ít. Dolt-ot`SCs Perfev- its ufefulnetfe topromote Go/pen-Obedience . 234 hadno underflanding, heabode not, but became like the beafl that perifheth; was it not in their power to perfevere in that condition if they would? Did theywant anymeanes that were ufefull thereunto? And what hope is there 1 om.7. left tome, in whom there dwelleth nogood thing, whoamfoldunder thepow- er offinne, and encompaffed with aworld oftemptations, that I fhall endure unto the end ? I fee thoufands before mine eyes , partakersofthe fame hea- venly calling withmy felfe, ofthe fame Grace in JefusChrift, every day fall- ing into irrecoverable perdition ; There is not any Purpofe of God , that r fhould be preferved, nor Promife that I [hall neverdepart from him, noprayer ofChrift, that my Faith maynot falle, but I am rolled upon mine own hand, andwhat will be the end ofthis wholeundertakingof mine, in the .wayes of God, I knownot. Let, I fay, a man be exercifed with fuch thoughts as theft, and then try ifany thing under heaven can bring his foule toany potlible compofure, untill it be cafl into themouldofthat DoElrine,which bath been deli- vered; But ofthis more direlyafterwards, when we come to treat of the Confolation, which from the breaftofit doth flow. 4: n, 2. It is exceedingly fuited to the deliverance of theSoules of theSaints from all fuch hard thoughts of God, is are apt toimpaire and weaken their Lovetowards him, and delight inhim: fofettuig the twoprinciples ofall their Obedience (Faith and Love) at liberty, and free from their intanglements, to a& inthe duties they are calledunto; He that had hard thoughts ofhis ab- fent Lord, asan aufleretetan, though he was not excufedinhis difobedienceby it, yet he was evidently difcouraged, as tohis Obedience; When men !hall be taught, that God takes no more careof his Children inhisfamily, but that theDwell mayenter inamong them,and and take them away, makingthem Children ofHell, whenhe might with the greateff Advantage of Glory and Honour tohimfelfeimaginable,prevent it ? That the LordJefus Chrift, thegreat Shepheardof the Sheep,takesno more care of his flock and fold, but that the Lion , Beares, and Wolves mayenter in, and make havocke, and fpoile at their pleafure? May they not think that God is little concerned in theSalvation ofhis?and that all that, which is fo Glorioufly expreflèd ofhis peculiar andfpeciall Love, carriesnothing but an empty noife, the burthen oftheir prefervationbeing thrown foly upon theirowne fhoulders? And are not fuch thoughts fitte only tocalf water upon their flames ofLoveto God, and infenfibly toweaken that delight, which they ought alwayes to takein the riches ofhis GraceandLover Is thereany thing pofíible more indearing to the heart ofaCreature, then to heare filch a tefrimony, asthat. Zeph.3.17. concerning the!lability of theLoveofGod, and its excellency, The Lord thy God in themidfl ofthee ismighty, hemillPave, he will rejoyce over thee with joy, he willreil in his Love, he will joyover thee withfnging; Godsre fling inhis Love towards hisSaints, fixes their foules in their Love tohim. 4. s2. 3. It putshigh and unfpeakable Obligations on theSaints to live toGod, and to perfelyHolineffe in thefeare of theLord; saints we fuppofe to have their Birth from above,to bebegottenofthe Willof God,through the immortal/feedof the Word, and to bequickened with aNoble Child-like Ingenuity, befitting the family ofGod; Neither is any thing more injurious to the worke of God'sGrace, then to fuppofe, that thofe, whom God callsChildren,Friends, Heirs ofHeaven andGlot'y, his Crowne, his Diadem, Brethren ofhisonly sonne, are tobe dealt withall, or that God deales with them, as ifthey werewholly a&edby a fervile, flavifh Principle, andwere wholly under the power offuch an unworthy difpofition. ;ss:13. There are two things ufually fpoken to the prejudice anddifadvantage oef th
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