They rise early, go to bed late ; they go from one end of the world to another, and venture through all manner of dangers, deaths, and mi.ser- les, to gain those things that are vain, uncertain, vexing, and dangerous to their souls, Ps. cxxvii. 2, Mat. xvi. 16. And wilt not thou, as 'a good soldier of Christ,' 2 Tim. ii. 3, 4, endure a little hardship for the honour of thy Captain, and thine own internal and eternal good ? Thou art
* Anaxa^nras, Plato, and others.
• Austin snitli, If a man sliould serve the Lord a thousnnd yr ans, it would not deserva an hour of the reward in heaven, much less an eternity, &c.
EpH. hi. 8.] RICHES OF CHRIST. 93
listed under Chri-st's colours, and therefore thou must arm thyself against all difficulties and discouragements. The number of difficulties makes the Christian's conquest the more illustrious. A gracious man should be made up all of fire, overcoming and consuming all oppositions, as fire does the stubble. All difficulties should be but whetstones to his for- titude, as Chrysostom said of Peter.
The fifth duty is this :
5. You that are iveak saints should observe hoiv Christ keejjs your wills and affections.
That man is kept indeed, whose will and affection is kept clo.se to Christ ; and that man is lost with a witness, whose will and affections are won from Christ. Weak saints are more apt to observe their own actions than their wills and affections, and this proves a snare unto them ; therefore observe your affections, how they are kept ; for if they are kept close to Christ, if they are kept faithful to Christ, though thy foot may slide from Christ, all is well. The apostle, Rom. vii. 17, seq., observed, that hi.s will and affections were kept close to Christ even then, wdien he was tyrannically captivated and carried by the preva- lency of sin from Christ : ' With my mind I serve the law of God,' says he, ' and what I do I allow not ; therefore it is no more I that doth it, but sin that dwelleth in me.' My will stands close to Christ, and my affections are faithful to Christ, though by the prevalency of corruption I am now and then carried captive from Christ. It is one thing to be taken up by an enemy, and another thing for a man to lay down his weapons at his enemy's feet. I am, saith the apostle, a forced man, ' I do what I hate ;' I do what I never intended. The heart may be sound, when more external and inferior parts are not. The heart of a man may be sound God-ward and Christ-ward and holiness- ward, when yet there may be many defects and weaknesses in his conversation. Now, a weak Christian should be very studious to observe how liis heart stands God-v/ards ; for the man is as his heart is ; if that be riglit with Christ, then all is well ; therefore, says Solomon, Prov. iv. 23, ' Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life."" The Hebrew runs more fully thus : ' Before all,' or, ' Above all keepings, keep thy heart ;' for out of it is the goings forth of lives.' The heart is the spring and fountain of all natural and spiritual actions, it is the primum mobile, the great wheel that sets all other wheels agoing ; it is the great monarch in the isle of man ; therefore keep it with all custody and caution, or else bid farewell to all true joy, peace, and comfort. When the heart stands right towards Christ, Christ will pardon much, and pass by much.^
If the ravished virgin in the time 'of the law cried out, she was guilt- less ; so when a poor soul, ravished by the power of corruption, and strength of Satan's temptations, cries out, ' Lord, I would not, for all the world, sin against thee, I would not distrust thee, I would not be impatient under thy afflicting hand, I would not l)e proud under thy merciful hand ; but, Lord, these sons of Zeruiah, 2 Sam. iii. 39, these corruptions, are too hard for me; they commit a rape upon me; they ravish me of my Jesus, and of my joy, and of my peace; Lord, help me. Lord deliver me!' now these weaknesses shall not be charged upon
' Tlie Leait is camera omnipotentis regis, the presence-chamber of the kino- cf heaven.
94- THE UNSEARCHABLE [EPH. III. 8.
the soul. The ravished virgin under the law, if she cried out, was guilt- less ; and certainly God is not, nor will not be, less merciful and gracious to his people under the gospel, who are still a-crying out against their sins and Satan's assaults. Surely those sins shall never be a Christian's bane, that are now his greatest burden. It is not falling into the water, but Iving in the water, that drowns. It is not falling into sin, but lying in sin, that damns. If sin and thy heart l>e two, Christ and thy heart are one. If thy heart be Christward, thou art so happy that nothing can make thee miserable.
6. Sixthly, Take heed of making sense and feeling a judge of your condition. Though there is nothing more dangerous, yet there is nothing more ordinary, than for weak saints to make their sense and feeling the judge of their condition. Ah, poor souls ! this is dishonourable to God, and ver}^ disadvantageous to ^'ourselves. Sense is sometimes opposite to reason, but always to faith ; therefore do as those worthies did, 2 Cor. V. 8, 9, ' We walk by faith, and not by sight.'^ For a man to argue thus: Surely God is not my God, for I am not enlightened, I am not quickened, I am not melted, I am not raised, I am not enlarged as for- merly. Oh ! I have not those sweet answers and returns of prayer that once I had! Oh! I cannot find the Lord's quickening presence, nor his enlivening presence, nor his humbling presence, nor his encouraging presence, as once I have ; therefore surely my condition is not good. Oh ! I am more backwaixl to good than formerly, and more prone to evil than formerly, therefore I am afraid that God is not my God, and that the work of grace is not thorough upon me. Oh ! God does not look upon me as in the days of old, nor speak to me as in the days of old, nor carry it towards me as in the days of old, and therefore I am afraid that all is naught.