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does, entertain a Confidence, to be Sav'd, as fure as ever man was.) Such as hang all upon a bare empty Faith; without the good and godly Practice; do quite Miftake the Nature of that true Faith, which gives us the Saving Intereft in our Lord Jefus Chrift. And I confefs, That no Miftakes in Religion are more Rife and Pernicious, than those about Faith, Some throwing it fo Low, as to fignify juft Nothing: And others stretching it fo Wide, as to Swallow up all Duty elfe. Tho' fo few have the Jewel; And our Lord queftions, Where it will be found, at his Coming. Luke 18. 8. Yet almoft all lay Claim to it: As if every breaft were the Cabinet to enclofe it. Even the Worst men will boaft of their Good Faith within: Though they have nothing Good without, to fhew for it. When they hear, There will be no Heaven without Faith: They are loath to give up all their Salvation, for want of that Believing, which they count fo Easy a Performance. And tho' they cannot endure the Exercises of Godliness; yet taking Faith, to be only the Owning of God and Christ, and a Confident Perfuafion, that all will be Well with them; Thus they make it fo Light a matter; and boldly Arrogate that to themfelves; which they think is fo Secret, out of the World's view; that none is able to Difprove 'em. Here then they step behind the Curtain; and plead, what is in their Hearts:

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So making account to Hide all their Evils beyond difcovery. When, alas, they do ftill Betray'emfelves, in that Course of their Life; which is the main Tryal of their Faith: And this is more to be known by the Works, 3 than by the Words. Let any fay, as long and as oft as they will, That they do Believe: This is no Proof at all. [For what does it profit, if a man fay, that he has Faith, and has not Works; Can Faith fave him? Jam. 2. 14. Such a Faith, (which is indeed but the Image and Shadow of Faith,) cannot fave him; Any more than a gilded Paper-Target can defend him. Let him fhew me his Faith, without his Works: And that will put him very hard to it: For he may affoon fhew me the 1 Sun without Light; Or the Fire without Heat. And if he do fhew me a Sun without Light: I am fure it is but the Picture of the Sun. And if he do fhew me a Fire without Heat: Iam fure it is but a Painted Flame. And if he talk of Faith in Christ, without doing the Work of God; I am fure it is but Talk. In this cafe therefore, we are more to Truft our Eyes, than our Ears, Rather to fee, how men Live; Than to hear what they Say. For let a man affirm over and over, That it is an excellent good FruitTree: And yet I fee it all Wither'd and Dead; and never to Bear any thing, worth the touching: I cannot then Contradict my own GS

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Senfe and experience, to give him Credit. And fo let a man take never fo much pains, to make me Believe, That he is a Believer; and plead me down ftill, That he has the Good Faith: When I can never fee, what it is Good for; nor find that he favours of Holiness, nor follows after it; But rather Difgufts and Rejects it; and Opposes and Scorns it: Does he think thus to Dample and Stun me; in Vaunting of his. ftrong Faith in God, and his Good Belief in his Saviour? Against which Phrases does he conclude none muft Reply, nor dare to quetion any fuch Pretenfions? Here I have not the Faith, to Believe all fuch Boafters of Faith Nor am fo to be Clubb'd into ever the better Opinion of fuch; whofe Nakednefs I can too eafily fee, through all these Fig-leaves. If this be their Faith, only to keep up a good Conceit of themfelves, and a trong Prefumption, That Chrift will Save them; Nay, If this be the mighty Atchievement of their Faith, to get the Maftery of Confcience; And think to Bore and rufh into Heaven, in a Way clean contrary, to what the Gospel of our Lord points out: Such Audacious Hanging upon the Saviour of the World, to Justify and bear 'em out, even in all the Worft they can do, Who can look upon it, as the Faith of our Lord? Yea. what better can it hear, than the proud Swelling of an Unbumbled Heart;

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and the daring Boldness of fuch Wicked and Worldly men; than whom, there are not really greater Infidels in the World? When they can venture upon all Sin'; Because Chrift has Purchased Pardon; And after they have Trampled down their own: Confcience, together with his holy Laws, Put on the bold Face; as if they had done nothing against him. When their Believing gives the Superfedeas to Godly Living; Their Confidence is the Bar to their Converfion; And their Faith the Pass-port, to carry 'em thro' all the Fouleft ways; As if they needed not care what they did, nor how they Liv'd; when they have but once pinn'd themselves upon Chrift, by that which they call their Faith; but is indeed only a de Invafion, and vile Profanation of the holy thing: Such kind of Believers may perifh in their Sins; For all this Trufting in the Saviour of Sinners: And the Solifidian Conceit will never do them any Service; Unless to Aggravate their Guilt and Punishment, For fo Affronting the Lord that Bought 'em; and Perverting all the Grace of God, which brings Salvation. This very Faith fhall be laid to their charge, as their Sin; and fuch a Sin which gave Heart and Strength to all their other Sins; And instead of Leading and Keeping them to the Lord; Embolden'd 'em to Fly from him, and to fet his Commands at Defrance.

Indeed their Challenging a Part in the Saviour, when they Lafh out fo extreamly wide of the way of Salvation, does but betray 'em, to be Falfe Ufurpers of that glorious Privilege; in which they have no part or Lot. And they do fo commonly Confute themselves, as to fave the Faith of Chrift from bearing the Blame of their Miscarriage. Unless they could give a likelier Account, how they came by it; and made a better Use of it: the Sufpicion is ftrong against 'em, that there is no fuch thing in 'em.

When as Tempests use to shake the Soul, e'er Chrift fays, Peace be fill: And when Conviction and Humiliation, preparing the Soul for him, are fuch Workings, as all Believers are well acquainted with; and from the greatest to the least, have a common fenfe of: What then, to their Credit, can we think of their Faith; Who would be Healed, before Wounded; At cafe, before they have pafs'd the ftrait Gate; Children of God, before they have felt any Pangs of the NewBirth; The Lord's Freemen, before they have been under the Spirit of Bondage; faved by Chrift Jefus; before they have found themselves Loft without him?

Faith is compared to a Building. Jud. ver. 20. And where we are to build High, we muft lay the Foundation Low. But where there has been no deep Humiliation, what's

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