:202 An Expofition of the Epiftle ·~ it is not faid fo much to be the te!\imony of the Spirit,as the te!\imony of Wate~ J'er. XV. and Blood, whereas here it is faid to be the tejilmo1ty of the Spirit ; therefore ~that third is rather meant than the other. And then again in the Third place, In fealing of art Inheritance, the Wit– neffes you know are Extra11ei; they are Perfons which are not t~e Conveyors of the Inheritance, he that felleth or conveyeth the Inhentance IS fatd to feat properly, he whofe the Inheritance is. Therefore now, though your Grace and Faith may come tn as Wnneiics, yet when he fpeaks of a Seal, he lnu!\ meart the Seal of the Conveyor, which is therefore the Seal of the Holy Ghofl himfelf, as di!\inguifhed from thefe two, as principally aimed at. Great Perfons, that fiand upon their Authority, they ufe to feal without Wit– n_effes; if you will fpeak of the &a!of a King, as this is the Sell! of God : fo Ef/h. 8. 8. t!1ey did but write in the King's Name, and feal it with the King's Ri11g; there was the Seal, there was no Hand to it. To this day the King writeth · Tefle me ipjo, Wit11e{s our[elf, when he putteth his Seal to. In fome Colledges, when the) put the Colledge-Sea! to a thing, they put no Hands neither of the Fellows, nor of theMa!\er, but only the Seal of the Colledge. Saith Chrifi, Joh.)·B>34· I receive 110t tejlim01ty from ma11: though .1ohll, faith he, bath given me a witnefs, yet I receive no tefiimony from him, I ·am witoefs enough my felf. When the Holy Ghofi cometh to feat 11p S,ztvatioll, he will have no witnefs but himfelf, they may come in as Under-confirmers of it; but he cloth it himfelf, Witnefs 0111" Je!f. That is the &at of the Holy Ghofi. God hath made a Promife, and he bath made an Oath, to confirm our Salva– tion; hehath made a Promife, and he bath fet to his Seal, to confirm falvation; now do but parallel ti1efe two. When God fweareth, he fweareth by himftlf, he will not fwear by any thng elfe. Will the Holy Gbofl feat? be fea!eth by himfelf, he wi!l take nothing e!fe: fo you have it Heb. 6.18. Beca11[e he could Jwear ~· 110 gretJter, he Jwart b.~ himfeif, Will he feal ? he will feal by himfelf./ There may be other Witneffes, but they are Extrauri, they have not to do with) the bargain; but (Jaith ht) it is my Witnefs. I will feal by my felf, I will re– ceive tefitmony from none, He cloth it himfelf. So naw, my BrctbreP, I have opened this thing unto you, and all that I have faid tcndeth pl~inly and cl~ulr b"t to open the words, Now I fhall come to fome Obfervations from what hath been f.1id. In the FirH p!act you fee, that the work of Faith is a difiinCl: thing, a diffe– rent thing ti·om the wurk of Affurance; that is the k>.fi that can be gathered from it, he fpeaks Of Fatth as one thing, of the je{1ti11g of the Spirit as another thing. Thofe that have held that Faith is AJTurance, and others that have held the cont~ry ; there is adouble mifiake in the point, I lhall <hew it in a word. Firfl:, It mu!\ be granted, that in all Faith there is an Aflurance; but of what ~ Of the truth of the Promife. If a man dotlbt, if he waver, (as St.Jrzmes faith:;' ;, tbe trr1th of the Promife, he wi/J never aff his Faith. Butthe Qyefiion her~ is about the affurance of a man's Interefi, that is not always in Faith. 1 Again, All Faith is an application of Chrifi; but how? It is not an applica-f t ion that Chrifi is mirte, but it is a laying hold upon Chrifl: to be mine. It is not a Logical application in way of Propofition that I may fay Chrifi is mine; bu( it is a rea! one, I p111 him 011, I t.a!t:e him to be milze, and that is the better of tlu! two. Faith, my Erethren, is difiinct from .1/jfi~ratlct. · In the Second place, The[eatil1g of the Spirit here intended, efpecially that immed iate 1\.ffurance, which is mainly aimed at; it is a light beyond the light of ordinary Faith, that ordinary Faith which a man liveth by; why ? Becaufe he makes it to be a further -:vork than believing; .1/fter ye ·believed ( faith he) ye were fealed, he makes tt a further thing; and becaufe it is •the next thing to Heaven, you have no more, you can have no more till you come thither; for you ore (e,Jied, and it is the Eart1e{l of )'our I11heritance. Faith indeed doth give the Soul up to Chrifi, it dependcth upon him, quieteth it felf io the blood of Chrifi. ' A man fee!eth the load taken off his Confcience while he believeth, and while he wafheth himfe!f in that blood, and eyeth tha! blood; but this of the [ea! of the Spirit, it is more. At the 17thverfe, (it may perhaps pr.ove the meaning of it,
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