A treatise of faith divided into two parts. The first showing the nature, the…A treatise of faith diuided into two parts. The first shewing the nature, the…

Now seeing God hath bin pleased by so many promises to assure the faithful of their sure and steadfast estate,¹ it is necessary seriously to learn and think upon them, that they might be settled in believing their perseverance. Had it not been a point of great weight and necessity, we cannot think the Lord would have mentioned it so often, and confirmed it so many ways: which will soon appear to any man that shall consider his own frailty, and the strength and malice of his spiritual enemies; how potent and vigilant they be to assail, how weak and feeble he is to withstand and make resistance. Nor is our weakness greater then our backwardness to believe the promises of perseverance, when we stand in most need of them. When corruptions stir, and tentations be hot & fiery, & we find our selves ready to f•int, then are we to seek of a promise that might uphold against the fear of falling away; or if the promise be at hand, we cannot lay hold upon it, some mist or other comes between it & the eye of our understanding. Many good Christians are kept under with this temptation, They are afraid they shall never hold out, if persecution should come, they stand in doubt lest they should fall away as many have done, who made greater shows, & seemed to have gone further then ever they did. And whilst they distrustfully question their perseverance, all present favours seem less then otherwise they would, all other promises be held the more weakly, & Satan takes advantage to fill their hearts with manifold discomforts. God (I deny not) doth order these temptations to the best, & will do his children good by them: for hereby they are driven to distrust themselves & run unto God, & rely upon him in all their necessities: nevertheless the many perplexities wherein they are entangled for want of faith in the promises of perseverance, doth sufficiently convince how necessary it is we should labour to have our hearts established in this confidence, that the Lord will never leave us nor forsake us. Confidence in ⟨p. 286⟩the promises of perseverance doth encourage and quicken in a Christian course, stablish in well-doing, and hearten against the greatest difficulties.² Or old it hath been objected against the doctrine of assurance, of not falling away, that it doth set open a door to all licentiousness: