1. If God call a man to any duty, there is o. principle within, closing with the command without, and moving the soul freely and spon- taneously to duty, Psal. xxvii. 8. If God say. Seek my face, such an heart echoes to the call. Thy face. Lord, will I seek : And this is it which is called. The writing of God's law in the heart, Jer. xxxi. 33. and must needs be a mighty advantage ; for now its work is its de- light and wages, Psal. xix. 11. The command to such a soul is not grievous, 1 John v. 3. and by this it is kept from tiring in duty, and being weary of its work. As you see what pains children can take at play, how they will run and sweat, and endure knocks and falls, and take no notice of it ; put them upon any manual labour, and they cannot endure half so much : When our work is our delight, we never faint not tire at it This inclination to God is to the soul as v/ings to a bird, or sails to a ship. This carries the soul easily through every duty. O there is a vast difference betwixt a man that works
for wages, and one whose work is wages to him. And here you may at once see wherein the principal difference betwixt the hypocrite and real Christian lies in the performance of duty ; and also have a true account of the reason why one perseveres in his work to the end, wlien the other flags. Why, here is the true account of both ; the one is moved to duty from a natural inclination to it, the other is forced upon it by some external motives: For the hypocrite takes not delight in the spiritual and inward part of duty, but is secretly weary of it, Mai. i. 13. only his ambition and self-ends put him upon it is as a task. But now the upright heart goes to God as his joy, Psal. Ixiii. 4. And saith, " It is good for me to draw nigh to God," Psal. Ixxiii. ttlt. When the sabbath comes, (that golden spot of the week,) oh how he longs to see the beauty of the Lord in his ordinances ! Psal. xxvii. 4. And when engaged in the worship of God, he cannot satisfy himself in bodily service, or to serve God in the oldness of the letter. He know- eth that this persuasion comes not of him that called him. Gal. v. 7, 8. He labours to engage his heart to approach to God, Jer. xxx. 21. And hence those mountings of heart and violent sallies of the desires heavenward. And thus you see one rare advantage to glorif\' God actively, flowing from the inclination of this new creature.
2. But then, secondly, hence in like manner hath the soul as great an advantage for sufferings ; for this new creature having such a na-
36 PREPARATIONS FOR SUFFERINGS ; OR,
tural tendency to God, will enable the soul in which it is, to break its way to God through all the interposing obstacles and discourage- ments. What are persecutions, what are reproaches, what are the fears and frowns of enemies, but so many blocks thrown into the soul's wav to keep it from God and duty ? And indeed where this princi- ple of grace is wanting, they prove inaccessible mountains. Grace- less hearts are stalled, and quite discouraged by them : but now this tendency of the soul to God enables the Christian to break his way through all. You may say of him in such a case as the historian doth of Hannibal, (who forced a way over the Alps with fire and vineo-ar) either he will find a way, or make a way ; " Shall sword or " famine, or any other creature separate me from Christ ?'^ saith an upright soul. No, it will make its way through all to him, and that from this tendency of his new nature. You see in nature, every- thing hath a tendency to its centre; fire will up, do what you can to suppress it ; water will to the sea ; if it meet with dams, yea, mountains in its way, if it cannot bear them down, it will creep about some other way, and wind and turn to find a passage to the sea, God is the centre of all gracious spirits, and grace will carry the soul through all to him. This is grace, and this is your advantage by it in the most difficult part of your work. It will carry you through all ; make the hardest work easy and pleasant, 2 Cor. xii. 10. And if great sufferings or temptations interpose betwixt you and your God, it will break through all, and enable you to withstand all ; as it did Paul in the text, who forced his way not only through the fury of enemies, but also through the intreaties and tears of friendso
/?i which the necessity of getting' clear evideiices of this icorli: of grace in us, in order to our readiness for sufferings, is held Jbrth, the nature of that evidence opened; and divers things that cloud and obscure it removed out of the way.
J. HAVE done with habitual readiness, consisting in an in- wrought work of grace. The following particulars are the things in which our actual readiness hes. And of them, that which comes next to be handled, is the getting of clear evidences in our own souls, that this work hath been wrought in us : this will exceedingly tend to your strengthening and comfort in a suffering hour. Blessed Paul, who here professeth himself ready both for bonds and death, was clear in this point; 2 Tim. i. 12. and iv. 6, 7. And indeed had he been cloudy and dark in this, he could not have said, / am ready. No, he had been in an ill case to undertake that journey to Jerusa- lem : and thou wilt find it a singular advantage in dark and difficult
THE BEST WORK IN THE WORST TIMES. 37
days, to have all clear and right within. Now, for the opening of this I will shew :
I. What the evidence or manifestation of the work of grace is.
II. How it appears to be of such great advantage to a suffering saint.
III. Prescribe some rules for the obtaining of it.
I. What it is. And, in short, it is nothing else but the Sphifs shining upon Ms ozmi zco?'7{, in the hearts of' believers^ thereby cna" bling them seiisiblij to see and f edit to their own satisfaction. And this is expressed in scripture under a pleasant variety of metaphors. Sometimes it is called the " shedding abroad of the love of God in " the heart," Rom. v. 5. Sometimes " the lifting up of the light of " God's countenance," Psal. iv. 6. and sometimes it is expressed with- out a trope, by Christ's manifesting himself io the soul, John xiv. 21.
For the opening of it, I desire you would consider these six things.
1. That it is attainable by believers in this life, and that in a very high degree and measure. Many of the saints have Iiad it in a full measure, 1 Cor. ii. 12. John iii. 24. John xxi. 15.
2. Though it be attainable by believers, yet it is a thing separable from true grace, and many precious souls have gone mourning for the want of it, Isa. I. 10. This was sometimes the case of Heman, David, Job, and multitudes more.
3. During its continuance it is the sweetest thing in the world. It swallows up all troubles, and doubles all other comforts : it puts more gladness into the heart, than the increase of corn and wine, Psal. iv. 7. Suavis hora, sed hrevis mora ; sapit quidem suavissime scd gusia^ tur rarissime. Bernard.