Man in his confidence of salvation like as the Cherubims with the flaming sword kept the way of the Tree of Life against Adam though he have never such a desire to be confident he cannot such Scriptures meet him and will not let him they knock him off from taking hold of eternal life this confidence it is not able to subsist in any other element than that of holiness 1 Iohn 3.18 19 20 21. Little children let us not love in word and in tongue but indeed and in truth And hereby we know that we are of the truth and shall assure our hearts before him For if our heart condemn us God is greater than our heart and knoweth all things Beloved if our heart condemn us not then have we confidence towards God That by which the Apostle saith men know themselves to be of the truth one in heart and design with it of the same party as it were in Friendship and fellowship with it is this viz. their loving not in word and tongue only but indeed and in truth when Men do not only talk but act and live the things of the Gospel And hereby saith he we shall assure our hearts before him or perswade our hearts before him as in the margint Implying that without this for a Man that knows and considers the termes of the Gospel it 's impossible to perswade his heart before God to appear before God with any confidence For saith he if our heart condemn us viz. of unfaithfulness and faultering with God in the main that our Love and our Religion hath been but in Word and in Tongue have contented our selves to talke of and speak well of good things but have left the doing of them to other folks like the Pharisees that by their Doctrine would bind heavy burdens upon other mens shoulders and yet themselves not touch them with one of their fingers if our heart condemn us of such a thing as this God is greater than our heart both in knowledge and discerning of this deceit and in righteousness of sentence and proceeding against it and therefore he will condemn much more But if our heart condemn us not in this behalf but bears us witness that it hath been our earnest desire care and faithful endeavour to be that which the truth teacheth us to be then have we confidence towards God of our acceptation with him all the Scriptures being on our side to abet and back us in this confidence but on the contrary all against us The Apostle saith He that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him Heb. 11.6 Mark Its matter of a mans Faith as well to believe that the men whom God will reward are such as diligently seek him as it is to believe that God is and that he is a rewarder of men So that where this diligent seeking of the Lord is wanting there 's no place for any man to be confident of receiving that blessedness from God which is called the recompence of reward and the reward of the inheritance And what is it for a man diligently to seek the Lord but earnestly to seek his Favour and Love by a diligent and careful endeavour to please him alwayes and in all things By Sin and Unrighteousness man lost God and lost his Love and however it is by the Bloud of Christ that a new and living way is now prepared and made for man to come to God again and to regain his love yet he is not actually possest of it but by going back again to God by returning to him in the same way in which he departed from him All the while man was in the way of Righteousness he was with God and enjoyed the comfort of his company and presence but he no sooner left that way but he lost God and there 's no finding him again without geting into that way again and there you may meet with him find him walk with him and enjoy the comfort of his love and presence again through the mediation of our good friend his holy Son Jesus Only here 's the difference indeed the way of Righteousness is now new made a new Covenant struck new Terms propounded of coming into possession of God again as a happy portion a diligent seeking of him by believing in him sincerely loving of him and faithfully endeavouring to please him being the condition of this new Covenant and the new way of Righteousness in which God is to be found if therein diligently sought And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of Hope unto the end Heb. 6.11 This diligence you see is the medium of this confident Assurance Men can have no other foundation for their confidence than what God himself hath laid I mean proposed it is not of him that willeth in this kind nor of him that runneth but of God that sheweth mercy he gives the reward and he gives the laws and terms of obtaining of it and therefore as long as the Declarations of Gods mind in the Scriptures compared touching the qualifications of such whom he receives into Covenant and designs unto life do oppose mens confidence so long they have no foundation to build upon and consequently no confidence of Salvation at all or as good as none For that which is not built upon Gods ground which is all rocky and substantial but upon mens own deceiveable thoughts and imaginations and mistakes of Gods mind and declaration as upon the sand will sail them and fall in that very hour in which it should do them service and they have most need of it Job 8.13 14 15. So are the paths of all that forget God and the Hipocrites hope shall perish whose hope shall be cut off and whose trust shall be a Spiders-web he shall lean upon his house but it shall not stand he shall hold it fast but it shall not endure Their hope Job 11.20 shall be as the giving up of the Ghost like a man who though he have never so great a desire to live yet must yield up his breath when Death comes and so must men be forced to part with those hopes which they have made to themselves but not received from God and instead thereof embrace everlasting despair to the horrible confusion of their miserable Souls when the time of tryal comes their house of confidence that was built upon the sand will then fall and the fall of it will be great Matth. 7.27 It may stand and do them the service of a house of hope protect them from many sad fears till the storm arises and beats against it but then down it comes and the poor Soul is then to seek and there is no shelter to be found And does it not then concern men to be often prying into the grounds of their Hope and to view them over and over with a jealous eye to the end that if a
converse and delightful communication which it hath with this Love of the Lord it comes to contract a habitual similitude of it in the soul by degrees to change the soul into the same image Solomon saith He that walketh with wise men shall be wise Prov. 13.20 Which thing doubtless proceeds from a great aptness that is in men to be transformed into the disposition temper and quality of those persons with whom they much converse and delight so to do especially if superior to themselves and judging what they see in them worthy imitation And so Faith keeping such constant company with the Love of Christ to the poor soul and being so much taken with it as it is and having it self such an influence upon the soul as it hath does by degrees fetch over the soul in conformity of disposition to it This is sweetly set out by the Apostle 2 Cor. 3.18 But we all with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord are changed into the same image from glory to glory as by the spirit of the Lord. The glory of the Lord he here speaks of is doubtless amongst other things the grace or love of the Lord to men which is indeed his glory that by which he hath made us accepted in the beloved being called the glory of his grace Ephes 1.6 and is that thing which in the Gospel ministration here spoken of shines forth with greatest luster and brightness But mark now The souls intent and earnest beholding of this glory of the Lord by the eye of Faith as it is visible to it in this glass of the Gospel works this effect The soul it self is hereby changed into the same image transformed into this likeness of the Lord step by step degree by degree from glory to glory as by the Spirit of the Lord by whose influence Faith does this thing For so Christ foretold Joh. 16.14 He shall glorifie me for he shall receive of mine and shall shew it unto you Like as the flocks which Jacob kept by their looking upon the streaked rods in the time of their conception came to conceive and bring forth Cattel that were ring-streaked Gen. 30.37 38 39. even so the soul by Faith dwelling in the serious and pleasant contemplation of the glory of this love of the Lord conceives and brings forth affections and actions in the same likeness The very reason why any man comes to love God is the belief knowledg and sence which he hath of Gods love to him first 1 John 4.19 We love him because he loved us first Which is to be understood of Gods love beleeved and perceived for till then it does not work this reciprocal affection in the Soul And therefore the same Apostle concludes that if any man does not love he does not know God as he is a God of love 1 John 4.8 For if he did and had the true sence of it in his Soul he might sooner draw nigh a great fire and not be warmed than feel the warming influences of this wonderful Love playing hot upon the Soul and not in some measure be transformed into its likeness The Apostle Paul well knowing this made this Prayer for the Ephesian Saints That Christ might dwell in their hearts by Faith that they being rooted and grounded in love might be able to comprehend with all Saints what is the bredth and length and depth and height and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge that they might be filled with all the fulnesse of God In which Prayer you may observe first his end and scope the thing he had in his eye and that which his Soul exceedingly longed after for them and that was that they might be filled with all the fulnesse of God Which I conceive is not to be understood at least not only to be understood in a passive sence of having the Soul filled with the knowledge and sence of all the fulnesse of Gods love to it for this he had prayed for as the means of their being filled with all this fulness of God but in an active sence for their being so filled with their love back again to Christ as by which to attain the highest pitch and utmost perfection of Christianity which is wrapt up in our love to Christ to which God in Christ designed to elevate and raise the Christian And therefore when we love one another as the Lord hath loved us according to his command John 13.34 he is said to dwell in us and his love to be perfected in us 1 Cor. 4.12 viz. by way of imitation and resemblance of that divine vertue property or perfection in God to wit his love which is so wonderfully remarkable in him as that he is called Love it self 1 John 4.8 16. Now for God to dwell in men and for them to have his love perfected in them what is this lesse than to be filled with all the fulness of God But that which the Apostle prayed for in order to this their being filled with all the fulness of God was that Christ dwelling in their hearts by faith they might be able to comprehend with all Saints what the bredth length depth and height is and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge So that mens being filled with the fulnesse of that love to the Lord which his love to them calls for and designes to procure depends we see upon their comprehending by Faith the glory of his love set out in the dimensions of it upon their knowing very much of that love of Christ which in the utmost extent of it passeth knowledg Sect. 3 2. Faith raises this Heavenly affection of love in the Soul as a principle of worthy behaviour both to God and men by an effectual closing with the Doctrine of the Lord concerning Love For it is mens Faith in that word which calls for Love to the Lord to Saints and to all men that causes the word to incorporate it self with the Soul turning the doctrine of Love into a principle of Love in the Soul making it an ingrafted word James 1.21 as turning the stock into its own nature It is by Faith that all that in the Word is discerned and felt which renders it acceptable to and gives it force and authority in the soul And therefore the Word is said to work effectually in those that believe 1 Thes 2.13 And what 's that but to produce its effect reach its end and to have its errand about which it 's sent working that love it self in the soul which is the business about which the doctrine of Love is sent And therefore Love is said to be the end of the Commandement out of a pure heart and of a good conscience and of Faith unfeigned 1 Tim. 1.5 Love to proceed from unfeigned Faith as the end of the Commandement that is I conceive it 's aim and scope the prize for which it runs and where there is Faith unfeigned first wrought
to defend your selves from their frowns and contempt and from the scourge of their tongue for a complyance in such things as these where it is found argues falseness of heart to the Lord Jesus Sect. 8 4. One thing further to name no more though many more particulars of this kind might be touched by which you may know your love to Christ to be such as will evidence your Faith which produces it to be of the true sort and right kind is this If your belief in Christ and your love to Christ hath wrought in you a love of and a looking and longing for his next appearance when he will so come to receive the Saints unto himself as that they shall be ever with the Lord. For while men are better pleased with his absence and to remain at this distance it argues little love in them to him For it is the nature of Love where it is true and entire to incline and dispose a Man or Woman to desire the presence of those they love and all neerness of converse and communion and to have all means of distance to be removed And if that spiritual and invisible presence which the Lord vouchsafes of himself to his Servants in his Ordinances and in their way of worshipping and serving him which yet comparatively is but a being absent from him 2 Cor. 5.6 is to those that love him so exceeding precious and desirable as that their sence of the want of this hath made their flesh and their heart to cry out for the living God and to say When shall I come and appear before God Psalm 84.2 and 42.2 then certainly that presence of his in which he will be seen face to face in which his face shall be beheld in righteousness and his servants satisfied with his likeness that presence of his when neither weakness nor temptation shall obstruct interrupt or disturb their full and perfect communion with the Lord that presence of his which will perfectly deliver them from all fears of being cast out of his presence or of suffering any suspension in the effluxes of his love is much more desired and longed for by those that unfeignedly love the Lord. This loving and expecting the blessed and glorious appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ is noted in Scripture not only as a signe of mens love to him and Faith in him but as a general character of those that shall be then saved by him Heb. 9.28 And unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation Tit. 2.13 2 Pet. 3.12 Henceforth is there laid up for me a Crown of Righteousness which the Lord the righteous Judge shall give me at that day and not to me only but unto all them also that love his appearing 2 Tim. 4.8 By these and such things as these you may try the truth or feignedness of your love to the Lord consequently the soundness or unsoundness of your Faith in him which when it is true works more or less according as it is stronger or weaker in those and like ways of expression of love to the Lord which have now been laid before you and therefore as you love your souls be not partial but strict and thorow in proving your Faith and spiritual condition by them Sect. 9 And as Faith works by love to the Lord so it works by love to men likewise for which cause it may well be that Faith in Christ and love to men are so frequently coupled together in the Scriptures as co-workers and fellow helpers in the service of mans salvation see Ephes 1.15 and 6.23 Col. 1.4 1 Thes 1.3 and 3.6 and 5.8 2 Thes 1.3 1 Tim. 1.14 and 2.15 2 Tim. 1.13 and 2.22 Tit. 3.15 Philem. 5. 1 John 3.23 And since they are such inseparable companions as they are represented to us to be in these and other Scriptures we may well conclude where the one is there the other is and where the one is missing there the other is wanting And therefore since our love to men is more visible and a thing nearer at hand then our Faith and a proof of a true Faith where it is of an Evangelical kind therefore let us now try our Faith by our love to men and our love to men by the standard of the Scriptures 1. I shewed you towards the beginning of this Chapter that Faith beholding as in a glasse the glory of the Lords love to men changes the soul into the same image men by it viewing the promises and proceedings of God toward man are made partakers of the divine nature 2 Pet. 1.4 contract a similitude of Gods love upon the Soul See then if you can find any such working in your Souls any such compassions and longings of soul after mens salvation as does really and truly though infinitely inferiorly hold some resemblance of those ardent desires and longings which are in God after the salvation of poor miserable men which are to be seen in these and other-like Scriptures Deut. 5.29 Psalm 81.13 Isa 48.18 Jer. 44.4 Ezek. 18.23 32. 2 Chron. 36.15 Luke 19.41 42. Mat. 23.37 2 Pet. 3.9 Hos 11.8 9. Or are your affections and compassions over the precious souls of men so stirred within you as that they put you upon action as you have opportunity to deliver them from going down into the pit of rescuing them out of those wicked wayes by admonitions instructions and affectionate perswasions which unless they be fetcht off from by some means or other will certainly ruine their poor souls For after this manner Gods love and compassion wrought towards sinful men it put him upon giving his only beloved Son Christ Jesus to dye for them and by his death to make and procure gracious terms of Salvation and by himself and servants whom he hath gifted for the purpose to publish those termes of Salvation and earnestly to perswade all men to imbrace them he himself seconding these with many visits of his Spirit and acts of grace and providence to render these means successful And however every Christian is not an Apostle nor endued with that power from on high for the work as the Apostles were and therefore it is not expected nor required of them that they should make it their constant work and business as they did to go up and down to warn and perswade men that they might be saved yet undoubtedly to what degree this love to men which the love of God hath begotten in them in its own likeness does dwell in them to the same degree does it put them upon applications of a soul-saving tendency to Family-relations Church-relations to Neighbours Friends and acquaintance yea and strangers too as ability conveniency of opportunity and mens necessity do concur in the case And the lesse men are affected with or the more careless they are of the spiritual condition of others the lesse is their love and Faith and the darker their evidence of them The Scriptures
say that love covereth a multitude of sins Prov. 10.12 1 Pet. 4.8 and so it does as in other respects so when such applications proceed from Soul-love as by which a man is converted from the error of his way and so his sins come to be covered or not imputed by God James 5.19 20. Sect. 10 2. And where mens souls are loved and their salvation longed after which is the best kind of love and the most God-like there there will be a great deal of care and tenderness used that nothing be done or spoken that may prove a snare a stumbling-block or an occasion of sin to others and to hide such things from them as through their weakness might harden them against any good or in any evil wayes And therefore those that are enriched with this love are wont to consider not only what is in it self lawful for them to do but how it will stand with the edification of others and what use they are like to make of it The Apostle saith that Knowledge puffeth up but love edifieth 1 Cor. 8.1 Knowledge where it is alone by it self without love makes men lofty and disdainful towards others But love edifieth that is it disposeth the person in whom it is to use his knowledge in such a way as will tend to or at least consist with the edification of others and not their prejudice It is a fine expression which we have to this purpose 1 Cor. 13.4 where he saith that Charity is not rash so it is in the margine is not puffed up It is not rash no it is a tender grace it makes a man look about him before he does many things and to consider where they may light and whereto they may tend and what use may be made of them and is wonderful fearful of doing any body any harm in the affairs of their souls Upon account whereof their own liberty and outward accomodation many a time suffers suspension as it fell out in the holy Apostle Pauls case who would take no money of some Churches but rather labour with his hands when he perceived his taking of money which was otherwise lawful for him would not tend to the furtherance of the Gospel in mens souls 1 Cor. 9.14 15 18. 1 Thes 2.6 9. 2 Thes 3.8 9. The like was about eating and not eating of meats while the lawfulness and unlawfulness thereof was under disputation and is concluded to be against the law of love for men to use their known liberty in such things when the use of it shall endanger a Brothers edification or probably betray him into any sin I may not insist at large on these things or descend further to particulars but only give general hints See 1 Cor. 8.9 13. and 10.23 33. Romans 14.13 23. Sect. 11 3. Furthermore If Faiths contemplation upon the love of God to men imprints the similitude of his love upon the soul as I have formerly shewed it does Then as it fils the soul with the love of pity and compassion to sinners in conformity to Gods love and compassion towards them which I have shewed already so does it also dispose the soul to a love of complacency delight and dear affection towards all the Saints in conformity to Gods love to them who taketh pleasure in his people Psal 149.4 The Father he loves the Saints because they love his Son which is the delight of his soul Joh. 16.27 For the Father himself loveth you because ye have loved me and have beleeved that I came out from God And without doubt every one whose Soul cleaveth to Christ out of the knowledg and sence he hath of the worth and loveliness of him and of the great benefit that comes by him cannot but take pleasure in all those that are true lovers of him and faithful and cordial Friends to him As it is the property of Saints to love the Saints so it is upon Christs score they do it because they love him and Christ loves them Mark 9.41 For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name because ye belong to Christ verily I say unto you he shall not loose his reward Plainly implying that expressions of love from one Christian to another where the love is right Christian indeed proceed toward them upon the account of that near relation they have to Christ because they belong to Christ When men are loved because they do what they do for Christs name-sake or out of Friendship to him then are they loved with a right spirit of love indeed 3 John 6 7 8. It 's common among men where one does truly and entirely love another there to love and respect the Children and Friends of such for their sake And so it is in these matters of spiritual affection and relation He that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him 1 John 5.1 the child for the Fathers sake and because of that resemblance of the Father which is found in the child And if the love which is wrought by Faith be delighted with the Saints because of their friendship to Christ then the more any man shews himself a friend to Christ in keeping his commands shewing forth his virtues pleading his cause and propagating his truth the more is he prized and truly esteemed by such as have this love truly wrought in them 2 Jo. 1.2 Whom I love in the truth and not I only but also all they that have known the truth for the truths sake which dwelleth in us Mark It 's the property of all that have known the truth to love such as are the friends of Christs truth for the truths sake whose part they take Sect. 12 4. And this love and dear affection to the Saints for Christs sake where it is indeed will shew it self in acts of real kindness and friendship to them as occasions and opportunities do occur which is called A loving not in word and in tongue but in deed and in truth by which men may know themselves to be of the truth and shall assure their hearts before God 1 John 3.18 19. If they want brotherly admonition reproof instruction exhortation or comfort for the healthful and flourishing estate of the inner man they are ready to minister to them in these according to their ability Which when faithfully done Christ takes as a real demonstration of love not only to them but also unto himself as that which contributes towards his design of saving men and nourishing and cherishing his Church and the supplying of his absence and the doing of that for him which he would do himself if he were present John 21.15 16. Lovest thou me feed my lambs Lovest thou me feed my sheep As if there were no way wherein he could better express his love to Christ then by ministring soul-food to his sheep that follow him The lips of the righteous feed many c. Prov. 10.21 Sect. 13 5. The same love also puts them in
This he proves first by a clear Text of Scripture out of the Old Testament verse 3. For what saith the Scripture Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousnesse If his believing God was the thing that was counted to him for righteousnesse which is the thing the Scripture affirms Gen. 15.6 then Circumcision and the rest of the Ceremonies of the Law could not be it and therefore could be no more necessary in the Gentiles to their justification than they were to Abraham but that they without Circumcision beleeving as Abraham did they also without cir cumcision might be justified as Abraham was And therefore accordingly from this example the Apostle doth assert in the words of my Text which are brought in upon this occasion That to him that workeeh not but beleiveth on him that justifieth the ungodly his faith is counted to him for righteousnesse Which doctrine of imputation of Faith unto men for Righteousnesse without Works the Apostle in ver 6 7 8. makes clearly agreeable to that passage of David in Psalm 32.1 2. where he sayes Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered blessed is the man unto whom the Lord will not impute sin Whereupon the Apostle to draw home this part of his discourse unto Abrahams case which is the chief thing he prosecutes throughout this Chapter in the ninth verse he makes this demand Cometh this blessednesse then upon the Circumcision only or upon the uncircumcision also for we say that Faith was reckoned unto Abraham for righteoasness V. 10. How then was it reckoned when he was in Circumcision or in uncircumcision not in circumcision but in uncircumcision Which way of arguing here used by the Apostle is of mighty force to evince the non-necessity of Circumcision unto justification a thing which the Jews would have imposed upon the Gentiles in order thereunto as I have oft said For if Abrahams Faith was reckoned to him for righteousnesse before ever he was Circumcised then was not his Circumcision necessary unto his justification which he had without it And if it were not necessary hereunto in Abraham their spiritual Father neither was it now necessary among the beleeving Gentiles his spiritual children For the Apostle seems to intimate in ver 11 12. that God had this designe in it that Abraham should receive his circumcision not before but after his justification to wit that he might be the Father the great exemplar copy or patern how or after what manner God would justifie the uncircumcised or Gentiles in time to come viz. by or upon their beleeving in him without Circumcision I might likewise shew you farther how the Apostle in ver 13. argues the non-necessity of keeping the Law of Commandements contained in ordinances in relation to salvation upon this ground because the promise of heirship was not made to Abraham or to his seed through the Law or upon condition of observing that but through the righteousnesse of Faith or upon condition of beleeving unto Justification Of which wise and gracious disposition of these things by God that the promise should be entailed upon beleeving rather than upon the observation of the Jewish Law the Apostle gives this account ver 16. It is by Faith saith he that it might be by grace to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed to wit of Abraham not to that only which is of the Law such as the Jews his Seed according to the flesh were but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham to wit the beleeving Gentiles who otherwise would have been excluded So that the grace of God and the good of men are best provided for in this way and that 's the reason why God hath chosen this and not the other Sect. 9 To draw to a conclusion of this matter which is capable as you see of a large confirmation from Scripture and to passe over what might be further enlarged to the same purpose from other passages in this Epistle I shall present you only with a Text or two more elsewhere Acts 15. where this very question is solemnly debated among the Apostles and Elders for that very purpose assembled at Jerusalem viz. to resolve and determine this case whether it were necessary for the Gentiles that beleeved to be Circumcised and to keep the Law of Moses or no ver 1.5 6 And when there had been much disputing touching this question at last Peter rose up and said unto them men and brethren ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the Gospel and beleeve And God which knoweth the hearts bare them witnesse giving them the Holy Ghost even as he did unto us and put no difference between us and them purifying their hearts by faith ver 7 8 9. Where he gives this undeniable reason why this question should be resolved in the negative why Circumcision and the Law should not be imposed upon the beleeving Gentiles in order to their justification and salvation viz. because God by his giving the holy Spirit to the Gentiles Cornelius the rest Act. 10. that were uncircumcised upon the same termes as he did unto the beleeving Jews that were Circumcised Acts 11.17 did bear them witnesse that he accepted them as well without the Law upon their beleeving as he did the Jews with their Law he bare them witnesse giving them the Holy Ghost even as he did unto us And that God made no difference at all between Jew and Gentile as to give the Jew more because he was Circumcised and kept the Law or the Gentile lesse because of his uncircumcision but their hearts and lives being purified reformed by Faith by their cleaving to Christs Doctrine God bestowed the same pledge of his love upon the one as upon the other the Law did not set the Jew higher in his savour nor the want of it keep the Gentile under in his love but being equall in Faith they were equally accepted and beloved of God He put no difference between us and them saies Peter who was a Jew And when Peter at another time was found by his Brother Paul not acting so evenly according to this his present Declaration but contrarily compelling the beleeving Gentiles to walk as did the Jews Gal. 2.14 he reproves him for it upon this ground that Peter himself knew this that they themselves who were by nature and birth Jews and not sinners of the Gentiles could not for all that be justified by the Law which they as Jews observed but must be glad to come by it in the same way and upon the same termes in which the sinners of the Gentiles did obtain it to wit the Faith of Jesus Christ Gal. 2.14 15 16. If thou being a Jew livest after the manner of the Gentiles and not as do the Iews why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Iews We who are Iews by
at the last day and the eternal judgement that will follow thereupon which are two great Arricles of the Christian Faith and fundamental Doctrines Heb. 6.2 does depend upon our beleef of the Resurrection of Christ For if Christ the Son of Gods love him in whom his soul delighteth more than in any man should not have been raised by the glory of the Father there would have been little reason for any other man to expect so great a favour But now is Christ risen from the dead and is become the first fruits of them that slept 1 Cor. 15.20 as a pledge of their Resurrection also In that any have a lively hope of being raised again to an inheritance uncorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away they are thereunto begotten by the resurrection of Iesus Christ from the dead so saith the Apostle 1 Pet. 1.3 4 And again verse 21. In that God raised him up from the dead and so gave him glory it was that our Faith and hope might be in God that he will do so to us likewise For God hath both raised up the Lord and will also raise up us by his own power 1 Cor. 6.14 For if we beleeve that Iesus dyed and rose again even so them also which sleep in Iesus will God bring with him 1 Thes 4.14 Because I live ye shall live also saith he who is the Resurrection and the life Iohn 14.19 and 11.25 And that there shall be a righteous Judgement following the Resurrection and that Christ Jesus shall be the Judge is such a thing of which the Father hath given assurance or offered Faith unto all men in that he hath raised him from the dead Acts 17.31 Sect. 8 5. The Word Gospel or Doctrine of Christ and of his Apostles is so the object of Faith as that salvation is promised unto the right beleef thereof Mark 16.15 16. Go ye into all the World and preach the Gospel to every Creature he that beleeveth and is baptized shall be saved 2 Thes 2.13 Because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and beleef of the truth 2 Thes 1.10 When he shall come to be glorified in his Saints and to be admired in all them that beleeve because our testimony among you was beleeved in that day The Doctrine of Christ and of his Apostles may well be counted the object of Faith inasmuch as to beleeve it is all one as to beleeve that the Father hath set forth his Son to be a propitiation for sin through Faith in his blood and so it is to beleeve that Christ dyed for our sins according to the Scriptures and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures because the Doctrine of the Gospel is a testimony and declaration of these things and he that beleeves the one beleeves the other also Gods giving his Son to dye and Christs dying and rising again without a declaration of the mind and counsel of God thereabout as viz. for what cause upon what account and for what end he did so as also upon what termes and conditions men shall reap the fruit of his Death Resurrection and Intercession I say the one without the other does not seem to be the adequate object of Faith but both together are For which cause the Doctrine of the Gospel in its Enunciations Precepts and Threatnings as well as in its Promises is the object of Faith And because the Doctrine of the Gospel contains declares and amply sets forth all these things together with those things which are to come viz. the Resurrection of the Dead and Eternal Judgement in order to which the former first take place as being all of them matters about which Faith is busied therefore is it that the Doctrine of the Gospel is frequently called the Faith Gal. 1.23 and 3.2 5 23. Acts 6.7 Romans 1.5 1 Tim. 4.1 Iude 3. And so now I have done with my first point touching Faith viz. the object of it or the beleeving of what it is that shall be imputed for righteousness CHAP. V. Shewing that that Faith which consists onely in assenting unto the truth of that report which the Gospel makes touching Christ his being the Son of God and of his coming into the World to save Sinners by dying for them will not availe to Iustification and Salvation as a Gospel-Faith of the right kind will do Sect. 1 HAving briefly shewed from the holy Scriptures the beleef of what it is objectively that hath the promise of Salvation annext to it I shall now in the next place come to enquire what and what manner of beleeving it is subjectively that hath the same promise or whether every act of beleeving that is placed on a right object hath this great priviledge of Justification entailed to it And upon due enquiry it will be found that not any act or acts of Faith one or more be they never so many of them that fall short of engaging the Soul in true Love and sincere obedience unto the Lord Jesus will avail the man in whom they are unto the saving of the soul If I mistake not all the acts of a saving Faith may be reduced to and comprehended under these three heads The first I call an act of Credence the second an act of Adherence and the third an act of Confidence in the exertion of which three acts of Faith having Christ for their object the whole soul mind will and affections are engaged which make up the beleeving with all the heart which the Gospel calls for Acts 8.37 By that act which I call an act of Credence I mean the assent of the mind unto the truth of what the Gospel reports especially touching Christ and Gods love to mankind in him as that he is the Son of God and Saviour of the world that he was sent of God the Father to shew unto men the way of salvation and then to dye rise again and after his ascension to make intercession to bring that salvation about and that remission of sins is to be had through his name By that act of Faith which I call an act of Adherence I understand the souls fast cleaving unto the Lord Jesus in affection and subjection as counting him more worthy of both than any Creature or thing in all the world as also taking hold of that grace and strength which is in Christ for deliverance from the power of sin and of bringing the soul back again to God in point of holiness And lastly by an act of Confidence I mean the Souls relyance rest or dependance upon Christ or on the Father through Christ for remission of sins acceptation and eternal salvation the committing of the Soul to his mercy the throwing it upon his grace These three acts of Faith relate to each other by way of dependance the second depending upon the first as the acts of the Will do upon the Understanding and the third upon both the
the spiritual strength and vigor by which the godly life is maintained but through the knowledge of himself the exercise of that spiritual principle which the Lord confers for that end Which is not to be understood neither only of a naked and bare act of discerning how great and gracious the Lord is in making so liberal a provision of all things pertaining to life and godliness nor of a discerning of the nature of the things themselves nor of Gods method and terms of conferring them but also of a practical improvement of such light in such a dependance upon and application to the Lord for them as puts a man into a regular capacity of receiving them and under the powerful influence of the Promise And so knowledge is not taken here as a thing distinct from Faith but as comprehending it as the Scripture elsewhere also sometimes useth it Joh. 17.3 Isa 53.11 1 Joh. 5.20 Sect. 3 2. Christ Jesus is the principle of spiritual life unto the Christian he from whose grace power and vertue the Christian graces both in habit and act receive being motion activity and strength He is the same to the Saints as the body of the Vine is to the branches a means of Fruit-bearing by communication of his grace unto the Soul as that of sap to the branches John 15. The same to them as the head is to the several members of the body from which nourishment and growth is ministred and conveyed Ephes 4.16 But yet Faith is the great instrument of this spiritual communication and conveyance as the influence of the Sun which draws the sap out of the root into the branches or as the Pump between the Well and the Vessel so is Faith in deriving that grace and strength by which the spiritual life is maintained from Christ the Fountain of it The poor Soul sees a great prize set before it and that a race is to be run to obtain it the hope of their calling high but the duties and engagements of it great and many and strength little to make them good but with all learning that grace and truth are in all their fulness in Christ and that of his fulness the Saints have all received and Grace for Grace Joh. 1.16 and that the invitation is general for every one that is a thirst to come hereupon it runs to Christ for supply of strength and depends upon him for it and so accordingly speeds And as the bucket of every mans Faith is larger or lesser by which these waters are drawn out of the Wells of Salvation Isa 12. or these wells more or less frequently visited so proportionably does every true Beleever receive more or less of that fulness which is in Christ See this property in the Apostle Pauls Faith Gal. 2.20 I am crucified with Christ nevertheless I live yet not I but Christ lives in me and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the Faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me Mark he saies that he lived and yet he sayes too that it was not he that lived but Christ that lived in him meaning I suppose That his conversation which he had here in the flesh was so ordered by the commands of Christ and so influenced by the grace and power of Christ that Christ was more visible in Pauls life then Paul was himself But then the question is How he came to have such a presence of Christ and his life so ordered and influenced by Christ The account of this you have in the next words I conceive and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the Faith of the Son of God not only as being thereunto led motive-wise from the consideration of the worthiness of his person and profitableness of his service nor yet only direction-wise according to the tenor of the Doctrine of the Gospel which is the Doctrine of Faith but also by his Faith as deriving that power and strength from Christ by depending upon him for it by which he was enabled so to live and to make Christ so visible in his life as that he could say Not I but Christ lives in me I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me said he in another place Phil. 4.13 And what shall we understand by Christs dwelling in the heart by Faith The thing for which this Apostle so earnestly prayed in the behalf of the Ephesians Ephes 3.17 Christ in the heart where he dwells he dwels not only to command and rule by his authority but also to support quicken and strengthen by his grace and comfort with his love to furnish that soul with what it wants for where he dwells in this kind he dwells to bless But this presence of his reviving quickening strengthening grace in the soul is brought thither abides there by Faith Faith goes to Christ in the heavens as having all power in his hands and tells him as it were that though he have laid the foundation of eternal salvation for the poor soul in his own bloud yet considering what enemies are to be conquered and what services to be performed the work is never like to be carried through unless he furnish with supplies of Grace and strength for that purpose And then having this encouragement to strengthen it self in this address that this supply of Grace which is desired does not amount to more than what he hath already freely done for the soul in laying down his own life for its ransom before such a favour was sought at his hands and that those treasures of spiritual life strength and power which are in his hand are placed there on purpose to supply every needy Soul that thus seeks them and that they will never turn to such an account of glory to him while kept there as when delivered out to every soul that in a true sence of its own want of them and their worth unfeignedly desires them And considering withal how agreeable it is to the goodness of Christs own blessed nature and the general design of his Mediatorship and his faithfulness to that trust which is committed to him by his Father to carry forward the begun work of saving the Soul and to be furnishing forth strength for the doing of what he gladly would have done and which he knows cannot be done without it I say Faith being supported with such like considerations as these in its application to Christ for supplies is confident of obtaining and never leaves him till it brings down the vertue strength and power of Christ into the Soul to supply the wants thereof Sect. 4 3. There are many fair and gracious overtures in the Scriptures of Gods gracious inclination and intention to deliver the soul from the dominion of sin to subdue the iniquity of his people to purge purifie and cleanse the soul from the polution of sin to heal the spiritual distempers and diseases of the Soul to restore health
and procured by the Word there the Word by means of this Faith works effectually to the raising or producing of that love which is the end or design of the Commandement It 's said of some Heb. 4.2 that the word did not profit them not being mixed with Faith in them that heard it The Word is then said not to profit men when it looses it's end and design of good towards them when it does not work in them and procure from them that frame and disposition of Soul and habit of behaviour which does answer its nature and scope as when the Doctrine of Love is preached to them and yet no such thing is wrought in them But the cause of this disappointment is the not mixing the Word with Faith If men do not verily beleeve it to be a Word from the Lord or that it comes from him upon like or far better termes than hearty counsel from a Friend as both able and faithful to advise and direct upon the best termes for good or if they think themselves and their own good not much concerned in it and the like no marvel if it profit them not if it procure not that complyance from them which should give it an abiding place in the Soul to work there as seed does which is wont to bring forth Fruit according to its kind But where the Word the Doctrine of Love for example is mixed with Faith with respect to the authority power wisdom design of good in the author and the conducibleness of the word it self to the real and substantial happiness and felicity of the person himself in whom this Faith is there it prospers in the thing for which it is sent Sect. 4 Having now thus shewed how Faith works by love by contributing to its being and consequently to its motions and operations and considering that Faiths working by love is the characteristical mark and distinguishing property of that Faith which shall avail men unto salvation let us now put our selves upon the tryal of our Faith and so upon our title to life by this evidence And I will begin with that love which is wrought by Faith to the Lord. Hath then the sight and sence which Faith hath given you of the wonderfulness of the Fathers love and of the Sons love in doing suffering and designing such marvellous things for Persons so unworthy of them and so worthy of what is directly contrary to them as we are as may well astonish the rational part of the whole Creation I say hath the sight and sence of this divine fire of Love kindled upon your souls and caused a heavenly burning of affection to the Lord. Hath the sence which Faith hath given you of his love to you exceedingly endeared your souls by way of return in love to him Hath your Faith opened such a passage for Christs love to come at the Soul as that you can say with the Saints of old The love of Christ constraineth us because we thus judge that if one dyed for all then were all dead and that he dyed for all that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves but unto him which dyed for them and rose again 1 Cor. 5 14 15. Hath it such a force and influence upon you in causing you to devote your selves your lives to him as his love to you had upon him in causing him to give his life for you and himself unto you Sect. 5 1. To what degree any Man or Woman loves another to the same degree they are usually wont to be desirous and careful to please them And therefore the Apostle supposeth this to be the natural effect of that conjugal relation and affection that is between Husband and Wife viz. the ones caring to please her Husband and the others caring to please his Wife 1 Cor. 7.33 34. And there 's no doubt but it is so with all those that love the Lord indeed the more they abound in that affection to him the more desirous the more thoughtful and the more careful are they how to please the Lord in every thing they do and in every thing he would have done And therefore the Scripture measures mens love to the Lord by their care to do his commands which are indeed the things that please him 1 John 5.3 For this is the love of God that we keep his Commandements And again John 14.15 If ye love me keep my Commandements And verse 21. He that hath my Commandements and keepeth them he it is that loveth me And again verse 23. If a man love me he will keep my words And yet again verse 24. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings 1 John 2.5 But whoso keepeth his word in him verily is the love of God perfected And therefore when men are not full of thought and care about what will please and what will displease the Lord and desirous and industrious to come at his mind hereabout but are untender and do things at a venture either in his Worship their own calling or in their converse with men not laying it close to the heart to give glory to God in all it argues that things are not yet as they should be with them in their love to the Lord. Sect. 6 2. Again where the Soul by means of Faith hath had a taste of the exceeding sweetness and preciousness of the Lords love 1 Pet. 2.3 If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious and is thereby brought in love with his love as highly prizing it and the sence of it there the soul will be wonderful fearful of acting or doing any thing that might make any breach between the Lord and it that might offend or grieve him or that should cause him to turn away in displeasure or to hide his face or to with-hold the influences of his quickening and comforting grace And if at any time through want of care and watchfulness such a soul hath been surprized and drawn to speak or act yea though but in the in most parts of the soul that which tends to grieve the Spirit to provoke the Lord and to work any estrangement O what humbling is there what taking of shame what begging crying and earnest intreating that God would passe it by that it might not obstruct the course of their communion with the Lord And if it hath wrought any distance and the Lord hath hereupon withdrawn himself a little O how the poor soul is cast down how earnest in her pursuit after her Beloved that hath withdrawn himself and is gone and how restless till the breach be made up and the Lord hath smiled again upon the soul by some gracious effects of his presence there Such things as these are undoubtedly found in greater or lesser proportion where true and entire love to the Lord hath been raised by Faith in the Soul Ps 51.7 8 9 10 11 12. Cant. 5.2 8. Sect. 7 3. Furthermore to what degree Faith works by Love to
Luke 18.5 or at the best to allay the clamour of Conscience The Apostle clearly supposes that men may give Alms upon such termes that their very giving shall rather demonstrate them to be covetous men than charitable else what does he mean when he sayes that he took such and such course about the Collection in the Church of Corinth for other poor Saints that it might proceed from them as matter of bounty and not of covetousnesse 2 Cor. 9.5 And that he had herein an eye upon niggardlinesse in giving we are induced to beleeve by the very next words verse 6. But this I say that he which sows sparingly shall reap sparingly and he which soweth bountifully shall reap bountifully And therefore when there is so great a disproportion between mens giving and their ability to give both in respect of number and quantity of their gifts as is too common among men their Alms-deeds will never amount unto a proof of the truth reality or sincerity of their Christian love but rather on the contrary prove an argument of the want of that grace For whence proceeds this straitnesse of hand if it be traced but from narrownesse and straitnesse of heart and that from want of love for it is the very nature of love where it is to open and dilate the heart as the Sun does the pores of the earth which till it comes is contracted and shut up And this illiberal temper in men as it argues want of love in them so it argues want of Faith too the mother of love For whence proceeds that undue sparing and saving and lothnesse to part with any thing considerable but from a secret distrust of wanting that themselves which others call for from them If men could but beleeve and be thorowly perswaded that it is the surest way not only to provide themselves baggs that wax not old a treasure in Heaven but also to secure themselves and Children too from want and poverty here on earth they would as freely part with their money in a way of charity for so much as were meet for them to give as now they do in their Trades in hopes of defending themselves from want If such Scriptures were but turned into Faith which declare the man blessed that considereth the poor and that the Lord shall deliver him in time of trouble and preserve him alive and make him blessed on earth Psalm 41.1 2. that say the liberal man deviseth liberal things and by liberal things he shall stand Isa 32.8 The liberal soul shall be made fat and he that watereth shall be watered himself Prov. 11.25 He that hath pity on the poor lendeth to the Lord and that which he hath given will he pay him again Prov. 19.17 He that giveth to the poor shall not lack Prov. 28.27 Thou shalt surely give him and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him viz. the poor because that for this thing the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thy works and in all that thou puttest thy hand unto Deut. 15.10 And God is able to make all grace abound towards you that ye alwayes having all sufficiency in all things may abound to every good work 2 Cor. 9.8 I say if these and many like Scriptures were but turned into Faith they would be counted being lived to in a way of mercy liberality and bounty a thousand times better security against want than all mens pinching and sparing in their deeds of charity is like to be Prov. 11.24 There is that scattereth and yet increaseth and there is that with-holdeth more than is meet but it tendeth to poverty It 's certainly mens unbelief that binds their hearts and binds their hands from bounteous acts they must have Gods to go before them something to trust to which they see and therefore they think the deminishing of their wealth by giving will be a weakening of the prop upon which they lean And therefore these lean starved Sacrifices and niggardly Alms-deeds proceeding as they do from mens diffidence and distrust can never possibly amount unto an evidence of the goodness of their Faith It concerns every one therefore as they prize the clear evidence and proof of the sincerity of their Faith and Love to proportion their Alms-deeds in some good measure suitable to their estates as that without which such evidence and proof is not to be had Nor do I say that it is the only thing by which such assurance is to be had for the Apostle supposeth that men may possibly cut large morsels out of their estates to supply the poor and yet be void of true Christian charity when he saith Though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor and have not charity it profiteth we nothing 1 Cor. 13.3 But that proportionate distribution I speak of in conjunction with other effects of those graces will reach it though nothing that I know without this will it being an express duty Him to whom much is given of him much is required Luke 12.48 But rather give Alms as you are able so it is in the margin and behold all things are clean unto you Luke 11.41 Vpon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store as God hath prospered him 1 Cor. 16.2 Then the Disciples every man according to his ability determined to send relief unto the Brethren which dwelt in Judea which also they did Acts 11.29 Sect. 16 I cannot indeed by any rule certainly determine what proportion of his Estate or the Income of it a man as a Christian is bound ordinarily to disburse in a way of charity and that which makes this the more difficult is the great variety of circumstances that do attend mens outward conditions here in the world both in respect of their estates themselves and the necessary occasions of issuing of them forth in a way of ordinary expence As for example one man it may be hath five hundred by the year revenue and no Child another but one hundred and yet hath five or six Children Now n such a case it seems no wise reasonable to think that the same proportion suppose it to be an eighth tenth or twelfth part of a mans Income which would be it may be sufficient for the one would be sufficient for the other also And the reason of the difference is because the one hath neither the like necessary occasion of expence for the present but what is voluntary and matter of his own election and choice nor the like necessary occasion of increasing his Estate by way of future provision for Relations as the other hath but may with much more ease and reason part with a fourth or fifth part of his Income in way of charity than the other may with a tenth or twelfth For as it is neither necessary nor good Christian-like for men to advance in the costliness of their way of living to the utmost of their Income when their Estates are
a power to justifie The efficacy justifying power and vertue of Faith depends not upon nor rises out of the excellency or dignity of its own nature but it depends upon and proceeds from the will good pleasure ordination or appointment of God digested and put into the Gospel as a standing Law and unchangeable decree As it was not the naturalness of proportion between the Israelites looking up to the Serpent of Brass and that effect of healing that was procured thereby Numb 21.9 that brought the thing to pass but the production of such an effect by such means depended upon the operativeness of Gods will so in the antitype of this Jo. 3.14 mens being healed justified by looking up to and beleeving in Jesus as lift up upon the Cross this is not brought to pass neither meerly by the act of Faith it self as such but by the efficacy of the divine will which hath ordained it to that end and use And therefore is it I suppose that the Scripture so frequently casts this great effect of mens being justified upon God as his act grant and gift though by or through Faith as subservient to his will herein calling it The righteousness of God which is by Faith and saying That it is one God which shall justifie the Circumcision by Faith and uncircumcision through Faith Rom. 3.22 30. Phil. 3.9 And if Christ himself is said to be unto us Righteousnesse because made so of God 1 Cor. 1.30 and salvation to be had through his Name because given for that end Acts 4.12 then much more certainly does the justifying office or work of Faith depend upon the divine will John 6.40 This is the will of him that sent me that every one that seeth the Son and beleeveth on him may have everlasting life This might be further argued from Rom. 3.25 John 1.12 and 3.16 but I forbear Sect. 6 But in the mean while a comfortable Doctrine surely it is to understand that our justification by Faith does not depend so much upon the nature of the grace it self as upon the will of him that hath appointed it to that office and upon the Gospel as that Charter by which such a priviledge is conferred upon it which is a thousand times richer and firmer foundation to bear such a building as the hope of Righteousness by Faith is than is the nature of the grace it self which is subject to ebbings and flowings and times of shaking and fits of feebleness and weaknesse If the justifying effect of Faith had depended meerly upon the nature and operation of the grace it self then the infiniteness of disproportion that is between such a cause and such an effect the inconsiderableness of the service and vastness of reward might have rendred the confident expectation of so great a benefit upon such terms matter of greater difficulty But now seeing that the weight and stresse of this great effect which is produced by or through Faith as that without which God will not have it take place does depend upon the powerful and operative will of God which is infinitely full of Grace and Kindness to the poor Creature and upon the everlasting and unalterable Covenant of his Grace and Love the confidence of Justification by Faith now becomes much more easie and pleasant as feeling firmness rockiness substantiality of ground under the feet of it He that holds an estate worth a thousand pounds by the year by Lease or Charter though he pay but a Pepper-corn by way of acknowledgment hath as good a Title in Law to that Estate as another that holds the like Estate from the same Landlord though he pay a thousand pound Rent by the year for it because the one Lease is the voluntary act of the Landlord as well as the other Even so though Faith amount but to little in comparison of that absolute perfection of holiness love and obedience that was found in Adam while he stood yet considering that the same Lord hath now graciously by an unchangeable act of his own will setled and entailed Justification and eternal life upon mens unfeigned beleeving in his Son Jesus Christ which once setled ever-living upon Adams absolute perfect holiness love and obedience it hereupon follows that whosoever doth in truth unfeignedly beleeve hath therefore as real as sure and as certain a title to eternal life as Adam himself had and would have kept in case he had kept his first integrity But then that which is the amountment of all this is that seeing there is now a new Law given by God a new Covenant established and that the sum and substance of it is this that God having sent his Son Jesus Christ into the world to save sinners he requires and enjoyns men to receive him and beleeve in him in that capacity in which he is sent and upon their so doing promises Justification and eternal life as on the contrary threatens eternal death to those that do not hereupon it follows that those that do thus beleeve in Christ do fulfill the terms of the Gospel and fulfilling the terms of it must needs be righteous in the account of it For what else is a mans righteousness but his conformity to that Law under which he lives or which is given him to live by As transgression of it is sin 1 John 3.4 so conformity to it is righteousness And therefore since Faith bears such a proportion of conformity to the Gospel as it does when it is sound and sincere well may it be counted for Righteousness to them that have it Sect. 7 Yet because this Righteousness which is called the Righteousnesse of Faith consists in great part at least in the forgivenesse of sins and since both that and all the gracious acceptation with God which does accrue to men upon their beleeving is vouchsafed them not for their Faith sake though not without it but upon the account of another to wit Jesus Christ Ephes 4.32 1 John 2.12 thence it may well be that though Faith be really and truly a mans righteousness in the Gospels account yet it is so only in the way of imputation reckoning or account of grace Which is a thing I would not have slightly passed over but diligently and carefully observed as having much of the Spirit of the Gospel and Doctrine of Grace in it For Faith though it be rich indeed and hath glorious things in it and signifies much in the reckoning or account of the Gospel yet it is rich with the riches of another Faith it is the borrowing Grace as the Moon borrows its light from the Sun so Faith borrows that by which it does such great things for the Soul from another from Christ It is true Faith is a worthy thing as it gives glory to God in beleeving all that he sayes as it carries the Soul and unites it to him as it purifies the heart and works by Love and the like but alass what would all this do towards the making of
and soundness of your Faith and thereby the validity of your title to the promise as will satisfie the Judge Delegate Conscience and make that on your side and then you have cast your adversary and foiled him in his suit he can proceed no further with you his accusation and Bill in this kind being thrown out of the Court of Conscience as malicious and scandalous Sect. 4 But then O how does it concern us to have the evidences and proofs of the goodness of our Faith which is our title to be alwayes in a readiness and not to seek for to be sure shall they be wanting or should they be lost or but defaced and blur'd or but in a capacity of delivering themselves ambiguously our Adversary the Devil is so diligent to prie into matters of this nature as that there will be no hiding them from him and so subtile to improve advantages in this kind given as that we shall hear of him in such a time and season which of all other we have least need to be troubled by him And therefore as you would not have your bitter and cruel Enemy the Devil to vex perplex and worst you in the Court of your own Conscience be careful above all things so to shew forth your Faith by your Works James 2.18 as that you may put the Devil out of heart as it were of attempting you in this kind or if he do that you may be sure he shall but loose his labour He that is begotten of God sinneth not but keepeth himself that the wicked one toucheth him not 1 John 5.18 It 's sinning and matter of miscarriage unevenness and faultering in ones way that gives the Devil advantage against one and power of impleading him but those that are truly careful to walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing mark that Col. 1.10 as those that are begotten of God do they keep themselves out of the Devils reach that the wicked one toucheth them not though he diligently seeks it yet he cannot get this advantage against them It 's in vain for the Devil to bring his accusations against a man at the Barr of his Conscience if Conscience it self which is Judge in the case be able to bear a man witness that his Faith is of that kind that in the tenour of his life worketh by such acts which argue unfeigned love both to God and men This brest-plate of Righteousness will effectually safeguard the Soul from all the thrusts of the Devil that he shall not be able to wound the Spirit Ephes 6.14 Righteousness keepeth him that is upright in the way Prov. 13.6 it 's that to the Soul which a coat of Mail is to the body it preserves the Soul from the molestations of the Devil his weapons cannot enter his insinuations touching a mans bad condition before God cannot take place The armour of righteousness is armour of proof on the right hand and on the left 2 Cor. 6. â—7 If a man have that on the Devil can find no way to enter or to draw blood of the Soul but let a man leave off that but a little and he shall soon feel the Devils darts striking through his Liver to allude to Prov. 7.23 and his Sword passing through his Soul and such aches paines and gripes occasioned thereby in the Soul as sometime caused a stout Souldier of the Lords upon that occasion to roar for the disquietness of his heart Psal 38.8 and to complain of broken bones Ps 51.8 Sect. 5 And truly for Conscience it self which is such a Judge as next to the supream Judge is privy to all a mans wayes inward outward it cannot take a mans part against the Devils accusations and pleas before its Barr touching the unsoundness of his Faith and brokenness of his title to the promise of Justification and life if it discern not in him those spiritual qualifications as will in the eye of the holy Law of Jesus evince his Faith to be living and not dead For as it is the living and not the dead among men in whom the title in Law rests and is alwayes so judged so is it the living and not the dead Faith in which the title in the sence of the Gospel rests and will be alwayes so judged by an upright Conscience And therefore if you would have Conscience to pass the sentence on your side and against the impleadings of your enemy and to be a witness for you in your cause be you sure you do nothing at any time to offend Conscience and to disoblige it or to make it a witness against you For if the Devil shall appeal to Conscience it self which is the Judge whether it be not able to witness that at such and such a time such and such offences and transgressions of the holy Law were committed and done in word or deed not only in its sight but contrary to its items and checks and the Conscience knows it to be true can the Conscience think you in such a case vindicate a mans cause against his Enemy surely no but must give the Devil his due and say as he sayes so far as he speaks true And how far a few instances of this nature will go towards the spoiling of a mans cause when he comes to be tryed for his integrity I leave to every Soul seriously to consider A few acts of this nature will go further to evince a man to be unfaithful and false to God and under the condemnation of his Law in the maine than a great many good actions in company of these will do to prove him to be faithful and under the protection of the Law Ezek. 33.12 13. The righteousnesse of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression Again When I shall say to the righteous that he shall surely live if he trust to bis own righteousnesse and commit iniquity all his righteousnesse shall not be remembred but for his iniquity which he hath committed he shall dye for it Which surely remains in force where true Repentance which consists of contrition and reformation hath not altered the case which otherwise is indeed a remedy against the Sin of backsliding as well as against other evills where it takes place Sect. 6 Again Conscience in its testimony or verdict is that which does not only acquit a man from the accusations of the Devil when calumnious but which also gives him boldness towards God of receiving a gracious and merciful sentence of final Justification and absolution from Christ when the day of his solemn and publick tryal shall come For as here in London at the Sessions of Peace an inferior Court things are prepared and made ready for tryal at the Grand Sessions so that a man may guesse by the verdict of the petty Jury in the lower Court how things are like to go with him in the Upper Court even so may a man be able to make a kind of certain Judgement how things are