Secondly, All the pieces are to defend the Christian from sin ; — none to secure him from suffering. They are to defend him in suffering, not privilege him from it. He must prepare the more for suffering, because he is so well furnished with armour to bear it. Armour is not given for men to wear by the fire-side, but in the field. How shall the maker be praised, if the metal of his arms be not known ; and where shall it be put to the proof, but amidst swords and bullets? He that desires to live all his days in a state of ease and security will never make a good Christian. Resolve for hardship, or lay down thy arms. Here is the true reason why so few come at the beat of Christ's dnmi to his standard, and so many of those few that have enlisted themselves by an external profession imder him, within a while drop away, and leave his colours ; it is suf- fering work they are sick of. Most men are more tender of their skin than of their conscience, and had rather the gospel had provided armour to defend . their bodies from death and danger, than their soids from sin and Satan.
But I come to the words, ' And take the helmet of salvation :' in which we may observe,^ — ^First, The copulative, which clasps this to the former piece, — ' and.' Secondly, the piece of armour itself, ' The helmet of salvation.'
CHAPTER I.
WHEREIN THE CONCATENATION OF GRACES, IN THEIR BI'rTH, GROWTH, AND DECAY, IS SET FORTH.
First. The copulative ' an'd ' — 'And take;' — that is, with the shield of faith, and all the other pieces of armour here set down, take this also into the field with you. See here how every grace is lovingly coupled to its fellow ; and all at last, though many pieces, make but one suit. The note which this points at is, the concatenation of graces. Note, The sanctifying, saving graces of God's Spirit are linked inseparably together : there is a connexion of them one to the other, and that in their birth, gi-owth, and decay.
Section I. — In their birth. Where one sanctifying grace is, the rest are all to be found. It is not so in common gifts and graces ; these are parcelled out, like the gifts Abraham bestowed on the children he had by his concubines. Gen. XXV. 6. One hath this gift, another hath that ; none hath all. He that hath a gift of knowledge may want a gift of utterance, and so of the rest. But sanctifying graces are like the inheritance he gave to Isaac ; every true believer hath them all given him. He that is ' in Christ is a new creature : behold all things are become new,' 2 Cor. v. 17. Now the new creature con- tains all ; as natural corruption is an universal principle of all sin that sours the whole lump of man's nature, so is sanctifying grace an universal principle that sweetly seasons, and renews the whole man at once, though not wholly. Grace comes, saith one, into the soul, as the soul into the body, at once. In- deed, it grows by steps, but is born at once ; the new creature hath all its parts formed together, though not its degrees ; some one grace may be perceived to stir, and so come imder the Christian's notice before another. He may feel his fear of God putting forth itself in a holy trembling and awe upon his spirit at the thoughts of God, before he sees his faith in the fiduciary recumbency of his soul upon God: yet the one grace is not produced before the other. One part of the world hath been discovered to us long before the other ; yet all the world was made together. Now this connexion of graces in their birth is of double use. First, To relieve the sincere Christian when in doubt of his gracious state, because he cannot at present discern in his soid some particular grace which he inquires for. Possibly it is faith thou hast been looking for, and it is not any where to be heard of Well, Christian, do not presently unsaint thyself, till thou hast made farther trial of thyself. Send out therefore thy spies to search ior some other grace, as thy love to Christ; may be thou wilt hear some tidings of this grace, though the other is not in view. Hath not thy love to God and Christ been seen by thee in such a temptation, chasing it away with Joseph's answer to his wanton mistress, ' How can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God ?' Yea, mayest thou not see it all the day long, either in thy sincere
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care to please him, or hearty sorrow when thou hast clone anything that grieves
him ? in which two veins runs the life-blood of a soul's love to Christ. Now
know, to thy comfort, that thy love can tell thee news of thy faith. As Christ
said in another case, ' He that hath seen me, hath seen my Father,' John xiv. 9,
so say I to thee, thou that hast seen thy love to Christ, liast seen thy faith in
the face of thy love. But may be thy love to Christ is also lodged in a cloud.
Well, tlien, see whether thou canst espy no evangelical repentance, loathing thee