to Save Sinners, &c. I. The leaf!: degree of tr\Je Grace is fufficient to ~ake the Heart upright and fincere, fufficient to hrc:.1k the reigning power of Sw, ~o ea~ Satan out of his Throne· it is fufficient to fway the Heart to God as trs chtefcft good, and to make hi~ lntcrcft .in the Soul viCtorious and prevalent over the lntcreft of the World and Fletll ; this fufficiency the weakeft degree of true Grace hath. And herein is Cbrift's Power Jnd Ability to fave moft eminently glorious; Grace is a Creature in its own Nature Mortal and Corruptible, and lhould Chrift but for a moment fnfpcnd his lnfiue~lCe, every Tempt~tion, every Corruption would e~~ fily deftroy it; now for Chnft to ;prcferve thts _weak and helplc~s ~rcature tn the midfr of fo many ftrong and m1ghty Corruptions that.oppofe It, It argues as All- fufficient a Power as it doth to preferve alive a lingle Spark of Fire in the midft of the raging and foaming Sea. Now Chrift not only preferves this weak Graccalh•e, but makes it ViCtorian~ a':d Triumphant ove!· all the Powers of Hell; tbey arc not able to ftand before It, It batters down their ftrong Holds, it routs Armies of Lufts and Temptations, it alters and changes every Faculty of the Soul and reduccth them all to Obedience, as if it were Chrift's dcfign not only by his Power to favc the Soul, but to do it in fuch a way as fhould moft of all fhame the Devil, batHing and fubduing him by fuch a we.ak and contemptible thing as Grace. And therefore St. Pa11l when he prays agamft that 'Tcmpratirm which forely buffeted him, l. Cor. 12. 4· God anfwers him, My Gratu i; fufficicnr for rhu for my ftrcngth iJ made perfefl through weaknefi: As boifterous and as raging as thy 'Temptations arc, yet it Ihall appear that thy weak Grace througb my Strength fhall at length overcome them. 2 • The leaft degree of true fanCtifying Grace is fufficient to entitle the Soul to Heaven and Glory. Let weak and doubting Chrifi:ians therefore know rhis for their Comfort, that the Prom if~ of Eternal Life is not made to the degrees of their Grace, but to the truth of It, not to Grace as ltroJlg, but to Grace as true. Now the truth of Grace may be in the leaft and in the weakeft degree· that Grace to which our Salvation is principally afcribed is our Faith. N~w i ~ is not faid, he only whofe Faith is fo il:rong as to overcome all Temptat ions, and all Doubts, and to flcurilh up into AOUrancc, he only fha\1 be favcd; but who• foever believes Jhall be favcd, tho' his Faith be very weak, and very wavering; and the reaf0n of this is clear, for Faith doth not fave us as it is a Santl:ifying but aS it is a Juftifying Grace i for if it faves us as it fanB.ifies, then muft all perilh: :fince the Faith of the firongeft Believer is mixed with fo many lmperfcd: ions t hat render them worthy of Eternal Death: Faith therefore faves as it jufrifies, aod juftifies as it entitles us to Chrift's perfeCt Righteoufnefs, which Title we obtain by being united to him, and made one with him through this Grace of Faith. But now a weak Faith is a moft fure and inviolable Band of Union to Chrift as well as a firong Faith. A weak Faith can make a full conveyance of the· Righteoufnefs and Merits of Chrift to the Soul , as well as a ftrong Faith, therefore the weakeft Faith of'the malt trembling and timerous Chriftiandoth as firmly entitle him to Heaven and Glory, as the moft itrong and undaunted Faith of the moft affured Chrifiian : Thus then, though the Children of God complain fadly of the weaknefs of their Grace, yet in the very leaft and meanefi: degree of Grace there is a Twofold Sufficiency, a fufficiency to break the reigning Power and Dominion of the ftrongeft Lufi:, and a fuffidency to give a firm Title to Heaven and Glory, and what wo_uld ~ou !la.ve more?. Hath not Chrift approved himfelf an AU-, fufficient SaviOur In gwmg and dtfpen fi ng fuch Grace, that the weakeft and loweft condition of Believers bat h fuch a great fufficiency as this is. But this is not all; for, 3. The Jc41 degree of true Grace ,:s a fufficient gro11nd of 'Joy and Comfort; for C~mfort and Sa~isfaC\:ion, for Joy and Affura~ce. The\e overflowing j oys, this Glorious Afiurance Behevers may abound wtth, even then when they moft of all complain of the poverty and weaknefs of their Grace: It is not the degree of our Graces that gives us Comfort and Satisfatl::ion, but it is the knowledae and evidence of ~he truth _of them in our ow!l C~:mfci ences. The Sun may b~ in a. black and dtfmal Echpfc when many ghttermg and twinkling Sta.,s are not. The ta\lelt Cedars caft the longcft Ihade; and fo many times that Chriftian that is the talleit and the moft eminent in Godlinefs, may be under the blackeft and faddeft diffcrtions; the mcafurcs of Comforts are not ftinted by the mcafur€s of Y YY y Grace, 537
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