Of IOY. (2) to Of PERSEVERANCE.

Of IOY. (2)

Use 2. If God gives his People such Joy in this Life, Oh! then what glorious Joy will he give them in Heaven, Matt. 25.21. Enter thou into the Ioy of thy Lord; here Joy begins to enter into us, there we shall enter into Joy; God keeps his best Wine till last. Heliogabalus bathed himself in sweet perfum'd Waters. What Joy when the Soul shall for ever bath it self in the pure and pleasant Fountain of Gods Love; what joy to see the Orient Brightness of Christ's Face, and have the Kisses of those Lips which drop sweet smelling Myrrhe? Laetabitur sponsa in amplexibus Domini, Aug. Oh! if a cluster of Grapes here be so sweet, what will the full Vintage be? How may this set us all a longing for that place, where Sorrow cannot Live, and where Joy cannot Dye!

Growth of GRACE.

2 Pet. 3.18.

But grow in Grace.

Fruit 4. GRowth of Grace.] True Grace is progressive, of a spreading growing Nature; 'tis with Grace as with the Light, first there is the Crepusculum or day-break; then it shines brighter to the full Meridian: A good Christian is like the Crocodil, Quam diu vivit, crescit, he hath never done growing. The Saints are not only compared to Stars for their light, but Trees for their growth, Isa. 61.3. Hos. 14.5. A good Christian is not like Hezekiah's Sun that went backward, nor Ioshua's Sun that stood still, but is always advancing in Holiness, and increasing with the Increase of God, Col. 2.19. Now to amplifie and illustrate this,

Quest. 1. How many ways may a Christian be said to grow in Grace?

Resp. 1. He grows Vigore, in the Exercise of Grace; his Lamps are burning and shining; therefore we read of a lively hope, 1 Pet. 1.3. here is the Activity of Grace; the Church prays for the blowing of the Spirit, that her Spices might flow forth, Cant. 4.16.

2. A Christian grows Gradu, in the degree of Grace; he goes from strength to strength, Psal. 84.7. viz. from one degree of Grace to another. A Saint goes [gap], from Faith to Faith, Rom. 1.17. and his Love abounds [gap], more and more, Phil. 1.9. here is growing in the degree.

Quest. 2. What is the right manner of a Christians growth?

Resp. 1. The right manner of growth, is to grow less in ones own Eyes, Psal. 22.6. I am a worm and no Man. The sight of Corruption and Ignorance makes a Christian grow into a dislike of himself, he doth vanish in his own Eyes: Iob abhor'd himself in the Dust, cap. 42.6. This is good, to grow out of conceit of ones self.

2. The right manner of growth is to grow proportionably, when a Christian grows in one Grace as well as another, 2 Pet. 1.5. to grow in Knowledge but not in Meekness, brotherly Love, good Works, this is not the right growth; a thing may swell and not grow; a Man may be swell'd with Knowledge, yet have no spiritual Growth; the right manner of growth is uniform, growing in one Grace as well as another. As the Beauty of the Body is when there is a Symmetry of Parts, not only the Head grows, but the Arm and Breast; so spiritual Growth is most Beautiful; when there is a Symmmetry and Proportion, every Grace thrives.

3. The right manner of growth is when a Christian hath Grace suitable to his several Employments and Occasions; when Corruptions are strong, and he hath Grace able to give check to them, Burdens are heavy, and he hath Patience able to bear them; Temptations fierce, and he hath Faith able to resist them; here is Grace growing in the right manner.

Quest. 3. Whence is it that true Grace cannot but grow?

Resp. 1. It is proper for Grace to grow, 'tis semen manens, the Seed of God, 1 Iohn 3.9. 'Tis the Nature of Seed to grow; Grace doth not lye in the Heart, as a stone in the Earth, but as Seed in the Earth, which will spring up, first the Blade and then the Ear, and then the full Corn in the Ear.

2. Grace cannot but grow from the Sweetness and Excellency of it; he that hath Grace is never weary of it, but still would have more: The Delight he hath in it, causeth thirst; Grace is the Image of God, and a Christian thinks he can never be enough like God: Grace instills Peace; therefore a Christian cannot but strive to increase in Grace, because as Grace grows so Peace grows.

3. Grace cannot but grow from a Believers ingrafting into Christ; he who is a Cien ingrafted into this noble generous Stock, cannot but grow. Christ is so full of Sap and vivifical Influence, that he makes all, inoculated into him, grow Fruitful, Hos. 14.8. From me is thy Fruit found.

Quest. 4. What motives or incentives are there to make us grow in Grace?

Resp. 1. Growth is the end of the Ordinances. Why doth a Man lay out cost on Ground, Manure and Water it, but that it may grow? The sincere Milk of the Word is that we may grow thereby, 1 Pet. 2.2 The Table of the Lord is on purpose for our Spiritual Nourishment and encrease of Grace.

2. The growth of Grace is the best Evidence of the Truth of it; things that have no Life will not grow; a Picture will not grow, a Stake in the Hedge will not grow, but a Plant that hath a Vegetative life grows. The growing of Grace shews it to be alive in the Soul.

3. Growth in Grace is the beauty of a Christian. The more a Child grows, the more it comes to its Favour and Complexion, and looks more Ruddy; so the more a Christian grows in Grace, the more he comes to his Spiritual Complexion, he looks fairer. Abraham's Faith was beautiful when in its Infancy, but at last it grew so Vigorous and Eminent, that God himself was in love with it, and crown'd Abraham with this Honour to be the Father of the Faithful.

4. The more we grow in Grace, the more Glory we bring to God. Gods Glory is more worth than the Salvation of all Mens Souls. This should be our design to raise the Trophies of Gods Glory, and how can we do it more than by growing in Grace, Iohn 15.8. Hereby is my Father glorified, if you bring forth much Fruit. Though the least Dram of Grace will bring Salvation to us, yet it will not bring so much Glory to God, Phil. 1.11. Fill'd with the Fruits of his Righteousness, which are to the Praise of his Glory. It commends the skill of the Husbandman when his Plants grow and thrive; it is a praise and honour to God when we thrive in Grace.

5. The more we grow in Grace, the more will God love us. Is it not That we pray for? The more Growth, the more will God love us. The Husbandman loves his Thriving Plants; the thriving Christian is Gods Hephsibah or chief delight. Christ loves to see the Vine flourishing, and the Pomegranates budding, Cant. 6.11. Christ accepts the truth of Grace, but commends the growth of Grace, Mat. 8.10: I have not found so great Faith, no not in Israel. Would you be as the beloved Disciple that lay in Christ's Bosom? Would you have much love from Christ? Labour for much growth, let Faith flourish with good Works, and Love increase into Zeal.

6. What need we have to grow in Grace. There is still something lacking in our Faith; 1 Thes. 3.10. Grace is but in its Infancy and Minority, and we must be still adding a Cubit to our Spiritual Stature; the Apostles said Lord encrease our Faith, Luke 17.5. Grace is but weak, 2 Sam. 3.39. I am this Day weak tho anointed King. So though we are anointed with Grace, yet we are but weak, and had need arrive at further degrees of Sanctity.

7. The growth of Grace will hinder the growth of Corruption: The more Health grows, the more the Distempers of Body abate: So it is in Spirituals; the more Humility grows, the more the Swelling of Pride is asswaged; the more Purity of Heart grows, the more the Fire of Lust is abated. The growth of Flowers in the Garden doth not hinder the growing of Weeds; but the growing of this Flower of Grace, hinders the sprouting of Corruption. As some Plants have an Antipathy, and will not thrive if they grow near together, as the Vine and the Bay-tree, so where Grace grows, Sin will not thrive so fast.

8. We cannot grow too much in Grace, there is no Nimium, no Excess there. The Body may grow too great, as in the Dropsie, but Faith cannot grow too great. 2 Thes. 1.3. Your Faith groweth exceedingly; here was Exceeding, yet no Excess. As a Man cannot have too much Health, so not too much Grace; Grace is the Beauty of Holiness, Psal. 110.3. We cannot have too much Spiritual Beauty; it will be the only Trouble at Death, that we have grown no more in Grace.

9. Such as do not grow in Grace, decay in Grace; non progredi in via est regredi, Bern. There is no standing at a stay in Religion, either we go forward or backward; if Faith doth not grow, Unbelief will. If Heavenly Mindedness doth not grow, Covetousness will. A Man that doth not encrease his Stock, diminisheth it. If you do not improve your Stock of Grace, your Stock will decay. The Angels on Iacob's Ladder were either ascending or descending; if you do not ascend in Religion, you descend.

10. The more we grow in Grace, the more we shall flourish in Glory. Though every Vessel of Glory shall be full, yet some Vessels hold more; he whose Pound gained Ten, was made Ruler over Ten Cities, Luke 19.17. Such as do not grow much, though they do not lose their Glory, yet they lessen their Glory. If any shall follow the Lamb in whiter and larger Robes of Glory than others, they shall be such as have shined most in Grace here.

Use. Lament we may the want of growth: Religion in many is grown only into a Form and Profession: This is to grow in Leaves, not in Fruit. Many Christians

are like a Body in an Atrophy, which doth not thrive; they are not nourished by the Sermons they hear; like the Angels who assumed Bodies, they did eat, but did not grow. It is very suspicious where there is no growth, there wants a Vital Principle. Some instead of growing better, grow worse; they grow more Earthly, more Profane, 2 Tim. 3.13. Evil Men proficient in Pejus, shall wax worse and worse. Many grow Hell-ward, they grow past shame, Eph. 23.5. they are like some Watred Stuffs which grow more rotten.

Quest. 5. How shall we know whether we grow in Grace?

Resp. For the deciding of this Question, I shall First shew the signs of our not not growing: Secondly, Of our growing.

1. The Signs of our not growing in Grace, but rather falling into a Spiritual Consumption.

Sign 1. When we have lost our Spiritual Appetite. A Consumptive Person hath not that Stomach to his Meat as formerly. Perhaps Christian, thou canst remember the time when thou didst Hunger and Thirst after Righteousness; thou didst come to Ordinances with such a Stomach as to a Feast, but now it is otherwise. Christ is not so prized, nor his Ordinances so loved; a sad presage, Grace is on the declining Hand; thou art in a deep Consumption. A sign David was near his Grave, when he covered him with Cloaths and he got no heat, 1 Kings 1.1. So when a Person is plyed with hot Cloaths, I mean Ordinances, yet he hath no heat of Affection to Spiritual things; this is a sign he is declining in Grace.

Sign 2. When we grow more Wordly. Perhaps once we were mounted into higher Orbs, we did [gap], set our Hearts on things above, and speak the Language of Canaan, but now our Minds are taken off of Heaven, we dig our Comfort out of these lower Mines, and with Satan compass the Earth: A sign we are going down the Hill apace, and our Grace is in a Consumption. It is observable when Nature decays, and People are near Dying, they grow more stooping; and truly when Mens Hearts go more stooping to the Earth, and they can hardly lift up themselves to an Heavenly Thought; if Grace be not Dead, yet it is ready to Dye, Rev. 3.2.

Sign 3. When we are less troubled about Sin. Time was when the least Sin did grieve us, (as the least Hair makes the Eye weep,) but now we can digest Sin without remorse. Time was when a Christian was troubled if he neglected Closet-Prayer, now he can omit Family-Prayer. Time was, when vain Thoughts did trouble him, now he is not troubled for loose Practices. Here is a sad declension in Religion; and truly Grace is so far from growing, that we can hardly perceive its Pulse to beat.

2. The Signs of our growing in Grace.

1. The First Sign of our growth is when we are got beyond our former measures of Grace: A sign a Child thrives when he hath out-grown his Cloaths, his Cloaths are too little for him. That Knowledg which would serve us before, will not serve us now; we have a deeper Insight into Religion, our Light is clearer, our Spark of Love is encreased into a Flame; there is a sign of growth. That competency of Grace we once had, is now too scanty for us, we have out-grown our selves,

2. When we are more firmly rooted in Religion, Col. 2.7. [gap] rooted in him, and established; the spreading of the Root shews the growth of the Tree. When we are so strongly fastned on Christ, that we cannot be blown down with the Breath of Hereticks, a blessed sign of growth. Athanasius call'd Adamas Ecclesiae, an Adamant that could not be removed from the love of the truth.

3. The Third sign of growth, when we have a more Spiritual frame of Heart. First, We are more Spiritual in our Principles; we oppose Sin out of love to God; and as it strikes at his Holiness. Secondly, We are more Spiritual in our Affections; we grieve for the first risings of Corruption, for the bubling up of vain Thoughts; the Spring that runs under Ground. We mourn not only for the penalty of Sin, but the Pollution. It is not only a Coal that burns but blacks. Thirdly, we are Spiritual in the Performance of Duty; we are more serious, reverent, fervent, we have more Life in Prayer, we put Fire to the Sacrifice, Rom. 12. [gap], Fervent in Spirit. We serve God with more Love, which Ripens and Mellows our Duty, and makes it come off with a better rellish.

4. The Fourth sign of growth, when Grace gets ground by Opposition. The Fire by an Antiperistasis burns hottest in the Coldest Season. Peter's Courage encreas'd

by the opposition of the High Priest and the Rulers, Acts 4.8, 11. The Martyrs Zeal was encreased by Persecution: Here was Grace of the first Magnitude.

Quest. 6. What shall we do to grow in Grace?

Resp. 1. Take heed of that which will hinder growth, the love of any Sin: The Body may as well thrive in a Fever, as Grace can where any Sin is cherished.

2. Use all means for growth in Grace. First, Exercise your selves to Godliness, 1 Tim. 4.7. the Body grows stronger by Exercise. Trading of Mony makes Men grow Rich; the more we Trade our Faith in the Promises, the richer in Faith we grow. Secondly, If you would be growing Christians, be humble Christians. 'Tis observ'd in some Countries (as in France,) the best and largest Grapes which they make their Wine of, grow on the lower sort of Vines; the Humble Saints grow most in Grace, 1 Pet. 5.5. God giveth Grace to the Humble. Thirdly, Pray to God for Spiritual growth. Some pray that they may grow in Gifts. It is better to grow in Grace than Gifts; Gifts are for Ornament, Grace is for Nourishment, to edifie others, to save our selves. Some pray that they may grow rich; but a Fruitful Heart is better than a full Purse. Pray that God will make you grow in Grace, though it be by Affliction, Heb. 12.10. the Vine grows by Pruning. God's Pruning Knife is to make us grow more in Grace.

Quest. 7. How may we comfort such as complain they do not grow in Grace?

Resp. They may mistake; they may grow when they think they do not; Prov. 13.7. There is that maketh himself Poor, yet he is rich. The sight Christians have of their Defects in Grace, and their Thirst after greater measures of Grace, makes them think they do not grow when they do. He who covets a great Estate, because he hath not so much as he desires, therefore he thinks himself to be Poor. Indeed Christians should seek after the Grace they want, but they must not therefore overlook the Grace they have. Let Christians be thankful for the least growth; if you do not grow so much in Assurance, bless God if you grow in Sincerity. If you do not grow so much in Knowledg, bless God if you grow in Humility. If a Tree grows in the Root, it is a true growth; if you grow in the Root, Grace of Humility it is as needful for you as any other growth.

Of PERSEVERANCE.

1 Pet. 1.5.

Who are kept by the Power of God through Faith unto Salvation.

THE Fifth and Last Fruit of Sanctification, is Perseverance in Grace. The Heavenly Inheritance is kept for the Saints, 1 Pet. 1.4. and they are kept to the Inheritance in my Text, Who are kept by the Power of God through Faith unto Salvation. The Apostle asserts a Saints stability and permanency in Grace. The Saints Perseverance is much oppugned by Papists and Arminians, but it is not the less true because it is opposed. A Christians main Comfort depends upon this Doctrin of Perseverance; take away this, and you much prejudice Religion, and cut the Sinews of all chearful Endeavours. Before I come to the full handling and discussing this great point, let me first clear the Sense of it, which I shall first do by way of Concession or Grant. When I say Believers do persevere, First I grant that such as are so only in Possession, may fall away, 2 Tim. 4.10. Demas hath forsaken us. Blazing Comets soon Evaporate. A Building on Sand will fall, Mat. 7.26. Seeming Grace may be lost; no wonder to see a Bough fall from the Tree that is only tied on. Hypocrites are only tied on to Christ by an External Profession, they are not ingrafted. Who ever thought artificial motion would hold long? The Hypocrites motion is only Artificial not Vital. All Blossoms do not ripen into Fruit. Secondly, I grant, that if Believers were left to stand upon their own Legs, they might fall finally. Some of the Angels who were Stars full of Light and Glory, yet did actually lose their Grace; and if those pure Angels fell from Grace, much more would the Godly who have

so much Sin to betray them, if they were not upheld by a Superior Power. 3. I grant, true Believers, though they do not fall away actually; and lose all their Grace, yet their Grace may fail in the degree, and they may make a great Breach upon their Sanctification. Grace may be moritura, not mortua, dying but not dead, Rev. 3.2. Strengthen the things which are ready to dye. Grace may be like Fire in the Embers, though not quenched, yet the Flame is gone out. This decay of Grace I shall shew in two particulars. 1. The lively actings of Grace may be suspended, Rev. 2.4. Thou hast left thy first love. Grace may be like a sleepy Habit; the Godly may act faintly in Religion, the pulse of their Affections may beat low. The wise Virgins slumbred, Matt. 25.5. The Exercise of Grace may be hindred; as when the course of Water is stop'd and doth not run. 2. Instead of Grace exercising in the Godly, Corruption may exercise; instead of Patience, Murmuring; instead of Heavenliness, Earthliness. How did Pride put forth it self in the Disciples, when they strove who should be greatest? How did Lust put forth in David? Thus lively and vigorous may Corruption be in the Regenerate; they may fall into Enormous Sins. But though all this be granted, yet they do not, penitus excidere, fall away finally from Grace. David did not quite lose his Grace, for then why did he pray, Take not away thy Holy Spirit from me? He had not quite lost the Spirit. As Eutiches when he fell from a Window, Acts 20. and all thought he was dead, No, saith Paul, there is Life in him: So David fell foully, but there was the Life of Grace in him: Though the Saints may come to that pass they have but little Faith, yet not to have no Faith: Though their Grace may be drawn low, yet not drawn dry: Though Grace may be abated, not abolished; though the wise Virgins slumbred, yet their Lamps were not quite gone out. Grace, when it is at the lowest, shall revive and flourish, as when Sampson had lost his strength, his Hair grew again, and he renewed his strength. Having thus explained the Proposition, I come now to the amplifying this great Doctrin of the Saints Perseverance.

Quest. 1. By what means do Christians come to persevere?

Resp. 1. By the Manuduction and help of Ordinances, Prayer, Word, Sacraments. Christians do not arrive at Perseverance, when they sit still and do nothing. It is not with us as with Passengers in a Ship, who are carried to the end of their Voyage, and they sit still in the Ship; or as it is with Noble-men, who have their Rents brought in without their Toyl or Labour; but we arrive at Salvation in the use of Means; as a Man comes to the end of a Race by running, to a Victory by fighting, Matt. 26.41. Watch and Pray. As Paul said, Acts 27.31. Except ye abide in the Ship ye cannot be saved. Believers shall come to shore at last, arrive at Heaven, but Except they abide in the Ship, viz. in the use of the Ordinances, they cannot be saved. The Ordinances cherish Grace; as they beget Grace, so they are the Breast-Milk by which it is nourished and preserved to Eternity.

2. Auxilio Spiritus, By the Sacred Influence and Concurrence of the Spirit. The Spirit of God is continually at work in the Heart of a Believer, to carry on Grace to Perseverance; it drops on fresh Oyl to keep the Lamp of Grace burning. The Spirit excites, strengthens, encreaseth Grace, and makes a Christian go from one step of Faith to another, till he comes to the end of his Faith, Salvation, 1 Pet. 1.9. It is a fine Expression of the Apostle, 2 Tim. 1.14. The Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us. He who dwells in an House keeps the House in repair; the Spirit dwelling in a Believer, keeps Grace in repair. Grace is compar'd to a River of the Water of Life, Iohn 7.38. This River can never be dried up, because Gods Spirit is a Spring which continually feeds it.

3. Grace is carried on to Perseverance by Christs daily Intercession. As the Spirit is at work in the Heart, so is Christ at work in Heaven. Christ is ever praying that the Saints Grace may hold out, Iohn 17.11. Conserva illos, Father keep those whom thou hast given me; keep them as Stars in their Orb, keep them as Jewels, that they may not be lost. Father keep them. That Prayer Christ made for Peter, was the Copy of his Prayer he now makes for Believers, Luke 22.32. I have prayed for thee that thy Faith fail not, [gap], that it be not totally eclipsed: How can the Children of such Prayers perish?

Quest. 2. By what Arguments may we prove the Saints Perseverance?

Resp. 1. A veritate Dei, from the Truth of God. God hath both asserted it and promised it. 1. God hath asserted it, 1 Iohn 3.9. His Seed remaineth in him, 1 Iohn 2.27. The anointing ye have received of him abideth in you. 2. As God hath asserted it, so he hath promised it: The Truth of God, the most Orient Pearl of his Crown, is laid a Pawn in the Promise, Iohn 10.28. I give unto them eternal

Life, and they shall never perish. Jer. 32.42. I will make an everlasting Covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them to do them good, but I will put my Fear in their Hearts, that they shall not depart from me. God will so love his People, that he will not forsake them; and they shall so fear him that they shall not forsake him. If a Believer should not persevere, God should break his Promise, Hos. 2.19. I will betroth thee unto me for ever, in righteousness and loving kindness. God doth not Marry his People to himself, and then Divorce them; he hates putting away, Mal. 2.16. Gods love tyes the Marriage Knot so fast, that neither Death nor Hell can break it asunder.

2. The second Argument is, à potentia Dei, from the Power of God. In the Text we are kept by the Power of God unto Salvation; every Person in the Trinity hath an hand in making a Believer persevere. God the Father establisheth, 2 Cor. 1.21. God the Son confirms, 1 Cor. 1.8. God the Holy Ghost Seals, Eph. 1.13. so that it is the power of God keeps us. Alas, we are not kept by our own power. The Pelagians held, That Man by his own power might overcome Temptation and persevere. But St. Austin confutes them, Man (saith he) prays unto God for Perseverance, which would be absurd if he had power of himself to persevere. And saith St. Austin, If all the power be inherent in a Mans self, then why should not one persevere as well as another? why not Judas as well as Peter? So that it is not by any other than the power of God that we are kept: As the Lord preserved Israel from perishing in the Wilderness till he brought them to Canaan; the same care will he take, if not in a miraculous, yet a spiritual, invisible manner, in preserving his People in a state of Grace, till he brings them to the Celestial Canaan. As the Heathens feigned of Atlas, That he did bear up the Heavens from falling: The power of God is that Atlas which bears up the Saints from falling. It is disputed whether Grace of it self may not perish, (as Adam's) yet sure I am, Grace kept by the power of God cannot perish.

3. The third Argument is taken ab Electione, from Gods electing Love; such as God hath from all Eternity elected to Glory, cannot fall away finally; but every true Believer is elected to Glory, ergo, he cannot fall away. Wat can frustrate Election, or make Gods Decree void? This Argument stands like Mount Sion which cannot be moved. Insomuch that some of the Papists hold, that such who have absolute Election cannot fall away, 2 Tim. 2.19. The Foundation of God stands sure, having this Seal, The Lord knows them that are his. The Foundation of God is nothing else, but Gods Decree in Election; and this stands sure, God will not alter it, others cannot.

4. The fourth Argument is taken, Ab Unione cum Christo, from Believers Union with Christ. They are knit to Christ, as the Members to the Head by the Nerve and Ligament of Faith, so that they cannot be broken off, Eph. 5.23. What was once said of Christ's Natural Body, is true of his Mystical, a Bone of it shall not be broken. As it is not possible to sever the Leaven and the Dough, when they are once mingled and kneaded together; so it is impossible, when Christ and Believers are once united, ever to be separated: Christ and his Members make one Christ. Now is it possible that any part of Christ should perish? How can Christ lose any Member of his Body Mystical and be perfect? In short, Si unus excidat quare non & alter? If one Believer may be broken off from Christ, then by the same Rule why not another? Why not all? And so Christ should be an Head without a Body.

5. The fifth Argument is taken, ab Emptione, from the Nature of a Purchase. A Man will not lay down his Mony for a Purchase which may be lost, and the Fee-simple alienated. Christ died that he might purchase us as a People to himself for ever, Heb. 9.12. Having obtained eternal Redemption for us. Would Christ (think we) have shed his Blood, that we might believe in him for a while, and then fall away? Do we think Christ will lose his Purchase?

6. The sixth Argument is, A Victoria supra mundum, from a Believers Victory over the World. The Argument stands thus, He who overcomes the World doth persevere in Grace; but a Believer doth overcome the World, ergo, he perseveres in Grace, 1 Iohn 5.4. This is the Victory over the World, even your Faith. A Man may lose a single Battle in the Field, yet at last win the Victory. A Child of God may be foild in a single Battle against Temptation (as Peter was) but at last he is Victorious. Now if a Saint be crowned Victor, if the World be conquered by him, he must needs persevere. I come next to answer some Objections of the Arminians.

1. The first Objection of the Arminians is, If a Believer shall persevere in Grace, then to what purpose are all those Admonitions in Scripture, Let him take heed

lest he fall, 1 Cor. 10 12. and Heb. 4.1. Let us fear lest any of you seem to come short. These Admonitions seem to be Superfluous and Vain, if a Saint shall certainly persevere.

Answ. No, these Counsels and Admonitions are necessary to Caution Believers against Carelesness; they are as Goads and Spurs to quicken them to a greater Diligence in working out Salvation. These Admonitions do not imply the Saints can fall away, but they are Preservatives to keep them from falling away. Christ told some of his Disciples they should abide in him, yet he exhorts them to abide in him, Iohn 15. His exhorting them was not in the least to question their abiding in him, but to awaken their Diligence, and make them pray the harder that they might abide in him.

2. The second Objection is, Heb. 6.4. it is impossible for those who were once enlightned, and have tasted of the Heavenly Gift, and were made Partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have felt the Powers of the World to come, if they shall fall away, to renew them again to Repentance.

Answ. This place of Scripture hath no Force in it; for the Apostle here speaks of Hypocrites, he shews how far they may go, yet fall way. 1. They who were once enlightned.] Men may have great Illuminations, yet fall away. Was not Iudas enlightned? 2. They have been made partakers of the Holy Ghost.] The common Gifts of the Spirit, not the special Grace. 3. They have tasted the good word of God.] Tasting here is opposed to Eating; the Hypocrite may have a kind of Taste of the sweetness of Religion, but this taste doth not nourish. There is a great deal of difference between one that takes a Gargle, and a Cordial: The Gargle only washeth his Mouth, he tasts it, and puts it out again; but a Cordial is drank down, which nourisheth and cheers the Spirits. The Hypocrite, who hath only some smack or taste of Religion (as one tasts a Gargle) may fall away. 4. And have felt the powers of the World to come.] That is, they may have such Apprehensions of the Glory of Heaven, as to be affected with it, and seem to have some joy in the thoughts of it, yet fall away; as in the Parable of the stony ground, Matt. 13.20. All this is spoken of the Hypocrite; but it doth not therefore prove, that the true Believer, who is effectually wrought upon, can fall away. Though Comets fall, it doth not therefore follow that true Stars fall: That this Scripture speaks not of sound Believers, is clear from Verse 9. But we are perswaded better things of you, and things that accompany Salvation.