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To know

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felf to him, not only to be juftified, but also fanctified, and governed by his will' and pleafure, proving what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God, Rom. 12. 2.

XI. To this knowledge must be joined affent," which is the fecond act of faith, whereby a perfon receives and acknowledges as truths, thofe things which he knows, receiving the teftimony of God, and thus fetting to his feal, that God is true, John 3, 33: This affent is principally founded on the infallible veracity of God, who teftifies of himself and of his fon, 1 John 5.9, 10. On which teftimony, revealed in Scripture, and hedding forth all around the rays of its divinity, the believer relies with no lefs fafety, than if he had been actually prefent at the revelation of these things. For, when the foul enlightened by the fpirit, difcerns thofe divine truths, and in them a certain excellent theoprepy, or beauty worthy of God, and a moft wife and infeparable connection of the whole, it cannot but affent to a truth, that forces. itfelf upon him with fo many arguments, and as fecurely admit what it thus knows, for certain, as if it had feen it with its own eyes, or handled it with its own hands, or had been taken up into the third . heavens, and heard it immediately from God's own mouth. Whatever the luft of the fiefh may murmur, whatever vain fophifts may quibble and object, tho perhaps the foul may not be able to answer, or solve all objections, yet it perfifts in the acknowledgement of this truth, which it faw too clearly, and heard too certainly, as it were from the mouth of God, ever to fuffer itfelf to be drawn away from it by any fophifti- ̈ cal reasonings whatever. For, I have not followed, fays the believing foul, cunningly devifed fables, when I believed the power and coming of our Lord Jefus Chrift, but in the Spirit was eye witness of his majesty, and beard bis voice from heaven, 2 Pet. 1. 16, 18. And thus faith is accompanied with rags, fubftance, and Keyxos, evidence, Heb. 11. 1, and manpodopía, full perfua

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fion or affurance, Rom. 4. 21. It will not be unprofitable to confider a little the meaning of thefe words.

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XII. The Apoftie fpeaks more than once of Faith has #popopia plerophory or full affurance: as Col. 2. 2, ance, πληροφορία συνεσέως, the full afurance of underftanding; Heb. 6. 11. manpopogía rus xaidos, the full affurance of hope, Heb. 10. 22, ganpopopice wisews, full affurance of faith. According to its etymology the word plerophory, denotes a carrying with full fail, a metaphor, as it fhould feem, taken from fhips, when all their fails are filled with a profperous gale. So that here it fignifies the vehement inclination of the foul, driven forward by the Holy Spirit, towards an affent to the truth it is made fenfible of. Hefchius, that moft excellent master of the Greek language, explains it by BeRalornTa, firmness. And in that fenfe, paPogiæ wisews, plerophory of faith, is nothing but spéÉIS. Xisor Tirews, the stedfastness of faith in Christ, as the Apostle varies thofe phrafes, Col. 2. 2, 5 and Hemango Dopamina apanala, are things moft furely or firmly believed, Luke 1. 1. So firm therefore muft the be lievers affent be to divine truth..

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XIII. The term rosacis, bypoftafis fubftance, is also and fubvery emphatical, which the Apostle makes ufe of, ftance. when he fpeaks of faith. Heb. 11. 1. Nor, have the Latins any word, that can fully exprefs all its force and fignificancy ait, Tabraous bypoftafis denotes the existence, or, as one of the ancients has faid, the extantia, the ftanding up of a thing; in which fenfe philofophers. fay, that a thing that really is, has an ások, that is, sarreal exiftence, and is not the fiction of our own mind. And, indeed, faith makes the thing hoped for, tho' not actually exifting, to have, notwithstanding, an existence in the believer's mind, who fo firmly affents to the promises of God, as if the thing promised was already prefent with him. Chryfoftom had this in his mind, when he thus ex

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plained this paffage:ási ajaylyover, ude isiy er ἐποφάσει, ἀλλ' ἡ ἐλπὶς ὑφίτησιν αυτὴν ἐν ἡμετέρα ψυχῆς the refurrection does not yet exist in itself, but hope (let us fay faith) prefents it to, and makes it extant in our foul. A Greek fcholiaft, cited by Beza, has moft happily expreffed the fame thing: Επειδὴ γὰρ τὰ ἐν ἐλπίσιν ἀνυπόςαλά ἔσιν, ὡς τέως μὴ παρόλα, η πίσις ἐσιά τις αυτῶν Καὶ ὑπός γίνεται είναι αυτὰ Καὶ παρείναι τρόπον τινα παρασκευάζεσαι, διὰ τὸ πιτεύειν ἶναι, as things hoped for, are not yet extant, as not being prefent, faith becomes a kind of substance and effence of them, making them, in fome measure, extant, and prefent with us, in that it believes them to be. 2dly. Frésaviš alfo fignifies a bafe or foundation, in which fense Diodorus Siculus, quoted by Gomarus, hás said, twórs Tô rápu, that is, the foundation of the Sepulchre And Calvin's interpretation looks this way, faith, fais he, is bypoftafis, that is, a prop or poffeffion, on which we fix our feet 3dly, It alfo denotes fubfiftence, or conftancy, without yielding to any affault of the enemy. Thus Plutarch in Demetrius, daròs Ģisμínu, tõl Hartinusy da Davyórtwr, none of the enemy standing their ground, but ħall giving way, And Polybius, in his difcription of Ho ratius Cocles, they feared, égère rny dévauty, is any ùrésœau žuvỡ, not so much bis strength, as his firmness and refolution, not to give way. And indeed, there is famething in faith, that can, with intrepidity, fuftain all the affaults of temptations, and not fuffer it to be moved from an affent to a truth once known. Now if we join all this together, we may affert, that faith is fo firm an affent to divine truth, as to fet things future before us, as if they were present, and that it is a prop to the foul, on which it fixes its foot, with out yielding to any affault whatever, or anonraíoná

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XIV. Nor ought it to be omitted, that the Apostle calls faith, Bacour the evidence of things not feen. Butxos denotes two things. ft, A certain demonftration. Ariftotle, Rhetorice c.14, fays, LYDCas δε ἰσιν, ὁ μὲν μὴ δυνατὸς ἄλλως ἔχειν, αλλ' ἔτως ὡς ἡμεῖς λέγομεν ; de monstration is what cannot possibly be otherwise, but meld

muft neceffarily be as we affirm. 2dly, Conviction of foul arifing from fuch a demonftration of the truth: as Ariftophanes in Pluto, σύγ' ἐλέγξαι μ' ἔπω δύνασαι περὶ τάτω, you cannot convince me of that. There is therefore in faith, if it be yxes [an elenchus] a demonftration, a certain conviction of foul, arifing from that clear and infallible demonftration. But this demonftration of truth refts on the teftimony of God, who cannot deceives from which faith argues thus, whatever God, who is truth itself, reveals, cannot but be most true, and worthy of all acceptation, tho' perhaps I may not be able to fee it with my eyes, or fully conceive it in my mind.

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XV. All this tends to inftruct us, that the affent, No falfe which is in faith, has a moft certain affurance, which hood pof no certanity of any mathematical demonftration can divine exceed. Wherefore, they fpeak very incautiously, faith. who maintain, there may be falfehood in divine faith, fince the proper object of faith is the tefti mony of God, which is neceffarily true and more certain than any demonftration. Nor can any places of fcripture be brought, in which any thing, that is not true, can be man's belief. voi aby tutor

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XVI. But we are here to remove another difficulty: Believers if faith is fuch a certain and firm affent, are thofe fometimes then deftitute of true faith, who fometimes waver staggered even with respect to fundamental truths? I anfwer, as to the ft. We describe faith, confidered in the idea, as tain truth. that chriftianis virtues or grace, the perfection of which we all ought to afpire after and not as it 2dly. There may at times abe waverings, ftaggerings, and even inclinations to unbelief, in the best of believers, fpecially when they are under fome violent temp- ab. Tation, as is evident from the waverings of Afaph, Jeremiah, and others about the providence of God: but these are certain defects of faith, arifing from the weakness of the flesh. 3dly. Faith presently wrestles with thofe temptations, it never allents to thofe injections of the devil, or the evil defires of

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the carnal mind, nor is ever at reft, till having entered the fanctuary of God, it is confirmed, by the teaching fpirit of faith, in the contemplation and acknowledgment of thofe truths, about which it was taggered. There at length, and no where elfe, it finds reft for the fole of its feet. to

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Love fol- 1 XVII. That which follows this affent is the love lows on of the truth, thus known and acknowledged and this is the third act of faith, of which the apostle fpeaks 2 Thess. 2, 10. For, fince there is a clear manifeftation of the glory of God, in faving truths, not only as he is true in his teftimony, but also as his wifdom, holiness, juftice, power and other perfections fhine forth therein, it is not poffible, but the believing foul, viewing thefe amiable per fections of the deity in thofe truths, fhould break out into a flame. of love to exult in them, and glorify God. Hence the believer is faid to give glary to God; Rom. 4. 120, and to love his praise (glory) John 12. 43. Above all, the foul is delighted with the fundamental truth concerning Chrift. Loves it as an ineftimable treafure, and as a pearl of great price: it is precious to believers, Pet. 27 yea, most precious. It is indeed true, that love, ftrictly fpeaking, is diftinguished from faith, yet the acts of both virtues, or graces, are so interwoven with one another, that we can neither explain nor exercife faith without fome acts of love interfering: fuch as is alfo that of which we now treat: This alfo is the obfervation of: fome of the greatest divines before

me. As, not to mention others at prefent, Ghaz

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mierus, Panftrat. I. 3. lib. 12. 14. No. 16.

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delin, Theol. lib. 2. c. 24, ad Thes. 8. And both of them cite Augustine in their favour, who afking, what is it to believe in God? anfwers, It is by believing to love. See alfo le Blanc, a divine of Sedan in Thes. de fidei juftificantis natura, &c. Sect. 95. But if any will call this love, according to the glofs of the fchools,

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