tlie triitli of the promise, and the evidence is, which he liath, tliat the condition of the promise, namely, faith and repentance, is \vron<;;lit in his sonl, so will his hope be weak or strong. If liis assent to the trnlh of tlie })romise be weak, or his evidence for tlie truth of his faith and repentance be dark and uncer- tain, his hope, which is born, as I may say, of these, must needs partake of its parent's infirmities, and be itself weak and wavering.
Section II. — Wouldst thou have thy hope strong ! Then keep thy conscience pure. Thou canst not deiile one, without weakening the other. Living godly in this present world, and looking for the blessed hope laid up for us in the other, are both conjoined, Titus ii. 13. A soul wholly void of godliness, must needs be as destitute of all true hope ; and the godly person that is loose and careless in his holy walking, will soon find his hope languishing. All sin dis- poseth the soul that tampers with it, to trembling fears, and shakings of heart : but such as are deliberately committed and plotted, they are to the Christian's hope, as poison to the spirits of his body, which presently drinks them up. They, in a manner, exanimate the Christian : they make the thoughts of God terrible to the soul, which, when he is in a holy frame, are his greater joy. ' I remembered God, and was troubled,' Psa. Ixxvii. 3. They make him afraid to look on God in a duty, much more to look for God in the day of judgment. Can the servant be willing his master should come home, when he is in his riot and excess ? Calvin, when some wished him to forbear some of his labours, especially his night studies, asked those friends, whether they would have his Lord find him idle when he came? O, God forbid. Christian, that death should find thee wanton and negligent in thy walking, that he should surprise thee lying in the puddle of some sin ! O, how loth wouldst thou then be to die, and go to the great audit, where thou must give up thy accounts for eternity ! Will thy hope then be in a proper state to carry thee up with joy to that solemn work ? Can a bird fly, when one of its wings is broken ? Faith and a good conscience are hope's two wings ; if, therefore, thou hast wounded thy conscience by any sin, renew thy repentance, that so thou mayest exercise faith for the pardon of it, and redeem thy hope, when the mortgage that is now upon it shall be taken off. If a Jew had pawned his bed-clothes, God provided mercifully, that it should be restored before night ; ' For,' saith he, ' that is his covering ; wherein shall he sleep V Exod. xxii. 27. Truly, hope is the saint's covering, wherein he wraps himself, when he lays his body down to sleep in the grave : ' My flesh,' saith David, ' shall rest in hope,' Psa. xvi. 9. O Chi-istian, bestir thyself to redeem thy hope before this sun of thy temporal life goes down upon thee, or else thou art sure to lie down in sorrow. A sad going to the bed of the grave he hath, who hath no hope of a resurrection to life.
Section III. — Resort to God daily, and beg a stronger hope of him : that is the way the apostle took to help the saints to more of this precious grace, Rom. XV. 13 : ' Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.' God, you see, is the God of hope ; and not only of the first seed and habit, but of the abounding of it in us also. He doth not give a saint the first grace of conversa- tion, and then leave the improvement of it wholly to his skill and care ; as sometimes a child hath a stock at first to set up, and never hath more help from his father, but by his own good husbandry advanceth his little beginnings into a great estate at last : but rather as the corn in the field, which needs the influences of heaven to ripen it for har^'est, as much as to (piicken it in the clods when first thrown in ; and therefore be sure thou humbly acknowledge God by constantly waiting on him for growth. The young lions are said to seek their meat from God, Psa. civ. 21 ; that is, God hath taught them, when hungry, to express their wants by crying and lifting up their voice, which, did they know (iod to be their maker, they would direct to him for su})ply • as we see the little babe that at first only expresseth its wants by crying, as soon as it knows the mother, directs its moan to her : thou knowest, Christian, that thou art at thy heavenly Father's finding. He knows, indeed, what thou wantest, but he stays his supplies till thou criest, and this will make him draw forth his breast presently. Doth God take care for beasts in the field .' Surely then much more will he for thee his child, and for thy soul above all. Thou
550 AND TAKK THE HELMET OF SALVATION.
niayest possibly pray for more riches, and be denied ; but a prayer for more grace is sure to speed.