Secondly, All things needful to life and godliness, 2 Peter i. 3. Thirdly, All things needful to their places, callings, sexes, ages, and conditions.
1 Cf. Works, by Yonge, vol. i. pp. 378, aeq.—Gc. * « 1 Cor. vi. 9-11 ; 1 Tim. iv. 1 ; John xvi. 26 ; Isa. xlviii. 17 ; Eceles. xi. 6. . ' [NcU. Hist."] Lib. xi. cap. ix. [viz., Aristomachus of Soli. — Q.]
228 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN. [MaT. VI. 6.
Fourthly, All things needful for you to know to preserve you in the truth, and to preserve you from being deluded and seduced by those false teachers of whom he speaks, 1 John ii. verses 10, 19, 22, 23, 26. And certainly this is the main thing that John hints at in that expres- sion. The ' all things' spoken of in ver. 27, according* to the ordi- nary Scripture style, must necessarily be interpreted only of all those things which are there spoken of. But,
[6.] Sixthly, They are all comforted by the Spirit ;' Acts ix. 31, ' They walked in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost ;' Rom. xiv. 17, ' For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost ;' 1 Thes. i. 6, * And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost.' Not that all Christians have always actual comfort, actual joy. Oh no ! For as the air is sometimes clear and sometimes cloudy, and as the sea is some- times ebbing and sometimes flowing ; so the comforts and joys of the people of God are sometimes ebbing and sometimes flowing, sometimes clear and sometimes cloudy.
Hudson the martyr being deserted at the stake, went from under his chain ; and having prayed earnestly, was comforted immediately, and suffered valiantly.^
So Mr Glover the martyr was deserted in prison , but as he was going to the stake he looked back, and cried out to his friend, 'He is come, he is come,' meaning the Comforter, and so he laid down his life with joy.*
Rachel wept, and would not be comforted ; she gave so much way to weeping, that she would not give the least way to comfort ; and so it is many times with the choicest saints, ' My soul refused to be com- forted,' Ps. Ixxvii. 2. It is not my purpose at present to insist on the several ways whereby the people of God refuse comfort, and fall short of those strong consolations which God is willing that they should re- ceive. The sun may operate where it doth not shine, and a man may be in a state of salvation, and yet want consolation ; a man may fear the Lord, and obey the voice of his servant, and yet walk in darkness and see no light, Isa. 1. 10. There is no Christian but may sometimes have trouble in his conscience, and grief in his heart, and tears in his eyes, and fears and questionings in his soul, whether God be his Father, and whether Christ be his redeemer, and whether mercy belongs to him, yea, whether any promise in the book of God belongs to him? &c. Joy and comfort are those dainties, those sweetmeats of heaven, that God doth not every day feast his people with, Ps. xxx. 6, 7 ; every day is not a wedding day, nor every day is not a harvest day, nor every day is not a summer's day. The fatted calf is not killed every day, nor the robe and the ring is not every day put on ; every day is not a festival day nor a dancing day, Luke xv. 22, 23 ; Eccles. iii. 4 ; Rom. xii. 15. As there is a time to sing, so there is a time to sigh ; as there is a time to laugh, so there is a time to weep ; and as there is a time to dance, so there is a time to mourn. All tears will never be clear wiped from our eyes till all sin be quite taken out of our hearts. But notwithstanding ail this, yet gracious souls have always sure and choice grounds of con- solation ; they have the promises, they have the ' first-fruits of the
» John xiv. 16, 26, xv. 26, and xvi. 7. » Clarke, as before.— G. ^ Ibid.— G.
Mat. VI. 6.] the privy key of heaven. 229
Spirit,' they have union with Christ, and they have right to eternal life, though they have not always sensible comforts. The children of God have always cause to exercise faith and hope on God in their darkest condition, though they have not always actual joy and consolation, Job xiii. 15, Ps. xlii. 5. The Comforter always abides with the saints, though he doth not always actually comfort the saints, John i. 1 6. The Spirit many times carries on his sanctifying work in the soul when he doth not carry on his comforting work in the soul ; the Spirit many times acts in a way of humiliation when he doth not act in a way of consolation ; the Spirit many times fills the soul with godl}'' sorrow when he doth not fill the soul with holy joy. The actings of the Spirit, as to his comforting work, are all of his own sovereign will and pleasure ; and therefore he may abide in the soul when he doth not actually comfort the soul. But,
[7.] Seventhly, The people of God, first or last, are sealed by the Spirit : Eph. i. 13, 'In whom, after ye believed, ye were sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise.'' The nature of sealing consists in the imparting of the image or character of the seal to the thing sealed. To seal a thing is to stamp the character of the seal on it. Now, the Spirit of God doth really and effectually communicate the image of God to us, which image consists in riorhteousness and true holiness. Then are we truly sealed by the Spirit of God when the Holy Ghost stamps the image of grace and holiness so obviously, so evidently upon the soul, as that the soul sees it, feels it, and can run and read it ; then the soul is sealed by the Holy Spirit. So Eph. iv. 30, ' And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.' The per- son of the Holy Ghost is here set forth in the Greek with a very great energy, such as our tongue is not able fully to express.
Here are three words, that have three articles, every word his several article by itself, '■^ wixjiia, rh aym, roZ 3 gov, the Spirit, not a Spirit ; and not holy, but the holy; nor of God, but of thxit God : 2 Cor. i. 22, 'Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.* In these scriptures you see that the Spirit is a seal Now, a seal among men is.
Secondly, For distinction.
Tliirdly, For authority.
Fourthly, For certainty. A writing sealed is authentic ; and for en- suring.
In the three texts last cited, if you compare them together, you may observe these six things :
First, The person sealing, and that is, the Father.
Secondly, In whonj, in Christ.
Thirdly, With what seal, the Spirit of promise. Where are all the persons in the Trinity making us sure of our inheritance.
Fourthly, When, after ye believed.
Fifthly, The end, which is twofold:
(1.) Suhordinaie, and that is the certainty of our salvation ;
• These words, saith Zanchy [Zanchins]. are a metaphor taken from merchants, who having bought goods, seal them as their own. and so transport them to other places Eph.iv. 24.