VeK. 1.] UPON THE EPISTLE OF JUDE. 49
Lord, I have sinned through weakness, but I hope there is some grace left, some bent of heart towards thee. So the church, Isa. Ixiv. 8, 9, * Now, 0 Lord, thou art our father,' &c. Yea, God is angry when we do not plead. So Jer. iii, 4, ' Wilt thou not cry, Thou art my father?* &c. You have an interest, though you have been disobedient. Thus do, and your falls will be an advantage ; as you have seen men go back to fetch their leaps more commodiously.
Use 3. When you stand, let it excite you to love and thankfulness. Nothing maketh the saints love G-od more than the unchangeableness of his love. When they see themselves safe in the midst of weak- nesses and Satan's daily assaults, it doth much endear God to their souls. Certainly Daniel was much affected with his preservation in the lions' den, when he saw the lions ramping and roaring about him, and yet restrained with the chains of providence, that they could do him no harm. So the children of God must needs love their pre- server when they consider what dangers are round about them, how little they subsist by their own strength, 1 Sam. ii. 9, and how much they have done a thousand times to cause God to withdraw his Spirit from them ; and therefore the great argument why the saints do love and praise him is not only the freedom of his grace, but the unchange- ableness and constancy of it : ' His mercy endureth for ever ; ' it is several times repeated, Ps. cxxxvi. So Ps. cvi. 1, ' Praise ye the Lord ; 0 give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever.' No form is more frequent in the mouths of the saints : and good reason ; for alas ! if we were left to ourselves, we should damn ourselves every hour. We have a ' revolting heart,' Jer. v. 23, xiv. 10. We are like glasses without a bottom ; as soon as they are out of hand they are broken ; we cannot stand of ourselves : and we have a restless enemy, that desireth to toss us and vex us, as wheat is tossed from sieve to sieve, Luke xxii. 31 ; and we have often forfeited God's pro- tection, and grieved him day by day. Were it not for everlasting mercy, what would become of us ? Certainly they that do not love God for their preservation, they are not sensible of their condition in the world. What a naughty heart they carry about with them* It is a miracle that ever grace should be preserved there, where there is so much pride, love of pleasures, worldly cares, brutish lusts ; that such a heavenly plant can thrive in the midst of so many weeds. And what a busy devil they have to do withal, who watcheth all advan- tages, as a dog that standeth waving his tail (it is Chrysostom's com- parison) and expecting a bit ; and his envy and malice is most bent against them that have most grace. Finally, they do not consider that the world is full of snares and dangerous allurements ; for if they did, they could not choose but fall a-blessing of God for Jesus Christ, who yet fasteneth them as a nail in the holy place. I remember one of the fathers bringeth in the flesh saying. Ego deficiam, I will surely fail and miscarry ; and the world Ego decipiam, I will deceive them and entice them ; and Satan, Ego erijnam, I will snatch them and carry them away ; and God saith, ^(/o custodiam, I will keep them, ' I will never fail them nor forsake them ;' and there lietli our safety and security.
Use 4. It informeth us that if any fall often, constantly, frequently,
VOL. V. D
50 AN EXPOSITION, WITH NOTES, ]TeR. 1.
easily, they have no interest in grace : 1 John iii. 9, ' He that is born of God sinneth not,' ov irooel a/xapTiav, he makes not a trade of sin ; that is the force of the phrase. God's children slip often, but not with such a frequent constant readiness into the same sin. As fair meadows may be everflown, but marsh ground is drowned with the return of every tide, so are wicked men carried away with every return of the temptation ; therefore he that liveth in a course of pro- faneness, worldliness, drunkenness, his ' spot is not as the spot of God's children.' You are tried by your constant course and walk, Kom. viii. 1. What is your road ? what do you do constantly, easily, fre- quently ? I except only those sins which are of usual incidence and sudden surreption ; as sudden stirrings of passion in a choleric temper, and vanity of thoughts, and distractions in duties, &c. And yet for these a man should be the more humble and watchful ; if they be not felt and striven against, and mourned for, it is a bad sign.
Use 5. It provoketh us to get an interest in such a sure condition. Be not contented — (1.) With outward happiness; things are worthy according to their duration. Nature hath such a sense of God's eter- nity, that the more lasting things are, it accounteth them the better. An immortal soul must have an eternal good. Now all things in the world are frail and pass away, therefore called ' uncertain riches,' 1 Tim. vi. 17. It is uncertain whether we shall get them, and uncertain whether we shall keep them, and uncertain whether we shall live to enjoy them if they stay with us. All of this side grace is uncertain ; these things are usually blasted in their flower and beauty, as Herod was stricken in the midst of all his royalty : so that a man may out- live his happiness, which is the greatest misery ; or at least it must terminate with death ; there is no use of wealth in the other world. But now ' the better part can never be taken from us/ Luke x. 42 ; and by seeking that we may have other things with a blessing. Mat. vi. 33. (2.) Rest not in gifts, they are for the body rather than the person that hath them ; as many are carnal, and yet come behind in no gift. God useth them like negroes, to dig in the mines of know- ledge, that others may have the gold. Judas could cast out devils, and yet afterward was cast out among devils ; see 1 Cor. xii. 31. The apostle had discoursed largely of gifts, and then concludeth thus : ' But yet I show you a more excellent way ;' and what is that ? Grace that abideth and endureth for ever, as in the next chapter. Many that have great abilities to pray, preach, discourse, yet fall away. According to the place which they sustain in the body, so they have great gifts of knowledge, utterance, abilities to comfort, direct, and instruct others, to answer doubts, to reason and argue for God, for conference and holy discourse, and yet fall foully ; as those Heb. vi. 4, are said to be ' partakers of the Holy Ghost ;' that is, to have a great share of church gifts. Nay, this is not all ; gifts themselves wither and vanish when the bodily vigour is spent : ' The glory of a man is as the flower of the grass,' 1 Peter i. 24. By iJie glory of a man is meant whatever excellency we have by nature, wit, knowledge, strength of natural parts, as well as wealth and riches. Many times we, like the dry stalk, remaineth^ when the flower is gone; nothing but the