Thirdly^ The remains of unbelief give advantage and success to Satan's temptations upon us. Doth he at any time affright and scare us from our duty, or draw and entice us to the commission of sin, or darken and cloud our condition, and fill us with inward fears and horror, without cause .^ All this he doth, by the meditation of our unbelief. The apostle, in Eph. vi. 16. calls faith the soul's shield against temptation : And 1 John v. 4. it is called the victory hy which we overcome ; i. e. the sword, or weapon, by which we at- chieve our victories. And if so, then unbelief disarms us both of sword and shield, and leaves us naked of defence in the day of bat- tle, a prey to the next temptation that befals us.
Fourthly^ The remainsof unbelief hinder the thriving of all graces; it is a worm at their root : a plant of such malignant quality, that no. thing which is spiritual can thrive under the droppings and shadow of it. It is said, Heb. iv. 2. that the gospel was preached to the Israel- ites, but it did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. No ordinances, nor duties, be they never so excellent, will make that soul to thrive, where unbelief prevails: You pray, you hear, you fast, you meditate j and yet you do not thrive j your spi^
432 SACRAMENTAL MEDITATIONS.
ritual food doth no good : You come from ordinances as dead, care- less, and vain, as you went to them. And why is it thus, but be- cause of remaining unbelief?
Use I. Let all the people of God bewail and tenderly mourn over the remainders of infidelity in their own hearts : There, there is the root of the disease. And surely, reader, thy heart is not free of such symptoms of it, as appear in other men's hearts. For do but consider,
Symp. 1. AVhat is our impatiency to wait for mercy, and despon- dency of spirit, if deliverance come not quickly in the outward, or inward straits of soul or body, but a plain symptom of unbehef in our hearts ? " He that believes, will not make haste,*" Isa. xxviii. 16. He that can believe, can also wait God's time. Psalm xxvii. 14.
Symp. 2. And what means our readiness to use sinful mediums, to prevent, or extricate ourselves out of trouble, but a great deal of infi- delity, lurking still in our hearts ? Might but faith be heard to speak, it would say in thy heart, let me rather die ten deaths, than commit one sin. It is sweeter and easier, to die in my integrity, than to live with a defiled, or wounded conscience. It is nothing but our unbe- lief, that makes us so ready to put forth our hands to iniquity, when the rod of the wicked rests long upon us, or any imminent danger threatens us, Psalm cxxv. 3.
Symp. 3. Doth not the unbelief of your hearts shew itself in your deeper thoughtfulness, and great anxieties about earthly things; Mat. vi. 30. AVe pretend, we have trusted God with our souls to all eternity, and yet cannot trust him for our daily bread. We bring the evils of to-morrow upon us to-day ; and all because we cannot believe more.
O reader ! how much better were it to hear such questions as these from thee. How shall I get an heart suitable to the mercies I do enjoy ? How shall I duly improve them for God ? " What shall I render to the Lord, for all his goodness .^" This would bet- ter become thee, than to afflict thyself with, "What shall I eat? What shall I drink ? Or wherewithal shall I be clothed ?"
Symp. 4. What doth the slavish fear of death speak, but remains of unbelief still in our hearts ? Are there not many faintings, trem- blings, despondencies of mind, under the thoughts of death ? Oh ! if faith were high, thy spirit could not be so low, 2 Cor. v. 1, 2, 3. The more bondage of fear, the more infidelity.
Symp. 5. To conclude ; What is the voice of all those distractions of thy heai't in religious duties, but want of faith, weakness in faith, and the actual prevalence of unbelief.? You come to God in prayer; and there a thousand vanities beset you : Your heart is carried away : it roves, it wanders to the ends of the earth. Conscience smites for this, and saith. Thou dost butmock God: thy soul will smart for this : Thou feelest neither strength nor sweetness arising out of such duties. You enquire for remedies, and fill the ears of friends with your com«
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plaints ; and, it may be, see not the root of all this to be in your own unbelief. But there it is ; and till that be cured, it will not be better with you.
Use II. Yet let not poor Christians so mourn, as those that have no hope, or ground of comfort, even in this case. For,
First, Though there be remains of unbelief in you, yet you have infinite cause to bless God that they are but remains. You once were in unbehef ; 1 Tim. i. 13. \. e. under the full power and dominion of it. Had God cut you off in that state, you must certainly have per- ished. This is the disease, but that was the death of your souls.
Secondly, Though unbelief be in you, yet it is not in you per modum guietis, by way of rest, as it is in all unbelievers : but by way of daily conflict, and as a burden too heavy to be borne. Now though the sin be sad, yet the sorrow for it is sweet ; and your conflicts with it bring you under a very comfortable sign of grace, Rom. vii. 12.
Thirdly, This is a disease, under which all Christians do labour more or less. There is not a heart so holy in all the world, but is in some degree tainted and infected with this disease. And this hath been evident, not only in all Christians, of all sizes, but in all the acts of their faith. Job's faith triumphed in chap. xiii. 15. yet had its eclipse and fainting-fit in chap. xix. 20. Abraham was a most renown- ed believer, a great pattern and example of faith : O how high a pitch did his faith amount to in Gen. xxii. 3. And yet there was a time when it fainted, and failed him, as at Gerar, Gen. xx. 2, 10, 11. David in Psal. xxvii. 1, 23. was not hke David in 1 Sam. xxvii. 1. The faith of Peter shone out like the sun, in a glorious confes- sion, Matth. xvi. 16. and yet was not only beclouded, but seemed to be gone down, and quite set, in Matth. xxvi. 69- though it after- wards recovered itself.
Fourthly, It is not this, or that degree of unbelief, that damns a man, but the power and dominion of it, that damns him. Indeed, your comfort depends much upon the strength of your faith ; but your salvation depends upon the truth of it. Most Christians come to heaven with a weak and doubting faith ; but few, with their sails filled with a direct and fresh wind of assurance.
Fifthly, There is enough in Christ to help thy unbelief; Lord,sa\d this poor man, help my unbelief. He is an excellent physician, and knows how to relieve and cure thee : Go to him and groan out thy complaint; tell him, thy heart is pained and troubled with this disease; thou shalt find him a faithful, skilful, and merciful Saviour.