Obj. But some poor soul may object, Alas ! I have been assaulted by such a corruption, a long time, in a grievous manner, and am not yet de- livered from it.
Ans. God doth by little and little purge out corruption. As every stroke helps the fall of the oak, the first stroke helps forward ; so every opposing of corruption, never so little, helps to root it out, and it is weakened by little and little, till death accomplish more mortification.
But to proceed. God doth not only dehver from evil works, but pre- serves us to his heavenly kingdom. We must take jyreserve here in its full breadth. He preserves us whilst he hath any work for us to do in this life ; and when he will have us live no longer, he will preserve us to heaven ; howsoever, by death he takes us away, yet even then the Lord still preserves us.
Under -preservers of the saints. He will preserve us in our outward estate, by himself, and by under-preservers, for there be many such under God ; as angels that are his ministering spirits, and magistrates, who are the shields of the earth ; they may preserve under God ; and likewise ministers, that are the chariots and horsemen of Israel, and good laws, &c. But God is the first turner of the wheel ; we must see him in all other preservers whatsoever. And therefore the apostle, in the language of the Holy Ghost, and of Canaan, saith here, 'The Lord wiU preserve me,' Ps. xlvii. 9; 2 Kings ii. 12. And rather than a man shall miscarry when God hath anything for him to do, God will work a miracle.
The three men could not be burned in the fii'e, Dan. iii. 25 and \i. 12 ; God so suspended the force thereof. Daniel could not be devoured of the greedy lions, &c. Rather than God's purpose shall fail, that a man should perish before the time that God hath allotted him, the lions shall not devour, and the fii-e shall not burn. God hath measured our glass and time, even to a moment ; and as our Saviour Christ, out of knowledge of this heavenly truth, saith, ' My time is not yet come,' John vii. 6, so let us know that, tiU om- hour comes, all the devils in hell cannot hurt one hair of our head. And this is a wondrous ground of confidence, that we should carry our- selves above all threatenings, and above all fears whatsoever. ' Thou canst do nothing except it were given thee,' John xix. 10, saith Christ to brag- ging Pilate, who boasted of his power. Alas ! what can all the enemies of God's people do except God permit them ?
If a king or a great man should say to an inferior, Go on ; I will stand by thee, and preserve thee ; thou shalt take no harm : what an encourage- ment were this ! Oh, but when God shall say to a Christian, Walk humbly
826 THE saint's safety in evil times.
before me, keep close to my word, be stedfast in the ways of holiness, fear not man, you are under my protection and safeguard : what an encourage- ment is this to a believing soul !
But put case we cannot be preserved from death ; for so it was here with the apostle, he died a bloody death. Why, let us observe his blessed carriage in all this, and do likewise. I regard not that, saith he ; do your worst, God wiE preserve me still. So it should be the bent of a Christian's soul to come to God with this limitation, in his faith and in his prayer : Lord, if thou wUt not deliver me from suffering ill, preserve me from doing ill ; if thou wilt not preserve me from death, preserve me from sinful works. This we may build on, that either God will preserve us in life, or if we die, he will preserve us in death to his heavenly kingdom. And sometimes God preserves by not preserving from death ; for indeed death keeps a man from aU danger whatsoever. He is out of all gun-shot, when he is once dead. Death is a deliverance and a presers-ation of itself : it sends a man to heaven straight ; and therefore the apostle knew what he said, ' The Lord will preserve me to his heavenly kingdom.'
That is, he will preserve me till I be possessed of heaven ; he wiU go along with me in all the passages of my life ; he will carrj- me through all, and bring me thither at last. As the angel that struck off Peter's bolts, * shined in the prison,' Acts xii. 7, and carried him out into the city, so God by his Spirit shines into our souls, and carries us through all the passages of this life, never lea\'ing us, till he have brought us to his heavenly kingdom.
And not to open unto you things that are beyond my conceit, much more my expression, what a state this heavenly kingdom is, unto which St Paul hoped to be preserved ! Observe, briefly, thus much : — 1, It is a kingdom of aU conditions the freest ; 2, the most glorious ; 3, the most abundant in all supplies ; 4, it is a heavenly kingdom ; 5, it is an everlasting kingdom.