C.X.§. Do6tofSts Perfev -its ufefulneffe to promoteGofpell-Obedience. 244 how theydoe exert that efficacy that is in them; For theFirfi the Apoftle acquaints us, on what accountalone it is, that they come tobe ufefull in this or any other kind: Heb:4 2. the word of the Gofpell , the Promife Preached to them ofold, didñot profit them, did them no good at all And the reafon of this fad fucceffe inthePreaching ofthe Gofpell, and Declaration of the Pro- miles, he gives you inthe fame words; It is, that the wordwas not mixedwith Faith in them that heardit; It is the mixing ofthe Promifes with Faith tha t renders them ufefull and profitable; Now towhat ever Faith is required, the more firme, ftrong, and (table it is, the more effe&uall and ufefull it is Than then, which is apt to eftablifhFaith, to fupport and ftrengthen it , to preferve ltom.4.20. it fromftaggering, that renders the Promife moft ufefull and effe&call for the Accomplifhment ofany worke, whereunto it Is defigned. Now Faith in thePromifes, refpe&s the Accomplifhment of the things promifed; as the A- poftle tellsus in that commended, andnever enough imitated Example of the FaithofAbraham. Rom j.t9,2o,21. Being not weake inFaith, he conjideree-inot his 'ownbody, now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the -deadneffe ofSarahs wombe heftaggerednot at the PromifeofGod through :tube.- , liefe, butwas gong in Faith,givingglory to God, beingfullyperrwaded that what he hadpromifed, he was able alfo to performe; Laying afide all confederations that might tend to the impairingofhis confidence, he firmely believed , that it fhould be tohim, as God had promifed. That the Dottrinewe infiftedon, is clearly conducingto the eftablifhingofFaith in the Promifes, cannot tole- rably becalled into Queftion. Whatfoever is in thofe Promifes, whatfoever Confiderations, or concernements ofhim whofe they are, as his Faithfulneffe, Llnchangeableneffe,&Omnipotency,thafare apt tooftrengthen Faith in them, it preferves entire and exalteth ; It is a wild Affertion , which men fcarce fearch their own hearts, (if indeed men know what belongs to believing in fincerity) when they make: that the efficacy ofthe Promifes unto our Obe-' dience,fhould arife from hence, that the things promifed maynot be fulfilled: and that the weaknefieofFaith, (as every fuch fuppofall loth at lea(t wea- ken it, yeaand tends to its fubverfion) fhould render the Promife ufefull, which bath noufe at all , but as it is mixed with Faith ; For in(tance, thofe Promifes,that God will be an Allfuficient God unto us,that héwill circumcifi our Hearts, and write hisLaw in them, that we (hallfeare him, is, as was manife- íted before,. an ufefull Meditation,for the ingenerating andquickningofObe- dience and Holineflè inus; That it may be fuch a meanes, it is required, that it be mixt withFaith in them that heare it , as was declared. According as, Faith is ftrong or weake, fo will its úfefulneflè be; I aske then, whether this beawayproper to let this Promife on worke, for theendpropofed, namely to perfwade them that fhould believe it,that all this maybe otherwife ; God mayceafe tobe their God, their hearts maynot be circumcifed, nor theLaw mentioned written in them? Is this theway to ftrengthen their Faith, and to keepe them from ftaggering ? Orrather to fubvert, and calf downeall their confidence to the ground? The Dofirinewe haveunder confideration conti- coru.9. ntially founds in the earesofBelievers, that God is faithfull inall his Promifes, that he can, that he will make them good, that his own Excellencies, hisown Perfe&ions require no leffeat his hands; And this it doth,not on any Grounds that carry any thing with them, that may feeme to incline to the leaf} negleít ofGod, or contempt ofanyProperty, Excellency, or word of his, and fo be apt to breed prefumption, and not Faith: But on fuch only, as givehim the Glory ofall, that hehath revealed ofhitnfelfe unto us: and thereforeitsge- nuine tendencymuff be, to beget and increafe precious & laving Faith inthe hearts ofmen, which we conceive to lye ina moredire* wayof efficacy to- wards
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