72 / 504
C
A
p.
I.
y:
l7
28.
Of
Apof'cacy ,
Saints, and Per leverance.
i6
man,in whom there
is
an
habit let
on by fomighty
an
impref ion as,the
Scrip-
ture
mentions,
to
a&
conftantly
contrary thereunto,
is
to think
what
we will,
without troubling
our
(elves
to
confider
how
it
may
be brought
about.
Farther,whileft thisPrinciple,life,and
habit
of
Grace
is
thus confuming ,
cloth
Eph,
T.
23.
their God and Father look on and
fuffer
it to
decay, and their
fpirituall man
col.
2.19.
to
pine
away
day by day,
giving
them
no new
fupplies,
nor
increafang
them
with
Eph:4.16.
the increafe
of
Gods
hath he
no
pitty towards a
dying
child?
or
can he
not
help
i
Thet3.
t
2.
him?
doth
he,of
whom it
is
faid
that
he
is
faithfull,
and
that
he will
not
fuffer
Phil:
t.
6.
cos:
to.1 3.
is
to
be
tempted
above
what
we
are
able, but
with
the
very
temptation will
make
way
for
is
to efeape,
let
look
fuch floodgates
of
Temptations upon them,
as
he
knows
his
grace will
not be
able
to
Rand
before,
but
will
be
confumed and
expelledby
it?
what
álfo
(hall we fuppofe
are
the
thoughts
of
lefts
Chri
fl
to-
ueb,2:r9,t8.
wards
a withering
member,
a
dying
brother,
a perifhing
child
,
a
Wandring
fheep?
7.25.
where
is his xeale
and
his tender
mercies,
and the founding
of
his
bowells?
are
Ira:
4o.
II.
the
y reftrained?
Will henot
la y
hold
of
his
strength, and ftirre up
his
Ri hte-
&
63.&.
Ezek:34.4,
oufneffe
to
lave
a
poore
finking
creature?
Alfo
He
that
is
in
us
is
greater then
he
I 2.
that
is
in
the
world;
and
will
he
fuffer himfelfe
to be wrought out
of
his
habi-
tation, and
not
ftirre up
his
ftrength
tò
keep poffeffion
of
the
dwelling
place
which
he had chofen?
So
that
neither
in
the nature
of
the
thing it
felfe,
nor
in
refpett
ofhim,with
whom we have
to
doe,
cloth
this
feem poffible.
ß.
27.
But fecondly, Sinne
procureth
by
the
way
of
merit,
the taking
away
of
the
Spirit, and removeall
of
the Habit
graciou(ly
beftowed:
Believers
deferve by
finn,
that
God thould take
his
Spirit from
them, and the Grace
that
he
hath
beftowed on them:
They
doe
fo
indeed,
it
cannot
be
denied
but
will
the
tfa:48.9.
Lord
deale
fo
with theme
Will
he
judge
his
bottle
with
fuch
Fier
and
vengeance?
Is
that
the
way
of
a
Fatherwith his
Children?
untill
he
bath taken
away
his
Spirit and
grace?
although
they
are
Rebellious
Children,
yet they are
his Chil-
dren
Rill:
and
is
this
the
way
of
a
tender Father to
cut
the throats
of
his
Chil-
dren,
when it
is
in
his
power
to
mend them?
The
caning
of
a
wicked
man
in-
to
Hell,
is
not
a punifhment
to
be compared
to'this:the
loffe
of
Gods prefence
is
the
worn
of
Hell. How
infinitely,
mutt they
needs
be more
fenfible
of
it
in:49.15,16
who have once enjoyed
it,
then thofe who were nrangers
to-
it
from
their
Ita:66.r3."
wpmbe? Certainly
the Lord
bears another
Tenimony
concerning
his
kind
-
Ieretn
:2. t4.
Hot2.t4.Ac.
nell'e
to
his Sonnes
and
Daugghters,
then
that
we
fhould
entertain
fuch dif.
mall thoughts
of
him. He
chaflifes his
Children indeed,
but
he doth not
kill
them; he correllr
them with roads, but
his Kindnefjé
he fakes not
from
them:
notwithnanding
of
the attempt
made by
the Remonftrants
in
their
synodalia,
I
may
fay
that
I have,
not
as
yet met with
any
tolerable extrication
of
thofe
difficulties:
more
to
this purpofe
will
afterwards be infined on.
3.
That
which we
intend,when
we mention
the Perfeverance
of
Saints,
is
their continuance
to the
end
in
the
condition ofSaintfhip, whereunto they
are called. Now
in
the
fate
of
Saintship,
there
are
two things
concurring,
1.
That
Holineffe which
they
receive from
God,
and
2.
That
Favour
which
they have with
God,
being junified
freely
by
his
grace, through
the
blood
of
Chris:
and their continuance
in
this condition
to the
end
of
their
lives,
both
to
their
reali Holineffe,
and
gracious Acceptance,
is
the
Perfeverance
whereof
we
muff
treat.
The
one
refpe&ing
the
reall
enate, the other
their relative;
of
which
more particularly afterwards.
ß.
a8.
And this
is
a
briefe delineation
of
the Do
&rine, which,
the Lord
affining,
(hall
be
explained, confirmed, and vindicated
in
the
infuing difcourfe, which
being firft fet
forth
as
a
meere Skeleton, its
symetry
and
Complexion,
Its
Beauty
and
Comelineffé,Its
Strength
and
vigor,
Excellency
and
Vfefulneffe
will
in