Burgess - Houston-Packer Collection BT715 .B85 1652

i68 Fair e Signs o f Grace. S E e r. I confidence, in all which he doth not derogare from Faith, but difcoverPre- fumption. For in the firft place, toPhew the weakneffeof fucha profeffion of Faith, he compareth itwith a profeffionofCharity, verf. r ;,r6. If one give good words to a brother in need, bid him, Depart in peace, be warmed and filled, but give him nothing, would not this be ridiculous ? So thoubelieveft there is a God, a hell, a,day of judgement,but liveft in prophaneneffe and impiety, Is not thisthy Faith a mockery ? Secondly, He compareth this Faith with that of theDevils, and fheweth the Devilsgo further then fuch bofeChriflians; they believe a God and tremble, butfo do not many diffolute believers : how Devils believe, and whetheran hy- pocrites faith goethfurtherthen theirs,arenobleQneftions,but not at this time to be difeuffed? Thirdly, : Heproveth the infufficiency offuch a FaithfromAbrahams faith,the' pattern ofall : Abrahamsfaith that juftified him, was a working faith, it made him offer up his onely Sonne, when God commanded him. That very place whichPaulbrings toprove Abrahamwas juftifïed by fäitb,7ames brings to prove, that thisfaith wasnot alone, but working eminently. taftly, Inmy Text, The Apoftle argueth sfimili, froma fimilitude, as the Bodywithout theSpirit is dead, foie Faithwithout Works. By Spirit, fome under- nandbreath, and fo they think, that as without breaththe body is difcovered to bedead, fo without holy works faith is declared to bedead ; and this they doe, left it fhouldbe thought, that as the foul is the form of the body fo a godly life fhouldbe the form of, faith : Whereas indeed,hyotherplaces, Faith is the form orefficient rather of holineffe ; and therefore Faith is much rather to be compared to the foul, for it's that which animateth all our aftions and makes them acceptableto God. But we may retain theword Spirit, underf{anding it of the Soul, forthe Apoftle Both not confider a man here adintra,in refpeit ofGod andJuftification, but adextra, inrefpe&ofothers, and the declaration of his Juflification. And fo the fenfe, as the body is known to bedead, if we perceive no vital or animal aftions flowing from the foul, we perceive it not breathe, {fir, or move ; fo is ámans faith dead,if wefee it not demonftrated byeffe lual opera- tions in theway of grace. Thus as it was inChrift, hisDivine Nature, whichwas hidden, became manifeft by thofe miraculous operations hewrought, that none elfe could do ; fo faith is latent ina man, and breaks out in the difçovery of it felfby an holy life ; and in this fenfeFaith is Paid to bemade perfetlby Works, viz. declaratively, and by manifeflation. 011ero. That adivine Faith, or perfwaf:on,of the truths in Religion, is not evidence fare enough ofour being is theflare ofgrace. Orthodoxy is not enough for Heaven. Tobe a good found Proteflant and no more, will not carry us out of the wilderneffe into Canaan. To have a found judgement, but an ungodly life, is to belikethe Toad, which they fay bath a Pearl in her head, but her body is full of poyfon. It is not enough to fay, You . thank God you are none of the Hefeticks orSalaries, unleffe alto you can fay, You arenone of thefwearers, proud, prophane men. We may by experience obfeive what a firong fupport this is to manymen, when they die, that they die inthe'true faith, they die no Papifts, no Arminians, &c. Now although when errors creep in, as the Frogs once did into ,Egypt, getting into every houle and chamber almoll, it be a great mercy to be preferved in the truth , and that alto by truth we come to grace ; yet becaufe there are too many Solifidi- ans, as the Papilts calumniate the Proteftants Doftrine, men who relie onely upon this, that they are of. the Reformed Religion, but yet are not of a Reformed Converfation, it is neceffary to drive this Point home to the ve- ry heart. For the opening of it, confider thefe particulars : Firll,

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