though there are starrs of divers magnitudes differing from one another in glory yet every star hath its beauty and benefit So though some Promises are more glorious than others like the Sun in comparison of the Moon yet every promise hath its beauty and lustre and as star-light in a dark night is very comfortable so in the dark night of affliction every little promise will afford unspeakable comfort to a troubled soul. To help you in making this Catalogue give mee leave to suggest three things 1 Bee sure to make it in time of health Woe bee to those that have their promises to gather when they should make use of them You that sleight the promises in prosperity shall receive no comfort from them in adversity 2 Forget not to treasure up all those promises which God hath made to his children in the day of their adversity As for example God hath promised in all our afflictions to bee with us Isa. 43. 2. When thou passest through the waters I will bee with thee and through the Rivers they shall not overflow thee c. hee will bee with you to protect and direct you to support and comfort you If three Saints bee put into the fiery Furnace the Son of God will make the fourth Dan. 3. 25. 2 God will be afflicted in all our afflictions Isa. 63. 9. he suffers in all our sufferings Act. 9. 4. 3 Hee will make our beds in our sicknesses Psal. 41. 3. hee will condescend to the lowest office for our ease and refreshment 4 Hee will know our souls in adversity Psal. 31. 7. hee will know us to pitty us and to succour and to help us 5 Hee will keep us from the evill of all afflictions Job 5. 19. God hath not promised to keep his people from afflictions but to keep them from the hurt of them Though they are not good in themselves yet hee will turne them to our good Heb. 12. 10. 1 Cor. 11. 32. Ier. 24. 5. The good Figs were carried into Captivity for their good God hath promised that all things shall worke together for our good Rom. 8. 28. not only all Ordinances c. but all Afflictions c. 6 God hath promised to lay no more upon us than wee are able to bear but either to give us less pain or greater patience 1 Cor. 10. 13. And though in a little wrath hee hide his face from us for a moment yet with everlasting kindness will he have mercy on us c. Isa. 54. 7 8. These and many such like Promises will bee as so many spiritual Cordials to revive our fainting spirits and as so many Pillars to uphold us under the greatest Affliction 3 For the compleating of this Catalogue you may make use of many excellent Books written for this purpose wherein you shall have Promises of all kindes both spiritual and temporal gathered together Yet let mee advise you not to rest satisfied with the Collections of others but when you read the Bible and meet with a suitable promise with which God is pleased to affect your hearts take the pains to write it down and one such promise of your own writing will work more powerfully upon your souls than many others of anothers gathering So much for the first viz. Make a Catalogue of the Promises The End of the third Sermon AN ADVERTISEMENT TO THE READER Reader THis and the following Sermon contains a large Discourse about the Promises which because it may bee thought by some to bee impertinent to the Text and rather a Digression from it than an explication of it I crave leave to informe thee of two things 1 That the Promises are the Principal grounds of Comfort to a Childe of God in the day of his Adversity They are his chiefe City of Refuge when all Creature-comforts faile when hee suffers Ship-wrack of all humane props these are his Planks upon which hee swims safe to the shoar of Heaven All Comfort that is not founded upon a Promise is Delusion not true Consolation And therefore a Discourse about them cannot rationally bee interpreted Eccentrical to the Text. 2 That there are diverse particulars added to these Sermons concerning the Nature Necessity Excellency and Vsefulness of the Promises which were not mentioned in the preaching of them And if any of them shall appeare to bee Heterogenial to the Text yet if they prove serviceable to heighten thy esteeme of the Promises and to quicken thee to a more serious and frequent Meditation on them and Application of them I hope thou art not at all injured And I may justly desire that thou wouldest not bee offended It is reported of Saint Austin in his life written by Possidius that by a digression in one of his Sermons from his Text hee converted an Hereticke from his erroneous Opinions If any passage in these two Sermons prove usefull to turne thee from thy sinfull Negligence and to awaken thee to a more diligent study of the precious Promises I shall account it a happy and blessed Digression For herein especially consisteth the difference betweene a Religious Christian and a Moral Man A Morâ—l Man will abstaine from the outward acts of sinne But hee knowes not what it is to live upon Promises Hee never tasted any sweetnesse in a Promise Hee lives upon Creatures not upon Promises and therefore when Creatures faile his heart sinkes like a stone and hee is at his Wits end and Faiths end But a Religious Christian lives upon Promises and not upon Creatures and therefore when Creatures faile hee hath the Promises to live on Hee labours to taste the sweetnesse that is in them Hee lives upon Promises when Providence seemes to run crosse to Promises They are his fiery Chariot to carry him up to Heaven If then these ensuing Sermons inflame thy affections with a greater love to the Promises and a greater care to meditate on them and to get an interest in them thou hast cause to bless God and to pray for Thy unworthy Servant in Christ ED. CALAMY MEDITATE ON THE Promises SERMON IV. PSAL. 119. 92. Unless thy Law had been my Delights I should then have perished in mine Afflictions HEE that would improve the Promises so as to make them Spiritual Bladders to keep him from being drowned in the deep waters of Affliction must not only make a Catalogue of the Promises but hee must also 2 Fixedly and seriously meditate on them first hee must treasure up these Iewels in his heart and then unlock them by meditation first hee must make his Nose-gay and then smell of it The Word of God as I have said is as a Garden full of excellent Promises as so many choice flowers And it is our duty to walk often in this Garden to gather up all the flowers that lye scattered in it into several Nose-gayes to binde them together if I may so speake with the threed of Faith and then every day to smell of them The Promises are the Saints
unmerciful and an uncharitable man is a wicked and an ungodly man Let it bee the care of all those amongst you who are rich in estate to be rich in good works Let every man lay up for the poor according as God hath prospered him remembering that saying of Christ. Come yee blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdome prepared for you from the foundation of the world For I was an hungred and yee gave mee meat I was thirsty and yee gave mee drink I was a stranger and yee took mee in naked and yee cloathed mee I was sick and yee visited mee I was in prison and yee came unto mee 14 Take heed of separating from the publick Assemblies of the Saints I have found by experience that all our Church-calamities have sprung from this root Hee that separates from the publick worship is like a man tumbling down a hill and never leaving till hee comes to the bottome of it I could relate many sad stories of persons professing godliness who out of dislike to our Church-meetings began at first to separate from them and after many changes and alterations are turned some of them Anabaptists some Quakers some Ranters some direct Atheists But I forbear you must hold communion with all those Churches with which Christ holds communion you must separate from the sins of Christians but not from the Ordinances of Christ. Take heed of unchurching the Churches of Christ lest you prove Schismaticks instead of being true Christians 15 Though you never live to see the times setled yet labour to get your consciences setled Pray for the Spirit of Truth to guide you into all Truth in these erring dayes Remember that saying of Christ If thine eye bee evil thy whole body shall bee full of darknesse if therefore the light that is in you bee darkness how great is that darkness God hath given you your understandings to be the guide of the whole man As the Eye is the guide of the body and the Sun of the world so is the understanding of the man therefore you must in praying pray that God would give you a right understanding in all things Pray not onely for the grace of Sanctification but ofâ— Illumination Avoid as soul-poyson all Doctrines 1 Which tend to liberty open a door to prophaneness and are contrary to godliness 2 Which hold forth a superstitious strictness above what is required in the Woâ—d 3 Which are Antimagistratical and Antiministerial 4 Which lift up corrupt nature and exalt unsanctified reason 5 Which preach free-grace to the utter ruine of good works 6 Which lessen the priviledges of Infants and makes their condition worse under the New Testament than under the Old 7 Which are contrary to the Analogy of Faith the ten Commandements and the Lords Prayer 16 Take heed lest being led away with the errour of the wicked you fall from your own sted fastness Take heed of a threefold Apostacy of which this Nation is deeply guilty Of Apostacy 1 In your Judgements from the Truths of Christ and from the Faith once delivered to the Saints 2 In your Affections from that ancient love desire and delight which the Saints of God have had heretofore and you your selves once had in and towards the Ordinances of Christ and the godly and learned Ministers of Christ. 3 In your conversations from that humble and exact walking with God in all good duties both towards God and man which was the credit and honour of the good old Puritan in former daies Let mee speak to you in the words of the Apostles Paul and Peter Wherefore my beloved Brethren bee yee stedfast and unmoveable c. The God of grace who hath called you into his eternal glory by Jesus Christ make you perfect stablish strengthen and settle you 17 Remember that it is the will of Jesus Christ that you who partake of the same word of life and of the same Sacramental Bread and Wine should admonish one another exhort one another watch over one another bear the burdens of one another provoke one another to love and good works seek the good of one another and not your own good only That you should warn the unruly comfort the feeble-minded and support the weak That this is your duty appears from Col. 3. 16. Phil. 2. 4. Heb. 1. 24. Gal. 6. 1. Rom. 15. 2. Rom. 14. 7. 2. Cor. 5. 15. 1 Thes. 5. 11 13 14. The 12th vers speaks of Ministerial and authoritative admonition but the 13 and 14. verses of fraternal and charitative These Texts will rise up in Iudgement against thousands of Christians at the last day I do not say that you are to admonish none but those of your own Society Admonition is an act of mercy It is spiritualis Eleemosyna spiritual Almes and you are bound by the royal law of charity by the communion of Saints the communion of Churches and communion of natures to distribute these spiritual almes to all that need them as God shall give occasion But this I say you ought especially to admonish them and watch over them This is novum though not solum vinculum Some Divines think that one chief reason why the Israelites were punished for Achans sin was because they did not admonish him and watch-over him For the Israelites were commanded in the plural number Josh. 6. 18. Keep your selves from the accursed thing c. Hee was one of the body and because they did not watch over him they communicated in his sin and in his punishment There is an excellent Law in this Nation That every Parish shall provide for its own poor And by parity of reason it is as just and equal That every Congregation should chiefly and especially look to the souls of their own members to warn them admonish them exhort them and watch over them That you may the better discharge this duty you must labour to bee acquainted one with another as far as your Callings and Relations will give you leave It is a great and common sin and much to bee lamented That there is so little knowledge and acquaintance between those that are of the same Congregation They sit in the same Pew together partake of the same Sacrament and yet converse no more together than if one lived at York and the other at London And when they do converse together it is a meer civill and outward converse as amongst sober heathens But there is very little Religious society between them for the spiritual edification one of another Now this must needs bee a great sin For how can you watch over one another edifie and admonish one another How can you support the weak comfort the feeble-minded if not spiritually acquainted one with another And yet it is not my opinion that every member of a Congregation is bound to know every fellow-member I beleeve it was not so in the Church of Jerusalem or of Samaria It is incredible to think that they all knew one
the first it is said How much more shall your Father in Heaven give good things c. In the second How much more shall your Heavenly Father give the holy Spirit c. Grace and Glory and all outward good things are his It is said of the Great Duke of Guise that though hee was poore as to his present possessions yet hee was the richest man in France in Bills Bonds and Obligations because hee had ingaged all the Noble-men in France unto himselfe by preferring of them A true and real Christian is the richest man in the World in Promises and Obligations for hee hath the Great God ingaged by promise to bee his God and the God of his As Charles the first commanded his Herald in a challenge to Francis the first King of France to proclaim him with all his titles stiling him Emperour of Germany King of Castile Arragon Naples Sicily c. But Francis commanded his Herald to call him so often King of France as the other had titles by all his Countries implying that France alone was more worth than all his Countries So when a wicked man brags of his Lordships and great possessions when hee boasteth of his thousands a year a childe of God may say God is mine God is mine c. I am richer than all the wicked men in the world 6 You must meditate on the latitude and extension of the Promises The Promises are the Saints Catholicon and Panacea There is no condition a Childe of God can bee in but hee may finde not onely a Promise but a suitable and seasonable Promise to comfort him in it And herein especially consisteth the spiritual Excellency and heavenly Wisdome of a Christian not onely to study the Promises in general but to labour to finde out and having found out to meditate upon such kinde of Promises which are most suitable and most seasonable to the condition hee is in As for example If thou art poor in estate meditate on Psalm 34. 10. Matth. 6. 33. Heb. 13. 5. If barren and without children meditate on Isa. 56. 5. If persecuted for Christs sake meditate on Matth. 5. 10. 1 Pet. 4. 12 13 14. Psal. â—4 12. If sick and under tormenting pains meditate on Psal. 50. 15. Isa. 63. 9. Rom. 8. 28. If reproached slandered and falsely accused meditate on Mat. 10. 25. Mat. 5. 11 12. Luke 6. 22 23. If Satan tempts thee and thou art not able to resist him meditate on Rom. 16. 20. 1 Cor. 10. 13. Gen. 3. 15. 1 Ioh. 3. 8. If thy corruptions bee too strong for thee meditate on Rom. 6. 14. Micah 7. 19. If God hides his face from thee and thou sittest in darkness and seest no light meditate on Isa. 50. 10. Isa. 54. 7 8. If ready to faint in waiting upon God and in expecting the fulfilling of his Promises meditate on Isa. 30. 18. Isa. 63. 3. Isa. 40. 28 29 30. Mal. 3. 1. If ready to dye and full of fears and doubts meditate on 1 Cor. 15. 55 56 57. Hos. 13. 14. Rev. 14. 13. 1 Cor. 3. 22 23. 2 Cor. 5. 1 8. 7 You must meditate on the variety of the Promises and their difference and distinction one from the other The Promises are like unto the stars in the firmament 1 For their multitude they are very many The Scripture is bespangled with Promises as the Heavens are with stars It were happy if the Saints would prove spiritual Astronomers and make it their work to study the nature of these stars 2 For their beauty excellency and influence Every star is beautifull in its kinde and very usefull and advantagious so are the Promises And as the stars are most comfortable in the darkness of the night so are the Promises in the night of trouble and adversity 3 And especially for their distinction and difference For one star differeth from another in glory 1 Cor. 15. 41. There is one glory of the Sun another of the Moon another of the Stars So do the Promises differ exceedingly one from the other in beauty and excellency Some are temporal some spiritual some of things that are eternal Some are conditional some absolute some are Promises to those that have grace some are Promises of grace some are general others particular Some are Original Fundamental and Fountain-Promises as the promise of Jesus Christ of God being our God and of the Holy Ghost Others are derivative depending and rivolet-promises as the promises of all outward comforts here and of eternal life hereafter Now it is our duty to take notice of every ray of gold to meditate upon all the Promises both spiritual temporal and eternal both conditional and absolute both of grace and to grace both general and particular but especially of the Original and Fundamental Promises the Fountain Promises from whence all others as so many streams and rivolets are deduced and derived 8 You must meditate on the usefulfulness and profitableness of the Promises I have already shewed you that they are the Conduits of grace and comfort that they have a soul-sanctifying and a soul-comforting-power Give mee leave to adde That the Promises are 1 The breathings of Divine love and affection 2 The life and soul of Faith 3 The Anchor of Hope 4 The VVings of Prayer 5 The Foundation of Industry 6 The Rayes and Beams of the Son of Righteousness and upon all these accounts are very usefull and advantagious 1 They are the breathings of Divine love and affection It is an Argument of Gods wonderful love to his children that hee is pleased to enter into a Promise and Covenant to bee their God and to give them Christ and in Christ all blessings here and hereafter Wee read Gen. 17. 2 3. when God told Abraham that hee would make a Covenant with him hee fell on his face as astonished at so great a mercy and as thankfully acknowledging the goodness of God towards him The like wee read of David When God by Nathan made a promise to him hee goes into Gods house and prayes Who am I O Lord and what is my house that the Lord my God should do this c. The Promises are the Cabinets of the tender bowels of God they contain the dear and tender love of God towards his elect children God by promising makes himself a debtor to them Now that God who is bound to none no not to the Angels of Heaven should enter into bonds and binde himselfe to give grace and glory to his elect children this is love above expression And there is nothing moved God to do this but as I have said his free grace and mercy For though God bee now bound out of justice and faithfulness to fulfill his Promises yet nothing moved him to make these promises but his love and mercy as David saith of what God had promised to him 2 Sam. 7. 21. According to thine own heart ex mero motu voluntatis and according to thy Word not
for any thing in mee For what am I O Lord c. Thus you see how the Promises are the breathings of Divine love and affection and upon this account are very usefull and profitable For love is loves loadstone therefore the Apostle saith Wee love him because hee loved us first The sense of Gods love to us will kindle a love in us to God Even as the beams of the Sun reflecting upon a VVall heats those that walk by the Wall So the Beams of Gods love shining into our souls warms our hearts with the love of God The lovâ— of God constrains us as saith Paul 2 Cor. 5. 14. There is a compulsive and constraining power in love What did not Iacob do for the love of Rachel How was Mephibosheth affected with the love of David 2 Sam. 9. 8. It is our duty to love those that hate us but not to love those that love us is more than heathenish and brutish 2 They are the life and soule of Faith Faith without a Promise to act upon is as a body without a soul as a dead flower which hath no beauty or sweetness in it But Faith grounded upon the Promises will inable a Christian to advance in all manner of holiness What made Abraham forsake his Country and his Fathers house and go hee knew not whither Nothing moved him to this but because God had promised to make him a great Nation and hee beleeved it Of all graces none so causal of holiness as the grace of Faith It is a world overcoming heart-purifying life-sanctifying wonder-working grace and therefore the Promises must needs bee very usefull because they are the life and soul of Faith 3 They are the Anchor of Hope Hope is called an Anchor of the soule both sure and stedfast But the Promises are the Anchor of Hope All Hope of Heaven which is not founded upon a Promise is presumption and not Hope Presumption is when a man hopes to go to Heaven upon no ground or upon an insufficient ground But true Hope is a Hope grounded upon a Scripture-Promise And Hope bottomed upon Divine Promises will mightily availe unto purity and holiness Abraham Isaac and Iacob lived as pilgrims and strangers upon earth because they looked and hoped for a City which hath foundations whose builder and maker is God The Old Testament Saints would not accept deliverance upon sinfull termes because they hoped for a better Resurrection The Papists and Arminians are much mistaken in teaching That the assurance of salvation is an enemy to godliness The Scripture saith the quite contrary 1 Ioh. 3. 3. Hee that hath this Hope purifieth himselfe even as hee is pure The true Hope of Heaven will make us live heavenly 4 They are the Wings of Prayer Prayer is a Divine Cordial to convey grace from Heaven into our soules It is a Key to unlock the bowels of mercy which are in God The best way to obtain holiness is upon our knees the best posture to fight against the Devil is upon our knees and therefore Prayer is not put as a part of our spiritual Armour but added as that which must bee an ingredient in every part and which will make every part effectual But now the Promises are the Wings of Prayer Prayer without a Promise is as a Bird without VVings And therefore wee read both of Iacob and Iehoshaphat how they urged God in their prayers with his Promises And certainly the Prayers of the Saints winged with divine promises will quickly flye up to Heaven and draw down grace and comfort into theâ— souls And upon this account it is that the Promises are so useful to a Christian because they are so helpfull in prayer When wee pray weâ— must urge God with his Promises and say Lord Hast thou not said Thâ—â— wilt circumcise our hearts to love theâ— thou wilt subdue our sinnes thou wilâ— give the Spirit to those that aske it Lord Thou art faithfull fulfill thesâ— thine own promises And wee must remember this great Truth That the Promises God makes to us to mortifieâ— our sins for us are greater helps against sin than our promises to God to mortifie sin Many men in the day of their distress vow and promise to leave sin and fight against it in the strength of these promises and in stead of conquering sin are conquered by sin But if wee fight against sin in the strength of Christ and of his promises if wee urge God in prayer with his owne Word wee shall at last get victory over it For hee hath said That sin shall not have dominion over us Rom. 6. 14. 5 They are the foundation of Induâ—try The promises do not make men â—azy and idle as some scandalously say 〈◊〉 they are the ground of all true laâ—our and industry therefore the Apostles perswade us from the consideration of the Promises unto the study of soul-purification to have our conversation without covetousness to flee from Idolatry and to separate our selves from sinfull communion Divine promises are â—reat incouragements unto spiritual diâ—â—gence Object Though conditional Promiâ—es bee the foundation of industry beâ—ause wee cannot have the thing promiâ—es unless wee perform the conditions yet absolute Promises say some are foundations of lasiness and therefore they a firm there are no absolute Promises in Scripture Answ. Absolute Promises are made foundations of industry in Scripture as well as Conditional The Apostle exhorts us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling because it is God 〈◊〉 worketh in us both to will and to do of hiâ— owne good pleasure And the reason is because God performeth nothing which hee promiseth though never so absolutely but in the diligent and conscientious use of the means on our part God promiseth Ezek. 36. 26. to give us a new heart and a new spirit c. but theâ— hee adds vers 37. I will yet 〈◊〉 this bee inquired of by the house of Israel 6 They are the rayes and beams as one saith of Christ the Son of Righteousness in whom they are founded and established As all the liâ—es in a Circumference though never so distant carry a man to one and the same Center So all the Promises carry us to Christ the Center For the Promises are not made for any thing in us nor have they any stability from us but they are made in and for Christ unto us unto Christ in our behalf and unto us so far as we are Members of Christ. Now Jesus Christ is the ground of all soul-purification soul-consolation and soul-salvation And therefore I may safely conclude that the promises are most singularly usefull and advantagious And that it is the duty of all those that desire to live holily and comfortably to consider and ponder the profitableness and beneficialness of the Promises 9 And lastly you must meditate on the great necessity that lyeth upon all men to get a
beloved and it is my highest priviledge that hee will give mee leave to love him who only can satisfie my soul and redeâ—m it from death eternal who hath justified mee by his blood and sanctified mee by his Spirit whom therefore I love with all my heart and all my soul and all my might and all my strength Finding therefore that God hath drawn out my heart to love him and make choice of him alone I from hence gather and ground my hope that God loveth mee according to that Scripture 1 Ioh. 4. 19. Wee love him because hee first loved us I finde my heart much inflamed with love to all the children of God because they are Gods children and the more I see or finde or hear of God in them the more I finde my heart cleaving to them and I thinke I can truly say with David That my delight is in the Saints and those that excel in grace not because they are friends to mee or I have relation to them in regard of outward obligations but because they bear the Image of God upon them and manifest it in their holy conversation I love them whether rich or poor And though I did never know some of them but onely hear of their holiness and piety yet I could not but exceedingly love such Therefore I hope that I am passed from death to life because I love the Brethren 1 Ioh. 3. 14. I do not only love God and the children of God but I labour to keep his Commandements and they are not grievous to mee But I pray with David O that my waies were directed to keep thy statutes Lord inlarge my heart and I will run the waies of thy Commandements Give mee understanding and I shall keep thy Law yea I shall observe it with my whole heart for therein do I delight I finde I am one that is very thirsty after Jesus Christ and the grace of Christ and I thirst to have his image more and more stamped upon mee and I would fain bee assured by Gods Spirit that I am transplanted into Christ and therefore I long and indeavour after a true and lively Faith because that Grace is a soul-transplanting and uniting grace Now Christ hath promised to satisfie the thirsty Matth. 5. 6. and such Christ hath earnestly invited to come though they have nothing to bring but what may make against themselves yet to come empty and hee hath promised to fill them Isa. 55. 1 2. I am willing to confess and with all my heart to forsake all my sins I am willing to give glory to God in taking shame unto my self I acknowledge my self a guilty malefactor and judge my self worthy of the just condemnation of the righteous Judge of all the earth And I do not only confess my sins but with all my heart I desire to forsake them and to turn to the Lord Now hee hath said hee will have mercy on such and will abundantly pardon them For his thoughts are not as our thoughts nor his waies as our waies Isa. 55. 7 8. It is my constant indeavour to dye to sin to live to newness of life And this is my comfort and hope that hee who hath begun a good work in mee will perfect it For it is hee that worketh all our works in us and for us Isa. 26. 12. and hee that hath wrought in mee to will to do that which is pleasing in his sight will work in mee to do also and that of his good pleasure Phil 2. 13. I hope I am one whom God hath taken into Covenant with himself because hee hath bestowed upon mee the fruits of the Covenant because hee hath circumcised my heart to love him and hath put his fear into mee and hath wrought an universal change in mee and hath given mee a new heart and a new spirit yea his own spirit which hee hath put within mee even the Spirit of Truth which will guide mee into all Truth It is his own promise to give his holy Spirit to them that aske it of him as I have done often Luke 11. 13. and I hope that God will make it in his due time a witnessing and a comforting Spirit I will wait upon him for the accomplishment of all his promises both of grace and to grace Hee hath said hee will bee a Sun and a Shield he will give grace and glory and no good thing will hee with-hold from them that walke uprightly And hee hath promised to subdue our sins for us and hath said That sin shall not have Dominion over us Rom. 6. 14. That hee will bee our God and wee shall bee his children and hee will save us from all our uncleannesses I hope I have a share in this blessed Covenant of Free Grace As for my Affliction that lyeth upon mee though it bee in it self very heavy I much more desire the sanctification of it than the removal I earnestly labour to learn all those lessons which God teacheth mee by Affliction I know I should not bee scourged nor bee in tribulation but that I have need of it it is for my profit to make mee partaker of his holiness Afflictions are an evidence of Sonship Heb. 12. 6 7 8. God hath promised that all things shall work together for good to them that love and fear him And I have had much experience of his faithfulness who hath not suffered mee to bee tempted above what hee hath inabled mee to bear therefore I will bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him Hee hath chastized mee less than mine iniquities deserve Hee chastizeth mee here that hee may not condemn mee hereafter Faith is the condition of salvation Beleeve in the Lord Iesus Christ and thou shalt bee saved And this is his Commandement that wee should beleeve in his Son Iesus Christ Now I find nothing so hard to mee as to beleeve aright to cast away all my own Righteousness as dung in point of justification and to cast away all my unrighteousness so as that bee no bar to mee and to role and cast and venter my immortal soul upon Jesus Christ and his Righteousness for life and salvation by him alone and to see my self compleat in him this is supernatural Yet I must and will give glory to God and say Lord I beleeve help thou my unbeleef And by this I prove that this precious grace of faith is wrought in mee because Jesus Christ is to mee very precious and I finde in the Word that to them that beleeve hee is precious and I am willing to take Christ upon his own termes as hee is tendred in the Gospel and am willing to give up my self soul and body wholly to him and my love to God and to the children of God is a fruit of my Faith as also my desire to bee made like unto him For hee that hath this hope in him purifieth himself