y® The Marine, Dutyandulfefulneßof4ffúranee. S a e T. L Laodicea perfwaded oftheir richesand fulnefs, when indeed they are naked and empty. Oh thereforethat fuch had the fpiritual tie-falve, that filch had their eies opened to judge righteous judgement. How great will thy confufion be when thygold fhallbe founddrofs, thywine water, thy graces corruption,and thy goodnefs nothingbut fin 1 Do not thereforegivecredit to thy deceitful heart. Be afraid left thy(elf-love hathblinded thy eies and hardnedthy heart, prayun- to God that he would make known thy felf unto thy felt. The better thoughts thou haftofthy felf, it may be, it is the worfewith thee ; fuch a righteoufneffe and godlineffe as fatisfieth men like thy felt, is not prefently acceptable unto God. M_enma livefouet or threefcore_yeárs, andyet be great ftrangers unto their hearts. We p e uded mad men, who are perfwaded they are tilt great perfons, and have fuch largeeftates, when in themean time they lie miferable and naked, bound up in chains in a dark dungeon ; fuch a fpiritual madneffe is upon moft, who neverfearched to the bottomof all that filthineffe which is in them, and thereupon call themfelves grapes and figs when they are thorns and thiftles. 7. Seventhly, Confider that thefoulofmanbath two kinds ofailsor Workings. The formeraredireît aels, fuch as go immediatly to their objeEl ; as when by faith I takeChat and adhere to him; the latter are reflexails, which are only in rea- fonablefubje @s, and this is when a man dotti perceive and difcern thofe dire& ails inhim, as when I perceive that Ido thus adhere to Ch rift, that I do love What Ail- God. NowCertainty or /Ijfurance is properly in this latter Way WhenWe know that 1 ranee is. We believe ; and therefore thisAffurance it is called by ComeS:nfus fidai, the feel- ing or perceiving ofFaith. Now you muff know that this feeling or per- feiving of Faith is from Gods Spirit as well as Faith it Pelf fo tbaz it is no[ ameet humane fente ordifcerning, which is fubjeft to falfhoods and delufr- ons, but is infallible, even as faith is ; for as theSpirit of God cannot externally witnefs any thing that isfalfe; foneither can it inwardly in the foul ofa man per- fwade ofthat which is falfe, fo that as a manknoweth by the help of Gods Spi- rit, Hisword to be theWord ofGod, and is never fully confirmed till that come, fo though a man may have probablehopes and conjectures ofgrace in his heart, yet he never comestobe fetled,till the Spirit ofGoddoch thus corroborate him. 8. Eighthly, This Certainty a Believer loath cannot be made known or demonffrated ABelievers al- untoanother, but remainerh nnexpíeffibic inhis own heart. Even as a man cannot 1furance cannot defcibe unto another, what it is tobe a father or a mother, only thofe that are be known to fo, and feel the bowelsof fuch a relation, they canin themtelves feel what it is ; any other. and thus when a man becomes perfwaded ofthe truth ofgrace in his_öwnJlaial, as differing from hypocrites,(this cannotbe difcovered unto another, only the man himfelf refisfatisfied ; Therefore its called, The whiteflowWhich none now- ethbat he that h hit. As it is thusonly known to a mans felf, fo' neither can of ers by a judgement of Certainty, butof charity only judge who are fo. For. it is God only that knoweth the hearts, and there is nothingvifible in Chriftia- nity, which an hypocrite maynot upon fallegroundsdo, as well as the godly upon true, and iffome did in the primitive timesknow what was in mens hearts, it was by a peculiarextraordinary revelation, not ofcuftomary difcerning. And that difcerning of fpiríts which was given to force in theChurch , was in refped of DoCtrines, to differencethe true fromthe falfe, not ofmens hearts and affe- dions : This is to be obfervedagainft thaterrour'of force, thathold, A manmay certainly knowwhether another be godly, Peterwas deceived about SimonMa- gas, and he cals Sylvania a faithfulbrother, as he fuppofeth, t Pet,p.r a. It is true there is a great fympathyand conformable working ofGods Spirit in godly men, and their hearts anfwer oneanother as the face in the glaffe, butyet here is ino infallibility, andmany whom thegodly have admired asftars,have fallen from heaven; and others whom they did not expert have remained firm to God. 9, Ninthly, Ind l theails ofFaith, Whether they be direll or reflex, the firneocffe and
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