as the stream in a channel doth at a falling tide. When God took the deluge from the earth, he did not do it in a moment ; it is said, ' the waters returned from off the earth continually,' Gen. viii. 3 ; that is, it was falling water from day to day, till all was gone. Canst thou not find. Christian, that some of thy tumul- tuous disquieting thoughts are let out at the sluice of prayer, and that it is some ease to thy encumhered spirit, that thou hast the bosom of a gracious God to empty thy sorrowful heart into? And though praying doth not drain away all thy fears, yet it keeps thee, doth it not, from being overflown with them, which thou couldst not avoid witliout faith? A soul wholly void of faith, prays, and leaves none of its burthen with God, but carries all back with it that it brought, and more too ; calling on God gives no more relief to him than throwing out an anchor that hath no hooks to take hold on the firm earth doth the sinking ship. If, therefore, poor soul, thou findest upon throwing out thy anchor of faith in prayer, that it takes such hold on Christ in the promise, as to stay thee from being driven by the fury of Satan's affrighting temptations, or thy own despairing thoughts, bless God for it. The ship that rides at anclior is safe (though it may be a little tossed to and fro) so long as the anchor keeps its hold. And so art thou, poor soul ; that faith will save from hell, that will not wholly free the soul here from fears.
Section IV. — Fourthly, True faith is uniform. As sincere obedience doth not pick and choose, take this commandment and leave that, but hath respect to all the precepts of God ; so faith unfeigned hath respect to all the truths of God : it believes one promise as well as another. As the true Christian must not 'have the faith of our Lord Jesus with respect of persons,' James ii. 1, so not with respect to tniths. To pretend to believe one promise, and to give no credit to another, this is to be partial in the promises, as the priests are charged to be in the duties of the law, Mai. ii. 9. 'The honoin- of God is as deeply en- gaged to perform one promise as another. Indeed, as the breach but of one commandment would put us under the guilt of the whole, so God's failing in one promise (which is blasphemy to think) would be the breaking of his whole covenant. Promises are copulative as well as commands; and therefore neither can God keep one, except he perform all ; nor we believe one, excejit Ave be- lieve all. God hath spoke all these words of promises, as he did those of precepts : his seal is to all, and he looks we should compass all within the em- braces of our faith. David bears witness to the whole truth of God, Psa. cxix. 160 : 'Thy word is true from the beginning, and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever.' Try now tliy faith here: possibly tliou pre- tendest to believe the promise for pardon, and art often pleasing thyself with the thoughts of it ; but what faith hast thou on the promise for sanctifying thy nature, and subduing thy corruptions ? May be thou mindest not these, im- provest not these ; this fi'uit may hang long enough on the branches of the promises, before thou gatherest it; the other is for thy tooth, not these: whereas true faith would like one as well as the other. See how heartily David prays for the performance of this promise, Psa. cxix. 132 : ' Be merciful imto me, as thou usest to do unto those that love thy name ; oi'der my steps in thy word, and let no iniquity have dominion over me.' David would not lose any privi- lege that God hath by promise settled on his children : do v.'ith me, saith he, as thou usest to do. This is no more than family fare, what thou promisest to do for all that love thee ; and let me not go worse clad than the rest of my brethren. May be thou fanciest thou hast a faith for the eternal salvation of thy soul ; but hast thou faith to rely on God for the things of this life? A strange believer, is he not, that lives by faith for heaven, and by his wits and sinful policy for the world ? Christ proves that they (John v. 44) did not be- lieve on him, because they durst not trust him with their names and credits. If we cannot trust him with the less, how can we with the greater? I deny not, but he that hath a true faith, yea, a strong faith for heaven, may be put to a plunge, and his faith foiled about a temporal promise ; but we must not from an hour of temptation, wherein God leaves his eminentest saints, to humble them, judge of the constant ordinary frame of the believer's heart. Though Abraham dissembled once to save his life, which he thought in some danger for his wife's beauty; yet he did at other times give eminent testimony that he trusted God for his temporal life, as well as for his eternal salvation. I do not
ABOVE ALL, TAKING THE SHIELD OF FAITH. 453