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Be not thou envious against evil | the Father, save the Son, and he to men neither desire to be with them. whomsoever the Son will reveal him. -Prov. xxiv. 1, 2. -Matt. xi. 27.

I wrote to you in an epistle, not to company with fornicators; yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, &c. for then must ye needs go out of the world.-1 Cor. v. 9, 10; Eph. v. 5-7.

Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers, &c. What communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?-2 Cor. vi. 14, 15.

CHAPTER XVIII.

HOW MEN COME TRULY AND SPIRITU-
ALLY TO KNOW THE ONLY TRUE GOD,
AND JESUS CHRIST WHOM HE HATH

SENT; AND THE MYSTERIES OF SAL-
VATION BY HIM; TO BELIEVE IT,
BRING FORTH FRUIT, AND PERSEVERE

THEREIN, THROUGH DIFFICULTIES, TO

ETERNAL LIFE.-Mark iv. 26-28;
Luke xvii. 20, 21; xix. 1, &c.;
Matt. xii. 28.

SECT. 1.-Man, of himself, not able to do these things.

EXCEPT the Lord build the house, they labour in vain who build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.-Ps. cxxvii. 1.

Man's goings are of the Lord: how can a man then understand his own way?-Prov. xx. 24.

A deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul; nor say, Is there not a lie in? &c.Isa. xliv. 20.

O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps. -Jer. x. 23; Prov. xvi. 9.

Can the Ethiopian change his skin? &c. then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil?-Jer. xiii. 23.

No man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man

How can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? &c.-Matt. xii. 29.

A rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven, &c. It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter, &c. With men this is impossible: but with God all things are possible.-Matt. xix. 23-26; Luke xviii. 24–27.

Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, but of God, &c.-John i. 13; iii. 3, &c.

A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven.—John iii. 27.

No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him, &c. Except it were given unto him of my Father.-John vi. 44. 65.

As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me, &c. for without (or severed from) me, ye can do nothing.-John xv. 4, 5.

The carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.-Rom. viii. 7.

The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.-1 Cor. ii. 14; John viii. 43.

By the grace of God, I am that I am, &c. Not I, but the grace of God which was with me.-1 Cor. xv. 10; Gal. ii. 20.

Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God. -2 Cor. iii. 5.

The flesh lusteth against the Spirit, &c. so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.-Gal. v. 17; Rom. vii. 15. 18.

By grace are ye saved, through

faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.-Eph. ii. 8.

SECT. 2.-God in Christ, doeth all

Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance in thy name shall they re

freely; and that according to Pro-joice all the day long, &c. for thou

mise.-John xv. 1.

WHO am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? For all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee.-1 Chron. xxix. 14.

Yet the Lord hath not given you a heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day. Deut. xxix. 4.

I. In General.-Col. i. 10, 11. And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.-Deut. xxx. 6.

The hand of God was to give them one heart to do the commandment, &c. by the word of the Lord.-2 Chron. xxx. 12.

Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength. —Ps. viii. 2; Matt. xxi. 16.

Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right (or constant) spirit within me, &c. Restore to me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me by thy free spirit.-Ps. li. 10. 12.

The God of Israel is he that giveth strength and power unto his people. -Ps. lxviii. 35.

I will go in the strength of the Lord God, &c.-Ps. lxxi. 16.

Turn us again, O God, &c. Quicken us, and we will call upon thy name, &c.-Ps. lxxx. 3. 18.

I am the Lord thy God, &c. Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.Ps. lxxxi. 10.

Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee, &c. The Lord will give grace and glory; and no good thing will he withhold, &c.-Ps. lxxxiv. 5.

11.

All my springs are in thee.-Ps. lxxxvii. 7.

art the glory of their strength.-Ps. lxxxix. 15—17.

The people shall be willing in the day of thy power.-Ps. cx. 3; Exod. xxxv. 21.

Trust to the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not to thine own understanding: in all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Prov. iii. 5, 6.

The preparations (or disposings) of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, are from the Lord.— Prov. xvi. 1.

Man's goings are of the Lord.Prov. xx. 24.

Draw me, we will run after thee.Cant. i. 4; Jer. xxxi.3; Hosea xi. 3,4. He that is left in Zion, &c. shall be called holy, &c. when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, &c. by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit. of burning.—Isa. iv. 3, 4.

Thou also hast wrought all our works in us, (or for us :) by thee only will we make mention of thy name.Isa. xxvi. 12, 13.

Behold, your God will come: then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped: then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert, &c. the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs, &c. and the highway shall be there, &c. the way-faring men, though fools, shall not err therein.-Isa. xxxv. 4-8.

I, the Lord, have called thee in righteousness, &c. will give thee, &c. for a light of the Gentiles to open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prisonhouse.-Isa. xlii. 6, 7.

Look unto me, and be ye saved, all | nances, and do them.-Ezek. xi. 19, the ends of the earth: for I am God, 20; xx. 43. &c. In the Lord have I righteousness and strength.-Isa. xlv. 22. 24. That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth to them that are in darkness, Shew yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, &c. for he that hath mercy on them, shall lead them; even by the springs of water shall he guide them.-Isa. xlix. 9, 10. The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound.Isa. lxi. 1, 2.

Return, &c. and I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come unto thee. Jer. iii. 22.

I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart. Jer. xxiv. 7.

With loving-kindness I have drawn thee, &c. Turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the Lord my God. Surely, after that I was turned, I repented after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh, &c. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant, &c. I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts, &c. and they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, &c. -Jer. xxxi. 3. 18, 19. 31-34; Heb. viii. 8-11; x. 15-17.

I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, &c. I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.-Jer. xxxii. 39, 40; Ps. lxxxvi. 11.

Turn thou us unto thee, O Lord; and we shall be turned.-Lam. v. 21. I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes, and keep my ordi

Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean, &c. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you and I will take away the stony heart, &c. and I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes: and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them, &c. I will also save you from all your uncleanness, &c. Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities.-Ezek. xxxvi. 25–29. 31; xvi. 61. 63; xxxvii. 14. 23-28.

I taught Ephraim to go, &c. I drew them with the cords of a man, &c.-Hosea xi. 3, 4.

I will strengthen them in the Lord, and they shall walk up and down in his name.-Zech. x. 12.

I will pour upon the house of David, &c. the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him.Zech. xii. 10.

The Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come, &c. and he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord, &c.— Mal. iii. 1—4.

Jesus did but bid the fishermen follow him, and straightway they left all, and followed him.-Matt. iv. 18-22.

Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.-Matt. v. 6; Luke i. 53.

They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick, &c. For I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.-Matt. ix. 12, 13; xi. 28.

The kingdom of God is come unto you. Or else how can one enter? &c. except he first bind the strong man,

and then he will spoil his house.Matt. xii. 28, 29; Luke xvii. 20, 21. The Son of man is come to save that which was lost. How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray; doth he not leave, &c. and seeketh that which is gone astray? Even so, it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.-Matt. xviii. 11-14; Luke xix. 10.

Which were born, not of blood, &c. but of God, &c. Of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.John i. 13. 16; 1 Pet. i. 23; Col. i. 19. Except a man be born again, (or from above,) he cannot see the kingdom of God, &c. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.-John iii. 3. 5. 7, 8.

For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will, &c. The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and they that hear shall live. John v. 21. 25.

All that the Father giveth me, shall come to me and him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out, &c. No man can come to me, except the Father, which hath sent me, draw him, &c. Every man therefore that hath heard and learned of the Father, cometh unto me, &c. It is the spirit that quickeneth: the flesh profiteth nothing. John vi. 37. 44, 45. 63.

God sent Jesus to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities. Acts iii. 26.

Jesus, &c. him hath God exalted with his right hand; to be a Prince, and a Saviour; for to give repentance to Israel, &c.-Acts v. 30, 31.

God gave them the like gift as he did unto us, &c. They glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life. Now they which were scattered, &c.

spake unto the Grecians, &c. and the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number believed, and turned unto the Lord.-Acts xi. 17 -21.

And now, brethren, I recommend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.-Acts xx. 32.

Paul having made complaint of himself, saith, O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me? &c. I thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. -Rom. vii. 15. 18, 19. 21. 24, 25.

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I was found of them that sought me not: I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me.-Rom. x. 20.

Christ, &c. wrought by me, to make the Gentiles obedient by word, &c.— Rom. xv. 18.

That no flesh should glory, &c. but of him are ye in Christ Jesus.-1 Cor. i. 29, 30.

I have planted, and Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.-1 Cor. iii. 6, 7.

There are diversities of operations; but it is the same God which worketh all in all.-1 Cor. xii. 6.

But by the grace of God, I am what I am, &c. I laboured, &c. yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.-1 Cor. xv. 10; Gal. i. 15.

If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature, &c. But all these things are of God, &c.-2 Cor. v. 17, 18.

The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God, to the pulling down of strong holds, casting down imaginations, &c.2 Cor. x. 4, 5.

I live yet not I, but Christ liveth in me and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith.-Gal. ii. 20.

What is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward, who believe, &c. -Eph. i. 19, 20; Col. i. 11-13.

We are his workmanship, created

in Christ Jesus unto good works, | things may be glorified, through Jesus which God hath before ordained, &c. Christ.-1 Pet. iv. 10, 11. -Eph. ii. 10; Col. iii. 10, 11.

But unto every one of us is given grace, according to the measure of the gift of Christ.-Eph. iv. 7.

Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, &c.-Eph. vi. 10, 11, &c.

Work out your own salvation, &c. For it is God who worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Phil. ii. 12, 13.

I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.-Phil. iv. 13.

The very God of peace sanctify you wholly, &c. and that your whole spirit, and soul, and body, be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord, &c. faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.-1 Thess. v. 23, 24.

Giving thanks unto the Father, who hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son.-Col. i. 12, 13.

In meekness instructing, &c. If God peradventure will give them repentance to the, &c.-2 Tim. ii. 25, 26.

The just shall live by faith, &c.Heb. x. 38.

Now the God of peace, &c. make you perfect in every good work, to do his will; working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ.-Heb. xiii. 20, 21; 1 Thess. v. 23, 24.

Every good and perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variableness, &c.-James i. 17.

As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth, that God in all

II. In Particular: God gives the Knowledge of himself, Jesus Christ, and of the Mystery of Salvation by him, in the Gospel; and of our Duty.

Yet the Lord hath not given you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day.Deut. xxix. 4.

There is a spirit in man; and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth him understanding. Great men are not always wise: neither do the aged understand judgment.-Job xxxii. 8, 9; Ps. xciv. 10; Job xxxviii. 36.

Behold, God, &c. Who teacheth like him?-Job xxxvi. 22; xxxviii. 36.

Good and upright is the Lord, therefore will he teach sinners in the way: the meek will he guide in judgment, and the meek will he teach his way, &c. What man is he that feareth the Lord? him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose, &c. The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant.-Ps. xxv. 8, 9. 12. 14.

I will instruct thee, and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: and I will guide thee with mine eye.Ps. xxxii. 8; xxiii. 3.

O send out thy light, and thy truth: let them lead me, let them bring me unto thy holy hill.-Ps. xliii. 3, 4. Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law, &c. Teach me, O Lord, the way of thy statutes, and I shall keep it unto the end: give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law.-Ps. cxix. 18. 33, 34. 125; lxxxvi. 11.

Cause me to know the way wherein I should walk: for I lift up my soul unto thee.-Ps. cxliii. 8.

He shewed his word unto Jacob; his statutes and his judgments unto Israel.-Ps. cxlvii. 19.

Wisdom crieth, &c. How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity?

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