My discom'se tends not to take men off from aU grief and mom-ning ; * Light for the righteous is sown in sorrow,' Ps. xcvii. 11. Our state of absence fr-om the Lord, and living here in a vale of tears, om* daily infirmi- ties, and our sympathy with others, requires it ; and where most grace is there is most sensibleness, as in Christ. But we must distinguish between grief and that sullenness and dejection of spirit, which is with a repining and taking off from duty. When Joshua was overmuch cast down at Israel's turning their backs before then* enemies, God reproves him, ' Get thee up, Joshua, why liest thou upon thy face?' Josh. vii. 10.
Some would have men, after the committing of gross sins, to be presently comfortable, and believe, without humbling themselves at all. Indeed,
124 TO THE CHRISTIAN READER.
when we are once in Christ, we ought not to question our state in him, and if we do, it comes not from the Spirit ; but yet a guilty conscience will be clamorous and full of objections, and God will not speak peace unto it till it be humbled. God will let his best children know what it is to be too bold with sin, as we see in David and Peter, who felt no peace tdl they had renewed their repentance. The way to rejoice * with joy unspeakable and glorious,' 1 Pet. i. 8, is to stir up sighs ' that cannot be uttered,' Rom. viii. 26. And it is so far, that the linowledge of our state in grace should not humble us, that very ingenuity considering God's love to us, out of the nature of the thing itself, worketh sorrow and shame in us, to offend his Majesty.
One main stop that hinders Christians fi-om rejoicing is, that they give themselves too much liberty to question their grounds of comfort and inte- rest in the promises. This is wonderful, comfortable say they, but what is it to me, the promise belongs not to me ? This ariseth from want of giv- ing all ' diligence to make then* calling sure,' 2 Pet. i. 10, to themselves. In watchfulness and diligence we sooner meet with comfort than in idle complaining. Our care, therefore, should be to get sound evidence of a good estate, and then likewise to keep our evidence clear ; wherein we are not to hearken to our o^vti fears and doubts, or the suggestion of our enemy, who studies to falsify om* evidence, but to the word, and our own consciences enhghtened by the Spirit ; and then it is pride and pettishness to stand out against comfort to themselves. Christians should study to corroborate their title. We are never more in heaven, before we come thither, than when we can read our evidences. It makes us converse much with God, it sweetens all conditions, and makes us willing to do and suffer anjiihiag. It makes us have comfortable and honourable thoughts of om-selves, as too good for the service of any base lust, and brings confidence in God both ia life and death.
But what if our condition be so dark that we cannot read our evidence at all ?
Here look up to God's infinite mercy in Christ, as we did at the first, when we found no goodness in oiu'selves, and that is the way to recover whatsoever we think we have lost. By honoming God's mercy in Christ, we come to have the Spirit of Christ ; therefore, when the waters of sancti- fication are troubled and muddy, let us run to the witness of blood. God seems to walk sometimes contrai-y to himself ; he seems to discourage, when secretly he doth encom-age, as the ' woman of Canaan,' Matt. xv. 21—23 ; but faith can find out these ways of God, and untie these knots, by looking to the free promise and merciful nature of God. Let our sottish and rebel- lious flesh murmur as much as it will. Who art thou ? and what is thy worth ? yet a Christian ' knows whom he beUeves,' 2 Tim. i. 12. Faith hath learned to set God against all.
Again, we must go on to add grace to grace. A growing and fruitful Christian is always a comfortable Christian ; the oil of grace brings forth the oil of gladness. Chi'ist is first a king of righteousness, and then a king of peace, Heb. vii. 2 ; the righteousness that he works by his Spirit brings a peace of sanctification, whereby though we are not freed from sin, yet we are enabled to combat with it, and to get the victory over it. Some degree of comfort follows every good action, as heat accompanies fire, and as beams and influences issue from the sun ; which is so true, that very heathens, upon the discharge of a good conscience, have found comfort and peace answerable ; this is a reward before om* reward, prconium ante jpramium.
TO THE CHKISTIAN EEADER. 125
Anotlier thing that hinders the comfort of Christians is, that they forget what a gi'acious and merciful covenant they Hve under, wherein the perfec- tion that is required is to be found in Christ. Perfection in us is sincerity ; what is the end of faith but to bring us to Christ ? Now imperfect faith, if sincere, knits us* to Christ, in whom our perfection hes.