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retire as into a fhadow, Judg. ix. 15. or as the chickens do under the wings of the hen, Ruth. ii. 12. The Lord God of Ifrael, under whose wings thou art come to truft; properly to retire. Compare Matth. xxiii. 37. How often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings.

5. Leftly, This truft of faith imports an affiance, confidence, or truft on Chrift and his righteoufness, that he will fave us from fin and wrath, according to his promife fet before us in the gofpel: Whofoever believeth in him, fhall not perish, but have everlafting life. Ifa. xxv. 9. We have waited for him, and he will fave us. Heb. iii. 6. Whofe boufe are we, if we, bold faft the confidence. Ifa. 1. 10. Let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God. And that this truft of faith is thus particular, is evident alfo from the nature of the thing. For whofoever trufts in a perfon for any thing, hath a perfuafion of the fame degree of firmnefs with the truft, that that perfon will do that thing for him. And for a fure token of this, where the party trufted fails, the party trufting is afhamed and confounded; as being disappointed in that which he trusted he would do for him. Wherefore, fince the trust of faith is never difappointed, the fcripture doth therefore affure us, that be that believeth on him fhall not be confounded, 1 Pet. ii. 6. nor afhamed, Rom. x. 11. The which doth fufficiently intimate, that he that believeth on Jefus Chrift for falvation, doth truft that he will fave him; otherwife there could be no place for his being confounded or ashamed, whatever fhould be the event of his truft. Accordingly the truft of faith doth, in proportion to the firmness thereof, establish and fix the heart, Pfal, cxii. 7. His heart is fixed, trufting in the Lord and hereof we have a plain inftance in Paul's cafe, 2 Tim. i. 12. Iam not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed, marg. or trufted. Agreeable hereun

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to, faith is called in effect a building on Christ, as upon a foundation that will bear our weight, Ifa. xxviii. 16. with 1 Pet. ii. 6. It is called a leaning upon him, Cant. viii. 5.; a staying on him, Isa. xxvi. 3. : a refting or relying on him, 2 Chron. xiv. 11. and xvi. 8. as upon one that will bear us up; a looking unto him, Ifa. xlv. 22. having our eyes upon him, 2 Chron. xx. 12. as one from whom we look for help and falvation; and finally, believing on him, 1 Pet. ii. 6. as one by whom we shall be saved, Acts. xv. II.

The finner being fhaken out of all confidence for life and falvation in other things, ftays himself by faith on Jefus Christ and his righteoufnefs; trusting on him, that he shall have life and falvation thro' his righteoufnefs. It is true indeed, this particular truft and confidence may be affaulted with many doubts and fears: but thefe are things that faith hath to conflict with, as its oppofite; and the ftronger that faith is, the lefs they prevail; the weaker it is, they prevail the more; Matth. xiv. 31. 0 thou of little faith, wherefore didft thou doubt? It is indeed of very different degrees in different perfons, and in one and the fame perfon at different times: but if you remove all truft and confidence in Chrift for one's falvation, from faith, the very nature and ef fence of it is deftroyed. For at that rate, the finner, whofe confidence in the flesh for his falvation is razed, having no confidence for it in Christ neither, is left quite unfettled and wavering, like a wave of the fea, or a reed in the water: and where then is faith's building, leaning, ftaying, relying, and resting the foul on Chrift? James i. 6. Let him ask in faith, nothing wavering: for he that wavereth is like a wave of the fea, driven with the wind, and toffed. Verse 7. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. But the believing finner, finding his confidence in the flesh razed, doth, by believing, cast the anchor of his trust and confidence

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on Chrift Jefus and his righteousness, confiding and trufting that he will fave him. And however he may indeed waver in that matter; being toffed with doubts and fears about his falvation, weakening the actings of that his confidence; and fometimes prevailing fo far, as to caufe an intermitting of the exercife thereof: yet, even in that cafe, under all that toffing, he doth not waver like a wave of the fea, that hath nothing to fix it; but only like a ship at anchor. His confidence is never quite rooted out, as to the habit thereof; but will again exert itself: and in that respect every believer, as a real partaker of Chrift holds the beginning of his confidence ftedfaft unto the end, Heb. iii. 14. And this truft and confidence is what our reformers called affurance, and defcribed faith by.

OBJECT. 1. Since it is not true of all who hear the gofpel, that they shall be faved; there cannot be, in the cafe of every one of them, a ground on which this particular truft may be warrantably founded. ANS. All and every one of them, notwithstanding that have a folid ground for it, even for trusting on Chrift and his righteoufnefs for their own falvation in particular. And that is the record and testimony of God in his gospel, that, whosoever believeth in him, Shall not perish but have everlasting life, John iii. 16. The true fenfe of which, as appears from what is faid, is, that whofoever shall have this truft and confidence in Chrift, fhall not be difappointed, but fhall certainly be faved. Here then is the faithfulness of God in his word, for the foundation of this faith of particular truft: and true faith is always built on that foundation. It is certain indeed, that, in the event, many to whom the gofpel comes will not be faved: but then it is as certain, that those who will not be faved, will not believe neither: that is, they will not come up to this particular truft and confi. dence, we have defcribed from the word, Ifa. liii. 1.

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Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? Howbeit, at this rate they have a firm ground of particular confidence. If they will not believe for all it, their ruin is of themfelves, they will perifh without excufe; and their unbelief will be the great ground of their condemna tion. Jefus Chrift, with his righteoufnefs and falva. tion, is fo far made theirs, by the Father's appoint ment, and his own offer, that they may lawfully and warrantably trust on him as their Saviour, each one for his own falvation. If they will not believe it, or not truft on him accordingly; they do by their unbelief and distrust, dishonour the Father and his Son, and most justly perish.

OBJECT, 2. Many truft in Chrift as their Saviour, with a particular confidence that he will fave them; and yet are grofly ignorant, profane, or formal hypocrites; and therefore are not true believers, nor united to Chrift. ANs. The apoftle fpeaking of faith unfeigned, 1 Tim. i. 5. doth fuppofe that there is a feigned faith. And indeed fuch trufters in Chrift have it; but as for this truft which we have describ. ed from the word, it is as certain they have it not, as it is certain that true faith purifies the heart, Acts xv. 9. and truly fanctifies, chap. xxvi. 18. As fuch trufters fay, that they receive Chrift, and refst on him alone for falvation, embrace, accept, and confent to him in the gofpel offer; even fo they fay, that they trust on him. But this truft on him they really have not. For, first, they trust not on him for his whole falvation; nay, as for the chief part thereof, to wit, falvation from fin, they are by no means reconciled thereto: wherefore it may well be an object of their fear and averfion; but it cannot be an object of their truft. Secondly, They truft not on him alone for the falvation they really defire: they do not truft him with all their heart; but partly to him, and partly to their own doings and fuffer

ings, betwixt which and the Saviour their heart is divided. This is clear from Matth. v. 3. Bleed are the poor in fpirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaLaftly, Their truft is not grounded on the faithfulness of God in the free promife of the gospel; but reared upon fome one or other fandy foundation: Ifa. liii. 1. Who hath believed our report? Matth. vii. 26. Every one that heareth thefe fayings of mine, and doth them not, fhall be likened unto a foolish man which built his house upon the fand.

And thus have we fhown, what is that faith or believing by which a finner unites with Jefus Christ, and fo enters favingly into the covenant of grace. Why God hath appointed it to be the means of union with Chrift, may be learned from Rom. iv. 6. Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; of which before. Here I fhall only obferve, that this trufting wholly on Chrift and his righteousness for his whole falvation, is an apt means or inftrument of union, betwixt Chrift the party trufted, and the foul trufting on him: forafmuch as the foul is therein fo carried forth unto him, that from that moment is thereby as if it were wholly to ftand or fall with him; as the fuperftructure with the foundation, the leaner with the leaning-ftock: the thing relying, refting, ftaying upon another thing, with the stay or bafe on which it is laid. Wherefore, the object... of faith being infallible, they that thus truft in the Lord fhall be as mount Zion, which cannot be 'removed, but abideth for ever, Pfal. cxxv. 1. Thereby they are united to Christ, and being united to him, are perfonally instated in the covenant to their eternal falvation.

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