2, o6 The Ruth' of the Water ofLife. ploht;. r. maninto the Dateof grace.' Wham Ise loeeth,he :meth to theend: fora mowest, a q La.54.8. hid,»yforefront thee for atittle fafon , but with euer1fting lone l had compfonod lee; r.a: thee, faieh theLord thy redeemer. I have limed thee U-ithanenerlaflirg km. r lam [Phil. t.6. perfroaded(faith Paul)that he thatbath began thisWorke Wye:elbsUperforme it. It is a general!rule ; where God beginneth agood workeof grace , licegoeth on al- waies to finith it.lgiue unto myfheepe eternalllife, andtheyf x411 near perells, neither » toa.ro.xS..a11 any pludd,e them out ofmy hand#., Thereis no pointplainer in the Scripture; Chrilt doth not bringvsinto a good eourfe, and then leant vs toour felues, but tHtb.r s,x. he guides vs in it by his grace vino the end; and thereforehe iscalledboth The auther,and thefrio f ourfaith. TheVf. Thevie istwo fold: Firi,toquicken and flirteupour defires tomakevs la- boar after there heavenly graces, fixing they are the onely things of perperuirie, u z.Tim.,ay All thingselfeare rabicet tovncertaiotie,onely "thefoundation of the Lordremai_ »Luk,ro. 4z. nethfhre. Oh then, chufe the *barergartwhich 'hall not bee taken away from vs, Secondly, this isa point of infinite mill cornfotttoall Godschil- dren. For confider I prayyou, is it ni'a comfortable thing, when a man with great chargeand induftryhatir gotten acommoditie, to be allured of the con- tinuance , and to be freed from the fareof lofing it ? What a by muff it then needs be toa Chriftianfoule, to confiderthat the Lord hauing begun , in Come meafuretobee graciousyam him , will neuer alter his fanour; that grace being oncebefiowed, fhall neuer beewthdrawne; that hisIbulehauing oncebeene moyftenedwith the dew of heaven, fhallneuer bee wholly dryed up again ? It is puCcible 1 know for the Bearechilde ofGod , fometimes to feeme tohim- felfe and toothers , emptieand barrenofall goodnefre , and thefe graces may beethought for a time vrterly tobee confirmed. So thefappe lyeth hiddc in therooteof the tree the whole winter, and maketh nofhew; and in a very dry and hotte Sommer, you (hall feemany fprings as itwere cleane gone, with- outany appearanceof moiDuret yet in Sommer the fapmounteth aloft intoall thebranches of the tree, and in a conuenient feafon, the veines of the earth are opened , and the dryedflaring returneth tohis former Dreaming : fo, though the children of God may Ceeme fometimes utterly tobee fallen backe to their nwIoh.1.9. former hardneffe, yet (as Saint?ohn faith) a there is a certaine feede behinde ; there is a hidden moilure which at laDbreakesout , and fheweth it felfe in the fruits of righteoufneffeas before. So then, ifthouhaftneuer Co little grace, (as thou thinkef)though it be butasyet a deftre ofgrace,a longing afterfaith,a thin_ fling after righteoufneffc,yetmake muchof it, reioyce In ie , thanke God forir, take it asa pledge that the Lord bath Come further worketo workein thee s bee fure,that he whichbathbegun it, will cherifh it, yea and that in his time he will altoencreafeit. Thefignesof The fait point remaineth, whichis the lifeof all that bath beone raid, viz. ironing this howmay 1 for my part know that I haue rafted of this water. Hearken a little wntt. and I will tell thee : thou (halt know thecertaintie of it by there fignes. Thefi,ft is,acleare fight ofthine owne foulesellate.In aciearewell,a manmay fee a peny in thebottome ofit : foif man haue thewell of life in his heart, he (hallbehold in it the full proportion (as itwere) of his owne foule. And ante thy felpe of this, that the more full fightthou haft of thine owne imperfeQions, of thine ownecorruptions, of the rebellionsof thyheart, ofthe crookednefieof thyna- ture, the greater portion thou haft ofthisgrace. The fecond figne, is theclean- neffeof the heart : it is thenature of the water to cleanfe and fcoure : fo is it the propertie ofthis heavenly water : no fope,no nitre,hath that fcouringpower Ter, ty. w that it bath. e Theheart is wicked abone allthings: fraughted naturally with cor- y ruption,ignorance,vnbeliefe, hardneffe,fccuritie, frowardneffe,vntowardnefie togood feruices. Looke therefore how thy heart iscleanfed, thy Ionic pur- ged from thisfrlthinelfe. Thou wilt fayto nice (perhaps) the Scripture faith hm li
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