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A19372 Foure sermons whereof two, preached at two assizes, this present yeare, 1638. at Maidestone in Kent, the other two, in his own charge. By Robert Abbot ... Abbot, Robert, 1588?-1662? 1639 (1639) STC 58; ESTC S100378 53,626 193

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lives that in the end when wee shall come as a shocke of corne to thy barne wee may bee happy in thee thorough Iesus Christ our Lord to whom with thee and the blessed spirit bee all Kingdome Power and Glory now and for ever Amen THE CHRISTIANS THRIFT IN KEEPING OR TWO SERMONS Preached on 1 Tim. 1. 19. Holding faith and a good Conscience THe men of the world are much for keeping the father presseth his sonne the master his servant the friend his friend to keepe They would have them keep their houses keepe their land keepe their stockes keep their credit keepe surely whatsoever 1 Tim. 6. 20. they can get honestly This is among the best The Christian must bee for keeping too Hee knowes whom hee hath trusted and 2 Tim. 1. 12 would faine have him keepe his soule to the day of Christ And because hee keepes not them that do not keep themselves and save their soules Act. 2. 40 from this froward generation wherein they live therefore hee desires to doe it himselfe and to presse every member else within his reach to this golden rule which blessed Paul gives to his beloved Timothy keep or hold faith and a good conscience A brave worke worthy a Christian If there had beene a better Paul would have set it upon Timothies soul Other things hee presseth unto but if hee give him a thousand taskes of divers matters if this doe not give life and forme to them all they may doe others good but they shal doe them none therefore be thou holding faith and a good conscience Timothy was a brave young sparke of grace blowne up to a great blaze in the church of God He had so well approoved himselfe to men and God looked upon him with so right an eye that there went about prophecies of him for the great use the Church should have of him and the manly service hee should doe to God Paul therefore ver 18. puts him in minde of them and provokes him to take such a course as may make them good by holding faith and a good conscience And to raise him up to a greater vigilancy he sets before him some that had made shipwrack of them together with their punishment and ver 20. end of it This is the scope then to provoke Timothy to hold whatsoever may be useful unto him to make his imployment in the church comfortable unto him he must hold If you say hee must onely Object have them for so the word Sol. soundeth I answer so to have as to hold As when Saint Paul saith that wee thorough patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope that is hold it thorough the whole course of life for use If you say it is enough to Object Sol. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pro 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 15. 4 hold them for the present I answer no it is in such a part of speech as signifieth a continual act holding today tomorrow and for ever Therefore in Timothies person it commends these two savoury rules of life unto you that when yee have faith ye must hold it and when yee have a good conscience ye must hold it too Yee must hold faith Faith is 1 Yee m●st hold faith Gal. 5. 22. 1 Thes 5. 19. Apoc 3. 3 of a flying nature in it selfe It is but a fruit of the spirit and wee are apt to quench it But as Christ saith to the church of Sardis remember how thou hast received and heard and hold fast and to the church of Philadelphia hold that fast Apoc. 3. 11 which thou hast that no man take thy crowne so be you all sure to hold faith I shall labour with Gods 1 How yee must hold faith helpe to cleare these two particulars how ye must hold faith and why ye must doe it First as hee that would hold his possession and inheritance must have a good ground of tenure his right by gift purchase By holding or descent a good object of tenure his deedes and evidences a good act of tenure to say with confidence this is mine and a good power to use it as his owne for his proper benefit So if yee would hold faith yee must hold 1 The ground of faith 2 The object of faith 3 The act of faith and 4 The power of faith The ground of faith is 1 The ground of faith your saving right to it without which you have nothing to doe with faith to save you And what is that it is an humbled soule none have right to faith to save them but such To make a loose and broken ground the foundation of an house is the next way to see the ruine of it but to make a broken heart the ground of faith is the only way to see it hold Come unto me all yee that are weary Math. 11. and heavy laden if ye be such then build upon me for the rest of your soules God carried the Israelites fourty yeares thorough the wildernesse to Deut. 8. 23 humble them prove them and to make them suffer hunger and then hee fed them with Mannah God makes the house of David looke up Zach. 12. 10. 11. to Christ pierced and mourne as a woman mourneth for her onely sonne and then in that day hee opens a Zach. 13. 1 fountaine for the house of David and the inhabitants of Ierusalem for sinne and for uncleannesse The Holy Ghost convinceth the world of sin and then of righteousnesse Ioh. 16. 8. 9 10. 11. that Christ hath fully satisfied because hee is ascended and then of Iudgement to set up a throne and cast out Satan by degrees Even as physicians do first purge to pul downe rebelling humours and then give cordials So God first whips by the Schoolmaster of the law and then Gal. 3. 24. brings us to Christ this is the ground of faith The object of faith is the 2 The object of faith deedes and evidences of it the whole word of God There are no other deedes and evidences of saving faith but there These are the testimonies and records of God hee that beleeveth 1 Ioh. 5. 10 not God and his record which he hath witnessed hath made him a lyar This is that for which God lookes to bee credited A very knave looks to bee credited for his pawne or bond an honest man for his honesty a noble man for his honour a Prince for his word much more God Ye must therefore looke to the Precepts of God like David who when he tooke notice of Psal 119. 4 5. Gods commandements given to be kept hee had an heroicall motion to doe more then hee could hee prayes that hee might be taught them that he might keepe them and bee ver 48. quickned by them and resolves to lift up his hands to Gods commandements which hee had loved to doe them Yee must looke to the Judgments and threatnings of God as the
Ninevites who were presently Ion. 3. 2 Chro. 34. 27. in sackcloth and Iosiah who rent his cloathes with weeping eies and melting heart Thus Davids flesh trembled for fear of God and Psal 119. 120. he was affraid of his judgments yee must looke to the promises of God as David who hid Psal 119. 11 them in his heart that he might not sinne against him Whatsoever is in the word ye must have an eie unto For though they doe not so immediately concerne you in the way of life and death as many Genealogies Chronologies Histories and Prophecies yet you must bee ready to understand Praeparatione animi them and their uses as God shall offer them yet yee must principally hold precepts to direct threatnings to humble and promises to allure and comfort ye must hold them by understanding what the will Eph. 5. 17 of the Lord is till if ye can yee come to all riches of the ful Col. 2. 2. assurance of understanding Yee must hold them by assenting to them yeelding to all the truth of them as Saint Luke to the storie of Christ whereof he was fully perswaded Yee Lu●e 1. 1. must hold them by bringing your bodies and soules into subjection unto them For in Iesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing nor uncircumcision but faith working Gal. 5. 6. by love This is the object of faith The act of faith is to say 3 The act of faith this is mine to adjudge and appropriate father sonne and holy Ghost unto your selves without this yee cannot feele any comfort of what you believe Therefore as David and Christ said My God My Psal 22. 1. Ioh. 20. 28 God as Thomas said My Lord and my God and as the Luke 1. 47 Blessed Virgine said my spirit that is the quintessence of my soule acted by the spirit of God rejoyceth in God my Saviour so by way of adherence when most times ye have no evidence yee must take God in Christ as your owne as hee offers himselfe I am the Lord Ex. 20. Ier. 31. thy God I will bee thy God This is the act of faith The power of faith is to make use of the riches of it The power of faith Psal 32. Psal 45. Rom. 4. Act. 15. Mal. 4. Eph. 3. Heb. 6. 2 Cor. 4. 13. for thy owne proper good Great is the power of faith and it prevaileth It covereth our sinnes by the garments of Christ our elder brother and so is imputed to us for righteousnesse It cureth our sinnes bringing Christ who hath healing under his wings to dwell in our hearts by faith It brings forth a world of the labour of love wee having the same spirit of faith believe speak and thinke and doe For by Eph. 2. 10. faith we are Gods workemanship created in Christ to good workes to walke in them And this affirme constantly that they that have believed in Tit. 3. 8. GOD be carefull to maintaine good workes This is the power of faith Now this ground of faith 2 Why yee must hold faith this object of faith this act of faith this power of faith you must hold upon these five Grounds First faith is our life wee live by faith not by sight and 1 Faith our life 2 Cor. 5. Hab. 2. every just man must live by his faith Not efficiently for so in GOD we live move and Act. 17. have our being Nor meritoriously for so saith Christ I am the way the truth and the life Nor by way of immediate Ioh. 14. application for so the holy ghost is a quickening spirit as Adams soule was the 1 Pet. 3 18. Gen. 2. breath of life But as a prime instrument of our life in Christ without this wee cannot have life either before God or in this miserable world This Rom. 1. 17 Heb. 10. 38 unites us to Christ and receives a quickning spirit as the vertue of Christ from the spirit of Christ in the meanes of salvation As men say of their trades and hands under God they are my living take away these and take away my life so say wee of faith it is your life therfore hold it Secondly faith is our power 2 Faith is our power of working of working to doe us our best good In a naturall man his reason is his power Hee is borne naked with abundance of bodily weaknesse a beast hath a great deale of bodily strength and if a lyon rationally knew how to use his pawes a dog his teeth a bullock or buck his hornes or an horse his hoofes how few men would there bee in the world But let man come in with his reason and hee subdues them all But in a believer his faith is his power and what is the power of reason to this As Christ said of miraculous faith it pulls up trees by the rootes and removes mountaines it makes sunne stand still and go backward so much more of this saving christian faith in another kinde It covers more sinnes then heaven and earth can cover Get the heavens to cover them our sinnes are more then the starres and are come up above the heavens Get the sea to cover them the sea can cover the sands at a full tide but our sins are more then the sandes of the sea Get the earth and all the creatures to cover them our sinnes over-top them all and make Rom. 8. the whole creation groane under the burthen But get faith and as love covers a multitude of sinnes in others so faith covers all sinnes in our selves It brings the garments of Christ and then wee cannot Apoc. 16. Phil. 3. Dan. 9. bee naked It brings the righteousnes of God the everlasting righteousnesse to dwel amongst men and then God cannot but be there where his righteousnesse is to give grace and Psal 84 16 glorie and every perfect gift It is your power to doe your best good and therefore hold it Thirdly faith is your workman 3 Faith is our workman Set faith about any work and what can it not doe Art thou at Gods Gen. 12. word to goe a great journey thou knowest not whither Faith did it for Abraham Art thou to fight against lyons Heb. 11. Gen. 22. beares Philistims and other puissant enemies Faith did it for David Sampson Gideon Barach and their fellowes Art thou to doe what nature abhorres Faith did it for Abraham in the sacrifice of his son Art thou to cleanse the uncleane stables of sinne Faith will take Christs spirit and arguments and doe it It cries out shall I that am dead to sinne yet live Rom. 6 therein Shall I sinne that grace may abound God forbid I will mortifie the deedes of the Rom. 8. flesh by the spirit Art thou to suffer persecution Faith will suffer it for thee in goates-skinnes and sheepes-skinnes Heb. 11. in the craggie wildernesse Art thou to overcome Death