man have but cause to suspect those he hath he may provide himself of better before it is too late it will be no time for the foolish Virgins to seek to provide themselves of Oyl for their Lamps when the very pinch of time comes that they should use it CHAP. VIII Shewing that the Faith which shall justifie as Abrahams did is a Faith that walks in the steps of the Faith of Abraham Shewing also what those steps were and that Abraham was justified by the latter of them as well as the former and that the justification of his spiritual seed stands upon the same terms contrary to the Antinomian Doctrine and Libertine Principles Sect. 1 ALthough I have through the Lords assistance in some measure already opened the nature of Gospel-Faith of the right kind in comparing it with and thereby discovering the nature of the feigned dangerous and dead Faith and wherein it falls short of the true yet to the end you may have a fuller view of the nature properties and genuine operation of the Faith of Gods Elect I shall through the same assistance now proceed to shew you further how it hath from time to time wrought in them And thereby I shall give you opportunity to try your own Faith of what kind it is For if it be that Faith which the Scripture calls the Faith of Gods Elect Tit. 1.1 then it will work after the same manner as theirs generally hath been wont to do but if you cannot find your Faith to be of that kind by working as theirs did you will have small reason as yet to conclude your self one of their number I shall begin with Abraham who as the Scripture saith was Father of all them that beleeve and so he was because all true beleevers do partake of the same kind of Faith that dwelt eminently in him and are thereby justified and saved as he was He is the great instance pattern or example both in his Faith and Justification of Gods resolved method of saving all men that shall be saved whether Jewes or Gentiles As a Son who succeeds his Father comes to enjoy the same Inheritance and priviledge as his Father did so he that shall succeed Abraham in his Faith shall enjoy the same spiritual and eternal inheritance which was entailed on his Faith So saith the Apostle Gal. 3.9 So then they which be of Faith are blessed with faithful Abraham The same Apostle in another place declares them to be his spiritual Children and he a Father to such as walk in the steps of his Faith Rom. 4.12 And the Father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only but also to those that walk in the steps of that Faith of our Father Abraham which he had being yet uncircumcised Where note first That the Faith which Abraham had and by which he was Justified was a Faith which had steps in it it did not consist in one transient act only but of a series of acts one following another and that he was Justified by the latter of these as well as the former I shall God willing afterwards shew That which I would further note in the second place is That the Faith which will render them that have it Children of Abraham and inheritors of the same blessing with him is such for kind as is found walking in the steps of his Faith influencing the life and disposing the heart in particular occurrences as his did It may well be indeed that every Child of Abraham may not be able to keep pace with their Father in this walk of Faith nor to follow him close at the heels nor are all his Children of the same growth or same strength but yet all following their Father in the same way though at some distance all treading in his steps It is most certain that the true Faith by which they become his Children will guide them into the same way put them upon the same behaviour for kind in which he was found Joh. 8.39 Jesus saith unto them If ye were Abrahams Children ye would do the works of Abraham For a tryal of our Faith therefore whether it be of the right breed and of the stock of Abraham let us a little trace out the walk of Abrahams Faith and see what the foot-steps of it were as we have the print of them in the Scriptures and then see whether our Faith walk in the same path or tread in the same steps or no. Sect. 2 1. This was one of the foot-steps of his Faith it gave God the glory of his truth power and goodness in being confidently perswaded that what he promised he was both able willing and faithful to perform how contrary soever to humane probability Rom. 4.18 19 20 21. Who against hope beleeved in hope that he might be the Father of many Nations according to that which was spoken so shall thy seed be And being not weak in Faith he considered not his own body now dead neither yet the deadness of Sarahs womb He staggered not at the Promise of God through Vnbelief but was strong in Faith giving glory to God and being fully perswaded that what he had promised he was able also to perform The word Promise or saying of God carried it in his soul against all contrary reasonings Sarah being old and it ceasing to be with her after the manner of Women and Abraham himself also being as good as dead Heb. 11.12 this incumbred the belief of the Promise in Sarah and at first set her Faith Gen. 18.11 12. But the Text saith Abraham considered neither the one nor the other he considered not his own body now dead nor yet the deadness of Sarahs womb Gods Promise did so wholly take up his soul and was of so great authority with him as that he did not judge the great improbabilities in Nature worthy in this case to be so much as considered nor at all to be heard when God had spoken Afterward God tryes his Faith again he had not only in general promised him a numerous Posterity like unto the stars for multitude as before Gen. 15.5 but now more particularly had told him that in Isaac should his seed be called Gen. 21.12 and yet for all this commands Abraham to slay and offer in Sacrifice to God this Son of his and how then should God make good his Promise might Abraham think Abraham here again measures Gods Word and Promise not by this and that difficulty but by his irresistable power Accounting that God was able to raise him up even from the dead from whence also he received him in a figure Heb. 11.19 You see he had so high an esteem of the goodness and truth of God that if he had but power enough to make good his word he made no question of his performance and was so all thoughts made touching the sufficiency of his power to go through with whatever he had a mind to or had undertaken to do as that though
of reward to this eminent act of his Faith and Obedience And when Abraham renews his Faith as God did his Promise Gen. 15.5 6. this was counted to him for Righteousness as well as his first Faith was And so again when God by another command of his to offer his Son as hard as the first tryes his Faith whether it would hold out to carry him through all difficulties to follow and obey him and finds his Faith enabling him to depend upon him still and to obey his Will in this as in his former Commands hereupon he counts this to him for Righteousness as well as his former Faith and graciously grounds his approbation of him from that act of his Faith which last occurred Jam. 2.21 Sect. 7 2. This may be made further manifest in Noahs case as well as Abrahams Noah we know was a righteous man before God admonished him to make an Ark for the saving of him and his houshold For the Scripture saith That Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations and that Noah walked with God Gen. 6.9 And because he was so therefore God directed him to make the Ark for the securing of him and his Family Gen. 7.1 And the Lord said unto Noah Come thou and all thy house into the Ark for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation And yet for all this though Noah were in a justified accepted estate before God and highly approved of him before ever God commanded him to make the Ark yet his becoming an Heir of that Righteousness which is by Faith is attributed unto that act of his Faith by which he beleeved God when he declared to him his Resolution to drown the World and by means whereof he was moved to obey God in making an Ark for the salvation of himself and Family Heb. 11.7 By Faith Noah being warned of God of things not seen as yet moved with fear prepared an Ark to the saving of his house by the which he condemned the world and became Heir of the Righteousness which is by Faith A clear proof that justification depends upon after acts of Faith as well as the first and is and may be as well ascribed to the one as to the other And I pray you let it not be passed over un-observed That though these works that of Abrahams offering Isaac and this of Noahs preparing an Ark at the command of God be attributed unto the Faith of each respectively yet their justification before God hereupon is attributed unto these Works themselves as well as unto their Faith in the Scripture passages And therefore the Apostle James speaking of Abraham saith Seest thou how Faith wrought with his Works and by Works was Faith made perfect Jam. 2.22 His Faith and Works they wrought or laboured together as two Beasts in a yoke about the producing the same effect and that was the rendring him capable of the continuance of Gods Favour and Approbation his Faith alone would not have done it if these Works being called for should have been knowingly neglected 3. After acts of Faith are absolutely necessary to the continuance and carrying on of the work of Justification as the first act was to begin it and set it a foot and therefore the Author to the Hebrews speaking of the just man that lives by Faith saith of him That if he draw back the soul of the Lord shall have no pleasure in him Heb. 10.38 As his beleeving so long as he continues it renders him acceptable and well pleasing to God upon Christs account so his with-drawing those acts of Faith which interested him in Gods favourable acceptation provoke God to with-draw his delight in him and acceptation of him And when Christ in the Parable of the Debtor and Creditor sets forth this That a Servant who having had a great Debt forgiven him by his Lord yet afterward had it exacted of him again upon his cruel and unworthy carriage towards his fellow Servant with this Application of it to his Disciples to whom it was spoke So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you if ye from your hearts forgive not every man his Brother their trespasses Matth. 18.35 Doth he not plainly teach that if such as do beleeve as they did and thereupon have their sins forgiven as they had shall yet for all that afterward come to want those after acts of Faith that should produce a merciful and loving carriage towards others for the right Faith works by love that then their Justification should become unjustification to them the pardon which till then had continued should then be recalled and withdrawn Sect. 8 By the way then note That this Doctrine which makes a mans standing and continuing in a justified state to depend upon after acts of his Faith as his enterance thereinto did upon the first doth discover that most dangerous Doctrine of the men called Antinomians to be rotten and stark nought which teacheth that when a man is once in Christ or which is the same when he does once beleeve all his sins are pardoned both past present and to come and that he alwayes stands accepted upon the account of his first beleeving A Doctrine which most assuredly hath proved an occasion of manies taking to themselves a great deal more liberty than that which is Christian and hath betrayed many hopeful Souls into a broader way than that narrow path that leads to life A fine Doctrine it would have been if it had been true To prove that Paul knew not what he said when he exhorted the Christians to work out or to work through their own Salvation with fear and trembling Phil. 2.12 And I do the rather here admonish all in the fear of the Lord to take heed of this snar for that I my self having above twenty years ago been taken in it did sadly experience the evil tendency of it and I verily think had not the Lord in much mercy pluck'd me out of it it would have proved no less than utter ruine and destruction to my poor Soul and how then should I upon this occasion refrain to warn all men of this deep ditch No sure it is not one act of beleeving that carries the business of a mans Justification quite through if there be opportunity of after acts afforded The Righteousness of God is revealed in the Gospel from Faith to Faith Rom. 1.17 The Gospel reveals Righteousness or Justification upon condition of the latter Faith as well as the former and therefore let no man think he hath done his whole dayes work when as he hath but only begun it for if he do it 's a thousand to one but he will grow idle and remiss before night And therfore as you desire expect that your Faith should do you the same service as Abrahams did him see to it that your Faith be found walking in his Faiths steps by which and not otherwise you will prove your selves his Children and Heirs to the
and Saviour of the world alone not justifying faith the reason why 44 Antinomian Doctrine touching sins past present and to come being pardoned upon mens first being in Christ decryed as erronious and dangerous 95 Apostacy and decay the cause of it what 122 Alms-giving must answer the Estate of the Giver and what to be thought thereabout 145 B BLood of Christ nothing to be joyned with it in merit or atonement making 25 Believing and obeying put one for another 70 Believing and receiving of Christ equivalent 73 Bounty where wanting an argument there 's no right Faith 143 Badness of mens condition no reason why it should not be looked into 160 C COntinue to continue well is harder than to begin well Ep. S. 17 Covenant Attributing that to the blood and obedience of the first Covenant which properly belongs to the Blood Faith and obedience of the Second Covenant was the Jews grand mistake 21 22 Christ in what respects he is the object of justifying Faith 37 Confidence of Salvation without ground whence it proceeds 49 51 Confidence of being saved may be strong in men both while they live and when they dye and yet suffer disappointment in the Resurrection and judgement day 64 Conquer to conquer and more what 134 Conscience Christs Delegate and how to have it on ones side in time of tryal 166 D Decayes of spiritual sense and affection how repaired Ep. § 1 Deceive the Devils craft to deceive Ep. § 4. Dead Faiths being dead what 54 E Esteem of People to their Pastors the mischief of it when it grows low Ep. § 17 Epistle of Christ how the Church is so Ep. § 19 F Fruit upon what account due to God as procured by the labours of men Ep. § 2 Fruit Being yielded to God comes home to ones self Ep. § 2 Fruit yielding fruit the way to enjoy more cost and care from God Ep. § 3 And to be fenced from devourring temptations Ep. § 4 5 Fruit the want of it the cause of Apostacy and Church desolation Ep. § 6 7. Form the danger of turning Religion into Form Ep. § 8 9 Father how and in what respects Justification is ascribed to God the Father 33 154 Faith as it Justifies hath three acts credence adherence and confidence 43 Faith how acted on God the father in relation to Justification 36 Faith how acted on Christs death and bloud in relatioa to Justification 38 Faith a reprobate Judgment concerning it and a Form of godliness oft found in the same person 57 Faith and Love their near affinity 71 Faith without repentance cannot justifie 76 Faith without Love cannot justifie 77 Faith when found in Abrahams seed walks in the steps of Abrahams faith 84 Faith magnifies the word and power of God though crossed with greatest unlikelihood and humane improbability 84 Faith of right kind engageth to obey the hardest precepts 87 Faith eyes and adheres to Gods counsels for the way as well as his promise for the end 98 Faith depends on the Lord for supply of strength to do his will 109 Faith derives from Christ the power by which the Christian life is led 110 Faith how supported in dependance for supplies 114 Faith works by Love and how 127 Faith how it is not and how it is counted for Righteousness 150 Faith in its justifying office or power depends wholly on Gods will and its matter of great comfort that it does so 154 Faith not strictly and properly a mans Righteousness but does him the service of a Righteousness in the account and imputation of grace 156 Forgiving of wrong want of it an argument such have no justifying faith 148 G Grace the womb that bears justification 33 Ground what faith is resembled by the thorny ground hearers 59 H Holiness in men as well as the happiness of men Gods aim in contriving the terms of salvation 68 I Integrity not to be questioned meerly for difference of judgment in the point of Infant-Baptism Ep. § 13 Justification without Works the danger of mistaking the Scripture thereabout 2 Justification by Works in what sense opposed by the Apostle 12 to 17 Justification the necessity of Works thereunto not opposed by the Apostle no not among the Jews in all respects 21 Justification depends upon after acts of faith as well as the first 90 Justification attributed not only to faith but also to those works that flow from faith 94 Justification from eternity or before faith disproved 156 The ill consequence of that opinion touched 158 Judgment day the issue of that dayes proceeding in relation to ones felf to be known now 162 L Love to the Lord how known 121 Love how it casteth out fear 133 Love to men how known 137 M Ministers of the Nation how to be treated by the Baptists Ep. § 14. Maintenance for Gospel Ministers in what respect necessary Ep. § 16 Miscarriages in life proceed from want of faith 106 N Negative Christianity not to be rested in Ep. § 20 O Opinions four Opinions of the Jews contradictious to the Gospel opposed by Paul in opposing their seeking of Justification by Works 7 to 11 Opinion that holds Justification by Faith to be Justification not before God but in mens conscience proved rotten 157 Offence giving when shunned an argument of what 138 P Power to justifie by what means soever depends on the will of God 33 35. Promises indefinitely made to beleeving how to be understood 67 70. Perseverance in grace why found in persons of weak parts when many times those of greater parts fall 123 Power of the creature undue thoughts about it very dangerous 127 Q Quakers how deceitful Ep. § 4 R Reading or hearing how to profit by it Ep. § 1 Reflections unseemly and provoking in controversies condemned Ep. § 12. Relyance on Christ for Salvation not justifying without obedience 49 Resurrection of Christ how excellently it contributes to our Justification 39 Receiving Christ what it imports 73 Result of Scriptures duely compared a wise mans guid 79 S Scandals the mischief of them Ep. § 10 19 Study the necessity of it in order to the most profitable preaching Ep. § 15. Steps of Abrahams Faith what 84 Supplies from Christ how received by Faith 112 Spirit how received by Faith 118 T Terms of Salvation the danger of mistaking them 2 25 Tryal of ones state in Faith backwardness therein an ill sign 159 Temptations about ones present and future good condition not to be vanquished but by substanal evidences of a holy Faith 163 W Works that are the same in themselves differ in respect of different Covenants enjoyning them in different respects 19 Works of what sort they are that accompany true Faith in its first justifying acts 27 Works evangelical in what sense necessary to Justification 26 55. Works evangelical their necessity to Justification a Protestant Doctrine 28 30 Word or Gospel how the object of justifying Faith 36 41 Wresting the Scriptures to destruction what 3 ERRATA PAge 4.
Faith Abraham when he was called to go out unto a place which he should afterward receive obeyed Another like or rather more wonderful piece of Self denying Obedience which was acted by the power of his Faith was his carriage about the offering up of his Son Isaac in sacrifice unto God at his command Heb. 11.17 18. By Faith Abraham when he was tryed offered up Isaac and he that had received the Promises offered up his only begotten Son of whom it was said That in Isaac shall thy Seed be called Behold Abrahams will desire and delight swallowed up in the Will and good pleasure of God by means of his Faith His Son that had been so much desired and longed for before he had him that all he enjoyed in this world seemed little to him in the absence of such a Mercy Lord God what wilt thou give me seeing I go childless Gen. 15.2 That Son whom he so much loved when he had him yea and his only Son too and that Son in whom the Promise was made of the great things which God would do for Abraham this Son does God command him to offer for a burnt Offering this Son of his hopes this Son of his delights an action than which what lightly could be imagined more harsh and highly repugnant to his own will And yet notwithstanding all Debates and Reasonings of flesh and blood about this matter which one would think should be many and high and such which one should have much ado to get over yet so mighty was his Faith in God and confidence of a good issue of whatever he should do at the appointment and command of God as that he appears as forward in it as if it had been the most acceptable service which God could have put him upon For the Text saith That Abraham rose up early in the morning to go about it Gen. 22.3 And upon account of this very thing was he esteemed the friend of God Jam. 2.23 one that would forsake all and part with the dearest friend he had in all the world rather than not stick close to him in whatever he would have him do a true sign indeed of friendship to the Lord Joh. 15.14 Ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever I command you Mark whatsoever I command not only commands which it may be may bear little upon the flesh easie and cheap duties but such as will try a mans affection to the uttermost as this to Abraham did such as call for the cutting off the right hand and plucking out the right eye the parting with things that are as grateful to the flesh as these Members of the body are to Nature And not only so but such things also as are as useful and desireable as the right hand and right eye are as Isaac was to Abraham when the holding and enjoying of them will not consist with our intire love to the Lord to be exprest in the most difficult and most self-denying piece of Service when he calls for it He that loves Father or Mother Son or Daughter yea or his own life more than Christ is not worthy of him Matth. 10.37 38. as he does which chuses rather to displease Christ and dishonour his Truth in keeping these than to displease himself or them in parting with them This task which was put upon Abraham was indeed very hard and directly of the nature of that in the Gospel mentioned before and yet as hard and as difficult as it was if Abraham had stuck at it he could not have approved his Faith to God no more than such as love Son or Daughter more than Christ and thereby prove themselves unworthy of him can approve their Faith in him to be right or their Love to him to be true And therefore if you mark it Abraham was said to be justified by Works when he had offered Isaac upon the Altar Jam. 2.21 Implying that as this high act of his Obedience proceeding from his Faith rendred him highly approved in the sight of God Gen. 22.16 So by the rule of contraries had he bogled at this command his neglect herein would not only have deprived him of that high approbation of God which by his fiducial Obedience he had now obtained but also have gone very far in contributing towards the loss of those degrees of Gods approbation whereto he had before attained if not wholly bereaved him thereof until he had repented and done his duty Sect. 5 But here I must make a stand a little and Answer an Objection which is this That though this act of Abrahams offering Isaac was an act of that Faith by which he was justified yet it was not that act of Faith by which he was justified it was an act of his Faith it 's true but not such a one as was essential to his justification and the reason hereof seems to be this because Abraham was justified by or upon his beleeving long before this it 's said Gen. 15.6 And Abraham beleeved in the Lord and he counted it to him for Righteousness And this was before Ishmael was born unto Abraham at whose birth Abraham was but 86 years old Gen. 16.16 But when Isaac was born he was an hundred years old Gen. 21.5 which clearly proves it to be fourteen years or more from that time in which Righteousness was imputed to him upon his beleeving to the time of Isaac's birth And yet this act of his Faith did not take place till some years after the birth of Isaac neither for the Lad by that time Abraham was called upon to offer him was so far grown in years stature and strength as that Abraham made him carry the Wood for the burnt-Offering Gen. 22.6 Now then if Abraham were justified by that act of his Faith which was found in him it may be twenty years before How could it be that be should be justified by another act of his Faith viz. This by which he offered Isaac so long after To which I Answer First That this act of his Faith by which he offered Isaac did concur to his Justification is very plain and manifest by that of Jam. 2.21 24. Was not Abraham our Father justified by Works when he had offered Isaac his Son upon the Altar As if he should say Is it not manifest he was Do you not know this And after he had amplified this Instance a little concludes upon it thus vers 24. Ye see then how that by Works a man is justified and not by Faith only By which it is manifest That this was not only an act of that Faith by which he was Justified but that this act of his Faith was that by which he was justified as well as that precedent act before mentioned and was not irrelative to his justification as the Objection supposeth Sect. 6 But then Secondly as to the Reason of the Objection which supposeth that this collateral act of Abrahams Faith could not do that for him which was done long
observed to be the direct path leading to the promised and expected salvation of God Sect. 2 Among that cloud of Witnesses which the Author to the Hebrews in his 11 chap. produces as giving a lively testimony to this Truth let us for brevity sake hear only some of them And we will begin with Enoch vers 5. By Faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death and was not found because God had translated him for before his translation he had this testimony that he pleased God First we see his translation is ascribed unto his Faith though we cannot say that he by his Faith did beleeve he should after that manner be translated yet doubtless by his Faith he did expect to receive from God first or last that happy state into which he was so timely and extraordinarily translated Secondly we see likewise how and after what manner this his dependance upon God for happiness did dispose him in point of behaviour towards God it put him upon pleasing God that is of endeavouring alwayes to do such things as were well pleasing to the Lord which in Gen. 5.24 is called his walking with God And what was that but his being constantly found in that way and walk which God appointed and approved and in which he met with God and God with him His Faith dictated that to him that the road to that expected happiness which was in his eye was that walk which God had appointed him and that the way to receive it from God was carefully to please him in all things as he did faithfully endeavour to do for three hundred or more years together Noah's Faith wrought the same way Heb. 11.7 By Faith Noah being warned of God of things not seen as yet moved with fear prepared an Ark to the saving of his house As by his Faith he looked for safety and deliverance from God so by his Faith he was taught to observe and do what God appointed and commanded him in order thereunto His Faith eyed as well the means as the end and made him as careful to be faithful in the one as confidently to expect the other which is indeed the true nature and kindly working of the Faith of all Gods Elect. Let us here again take another sight of the Faith of our Father Abraham meeting with him in this road It is certain that his Faith had a perfect regard both to end and means he was confident of receiving the blessed Inheritance promised but he was also confident that the way to come to it was to follow Gods guidance and direction and that God was as much to be beleeved in his shewing the way and therein his counsels and commands to be embraced as he was in promising the end Heb. 11.14 15 16. There you have the end of the Faith of Abraham and Sara the mark at which they aimed For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a Country And what Country Not such as they left For truly if they had been mindful of that Country from whence they came out they might have had opportunity to have returned but now they desire a better Country that is an heavenly wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God for he hath prepared for them a City God had given them hopes of a heavenly Country they beleeved him in his discovery and promise of this and therefore when God calls them out of their own native Country to set forward for this they presently obey They went out not knowing whither they went Heb. 11.8 but were resolved under the hope of the heavenly Country to follow the conduct of God and to deliver themselves up to his counsels and commands and to follow these whithersoever they would lead them as being fully perswaded that these would at last bring them to that heavenly Country which they sought Just as the wise men who following the guidance of the star were by it brought to the house where the young Child Jesus was whom they sought Sect. 3 See also the Faith of Moses running the same race Heb. 11.24 25 26. By Faith Moses when he was come to years refused to be called the Son of Pharaohs Daughter chusing rather to suffer affliction with the People of God than to enjoy the pleasures of Sin for a season esteeming the reproach of Christ greater Riches than the Treasures in Egypt for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward First That which his Faith had in its eye as the mark at which he aimed was the recompence of the reward the great prize for which all the Saints run he beleeved there was such a thing to be had from God Secondly The same Faith by which he depended upon God for this blessedness enabled him to wait upon God in his own way to be led to it And therefore rather then he would by sin displease him from whom he expected the recompence of reward he at once turns his back upon the honours pleasures and treasures of Egypt And seeing he could not joyn himself unto the People of God and with them to Worship the Lord but that in embracing them he must embrace reproach and affliction with them therefore rather than he would lose the advantage of the one in relation to his expected happiness he chuseth and espouseth the inconvenience of the other He by his Faith puts into the one ballance the Recompence of reward as the end and his Communion with the People of God in his Worship and Service as the way and means and together with these the Reproaches for Christ and the Affliction of the People of God And into the other ballance the Honours Pleasures and Treasures of Egypt but with them that Sin which the retaining of these would draw along with it and which would cut him short of the Recompence of reward and comparing his present enjoyments with his future loss and his present sufferings with his future gain he comes to this issue to prefer afflictions and reproaches as attending the right way to the Recompence of reward before the treasures pleasures and honours of Egypt when attended with that sin which would deprive him of it Behold here a lively Instance of Faiths overcoming the World His Faith carries him out of the midst of all the glory of the Court of Egypt and from thence into the midst of the scorn dirision oppression and persecution of the poor People of God And why But because this was the ready road to the Recompence of reward That which is noted Heb. 11.33 touching the power of Faith as that by it some have stopped the mouths of Lions respects Daniel the Prophet who was taken up out of the Lions Den and no manner of hurt was found upon him because he beleeved in his God Dan. 6.23 That which I would note concerning him as to my present purpose is first this That his Faith fixed him upon God to depend upon him for whatever was good in
A Glass of Justification OR THE VVORK OF FAITH WITH POVVER Wherein the Apostles Doctrine touching Justification without the Deeds of the Law is opened and the sence in which Gospel-obedience as well as Faith is necessary to Justification is stated Wherein also the nature of that dead Faith is detected by which multitudes that hope for Salvation are as is to be feared deceived and the true nature and distinguishing properties of the Faith of Gods Elect is handled Finally the Doctrine of the imputation of Faith for Righteousness is herein also briefly discussed and the great wisdom and folly of men about the proof of their Faith touched Published on purpose to rectifie some dangerous and other damning mistakes of Men about their Faith and expectation of Justification thereby and to awaken and quicken all to the Work of Faith with Power By William Allen a poor Servant to the Lord Jesus What doth it profit my Brethren though a man say he hath Faith and have not Works Can faith save him James 2.14 LONDON Printed by G. Dawson for Francis Smith and are to be sold at his Shop in Flying Horse Court in Fleetstreet near Chancery-Lane end 1658. To that small Remnant of Christs Little Flock which are wont to wait on him in his PUBLICK WORSHIP at their place of Assembly in Loathbury London The Author truly desireth a being filled with all the fulness of God As he does also to all the Churches of like constitution for whose use this Address is secondarily intended Dearly Beloved Brethren Sect. 1 I May truly say that if any others besides your selves shall receive any benefit by the publication of the following Discourse they will be in good part debters unto you for it for that it was never like to have come abroad had not your Desires and Requests prepared its way What sence you had of the usefulness of these Sermons to your selves and what desires and hopes you had of their producing the like effect in others by this publication you your selves best know but this I may say that it was your professed experience of the former and your good perswasion of the latter that induced me to undertake a Work of this nature which circumstances considered in my case I fore-saw as since I have found would be to me a business of no small difficulty You that have had so great a desire hereby to promote the good of others will I hope and am perswaded be very careful to improve this new opportunity of a further inriching your selves with the knowledge sense and savour of the Doctrine contained in this Book as a thing then which I know not wherein you are more concerned But Experience shews that it is not an overly hearing or cursory reading though of things of highest import to the Soul such as are the way means method and terms of mans Justification before God and of the apparent danger that men are in of being mistaken hereabout and through this mistake of missing Justification it self I say it is not a perfunctory doing of these matters that will fill the soul with any due sense of these things For how many are there that frequently hear and sometimes read things that for the nature of them make the spirits of others to burn and boil within them and yet they themselves hardly at all moved thereby or if they do for the present just while they are under the immediate force of them work some little relentings and faint wishes that things were better with them yet such motions soon vanish like a dream when a man awaketh which while he was dreaming of it did somewhat affect him If then you would have this labour of mine which yet is not so much mine as Gods by whose help you have it truly to serve you not only by informing you more perfectly about the termes of your Justification but also in quickening you to more abundant care and diligence about the making good your title to the promise of Justification it self Then in reading hereof let your mind be as much upon the temper of your heart and tenour of your life as your eye is upon the Book and compare the Work of the one with the Doctrine of the other And be often making a pause and putting the question to your Conscience are things so and so with me or does my Faith work thus and thus as there you will find in the discovery of the living and dead Faith The effect of which carriage of yours according to this counsel of mine you will find through the blessing of God to be that when you find the evidence of your faith which is your title to life not to be so clear nor of so perfect an appearance in this and that as in a matter of that consequence were to be desired you will thereby be stirred up to give all diligence to make your calling and election sure by amending what is amiss about the proof of your faith and by adding what is lacking to it And when you shall feel the lively impressions which it may be a close consideration of the Doctrine of this Treatise hath wrought in you in the hearing of it or shall work in you by the reading of it I say when these impressions decay and want reparation your wisdome then will be to get close to that fire again where you had your former heat and that will warm you again stand by those words of eternal life and hear them talk to you a while Prov. 6.22 When thou awakest it shall talk with thee and they speaking with fiery tongues will kindle upon you and put you into a flame Luke 24.32 Did not our heart burn within us while he talked with us by the way and while he opened to us the Scriptures And this do as oft as there is need by calling to mind what you have heard or what you shall have here read in this kind for as the often rubbing of one hand against another will keep them warm in cold weather So the frequent exercising of the mind with this holy and heavenly Doctrine will preserve the spirit from growing chill and more especially from freezing And if the particulars of matter which have or which shall have affected you in this kind shall at any time escape your memory as Nebuchadnezzars dream did his with which he had been so much affected Dan. 2.5 you have here put into your hand that which will be a present help to you at such a pinch So that God hath one way or other abundantly provided you with means for your furtherance in grace in reference both to the information of your judgments quickning of your wills and affections and the helping of your memories and all in order to your godly conversation and Saintly walk Sect. 2 It remains therefore that I as one though but a poor one God knows of the dressers of this little Vineyard of the Lord in which every one of you particularly
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
gracious not only in forgiving but also in rewarding such who duly and diligently seek his favour grace and love in such wayes and by such means as he himself hath appointed for that end Heb. 11.6 But without Faith it is impossible to please him for he that cometh to God must believe that he is there 's the former act of Faith touching the truth of his being and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him Thirdly by trusting in and relying on his might mercy grace and love for pardon justification and eternal salvation Psalm 52.8 But I will trust in the mercy of the Lord for ever Rom. 4.5 But beleeveth on him that justifieth the ungodly Iohn 5.24 But all this at least since God was manifested in the flesh in and by Christ there being no coming to or believing in the Father but by him Iohn 14.6 1 Pet. 1.21 Though formerly he was worshipped and served under the name and title of the God of Abraham the God of Isaac the God of Iacob yet now in the New Testament under the Name and Title of the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ Eph. 1.17 and 3.14 Sect. 3 I might here shew also that the word promise or record of the Father concerning his Son is the object of Faith Yea Abrahams justification is cast upon his beleeving this word of God So shall thy seed be For Abraham beleeved God and it was counted to him for righteousnesse Gen. 15.6 Rom. 4.3.18 Gal. 3.6.8 Iames 2.23 Now the record which the Father hath given of Christ in the New Testament as the object of Faith is two-fold 1. That he is his beloved Son in whom he is well pleased and that he ought to be heard and obeyed Mat. 3.17 and 17.5 And 2. That in him is life and that salvation is now offered to the World by beleeving in and obeying of him 1 Iohn 5.9 10 11 12. If we receive the witnesse of men the witnesse of God is greater for this is the witnesse of God which he hath testified of his Son He that beleeveth on the Son hath the witnesse in himself he that beleeveth not God hath made him a lyar because he beleeveth not the record which God gave of his Son And this is the record which God hath given to us eternal life and this life is in his Son He that hath the Son hath life and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life This testimony which the Father gave of his Son was partly by voice from Heaven 2 Pet. 1.17 18. and partly by those Works which he gave him to finish by which men saw his glory as the glory of the only begotten of the Father Iohn 5.36 I have greater witnesse then that of Iohn for the works which the Father hath given me to finish the same works that do I bear witnesse of me that the Father hath sent me John 10.37 38. If I do not the works of my Father beleeve me not but if I do though ye beleeve not me yet beleeve the works that ye may know and beleeve that the Father is in me and I in him Sect. 4 II. As the Father so also Christ the Son is in Scripture set forth as the more immediate object of Faith Acts 16.31 And they said beleeve on the Lord Iesus Christ and thou shalt be saved and thy house Now ye must know that Christ is propounded as the object of Faith in several respects and under several considerations Sect. 5 1. As he is the Messias of which Moses and the Prophets wrote and said should come And therefore is Christ called the He that should come Mat. 11.3 Art thou he that should come or do we look for another John 13.19 Now I tell you before it come that when it is come to passe ye may beleeve that I am HE. It was one thing to beleeve in general according to the Prophets that Messiah should come which was the common Faith of the Jews and as it should seem of the Samaritans too Iohn 4.25 and another thing to beleeve in particular that Jesus which is come is the Christ This was the Faith of such as did receive him and cleave to him when he did come Iohn 11.27 She said yea Lord I beleeve that thou art the Christ the Son of God which should come into the world The want of which is the destroying sin that lies so heavy upon the Jews John 8.24 For if ye beleeve not that I am HE ye shall dye in your sins 2. Christ as he is the Son of God is made the object of Faith Joh. 20 31. But these are written that ye might beleeve that Iesus is the Christ the Son of God and that beleeving ye might have life through his name Acts 8.37.1 John 5.1 4 5. and 4.15 By Faith he is beleeved to be the Son of God not as Adam was the Son of God viz. by Creation Lu. 3. last in which sence we are all his Offspring Act. 17.28 Nor yet as the Saints are the Sons of God to wit by Adoption Gal 4.5 but that he is the begotten yea the only begotten Son of the Father so the Son and so begotten of the Father as none else is among all the creation of God John 1.14 and 3.18 He that beleeveth on him is not condemned but he that beleeveth not is condemned already because he hath not beleeved in the name of the only begotten Son of God Sect. 6 3. Christ as dying and shedding his blood is the object of Faith and that by which sinners become justified Rom. 5.9 Much more then being now justified by his blood we shall be saved from wrath through him Rom. 3.25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through Faith in his blood Faith eyes the blood of Christ as its object under a three-fold consideration First it believes that Christ did dye and shed his blood for our sins 1 Cor. 15.2 3. If ye keep in memory what I preached unto you unlesse ye have beleeved in vain For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received how that Christ dyed for our sins according to the Scriptures Mat. 26.28 For this is my blood of the New Testament which is shed for many for the remission of sins Secondly that this death and shedding of this blood of Christ is both the only and the all-sufficient means appointed by God to make an attonement for and to purge away sin Heb 1.3 When he had by himself purged our sins sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high Revels 1.5 Vnto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood c. Heb. 10.14 For by one offering hath he perfected for ever them that are sanctified Heb. 9.14 How much more shall the blood of Christ who through the eternal spirit offered himself without spot to God purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God Thirdly
for it we have this Evangelists word for it as appears by the latter part of the fore-cited verse where he sayes that they viz. the Devils knew that he was Christ If any should think that possibly the Devils may have the same faith that would justifie men if it were in them though it will do them no good as not being in the like capacity of grace as men are yet that passage in Iames 2. 19. will oppose such a thought For wherefore does the Apostle mention the faith of Devils there but to disparage the unprofitable and dead faith of some Christians and to give them to know that if their faith rested only in the beleef of things and did not carry out the soul in love both to God and men it was even no better a faith than is in the devils and consequently would save them no more than it would save the devils Sect. 5 3. The Faith of Assent as it is the act of the understanding is frequently forced the mind compelled to beleeve the truth of divine things by the strength of conviction which sometimes is so great that it is not in the power of men to dis-beleeve them which I concieve is the plain case touching that faith which the Devils have and the faith which some wicked men under despair have of the judgement to come who would be glad if they knew how to believe otherwise than what they do believe they would be glad if they knew how to believe that there is no God no Heaven no Hell and it is their torment to believe there is the Devils believe and tremble and so do some men And it is very like that those believers of which we heard before Iohn 2.23 and 12.42 had that Faith which they had concerning Christ forced upon them by the hand of those miracles of Christ in conjunction with his holy life and doctrine which were too hard for their consciences and evinced with power him that wrought them to be the Son of God And it may be they might have a desire to have stifled that light and to have overcome that conviction which they had as that which did oppose that carnal interest of praise which they had with men which it seems they loved more than Christ and therefore would not let it go for his sake And is not this the case of such who hold the truth in unrighteousness Rom. 1.18 when the light of divine truth breaks into the mind and cannot be kept out but convinces the conscience that things have been so and so done by the Father and by his Son Jesus Christ in favour to man-kind and that therefore men ought to love the Lord and in love to obey him and that it is the way to be happy so to do and yer for all that this truth which hath thus far compel'd the conscience to assent to it is detained and held as prisoner in the mind by the power of lust so that it does not walk abroad in the life of such a man the thorns spring up with the seed and over-top it the seed springs up in the mind by its power of conviction shewing what should and ought to be but the thorns of lust spring up in the affection and determine what shall be and what shall not be in such a mans life Such a man indeed hath received the truth as he assents to it to be truth but hath not received the love of the truth by consenting to and affectionately imbracing what it enjoynes And shall we think that God will reward with the great and unspeakable blessing of Justification and Salvation such an act of the Creature as is not voluntary but forced from him whether he will or no surely he will not 2 Thes 2.10 Because they received not the love of the truth that they might be saved c. No other receiving of the truth then will be rewarded with Salvation but the receiving it in love and what 's more voluntary than love If a man had all faith never so strong a perswasion touching the vertue and power of Christ So that he could remove mountains and have not love it would profit him nothing 1 Cor. 13.2 If there be first a willing mind it is accepted c. 2 Cor. 8.12 that 's surely a necessary ingredient to render any act of the creature acceptable to God and consequently rewardable by him 1 Cor. 9.17 For if I do this thing willingly I have a reward Take heed then of venturing your precious souls upon this Faith that lies but in a naked and bare assent to the general truth of the Gospel CHAP. VI. Further discovering that neither the act of Relyance or Dependence upon God or Christ for Salvation without the concurrence of a loving and loyal adhesion to him will avail to Salvation Sect. 1 HAving already shewed that Faith by the first of those three acts mentioned in the former Chapter will not justifie without the addition and concurrence of more I shall now likewise shew you that neither will this act of trust confidence dependance or relyance upon the Lord for Salvation though added unto the former of assenting to the truth of that report which the Gospel makes of Christs being the Son of God his dying for sinners c. prove effectual to justifie save unless it be found in conjunction with an obediential cleaving to Christ to be delivered by him from the power and dominion of sin as well as the guilt and condemnation of it That there may be found in men a presumptious leaning upon the mercies of the Lord and his promises and acts of grace and an expectation of being thereupon secured by God from destruction while in the mean time they cut off their claim and title to those promises and acts of grace by loving of and cleaving to their inward lusts or outward enormities instead of cleaving to those precepts and promises touching holiness which would carry them out of those sins is a thing very visible in the Scriptures as well as obvious to experience It was so with men under the Old Testament Mica 3.11 The heads thereof judge for reward and the Priests thereof teach for hire and the Prophets thereof divine for money yet will they lean upon the Lord and say is not the Lord among us none evill can come unto us The Lord had indeed made many gracious promises to that people of his being their God of his dwelling and walking among them of saving them from those evils which he would bring upon their enemies but all upon condition that they would be to him a people in love loyalty and obedience as he to them a God in protection and blessing Levit. 26. Deut. 28. but these men Judges Priests Prophets Sinners of sundry sorts eye the promises over-looking the condition upon which they were made and would needs lean upon these as if God were obliged to them by these to secure them from those evils
one difficulty after another rose up to encounter his Faith yet they could not so much as make him to stagger so mighty was Gods Word in his soul And therfore was this Faith of his imputed to him for Righteousness Now this was not written for his sake alone that this Faith of his was imputed unto him but for us also to whom it shall be imputed if we beleeve on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead saith the Apostle Rom. 4.23 24. It was written to give us to understand That if God be so magnified in the soul as that no difficulty or unlikelihood whatsoever can stand before or carry it against the Word and Promise of God there but beleeving first that God raised Christ from the dead for our Justification after he had been delivered for our offences and then beleeving also that God by the same power and grace by which he did that will certainly fulfil and perform all his Words and Promises in due time and according to his own terms and that this Faith do but dispose the frame of the heart God-ward as it did in Abraham that then this Faith of ours shall as assuredly be imputed to us for Righteousness as his was to him Hath God then Promised a free and full Pardon of all your sins upon your unfeigned Repentance and turning from them to God and taking hold of his Grace in Christ how great or many soever they have been and how unworthy soever they have rendered you of such a favour Hath he promised to such as have begun thus truly to turn to God that he will give them his Spirit to help in the Work to make them new hearts and to write his Law there and that humbly waiting and depending upon him in his own way and means he will keep them from falling and preserve them to his heavenly kingdom See then whether you do stedfastly beleeve these great and precious Promises and are encouraged and enabled by your belief of them to turn again to God from all your transgressions and in thus turning confidently to expect by degrees a real and faithful performance of them all notwithstanding the great distance you may possibly for the present perceive your selves to be from much of what is thus promised and notwithstanding those great mighty and violent oppositions which you do and are like to meet with from flesh World and Devil to encounter your confidence of these things Though difficulties in this kind are many great and sorely threatning your falling short of the enjoyment of these mighty Promises yet if your Faith be but firmly bottomed and built upon them and that the faithfulness and power of God to make them good be so eyed by you and your souls so centered therein as that all the difficulties and unlikelihoods that rise up in your way from what quarter soever cannot prevail in your soul against the Word of God but that you do indeed beleeve that the might and power of his Grace will make its way through them all and perform to a tittle what he hath promised and that this confidence of yours does but engage you still to be following of God step by step in his way method and means of fulfilling his Word as Abrahams Faith did then you may confidently assure your selves that your Faith is of the right breed and kind and of the same nature with Abrahams and walking in the same steps and such as will entitle you to and possess you of the same blessing which he attained by his Faith Sect. 3 2. Another step of his Faith was this As by it he stedfastly beleeved Gods Promises so by it he faithfully obeyed his Precepts call and counsel Heb. 11.8 By Faith Abraham when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an Inheritance obeyed and he went out not knowing whither he went An excellent grace indeed that is moulded and cast in the Will of God and receives its form and figure from thence The Word of God had the same force upon Abrahams soul by means of his Faith as the Wind hath upon a Weather-cock it still made it to stand with it If he promised him any thing his soul did securely acquiess in his Word if he commanded him any thing he readily obeys the Word of the Lord carries him before it He only depended upon the divine Will by his Faith what that gave him he received what that would have him do that he did He beleeved its like That the Lord was so good in himself and so much a friend to him as that he would not put him upon any thing command him any thing but what in the issue should clearly tend to his good and therefore upon this perswasion resolves to deliver up himself wholly to the Will of God and to be an absolute Servant thereunto and to wait upon it whither ever it would carry him He knew his Happiness was in Gods hand and was confident that the way to be possessed of it was still to wait upon God in beleeving what he said and in doing what he bade him The Will and Command of God then was the constant walk of Abrahams Faith Sect. 4 3. And Thirdly the nature of that Obedience which proceeded from his Faith was this It was an obedience of Self denyal wherein he crossed his own will to comply with the Will of God therein doing God that right which but few in the world do as actually to acknowledge the Lord and his most holy Will to be absolutely sovereign and supream and that his own Will must stoop to his without all disputes how contrary soever thereunto The Command of God comes to Abraham Gen. 12.1 2 3. saying Get thee out of thy Country and from thy Fathers house unto a Land that I will shew thee and I will make of thee a great Nation and I will Bless thee and make thy Name great and thou shalt be a blessing And I will bless them that bless thee and curse him that curseth thee and in thy Seed shall all Families of the Earth be blessed Here are great things promised indeed as an Argument and Motive to perswade him to obey this Call and Command of God which he confidently depended upon but in the mean time he must quit his Country bid a-dieu to his Kindred depart from his Fathers house make himself a laughing stock it's like to Neighbors Friends and Acquaintance as if some strange Chymera had struck his brain and must go he knew not whither So saith the Apostle He went out not knowing whither he went Heb. 11.8 Let 's make it our own case and we shall easily perceive that thus to do was a piece of great Self denial And yet his Faith led him out from amidst these ancient enjoyments the Command and Promise of God went before and he followed close after And this wonderful piece of Obedience is attributed to his Faith Heb. 11.8 By
before by a former and precedent act To this I likewise Answer That Justification taken in a large sence for a mans constant standing acceptable condition before God depends not only upon the first acts of a mans Faith when he begins to beleeve but upon the continuation and reitteration of the same and multiplication of the like and sometimes higher acts all along a mans life unto the end of his dayes which being a point of much consequence I pray you mark how I make it good 1. This clearly appears in Abrahams case for neither was that beleeving of Abraham of which we read Gen. 15.6 which was counted to him for Righteousness the first act of his effectual Faith and consequently not that which began his justification For this act of his Faith was the closing with a Promise which God made him after he had dwelt some years in the Land of Canaan probably near upon ten years as you will have cause to conceive if you compare the process of the history touching his leaving Charon and sojourning in the Land of Canaan with Gen. 16.3 where a period of time is mentioned at which he had dwelt ten years in the Land of Canaan and which so far as appears extended it self very little beyond that time when God appeared to Abraham after his slaughter of the Kings and made that Promise to him the beleeving of which is said to be counted to him for Righteousness But Abraham had a great measure of Faith before ever he left his native Country Vr of the Chaldees first and Charon after to come at Gods call into Canaan as we heard before from Heb. 11.8 where it 's told us That it was by his Faith that he obeyed God therein And by Faith he after sojourned in the Land of Promise Heb. 11.9 wherein by vertue of his Faith he devoutly worshiped and served that God which had called him thither building Altars for his Worship at several places where he pitched his Tent and there called on the Name of the Lord Gen. 12.7 8. and 13.4 18. And all this before that particular act of his Faith mentioned Gen. 15.6 which is there said to have been counted to him for Righteousness And can any man so much as imagine That Abraham having such a Faith so long before and making such proof of the life and power of it in his Love Obedience and Devotion to God as he did and God back again declaring his high approbation of him by a frequent appearing to him and making repeating and enlarging his Promises of the great things he was resolved to do for him that yet he all this while should not be justified and accepted with God upon his beleeving I say Can any such thought possibly enter into any mans heart If not then it is manifest that that act of Abrahams Faith Gen. 15.6 which was counted to him for Righteousness was but an after-act not the beginning-act of his Justification and consequently that a mans Justification does not depend only upon one transient act of Faith when he begins to beleeve but upon a continuation renewing and multiplication of the same or like acts Abraham though he beleeved in God before and was accepted with God before yet his after-after-Faith is imputed to him for Righteousness as well as his former and if he should not have beleeved God upon this renewing of his Promise as well as at the first making of it I see not how Righteousness could at this time have been imputed to him upon account of his former beleeving No it was imputed upon his present beleeving And seeing that we find that Abrahams justification is here in Gen. 15.6 attributed to an after act of his Faith there 's the same reason why his justification should again be ascribed unto that act of his Faith by which he offered up his Son though it be supposed to follow twenty years after the other as that did many years after the first These things considered it need not be looked upon as any paradox or wonder that James should attribute Abrahams Justification before God unto an act of his Faith which took not place till many years after he had been in the Faith of God We heard before from Rom. 4.12 that the Faith by which Abraham was justified was a walking Faith and had steps and now we see that the latter steps of the same Faith were necessary to his justification as well as the former he having and enjoying means motives and opportunities of exerting these latter acts as well as of the former And it 's of special note to this point That the Lord casts the performance of a Promise which he had made to Abraham many years before upon that act of his Faith and Obedience which took place but now when he would have offered Isaac Gen. 22.16 17 18. By my self have I sworn saith the Lord for because thou hast done this thing and hast not with-held thy Son thine only Son that in blessing I will bless thee and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the Stars of Heaven and as the Sand which is upon the Sea shore and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies and in thy seed shall all the Nations of the Earth be blessed because thou hast obeyed my voice Mark how God grounds this Promise noted in these two expressions because thou hast done this thing and because thou hast obeyed my voice And yet this Promise for substance had been made him more than once before he had done that thing and before he had herein obeyed his voice as is evident Gen. 12.2 3 13.15 16. 15.5 6. From which I gather That collateral or after acts of Faith and Obedience are as necessary to continue and make good a mans interest in the Promises for the future as the first acts of his Faith and Obedience were to entitle him to them at the first The Lord at the first makes his Promise to Abraham conditionally that in case he would get him out of his own Country and from his Kindred and from his Fathers house unto a Land which he would shew him that then he would make him a great Nation and bless him and make his name great and make him a blessing and bless them that should bless him and curse them that should curse him and that in him should all Families of the Earth be blessed Gen. 12.1 2 3. Afterward when Abraham upon belief of this Promise had actually obeyed God and was come into the Land to which he led him then God renews the same Promise to him once and again without expressing that Condition because he had now so far fulfilled it this we may see Gen. 13.15 16. 15.5 6. As if he renewed his Promise now by way of reward unto his former Faith and Obedience just as in this case of his offering of Isaac the Lord renews the same Promise with the addition of his Oath to bind it by way
same Inheritance But alas If the fore-mentioned steps of Abrahams Faith as troden by his Children do discriminate the Faith of the right kind from that which is of another race how many mens Faith who call Abraham Father will hereby be discovered to be but Bastardly and such as will never make good their title to the Inheritance which God hath promised to Abraham and his spiritual seed Does the Call of God back'd with a Promise by means of Abrahams Faith taking hold of the Promise with one hand and of the Command with the other draw him out of his own Country from his ancient Acquaintance Kindred and Fathers house which otherwise were lawful enjoyments What then shall we think of their Faith who though the Lord give forth Command upon Command back'd with great and precious Promises on purpose to draw men not out of their own Country but out of their ill Company out of their Intemperance and Excess out of their Uncleanness out of their Covetous practices out of their Pride and ridiculous fashions out not only of prophane Swearing and filthy Talking but out of light vain frothy frivolous Discourse and Communication out of their lukewarmness heartlessness and deadness in Religion and yet for all that are not drawn out of these unprofitable sinful and vain wayes unto this day Can any thing be plainer than this That either they have no Faith at all or that the Faith they have is of a bastard kind and such as shall never inherit Both they and their Faith must be judged of by their Works If they were Abrahams Children they would do the Works of Abraham but seeing they do the Works of the Devil they thereby plainly prove themselves to be his Children and not Abrahams as Christ who could not be mistaken hath told them Joh. 8.39.44 These as the unregenerate Jews that lived under the Word and Ordinances of God and yet were not renewed to God by them would needs claim from Abraham but Christ you see hath found them out another Father O that all such would therefore be perswaded now while it is called to day to take fast hold of the Commands of Jesus Christ made very pleasant and acceptable by the huge Promises that are annexed to them which would then certainly draw them out of their vain Conversation Shall Abrahams Faith enable him at Gods Command to offer to him his only and beloved Son Isaac and shall not thine enable thee to part with thy only beloved Lust Doest thou think thou hast more to say why thou shouldest not part with thy sin than Abraham had why he should not part with his Son If not then either cease flattering thy self as if thou wert one of Abrahams Children and Heir to the same Promise or else cease from thy vain and sinful wayes that thou mayest be so indeed CHAP. IX Shewing that it hath been the common and universal Property of the Faith of Gods Elect both in former and latter Ages of the World as well to depend upon and so to be ordered by the counsels commands and directions of God touching the way to life as upon his grace power and promise for life it self and that it is the highest point of Wisdom in men so to do And that mens mistrust of the suparlative goodness of Gods wayes counsels and commands and putting more confidence in their own proceeds from their mistrust of his power wisdom or good-will towards them in relation to their happiness Sect. 1 HAving shewed the nature of Abrahams Faith in the Properties and Effects of it and after what manner it disposed him in his deportment towards God and how the same is set forth as a pattern unto all men of that kind of Faith by which Justification is to be had let us now also take a further view of the same grace of Faith as it hath shewed it self acting its part in other of the Saints alwayes carrying in our eye along with us our own Faith and comparing it with theirs to see whether it affects and acts us as theirs did them as undoubtedly it will if it be of the same nature and kind with theirs For as all men in all Nations and Generations are of one bloud Acts 17.26 so all Saints in all Nations and Generations are in the general of our Faith Ephes 4.5 And as the one hath the same motion and operation in reference to the life Natural in all men so hath the other the same influence and operation in reference to the life Spiritual in all Saints Now then that which hath been in a manner as Natural to the Faith of all the Saints as the motion of the bloud in the veins is to all living men is this viz. To be verily perswaded that as happiness and salvation are assuredly to be had from God so the certain way not to miss of it but to receive it upon his Promise is and hath been still to eye his counsels and to follow the guidance of his directions and commands in all things as the direct way leading thereunto And the truth is for the creature man to be thus acted and steered in his dependance upon his God is the most rational thing under heaven and most connatural to that principle of understanding and light which God hath placed in men For first God by his preventing grace in propounding gracious terms and vouchsafing convenient and sufficient means of salvation unsought for on mans part hath given a plentiful proof and clear demonstration of his love and good-will to men and of his desire of their salvation And then secondly Having so done what is more rational than for men to be fully confident that the Lord will put them upon nothing advise them nothing command them nothing but what doth certainly tend to and perfectly consist with their chief good Will any tender Mother put her dearly beloved Child upon any thing but what tends to his good Or if she should would it not argue either want of Wisdom or of Love in her or both A want of neither of which are in God And then Thirdly If men are or have cause to be confident that God will advise or enjoyn them nothing but what hath a true and real tendency to their salvation which is his design towards them and that which he seeks after Is it not then most reasonable and the greatest wisdom in men to commit themselves to the guidance of God and to acquiess in his wisdom and love As being confident that that being truly followed will lead and bring them to that salvation which God hath offered and they desire and seek after It hath been in this Faith and confidence That the Saints from time to time have sincerely followed God which way soever he hath led them and not been turned out of his way by the greatest dangers or sufferings that could befal them from the hand of men as judging his Will and Counsel made known to them as to be
and soundness to it to repair the breach that sin hath made there to restore the image of God which is decayed in the Soul and the like Rom. 6.14 Mic. 7.19 1 Thes 5.23 24. Ezek. 36.25 c. Isa 57.18 Hos 14.4 2 Pet. 1.4 And yet this grace of God is not wont to make any great or considerable progress in this work till Faith in men draw this mortifying power and healing vertue from him And therefore the purification of the Soul and sanctification of the person is sometimes ascribed unto their Faith as well as unto the power of Gods grace Acts 15.9 26.18 And that it is so is not only because it is instrumental in the hand of Gods grace to effect it but also because it is a powerful means of atracting and drawing the vertue power and grace of God to engage in this work God so pleasing that it should so do It fares with the Soul in respect of spiritual Diseases and the cure of them now Christ is in heaven as it did with the bodies of some in respect of natural Diseases and the cure of them when he was on earth There was alwayes power and vertue enough in Christ to heal them and yet the cure was not wrought until Faith was set on work to draw out vertue from Christ The Woman that had an issue of bloud twelve years though she had used many means and spent all upon the Physitians yet was never cured no not by Christ himself neither until she came to touch his garment and by her Faith drew vertue from him and then the cure was soon wrought Christ casts her cure upon her Faith saying Daughter thy Faith hath made thee whole Mark 5.34 Certainly it was the power of Christ and the vertue that went out of him that made her whole vers 30. but in as much as this was not drawn out into act till her Faith was active in it therefore is the cure ascribed unto her Faith And upon like account is it that we meet with such passages as these If thou beleevest all things are possible Mark 9.23 According to your Faith be it unto you Matth. 9.29 What is the reason may we think why so few of those vast multitudes in the world that languish under their spiritual Diseases are cured but that for the generality of them they are like to die eternally of them Certainly it is not because there is not vertue enough in Christ to heal them all but the reason is because there is so few that touch him by Faith to draw vertue out of him for their cure Nay they are afraid of being healed like some Beggars who keep their Sores open and unhealed on purpose because they make an advantage of them as they do of theirs such as it is Matth. 13.15 They have closed their eyes c. lest they should be converted and I should heal them And what 's the reason why many that are in part healed yet are not more thorowly cured But that there are too many signs and symptomes of their old Disease still hanging upon them and many grudgings of their old fits so that the Case remains in doubt with them whether they shall live or die Surely it is because though they have some kind of Faith yet they do not exercise it about this thing or but very little It may be they may have more communion with the riches of Gods grace the value and efficacy of Christs bloud in relation to pardon and Gods unwillingness to destroy and readiness to forgive poor sinners but have not acquainted themselves much with that heavenly art and method of Faith by which the Saints depend upon the Lord for his communication of vertue and strength for the healing of their Souls of spiritual distempers and restoring them to a spiritual health and soundness There 's no doubt but that the Lord Jesus is as much affected with the diseases that annoy mens Souls as ever he was with those that afflicted the body and delights every whit as much in the cure of the spiritual as ever he did in healing the corporal in as much as his own glory and his creatures good are more concerned in these than in the other But that which obstructed the cure of mens bodies and Souls too by Christ when he was on earth obstructs the perfect cure of mens souls by him now he is in heaven and that is the want of Faith in them that should be cured Christ could do no mighty works in this kind in some places where he came save on a very few that did beleeve because of their Vnbelief Matth. 13.58 compared with Mar. 6.5 6. As it was in the dayes of Eliseus as Christ observes when there were many Lepers in Israel needed cleansing as well as Naaman the Syrian and yet none were cleansed by the Prophet but Naaman for that none but he had Faith to seek it and qualifie them for it so was it with many in Israel in the days of Christ who though they had as much need of healing as any that were healed yet went without it for that they had not that Faith in the Lord by which those that were healed drew vertue from him for their cure Luke 4.23 with 27. 6.19 And so it is now the true reason why the Leprosie of the Soul is not cured in all as well as in some is because they do not by Faith draw vertue from Christ in whom it is for their cure It is not because Christ is not as sensible of the condition of men now he is in heaven as he was while he was on earth For we have not an High Priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities Heb. 4.15 Nor is it because he is not as able now both to compassionate and succour them as ever For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted he is able to succour them that are tempted Heb. 2.18 But as I say the reason of mens languishing under their spiritual diseases either without any cure at all or that which is very imperfect is either because they do not come to Christ at all for cure or but very faintly either not knowing where it is to be had or not truly and thorowly desiring it of him or not having confidence enough of obtaining it from him Ye will not come to me said he that ye might have life Joh. 5.40 and therefore they go without it And so if men will not come to Christ for health and cure no marvel if they remain unhealthful in their souls The Lord makes Promise it 's true of taking away the old heart and of giving a new which is but the removing of the disease of the soul and giving it health and soundness but yet so as that he will be sought unto by men to do it for them Ezek. 36.26 with 37. So that if they do not make their serious and hearty applications to him for it upon the
terms he hath appointed they may well go without it for all his willingness to give it It is most sure that Christians are more or less healthful in soul and spiritual condition as they do more or less depend upon the Lord for his saving health for the power and presence of his grace and Spirit to renew them unto God If men had but Faith enough they might have what they would in this kind from the Lord. When there was but once ground for Christ to say O Woman great is thy Faith he presently sayes also Be it unto thee even as thou wilt Matth. 15 28. And therefore such as have but little Faith had need to make the best use and improvement of that little by depending upon the Lord for the perfecting of that which is lacking in their Faith as well as any other grace Men receive but little of this healing vertue from Christ but little hatred of sin and strength to overcome the flesh but little of the power of love and of an humble mind but little of the quick and lively savour of spiritual things because they expect but little if they were larger and stronger in their expectations from God they should have more from him he does not love to disappoint his servants of this hope especially Open your mouth wide and I will fill it saith he Psal 81.10 And those that hunger and thirst after righteousness shall be filled Matth. 5.6 If Righteousness were but desired and sought at the hands of God and he depended on for it as meat and drink is wont to be desired and sought by those that are ready to famish for want of food in which case no other thing but food will satisfie there would not be such a spiritual leanness and emptiness found among Christians as too commonly there is No it is mens indifferency about matters of this mighty moment that causes them to fall so short and to be so scanty in their receptions from God The Lord does not care to pour out abundance of inward grace and health and strength upon the soul until the soul knows the worth of them feels the want of them and desires them more than any thing in the world besides And therefore men may ask them and seek them and yet go without any great measures of them while but cold and indifferent in their desires this way but when their desires are strong their confidence strong their requests fervent and God can as it were have no rest for them but they are still following of him night and day and will have no nay then does the Lord rejoyce over them to Answer them in the joy of their heart and to cause them to inherit substance and to fill their treasures For he waits to be gracious and is alwayes ready and never unprovided of the greatest measures of grace and spiritual strength and is more desirous to give than the best of men are to receive if they would but come up to his terms which are established by him in wisdom and counsel but surely when he hath first given men Faith he does not use to bestow upon them any great addition of spiritual ability but upon the improvement and exercise of that Faith in a way of dependance upon himself for it nor does he give much in this kind to those that are but of little Faith but encreases their spiritual revenue as they encrease in the measure and degree of their relyance upon him for it Sect. 5 4. The gift of the holy Spirit by whose presence power and influence the Saints Salvation must be wrought through and they strengthened with all might in the inward man Ephes 3.16 and by whose Workmanship they are formed fashioned and fitted for that glory which is prepared for them 2 Cor. 5.5 This great gift is I say received also by Faith and consequently it is the property of true Faith indeed to be busied about the receiving of it I shall not so much stand to make this out by shewing you how the Scripture speaks of mens receiving the Spirit after they beleeved as consequential thereunto Ephes 1.13 In whom also after that ye Beleeved ye were Sealed with the holy Spirit of Promise Joh. 7.39 This he spake of the Spirit which they that Beleeve on him should receive Acts 19.2 Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye beleeved Though this also is worthy consideration hereabout For though it 's true That Faith it self in it's first act is raised by the holy Spirit in the Soul 1 Cor. 12.9 Gal. 5.22 Acts 18.27 Ephes 2.8 so as to furnish it with this divine Principle and Power for where else should man have it And so in this respect the Spirits work upon the Soul goes before the Spirits being received by that divine principle which is wrought by it yet the giving and receiving of the Spirit to remain and abide as a constant nourisher supporter comforter guide leader or teacher follows beleeving I know not how better to illustrate this thing than by this similitude A man by visits addresses and applications of Love to such or such a Woman raises in her such Affections towards him as by which afterward he is invited and drawn to become her Husband and constant co-habitant and to take upon him the care and management of her houshold affairs which he would not have done had he not been thereunto encouraged by those Affections which were but the fruit of his own Applications Even so the Spirit by his applications and visits first raises in the Soul that Faith by means whereof his company and presence is so valued and desired as that thereby he is strongly invited to come and dwell in that Soul and to undertake the management of the spiritual affairs thereof and upon which he does accordingly But that by which I would more expresly and particularly make out how the holy Spirit is by Faith invited to come and to make his usual and constant abode in that Soul that does beleeve I shall present to you under these three Heads Sect. 6 1. The First is that which I but now hinted viz. That act of Faith or Divine light by which a Christian sets a holy and very high esteem of the Spirits presence as not knowing how to live the Christian life or to do the Gospel-work without it For when the Soul enlightened and converted to God is made to know that there is no inheriting without overcoming Rev. 21.7 2.7 11 17.26 3.5.12.21 and that the reason why any do overcome is Because greater is he that is in them than he that is in the world 1 Joh. 4.4 and is made to know likewise That men cannot mortifie the deeds of the body but by the power and strength of the Spirit and yet mortified they must be or else they must die Rom. 8.13 when they shall perceive That they know not how to Pray as they ought or to do other Christian duties as
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
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
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