Vol. Page. piness, Cattle, stealing them punishable, Tormenting them, inhuman and wicked, Cause, knowing the causes of things conduces to hap Ceremonial, what this means, Chazah, what this Hebrew word denotes, Children, they must be baptized, see baptism, Children of God, believers are such, Inquiry who they are, 1, 195, 196 205, 206 Is the seed of David, Is an absolute surety, Their happiness, and the unhappiness of others, How the children of God must conduct themselves, He did not die for all men, What the name Christ signifieth, and why he is so called, He could not sin, He is not corporally present in the Lord's supper, Who are, and who are not true Christians, 268-270 Who are and who are not true members of the church, how we may become such, and how the true members ought to conduct, 432-436 Who are partakers of the true comfort, and how they Communion of the saints in general, How it is disregarded, and how we ought to regard it, With whom the saints have communion, It must be exercised in the Lord's supper, Community of goods, there is none, Condemning a person rashly and unheard, is done in different ways, Confidence in general and in particular explained, Produceth assurance, Is unto and from justification Consubstantiation, how it must be understood Conversion, what this word signifies, Wherein it doth not, and doth consist, It is a work of God and also of man, Is a first, second and daily, False and good evidences of conversion, Conviction of the unconverted, and exhortation to con version, The duties of the converted, 1 Cor. i. 30, ii. 14, 12 13, 14 138, 139 thoughts that are injected into her, are unnatural, inhuman and biasphemous; which will therefore also disturb the soul, and are suggested likewise very suddenly, and when a person had not thought of them before. We may justly call them "fiery darts, buffetings of Satan, and sharp thorns in our flesh," Eph. v. 16, 2 Cor. xii. 7. 5. Arm yourselves against these enemies with the truth, with righteousness, with the preparation of the gospel, with hope, the word of God and prayer. We may learn of Paul, Eph. vi. 11– 18, how we ought to arm ourselves with these weapons, and how necessary they are. Our time will not permit us to extend our discourse, and therefore we do not enlarge upon this. 6. Be watchful and on your guard, that ye may not be attacked unawares. The spiritual warriour must be continually in arms, he must look before him, and about him, and be thoughtful, that he may not be attacked either secretly or suddenly: "Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour," 1 Peter v. 8. "Let discretion preserve you, understanding keep you," Prov. ii. 11. Oppose forthwith sinful emotions and injections; do not pause long, for otherwise the enemy will make a great breach in your souls. 7. Beware of pride, and an imagination that ye can keep yourselves from this and that sin; for this will bring you to a fall. Peter's sad experience, Mat. xxvi. 31, 35, 69–75, ought to teach us humility: "Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall," saith the apostle, 1 Cor. x. 12. And "be not highminded, but fear," Rom. xi. 20. Therefore it behooves each of us to pray in the most fervent manner with David, Psalm xix. 13. Keep .back thy servant from presumptuous sins, let them not have dominion over me then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the transgression." 8. Be not however too timorous, or too fearful of your enemies: they would make use of such a discouragement to their advantage, and your power would forsake you: "If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small," saith the wise man, Prov. xxiv. 10, but watch, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong," 1 Cor. xvi. 13. Ye have to do with conquered enemies: "In the world ye shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world," saith the Captain of the Lord's host, John xvi. 33. They have indeed "all fallen before him," ye need only "slay them after your Lord," like the armourbearer of Jonathan, 1 Sam. xiv. 13. Only cry continually to him for strength: "He is the mighty One, on whom help is laid," Psalm lxxxix. 19, and “hide yourselves with him," like David, Psalm cxliii. 9, "that he may deliver you from your enemy." When we do this, we "strengthen ourselves in the Lord our God," like that valiant king of Israel, 1 Sam. xxx. 6, and we "become strong in the "Lord, and in the power of his might," Eph. vi 10. 9. As ye pray to your Father for all things, so it behooves you to glorify and thank him in all things: "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you," saith Yea, we ought to pray, that we may praise Paul, 1 Thess. v. 18. him, and we ought to engage in our praying to praise him, and thus to make use of our engagement to glorify him, as a motive to urge our prayer the more powerfully. In this manner did the church conclude her prayer for deliverance from her enemies, when she "So we thy people, and sheep of thy pastsaid, Psalm 1xxix. 13. ure will give thee thanks for ever: we will shew forth thy praise to all generations." 10. Trust also, when ye say Amen, that the Father will grant It is his will, your petitions in his own time, and in his own way. that we should think well of him, and trust in him. It is unjust to mistrust our gracious Father, and to suspect him of sparingness and austerity. He requires that we should "ask all things in faith, nothing wavering; for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea, driven with the wind and tossed? for let not that man think that he His Son hath shall receive any thing of the Lord," James i. 6, 7. indeed purchased all things for you, and hath promised you all things in the covenant of grace, especially that your prayers shall be heard, and "all the promises of God are in him yea, and in him Amen," 2 Cor. i. 20. And thus we conclude all the truths which we have explained in the foregoing discourses, and all our prayers with the "Blessed be the Lord, words of David from Psalm lxxii. 18, 19. the God of Israel, who only doth wonderous things. And blessed be his glorious name for ever, and let the whole earth be filled with his glory: Amen, and Amen." We must enter into the covenant of grace. Covenant established at Sinai, What kind of a covenant that was not, and what kind it was, Coveting, what it is, and what kind is forbidden, 2, 376, 377 376 2, 377--380 Creation, what, Of all things, of what, by whom, by what power, how, 196--200 Creed, (the apostles) why so called, It is not the word of God, but only a brief compend of the doctrine of faith, ibid. Design of the creed, ibid. How it must be explained, ibid. Crucifixion, what kind of a punishment, Why an accursed death, The efficacy of Christ's crucifixion, Death of believers no proper punishment of sin, D 1 448 1, 329, 330 335, 336 |