there is more hope of persuading him : of all fools, the conceited fool is the worst. Pride makes a man incapable of receiving counsel. Nebuchadnezzar's mind is said to be hardened in pride, Dan. v. 20. There is no reasoning with a proud man; he castles himself in his own opinion of himself, and there stands upon his defence against all arguments that are brought. Bid a conceited pro- fessor labour for faith, or he is undone ; and the man will tell you, that you mistake and knock at the wrong door ; it is the ignorant person or profane j'ou should go to on that errand. He thanks God he is not now to seek for a faith; and thus he blesseth himself in his good condition, when, (iod knows, 'he feeds on ashes,' but 'a deceived heart hath so turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his own soul, nor say. Is there not a lie in my right hand?' Isa. xliv. 20. The ignorant, profane person, like the psalmist's man of low degree, is plain vanity. It is not hard to make themselves to acknowledge as much, that they have nothing, deserve nothing, can look for nothing, as they are but liell and damnation : but such as pretend to faith, and content themselves with a false one, thejf are, like the men of high degree, a lie, which is vanity as well as the other, but with a specious cover over it, that hides it; therefore the devil is forward enough to put poor silly soids on believing, that he may forestall, if he can, the Spirit's market, and prevent the creature's obtaining of a true faith, by cheating of it with a coimterfeit, like Jeroboam's wicked policy, who, to kee2> the Israelites from going to Jerusalem, and hankering after the true worshij) of God there, set up something like a religious worship nearer hand at home in the golden calves ; and this pleased many well enough, that they missed not their walk to Jerusalem. O friends, take heed therefore of being cheated with a false faith. Every one, I know, would have the living child to be hers, and not the dead one. We would all pass for such as have the true faith, and not the false ; but be not your own judges, appeal to the Spirit of God, and let liim with the sword of his word come and decide the controversy, whicli faith is thine, the true or false.
Section II. — Secondly, By this time possibly you may be solicitous to know what your faith is, and how you may come to judge of the truth of it. Now for your help therein, take these two directions : one taken from the manner of the Spirit's working faith, the other taken from the properties of faith when it is wrought. First, from the manner of the Spirit's working faith in the soul. It is incomparably the greatest work that passeth upon the soul from the Sjjirit of Christ; it is called, 'The exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe,' Eph. i. 19. O, observe with what a heap of expressions the Spirit of God loads our weak understanding, that, labouring imder the weight of them, and finding the difficulty of reaching the signification of them, we might be the more widened, to conceive of that power which can never be fully understood by us, — (being indeed infinite, and so too big to be inclosed within the narrow walls of our understanding,) — power, greatness of power, exceeding greatness, and, lastly, exceeding greatness of his power, that is, of God. What angel in heaven can tell us what all these amount to ? God (with reverence be it spoken) sets his whole force to this work. It is compared to no less than ' the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power,' &c., ver. 20, 21. To raise any one from the dead, is a mighty, an almighty work ; but to raise Christ from the dead, carries more wonder with it than to raise an}^ other : he had a heavier gravestone to keep him down than any besides, the weight of a world's sin lay upon him ; yet notwithstanding this, he is raised with power by the Spirit, not only out of the grave, but into glory. Now the power God puts fortli upon the soid in working faith, is according to this of raising Christ, for indeed the sinner's soul is as really dead in sin, as Christ's body was in the grave for sin. Now speak, poor creature, art thou any way acquainted with such a power of God to have been at work in thee ? Or dost thou think slightly of believing, and so show thyself a stranger to this mystery ? Certaiidy this one thing might resolve many (if they desired to know their own state) that they have no faith, because they make faith so trivial and light a matter, as if it were as easy to believe, as to say they do ; and it were of no more difficidty to receive Christ into their souls by faith, than to put a bit of bread into their mouths with their hand.
^,44 ABOVE ALL, TAKING THE SHIELD OF FAITH.