[15.] Fifteenthly, That soul that dares not say that his condition is good, yet can say in truth of heart before the Lord, that he ivould not change his condition ivith the vain, caimal, formal, and prof ane Tnen of the world, for ten thousand worlds ; that man is certainly for heaven, and lieaven is certainly for that man. We may be very highly and groundedly confident, that God will never cast that man to hell, among devils and damned spirits, at the great day, who in his day of life would not choose to be in the condition of the men of the world, for as many worlds as there be men in the world. Look, as none meet in heaven, but such as are like to like in their renewed natures, princi- ples, and practices ; so none meet in hell but such as are like to like in their old natures, principles, and practices. That God that would not suffer an ox to be yoked with an ass in this world, Deut. x.xii. 10 ; nor a believer with an infidel, 2 Cor. vi. 14-18 ; will never suffer such to be yoked with devils and damned reprobrates in that lower world, who would not, to gain many worlds, be willingly yoked with wicked men in this world. Certainly they shall never be a Christian's companions in that otlier world, whose society and company, and whose wickedness
' Cicero, de Amicitia. — G.
Chap. II.] a cabinet of jewels. 381
and baseness have been a grief, a torment, a hell to him in this worid, Ps. cxix. 53, 136 ; Jer. ix. 1, 2 ; Ezek. ix. 4, 6 ; 2 Peter ii. 7, 8. When Mrs Catherine Brettergh was upon her dying bed, and most grievously assaulted by temptations, in the midst of her sore conflicts, this was no small support and comfort to her, that surely God would not send her to hell, to live for ever among such wicked persons, whose company and whose sin was a burden to her io this world,' &c. But,
[16.] Sixteenthly, That soul that dares not say that he does not sin, — ' For in many things we offend all ;' ' and there is not a just man upon the earth that doeth good, and sinneth not ;' and who can say, ' I have made my heart clean, I am pure from sin ?' ' And if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and th-e truth is not in us,'^ — yet can say in uprightness before the Lord, that he would not willingly, resolutely, maliciously, wilfully, wickedly, and habitually sin against the Lord to gain a tuorld ; that soul that don't or won't, through grace assisting, allow himself, or indulge himself in a course of sin, or in a trade of sin, or in the common practice of any known sin, that soul is cer- tainly a gracious soul. ' The evil that I do I allow not,' Rom. vii. 15. It is one thing for a man to sin, it is another thing for a man to allow himself in sin ; it is one thing for a godly man to step into a sin, and it is another thing to keep the road of sin. ' Search me and try me, and see if there be any way of wickedness in me,' or as the Hebrew runs, ' any way of pain, or of grief, or of provocation,' Ps. cxxxix. 24, that is, any course of sin that is grievous or provoking to the eyes of divine glory. A real saint can neither allow of sin, nor wallow in sin, nor be trans- formed into the image of sin, nor mix itself with sin. It is possible for a sincere Christian to step into a sinful path, or to touch upon sinful facts, and now and then in an hour of temptation, to slide, to trip, and to be overtaken unawares ; but his main way, his principal work, is to depart from iniquity, Gal. vi. 1, Pro v. xvi. 17, as a true traveller may now and then step a few steps out of his way, who yet for the main keeps his way, keeps the road ; or as a bee may now and then lio-ht upon a thistle, but her main work is to be gathering at the flowers ; or as a sheep may now and then slip into the dirt, or into a slough, but its main work is to be grazing upon the mountains. Certainly, O soul, if sin be now thy greatest burden, it shall never hereafter prove thy eternal bane. God never yet sent any man to hell for sin, to whom sin has commonly been the greatest hell in this world. God has but one hell, and that is for those to whom sin has been commonly a heaven in this world. That man that hates sin, and that daily enters his protest against sin, that man shall never be made miserable by sin. Sm in a wicked man is like poison in a serpent ; it is in its natural place, it is delight- ful to a sinner ; but sin in a saint is like poison in a man's body, it is offensive, and the heart rises against it, and is carried forth to the use of all divine antidotes wherebyit maybe expelled anddestroyed. Nothing will satisfy a gracious soul, but the heart blood of his lusts. Now, he shall never be damned for his sins, whose heart is set upon killing his sins.
[17.] Seventeenthly, Such a poor soid that dares not say, that God is his God, or that Christ is his redeemer, or that he has a work of
• See Index for other notices of this excellent lady. — G. 2 James iii. 2 ; Eccles. vii. 20 ; Prov. xx. 7 ; John i. 1, 8.
382 A CABINET OF JEWELS. [ChAP. II,
qrace upon hu heart, yet can say vjWi some integrity of heart before the Lord, that if God and Christ, grace and glory, holiness and happi- ness, tvere offered, to him on the one hand, and all the honours, pleasures, profits, delights, and carnal contents of the world were offered him on the other hand, he had infinitely ratJier ten thousand thousand times choose God aiul Christ, grace and glory, holiness and happiness, than the contrary ; certainly such a soul has true grace in him, and a saving work passed upon him; for none can freely, seriously, habitually, resolutely, choose God and Christ, grace and glory, holiness and happi- ness, as their suminun bonurii, cbiefest good, but such who are really good. Look, as our love to God is but an effect of his love to us, — ' We love him because he first loved us,' 1 John iv. 19, — ^so our choosing of God for our God, is but an effect of God's choosing us for his people ; we choose him because he first chose us, Deut. vii. 6-9, xxvi. 17-19. Such who, in their serious choice, set up God and Christ above all other per- sons and things, such God will certainly make happy and blessed for ever. God never did, nor never will, reject those, or damn those, who really choose him for their God, and for their great all. The gi-eatest part of the world choose their lusts rather than God, and the creatures rather tban Christ ; they choose rather to be great than gracious, to be rich in this world than to be rich towards God, Luke xii. 21, to be out- wardly happy than to be inwardly holy, to have a heaven on earth than to have a heaven after death, and so they miscarry for ever, Mat. x. 42, That soul that with Mary has chosen the better part, that soul with Mary shall be happy for ever ; every man must stand or fall for ever as his choice has been. But,