'DireElions to pre"'vent IBackflidill,g. Of Pe1je"'verance. their work is prepared t? their hands, and it is no great vitl:ory to ov~rcome fuch ;;-u;.· fctled fouls. Dirdl. 2 , .?· !. Dirc(l-._2, Get_cvcry facrtdTrmb which__yiJu btlicve, in_to your '!''try betJrls and livu; snd fie tb.tt aU be dtgcjlt"d mto H dy Love awJ. Pra~zce. Whm your food 15 turned into viral nut · mcnt, into A.lh and blood, it is nor cafi up by every thing that maketh you lick and t n– eth your fiornachs ; as it m:1y be before it is concoCted, difhibuted and incorporated. , Truth ~~rnis but hardy k._norrm, is bur like meat that is undigdled in the fiorm:ch ; But 1rutb ,,•hich ~~~ turned into the L'lve of God, and of a holy life, is turned into a new no~ture; and will r.or ~~ car.ly be let go. ~·· 3· Direlt. 3· Talzc lmd of DaDrinCJ of prc[umptio>t and ficurity, and t•k..e hud /ejl you faU ~:~~~;}· away, by think,jng it jo• imp(Jffihle to jrJll tlwa;) rb.tt )Jt~ .are p.;Jt all d.mgcr. T he Covenant of Chrylippu 5 Grace doth futticiemly encourage you to vbey and bofi') agamfi. Hmptations to d!fpair and cJ.([. amnq pcflc, ing off the. means: But ir encourageth no man· to prrfmm or fin, vr to CJll off means as need– C!e:mhes ve- ltf~ th:ng/. R~mctr.bn that if ever ym _will jlund, the fear of falling, mufi hdp you ro fiand. :?,:n~le P~~~ and if ever yo.u Hill per(were, ir _muft·b;! by t'c~ing the danger of backllidit_lg, fo· fu as t~ amini Pf~ mak~ you afra1d, and qu1ckcn you m ~he_ means_wh1ch are necdfary to prevcnr u. ~t is 110 more ebrit"tJ·em &. CCUJIO d1at you fll.tl\ perfeverc, than Jt IS Ccrtam that you fhaiJ u{e the means of pcrfevering; And ~·um bile~; one meam is, b)' fecinf!. JlOttrdanger, to be fiirre up to fear and caution to efcapt ir. Bec;mfe it is 1~e_no1 pofl~ my meaning in this Direction, to fave men from perirhing by fecurity upon the abufc of the Do. ~.t:i~~1sc~~. llrine of Ptrfevcrance, I hope none will be offended that I lay down thefe Antidotes. prehenfion:-s.. ~· 4• 1. Conllder, That the Doctrine of Perftverance hath nothing in it to encoNrage ftcurity: &c. ~-1€•l· Jll The very Co;urourfics about it, may caufe you to conclude that acertain fin is not robe built up. Z-!>:ne. on a Controverced Dodrine. Till Augujfines time, it is hard to find any ancient ·writers, ti1at clear· Iy: dferted the cerea in perfeverance ot ·any ~t all : Augujtine and Pro!per. maintain the cert.;in per[e. v<tance of all the Ele{J, bur deny the certam perfeverance of all that arc Regenerated, Juftified or S1ndihed : For they thought that more were Regenerate and Jufiified than were Elc[J, ofwhom fome Hood (even all rhe Elect) and the: reil: fell aWay: So that I confefs, I never read one antienr fa. ther, or Chrill:bn Wnccr, that ever maintained the certainty of the pcrfcverance of all the JuOitied of many hundred, if nor a rhoufand years after Chrifi: And a Doctrine that to the Church wa; fo long unknown, h21h not that certainty, or that ;uctflitj, as to enEoursge you to any prefumption or fecuriry. The Churches were hved many hundn:d years without believing it. 9· 5· 2. The DvCl:rine of Pofever.Jnce is againfi fcrurity, becaufe it uniteth together the Ertd and 'the Nlians: For they th.it reach that the Jut1itied fhlll never totally fall from Grace, db alfo reach that they !lull nt:ver tvtaUy fo~U into fecurity, or into any reigning fin: For this is to fall away from Grace l And they teach that they thall never totally fall from the ufe of the neceif!ry meoms of their prefervac.ion; nor from the cautelous avoidmg of the danger of their fours: God dorh not fimply Decree that you thJll perfevere : bur that Y?U Jlull be kepr in pnfeveran'e by rhe fear ofyour danger, and the careful ufe ofmeans: and that you !hall perfevere in the{e, <lS weU as in othergraves. Therefore if you fall to fc:curity and fin, you fall away from grace; and !hew tliat God Iiever dccre~<i or promifcd that you {hould never faU awo~y. ~· 6. 3.Confider how far many have gone that have fa~len away: The infianccs of our times are much higher than any r can name to yon our of Hillory : Men that have feemed to walk humbly and holily, fearing all fin, blamelefs in their hvc;s, zealous in Religion, twenty or thir· ty years together, have hllen to deny the tru h or cerr .inry of the ScriptUres, the Godhead of Chrifi, if nor Chrillianiry it fclf: And many that hJ ve n Jt quite f.tllen away, have yet fallen into fuch grievous fins, as mJkc them a terrible warning w us all, tu take heed of prefumption, and carnal felcuri!}', • ~· 7· 4· Grace is not in the nature of it a thing rhar cannot ptri01or be loll.: F'or, r. It is a fepa– rabJe quality: 2. Adam did lofe -it. 3· w . ror~ agreat degree of IT ton.ilfr: And the remaining de– grees are of the fame nuure: It is uot only poffible in it {dfto lofc ir, bur too eafie; and not poflible without CO·Operating grace to keep it. 9· 8,' 5· Grace is not NatJtral to us; Tn love aureate, aad ~ononr, and friends is natura]: but ~atrua~1t to love Chr~fi, and his holy _wayesand fnvams is not ~JC~ul r~ us: Indr:~d ~hen we d~ it, ir. is N~rur;as re~ our N:Jtural~powcrr that do tt: But not as No~turaUy.d!fpoh.d_ro H; but as mclrned b~ the Cure of ftored, incline fupernatural Grace: Eating, and drinking, and fleep1ng we forget not, becaufe Natqre It felfremem· the foul to the breth us of them : bur Learning and acquired habits rr a~ be IoH, if not very deeply radicared :. And ~:/~~tf ~~~; irs commonly con:ludcd a~ to the N~ture ofthtm, that H.1bim~ infufi habcnt fe ad modHm acqt~ifito· tureas cor· rum: lnfu[td Habzts are ll/te toacqutredona. , . . . rupt; nor isic 9· 9· 6. Grace is as it were a A:rangcr or new·comcr mus; It hatn been there but a lade whi!e : 2n aCI: perAnd therefore we arc bur raw and too unacquainted with the ri~ht ufage and improvement of a: ~::;:~d"At~~, and_ are the ap_rer to torgct our duty, or to nt 1 gled- ir, or ignorantly to do that which tenderh - e 11 ,ccffari? to 1 ts detlruCbon. '· · · · 9· 10. 7· Grace dwelleth in a heart, which is not wholly difpoffdfcd of thofe objc{/t which are againfi irs work, nor.delivered from thofe Princifrln which have an Enmity againfi it. The love of the world and fk01 was in the heart, before the love of God and holinefs; and ignorance was before knowledge, and Pride before humility, and fitfijhne[t before filfdeny/. And thcle are not .wholly rooted out ; We have dealt fo gently with chem, (as the Ifr.Jclites with the Ca1!aanite1? JebzefitCJ and 0 ther lnhabitints of the Land ) that they are left to try us, and to be thorns m our hdcs : And. the GHn[on
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