238 THE STEADFASTNESS OF THE PKOSHSES,
drawing itself, that makes a dark and gloomy day; but the inter- position of clouds and vaporous exhalations. Neither is thy soul beyond the reach of the promise, nor doth God withdraw himself; but the vapours of thy carnal, unbelieving heart do cloud thee. It is said of one place, " Christ could do no great work there." Why so? for want of power in him? Not at all ; but merely for want of faith in them ; — it was " because of their unbelief." The promise can do no gi'eat work upon thy heart, to himible thee, to pardon, to quiet thee. Is it for want of fulness and truth therein? Not at all; but merely for want of faith in thee ; — that keeps it off. Men complain, that were it not for such things, and such things, they could believe ; Avhen it is theu' unbelief that casts those rubs in the way. As if a man should cast nails and sharp stones in his o^vn way, and say. Verily I could run, were it not for those nails and stones ; when he continues him- self to cast them there. You could believe, were it not for these doubts and difficulties, these staggering perplexities ; when, alas ! they are all from your unbelief
Use 4. See the sinfulness of all those staggering doubts and per- plexities wherewith many poor souls have almost all their thoughts taken up. Such as is the root, such is the fruit. If the tree be evil, so will the fruit be also. Men do not gather gxapes from brambles. What is the root that bears this fruit of stao'o-erinsr? — is it not the evil root of unbelief? And can any good come from thence? — are not all the streams of the same nature with the fountain? — if that be bitter, can they be sw^eet ? If the body be full of poison, will not the branches have their venom also? Surely if the mother — unbelief — be the mouth of hell, the daughters — staggerings — are not the gates of heaven.
Of the sin of unbelief I shall not now speak at large. It is, in sum, the universal opposition of the soul unto God. All other sins arise against something or other of his revealed will ; only unbelief sets up itself m a dkect contradiction to all of liim that is known. Hence the weight of condemnation in the gospel is constantly laid on this sin: " He that believeth not, on him the wrath of God abideth; he shall be damned." Now, as every drop of sea-water retains the brack- ishness and saltness of the whole; so every staggering doubt that is an issue of this unbehef hath in it the unsavouriness and distastefid- ness unto God that is in the whole.
Faither, to give you a little light into what acceptance our stag- gering thoughts find with the Lord (according to which must be our esteem of all that is in us), observe that, —
(1.) They gxieve him.
(2.) They provoke him.
(3.) They dishonour him.
AND SINFULNESS OF STAGGERING. 239
(1.) Sucli a frame grieves the Lord. Notliing more presses tnie love tlian to have an appearance of suspicion. Christ comes to Peter, and asks him, " Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me?" John xxi. 15. Peter seems glad of an opportunity to confess him, and his love to him, whom not long since he had denied, and answers readily, " Yea, Lord ; thou knowest that I love thee." But when Christ comes with the same question again and again, the Holy Ghost tells us, " Peter was grieved because he said unto hhn the third time, Lovest thou me?" It exceedingly troubled Peter that his love should come under so many questionings, which he knew to be sincere. The love of Christ to his is infinitely beyond the love of his to him. All our doubtings are nothing but so many questionings of his love. We cry. Lord Jesus, lovest thou iis? and again, Lord Jesus, lovest thou us? and that with distrustful hearts and thoughts, that it is not, it cannot be. Speaking of the unbelieving Jews, the Holy Ghost tells us, Jesus was " grieved for the hardness of their hearts," Mark iii. 5. And as it is bitter to him in the root, so also in the fruit. Our staggerings and debates, when we have a word of promise, is a giief to his Holy Spirit, as the unkindest retmii we can make unto his love.
(2.) It provokes him. How can this be, says Zacharias, that I should have a son? This shall be, saith the Lord; and thou thyself, for thy questioning, shalt be a sign of it, " Thou shalt be dumb, and not speak," Luke i. 20. His doubting was a provocation. And our Saviour expresses no less, in that bitter reproof to his disciples upon then- wavering, Matt. xvii. 17, " O faithless and jDerverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you?" — that is, in this unbelieving frame. Poor souls are apt to admire the patience of God in other matters, — that he spared them in such and such sins, at such and such times of danger; but his exceeding j^atience towards them in their carnal reasonings and fleshly objections against believing, this they admire not. Nay, generally they think it should be so, God would not have them one step farther; nay, they could be more steadfast in beheving, as they suppose, might it stand with the good- will of God ; — when all this while this frame of all others is the greatest provocation to the Lord ; he never exercises more forbear- ance than about this kind of unbelief When the spies had gone into Canaan, had seen the land, and brought of the good fruit of it, — then to repine, then to question whether God would bring them into it or no, this caused the Lord " to swear in his wo-ath, that they should not enter into his rest." When God hath brought men to the borders of heaven, discovered to them the riches and exceUency of his grace, admitted them to enter as spies into the kingdom of glory, — then to faU a staggering whether he intends them an entrance or no is that