1 1 Peter ii. 3, 4 ; 2 Chron. xxx. 18, 19; Mat. vii. 8; Ps. xlii. 1, 2, Ixiii. 1. &c.
2 Augustine. Wliere tliero are sincere desires of grace, there are the seeds of grace, the conception of grace, the buds of grace.
Chap. II.] a cabinet of jewels. 361
frustrate the desire that himself hath there wrought. Let no man say, I have no faith, no repentance, no love, no fear of God, no sanctifying, no saving grace in me. Doth he see a want of those things in himself? Yes, that is it which so grieves him, that he cannot love God, stand in awe of him, tmst in his mercy, repent of sin as he should ; yea, but doth he seriously and unfeignedly desire to do thus ? Yes, he desires it above all things in the world, and would be willing, as it were, to buy even with a whole world the least measure, or dram, or drop only of such gi-ace. Now let me ask him, who is it that hath wrought this desire in him ? Not the devil ; for he would rather quench it than kindle it- in him ; not his own corruption, for that is naturally averse to every thing that is good ; it must needs then be the work of the Spirit of God, Avho ' works in us both to will and to do of his own good pleasure,' and who pronounceth all them blessed that thus desire after grace. ' When I have a good desire,' saith one, ' though it doth scarcely shew itself in some little slender sigh, I must be assured that the Spirit of God is present, and worketh his good work.'i Wicked men do not desire the grace of the Holy Spirit, whereby they may resist sin, and therefore they are justly deprived of it ; for he that earnestly desireth the Holy Ghost hath it already, because this desire of the Spirit cannot be but from the Spirit. ' Our faith,' saith another, ' may be so small and weak, as it doth not yet bring forth fruits that may be lively felt in us ; but if they which feel themselves in such an estate desire to have these feelings, namely, of God's favour and love, if they ask them of God's hands by prayer, this desire and prayer are testi- monies that the Spirit of God is in them, and that they have faith al- ready ; for is such a desire a fruit of the flesh or of the spirit ? It is of the Holy Spirit, who bringeth it forth only in such as he dwells in, &c.^ Then those holy desires and prayers, being the motions of the Holy Ghost in us, are testimonies of our faith, although they seem to us small and weak. As the woman that feeleth the moving of a child in her body, though very weak, assureth herself that she hath conceived, and that she goeth with a live child • so if we have these motions, these holy affections and desires before mentioned, let us not doubt but that we have the Holy Ghost, who is the author of them, dwelling in us, and consequently that we have also faith. Again, saith the same author, (1.) if thou hast begun to hate and fly sin ; (2.) if thou feelest that thou art displeased at thine infirmities and corruptions ; (3.) if, having offended God, thou findest a grief and a sorrow for it ; (4.) if thou de- sire to abstain from sin ; (5.) if thou avoidest the occasions of sin ; (6.) if thou doest thy endeavours against sin ; (7.) if thou prayest to God to give thee grace ; all these holy affections, proceeding from none other than from the Spmt of God, ought to be as so many pledges and testi- monies that he is in thee. It is as impossible for us naturally to do the least good, or to desire the least grace, as it is for a toad to spit cordials, Philip, ii. 13, 2 Cor. viii. 10, 12. Sincere desires after God, and Christ, and grace, is sometimes the all that the people of God find in them-
^ Kemnitius, Ursini Catechis.
2 Taffnie's book of the JMarks of God's children. [Sic : but rather John Taffin of Amsterdam, whose searching little treatise ' Of the Markes of the Children of God, and of their Comforts in Afflictions,' was translated by Prowse in 1690, and was long a favourite among the Puritans. — G.]
362 A CABINET OF JEWELS. [ChAP. II. ,
selves. This was all that Nehemiah could say of himself, and the rest of his brethren, Neh. i. 11, that they did desire to fear God's name. And so the church : Isa. xxvi. 8, ' The desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thy holiness.' And ver. 9, ' With my soul have I desired thee in the night/ So the spouse. Cant. iii. 1-3. So David, Ps. xxvii. 4, xlii. 1, 2, Ixiii. ]. They must needs be sure of grace that have an unfeigned desire of it. This is a maxim that we must live and die with, viz., that no man can truly desire grace but he that hath already grace ; certainly he that desireth grace hath grace to desire it. It is an infallible sign, that that man hath already some measure of grace, that doth seriously desire to have it. He would never seiiously desire to fear God, who stands not in some awe of him already ; nor he would never desire seriously to love God, who has not in him some love to God already ; nor he would never seriously desire to believe, who has not in him some faith already ; nor he would never seriously desire to repent, that hath not repented already ; nor he would never seriously desire sanctifying grace, whose heart in some measure is not already sanctified by the Sjjirit of grace. It is the very essence of righteousness, saith one of the ancients, for a man to be willing to be righteous. And the poor heathen could say, 'It is a prin- cipal part of goodness, for a man to be willing to be good.'^ It is natural for every one to desire his own natural good, but to desire spiritual grace, holiness, sound sanctification, faith unfeigned, the true fear of God, serious repentance, &c., is more than ever any natural man did or can do. No man did ever desire to eat which had not eaten before, nor no man did ever desire to believe, that did not believe before ; all true desires after faith spring from faith as the root of them. Certainly wicked men do not, and cannot so much as desire saving grace, Job xxi. 14, Isa. liii. 2 ; and that,