are now at an end, and must look for no favours to come from him ; this pre- pares them to receive every impression of disloyalty that any enemy to the king shall attempt to stamp them with ; as in the Israelites, who thinking the men of Judah (of whose tribe the king was) had got a monopoly of his favour, and themselves shut out from sharing equally with them therein ; how soon are they, even at a blast or two of Sheba's seditious trumpet, made rebels against their sovereign! 'We have no part in David,' saith Sheba, ' neither have we any in- heritance in the son of Jesse : every man to his tents, O Israel,' 2 Sam. xx. 1. And see how this treason runs, even like a squib upon a rope, ver. 2 : ' Every man of Israel went up from after David, and followed Sheba.' Thus, if once the soul fears it hath no part in God, and expects no inheritance from him, I know no sin so great, but it may be drawn to commit. Secondly, As the helmet defends the soldier's head from being wounded, so his heart also from swooning. It makes him bold and fearless in battle, though amidst swords and bullets. Goliath, with his helmet of brass and other furniture, how confidently and daringly did the man come on, as if he had been so inclosed in his armoiu-, that it was impossible any weapon could come near to deliver a message of death unto him. This made him carry his crest so high, and defy a whole host, till at last he paid his life for his pride and folly. But here is a helmet, which, whoever wears, need never be put to shame for his holy boasting. God himself allows him so to do, and will bear him out in this rejoicing of his hope : ' They shall not be ashamed that wait for me,' Isaiah xlix. 23. This made holy David so undaunted in the midst of his enemies, ' Though a host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear,' Psa. xxvii. 3. His hope would jiot suffer his heart so much as to beat within him, for any fear of what they could do to him ; he had his helmet of salvation on, and therefore he saith, ver. 6, ' Mine head shall be lifted up above mine enemies round about me.' A man cannot drown so long as his head is above water. Now, it is the proper office of hope to do this for the Christian in times of any danger, Luke xxi. 28 : ' When these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads, for your re- demption draweth nigh.' A strange time, one would think, for Christ then to bid his disciples lift up their heads in, when they see other men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth, ver. 26 ; yet now is the time of the rising of their sun, when others' is setting, the blackness of darkness is overtaking others; because now the Christian's feast is coming, for which hope hath saved its stomach so long. — 'Your redemp- tion draweth nigh.' Two things make the head hang down, — fear, and shame; hope easeth the Christian's heart of both these, and so forbids him to give any sign of a desponding mind by a dejected countenance. I come now to lay down the one general point of doctrine, fi'om which our whole discourse on this piece of armour shall be drawn.
CHAPTER III.
OF THE USE OF HOPE IN THE CHRISTIAN'S WARFARE, AND OF THE HIGH AND NOBLE EXPLOITS IT RAISETII THE CHRISTIAN TO UNDERTAKE.
Hope is a grace of singular use and service to us all along our spiritual war- fare and Christian course. We are directed to 'take the helmet of salvation :' and this is not for some particular occasion, and then hang it up till another extraordinary strait calls us to take it down, and use it again ; but we must take it so as never to lay it aside, till God shall take off this helmet, to put on a crown of glory in the room of it. ' Be sober, and hope to the end,' is the apostle Peter's counsel, 1 Pet. i. 13. There are some engines of war that are of use but now and then ; as ladders for scaling a town or fort, which done, they are laid aside for a long time, and not missed. But the helmet is of continual use. We shall need it as long as our war with sin and Satan lasts. The Christian is not beneath hope, so long as above ground ; nor above hope so long as he is beneath heaven. Indeed, when once he enters the gates of that glorious city, then farewell hope, and welcome love for ever. He may say, with the holy martyr, armour becomes earth, but robes heaven. Hope goes into the field, and waits on the Christian till the last battle be fought and the field cleared, and then faith and hope together carry him in the chariot of the
518 AND TAKE THE HELMEI OF SALVATION.