SPIRITUAL PEACE AND COMFORT. 311 That many holy, watchful and obedient Christians are yet un- certain of their salvation, even thehwhen they are certain of their* justification and sanctification ; and that because ,they are uncertain of their perseverance and overcoming ; for á man's certaintyofhis salvation can be no stronger than is his certainty of enduring to the end and overcoming! That you may.not misunderstand me in this, observe, 1. That I do not say perseverance is a thing uncertain in itself. 2. or that it is uncertain to all Christians. 3. But that it is uncertain to many, even strong and self-knowing Christians. Divines use to distinguish of the certainty of the object and of the subject; and . the former is either of theobject of God's knowledge, or ofman's. I doubt not but God knows certainly who shall be saved, which, with his decree, doth cause that which we call certainty of the ob- ject as to man's understanding; butmen themselves do not always knowit. If a man have the fullest certainty in the world that he is God's child, yet if he be uncertain whether he shall so continue to the end, it is impossible that he should have a certainty bf his salva- tion ; for it is he only that endureth to the end that shall be saved. Now, that many, eminent Christians of great knowledge, and much zeal and obedience, are uncertain of their perseverance, is preved .by two infallible arguments. 1. By experience: if any should be so censorious as.to think that none of all those nations and churches abroad, that deny the doctriné of éertain persever- ance ofall believers, have any strong Christians among them, yet we have had the knowledgeof suchat home. 2. Besides, the dif- ficulty the subject is aclear argument that a strong Christian may be uncertain of it. God bath made all those pointsplain in Scrip- ture, which mustbe believed as of necessity to.satvation; but the certainty of all believers' perseverance, is not a point of fiat neces- 'sity to salvation to be believed. Otherwise it would be a hard matter to prove, that any considerable number were ever saved till of late ; or are yet saved, but in very few countries. It is a point that.t1 e churches never did put into their creed, where they'sum- med up those points that they held necessary to salvation. There are a great number of textsof Scripture, which, seeminggto intimate the contrary, do makethe point of great difficulty to many of the wisest ; and those texts that are for it, are not so express as fully to satisfy them. Besides, that the examples of these ten years' last past have done more to stagger many sober, wise Christians in this point, than all the arguments that were ever used by Papists, Arminians, or any other, to see what kind of men in some places have fallen, and how far, as I.ans unwilling further to mention.
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