Precious faith considered in its nature, working, and growth

To the CHRISTIAN Reader.

HE that with serious eyes looks on that dreadful spectacle, lapsed Angels lying in Chains of Darkness for ever, and that for one Sin, may very well stand and wonder at the Salvation of Men; in which worms are as it were Angelized, and little lumps of corrupted dust are first refined by Grace, and then transfigured into Glory. The pure Origin of this great Work is no other than the Divine Grace and Love, which have so fairly portrayed and limed out themselves ⟨image 3⟩upon every piece of it, that all the Saints above and below may read the Characters thereof; and have reason to cry out, Grace, Grace. Indeed Heaven and Earth too should ring with the Praises of it, and Eternity it self will be short enough to behold and admire it in. To compass this Glorious design the Son of God left his Fathers Bosom, and appeared in our Flesh, to make a Robe for us of his own Righteousness, and a Laver for us in his own Blood. Our Nature in him is now in Heaven, and his Spirit is descended to impress his Image on us, thereby to make us meet for that Blessed Region, to secure all to us. Heaven hath let down a great Charter in the precious Gospel, in which we have a Map of Glory, ⟨image 3⟩and Eternal Life set before us; to elevate our Souls, which are sparks of Immortality, out of the dust and rubbish of the Fall, and to set them aspiring after the true Pleasures and Beatitudes which are above. That we may not mistake our way, or faint in it, the holy Spirit hath in the Gospel drawn many lines of Holiness and Comfort: There are pure Precepts to chalk out the Way to Heaven, and sweet Promises to cordial us therein; and to give us some Tastes of Heaven before we come there. The great condition of this Salvation which streams down out of the fountain of Grace through the Blood of Christ into the Evangelical Promises, is no other than Faith. This is the Aurora of Glory, Heaven and Eternal Life dawn in it; This is the ⟨image 4⟩Hypostasis of Things hoped for. It presentiates the Celestial Paradise, and in some sort sets the Believer by the rivers of Pleasures which are there: This receives all from Grace, and ascribes all to it, prompting the Believer to confess touching his Spiritual Being and Working, By the Grace of God I am what I am, and by the Grace of God I do what I do.