FAiTH MORE 1'REC!oUS THAN GOLD. :Book 1V. .I ..6' A naked Knewledge 0f God, joined with an outward and bare Profeffion of the {;ofpel. E'Ven fo Fai·th, ifit bath not Works, is dead, Janus ii. '7· 7• 1t is taken for"' ltrong Belief or •Confidence in Prayer. 'Ibe Pra;•er of Faith jball Jave i'pe Sick, James v. 15. S. It is taken for a 'holy, firm, ancl well-grounded Belief, and fledfaf! Reliance upon the Mer·its and Righteoufnefs of J efus Chrift, for J ultification and eternal Life; or a going om <if ourfelves, fetching all our Hope and Comfort from him, and his glorious Undertakings. This is that moll: noble and precious Grace, that is wrought in the Soul by the Spirit, wh'ich is ·compared to Gold, &c. Faith is as precious '"Gold, nay, more precious; tried Faith is better than tried Gold, than Gold tried or refined in the Fire. METAPHOR. t. GOLD is precious in fame PARALLEL. i. TRUE Faith is precious upon the account of the Scamry of 1t. Though there is great talk of it every where, it is in all Peoples Mouths, yet the right Kind is very precious; few have fo much as one Dram of it in their Hearts; 1t IS very hard to obtain. Countries llpon the Con– lideration of the Scarcity of it; there is but little of it to be had; and that hard to come by. Things are efl:eemed precious upon this account : In thofe Days the Word if the Lordwas precious, there was no open Vijion. . Il. Gold is very defirable. Men !I. All underflanding Meri, who are convinced that know the Worth of it, fearch of the Nature and Ufefulnefs of Faith, feek for diligently for it; they work in ir, as for hid Treafure; they endeavor to impro1•e Mines, labor hard, undergo much all Opportunities for the obtainiog of it. Difficulty to obtain it. Ill. So Faith mull: be tried; for there is nothing Mm an more tmfl:aken or deceived in. There is abundance of counterfeit Faith in the \'Vorld. Ill. Gold mull: be tried. Many take that for pure Gold, that is counterfeit Metal; and thereby cheat themfelves, or ate deceived by others. IV. Gold is tried by a Touchl'V. Faith mull: alfo be tried by the true ftone; Men can foon difcern if it Touch.fl:one, viz. the Word of God. If a Man be naught, when they prove it fear his Faith be not of t!•c right Kind, kt him . that way, bring it thither; i.e. examine the Na:ure and . ~1ality of it, by the Marks laid down in the holy Scriptures, and he will fooi1 difcover what Faith he hath. V. The beft Gold is very preV. True Faith is a moft precious Grace in cious; a moll: rare and choice refpeCt of its own intrinfic Virtue, and from Thing, in refpeCt of its own inhence true Chriflians efl:eem fo of it. The Price trinfi·c Virtue; and from hence thereof is above Rubies, it is far more precious it is fo much prized and ·coveted than Gold that periOJeth; which will appear by by the Children of Men. It is the InduClion of the following Particulars. called precious, from the excel1. In refpect of the Names or Appellations given lent Nature and Worth of it. It is to it in holy Scripture. (r .) It is called lively a moll: fovereign Cordial. Faith. (2.) It is called effectual Faith, 1 'Ihejf. i. 3· (3.) It is called the Faith of God's Elect; 'Iit. i. r. (4.) Ii: is called unfeigned Faith, 1 'Iim. i. v. 2 'Iim. i. v. (5.) It is called Faith that works by Love, Gal. v. 6. (6.) It is called Faith of the Operation of God, Col. ii. 12. (7.) It is called precious Faith, 2 Pet. i. 1. (8. ) It is called holy Faith. (9.) It is called the Faith of the Son of God. Its excellent Names fet forth its tranfcendent Nature. z. Faith is precious in refpeCt of the Means of its Procurement, or the Price that was laid down for the obtaining of it, viz. the precious Blood of Chrifl:; for had not Chrifl: died, we fhould never have had one Dram of it; it is given to us as the Fruit and Effect of his glorious Undertaking. 3· Faith is precious in refpeCl of the Follntain from whence it proceeds. 4· Faith is precious in reti,ect of the Means by which it is wrought in the Soul, 'IJiz. by the Word and.Spirit of God in a wonderful Manner, even like as God wrought in Chrifl:, when he raifed him from the Dead, Epb. i. 19, 20. 3 5· Faith
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