Be encouraged to go on cheerfully, with confidence

FOR conclusion and general application of all that hath been spoken unto ourselves. We see the conflicting, but yet sure and hopeful state of God’s people. The victory lieth not upon us, but upon Christ, who hath taken upon him as to conquer for us, so to conquer in us. The victory lieth neither in our own strength to get, nor in our enemies to defeat it. If it lay upon us, we might justly fear. But Christ will maintain his own government in us, and take our part against our corruptions ; they are his enemies as well as ours. Let us therefore be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might, Eph. vi. 10; let us not look so much who are our enemies, as who is our judge and captain, nor what they threaten, but what he promiseth; we have more for us, than against us. What coward would not fight, when he is sure of victory? none are here overcome, but he that will not fight. Therefore when any base fainting seizeth upon us, let us lay the blame where it is to be layed.

Discouragement rising from unbelief and ill report, brought upon the good land by the spies, moved God to swear in his wrath, that they should not enter into his rest. Let us take heed a spirit of faint-heartedness, rising from seeming difficulty and disgrace, cast upon God’s good ways, provoke not God to keep us out of heaven. We see here what we may look for from heaven. O beloved, it is a comfortable thing to conceive of Christ aright, to know what love, mercy, strength we have laid up for us in the breast of Christ. A good conceit of the physician, we say, is half the cure; let us make use of this his mercy and power every day, in our daily combats. Lord Jesus, thou hast promised not to quench the smoking flax, not to break the bruised reed; cherish thine own grace in me, leave me not to myself, the glory shall be thine. Let us not suffer Satan to transform Christ unto us, to be otherwise than he is to those that are his. Christ will not leave us, till he hath made us like himself, all glorious within and without, and presented us blameless before his Father. What a comfort is this in our conflicts with our unruly hearts, that it shall not always be thus? let us strive a little while, and. we shall be happy for ever. Let us think when we are troubled with our sins, that Christ hath this in charge of his Father, that he shall not quench the smoking flax, until he hath subdued all. This putteth a shield into our hands to beat back all the fiery darts of Satan, Ephes. vi. 16: he will object, thou art a great sinner; we may answer, Christ is a strong Saviour: but he will object, thou hast no faith, no love; yes, a spark of faith and love: but Christ will not regard that; yes, he will not quench the smoking flax: but this is so little and weak, that it will vanish and come to nought: nay, but Christ will cherish it, until he hath brought judgment to victory. And thus much for our comfort, we have already, that even when we first believed, we overcame God himself, as it were, by believing the pardon of all our sins; notwithstanding the guilt of our own consciences, and his absolute justice. Now having been prevailers with God, what shall stand against us if we can learn to make use of our faith ?

O what a confusion is this to Satan, that he should labour to blow out a poor spark, and yet should not be able to quench it; that a grain of mustard seed should be stronger than the gates of hell; that it should be able-fo remove mountains of oppositions and temptations cast up by Satan and our rebellious hearts between God and us. Abimelech could not endure that it should be said, a woman had slain him, Judg. ix. 54; and it must needs be a torment to Satan, that a weak child, a woman, and decrepit old man should, by a spirit of faith, put him to flight.

Since there is such comfort where there is a little truth of grace, that it will be so victorious, let us oft try what God hath wrought in us, search our good as well as our ill, and be thankful to God for the least measure of grace, more than for any outward thing ; it will be of more use and comfort than all this world, which passeth away and cometh to nothing. Yea, let us be thankful for that promised and assured victory, which we may rely on without presumption, as St. Paul doth; thanks be to God, that hath given us victory in Jesus Christ, 1 Cor. xv. 57. See a flame in a spark, a tree in a seed; see great things in little beginnings ; look not so much to the beginning, as to the perfection, and so we shall be in some degree joyful in ourselves, and thankful unto Christ. Neither must we reason from a denial of a great measure of grace, to a denial of any at all in us; for faith and grace stand not in an indivisible point, so as he that hath not such and such a measure hath none at all: but as there is a great breadth between a spark and a flame, so there is a great wideness between the least measure of grace and the greatest : and he that hath the least measure, is within the compass of God’s eternal favour; though he be not a shining light, yet he is a smoking wick, which Christ’s tender care will not suffer him to quench. And let all this that hath been spoken allure those that are not yet in state of grace, to come under Christ’s sweet and victorious government, for though we shall have much opposition, yet if we strive, he will help us; if we fail, he will cherish us ; if we be guided by him, we shall overcome ; if we overcome, we are sure to be crowned. And for the present state of the church, we see now how forlorn it is, yet let us comfort ourselves, that Christ’s cause shall prevail ; Christ will rule, till he hath made his enemies his footstool, Psalm x. 11, not only to trample upon, but to help him up to mount higher in glory. Babylon shall fall, for strong is the Lord who hath condemned her, Rev. xviii. 8. Christ’s judgment not only in his children, but also against his enemies shall be victorious, for he is King of kings and Lord of lords, Rev. xix. 1. God will not always suffer Antichrist and his supports to revel and ruffle in the church as they do.

If we look to the present state of. the church of Christ, it is as Daniel in the midst of lions, as a lily amongst thorns, as a ship not only tossed, but almost covered with waves. It is so low, that the enemies think they have buried Christ in regard of his Gospel, in the grave, and there they think to keep him from rising, but Christ as he rose in his person, so he will roll away all stones, and rise again in his church : how little support hath the church, and cause of Christ at this day? how strong a conspiracy is against it? the spirit of Antichrist is now lifted up, and marcheth furiously ; things seem to hang on a small and invisible thread. But our comfort is, that Christ liveth and reigneth and standeth on Mount Sion in defence of them that stand for him, Rev. xiv. 1; and when states and kingdoms shall dash one against another, Christ will have care of his own children and cause, seeing there is nothing else in the world that he much esteemeth. At this very time the delivery of his church, and the ruin of his enemies is in working: we see not things in motion till Christ hath done his work, and then we shall see that the Lord reigneth.

Christ and his church when they are at the lowest, are nearest rising: his enemies at the highest are nearest a downfall.

The Jews are not yet come in under Christ's banner, but God, that hath persuaded Japhet to come into the tents of Shem, will persuade Shem to come into the tents of Japhet, Gen. ix. 27. The fulness of the Gentiles is not yet come in, Rom. xi. 25, but Christ, that hath the utmost parts of the earth given him for his possession, Psalm ii. 8, will gather all the sheep is Father hath given him into one fold, that there may be one sheepfold, and one shepherd, John x. 16.

The faithful Jews rejoiced to think of the calling “of the Gentiles: and why should not we joy to think if the calling of the Jews?

The Gospel’s course hath hitherto been as that of the sun, from east to west, and so in God’s time may proceed yet further west. No creature can hinder the course of the sun, nor stop the influence of heaven, nor hinder the blowing of the wind, much less hinder the prevailing power of divine truth, until Christ hath brought all under one head, and then he will present ) ill to his Father ; these are they thou hast given unto me ; these are they that have taken me for their Lord and King, that have suffered with me ; my will is that they be where I am, and reign with me. And then he will deliver up the kingdom even to his Father, and put down all other rule and authority, and power, 1 Cor. xv. 24.

Let us then bring our hearts to holy resolutions, and et ourselves upon that which is good, and against that which is ill, in ourselves or others, according to our callings, upon this encouragement, that Christ's grace and power shall go along with us. What had become of that great work of reformation of religion in the latter-spring of the gospel, if men had not been armed with invincible courage to outstride all lets, upon this faith, that the cause was Christ’s, and that he would not be wanting to his own cause. Luther ingeniously confessed, that he carried matters often inconsiderately, and with mixture of passion; but ‘upon acknowledgment, God took not advantage of his errors, but the cause being God’s, and his aims being holy, to promote the truth, and being a mighty man in prayer, and strong in faith, God by him kindled that fire which all the world shall never be able to quench. According to our faith, so is our encouragement to all duties, therefore let us strengthen faith, that it may strengthen all other graces. This very belief, that faith shall be victorious, is a means to make it so indeed. Believe it, therefore, that though it be often as ‘smoking flax, yet it shall prevail. If it prevail with God himself in trials, shall it not prevail over all other opposition? Let us wait awhile, and we shall see the salvation of the Lord, Exod. iv. 13, The Lord reveal himself more and more unto us in the face of his Son Jesus Christ, and magnify the power of his grace in cherishing those beginnings of grace in the midst of our corruptions, and sanctify the consideration of our own infirmities to humble us, and of his tender mercy to encourage us : and persuade us, that since he hath taken us into the covenant of grace, he will not cast us off for those corruptions ; which as they grieve his spirit, so they make us vile in our own eyes. And because Satan labours to obscure the glory of his mercy, and hinder our comfort by discouragements, the Lord add this to the rest of his mercies, that we may make the right use of this grace, and not lose any portion of comfort that is laid up for us in Christ. And he vouchsafe to let the prevailing power: of his spirit in us be an evidence of the truth of grace begun, and a pledge of final victory, at that time when he will be all in all, in all his, for all eternity. Amen.