his clothes; or in comparing two pieces of gold, weigh one with the dross and dirt it contracts in the purse, with the other purged from these in the fire : faith before temptation hath much heterogeneal stuff in it, that cleaves to it, and goes for faith ; but when temptation comes, these are discovered. Now the Christian feels corruption stir, which lay as dead before ; now a cloud comes between the soul and the sweet face of God, the sense of which latter, and the little sense of the other, bore up his faith before; but these bladders pricked, he comes now to learn the true stroke of this heavenly art of swinnning on the promise, having nothing else to bear him up but that; and a little of this carries more of the precious nature of faith in it than all the othei', yea, is, like Gideon's handful of men, stronger, when all these accessaries to faith are sent away, than when they were present ; and here is all the devil gets ; instead of destroying his faith, which he aims at, he is the occasion of the refining of it, and thereby adding to its strength.
Secondly, The love of tempted saints is enkindled to Christ by their tempta- tions, and foils in their temptations. Possibly in the fit there may seem a damp upon their love, as when water is first sprinkled upon the fire ; but when the conflict is a little over, and the Christian comes to himself, his love to Christ will break out like a vehement flame. First, the shame and sorrow which a gracious soul must needs feel in his bosom for his sinful miscarriage, while under the temptation, will provoke him to express his love to Christ above others, as is sweetly set forth in the spouse, who, when the cold fit of her distemper was off^, and the temptation over, bestirs her to purpose ; her lazy sickness was turned to love sickness ; she finds it as hard now to sit, as she did before to rise ; she can rest in no place out of her beloved's sight, but runs and asks every one she meets for him. And whence came all this vehemency of her zeal ? All occasioned by her undutiful carriage to her husband : she parted so unkindly with him, that, bethinking what slie had done, away she goes to make her peace. If sins committed in unregeneracy have such a force upon a gracious soul, that the thought of them, though pardoned, will still break and melt the heart into sorrow, as we see in Magdalen, and prick on to show zeal for God above others, as in Paul, how much more will the sins of a saint, who, after sweet acquaintance with Jesus Christ, lifts up the heel against that bosom where he hath lain, affect, yea, dissolve the heart, as into so many drops of water, and that sorrow provoke him to serve God at a higher rate than others .' No child so dutiful in all the family, as he who is retimied from his rebellion. Again, Secondly, As his own shame, so the experience which such a one hath of Christ's love above others, will increase his love. Christ's love is fuel to ours. Ex eisdem nutrirmir quihus coiistamus ; as it gives its being, so it affords growth ; it is both mother and nurse to our love. The more Christ puts forth his love, the more heat our love gets ; and next to Christ's dying love, none greater than his succouring love in temptation. The mother never hath such advantage to show her affection to her child, as when in distress, sick, poor, or imprisoned ; so neither hath Christ to his children, as when tempted, yea, woi-sted by temptation. When his children lie in Satan's prison, bleeding imder the wounds of their consciences, this is the season he takes to give an experi- ment of his tender heart in pitying, his faithfulness in praying for them, his mindfulness in sending succour to them ; yea, his dear love in visiting them by his comforting Spirit. Now when the soul hath got off some great temptation, and reads the whole history thereof together, — wherein he finds what his own weakness was to i-esist Satan, nay, his unfaithfulness in comj^lying with Satan, which might have provoked Christ to leave him to the fury of Satan, — now to see both his folly pardoned, and ruin graciously prevented, and that by no other hand but Christ's coming in to his rescue, as Abishai to David, 2 Sam. xxi. when that giant thought to have slain him, this must needs exceedingly endear Christ to the sold. At the reading of such records, the Christian cannot but inquire, as Ahasuerus concerning Mordecai, — who, by discovering a treason, had saved the king's life, — what hojiour hath been done to his sweet Saviour for all this? And thus Jesus Christ, whom Satan thought to bring out of the soul's favour and liking, comes in the end to sit higher and surer in the saint's affec- tion than ever.
AGAINST THE WILES OF THE DEVIL. 75
CHAPTER X.
A BRIEF APPLICATION OF THE POINT IN TWO BRANCHES.