A29368:120
The freeness of the grace and love of God to believers discovered in reference…
The freeness of the grace and love of God to believers discovered in reference to 1. their services and suffering, 2. their consolations, and 3. their salvation and eternal glory : together with the excellency of the fear of God, the goodness and pleasantness of brotherly love, the wisdom of hearing the voice of the rod, repentance the only way to prevent judgements / delivered in several sermons by the late reverend and faithful minister of Christ, Mr. William Bridge ...The freeness of the grace and love of God to believers discovered in reference to 1. their services and suffering, 2. their consolations, and 3. their salvation and eternal glory : together with the excellency of the fear of God, the goodness and pleasantness of brotherly love, the wisdom of hearing the voice of the rod, repentance the only way to prevent judgements / delivered in several sermons by the late reverend and faithful minister of Christ, Mr. William Bridg ...
London: printed for Nath. Crouch, 1671
Title page typeset from the transcription.
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
But Secondly Affirmatively, we have heard when a man may be said not to be comforted. Now when may a man be said to be comforted, truly comforted in a way of free grace? Beloved in the Lord, are you willing to have your comforts tried; false and counterfeit things do not love trial; now if you be willing to be tried, to have your comforts tried, it is a sign and a hope that your comforts may be true; but I shall not insist on this. There are two or three things I shall speak to here.
First, If you have been comforted by the word of promise, set on upon your souls by God, then are you truly comforted in away of love and free grace, for what is the promise but the word of grace. But some may say, I have had a promise, but I fear it may be from the Devil; for the Devil may bring a promise: did he not bring a promise unto Christ, Mat. 4.6. Saying, He shall give His Angels charge over ⟨p. 47⟩thee, and in their hands they shall bear thee up. This promise was brought to Christ by the Devil, and it may be my promise may be handed to me by Satan, and set on upon my soul by him. But do but mark this, I will only say this one thing to thee, poor soul, to ease thee of this objection. If Satan bring a promise to you, it is to lead you into sin, to draw you into sin, and to that which is evil, as this to Christ here, He will give His Angels charge concerning Thee, cast thy self down. He brought a promise to do evil, cast thy self down: but now if God hand a promise to you, it is for your doing of good; therefore says Christ to Satan, It is written I have a word and a promise too, It is written thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God: The Devil brought this that he might do evil, and God gave Christ a word to keep him from evil: and so when you are brought into temptations, great temptations; if you have a word of promise brought home to your hearts, to bear you up under temptation; it is not the Devil that gives it in to you, that hands it to you: No, for the Devil is no friend to faith, no friend to stay you up; for the Tempter will not act against the Temptation; ⟨p. 48⟩