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Show Thirdly, We may obferve from hence, !hot tbougb •11 thofo n>bii hiiVe an intmft in Chrift have caufe ofrejoyciltg in thit Dollri>tt,ytt none have C4hfr of boajling. I !hall by and by more !hew you that all have caufe cf rejoycing; in this my prefcnt bufiuefs is only to {hew you that none have caufe o'f boaflinf. I mean in, or of thcmfelvfs, rtjoiu in tbe Lord, and ·glary iwGod W)' may, and it is our duty; h•Jt I fay all boalling in or ofour fclvcs is excluded,the reafon . i; plain,becaufc we Hand n<it ·in <lur·own firengrh but all by grace. h teems a little hadh in ·our ears, but hatli much of a truth in it. J. It is impof!lble the Saints jhoutd jbnd. 2. It is imp£!Jible the Saints flm•ld faU away, either totaf!y or JinaUy. The fi,ft i< impoflible with refpect to their orl'n jlmtgth: The Second in regard of ·Gods purpofe and grace, thfy have mlling propentions, and inclinations, beam prone to fall, nay which could not hold if God did not uphold. Thus (to ufe the. fimile of a very wonhy Au· thor; ) It was very pollible that Chrills bones might have been broken npon theCrors, (they were not of Iron more than the other Malefactor> which were crucified with him:) but they were · .not broken,nay it was impolfible that they fhould have been broken, becaufe God had decreed they fhould nor, and the Scripture had faid, a Bone of himjhould Hot be broken. This is the cafe of the Children of God, and this 1 fay !huts out all boalling on their ftde, they have lfceived the grace by and in whkh they Hand, and have reafon to glory a! if they flood in their own llrength, and by their .own power. No, you ~re kfpt by the po'lr>cr o[God throHgiJ faith un·to SalttatioH,not by your own llrength, but by Gods powcr. .ArminiaHr give a great deal more to man, who allow him a freedom, and power of his own ~ill to Spiritual actions ; and this by the way learneth the Children of God humili· t~ . • Fourthly, We may obferve from hence, that this Dollrineoftbe 4biding ft:.tu oflbt S4intr, le~vu tbtm no time for idltnr{r, 110 roqm [6r {<cHrity; this is a great charge with which fome load this Doctrine, as if it rend red men without fear and {rc11r<, and gave them ad vantage to live as they lilled. But how is this pollible! when we fay, that God hath decreed their per{<ver4nce in bolinr[r, in their Mje u{the means and doing R>vat in them lies. Aod that none caR be fure ofhis unioN or the abiding ofit while he is under the guilt of Sin, unrepented of, nor any longer than while he finds his heart bent to keep all the commandments ofGod.l/qJinefr and bappinefi ccnnot cannot be feparated one from allot her, God hath joined them together; and H•lineji con fills in Act inn. This Doctrine doth not difoharge us from the lludy, and indeavour of Holinefs; it only incourageth us, by alfurance to us of Gods blelling upon our indeavours, that if we run we !hall obt~in, we !hall not be as thofe that beat· the Air. Our enemies !hall not be too hard for us, no man, no lull, no Devil !hall pluck us out of the Fathers hand, nor out of . the Sons hand, fo as indeed it teacheth us fear and caution, and all manner of holy circumfpection; and leaves a room for the force anrl efficacy of all the exhortations, promifes and threatnings in all the book of God, but leaves not an hours liberty for flup or droujj · 11eji; or lin br wickednefs. Did Gods alfuring Mv{es, 'fofhu•, DaviJ,and others that they lhould certainly conquer their enemies, difchargc them from fighting think we? 5· Latlly, You may from the former difcourfe obfflvc, upon 5· Branch. •b•t a Chain the great truths of C'J<>d hang, which rv:late to •ur Salv.atian;they. arc like beads upon a llring, which if one d'rops off, all follow one after another. Mark I pray yGu, they that deny· the perfeverance of the S1ints are fo·rce& to deny the certainty of. EleiJion, the certainty of the Covenant with Chrill; the ccrtainty of Redcmption·as to the perfons Redeemed, the efficacy of the di-vine lntercellion, the abfolutenefs of the Fathers gift, effectual grace; and forced to hold, that God eleiled no perfons but quali-ties. That Chrill made a Covenant with his fath er, and died for he knew not whom. So dangerous a thing it is to break one link in the Golden Chain of caufes of man> Salvation ; to warp in one of the great Doctrines of the Ghfpel; one error Iii« aJye re-quireth another to defend it. But I !hall add no more to· this firll Bnnch, !hewing you how far rhis Doctrine may be ufefulto you for lnl\ruction. I proceed to fhew you, how through the com-fort of it you may hope. Lift"/' thmyaur. heads ;O you dcfptmdent and fe]f.dJfcouraging 2 • V[e. poor Souls! fay not as David did in the fit of hi• unbelief, I fh•U onedJydieby the hand o[Sa11l; l Ou\1 one day die by the hand of ~y LuGs and Corruptions; fJy not I 01allnever hold out to th e.end, and fo never be faved. Let your buliotf< b~ to make your calling ·fure, to read over your ~vi.dcnces, to maintaiA your com~uni-on with God, and trouble noc your felves, with rl\e fears of your faUi"~ ai"Jy, and loting J'OIIr bleiTed (bte. Fear nor tho•l r•o;m J mb ( fJith God) I wiU/1rcngthm th~e, I will uphold thee wuh $lu |
