;oook IV. H 6 P E j;;OMPARED TO AN A N C H 6 R. 6o-j fa!ten a Temptation upon, how fhould we efcape him, that have fuch a Body of Sin ond IJeath in us, even the Seed or Root of all Corruption, our Hearts bemg like Tinder, ready to take with every Spark of the Devil's kindling. I willmake an ever– lajling Covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them Good: But I u•i/1 put my Fear illlo their Hearts, that the; jhall>tot depart from me, Jer. x.xxu. 40. As God will not turn away from us, fo he will not fuffer us to depart from him. This is not like the Covenant he firftmade. Therefore the Saint's Hope ofSalvation is both fure and ftedfaft, ar\ Anchor that will hold, and cannot be broken. Seventhly ; The Fulnefs of Grace which is treafured up in Chrift for Believers, is a fu re Ground of Hope. It pleafed the Father, that in him jhould all Fulnejs dwell, Co!. i. 19. ./Jnd ofhis Fulnefs have we all received, and Grace for Grace, John i. 16. Hence it is that all the Wants of Believers are fu pplied : But Ill)' Godjha/1 Jt!pply all your Needs, acco.-ding to his Riches in Glory by Chri/1 Jefus, Phi!. iv. 19. l nfomuch that when– ·ever any, though the meaneft and weakeft Saint, is in need of Support or Help, in time of great and imminent Danger, he may have not only Stipply in one RefpeCl:, but a full and compleat Supply in all Refpec'ts; anfwerable to the various Exercifes that Believers meet with in their Chriftian Courfe, to the end they may not mifcarry, or fufr'er Shipwreck; for that in Chrift they have a Fulnefs of Wifdom to inftruCl: and countcl them, a Fdnefs of Love and Care to guide them-, a Fulnefs of P ower and Strength to hold them up, that they may he fafe, and to ftay them from fin king, as he did Peter, who, \vhen under the Fear of mifcarrying, cries 'out to Chrift for Hdp; a Ftilnefs of Pity and Compaffion, to commilerate them in all their Diftreffes; and a Fulnefs of .Grac·e ·imd Mercy, to pardon and fully blot out all their Sins and Failings, and be with them in all their Sorrows and Sufferings. Therefore the Saint's Hope of Salvation is both fure and ftedtaft. Eightly; The Mercy of God is a fure Ground of Hope. If the Mercy of God can fail, the Saint's Anchor may fail; but the Mercy of God endurerh for ever Be– bold, the Eye oJ the Lord is up01i tbem that fear him, upon them that hope in his Mercy, Pfal. xxxiii. 18. .l trufl in the 1'>1ercy of God for ever and ever, Pjal. lii. 8. Where is the founding of tlij llowels, and t!.y Mercies towards me? ./ire they rejlrained? lfa. Jxiii. 13. The Saints of God, as appears from hence, truft in the Mercy of God, and rhat endureth for ever iind ever. His Bowels to his People can never fail. Can a W•man forget her .Jucking ·child, that jhe jhould not have Compajfion on the Son of he~· TVomb? Tea, She may, but I will not forget thee. Therefore the Saint's Hope is both furc and ftedfaft. Ninth!]•; The Promife and 'Oath ·of God are a fure Ground of Hope. For Mm verily fweer by the greater, and an Oath for Confirmation is to them an End of all Strife. Wherein God willing more abundantly to jhew unto the Htirs of Promije, the lmmutabilitj of his Cozmfel, confirmed it by an Oath : 'J."bat by two immutable Things, in which it was impoJ!ible for Cod to lie, we might have flrong Confolation, who have fled for Refuge, tq lay hold upon the HopeJet before us : Which Hope we have as an Anchor of the Soul, both f:tre and jleilfajl, Heb. vi. 16, 17, 18; '9· In Hope •f eternal Life, which God tba~ cannot lie promijed, before the World began, Tit. i. 2 . ./is God bath faid, I will dwell in them, .and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they jhall be my People, 2 Cor. 'VI. 16. If the Promife and Oath of God be not enough to affure Believers of their fafe and firm Standing in Chrift, and of their Affurance of Heaven, nothing is. Therefore the Saint's Hope is both lttre and ftedfa(l:. Tenthly; That Relation which Believers ftand in unto God, is a fure Ground of H ope. He is their F ather, and they are his dear Children; he is their Hulband, they his Spoufe: Will a dear Father luffer his dear Children to perifh, and be torn in pieces, if he hath Power to help them ? Or the dear Hulband his dear Wife? The Love of God to his Saints exceeds the Love and Pity of either Father or Hulband 1 therefore Hope, rhe Anchor of the Soul, is both fure and ftedfaft. . Eleventh!y; The Power of God is a fure Ground of Hope. My Sheep hear my Vorce, and follow me, and I give to them eternal Life; and theyjhatl never perijh, neithef! Jhall any plu;k them ont of my Hand. .i\{y Father that gave them me is greater than all; and noue rs able to pluck tbem out of my Father's Hand. John x. 27, 28, 29. Who are kept by the Power of God, through Faith, unto Salvation. If the Power of God be fufficier\t to keep Believers from falling, and to preferve them to his heavenly Kincr– .dom, then their Hope is both fure and ftedfaft "' Objefl• '
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