And so for protection and preservation, faith knows that Christ will be our shield and protector, therefore it relies upon him. ' Fear not,' saith God to Abraham, ' for I am God, all-suflicient, thy buckler and thy ex- ceeding rich reward,' Gen. xv. 1. Hence the saints have so esteemed him in all ages their rock, fortress, strong tower, salvation, helper, deliverer, refuge, and the like ; and Christ tells his disciples, that he is with them even unto the end of the world. Mat. xxviii. 20. He rules his by his kingly office for the good of his church. Thus much we know he made good, both in Egypt and in the wilderness, bringing his people safely into Canaan, through all those dangers they were in ; providing also for the women, per- secuted by the dragon, a place of refuge in the wilderness, where she was safely kept, Kev. xii. 6.
(7.) Seventhly, And for our children.
Ohj. Oh, say some, I could be content with a little, but I have many children.
Sol. Here faith sets in, and answers. But are they not also Christ's chil- dren, and must not he provide for his own ? Do therefore what thou canst, and for the rest despair not, but cast this burden upon him, who hath com- manded thee in nothing to be careful, but in all things to make thy suits and supplications known with prayer and thanksgiving. La this case faith in a dying parent follows Christ's example, John xvii. 6, 11 : ' Thine they were, and thou gavest them me ; and they have kept thy word. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me : that they may be one, as we are.' So a dying father may say. Lord, thine they were, thou gavest them me ; I have done what I can for them. Thou, Lord, art the first, best, and last Father, the world * and the fulness thereof. Now, therefore, holy Father, keep them in thy name, for thou art the refuge of the poor and needy, and thy time is to help when all other help is at a stand. Why, consider, is not he the Father of the fatherless ? Then let us leave them to him with that resolution and confidence of the prophet * Qu. ' tliine are the world ' ? — Ed.
878 THE LIFE OF FAITH.
Daviel, * AMicn my falbcr and mother forsake mo, the Lord will take me up,' Ps. xxvii. 10. Not tliat lie means fathers and mothers use to do so, but though they should, or even when they forsake us by death, yet God doth wonderfully save and protect their posterity. Then learn to exercise thy faith. Though thou leave them little, yet trust in God, and know that he who rests under the shadow of the Ahniglity, as the psalmist speaks, shall be safe, Ps. xci. 1. He who provided for them in the womb, and pre- pared breasts for them ere they came into the world ; he who put so tender aflcction in women : know that he will also have care, and be more compas- sionate over thy children after thee. Let faith then settle thy heart on these grounds. In the womb they were nourished and bred thou knowest not how. Oh, saith David, * I am fearfully and wonderfully made,' Ps. cxxxix. 14. And after thy death they shall be nourished, thou knowest not how. For this cause many are punished in their generations, because they would not trust to God, but did use ill means to perpetuate their houses, as covetousness, worldly policy, and the like. (8.) Eighthly, In pyospcyity.
What use is there in this, of the life of faith ? Oh yes, very much ; for, [1.] First, What makes prosperity sweet, but because by faith one knows that his sins are pardoned ? What comfort, I pray you, hath a prisoner in the Tower of his life, though he abound in all outward plenty of gold and silver, so long as his pardon is not sealed ? This sweetens pros- perity, the life of faith in justification, that all my sins are nailed with Christ upon the cross, that the handwriting against me is cancelled and done away. Thus one comes to be of the first-born, ' whose names are written in heaven,' Heb. xii. 23, and to joy that he hath a double portion, being exempt from many fears, crosses, and miseries others are vexed with. Who arc better Christians than they that know they enjoy all good things with God's favour and blessing ? Here faith hath a continual work, to see God's love in all, and so to be abundantly thankful, according unto that we have received.
[2.] Secondly, The life of faith orders our prosperity. How ? Not to abuse those good blessings bestowed on us, not to be puffed up by them, not to disdain, but to relieve others by them. Faith causes us to think of them as they are set forth in the word. It causes that we delight not too much in them, shews us better and more lasting riches, friends, and the like. It makes us take Saint Paul's counsel, 1 Cor. vii. 29, to rejoice and do all things as though we did them not, and to use the world as though we used it not, because the fashion of this world passeth away ; and therefore it makes men, as Paul speaks in another place, not trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God who can do all things. In sum, it causeth us manage all the things of this world, so as thereby not to have our hearts drawn away from the chief good.