The rule of faith, or, An exposition of the Apostles Creed so handled as…

2. By way of Instruction: and so first Saint Paul, 2 Tim. 2. 8. chargeth us in a special manner to remember this Article, and to lay fast hold upon it: for Jews and Pagans can believe that Jesus died, but a Christian must go further, to believe that he was raised from the dead. Secondly, we should learn from Christs Resurrection, to rise to newness of life. A Christian should be ashamed to lye dead in the graves of sin, when his Saviour is risen from the dead: Nay if we be ingrafted into Christ aright, we are risen with him, and are alive from the dead, and show it by a spiritual liveliness, in all parts of a renewed conversation: and therefore if thou wouldest have comfort that thou art a true Christian, thou must show it by living in a new conversation, and by awaking from spiritual slumbering and security, and standing up from the dead, Eph. 5. 14. If there be life in the Head, there is life in all the true members, Rom. 6. 4, 5. And if thou have no part in this first Resurrection, thou art in danger to be swallowed up of the second death, Reu. 20. 6. and therefore we must all with Saint Paul seek the virtue of the Resurrection of Christ, Phil. 3. 8, 9. And to this end we must daily present our selves, with honest and good hearts, before the voice of Christ in the Gospel, which is able to raise up the dead hearts of men, Joh. 5. 25. and withal pray to God by his power, to pluck up our hearts out of the ⟨p. 476⟩graves of sin, that we may live the life of grace in his sight. Thirdly, Saint Paul urgeth another us•, Col. 3. 1. If we be risen with Christ, then we must set our affections on things that are above, and not on things here below, and have our conversation so lifted up from the respect of earthly things, as Christ had in the forty days he was on earth.