$ s c 'r . I I. True Signs efGräce. 97 Inthewords, you havetwoPropoftions; a. Firft, That the godlyeven in this life are alreadypaffedfrom death to life. Some tender the Greek wordrranflared, and thereupon Eflit& obferves , becaufe we arepaf ivein this priviledge, that it is not tobe attributed to out merits, but to thegraceof God : Now the Apo(fle ufeth thePreterperfed tenfe, and not the Preterit, becaufe of the certainty of it, and hisright to it, uljeeeadrem habet, rem ipfamheberevidetur, faith the Lawyer; you have the like eaprefìion fohnn 5..24. By chic life tome unde'rfland the life ofgrace, and by death, the death of finite, as if the love of the Brethren were a fign ofour being in the flare ofgrace, and then there is. good reafonfor Ming the Preterperfeft tenfe. But although this may be part, yetit doth notcomprehend all, for eternal/if andglory is al- fo included herein. The fecondPropofition is, That Love of the Brethren is that Ggn and mark whereby we know affuredly, that weare in this happy efface ; fo that our love is no merit or caufe, but a fign only ; hence it is good toobferVe, that this very felf-fame priviledgeof pat rigfrom death to life, is attributed to faith, Job. 5.24. but ina different fen(e to faith, as that in(trumental taufe , which puts us into fuck a condition, to love as aneffect or fign only ; for though love uniteth us to Chri(f as well asfaith, yet faith cloth it lntees recipiendo, by inward receiving of Chrift to us, love extraagendo, by going out inour works for him Hence the union by love ispoflerior to thatof faith Hence alfo it is that if love fhould ju- ffifie,the dignityof it would arife from,theaft of love, becaufe it's union con- lifts iii doing fomething out ofus, but in faiths union, the dignity is wholly from the objell, viz. Chrift imbraced, becaufe this union is byinward reception and application. That love of the brethren is afign oftruegrace. Obferv. As the Apoffle makes it herea fign to our felves, fo in otherplaces to others, Hereby ,(h411 all men l nowyearemy Difciples, ifye love one another; hedoth not fay, if ye work miracles, if ye call outdevils, but if ye love. Hence theApo- file Peter, z Pet.i.7. bids themadde to Godlineffe, brotherly kiindeneffe. As if we could not have anytrue comfortfrom all our religious duties towards God, un- leffe thisalfo be added to it, or with it, for fo h'is ufed forcum, as the Hebrew is fometimes. To-open this dutyof love to theBrethren three things are confiderable,which we (hall (peakto, r. The Adit felf, Love. a. TheObjed, Our Brethren. And 3. The Effeds. Firfttherefore, This love we (peakof, is not a flower growing in Natures gar- Of ove den, we naturally loveour parents, our children, but not fo the godly, hence love is made the fruit ofthe Spirit ; To love a man, becaufe of the image of God in him, becaufe he is holy, is wrought only by Gods Spirit. Naturally we hate To toneagod_ God, becaufe he is an holy God, his Law, :becaufe it is an holy Law , and his ly manbecaufe children, becaufe they arean holy people. Hence theSchoolmen'fay,That love of the Image of to Godand toour neighbour, becaufeof God, are nottwoads of love, no more God in him. then the will of the end by means, is a twofoldad ofthe will ; and this'appear- ethby the commandMarth.a9.37. where we are commanded to loveGod withall our might, all we have and can do, andyet our neighbour alto, which couldnot be ifour love to another in fubordinationto Godbe not confidered, as the fame with thead ofloving God; and this is much more true in lovingof a godly man, whomwe do love, not only becaufeof Gods command, and for God (as we ought to do all men) butbecaufe ofGod inhim, his image there, in which fenfe Hierom laid, hedid Diligere. Chriflum habitantem in Augufline. There is a rule out ofAriflotle, Idem motto anima in imaginem& rem. It is the fame moti- on whereby the foul is carried to the imageorfpecies ofa thing, and the thing it fell, as we fee it in the ads of theunderflanding and of the fenfes , which rule Aquinas, andother Papilas wretchedly abufe, to prove the fame religious wor- O fhip
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