is wrought in them, and done by them, that they forget their grand work, which is immediate closing with Christ, immediate embracing of Christ, immediate relying upon Christ, immediate staying, rolling, and resting upon Christ, for justification and salvation. Now , from these frequent miscarriages of Christians, some have taken the liberty and boldness very hotly and peremptorily to ciy down the total use of all characters, signs, and marks, the evil of which I have formerly pointed at, and therefore let this touch suffice here. Grace is excellent, yea, very excellent, but Christ is infinitely more excellent than all your graces, and therefore above all let Christ still have the pre-eminence. Col. i. 8. Now, though it must be granted that a Christian may lawfully make use of his graces and gracious evidences, in order to his support, comfort, and encouragement, yet it cannot be denied but that the noblest, purest, highest, and most excellent acts and exercises of faith, are when a Christian closes with Christ, embraces Christ, hangs upon Christ, and stays himself upon Christ, and upon free and precious promises, when sense and feeling fails, when joy and comfort fails, and when his gracious evidences for heaven fails.^ Oh now, to turn to Christ, and to turn to the breasts of a promise, and to live upon Christ, and to hang upon a promise, is the way of ways to exalt Christ, and to glorify Christ. There is nothing that pleases Christ, or that delights Christ, or that is such an honour to Christ, as these pure actings of faith are. Signs and evi- dences are most sweet, comfortable, and pleasing to us ; but the pure actings of faith are most eyed and valued by Christ, and therefore many times Christ draws a curtain between him and the soul, and causes a Christian's sun to set at noon, and damps his joy, and mars his peace, and clouds his evidences for heaven, on purpose to train up his children in the pure actings of faith, Cant, iii 1-5, and v. 3-6. It is sad when Christians make such immoderate use of their signs, marks, evidences, as damps and hinders those direct and immediate acts of faith, whereby they should receive Christ, and apply Christ, and rest upon Christ alone for pardon, peace, reconciliation, justification, and salvation. He that pores so long and so much upon his graces or gi-acious evidences as shall hinder him from the fresh and frequent actings of faith upon Christ, he casts contempt upon Christ." Though the sight of a Christian's graces and gracious evidences be very comfortable and delightful to him, yet the sight of Christ should be ten thousand times more comfortable and delightful to him. O sirs ! what are the favourites to the king himself ? What are the servants to the lord they wait on ? What are the friends of the bridegi'oom to the bridegroom himself ? What are all the brace- lets and jewels to the husband that gives them? No more are alia Christian's sfraces or gracious evidences to the Lord Jesus himself A Christian should say to all his gifts, graces, evidences, and services, Stand by, make room for Christ, make room for Christ. Oh, none but Christ ! Oh, none to Christ ! Living by signs is most natural, pleasing and com- fortable to us, but living by faith is most honourable to Christ. It is said, ' the just shall live by his faith,' not by his evidences, Hab. ii. 4, Heb. X. 38. When men pride themselves in their evidences, and when
' Cant. viii. 5; Job xiii. 15; Pa. xlii. 5, 11 ; Isa. 1. 10; Micah vii. 7-10; John xx. 27-29.
- Christ is an incomparable cordial, he is worthily called the consolation of Israel, Luke ii. 25.
Chap. V.] a cabinet of jewels. 503
men secretly lean upon their evidences instead of leaning upon Christ, and when men bottom their hopes and comforts upon their sio-ns and evidences, when they should he bottoming of all their hopes and com- forts upon Christ ; on a sudden Christ withdraw.s, and the soul is im- mediately filled with clouds, fears, doubt.s, darkness ; and all a man's graces and gracious evidences are eclipsed, and he can see nothincy, nor feel nothing, but deadness, hardness, barrenness, hypocrisy, unbelief, self-love, guilt, &c., which makes him a Magor-missahib, a terror to him- self. Now the desigTi of Christ in all this is to train up his people in a life of faith, and to teach them, in the want of their signs and evidences how to live, above their signs and evidences, upon himself, who is their life, their hope, their heaven, their happiness, their all, Col. iii. 3, 4, i. 27. Now, Christians, the best way to prevent these sore soul distresses, is in the moderate use of your signs and evidences, to live much in the fresh and frequent actings of faith upon the Lord Jesus, and in so doing, you will neither grieve Christ, nor provoke Christ, nor wrong your own precious and immortal souls. But,