SPIRITUAL PEACE' AND COMFORT. 356 3. Moreover, assurance and comfort are God's gifts, and with- out his gracious aidwe cannot attain them. But Godwill not give such gifts to his children, while they stand out in disobedience, but when they carefully please him. Paternal justice requires this. 4. And it would do them abundance' of hurt, and God much dishonor, if he should either tell them just how oft, or how far theymay sin, and yet be saved; or yet should keep up their peace and comforts, as well in their greatest disobedience, as in their tenderest careful walking with him. But these things I spoke of .before, and formerly elsewhere. You see then, that though some obedient, tender Christians may yet, on several occasions, be deprived of assurance, yet ordi- narily no other but they have assurance; and that assurance and comfort will rise and fall with obedience. And for all the Antinomian objections against this, as if it were a leading men to their own righteousness from Christ, I refer you to the twenty arguments which I before laid you down, to prove that we may and must fetch our assurance and comfort from our own works and graces ; and so from our own evangelical righteous- ness, which is subordinate to Christ's righteousness, (which he speaks of, Matt. xxv. last, and in forty places more,) though we must have no thoughts of a legal righteousness (according to the law of works or ceremonies) inourselves. They may as well say, that a woman doth forsake her husband, because she comforteth herself in this, that she hath not forsaken him, or been false and unchaste, thence gathering that he will not 'give her a bill of di- vorce. Or that a servant forsakes his . master, or a subject his prince, or a parent is forsaken by his child ; because they comfort themselves in their obedience and loyalty, gathering thence that they are not flat rebels, and shall not be used as rebels. Or that any that enter covenant with superiors do forsake them, because they comfort themselves in their keeping covenant, as a sign that the covenant shall be kept with. them : all these are as wise collec- tions as to gather, that a man forsakes Christ and his righteousness, and setteth up his own instead of it, because he looks at his not forsaking, refusing and vilifying. of Christ, his love and faithful obedience to Christ, as comfortable signs that Christ will not for- sake and reject him. Do these men think that a rebel may have the love of his prince, and as much comfort from him as a loyal subject? Or awhorish woman have as much love and comfort from her husband as a faithful wife ?, Or a stubborn, rebellious son or servant have as much love and comfort from their father or mother as the dutiful? If there be so near a relation as hitherto we have supposed, between a sovereign and subjection to him, and a husband and marriage-faithfulness to him, and a master and ser- ;
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