446 DIRECTIONS FOR GETTiNG AND 'KEEPING ignorance or overlooking of any of these, to these must you have recourse for your cure. Where, note, That all those doubts which come from the great- ness of your 'sin, as such that you think will not therefore be for- given, or that come from the sense of unworthiness, (in a legal sense,) or want of merit in yourself, and all your doubts whether God be willing to accept and forgive you, though you should re= pent and believe ; or whether any sacrifice was offered by Christ for your sins ; I say, all these come from your ignorance or unbe- lief of some or all of the four general grounds here mentioned; and from themmust be cured. Note, also, in a special manner, That there is a great difference between these four general grounds, and your particular evidences, in point of certainty. For these four corner-stones are fast found- ed beyond all possibility of removal, so that they are always of as . undoubted certainty as that the heaven is over your head; and they are immutable, still the same. These you are commanded strictly to believe with a divine faith, as being the clearly-revealed truths of ,God; and if you should not believe them,.yet they remain firm and true, and your unbelief should not make void the universal promise and grace of God. But your own evidences Of special grace are not so certain, so clear, or so immutable ; nor are you bound to believe them, but to search after them that you may know them. You are not bound by any word of God strictly to. believe that you do believe, or repent, but to try and discern it. This, then, is the first part of this Direction, That you always discover whether your troubles arise from low unbelieving, or ignorant thoughts of God's mercifulness, Christ's gracious nature andoffice, general satisfaction, or the universal promise; or whether they arise from want of evidence ofsincerity in yourself. And accord- ingly in your thoughts apply the remedy. The secondpart of the Direction is, That you hold fast probabili- ties of special grace, when you lose your certainty, and that you hold fast your general grounds, when you lose both your former. Never forget this in any of your doubts. You say, your faith and obedience have such breaches and sad defects in them, that you cannot be certain that they are sincere. Suppose it be sb ; do you see no great likelihood or hopes yet that they are sincere ? If you do, (as I think many Christians easily may, that yet receive not a proportionable comfort,) remember that this is no small mercy, but matter of great consolation. But suppose the worst, that you see no grace in yourself, yet you cannot be are you have none ; for it may be there, and you not see it. Yea, suppose the worst, that you were sure that you had no true grace at all, yet remember that you have still .abun-
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