Ambrose - Houston-Packer Collection BX5200 .A49 1674

·454 Book IV. 1Loo!t!ng unto 'jcfu.S. Chap. 2. SeCt+ J efus Chrilf, was. that fame di1 ine Spi.' it which fant'tified hishu,;ane nature~vl;erein it dwelt;, and fuch ~s that qUickentng ~ptm to all tn whom lt dwelleth; it is ~ ·Soirit tf holmefs, and 1t works holtnefs, cba;ogtng the heart, and tu,ning tlie bent ~fit 2 Cor. 5• 17• from fin to hohnefs. If any rr.an be m Chrift, he u a new cren,ture. ofd thirws . if. fed >~n·ay? behold all things r.re beco·ne mw. q. d.. When once the 'believer ~i/b?:; ~t't offatth pa(Jed over unto Cbnit, .tbere goestmmedtately from the Spirit ofChrift Into Ius foul a~ effectual power, wluch alters and changes the frame Gf the whole man ? n~w be IS not the fame that hew~s; he is changed in his company, in his dif– courle, 111 Ius prac'bfe,he l tschanged tnhis nature, judgment, will, affe<'lions. he · fanEhfied tlmughow in Jottl, body, and fpirit; 0 my foul try thy felf by tlli: fig IS doft thou find fuch ~n inward change wrought in the foul ? doli thou find the la~ of God, a Jaw of holtnefs WrH ten on thy heart? dol1 thou find alawwithin thee contraRo,r.7.,13, ,,, Rum. e. 1. ry to the law of fin •. commandtng w"h authority that which is holy and good? fo that rbou canft fJy With the Apoflle, I delight in the law of God ~fur th: imvard man? and tVith my mind I my [cif {erve the Law ofGod?if fo, fureiy this is tlOO– rher, but the lmv of the Spmt of l:fe m Tefi" Chrijf ; or the Jaw of this quicken ing Spirit, communicated from 'Chrit1, unto thy foul. ·- 3. If Chri!l' s refurrection be mine, then am I planud together in the likenifi ofChrift's ref~<rre[flon; then do I refemble, and am made conformable to Chrift in hisrefurret'tion. now if we would kno1v wherein that refe.nblance is, the Apollle tells us, that ltk! ..; Rom. 6 • >· Chrift IVM raifed up frow the dead by the glory of the Fathtr, even fa rre a!Jo jhou/d walk.. in newnefi of life. Our mortification is a r~femblance of Cbrift's death and our vivification is a refemblance ofChrifts refurredion. In this ground of our hop;concern– ing our inrereft in the refurrection of C!Jri!t, I IJJa!lproround rh<fequeftions.--- r. Whether indeed and in truth our fouls are vivified? 2. Whether we encreJfe and grow in our vivification I For the firft, the trurh and certainty of our vivification will appear by thefe rules.--- r. True vivification is general, both in refpect of us, and in refpet't ofgrace. r. In refpett of us, ~t is diffufed throughout the whole man; the very God of peace 1 Thef•• , .fanElijie y011 wholly ( fatth tile Apoftle) and I pray God that)'Ottr wholefpirit, foul, and S 3 body may beprefcrved blamelefs unto thecommg of o11r Lordjrfm Chrift. And, ;z. In Rom, 6. 4· ' refpeCl: of grace, it is in every grace; I know it is a queftion, whetber all graces are fo connexed and chained together, that poffible they cannor be fevered i bur I fup– pofe ir is rruly anfwered, rhar mrefpet't of habtt they cannot be fevered, though in refret't of the act or exerofe they may be fevered, fome graces are more radical than others, as faith and love, and therefore they firfr a~pear; bur as a man Jives firll the life of a plant, ~hen of fenfe, then of reafon, though all were radically there at firft. fo ir is in graces ; experience tells us that fome Chriitians are ernir.enr in fome g~aces ; and foJile in other graces ; fome lnve more love, and fame more know– ledg, and fome more patience, and fome more felfdenyaJ; but all rbar are rrue Chri!li– :ms have each of rhefe graces in fome meafure or other; or ar leaft they have them . in habit, though not in the act ; if vivification be true, rhere is a whole work of grace both in heart and life; as rhc light ia the ayre runs through rhe whole hemifphcrc, forhewhole work of grace runs through, and is diffufed through rhewholeman,foul, body, and fpit·ir. 0 my foul, this may put thee to thy 11udy, becaufe of the fe– vcral conftiturions or tempers of graces; thou mayft find tlus or thar grace, rhis or that image of Chrift dearly !lamp on .thy heart, bur. rhou canft not find fuch and fuch graces; in this cafe, fear not, for 1fm truth and fmcenry rhou haft but one grace, thou hall the whole chaine of graces. But to fpeak ro fome graces m parttcu– lar. G•l. •· ,o. 2. True vivification is a new life acting upon a new principle of faith. 11 The life whi<h I now live inthe flefh, I live by the faith of the Son .of God. They are rhe words of 1 man purfued by rhe law unro·Chnft; Paulfeerng l:e was dead by the law, he fpcaks for a better hmband ; the law finds him dead, and leavs him deat!, nevertheiefs I live ( faith Pf"l ) what means he ? a natur~l. life_I why fo he lived before now ; no, no, it is a better life than a natural lite ? fuch a life is no contentment to a foul perfued by the law ; very heathens and wfidels ha~~e fuch a life, ~nd in that refped are as happy as the beft of Samr; ; Paul s lite i, a fpirirual Jif~, and the fpring of his li!e is rhe Son of God ; Jefus Chnft IS

RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=