quent or negligent in his communion with God, should long be owner of much peace or comfort that is true. What if thou dost not pour water of presump- tuous sins into the lamp of thy joy, to quench it ? it is enough, if thou dost not pour oil of duty to feed and maintain it. Thou art murderer to thy com- fort by starving it, as well as by stabbing of it.
Ver. 16. Above all, taking the shield of faith, whereby ye shall he able to quench the fiery darts of the wicked.
The foiu-th piece in the Christian panoply presents itself in this verse to our consideration ; and that is, 'the shield of faith.' A grace of graces it is, and here fitly placed in the midst of tlie other her companions. It stands, methinks, among them, as the heart in the midst of the body ; or, if you please, as David v/hen Samuel anointed him in the midst of his brethren, 1 Sam. xvi. 13. The apostle, when he comes to speak of this grace, he doth, as it were, lift up its head, and anoint it above all its fellows : ' Above all, take the shield of faith ;' and the words easily fall into these two general parts.
First, An exhortation, ' Above all, take the shield of faith.' Secondly, A powerful argument pressing the exhortation, 'Whereby ye shall be able to quench the fiery darts of the wicked. '
CHAPTER I.
THE EXPLICATION OF THE WORDS IN A FOURFOLD INQUIRY.
In the exhortation, these four particulars call for our inquiry towards the explication of the words.
First, What faith it is that is here commended to the Christian soldier. Secondly, Having found the kind, we are to inquire what this faith is as to its nature. Thirdly, Why it is compared to a shield rather than other pieces. Fourthly, What is the importance of this, ' above alh '
Section I. — Quest. 1. First, What faith it is that here is commanded? This will soon be known, if we consider the cause and end for which it is commended to the Christian ; and that is, to enable him ' to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked,' i. e. of the wicked one, the devil. Now look upon the several kinds of faith ; and that among them must be the faith of this place, which enables the creature to quench Satan's fiery darts; yea, all his fiery darts. Historical faith cannot do this, and therefore is not it: this is so far from quenching Satan's fiery darts, that the devil himself, that shoots them, hath this faith, Jas. ii. 19, 'The devils believe.' Temporary faith cannot do it; this is so far from quenching Satan's fiery darts, that itself is quenched by them. It makes a goodly blaze of profession, and ' endures for a while,' Matt. xiii. 21, but soon disappears. Miraculous faith ; this Mis as short as the former. Judas's mira- culous faith, which he had with the other apostles, (for aught that we can read,) enabling him to cast devils out of others, left himself possessed of the devil of covetousness, hypocrisy, and treason, yea, a whole legion of lusts that hurried him down the hill of despair into the bottomless pit of perdition. There is only one kind of faith remains, which is it the apostle means in this place, and that is justifying faith. Tliis indeed is a grace that makes him, who hath it, the devil's match. Satan hath not so much advantage of the Christian by the transcendency of his natural abilities, as he hath of Satan in this cause, and this his weapon. The aposde is confident to give the day to the Christian, befoi'e the fight is fully over; ' Ye have overcome the wicked one,' 1 John ii. 13 : that is, you are as sure to do it, as if you were now mounted on your trium- phant chariot in heaven. The knight shall overcome the giant ; the saint, Satan : and the same apostle tells us what gets him the day, 1 John v. 4 . ' This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.'
Section II. — Quest. The second inquiry is. What this justifying fiiith is ? — Ans. I shall answer to this, first, negatively ; secondly, affirmatively.
First, Negatively, in two particulars. First, Justifying faith is not anaked assent to the truths of the gospel. This justifying faith doth give, but this doth not make it justifying faith. A dogmatical faith, or historical, is comprehended in
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