A sermon preached to the Honourable House of Commons at their late solemn fast,…A sermon preached to the Honourable House of Commons at their late solemne fast,…

So when I believe in Christ, that habitual instinct of the grace of God, actuated and stirred up by the Spirit of God, maketh me know that I know God; and that I believe, and so that I am in Christ to my own certain feeling and apprehension; but this doth not hinder, but the assurance of my interest in Christ is made evident to me by other inferior evidences, 1 Joh. 2. 3 And hereby we know, that we know him, if we keep his Commandments. By the keeping of Gods Commandments we do not know simply that we know God by certainty of faith: But we know that we know God these two ways: 1. We know (the instinct of the new man being stirred up to action by that wind which bloweth when and where it listeth) our knowing of God to be sound ⟨p. 34⟩saving, and true. We do not so much know our knowing of God, by this supernatural sense, as we know the supernatural qualification and sincerity of our knowing of God. So that we rather know the qualification of the act, that the work is done according to God, then the act according to its substance, though we do also know it in this relation, 1 Joh. 3. 14. We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren: that is, our love to the brethren doth evidence to us, both that we are translated to the Kingdom of grace, and also it doth evidence that that translation is real, true, sincere, sound and effectual by love, and all the fruits of the Spirit. 2. By these works of sanctification we have evidence that we have interest in Christ, not as by former light, suggesting to us that the immediate impression of this great and broad Seal of the King of glory, and his personal and particular testimony is true; (for Gods Spirit needeth not another witness to add authority to what he saith,) but because this conclusion, (Thou John, Anna, hast interest to Christ to thy own feeling) must be proved by Scripture (except with Enthusiasts and fanatic Spiritualists we separate the Word and the Spirit) therefore these works of sanctification prove the conclusion consequenter by Scripture and sense, and so lead us to the word of promise, thus to prove this conclusion, (I John, Peter, Anna, have interest in Christ, to my own reflect, and private assurance;) the major proposition is made good by Scripture; the Assumption by sense; and the conclusion leadeth us to the certainty of faith in the promises: