Dire XII. Of .Sartai cal 26íÍr. J T 9 ing unto fin, and living unto God. And he would hereby guide us, to make ufe of Chrift, and his death and refurreaion, by faith, as the powerful means of all holinefs in heart and life ; and to increafe in this manner of walking, until we attain unto perfeCtiou in him. The SECOND thing propofed was, to lay before youTome neceffary initruc'tions, that your steps may be guided arigbit, to continue andgo forward in this way of holinefs, until you be made perfeü: in Chriit. And feeing we are naturally prone to miftake this way, and are utterly unable to find it out, or difcern it, by our own reafon and underftanding, we should the morediligentlyattend to thefe inftiruaions taken out of the holy fcriptures. And we fhoulcd pray ear- neftly, that God would give unto us the fpirit of wif- dom and revelation, that we may difcern the way of holinefs thereby, and walk aright in it ; according to that gracious prornife, " The way faring men, " though fools, (hall not err therein," Ifa. xxxv. 3. I. Let us obferve, and confider diligently, in our whole converfation, that though we are partakers of a new holy flate by faith in Chrift, yet our natural hate doth remain, in a rneafure, with all its corrupt principles and properties. As long as we live in this prefent world, our apprehenfion of Chrift, and his perfe - ions in this life, is only by faith; whereas by fenfe and reafon, we may apprehend much in our- feives, contrary to him : and this faith is imperfect; fo that true believers have caufe to pray to God to help their unbelief, Mark ix. 24. Therefore, though we receive a perfef Chrift by faith, yet the meafure. and degree of enjoying him' is imperfeét ; and we hope aril, fo long as we are in this world, to enjoy Liras in a higher degree of perfection than we have done. We are yet but weak in Chrift, 2 Cor. xiii. 4. children in comparifon to the perfection we ex- pet in another world, I Cor. xiii. io, i r. and we k e 2
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