Casuistical morning-exercises the fourth volume /

5. He who does not look upon a Life of Faith to be a careful, studious, laborious Life, is destitute, &c. Faith hath new rules, counsels, and methods of living, that a man was never acquainted with before; he meets with many scruples, doubts, and intricate cases, that put him to it, to find out the right way of pleasing God; for that is the great design of Faith to walk before God unto all well-pleasing; Faith lives in a continual fear of offending God, is very circumspect & watchful, lest it should take a wrong step: The Saints are busied much in building up themselves on their most holy Faith, Jude 20. they know all will run to ruin, if the spiritual building be neglected; it must be often viewed; we must see what is lacking in our Faith, what repairs are necessary; care must be taken that we fall not from our own steadfastness; when we begin to yield to a temptation, to move never so little from any point of truth formerly received, we may be quickly beside the foundation; therefore be unmoveable from the hope of the Gospel; when once you begin to move from Christ, you know not whether you may be carried, as the Galatians were, Gal. 1.6. all this shows what a careful laborious Life a Life of Faith is.

5. He who does not look upon a Life of Faith to be a careful, studious, laborious Life, is destitute, &c. Faith hath new rules, counsels, and methods of living, that a man was never acquainted with before; he meets with many scruples, doubts, and intricate cases, that put him to it, to find out the right way of pleasing God; for that is the great design of Faith to walk before God unto all well-pleasing; Faith lives in a continual fear of offending God, is very circumspect & watchful, lest it should take a wrong step: The Saints are busied much in building up themselves on their most holy Faith, Jude 20. they know all will run to ruine, if the spiritual building be neglected; it must be often viewed; we must see what is lacking in our Faith, what repairs are necessary; care must be taken that we fall not from our own stedfastness; when we begin to yield to a temptation, to move never so little from any point of truth formerly received, we may be quickly beside the foundation; therefore be unmoveable from the hope of the Gospel; when once you begin to move from Christ, you know not whether you may be carried, as the Galatians were,