Should I give ear to rotten dust,
Or to the tombs confine my trust;
No relurrection can I fee,
For duft that flies into mine eye.
What! Thomas, can't thou trust so much
To me as to thy fight and touch ?
Won't thou believe till sense be guide,
And thrust its hand into my fide?
Where is thy faith, if it depends
On nothing but thy finger-ends?
But bless'd are they who truth do seal
By faith, yet neither fee nor feel.

SECT. II.
Faith and Sense Spiritual, compared and distinguished.

Wbere also the Difference between the Assurance of
Faitb, and ibe Assurance of Senje.
THE

'HE certainty of faith and sense

Wide differ in experience:
Faith builds upon, Thus faith the Lord ;
Senfe views his work, and not his word.
God's word without is faith's refort;
His work within doth sense support.
By faith we trust him without * pawns;

* pledges.
By fenfe we handle with our hands.
By faith the word of truth's receiv’d;
By sense we know we have believ'd.
Faith's certain by fiducial acts ;
Sense by its evidential facts.
Faith credits the divine report;
Sense to his breatlings make refort:
That on his word of grace will hing;
This on bis Spirit witnessing.
By faith I take the Lord for mine;
By sense I feel his love divine :
By that I touch his garment's hem ;
By this find virtue thence to stream.
By faith I have mine all on band;
By fenfe I have some stock in hand :
By that some vision is begun;
By this I fome fruition will.

1

My faith can fend ev'n in exile ;
Sense cannot live without a smile.
By faith I to his promise fly ;
By sense I in his boson lie.
Faith builds upon the truth of God,
That lies within the promise broad;
But fenfe upon the truth of grace
His hand within my heart did place.
Thus Christ's the object faith will eye ;
And faith's the object sense may see ;
Faith keeps the truth of God in view,
While sense the truth of faith may shew.
Hence faith's assurance firm can stand,
When sense's in the deep may ftrand;
And faith's persuasion full prevail,
When comfortable sense may fail.
I am assur'd when faith's in act,
Though sense and feeling both I lack:
And thus mysterious is my lot,
I'm oft affur'd when I am not;
Ost pierc'd with racking doubts and fears ;
Yet faith these brambles never bears;
But unbelief, that cuts my breath,
And stops the language of my faith.
Clamours of unbelieving fears
So frequently disturb my ears
I cannot hear what faith would say,
Till once the noisy clamours stay.
And then will fresh experience find,
When faith gets leave to speak its mind,
The native language thereof is,
My Lord is mine, and I am his.
Sad doubtings compass me about,
Yet faith itself could never doubt ;
For, as the sacred volume faith,
Much doubting argues little faith.
The doubts and fears that work my grief,
Flow nut from faith, but unbelief;
For faith, whene'er it acteth, cures
The plague of doubts, and me allures.

TA

But when mine eye of faith's asleep,
I dream of drowning in the deep:
But, as befals the sleeping eye,
Though fight remain, it cannot fee ;
The feeing faculty abides,
Though sleep from active feeing hides ;
So faith's assuring pow'rs endure
Ev'n when it ceafes to assure.
There's still persuasion in my faith,
Ev'n when I'm fill'd with fears of wrath,
The trusting habit still remains,
Though flumbers hold the act in chains.
Th’ assuring faculty it keeps,
Ev’n when its eye in darkness fleeps,
Wrapp'd up in doubts; but when it wakes,
It roules up alluring acts.

SECT. III.
Tbe Harmony and Discord between Foith and Sense; bow

they belp, and how they mar eacb otber. THO

'HOUGH gallant faith can keep the field

When cow'rdly fense will fly or yield;
Yet while I view their usual path,
Sense often fiands and falls with faith.
Faith users in sweet peace and jny,
Which further heartens faith's employ;
Faith like the head, and sense the heart,
Do mutual vigour freth impart.
When lively faith and feeling sweet
Like deareit darlings kindly meet,
They straight each other help and hug
In loving friendship close and snug.
Faith gives to sense both life and breath,
And fenfe gives joy and strength to faith;
" O now, says faith, how fond do I
“ In sense's glowing bofom lie !"
Their mutual kindness then is such,
That oft they doting too too much,
Embrace each other out of breath;
As Efop hugg'd his child to death.

1

Faith leaping into sense's arms,
Allur'd with her bewitching charms,
In hugging these, let rafhly flip
The proper object of its grip.
Which being loft, behold the thrall!
Anon faith loíes fenfe and all.;
Thus unawars cuts sense's breath,
While sense trips up the heels of faith.
Her charms assuming Jesus” place,
While faith's lull'd in her foft embrace ;
Lo! foon in dying pleasure s wrapt,
Its living joy away is snapt:.

SECT. IV.

Tbe Valour and Victories of Fairb.

BY

Y faith I unseen Being see

Forth lower beings call,
And say to nothing, Let it be ;

And nothing hatches all.
By faith I know the worlds were made

By God's great word of might;
How soon Let there be li gbt, he said,

That moment there was light. By faith I foar and force my flight Through all the cloud 3 of sense ;

3
I see the glories out of sight,

With brighter evidencie.
By faith I mount the az ure sky,

And from the lofty sphere,
The earth a little more espy,

Unworthy of my cari..
By faith I see ihe unseen things,

Hid from all mortal's eyes;
Proud reason stretching all its wings,

Beneath me Autt'rin.g lies.
By faith I build my lasting hope

On righteousness divine;
Nor can I sink with such a prop,

Whatever stornis combine.

By faith my works, my righteousness,

And duties all I own
But loss and dung; and lay my stress

On what my Lord has done.
By faith I overcome the world,

And all its hurtful charms;
I'm in the heav'nly chariot hurl'd

Through all oppofing harms;
By faith I have a conq'ring pow'r

To tread upon my foes,
To triumph in a dying hour,

And banish all my woes.
By faith in midst of wrongs I'm right,

In fad decays I thrive ;
In weakness I am strong in might,

In death I am alive..
By faith I stand when deep I fall,

In darkness I have light;
Nor dare I doubt and question all

When all is out of sight.
By faith I trust a pardon free,

Which puzzles flesh and blood ;
To think that God can justify,

Where yet he sees no good.
By faith I keep my Lord's commands,

To verify my trust ;
I purify my heart and hands,

And mortify my luft.
By faith my melting foul repents,

When pierced Christ appears ;
My heart in grateful praises vents,

Mine eyes in joyful tears.
By faith I can the mountains vast

Of fin and guilt remove ;
And them into the ocean cast,

The sea of blood and love.
By faith I see Jehovah high

Upon a throne of grace ;
I see him lay his vengeance by,

And smile in Jesus' face.