V E R. IO. Epbefans,Chap.6. 777 Oijedf; rlrsfw. : 4: Secondly, a girdledoth tie othercloathes about tous, coofe to us, which otherwife the winde would blow about , and would hang but lodeupon us : fo thisgirdle of truthdothcontaine and hold together all other graces, wherewith the foule is arrayed; and without truth to keepe them together, in time all of them are borneaway with winds oftemptation. tjtat.r3.ao,zr. That grace that was not knit together with honefty of heart,came to nothing in theend:asappeares in the Parable. Thirdly, a girdle truffingup the loynesofa man moderately, doth ftrengthena man ; whence is the exhortation to often ufed ofgirding up the loynes : fo this grace addeth great ftrength to the inner man, aswe may fee in lob; who when God fcemed, and men did fight a- gainft him, when heaven and earth feemed to confpireagainft him, yetthis did flick by him, Chap. 27. s. Umili I die , I will never take away mine innocency from my fclfe. Now the works of it are exer- cifed in our daily courfe, or in theevil( times of greater exercife then ordinary. Daily it doth make us ftrike at the rootsofhypocrite, we difcerne in us, and retft the temptationsof thedevil(, which tend to make us corrupt our actions in their end , ormanner ofperformance : but efpecially it do th ftrengthenusin theevil time, when the Devils (hall be ready tobeareus downe, that we have beetlebut hypocrites. Now for the third thing, TheDevi&dash by foremanese/pecially fake towipe tea ofthú girdle. Hewill from the exampleofathers, reafon thus : Such, and fuch, as iadac, have had greater things then you, and gone further then you yet they were but hypocrites ; How caná thou tell a is it othertvife with thee a Many fiat arelaft, &c. .4nfw. We mutt avoid this objeCtioa, by learning to diflingnifb trae conflatesgrace,fret);Pinedand temporary: which isfitly doneby theft two differences. First, the wicked have fireames ofgraces often, but they have no ommunion with Chrift as the godlypave; and therefore their graces wither whenheat commeth. Ephef.3.r7. his a true living faith that maketh Chrift todwell in the heart, and this is the caufe why our grace lafteth : aswe findeby daylie experience ebbes. And this wa- ter runneth exceeding low : yet having the well-head in us, and re: newing our faith on him thequickning Spirit, rivers doe afrefh runne out ofour bellies, and the current ofgraceas high as before.The tem. porifer, though he have a ftrcame ofgrace, yet wanting thefountain to feede it, it mull needs dry away; as thefe firearms, or ponds which have no fpring, nor headofwater to maintaine them, cannot con- tinue. Secondly, thefe hypocrites receive the grace they have, retayning fome notoriousfin, orcourfe in fact evils, wherein they hate refor- mation: as Herod, c.9Kat. 8. Now this tnaketh grace it cannot bee held withthem. For as a ftomach ill affcded through choler,though never fo wholfomemeatsbe received into it,yet it cannot hold them, S ff but
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