he died for them in particular-that their sins are pardoned, &c. (2.) The essence of their first act of faith consists in a firm persuasion that their sins are forgiven-that Christ died for them in particular, or the like. (3.) All their after-discoveries and after-acts of faith are of the same nature with the first. (4.) This faith, from a principle of self-love, naturally fills them full of joy, and love, and zeal, and lays the foundation of all their good frames, and of all their religion. (5.) Doubting the goodness of their state, when they are dead and carnal, is, in their account, unbelief, and a great sin, and to be watched and prayed against, as a thing of the most destructive tendency. Now, some, who have a few discoveries, do, in a few months, lose all their religion, and come to feel and live much like the rest of the world: Others hold out longer.Some, after they have lain dead one, two, three, five or ten years, just as it happens, will have what they call a new discovery, and be as full as ever-while others continue in their irreligious courses.

And here I may observe-(1.) That the greater discoveries (as they call them) they have, the more proud and conceited they are, and the more do they want to have all the town admire them.-(2.) The longer they continue to be lively, the more do they grow in pride and self-righteousness; and feeling themselves to be exceedingly good, they are emboldened to make very free with the Almighty, as being his peculiar favorites, and the best of men: God, I thank thee, I am not as other men.-(3.) And yet it is natural to esteem themselves some of the most humble creatures in the world.—(4.) It is impossible to convince them of their error; because the immediate witness of the spirit of God, as they think, assures them that they are right and, therefore, all who do not look upon things and feel just as they do, are certainly blind and carnal, and so not to be regarded: they are bound to believe God before man. Urge scripture against them, and they are unmoved; because the spirit does not tell them that it means so: The plainest texts are not regarded, if contrary to their spirit. Urge

66

reason against them, and demonstrate a point ever so clearly, and they are unmoved; because that is all carnal reason. Take much pains with them, and be ever so kind and friendly, and they are the more established; because they think they are persecuted: Or, if they are sometimes shocked, and almost convinced, yet they are, in a few days, more settled than ever, by a new discovery, and a multitude of scriptures, misapplied by the prince of darkness, assuring them that they are right. And now they resolve never to doubt again, and get invincibly set in their way.-(5.) If, after a while, they lose all their religion, and are dead, and lie dead for whole months and years together, yet still they are as confident as ever: "For," say they, "David, and Solomon, and Peter fell, and the best are "dead sometimes; and how long a good man may lie dead "none can tell: God may leave his children out of sovereign'ty, and without Christ we can do nothing; we must wait for "the spirit, and not call God's faithfulness into question, be"cause of our deadness-as if his faithfulness depended upon "our good frames." And so now, having, as they suppose, Christ to pardon their sins, and save their souls, and some lust to content their hearts, they sleep on secure and quiet: 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 scrip tures, 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, whenas, before the first act of faith, they were actually under condemnation...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, they 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! II. Thes. ii. 10, 11, 12.... They 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 hyp ocrite, there lie a thousand bye-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, but have EVERLASTING LIFE. In this everlasting life is implied,

1. The everlasting love and favor 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, estab lished by the God of heaven, the great Governor of the world, called the gospel, or covenant of grace, it is appointed, and, as

E

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 favor 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 cther 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 belly 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 cloud 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...I. 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

* 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 babit of grace: So that, although regen. eration be before faith, yet a confirmed 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. and vii. 38.