Serm.q ; 382 SERMON S upon Vfe ,,Comfort againft prefent Defects. Tho you are ignorant of Conic Myfteries Of Religion, do not defpqnd, Chrift 4oth not give you all at once. There is a double Comfort, God will accept our weaknefs, and we have an Head in whom is all Fulnefs. As our Life is hidden in Chrift, fo is our Wifdom hidden. In the Text you fee Chrift hath undertaken for our growth; we have aTeacher that will carry us on from one de- gree of knowledg to another. Therefore let us not be difcouraged, tho we know lit- tle, and our parts be weak and infufficient. Vfe 2, it preffeth us to grow in Knowledg. 2 Pet. 3. t 8. But groin in Grace, and in the Knowledg of our Lord and Saviour yefns Chrifl. There is more to be learned. Do not fay, I know as much as they can tell me; we never know fo much, but we may know more : there is no ftint in Knowledg. If there be a meafure of Grace beyond which we cannot pats, the Apoffle would not fay, Grow in Grace and Knowledg. There- fore belenCcionable and careful in the ufe of Means : We muft not reft in our low and impeded Meafures, nor alwayes keep to our A, B, C. We muft grow till we come to Heaven, and then there will be no more growing. A formal Man is where he was, (as a Phture) doth not increafe in Stature. The way to keep what we have, is to increafe our Store; Gifts that lie idle and unaâive, fuffer lofs and decay ; an active Nature, fuch as Man's, muff either grow worfe or better. It is an ill fign, when we are contented with a little : Light groweth to the perfection of Glory, our Reward is increafed in the. other World. Col. 3. 16. Let the Word of God dwell in you richly in all Wifdom. It is the worft of Poverty, to have a poor Underftanding. Grace is mul- tiplied through Knowledg. . 2 Pet. I. 2. Grace and Peace be multiplied unto you through the Knowledg of God, and of Jefus our Lord. 4. Point ; Chrift maketh one Mercy to be the Pledg of another. I have declared, and I will declare. He is never weary of well doing; his Love is infinite, and cannot be wailed, and his Grace is Infinite,and cannot be fpent. Men wafte by giving, their drop is loon fpent; but the oftner we come to God,the more welcome we are. Our Faith is boner tired than God's ,Bounty, for he doth not wafte by giving. I ,íl M, is God's Name; he is where he was at firft, he is never at a lots ; what he hath done, he can do, and will do : God's Providence is new and frefh every Morning. God is One, Gal. 3. 2 s. he is always like himfelf. The Creatures loon Cpend their Allowance, but he is where he was at .firft. But it chiefly holdeth good in Spiritual Mercies ; the leaft drop of Saving Grace, is an Immortal Seed, it will grow, it will increafe; it is a Spark that cannot be quenched; it is the Pledg of meer Grace. Therefore where Chrift hath be- gun to work for thee in Come (parks of Saving -Grace and Knowledg, he will go on in his Work ; where he is the Alpha, he will be'the Omega ; where he is an Author, he. will be a Finilher. Heb. 12. 2. Looking unto 'efts, who is the Author and Finifher of our Faith. The Apoftle would have us confident of this : Phil. r. 6. Being confident of this very thing, that he that bath begun a good Work in you, will perform it until the Day of Chry God's firft Work is. an Barnet}, and God will not lofe his Earneft, it is the very firft Fruits of the Spirit, and he gives it as a Pledg of more Grace to 'follow. That the Love wherewith thin hall loved me, may be in them, and I in them. In the whole Verfe, Chrift fheweth what he had done, what he would do, and with what Aim. His End was two -fold, to make way for Application of God's Love, and his own Prefence, as a Vital Principle in their Hearts ; God's Love and Union with Him - felf I (hall fpeak now of the firft. Whence, Obferve 5 That one great End why God's Name is manifefled in the Gape], is, that his Love may be in us. I. 1 Ihall inquire, What it is to have his Love in us. I (hall give you feveral Obfer- vations upon the Phrafe. 1. Obferve; [that the Love, &c.] He doth not fay, that they may have Pardon, Sanctification, or Grace, or Comfort in them, but Love in them. Obi God's Love in Chrifl, is the ground of all other Favours and Graces whatfaever: The Spring of all is Love, and the Conveyance is by Union, which containeth two Truths. . 1. That all the Goodnefs that is in its, cometh from the Love of God in Chrift. We are loved into Holinefs, loved into Pardon, loved into Grace. Ili. 38. 17. Thou haft in love to my Soul delivered it from the Pit of Corruption, or thou haft loved me from the Pit,
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