SLRM. XVIII.] FAITH THE WAY TO SALVATION. 07 Can the thirsty soul taste of the running water, and not find refreshment, since God, who created water, has ordained it to refresh the thirsty ? Can weary limbs lie down on a bed, and not find ease, since á bed is made to give ease and rest to the weary? Can a fainting crea -, ture drink a divine cordial appointed to give life, and yet feel no revival ? No more can a guilty, distressed, and penitent sinner believe the truths of the gospel, and trust in Jesus the Saviour, and yet find no relief: for this is the will and settled law of the God of heaven, that peace and holiness shall be obtained this way. 3. When faith grows up to assurance, it approaches towards complete salvation. Then the .christian can say, "I know I have believes on the Son of God, I know I enjoy his favour." Then the holiness and the joy in- crease, for the salvation enters into the soul in fuller measures: The nearer faith arises to assurance of our own interest in the grace of Christ, the more it supports the soul, the more it comforts, the more it sanctifies, and the.more evidently doth the gospel appear to be di- vinely powerful to save us from sin and hell. " Can I believe God has pardoned rare, so vile a rebel, and forgiven me so many and aggravated offences, and yet is it possible, I should not love him, and rejoice ? Can i be assured he loves me, and not make him a re- turn of my highest and warmest love ? Can I believe that Christ the Son`of God died for nie, and shall I not consecrate myself and all the powers of my nature to him, that I may live devoted to his service ? He has bought me with a price, a dear and valuable price, that ofhis own blood, and I must glorify him with my body and with my soul, which are his, 1 Cor. vi. 20. Can I believe that I am redeemed from hell and destruction, and shall I dare to walk in the road that leads to it? And not rather runwith patience and joy the race that is set before me, till I arrive at the gates of heaven ? Am I not assured that Jesus the beloved of God suffered death for my sins, and shall. I not hate sin, which caused his suffering ? Sin, which was the occasion of his ago- nies, and the very sting of his sorrows ! I am crucified and dead to sin, and to this world, by my union with a crucified Saviour; yet Ilive, saith the divine apostle, and the life that I now live in the ,flesh, I live by the x2
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