we shall gather bat a Glufter at a time, and press it in the Application.

A Chriftian may be assured of his Salvation, for Saint Peter would never exhort them to give diligence for an impoffibilicy, for that which could not be obtained. We'll move this in order, and shew,

1. What Assurance is. 2. Arguments for Assurance. 3. The manner how Chriftians are alsurid. 4. The special times of Affurance, 5. Make Application. İ, And here firft, what Assurance is. Tis a reflex a& of the soul, by which a Christiao clecrly sees,

a that he is for the present in the fate of grace, and so an heir appa. rent to glory; or in the words of the Texi, by which he knows. his Calling and Election.

•Tis a reflex a&t, and so

1. Afsurance is tituated in the souls moft noble, moft closeted, most private, and moft spiritual operation.

(1.) Reflex a&ts are the moft noble and most royal operations the most rational and judicious a&ts of a moft intelligent Spirit. Reason is now in its exaltation, it fits upon the Throne,and ex. ercises a Judge.like power ; all the faculcies of the soul muk appeare before ics Tribunal, and give up a ftri& account, nə magicmu, tid tipogun ti wod Nováxinainte, as the Pythagoreans were wont to pose and catechize themselves ; your inferiour senfitive creatures can go poring on upon a present obje&,and blunder on in a dire& way, but are far enough from any refle& a&ts ; ; although some talk of reflexiveness in sense coo (aš to ee that they see, or the like) buc 'cis a fancy of their own; Sensitive Creatures could never rcach so high as a reflex a&; and indeed sensual men know not what belong unto it; but the reasonable soul can recire into itself, and take a view and survey of its own a&tings. (2.) It is the mot secret and retir'd oferation; the soul with

; draws, and bids the body farewell, and even here becomes an anima separata; is retires into iceCloset,and bolts its self up, where aone can peep io, none can evesdrop it. (3.) The moft refind and spiritual working of all, this is moft

abftra&ed

abftra&ed from matter. The roul here does not compierce with
outward droffy obje&s, but looks upon it self, fixes its eye upon
its own face. This is the moft spiritual employment of the soul,
which docs molt trongly argue iis immo stality, and (hews it to
be a spark of Divinity: How does the prime and fountain Being
spend all Eternity, but in looking upon his own transcendent and
glorious Efence?in viewing the bright Conftellation of his Actrie
butes, and seeing some shadowy and languishing Representations
of himself in the glass of the Creatuiçs? 'Tis one of the chiefc
works of a Chriftian,to refle& upon himself, Vita et in fe reflexio;
as the grave Moralift Seneca spcaks. The Prodigall came to him.
self, when he came to reflex a&s, lo i Kings.8.47. When they Mall
turn to their own bearts,&c.

Il. But yet this working of the soul is bat weak and tranfient,
'tis feeting and deluliory, it quickly vanishes ; which shew as.
great disorder and irregularity in the Spirit, that that which is
the noblet and moft proper operation, that borders upon Di.
vioity, men are leaft verft in it. How care is it for men to relie&
upon their own conditions, to enter into an exa& trial and ex-
amination of their own ways ? Radius reflexus languet, as the
Opticks speak;the beam begins to be weary,and is ready to faint
it gives a weak and languilhing Representation; tis true of intel-
lectual beams too, radius reflexus languet. O how quickly are men
Weary

of serious thoughts and confiderations ?: They look upon
chem as melancholy interruptions, turbida intervalla. You had
need of good Arguinents to perswade men to entertain a serious
thought ; outward obje&s, these divert the mind, and take it off
from its greateft work. As a man that fees bis natural face in a
glass (as St. James (peaks) goes bis way, and presently forgets what
manner of man be was. The loul scarce knows its own visage, it
looks abroad, and is a ftranger to it self. Many a mans Coul has
scarce look't upon it self all his life tinie.

III.lc conGifts in a reflex a&,(1 Job.2-3.7VÁONOWN ti égvo'rauer)
and so differs from faith ; it is one thing to believe, and another
thing to know that I believe. Our Divines go somewhat too far,
(Calv.Perkins,&c.) when they put all justifying faith in a full per .
(wagon.Ames sayes,"ris when they deal with the Papifts, who fut
it in a bare affent : but (methinks) they thould rather be more

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wary there, left they give the enemy too much advantage. I ra. ther think, that being men eminently pious, it was as they found it in their owo souls, but all are not so Arong in Chrift.' Alla. rance is the top and triumph of faith ; faith, that's our vi&ory, by which we overcome the World ; but Assurance, that's our tri. umph, by which úmprexoney, we are more than Conquerours. 'Tis Atos fidei, the very lustre and eminency of faith, Faich that's the Root, Assurance is the top branch, the Aourishing of Faith, Faith with a gloss opon it. Juftifying Faith, that does not only dwell in the anderstanding, in nudo assensu; bot requires an act of the will too, which must embrace a promise ; iodeed it calls for an ad resulting from the whole roul, which must receive Christ offered unto it; but now assurance consists onlŷ in the mind, and so there you have the difference between Faith of Adherence, and Faith of Assurance. The first is an ad of the whole soul, the latter is a work of the mind only; it arisech è fenfu quodam spirituali

; whereby we know and perceive that we believe. And when I fay every Believer may be affur’d of his falvation; I don't say that every Believer is afsurd of it; No, eves ry one is to labour for it, to give diligence, as our Apostle [peaks; but every one has not yet obtained it: Affurance is not of the Elence of a Christian; a man may be a true child of God, and certainly saved, though he have not Affusance;he-can have little (weerness and comfort without it, little joy and peace;but yet he may be in a safe, though in a sad condition. Tis requir’d to the bene elle, not to the efe of a Believer.

1. For the promise is made to the dire& a&, and not to the refiex. Believe and thou Malt be saved, that's the voice of the Gospel: Not, know that thou doft believe. Now there's many a weak Christian that has Faith, and yet does not know that he has it'; Faith, like a grain of muftard leed,lies hid for a while; but it has a vigorous and operative fpirit, and will work out in time, and spread it self into goodly branches. The least degree of Faith, if it be true, brings salvation, but it does not bring Assurance.

2. Many true Chriftians are in à Aate of defertion, all their light is eclípsed; their joy and comfort is put out. Nay, they Ivok upon God as an Enemy ; they are so far from being as. luid of their salvation, as that they'verily chiak chemselves in a

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loft condition,and yet all this while are in a true ftate of grace. Their condition is cloudy and dark, and very uncomfortable for the present, but yet 'tis safe; they are true Believers, and

yet

far enough from assurance. An excellent place in Isaiah for this isa. 50.10.Who is among you that feareth the Lord tbat walketh in dark. ness

, and bath not light? let him trust in the Name of the Lord, and \tay upod bis God; some may truly fear God, and yet walk in darkness, and have no light,not the least glimpse of Ađurance,no beam of Gods favourable countenance, yet let him trust in the Lord, and stay himself upon his God. He may do this, though he has no light ; he may maliiply dire& a&ts, though he has no reflex a&s.

; And here he may lay all the stress of his salvation, lean

upon

the grace of God in Chrift, and with a sweet recumbency reft him. self upon his God.

And this Consideration may Arengthen many a bruised Reed. and revive many a drooping spirit, who for the present do not know that they believe, their case may be good for all chisă Thou may'it be a true Believer, though thou art but a weak Be« liever; nay, though thou think thy self no Believer ; I do not (peak !his, that any should rest in this condition; no, this were againft the Text; All must give diligence to make their Calling and Election sure : And a Chriftian can have little or no quiet till he attain to Afurance.

And thus you have seen the Nature of Afsurance; we shall in the next place prove, That a Christian may be assurd of his falvation.

1. Abere ad pole. Many a Chriftian has been, and is assured of his falvacion, Scarce any eminent Chriftian in the whole Book of God, bur bas set his seal to this truth, by his own particular experience. This is so clear, as the adversaries themselves cannot deny, but that many choice ones have had a full and satisfying lighi (pringing in upon their soul; and clearing their eternal condition to them. But they say’is by way of extraordinary Revelation, a special Priviledge vouchsafed to some few. of Gods choiceft Worthies by a rare indulgence. But this is spoken gratis, and is contrary to the present experience of many thousands of Chriftiang, 1 John 5. 13. The very drift of St. Johns Epistle, is, that Chriftians might have Aflurance. And besides, those mediuns by which Chriftians attain to Assurance, are common to all :

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All of them have the Spirit dwelling is them; all have the fruits ofthe Spirit, and a sweer testimony of their own spirits ; though fome have it in a weak measure,& cannot reach to a Plerophory; all come not to this full Asurance ; but yet these are the usual wayes by which men attain to it, which have nothing in them of extraordinary Revelation ; they are via Regia, and yet via trita too. Add to this the scope of the Text;St. Peter exhorts all to give diligence to make their Calling and Election sure, which, to what purpose were ic if it came only by special and extraordinary Revelation, which does not depend upon their diligence ?

2. Search into the Nature of Faith it self, and you will see that it does much tend to affurance, and has some vicinity with it. There's a double ad of Faith, as the moft acure Ames observes, ( 1.) The actus primus, by which I believe in Chrift for the Reo mission of my sins and juftifying of my person, which is properly juftifying faith. ( 2.) A&ius ex fide emanans, by which i believe that my fins are remitted, which does necessarily presuppose the former ad ; for thou haft no more reason to believe that thy fins are remitted, than any other, till thou haft firft received Christ for the Remiffion of thy fins. And this is contain'd in the Article of the Creed, I believe tbe remission of sins; not only in general,for this the Devils believe and yec treoble;but the Christian peculiarizes it, and draws sweetness out of it,I believe the for giveness of my sins. And of this latter "iis meant that fidelis certus effe poteft certitudine fidei de Remisione peccatorum,Rom.5.1.Being juftified by Faith, agurlu é gouer peo's * Joop, a sweet cvjuuia,and holy security of Spirit, for Assurance is nothing but afitx fidei the highest degree of Faith. And 'tis the speech of Aquinas ,

. Quicunque babet scientiam vel fidem; certus eft fe habere de ratione fidei eft, ut homo fit certus de bis quorum babet fidem. Faith docs of its own accord raise and advance it self to AGsurance, and that by reason of the applying and appropriating vertue which is in it ; 'tis Faiths Idiom, My Lord, and my God; by a sweet Monopoly it engrosses all to its self; and yet leave's cnongh for others. Now a man that Atrong!y, grasps a Jewel in b's hand, knows that he has it ; the hand of Faith layes hold on Chrift, and knows that it receives him; fo the want of Assurance in a Believer, does meerly flow from the weakness of Faith; for though it be true that co belicvc, and to know that I

believe,