It is a Popish error that some men endowed with special grace may keep the law perfectly, xvi. 426.
All christians must press forward to, xx. 83 ; reasons, ib. ; by this our title is assured, ib. ; our hearts are more prepared in this life for happiness, ib. ; our glory and blessedness are increased, 84 ; means of, a strong faith, a fervent love, a lively hope, 85 ; a great encourage- ment to strive after, that Christ apprehended us for this end and scope, that we should attain, ib. Perfections, all earthly, have their bounds and limits as to use and service, vii. 452 ; cannot give any solid peace of conscience and rest to our souls, 453 j cannot make us acceptable to God, ih. ; cannot stead us in the greatest and deepest necessities, as trouble of conscience and the hour of death, ib. ; are of no use in the world to come, 454 ; in this world, will not prevent or remove a sickness, ih. ; all perish in the using, 455. Persecution, faith the grace chiefly tried in, iv. 31.
Of his people by princes, God suffers, to show that he can carry on his work though authority be against him, vi. 216 ; that the patience of his people may be put to the utmost probation, ih. ; that his people may 'be weaned from fleshly dependence, ih. ; that their testimony and witness-bearing to God's truth may be the more public and authentic in the view of the world, 217 ; on the part of the perse- cutors, the causes are ignorance and blind zeal, ib. ; prejudice lightly taken up against the people of God, 218; their erroneous principle in civil polity, ib.
Has been in every age, viii. 120 ; more, greater, and longer in the New Testament than in the Old, 121 ; from pseudo-christians hot and violent, ib. • if we do not suffer from, we ought to bless God for the mercy, 122 ; be so much the more in active obedience, ib. ; bear lesser troubles with more patience ; ib. ; if it befall us, we must not shrink, 123.
One of the ordinary trials of God's children ; as God chasteneth them because they are no better, so the world persecuteth them because they are so good, ix. 166. Persecutions which the godly suffer from the wicked a plain demonstration of
judgment to come, xx. 207. Persecutors, the iniquity of, some matter of confidence to the oppressed, ix. 100; because God and we are engaged in a common cause, ib. ; they are the more ripe for judgment, 101. Perseverance, doctrine of, stated, v. 43 ; seeming grace may be lost, ib. ; initial or preparative grace may fail, ib. ; true grace may suffer a shrewd decay, but not an utter loss, 44 ; such grace as serveth to our well- being in Christ may be taken away, joy, peace, cheerfulness, &c., ib. ;
INDEX. 285
the operations of grace may be obstructed for a great while, ih. ; grace, if left to us, would soon be lost, ib. ; perseverance God's gift, not man's art, ih. ; not an encouragement to neglect of means, ih. ; or of wariness and self-jealousy, 45 ; or of prayer, ih. ; grounds of certainty of, 46; the Father's everlasting love and all-sufficient power, ih. ; Christ's everlasting merit, the close union between him and us, and his constant intercession, 47 ; the Spirit's continued influence, ih. Perseverance is by the grace of God, yet requires a concurrence of our care and diligence, v. 341 ; because of our proneness to revolt, 342 ; con- tinual temptations, ib. ; aptness to security and negligence, as if danger were over, ib. ; encouragements to, 343.
In the way of God, necessity of, vi. 315 ; we have the same reason to continue that we had to begin, ih. ; danger and mischievous effects of apostasy and falling of, ih.
In order to, must be fortified against what may shake from without, vi. 317; especially errors, ih.; persecutions, 318; scandals, ih. ; be fortified within by taking heed to the causes of apostasy, ih. ; un- grounded assents, 319; want of solid rooting in grace, ih. ; un- mortified lusts, ib. ; faulty easiness, ih. ; self-confidence, 320 ; itch of novelty, ih. ; take heed of the first decays, ih. ; often review your first grounds, and compare them with your after experiences, ih.
In some cases more difficult than conversion, viii. 192; sustaining grace necessary to, 193.
Of the saints, or their conservation in the state of grace, is sure and certain, x. 300 ; seeming grace may be lost, 301 ; initial or preparative grace may fail, ih. ; true grace may suffer a shrewd decay, but not an utter loss, 302 ; such grace as serves to our well-being in Christ may be taken away, ih. ; certainty of, consistent with the necessity of the use of means, ib. • and watchfulness, 303 ; and prayer, ib. ; is not discontinued, but constant, ib.
Grounds of, x. 304 ; the Father's everlasting love and all-sufficient power, ih. ; Christ's everlasting merit, ib. ; and constant interces- sion, ib. ; the Spirit's continual influence, 305.
Doctrine of, abused to undue presumptuous security, xi. 305. Person, Dignity of Christ's, i. 413. Persons of the Godhead all engaged in the sanctification of believers, v. 39.