to tpe E PH£ SI AN S. 197 Again. It is evident, he fpeaksof th~s. fealing, 'as a difiinCl: thing from Faith:~ For fuppofe this fealing were at the fam~l,mew(ten men believ~, luppofc he had Sa. XV. faid, when you beheved you were feale~, yet tt IS . ev1dent that •.t !J1Ufi needsbe~ a diflinCl: ihing from Faith. If a man fat!hthat he dt9 fuch a tbmg when fuch a thing was, it argueth hefpcakes of two thmgs; . . . . . _ . . !l Laltly,lfhe had fpoken of the feahng ofthe S~trlt. as the caufe ofF~tth, he \Vould not havefnid,when you behevedyou were fealei:l ~~th tl/f fptnt,but thorough feal; ing you did believe.He would have fpoken of I:atth as ~n .aL'l: ofrhe•rf,anil ot fealmg as an act oftlie Spirits, the caufe ot Fatth.And (o now to confute that 1nterpre· ration. - ·. ~J~ ' I find again in the ?iherplace,th:at.-?"a!lchydoth acknowledge, (as a man mutl: needs do,) that Seahog here is a d1fitn~work from Faith; but then he tnterpre– teth it ot the work of R.e.generation, and of Sanct,ficatton , and renewmg the I– mage ofGod upon.a Mans hear_t; anp liis reafon is this; for (faith he, ) a Seal cloth import the impreilion of an Image, (he g1veth many reafons,but that IS the main, ) now becaufe that Santhficanon beareth the lmage of.God, therefore (fa,th he,)the fealing ofthe Spirit is the fiamping of Holinefs,and of all the frame of graces upon the heart, which ( fa1th he) IS upon bchevmg, IS wrought m a Man byFatth. · . Now, (my Brethren,) tocoufute this. I do grant Firfi, That the feal here menti0ned, it cloth imply and import in a fe,ondary fenfe, the tl:amping of the I– mage of God upon the heart, and therefore this attribute of Holy is given to the Spirit as he is a fealer, But yet it is not the meaning of the Holy Ghotl: hcre,no~ tile principal meaning of it, efpecially not the firfi work ofSanctification,and the Reafons are thefe. For Fidt, Befides that many Divines hold, (and I think not without ground,) that all the principles of Sanctification are wrought in the heart before an act of faith, they arc all wrought together; this is a truth, that the ads of Sanctifica" tion depend upon the acts of Faith foregoing them, (It will decide a controver– fy,) I fay the ach ofSanctification; our acting ofthe love to God and obedience do follow the acts of Faith, laying hold upon Chritl: and free Gtacc, but yet the working of the Image is prefuppofed before Faith, in order of nature. I might prove this unto you at large. . But Secondly, If the working of the Image of God upon the heart were the thing here intended to be the feal, he would not fay afur ; ·e believed, why r Decaufe that Believing and Faith is part of the Image of God, part of the Image of Chritl:, as well as any other holy difpofition in' us, It is faid, we recejvegrace forgrace of Chnfl, .'foh. I. that is, look what Graces he had, we alfo have,and Faith amongfi the refi; and therefore I Joh.), I. he tb,,t 6elitveth, is fa id to be born of God. And then there is this Third R.eaf6n for it alfo, why that the firtl: work of R.e• generation is not here intended in this Metaphor, for the Apofile followeth anal– lufton of making fure an Inheritance; now when the Scripture fpeaks of the work of SanCl:ihcation, and of Regeneration, he no where calls it the feal ofthe Spirit, but he calleth it the writing ofthe Law in the heart, For you know when you will make a thing fure, you write the Co11enants, and when you have done, you feal wit; now Sanctification i~ the writing in the heart, as the Scripture is wnttenmthe [look. Soyouhave1t, 2Cor.3. 3· Forasmuch (faith he,) as )'eare decl,zredto6r the Eptf/le of Chriflwrittm, 11ot with Ink 611t with the Spirit o{thr /Jviu$ Coil. Here is Sanctification, now the Holy Gotl: is as Ink, and that IS as wrinng; but here the Holy Gofi is as the feal and the work here is as the feal, whic!1 the Holy Gofi works, the thing fealed.' . That which occalioneth this mifiake is this, Becaufe every fcal bath an Image ~n 1t, 1t was therefore fupp?fed that the main intent of fealing was this, fiamp– mg of an Image; but that IS not the main intent of a feal, It is true every feal bath an Ima~eupon it, which it lea~eth upon the Wax; but yet the main intent of a feal, 1t JS to affure. or afcertam, to certify and make known, and to cc~nconveyand make fure a tlung, that is the intent of a feal, that is the primary in• tent of 1t, only Ex coll{eqllt~Jte, by way of confequencc , and becaufe you may know th1s foal IS true, you have an Image annexed to it. So I have confuted thofe
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