To me 'tis lawful evermore Myfelf to love and to abhor g. In this vain world I live, yet fee SECT. III. Myfteries about the faint's work and warfare, their fins, forrows and joys. THE HE work is great I'm call'd unto a, g Lev. xix. 18. Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou fhalt love thy neighbour as thyfelf: I am the Lord. Eph. v. 29. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherish. eth it, even as the Lord the church. John xii. 25. He that loveth his life, fhall lofe it; and he that loseth his life in this world, fhall keep it unto life eternal. Job. xlii. 6. Where, fore I abhor myself, and repent in duft and afhes. b Col. iii. 3. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Chrift in God. Gal, vi. 14. But God forbid that I should glory, fave in the cross of our Lord Jefus Chrift, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. John xvi. 22. And ye now therefore have forrow; but I will fee you again, and your heart fhall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you. 2 Theff. ii. 16. Now our Lord Je fus Chrift himself, and God the Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting confolation, and good hepe through grace, &c. k Pfalm xxx. 7. Lord, by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong: thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled. Ifa. xlix. 13, 14. Sing,. O heavens, and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into finging, O mountains; for the Lord hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted. But Zion faid, The Lord hath forfaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. a Phil. ii. 12. Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always Hence for my work heav'n has prepar'd To works, but not to working dead e; Yet wash mine hands in innocence b. obeyed, not as in my prefence only, but now much more in my abfence; work out your own falvation with fear and trembling. 6 Phil ii. 13. For it is God which worketh in you, both to will and to do of his good pleafure. Lev. xx. 7, 8. Sancti fy yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the Lord your God. And ye And ye shall keep my ftatutes, and do them: I am the Lord which fanctify you. c Rom. vi. 23. For the wages of fin is death: but the gift of God is eternal life, through Jefus Chrift our Lord. Chap. xi. 6. And if by grace, then it is no more of works; other wife grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwife work is no more work. d Pfalm xix 11. Moreover, by them [the judgments of the Lord] is thy fervant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward. Pfalm lviii. 11. Verily there is a re ward for the righteous; verily he is a God that judgeth in the earth. e Rom. vii. 4. Wherefore, my brethren, ye alfo are become dead to the law by the body of Chrift; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God. Gal. ii. 19. For 1 through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. f John i. 8. If we say that we have no fin, we deceive ourfelves, and the truth is not in us. Chap. iii. 9. Whofoever is born of God, doth not commit fin; for his feed remaineth in him and he cannot fin, because he is born of God. g Rom vi. 18. For I know, that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing; for to will is prefent with me; but how to perform that which is good, I find not. : h Pfalm xxvi. 6. I will wash mine hands in innocency; lo will I compass thine altar, O Lord. My Father's anger burns like fire i, I i 1 Kings xi. 9. And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the Lord God of Ifrael, which had appeared unto him twice. Ifa. xxvii. 4. Fury is not in me. Chap. liv 9, 10. For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have fworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth: fo have I fworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed, but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither fhall the covenant of my peace be removed, faith the Lord, that hath mercy on thee. Hab i. 13. Thou art of purer eyes then to behold evil, and canft not look on iniquity. Jer. xliv. 4 Howbeit, I fent unto you all my fervants the prophets, rifing early, and fending them, faying, O do not this abominable thing that I hate. m Matth. iii. 17. And lo, a voice from heaven, faying, This is my beloved fon, in whom I am well pleased. Rom. V. 10. When we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son. n 2 Cor. ii. 14. Now thanks be unto God which always caufeth us to triumph in Christ. o Rom. vii. 23. But I fee another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into cap tivity to the law of fin, which is in my members." p Rom. vii. 3. See letter o. 1 Tim. vi. 12. Fight the good fight of faith, &c. Gal. v. 17. For the flesh lufteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and thefe are contrary the one to the other; fo that ye cannot do the things that ye would. q Rem. VI. Therefore being juftified by faith, we have My foes affaulting conquer me, peace with God, through our Lord Jefus Chrift. Ifa. liv. 10. See letter k. Rom. vii. 23. See letter o. Chap. viii. 37. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors, through him that loved us. 1 Cor. xv. 57. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory, through our Lord Jefus Chrift. s 2 Cor. iv. 8. We are troubled on every fide, yet not diftreffed; we are perplexed, but not in defpair. John xvi. 33. These things have I fpoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. Heb. iv. 3. For we which have believed, do enter into reft. t. Zech. xiv. 6, 7. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light fhall not be clear, nor dark. But it fhall be one day, which fhall be known to the Lord, not day nor night: but it fhall come to pafs, that at evening time it shall be light. Mic. vii. 8. Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy; when I fall, I fhall arife; when I fit in darkness, the Lord fhall be a light unto nie. u John viii. 36. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye fhall be free indeed. Acts xx. 23. The Holy Ghost witneffeth in every city, faying, that bonds and afflictions abide me. v 2 Cor. vi. 9.-As dying, and behold we live. Col. iii. 3. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Chrift in God. w Matth. xviii. 11. For the Son of man is come to fave that which was loft. Pfalm cxix. 176. I have gone aftray like a loft fheep, feek thy fervant. Phil. iii. 9. And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Chrift, the righteoufnefs which is of God by faith. Sin for my good does work and win x; I'm heal'd ev'n when my plagues abound b, x Rom. viii. 28. And we know that all things work toge ther for good, to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Chap. xi. . I fay then, Have they ftumbled that they fhould fall? God forbid; but rather through their fall falvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealoufy. y Pfalm lxxxix. 31, 32. If they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments, then will I vifit their tranfgreffion with the rod, and their iniquity with ftripes. z Pfalm cxix. 67. Before I was afflicted, I went aftray: but now have I kept thy word. v. 1. It is good for me that I have been afflicted: that I might learn thy ftatutes. James i. 2. My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into divers temptations. a Matth. x. 39. He that lofeth his life for my fake, fhall find it. Mark x. 29, 30. And Jesus anfwered and faid, Ve rily I fay unto you, There is no man that left house, or bre thren, or fifters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands for my fake and the gospel's, but he fhall receive an hundred-fold now in this time, houses and brethren, and fis ters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with perfecutions; and in the world to come eternal life. b Rom. vii. 4, 25. O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death! I thank God, through Jefus Chrift our Lord. c viz. with mercy. Job xlii. 5, 6. I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye feeth thee, Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in duft and ashes, Ezek. xvi. 63. That thou mayeft remember and be confound. ed, and never open thy mouth any more because of thy fhame, when I am pacified toward thee for all that thou haft done, faith the Lord God. |