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and in all good works, to be profitable to the world; to be lively and ready in all obedience, strong to suffer, and to conquer sin and all temptations: in a word, to be great and powerful in wisdom and true goodness. Thus seek even in power to be like to God in your capacities.

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Object. x11. God himself doth not love men only for their goodness, nor love that best which is best. For he loveth his elect while enemies and ungodly; and he telleth Israel he loved them because he would love them, and not because they were better than others; and in the womb he loved Jacob best, when he was no better than Esau.'

Answ. 1. Distinguish between God's complacence and benevolence. 2. Between the good that is present, and foreseen good with a present capacity for it.

1. God had a greater benevolence to Jacob than Esau, and the Israelites than to other nations that were perhaps not much worse. And it is not for our goodness that God decreeth to make us good, or to give us a double proportion of any of those mercies, which he giveth not as Rector but as Dominus' and Benefactor, as an absolute owner and free benefactor. And with this love of benevolence he loveth us, when we are his enemies, that is, he purposeth to make us good; but this benevolence is but a secondary love and fruit of complacency, joined with the free, unequal distribution of his own.

2. But for complacency, which is love in the first and strictest sense, God so loveth the wicked though elect, no farther than they are good and lovely, that is, (1.) As they have the natural goodness of rational creatures: (2.) And as they are capable of all the future service they will do him, and glory they will bring him; (3.) And as his infinite wisdom knoweth it fit to choose them to that service. Or, if the benevolence of election do go before his first complacence in them above others, as being before his foresight that they will serve and love him better, yet still this proper love called complacence, goeth not beyond the worth of the thing loved.

Object.' Doth God love us complacentially in Christ, beyond the good that is in us?'

Answ. Not beyond our real and relative good, as we are in ourselves, by his grace, and as we are in Christ related to

him, and both ways such as demonstrate the Divine perfections, and shall love, and glorify, and please him for ever.

So much for the opening of the true nature of love to God, ourselves, and others, and of man's ultimate end, and of the nature of holiness and goodness, and those mysteries of religion which are involved in these points.

CHAPTER IV.

Subordinate Directions against those Grand Heart-Sins, which are directly contrary to the Life of Godliness and Christianity.

b

а

THE positive Directions to the Essential Duties of Godliness and Christianity, have already given you Directions against the contrary sins: as in the first Grand Direction you have helps against direct unbelief: in the second, you have Directions against unbelief, as it signifieth the not using and applying of Christ according to our various needs.. In the third, you have Directions against all resisting or neglecting the Holy Ghost: (which were first, because in practice we must come by the Son and the Spirit to the saving knowledge and love of the Father.) In the fourth, you have Directions against atheism, idolatry, and ungodliness. In the fifth, you have Directions against self-idolizing, and self-dependence, and unholiness in an alienating yourselves from God. In the sixth, you are directed against rebellion and disobedience against God. In the seventh, you have Directions against unteachableness, ignorance, and error. In the eighth, you have Directions against impenitency, unhumbleness, impurity, unreformedness, and all sin in general as sin. In the ninth, you are directed against security, unwatchfulness, and yielding to temptations, and in general against all danger to the soul. In the tenth, you

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a of the Sin against the Holy Ghost, I have written a special Treatise in my "Unreasonableness of Infidelity."

b Since the writing of this, I have published the same more at large, in my "Reasons of the Christian Religion," and in my "Life of Faith."

Of presumption and false hope, enough is said in the "Saints' Rest," and

here about temptation, hope, and other heads afterwards.

are directed against barrenness, unprofitableness, and sloth, and uncharitableness; and against mistakes in matter of duty or good works. In the eleventh, you are directed against all averseness, disaffection, or cold indifferency of heart to God. In the twelfth, you are directed against distrust, and sinful cares, and fears, and sorrows. In the thirteenth, you are directed against an over sad or heartless serving of God, as merely from fear, or forcedly, without delight. In the fourteenth, you are directed against unthankfulness. In the fifteenth, you are directed against all unholy or dishonourable thoughts of God, and against all injurious speeches of him, or barrenness of the tongue, and against all scandal or barrenness of life. In the books referred to in the sixteenth and seventeenth, you are directed against selfishness, self-esteem, self-love, self-conceit, selfwill, self-seeking, and against all worldliness, and fleshliness of mind or life. But yet, lest any necessary helps should be wanting against such heinous sins, I shall add some more particular Directions against such of them as were not fully spoken to before.

PART I.

Directions against Unbelief.

I KNOW that most poor, troubled Christians, when they complain of the sin of Unbelief, do mean by it, their not believing that they are sincere believers, and personally justified, and shall be saved. And I know that some divines have affirmed, that the sense of that article of the creed, 'I believe the remission of sins,' is, I believe my sins are actually forgiven.' But the truth is, to believe that I am elect or justified, or that my sins are forgiven, or that I am a sincere believer, is not to believe any Word of God at all: for no Word of God doth say any of these; nor any thing equivalent; nor any thing out of which it can be gathered: for it is a rational conclusion; and one of the premises which does infer it, must be found in myself by reflection, or internal sense, and self-knowledge. The Scripture only saith, "He that truly believeth is justified, and shall be saved." But it is conscience, and not belief of Scripture, which

must say, 'I do sincerely believe:' therefore the conclusion, 'that I am justified, and shall be saved,' is a rational collection from what I find in Scripture and in myself, set together, and resulting from both, can be no firmer or surer than is the weaker of the premises. Now certainty is objective or subjective; in the thing, or in my apprehension. As to objective certainty in the thing itself, all truths are equally true; but all truths are not equally discernible, there being more cause of doubting concerning some, which are less evident, than concerning others, which are more evident. And so the truth of God's promise of justification to believers, is more certain; that is, hath fuller, surer evidence to be discerned by, than the truth of my sincere believing, And that I sincerely believe,' is the more debile of the premises, and therefore the conclusion followeth this in its debility; and so can be no article of faith. And as to the subjective certainty, that varieth according to men's various apprehensions. The premises, as in their evidence or aptitude to ascertain us, are the cause of the conclusion as evident, or knowable. And the premises, as apprehended, are the cause of the conclusion, as known.

Now it is a great doubt with some, Whether a man can possibly be more certain that he believeth, than he is that the thing believed is true; because the act can extend no farther than the object: and to be sure I believe, is but to be sure that I take the thing believed to be true. But I shall grant the contrary, that a man may possibly be surer that he believeth, than he is that the thing believed is true; because my believing is not always a full subjective certainty, that the thing is true; but a believing that it is true And though you are fully certain that all God's Word is true; yet you may believe that this is his Word, with some mixture of unbelief or doubting. And so the question is but this, Whether you may not certainly, without doubting know, that you believe the Word of God to be true, though with some doubting. And it seems you may. But then it is a further question, Whether you can be surer of the saving sincerity of your faith, than you are that this Word of God is true. And that ordinary men doubt of the first, as much as they doubt of the latter, I think is an experimented truth. But yet grant that with some it may be

otherwise, (because he believeth sincerely, that so far believeth the Word of God, as to trust his life and soul upon it, and forsake all in obedience to it: and that I do so, I may know with less doubting, than I yet have about the truth of the Word so believed,) all that will follow is but this, that of those men that doubt of their justification and salvation, some of their doubts are caused more by their doubting of God's Word, than by their doubting whether they sincerely, though doubtingly believe it: and the doubts of others, whether they are justified and shall be saved, are caused much more by their doubting of their own sincere belief, than by their doubting of the truth of Scriptures. And the far greatest number of Christians seem to themselves to be of this latter sort. For no doubt, but though a man of clear understanding can scarcely believe, and yet not know that he believeth; yet he may believe sincerely, and not know that he believeth sincerely. But still the knowledge of our own justification, is but the effect or progeny of our belief of the Word of God, and of our knowledge that we do sincerely believe it, which conjunctly are the parents and causes of it and it can be no stronger than the weaker of the parents, (which in esse cognoscibili' is our faith, but ' in esse cognito' is sometimes the one, and sometimes the other.) And the effect is not the cause; the effect of faith and knowledge conjunct, is not faith itself. It is not a believing the Word of God, to believe that you believe, or that you are justified: but yet, because that faith is one of the parents of it, some call it by the name of faith, though they should call it but an effect of faith, as one of the causes. And well may our doubtings of our own salvation be said to be from unbelief, because unbelief is one of the causes of them, and the sinfullest cause.

And that the article of remission of sin is to be believed with application to ourselves, is certain: but not with the application of assurance, persuasion, or belief that we are already pardoned; but with an applying acceptance of an offered pardon, and consent to the covenant which maketh it ours. We believe that Christ hath purchased remission of sin, and made a conditional grant of it in his Gospel, to all, viz. if they will repent, and believe in him, or take him

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