Burgess - Houston-Packer Collection BT715 .B85 1652

Vfe. 90 True Signs ofGrace. SECT. I I. 3. There osagrowthin externalsmeerly men are grown more civil and reformed in their lives. We may behold a wonderfull alteration and change in them, but yet becaufe there is no inward juiceofgrace, therefore it's not growth of godli- neffe; and fuch Peter fpeaks of who hadefcaped thepollutions of theflefli,yet were dogs and twines in their inward difpofition. 4. There is agrowth inadditionals ofworílip andfcrvice. Whenmen judge not theprefcribed way by God enough, but inilituteof their own. This is a mon- lirous growth, as ifa man fhould have two beads or fix fingers. Thus fuperftiti- on isanexceffe inworfhip, not in the qualityof worfhip ; for a man can never worihip God too purely, too fervently;; but in the quantity, by inftituting new means. Hence growth ofgrace doch not lie in multiplication of duties more then God requireth, but the intentionofqualities therein. life of Exhortation, 7udgeyour /elvesby this touchftone. Let this Sermon be to you what Elipia'sbody was to the dead body that Fell on it, make life to come into you. Doyou increafe in grace? Areyou not ata nand ? the fame ve were many years ago ? confiderGod is provoked not only againft groffe fins, but lazy, decaying duties. Do you grow in light but not in beat; in enlargements, but not mortifications? Oh let thy foul beafraid and tremble under this truth ! In- treat God, as he didabout hiswithered hand, Oh Lord, réftore chis withered hand, this withered foul of mine ! doubt me, in thefe times many have broke in their Religion, as well as in theirRates, as Paul Paid toTimothy, Letyour pro- fiting appear toad. 44:t414411/4-tItatztIV't1WAV4Itzt SERMON XVII. Spiritual Performance ofDuties aSign ofgrace. Jou.4.t3. Hereby knowwe that we dwellin him, and he in tts, becaufe hebathgiven us ofhis spirit. THe ApoRle yohn, as hewas the beloved Difciple, fo doth he frequently and vehemently preffe the duty of loveto the Church of God, fdr that being a fpiritual body, love is as neceffary to preferve them, as nerves and ligaments are in a natural body. The Arguments ufed in this Chapter for loveare many : As Firft, That love is a Cream iffuing from no leffe glorious fountain then God himfelf is. Secondly, That it is a demonfiration of our fpiritual Nativity, That We are born ofGod. Thirdly, From the Nature of God, He is love, viz. Originallyand Canfally; which he proveth by a clear and unparallel'd manifefátion of it, He rove osu h, only begottenSonne; which love he alto amplifiethby the removal of äny impul- fivecaufe oh our part, it was not becaufe We lovedhimfirfl; and withal! he giveth a reafon,- why a natural man loveth not God, becaufe hetech him not. The di. fputesabout the Viflon ofthe Effence of God and that by corporal eyes, is whollyimpertinent to this place, forthe Greek word isrsN0000, and fignifietha con-

RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=