The Excellency of Holy Courage in Evil Times, Chapter 17
CHAP. 17. Containing the Third Ʋſe of Direction: branched into four particulars. 1 If couragious, and fit for ſervice, give God the praiſe. Four Reaſons for it. 2. Learn to rebuke unbelief. 3. Labor to keep your hearts up. The manner how that may be done, in eight particulars. 4. Improve this gracious working of God.
USE 3.
THirdly, If there be ſuch difference between the hearts of Gods People at ſome times, and at other times; This is an Uſe of Direction to all the people of God that are acquainted with this difference of Gods breathing upon their hearts, in theſe Four Particulars:
Firſt, When you find your hearts up more at ſome times, than at other times, give God the glory.
Secondly, Learn to rebuke your Unbelief.
Thirdly, Labor to keep your hearts up.
Fourthly, Improve this great working of God.
Firſt, If ſo be you find your hearts more up at one time than at another (as Gods People do find much difference, and can ſay ſomtime, let my Beloved come into his Garden) give God the glory and praiſe of it, for it is a great mercy. For,
1. It doth prevent, and deliver you from abundance of danger you were in: when your hearts were down, if a temptation had come, what abundance of danger had you been in? now God hath prevented that danger.
2. If your hearts were right when they were down, then you powred out your complaints to God of the deadneſs of your hearts; now if God be come in, it is a fruit of your ſeeking God, and of your humiliation before the Lord: now that which comes in as a fruit of humiliation, and much ſeeking of God, ſurely that ſhould be the matter of our praiſes.
3. This is a gracious viſitation of God, God comes in with this, and here is the preſence of God, and therfore there is much cauſe of praiſe.
4. It is an argument that God hath ſome eſpecial ſervice for you to do: now thoſe that are godly, count this a great mercy, for God to have any employment for them: now that they have received an evidence to their ſouls that God intend to imploy them, this is a great mercy.
Secondly, Learn to check your Unbelief; when your hearts were down, you were ready to ſay, it would never be otherwiſe: now check your hearts, and bring your hearts to this concluſion; I will never think it in vain to ſeek God, though I do not find him come in preſently; and I will learn, though I may judg my ſelf worthy that God ſhould leave me, yet I will never determine that God will not come in, becauſe I ſee Gods waies are not as my waies, and Gods thoughts are not as my thoughts. Oh take heed of judging the waies and thoughts of God, according to your waies and thoughts.
Thirdly, Is God come in? and do you find that you have a ſpirit of courage and boldneſs more than before, now you find God ſweetly breathing upon you to put life into that dead, and to raiſe that heavy heart of yours? do you find God ſweetly and comfortably enlivening your ſouls, and putting the ſpirit of confidence in that unbeleeving heart of yours? Labor to keep your hearts thus. There is a great deal of difficulty when a thing is fallen down to get it up; but when a thing is up, if one be careful, it is not difficult to keep it up. It is a notable expreſſion that David had, when he found the hearts of the people got up in their willing Offering, 1 Chron. 29.18. O Lord God of Abraham, Iſaac, and of Iſrael, our Fathers, keep this for ever in the imagination of the thoughts of the hearts of thy people, and prepare their hearts unto thee. So let it be thy prayer, and it is my prayer for thee: Is thy heart up more than before? Pray, O God of Abraham, Iſaac, and Iſrael, keep this in the thoughts of the heart of this man or woman for ever: be careful now to keep your hearts up: ſo when you are well, or otherwiſe if you ſhould loſe this through this negligence.
1 It wil make you cal into queſtion the truth of theſe gracious breathings, yea, you wil think it was but a meer flaſh, ſuch as Hypocrites may have, yea, not cal this into queſtion only; but to cal the truth of al into queſtion: this is that which makes men take the foundation of al, becauſe their hearts ſomtimes are raiſed, and they through their negligence let them fall, and loſe that ſpiritual life and courage once they had, and ſo bring abundance of ſadneſs upon their hearts: now as you would have an evidence of the truth of Gods work upon you, and the truth of grace, labor to keep up your hearts.
2 Labor to keep up your hearts otherwiſe if they fal off again, the waies of God wil come to be very tedious to you: As a man that walks unevenly in regard of the unevenneſs of his leggs, or the unevenneſs of the way, he is quickly tired: and ſo if a Chriſtians way be up and down, and there be not an evenneſs in his way, he is quickly diſcouraged; and a main means to help one to go on with freedom and courage in Gods waies, is to go on in an even courſe.
3 If ſo be you loſe this, you loſe the beauty of your profeſſion; the beauty of the waies of Godlineſs, conſiſts much in the conſtancy, and if your way be up and down, there is no beauty in your converſation, it takes away the convincing power of your way and converſation; if others ſaw your hearts up, and ſaw a conſtant evenneſs in your way, this would mightily convince them, that it is a work of Gods Spirit upon your hearts; but ſomtimes your hearts are up, and down again, ſomtime you are patient and meek, at other times you are paſſionate and fretting; this doth not convince them that it is the work of Gods Spirit, but only the ſtirring of a natural ſpirit.
4 By this means you wil cauſe God to walk differently with you; if you keep not up your hearts when God hath raiſed them, though God be in a way of mercy, you wil cauſe him to walk in a way of diſpleaſure againſt you.
5 Again, When your hearts are up, that is the thing that the Devil doth moſt watch to give you a trip in. As when Daniel walked ſo ſtrictly in al the matters of the Kingdom, as they could find no fault in him, they accuſed him in the matter of his God, of his Religion: ſo ſaies the Devil, if I ſhould tempt him to ſuch and ſuch ſins, I cannot prevail, but there is ſuch a way I may prevail; and the Devil doth labor there moſt to trip you. As he did with Chriſt in another caſe; when you are on the top of the pinacle, then he labors to throw you down: It is true, it is the work of God that hath brought you up to the pinacle, but there the Devil doth labor to throw you down.
Queſt. You wil ſay, How ſhall we come to keep up our hearts, whenas our hearts are in a better frame, than at ſome other times?
Anſw. Firſt, When your hearts are up, labor to make uſe of that grace that raiſed your hearts; improve it ſo as to make your hearts more holy, and more upright. A Tree if it ſprout upward only, and do not run down in the root proportionably, it wil wither, and die: and ſo if grace do work only upward in abilities, and performances of duties, and joy, and ſuch things, and do not proportionably work downward in the root, it is like it will come to little, and you will ſoon loſe all.
Secondly, Work that grace you find in your inward, as wel as outward man: Do not think it enough that you have ſtirrings of Grace to enable you to do duties, but improve this grace for the working out of corruption: conſider the corruptions of your heart, and now take the advantage to work them out.
Thirdly, be ſure you take nothing that is Gods due at this time; that is, if God have raiſed your hearts, though the peace and joy of it be yours, the Glory of it is Gods, do not be fingering of that, take heed of lifting up of your hearts in a way of pride, it is enough your heart is lifted up in a way of grace, and you muſt be content with that, but many when God gives them a lift in a way of Grace, they cannot be content with their part, the peace, and the joy, but they lift up themſelves in a way of pride, and would have ſome of Gods part of the Glory, and that ſpoils all.
Fourthly, When you are in the beſt condition, prepare for the greateſt ſuffering, to lie down at Gods feet, and this will keep the heart in a ſweet frame, many when they have got their hearts up for ſervice, they never think of ſuffering, now they are in a ſafe condition, and free from trouble, and they bleſs themſelves, and when trouble falls upon them unexpectedly their hearts ſinke, and they think God is come againſt them in diſpleaſure, and if that rayſing of ſpirit had been true, God would have kept me from ſuffering ſuch and ſuch hard things: thou art deceived in that, a gracious heart that is wiſe, when he is moſt enabled to do ſervice, he wil prepare for ſuffering.
Fifthly, Take heed of depending upon the old ſtock, do not reſt on grace received, but keep thy heart ſenſible of a need of a ſupply of grace, many when they have been ſeeking of God, and have in ſome meaſure got that they prayed for, they think they have ſtock enough, and they can trade prety well in the world, but though we had a hundred times as much grace as we have, and had not ſupply from Chriſt, we ſhould fail.
Sixthly, Watch againſt the leaſt declineing, and account it a very great evil to decline, and therefore be often calling of your ſelves to an account, at ſuch and ſuch a time it was ſo with me, how is it now? is it now as it was then? when people decline, it is hard, it is tedious to them to think of returning, and therefore they decline, and decline, and looſe all; wherefore obſerve the beginning of your declinings and cal your ſelves to an account dayly, that when you abate in the leaſt degree, you may reforme it.
Seventhly, Do not content your ſelves with what you have, but yet get higher and higher, the heart muſt be in motion upward, or downward, therefore the way to get eſtabliſhment is to be in a continual motion upwards as in 2 Pet. 3.17.18. Saies the Apoſtle, beware leaſt you alſo being led away by the eror of the wicked, fall from your own ſtedfaſtneſs: God hath brought you into a good temper, take heed you do not fal from your ſteadfaſtneſs, how ſhall we do? grow in grace, and in the knowledg of our Lord and ſavior Jeſus Chriſt, Labor to get higher.
Eightly, Improve that you have well, and that wil be the way to contrive that you have, God juſtly takes it from you if you do not improve it. It were a bleſſed thing if our hearts might be kept up conſtantly, our lives would be comfortable to our ſelves, and wonderfully comfortable to others: we ſhould cauſe the people of God to rejoyce in us, otherwiſe it takes away the comfort that Gods people might have in us, though we be up at ſometimes there is a great deal of croſneſs at other times. There is a notable expreſſion for this of Saint Paul to the Philippians, 1 Phil. 3.4. I thank my God upon every remembrance of you. Sometime a Miniſter of God may thank God upon the remembrance of ſuch and ſuch workings upon the hearts of his people, but never to think of them but to thank God, this is a great matter. Alwaies in every prayer of mine for you all, making requeſt with joy: Sometime a Miniſter can make his requeſt with joy for his people, but at other times it is with ſorrow; but people ſhould labor ſo to walk, as that a Miniſter may make requeſt with joy for them. And ſo we paſs to the laſt thing.
Fourthly, If God have raiſed your hearts, improve it, we have but a little time, and we have not many opportunities, and therefore we had not need loſe any time then, it is not often we have abilities to do for God, and therefore when we have them we ſhould improve them. As a Scholler that hath a weak Body, and is not alwaies fitted for ſtudy, if he find himſelf fitted at any time, he is loth to loſe one hour of his ſtudy then: So with a Merchant or Marriner that lay long for a wind, when it does come, he is greedy of that opportunity: ſo we are fain to lie long for a wind, we ſee our duty, and are convinced of it, but we want the breathings, and aſſiſtance of Gods Spirit, and wait for a wind, if God do come in ſeaſonably, we had need improve it; if we had improved al thoſe times that were ſit, what abundance might we have got by this time? When we are fit for outward imployment, we may do more in one hour, than we could have done in ten hours before; at other times they do but bungle, and trouble themſelves, and little good comes of it; but when they are fit for work, and the work goes off well, what encouragement is it? And ſo if we had taken all advantages that we found in our hearts, ſince we came to the knowledg of Gods waies, what abundance might we have done? Indeed in compariſon of that which God is worthy of, though we had ſpent al our lives in his ſervice, it would have been but little; but in compariſon of that we have done, it might have been abundance.
Queſt. But you wil ſay, How ſhall we improve this time?
Anſw. Firſt, When God is come into you, look back to former neglects in your running with God in the time of unfitneſs: Many times you have ſaid, I am unfit for duty, and therefore you have left it undone, which you ought not to have done. Now if God have put your hearts into a fitneſs, labor to make up your former neglects in your running with God: If a man decay in his Eſtate, and break through negligence, and he be ſet up again, it is expected he ſhould make up former neglects: and ſo doth God expect of us.
Secondly, Set upon thoſe duties that you never could do before.
Thirdly, Gather up al the experiences of God towards you at this time; if you have had more manifeſtations of Gods preſence with you than before, treaſure them up.
Fourthly, When God doth grant unto you peace, and joy, make uſe of all the peace and comfort you have for the furtherance of the work of your grace, and that is a mighty improvement of that which God doth give you: do not only improve your grace, but that which comes in. Many that have comfort and peace, reſt in that as the fruit of al the good they do as their reward, but they do not look at that as a means of further ſervice.
Fiftly, Improve this work of God upon your hearts, by watching al opportunities; let time now be precious unto you, let there none be loſt.
Sixtly, Labor for that Chriſtian skil to make up the graces of God every way, according as God calls for the uſe of them. There are divers uſes of Gods graces; ſomtime for life and comfort, at other times for defence; ſomtimes to draw in, at other times to let out, as Iſa. 2.4. They ſhall beat their ſwords into plow-ſhares, and their ſpears into pruning books: they ſhould have peace and their inſtruments ſhould be of another faſhion. But in Joel 3.10. it is otherwiſe, They ſhal beat their plowſhares into ſwords, and their pruning hooks into ſpears: So apply it to grace; ſomtime grace is to bring life, and nouriſhment to the ſoul; at other times it is to bring in grace. As Faith, ſomtime it is to cloſe with Chriſt, and bring nouriſhment from him; at other times Faith is to be a Shield: Many Chriſtians look upon the work of grace to bring life and ſtrength to themſelves, but have not skil to make uſe of grace as a ſhield. So Hope, ſomtimes it is to prop the ſoul, at other times it is to be a Helmet. So we ſhould labor to underſtand the uſe of graces, according to the ſeveral imployments that God calls for; ſomtime one way, ſomtime another. And this is the Third Uſe.