Remains of that reverend and learned divine, John Preston, Dr. in Divinity, chaplain in…Remaines of that reverend and learned divine, Iohn Preston, Dr. in Divinity, chaplaine in…

For the truth of a mans strength, is known by his strength of faith that he hath, whether he be naturally strong, or spiritually strong, for this is the first work of the Spirit after the humiliation of him in the conversion of a sinner, namely, to work faith in him; and no sooner faith, but as soon by degrees, strength, and then the promise follows faith, He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned, Mark 16. 16. and this is the course ¹that we take in preaching: first we Preach the Law unto you, and we do it to this end to humble you, and to break the hard disposition of your ⟨p. 89⟩hearts, that so they may be fit to receive Christ, and when we have throughly humbled you then we preach unto you the Gospel, beseeching and persuading you to believe in Christ, for the pardon of sins past, present, and to come; and to lay down the arms of rebellion which you have taken up against Christ and you shall be saved, but yet notwithstanding, you are neither humbled by the one, nor persuaded and provoked by the other, but are as the Prophet saith, You have eyes and see not, you have ears but you hear not, seeing you do not see, and hearing you do not hear; as for example, when a man is showed a thing, but yet he minds it not, when the eye of the mind is upon another object, that man may be said to see and not to see, because he doth not regard it, or a man that hath a matter come before him, he hears it, but his mind being otherwayes employed he regards it not, in which regard he may be said to hear and not to hear, because he minds it not. And what is the reason that though we preach the Law and the Judgements of God so much unto you, beseech and persuade you so often to come in and receive Christ and you shall be saved, time after time, day after day, yet we see no reformation at all? what is the reason that the word wants this effect in you, as to humble you, and that you are no more affrighted with the Judgements of God then you are, and that you remain as ignorant and careless as ever you were, the reason is, because you do not believe: you want a true saving ⟨p. 90⟩& applying faith, for if you had that, the word would work other effects in you, then it doth.