faid ) 'Oit arefea!ed 6y the Spirit, he is only mentioned. Now, if you have recourfe to that 1 .'Job.).8. Water. is faid to be a witnefs, and Blooda witilefs, and th~ Spirit a thu·d Wttnefs; the Wltnefs of Water and Blood are fwallowed up as 1t were in the wirnefs of the Spirit; ln refped of the immediate teflimony of the Holy Gho!t. His tellimoliy, though it is joyncd with theirs, yet it is hid tmder theirs ; D d ir
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