14. Ah, souls! I know no such arguments to work you to a lively and
pretence of being interested in the great glorious things that have been acted by Christ, &c.
Remedy (2). The second remedy against this device of Satan is, to consider, That the great and glorious things that Jesus Christ hath done, and is a-doing for us, should be so far from taking us off from religious services and pious performances, that they should be the greatest motives and encouragements to the performance of them that may be, as the Scriptures do abundantly evidence. I will only instance in some, as that, 'That we, being delivered out of the hands of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our lives,' 1 Peter 2:9, Luke 1:74, 75. Christ hath freed you from all your enemies, from the curse of the law, the predominant damnatory power of sin, the wrath of God, the sting of death, and the torments of hell; but what is the end and design of Christ in doing these great and marvellous things for his people? It is not that we should throw off duties of righteousness and holiness, but that their hearts may be the more free and sweet in all holy duties and heavenly services. So the apostle, 'I will be their God, and they shall be my people:' 'And I will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.' Mark what follows: 'Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord,' 2 Cor. 6:17, 18, chap. 7:1 compared. And again: 'The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying all ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world, looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify us unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works,' Titus 2:12– 14. Ah, souls! I know no such arguments to work you to a lively and
constant performance of all heavenly services, like those that are drawn from the consideration of the great and glorious things that Christ hath done for you; and if such arguments will not take you and win upon you, I do think the throwing of hell fire in your faces will never do it.
Remedy (3). The third remedy against this device of Satan is, seriously to consider, That those precious souls which Jesus Christ hath done and suffered as much for as he hath for you, have been exceeding active and lively in all religious services and heavenly performances. He did as much and suffered as much for David as for you, and yet who more in praying and praising God than David? 'Seven times a day will I praise the Lord,' Ps. 119:174. Who more in the studying and meditating on the word than David? 'The law is my meditation day and night,' Ps. 119:97. The same truth you may run and read in. Jacob, Moses, Job, Daniel, and in the rest of the holy prophets and apostles, for whom Christ hath done as much for as for you. Ah, how have all those worthies abounded in works of righteousness and holiness, to the praise of free grace? Certainly Satan hath got the upper hand of those souls that do argue thus. Christ hath done such and such glorious things for us, therefore we need not make any care and conscience of doing such and such religious services as men say the word calls for. If this logic be not from hell, what is? Ah, were the holy prophets and apostles alive to hear such logic come out of the mouths of such as profess themselves to be interested in the great and glorious things that Jesus Christ hath done for his chosen ones, how would they blush to look upon such souls! and how would their hearts grieve and break within them to hear the language and to observe the actings of such souls.
Remedy (4). The fourth remedy against this device of Satan is, seriously to consider this, That those that do not walk in the ways of
righteousness and holiness, that do not wait upon God in the several duties and services that are commanded by him, cannot have that evidence to their own souls of their righteousness before God, of their fellowship and communion with God, of their blessedness here, and their happiness hereafter, as those souls have, that love and delight in the ways of the Lord, that are always best when they are most in the works and service of the Lord. 'Little children,' saith the apostle, 'let no man deceive you: he that doth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous,' 1 John 3:7. 'In this,' saith the same apostle, 'the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil; whosoever doth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother,' ver. 10. 'If ye know that he is righteous,' saith the same apostle, 'ye know that every one that doth righteousness, is born of him. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whosoever keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. He that saith he abideth in him, ought himself also to walk, even as he walked.' 'If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth; but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another; and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin,' saith the same apostle, 1 John 2:4–6, and 1:6, 7. So James 2:14, 20, 'What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have no works; can faith save him?' i. e. it cannot. 'For as the body without spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.' To look after holy and heavenly works, is the best way to preserve the soul from being deceived and deluded by Satan's delusions, and by sudden flashes of joy and comfort; holy works being a more sensible and constant pledge of the precious Spirit, begetting and maintaining in the soul more solid, pure, clear, strong, and lasting joy. Ah souls! As you would have in yourselves a constant and a blessed evidence of your fellowship with the Father and the
Son, and of the truth of grace, and of your future happiness, look that you cleave close to holy services; and that you turn not your backs upon religious duties.
Remedy (5). The fifth remedy against this device of Satan is, solemnly to consider, That there are other choice and glorious ends for the saint's performance of religious duties, than for the justifying of their persons before God, or for their satisfying of the law or justice of God, or for the purchasing of the pardon of sin, &c. viz., to testify their justification. 'A good tree cannot but bring forth good fruits' Mat. 7:17, to testify their love to God, and their sincere obedience to the commands of God; to testify their deliverance from spiritual bondage, to evidence the indwellings of the Spirit, to stop the mouths of the worst of men, and to glad those righteous souls that God would not have sadded. These, and abundance of other choice ends there be, why those that have an interest in the glorious doings of Christ, should, notwithstanding that, keep close to the holy duties and religious services that are commanded by Christ. And if these considerations will not prevail with you, to wait upon God in holy and heavenly duties. I am afraid if one should rise from the dead, his arguments would not win upon you, but you would hold on in your sins, and neglect his service, though you lost your souls for ever, &c.
The fifth device Satan hath to draw souls off from religious services, and to keep souls off from holy duties, is,
Device (5). By presenting to them the paucity and poverty of those that walk in the ways of God, that hold on in religious practices. Saith Satan, Do not you see that those that walk in such and such religious ways are the poorest, the meanest, and the most despicable persons in the world? This took with them in John 7:47–49, 'Then answered
the pharisees, Are ye also deceived? Have any of the rulers, or of the pharisees, believed on him? But this people who knoweth not the law are cursed.'
Now the remedies against this device are these that follow:
Remedy (1). The first remedy against this device of Satan is, to consider, That though they are outwardly poor, yet they are inwardly rich. Though they are poor in temporals, yet they are rich in spirituals. The worth and riches of the saints is inward. 'The King's daughter is all glorious within,' Ps. 45:13. 'Hearken, my beloved brethren, hath not God chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?' saith James 2:5. 'I know thy poverty, but thou art rich,' saith John to the church of Smyrna,' Rev. 2:4. What though they have little in possession, yet they have a glorious kingdom in reversion. 'Fear not, little flock, it is your Father's pleasure to give you a kingdom,' Luke 12:32. Though saints have little in hand, yet they have much in hope. You count those happy, in a worldly sense, that have much in reversion, though they have little in possession; and will you count the saints miserable because they have little in hand, little in possession, though they have a glorious kingdom in reversion of this? I am sure the poorest saint that breathes will not exchange, were it in his power, that which he hath in hope and in reversion, for the possession of as many worlds as there be stars in heaven, or sands in the sea, &c.
Remedy (2). The second remedy against this device of Satan is, to consider, That in all ages God hath had some that have been great, rich, wise, and honourable, that have chosen his ways, and cleaved to his service in the face of all difficulties. Though not many wise men, yet some wise men; and though not many mighty, yet some mighty
have; and though not many noble, yet some noble have. Witness Abraham, and Jacob, and Job, and several kings, and others that the Scriptures speak of. And ah! how many have we among ourselves, whose souls have cleaved to the Lord, and who have swum to his service through the blood of the slain, and who have not counted their lives dear unto them, that they and others might enjoy the holy things of Christ, according to the mind and heart of Christ, &c.
Remedy (3). The third remedy against this device of Satan is, solemnly to consider, That the spiritual riches of the poorest saints do infinitely transcend the temporal riches of all the wicked men in the world; their spiritual riches do satisfy them; they can sit down satisfied with the riches of grace that be in Christ, without honours, and without riches, &c. 'He that drinks of that water that I shall give him, shall thirst no more,' John 4:13. The riches of poor saints are durable; they will bed and board with them; they will go to the prison, to a sickbed, to a grave, yea, to heaven with them. The spiritual riches of poor saints are as wine to cheer them, and as bread to strengthen them, and as cloth to warm them, and as armour to protect them. Now, all you that know anything, do know that the riches of this world cannot satisfy the souls of men, and they are as fading as a flower, or as the owners of them are, &c.
Remedy (4). The fourth remedy against this device is, seriously to consider, That though the saints, considered comparatively, are few; though they be 'a little, little flock' 'a remnant,' 'a garden enclosed,' 'a spring shut up, a fountain sealed;' though they are as 'the summer gleanings;' though they are 'one of a city, and two of a tribe;' though they be but a handful to a houseful, a spark to a flame, a drop to the ocean, yet consider them simply in themselves, and so they are an innumerable number that cannot be numbered. As John speaketh: 'After this I beheld, and lo, a great multitude which no man could
number, of all nations, and kindreds, and peoples, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands,' Rev. 7:9. So Matthew speaks: 'And I say unto you, that many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven,' Mat. 8:11. So Paul: 'But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,' Heb. 12:22.
Remedy (5). The fifth remedy against this device of Satan is, seriously to consider, That it will be but as a day before these poor despised saints shall shine brighter than the sun in his glory. It will not be long before you will wish, Oh! that we were now among the poor, mean despised ones in the day that God comes to make up his jewels! It will not be long before these poor few saints shall be lifted up upon their thrones to judge the multitude, the world, as the apostle speaks: 'Know ye not that the saints shall judge the world?' 1 Cor. 6:2. And in that day, oh! how will the great and the rich, the learned and the noble, wish that they had lived and spent their days with these few poor contemptible creatures in the service of the Lord! Oh! how will this wicked world curse the day that ever they had such base thoughts of the poor mean saints, and that their poverty became a stumbling-block to keep them off from the ways of sanctity.
I have read of Ingo, an ancient king of the Draves, who, making a stately feast, appointed his nobles, at that time pagans, to sit in the hall below, and commanded certain poor Christians to be brought up into his presence-chamber, to sit with him at his table, to eat and drink of his kingly cheer; at which many wondering, he said, 'He
accounted Christians, though never so poor, a greater ornament to his table, and more worthy of his company, than the greatest peers unconverted to the Christian faith; for when these might be thrust down to hell, those might be his consorts and fellow-princes in heaven.' You know how to apply it. Although you see the stars sometimes by their reflections in a puddle, or in the bottom of a well, ay, in a stinking ditch, yet the stars have their situation in heaven. So, though you see a godly man in a poor, miserable, low, despised condition for the things of this world, yet he is fixed in heaven, in the region of heaven: 'Who hath raised us up,' saith the apostle, 'and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.' Oh! therefore, say to your own souls, when they begin to decline the ways of Sion because of the poverty and paucity of those that walk in them, The day is at hand when those few, poor, despised saints shall shine in glory, when they shall judge this world, and when all the wicked of this world will wish that they were in their condition, and would give ten thousand worlds, were it in their power, that they might but have the honour and happiness to wait upon those whom for their poverty and paucity they have neglected and despised in this world.
Remedy (6). The sixth remedy against this device of Satan is, solemnly to consider, That there will come a time, even in this life, in this world, when the reproach and contempt that is now cast upon the ways of God, by reason of the poverty and paucity of those that walk in those ways, shall be quite taken away, by his making them the head that have days without number been the tail, and by his raising them up to much outward riches, prosperity, and glory, who have been as the outcast because of their poverty and paucity. John, speaking of the glory of the church, the new Jerusalem that came down from heaven, Rev. 21:24, tells us, 'That the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it, and the kings of the earth do bring their glory into it.' So the prophet Isaiah, 'They shall bring
their sons from far, and their silver and their gold with them. For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron,' chap. 60:17. And so the prophet Zechariah speaks: chap. 14:14, 'And the wealth of all the heathen round about shall be gathered together, gold, and silver, and apparel, in great abundance.' The Lord hath promised that 'the meek shall inherit the earth,' Mat. 5:5; and 'heaven and earth shall pass away, before one jot or one tittle of his word shall pass unfulfilled,' ver. 18. Ah, poor saints! now some thrust sore at you, others look a-squint upon you, others shut the door against you, others turn their backs upon you, and most of men (except it be a few that live much in God, and are filled with the riches of Christ) do either neglect you or despise you because of your poverty; but the day is coming when you shall be lifted up above the dunghill, when you shall change poverty for riches, your rags for robes, your reproach for a crown of honour, your infamy for glory, even in this world.
And this is not all, but God will also mightily increase the number of his chosen ones, multitudes shall be converted to him: 'Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Sion travailed, she brought forth children. And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the Lord, out of all nations, upon horses, and in chariots, in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the Lord; as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the Lord,' Isa. 66:8, 19, 20. Doth not the Scripture say, that 'the kingdoms of this world must become the kingdoms of our Lord'? Rev. 11:15. Hath not God given to Christ 'the heathen, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession'? Ps. 2:8. Hath not the Lord said, that in 'the last days the mountain of the Lord's house shall be lifted up above the hills, and shall be established in the top of
the mountains, and all nations shall flow unto it,' Isa. 2:2 and 54:14 and 61:9. Pray, read, and meditate upon Isa. 60 and 66 and 2:1–5, and there you shall find the multitudes that shall be converted to Christ. And oh! that you would be mighty in believing; and, in wrestling with God, that he would hasten the day of his glory, that the reproach that is now upon his people and ways may cease!
The sixth device that Satan hath to keep souls off from religious services is,
Device (6). By presenting before them the examples of the greatest part of the world, that walk in the ways of their own hearts, and that make light and slight of the ways of the Lord. Why, saith Satan, do not you see that the great and the rich, the noble and the honourable, the learned and the wise, even the greatest number of men, never trouble themselves about such and such ways, and why then should you be singular and nice? You were far better do as the most do, &c.
Now, the remedies against this device are these:
Remedy (1). The first remedy against this device of Satan is, solemnly to consider Of those scriptures that make directly against following the sinful examples of men. As that in Exodus, 'Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil, neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment,' chap. 23:2. The multitude generally are ignorant, and know not the way of the Lord, therefore they speak evil of that they know not. They are envious and maliciously bent against the service and way of God, and therefore they cannot speak well of the ways of God: 'This way is everywhere spoken against,' saith they, Acts 28:22. So in Num. 16:21, 'Separate from them, and come out from among them.' So the apostle, 'Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness,' Eph. 5:11. So Solomon, 'Enter not into the way of the wicked; forsake the foolish, and live,' Prov. 4:14
and 9:6. They that walk with the most shall perish with the most. They that do as the most shall ere long suffer with the most. They that live as the most, must die with the most, and to hell with the most.
Remedy (2). The second remedy against this device of Satan is, seriously to consider, That if you will sin with the multitude, all the angels in heaven and men on earth cannot keep you from suffering with the multitude. If you will be wicked with them, you must unavoidably be miserable with them. Say to thy soul, O my soul! if thou wilt sin with the multitude, thou must be shut out of heaven with the multitude, thou must be cast down to hell with the multitude: 'And I heard a voice from heaven saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues,' Rev. 18:4. Come out in affection, in action, and in habitation, for else the infection of sin will bring upon you the infliction of punishment. So saith the wise man, 'He that walketh with wise men shall be wise, but a companion of fools shall be destroyed,' or as the Hebrew hath it, 'shall be broken in pieces,' Prov. 13:20. Multitudes may help thee into sin, yea, one may draw thee into sin, but it is not multitudes that can help thee to escape punishments; as you may see in Moses and Aaron, that were provoked to sin by the multitude, but were shut out of the pleasant land, and fell by a hand of justice as well as others.
Remedy (3). The third remedy against this device of Satan is, solemnly to consider, The worth and excellency of thy immortal soul. Thy soul is a jewel more worth than heaven and earth. The loss of thy soul is incomparable, irreparable, and irrecoverable; if that be lost, all is lost, and thou art undone for ever. Is it madness and folly in a man to kill himself for company, and is it not greater madness or folly to break the neck of thy soul, and to damn it for company?
Suspect that way wherein thou seest multitudes to walk; the multitude being a stream that thou must row hard against, or thou wilt be carried into that gulf out of which angels cannot deliver thee. Is it not better to walk in a straight way alone, than to wander into crooked ways with company? Sure it is better to go to heaven alone than to hell with company.
I might add other things, but these may suffice for the present; and I am afraid, if these arguments do not stir you, other arguments will work but little upon you.
The seventh device that Satan hath to keep souls off from holy exercises, from religious services, is,
Device (7). By casting in a multitude of vain thoughts, whilst the soul is in seeking of God, or in waiting on God; and by this device he hath cooled some men's spirits in heavenly services, and taken off, at least for a time, many precious souls from religious performances. I have no heart to hear, nor no heart to pray, nor no delight in reading, nor in the society of the saints, &c. Satan doth so dog and follow my soul, and is still a-casting in such a multitude of vain thoughts concerning God, the world, and my own soul, &c., that I even tremble to think of waiting upon God in any religious service. Oh! the vain thoughts that Satan casts in do so distaste my soul, and so grieve, vex, perplex, and distract my soul, that they even make me weary of holy duties, yea, of my very life. Oh! I cannot be so raised and ravished, so heated and melted, so quickened and enlarged, so comforted and refreshed, as I should be, as I might be, and as I would be in religious services, by reason of that multitude of vain thoughts, that Satan is injecting or casting into my soul, &c.
Now, the remedies against this device of Satan are these:
Remedy (1). The first remedy against this device of Satan is, To have your hearts strongly affected with the greatness, holinesss, majesty, and glory of that God before whom you stand, and with whom your souls do converse in religious services. Oh! let your souls be greatly affected with the presence, purity, and majesty of that God before whom thou standest. A man would be afraid of playing with a feather, when he is speaking with a king. Ah! when men have poor, low, light, slight, &c., thoughts of God, in their drawing near to God, they tempt the devil to bestir himself, and to cast in a multitude of vain thoughts to disturb and distract the soul in its waiting on God. There is nothing that will contribute so much to the keeping out of vain thoughts, as to look upon God as an omniscient God, an omnipresent God, an omnipotent God, a God full of all glorious perfections, a God whose majesty, purity, and glory will not suffer him to behold the least iniquity. The reason why the blessed saints and glorious angels in heaven have not so much as one vain thought is, because they are greatly affected with the greatness, holiness, majesty, purity, and glory of God.
Remedy (2). The second remedy against this device of Satan is, To be peremptory in religious services, notwithstanding all those wandering thoughts the soul is troubled with. This will be a sweet help against them: for the soul to be resolute in waiting on God, whether it be troubled with vain thoughts or not; to say, Well I will pray still, and hear still, and meditate still, and keep fellowship with the saints still. Many precious souls can say from experience, that when their souls have been peremptory in their waiting on God, that Satan hath left them, and hath not been so busy in vexing their souls with vain thoughts. When Satan perceives that all those trifling vain thoughts that he casts into the soul do but vex the soul into greater diligence, carefulness, watchfulness, and peremptoriness in holy and heavenly services, and that the soul loses nothing of his zeal, piety,
and devotion, but doubles his care, diligence, and earnestness, he often ceases to interpose his trifles and vain thoughts, as he ceased to tempt Christ, when Christ was peremptory in resisting his temptations.
Remedy (3). The third remedy against this device of Satan is, to consider this, That those vain and trifling thoughts that are cast into our souls, when we are waiting upon God in this or that religious service, if they be not cherished and indulged, but abhórred, resisted, and disclaimed, they are not sins upon our souls, though they may be troubles to our minds; they shall not be put upon our accounts, nor keep mercies and blessings from being enjoyed by us. When a soul in uprightness can look God in the face, and say, Lord, when I approach near unto thee, there be a world of vain thoughts crowd in upon me, that do disturb my soul, and weaken my faith, and lessen my comfort and spiritual strength. Oh, these are my clog, my burden, my torment, my hell! Oh, do justice upon these, free me from these, that I may serve thee with more freeness, singleness, spiritualness, and sweetness of spirit. These thoughts may vex that soul, but they shall not harm that soul, nor keep a blessing from that soul. If vain thoughts resisted and lamented could stop the current of mercy, and render a soul unhappy, there would be none on earth that should ever taste of mercy, or be everlastingly happy.
Remedy (4). The fourth remedy against this device of Satan is, solemnly to consider, That watching against sinful thoughts, resisting of sinful thoughts, lamenting and weeping over sinful thoughts, carries with it the sweetest and strongest evidence of the truth and power of grace, and of the sincerity of your hearts, and is the readiest and the surest way to be rid of them, Ps. 139:23. Many low and carnal considerations may work men to watch their words, their lives, their actions; as hope of gain, or to please friends, or to
get a name in the world, and many other such like considerations. Oh! but to watch our thoughts, to weep and lament over them, &c., this must needs be from some noble, spiritual, and internal principle, as love to God, a holy fear of God, a holy care and delight to please the Lord, &c. The schools do well observe, that outward sins are of greater infamy, majoris infamiœ; but inward heart sins are of greater guilt, majoris reatus; as we see in the devil's. There is nothing that so speaks out a man to be thoroughly and kindly wrought upon, as his having his thoughts to be 'brought into obedience,' as the apostle speaks, 2 Cor. 10:4, 5. Grace is grown up to a very great height in that soul where it prevails, to the subduing of those vain thoughts that walk up and down in the soul. Well! though you cannot be rid of them, yet make resistance and opposition against the first risings of them. When sinful thoughts arise, then think thus, The Lord takes notice of these thoughts; 'he knows them afar off,' as the Psalmist speaks, Ps. 38:6. He knew Herod's bloody thoughts, and Judas his betraying thoughts, and the Pharisees' cruel and blasphemous thoughts afar off. Oh! think thus: All these sinful thoughts, they defile and pollute the soul, they deface and spoil much of the inward beauty and glory of the soul. If I commit this or that sin, to which my thoughts incline me, then either I must repent or not repent; if I repent, it will cost me more grief, sorrow, shame, heart-breaking, and soul-bleeding, before my conscience will be quieted, divine justice pacified, my comfort and joy restored, my evidences cleared, and my pardon in the court of conscience sealed, than the imagined profit or seeming sensual pleasure can be worth: 'What fruit had you in those things whereof you are now ashamed,' Rom. 6:21.
If I never repent, oh! then my sinful thoughts will be scorpions that will eternally vex me, the rods that will eternally lash me, the thorns that will everlastingly prick me, the dagger that will be eternally astabbing me, the worm that will be for ever a-gnawing me! Oh!
therefore, watch against them, be constant in resisting them, and in lamenting and weeping over them, and then they shall not hurt thee, though they may for a time trouble thee. And remember this, he that doth this doth more than the most glistering and blustering hypocrite in the world doth.
Remedy (5). The fifth remedy against this device of Satan is, To labour more and more to be filled with the fulness of God, and to be enriched with all spiritual and heavenly things. What is the reason that the angels in heaven have not so much as an idle thought? It is because they are filled with the fulness of God, Eph. 3:19. Take it for an experienced truth, the more the soul is filled with the fulness of God and enriched with spiritual and heavenly things, the less room there is in that soul for vain thoughts. The fuller the vessel is of wine, the less room there is for water. Oh, then, lay up much of God, of Christ, of precious promises, and choice experiences in your hearts, and then you will be less troubled with vain thoughts. 'A good man, out of the good treasure of his heart, bringeth forth good things,' Mat. 12:35.
Remedy (6). The sixth remedy against this device of Satan is, To keep up holy and spiritual affections; for such as your affections are, such will be your thoughts. 'Oh how I love thy law! it is my meditation all the day,' Ps. 119:97. What we love most, we most muse upon. 'When I awake, I am still with thee,' Ps. 139, &c. That which we much like, we shall much mind. They that are frequent in their love to God and his law, will be frequent in thinking of God and his law: a child will not forget his mother.
Remedy (7). The seventh remedy against this device of Satan is, To avoid multiplicity of worldly business. Oh let not the world take up your hearts and thoughts at other times. Souls that are torn in pieces
with the cares of the world will be always vexed and tormented with vain thoughts in all their approaches to God. Vain thoughts will be still crowding in upon him that lives in a crowd of business. The stars which have least circuit are nearest the pole; and men that are least perplexed with business are commonly nearest to God.
The eighth device that Satan hath to hinder souls from religious services, from holy performances, is,
Device (8). By working them to rest in their performances; to rest in prayer, and to rest in hearing, reading, and the communion of saints, &c. And when Satan hath drawn the soul to rest upon the service done, then he will help the soul to reason thus: Why, thou wert as good never pray, as to pray and rest in prayer; as good never hear, as to hear and rest in hearing; as good never be in the communion of saints, as to rest in the communion of saints. And by this device he stops many souls in their heavenly race, and takes off poor souls from those services that should be their joy and crown, Isa. 58:1–3, Zech. 7:4–6, Mat. 6:2, Rom. 1:7.
Now the remedies against this device are these:
Remedy (1). The first remedy against this device of Satan is, To dwell much upon the imperfections and weaknesses that do attend your choicest services. Oh the spots, the blots, the blemishes that are to be seen on the face of our fairest duties! When thou hast done all thou canst, thou hast need to close up all with this, 'Oh enter not into judgment with thy servant, O Lord,' Ps. 143:2, for the weaknesses that cleave to my best services. We may all say with the church, 'All our righteousnesses are as a menstruous cloth.' Isa. 64:6. If God should be strict to mark what is done amiss in our best actions, we are undone. Oh the water that is mingled with our wine, the dross that cleaves unto our gold!
Remedy (2). The second remedy against this device of Satan is, to consider The impotence and inability of any of your best services, divinely to comfort, refresh, and bear your souls up from fainting, and sinking in the days of trouble, when darkness is round about you, when God shall say to you, as he did once to the Israelites, 'Go and cry unto the gods that you have chosen; let them save you in the time of your tribulation,' Judges 10:14. So, when God shall say in the day of your troubles, Go to your prayers, to your hearing, and to your fasting, &c., and see if they can help you, if they can support you, if they can deliver you. If God in that day doth but withhold the influence of his grace, thy former services will be but poor cordials to comfort thee; and then thou must and will cry out, Oh, 'none but Christ, none but Christ.' Oh my prayers are not Christ, my hearing is not Christ, my fasting is not Christ, &c. Oh! one smile of Christ, one glimpse of Christ, one good word from Christ, one nod of love from Christ in the day of trouble and darkness, will more revive and refresh the soul than all your former services, in which your souls rested, as if they were the bosom of Christ, which should be the only centre of our souls. Christ is the crown of crowns, the glory of glories, and the heaven of heavens.
Remedy (3). The third remedy against this device of Satan is, solemnly to consider, That good things rested upon will as certainly undo us, and everlastingly destroy us, as the greatest enormities that can be committed by us. Those souls that after they have done all, do not look up so high as Christ, and rest, and centre alone in Christ, laying down their services at the footstool of Christ, must lie down in sorrow; their bread is prepared for them in hell. 'Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, compass yourselves with the sparks: and walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks ye have kindled. This shall ye have at mine hands; ye shall lie down in sorrow,' Isa. 50:11. Is it good dwelling with everlasting burnings, with a devouring fire? If it be,
why then rest in your duties still; if otherwise, then see that you centre only in the bosom of Christ.
Remedy (4). The fourth remedy against this device of Satan is, To dwell much upon the necessity and excellency of that resting-place that God hath provided for you. Above all other resting-places himself is your resting-place; his free mercy and love is your restingplace; the pure, glorious, matchless, and spotless righteousness of Christ is your resting-place. Ah! it is sad to think, that most men have forgotten their resting-place, as the Lord complains: 'My people have been as lost sheep, their shepherds have caused them to go astray, and have turned them away to the mountains: they are gone from mountain to hill, and forgotten their resting-place,' Jer. 50:6. So poor souls that see not the excellency of that resting-place that God hath appointed for their souls to lie down in, they wander from mountain to hill, from one duty to another, and here they will rest and there they will rest; but souls that see the excellency of that resting-place that God hath provided for them, they will say, Farewell prayer, farewell hearing, farewell fasting, &c., I will rest no more in you, but now I will rest only in the bosom of Christ, the love of Christ, the righteousness of Christ.
III. The several devices Satan hath to keep souls in a
sad, doubting, and questioning condition
III. The third thing to be shewed is,
The several devices that Satan hath to keep souls in a sad, doubting, questioning, and uncomfortable condition.
Though he can never rob a believer of his crown, yet such is his malice and envy, that he will leave no stone unturned, no means unattempted, to rob them of their comfort and peace, to make their life a burden and a hell unto them, to cause them to spend their days in sorrow and mourning, in sighing and complaining, in doubting and questioning. Surely we have no interest in Christ; our graces are not true, our hopes are the hopes of hypocrites; our confidence is our presumption, our enjoyments are our delusions, &c.
I shall shew you this in some particulars, &c.
Device 1. The first device that Satan hath to keep souls in a sad, doubting, and questioning condition, and so making their life a hell, is, By causing them to be still poring and musing upon sin, to mind their sins more than their Saviour; yea, so to mind their sins as to forget, yea, to neglect their Saviour; that, as the Psalmist speaks, 'The Lord is not in all their thoughts,' Ps. 10:4. Their eyes are so fixed upon their disease, that they cannot see the remedy, though it be near; and they do so muse upon their debts, that they have neither mind nor heart to think of their Surety, &c.
Now the remedies against this device are these.
Remedy (1). The first remedy is for weak believers to consider, That though Jesus Christ hath not freed them from the presence of sin, yet he hath freed them from the damnatory power of sin. It is most true that sin and grace were never born together, neither shall sin and grace die together; yet while a believer breathes in this world, they must live together, they must keep house together. Christ in this life will not free any believer from the presence of any one sin, though he doth free every believer from the damning power of every sin. 'There is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit,' Rom. 8:1. The law cannot condemn a believer, for Christ hath fulfilled it for him; divine justice cannot condemn him, for that Christ hath satisfied; his sins cannot condemn him, for they in the blood of Christ are pardoned; and his own conscience, upon righteous grounds, cannot condemn him, because Christ, that is greater than his conscience, hath acquitted him.
Remedy (2). The second remedy against this device of Satan is, to consider, That though Jesus Christ hath not freed you from, the molesting and vexing power of sin, yet he hath freed you from the reign and dominion of sin. Thou sayest that sin doth so molest and vex thee, that thou canst not think of God, nor go to God, nor speak with God. Oh! but remember it is one thing for sin to molest and vex thee, and another thing for sin to reign and have dominion over thee. 'For sin shall not have dominion over you, for ye are not under the law, but under grace,' Rom. 6:14. Sin may rebel, but it shall never reign in a saint. It fareth with sin in the regenerate as with those beasts that Daniel speaks of, 'that had their dominion taken away, yet their lives were prolonged for a season and a time,' Dan. 7:12.
Now sin reigns in the soul when the soul willingly and readily obeys it, and subjects to its commands, as subjects do actively obey and
embrace the commands of their prince. The commands of a king are readily embraced and obeyed by his subjects, but the commands of a tyrant are embraced and obeyed unwillingly. All the service that is done to a tyrant is out of violence, and not out of obedience. A free and willing subjection to the commands of sin speaks out the soul to be under the reign and dominion of sin; but from this plague, this hell, Christ frees all believers. Sin cannot say of a believer as the centurion said of his servants, 'I bid one Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to another, Do this, and he doth it,' Mat. 8:9. No! the heart of a saint riseth against the commands of sin; and when sin would carry his soul to the devil, he hales his sin before the Lord, and cries out for justice. Lord! saith the believing soul, sin plays the tyrant, the devil in me; it would have me to do that which makes against thy holiness as well as against my happiness; against thy honour and glory, as my comfort and peace; therefore do me justice, thou righteous Judge of heaven and earth, and let this tyrant sin die for it, &c.
Remedy (3). The third remedy against this device of Satan is, Constantly to keep one eye upon the promises of remission of sin, as well as the other eye upon the inward operations of sin. This is the most certain truth, that God would graciously pardon those sins to his people that he will not in this life fully subdue in his people. Paul prays thrice, i.e. often, to be delivered from the thorn in the flesh. All he can get is, 'My grace is sufficient for thee,' 2 Cor. 12:9; I will graciously pardon that to thee that I will not conquer in thee, saith God. 'And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me, and whereby they have transgressed against me. I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins,' Jer. 33:8, Isa. 43:25. Ah! you lamenting souls, that spend your days in sighing and groaning under the sense and burden of your sins, why do you deal so unkindly with
God, and so injuriously with your own souls, as not to cast an eye upon those precious promises of remission of sin which may bear up and refresh your spirits in the darkest night, and under the heaviest burden of sin?
Remedy (4). The fourth remedy against this device of Satan is, To look upon all your sins as charged upon the account of Christ, as debts which the Lord Jesus hath fully satisfied; and indeed, were there but one farthing of that debt unpaid that Christ was engaged to satisfy, it would not have stood with the unspotted justice of God to have let him come into heaven and sit down at his own right hand. But all our debts, by his death, being discharged, we are freed, and he is exalted to sit down at the right hand of his Father, which is the top of his glory, and the greatest pledge of our felicity: 'For he hath made him to be sin for us that knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him,' saith the apostle, 2 Cor. 5:21. All our sins were made to meet upon Christ, as that evangelical prophet hath it: 'He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned every one to his own way, and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all;' or, as the Hebrew hath it, 'He hath made the iniquity of us all to meet in him,' Isa. 53:5, 6. In law, we know that all the debts of the wife are charged upon the husband. Saith the wife to one and to another, If I owe you anything, go to my husband. So may a believer say to the law, and to the justice of God, If I owe you anything, go to my Christ, who hath undertaken for me. I must not sit down discouraged, under the apprehension of those debts, that Christ, to the utmost farthing, hath fully satisfied. Would it not argue much weakness, I had almost said much madness, for a debtor to sit down discouraged upon his looking over those debts that his surety hath readily, freely, and fully satisfied? The sense of his great love
should engage a man for ever to love and honour his surety, and to bless that hand that hath paid the debt, and crossed the books, &c. But to sit down discouraged when the debt is satisfied, is a sin that bespeaks repentance.
Christ hath cleared all reckoning betwixt God and us. You remember the scapegoat. Upon his head all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, were confessed and put, and the goat did bear upon him all their iniquities, &c., Lev. 16:21. Why! the Lord Jesus is that blessed scapegoat, upon whom all our sins were laid, and who alone hath carried 'our sins away into the land of forgetfulness, where they shall never be remembered more.' A believer, under the guilt of his sin, may look the Lord in the face, and sweetly plead thus with him: It is true, Lord, I owed thee much, but thy Son was my ransom, my redemption. His blood was the price; he was my surety and undertook to answer for my sins; I know thou must be satisfied, and Christ hath satisfied thee to the utmost farthing: not for himself, for what sins had he of his own? but for me; they were my debts that he satisfied for; be pleased to look over the book, and thou shalt find that it is crossed by thy own hand upon this very account, that Christ hath suffered and satisfied for them.
Remedy (5). The fifth remedy against this device of Satan is, solemnly to consider, Of the reasons why the Lord is pleased to have his people exercised, troubled, and vexed with the operations of sinful corruptions; and they are these: partly to keep them humble and low in their own eyes; and partly to put them upon the use of all divine helps, whereby sin may be subdued and mortified; and partly, that they may live upon Christ for the perfecting the work of sanctification; and partly, to wean them from things below, and to make them heart-sick of their absence from Christ, and to maintain in them bowels of compassion towards others that are subject to the
same infirmities with them; and that they may distinguish between a state of grace and a state of glory, and that heaven may be more sweet to them in the close. Now doth the Lord upon these weighty reasons suffer his people to be exercised and molested with the operations of sinful corruptions? Oh then, let no believer speak, write, or conclude bitter things against his own soul and comforts, because that sin troubles and vexes his righteous soul, &c.; but lay his hand upon his mouth and be silent, because the Lord will have it so, upon such weighty grounds as the soul is not able to withstand.3
Remedy (6). The sixth remedy against this device of Satan is, solemnly to consider, That believers must repent for their being discouraged by their sins. Their being discouraged by their sins will cost them many a prayer, many a tear, and many a groan; and that because their discouragements under sin flow from ignorance and unbelief. It springs from their ignorance of the richness, freeness, fulness, and everlastingness of God's love; and from their ignorance of the power, glory, sufficiency, and efficacy of the death and sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ; and from their ignorance of the worth, glory, fulness, largeness, and completeness of the righteousness of Jesus Christ; and from their ignorance of that real, close, spiritual, glorious, and inseparable union that is between Christ and their precious souls. Ah! did precious souls know and believe the truth of these things as they should, they would not sit down dejected and overwhelmed under the sense and operation of sin, &c.
The second device that Satan hath to keep souls in a sad, doubting, and questioning condition is,
Device (2). By working them to make false definitions of their graces. Satan knows, that as false definitions of sin wrong the soul one way,
so false definitions of grace wrong the soul another way.
I will instance only in faith: Oh how doth Satan labour might and main to work men to make false definitions of faith! Some he works to define faith too high, as that it is a full assurance of the love of God to a man's soul in particular, or a full persuasion of the pardon and remission of a man's own sins in particular. Saith Satan, What dost thou talk of faith? Faith is an assurance of the love of God, and of the pardon of sin; and this thou hast not; thou knowest thou art far off from this; therefore thou hast no faith. And by drawing men to make such a false definition of faith, he keeps them in a sad, doubting, and questioning condition, and makes them spend their days in sorrow and sighing, so that tears are their drink; and sorrow is their meat, and sighing is their work all the day long, &c.
The philosophers say there are eight degrees of heat; we discern three. Now, if a man should define heat only by the highest degree, then all other degrees will be cast out from being heat. So if men shall define faith only by the highest degrees, by assurance of the love of God, and of the pardon of his sins in particular, what will become of Lesser degrees of faith?
I If a man should define a man to be a living man, only by the highest and strongest demonstrations of life, as laughing, leaping, running, working, walking, &c., would not many thousands that groan under internal and external weaknesses, and that cannot laugh, nor leap, nor run, nor work, nor walk, be found dead men by such a definition, that yet we know to be alive? It is so here, and you know how to apply it, &c.
Now the remedies against this device are these:
Remedy (1). The first remedy against this device of Satan is, solemnly to consider, That there may be true faith, yea, great measures of faith, where there is no assurance. The Canaanite woman in the Gospel had strong faith, yet no assurance that we read of. 'These things have I written unto you,' saith John, 'that believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God,' 1 John 5:13. In these words you see that they did believe, and had eternal life, in respect of the purpose and promise of God, and in respect of the seeds and beginnings of it in their souls, and in respect of Christ their head, who sits in heaven as a public person, representing all his chosen ones, 'Who hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus,' Eph. 2:6; and yet they did not know that they had eternal life. It is one thing to have a right to heaven, and another thing to know it; it is one thing to be beloved, and another thing for a man to know that he is beloved. It is one thing for God to write a man's name in the book of life, and another thing for God to tell a man that his name is written in the book of life; and to say to him, Luke 10:20, 'Rejoice, because thy name is written in heaven.' So Paul, 'In whom ye also trusted, after ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also, after ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise,' Eph. 1:13. So Micah: 'Rejoice not against me, O my enemy: for when I shall fall, I shall rise; when I shall sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me. I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned,' &c., or, 'the sad countenance of God,' as the Hebrew hath it, Micah 7:8, 9. This soul had no assurance, for he sits in darkness, and was under the sad countenance of God; and yet had strong faith, as appears in those words, 'When I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me.' He will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness. And let this suffice for the first answer.
Remedy (2). The second remedy against this device of Satan is, solemnly to consider, That God in the Scripture doth define faith otherwise. God defines faith to be a receiving of Christ—'As many as received him, to them he gave this privilege, to be the sons of God,' John 1:12. 'To as many as believed on his name,' Acts 11:23—to be a cleaving of the soul unto God, though no joy, but afflictions, attend the soul. Yea, the Lord defines faith to be a coming to God in Christ, and often to a resting and staying, rolling of the soul upon Christ. It is safest and sweetest to define as God defines, both vices and graces. This is the only way to settle the soul, and to secure it against the wiles of men and devils, who labour, by false definitions of grace, to keep precious souls in a doubting, staggering, and languishing condition, and so make their lives a burden, a hell, unto them.
Remedy (3). The third remedy against this device of Satan is, seriously to consider this, That there may be true faith where there is much doubtings. Witness those frequent sayings of Christ to his disciples, 'Why are ye afraid, O ye of little faith?' Persons may be truly believing who nevertheless are sometimes doubting. In the same persons that the fore-mentioned scriptures speak of, you may see their faith commended and their doubts condemned, which doth necessarily suppose a presence of both.
Remedy (4). The fourth remedy against this device of Satan is, solemnly to consider, That assurance is an effect of faith; therefore it cannot be faith. The cause cannot be the effect, nor the root the fruit. As the effect flows from the cause, the fruit from the root, the stream from the fountain, so doth assurance flow from faith. This truth I shall make good thus:
The assurance of our salvation and pardon of sin doth primarily arise from the witness of the Spirit of God that we are the children of God,
Eph. 1:13; and the Spirit never witnesseth this till we are believers: 'For we are sons by faith in Christ Jesus,' Gal. 4:6. Therefore assurance is not faith, but follows it, as the effect follows the cause.
Again, no man can be assured and persuaded of his salvation till he be united to Christ, till he be ingrafted into Christ; and a man cannot be ingrafted into Christ till he hath faith. He must first be ingrafted into Christ by faith before he can have assurance of his salvation; which doth clearly evidence, that assurance is not faith, but an effect and fruit of faith, &c.
Again, faith cannot be lost, but assurance may; therefore assurance is not faith. Though assurance be a precious flower in the garden of a saint, and is more infinitely sweet and delightful to the soul than all outward comforts and contents; yet it is but a flower that is subject to fade, and to lose its freshness and beauty, as saints by sad experience find, &c.
Again, a man must first have faith before he can have assurance, therefore assurance is not faith. And that a man must first have faith before he can have assurance, is clear by this, a man must first be saved before he can be assured of his salvation; for he cannot be assured of that which is not. And a man must first have a saving faith before he can be saved by faith, for he cannot be saved by that which he hath not; therefore a man must first have faith before he can have assurance, and so it roundly follows that assurance is not faith, &c.
The third device that Satan hath to keep the soul in a sad, doubting, and questioning condition is,
Device (3). By working the soul to make false inferences from the cross actings of Providence. Saith Satan, Dost thou not see how Providence crosses thy prayers, and crosses thy desires, thy tears, thy
hopes, thy endeavours? Surely if his love were towards thee, if his soul did delight and take pleasure in thee, he would not deal thus with thee, &c.
Now, the remedies against this device are these:
Remedy (1). The first remedy against this device of Satan is, solemnly to consider, That many things may be cross to our desires that are not cross to our good. Abraham, Jacob, David, Job, Moses, Jeremiah, Jonah, Paul, &c., met with many things that were contrary to their desires and endeavours, that were not contrary to their good; as all know that have wisely compared their desires and endeavours and God's actings together. Physic often works contrary to the patients' desires, when it doth not work contrary to their good.
I remember a story of a godly man, who had a great desire to go to France, and as he was going to take shipping he broke his leg; and it pleased Providence so to order it, that the ship that he should have gone in at that very same time was cast away, and not a man saved; and so by breaking a bone his life was saved. Though Providence did work cross to his desire, yet it did not work cross to his good, &c.
Remedy (2). The second remedy against this device of Satan is, solemnly to consider, That the hand of God may be against a man, when the love and heart of God is much set upon a man. No man can conclude how the heart of God stands by his hand. The hand of God was against Ephraim, and yet his love, his heart, was dearly set upon Ephraim: 'I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus: Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke. Turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the Lord my God. Surely, after that I was returned, I repented; and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh; I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach
of my youth. Ephraim is my dear Son, he is a pleasant child; for since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember him still. Therefore my bowels are troubled for him; I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the Lord,' Jer. 31:18–20.
God can look sourly, and chide bitterly, and strike heavily, even where and when he loves dearly. The hand of God was very much against Job, and yet his love, his heart, was very much set upon Job, as you may see by comparing chaps. 1 and 2 with 41 and 42. The hand of God was sore against David and Jonah, when his heart was much set upon them. He that shall conclude that the heart of God is against those that his hand is against, will condemn the generation of the just, whom God unjustly would not have condemned.
Remedy (3). The third remedy against this device of Satan, is, to consider, That all the cross providences that befall the saints are but in order to some noble good that God doth intend to prefer upon them. Providence wrought cross to David's desire, in taking away the child sinfully begotten, but yet not cross to more noble good; for was it not far better for David to have such a legitimate heir as Solomon was, than that a bastard should wear the crown, and sway the sceptre?
Joseph, you know, was sold into a far country by the envy and malice of his brethren, and afterwards imprisoned' because he would not be a prisoner to his mistress's lusts; yet all these providences did wonderfully conduce to his advancement, and the preservation of his father's family, which was then the visible church of Christ. It was so handled by a noble hand of providence; that what they sought to decline, they did promote. Joseph was therefore sold by his brethren that he might not be worshipped, and yet he was therefore worshipped because he was sold.4
David was designed to a kingdom, but oh! the straits, troubles, and deaths that he runs through before he feels the weight of the crown; and all this was but in order to the sweetening of his crown, and to the settling of it more firmly and gloriously upon his head. God did so contrive it that Jonah's offence, and those cross actings of his that did attend it, should advantage that end which they seemed most directly to oppose. Jonah he flies to Tarshish, then cast into the sea, then saved by a miracle. Then the mariners, as it is very probable, who cast Jonah into the sea, declared to the Ninevites what had happened; therefore he must be a man sent of God, and that his threatenings must be believed and hearkened to, and therefore they must repent and humble themselves, that the wrath threatened might not be executed, &c.
Remedy (4). The fourth remedy against this device of Satan is, seriously to consider, That all the strange, dark, deep, and changeable, providences that believers meet with, shall further them in their way to heaven, in their journey to happiness. Divine wisdom and love will so order all things here below, that they shall work for the real, internal, and eternal good of them that love him. All the rugged providences that David met with, did contribute to the bringing of him to the throne; and all the rugged providences that Daniel and the 'three children' met with, did contribute to their great advancement. So all the rugged providences that believers meet with, they shall all contribute to the lifting up of their souls above all things, below God. As the waters lifted up Noah's ark nearer heaven, and as all the stones that were about Stephen's ears did but knock him the closer to Christ, the corner-stone, so all the strange rugged providences that we meet with, they shall raise us nearer heaven, and knock us nearer to Christ, that precious corner-stone.
The fourth device that Satan hath to keep souls in a sad, doubting, and questioning condition is,
Device (4). By suggesting to them that their graces are not true, but counterfeit. Saith Satan, All is not gold that glitters, all is not free grace that you count grace, that you call grace. That which you call faith is but a fancy, and that which you call zeal, is but a natural heat and passion; and that light you have, it is but common, it is short, to what many have attained to that are now in hell, &c. Satan doth not labour more mightily to persuade hypocrites that their graces are true when they are counterfeit, than he doth to persuade precious souls that their graces are counterfeit, when indeed they are true, and such as will abide the touchstone of Christ, &c.
Now the remedies against this device are these:
Remedy (1). The first remedy against this device of Satan is, seriously to consider, That grace is taken two ways.
[1.] It is taken for the gracious good-will and favour of God, whereby he is pleased of his own free love to accept of some in Christ for his own. This, some call the first grace, because it is the fountain of all other graces, and the spring from whence they flow, and it is therefore called grace, because it makes a man gracious with God, but this is only in God.
[2.] Grace is taken for the gifts of grace, and they are of two sorts, common or special.
Some are common to believers and hypocrites, as a gift of knowledge, a gift of prayer, &c.
Some are special graces, and they are proper and peculiar to the saints, as faith, humility, meekness, love, patience, &c., Gal. 5:22, 23.
Remedy (2). The second remedy against this device of Satan is, wisely to consider, The differences betwixt renewing grace and restraining grace, betwixt sanctifying grace and temporary grace; and this I will shew you in these ten particulars.
[1.] True grace makes all glorious within and without: 'The King's daughter is all glorious within; her raiment is of wrought gold,' Ps. 45:13. True grace makes the understanding glorious, the affections glorious. It casts a general glory upon all the noble parts of the soul: 'The King's daughter is all glorious within.' And as it makes the inside glorious, so it makes the outside glorious: 'Her clothing is of wrought gold.' It makes men look gloriously, and speak gloriously, and walk and act gloriously, so that vain souls shall be forced to say that these are they that have seen Jesus. As grace is a fire to burn up and consume the dross and filth of the soul, so it is an ornament to beautify and adorn the soul. True grace makes all new, the inside new and the outside new: 'If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature,' 2 Cor. 5:17, but temporary grace doth not this. True grace changes the very nature of a man. Moral virtue doth only restrain or chain up the outward man, it doth not change the whole man. A lion in a grate is a lion still; he is restrained, but not changed, for he retains his lion-like nature still. So temporary graces restrain many men from this and that wickedness, but it doth not change and turn their hearts from wickedness. But now true grace, that turns a lion into a lamb, as you may see in Paul, Acts 9, and a notorious strumpet into a blessed and glorious penitent, as you may see in Mary Magdalene, &c., &c., Luke 7.
[2.] The objects of true grace are supernatural. True grace is conversant about the choicest and the highest objects, about the most soul-ennobling and soul-greatening objects, as God, Christ, precious promises that are more worth than a world, and a kingdom that shakes not, a crown of glory that withers not, and heavenly treasures that rust not. The objects of temporary grace are low and poor, and always within the compass of reason's reach.
[3.] True grace enables a Christian, when he is himself, to do spiritual actions with real pleasure and delight, To souls truly gracious, Christ's yoke 'is easy, and his burden is light;' 'his commandments are not grievous, but joyous.' 'I delight in the law of God after the inward man,' saith Paul. The blessed man is described by this, that he 'delights in the law of the Lord,' Ps. 1:2. 'It is joy to the just to do judgment,' saith Solomon, Prov. 21:15. To a gracious soul, 'All the ways of the Lord are pleasantness, and his paths are peace, Prov. 3:17; but to souls that have but temporary grace, but moral virtues, religious services are a toil, not a pleasure; a burden, and not a delight. 'Wherefore have we fasted,' say they, 'and thou seest not? Wherefore have we afflicted our souls, and thou takest no knowledge?' Isa. 58:3, &c. 'Ye have said,' say those in Malachi, 'It is vain to serve God; and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinances, and that we have walked mournfully before the Lord of hosts?' Mal. 3:14. 'When will the new moon be gone,' say those in Amos, 'that we may sell corn, and the Sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit,' Amos 8:5.
[4.] True grace makes a man most careful, and most fearful of his own heart. It makes him most studious about his own heart, informing that, examining that, and watching over that; but temporary I grace, moral virtues, make men more mindful and
careful of others, to instruct them and counsel them, and stir up them, and watch over them, &c. Which doth with open mouth demonstrate that their graces are not saving and peculiar to saints, but that they are temporary, and no more than Judas, Demas, and the pharisees had, &c.
[5.] Grace will work a man's heart to love and cleave to the strictest and holiest ways and things of God, for their purity and sanctity, in the face of all dangers and hardships. 'Thy word is very pure, therefore thy servant loveth it,' Ps. 119:140. Others love it, and like it, and follow it, for the credit, the honour, the advantage that they get by it; but I love it for the spiritual beauty and purity of it. So the psalmist, 'All this is come upon us; yet have we not forgotten thee, neither have we dealt falsely in thy covenant. Our heart is not turned back, neither have our steps declined from thy way: though thou hast sore broken us in the place of dragons, and covered us with the shadows of death,' Ps. 44:17–19. But temporary grace, that will not bear up the soul against all oppositions and discouragements in the ways of God, as is clear by their apostasy in John 6:60, 66, and by the stony grounds falling away, &c., Mat. 13:20, 21.
[6.] True grace will enable a man to step over the world's crown, to take up Christ's cross; to prefer the cross of Christ above the glory of this world. It enabled Abraham, and Moses, and Daniel, with those other worthies in Heb. 11, to do so.
Godfrey of Bullen [Bouillon], first king of Jerusalem, refused to be crowned with a crown of gold, saying, 'That it became not a Christian there to wear a crown of gold, where Christ had worn a crown of thorns.' Oh! but temporary grace cannot work the soul to prefer Christ's cross above the world's crown; but when these two meet, a temporary Christian steps over Christ's cross to take up, and keep up,
the world's crown. 'Demas hath forsaken us to embrace this present world,' 2 Tim. 4:10. So the young man in the Gospel had many good things in him; he bid fair for heaven, and came near to heaven; but when Christ set his cross before him, he steps over that to enjoy the world's crown, Mat. 19:19–22. When Christ bid him, 'go and sell all that he had, and give to the poor,' &c., 'he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.' If heaven be to be had upon no other terms, Christ may keep his heaven to himself, he will have none, &c.
[7.] Sanctifying grace, renewing grace, puts the soul upon spiritual duties, from spiritual and intrinsecal motives, as from the sense of divine love, that doth constrain the soul to wait on God, and to act for God; and the sense of the excellency and sweetness of communion with God, and the choice and precious discoveries that the soul hath formerly had of the beauty and glory to [sic] God, whilst it hath been in the service of God. The good looks, the good words, the blessed love-letters, the glorious kisses, and the sweet embraces that gracious souls have had from Christ in his service, do provoke and move them to wait upon him in holy duties. Ah! but restraining grace, temporary grace, that puts men upon religious duties only from external motives, as the care of the creature, the eye of the creature, the rewards of the creature, and the keeping up of a name among the creatures, and a thousand such like considerations, as you may see in Saul, Jehu, Judas, Demas, and the scribes and pharisees, &c.
The abbot in Melancthon lived strictly, and walked demurely, and looked humbly, so long as he was but a monk, but when, by his seeming extraordinary sanctity, he got to be abbot, he grew intolerable proud and insolent; and being asked the reason of it, confessed, 'That his former lowly look was but to see if he could find