c. 'x FAITH BUILT, ON KNOWLEDGE, 25ß " the weary" and " the heavy laden sinners to come to him ;» Mat. xi. 28. And this is accompanied with a good hope and expectation of , all this salvation from Christ, for which the sinner trusts in him ; and this ex -. cites his love and thankfulness to Christ, and awakens all his endeavours to a warm pursuit ofheaven, in the path of holiness, in which God hath appointed us to walk to the kingdom. Thus every divine promise, every threatening, and every cornmmand, obtains a due autho- rity over the heart, under the vital inflhence of such a faith. This is not a lazy and a slothfukconfidence,' that casts away all care by throwing it on Christ,' and walks in a secure and bold neglect of duty: for a believer well knows that he is bound to take the utmost care of his own soul, to work out his salvation, with holy fear, to watch against temptation, to resist every _rising sin, and to persevere unto death; though from a senseofhis own insufficiency, he builds his safety and hope on ,theall- sufficiency of Christ. Let it be observed here, that it is not necessary that all these several workings of the heart should be plain, and distinct, and sensible, in every act of faith, nor in every true believer : For the actions of the soul, and es- pecially the springs, and the motives, and the designs of those actions, are so hidden, and so mingled with each other, that they are not all distinctly perceived even in the soul, where they are transacted. When the jailor cried out, IThat shall I do to be saved ? Acts xvi. 30. or when the poor man in the gospel, Mark ix. 24. said, _Lord, I believe ; help my unbelief ; there were a mul- titude of crowding thoughts and passions that produced and mingled with those ideas and expressions of fear and faith, which could never be distinctly apprehended and recounted by the persons that felt them. But this I say, that most, or all- the particulars I have mentioned, seem to be necessary in the very nature of a true and saving, faith in Christ, where the gospel is known and preached so clearly as it is in our times, and must be .pre supposed or involved, and secretly included, in the very act of believing unto eternal life. It is a commit- ting the soul to the care of Christ, from such motives, andwith such designs as I have described. This account of saving faith guards it against all the s2
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