whereby aman may know whether hisflith ba true faith or not• 434d Cafe ofConfcience. from the alone goodnes of God the Father A and grace ofChri!l. In this manner the di•di will neuer perfwade any. La!Hy,the perfwafi– onc;>fthe holyGho!l isfull ofpower, forthey whtch-are perfwaded that they are the fonnes ofGosl, cannot but needs muO: call hin.1 Ab– ha, Father: andin r.egardofloueto him, doe hate finne, and whatfoeueris difagreeing to his will:and on the c.ontrary,they haue afaund and i heartie defire to his wil. Ifatany time thou hall felt in thy felfe any ft1ch tellimony, perfwade thy fi:lfe itwas the tefrimony ofthe , holy Gholl: and that very true and cert.aine l too:and therefore that thou art the childe of God, and predellinateto eternalllife. Thisis I the prop by which wee muO: vndcrftt that B weakc beleefe wehaue ofourcer;aineclecho to eternallife.Again,hold this without waue– ringwhatfoeuer thou art, that are tempted to doubt ofthy cledion: Euenasnothingisre– quiredatour hands to workourcledion,(for God chofe vs ofhis onely meere goodneffe) fo,tbat we may tmly know whetherwe bee– led or not, this one thing !hall be fuflicient, namely,ifwe !ha!attaineto thecertain know-' ledge ofthis,that we are in ChriO:, asd{mta– kers ofhim: for, hetbatis new ingraftedin CliriO:, an<)islullilied, itcarnnotbe, but that he was~letted in ChriO: beforetheJo~ndation ofthe w<>rld. And that we maybein ChriO:; faith is oorh required, &is fuflicient: 110.t per– feft faith,but true faith,thoughit be fo litle as C agraine ofmuO:ard feede, and feeble like a young borne babe, and that fofe difeafed too. Now that faith, which is aliue!y and a true faith,laO:eth alw:iies, as hath beene before de– clared , neither can it at any time altogither faile. And fo it commeth to paffe , that they which once haue beene truely ingrafted into Chrifrt remaine alwaies and continue in him according to that fayiog; All that my Father glueth mee, !hall cometo mee; and he which commeth vnto me• I will notcall forth. Thar is true n~doubt, that.Jooke how much the faith is more perfed , fo much the greater power it hath, to knit vs more and more to CbriO::and therefore we muO: alwaies endea– uourto increafe infaith .Yet for all that,this is D moO: certainerone little fpatkle oftrue faith is fufliciem to engraft vs into Chrifi. And for thatcaufe, wee mnlf in no wife doubt ofour engrafting into ChriO:,andofour elo<l:ion too, by reafon ofthe weakeneffe offaith, and the fmalland flender fruits it bringeth out. But how !hall I certainely know (fay you) whether my faith be atrue and liucly faith, or not? Out ofthe fame grounds, from whence the tellimonie of our adoption is perceiued. Firll ofall,ifyou fhall truely feele thatyou are perfwaded ofthe truth ofthe Gofpell,yea and that,all your !innes are pardoned you for Chrill,and you receiuedtofanour. Againe,if you fee that this perfwafion is grounded not vpon any merits of yours, but on the foie I goodne!Te ofGod andgrace ofChrlll. _ Laflly, ifyou feele fuch aconfidence to ap– proach vmo,andcall vpon the Father,&'fJch a !que towards him arnd his Son Iefus Chri!i th~t yedoe hate and detelbwhatfocuer is a: gamfih1s gJo;1e(as all fin is; )'and·Oil the COri• traty,be carrtedawaywith adefire todo thofe thin!l• which ·ferue for the aduancing'of his glo~te: and therefore that you loue all thole whtch defire·a'hd feeke the fame as the bre~ thren and ,friends ofChriO:i ·Fo; thefe be the e.ffells whtch can neuer be feuered from tttie fatth. And this is thedifpoficion oftrue faiifi: ' therefore as long as thou feelefl thefe effeCl~ mthy.felfe albeit very lleriderand greatly la9gu11lung, yet affure thy felfe th0u art indnea with true faith,although itbe weake:& there– fOre then art in Cbrill:, yea and in ChriO: ele– Clcd too. Wherefore thou mu£! not doubt of thyfaluation &ele{tion,by reafon ofthydaily fhpsproceedmgfrom the weaknesoffaitb no not for hainous crimes: jjkeas neitherDt~;id fot his adulterie and murder nor Pettr for hi; three-fold denial,did defpai;eoftheireletliO which appearerh, in that being planged in t)j~ very gulfes oftheir temptatios, racy held faff thefrfaith as ananker, and called vpon GOd. Thts 1s the fecond prop.La(lly,in no wife wc'e m~llforget,namely tharour elellion iscerre~ ~ tmmutable:& therfore,asitis donewithout refpect ofany workes ofours,fo in like fort it can neuer be changed by an)' ofour euill de' 0 lerts. For as it lirll proceedeth from the onely free purpofe ofGod; fo it i• grounded there– on.True itis,we.prouoke Gods wrath againO: vs by our fins, and neither will Gou let.them efcape vnpunithed, buthe chaO:ifeth vs by di– uers,both inward& outward fcourges:asmay appeareinVauidaboueall other. Yetforall that,it is his good pleafure, thar for his good– nes fake &truth, for the obedience of Chri£!, that his purpofe Jl10uld remaine fure,and our dedio.Soir commeth to paffe,that he giueth vs ft-pentance anew, to raife vs vp,aAd to re– ceiue vs to fauour.Therefore,althoagh for the preG:nt thou fee!cll: thy fc!fe to be of weake faith,& to h>oe fallen ro diuers fins; yet wher– •• heretofore thou hall bad many and cuident te!!imonies ofthy cle{tion, as the rellimony. ofthe ~oly Gholl, and the tellimonie taken from faith, and the effe£\s offaith: at thispre– fentaff'uredly thou canO: not doubt of thy cJe. llion, forthy fins committed, but rhou !halt much derogate from this free ele£\ion, & alfo from the teO:imonies of thy elellion hereto– foreenioyed , yea& thofe which yet thou en– ioyell. For ifthy finnesdifpleafethee,& thou defirell to liue with,outbbme, onely for that thyfinsdifp!eafe thee, why now thou hall a new tellimonyofthyelection: forfttch repen– tance as this ts,is onely proper vnto the eleth therfore,by theft three props we muO:vphold our faith, as touching cuery ones parricular e– lettion. And thus much as 'coacerning the certenty , with the which euery man muO: be perfwaded, that l1ee is elelled in Chril! to ererna!l I
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