A. Thatwe may be afitredofour elation. 2o3- lure anchor-hold ,Chriít Iefus his merits and righteoufneffe.r 'well may the tempefls ofSatans temptations (hakevs, but they (hall ncuer remoue vs from our firme hold and certaine affura.nce which wehaue inChria ; becaufe wee apprehend him;nay rather, areapprehendedor taken hold of6y him, as the Apolile fpeaketh, Phil.3,z 2. Al n noStan (no not thewhole power ofhell)is able to pluckevs out o fhis hands, as. our Saui- our fpeaketh, Iohn zo28.For though they be mightie to de- ftroy, yet-Chrír is almightie tofuse, as it is Efa.63.z . and ther- fore letvs not fuffer our foules to be racked betweene hope andfeare ; but let varruîrperfet1ieon thegracc that isbrought f unto vs by the reuelationofleftu Chriß, as theApofile exhor- teth,t.Pet,i.i3. La(llie, that we maybee mof}certaine of this certainty-of faith,wewil adde to there tefhinonies,fome examplesofbe- leeuers mentioned in Gods word. And firfi let vs confider the faith ofAbraham:which was not wauering and doubt- full,butmopt certaine & affured;for aboue hopehebeleeued vnder hope, and hee wasnot weake in faith, neither did he- doubt of the promife of God . through vnbelee.fe, but was flrengthened iu thefaith, and gaueglorievnto God, being. fullie affured thathee which had promifed was able toper- forme it; and therfore it was imputed vnto him forrighte- oufneffe ; as theApoflle fetteth it downe, Rom.4.i 8.19.2x., 21.22. Now,Abraham wasnoroniy abarebeleeuer,but the. father ofthe faithfull; neither washis faith propoundedvnto vs as a. wonder..to admire at, but as an example for all his . fonnes to imitate..And therefore it is faid,verf:23. That this is not writtenforhimonely that hisfaith.was imputed tohimfor righteonfneffe. 24. Batt aifoforvs to wham it¡ballbe imputedfor ri7hteorrfheffe,wineb 6eleeue in him, whohathraildvp Iefu our. Lordfrom thedead. But it may be obie6ted, that Abraham is, not raid here to beleeue thus certaineliehis ovine ele6-tion or faluation, but that he fhould haue a fonne,and.become a fa- ther ofmany nations_: I anf though this were the next and immediate obiedofhis faith,yetthis wasnot the chicle andprincipall ; but the promife of bleffedneffe and happi-, ueffe,ijvhich was made to him andal the nations oftheearth,., in Phil.;, r2: lohn ro,iS. Ela 63.r. i, Pet. i. r3. g.Seci. 5: The certaintie offaith,proo- uedbytheex- ampleso fbe- leeners. Rom,4.18:19: 20,21,22,2k,
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=