with which it courted them as well as others, aiwl go with a merry heart through the deepest of them all : here is glorious faith indeed ! It is not praising of heaven, and wishing we were there, hut a cheei'ful abandoning the dearest pleasures, and embracing the greatest sufferings of the world, (when called to the same,) will evidence our faith to be both true and strong.
Fifthly, The more easily that the Christian can repel motions, and resist temptations to sin, the stronger is his faith. The snare or net which holds the little fisli fast, the greater and stronger fish easily breaks through. The Chris- tian's faith is strong or weak,, as lie finds it easy or hard to break from tempta^ tions to sin. When an ordinary temptation holds thee by the heel, and thou art entangled in it, like a fly in a spider's web, much ado to get off and persuade thy heart from yielding ; truly it speaks faith very feeble ; to have no strength to oppose the assaults of sin and lust, speaks tlie heart void of faith. Whers faith hath not a hand to prostrate an enemy, it yet hath a hand to lift up against it, and a voice to cry out for help to heaven ; some way or other, faith will shew its dislike, and enter its protest against sin ; and to have little strength to resist evidenceth a weak faith. Peter's faith was weak, when a maid's voice dashed him out of coimtenance; but it was well amended, when he could withstand, and with a noble constancy disdain threats of a whole council. Acts xiv. 17. Christian, compare thyself witli thyself, and give righteous judgment on thyself: do thy lusts as powerfully inveigle thy heart, and carry it away from God, as they did some months or years ago? or canst thou in truth say, thy heart is got above them ; since thou hast known more of Christ, and had a view of iiis spiritual glories, thou canst now pass by their door and not look in ; yea, when they knock at thy door in a temptation, thou canst shut it upon them, and disdain the motion ? Surely thou mayest know thy faith is grown stronger. When we see that the clothes, which a year or two ago were even fit for the person, will not now come on him, they are so little, we may easily be persuaded to believe the person is much grown since that time. If thy faith were no more grown, those temptations which fitted thee then would like thee as well now ; find but the power of sin die, and thou mayest know that faith is more lively and vigorous. The harder the blow, the stronger the arm is that gives it. A child cannot strike such a blow as a man- Weak faith cannot give such a home blow to sin as a strong faith can.
Sixthly, The more ingenuity and love is in thy obediential walking, the stronger thy faith is. Faith works by love, and therefore its strength or weak- ness may be discovered by the strength or weakness of that love it puts forth in the Christian's actings. The strength of a man's arm, that draws a bow, is seen by the force the arrow which he shoots flies with. And certainly, the strength of our faith may be known by the force tliat our love mounts to God with. It is impossible that weak faith (wliich is unable to draw the promise as a strong faith can) should leave such a forcible impression on the heart to love God, as the stronger faith doth. If, therefore, thy heart be strongly carried out from love to God, to abandon sin, perform duty, and exert acts of obedience to his command; know thy place, and take it with humble thankfulness, thou art a graduate in the art of believing. Tiie Christian's love advanceth by equal paces with his faith, as the heat of the day ihcreaseth with the climbing sun ; the higher that moimts towards its meridian, the hotter the day grows ; so, the higher faith lifts Christ up in the Christian, the more intense his love to Christ grows, which now sets him on work after another sort than he was wont. Before, when he was to mourn for his sins, he was acted by a slavish fear, and made an ugly face at the work, as one dotli that drinks some unpleasing ])otion ; but now acts of repentance are not distasteful and formidable, since faith hath dis- covered mercy to sit on justice's brow, and undeceived the creatiu'e of those false and cruel thouglits of God, which ignorantly he had taken up concerning him. He doth not now hate the word 'repentance,' (as Luther said he once did, before he understood that place, Ronu i. 17,) but goes about the work with amiable, sweet apprehensions of a good God, that stands ready with the sponge of his mercy, dipped in Christ's blood, tt) blot out his sins as fast ashe scores them up by his Inimble, sorrowful confession of tlu'm. And the same might be said concerning all other offices- of Christian piety. Strong faith makes the soul ingenuous : it doth not pay the performance of any duty, as an oppressed
470 ABOVE ALL, TAKING THE SHIELD OF FAITH.