The Gospel treasury opened, or, The holiest of all unvailing discovering yet more the riches of grace and glory to the vessels of mercy unto whom onely it is given to know the mysteries of that kingdom and the excellency of spirit, power, truth above letter, forms, shadows / in several sermons preached at Kensington & elswhere by John Everard ; whereunto is added the mystical divinity of Dionysius the Areopagite spoken of Acts 17:34 with collections out of other divine authors translated by Dr. Everard, never before printed in English.

Qualification 1.

The first is this, That God is in you, although you know it not; as you know there are in us all ••hose parts, those organs and instruments of life by which we breath and live, as Nerves, Arteries, Sinews, Bones; &c. whereof though most of us do not know their particular names and uses, and how knit together, and whereof we have daily and minutely use of: And if any of you be Ar∣••ists in the body of Man, you can discourse there∣of, and delineate plainly the use and exercise of them.

And as Iohn said concerning Christ, There is one in the midst of you whom you know not, Ioh. 1. 26.* 1.1 I say so of you, there is one among you, and yet alas, you see him not, you know him not: and as God said to Moses, Exod. 6. 3.* 1.2 By my name Al∣mighty, was I known unto your fathers: but by my name Jehovah was I not known unto them. I was the same then, but by that name they knew me not. So God is the same in himself, but he is not manifested to thee, nor in thee; that is, he lives not in thee (as to thee), to thy sight and know∣ledge.

So likewise the Patriarchs and Prophets before Christ, they knew him but not as we do now; they knew him by the name MESSIAH to come, and by the promised seed, and to be He in whom all Nations should be blessed; by these names

they knew him then; but not by the Messiah come, The Messiah born, the Messiah crucified, the Messiah risen again, the Messiah ascended. A∣braham, saith Christ, desired to see my day, and he saw it and was glad. Ioh. 8.* 1.3 He saw it fifteen hun∣dred years before, but not as we see it.

But these things are somewhat too high, and you cannot conceive (it may be) what I mean by these expressions. But I shall come lower to your capacities, and shall make you acquainted with these hidden things, and make them familiar to you.

Saith our Saviour to Nicodemus,* 1.4 (he was one that wanted teaching, for all he himself was a Teacher in Israel; Christ began to reason with him of High and Hidden and Mysterious things) Except a man be born again, he cannot see the King∣dom of God; Christ was now too high for him: See (for all he was such a great and learned man among the Jews) what an ignorant and a fleshly answer he makes Christ, Can a man enter into his mothers womb and be born again? Christ falls lower to his understanding; (saith he) That which is born of flesh is ••lesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit: He falls lower still, to fami∣liar comparisons to make him understand; Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again. The wind (now I am in thy element wherein thou un∣derstandest, even among the creatures) It bloweth whither it listeth, and thou hearest the sound, but knowest not whence it cometh or whither it goeth; so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

So, would you know of me how far these high truths may be dispensed with, and what is the lowest degree in grace you must come to, if ye would be saved? Thus; though God call you not to that degree of suffering, as he doth some others; yet there ought to be a propension and an Affecti∣on to it, to aim at it, though you reach it not. As a child is a reasonable creature as well as the lusti∣est man, and the fullest grown man; and we do not exclude it from the name of a man, or from the nature of a man: for he will be a man in time, he hath all the parts and lineaments of a man, and he is growing and intends towards a man. So neither do we exclude those Christians that are w••aklings and Babes in Christ, neither from the name, nor from the hope of Christians, though they be but Babes, and have not that strength as perfect and strong men in Christ have: You know men can reason and discourse of things to our under∣standings, and can tell you the reason of their strength and growth; we do not expect this in children.

Our Saviour calls the woman of Canaan no better then a Dog, a whelp; truth (said she) though I am so, yet Lord the whelps eat of the crumbs under their Masters table:* 1.5 know this, the best Christians are but Whelps, meer puppies and weaklings in comparison of their Master and of that they should be, and eat but the crumbs, the scraps that fall from their Masters table in that regard: Alas what poor, ungrown, unshapen crea∣tures are they, in comparison of their head, the

Lord Jesus Christ? and what fragments do we live upon, to those dainties he would find us and feed us with, if we were but capable or fit for them? So, though we find not in our selves that strength and growth that should be, yet be not discouraged, so you find but a propension and dispo∣sition toward these things, and to grow as much as you can, then be sure, Christ will perfect that dis∣position in his due time.

Notes

• * 1.1

  John 1. 26.
• * 1.2

  Exodus 6. 3.
• * 1.3

  John 8.
• * 1.4

  John 3. 6.
• * 1.5

  Mat. 15. 27.