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Show fobjell to Bmdagt. Our Lord knew how much the f<ar the .,. Pavi/h fear of death, keeps the Soul ill Bondage. Now thefe~r of !•!ling away, the~ar of HeU, hath doubtkfs no lefs influence; nay if Jt were not for thts thr fear of Death would have no ir tl uence or very little influence upon any believer, then , it is linful as it dellroyeth f•ith or at !ell all boldnefi in Faith. So much as is of thit fear in the Soul, fo much there is in it of di!lrufl , and uubeliefin the promife of God ; and unbelief is that tvil root, fr~m which fprout out moll of our departings from the living God : as God ~s honoured.gr;atly hono~red, by .our taking his word, trulling to 11, and dependtng upon It; fo he ts proportionably difho·noured by our not altending 10 it, not believing it, not trufting to it, o; depending upon it. Be fides this, it doth infinitely difpofe the Soul to temptatiom; indeed this as the chief, ( <hough not the alone thing) is that which m•kes the Soul of a perfon, upon wllom melancholy hath to a great degree prevailed, fo much under the power ofSatans temptations: Satan takes advantage of that exttf! ive fear, whlch fr~m a na:tural caufe always poffelf<rh fuc_b petfuns. 3· (an!y, Confider it is gro~<ndlrfi. I remember a palfage In David, Pfal. 2 5· 3· Let tbern be afhamnl. (faith David) which tran[gre[1 n>ithoutcaufe. ~The csufelefnefs of a rranfgre!Iion, much aggravates the guilt, indeed every !inner is a tranfgrelfor without a caufe;thert's no caufe for any to fin againfi God,Gods providence offereth no caufe; n9thing can jufii6e a lin, but thot~gh ther~ can be _ no caufe for a man to fin, yet a man ';llay have n:ore temptations to fame fins than others: but againfi this fin of difiracting,and difirull-ful fear God· hath more abundantly provided, he hath fecured us againfiit,as you have heard,m'lnyways;a Child of God cannot fear Gods cafiinghim off, but he mult deny' the certainty of the eldlion of grace:the certainty of the Covenant of grace;the ccrt•inty of the FathtrJ gift of the eletl to Chrill :The certainty ofChrilhRedemption; the certainty of many !!eat & prtcio11J pr'lf'ifh;the certainty of that caUing of Goa, which is wirhoqt Repentance; the abiding of the feed of God: He rr.ull deny either the pon>ero/God,or thefait/;fulmfi of God ,for God hath faid, they are kept through faith, by the power of C•d ""'" Salvatitln; do they doubt God1 pon>rrl _they quellion Gcds Omripntency ,<ind deny him to be God Almighty , to be the Lor~ El jh ;ddaia!Uillncient: Do th~y quell ion whether God will ufe this. !\Ower fol: themhhey deny tli.en.his Love and. his Trutb;he hath · '' ' fa[d faid he lov~s them to the end ~he hath faid, they !hall be Kept through faith by the power of God to Salvation. Chrili hat I• told them, Job, 1 o. 2 8. Tbry (haU never prrijh, neither !hall any pluck them out of his hand ; his Father whiCh buth given tb, m to bzm i1 greater than •U, none iJ able to pine~ them out of hi1 hand. What gro~nd then is there of fear? when we are fecured by all the great attrlblltes of God, his Po,.,er, his Love, his Truth, his F aithjizlneji ! by the arm of the Father, the Almighty Father, and by the aJm of the_ Soa to whom all power is given both in Heaven and in Earth. LHt up your heads then, 0 you Redeemed ones! fay not "" jhaU d~e, when God hath faid you !hall live ; fay not you !hall fall and r~no more, when God hath faid you {hall !land and if you [aU ye.. y u !hall rife. · ' ' I !hall clofe this difcourfe with a double Exhortation ; both In E h the words of the Aponle: x or, I. Strivt to m4kt ya~tr c•Uing and e/eCiiolf Jure, 2 Pet. J, 10. • 2, Let him that thinketh he llandeth takt bud lrft hefaU. That 1s the Apoftles alfo, 1 Cor. to. r2. ' ' r. You canuot but conclude from hence, how highly we /land' all conc~rned to make our particular calling a11dtleliion fltre. The foundauon of God llandeth fure, the Lord knoweth who are his; but it is .one thing to have our election fure in itklf, another thing to have It fure to us;and hideed we cannot be fure of our eletl:iQn • without havingfome cert•inty of •111' caUi11g. It is-little comfort r~ anyof us. to know that the uniM oft he SoulwiJh Cbri/1 fha!l abide "ntil the day break, mtd thr jhdd•rrtll~ away, if we do' not know, that our Souls are within the bond of this Union. Let this therefor~ be our bulinefs to find out fuch marks is we may' tn>ft to, by whtch we may know that Cbri/i it ""rt, •nd we are hi<.' No>Y ' :What th~f~ are I have had occalion once and-again to touch Ltpon · In' t~ts dJfcot1rfe. I have told you before, that if you Cln truly call ~hrtfi your Btloved,you may know he is yours. No man Jove/ Chrift ·In truth, but he who hath tafled of the fpeciallove of Chrifl; he · loves u~ before we love him. I haYe told you w~at the A pollle ~ermtnes, that If a man hath not t·ht Spirit •f Chrift ~e i< no11e of h11 .. , 1 have told you again that th€ Apollle determineth That if a man' be in Chrill he i1 a Hew cr.ature:fhave fmthertold'you tmt ycu cannot fay, Cbrifl i1 your~, till you can fay, I am bit. His by a voi!<III•>'J h,art.r,•(ignation, till you have with purpofe!A he;u·t VVYl ~nn |
