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Show Whether every true believer ~no'/Peth the voice ofChrift. word, and will of God,is our Rule,our Compafs; we can fail by no other, aCl: by no other; what-ever our Confdence tells us it the .,;U of God, we ought to do, wha~thJOy.~ell us is not the voice of our Beloved, or is contrary to the voice of our Beloved, that we cannot helze~e, we cannot do. Let all the men of the world tell us it it the voice of our beloved, I fay we cannot do it, unlefs we fee it ~ith our own eyes, and hear it with our own ears, and have it evidenced from our own Confciences. we are not beafis but men and to be led by Gods Word, and our own Reafon working up~n it and can follow no other Rule; our Coofcienccs mufi fay unto us: It H tbtvotce o[ our Beloved, or we cannot ad; much lefs if they fay fo far as we ~an by tefiimony hear and difcern , '[be voice •f ou; Beloved 11 !JHtte contrary. I would not be mifiaken,as ifl thought that we mufi have a_ letter of Scripture for every parti~ular action, I _do allow the JUfi reafon ~nd confequcnces of Scripture, and do beheve, that what can by plam and true inference be concluded from Scripture by the uii: of our Reafon, ought ;o be looked· upon by _us as the will of God, ~nd the voice ofChrifi:-1 only fay, That thts wrU of God, and vorce of Cbriff whether read and heard in the plain letter of Scripture, fo that'be who runneth may. read, or cogcluded by inference, it mufi be feen with our own eyes,. and read by our [elves; and it is no fufficient evidence to any S~ul1 to fouud the lea(\ praCl:ke upon, that the Pope, or a Counctl, or the Church, &c. faith, It is the voice 'o[Chri{h And fo muc~ fi'r this great quefiion: I come now to the third• How it doth appear that the true Spoufe of Chrifi doth know his voice and reioyce in it; and is glad of it that is is generally able, to difcer~ truth from error, and the Motlont, Suggefriont, and Impref!iont whtch are from the Spirit of Chrifi, from thofe which are from our [elves, or from the evil Spirit; that is, r. 1hat through the affiftanee of Grace fhe ~noR>t it ; and, 2. GeneraUy, and Ordinarily lhe k.,nowJ it, though not infaUibly. I _anfwer-, r, It appeareth from the evideme of Scripture; 1~h.Io. ~4. lknow !I}Y fheep,faith our Saviour, and am ~nown of m~ne. Samt P~1tl prayed for the PhtbpiaHt, Pbtl. r. 1 o. that they . ~light try the things that diflered,(we tran!late it approve tbethints tlfat' ar~ excellent--; . but· your Margcnts of the Bible jullify that tr~nOatton~ ). I q~oted to you thoft Scriptures before which 'on· tatn the promtfe of the Spirit, to teach Gods people all things to lt4d them into aU'.trulb', indeed all thole palfages of,the N;P- . Trftament, Whether everj true Believe!' ~11oweth the voice ofChri.fl. _ Te~a"':"!• which fpeakofthe Spirit of God, as having received the Sputt, and as having the Spirit dwelling in them, prove this truth. To this purpofc are thofe other Texts, I[>. 54· 1 3· AU thy children JhaU be taught of Gad. John 7. t 7. If any rna~ will do hu rrrtU that [int mr, he jhaU k.,now my doUrinr, whether it be nf God or no. Pfalm 2 5. I 4· The ficrtt oft he Lord i1 with them tbat f ear him. 1 Cor.2:I5· _He that it JPiritu>l judgetb aU tl;ing,; Mattb. 13.1 1. To ' ou tl H grven 10 k.,now the myfterin oft he Ki•gdom ofhe4· ven. I John 5· 6. TheSpiritbeareth witne{Sbrwt[i the Spirit il truth; ver. 10. He that b<lieveth on the Sm·'of God bllh thit n>it· nefi ~H bimfrlf. Obj. Will any one fay, Wlw then? Cdllllot a Believer br m~i1a%e~? Sol . . I anfwered before that he may. God his Spirit leavmg hu~ to htm~elf, and not allifiing. Obj. Will fame fay , ~hat then, H tvery prrvate Believer a bit to determinethe truth of God maUthrngt 1 I anfwer, There are fame Propofitions of truth, not ne~elfary for us ~o believe one way or other in order to our Sa_lvatton, or accordmg to -yhich we are not obliged to any pra· - Cl:ICe; But a_s to all Propofittons o~ truth,nece.ffaryto be believed, or to be R,_nown rn ordtr lo any praflice ofotm, which is to be founded upon them; Every true Believer (fuppo!ing the ordinary atllfiance of the. Spirit o_f Chrifi & ufe of mea~s) doth or may know what is the wtll ofChrtfi as to them:and this ts the fenfe ofthefeScriptures. 2. _It appea~eth further~ from the necellity of Jucb a k.,noR>Iedg anddi{cm11ng m o~derto bu Salvation: believing, and a foUowi~g of Chrz/ft.vo!ce?are thmgs abfolutely necelfaryto any Souls Salvation. Now ~t IS tmpo_lli?l~ that a Soul fhould have a power to believe the votce of Chnfl tf 1t doth not know it and be not able to dilllnguifh it from another. There is no tru~ Faith in any propofition of truth but mull be the affint •[the mind to it for the Divine .Authority of it. Every alfent to a Propofitio~ is not true Faith: But when a man alfenteth to a propofition of truth, becaufe God hath fpoken it, this now is divine foitb ; So that the Soul mufi know and difcern the voice of Chrill or it can never brlitve it. It is not enough that others tell us, Thit iJ the 11oic: of Cbri./1, for then we alfent to it becaufe they fay fo. Again to foUow th1 voice· o[Chri[f, is necelfary to Salvation , but none is' able to foUo, it that is not able to know, and difcern whether it be the voice of Chrifl or no. Belides, Chrifi .hath foretold us, that in the latter days many falfe Teachers iliould arife, and fhould fay to fame, Hm it Cbri[f; Others, there i4 Chrift, Now, fuppo!ing Belie• vus |