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us out of the utmost reach of all evil things; out of the reach of the law, sin, death and hell, seeing these can have no place nor presence in the Son of God; and though these evils may reach us whilst we dwell in ourselves, yet we are got out of their reach, so far forth, as by faith we dwell in him.

4. This right faith carries us into the Son of God, and doth carry us into all his perfections and excellencies, into his nature and life, and wisdom, and power, and glory, and into all the fulness of the Son of the living God; and so true faith enriches a believer in Christ, with greater treasure than the heart of a carnal christian can possibly give credit to; for through faith we are carried into the Son of God, to have all that he hath, and he again comes and fills us with all that he is and hath.

5. True faith carries us into Christ, and makes us one with him, as the author and original of all our good works. For through this, God dwells in us, and works his own works in us; and we again dwell in him, and work his own works in him; and those only are true good works, which God, that dwells in us, works in us, and which we, dwelling in God, work in him.

Yea, a believer who is one with Christ, not only doth good works, but doth them continually; for Christ in him is always active; and whilst he is in Christ, he must be always active: and therefore, saith Christ, He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit, John xv. For, through this mutual abiding of Christ and a christian in each other, a christian as naturally and as necessarily doth the works of God, as the fire burns, or the sun shines.

And these are some of the advantages a christian hath, through faith in the Son of God.

By all which we may perceive, that true faith is a greater matter than the most are aware of. For men

usually think, that when they hear the gospel in the outward ministry, and assent to it that it is true, that this is faith, and that then they do believe; but the true faith of God's elect is a greater matter than this; for through that we are truly made one with the Son of the living God, and do abide and live in him for ever. And so this right faith is a most high and precious grace, and is the first manifestation of the Father's eternal love to the soul, and the first grace whereby we have entrance into the kingdom of God: it is the Sabbath of Sabbaths; it is the greatest and highest worship of God; it is infinite and everlasting righteousness; it is the mortification of the flesh, the quickening of the Spirit; our mighty victory over the law, sin, death, hell, the world and the devil; it is the first and last, and all in all, in the kingdom of the Son: And he that believes, as the scriptures have said, is already truly passed from sin to righteousness, from death to life, and from Satan to God.

So that right faith is a most precious grace, and is found in very few of the common professors of the worldly church; so that Christ himself makes this question, The son of man, when he comes, shall he find faith upon earth? And therefore it concerns all to inquire and try, Whether we partake of this faith or no? And whether the life we live in the flesh, be in the faith of the Son of God? otherwise we must know, that as he that believes shall be saved, so he that believes not shall be damned.

THE

STUMBLING-STONE,

OR A

DISCOURSE

TOUCHING THAT OFFENCE WHICH THE WORLD AND WORLDLY CHURCH DO TAKE AGAINST

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DELIVERED PARTLY TO THE UNIVERSITY-CONGREGATION IN CAMBRIDGE, AND PARTLY TO ANOTHER IN THE SAME TOWN.

TOGETHER WITH

A brief touch in the Epistle (for the present) on the late quarrelsome, weak and erroneous Animadversions of one Mr. Chambers, called Doctor in Divinity, and Pastor of Pewsy, in Wiltshire.

BY WILLIAM DELL,

MINISTER OF THE GOSPEL, AND MASTER OF GONVIL AND CAIUS COLLEGE, IN CAMBRIDGE.

Mihi plane omnium jucundissima facies ista in rebus est, videre ob verbum Dei studia & dissentiones fieri; is enim est verbi De cursus, casus & eventus; nam dicit, non veni pacem mittere sed gladium. Luther.

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