no more children tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; but speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, who is the Head, Christ: from whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted, by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body to the edifying of itself in love;" Ephes. iv. 12. 16.

"Christ loved the church, and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word; that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy, and without blemish;" Ephes. v. 25-27. Read Rev. xxi. xxii.

"Lo, I am with you to the end of the world;" Matt. xxviii. 20.

"And this Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness to all nations; and then shall the end come;" Matt. xxiv. 14.

"Whosoever shall fall on this stone, shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder;" Matt. xxi. 44.

The obscure prophetic passages I pass by.

So much for living by faith on the promises of God.

CHAPTER VI.

How Faith must be exercised on God's Threatenings and Judgments.

THE exercise of faith upon God's threatenings and judgments, must be guided by such rules and helps at these :

Direct. 1. Think not either that Christ hath no threatening penal laws, or that there are none which are made for the use of believers.'

If there were no penalties, or penal laws, there were no distinguishing government of the world. This Antinomian fancy destroyeth religion. And if there be threats, or penal laws, none can be expected to make so much use of them as true believers. 1. Because he that most believeth them,

must needs be most affected with them. 2. Because all things are for them, and for their benefit; and it is they that must be moved by them to the fear of God, and an escaping of the punishment.

And therefore they that object, that believers are passed already from death to life; and that there is no condemnation to them; and they are already justified, and therefore have no use of threats or fears; do contradict themselves: for it will rather follow, 'Therefore they, and they only, do and will faithfully use the threatenings in godly fears.' For, 1. Though they are justified, and passed from death to life, they have ever faith, in order of nature before their justification; and he that believeth not God's threatenings with fear, hath no true faith. And, 2. They have ever inherent righteousness or sanctification, with their justification: and this faith is part of that holiness, and of the life of grace, which they are passed into. "For this is life eternal, to know the only true God, and Jesus Christ;" John xvii. 3. And he knoweth not God, who knoweth him not to be true. And this is part of our knowledge of Christ also, to know him as the infallible author of our faith, that is, of the Gospel, which saith not only, "He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved;" but also, "He that believeth not shall be damned;" Mark xvi. 16. And this is the record which God gave of his Son, which he that believeth not maketh him a liar; "that God hath given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son: he that hath the Son, hath life; and he that hath not the Son, hath not life;" 1 John v. 11, 12. Yea as "he that believeth on the Son, hath everlasting life; so he that believeth not the Son, shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him;" John iii. 36. And therefore, 3. The reason why there is no condemnation to us, is because believing, not part only, but all this word of Christ, we fly from sin and wrath, and are in Christ Jesus, as giving up ourselves to him, and "walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit;" being moved so to do both by the promises and threats of God. This is plain English, and plain and necessary truth, the greater is the pity, that many honest, well meaning Antinomians should fight against it, on an ignorant conceit of vindicating free grace: if the plain word of God were not through partiality overlooked by them, they might see enough to end the controversy in

many and full expressions of Scripture, I will cite but three more, Matt. x. 28. Luke xii. 5. "But fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell; or when he hath killed, hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, fear him." Doth Christ thus iterate that it is he that saith it, and saith it to his disciples; and yet shall a Christian say, it must not be preached to disciples as the word of Christ to them?

"Let us therefore fear, lest a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it;" Heb. iv. 1.

By faith Noah being warned of God, of things not seen as yet (that is, of the deluge), moved with fear, prepared an ark, to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith;" Heb. xi. 7.

Note here, how much the belief of God's threatenings doth to the constitution of that faith which is justifying and saving.

Direct. 2. Judge not of God's threatenings by the evil which is threatened, but by the obedience to which the threatenings should drive us, and the evil from which they would preserve us, and the order of the world which they preserve, and the wisdom, and holiness, and justice of God, which they demonstrate.'

When men think how dreadful a misery hell is, they are ready to think hardly of God, both for his threatening and execution; as if it were long of him, and not of themselves, that they are miserable. And as it is a very hard thing to think of the punishment itself with approbation; so is it also to think of the threatening, or law which binds men over to it; or of the judgment which will pass the sentence on them. But think of the true nature, use and benefits of these threats or penal laws, and true reason, and faith will not only be reconciled to them; but see that they are to be loved and honoured, as well as feared. 1. They are of great use to drive us to obedience. And it is easier to see the amiableness of God's commands, than of his threats: and obedience to these commands, is the holy rectitude, health and beauty of the soul. And therefore that which is a suitable and needful means, to promote obedience, is

amiable and beneficial to us. Though love must be the principle or chief spring of our obedience; yet he that knoweth not that fear must drive, as love must draw, and is necessary in its place to join with love, or to do that which the weaknesses of love leave undone, doth neither know what a man is, nor what God's word is, nor what his government is, nor what either magistracy, or any civil, or domestical government is; and therefore should spend many years at school before he turneth a disputer.

2. They are of use to keep up order in the world; which could not be expected if it were not for God's threatenings. If the world be so full of wickedness, rapine and oppressions, notwithstanding all the threatenings of hell, what could we expect it should be, if there were none such, but even as the suburbs of hell itself. When princes, and lords, and rich men, and all those thieves and rebels that can but get strength enough to defend themselves, and all that can but hide their faults, would be under no restraints considerable, but would do all the evil that they have a mind to do: men would be worse to one another, than bears and tigers.

3. God's threatenings, in their primary intention or use, are made to keep us from the punishment threatened. Punishment is naturally due to evil doers: and God declareth it, to give us warning, that we may take heed, avoid it and escape.

4. That which doth so clearly demonstrate the holiness of God, in his righteous government, his wisdom and his justice is certainly good and amiable in itself. But we must not expect that the same thing should be good and amiable to the wicked, who run themselves into it; which is good to the world, or to the just about them, or to the honour of God. Assizes, prisons and gallows are good to the country, and to all the innocent, to preserve their peace, and to the honour of the king and his government; but not to murderers, thieves or rebels; Isa. xxvi. 7-9. Psal. xlviii. 11. ix. 16. lxxxix. 14. xcvii. 2. cxlix. 9. cxlvi. 7. xxxvii. 6. 28. Jude 6. 15. Rev. iv. 7. xv. 4. xvi. 7. xix. 2. Eccles. xii. 14.

Direct. 3. Judge of the severity of God's threatenings, partly by the greatness of himself whom we offend; and partly by the necessity of them for the government of the world.'

1. Remember that sinning wilfully against the Infinite Majesty of Heaven, and refusing his healing mercy to the last, deserveth worse than any thing against a man can do; 1 Sam. ii. 25.

2. And remember that even the threatening of hell doth not serve turn with most of the world, to keep them from sinning and despising God: and therefore you cannot say that they are too great. For that plaster draweth not too strongly, which will not draw out the thorn. If hell be not terrible enough to persuade you from sin, it is not too terrible to be threatened and executed: He that shall say, 'Why will God make so terrible a law?' and withal should say, "As terrible as it is I will venture at it, rather than leave my pleasures, and rather than live a holy life; doth contradict himself, and telleth us, that the law is not terrible enough to attain its chief and primary end, with such as he, that will not be moved by it, from the most sordid, base, or

brutish pleasure.

Direct. 4. Remember how Christ himself, even when he came to deliver us from God's law, did yet come to verify his threatening in the matter of it, and to be a sacrifice for sin, and public demonstration of God's justice

For this end was Christ manifested, to destroy the works of the devil; 1 John iii. 5. 8. And the first and great work of the devil was, to represent God as a liar, and to persuade Eve not to believe his threatenings, and to tell her, that though she sinned, she should not die. And though God so far dispensed with it, as to forgive man the greatest part of the penalty, it was by laying it on his Redeemer; and making him a sacrifice to his justice: that his cross might openly confute the tempter, and assure the world, that God is just, and that "the wages of sin is death;" (Rom. vi. 23.) though eternal life be the gift of God through Jesus Christ.

And he that well considereth this, that the Son of God would rather stoop to sufferings and death, than the devil's reproach of God's threatenings should be made true, and that the justice of God against sin should not be manifested, will sure never think, that this justice is any dishonour to the Almighty.

Direct. 5. Let this be your use of the threatenings of