27. He sets out for God at his beginning, and holds out with him to the end
The sight of yourself in grace, will bring you to the sight of God in glory. The plague of the body is not every man's plague, but the plague of the soul is. If the latter were known more, the former would be feared less: though there may be a more pleasant, yet there is not a more profitable sight. Till you know how deep the pit is into which you are fallen, you will never properly praise that hand which raises you out of it.
The bottom of our diseases lies in not searching our diseases to the bottom. So we have but some rags to cover our nakedness, we then wickedly despise the Saviour's righteousness.
He that trusts his own heart, is a fool: and yet such fools are we, as to trust our own hearts. The Lord searches all hearts by his omnisciency; but he searches his people's hearts by the eye of his mercy. If a man would know whether the sun shines, it is better to view its beams on the pavement, than its body in the firmament. The readiest way to know whether you are in Christ, is to know whether Christ be in you: for the fruit on the tree is more visible than the root of the tree.
18. Another singular action of a sanctified Christian, is, To set out for God at our beginning, and to hold out with God unto the end.
First, To set out for God at our beginning. Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth; while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them. In the distillation of strong waters, the first drawn is fullest of spirits. The first of the first-fruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the Lord thy God. God prizes a Christian in the bud; and delights in the blossoms of youth, above the sheddings of old age.
Is it not a pity that those plants should be found in Egypt, that will thrive so well in Canaan?
Naturalists inform us, that the most oriental pearls are generated of the morning dew. Had any of the children of Israel stayed to pass through the Red Sea with the Egyptians, they would probably have perished with them. That field is full of the richest corn, which is cleansed from its noxious weeds in the spring.
How pleasant is it to see the thousands of Israel seeking the heavenly manna in the morning of their lives! Is it not better to cry for mercy on earth with the publican, than to call for water in hell with Dives? To discover grace in an old sinner, is well; but to view it in vigorous youth, is better. All the beasts of sacrifice were offered to God in their prime. Jesus was carried in triumph upon a colt, the foal of an ass.
No music could ever equalize the heaven-born cries of new-born babes. When the snow-drops of youth appear in the garden of the church, it evinces that there is a glorious summer approaching.
If youth be sick of the will-nots, old age is in danger of dying of the shall-nots. It is hard to cast off the devil's yoke, when we have worn it long upon our necks. Can a man be born again when he is old? Grace seldom grafts upon such withered stocks.—An old sinner is nearer to the second death, than he is to the second birth. It is more likely to see him taken out of the flesh, than the flesh taken out of him. His body is nearer to corruption, than his soul is to salvation.
Where the enemy is the strongest, there the victory is the hardest. Usually, where the devil pleads antiquity, he keeps propriety. As there are none so old, as that they should despair of mercy; so there are none so young, as that they should presume on mercy. If God's to-day be too soon for thy repentance, thy to-morrow may be too late for his acceptance. Mercy's clock does not always strike at our back. The longer poison stays in the stomach, so much the more dangerous are its effects. O how amiable are the golden apples of grace, in the silver pictures of blooming youth! God prizes a young friend, but punishes an old enemy. Old sinners are much like old serpents, the fullest of poison.
It is singularly pleasant to view the Ancient of days, in infants in days; and to see green pieces of timber being squared for the celestial building. Blessed are those, in whom grace is in its prosperity, while their nature is in its minority. I have more understanding than my teachers. His youth was wiser than their age. His dawning was brighter than their noon-tide: and this was the more admirable, because it was in his youth; for when our lives are the most vigorous, our lusts are the most boisterous.
You teach a cur while he is a whelp, and break a horse while he is a colt. A plentiful harvest is the issue of an early seed-time.
Young reader, remember that your youthful sins lay a foundation for aged sorrows. You have but one arrow to shoot at the mark; and if that be shot at random, God may never put another into your bow.
I am Alpha and Omega; the beginning and the ending; the first and the last. He that is the first and the last, should be served from the first to the last. You can never come too soon to him who is your beginning; and you can never stay too long with him who is your ending. The flower of life is of Christ's setting; and shall it be of the devil's cropping?
But what is setting out, without holding out? Mutability is at best but the badge of infirmity. It can only be those trees which are unsound at their roots, that cease from putting forth leaves in their season. Those who at present are inwardly corrupt, will in futurity be openly profane. False grace is always declining, till it be wholly lost; but true grace goes from a morning's dawn unto a meridian splendour. The wool on the sheep's back, if it be shorn, will grow again; but the wool on the sheep's skin, clip that, and there will come no more in its room.
Nature teaches us that there is nothing permanent that is violent. A stone that is mounted upwards, when it loses its impress, sinks downwards. It is just to be cast off from God, for casting off the ways and work of God. A finger divorced from the hand receives no influence from the head. He that deserts his colours, deserves to be cashiered the camp.
Many have gone from one religion unto all, till at last they are come from all religions unto none.
—Every variation from unity, is but a progression towards nullity. Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. He hath a crown for the runner, but a curse for the run-away. God accounts not himself served at all, if he be not always served. It is not enough to begin our course well, unless it be crowned with perseverance.
We live in the fall of the leaf; divers trees did put forth fair blossoms, but their flattering spring is turned into an unfruitful winter; and their clear mornings have been overcast with the thickest clouds. The corn which promised a large harvest in the blade of profession, is blasted in the ear. The light remains no longer than while the sun shines. When God ceases to be gracious, man ceases to be righteous.
The flowers of paradise would quickly wither on earth, if they were not watered with drops from heaven. How have the mighty fallen, when the Almighty hath not stood by them? The devil would soon put out our candles, if Christ did not carry them in his lantern. Be not weary in well doing, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not. To see a ship sink in the harbour of profession, is more grievous than if it had perished in the open sea of profaneness.
There goes the same power to strengthen a saint as to quicken a sinner. He who sets us up and makes us holy, must keep us up and make us steady. How many professors have seemed to be just ready to cast an eternal anchor, when a contrary wind has drove them to sea, and they have perished for ever! O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? and, Judah, what shall I do unto thee?
Why, what is the matter? Your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth away.
Some have beat John's march; they have driven furiously in religion, but within a few years they have knocked off their chariot wheels. After they have lifted up their hands to God, they have lifted up their heels against him. That man's beginning was in hypocrisy, whose ending is in apostasy.—Reader, you look for happiness as long as God hath a being in heaven, and God looks for holiness as long as you have a being on earth. He that endures to the end shall be saved.
If any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. He that draws back from his profession on earth, shall be kept back from any possession in heaven. He that departs in the faith, shall be saved; but he that departs from the faith, shall be damned.
That mariner has no praise, who sinks his ship before he comes to the harbour; that soldier obtains no glory, who lays down his arms in the heat of the battle. Some say, that the chrysolite, which is of a golden colour in the morning, loses its splendour before the evening: such are the glittering shews of hypocrites. Though fiery meteors fall to the earth, yet fixed stars remain in heaven.
When once that fire which is laid on God's altar is kindled, it shall no more be quenched. Grace may be shaken in the soul, but it cannot be shaken out of the soul. It may be a bruised reed, but it shall never be a broken reed.
Christ is more tender of his body mystical, than
M 3 he was of his body natural. Though a believer may fall foully, yet he shall never fall finally. The gates of hell shall not prevail against the heirs of heaven.
The fiery darts of the devil, which in themselves are intentionally mortal, shall be to saints eventually medicinal: these bees may sting him, but their venom shall not destroy him. His light may be eclipsed for a time; but the sun will break forth again.
Under the law, the Lord had his evening as well as his morning sacrifice. No man that puts his hand to the plough, and looks back, is fit for the kingdom of God. Our labours are never fulfilled, till our days are fulfilled. There is nothing constant, but what is pleasant. Though a saint may sometimes be weary in doing the work of the Lord, yet he is at no time weary of doing the work of the Lord. There may be a suspension of the operation of grace; but there cannot be a destruction of the being of grace. This babe may lie upon a sick-bed; but it shall never lie upon a death-bed.
Christ is stiled the finisher of our faith, as well as the author of our faith. There is as much necessity for the Spirit to keep up our graces, as there is to bring forth our graces.
Indifference in religion, is the first step to apostasy from religion. Though Christians be not kept altogether from falling; yet they are kept from falling altogether. They may shew an indifference toward Christ for a time; but they shall not depart from Christ for ever. The trees of righteousness may have their autumn; but they shall also have their spring. There is never so low an ebb, but there is also as high a tide.
Christians are like crocodiles, which grow till they die: or like the moon, which increases her beauty till she is at the full. They have no desire of putting off the robes of purity, while they are on this side eternity. They wish to hold the sword of religion in their hands, till God sets the crown of glory upon their heads.
Professing reader, if the service of God be not the way of safety to you, why do you set forth in it? but if it be, why do you shrink back from it? Usually, they who ride fastest at the beginning of their journey, are the first who talk of halting on the road.—See what a sparkling diamond there is set in the Apostle's crown: I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith; henceforth, there is laid up for me a crown of glory. Paul the warrior, was Paul the conqueror; and Paul the conqueror, was Paul the crowned.
Jesus Christ is never a father to abortive children. Where he gives strength to conceive, he gives strength to bring forth. He turns the bruised reed into a brazen pillar, and the smoking flax into a prevailing flame.
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