God hath therefore planted the grace of faith in us, that our souls thereby might be carried to himself, and not rely upon vain things, which only are so far good as we do not trust in them. Who would trust to that for comfort, which by very trusting proves uncomfortable to him ? If we trust in friends, or estate, more than God, we make them idols.
There is still left in man's nature a desire of pleasure, profit, and what- ever the creature presents as good ; but the desire of gracious comforts, and heavenly delights is altogether lost, the soul being wholly infected with a contrary taste. Man hath a nature capable of excellency, and desirous of it, and the Spirit of God in and by the word discovers where true excel- lency is to be had ; but corrupt nature leaving God, seeketh it elsewhere in carnal friendship and the like, and so crosseth its own desires, till the Spirit of God discovers where these things are to be had, and so nature is brought to its right frame again, by turning the stream into its right current. Grace and sinful nature have the same general object of comfort, only sinful nature seeks it in broken cisterns, and grace in the fountain. The beginning of our true happiness is from the discovery of true and false objects ; so as the soul may clearly see what is best and safest, and then stedfastly rely upon it. For the soul is as that which it relies upon ; if on vanity, itself becomes vain ; if upon God and Christ, it becomes a spiritual and heavenly soul. It is no small privilege then which the Lord vouchsafeth some, by knocking off their fingers, and crossing their greedy
410 THE DANGER OF BACKSLIDING.
appetites after earthly comforts, that he may refresh them with pleasures of a higher nature. Alas ! what is the delight that we have in friends, or children, and the like, to the joy of God's presence, and the pleasures at his right hand for evermore '?
Olis. ]{ut to bring the text a little closer to ourselves, the thing that I would have you chiefly to observe is this, that those that have gone far in relif/ion maij i/ct notickhHtandimj fall awa;/, and become apostates.
Eeason 1. The reason is, 1. Because they rest on their own strength, and there is no support in man to nphold himself. Without Christ we can do nothing. We see how weak the apostles themselves were, till they were endued with strength from above. Peter was blasted with the speech of a damsel. Therefore in all our encounters and fear of falling, we should lift up our hearts to Christ, who hath Spirit enough for us all, and say with good Jehoshaphat, * Lord, we know not what to do,^but our eyes are towards thee,' 2 Chron. xx. 12. The battle we fight is thine, and the strength whereby we fight must be thine. If thou goest not out with us, we are sure to be foiled. Satan knows that nothing can prevail against Christ, or those that rely upon his power ; therefore his study is, how to keep us in ourselves and in the creature ; but we must carry this always in our minds, that that which is begun in self-confidence will end in shame.
Reason 2. Because Satan, that grand apostate, is fallen from the truth himself, and he labours to draw others to fall back ivith him; for being a cursed spirit, cast and tumbled down himself from heaven, where he is never to come again, he is full of malice, and labours all that he can to ruin and destroy others, that they may be in the same cursed condition with himself. By his envy and subtlety we were driven out of paradise at the first, and ever since he envies us the paradise of a good conscience. He cannot endure that a creature of meaner rank than himself should enjoy such happiness.
Use. I beseech you, therefore, let us learn that exhortation of the apostle, ' Let him that standeth, take heed lest he fall,' A watchful Christian stands, when careless spirits have many a fall. It is no easy matter to keep our ground. We see tall cedars oftentimes to shake and fall. How many are like buds in a frosty morning, nipped suddenly. We have no more truth of grace than we hold out to the end. Quest. But how shall we persevere in goodness ?
Ans. 1. Labour for true grace. What is sincere, is constant. That is true grace which the Spirit of God doth work in us, and is not built on false grounds, as to have respect to this or that man, or by-ends of our own.
Now, that we may have true grace, let us labour to be throughly con- vinced of sin, after which conviction of our evil ways, grace will follow. To which end we should pray earnestly for the Spirit, which will ' convince us of all sin,' John xvi. 9, and work this grace of constancy, and all other graces in us. For where the Spirit is, there is a savour and relish in all the ways of God. How sweet is the goodness of God in our redemption, justification, and preservation, to a spiritual heart ! If there be a relish in the meat, and not in the man, all is nothing.