and on Earth the Wonder of Angels and the Center of Excellencies but not so to us until we believe They that do not know Christ cannot love him for as we apprehend so we affect they that believe not in him do not know him the God of this World has blinded 2 Cor. 4 4. the Eyes of them that believe not to them therefore he is a disallowed Stone 1 Pet. 2. 7. not worth the owning This Beloved Isa 53. 23. no more than nor so much as any other Beloved without Form and Comeliness or any thing to attract their Quantum credimus tantum ditigimus Love but to them that believe he is the Head of the Corner the chiefest of Ten thousands altogether lovely so in himself and so to them as loved by them above their Souls and Happiness they see not only a need of him but an excellency in him Excellency and nothing but Excellency a Superlative Excellency eclipsing the Glory of all created Excellency more than the Sun does the Light of the Stars enough to beget wonder and astonishment as one that is as far above their Praise as Love as appears by their sincere Amor lex sive severissima Obedience to him the effect of Divine Power constraining to it and their uncessant desires after him the sparks of that Holy Flame that are ever-ascending Animus est ubi amat to him Knowledg precedes Faith Faith produces Love Love evidences Faith it shews it to be true it is not the cause of Faith but the 2 Cor. 6. 6. 2 Tim. 1. 5. sign of it as Breath is of Life and a full Tide of a full Moon Vnfeigned Love to Christ shews unfeigned Faith in him for to them that believe he is precious 1 Pet. 2. 7. 3. It is fruitful in good Works By Faith our Persons are justified Rom. 5. 1. and by Works our Faith is justified by that our Persons before God by these our Faith before Men by that our Persons are acquitted from Sin by these our Faith is acquitted from Hypocrisy by that our Persons are made Righteous by these our Faith is made Jam. 2. 22. 2 Cor. 12. 9. 1 John 5. 12. Fides foeta operibus ubi bona opera non ad extra fides non ad intra Faith produces Works Per modum causae efficientis motivi impetrationis quod lex operum minando imperat lex fidei credendo impetrat perfect i. e. made manifest as God's strength is said to be made perfect that is made manifest in our weakness by that we are in a state of Life he that has the Son has Life by these our Faith appears to be alive Christ prov'd his Deity by his Works and Faith proves her Divine Original viz. the Faith of God by Works too There is no Love without the labour of Love nor any Faith without the Work of Faith For As Works are dead without Faith so Jam. 2. 17. Faith without Works is dead also 4. It is accompanied with Holiness Justification and Sanctification are as one saith always distinguish'd but never separated Distinguish'd The Righteousness of Justification is in Christ the Righteousness of Sanctification flows from him that is Relative and without this is Real and within in that there is a change in our State in this a change in our Na-Nature that is perfect and alike in all but this is imperfect in all as to Degrees though not as to Parts by that we are acquitted from the Guilt of Sin by this we are cleansed from the filth of it in that we have Peace with God in this we are made like to him one by the Merit the other by the Spirit of Christ Not Separated They that are justified by the Grace of God are sanctified by the Spirit of God for the justifying Vertue of Christ's Blood is ever accompanied with the purifying Vertue of it moral Vertues are as the Philosopher Indiâ—iduus virtutum comitatus says inseparably connected and so are Divine Graces too the Fruits of the Spirit are of a Cluster the Spirit infuses the Habits and Faith quickens the Acts it is as the Sun to the World and the Soul to the Body that influences all the radical Grace that maintains the Life of them the Leader and Commander in chief as the Brain is the facultas mandans as it is the Seat of Sense as the Heart is of Life by whose Conduct they are guided according to whose motion as the Primum Mobile they all move and proportionably to the strength or weakness of it they are strong or weak rise or fall as some Fish as is said wax and wane with the Moon Our Justification was merited by Christ is applied by Faith and by these as concomitant with it assured without which we can never make out our Title to it for as Life of any kind is known by the Actions of Life a Tree by its Acts 15. 9 Fruits and a Fountain by its Streams so a pure Faith is known only by pure Acts if it has not Virtue to sanctify it has none to justify nor can it be Fiducial unless Obediential An obediential Faith justifies it self Abraham believ'd and obey'd A DISCOURSE OF Self-denial Being an APPENDIX TO THE Treatise of FAITH OUR first Parents fell by Infidelity and Self-seeking and we rise by Faith and Self-denial Self-denial is of the Essence of Christianity it is founded in the Nature of it and we have no more of one than we have of the other it does not abound as the Stoical Philosophy did with Improbable Opinions Contradictions and Irreconcile-Paradoxes yet with many things above Reason though with none contrary to it things harsh and difficult to Flesh and Blood And that 's the Reason Christ has so many idle Retainers and so few true Servants so many that follow him as Peter once did afar Mat. 26. 58. off and so few that keep close to him that will not like Politick Souldiers stir an inch upon disadvantage nor venture like wary Merchants all in one Bottom nor sail so far into the Sea like those that go thither for Pleasure only but that they may return when the Storm arises They study more the Doctrine of Self-preservation than of Self-denial how they may keep all from Christ rather than forsake any thing for him and therefore will not venture their whole stock with him lest they should as they think be undone by him Many such followed Christ for a time when he was here in the days of his flesh thinking it an easy pleasant and gainful Life but when told what they were like to meet with the good things they must forsake the evil things they must endure and after all follow him they took their leaves of him and went no more after him A bare profession of Christ will not entitle us to him for all that outwardly profess him must be Followers of him nor a bare following of
A TREATISE OF FAITH AND REPENTANCE By Francis Fuller M. A. Heb. 11. 6. Without Faith it is impossible to please God c. Luke 28. 47. And that Repentance and Remission of Sins should be preached in his Name among all Nations c. LONDON Printed by J. D. and are to be sold by Jonathan Robinson at the Golden Lion in St. Paul's Church-Yard And by Obed Smith Bookseller in Daventry in Northamptonshire 1685. TO THE Much Honoured Truly Vertuous and Religious Mrs MARY GOSLET At Marsfield in the County of Glocester MADAM FAITH and REPENTANCE are the necessary Conditions required on our part in order unto Salvation Most hope for Salvation but few that expect the benefit of the Covenant will come up to the Terms of it Some look upon Repentance as needless and think to steal out of Sin and spare the charges of it most are remiss in it Many presume they believe but few understand the Nature of Faith and fewer live the Life of it It is your Honour and will be your Happiness for ever that you live as understanding the Nature and believing the Necessity of both Indeed the Ancient and Honourable Family from which you descend by your Father and the Noble Family by your Mother give you a high Place in the Civil Body but that more Ancient and Noble Family in Heaven the General-Assembly and Church of the First-Born written there to which by so living you are allied gives you a higher Place in the Mystical Your sincere Love to Religion and unshaken Stedfastness in it give you an esteem among Wisdom's Children the Friends of Religion will be your Honour while you live and your Comfort when you die It will perfume your Dust make you live when dead and give you a possession of that never-fading Honour that God by his Promise has entail'd on all those that thus honour him I am sensible how little You are pleas'd that I tell You or the World this But since it is so much your due I should be unjust if I did not and no less should I forget those many ways by which You have oblig'd me to your Service As a present and publick tho not as a sufficient Testimony of my Gratitude this is now offered to you And that the Blessings of Heaven and Earth may descend upon the Honoured Esquire and You and that as ye are rich in this World ye may be rich in Faith that will entitle ye to a better shall be the sincere and daily desire of Your most obliged and humble Servant F. FVLLER TO THE Reader SOLOMON sayes There is no new thing under the Sun But there may be a new Discovery of old Truths or away found out to make old Truths new And if that Maxim be true they are then so when they beget new Meditation new Application and new Conversation And that this may prove so by working those things in you is the desire of Your Friend F. F. ERRATA PAge 12. line 12. for Composition read Compositum P. 16. l. 23 24. r. Your Destruction is of your selves The help of Salvation is from God P. 31. l. 1. f. appointed r. promised P. 69. in the Treatise of Self-denial line 8. r. not that we must not do them c. P. 82. l. 14. f. we r. he P. 88. l. 13. f. the r. you P. 131. l. 5. f. when he r. who These the Author hath taken notice of the rest the Reader is entreated to correct or pardon the Author having not seen all the Sheets he being remote from the Press ADVERTISEMENTS LAtely published a Second Volume of Sermons preached by the late Reverend and Learned Thomas Manton D. D. in two Parts The first containing 27 Sermons on the 25th Chapter of St. Matthew 45 on the 17th Chapter of St. John And 24 on the 6th Chapter of the Epistle to the Romans The second part containing 45 Sermons on the 8th Chapter of the Epistle to the Romans And 40 on the 5th Chapter of the Second Epistle to the Corinthians With Alphabetical Tables to each Chapter of the principal Matters contained therein A Practical Exposition of the Lord's Prayer by the same Author Both sold by Jonathan Robinson at the Golden-Lion in St. Paul's Church-yard A TREATISE OF FAITH FAITH is sometimes taken for the Doctrine and sometimes for the Grace of Faith viz. the Things to be believed and the Grace by which we believe 1. The Doctrine of Faith The Faith that we must first try Fides quae creditur quam credimus 1 Tim. 6. 2. 1 John 4. 1. 1 Thess 5. 21. viz. by the Infallible Rule the Word of Faith then cordially embrace sincerely obey zealously contend for Zech. 8. 9. Acts 6. 7. Jude 3. Phil. 1. 27 2 Tim. 4. 7. Heb. 10. 23. 1 Cor. 16. 13. Gal. 6. 10. faithfully keep constantly hold fast the profession of and continue in standing fast in it by standing fast to it They that are of the Houshold of Faith must be Defenders of the Faith 2. The Grace of Faith Considered both as to the habit and Fides quâ creditur quâ credimus Eph. 3. 12 17. Gal. 2. 10. Rom 11. 20. 2 Cor. 1. 24. 5. 7. Heb. 11. 6. Ephes 2. 8. Rom. 3. 28. Acts 26. 18. exercise of it the Faith by which we believe by which Christ dwells in us and we in him by which we have access to God and communion with him by which we live stand and walk and without which we can neither please God in this World nor be sav'd in the World to come This Faith stands fast in all true 1 Pet. 1. 5. Believers God keeps that and that keeps them 1. Faith is necessary in order unto our Justification There was never but two ways to Life viz. That of the Old Covenant and this of the New that by Works and this by Faith and both as the Condition not as the Cause of Life By the first viz. by the Deeds of Rom. 8. 3. the Law by reason of its weakness through the Flesh we cannot have Life for we must keep the Law before we can have Life from it and satisfy it before we can be justified by it neither of which are we able to do for the Obedience must be perfect and the Satisfaction infinite By the second viz. By Faith we may have Life not by Works without Faith nor by Faith without Works not by Works lest any should boast but by Faith that God may be glorified by Faith that it may be by Grace and by Grace that it may be Ephes 1. 4. Gal. 4. 4. of Glory to God who chose Christ before Time and in the fulness of Time sent him into the World with full Authority and Ability to justify the Ungodly viz. both Jew and Gentile that were under Sin and to give Life to them that as dead in Sin needed Life and could not give Life to themselves Christ came not of himself on this Errand but as
undone for ever 3. A Willingness viz. To give what he has for the relief of Sinners if they come unto him all that will Mat. 11. 28. come may if they are willing Christ is willing if they to come he to welcome If Christ was able to help and not willing it would be all one as if he was not able and tho' willing yet if not able all one as if not willing therefore a discovery is made both of his Will and Power equally alike Duo principia motionis ad Christum 1. Cognitio 2. Appetitus great that they may and without which none ever will believe in him III. It is the Work of the Spirit whereby sensible Sinners are enabled to receive Christ as offer'd in the Gospel trusting to and relying upon him for Salvation The Parties concern'd are Christ Heb. 5. â—… and Sinners He as the Author of Salvation and They as the Subjects of it He as a Saviour and They as Sinners He as the Brazen Serpent lift up and They as stung with the fiery Serpent looking up unto him He as dying to save and They as undone without him 1. Christ as dying to save The Object of Faith according to the Schools is something above Reason not seen yet true and revealed by God Something above Reason Quid supra rationem 1 Cor. 2. 4. Above it tho' not contrary to it Something not seen Quid non visum Heb. 11. 1. It is no contradiction in terms to say We may see by Faith what we cannot see by Sense Something true and in its own Nature Quid credibile credible That which is false cannot be the Object of Faith Something revealed Quid Revelatum A thing may be credible in its own Nature yet not so to us until reveal'd but when reveal'd it is tho' never so seemingly impossible The Doctrine of the Scripture the Inititur divinae veritatit anquam Medio Aquin. Things revealed in it are the Object of Faith general which is no more than a bare Assent to the things reveal'd there as true They that have no more Faith are no Jam. 2. 19. better than Devils they that have not so much are worse But the Object of Justifying Faith viz. of that formal Act of Faith by which we stand justified before God is It is called the Faith of Christ viz. of which he is the Object as well as the Author Christ only He who was prefigured in all the Types foretold in all the Prophecies and design'd in all the Promises He as consider'd in his Person God-Man He as dying expiating Sin by his meritorious death making a suitable and sufficient Satisfaction to Divine Gal. 2. 16 20. Justice suitable as he was Man and sufficient as he was God by one satisfying the Equity and by the other the Infiniteness of it The Promises may be a ground of Circumferentia Fidei Verbum Dei Centrum Fidei Verbum Deus Mat. 11. 28. Faith but Christ only is the Object of it to whom we are to come and in whom we are to believe they are a Warrant of Encouragement to us in our coming but he only from whom our help comes if we do in them our encouragement to it in him alone our safety by it Nothing could heal the Israelites Numb 21. 9. John 3. 14 15. 12. 32. when stung in the Wilderness by fiery Serpents but the Brazen Serpent lift up by Moses on a Pole nor that unless they look'd up unto it None but Christ can save for there is no other Saviour nor is there any other way to be saved by him but by Faith looking up to him as lifted up Rom. 4. ult upon the Cross who died to justify and arose from death to declare it to him we are to look and to him as dying we are to look that we may be justified and by looking up we are not for it but by it not for it nor yet without it nor from any intrinsecal Virtue in Faith but from the Vertue in Christ the Object apprehended by it If Faith does but declare Justification What difference is there betwixt Faith and Works 2. Sinners as undone without Christ He as a Saviour they as Sinners not simply consider'd but so qualified viz. sensible Sinners It is to such only that he does look and none but such will look to him He is not offer'd to any until they are so nor would they receive him if he was nor can they have any Benefit by him tho' they are so until they receive him for Christ until receiv'd is but a Tender and not a Gift nor receive him aright unless upon Gospel-Terms his Terms and not theirs viz. 1. Freely 2. Sincerely 3. Wholly 4. Only 1. Freely It is not barely a Consent not in case of Exigency or Extremity only but an Act of Choice It is not enough that Christ is willing unless they are so too for he will save none invito genio 2. Sincerely They take Christ for himself whatever for the present they may suffer or lose by it they do not with the Scribes refuse to believe unless he will come down from the Cross nor make haste with Joseph of Arimathea to take him down and leave the Cross Mat. 27. 42. 57 58. behind but take him when on the Cross as well as when on the Throne when suffering as well as when reigning with the Reed in his Hand as well as the Scepter and follow him to Mount Calvary as well as to Mount Tabor when to be Crucified as well as Transfigured as content to abide with him in the shame of his Sufferings as well as in the Glory of his Triumph They are as willing to drink of his Cup as to eat of his Loaves 3. Wholly Christ's Person is not separated from his Offices nor his Offices separated from one another Is Christ divided No he is not divided to one as a Prophet 2 Cor. 1. 13. to another as a King and to a third as a Priest but all or none not a Bone of his Body was broken nor is any one Office of his sever'd from another but as he was anointed to all so he is offer'd in all viz. as a King to Reign to rule where he lives as a Prophet to teach to instruct where he rules as well as a Priest to save and they take him as so offer'd not only as Jesus but as Lord a Priest upon the Throne as a Zeeh. 6. 12 13. Sanctifier and Instructer as well as a Saviour and as saving from Sin as well as from Hell viz. from the Power of Sin as well as from the Punishment of it They that will not take Christ as a Lord to rule to them instead of a Jesus to save he will be a Judg to condemn 4. Only and for ever Him they chuse accept and receive and none but him whole Christ with their whole Heart and not for a
sent by the Father he Joh. 12. 44 49. did not step in as a private Person nor of himself take this Office upon him but came as a publick Person sent forth from God his Righteous Servant a Isa 53. 11. Son by Nature a Servant by Office to justify many God and Christ the Father and Son were one in this Work and therefore as no Sin dishonours God more than Unbelief a Sin that of all he will the least bear with because it dishonours the Father by dishonouring the Son not only as he is of one Nature with the Father but as one set apart by the Father for this Work so no Grace honours God more than Faith nor is there any that he so highly esteems of in that it gives him the Glory of all those Attributes viz. the Depth of his Wisdom the Omnipotency of his Power the Exactness of his Justice the Beauty of his Holiness and Greatness of his Love that so eminently appear'd in this Work and gives Honour to him by receiving Christ as sent to accomplish it Faith honours God as it approves of all that he has done in this great Work and God honours Faith as set apart by him to receive the benefit by it by receiving Christ the Author of John 1. 12. it Upon this account it is that Faith is a Grace of such singular worth and excellency as a Quality it has no more worth in it than any other Grace in some respects less but as design'd to so Manus mendicans noble an Office as that of justifying Sinners before God which no Grace else is it has and is preferr'd before all it being as necessary to it necessitate medii as Christ himself he as a Mediator and Faith as a Means of applying him for we are not justified before we believe nor by any thing but by believing Satisfaction made on Christ's part is nothing without Application made on ours Of the Nature of Faith Faith Is not a bare Assent it is more than that Is not Assurance it is less than that It is not a bare Assent Christ appears in his Royalty in the Gospel viz. as the only and All-sufficient Saviour the Persons are described who are interested in him and the Terms specified upon which they are viz. not Devils but Men nor all Men but Believers only A knowledg of and an assent to this Declaration as incomparably good and undoubtedly true is necessary but not enough for as there is no Faith where there is no Assent so there is no Justifying Faith where there is no more For Assent Is a Faith in common with all those kinds of Faith that are not saving it may consist with Despair and necessarily attends it and with the Sin against the Holy Ghost for as it is commonly understood it cannot be committed without it it may be found in the worst of Men it was in the stony ground in the Parable and in Simon Luke 8. 13. Acts 8. 13 23. Jam. 2. 19. Magus who was in the Gall of Bitterness it may be found in Devils for they believe and in Hell as well as upon Earth Assent is necessary and antecedent to justifying Faith and is contain'd in it as the Vegetive and Sensitive Soul is in the Reasonable but it is not that for that is but General Faith but this is Particular and appropriating that is in the Understanding only without any quickning Influence on the Will but this has an Operation there and is represented under the Notion Of seeking Christ Which implies diligence Psal 27. 8. in the use of Means Of coming to Christ Which implies the Mat. 11. 28. Motio est actio totius compositi Act of the whole Soul going out to him with Affections and Desires the feet of the Soul to find that in him which it has not in it self Of running to Christ Which implies Isa 55. 5. the fervor of the Motion Of receiving Christ Whereby it is entitled John 1. 12. Jus ad rem sequitur jus ad personam to all the Privileges purchased by him None can use Christ to their benefit unless they have him nor have him until they by Faith receive him It is not Assurance Faith in time may bring Assurance It does not Competere omni soli semper and often does and for a time it may not for it is seldom crown'd with Assurance until it is of some standing it many times ends in Assurance but never begins in it for it goes in Time and in Nature before it 1. In Time Faith goes first and Assurance follows â— John 5. 13. after first believing and then knowing that as the necessary Antecedent this as the Consequent for all must believe before they can know they do as they must before they can be justified by it 2. In Nature Faith is the Condition required on our part in order unto Life believe and be sav'd Faith not Assurance for if that was required then our Sins would be forgiven before we believed Reprobates would be damn'd for 2 Cor. 13. 5. Reprobation may be taken either in opposition to the Eternal Decree of Election or in opposition to Soundness and Reprobates for such as are either rejected absolutely or such as reprobate Silver as are cast off for the present Jer. 6. 30. not believing a Lie viz. that they are in a state of Life when they are not and all would be commanded to believe an Untruth viz. that they are pardoned Mark 16. 16. before they are Assurance Is properly an Act of Experience and not an Act of Faith which is a true Perswasion tho not ever a full one or an Act of the Mind only but Faith is an Act of the whole Soul it is rather God's Act than ours rather the Eminency than the Essence of Faith and relates more to its well-being than being if not then none belong to the Houshold of Faith but such as are assur'd when-as Assurance tho it many times accompanies them yet it does not constitute and make them so That Child which knows neither Father nor Mother may be as true a Child and as much of the Family as those that are come to perfect Knowledg and they as true Members of the Houshold of Faith that want Assurance as they that have it For Tho all that believe are justified yet all that are justified are not sure they are Then Faith and Doubts are inconsistent which sometimes they are not for they are not opposite to one another as Life and Death but only as Cold and Heat in remiss Degrees and may consist as Contraries in some Degree and do when those Doubts are accompanied with Shame and Sorrow attended with earnest desires after the Things doubted of with solicitous Enquiries and Endeavours to get them and with a full purpose of Heart to follow hard after God and cleave close Isa 50. 10. to him in a way of trust
and dependance notwithstanding those Doubts nothing but perfect Faith casts out all Doubts and where is it to be found They that never doubted never believed Then Faith might be lost for Assurance may in that tho some are assur'd but not fully and some fully yet none immutably Then Damnation would be not for want of Faith but of Assurance which is necessary not for our Safety but Comfort only and Salvation would be by the reflex and not by the direct Act of Faith for Assurance consists in a reflex Act contrary to the tenure of the Promise of Salvation made Not to the Act of Assurance but of Faith and not to the Degree but Truth of it They that make Assurance to be Faith do more than is needful for Assurance is but a Fruit of Faith and Faith may be alive without it as a Tree may though for a time without Fruit though Assurance cannot be without Faith for God never sets his Seal where he has not first set his Hand They that make Assent to be Faith do less than is needful For Tho Justifying Faith cannot be without General Faith yet General Faith may be without that for it is not a single but complicated Act not the single Act of the Understanding but of the whole Composition not an Act of the Understanding only to Actus complicatus totius compositi know and believe a Divine Revelation as true but of the Will also to receive it as good a Consent as well as an Assent an Assent of the Understanding as it begins there and a Consent of the Will as it ends in it without which the first will avail but little For It is not Christ as dying but as believ'd on nor as tender'd by a hand of Love but as receiv'd by a Hand of Faith that saves So that it appears that Faith is neither an Act of Assent only nor of Assurance but an Act of Affiance also which is more than the first and less than the second viz. That Grace wrought by the Spirit through the Word whereby sensible Sinners are enabled to receive Christ as offered in the Gospel trusting to and relying upon him for Salvation I. It is the Work of God's Spirit It is not our Work but God's Not our Work For Of our selves we are no more able to perform the Articles of the second Covenant than those of the first nor to believe the Gospel than we are to keep the Law But God's Work It is call'd God's Work not only John 6. 29. in regard of Excellency but Efficiency it is not the Work of Men nor of Angels but of God only the powerful Work of his Spirit preparing us for it and enabling us to it we believe through Grace and come to Christ by Acts 18. 27. 1 Cor. 12. 9. Christ To him by Faith from him II. It is the Work of the Spirit through the Word Faith comes by hearing and hearing by Rom. 10. 17. the Word the hearing of Faith wrought by the Spirit as the Efficient and by the Word as the instrumental Cause of it Through the Word viz. both Law and Gospel by one Occasionally and Indirectly by the other Properly and Directly First By the Law not properly but Occasionally and Indirectly 1. Not Properly for the Law has no Power of its own either to Convert or Comfort Sinners Not to Convert them It shows them the sinfulness of their corrupt Nature and Lives but prescribes no Cure and tells them what their Duty is but gives no strength to the performance of it The Law commands Obedience The Gospel enables to it Not to Comfort them It wounds but pours no healing Lex graves manus habet Balm into those Wounds arraigns and condemns but allows no Psalm of Mercy for the Voice of the Law is He that has sinn'd shall die The Law condemns but the Gospel acquits and saves 2. But Occasionally and Indirectly 1. By discovering Sin Sin is the Burden and that which Rom. 3. 20. 5. 20. Gal. 3. 19. makes it feel heavy is the Law For by the Law is the knowledg of Sin viz. a knowledg of Guilt by it Where there are no Bounds there can be no Trespass nor any Transgression where no Law 2. By discovering Wrath due to Sin Where there is no Law there Rom. 2. 8 9. 4. 15. is no Sin and where there is no Sin there is no Curse but where Sin is there a Curse is due to it and the knowledg of it is necessary not to merit Mercy but to dispose to it The Law is the Ministration of Death 2 Cor. 3 7. The Gospel is the Ministration of Life 3. By afflicting and wounding under a sense of Guilt and Wrath due to it It is a fiery Law that has Heat as Deut. 33. 2. Galat. 3. 20. well as Light in it Light to discover Sin and Heat to afflict and torment for it The Law works by Fear The Gospel works by Love 4. By discovering an impossibility for them to help themselves being under a Guilt they cannot expiate obnoxious to a Wrath they cannot flee from shut up in a Prison they cannot break and surrounded with a misery that they cannot redress The Law shows the Wound The Gospel shows the Cure The Help of Salvation is from God Your Destruction is of your selves Hos 13. 9. Thus as Moses brought the Israelites to the Borders of Canaan so something there is of the Hand of Moses viz. something of the Law though but occasionally and indirectly in the Work of Faith Secondly By the Gospel viz. Properly and Directly The Law shews Misery as an Indictment shews the Offence and works Fear the Gospel as a Remedy shews the Disease and works Faith By discovering 1. A remote possibility of Mercy No absolute necessity they should tho' Sinners be damn'd because Grace is rich and free 2. A tender of Mercy indefinitely Isa 55. 1. John 3. 10 The Voice of the Gospel is All that will come may none are excluded but such as wilfully exclude themselves An Indefinite is equivalent to a Vniversal 3. A Suitableness Fulness and Willigness in Christ 1. A Suitableness As being Wisdom Righteousness 1 Cor. 1. 30. Sanctification Redemption Healing Life and Salvation for the relief of blind guilty polluted captiv'd sick dead lost and undone Sinners No Fountain like this Jordan to wash in for Sin and Vncleanness Zech. 13. 1. 2. A Fulness Meat and Drink are a suitable Good John 1. 16. Col. 2. 9. to the hungry and thirsty because Hunger and Thirst are Appetites determined to those Objects but a Crum or a Drop is not enough in that tho' it is a suitable yet it is not a full Good but in Christ there is a fulness of Merit to justify and of Spirit to sanctify that which is every way commensurate to the Desires and Necessities of distressed Sinners If they have him they are made If not they are
time only but for ever The Throne and Bed admit no Rivals and Christ will be all or nothing a Lord for ever or not at all 1. Then they are much mistaken in Faith that think it is no more than a bare believing Christ to be the Saviour of Sinners without any conformity of their Lives to him To make the Conclusion more than the Premises is Sophistry to put Freedom from Sin into the Premises and Liberty to it into the Conclusion is the Devil's Logick the Premises are God's the Conclusion is the Devil's Presumption and not Faith to lay claim to Christ's Person without being 2 Pet. 1. 4. partaker of his Nature to cling to his Cross and cast off his Yoke to challenge a share in the Privileges offer'd and reject the Duties commanded to pretend to his Righteousness and contemn his Grace to trust to his Righteousness and indulge our own Unrighteousness is to reject Christ and not to receive him or so to receive him as that we shall never receive any benefit by him viz. No benefit by the Blood of Propitiation 1 John 5. 6. Rom. 5. 9. if we cast away the Water of Purification 2. And as much mistaken are they that think it an easy thing to believe it is but believing they say and that they think they can do when they please Let him come down from the Mat. 27. 42. Cross said the chief Priests and Scribes and we will believe but they were much mistaken for it lay neither in their Will nor Power to do it for they were faster bound under Unbelief than Christ was nail'd to the Cross nor could his coming down from the Cross have wrought it in them without a Work of his Spirit upon them Neither they could nor any of themselves can believe as will appear if we consider 1. The Opposition that is made against it 2. The Power that is exerted in the working of it 1. The Opposition made against it viz. By the Devil and our Selves 1. By the Devil Who out of envy to Christ enmity and malice to Us raises all the Force and Power of Hell against it of all our Comforts and Graces he fights neither against small nor great so much as against Assurance and Faith as knowing what a hindrance the want of one will be in Duty and how destructive the other will be to it for what is not Rom. 14. 23. of Faith is Sin One a Bar to our Peace here the other to our Safety and Happiness hereafter 2. By our selves Not only as to the things that are preparatory to Faith viz. Contrition and Humiliation which are both necessary but things that we are naturally averse to but as to the Work it self For We are naturally proud and would do something to merit Salvation To believe is to abhor our selves and to love another better than our selves and to love him for that in him viz. his Holiness which is contrary to us to hope in him that we verily believe is our Enemy upon the account of Sin and to love him too when he is displeas'd and angry to trust to him upon his bare Word and deny our selves for him to enquire what his Will is and comply with it tho' never so contrary to ours to do what he commands and when done to look upon all as nothing to hate our selves and become Enemies to the things we love to fall out with that which is as dear to us as our Lives and so as to part with it to be fed at the Cost maintain'd at the Charge supported by the Strength and sav'd by the Righteousness of another Hard Terms for proud Nature to yield to but yet must be done and are by believing for Christ's Righteousness alone is the meritorious Cause of our Salvation and will avail us nothing without the denial of ours We must go out of our righteous as well as our sinful Self when by Faith we go out to Christ 2. If we consider the Power that is exerted in working Faith which is no less than that which raised Christ from the Dead To raise the Dead to Life is an Act of creating Power but it was more to raise Christ than any other from Death to Life in that he was not only totally depriv'd of Life for a time but bound under Guilt having by imputation more guilt of Sin on him than any kept in the Grave the strong-hold of Death with a Stone upon it Mat. 27. 64 65 66. seal'd and guarded by Souldiers and all the Forces of Hell as it were upon the Watch with them to hinder him from rising and was not barely rais'd to Life but as a Conqueror over-powering that great Enemy Death trampling on it and triumphing over it Now this Power this great Power this exceeding great Power the supereminent vastness and working activity of this exceeding great Power and all in the abstract that was put forth in raising Christ from the dead this and no less than this is put forth in working Faith in us For we believe Eph. 1. 19 20. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 according to the working of God's mighty Power which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead But yet tho' difficult in it self and a Work that we of our selves are wholly unable to God has appointed to work it in us for there is a Promise John 6. 27. Ephes 2. 8. of Faith as well as a Promise made to it and Christ has receiv'd a Commission to enable us to it and when we seek unto him that which we are commanded to do by the Ministry of the Word we shall be enabled to by the efficacy of his Spirit That which is now God's Will shall 1 Thess 4. 3. then be our Work Of the singular Worth and Excellency of Faith It is usual in the Hebrew Language the Mother-Tongue of the World for the setting forth the Greatness and Excellency of a Thing to add the Name of God to the Word whereby the Gen. 23. 6. 30. 8. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Sam. 14. 15. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thing is signified viz. great Wrestlings and Tremblings the Wrestlings and Tremblings of God The Soul's Excellency is set forth by this it is called the Spirit of God not only in respect of its immediate proceeding from him but of its resemblance to him Explaining as one saith by the plurality of Powers in the Vnity of Essence the plurality of Persons in the Vnity of the Deity And no less is it the Excellency of Faith in that it is call'd God's Work John 6. 29. not only in regard of Efficiency but Excellency in that no Work pleases him more than this nor any without it Faith's Excellency appears in its Usefulness and its Usefulness in the great Benefit and Advantage we receive by it For by it 1. We have Union with Christ 2. We have Peace with God 3. Our Duties are accepted 4. We have an
Interest in the Promises 5. We have Victory over our Enemies 1. We have Union with Christ What this Union is is hard to tell the word Mystical implies as much but that there is a Union is most certain for it is one of the great Mysteries of Godliness It is not the Essential Union of divers Persons in one Nature nor the Hypostatical Union of two Natures in one Person but more than a Political Natural or Moral Union for it is Mystical viz. of divers Natures in one Person and Spiritual not outward by External Profession only but inward by Internal Implantation made by the Spirit on Christ's part and by Faith on ours by that Primarily and Efficiently by this Secondarily and Instrumentally There is a Moral Union by Love and a Mystical one by Faith a Union both Real and Inseparable 1. Real As Real as the Union betwixt God and Christ tho' in a different manner that is Essential and Substantial this Mystical only yet not less Real because Mystical and Christ and they John 17. 21. who are thus united are as truly One as God and Christ are they are one with Christ tho' not the same one Body tho' not one Person 2. Inseparable The Ax may sever the corporal Union betwixt Root and Branches and the natural Union betwixt Head and Members Death the Conjugal Union betwixt Husband and Wife Time the Artificial Union betwixt the Foundation and Building distance of Place or an Accidental Difference the Moral Union betwixt Friend and Friend Vnus uterqut fait alter ego who were one in Affection and in whom there was but one Soul tho' two Bodies but neitheir Men nor Devils can break this Union betwixt Christ and them no nor Death it self Jer. 31. 3. 32. 40. Hos 2. 19 Rom. 8. 38 39. whether Natural or Violent The Hypostatical Union was not broken by Death the Vision was suspended but the Union was not broken nor can the Mystical it is then more near and firm and the Reason is because it depends on God's Will and not on theirs The great Honour conferr'd upon us is by the Hypostatical Union to our John 13. 1. Heb. 7. 25. 2. 16. Nature and the Mystical Union to our Person an Honour above any conferr'd upon Angels for Christ took not on him the Nature of Angels nor has he at any time said unto them Ye are my Body Other Graces make us like to Christ This makes us one with him 2. We are reconciled to God Adam by Creation was a Son of Luke 3. 38. Love by Corruption he became a Son of Wrath his state of Innocency was a state of Favour that of his degeneracy a state of Wrath in that God and he were one in Point of Affection but in this at Variance Sin separated those Friends he rebell'd and God proclaim'd his displeasure against him Adam being the Natural Head and Representative of all Mankind the Covenant made with him concerned them as well as him being as naturally in him as Branches in the Root sinning in him they fell with him and became Enemies to God haters of Rom. 1. 30. him and hated by him Enemies without a Power to flee from him a Strength to withstand him or a Will to be reconciled to him God that in Ephes 2. 7. 3. 11. 2 Cor. 5. 19. 2 Tim. 1. 9. 1 Pet. 1. 20. the Ages to come he might shew the exceeding Riches of his Grace in his kindness towards us through Christ Jesus in whom he was reconciling the World to himself ordain'd him before time and sent him in the fulness of Time to make reconciliation for Iniquity by reconciling him to the World and the World Gal. 4. 4. Dan. 9. 24. to him Christ the Prince of Peace as the only Mediator betwixt God and us was usher'd into the World by a Quire of Angels with a Song of Peace on Earth peace and good-will towards Luke 2. 14. Men while living he published it and when dying purchased it for us In the first Adam we lost Peace in the second Adam by whom the Enmity is abolished we may find it but not unless by Faith in him we apply to us what he by his Death hath purchas'd for us for tho' merited for us without any Qualification in us it will not be conferr'd upon us without an Application by us the Blessing of Peace is the Blessing of Faith in Christ who as a Prophet published it as a Priest purchased it and as a King applies it to none but them and to all them that believe in him He died to merit it and ever lives to maintain it by him they have a right to it and by Faith in him the possession of it 3. Our Duties are accepted In the first Covenant the Person was accepted for the Work 's sake In the Second the Work is for the Person 's Ephes 1. 6. sake viz. accepted in Christ Until our Persons are accepted we are Enemies Objects of Wrath and appear before God as an incensed Judg upon the Seat of Justice we stand at a Exod. 24. 1. distance and worship as the Elders of Israel afar off with Fear but when they are accepted we come to him as a reconciled Father upon a Ephes 3. 12. Heb. 10. 22. Throne of Grace and may come in the full Assurance of Faith with boldness by Faith our Persons are accepted and by the same Faith our Works are Faith justifies our Persons Works justify our Faith and Faith sanctifies our Works they shew our Faith to 1 Pet. â— 2. Splendida peccata omnis virtus absque Christo vitium be good and Faith makes them so for they are all but splendid Sins without it viz. without Faith looking to the Command as the ground of them to the Promise as the encouragement to them to God's Glory as the end of them to the Spirit for assistance in them and to Christ for the acceptance of them the Law as a Rule directs the Promise quickens the End excites the Spirit assists and Christ presents but not unless they are by Faith offer'd up in his Name in whose strength all our Duties are to be perform'd and for whose sake alone they are accepted 1 Pet. 2. 5. There is no pleasing God meritoriously without Christ nor instrumentally without Faith in him without whom the best Duty and worst Sin are both alike 4. We have an Interest in the Promises The Promises run for this Life and that to come an Entail that can never be cut off and are all as so many Bonds and Bills under God's Hand either Explicitly or Implicitly made over to Faith None are ours until we believe nor any that are not when we do for if Christ is ours all are ours â— Coâ— 3. 23. The Rabbins suppose that Abraham's â—en 24. 10 Servant when sent to get a Wife for his Son Isaac carried with him Tesseram hospitalem wherein was written
difficult And therefore better lost than found That they are good in their kind but not the best things that it will be our happiness to live above them and our greatest delight not to delight in them Martha's Work was good but Mary's was better That it is sometimes necessary to want them and therefore never necessary inordinately to love them For In things of which there is no absolute necessity there is no great reality That inordinate Love to them is inconsistent 1 John 2. 15. with Love to God his to us and ours to him for they are to be lov'd only in him and for him Him we cannot love too much nor these too little That they will be but of little use and that to our Bodies only while we live and avail us nothing when we come to die it will then not signify any thing whether we fall under a great or small title die rich or poor as to this World so we die rich in Faith All these died in the Faith Heb. 11. 13. That the continuance of them is but Quae diuturna esse non possunt habent diuturnum tormentum short but the abuse of them will eternally torment Therefore it is better to be without them than to be made miserable by them That Riches may be found in Poverty Affatim dives qui cum Christo pauper and Fulness in Wants enough without them and more than they have in a Crucified Saviour who is virtually all A poor Believer is as great a contradiction as a dark Sun Thus Faith brings down the Market of worldly Things and lessens them in our esteem for as things appear to be so they are esteemed it draws a Cloud over this earthly Tabernacle and eclipses the Glory of it or rather shews that it has none condemns the folly of all that think not so and shews how much it concerns them that by Faith Gal. 2. 20. are crucified to the World neither insatiably to lust after the things of it nor inordinately to love them nor through discontent to complain for the want of them It is as much our Duty by Faith to moderate our Affections to what we have as it is to depend upon God for a supply of what we want 2. The Evil Things of it The Anchor is of most use in a Storm the Shield in a day of Battel and Faith in a time of Suffering Peter sunk in his Faith before he sunk in the Waters but Jonah when under the Waters in the Belly of Hell was Jonah 2. 3 4. supported by it and the Primitive Christians were at ease when tortur'd at liberty when captiv'd Conquerors whilst subdu'd and out of weakness were made strong through Faith bearing Heb. 11. 34. God's Trials with God's Strength and so may all when suffering for by this we know That no afflictive Evil comes by chance God as the Efficient orders and disposes them That Suffering is part of a Christian's Work as well as Doing They must not run to it before they are call'd nor from it when they are That all our Sufferings are nothing to Christ's the Cross not so heavy nor the Cup so bitter for We taste Love where he did Wrath. That our Sufferings when right for Cause Manner and End are Christ's as well as ours viz. for his sake and such as he is sensible of As God he knows them and as Man is sensible of them and quantum sufficit suffers in them That in all our Sufferings Christ is with us when Troubles are nigh he is nigh not only as a Sufferer but as a Comforter Israel had a greater Light by Night Exod. 13. 21 than by Day That the heaviest Sufferings are but light and the longest but short they may lie heavy but shall not lie long the Rod may fall on us but shall not Psal 125. 3. rest there The Viper shall be shaken off That all our Sufferings are attended with a good Issue The Cup is perfum'd by Christ's Lips who drank it off and the Cross sanctified by him who died upon it and shall sooner or later work for Rom. 8. 28. good All that suffered for him had ever a good issue in the end That Suffering comes within the Reward as well as Doing Christ's Crown of Thorns was an Earnest of his Crown of Glory and his suffering Mountain was his ascending Mountain to it and they that suffer with him are assured by the Promise to which Faith has an eye that they shall Rom. 8. 17. reign with him also The Cross shall be crown'd Christ overcame the World it was John 16. 33. 1 John 5. 45. conquer'd by him and by us in him for by Faith in him we have a perfect Victory over it in the Good and Evil Things the Smiles and Frowns Honours and Reproaches Gains and Losses Joys and Sorrows of it for by this we are carried above the Hopes and fortified against the Fears of any thing from it They that neither hope for any thing Nec spe nec metu from the World nor fear any thing have overcome the World 4. Over Death the last but not the least Enemy When Adam sinn'd Death took hold of him and of us in him he could never get free from that Enemy tho' it was long before he fell by his Hands Nor can we for we are all under the Sentence of Death appointed Heb. 9. 17. to die and must e're long fall by it for it is a Sentence not to be reverst Death will triumph over our Vita moriens conflixit cum vivente morte non quem mors fecit sed quo mors facta est peccato morimur non morte peccamus Aug. Bodies but by Faith in Christ we may triumph over Death have help at a dead lift from him who fought this King of Terrors and by his Death took away the Sting of it by his Resurrection the Strength of it and by his Ascension the Hope of it ever to conquer Gratias tibi agimus Christe salvator quod tam potentem adversarium dum occidiris occidisti Hierom. or prevail more he has weaken'd its fatal Power rescued us from its Dominion and made us Heirs of Life which by Faith we have a Title to and by Death a Way made into the possession of By Christ Death's Sting the Weapon 1 Cor. 15. 56. by which it kills is pull'd out and the bitterness of Death is past Thus Faith in a crucified Saviour is the spoil of all our Enemies whose Arrows have been sharp in their Hearts Psal 45. 5. and affords a strength against them beyond what all the Angels in Heaven or Men upon Earth can do When the Israelites saw their Enemies the Egyptians dead on the Sea-shore they sang a Song of Praise unto Exod. 14. 30. 15. 1 6. God whose right Hand became glorious in Power and dash'd in pieces their Enemies and by Faith in Christ all
that are terrified by the Law assaulted by the Devil haunted by Sin tempted by the World and through fear of Death subject to Bondage beholding the Conquest over these Enemies may triumph and bid defiance to them all The Curse of the Law is abolish'd by Heb. 2. 15. Rom. 8. 3. 6. 6. the Satisfaction made by Christ to Divine Justice Sin is condemn'd in the Flesh by him the Sacrifice for it and Crucified with him the Devil the Prince of this World is judg'd and cast out by him the World is conquer'd John 12. 31. 16. 11 33. and Death vanquish'd in his Victory over them Let us then triumph in our Victory and give thanks unto God who through Christ has given us Victory The Devil is a captiv'd damned Enemy his Captives are ransom'd redeem'd rescued out of his hands and he himself become Captive rage he may for that is part of his torment but rule he shall not for greater is he that is in 1 John 4. 4. Rom. 12. 10. us than he that is in the World he may accuse and he will but his Charge shall be made void and all his Accusations answered by Christ who ever lives to plead either our Innocency or our Pardon The Law that was Sin 's strength 1 Cor. 15. 56. not as encouraging to Sin but as condemning for it is now become weak for its killing damning Power Rom. 8. 1 3. Gal. 3. 13. is taken away by the Virtue of the Cross Sin that was once a living reigning conquering Enemy is now subdu'd as a routed Enemy it may rally again but shall never conquer Sin shall not have dominion for it is a Body of Death it has receiv'd its death's Wound Rom 6. 14. 7. 24 25. by the Power of the Cross and shall e're long give up the Ghost Death is unstung it is swallowed up in Victory the Power of the Grave is weakned Death that Destroyer is destroy'd we must fall by its hand but shall rise again it will end our 1 Cor. 15. 53 55 56 57. Mortality but not our Life for this Mortal shall put on Immortality We must be Prisoners in the Grave for a time but we shall not be perpetual Prisoners Christ who broke the Bars of that Prison will redeem us from the Power of Grave the time of Psal 49. 15. Isa 16. 19. Ezek. 37. 5 12. Redemption for our Bodies will come our dead Bodies shall rise our dry Bones shall live again the Graves shall be opened the Captives redeem'd and then Destructions shall come to a perpetual End for we shall live and never die more Awake and sing all ye that dwell in the Dust The Devil is captiv'd the Law is silenc'd Sin is condemn'd the World is conquer'd and Death destroy'd Who can hurt us What need we fear they are all conquer'd Enemies and the Conqueror is ours thanks be to God who has given us Victory through our Lord Jesus Christ and always causeth us to triumph in him through Rom. 8. 37. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Over-over-comers whom we are over all these more than Conquerors The Warfare of Faith ends in Victory and the Victory must be crown'd with Triumph Of the Inseparable Evidences of FAITH All have not Faith some have not 2 Thess 3. 2. the Faith of Assent and therefore cannot have the Faith of Adherence some think they have a Faith of Evidence and Assurance who have not attained to a Faith of Adherence and Dependance and some have Faith in the Habit but little or none in the Act or Exercise How is it that ye have no Mark 4. 40. Faith and by reason of it walk as uncomfortably as if they had none it concerns us therefore to examine whether we are in the Faith and the Faith 2 Cor. 13. 5. in us and what that Faith is whether a General or a Particular and an Appropriating Faith a Temporary and Perishing or a Sound and Lasting one Col. 2. 12. a Faith of the Operation of God or of the Devil Holy or Unholy Feigned or Unfeigned Dead or Alive Common and Ordinary or Special and Saving the Faith of Reprobates or of God's Elect that Faith which they Jude â—0 2 Tim. 1. 5. Jam. 2. 26. Titus 1. 1â— and none but they have and which all of them have and never can lose The Acts of Faith for a time may cease but the Habit abides Faith 1. Arises from a sense of misery out of Christ 2. Begets a Superlative Love to Christ 3. Is fruitful in good Works 4. Is accompanied with Holiness 1. It arises from a sense of Misery out of Christ Spiritual Poverty is the nearest capacity of believing for Faith is the Act of a weary heavy-laden distressed undone self-condemned Sinner going out to Christ for Rest Life and Salvation Humiliation is not Faith no more than the preorgination of the Body is the Soul but a disposition to it going to Christ without it is building without a Foundation resting in it without going to Christ is laying a Foundation without building upon it a House without a Foundation will be of little use a Foundation without the superstructure will be of no use Without Humiliation Faith is as a House without a Foundation and without Christ it will as a rotten Foundation break under us there is nothing to warrant or encourage our going to Christ before we are humbled for we go before we are call'd nor any thing to assure Salvation to us if we do not go when we are that without him cannot help us he without that will not for we must be lost sick and damn'd in our own sense and apprehension before he will seek heal or save us A Faith of Education is a Weed of Infidelis fiducia Presumption that grows in common Ground Saving Faith is a Plant of Renown growing upon the brink of the Infernal Pit that like self-grown Corn will wither and come Ps 92 13 14. Mat. 15. 13. Jam. 3. 18. to nothing this will flourish that begins in Presumption and ends in Despair this begins in Despair viz. of our selves and will end in Comfort 2. It begets Superlative Love to Christ Christ as consider'd in the Glory and Comeliness of his Person the Graces and Perfections of his Nature and the great Offices he was anointed to viz. of a King above all Kings in Order Power and Authority of a Priest above all Priests in Nature Compassion Sacrifice Merit of a Prophet above all Prophets in Primacy Infallibility and Efficacy is beyond all compare there is nothing in him but what is lovely nor any thing lovely but is eminently in him he is fairer than the Children of Men yea than all the Angels and Saints in the highest Heavens more full of Beauty than the Sun or Morning-Star the Brightness Heb. 1. 3. of his Father's Glory his first and best-beloved the Joy and Delight of the Saints in Heaven