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43 - Satan’s Devices - Sermons on Several Occasions · Sacred Texts Archive

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Satan's devices, we are not ignorant of his devices Second Corinthians two eleven.
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The devices whereby the subtle God of this world labors to destroy the children of
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God, or at least to torment whom he cannot destroy, to perplex and
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hinder them in running the race which is set before them. Are numberless as
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the stars of heaven or the sand upon the sea shore. But it is
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of one of them only that I now propose to speak, Although exerted in
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various ways, whereby he endeavors to divide the Gospel against itself, and by
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one part of it to overthrow the other. The inward kingdom of Heaven,
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which is set up in the heart of all that repent and believe the Gospel,
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is no other than righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.
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Every babe in Christ knows we are made partakers of these the very hour that
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we believe in Jesus. These are only the first fruits of His spirit.
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The harvest is not yet. Although these blessings are inconceivably great. Yet we
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trust to see greater than these us to love the Lord our God, not
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only as we do now with the weak, though sincere affection. But with
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all our heart, with all our mind, with all our soul, with
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all our strength, we look for power to rejoice evermore, to pray without
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ceasing, and in everything to give thanks, knowing this is the will of
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God in Christ Jesus. Concerning us, we expect to be meet perfect in
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love, and that love which casts out all painful fear, and all desire,
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of that of glorifying him we love, and of loving and serving him
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more and more. We look for such an increase in the experimental knowledge and
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love of God, our Savior, as will enable us always to walk in
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the light as He is in the light. We believe the whole mind will
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be in us, which was also in Christ Jesus, that we shall love
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every man so as to be ready to lay down our life for his sake,
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so as by this love to be freed from anger and pride, and
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from every unkind affection. We expect to be cleansed from all our idols,
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from all filthiness, whether of flesh or spirit, to be saved from all
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our uncleannesses in word or outward, to be purified as He is pure.
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We trust in his promise. Who cannot lie that the time will surely come,
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when in every word and work we shall do His blessed will on earth
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as it is done in heaven. When all our conversations shall be ceasined with
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salt, all meet to minister grace to the hearers. When whether we eat
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or drink, or whatever we do, it shall be done to the glory
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of God. When all our words and deeds shall be in the name of
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the Lord Jesus, giving thanks unto God, even the Father through him.
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Now this is the grand device of Satan, to destroy the first work of
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God in the soul, or at least to hinder his increase by our expectation
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of that greater work. Is therefore my present design, first to point out
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the several ways whereby He endeavors this, and secondly to observe how we may
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retort those fiery darts of the wicked one, how we may rise the higher
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by what he intends for an occasion of our falling. I am first to
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point out the several ways or by Satan endeavors to destroy the first work of
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God and the soul, or at least to hinders increase by our expectation of
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that greater work. And he endeavors to damp our joy in the Lord by
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the consideration of our own vileness, sinfulness, unworthiness. Added to this,
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there must be a far greater change than as yet where we cannot see the
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Lord. If we knew we must remain as we are even to the day
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of our death, we might possibly draw a kind of comfort, poor as
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it was, from that necessity. But as we know, we need not
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remain in this state. As we are assured there is a greater change to
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come, and that unless sin be all done away in this life cannot see
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God in glory. That subtle adversary often damps the joy we should otherwise feel,
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and what we have already attained by a perverse representation of what we have
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not attained in the absolute necessity of attaining it, so that we cannot rejoice
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what we have because there is more which we have not. We cannot rightly
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taste the goodness of God, who hath done so great things for us,
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because there are so much greater things which as yet He hath not done.
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Likewise, the deeper conviction God works in us of our present unholiness, and
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the more vehement desire we feel in our heart of the entire holiness he hath
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promised, the more we tempted to think lightly of the present gifts of God,
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and to undervalue what we have already received because of what we have not
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received. If he can prevail thus far, if he can damp our joy,
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he will soon attack our peace. Also he will suggest, are you
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fit to see God? He is of purer eyes than to be whole iniquity?
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How then, can you flatter yourself so to imagine that He beholds you
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with approbation? God is holy, you are unholy? What communion hath light
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with darkness? How is it possible that you, unclean as you are,
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should be in a state of acceptance with God? You see indeed the mark
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the prize of your high calling. But do you not see it is afar
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off. How can you presume, then, to think that all your sins
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are already blotted out? How can this be until you are brought nearer to
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God, until you bear more resemblance to him? Thus will He endeavor not
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only to shake your pea, but even to overturn the very foundation of it,
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to bring you back by insensible degrees, to the point from whence you
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set out first even to seek for justification by works or by your own righteousness,
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to make something in you the ground of your acceptance, or at least
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necessarily previous to it. Or if we hold fast other foundation, can no
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man lay than that which is laid even Jesus Christ. And I am justified
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freely by God's grace through the redemption which is in Jesus. Yet he will
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not cease to urge. But the tree is known by its fruits. And
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have you that fruits of justification? Is that mind in you which was in
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Christ Jesus? Are you dead unto sin and alive unto righteousness? Are you
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made comfortable to the death of Christ? And do you know the power of
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His resurrection? And then, comparing the small fruits we feel in our souls
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of the fullness of the promises, we shall be ready to conclude. Surely
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God hath not said that my sins are forgiven me. Surely I have not
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received the remission of my sins. For what lot have I among them that
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are sanctified? More especially in that time of sickness and pain? He will
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press this with all his might. Is it not the word of Him that
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cannot lie without holiness? No man shall see the Lord. But you are
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not holy. You know it well. You know holiness is the full image
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of God. And how far is this above out of your sight? You
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cannot attain unto it. Therefore, all your labor has been in vain,
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All these things you have suffered in vain. You have spent your strength for
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nought. You are yet in your sins. You must therefore perish at the
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last. And thus, if your eye be not steadily fixed on him who
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hath borne all your sins, he will bring you again under that fear of
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death, whereby you so long subject unto bondage, and by this means impair.
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If not wholly destroyed your peace as well as joy in the Lord,
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but his masterpiece of subtlety still behind, not content to strike at your peace
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and joy, he will carry his attempts farther. Yet he will level is
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assault against your righteousness. Also he will endeavor to shake thee yea, if
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it be possible to destroy the holiness you have already received by your very expectation
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of receiving more, of attaining all the image of God. The manner wherein
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he attempts this may partly appear from what has been already observed. For first,
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by striking at our joy in the Lord, he strikes likewise at our
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holiness. Seeing joy in the Holy Ghost is a precious means of promoting every
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holy temper, a choice instrument of God, whereby he carries on much of
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his work in a believing soul, and is a considerable help not only to
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inward prossit to outward holiness. It strengthens our hands to go on in the
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work of faith, in the labor of love manfully, to fight the good
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fight of faith, and to lay hold on eternal life. Is peculiarly designed
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of God to be a balance both against inward and outward sufferings, to lift
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up the hands that hang down and confirm the feeble needs. Consequently, whatever
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damps our joy in the Lord portionately obstructs our holiness, And therefore, so
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far as Satan shakes our joy, he hinders our holiness. Also the same
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effect will ensue if he can, by any means either destroy or shake our
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peace. For the peace of God is in other precious means of advancing the
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image of God in us. There is scarce a greater help to holiness than
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this, A continual tranquility of spirit, evenness of a mind stayed upon God,
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a calm repose in the blood of Jesus. And without this it is
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scarce possible to grow in grace and in the vital knowledge of our Lord Jesus
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Christ. For all fear. Unless the tender vlaial fear freezes and benumbs the
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soul, it binds up all the springs of spiritual life and stops all motion
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of the heart toward God. And doubt, as it were, bemires the
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soul, so that it sticks fast in the deep clay. Therefore, in
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the same proportion as either of these prevail, our growth and holiness is hindered.
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At the same time, there our wise adversary endeavors to make our conviction
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of the necessity of perfect love and occasion of shaking our peace by doubts and
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fears. He endeavors to weaken, if not destroy, our faith. Indeed,
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these are inseparably connected, so that they must stand or fall together.
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So long as faith subsists, we remain in peace. Our heart stands fast
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while it believes in the Lord. But if we let go our faith or
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flib confidence in a loving, pardoning God, our peace is at an end.
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The very foundation on which it stood being overthrown, and this is the
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only foundation of holiness as well as of peace. Consequently, whatever strikes at
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this strikes at the very root of all holiness. For without this faith,
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without an abiding sense that Christ loved me and gave himself from me, without
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a continuing conviction that God, for Christ's sake is merciful to me, a
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sinner, it is impossible that I should love God. We love him because
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He first loved us, and in proportion to the strength and clearness of our
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conviction, he hath loved us and accepted us in his son. And unless
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we love God, it is not possible that we should love our neighbor as
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ourselves, nor consequently that we should have any right affections, either toward God
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or toward man. It evidently follows that whatever weakens our faith must than the
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same degree obstruct our holiness. And this is not only the most effectual,
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but also the most compendious way of destroying all holiness. Seeing does not effect
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any one Christian temper, any single grace or food of the spirit, but
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as far as it succeeds, tears up the very root of the whole work
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of God. No marvel. Therefore, that the ruler of the darkness of
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this world should here put forth all his strength. And so we find by
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experience, For it is far easier to conceive than it is to express,
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the unspeakable violence, whith its temptation is frequently urged on them through hunger and
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thirst after righteousness, when they see in a strong and clear light on the
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one hand, the desperate wickedness of their own hearts, on the other hand,
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the unspotted holiness to which they are called in Christ Jesus. On the
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one hand, the depth of their own corruption, of their total alienation from
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God, on the other the height of the glory of God, that image
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of the Holy One. When they are to be renewed. There is many
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times those spirit left in them. They could almost cry out with God,
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this is impossible. They ready to give up both faith and hope, to
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cast away that very confidence whereby they are to overcome all things and do all
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things through Christ's strengthening them. Whereby, after they have done the will of
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God, they are to receive the promise. If they hold fast the beginning
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of their confidence steadfast unto the end, they shall undoubtedly receive the promise of
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God, reaching through both time and eternity. But here is another snare laid
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for our feet. While we earnestly pant for that part of the promise which
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is to be accomplished. Here for the glorious liberty of the children of God,
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we may be let unawares from the consideration of the glory which shall hereafter
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be revealed. Our eye may be insensibly turned aside from that crown which the
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righteous Judge hath promised to give it that day to all that love is appearing,
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and we may be drawn away from the view of that incorruptible inheritance which
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is reserved in Heaven for us. But this also would be a loss to
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our souls, in an obstruction to our holiness, which to walk in the
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continual sight of our goal is a needful help in our running the race that
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is set before us. This it was the having respect unto the recompense of
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reward Lord, which of old time encouraged Moses, rather to suffer affliction with
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the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season,
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esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt nay, is
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expressly said of a greater than he, that for the joy that was set
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before him, he endured the cross and despised the shame till he sat down
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at the right hand of the throne of God. Whence we may easily infer
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how much more needful for us than the view of that joy set before us,
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that we may endure whatever cross the wisdom of God lays upon us,
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and press on through holiness to glory. But while we are reaching to this,
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as well as to the glorious liberty which is preparatory to it, we
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may be in danger of falling into another snare of the devil, For by
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he labors to entangle the children of God. We may take too much thought
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for tomorrow, so as to neglect the improvement of to day. We may
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so expect perfect love as not to use that which is already shed abroad in
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our hearts. There have not been wanting instances of those who have greatly suffered
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hereby they were so taken up with what they were to receive hereafter, as
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utterly to neglect what they had already received. In expectation of having five towns
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more, they buried their one talent in the earth. At least they did
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not improve it as they might have done to the glory of God and the
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good of their own souls. Thus does the subtle adversary of God and Man
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endeavor to make void the counsel of God by dividing the Gospel against itself,
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making one part of it overthrow the other. While the first work of God
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and the soul is destroyed by the expectation of his perfect work. We have
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seen several of the ways wherein he attempts this by cutting off, as it
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were, the springs of holiness. But this he likewise does more directly by
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making that blessed hope occasion of unholy tempers. Thus, whenever our heart is
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equally athirst for all the great and precious promises, when we pant after the
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fullness of God, as the heart after the water brook, when our soul
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breaketh out in fervent desire, why are his chariot wheels so long in coming?
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He will not neglect the opportunity of tempting us to murmur against God.
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Will use all his wisdom and all his strength, if haply in an unguarded
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hour, may be influenced to repine in our Lord, for thus delaying his
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coming, at least he will labor to excite some degree of fretfulness or impatience,
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and perhaps of envy at those whom we believe to have already attained the
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prize of our high calling. He well knows that by giving way to any
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of these tempers, we are pulling down the very thing we would build up.
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By thus, following after perfect holiness, we become more unholy than before.
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Yea, there is great danger that our last state should be worse than
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the first, Like them of whom the Apostle speaks in those dreadful words,
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it had been better they had never known the way of righteousness than after they
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had known it, to turn back from the holy commandment and delivered to them.
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And from hence he hopes to reap another advantage, even to bring up
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an evil report of the good way. He is sensible how few are able
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to distinguish, and too many are not willing so to do, between the
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accidental abuse and the natural tendency of a doctrine. These, therefore he continually
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blend together with regard to the doctrine of Christian perfection, in order to rejoice
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the minds of unweary men against the glorious promises of God, And how frequently,
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how generally, I had almost said, how universally as he prevailed herein.
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Who is there that observes any of these excidental ill effects of this doctrine
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and is not immediately conclude this is its natural tendency, and is not readily
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cry out. See, these are the fruits, meaning the natural necessary fruits
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of such doctrine. Not so they are fruits which may accidentally spring from the
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abuse of a great and precious truth. But the abuse of this or any
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other scriptural doctrine does by no means destroy its use. Neither can the unfaithfulness
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of man, perverting his right way, make the promise of God in an
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effect. No, let God be true, and every man a liar.
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The word of the Lord it shall stand. Faithful is he that hath promised,
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He also will do it. Let not us then be removed from the
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hope of the Gospel. Rather, let us observe, which was the second
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thing proposed, how we may retort those fiery darts of the wicked one,
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How we may rise the higher by what he intends for an occasion of our
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falling. And first to say, endeavor to damp your joy in the Lord
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by the consideration of your sinfulness. Add to this that without entire universal holiness,
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no man can see the Lord. Ye may cast back this dart upon
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his own head. But through the grace of God, the more you feel
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of your own vileness, the more you rejoice in confident hope that all this
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shall be done away, while you'll hold fastest hope. Every evil temper you
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feel, that you hate it with a perfect hatred, may be a means
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not of lessening your humble joy, but rather of increasing it. This and
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this, may you say, shall likewise perish from the presence of the Lord,
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Like as the wax melted at the fire, so shall this melt away
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before his face. By this means, the greater that changes, which remains
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to be wrought in your soul, the more may you triumph in the Lord
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and rejoice in the God of your salvation, who hath done so great things,
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for you will do so much greater things than these. Secondly, more
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vehemently, he assaults your peace with that suggestion God is holy, You are
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unholy. You are immensely distant from that holiness without which you cannot see God
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How then can you be in the favor of God? How can you fancy
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you are justified? Takes the more earnest heed to hold fast that not by
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works of righteousness which I have done, I am found in Him. I
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am accepted in the Beloved, Not having my own righteousness as the cause,
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either in whole or in part of our justification before God, but that which
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is by faith in Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.
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Oh, by this about your neck, write it upon the table of thy
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heart, where it is a bracelet upon thy arm, as frontlets between thine
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eyes. I am justified freely by His grace, through the redemption that is
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in Jesus Christ. Value in esteem more and more that precious truth. By
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grace we are saved through faith. Admire more and more the free grace of
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God, and so loving the world as to give his only son, that
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whosoever believeth on him might not perish, but have everlasting life. So shall
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the sentence of the sinfulness you feel on the one hand, and of the
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holiness you expect on the other, both contribute to establish your peace and to
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make it flow as a rever So shall that peace flow on in an even
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stream. In spite of all those mountains of unguidliness, WI shall become a
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plain in the day when the Lord cometh to take full possession of your heart.
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Neither will sickness or pain with the approach of death, occasion of any
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doubt or fear. You know, a day and hour alone with God is
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as a thousand years. He cannot be straitened for time wherein to work whatever
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remains to be done in your soul. And God's time is always the best
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time. Therefore, be thou careful for nothing. Only make thy request known
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unto Him, and that not without doubt or fear, but thanksgiving. As
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being previously assured, ye cannot withhold from Thee any manner of thing that is
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good. Thirdly, the more you are attempted to give up your shield,
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to cast away your faith, your confidence in His love so much, the
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more take heed that you hold fast that where until you have attained so much,
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the more labor to stir up the gift of God which is in you.
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Never let that slip. I have an advocate with the Father Jesus Christ,
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the Righteous. In the life I now live. I live by faith
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in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself from me. Be
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this thy glory and crown of rejoicing, and see that no one take thy
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crown. Hold that fast. I know that my Redeemer liveth and shall stand
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at the latter day upon the earth. And I now have redemption in his
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blood, even the forgiveness of sins. Thus being filled with all peace and
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joy in believing, press on in the peace and joy of faith to the
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renewal of thy whole soul in the image of Him that created THEE. Meanwhile,
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cry continually to God. Thou mayest see the prize of thy high calling,
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not as Satan represents it in a horrid, dreadful shape, but in
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its genuine native beauty, not as something that must be or thou wilt go
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to Hell, but as what may be to lead THEE to Heaven. Look
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upon it as the most desirable gift, which is in all the stores of
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the rich mercies of God. Beholding it in this true point of light,
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thou wilt hunger after it. More and more thy whole soul will be a
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thirst for God and for this glorious conformity to His likeness. In having received
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the good hope of this and strong consolation through grace, Thou wilt no more
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be weary or faint in thy mind, but wilt follow on till thou attainest
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in the same power of faith, press on to glory. Indeed, this
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is the same prospects. Still, God hath joined from the beginning pardon holiness
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heaven. And why should man put them asunder? Oh, beware of this,
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then not one link of the golden chain be broken. God, for
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Christ's sake, shall hath forgiven me. He is now renewing me in his
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own image. Shortly he will make me meet for himself and take me to
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stand before his face. I, whom he hath justified to the blood of
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his son, being thoroughly sanctified by his spirit, shall quickly ascend to the
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New Jerusalem, the City of the Living God. Yet a little while and
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I shall come to the general assembly in Church of the First Born, and
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to God the Judge of all, and to Jesus, the Mediator of the
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New Covenant. How soon will these shadows flee away and a day turn me
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dawned upon me? How soon shall I drink of the river of the water
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of life, going out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.
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There all his servants shall praise him and shall see his face, and his
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name shall be upon their foreheads, and no knight shall be there, and
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they'll have no need of candle or the light of the sun, for the
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Lord God enlighteneth them, and they shall reign for ever and ever. And
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if you thus taste of the good Word and of the powers of the world
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to come, you will not murmur against God because you are not yet meet
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for the inheritance of the saints in light. Instead of repining at your not
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being wholly delivered, you will praise God for thus far delivering you. You
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will magnify God for what he hath done, and take it as an earnest
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of what He will do. You will not fret against him, could you
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are not yet renewed, but bless Him because you shall be. And because
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now is your salvation all sin nearer than when you first believed. Instead of
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uselessly tormenting yourself because the time is not fully come, you will calmly and
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quietly wait for it, knowing that it will come and will not tarry.
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You may therefore more cheerfully ignore it. As yet the burden of sin that
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still remains in you, because it will not always remain yet a little while,
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and it shall be clean gone. Only tarry thou the Lord's leisure be
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strong, and ye shall comfort thy heart and put thou thy trust in the
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Lord. And if you see any who appear, so far as man can
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judge, but God alone searches the hearts to be already partakers of their hope,
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already made perfect in love. Far from envying the grace of God in
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them, let it rejoice and comfort your heart. Glorify God for their sake.
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If one member is honored, shall not all the members rejoice with it
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instead of jealousy or evil surmising concerning them. Praise God for the consolation.
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Rejoice in having a fresh proof of the faithfulness of God and fulfilling all His
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promises. And stir yourself up the more to repprehend that for which you also
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are apprehended of Christ Jesus. In order to this redeem the time, improve
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the present moment, Buy up every opportunity of growing in grace or of doing
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good, that not the thought of receiving more grace tomorrow make you negligent of
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today. You have one talent now if you expect five more so much the
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rather improve that you have, and the more you expect to receive hereafter,
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the more labor for God now sufficient for the days. The grace thereof God
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is now pouring his benefits upon you. Now approve yourself a faithful steward of
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the present grace of God. Whatever may be tomorrow, Give all diligence to
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today to add to your faith, courage, temperance, patience, brotherly kindness
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in the fear of God. To ye attain that pure and perfect love.
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Let these things be now in you and abound, be not outslothful or unfruitful.
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So shall an entrance be ministered into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord Jesus
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Christ. Lastly, if in time past you have abused this blessed hope of
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being holy as He is holy, ye do not therefore cast it away,
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But the abuse cease, the use remain. Use it now to the more
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abundant glory of God and profit of your own soul, and steadfast faith,
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in calm, tranquility of spirit, and full assurance of hope, Rejoicing ever
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more for what God hath done. Press ye on unto perfection daily, growing
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in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, and going on from strength to
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strength and resignation in patience and humble thankfulness for what ye have attained and what
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ye shall run. The race set before you, looking unto Jesus, till
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through perfect love ye enter into his glory. End of Section forty three