A64833:178
Venning's remains, or, Christ's school consisting of four classes of Christians, I. babes, II.…
Venning's remains, or, Christ's school consisting of four classes of Christians, I. babes, II. little children, III. young men, IV. fathers : with their several characteristical differences and attainments, also the doctrines proper to be taught to each of them : being the substance of many sermons / preached by Ralph Venning and fitted by him for the press before his death.
London: printed for John Hancock senior and junior, 1675
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.
3. As weak as thy Faith is, the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it, thou shalt be kept through this Faith by the power of God unto Salvation, 1 Pet. 1.5. This poor Soul is apt to scruple and say, Alas, my Faith is but small (if any) and I fear what will become of me in an hour of temptation, my strength is so small that I shall faint in the day of affliction. But the Lord saith to thee, Fear not, for though thou have but a little strength, yet because thou dost not deny his name, God will keep thee from the hour of temptation, or from the temptation of the hour, as it may be read, Rev. 3.8,—10. Though Saul pursue thee and hunt thee, yet the house of Saul shall grow weaker and weaker, and the house of David shall grow stronger and stronger, and the weak shall be as David, who notwithstanding his fear did not perish by the hand of Saul. Though thy enemies be strong and thy grace weak, yet thy weak grace shall be too strong for thy strongest enemies: Though the Sons of Zerviah be strong, and in thine eyes too strong for thee, yet shalt thou die in peace. Maugre all the malice and power of Satan, the gates of Hell shall not prevail against thee, as Christ promised Peter, who believed as thou dost, that Christ is the Son of the living God: nor did it fail when Satan sifted him, for though he denied that he knew the man, he yet still believed that Christ was the Son of God, which was the Faith that Christ prayed might not fail. Let the rain descend, the floods come, and the ⟨p. 125⟩winds blow and beat (all together) upon thee, yet thy house shall stand, for 'tis founded (like Mount Zion) on a rock that cannot be moved, Matth. 7.24, 25. Indeed if thy Faith alone were to buckle with Satan, 'twere impar congressus an unequal match, but thou art kept by the power of God, and the Prayer of Christ, so that there is more power for thee, than there is against thee, though it be all the power of Hell.
3. As weak as thy Faith is, the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it, thou shalt be kept through this Faish by the power of God unto Salvation,