They dwell more upon their sins than upon a Saviour ; more upon their misery, than upon free grace and mercy ; more upon that which may feed their fears, than upon that that may strengthen their faith ; more upon the cross, than upon the crown ; more upon those that are against them, than those that are for them : Isa. li. 12, 13, 'I, even I, am he that comforteth you : who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as grass ; and forgettest the Lord thy maker, that hath stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth ; and hast feared con- tinually every day, because of the fury of the oppressor, as if ^he were ready to destroy ? and where is the fury of the oppressor V The same is intimated Rom. iv. 19, 20, 'Abraham, being not weak in faith, he
1 If we perish, Christ perisheth with us, said Luther. [' Table Talk,' as before.— C] » Weak Christians are like children ; they look for a great reward for a little work. 3 ' Table Talk,' as before.— Q.
54! THE UNSEARCHABLE [EPH. III. 8.
considered not his own body being dead, nor yet the deadness of Sarah's womb,' Mark, ' being not weak in faith.' Souls weak in faith are very apt to dwell upon discouragements, but strong Christians look above all discouragements.
' He considered not.' The Greek is ov y.aTsvcr,(r- he cared not for his own body, he did not mind that ; but in the 20th verse, ' he considered him that had promised.' Souls strong in grace dwell more upon their encouragements to holiness and believing, than upon their discourage- ments. ' He considered him that had promised.' He had an eye fixed upon the faithfulness of God, and the sufficiency and almightiness of God, and this bore up his heart above all discouragements. So in 2 Cor. iv. 16-18, ' Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding, and eternal weight of glory ; while we look not (mark, they are not doating upon their discouragements) upon things that are seen, but upon things that are not seen : the things which are seen are temporal, but the things that are not seen are eternal.' An eye fixed upon encouragements makes heavy afflictions light, long afflictions short, and bitter afflictions sweet. Those blessed martyrs found it so, that were cast out all night, in a cold frosty night, naked, and were to be burnt the nextday, who thus comforted themselves, The winteris sharp, but paradise is sweet ; here we shiver for cold, but the bosom of Abra- ham will make amends for all. Weak Christians have eyes to be.'iold their discouragements, but none to see their encouragements ; they look more upon their corruption than upon their sanctificatiou ; upon their disobedience than their obedience ; upon their distrust than upon their faith ; upon the old man than upon the new ; and this keeps them low and weak in spirituals, it causes a leanness in their souls.
[6.] Sixthly, The zeal of weak Christians usually outstnps their vjisdom and knowledge.
Weak Christians are very zealous, but not according to knowledge : Rom. X. 2, ' For I bear them record, that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.' They were very zealous, but not true zealots, they are very peevish and pettish and censorious ; but they want wis- dom and knowledge to manage their zeal, to God's glory and their brethren's good. Such zeal had those two rabbins that set upon Charles the Fifth, to persuade him to turn Jew, as judging their religion to be the only religion in the world, and for which they were put to a cruel death, m the year 1530.^ A great zeal they had to the winning over of him to Judaism, but this zeal was their ruin. Zeal without knowledge is as wild-fire in a fool's hand ; it is like the devil in the demoniac, tliat sometimes cast him into the fire, and sometimes into the water. So the disciples of Christ were weak in their light, and furious in their zeal : Luke ix. 54, ' Let fire come down from heaven, and consume them,' say they. But mark what Christ saith, ver. 55 ' Ye know not what manner of spirits ye are of;' that is, ye know not what spirit acts you. You think that you are acted by such a spirit as Elijah of old was acted by, but you err, saith Christ ; 'you have a zeal, but not according to knowledge,' therefore it is a human affection and not a divine motion. Zeal is like fire : in the chimney it is one of the best servants, but out of the chimney it is one of the worst masters. ' David Rubenita, and Shilomeh Molcha. Alsted. Clir. 42G,
EpH. III. 8.] RICHES OF CHRIST. 55
Zeal kept by knowledge and wisdom, in its proper place, is a choice servant to Christ and saints ; but zeal not bounded by wisdom and knowledge, is the high way to undo all, and to make a hell for many at once,'
Weak Christians are usuallj^ most zealous about circumstances and things that have least of God and Christ and the power of holiness in them ; and most cold about substances, as woful experience doth evi- dence in these days. Zeal ordered by wisdom, feeds upon the faults of offenders, not on their persons. It spends itself and its greatest heat principally upon those things that concern a man's self It is most ex- ercised about substantials : Tit. ii. 14, but that which is rash, is most exercised about circumstantials ; Gal. i. 14, Paul was, in the days of his ignorance, very zealous for the traditions of his fathers, &c.
[7.] Seventhly, Among all saints, the tveakest saints act most like carnal sinners.
No saint so like a sinner as a weak saint : 1 Cor. iii. 1-.5, ' And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat : fur hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. For are ye not yet carnal : for whereas there is among you envy- ing, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men ? For while one saith, I am of Paul, and another I am of ApoUos ; are ye not carnal V They were advanced but very little above the imperfections and passions and sins of mere men, of such which had nothing of the Spirit in them, &c. Do wicked men quarrel with their teachers, as shallow trivial teachers, when themselves are in fault, as being not cap- able of more mysterious matter ? So did these babes here. Do wicked men impute their not profiting to the minister, as he that, having a thorn in his foot, complains of the roughness of the way as the cause of his limping, whenas it was the thorn and not the roughness of the wa}' that hurt him. Or as she, that, being struck with a sudden blindness, bid open the window^ whenas it was not the want of light, but want of sight, that troubled her. So did these babes in the text lay the fault of their non-proficiency upon their teachers, when the fault wa.s wholly in themselves.^