but I obtained mercy so c. Quest 3 Quest How shall we do to live this Life of Sanctification Ans The answer to the third Question will resolve this viz. By what means Sanctification is wrought How and by what means this Sanctification is wrought in the Soul Ans 1 The truth is the main Original Cause is God He is the Author as of the first so of the second Creation Eph. 2.10 For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works God the Father as the Efficient Cause Jude ver 1. To them that are sanctified by God the Father God the Son as the Meritorious Cause Heb. 2.11 For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all one God the Holy Ghost working this 1 Cor. 6.11 But ye are sanctified in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God It springs not from our selves nor from our parents no though they be holy it springs not from them Sow the purest Wheat you can get yet it springs up with chaff again when it brings forth another Crop So the best parents bring forth children with the chaff of natural corruption cleaving to them Grace comes not from Nature but from God Joh. 1.13 Which were born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but of God God therefore is the Original and principal Cause Vse Go to God for Sanctification for our selves or others 1 Thess 5.23 And the very God of peace sanctifie you wholly c. Mat. 8.2 And behold a leper came and worshipped him saying Lord if thou wilt thou canst make me clean Psal 51.7 10. Create in me a clean heart c. Ans 2 But now Faith is the Intrumental Cause of the Life of Sanctification in the order of working and so the just lives by Faith the Life of Sanctification Acts 15.9 Faith purifies the heart and ch 26.18 it purifies the life of the whole man that they may receive inheritance among them that are sanctified by faith that is in me Quest And how doth Faith purifie or how doth the just live by Faith the Life of Sanctification Ans 1. Acts of faith in sanctifying 1. Applying Christ either 1. In general As laying hold on Christ the principal object of Faith especially on the blood of Christ the meritorious Cause of cleansing I say in general laying hold upon Christ the principal object of Faith not as if Faith had this life or this power to give life in it self no more can it give the life of Sanctification than of Justification but as by it we are united to Christ our Head and Fountain of Life Faith comes from Christ and returns to Christ again like the Flower call'd The Wonder of the World it grows out from the stem or stalk and turns round to it again So Faith comes from Christ and turns round to him again to draw still more vertue from him As our Communion with Christ in grace flows from our Vnion with him so also all spiritual Operations or living acts of spiritual life Look as in the natural body the life of all the Members is from the Head and that Life conveyed by certain nerves and sinews to every part so the Life of Sanctification in all the Members is derived from Christ the Head and that by the sinews and nerves of Faith conveyed to all the elect in due time by which they live and more and more encrease from day to day Vide Ephes 4.15 16. Coloss 2.19 Quest But how shall I know that my spiritual actions and operations suppose Prayer Preaching the Word practising of that we hear in any particular do spring from my Union with Christ Ans This is a profitable and necessary Question When spiritual actions spring from faith in Christ because a man may do many good things and yet these actions not flow from our Union with Jesus Christ A man may have excellent common graces nay and he may counterfeit saving graces too and yet these not spring from Union with Christ Nay a man may be strengthened by Christ to do work and service for Christ and yet that strength and those services not flow from Union Isa 45.1 c. Concerning Cyrus his doing friendly offices for the Church and this prophecied of him about 200 years before he was born Isa 1O 3 O Assyrian the rod of mine anger c. correcting and afflicting the Church and they had their strength from God a staff in his hand and yet they did not know this nor acknowledge it themselves v. 7. Howbeit he meaneth not so c. A man may have excellent common graces as Judas had and those Matth. 7.22 Lord have we not prophecied in thy Name and in thy Name i e. in thy power cast out devils c. A man may counterfeit saving graces even to the life that he may deceive others Rev. 3.1 Thou hast a name that thou livest and art dead Though God is not mocked Quest The Question then is How shall I know whether my holy actions motions and operations do spring from Union with Christ or no Ans 1. To follow the Metaphor of Head and Members If thy holy actions proceed from inward principles 1 Cor. 6.17 Being made one spirit and not outward principles onely As a living hand or foot is moved from invisible nerves and sinews within but a wooden hand or foot is moved onely by outward ligatures by which it is bound to the body So a man may pray and preach and be onely moved by outward ligatures of profit credit envy c. Philip. 1.15 Some preach Christ of envy and strife and some of good will So Mat. 6.1 2 3 4 5. They gave alms and prayed in the streets to be seen of men but he that doth it by vertue of Union is moved by an inward principle of the Spirit of Christ Obj. But may there not be a common gift of the Spirit to move a wicked man as 2 Chron. Ezra 1.1 The Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus King of Persia c. Ans Yes but then it proceeds not from the inhabiting Spirit of God whereof the Elect are the Temple 1 Cor. 6.19 but onely from a present common and transient work of the Spirit as in Baalam so sometimes good and evil spirits have had power to enter into bodies and carry them up and down but yet not to inform them as the Soul informs the Body nor to dwell there c. So the Spirit of God c. Quest How shall I know my Spiritual actions proceed from the inhabiting Spirit Ans By savouring and minding the things of the Spirit Rom. 8 5. They that are of the flesh do minde the things of the flesh but they that are after the spirit the things of the spirit Though Gods Spirit spake in and by Baalam yet he had no through relish of what he spake for he still loved the wages of
if we could perceive it is a heart renewed and sanctified and in some measure indowed with a love of that God who hath begotten us to a lively hope 1 Pet. 1.3 and with a love of our fellow-brethren who are begotten of the same incorruptible seed and born of the same womb 1 Ioh. 5 2. who hang upon the same Brests and are heirs of the same inheritance with our selves Now when we see these things in our selves by a reflect act of Faith the testimony of a renewed Conscience this evidence must needs bring abundance of comfort to the Soul This reflect act of Faith it is like the Rainbow which is nothing else but the reflection of the Sun in a watry Cloud which though it be no Cause why the earth shall no more be drowned with waters yet it is made a sure Sign thereof by the Ordinance of God Gen. 2.10 11 12. So we say of this reflect act of Faith in the looking upon the work of Love and other sanctified Graces in the Soul though they are no causes why the believing Soul shall be no more overflowed with the deluge of Gods wrath yet they are a sure sign and token thereof by Gods appointment as the Rainbow was And indeed the way of grace in Gods sanctified ones is nothing else but the reflection of the Sun of Righteousness in a watry cloudy Soul warming and melting it into tears because it can love Jesus Christ no more or can get no more assurance of his love Well saith Christ to such a Soul I will establish my Covenant with thee and this shall be the sign of it Isa 54.9 10. For this is as the waters of Noah unto me as sure as the Covenant made with Noah concerning the waters For as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee nor rebuke thee For the Mountains shall depart and the Hills be moved but my kindness shall not depart from thee neither shall the Covenant of my peace be removed saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee Therefore examine thy Grace Objections against trial of our comforts by our graces rather than of our graces by our comforts Obj. Oh but he that hath but common graces may go very far so that it is hard to discern the one from the other if we try our selves by our Graces and not by our Comforts Ans As there are common Graces so common Comforts such comforts as are common to Hypocrites as well as true Believers There is the joy of an Hypocrite of the stony ground of Herod who heard John gladly Obj. How then can we discern the one from the other the joy of Gods People from the joy of an Hypocrite Ans Though an Hypocrite may rejoyce in some part of the word as to hear of a Christ of a Saviour of Heaven and Glory yet he cannot indure to hear of Affliction and Self-denial But a true Believer rejoyceth in every part of the Word even in that which holds forth Christ as a King a Commander a Crucifier of the Body of Sin as well as of his own Body for sin Oh how glad is he when the Word strikes at the Master-root of his corruption Oh more of that saith he let the righteous smite me again and again Good is the word which the Lord hath spoken But an Hypocrite is so far from rejoycing in such a Word that he flies in the face of the Reprover as Herod did Note that the same difficulty of trial and proneness to mistake is as incident to that preposterous way of judging our selves by our comforts as by our graces when John came once to touch him to the quick But that is the first answer viz. There are common comforts as there are common graces Ergo The trial of our selves by our graces is as easie as by our comforts 2. We answer when we speak of the Touchstone of Trial from which a Christian receives his comfort our meaning is this That we receive it onely in such graces as accompany Salvation as the true fear of God the true desire after God in hungring and thirsting after his Righteousness and a true love to the People of God Obj. Oh but there may be in an Hypocrite or Unregenerate man all these A fear of God a desire after God a love to his People 1. A fear of God yea such a fear as to depart from evil Jonah 1.16 Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly and offered sacrifices to the Lord and made vows Gen. 26.6 Abimelech was with-holden from Adultery by the light of natural conscience 2. A desire after God and after grace as the five foolish Virgins desired oyl Mat. 25.8 3. A love to Gods People with great respect such as was the respect of the Egyptians to the Israelites that they would lend them not ordinary houshold-stuff onely but that which was most dear and precious to them Jewels of Silver and Gold and this was generally throughout all the Land of Egypt And what favours did Pharaoh shew to Joseph Nebuchadnezzar to Daniel Ahasuerus to Esther and Mordecai Therefore these graces may be in unregenerate men Difference of regenerating grace from common Ans And though there may be a kinde of fear of God and desire after God and love to his People which unregenerate men may have yet not the true and saving fear of God c. Q. But how shall we know the difference Ans Why the Word doth clearly hold forth a difference 1. In the fear of God As for the first An unregenerate man may have such a fear of God as to endevour to depart from some evil but not from all like the Samaritans of whom it is said after the Lord sent Lions amongst them They feared the Lord and yet feared their own gods too and therefore the Lord accounted it as no fear at all 2 King 17.33 34. But he that truly feareth God makes conscience to depart from every evil way Prov 8.13 The fear of the Lord is to hate evil if not in action yet in affection and serious endevours 2. In desire of grace 2. An ungenerate man though he may have a kind of desires after grace yet he desires not grace as it is grace First he desires not grace for the love of grace but for the love of happiness As the Virgins desired oyl when they were ready to die not because they loved the oyl or the light but because without that oyl and light they could not go in with Christ but must be shut out to have their portion with the Devil and his Angels for ever But the oyl of grace is truly lovely to a gracious heart They have spiritual sense to smell the sweet favour of the oyntment Cant. 1.2 and they love the light Joh 3.21 He that doth truth cometh to the light 3. In love to Gods people 3.
shall prove the gall of Asps in their belly Job 20.12 13 14. Though wickedness be sweet in the mouth though he hide it under his tongue yet his meat in his bowels is turned into the gall of Asps within him Obj. Oh but some may say Faithful persons experience tells us they are sometimes very uncomfortable what should be the reason of this or how comes this to pass that it is so with them Ans It springs from themselves Satan or from God Rise of the Sâ—s heaviness From themselves 1. Either from the Commission of some speciall Sin 2. The inordinate Aggravation of sin committed in some special case from Natural Constitution or Spiritual Câ—â—dition 3. Ignorance of the right way to attain assurance of forgiveness of sin 4. Not Acting their Faith though they have the habit of it 5. Their Forgetfulness of taking Christ on his own terms or that they have taken Christ upon such terms From themselves First from the committing of some special and notable sin 1. Sorrow from the commissioÌ„ of some sin God will not frown upon his Children for every weakness but if they commit some scandalous wickedness he will not onely frown but strike with the Rod also and make them cry Peccavi as it was with Peter and David and many of Gods chosen Such as will not be guided by the Light of the Sun of Righteousness shall not be warmed with the heat of it for the present but God will put his Face under a Cloud till they know how to injoy their Fathers smiles Isa 17.18 For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wrath and smote him I hid me and was wroth and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart Cause 2. Inordinate aggravation of sin Secondly it falls out from the inordinate aggravation of sin committed It is the policy of Satan before the Commission of sin to lessen sin and magnifie mercy but after the Commission to magnifie sin and lessen mercy As Cain said My sin is greater than can be forgiven Yea sometimes believers themselves are over-taken with this Temptation Fain I would believe saith a poor Soul but I am so sinful so unworthy I cannot lay hold on the Promise and so the comfort is suspended But it were good for such to remember the grace of God is free Christ came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance yea the greatest of sinners such as Paul Manasses Mary Magdalen c. No matter what the disease be if thou wilt come humbly to Christ the Physician of Souls And tell me when did he ever turn away any diseased person without cure He hath one Medicine of sufficient vertue to cure all diseases 1 Joh. 1.27 The Blood of Christ cleanseth us from all sin Nothing but the Blood of Christ can cleanse from the least sin and the Blood of Christ can cleanse from the greatest But this is the second stop-Cock to the waters of Comfort immoderate aggravation of sin and too much poring upon our own unworthiness The third is Cause 3. Ignorance of forgiveness Ignorance of the right way to attain assurance of forgiveness of sin and of Gods favour conceiving the promises are onely made to such as do actually believe and thereupon they conclude against themselves No Promise can belong to them because they do not believe and upon that ground they should be kept from believing as long as they live Note For God doth not make a Promise to a man because he believes but a man believes because God makes a Promise Because we may believe Promises are laid as Foundations of Faith and not Faith laid as Foundations of Promises Now the Ignorance of this strips the Soul of comfort for a long time So the mistake of the Spirits witness whilst men take it to be some vocal Testimony and so wanting that they fall into no small perplexity not knowing that the fruits of the Spirit are sufficient evidences that we are led by the Spirit and are not under the Law Psal 5 18.22 But the mistake of this evidence doth much eclipse our Comfort The fourth Impediment of Comfort is Cause 4. Want oâ— acting Faith their not acting of Faith though they have the habit They forget the application of Gods faithful Word or of his faithful Works according to his Word to their present condition and then they must needs want comfort 1. In application of Gods faithful Word 1. The Application of his Faithful Word Heb. 12. The believing Jews were apt to faint in their minds and to be weary in the time of trial why so ver 5. They had forgotten the word of Exhortation which speaks to them as unto children Despise not thou the chastening of the Lord nor faint when thou art rebuked of him They had forgot the word of Exhortation and the word of Promise whereby God had ingaged himself to be as a Father to them in their greatest affliction and therefore they wanted comfort 2. In application of Gods faithful Works They forgot the Application of his Faithful Works according to his Word Mat. 16.17 The Disciples were very solicitous and careful about bread it troubled them much they had no more provision and what was the reason of it They had forgotten the application of his Faithful Works according to his word v. 9. Do ye not understand neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand and how many baskets ye took up Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand c. So that the wanting of acting of our Faith in the Word and Works of God is the occasion of the the want of Comfort Cause 5. Overlooking the terms on which Christ is had Fifthly Their forgetfulness to take Christ on his own terms with the Cross and therefore when the Cross comes unlooked for they are troubled they are troubled out of measure and it may be they want inward comfort too and why so because Christ will not speak peace to a Soul till he makes it willing to take him upon Gospel-terms and that is with the Cross Luk. 14.26 If any man come to me and hate not Father and Mother and Wife and Children and Brother and Sister yea and his own Life too he cannot be my Disciple and whosoever doth not bear his Cross and come after me he cannot be my Disciple These are the Articles of Agreement betwixt Christ and the Soul these must be signed and observed before we can have comfort and we must remember them as we desire to retain our comfort for in case we forget them a little thing will offend us and throw our comforts off the hooks And thus sometimes the want of comfort in Gods People springs from themselves At other times it springs from Satan 2. From Satan who because he is miserable himself would fain make all others like himself But because he cannot hinder the happiness of Gods people therefore he will do
what he can to hinder their comfort in the mean-time and therefore so far as God will give him leave he will be sure to toss them in the Fan of Temptation and to throw at them many fiery darts of Opposition he will be ready to inject into their minds many hideous thoughts of Atheism and Blasphemy the venom whereof are ready to drink up their Spirits and it is no marvel if they want comfort at such times Sometimes he prevails to tempt them to sin Cast thy self down 1 Chron. 21.1 And Satan stood up against Israel and provoked David to number the people Zech. 3.1 And he shewed me Joshua the High-Priest standing before the Angel of the Angel and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him This springs from God 3. From God who is pleased to dispense himself in much wisdom and faithfulness that one-while his Saints shall have comfort and another-while it shall be eclipsed again And why so 1. To shew that he is the God of all our comforts therefore he doth sometime withdraw our comforts to make us know we are not Free-holders but Tenants at will He turns his People out of their comforts though he never wholly turns them out of their possessions of grace He creates darkness as well as light in the Soul that we may give him the glory of our light and comfort to all Eternity Isa 45.67 I form the light and create darkness I make peace and create evil 2. God doth this VVhy God eclipseth his peoples comforts to fit them and frame them for some special work and service He humbles them and proves them Deu. 8.2 3 16 to do them good and to do much good by them in the latter end Amongst men such as we train up for some special imployment their Parents acquaint them with all conditions they are sent from School to the University from University to the Inns of Court from thence to travel into remote places of the World and indure much hardship So God when he will mould a man for some notable imployment he makes him travel through all conditions he must go through thick and thin heighths and depths and from thence he calls him out to his service 3. God withdraws his comforts for the present to prepare them for the more comforts afterwards The darkness of the night makes the light of the day more sweet and comfortable So the sorrows of Gods People do but prepare them for more fulness of constant joy As contraries opposed makes both to shine the brighter And therefore it is said Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted Mat. 5.4 And why shall godly mourners be comforted Note Because sorrow like the rest of those declining Passions it is not made for it self but for some higher use As hatred for love and fear for confidence so sorrow is made for joy it is subservient to that very end God will have his People sorrow much at one time that they may rejoyce the more at another Those usually have most of heaven upon earth that formerly have met with most of hell upon earth Psa 116.3 The sorrows of death compassed me the pains of hell got hold upon me I found trouble and sorrow As Jonas crying out of the belly of Hell But look upon him within two or three verses after and you may see him in an Extasie as if he were in heaven ver 7. Return unto thy rest O my Soul the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee And these are the causes in which and these are the causes for which God doth sometimes with-hold comforts from his servants Other ways and at other times the onely truly comfortable life is a Religious life the Life of Faith And that 's the third Head of Information The fourth follows to let us see what we should desire and endevour for our best friends yea Inform. 4. What to desire for our best friends for such as are a part of our selves our Children We all desire they may live long according to the Promise of the fifth Commandment and that they may live a comfortable life as well as a long life And if so then it should the chief desire and endevour of Parents that their Children may inherit their Faith as well as their outward Possessions For the just lives by Faith the Life of Consolation Oh then labour to make them partakers of the second Birth Let the same minde be in you that was in the Apostle when he said My little children of whom I travail in birth till Christ be formed in you If Christ be once formed in them by Faith they shall be sure to live comfortably themselves and they will surely be the greatest comfort of their believing Parents Prov. 23.24 25. The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoyce and he that begetteth a wise childe shall have joy of him Thy father and thy mother shall be glad and she that bare thee shall rejoyce They shall indeed if they be spiritual Parents as well as natural they shall have double and treble joy The Apostle that was but a spiritual Parent onely yet mark how affectionately he writes to Timothy 1 Tim. 1.2 3 4. To Timothy my dearly beloved Son I thank God for thee I greatly desire to see thee that I may be filled with joy As if onely a sight of Timothy would fill his heart full of joy How much more then when Parents are both natural and spiritual Parents both together It must needs be a strong stream where two such Rivers meet together Surely the comforts of the Childrens Faith will have a strong reflection back again upon their Parents Look as the children of wicked Parents that brought them up in Lying and Swearing and Stealing shall rise up and call them Cursed Cursed be the father or mother that lays a stumbling block before the poor childe so the children of believing Parents that have been instruments under God of their new birth shall rise up and call them blessed Prov. 31.28 Her children rise up and call her blessed And blessed be those Parents might Timothy say who instructed me in their Faith and prayed me into that faith wherein I greatly rejoyce even into that faith which dwelt first in my grandmother Lois and now through free grace dwells in me also It is a sweet thing when faith and free grace descends where corruption had first descended when Faith once acts and by degrees draws out corruption both Parents and Children have just cause to rejoyce For the just lives by Faith the Life of Consolation Inform. 5. What happines in the end of the faithful Information to inform us If there be such happiness in the way what happiness then is there at the end of the journey If there be such comfort in believing the thing before it be injoyed what is then in injoying of the things which before were but believed If that saying be true of the Life
influence of faith into Consolation 288 to 292 Consolation what properly 292 Consolation from the touch of faith 292 293 The Word and Sacraments are the Brests of Consolation 393 394 395 Reasons why Consolation comes by faith 298 299 305 306 We must try our Comforts by our Graces and not our Graces by our Comforts See why 300 to 304 It is easier to be deceived in our Comforts than Graces 301 See Joy Papists rob of Comfort while of faith 321 Comfort from sense and sensual delights ends in sorrow 321 To refuse to be comforted by the Promises dishonors God 322 Comfort in false Doctrine and Prophets dangerous 322 Motives to live by faith the life of Comfort 323 Consolation brings activity of Obedience 323 There may be strong faith where little comfort 514 Constancy See Perseverance Gods constancy in his love a motive to perseverance 249 Conversation See Carriage Vnnecessarily imbraced with wicked ones hinders growth in grace 230 Conversion Vnbelievers rarely Convert others if they do they take no joy in it 39 The method of converting grace how it gradually proceeds from conviction of sin to a closing with Christ 521 522 Its not the Word without the Spirit which can convert 529 Conversion of Souls is a most excellent work for seven Reasons from 585 to 600 Such reproved who slight the converting of others 602 603 604 Exhortation to convert souls 606 Eight Motives to convert others from 607 to 610 Means for the conversion of others from 610 to 612 Exhortation to People to be willing to be converted and to attend on such means as are proper for it 612 613 614 615 616 The misery of such who are not converted 613 The happiness of converted ones 614 Objections of Discouragement answered 614 615 Thankfulness for our own and others Conversion 616 Conviction It is an act of the comforting Spirit though not an act of Comfort 272 The Spirit convinces of sin by opening and applying the Law 520 521 Covenant of Grace This is a cause of the Saints perseverance 238 Creature-inconstancy Faith triumphs over it 261 262 Curiosity Vain curiosity concerning heaven condemned 359 D Deadness of Spirit Gods Children subject to it 172 Causes of spiritual deadness which is fourfold 173 Sinful deadness springs from four privative causes and from four positive causes 173 Penal and probational deadness 174 Saints recover by faith out of deadness 174 175 Reasons why faith recovers out of deadness 175 176 Four Arguments or Meditations whereby faith quickens 177 Motives to quicken under deadness 179 180 181 182 183 Means to quicken under deadness 184 185 186 187 Vide Vivification Death Die Faith in death 58 469 Six Reasons why believers die in faith 59 60 No need of faith after death 61 62 Christs death applied by faith a means of Sanctification 126 Greater happiness in the death than life of Believers 318 319 Degrees of Christs Conquest over Death from 368 to 373 Believers conquer Death in rectified opinion of it 370 Reasons why true Believers are loth to die 372 Desertion The just live by faith under desertion 50 Faith triumphs over fear of Divine desertion from 267 to 275 Desertion in appearance only 267 268 269 Desertion in respect of temporals onely 270 Desertion in respect of Spiritual means 271 Desertion in respect of Spiritual comforts 271 272 God deserts his people onely in accessory graces 273 274 Vide Forsaking Despair It is Reproved 358 359 It quits the Vse of the Ordinances 510 Desires Strong desires after Christ are the seeds of faith 533 Diligence It leads to assurance in the use of holy means 95 What it implies and how it breeds faith 541 Discipline Holy discipline and strictness the sphere of Comfort 297 to 300 Discouragement Faiths triumph over five main discouragements 261 Doctrines These are to be judged true or false as they slander or advance the life of faith 448 449 Doubting Frequency of it a sign of weak faith 571 Duration Faith must be acted as long as we live yet love excels it in duration 60 61 Duties Backwardness to holy duties and remissness in them is a sign of a weak faith 572 E Election It is a cause of perseverance 237 Doubting of Election hinders believing 505 Envy It is an Impediment of growth in grace 230 Establishment in Faith Reasons why we should labor to be establisht both in the Doctrine and Grace of faith 544 The benefit of Establishment in the faith ibid. Enemies which oppose the establishment of faith 545 Though faith cannot be lost yet God establishes in the use of means 545 Seven Means of establishing faith 548 to 556 See Keeping of Faith Eternal See Life Examination See Trial. Evidence of grace upon examination brings comfort 300 Examine two things in order to the Sacrament 577 Excellency Faiths excellency in two respects 62 63 The complicated excellencies of a believer 477 Example Examples of crowned Saints a means of perseverance 255 Experiences These called to minde breed assurance 96 They are a firm ground for future faith 409 Reasons for the deduction of faith from experiences 410 They are a means to increase faith 581 F Faith It s definition in eight branches 19 20 What it is to live by faith in five particulars 21 22 Faith Life and Christ come all together yet in order 23 Faith described in seven faculties of spiritual life 23 to 28 Why Saints live by faith rather then any other grace 28 29 30 Why no man can live but by his own faith 33 34 Caution in four particulars amplifying that truth 35 36 37 Restriction of it in four Considerations 38 39 Make much of faith as your life in troubles 64 65 True faith is known by its renewing and fructifying vertue 141 Faith is the root of holiness and fruitfulness 144 Faith resembles the expulsive faculty in the body 150 Faiths triumph over personal weaknesses 263 Its triumph over sinful distempers 264 Faiths triumph over uncertain events 264 265 Its triumph over fear of sinning or suffering 266 267 Its triumph over fear of divine desertion 267 268 See Desertion Faith reflects on Sanctity and Sincerity to comfort 299 Faith produceth comfort as it makes future good things to be as it were present 305 306 Want of acting faith in Gods Word and Works though there be the habit is a great cause of sadness 313 314 Faith is the mother and nurse of spiritual joy 328 Faith to be acted seven wayes for the increase of joy 328 to 334 Faith assures that eternal life is the Believers 341 How faith assures a Believer of heaven 342 to 351 Examination of true faith as it respects eternal life 362 Faith lifts up a man above the troubles of the world 377 382 383 Faiths manly choice or charm against prosperity 385 What are the Reasons why the Just must live by faith 398 to 417 Living by faith a very reasonable duty 399 Faith puts life into the Promises 400 Faith is a Saints security for
stress on the depth of humiliation is a great hindrance of Believing 502 503 Reasons why humiliation must Precede faith 522 523 524 Humility in all the periods or degrees of grace 525 Hypocrisy It is an impediment of spiritual growth 230 How far an Hypocrite may go 257 Wherein an Hypocrite comes short 258 An hypocrite cannot rejoyce in the whole word of God 302 303 Hypocrisy springs from unbelief 463 I Ignorance Vnbelief is the root and parent of it 462 Increase There is a divine and diabolical increase 213 How the increase of the natural man in moral vertues differs from the increase of God in saving graces 213 214 See growth See strength Injoyment Believers have the firmest tenure and sweetest injoyment of earthly blessings 77 78 Interest Interest in Christ clears up interest in the covenant of grace and this an interest to all the promises of which sons in Christ are heirs 560 Joy see Consolation How to discern the joy of a hypocrite from that of a Saint 302 303 The joy of a Believer excells all natural worldly sinful Joy in 10. Properties from 323 to 328 Means to breed Spiritual Joy 328 to 344 Judgment Faith applies the last judgment as a means of sanctification 127 128 Judgments on unbelievers 466 Examples of Gods judgments on apostates 250 251 Just Who are such and why said to live by faith not by their justice 31 None are just or justified till thy believe 32 Justification The life of Faith in justification 80 The definition of it which contains the act object and application of both and its fourfold causality 81 to 85 Faith puts forth a fourfold act upon the conscience heart of a sinner to fit him for pardon 86 87 Faith how it acts in the continuance of justification 88 Faith how it fetches in assurance of justification Faith moves a man to desire more faith in order to assurance of his justification and uses 11 Motives 89 to 92 Vses of the Doctrine of faith in justification 105 Justification by free grace breeds humiliation 105 106 Four Marks of true justification 107 We must not justifie sinners or condemn Saints 108 Motives to seek for the five-fold benefit of justification 110 111 Justification and sanctification are inseparable twins 141 142 The first and second evidence of justification what 301 K Keep See Establish Exhortation to keep faith 543 Reasons why we should look to the keeping of our faith 544 Seven Means whereby to keep faith 548 to 552 See Free Spirit See Perseverance L Libertinisme The root of it is feigned humility and laziness 143 Liberty Faith and Christian Liberty support each other 554 Many account it their liberty to sin 555 See Free Spirit Life Spiritual Gods People are in a state of life by way of eminency 8 The excellency of the Saints Life in seven particulars 8 9 10 11 Saints Life is a hidden life and why 12 Spiritual life proved to be existent in believers 12 Spiritual life very desirable 13 Signes of Spiritual life 14 15 16 Life Natural Five evil and troublesome concomitants of it 60 Believers injoy it by faith upon different grounds from unbelievers 67 68 Saints live a natural life by faith in seven respects 68 to 76 Life Spiritual Is twofold either the life of Justification or Sanctification the just life by faith in both 79 80 Four differences twixt true living Spiritual actions and false 187 188 Spiritual life is alway increasing 199 200 The comliness and pleasantness profit equity safety and necessity of such a life as it increaseth 200 to 226 Vide growth Life Eternal See heaven The work of faith about eternal life 334 It assures that there is an eternal life from scripture and reason with the degrees of it 335 336 What the happiness of eternal life is 336 337 Wherein it consists from 337 to 341 Confutation of those who deny eternal life 353 354 Motives to get assurance of eternal life from 374 to 379 Means to get this assurance The believers homage-penny for eternal life 386 The excellency of eternal life from 388 to 391 Life of unbelievers They live on their lusts pleasures upon Creatures and upon a fivefold undoing self 429 to 434 Limiting of God It is a great impediment of faith how cured 499 500 Logick Faiths holy logick 348 349 Love of God It is a reason why the Saints persevere 237 238 The want of feeling it should not hinder believing 503 Love to God is a means to increase faith 580 Love to the Saints Difference 'twixt that which is true and false 304 305 Lust Love of lust is the life of a sinner 429 Lusts haboured oppose faith with considerations how to abandon them 501 M Marriage How Saints live by faith in it and in single estate 73 Meanes In the conservation of the natural life must be used in faith 68 69 Meditation It is the fruit of holy affection 364 Meditation on Gods Attributes especially mercy is a good means to beget faith 536 Melancholy It is a scandal to Christian profession 319 320 Mercy Gods mercy becomes a suiter to mans misery 537 Ministry See Preaching What the chief work of a Minister is 427 428 The dignity of the Ministry 601 Exhortation to Ministers to preach in a soul-saving way 611 612 God usually blesses a setled proper Ministry 42 Merry Merry madnesse 311 Morality Difference 'twixt morality and Sanctification in nine respects 119 120 121 Mortification The influence of faith into the life of mortification 149 The art of faith in mortifying of lusts 151 to 154 Reasons why faith will have sin to be mortified 155 156 Error of such who refuse to believe till sin he mortified 158 Marks of true mortification 159 160 Enemies unto and juglers in mortification reproved 161 Alarm to Mortification 163 Motives to Mortification 164 165 Means of Mortification 166 167 168 169 Murther Soul Murther is the worst kind 17 470 N Natural men They are distingusht into two ranks 532 Necessity Of faith in Adversity 64 New Obedience See Fructification Nourishment Strong desires after Spiritual nourishment are a signe of Growth is Grace with three Cautions in this particular 206 207 208 209 Nursery Spiritual Faith lays hold on Christ in the Ordinances as breasts of Consolation and thence draws strength 293 294 295 O Opposition There is no true faith without Opposition 514 515 He that would believe must break thorow opposition 515 516 Gods Spirit delights to grapple with the greatest opposers of his word and wayes that he may convert them 516 Ordinances See Word Despising of them is an impediment of Spiritual growth 230 Neglect of the ordinances hinders believing 505 Five causes why men neglect the ordinances 505 to 511 Though it be not in the Power of the ordinances to beget or increase faith yet they are to be used 516 517 They who live above that is without ordinances are absurd 518 519 P Papists and carnal Professors These make Sanctification justification
for so the Apostle applies this Text very frequently to prove that the just man lives a Spiritual life by Faith Obj. Obj. But the Apostle may seem to wrest the words because the Prophet speaks here of a temporal deliverance from the Chaldeans Ans Ans 1. Their deliverance from temporal Babylon was a Type of their Deliverance from Spiritual Babylon 2. However the secondary objects of Faith be divers some Temporal some Spiritual some Eternal yet the prime and principal object of faith is still one and the same and that is Jesus Christ and Gods favour in Christ and before I can embrace the other I must first embrace this Therefore the same faith in Christ that enables me to live in temporal things enables me to live in spirituals also and so the Apostles argument from one to the other holds good Well then the just lives by Faith in respect of Spiritual life which is far more excellent then the other as grace is above nature And this is either the Life of I. Justification whereby the Soul layes hold upon Christ or II. Sanctification whereby the Soul draws vertue from Christ And that is either Renewing and Cleansing vertue the Life of Renovation or Fructifying the Life of Fructification or Mortifying Vertue the Life of Mortification or Vivifying the Life of Quickning and Vivification Confirming Vertue the Life of Conservation that God will not forsake his people Augmenting whereby life is encreased and Comforting Vertue the life of Consolation In the first our spiritual life is purified in the second beautified and in all these the just live by faith THE LIFE of FAITH IN JUSTIFICATION 1. HE lives by faith the Life of Justification and so the Apostle applies this very Text Rom. 1.16 17. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith as it is written And so again Gal. 3.11 where he doth oppose justifying by faith to justification by works of the law But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God it is evident for the just c. The just doth not live by his own justice but by faith that is by the application of the justice and righteousness of another That we may the better understand the excellency of this Life of Justification it will not be amiss to adde the definition of it according to the Scriptures seeing whatsoever is truly known is known by the causes thereof Justification therefore is thus defined It is a most gracious and righteous action of God whereby he imputing the righteousness of Christ to a believing sinner absolveth him from his sins and accepteth of him as righteous in Christ and as an heir of eternal life to the praise and glory of his own Mercy and Justice For Explication consider 1. The Act to justifie 2. The Object a sinner and yet a believing sinner and so made righteous 3. The Application of the Act to the Object and that 's onely by Faith 1. The Act to justifie Now to justifie signifieth properly to make just as to magnifie to make great though sometimes onely to declare great Now God makes just either By Imputation or Infusion of Righteousness The first is the life of Justification the second of Sanctification the first perfect the latter imperfect 2. The Object is a sinner God doth not justifie those that were just before but such as were unjust 1 Pet. 3.18 Christ hath once offered for sin the just for the unjust There was a time then when we were unjust a time when we were sinners when we were ungodly Rom. 5.6 Christ dyed for the ungodly and While we were yet sinners Christ dyed for us much more then being justified we shall be saved from wrath through him So that as to heal signifies of a sick man to make sound so to justifie is of a sinner to make righteous and if it were not so where were the excellency of Gods free grace to make us righteous if we never were in a state of sin He that in no consideration looks at himself as a sinner fallen in the first Adam cannot possibly look at himself as a righteous person recovered in the second Adam How can God be said to shew mercy to that man that was never in misery to redeem that man that was never lost Lost I say and that really and not onely in his own conceit and apprehension 3. The Application of the Act to the Object and that is by Faith as here in the Text. Though a sinner be justified yet it is onely a believing sinner and so of a sinner is made just Rom. 5.1 being justified by faith c. By Faith how not as the meritorious but onely as the instrumental cause of our justification For the clearer understanding of this we must know according to the former definition there are several causes of our Justification viz. Efficient Material Formal and Final The Efficient cause is either 1. Principal or 2. Instrumental Principal is either 1. Working or 2. Moving to the Work Causes of Justification 1. Principal The 1. Principal working Cause is God himself It 's an action of God Rom. 8.38 it is God that justifieth Isa 43.25 I even I am he c. Vide Rom. 9.16 All other causes are nothing to this though man believeth and man wills and runs on chearfully in the wayes of God yet from whence comes all this but from God that justifieth a poor sinner So that it is not of him that willeth or of him that runneth c. but of God of God the Father as the Primary Cause the Son as the Meritorious the Holy Ghost as Applicatory It is God that justifieth who shall condemn c. He that is the Law-giver he justifies from the offences committed against the Law The 2. Principal Cause Moving or promoting to the Work is either 1. Internal Gods Mercy Justice It 's a gracious and a righteous action of God nothing without him the first Mover 2. External 1. Mans Misery moving to pity the Samaritan c. the Infant Ezek. 16. 2. Christs Merit moving to forgive Col. 1.14 In whom we have redemption through his blood even the forgiveness of sins 2. Instrumental Cause 2. Instrumental and that 1. On Gods part the Word Manus offerentis 2 Cor. 5.18 He hath given to us the Ministery of Reconciliation Dan. 12.3 Rom. 4.11 2. On our part Faith Manus accipientis Rom. 4.5 But to him that worketh not but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly his faith is accounted for righteousness Rom. 10.5 c. Therefore faith doth not justifie by merit and dignity of the work for then we should be justified by works though by faith but onely by the Instrumentary application of Christs Righteousness 2. The Material Cause Christs Righteousness Material cause as Jacob gat his blessing in Esau's garment therefore called The Righteousness of God Rom. 1.17 the Righteousness of that Person who is God Now there is a twofold
not say As many as believed were ordained unto life eternal but contrariwise As many as were ordained to eternal life believed To intimate That Faith foreseen 1. From Election was not the cause of Election but Election was the cause of Faith and so the same Election is the cause of Perseverance in Faith or else their Life should not be eternal Therefore that strong conclusion of strong Consolation Rom. 8.35 is fetcht as far as from that everlasting VVell-head of Gods Fore knowledge and Predestination ver 29. For whom he did fore-know he did predestinate and whom he did predestinate them he also called and whom he called them he also justified and whom he justified them he also glorified Therefore the Apostle is bold to make that brave challenge Who shall charge us Who shall condemn us Who shall separate us As if he should have said Neither Sin nor Affliction nor Men nor Devils shall ever be able to break this Golden Chain of Gods Election till it ends in glory Therefore the just perseveres God hath elected him to no meaner a life than that which is Eternal and therefore he shall certainly have it Rom. 11. the Election must needs obtain it 2 Reas From Gods Love from which 2. Gods love this Election springs in order of working Gods love is an Everlasting love As God is from Everlasting to Everlasting so is his Love for whatsoever is in God is God Jer. 31.3 I have loved thee with an everlasting love therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee which I conceive is not to be understood à parte post after we are drawn to believe and obey but even before also à parte antè Gods love here is made the cause of our being drawn to believe and obey and not our obedience a cause of his love Obj. But is it not said Joh. 14.21 He that hath my Commandments and keepeth them he it is that loveth me and he that loveth me shall be loved by my Father and I will love him and will manifect my self to him therefore our love of God goeth before Gods love to us Resp. There is a love of Benevolence whereby we bear good will to another and a love of Beneficence whereby we testifie our love in doing good to him Gods love of Benevolence is before our loving of him Joh. 4.19 We love him because he first loved us but Gods love of Beneficence at least in part doth follow our love to him and is the reward of it according to his free grace If Gods love therefore be everlasting this must needs be an everlasting fruit of it even the life of Grace and Glory to all eternity 3. The Covenant 3 Reas From the Covenant of God made with his People which is an everlasting Covenant well ordered and sure 2 Sam. 23.12 Jer. 32.40 I will make an everlasting Covenant with them that I will not turn away from them to do them good but I will put my fear in their hearts that they shall not depart from me Whereas the poor Soul might say God indeed saith he will never depart from us so long as we do not depart from him but then he might justly depart from us Therefore Gods Covenant is That we shall not depart from him I will put my fear in their hearts and they shall not depart from me Therefore the just lives not from any stability in himself but from the stability of Gods Covenant 4. Gods Unchangeable nature 4 Reas From the Unchangeable Nature of God Mal. 3.6 I am the Lord I change not therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed You are not consumed not because there is no principle of change in you but because there is none in me As if God should have said When I first entred Covenant with you I saw you polluted in your blood and I foresaw full well how ignorant how impotent how unconstant how untoward you would be afterward but I am resolved as I did not choose you at the first for the good I saw to be in you so I will not reject you for the evil that I see in you but will forgive it and heal it for my gifts and calling are without repentance Rom. 11 29. 5. Reas From the Power of God 5. Power of God If Gods people do not persevere it is either because God will-not preserve them or because he cannot But 1. Not because he will not for it is his own good pleasure moved him to make an everlasting Covenant and his own unchangeable Nature moves him to fulfil it to this day 2. Not because he cannot for nothing limits Gods Power but his Will Psal 135.6 Whatever the Lord pleased that did he in heaven and earth c. Therefore if the Lord will preserve his Saints in a state of grace for ever he is able to do it Though we are not able to stand of our selves yet he is able to make us stand Rom. 14. or in case we fall he is able to raise us up again Psal 37.24 Though he fall he shall not be cast off for the Lord putteth under his hand 6 Reas From the Merit of Christ 6. Merit of Christ c. the Prayer of Christ the Spirit of Christ As Christ hath merited Eternal Righteousness and Eternal Salvation Heb. 5.6 So he applies his Merit eternally by his Intercession and the operation of his Spirit Wherefore Heb. 7.25 Intercession of Christ he is able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them Wherefore we must either deny That God the Father hears the Prayers of his Son which is blasphemous to imagine and contrary to Christs confession 1 Joh. 11.42 I know that thou hearest me alwayes or else we must need acknowledge That all such as are once in a state of Grace shall persevere and be saved to the utmost Further they that are Christs And Spirit of Christ have the Spirit of Christ and so long as the Spirit doth not depart from them they shall never depart from God for the Spirit leads into all Truth But the Spirit of God doth never depart from them Isa 59.21 As for me this is my Covenant with them saith the Lord My Spirit that is upon thee and my words which I have put in thy mouth shall not depart out of thy mouth c. Therefore they shall never finally depart from God Thus we have the Reasons Why the just shall persevere 2. Why perseverance through Faith Now see the Reasons Why they live this life by Faith 1. Faith layes hold on the Promise 1. Because Faith lays hold on the Promise of Perseverance 1 Cor. 18. He shall confirm you to the end that you may be blameness in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ Phil. 1.6 He that hath begun the good work in you will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ Mat 16.18
because we neglect the Seal of the Word It may be in a Womans Brests if one be dried up the other may be the fuller because that nourishment which should run into two doth now run into one vessel But it is not so here for the neglect of one Ordinance makes the other more unprofitable because God never appointed any Ordinance in vain and will not indure the contempt of any Well then poor Soul dost thou complain for want of comfort thou canst not finde that comfortable assurance of Gods love active or passive thou wert wont to finde It may be there is more estrangedness every way I answer If it be so blame thy self and not God thou dost neglect a comfortable Ordinance thou sufferest one of thy Mothers Brests to be dried up for want of sucking in which thou mightst otherwise finde abundance of comfort You read in 2 Chron. 30.21 26. Gods people kept the Passover with great gladness there was such exceeding great joy in Jerusalem that there had not been the like many years before in those times when the Sacrament was neglected And you know the Sacrament of the Passover and the Sacrament of the Lords Supper are all one for substance And so you read Act 2.46 They continued in breaking of bread from house to house with gladness of heart Well then dost thou want this gladness of heart this Life of Consolation Consider whether this be not the cause thou hast not for a long time laid thy mouth to this Brest No wonder then if thou complainest for want of comfort I would not be mistaken Caution for I speak to none but true children as Christ says of his Bread so I say of his Brest It is not meet to take the childrens bread and give it to whelps For we must know though this Brest be sweet it is so onely to the believing Soul The unbeliever sucks poison out of it he eats and drinks his own damnation Therefore saith the Apostle Let a man examine himself and so let him eat And what must he examine Surely his faith above all the rest 2 Cor. 13.5 Examine your own selves whether ye be in the faith The Word and Sacraments are the two Brests and Faith is the Mouth and so the just by Faith sucking at these two Brests he lives the Life of Consolation And that 's the second Reason Reas 3 3 Reason Because by Faith a Christian lives the Life of Justification VVhy consolation comes by Faith as we have heard at large and therefore by consequence by the same Faith also he lives the Life of Consolation For as sorrow is more properly the consequent of sin than sufferings For suppose suffering without sin and they are more truly the occasions of joy than sorrow So on the other side comfort is more properly the consequence of Righteousness than of all outward Blessings whatsoever Rom. 5.1 2 3. Therefore being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ and we rejoyce in hope of the glory of God and not onely so but we rejoyce in tribulations And so tribulations cannot hinder the glorious rejoycing of a justified person The golden Chain Order of Righteousness Peace and Joy in the holy Ghost Therefore in that Golden Chain Rom. 14.17 The Kingdom of God is Righteousness Peace Joy in the Holy Ghost Observe the order First Righteousness when a a person is justified through the Merits of Christ then Peace when we understand God and we are friends for what strikes terror but this Oh! I have sinned says the Soul and God is mine enemy And what speaks peace but this I am justified from my sins and now God is my friend And then thirdly comes in Joy in the holy Ghost for as nothing wounds the Soul more than to look at God under the notion of an enemy so nothing comforts the Soul more than to look at God under the notion of a friend and reconciled Father Therefore as Peace is the fruit of Righteousness so Joy is the fruit of Peace and then both Joy Peace and Righteousness the fruit of Faith Therefore a Christian lives by Faith the Life of Consolation As you cannot separate the heat of the Sun from the light of it no more can you separate the comfort of Justification from the life and assurance of it and the stronger the assurance the stronger is the comfort Reas 4 4 Reason Because by Faith a Christian lives the Life of Sanctification Why Consolation comes by Faith both in purifying the heart from sinful corruption and in quickning of it to all holy duties as we have already proved Now howsoever it is true Caution the forsaking of sin on the one hand and the practising of holy duties on the other hand doth not deserve the least comfort or incouragement from God and in this sense we do not ground our comfort upon our duties Yet this we say from good Warrant from the Scripture God of his free grace doth usually make holy ways comfortable ways and sinful ways uncomfortable ways even to his own children Hereupon David says on the other side Psal 38. There is no rest in my bones by reason of my sin And Solomon says on the other side Pro. 3.17 All her ways are ways of pleasantness and all her paths are peace Hear what S. Luke saith Acts 9.31 Walking in the fear of the Lord they walked also in the comfort of the holy Ghost God deals with his children as we do with ours though we intend not to disinherit them for every fault yet we will discourage them by correction when they do ill and incourage them by rewarding them when they do well It is not all one in point of comfort whether we sin or sin not God is a wise as well as a loving Father he will shew no countenance to his own children if they regard iniquity in their heart Psal 66 18. If I regard iniquity in my heart God will not hear my Prayer But blessed are the pure in heart Why they shall see God Mat. 5.8 What of that why here 's the comfort here 's the happiness here 's the very heaven of a Christian to see God 1 Joh 3 2. For Vision of God works Transformation into the Image of God Satisfaction and Satisfaction even abundance of Soul-ravishing Consolation Now this Wisdom Transformation Satisfaction and Consolation God onely disposeth to the pure in heart And yet I do not mean such as are pure in heart from all acts of sin for we sin in our best duties but such as are pure from the approbation and allowance of any sin from the regarding of any iniquity in their heart If a justified person do not act his Faith to the purifying of his heart and life In that sense we speak of God will certainly suspend his comfort for a time The Sun of Righteousness will not shine upon a Dunghil heart but upon the Garden for the Spirit
IN THE LIFE of FAITH IN SANCTIFICATION VIZ. PERSEVERANCE THe just man lives by Faith in reference to the Conservation of life or Perseverance He draws from Christ confirming vertue and this doth fitly follow the former yea it is that which sets a crown upon all the rest For otherwise should a Christian grow never so rich in grace if it might be said of his Spiritual riches as the Prophet Jeremy speaks of the Temporal riches of the wicked Jer. 17 11. He shall leave them in the midst of his days and at his end shall be a fool what were he the better for all his growth Now this is the very crown of Augmentation and Fructification that as he lives by Faith for the present so his Faith carries him on still to be faithful unto death that he may receive from God a Crown of Life Rev. 2.10 And that this is also the meaning of the Text you may see by the words themselves and by the application of them by the Apostle 1. By the words themselves for it is not said The just doth live by his Faith but The just shall live vivet therefore saith Calvin upon the place Futurum tempus vitae perpetuitatem designat The Future Tense points out the perpetuity of this life He begins that life by Faith which shall never have an end 2. This is clear by the Apostles Application and Interpretation of the Text Heb. 10.37 where the Apostle perswading to patient continuance in well-doing he brings this very Scripture for an encouragment The just shall live by faith he shall so live as to go on and persevere in his Christian course And that this is the very sense doth plainly appear by its opposite member But if any man draw back my Soul shall have no pleasure in him Where we see clearly drawing back or falling off is directly opposed to living by Faith So that to live by Faith in the sense of the Text and in the sense of the Apostle who best knew the meaning of the Text it is to live by Faith the Life of Conservatior He draws from Christ conserving vertue and so lives by Faith in reference to Conservation and Perseverance Two things therefore we are to shew Two Propopositions First That the just doth Persevere Secondly That he lives this Life of Perseverance by Faith 1. The just doth Persevere 1. That the just doth so live as that he shall persevere and hold out to the end Solomon tells us That the righteous is an everlasting foundation Prov. 19.25 a foundation that never shall decay Our Saviour Christ compares him Mat. 7.24 to a building founded on a Rock that out-stands all winds and weather David compares him to a Mountain a Mountain that cannot be removed Psal 125 1. The Prophet Isaiah gives him a Name An Everlasting Name that shall not be cut off Isa 56.5 S. Peter compares his beginning to Seed Immortal seed that shall never die 1 Pet. 1.23 The Psalmist compares him to a Tree a Tree planted by the rivers of waters that shall never wither Psal 1.3 Our Saviour himself calls the gift of saving grace The good part or portion that shall never be taken away Luke 10.42 and therefore it is fitly compared to fire to that holy fire which came down from heaven that never went out Levit. 6.12 13. If once that holy fire of grace be kindled in a believers heart it shall never go out Mat. 12.20 He shall not quench the smoking flax till he send forth judgement into victory Poor weak Christian is thy judgement right for God onely thy grace is so weak there is as much smoke of corruption as there is fire of good affection yet let this support thee He shall not quench the smoking flax Obj. But though Christ do not quench it or put it out himself yet something else may blow it out or pluck it from us Corruption and Satan and the World are very strong Ans As Christ will not quench it himself so he will not suffer it to be quenched by any opposite power whatsoever Job 10.28 No man shall pluck them out of my hands The Apostle was confident of this Rom. 8.35 c. Who shall separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ c. Shall tribulation or distress or famine or nakedness The Apostle is not onely assured against these but against all that Life or Death or Angels or Powers c. can do to separate us from the love of Jesus Christ The just then shall persevere 2. Perseverance is by vertue of Faith 2. He perseveres by vertue of his faith He lives by Faith the Life of Conservation 1 Pet. 1.5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto Salvation Which words are are set down as an argument of strong consolation to Gods people against that great Temptation of Backsliding by reason of their own weakness and their enemies power For whereas it was said in the former verse there was an incorruptible inheritance reserved for them in Heaven they might object But alas we fear our grace is not incorruptible though the Kingdom of Heaven fades not away yet our grace may fade away and so we may fall short of that Kingdom For their comfort he tells them as the Kingdom is kept for them so they are kept for the Kingdom and how kept through Faith Who are kept by the power of God through faith to Salvation Hence Faith is compared to a Shield not an ordinary one but to such a Shield as enables the Souldier to fight it out to see the last enemy slain to persevere to the end of the Battel Rom. 8. yea to be more than Conquerors even to conquer Principalities and Powers c. therefore saith the Apostle Take unto you the whole armour of God that you may be able to stand in the evil day and having done all to stand Eph. 6.13 Mark that Christian Souldier onely withstands his enemy as he should that in the right use of his Spiritual Armour is able to stand it out unto the last And I pray what is the principal part of this Spiritual Armour Is it not Faith ver 16. Above all taking the Shield of Faith whereby ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one As if he should have said Faith is all in all and without this all the other parts of the Armour as good as nothing By this we withstand all our enemies and having done all are able to stand it out to the last So that a Christians life is conserved by Faith Come we now to the Reason 1. Why the just man perseveres 2. Why by Faith 1. Why the just perseveres Reasons 1. Why the just shall persevere 1 Rat. is drawn from Gods Everlasting Purpose of Election What did God Elect his people unto No less than to Eternal Life Act 13.48 As many as were ordained to Eternal Life believed He doth