' :DireElions for it Joell growtded Faitfi. Jiving way whicb he bath cnnfecrated for us tbr9ugb the vaif, that istofoy, ~is fiefb; Becaufc we .have fo Grt:Jt a Prieft over the HQufe ofGod, we m.ty draw near, wtth .a true heart, m fuU. affuraJtce of fazth 1 &c. Heb. 1 o. 1 9, 20, 21, l2• By him it i.r that we IJave accrfs /Jy faith iitt~ thir !!.race wherei~t w_e {fa~d, and boajf in hope of the Glory of God, Rom. S· I, 2'• So that we mull h\ve aU ottr Ccmmumon wuh God through him. · \.. 73 9· 3• Suppofing what I have faid of this fubjeCl: in _my DireDiont fur a found Converjion, Z:ir. 5·_ (which I hope the Reader will perufe) I 111~11 here bncfly name the Vfes whiCh we mull muc. ol _ Chrifi by ~aith, in order to. our holy converl~ w1~h 9od ; But I .muft tel_l you that tt 1S a Doctn~c ~~~~tt~~~~um which reqJ.Ureth a prepared heart, that hath _life wztkm to enable 1t to relijh ~olr truth, ~nd to dx~ dix & fu~dl. fpofe it to diligence, delight and confiancy m practiCe. A fen[elefi Reader wtl_l tccl but lttclefavo~r mentum 6dcs in ir, and a jluggij11 Reader that fuffereth it to ?Ye. as fo<,>n as tt h1Ch t?ucht h1s .eu~ or fan~afie, Will ell ; qu~ cer.– fall 010rt ol the praDice and the plcafim of th1s hfe. He mull have fatth that w1ll lmbyfatth : And ""'" 'dJ"'"• hemufi ha~e the heart and natHtt of a child, that will take pleafure in loving, reverent and obedient ~~~~;:1~s ;::_ converfe With a Father. lefii dono quofd:~m de– fc8u fignorum rcm~nerat: Nihil enim quoJ Gncerz fidei denegct ur; qUi:a nee ~liud :l: nobis Dem, qu:tm fidem cxigit: H:ancdi!i~it, h:mc requirit, kuic ct:nCb promitrit & tribuir. S. Eu{()~i:u M:trl Atch. Tol!t. Mtmtma(. Sa~ttl. p..4· Nuundum, quodcum fides monu:t. fit przur Of tt:l j2m neque fidu eft : N:~m mque homo mortuui, hllmo efi.--Non en1m Gem fp~ri·um corpore meliorem, ita ·op~rahdei pra-pon~nda fun.r, qu.andll gratia fJ!vatur homo, non ex opcnbu~ fed e" fide : nifi fort'C & hoc inque(lione fir, quod falver fide5 qu:l: cum opcribus proprii' v1vit; ranqu:tm :!.liud genus operum fit, prxtcr qu~ falusex fide provcniat : nee .autem funt opera qux fub umbri legiscbfervaruur. Did;musAltxaAd. i11 Jac. cap, ~. 9• 4• r. The Duknefs ofIgnoran" and Vnbtlief is the great impediment of the foul that defireth to draw near to God: When itknoweth not God, or knoweth not mans capacityof enjoying him, and how much he regardeth the heart of mJn ; or knowcth not by what way he mull be fought and found; or when he doubteth of tile certiinty of the word which declaretl1_ the duty and the hopes ofman; all this or any of this, will fupprefs the afcending defircs of the foul , and clip its wings, and break the heart of its holy afpirings after God , by killing or weakning the hopes ·of its fucctf;. Here then tnakc Vfe of Je[U< Chrift, the great revealer of God and his wwl to the blinded world, and the great confirmer of the Divine authority of his Word. Life and immortality arc brought more fully to light by the Gofpe), than ever they were by any other means. Mofis and the Prophets did bring with their Doctrine fufficient evidence of its credibility. But"Chri!l hath brought both a fu\\er Revelation, and a fu11et evidence to help beli.cf. An infpircd Prophet which proveth his in· fpiration 'foUs, is a ·credible meffenger ~ but when. God himfelf !hall come down into fiefh, and con.; vufe With man, and teach him the knowledge of God, and the way to life, and tell him the my!le• ries of the world to come, and feal his refiirnony with unquefiionable proofs, who will not learn of fuch a Teacher? and who will deny belief to fuch a meffenger, except abfurd unreafonable men 1 Rememberthen, wh'en lgnor~nce or Vnbelief would hinder your accefs to God, that you have the ab/eft Teacher and the fimfl Wiwtfs to acquaint you with God in all the world. If God had Cent an Angel from Heaven, to tell you what he is, and what he requireth of you, and what he will de for you, would it not be very accep~able to you : But he hath done much more; he hath fent his Son : Dilcllio D;i The Deity it fdf hath appeared m llelh : He that hath fsen God, and he that u God, hath tome amoog mifit 000;, men to acquaint them with God: His tefiimony is more fure and credible than any Angels.: Heb. 1 • fal~atorem.: 1, 2, 3• God who al fundry times and in divers ma;mtr.f Jjaks in timu pafi ·to the Fatbtrs by the CU)us .Graua l'_rophttr, bath in thefe /aft d:syes fpok.pt to UJ by his Son. John 1. r8. No man. bath ~en God 4t any e;~~~~~~~~ t1me; the only begotten Son who '! tn the bofomeoftbe Father, be bath ..declared btm. We have neithu hanc cr~tiam, heard tbe Voice ofGod, nor Jeen hujhape. John 5· 37• No man bath feenthe Father, {avtpt which isofcmnmuni<>– God; helwh [ten the Father. John V• 46. No man /znoweth the Father fave tb' Son, and he to whom• tio f"<it fpi-. foever the StmwiU rev.eal him. Mattb. 11. 27. What more can we defire, that is thort of the fight~'";· f. -. .of the Glory ofGod, than to have him revealed to us by a meffeoger from Heaven, and fucha Mef.. 2 ~'~~ •1 ;: 1 1 ". fenger as himfelf hath feen him, and is God himfelf? Plat• and Plotmur may defcribe God to us ac- ' cording to their dark conjeCtures: fomething we may difcern of him by obferving his works: !lut Chri!l hath declared what hefaw, and what he knew beyond all poffibility ofmi!lake. And le!l his own tefiiroony 111ould feem quefiionable to us, he hath confirmed it by a lifi: of Miracle; and by Riling from the dead himfelf, and afcending vilibly to Heaven, and by the Holy Gho!l, andhismira· .culous gifts which he gave to the Meffcngers of his Gofpel. Had it been no more than his Refune; Clion from the dead, ir had been enough to prove the utter unreafonablenefs of unbelief. 9· 5· 2. It is alfo a ~;re.at impediment to the foul in its approach to God, thae lHjiititt diflance dif– ableth us to co~ctive ol h1m angbt: We lily as ElihH, Job 36. 26. Beh•ld, God is great, and we lznow btm not. And1ruleed 1! IS 1mpollible that mortal man 111ould have any atkqttatt appr<henjioltt of his EJ[tnce. But m his Son he hath come down to us, and !hewed himfelf in the clearell Glafs that ever did reveal him: Think of him therefore as he appeared in our Aelh: As he 111ewed himfelf in his Holinefs and Goodnefs to the world. You may have po}itive thoughts of Jef#sChrij! : Tnough you may not thmk that the Godhead was lle111, yet may you think of it as it •pte•red in fiejh. It may quiet the underil:anding to .conceive of God as incarHne, and to ki10w that we cannot yet kno"' him as he is, or have'any adequate conceptions of him: Thefc may delight as till wc.reaoh to more. ~ L 2 9· .s. 3· It
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