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well difpofed to receive the Faith of Chrift, owe their Disposition to the Grace and Influence of God's Holy Spirit. Accordingly we read of Lydia, that God opened her Heart to attend unto the Things which were spoken of Paul; where, opening her Heart, can fignify nothing but inclining her Will to attend to, and examine, the Truths of the Gospel, which were the Things spoken by Paul. And, as Faith is afcribed to this Difpofition wrought by the Spirit of God, fo the Want of Faith is afcribed to the contrary Difpofition, where a Man is under the Power of Luft and Appetite, and poffeffed with the Love of this World and the Pleafures of it: If our Gospel be bid, says St. Paul, it is bid to them that are loft: In whom the God of this World bath blinded the Minds of them which believe not, left the Light of the glorious Gofpel of Chrift, who is the Image of God, Should Shine unto them.

But, Secondly, Faith fignifies likewife Truft and Reliance on God; and includes a confident Hope and Expectation, that God will perform his Promises made to us in his Son. It is defcribed as an active Principle of Religion, influencing the Mind to Obedience to the Law of God. This is the Faith

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through which we are faved, and is affirmed by St. Paul to be the Gift of God: To this Faith we owe our Growth and Progress in all Kinds of Chriftian Graces and Virtues ; this is the Foundation of them, and this it is that makes them acceptable to God, That they are done in Faith. That Faith is perfect which is attended with a good Confcience, void of Offence towards God and towards Man. These two St. Paul couples together in his Advice to Timothy, enjoining him to hold the Faith and a good Confcience, which fome having put away, conterning Faith have made Shipwreck: So that Faith cannot ftand without a good Confcience; that is, it is no Faith which does not purge the Confcience from dead Works, and perfect Holiness in the Fear of God. Now all that Reason can do, is to affent or diffent to any Doctrine; but Obedience muft come from the Will. Wicked Men often believe; but, like the Devils, they tremble at the Majesty of God, and do not love or delight in him, or feek to do his Will. Faith then is made up of the Concurrence of the Will and the Understanding. The Understanding is still the Rule to judge Truth by; but the Will is not the right Rule of Action, and there

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well difpofed to receive the Faith of Christ, owe their Difpofition to the Grace and Influence of God's Holy Spirit. Accordingly we read of Lydia, that God opened her Heart to attend unto the Things which were spoken of Paul; where, opening her Heart, can fignify nothing but inclining her Will to attend to, and examine, the Truths of the Gospel, which were the Things spoken by Paul. And, as Faith is afcribed to this Difpofition wrought by the Spirit of God, fo the Want of Faith is afcribed to the contrary Difpofition, where a Man is under the Power of Luft and Appetite, and poffeffed with the Love of this World and the Pleafures of it : If our Gofpel be bid, fays St. Paul, it is bid to them that are loft: In whom the God of this World bath blinded the Minds of them which believe not, left the Light of the glorious Gospel of Chrift, who is the Image of God, Should Shine unto them.

But, Secondly, Faith fignifies likewife Truft and Reliance on God; and includes a confident Hope and Expectation, that God will perform his Promises made to us in his Son. It is defcribed as an active Principle of Religion, influencing the Mind to Obedience to the Law of God. This is the Faith through

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through which we are faved, and is affirmed by St. Paul to be the Gift of God: To this Faith we owe our Growth and Progress in all Kinds of Chriftian Graces and Virtues ; this is the Foundation of them, and this it is that makes them acceptable to God, That they are done in Faith. That Faith is perfect which is attended with a good Conscience, void of Offence towards God and towards Man. These two St. Paul couples together in his Advice to Timothy, enjoining him to hold the Faith and a good Confcience, which fome having put away, conterning Faith have made Shipwreck: So that Faith cannot ftand without a good Conscience; that is, it is no Faith which does not purge the Confcience from dead Works, and perfect Holiness in the Fear of God. Now all that Reason can do, is to affent or diffent to any Doctrine; but Obedience must come from the Will. Wicked Men often believe; but, like the Devils, they tremble at the Majesty of God, and do not love or delight in him, or feek to do his Will. Faith then is made up of the Concurrence of the Will and the Underftanding. The Understanding is still the Rule to judge Truth by; but the Will is not the right Rule of Action, and there

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fore the Affistance of the Spirit, to induce the Will to follow the Understanding, is neceffary in the perfect Work of Faith: And this Work is ascribed to the Spirit in Scripture. Our Saviour, speaking to his Difciples, tells them, I am the Vine, ye are the Branches; he that abideth in me, and I in him, the fame bringeth forth much Fruit; for without me ye can do nothing. Christ abideth in his Members by his Holy Spirit; and therefore we are told, that our Bodies are the Temples of the Holy Ghost. So then our Saviour's Doctrine is, That without the Affiftance of his Spirit we can do nothing, but with it we may bring forth Fruit. To bring forth Fruit, in the Phrafe of Scripture, is to be obedient to the Laws of God, and to be employed in the Works of Righteousness: So that Faith cannot be perfected, or become the governing Principle of our Lives, without the Affiftance of the Spirit, to subdue our Wills to the Law of Holinefs. Faith in this Senfe is reckoned among the Fruits of the Spirit, both in the Epistle to the Galatians, and in that to the Corinthians: The Fruit of the Spirit is Love, Joy, Peace, Longfuffering, Gentleness, Goodness, Faith. So, in the Epiftle to the Philippians, the Apostle E 3

tells

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