Empty Soule ftranger to Chr. 95 He is our Righteoufnef s Imputativè, by way of imputation ; he is our Wüdome, San&ihcation and Redemption, Effec`ii- vè, by way of inherent and gracious operation. Chrifi(faith a Bernard) is made unto us Wifdome in preaching, Righte- ouíneis in the abfolution of finne, SanEtification in conver- fation, and Redemption in his Paillon. Chrif}(faith b Meo- áEi) maketh us wife, freeing us from errour ; he maketh us Tuft by forgivenelà of ftnnes ; he San&cifieth us by his Spirit the Comforter. And thus he irnparteth to us perfe& redemption,or deliverance from all evils : and thus it ap- pears, thar there is a fpirituall and heavenly perfeEtion and fulnefs in all the Lords fervants. This fhews how great firangers they are to Chrift, how farre from the number ofGods faithfull fervants ; Firf},who are empty of all raving grace ; whofe foules, like the foolifh Virgins lamps, are empty of all fpiritual and heavenly oyl ; whofe hearts are an empty houle, wherin dwelleth no divine and laving good ; whole lives are (as the Prophet Paid of lfrael)an emptyVine,bringing forth to themlelves,to the flefh, but not to God ; empty of the knowledge of God, as the eyes of the blind are of light, having no wifdome to dif- cerne the things which differ, any more then a blinde man can difcerne of col ours ; empty offaith,as jeroboams wither- ed hand was empty of ftrength,having no power to beleeve, to lay hold on ChritI, and thepromiCe ofeternall life ; emp. ty of love, as a dead matt is empty of heat. It is Paid of Da- vid, that he was old and ftrlcken in yeeres, and they covered him with clothes, but he got no heat : Many fuch there be, fo old in finne, and have (pent fo many yeeres in the way of the world, and in the workes of the flefh,that though they have much meanes to warme them, many Sermons, many admonitions and inf}rultions, yet they got no heat,no love . doth burn within them,their foules remaining Iike an emp- ty chimney wherein is no fire : empty they are of all the fruits of righteoufneífe, as a withered branch is empty of grapey; Such men have nothing of Chrift in them, as the empty cif}erne hath nothing in it of the fountaine ; Such men can doe nothing to the refitting of Satan,tno more then an a Chr i jires fa- ôtus efl, nobis fapizntia in prædicatione, pufìitia in p,'c- catorum able. lutiene, fandi- ficatie in con- vesfetione,$e- d_mptione in p2/fione. b Liberaras ab erro re, pecca- torrsm dimiJfio- ae per iritum paraeletum. Two forts of men excluded frvm Chrift and the num- ber of his Saints a. Match. a S'. Rom.7. r 8. Hof, MI.
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