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Or, if they are terrified at any time, and begin to doubt, O thou of little faith, wherefore dost thou doubt? or some such scripture, will quiet and hush all to sleep again. And thus, and after this sort, things go with them. And now out of such rotten hearts grow up all the Antinomian, Familistic, and Quakerish errors which have troubled the christian church. For they get their principles of religion, not out of the Bible, but out of their experiences; and are careful to cut out a scheme in their heads to suit the religion of their hearts: and because it suits them, therefore they firmly believe it. And because their scheme is not rational, and cannot bear to be examined by reason, therefore they cry down reason, and say it is carnal. And they cry down human learning; and the more ignorant, the more devout. And because their scheme is not contained in the scriptures, therefore they have no regard to the plain meaning of scripture, but turn all into allegories, and what they call the spiritual meaning; and so run into an hundred whims, such as best suit the temper of their hearts.

Now the great misery of this sort of hypocrites is, that notwithstanding all their terrors, yet they were never thoroughly convinced of their fallen, sinful, guilty, undone state by nature and, notwithstanding all their discoveries, yet they are still spiritually blind, and neither know God, nor themselves, nor Christ, nor the gospel-way of salvation by free grace through him and, notwithstanding all their confidence, and joy, and high religious frames, yet they are as destitute of faith, repentance, and holiness, as ever they were. And it is a LIE, which the father of lies has made them believe; which lies at the bottom of all their religion, and is the very foundation of it all. All their purest joy, and love, and zeal, arise from their faith. All their faith consists in believing that their sins are forgiven. And all the foundation which their faith is originally built upon, is an immediate revelation; the truth of which they dare not call in question, for fear of giving the lie to the Holy Spirit, from whom, they say, they know it came. But how could the spirit of God reveal it to them, that Christ loved them, and that their sins were forgiven, and hereby lay the foundation for their first act of faith, when, before the first act of faith, they were actually under condem

nation, the wrath of God, and the curse of the law? John iii. 18. 36. Gal. iii. 10. The thing revealed to them was not true; and therefore was not from God, but from the devil. Now this false revelation laid the foundation for their faith, and their faith laid the foundation for their joy, and for all their religion. A spiritual sight and divine sense of the great truths presupposed and revealed in the gospel, is the foundation of the godly man's faith and holiness; but a particular thing, no where revealed in the Bible, is their foundation; yea, a falsehood that is directly contrary to what the scriptures plainly teach. And yet, alas! they know they are right; they are, the say, as certain of it as they are of their own existence. How great is the power of delusion! How awful is the case of a poor creature forsaken of God! 2 Thes. ii. 10, 11, 12. The received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause, God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a LIE. That they all might be damned, who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. But to conclude:

From what has been said concerning the nature of a true faith and a genuine compliance with the gospel, we may not only see the falseness of these two sorts of faith, but also of all other counterfeits, which are almost in an endless variety. For between these two extremes of a legal and evangelical hypocrite, there lie a thousand by-paths, in which poor sinners wander to everlasting perdition; in the mean while, blessing themselves that they are neither Arminians nor Antinomians, nor deluded as such and such are; although they neither know God, nor themselves, nor Christ, nor the way of salvation through him; and really are as destitute of faith, repentance, and holiness, as the most deluded creature in the world.

SECTION VIII.

SHOWING WHAT IS IMPLIED IN THE EVERLASTING LIFE PROMISED TO BELIEVERS, AND HOW FAITH INTERESTS US IN CHRIST.

I am now, in the last place,

V. To consider the promise of everlasting life, which is, in the gospel, made to true believers. God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not PERISH, bat have EVERLASTING LIFE. In this everlasting life, is implied,

1. The everlasting love and favour of God. Whereas, by the disobedience of one, many were made sinners, and judgment came upon all to condemnation, by virtue of the original constitution with Adam, (Rom. v. 18, 19.) and whereas, by and according to the law of nature, the whole world stands guilty before God. (Rom. iii. 19.) Now, by virtue of a new constitution, established by the God of heaven, the great Governor of the world, called the gospel, or covenant of grace, it is appointed, and, as it were, confirmed by the broad seal of heaven, that any, whosoever they are, among all the guilty race of Adam, who fall in with this gospel-proposal, and venture their ALL upon this new plan; this new foundation; this precious corner-stone, Jesus Christ, the great Mediator between God and man, shall thenceforth stand free from that double condemnation, and be entitled unto the everlasting love and favour of God, the great Governor of the world. John iii. 18. Rom. v. 1, 2. Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ. By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

2. The other part of this everlasting life consists in, and results from, the everlasting indwelling of the Holy Spirit as a sanctifier. This, which Adam lost by the fall, is, upon our union with Christ, the second Adam, by virtue of this new constitution, restored, never to be lost any more. John vii 38. He that believeth on me, as the Scripture saith, out of his bel

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ly shall flow rivers of living water. Ver 39. This spake he of the spirit, which they that believe on him should receive. And therefore the gift of the Holy Ghost is, by the Apostles, (Acts ii. 38.) promised upon the condition of faith*. And, therefore, as God did, of old, dwell in the holy of holies in the Jewish temple, in the clould of glory, so now, henceforth, does he dwell in the believer's heart by his Holy Spirit, as a vital principle and spring of divine life there. John xv. 1. 5. And hence believers are called the temple of God. 1 Cor. iii. 17. The spirit of God is said to dwell in them. (Rom. viii. 9.) to lead them, (ver. 14.) to give them an everlasting freedom from the power of sin, (ver. 2.) so that sin shall not have dominion over them; Rom. vi. 14. and the water, (says Christ,) which I will give you, shall be in you a well of water springing up into everlasting life. John iv. 14.

It is plain, from the whole tenour of the gospel, that the everlasting love and favour of God, together with the everlasting indwelling of the Holy Spirit as a sanctifier, which are the two great things which a poor sinner wants, are the two great things promised in the covenant of grace. St. Paul, having explained the nature of the gospel-way of salvation by free grace through Jesus Christ, and shown that faith is the only condition of the new covenant, in the four first chapters of his epistle to the Romans, proceeds to show the benefits accruing to believers. And first, they are justified, and have peace with God, (chap. v.) Secondly, they are delivered from the power of sin. (chap. vi.) And although they are, in this life, continually in a state of spiritual conflict and warfare, (chap. vii.) yet they are influenced, and led, and governed by the spirit of God, which dwells in them. (chap. viii.) And

* From the nature of justifying faith, it is evident that regeneration must be prior to the first act of it; but although the sinner be regenerated by the gracious influences of the Holy Spirit before faith, yet it is after faith and union with Christ, that the soul has a covenant-right to the indwelling of the holy spirit; which covenant-right lays a foundation for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to be constant and everlasting; and this lays a foundation for an abiding principle and proper habit of grace. So that, although regeneration be before faith, yet a con、 firmed habit of grace is after. It results from our union with Christ. John xv. 1-5. And is in scripture promised upon the condition of faith. John v. 24 vii. 38.

now all things shall work for their good, and they shall be brought to glory at last. (ver. 28-39.) So again, see both these summed up in Heb. viii. 10, 11, 12. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts. And I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people. And they shall not teach every ‹ man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord; for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. Here is the everlasting indwelling of the Holy Spirit, together with what results therefrom. For I will be merciful unto their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. ver. 12. And here is the everlasting love and favour of God.

C

And now, seeing, by this new constitution, this covenant of grace, true believers are thus entitled to the everlasting love and favour of God, and to the everlasting indwelling of the Holy Spirit, as sanctifier, in the perfect enjoyment of both which, eternal life, in heaven, will consist; hence, therefore, they are said to have life, yea, to have eternal life, immediately upon their believing in Christ. 1 John v. 12. He

that hath the Son, hath LIFE. John iii. 36. He that believeth on the Son hath EVERLASTING LIFE. John v. 24. Hath EVERLASTING LIFE, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from DEATH unto LIFE. John 'xvii. 3. This is LIFE ETERNAL, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. Eternal life is begun in them, and heaven begins to dawn in their souls. And believers, being thus made the subjects of the everlasting love and favour of God, and of the everlasting indwelling of the Holy Spirit, are hence called the children of God. John i. 12. For God loves them as children, and they love him as a Father. And this filial frame of spirit, whereby they are disposed to reverence, fear, love, trust in, and obey God as a Father; live upon him, and live to him as a Father; I say, this filial frame of spirit is called the spirit of adoption, in opposition to that servile frame of spirit they used to be under the bondage of, before faith, and before they had received the Holy Ghost. Rom. viii. 15. For ye have not received the

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