Precious Faith Considered, Chapter 5
CHAP. V.
Reaſons proving the Eſſential nature of Faith, as the condition of the Goſpel, to conſiſt in an holy thorough dependant Self-reſignation.
THUS far of the nature of this Reſignation, as to its Objects, Ends and Adjuncts.
It remains that I lay down my reaſons, why I place the vitality and eſſential nature of faith, as it is the condition of the Goſpel, in ſuch a reſignation as is before deſcribed. And for this,
Firſt, That precious faith, which is the Evangelical condition, is more then a bare naked aſſent to the Goſpel-truth, and leſs then an aſſurance of love and pardon from God, wherefore it muſt needs be ſome middle thing between both, ſuch as Reſignation is. I ſhall endeavour to make good both propoſitions.
Firſt, Pretious faith is more then a bare naked aſſent to the Goſpel-truth. This will be clear by the enſuing conſiderations.
Firſt, A naked aſſent is but credere Deo, a believing Scriptural axiomes to be true; but pretious faith is a far nobler thing, and therefore very emphatically painted out in Scripture; in the Old Teſtament 'tis credere in Deum, a believing in Jehovah, Gen. 15.6. importing a fiducial act, 'tis a truſting in the Lord, Pſal. 2.12. where the Hebrew word imports a flying for refuge, a running under the wings of free-grace as chickens do under the hen; 'tis a leaning upon God, Iſa. 50.10. as not able to ſtand alone without a recumbency on mercy; 'tis a rolling our ſelves upon God, Pſal. 37.5. as weary and without reſt till we come to lodg in goodneſs; in the New Teſtament, 'tis foreign, a believing into Chriſt, very frequent in the Goſpel of St. John, a phraſe wholly the holy ſpirits, never found in any Greek Author, a bare aſſenter may believe about Chriſt, but the true believer believes into Chriſt, ſo as to be in neer union with him; 'tis a putting on of Chriſt, Rom. 13.14. the believer ſtrips himſelf of his luſts, nay and of his own righteouſneſs, to be inveſted with Chriſt; 'tis a receiving of Chriſt, Joh. 1.12. all Chriſt, merit and ſpirit, croſs and crown together, 'tis a faith which hath its being in God as its ultimate center, 1 Pet. 1.21. Scripture is but a medium, the ultimate object is God himſelf: All which imports of precious faith are much above the ſphear of a meer aſſent.
Secondly, Precious faith is the very condition of the Goſpel. God ſo loved the world, that he gave his only begotten ſon, that whoſoever believeth in him, ſhould not periſh, but have everlaſting life, Joh. 3.16. but a naked aſſent is not ſuch; that is required not only in the Goſpel, but in the moral Law too; and found not only in godly, but wicked men, nay, and in devils themſelves, who believe and tremble. It is true ſome Scriptures ſeem to lay much upon aſſent; thus we find, If thou ſhalt confeſs with thy mouth the Lord Jeſus, and ſhalt believe in thy heart, that God hath raiſed him from the dead, thou ſhalt be ſaved, Rom. 10.9. And, whoſoever believeth, that Jeſus is the Chriſt, is born of God, 1 Joh. 5.1. And, theſe things are written, that ye might believe that Jeſus is the Chriſt the Son of God, and that believing you might have life through his name, Joh. 20.31. But theſe places import not as if a naked aſſent were the ſull condition of Goſpel-grace, for then a man might be ſaved in his ſins, a man in arms againſt his maker might ſtand; Gods grace might embrace him whom his holineſs abhors, and Chriſt might ſive him who will not have him reign over him; light might be in communion with darkneſs, and Chriſt might have concord with Belial; all which are impoſſibles in themſelves, and incompoſſibles with the deſign of the Goſpel: but they intend ſuch an aſſent as is in conjunction with a true reſignation of the heart to the terms of the Goſpel. Corde credere, quad Deus eum excitaverit, eſt non mode aſſentiri hiſtoriae de excitato Jeſu, ſed & cert… cordis ſiduciſt beneficial mortis & reſurrectionis Chriſti amplecti, ſaith Reverend Parent on Rom. 10.9. whoſoever believeth that Jeſus is the Chriſt (namely, with ſuch a faith as is accompanied with all that which belongeth to a true faith) is born of God, ſo the Dutch Annotators on 1 Joh. 5.1. intelligendum eſt de ſide non qualicunque ſed actuoſa, ſaith Grotius on Joh. 20.31. The Learned Biſhop Downame ſaith,Covenant of Grace. P. 91. that aſſent is the very condition required in the promiſe of the Goſpel, but what an one is it? a true, willing, lively, effectual aſſent, ſuch an one as by which we receive Chriſt, not only in our judgments, but in our hearts and wills, acknowledging him for our Saviour, and reſting on him for ſalvation: Such an aſſent as this is no other then precious faith, but a naked aſſent is much below it.
Thirdly, Precious faith doth unite us unto Chriſt, and gives us a being in him: A believer from the firſt inſtant of faith is no longer in himſelf or the old Adam, but a man in Chriſt; hence the ſame royal robe of righteouſneſs which Chriſt hath upon himſelf, covers him alſo, which renders faith exceeding precious. George Prince of Anhalt was upon this account much delighted with this ſimilitude, As the ring is highly prized for the diamond in it, ſo faith juſtifies us for the pearl of price, the Son of God, whom it apprehends; the believer is found in Chriſt, not having his own righteouſneſs, which is of the Law, but that which is through the faith of Chriſt, Phil. 3.9. Hence alſo the very ſame ſpirit of holineſs which is upon Chriſt in heaven above meaſure, falls down upon the believer according to meaſure; a piece of bread is a poor imnimate thing in it ſalt, but when by digeſtion it comes into the body and is tranſubſtantiated into fleſh, there is an humane ſpirit in it; a man before faith is an earthly carnal thing, but as ſoon as by faith he becomes a member of Chriſt, a piece as it were of his fleſh and of his bones, he hath another ſpirit in him, even the ſame with Chriſt; Chriſt above and he below, and the ſame ſpirit in both: a great myſtery, ſuch as a naked aſſent cannot reach unto: he that hath no more is but a glaſs eye, or wooden leg in the body of Chriſt, or rather he is not at all in it, but outwardly tied to it by a name and form of knowledge, without any part in the righteouſneſs or ſpirit of Chriſt.
Fourthly, By virtue of its union with Chriſt, Precious faith bears many excellent fruits, it uſhers in a ſpiritual life into the ſoul; that of the Prophet, the juſt ſhall live by his faith, thrice quoted by St. Paul in the New Teſtament, is exempliſied in every believer; but he that hath but a naked aſſent, though with a goodly ſtructure of Evangclical truths ſtanding upon it, is but a dead man, and his notions, like the Egyptian Pyramides, are but monuments for the dead. Again, it brings down pardon of ſin into the ſoul. whoſoever believeth in him (that is, in Chriſt) ſhall receive remiſſion of ſins, Acts 10.43. but a naked aſſent leaves a man as faſt in the … of guilt as ever before. Moreover, it purifies, the heart, and quenches the fiery darts of Satan, it carries out the duſt and rubbiſh out of the heart, and makes it a ſanctuary or holy place for God, and if Satan come and let fly his temptations, it beats them off from the ſoul. Thus Bucer when in his ſickneſs he was admoniſhed to arm himſelf againſt Satan, anſwered, in Chriſto ſum, nihil habeo cum diabolo commune, I am in Chriſt, and have nothing in common with Satan; but where there is only a naked aſſent, the holy truths going no further then the Underſtanding, the Will is left in the mire and pollution of its luſts, and is ready, as ſoon as the tempter comes, to join with his ſeducing proffers.
Thus far of the firſt propoſition, that faith is more then a naked aſſent.
Secondly, The ſecond propoſition is, That faith is leſs then an aſſurance of love and pardon from God; only we muſt firſt diſtinguiſh between faith in the root and faith in the flower; between faith in the loweſt ſtature, and faith in its full-grown perfections. That aſſurance which the infant faith cannot reach, the fullgrown faith may arrive at; which I ſuppoſe was the reaſon that thoſe prime Reformers Luther and Calvin, and after them Beza and Zanchy, with many others, did define faith by a plerophory or full perſwaſion of Gods love, they being themſelves in the joys of faith, drew its picture not according to the infant model, but the perfect lineaments thereof, as they found them in themſelves, ſo they held them out to the world. Again, we muſt diſtinguiſh between ſeminal aſſurance and actual; an infant faith hath ſeminal aſſurance, light is ſown for the righteous, Pſal. 97.11. but the crop of comfort doth not immediately ſpring up, the weakeſt believer is heir to all the joys of heaven, only he doth not preſently know his title, he hath not ordinarily actual aſſurance at the very firſt; I ſay, not ordinarily, for we muſt not limit the holy one, who by his royal prerogative may let in the ſweet ſenſe of his love in the firſt inſtant of believing. Theſe diſtinctions premiſed, the meaning of the propoſition is, That faith in its loweſt meaſure, which is the condition of the Goſpel, doth not eſſentially include aſſurance. And this I ſhall manifeſt by the enſuing conſiderations.
Firſt, All true believers have not aſſurance. Scripture and experience manifeſt it; there are Lambs which are gathered into the arms and laid in the boſome of free-grace, yet know not where they are. There are little ones, babes in Chriſt, which can only hang upon the breaſt, and are not grown up into the reflections and joys of faith; the poor in ſpirit, the mourners, the hungry and thirſty after righteouſneſs, mentioned in the fifth chapter of Matthew, are all of them true believers, bleſſed ones, and heirs of the promiſes, and yet all of them are without any glimpſe of aſſurance; the poor in ſpirit, all in rags of unworthineſs and ſelfnothingneſs, as if he had no title to the kingdom; the mourners weeping and deſolate, like Hagar in the wilderneſs with her bottle ſpent, as if there were no Well of comfort near them; the hungry and thirſty, like men in a famine, drooping and fainting away in fits of ſoul-emptineſs, as if there were no ſuch thing as hidden Manna for them. It is very obſervable in the Canticles, that Chriſt takes notice of the tender grape juſt at its firſt appearing; the very firſt opening or budding forth of faith is welcom to him; if the wine be but in the cluſter, if there be but faith in deſire, Chriſt ſaith, deſtroy it not, the bleſſing of Abraham is in it, out of this little grain of muſtard-ſeed heaven will grow, in this ſmoking ſlax there's a divine ſpark, though the ſmoak of doubts and temptations muffle it up in obſcurity, it will break out at laſt into ſlames of love and joy; in the infant-believers aſſurance is not to be expected, becauſe of their primordial weakneſs; and in well-grown believers it may be ſuſpended, becauſe of Gods infinite ſoveraignty in the diſpenſing thereof as he pleaſeth. Cruciger on his death-bed prayed thus, Invoco te Domine languidâ & imbecillâ ſide, ſed ſide tamen, Lord, I call upon thee with a weak and languiſhing faith, but yet with a faith. Pious Juſtus Jonas, who was preſent with Luther at his death, and took as it were his laſt breath into his boſome, was in his own ſickneſs ſainting and cold-hearted, till a ſervant of his rubbed him up with ſome comforts out of the Goſpel, Holy Bayn ſaith of himſelf, I thank God, ſuſtentation in Chriſt I have, and ſome little ſtrength, ſuavities ſpiritual I taſt not any: even the choice ſervants of God may walk in darkneſs and ſee little or no light, their light may be like that in the Prophet, Zach. 14.6. neither clear nor dark, they may live in crepuſculo in a kind of twilight, in a mixture of light and darkneſs.
Secondly, Faith goeth before juſtification, but aſſurance followeth after it. Faith goeth before juſtification. Scripture is expreſs in it, by him all that believe are juſtified, Acts 13.39. with the heart man believeth unto righteouſneſs, Rom. 10.10. the righteouſneſs of God is upon all them that believe, Rom. 3.22. we have believed in Jeſus Chriſt that we might be juſtified, Galat. 2.16. might juſtification go before faith, it were poſſible that a man might be ſaved in his ſins, a child of wrath might be in the arms of divine love, a captive of Satan might be a ſon of God, a man out of Chriſt might be juſtified in him; all which are impoſſible, but aſſurance follows after juſtification, juſtification is neceſſarily preſuppoſed to aſſurance; for to believe my ſins forgiven, that they may be forgiven is abſurd; to believe my ſins forgiven before they be forgiven, is falſe; to believe my ſins forgiven becauſe I believe ſo, is vain and fooliſh. Remiſſion muſt firſt he, before it can be manifeſted to be, it muſt firſt be granted out of the Court of heaven, before there can be any true Copy of it in conſcience, unleſs we allow a diſtinction between a faith of reſignation before, and a faith of aſſurance after juſtification, we cannot poſſibly deal with the Romaniſts. Bellarmine ſpeaking of that ſpecial faith whereby a man believes himſelf juſt before God in and through Chriſt, puts this Quaere; De notis Eccleſiae. l. 4. c. 11.Cum incipio credere me eſſe juſtum, vel ſum juſtus, vel injuſtus, ſi juſtus, non juſtificor per fidem banc, quia iſta fides poſterior meâ juſtitiâ, ſi injuſtus, iſta fides eſt falſa, when I begin to believe my ſelf juſt, am I juſt or unjuſt, if juſt, I am not juſtified by this faith which is after my righteouſneſs, if unjuſt, this faith is falſe; neither is there any imaginable way to diſſolve this knot regularly, without ſuch a diſtinction between faith as antecedent to juſtification, and faith as conſequent.
Thirdly, Faith juſtifieth us in foro Dei, before God, aſſurance juſtifieth us in foro conſcientiae, in our feeling, and declaratively only. Faith juſtifies us before God; all thoſe expreſſions in St. Paul touching juſtification by faith, are meant of a juſtification before God. I ſhall name but one or two, that no man is juſtified by the Law in the ſight of God, is evident; for, the juſt ſhall live by faith, Gal. 3.11. the juſtification before God, here denied to the Law, is attributed to faith. And again, a man is not juſtified by the works of the Law, but by the faith of Jeſus Chriſt, Gal. 2.16. He doth not ſay, faith declares a man juſtified, for that even the excluded works may do, but ſaith juſtifies: Faith ?uts on Chriſt and his righteouſneſs, aſſurance only bears witneſs that the wedding garment is on: Faith waits at the footſtool of free-grace to have a pardon ſealed in heaven, aſſurance copies it out and proclaims it in conſcience; unleſs we admit this diſtinction, we open the flood-gates to Antinomianiſm.
Fourthly, Faith is a permanent thing, an immortal ſeed which never dies, it is built upon the rock of ages, and cannot be moved, it hangs upon an infallible word, the leaſt jot or tittle thereof cannot fall to the ground, it is fed with an everlaſting ſpring, the holy ſpirit being in the believer as a well of water ſpringing up to eternal life, but aſſurance is tranſient; now the believer hath nothing but wine and honycombs of grace, and a little after he hath a cup of gall and wormwood; now a ſheet full of celeſtial joys and comforts is let down to him, and then all is taken up into heaven again: he is much like Joſeph, ſometimes in the coat of many colours, in the viſible badges of his fathers love, and anon ſtript and caſt into the pit; like poor Heman, free among the dead, and laid in darkneſs, he is a ſpiritual Heliotrope, who is all day in heavenly amours, wheeling and turning about to the light of Gods countenance, and anon, when night approaches, contracts his leaves and hangs down his head, till there be another Sun; it the effence of faith be in aſſurance, the believer ſtands, as it were upon a ſea of glaſs, in a very lubricous condition, 'tis well with him whileſt he hath the light of Gods countenance, whileſt Gods ſpirit bears witneſs to his, that he is a child of God; but what if God withdraw and retire as it were into his unapproachable light? what if the crannies of the heart be all ſhut up, ſo that neither the ſunny beams of Gods favour, nor yet the ſtarry graces in the heart can appear? what if the arch-enemy Satan come with thoſe inſtruments of death, the threatnings, and rake in the old wounds of ſin, and join the darkneſs of temptation to the darkneſs of corruption in the believer, to cauſe, if it were poſſible, utter darkneſs? muſt he be an Apoſtate, a caſtaway, a man fallen from grace? God forbid. St. Bernard, ſpeaking of the manifeſtation of Gods love, cries out, Rara hora, brovis mora, O ſi durâſſet! it is a rare hour, but a ſhort ſtay, Oh that it would continue with me! the believers ſtanding is not in it, but in his union with Chriſt; this was notably exemplified to us in Chriſt, when he cried out, My God, My God, why haſt thou forſaken me, Math. 27.46. the hypoſtatical union was not diſſolved, but the preſent viſion ſubſtracted; in like manner the believer, the man in Chriſt, when in deſertions and temptations, hath a ſure conjunction with Chriſt, even whileſt there is a ſuſpenſion of comforts; unleſs we own this diſtinction, we cannot maintain the doctrine of perſeverance againſt the Remonſtrants.
Fifthly, Faith is the firſt-born of all graces, and leads the van to all the reſt, it is the mother-grace, and as it were teems out all other graces; and no wonder, for it unites us to Chriſt, out of whoſe fulneſs we receive grace for grace, and into whoſe image we are changed from glory to glory as by the ſpirit of the Lord, but aſſurance follows after faith and all other graces. This will be evident, if we conſider the manner how aſſurance is produced; it is not an Enthuſiaſm, a voice, an internal locution, ſpeaking to the heart ſome ſuch words as theſe, thou art in Gods favour, or thy ſins are forgiven, or thou art a ſon of God; no, it is in another way, the holy ſpirit doth ſo irradiate the heart in its reflections, and all the pretious graces lodging there, that it plainly appears, that the grace of God is there of a truth; as it was with the blind man in the Goſpel, when his eyes were opened he could look abroad in the world and ſay, here's the earth, and there's the ſea, and yonder's the Sun, Moon and Stars, ſenſibly pointing from one creature to another: ſo it is with the believer, when he is irradiated by the holy ſpirit, he can look into his own heart and experimentally ſay, this is the pretious faith, and that is the love in incorruption, and the other is the meekneſs of wiſdom, and ſo go over all the parts of the new creature formed within him, or at leaſt over ſuch, or ſo many of them as may aſſure him that he is in a ſtate of grace. This is the way of aſſurance, firſt there is a conſtellation of faith and other graces in the heart, then theſe graces irradiated by the holy ſpirit ſend forth a kind of ſplendor, which the ſoul reflecting on it ſelf, taking up, it comes to attain aſſurance, well knowing that ſuch and ſuch things accompany ſalvation, and import no leſs then a Divine favour; notable is that of St. Paul, in whom after ye believed, ye were ſealed with the holy ſpirit of promiſe, Eph. 1.13. Mark, after ye believed; firſt there muſt be faith, and the train of graces attend thereon, and then comes the ſeal of the ſpirit of promiſe, the ſame ſpirit which endited the promiſes in the word, comes and ſeals them on the heart; whereas in the word there are ſuch promiſes made to faith and love and holineſs, the irradiating ſpirit plainly diſcovers that faith and that love and that holineſs to be indeed in the heart, and ſo ſeals up the promiſes to the believer in particular, as if it had expreſly ſaid, this or that promiſe belongs to thee. Hence the believer ſo ſealed may ſay of the promiſes, as Origen did of thoſe Scriptures which did much affect him, haec eſt Scriptura mea, this promiſe is mine, and that promiſe is mine; nay, all the Land of promiſe, as much as I can ſet my foot on, is mine own. There are three ſeals to the promiſes, firſt God ſeals them for true in the blood of his own Son, in whom all of them are Yea and Amen; then man ſeals them for true by faith, he that believeth, ſets to his ſeal that God is true; and then again God ſeals them for true to the believer in particular by his irradiating ſpirit. Faith then goes before all other graces, but aſſurance comes after them, as being no other then the clear evidence of their true exiſtence in the ſoul. Unleſs we allow this diſtinction, we gratifie the Enthuſiaſts, who declaim againſt all marks of grace as legal things, and ſandy foundations.
Sixthly, Faith ſtands upon the word of God purely, totally and entirely. In point of expectation, it will not look without a word of promiſe; in point of obedience, it will not ſtir a foot without a word of command; in point of doctrine, it will not lend an ear without a word of inſtruction. Hence Reverend Calvin ſaith,Inſt. l. 3. c. 2. Perpetuam eſſe fidei revelationem cum verbo, nec magis ab eo poſſe divelli, quàm radios à Sole, unde oriuntur. Faith hath a perpetual relation to the word, and can no more be ſundred from it then the beams from the Sun, from whom they ariſe, ſhould it be ſundred from it, it would loſe its nature, and ceaſe to be faith; but aſſurance doth not ſtand ſo purely, totally and entirely upon the word: this is alſo manifeſt by the manner of attaining aſſurance, that is not made axiomatically in an Enthuſiaſtical way, as if there were an inward voice, ſaying, thou art juſtified, but diſcourſively, and after ſome ſuch manner as in this practical Syllogiſm, Whoſoever believeth, his ſins are forgiven, but I believe, Ergo, my ſins are forgiven. Here the concluſion, which imports aſſurance in it, ſtands upon two propoſitions; the Major is meerly grounded upon the word, but the Minor ſtands upon ſpiritual ſenſe and experience cauſed by the holy ſpirit irradiating the ſoul in its reflections upon its own eſtate; therefore aſſurance which is comprized in the concluſion, doth not ſtand ſo meerly upon the word as faith doth: Thus the Learned Pemble, ſpeaking of that Syllogiſm, ſaith, the major is of faith, the minor of ſenſe and experience. And the concluſion of both, but chiefly of faith, as it follows on the premiſes by infallible argumentation; and partly of ſenſe, as it is founded on the inward experience of Gods grace working upon our ſouls. What the doctrine of Faith is, is to be ſought in Bibles, but whether there be a particular act of faith or not, ſuch as is comprized in the minor, Com. R m. 8. cap.muſt be looked for in the heart. Fides non creditur, ſed habetur & ſentitur in corde, ſaith Learned Pareus, Faith is not believed, but had and felt in the heart. Actus reflexivus in ipſam fidem, quo credo me credere, non eſt ipſa fides, ſed potiùs ſenſus fidei, Loc. Com. 689.ſaith Maccovius, The reflexive act, whereby I know that I believe, is not properly faith, but the ſenſe of it. But you will ſay, if the minor ſtands upon ſenſe and experience, how can the concluſion, which imports aſſurance, be de fide? And Bellarmine argues thus.D. juſtificat l. 3. c. 8. Nothing can be certain with a certainty of faith, unleſs it be conteined in the word of God, upon which if it lean not, it is not faith, but that ſuch or ſuch a man is juſtified in particular, is not conteined in the word, neither can it be deduced from thence; for then I muſt argue thus, the word ſaith, All that truly turn to God ſhall find mercy, but I do truly turn to him, therefore I am ſure of mercy, in which the minor is not in the word. By the way we may obſerve what an excellent foundation the Jeſuite layes for his diſputation, Fides non eſt, niſi verbi divini auctoritate nitatur, that is not faith, which is not bottomed on the authority of the divine word. Oh rare! if this were believed, what would become of Popery? What of all the hay and ſtubble of their vain Traditions? Why do they play the wily Gibeonites with their old bottles and clowted ſhoes, obtruding their unwritten verities and mouldy cuſtoms upon the Church of God? I can be aſſured of no Religion, which is not founded on Scripture. But for anſwer, The certainty of the Doctrine of Faith, which reſpects the whole Church, is to be found in the Scripture; but the certainty of an act of Faith, which is in a particular man, is to be found in the heart by ſpiritual ſenſe and experience; and ſo in Bellarmines minor, the certainty of my turning to God ſtands not upon the word, but upon ſpiritual ſenſe and experience; yet nevertheleſs the concluſion, which imports aſſurance, is de fide; for every concluſion is ſo, which ſtands upon one propoſition contained in Scripture, and upon another gathered from ſenſe or experience, as the caſe is in all ſuch practical Syllogiſms: yet withall, as I ſaid at firſt, the concluſion doth not ſtand ſo entirely on Scripture as a direct act of faith doth.
Seventhly, Faith is more purely faith then aſſurance is. In faith we look off from our ſelves; thus the Apoſtle, foreign, looking off from our ſelves unto Jeſus Chriſt, Hebr. 12.2. but in aſſurance we look into our ſelves, by reflecting on our own eſtate. Whileſt faith goes out of ſelf, and hangs upon free-grace in one promiſe or other; aſſurance is at home, telling over its riches, and faring delitiouſly every day in the love of God: in faith there is nothing but meer dependance, but in aſſurance there is a mixture of ſenſe. If a poor man in his rags and extremities leave himſelf upon God for daily bread, as having nothing, and yet poſſeſſing all things in the promiſe, his faith is more purely faith then the rich mans is, who hath creaturecomforts flowing about him and running in at every ſenſe. If one poor in ſpirit, in the midſt of his wants and ſpiritual neceſſitles caſt himſelf upon free-grace; it is more meer faith then for one to ſit under aſſurance with pots of Manna and ſpiritual flagons round about him. When Jacob heard the report of a living Joſeph, and put himſelf upon the chariots ſent for him, it was nothing but meer belief, but when he ſaw Joſephs face, his eyes were witneſſes of the thing: when a man that walketh in darkneſs and ſeeth no light, will yet hang on the report of a Jeſus, and put himſelf upon the chariot of the promiſes, it is nothing elſe but pure faith; but when he comes to ſee the light of Gods face, and in it a piece of the heavenly viſion, it is not all faith, but faith and ſight together.
Thus far of the ſecond propoſition, that faith is leſs then aſſurance: In which phraſe I intend not a compariſon between them in point of dignity, but only that pretious faith, ſuch as is the condition of the Goſpel, may really be where the garland of aſſurance is not ſuperadded; as a King is really a King before his Coronation, ſo faith is really faith before it be crowned with the ſenſe of Gods love.
Theſe two propoſitions made good, I come at laſt to gather up my firſt reaſon: Faith is more then a naked aſſent to the Goſpel, and leſs then an aſſurance of love and pardon from God; therefore it muſt needs be ſome middle thing between both, ſuch as reſignation is. Let us put another practical Syllogiſm;
Whoſoever believeth, ſhall be ſaved. But I believe. Ergo, I ſhall be ſaved. the major propoſition is the object of aſſent, the concluſion is an act of aſſurance, but the minor or middle propoſition is an act of faith or reſignation: Reſignation includes aſſent, and, which is more, it yields up the ſoul to the terms of the Goſpel, but it doth not immediately arrive at aſſurance, as it was with Jacob, when he heard his mothers counſel touching the bleſſing; between his aſſent to the counſel, and his audible hearing the bleſſing pronounced on him, there was a putting on the garments of his elder brother; ſo it is with the believer, when his heavenly Father offers him the Evangelical bleſſing, between his aſſent and his aſſurance of the bleſſing, there is a putting on the robe of Chriſts rightcouſneſs: a meer aſſentor hath as it were but the ſight of his eyes, in looking on the rich treaſures of the Goſpel; a young believer hath a real title thereunto; and a man of aſſmance over and above his title, is able to bring his evidences and read them to his comfort.
Secondly, That faith conſiſts in reſignation, will appear from the way which God uſes in the working of faith. God works it in a way of perſwaſion, God ſhall perſwade Japheth, and he ſhall dwell in the tents of Shem, Gen. 9.27. that is, in the Church of God, where the true Shem, the name of Godis. When God comes with his Almighty Oratory and ſpeaks to the heart, perſwading, dwell not O man any lorger at home, in thy will or righteouſneſs, come into Shem, into my Name, into my mercy by a true recumbence, into my holineſs by a cordial obedientialneſs, and by the ſweet ſtrains of free-grace the man is charmed into a ſurrender of himſelf unto the Divine call, then there is ſaith indeed. Hence believers in Scripture are called perſwaded ones; And ſome of them believed, Act. 17.4. in the Original it is,foreign And ſome of them were perſwaded; and on the contrary, unbelievers are called the unperſwadeable ones, ver. 5.foreign … ſuch as will not ſuffer themſelves to be perſwaded. Faith is called perſwaſion, foreigna yielding to the true Suada, the ſpirit and wiſdom of God, none ever ſpake or taught like him; and unbelief is called an unperſwadethleneſs or contumacy,foreign it contradicts and blaſphemes at the ſweet compellations of free-grace, if not outwardly, as thoſe wretches, Act. 18. 6. yet inwardly, for it gives God the lye, 1 Joh. 5.10. Again, God works it in the evidence and demonſtration of the ſpirit; thus the Apoſtle ſaith, His preaching was in the demonſtration of the ſpirit and power, 1 Cor. 2.4. and then, as a ſweet fruit thereof, follows faith ſtanding in the power of God in the very next verſe; when the ſpirit comes in its divine Logick, and demonſtratively points out, this is the true Jeſus, that is the very Goſpel, and here is the only way of ſalvation, and the pure light and evidence preſſes in ſo far upon the man, that, like one under a clear demonſtration, he is out-reaſoned, and cannot ſay nay to it, but yields and delivers up himſelf to the Goſpel, to be moulded and caſt into the holy figure thereof, then there is true faith wrought in him. Hence faith is ſometimes ſet out by ſilence in Scripture, truly my ſoul waiteth on God, Pſal. 62.1. or as it is in the Hebrew, my ſoul is ſilent to God; when the truth comes in the clear evidence and demonſtration of the ſpirit, the ſoul is ſilent, let God ſay what he will, the ſoul contradicts not, but keeps an holy ſilence, ſcaling and ſubſcribing to the truth and goodneſs of God in every thing. Moreover, God works it in the power of ſpiritual arms, caſting down ſtrong holds, and captivating thoughts to the obedience of Chriſt, 2 Cor. 10.4, 5. when God comes to the heart, which naturally is as a ſtrong City, full of forts and towers of pride, and by unbelief barred and faſt locked up againſt all holy truths, and layes a cloſe ſpiritual ſiege to it, and ſhuts it up under ſin and wrath, and makes inward batteries upon the forts and towers thereof, and the trumpet of the word ſounds louder and louder in conſcience, till the curſed walls fall down, and the everlaſting gates be opened to the Lord of glory, and the heart ſurrender up it ſelf with all its thoughts, as a willing priſoner to thoſe Goſpel-truths which before it impriſoned in unrighteouſneſs, then there is precious faith indeed; the heart, which before was ſhut up, now opens it ſelf to the truth, as we ſee in Lydia, Acts 16.14. When the Genoeſe vanquiſhed the Venetians in a ſea-ſight, and took the Iſland of Chioggia, the Venetian Senate ſent them a blank Charter, bidding them write down their own conditions, and they would accept thereof; when God by his word and ſpirit makes a conqueſt on the heart, and it yields up it ſelf as a blank for him to write all his wills and pleaſures in, then there is true faith wrought in the ſoul.
Thirdly, That faith ſtands in reſignation, will appear from the titles given unto faith in Scripture. 'Tis a leaning or rolling upon God, Cant. 8.5. Pſal. 37.5. which are poſtures of reſignation; the believer doth not ſtand upon his own bottom, nor bear up his own weight, but layes all upon God. 'Tis a committing ones ſelf to God, 2 Tim. 1.12. which is an act of reſignation; a believer pawns his ſoul to God, and as a pawn he leaves it upon God, as the expreſſion is, Pſal. 10.14. well knowing that it cannot be in a ſurer hand, as it were going out of the poſſeſſion of himſelf, that he may be altogether in the cuſtody of God. 'Tis a ſubmitting to the righteouſneſs of God, Rom. 10.3. which is the reſignation of a ſubject to his Prince; a believer caſts off his own righteouſneſs as rags, and will be under no other righteouſneſs but Chriſts. 'Tis a caſting our burden on the Lord, Pſal. 55. a believer finds ſins and wants too weighty for him to bear, and he throws off all upon God, who is able to pardon and ſupply him. In the Old Teſtament we have it called a truſting in God, and in the New a believing in Chriſt; a believer is not, as Adam, his own truſtee, he hath not his eſtate in his own hands, but all in a way of dependance upon God. Moreover, it is called a giving ones ſelf unto the Lord, 2 Cor. 8.5. a reſigning up the property a man hath in himſelf, that Chriſt may be all in all: A believer as to his being is not a man in himſelf, but a man in Chriſt; as to his living, it is not he that liveth, but Chriſt in him; and as to his working, it is not he that labours, but the grace of God with him; and to name but one more, it is a reſting on God, 2 Chron. 14.11. a believer is not at reſt in himſelf, or the creature, but under perpetual toſſings and fluctuations, till he come to lay himſelf ſtedfaſtly upon God, as the Center of ſouls, and Sabbath of eternal reſt.
Fourthly, That faith ſtands in reſignation, may appear from the obſtacles of faith. Look what of ſin is an obſtacle to reſignation, is alſo an obſtacle to faith, and what of ſin may conſiſt with reſignation, may alſo conſiſt with faith. For the clear underſtanding whereof, I muſt firſt premiſe ſome diſtinctions; there is original ſin and actual, there is actual ſin known and unknown, there is actual ſin of meer infirmity and incurſion, and actual ſin which hath will and deliberation in it; there is actual ſin in one ſingle act, and actual ſin in a ſeries and ſucceſſion of acts. Theſe diſtinctions premiſed, I ſhall lay down this point in divers propoſitions.
Firſt, The meer in-being of original ſin doth not impede reſignation, and conſequently it doth not impede faith: whatever the actual outflowings of it may do while the oriſice of luſt is open, the meer in-being of it doth not impede, is is an inmate in the heart; when the firſt work of faith is wrought there, only God by his Almighty grace doth ſuſpend and bridle it that it doth not put forth, but lye hid in its own root: Thus ſay our famous Divines in the Synod of Dort, touching converſion; Divina haec actio non laedit voluntatis libertatem, neque tamen extirpat radicitùs vitioſam reſiſtendi poſſibilitatem, quamvis enim Deus in ipſo regenerationis opere adeo potenter in voluntatem agat, ut actualiter reſiſtendi potentia proxima pro illo tempore ſuſpendatur, remotam tamen & in actu prima poſitam reſiſtendi potentiam ne tum funditus extirpat, ſed in ſuâ amarâ radice deliteſcere permittit. God layes the precious foundation of faith and the new-creature, as it were in mighty waters, in the very ſame heart in which there is a fountain of ſin; only he doth as thoſe that build upon great Rivers do, put back the fountain to make room for the heavenly ſtructure, which is ſet up in the heart in a very wonderful way, as the ſtones were in Jordan, corruptions, as the waters of that river, ſtanding on an heap on this ſide, and as it were cut off on that, whileſt free-grace is a doing the great work. On the other ſide, the indulgence of original ſin doth impede reſignation, and by conſequence faith: A man that foothes up the old man and earthly members, and upon the view of his heart returns omnia benè, all is well as it is, the heart is good enough, cannot, whileſt ſuch, believe; and why? to believe is to reſign, and why or how ſhould he reſign to Chriſt for grace, who feels no want? ſuch an one really poor but opinionatively rich, turns off all the rich offers of grace, as Eſau did Jacobs preſent, I have enough, and goes away empty from all the treaſures of Chriſt.
Secondly, All unknown actual ſins are not obſtacles to reſignation, and ſo are not obſtacles to faith. Who can underſtand his errors? Pſal. 19.12. who ſo knowing as to know his intellectual errors? It hath been obſerved by ſome Papiſts, that there are above 200 errors in the Commentaries of Cardinal Cajetan, Dr. Reynolds de libr. Apoc.in the Maſter of the ſentences, whom the Papiſts extol as more worth then one hundred Luthers, two hundred Melanctons, three hundred Bullingers, four hundred Martyrs, five hundred Calvins, they have yet noted more then twenty erroneous Articles, unto which they add this, hic Magiſter non tenetur; who ſo holy as to underſtand his practical errors? no man ever ſearched the gulf of corruption in his own heart to the bottom, no man ever fully meaſured the breadth of the pure Law; there are in the beſt reliques of ſelf-love which cover a multitude of ſins, blinds of cuſtom, which hinder the ſight of ſin; what with carnal profits which blow duſt into our eyes, and what with carnal pleaſures, which, becauſe brutiſh and beſtial, hinder reflection; there is a great deal of ſin unſeen to us, which is plain to the pure eyes of God. On the other ſide, where unknown ſins are obſtacles to reſignation, they are alſo obſtacles to faith; of which I ſhall give ſome inſtances. Some unknown ſins are therefore unknown becauſe they ariſe out of an Abyſs of darkneſs, out of a groſs ignorance of fundamentals in the heart, and ſo in reſpect of their origine are inconſiſtent with faith, whoſe origine is light, ſuch ignorant ones cannot reſign; ſin to them, becauſe unknown, is no burden; holineſs to them, becauſe unknown, is no beauty; Chriſt and grace to them, becauſe unknown, are no attractives; and how can they reſign? reſign recumbentially they cannot, for they know not the promiſes; reſign obedientially they cannot, for they know not the precepts; reſign in an humble docibleneſs they cannot, for they know not ſo much as their want of knowledge. Again, ſome ſins, though unknown, carry in the matter of them a direct repugnancy to reſignation and ſo to faith. For inſtance, every man hath ſome natural Popery in his heart, he would be juſtified by a righteouſneſs of his own. The Jews being asked, whether they believed to be ſaved by Chriſts righteouſneſs, made this anſwer, every fox muſt pay his own skin to the flayer, every man muſt ſtand upon his own righteouſneſs; he that doth thus, need not, cannot reſign to Chriſts righteouſneſs: he need not, for why ſhould he go out of doors for a righteouſneſs which he hath within in his own heart; and he cannot, for juſtification by our own righteouſneſs and juſtification by Chriſts are contraries, and ſo are a dependance on our own righteouſneſs for juſtification, and a dependance on Chriſts for it. Hence the Jews, when they went about, though ignorantly, to eſtabliſh their own righteouſneſs, could not believe, they ſubmitted not themſelves to the righteouſneſs of God, ſaith the Apoſtle, Rom. 10.3. their own unreſigned righteouſneſs kept them from believing, as being in the very matter of it contrary thereunto. Moreover, ſome ſins, which may not be known for fins in the matter of them, may yet be darlings, Delilahs, and as the Hebrew word imports, exhauſters, ſuch as drain out the very marrow of the heart; I mean, the prime love, choice deſire, and ſupream delight thereof. Theſe in reſpect of their intimate conjunction with the ſoul are barrs to reſignation, and ſo to faith. How can ye believe which receive honour one of another? ſaith our Saviour, Job. 5.44. their darling vain-glory made their believing impoſſible: After the ſame manner all lawful things, when once they are ſet up as Idols in the heart, and the love and the joy dance before them, are obſtacles to faith; thus we find, They would not come to the marriage-ſupper of the Goſpel; and why? their darling farms and merchandiſe kept them away, Math. 22.5. Haec vincula, hae catenae quae carnales conſtringunt; theſe are the bonds and the chains which keep men from reſignation, and the more dangerouſly, becauſe they lie inviſible and hid among the ſtuſt of our lawful things. Chriſt and earthly things (ſaith a Great Divine) come often in competition, in every unjuſt gain, Chriſt and a bribe; in every oath, Chriſt and a blaſphemy; in every ſinful faſhion, Chriſt and a rag or excrement; in every piece of vain-glory, Chriſt and a blaſt; in every intemperance, Chriſt and a vomit: whatever the thing be in it ſelf, lawful or ſinful, as ſoon as it becomes the Idol of the heart, it proves an obſtacle to faith.
Thirdly, All known actual ſins are not abſolute barrs to reſignation, and ſo not to faith: there are peccata quotidianae incurſionis, ſins of meer infirmity, ſuch as are not the proper formal iſſues of deliberation, but the inevitable effluviums of humane frailty; theſe may be in a man, and may be known to be in him, and yet through grace he may reſign, notwithſtanding theſe black moats ſlying round about him, his faith may look up to the mercy-ſeat; on the other ſide, known actual ſin iſſuing out of deliberation, if it be but in one ſingle act, doth, whileſt it is acting, put a barr to reſignation, and ſo to faith, for that ſingle act is rebellion, and how can a man, whileſt he is knowingly in arms againſt God, reſign? it is as the ſin of witchcraft, 1 Sam. 15.25. and how can a man, who is virtually in covenant with the devil, enter into terms with God? that faith is not truly recumbential, which is not alſo obediential, neither doth it, can it, indeed lean upon Gods grace, whileſt his holineſs is rejected. And if ſuch known deliberate ſin in one ſingle act put a bar to faith, much more will it do ſo when it is in a courſe and ſeries of ſucceſſive rebellions. Thus St. John ſaith, whoſoever ſinneth, that is, makes a trade and runs a courſe of known ſin, hath not ſeen him, that is, Jeſus Chriſt, who was manifeſted to take away ſin, 1 Joh. 3.6. ſuch an one, though never ſo full of Scriptural notions, never yet ſaw a crucified Chriſt by faith, never yet looked upon the right mercy-ſeat, never yet ſet foot on the precious promiſes of the Goſpel; Chriſt and Belial cannot be in concord, for Chriſt is a holy Chriſt, a Chriſt upon his throne, and the trader in ſin is a man of Belial, a man (as the Hebrew word imports) abſque jugo, who caſts off the holy yoke from his heart and life.
Fifthly, That faith ſtands in reſignation, may appear from the act of reſignation made by faith. Faith in Enoch reſigned up his life, and in a ſpiritual ſenſe every believer is by faith tranſlated; Enoch-like he is not in the lower world, but ſo far as he believes, taken up by God and converſing in heaven. Faith in Abraham reſigned up his only one, his Iſaac, and every believer, every child of Abraham treads in the ſame ſteps of faith, going up into Moriah into the viſion of God, and there offering up the only one of the heart, the darling love and joy there. Faith in Moſes reſigned up Egypt, and in that reſigned up all the world, for in doing thereof his eye was not on ſome other part of the viſible world, but on the inviſible God; and in every believer faith takes the world and caſts it behind his back as dung and droſs for the excellency of Chriſt, regard not your ſtuff, ſaith faith, all the Land of promiſe, a heaven of glory is before you: wonderful are the ſurrenders which faith makes in the believer, it ſurrenders up his underſtanding to ſuperrational myſteries. Meer reaſon goes no farther then its own ſphear of natural notions, but the line of faith runs as far as ſupernatural myſteries, ſuch as the lingua lutea, the clay tongue of man cannot utter, ſuch as lippus oculus, the weak eye of reaſon cannot ſee. Again, it ſurrenders up his will to ſuper-moral ſelf-denials. The Moraliſts ſelf-denial is but the artifice of his reaſon, but the believers is a very great myſtery. The Moraliſt denies only the beaſt, the brutiſh luſts in his ſenſitive affections, but the believer denies the more fine and ſpiritual fins in the Will it ſelf. The Moraliſts deſign is only to advance the Empire of Reaſon over the lower faculties, but the believers is to advance God and his holy Will over himſelf, and all that is in him. Moreover, it ſurrenders up his affections to ſuper-ſenſual joyes and pleaſures: The Senſualiſt is for the Paradiſe of ſenſe, but the believer for the Paradiſe of God: The Senſualiſt ſwills in brutiſh pleaſures, and ſports himſelf with the volatile joyes of the fleſh, but the believer is upon the wing after the joyes of the ſpirit, and the pure rivers of pleaſure above. In a word, faith is virtually all the reſignations which are in intellectual humiliations, inward mortifications, and outward martyrdomes. In intellectual humiliations, faith makes reaſon, though a Queen in her own dominions, come down and ſit at the foot of revelation. In inward mortifications, faith makes the regnant luſt come off from the throne of the heart, and bids the believer, as Joſhua his Captains, put his feet on the neck of his luſt. In outward martyrdomes, faith hath empowred men to kiſs the ſtake, and embrace the flames, and cry out, as the bleſſed Martyr did, welcome ſweet croſs of Chriſt; and which is the crown of all the reſt, in all theſe reſignations faith ventures all upon the bare word of God, and deſires no better ſecurity then that for all its expectations.
Sixthly, That faith ſtands in reſignation, may appear from the ſcope of Religion. It is the very center of all Divinity, and grand axiom therein, that the creature is to be abaſed and God exalted, no fleſh muſt glory in it ſelf, but in the Lord, all pride muſt be ſtained, and boaſting cut off, that God may be all in all, and the creature nothing. Now nothing is, nor can be more accommodate to this Central Divinity, then faith, conſidered under the notion of reſignation; which I ſhall ſhew in the following particulars.
Firſt, This doth exceedingly abaſe the creature. Reſignation is the loweſt poſture of a creature, and ſo the fitteſt to take in all thoſe graces which the Goſpel hath entailed on believers. Would you have adoption from God? leave thine own kindred and thy fathers houſe, ſtand not upon thy birth-right or parentage, which in a child of wrath, ſuch as thou art by nature, is as baſe and low as hell it ſelf; go forth to Chriſt the natural ſon of God, that thou mayeſt be an adopted one. Would you have pardon and juſtification? ſtay not at home in thine own righteouſneſs and repentant tears, theſe will not be habitable, when God comes in the pure glory of his juſtice and holineſs, go out and put on the glorious righteouſneſs of Chriſt, go out and lye down at the door of the pardon-office. I, I am he that blotteth out thy tranſgreſſions for mine own ſake, ſaith God, Iſa. 43.25. Would you have ſanctifying graces? thine own Will cannot teem them out, thine own power cannot form them. Albertus Magnus the Philoſopher, ſpent fifty years in making the Statue of a man ſo, as that with Engines it could ſpeak articulately, but when all was done, it was but a poor dead thing. Shouldeſt thou live the age of Methuſelah, and all the while in the artifice of thy reaſon, and power of thy will, labour to forge out true holinſs, it would be at laſt but an umbra, a dead ſhadow of grace, though it might ſpeak fairly in the way of notions and gifts, yet it would be without the heavenly life and vitality; thou muſt therefore yield up thy ſelf to Jeſus Chriſt, that his ſpirit may come upon thee, and form the new-creature in thee; the ſum of all is this, put off thy ornaments, that God may know what to do unto thee, yield, reſign, be in the loweſt poſture of a creature, that all the Evangelical graces may be thine own.
Secondly, This doth highly exalt God, and that in ſeveral reſpects.
Firſt, It exalts the mercy of God. Now it appears that mercy in its propoſals of ſalvation comes down to the very loweſt terms; it will adopt, juſtifie, and ſanctifie an yielding ſinner, and how can it poſſibly go lower? ſhould he adopt ſuch as will not ſuffer him to draw his picture upon their hearts? when Thomas Arundel was for his Martial merits made Earl of the Empire, Queen Elizabeth ſaid, that her ſheep ſhould not be ſtamped alieno ſtigmate, with another mans mark; as long as men will keep the worlds and Satans mark upon them, God cannot tell how to call them ſons; can he juſtifie the ungodly? to juſtifie the ungodly repenting and reſigning is his infinite grace, but to juſtifie them hardning and rebelling is impoſſible to his holineſs, ſhould be count them pure with the wicked balances, Mic. 6.11. every unreſigned ſinner hath a wicked balance in his heart, which makes as if a little ſinful pleaſure did outweigh God himſelf, and can he juſtifie ſuch wicked ones? ſhould the ſanctifying ſpirit with all its train of graces, come and dwell in the unclean ſtable of indulged luſts? Chriſt the holy one of God was in his admirable humility in a ſtable of beaſts, but in a ſtable of indulged luſts he cannot be; he dwells in the heart by faith, that is, in the reſigning heart, and it cannot be otherwiſe: Mercy it ſelf, if it comport with the juſtice and holineſs of God, cannot make lower terms then to ſave the yielding ſinner.
Secondly, It exalts the wiſdom of God. He hath ſo admirably contrived the way of ſalvation, that mercy ſhall ſtoop to the loweſt terms, and the creature take it in the loweſt poſture, that ſo mercy might ſit in majeſty, and ſave in ſtate: Princes uſe in their acts of mercy to give an allay of Majeſty, ſuch as may ſtand with their honour. Solomon will pardon Adonijah, but he muſt be a worthy man, or as the Original is, a ſon of virtue, 1 Kings 1.52. King Henry the fourth of France would have freely pardoned Birone, but then he muſt make an ingenious confeſſion of the treaſon, which he neglecting to do in time, loſt his head. The great God gives out mercy to poor ſinners, but they muſt take it upon the knee, in a bending and reſigning poſture, ſuch as is congruous to ſo infinite a Majeſty; they muſt be put into ſelf-emptying and ſelf-annihilating thoughts, as Moſes into the clift of the rock, while the glory of free-grace paſſes before them.
Thirdly, It exalts the veracity of God. The believer reſigns up his ſoul, himſelf, his happineſs, his all upon the meer word of God, giving him the glory of his truth in every tittle. What Peter ſaid to Chriſt, when he bad him let down his net, Maſter we have toiled all night and have taken nothing, yet at thy word I will let down the net, Luke 5.5. that ſaith the believer unto God, Lord, I am toiling in the dark, under ſin and wrath, but at thy word I will caſt my ſelf upon free-grace; I am labouring under ſpiritual wants and neceſſities, but at thy word I will repair to the great treaſures of grace in Chriſt, ſtill the hangs upon a word: its true, he reſigns up himſelf to Chriſt and free-grace, but his warrant for doing ſo is a meer word; how doth he know that the infinite Ocean of mercy, whoſe effluxes are free, will flow out to ſinful men? how doth he know that the Son of God was incarnate and ſuffered on a croſs for them? why, the word is nigh him, manifeſting theſe heavenly myſteries unto his heart; ſtill he hangs upon a word, that, if we make a true ſearch, lies at the very bottom of all his faith, as the foundation thereof.
Fourthly, It exalts the juſtice of God. Many great Rabbies have been caught by the head in the Controverſal thickets, whileſt they have diſputed about Gods juſtice in the condemning impotent men. Not to enter into the briers; there ſeems to be much in this, that God condemns none for bare impotency, but for height and pride and contumacy in that eſtate. Chriſts queſtion to the impotent man is very remarkable, wilt thou be made whole, Joh. 5.6. O thou impoten man, if thou art ſenſibly weak in thy impotency, poor in thy poverty, and low in thy low eſtate, ſurely creating grace is paſſing upon thee; but if thou art ſtrong in thy impotency, rich in thy poverty, and high in thy low eſtate, thy condemnation is juſt; becauſe in the pride of thy heart thou wilt not yield to be ſaved on the terms of the Goſpel.Spondand. Annal. Eccleſ. Anno 491. Zeno the Eaſtern Emperor, being in a fit of the Falling-ſickneſs, taken for dead, was buried alive, and when he cried out lamentably to be taken up but into a Monaſtery, his wife Ariadne would not ſuffer it. If the poor ſinner lying in his ſpiritual grave, mourn and groan under his impotency, duplicate page duplicate page duplicate page duplicate page duplicate page