fingle doubt will remain behind: Unbelief creates all the doubts that are in the believer, his faith hath no part in them. The general doubtful faith of the Papifts is not faith, but unbelief; and therefore no wonder that our forefathers abjured it in our national covenant. Behold the fure ground and firm bottom that faith ftands upon, even the mutual meeting and embracement among the divine perfections in Chrift. If you break and separate the meeting by unbelief, then your confidence is broken, and your peace with God marr'd; but, if you keep them together in your view by faith in Chrift, then you have boldnefs, confidence and affiance on this ground; yea, then God in Christ, and you meet together, and kifs each other. 7. Hence we see what is the best mark of a believer in Chrift, for your trial and examination: Try it just by this, What view have you got of this glory of God in the face of Jefus Chrift, and of the attributes of God meeting and embracing each other in him? Have you feen the glory, and felt the virtue of this happy meeting? 1. Have you feen the glory of it? When once in a day you had seen the attributes of God in arms against you, because of your finful rebellion against God, and when you had feen the truth of God pronouncing the fentence of the law, and his righteousness and juftice ready to inflict the fentence, and execute the fame with curfes and vengeance, making you despair of mercy, and give up with all hope and expectation of peace with God by the law of works; have you thereupon got a view of the harmonious meeting of thefe attributes of God, in Chrift Jefus, as the furety, the facrifice, the ranfom, the propitiation, in whom the truth and veracity veracity of God is accomplished, and the righte oufnefs and juftice of God fatisfied? And fo mercy and peace vented gloriously, without detriment to any other excellency or perfection of God. Hath nothing fatisfied your confcience, but the view of this meeting betwixt mercy and justice, in the death of Chrift, and kiffing each other in his mediation ? Hath God and you met together this way, and made your heart joyful to kifs and embrace this wonderful device, as worthy of God, and fuitable to you? Have you feen his glory at this rate? Then, in God's name, I pronounce you a believer in Chrift; For God, who commanded light to shine out of darknefs, bath fhined into your heart, to give you the light of the knowledge of his glory in the face of Chrift; and Chrift and you met together, and kiffed each other; whether it was in the day of first believing, when you fled to him for refuge or in the day of after-manifeftation, when, upon the back of difmal hiding on God's part, or grievous backfliding on yours, the Lord drew afide the vail, and gave you a glance of his glory; whether it was by fome word of grace, fweetly and powerfully coming in, and opening your understanding, to fee this harmonious meeting, or by fome fweet droppings of the blood of fprinkling upon your confcience, by which blood the meeting is cemented together. Have you feen this glory, whether in a fecret corner, or publick ordinance; whether at the market-crofs of the gofpel, where this glorious meeting is proclaimed, or at a communion-table, where it is fealed. It is all one, it was heaven begun. 2. Have you felt the virtue, as well as feen the glory of this harmonious meeting of the divine at tributes tributes in Chrift? 2 Cor. iii. 18. Beholding, as in a glass, the glory of the Lord, we are changed into the fame image from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord. Surely, if you have feen this glory, you have felt fomething of this virtue, by changing you from glory to glory. It is true, many that have got a difcovery of this glory of the Lord, can never think that they have felt the fanctifying virtue thereof, and this keeps them down in the pit of difcouragement; it is true, they that are not fanctified, and made holy, they difcover, that they never beheld this glory of the Lord: For this meeting of attributes makes a meeting of graces in the perfon that fees it favingly. But you must remember, that this virtue will never be perfectly felt, till this glory be perfectly beheld in heaven, where we shall be like him, because we shall fee him as he is: And therefore fince you cannot judge and try yourfelf by a perfect fanctification, try it by the beginnings of it; this transforming virtue, this fanctifying vir tue is present with you, though you cannot difcern it. But that you may through grace difcern fomething of it, let me afk you, What makes you wrestle in fecret fometimes against fin, if it be not fome fanctifying virtue? What makes the prevalence of fin to humble you to the duft? What makes you lament your own unholiness and impurity? What makes you long and groan for compleat victory over, and freedom from, fin? What makes you glad of any victory over your corruption, when this glory fhines? What makes your heart to rife against fin? and, when fin prevails, what makes you find yourselves uneafy, and continually out of your element, till the Lord return, and until you get a new dip in the Jordan of the blood of the Lamb? Lamb? you have no mercy on your lufts, and are at no peace with them, but ftill crying vengeance upon them! Why, it is just the fanctifying virtue that flows from this view of the glory of God in Christ, in whom mercy and peace meet with truth and righteousness. If you fall and stumble at any time, believer, it is not like the ftumbling of a horse, that makes you run the fafter? So as you get more good of one fall, than a natural man will get of a hundred duties, while it makes you ftill the more humble and watchful, and circumfpect and dependent. Why, by all this it appears (whatever be the defect of your fanctification) that, having beheld the glory of God, you are changed into the fame image from glory to glory; you have feen the glory, and felt the virtue of this harmonious meeting of divine attributes in Christ. But then again, 8. Hence we may fee ground of terror to all chriftless unbelieving fouls, that never have feen the glory, nor felt the virtue of this harmonious meeting, and live carelefs about either of thefe. What fhall I fay? If our gofpel be bid, it is bid to them that are loft, 2 Cor. iv. 3, 4. In whom the God of this world bath blinded the minds of them that believe not, left the light of the glorious gospel of Chrift should Shine into them. May be, you are prefuming upmercy of God, while yet your eyes are blinded, that you do not fee the truth of his threatnings standing against you: And therefore, O blafphemer, do not think that he will be a God of mercy, and not a God of truth? Nay, his mercy will never be vented, unless the glory of his truth be faved. May be you are speaking peace to yourself, faying, I fhall have peace; while yet your eyes are blinded, on the that that you do not fee how God's being at peace with and you meet together, and your lufts and you embrace each other; the world and you meet together, and its vanities and you do kifs each other; the law. and you have met together, and its curfe and you do embrace each other. But, because you do not fee the terrible curfes and threatnings that you are under, remember, that in a fhort while, death and you will meet together, and its cold arms and you |