to theEPH ESI AN S. . ' • N w then if you will know what Sealmg holderh forth more efpeCially, it 1s ~ the :ark u'p~h the Underfiandirigl.. _The Seat, though1t aflureth, yet a is not Srr.XVll . plltt'of the Inheritance; bu~ th_ehtJmef/fo alfu_reth as lt g1veth you parr of the v-Y"J Inheritapce; it works that JOY, m~he h~au,, wluch the Samts !hall have m Heaven You have bdth thefe mentioned m A./fora11ce m fame places of Scnpture. • Th; W:6Yk of Affurance upon the Unaerfiandlng, (that IS properfy{-atmg.) Cot. 2 2 ·it ls called J-AUi;>oei< ;;, '""'""'•th~ full a.ffomni! o[UJJde~f/tz•dmg; fo Hrb,, o, 2~; it is called r!ieftdJ_affurmtce of. 'I!mth. It is ~n ovcrpowring l!ght,whereby a man'~U~derfianamg 1s fully convmcea that he Is Gods and that God IS h1s ; as God k'lmwtth who are;h1s, he kno·wetli.f1imfelf to be God's. That is foatmg roperly or more eminently. No\v what~~ Ear!l.}i? It is • giving you part 111 ~and, part of that joy and comfort, t~at tafie of ,Heaven, Wlien he thusjea!ezh he accortlpameth it wnh a tafie, wnh;'!)l tinfptakable a11d glorw11s. It is a part taken up before-ha_nd_, as Heirs take up Many upon the~r. Lands before-hand. ft is not a bare conv1chon that a man !hall go to He~vep; b~t· God telleth hm1111. part what Heaven is, and lets the Soul feel it. There is nothing fweeter than the Love of God, and the tafiing Of that fweetnefs is the EatneJI, rf the !tJheritancr. • h , - I fhall give you Scripture tHat holds wrt bath thefe. Look into Pfal. 4· there firfi you have the work upoh tlie tinderllanding of a man, verf. 6, Lord lift tho" "P the light of thy countmance up01z tJs ; then folldweth the work u1;ori the Will, ver(. 7, Thou hafl ftlt glad11e[s '."my heart; fanh he, more thmz m the time that thrir Cor11 atJd their Wme mcreafed. In Colof[.2. 2.'JOU have twd things mentioned, you have firfi that their hearts mt!J be comfoi·ted, there is the Earne(/'of the Spirit_; then you have, unt9_all riches. of the full ajfilraftce uf tmderflanding, tflere IS the Seal of the Sptrzt. The Spmt, .7oh.J4· as promifcd by Chri!i, is called bot~ aComforttr and the Spirit of Tmth;. the one for 'work– ing upo~ the WIIJ, P?ttmg comfort there, the other for wotkmg llpor; t_he Un· dedland1ilg, convmcmg that. 1 The[[.r. 5, 6, compared, there IS recnv.wg rhe Word In much affitrmtce, that is_the work upon tlle Undetfianding; and tbere is with}'!>' in the Holy Ghojl, that 1s the work upon the W11l and Affections. H:rt: is Sea!iltg, here IS Eamejl. . Ybu fi1all find in r Pet.r.S,g. he had faid, ti?at _6elievi•tg, they re)o;•ced «»ith j'!)l tmjptaka6Je midfull ofglo>:J', (therefore th1s 1s no Jefs than Heaven, part of Heaven. When Pattl was m Heaven, what d1d he hear? Thi11gs unfpe,li:able : fo is this Joy; and it is called glorio11s, becaufe it is a part of Heaven:) here now is the Ear11rj/ of the Spmt. Yea, 1f you obfcrve the phrafo rhat fol!oweth in the gth verfe; Receiving (faith he) the md ofJ'Otlr Fmth, .the fatv.ttioll of your Souls. I find that the befi E·l<pofitors i.nterpret this receiving of J'.dvrtlioTt not to be niean~;jof Heatmt, for then he would have fa id, you}h..!! t·eceive S11l· .•vati011; but to be meant of Af{urance, which is the md of Faith ', it is the re. wardof Faith. When am·an hath been long tried 1 (th.e trial of) 'Oifr Faith, which he fpeal<s of ver[.7.) in the end he cometh to be alfured, he receiveth the· end of his Faith, which is the alfuran~e of the falvation of his Soul. Why' is it eallccfSalvation? It is Heaven, my Brethren, that is tile reafon of it,.- So now you fee, what is meant by the Ear11ef{of thr Spirit; both in reiped of Alfurance and alfo in refpect of alfuring the thing, and the we1rk of Alfutance, I fhall now come to forrie Ob(ervations. The lirfi Obfervatidn js. this: 06ferv. z. . There IS no falhng fre1m Grace; why? Becatife the gift of ,the Holy Ghof/,and Ius Graces, and the ~ork of A:lfurance, they are an Ean;efl. Pledgu irideed are refiored agam; 1f he wer7 only a Pledge e1r a Pawn it were fomething, but he is (aid robe an Eahu(l. Now~ what faith Chrlfi, .7oh,r 4 .I6? 1 will give– you tbr Comforter, that he m'!Yalnrle wtth you for rver ; never to l)e returned' aga1o, as you know an Earnefi ISnot. . The truth is ~his; If men, to whom he g_iveth tbe Spirit, il10uld not befaved, God mufi lofe b1s Eamtjl, he mufi Jofe his Spirit. As he would not lole the c,leath of his Son, that he ihould die in vain ; fo he will not Jofe his Spirit, whom he giveth as an Er1rnejl unto Believers.luka0.42. Sairh Chrifi to Mary, Thott h.Jfl chofon the bmer part,whichjha/lnever 6t f[Jkellj;·om ther, Secondly,
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