A treatise of delighting in God from Psal. xxxvij. 4. Delight thy self also…

That he never says any thing in this matter by his Spirit to the hearts of men, repugnant to what the same Spirit hath said in his Word; Or, That he doth not say a new or a diverse thing from what he hath said there for their assurance: that is, That he never testifies to any person by his Spirit that he is accepted and beloved of him, who may at the same time be concluded by his publicly-extant constitutions in his Word to be in a state of non-acceptance and disfavour; or concerning whom the same thing (viz. his acceptance) might not be concluded by his Word, if it were duly applied to his case. Hereby the most momentous danger in this matter is avoided; For if that Principle be forelaid, enough ⟨p. 108⟩is done to preclude the vain boasts of such as may be apt to pretend highly to great manifestations of divine love, while they carry with them manifest proofs of an unsanctified heart, and are under the power of unmortified reigning sin. That Principle admitted, will convince that their boasted manifestations, do only manifest their own ignorance, pride and vanity; or proceed only from their heated imagination, or (the worse cause) Satanical illusion, designed to lull them asleep in sin, and the more easily to lead them blind-fold to perdition. And this is the main concernment about which we need to be solicitous in this matter: which being provided for; as it is difficult, so it is not necessary to determine, whether the Spirit do always not only testify according to the external revelation, but by it also; and so only as to concur in the usual way of reasoning from it.

That he never says any thing in this matter by his Spirit to the hearts of men, repugnant to what the same Spirit hath said in his Word; Or, That he doth not say a new or a diverse thing from what he hath said there for their assurance: that is, That he never testifies to any person by his Spirit that he is accepted and beloved of him, who may at the same time be concluded by his publiquely-extant constitutions in his Word to be in a state of non-acceptance and disfavour; or concerning whom the same thing (viz. his acceptance) might not be concluded by his Word, if it were duly applied to his case. Hereby the most momentous danger in this matter is avoided; For if that Principle be forelaid, enough ⟨p. 108⟩is done to preclude the vain boasts of such as may be apt to pretend highly to great manifestations of divine love, while they carry with them manifest proofs of an unsanctified heart, and are under the power of unmortified reigning sin. That Principle admitted, will convince that their boasted manifestations, do only manifest their own ignorance, pride and vanity; or proceed only from their heated imagination, or (the worse cause) Satanical illusion, designed to lull them asleep in sin, and the more easily to lead them blind-fold to perdition. And this is the main concernment about which we need to be solicitous in this matter: which being provided for; as it is difficult, so it is not necessary to determine, whether the Spirit do always not only testifie according to the external revelation, but by it also; and so only as to concur in the usual way of reasoning from it.