Briefly
thus: the promises of God are the ground upon which all true faith
resteth; the Spirit of God it is that worketh this faith in all
believers; the power of the Spirit is that that putteth forth itself
in the hearts and lives of all the faithful; gather these together:
if all true believers have the same promises for the ground of their
faith; have one and the same spirit to work it; have' one and the same
power to draw out the abilities of faith, then certainly they can not
but have the very self-same actions, having the very self-same ground
of their actions.
Every particular believer (as the apostle Peter saith) "hath obtained
the like precious faith." Mark, that there is a great deal of copper
faith in the world--much counterfeit believing; but the saints do
all partake of "the like precious faith." As when a man hath but a
sixpence in silver, or a crown in gold, those small pieces, for the
nature, are as good as the greatest of the same metal; so it is with
the faith of God's elect. And look as it is in grafting; if there be
many scions of the same kind grafted into one stock, they all partake
alike of the virtue of the stock; just so it is here.
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