Chapter 5. In Which Is Answered a Grand Objection That Some Disconsolate Souls May Raise Against the Former Discourse

Object. O But, says some disconsolate Christian, I have prayed again and again for strength against such a corruption, and to this day my hands are weak, and these sons of Zerviah are so strong, that I am ready to say, all the Preachers do but flatter me, that do pour their oyle of comfort upon my head, and tell me I shall at last get the Conquest of these mine enemies, and see that joyful day wherein with David, I shall sing to the Lord, for delivering me out of the hands of all mine enemies. I have prayed for strength for such a duty, and finde it come off as weakly and dead-heartedly as before. If God be with me by his mighty power to help me, why then is all this befailen me?

Answ. 1 First, look once again, poor heart, into your own bosom, and see whether you findest not some strength sent into you, which you did over-look before; this may be, yea, is very ordinary in this case, when God answers our prayer not in the letter, or when the thing itselfe is sent, but it comes in at the back door, while we are expecting it at the fore; and truly thus the friend you are looking for, may be in yours house and you not know it. Is not this your case, poor soul? you have been praying for strength against such a lust, and now you wouldest have God presently put forth his power to knock it on the head, and lay it for dead, that it should never stir more in your bosome: is not this the doore you have stood looking for God to come in at, and no sight or newes of your God his coming that way? your corruption yet stirs, it may be is more troublesom then before; now you askest, where is the strength promised to your relief? let me intreat you before you layest down this sad Conclusion against your God or self, see whether he has not conveyed in some strength by another door: Perhaps you have not strength to conquer it so soon as you desirest, but has he not given further praying strength against it? You prayedst before, but now more earnestly, all the powers of your soul are up to plead with God; Before you were more favorable and moderate in your request, now you have a zeal, you can take no denial, yea, welcome any thing in the room of your corruption; Would God but take your sin and send a crosse, you wouldest blesse him: Now, poor soul, is this nothing, no strength? Had not your God re-inforced you, your sin would have weakened your spirit of prayer, and not increased it. David began to recover himself, when he began to recover his Spirit of prayer. The stronger the cry, the stronger the child, I warrant you. Jacob wrestled, and this is called his strength, Hos. 12. It appeared, there was much of God in him that he could take such hold of the Almighty, as to keep it, though God seemed to shake him off; If thus you are enabled, soul, to deal with the God of heaven, no feare but you shalt be much more able to deal with sin and Satan. If God has given you so much strength, to wrestle with him above and against denials, you have prevailed with the stronger of the two: overcome God, and he'll overcome the other for you. Again, perhaps you have been praying for further strength to be communicated to you in duty, that you might be more spiritual, vigorous, united, sincere, and the like therein, and yet you findest your old distempers hanging about you, as if you had never acquainted God with your aile; Well, soul, look once again into your bosome with an unprejudiced eye, though you doest not find the assisting strength you prayedst for, yet have you no more self-abasing strength? perhaps the annoyance you have from these remaining distempers in duty, occasion you to have a meaner opinion of all your duties then ever, yea, they make you abhor your selfe in the sense of these, as if you had so many loathsom vermein about you. Jobs condition on the dunghil, with all his botches and running sores on his body, appears desirable to you, in comparison of yours, whose soul you complainest is worse then his body. O this afflicts your soul deeply, does it not? that you shouldest appear before the Lord with such a dead, divided heart, and do his work worst that deserves best at your hands, and is all this nothing? Surely, Christian, yours eyes are held as much as Hagars, or else you wouldest see the streamings forth of divine grace in this frame of your heart; surely others will think God has done a mighty work in your soul; What harder and more against the haire, then to bring our proud hearts to take shame for that, whereof they naturally boast and glory? And is it nothing for you to tread on the very neck of your duties, and count them matter of your humiliation and abasing, which others make the matter of their confidence and self-rejoycing? Good store of vertue has gone from Christ, to dry this issue of pride in your heart, which sometimes in gracious ones runs through and through their duties, that it is seen or may be by those that have lesse grace then themselves.

Answ. 2 Secondly, Christian, candidly interpret Gods dealings with you. Suppose it be as you sayest, you have pleaded the promise, and waited on the means, and yet findest no strength from all these receits, either in your grace or comfort, now take heed of charging God foolishly, as if God were not what he promiss, this were to give that to Satan which he is all this while gaping for. It is more becoming the dutiful disposition of a child, when he has not presently what he writes for to his father, to say, my father is wiser than I, his wisdom will prompt him, what and when to send to me, and his fatherly affections to me his child, will neither suffer him to deny any thing that is good, or slip the time that is seasonable. Christian, your heavenly Father has gracious ends that hold his hand at present, or else you had ere this heard from him.

First, God may deny further degrees of strength to put you on the exercise of that you have more carefully. As a mother does by her child, that is learning to go, she sets it down, and stands some distance from it, and bids it come to her, the child feels its legs weak, and cries for the mothers help, but the mother steps back on purpose, that the child should put forth all its little strength in making after her: When a poor soul comes and prayes against such a sin, God seems to step back and stand at a distance; the temptation increass, and no visible succour appears, on purpose that the Christian, though weak, should exercise that strength he has. Indeed we shall finde the sense of a souls weakness, is an especial meanes to excite it into a further care and diligence: One that knowes his weakness, how prone he is in company to forget himself, in passion how apt he is to flie out, if there be a principle of true grace, this will excite him to be more fearful and watchful, then another that has obtained greater strength against such great temptations. As a child that writes for money to his father, none comes presently, this makes him husband that little he has the better, not a penny now shall be laid out idly; Thus when a Christian has prayed against such a sin again and again, and yet finds himself weak, prone to be worsted, O how careful will this, should this make such a one of every company, of every occasion? Such a one had not need give his enemie any advantage.

Secondly, God may deny the Christian such assisting strength in duty, or mortifying strength of corruption as he desires, purely on a gracious design, that he may thereby have an advantage of expressing his love in such a way, as shall most kindly work upon the ingenuity of the soul to love God again. Perhaps (Christian) you prayest for a mercy you wantest, or for deliverance out of some great affliction, and in the duty you findest not more assistance then ordinary, yea, many distractions of spirit in it, and mis-giving thoughts with unbelieving feares after it; Well, notwithstanding those defects in your duty, yet God heares your prayer, and sends in the mercy on purpose, that he may greaten his love in yours eye, and make it more luscious and sweet to your taste, from his accepting your weak services, and passing by the distempers of your spirit. Here is lesse strength for the duty, that you may have more love in the mercy, nothing will affect a gracious heart more than such a consideration. See it in David, Psalms 116:11, 12. I said in my haste, All men are liars. What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits towards me? As if David had said, notwithstanding all the comfortable messages I had from God by his Prophets concerning this matter, my own prayers, and those remarkable providences, which carried in them a partial answer to them, and performance of what was promised, yet I betray'd much unbelief, questioning the truth of the one, and the return of the other; and has God notwithstanding all my infirmities fulfill'd my desire, and performed his promise? O what shall I render unto the Lord? Thus David reades Gods mercy through the spectacles of his own weakness and infirmity, and it appears great, whereas if a mercy should come in, as an answer to a duty managed with such strength of faith, and height of other graces, as might free him and his duty from usual infirmities, this might prove a snare, and occasion some self-applauding, rather than mercy-admiring thoughts in the creature.

Thirdly, God may communicate the lesse of his assisting strength, that he may show the more of his supporting strength, in upholding weak grace: We do not wonder to see a man of strong constitution, that eats his bread heartily, and sleeps soundly, live: But for a crazie body, full of ailes and infirmities, to be so patcht and shored up by the Physicians Art that he stands to old age, this begets some wonder in the beholders. It may be you are a poor trembling soul, your faith is weak, and your assaults from Satan strong, your corruptions stirring and active, and your mortifying strength little, so that in your opinion they rather gain ground on your grace, then give ground to it, ever and anon you are ready to think, you shalt be cast as a wrack upon the devils shoare: and yet to this day your grace lives, though full of leaks; now is it not worth the stepping aside to see this strange sight? A broken ship with masts and hull rent and torne, thus towed along by Almighty power, through an angry sea, and Armadoes of sins and devils, safely into its harbour. To see a poore dilling or rush candle in the face of the boisterous winde, and not blown out; In a word, to see a weak stripling in grace held up in Gods armes, till he beats the devil craven: This God is doing in upholding you: you are one of those babes, out of whose mouth God is perfecting his praise, by ordaining such strength for you, that you a babe in grace, shalt yet foile a giant in wrath and power.

Thirdly, if after long waiting for strength from God, it be as you complainest, enquire whether the [illegible], that which hinders, be not found in your self. The head is the seat of animal spirits, yet there may be such obstructions in the body, as the other members may for a time be deprived of them; till the passage be free between Christ your head and you, your strength will not come, and therefore be willing to enquire.

First, have you come indeed to God for strength to performe duty, to mortifie corruption and the like? perhaps you will say, Yes, I have waited on those Ordinances, which are the way in which he has promised to give out strength. But is this all? you may come to them, and not wait on God in them. Have you not carnally expected strength from them, and so put the Ordinance, as she her husband in Gods stead? Has not the frame of your spirit some affinity with theirs in James 4:13. We will go into such a city, and buy, and sell, and get gaine: Has not your heart said, I will go and hear such a man, and get comfort, get strength? and doest you wonder you are weak, barren and unfruitful? Are Ordinances God, that they should make you strong or comfortable? You may heare them answer you, poor soul, as the King to the woman in the siege of Samaria: Help, O prayer, sayest you, or, O Minister; How can they help except the Lord help: These are but Christs servants: Christ keeps the Key of his wine-cellar, they cannot so much as make you drink, when you come to their Masters house; and therefore, poor soul, stay not short of Christ, but presse through all the croud of Ordinances, and ask to speak with Jesus, to see Jesus and touch him, and vertue will come forth.

Secondly, ask your soul whether you have been thankful for that little strength you have; though you are not of that strength in grace, to run with the foremost, and hold pace with the tallest of your brethren, yet are you thankful that you have any strength at all? though it be but to cry after them, whom you seest out-strip you in grace, this is worth your thanks. All in Davids army attained not to be equal with his few Worthies in prowesse and honor, and yet did not cashiere themselves: you have reason to be thankful for the meanest place in the army of Saints, the least communications of Gospel mercy and grace must not be over-look't. Assoon as ever Moses with his army was through the sea, they strike up before they stir from the bank-side, and acknowledge the wonderful appearance of Gods power and mercy for them, though this was but one step in their way; a howling wilderness presented it self to them, and they not able to subsist a few days with all their provision, for all their great victory, yet Moses, he will praise God for this handsel of mercy. This holy man knew the only way to keep credit with God, so as to have more, was to keep touch, and pay down his praise for what was received. If you wouldest have fuller communications of divine strength, owne God in what he has done. Art you weak? blesse God you have life. Doest you through feeblenesse often faile in duty, and fall into temptation? Mourne in the sense of these: yet blesse God, that you doest not live in a total neglect of duty, out of a prophane contempt thereof, and that in stead of falling through weakness, you doest not lie in the mire of sin through the wickedness of your heart. The unthankful soul may thank it self, it thrives not better.

Thirdly, are you humble under the assistance and strength God has given you? pride stops the conduit; if the heart begin to swell, it is time for God to hold his hand and turne the cock, for all that is poured on such a soul runs over into self-applauding, and so is as water spilt in regard of any good it does the creature, or any glory it brings to God. A proud heart and a lofty mountain are never fruitful. Now beside the common ways that pride discovers it self, as by under-valuing others, and over-valuing it selfe, and such like, you shall observe two other symptomes of it. First, it appears in bold adventures, when a person runs into the mouth of temptation, bearing himself up on the confidence of his grace receiv'd. This was Peters sin, by which he was drawn to engage further then became an humble faith, running into the devils-quarters, and so became his prisoner for a while. The good man, when in his right temper, had thoughts low enough of himself, as when he ask't his Master, Is it I? but he that feared at one time, lest he might be the traitour, at another cannot think so ill of himself, as to suspect he should be the denyer of his Master. What he? No, though all the rest should forsake him, yet he would stand to his colours; Is this your case, Christian? Possibly God has given you much of his minde, you are skilful in the Word of life, and therefore you darest venture to breath in corrupt aire, as if only the weak spirits of lesse knowing Christians, exposed them to be infected with the contagion of errour and heresie; You have a large portion of grace, or at least you thinkest so, and venturest to go where an humble-minded Christian would fear his heels should slip under him. Truly now you temptest God to suffer your lock to be cut, when you are so bold to lay your head in the lap of a temptation. Secondly, pride appears in the neglect of those means, whereby the Saints graces and comforts are to be fed when strongest. May be, Christian, when you are under feares and doubts then God has your company, you are oft with your pitcher at his door, but when you have got any measure of peace, there growes presently some strangenesse between God and you: your pitcher walks not as it was wont to these Wells of salvation. No wonder if you (though rich in grace and comfort) goest behinde-hand, seeing you spendest on the old stock, and drivest no trade at present to bring in more: Or if you doest not thus neglect duty, yet may be you doest not perform it with that humility, which formerly beautified the same: then you prayedst in the sense of your weakness to get strength, now you prayest to show your strength, that others may admire you. And if once (like Hezekiah) we call in Spectators to see our treasure, and applaud us for our gifts and comfort, then it is high time for God, if he indeed love us, to send some messengers to carry these away from us, which carry our hearts from him.

Fourthly, if your heart does not smite you from what has been said, but you have sincerely waited on God, and yet have not received the strength you desirest, yet let it be your resolution to live and die waiting on him. God does not tell us his time of coming, and it were boldness to set on of our own heads. Go, says Christ to his disciples, Luke 24:49. Stay ye in Jerusalem, until ye be endued with Power from on High. Thus he says to you, stay at Jerusalem, wait on him in the means he has appointed, till you beest endued with further power to mortifie your corruptions, &c. And for your comfort know

First, your thus persevering to wait on God, will be an evidence of strong grace in you: the lesse encouragement you have to duty, the more your faith and obedience to bear you up in duty. He that can trade when times are so dead, that all his ware lies upon his hand, and yet drawes not in his hand, but rather trades more and more, sure his stock is great. What, no comfort in hearing, no ease to your spirit in praying, and yet more greedy to heare, and more-frequent in prayer? O soul, great is your faith and patience.

Secondly, assure your self when you are at the greatest pinch strength shall come: They that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength: when the last handful of meale was dressing, then is the Prophet sent to keep the Widows house. When temptation is strong, your little strength even spent, and you ready to yield into the hands of yours enemies, then expect succours from heaven to enable you to hold out under the temptation: Thus to Paul, My grace is sufficient, or power from heaven to raise the siege, and drive away the tempter; thus to Job, when Satan had him at an advantage, then God takes him off. Like a wise Moderatour, when the Respondent is hard put to it by a subtile Opponent, takes him off, when he would else run him down. James 5:11. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord, that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.

_EPHESIANS 6.11._Put on the whole Armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

THis verse is a Key to the former, wherein the Apostle had exhorted believers to encourage, and bear up their fainting spirits on the Lord, and the power of his might. Now in these words he explains himself, and shewes how he would have them do this, not presumptuously come into the field without that armour, which God has appointed to be worne by all his souldiers, and yet with a bravado to trust in the power of God to save them. That soul is sure to fall short of home, (heaven I mean) who has nothing but a carnal confidence on the Name of God, blowen up by the ignorance of God and himself: No, he that would have his confidence duly placed on the Power of God, must conscienciously use the means appointed for his defense, and not rush naked into the battel, like that fanatick spirit at Munster, who would needs go forth, and chase away the whole army, then besieging that city, with no other cannon, then a few words charged with the Name of The Lord of hostes, (which he blasphemously made bold to use) saying, In the Name of the Lord of hostes depart. But himself soon perished; to learne others wisdom by what he paid for his folly. What foolish braving language shall you hear drop from the lips of the most prophane and ignorant among us? they trust in God, hope in his mercy, defie the devil and all his works, and such like stuffe, who yet are poor naked creatures, without the least piece of Gods armour upon their souls. To cashiere such presumption from the Saints Camp, he annexs this Directory to his exhortation, Put on the whole armour of God, &c. So that the words fall into these two general parts.

First, a Direction annex't to the former Exhortation, showing how we may in a regular way come to be strong in the Lord, that is, by putting on the whole armour of God.

Secondly, a reason or argument strengthening this Direction, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. In the Direction observe,

First. the furniture he directs, and that is Armour.

Secondly, the kinde or quality of this Armour, Armour of God

Thirdly, the quantity or entirenesse of the Armour; The whole Armour of God.

Fourthly, the use of this Armour; Put on the whole Armour of God.

To begin with the first, the furniture which every one must get that would fight Christs battels. The question here will be, What is this Armour?

First, by armour is meant Christ; we reade of putting on the Lord Jesus, Romans 13:14. where Christ is set forth under the notion of Armour. The Apostle does not exhort them for rioting and drunkennesse, to put on sobriety and temperance; for chambering and wantonnesse, put on chastity; (as the Philosopher would have done) but bids, Put on the Lord Jesus Christ; implying thus much till Christ be put on, the creature is unarmed. 'Tis not a mans morality and Philosophical vertues, that will repel a temptation, sent with a full charge from Satans cannon, though possibly it may the pistol shot of some lesse solicitation; so that he is the man in Armour, that is in Christ. Again, the Graces of Christ these are Armour, as the Girdle of truth, the breast plate of righteousnesse, and the rest. Hence we are bid also put on the new man, Ephesians 4:24. which is made up of all the several graces, as its parts and members. And he is the unarm'd soul, that is the unregenerate soul. Not excluding those duties and means which God has appointed the Christian to use for his defense,

The phrase thus opened; the Point is,

Objection: But some discouraged Christian says: "I have prayed again and again for strength against such a corruption, and to this day my hands are still weak. These enemies are so strong that I am ready to say all the preachers are merely flattering me when they pour their oil of comfort on my head and tell me I will eventually gain the victory over these enemies — that I will see that glad day when, like David, I will sing to the Lord for delivering me from the hand of all my foes. I have prayed for strength for a particular duty and find I still come to it just as weakly and halfheartedly as before. If God is with me through His mighty power to help me, why has all this befallen me?"

Answer 1: First, poor heart, look again into your own soul and see whether you cannot find some strength that has already been sent in, which you overlooked before. This is possible — indeed, it is very common in such cases — for God to answer our prayer not in the exact form we asked, or for the very thing to come in at the back door while we are watching the front. Truly, the friend you are looking for may already be in your house without your knowing it. Is this not your situation, poor soul? You have been praying for strength against a particular lust, and you want God immediately to exert His power to knock it on the head and lay it dead — never to stir in your heart again. Is that not the door you have been standing at, watching for God to enter — and there is no sign or news of His coming that way? The corruption still stirs, and may be more troublesome than before. Now you ask: where is the strength promised for your relief? Before you draw that sad conclusion against your God or yourself, I urge you to consider whether He has not already sent in strength through another door. Perhaps you do not have the strength to conquer it as quickly as you desire — but has He not given you more strength to pray against it? You prayed before, but now more earnestly; all the powers of your soul are rising to plead with God. Before you were moderate in your request; now you have a burning zeal — you can take no denial. Indeed, you would welcome anything in place of this corruption. If only God would take your sin and send a cross instead, you would bless Him for it. Now, poor soul — is this nothing? Is this no strength? If your God had not reinforced you, your sin would have weakened your spirit of prayer, not deepened it. David began to recover himself when he began to recover his spirit of prayer. The stronger the cry, the stronger the child — you can count on it. Jacob wrestled, and this is called his strength in Hosea 12 — it showed how much of God was in him that he could take such a hold on the Almighty and keep it, even when God seemed to push him away. If you are enabled, soul, to deal with the God of heaven like this, you have no need to fear — you will be far more able to deal with sin and Satan. If God has given you strength enough to wrestle with Him and press through denials, you have overcome the stronger of the two. Overcome God, and He will overcome the other for you. Again, perhaps you have been praying for further strength in your duties — that you might be more spiritual, more vigorous, more focused, more sincere — and yet you still find your old weaknesses clinging to you as if you had never told God about them. Well, soul, look again into your heart with an unprejudiced eye. Even though you do not find the helping strength you prayed for, do you not have more self-humbling strength than before? Perhaps the distress these remaining weaknesses cause you in your duties has given you a lower opinion of all your duties than ever. Indeed they make you abhor yourself when you see them — as if you were covered in something loathsome. Job's condition on the ash heap, covered with boils and running sores, looks better to you than your own — for the soul, you say, is worse off than his body was. Oh, this grieves you deeply, does it not? That you should appear before the Lord with such a dead, divided heart, and do your worst work for the One who deserves your best. And is all this nothing? Surely, Christian, your eyes are as veiled as Hagar's — otherwise you would see the outpouring of divine grace in this very frame of heart. Surely others looking on would think God has done a mighty work in your soul. What goes more against the grain than bringing our proud hearts to be ashamed of the very things they naturally boast about and glory in? And is it nothing for you to trample on your own duties — to count them the occasion of your humiliation and self-abasement, when others make them the ground of their confidence and self-satisfaction? Much virtue has gone out from Christ to dry up this fountain of pride in your heart, which sometimes in gracious people runs through all their duties, so openly that those with less grace than they can see it.

Answer 2: Second, Christian, interpret God's dealings with you charitably. Suppose it is as you say — you have pleaded the promise, waited on the means, and yet find no increase in either grace or comfort. Now be careful not to charge God foolishly, as if He were not what He promises — that would be giving Satan exactly what he has been gaping after all this while. It befits the trusting disposition of a child far better, when what he wrote to his father for has not immediately come, to say: "My father is wiser than I. His wisdom will guide what to send and when, and his fatherly love for me will neither allow him to withhold anything truly good, nor to let the right moment slip by." Christian, your heavenly Father has gracious purposes that are presently holding His hand — otherwise you would have heard from Him by now.

First: God may withhold further degrees of strength in order to press you into more diligent use of what you already have. A mother does this with her child who is learning to walk — she sets the child down, stands at a little distance, and calls it to come to her. The child feels its legs are weak and cries for help, but the mother deliberately steps back so that the child will put all its small strength into reaching her. When a poor soul prays against a particular sin, God seems to step back and stand at a distance; the temptation grows stronger and no visible help appears — precisely so that the Christian, though weak, will exercise the strength he has. We often find that the sense of one's own weakness is a special means of stirring greater care and diligence. A person who knows he is weak — prone in company to forget himself, prone in anger to fly out — if there is any true grace in him, this self-knowledge will make him more watchful and cautious than someone who has gained greater strength over such temptations. It is like a child who writes to his father for money and none comes right away — this makes him manage the little he has more carefully; not a penny will now be spent idly. So when a Christian has prayed against a sin again and again and still finds himself weak and prone to be overcome, how careful should that make him about every situation and every occasion. Such a person has no need to give his enemy any advantage.

Second: God may withhold the helping strength you desire in duty, or the killing strength you want against corruption, purely out of a gracious plan — so that He might thereby have an opportunity to express His love in such a way as will most warmly draw the soul to love Him in return. Perhaps, Christian, you are praying for a mercy you need, or for deliverance from a great affliction — and in the act of prayer you find no more than ordinary help, indeed, many distractions of spirit in the praying and many misgivings and fearful doubts afterward. Well, despite all those defects in your duty, God still hears your prayer and sends the mercy — precisely so that He might make His love appear larger in your eyes, and sweeter to your taste, through His accepting of your weak service and overlooking the disorders of your spirit. Here is less strength for the duty, so that there may be more love in the mercy — nothing will move a gracious heart more than that kind of reflection. See it in David in Psalm 116:11-12: "I said in my alarm, 'All men are liars.' What shall I render to the Lord for all His benefits toward me?" It is as if David said: Notwithstanding all the encouraging messages I had from God through His prophets, my own prayers, and those remarkable providences that carried a partial answer in them — I still betrayed much unbelief, questioning the truth of the one and doubting the fulfillment of the other. And yet, notwithstanding all my failures, God has fulfilled my desire and kept His promise? Oh, what shall I render to the Lord? David thus reads God's mercy through the lens of his own weakness and frailty, and it appears very great. But if a mercy were to arrive as the answer to prayer performed with such strength of faith and height of grace as to be free from the usual failings, this might become a snare — producing some self-congratulating thoughts in the soul rather than wonder at the mercy.

Third: God may give less helping strength in order to show more of His sustaining strength — in upholding weak grace. We do not marvel at a strong, healthy man who eats heartily and sleeps well staying alive. But a sickly body, full of ailments and infirmities, held together and propped up by the physician's art to old age — that draws some wonder from those who see it. Perhaps you are a trembling soul — your faith weak, Satan's assaults strong, your corruptions stirring and active, and your power to put them to death small, so that in your estimation they seem to be gaining ground on your grace rather than losing it. Every now and then you are ready to think you will be cast as a wreck on the devil's shore. And yet to this day your grace lives, though full of leaks. Is it not worth pausing to look at this strange sight? A broken ship with masts and hull battered and torn, being towed by almighty power through an angry sea — through storms of sins and devils — safely into harbor. A dim candle sputtering in the face of a fierce wind and not blown out. A weak infant in grace held up in God's arms until he beats the devil to a standstill. This is what God is doing in upholding you. You are one of those babes from whose mouths God is perfecting His praise — ordaining such strength for you that you, a babe in grace, shall yet defeat a giant in wrath and power.

Third answer: If after long waiting for strength from God it is still as you complain, examine whether the hindrance may be found in yourself. The head is the seat of the vital spirits, yet obstructions in the body can deprive the other members of them for a time. Until the passage between Christ your Head and you is clear and free, your strength will not come. Therefore be willing to examine yourself.

First: Have you truly been coming to God for strength to perform duty, to put corruptions to death, and the like? Perhaps you will say, "Yes, I have attended on those ordinances which are the means through which He has promised to give out strength." But is that all? You may attend them and yet not wait on God in them. Have you not been expecting strength from the ordinances themselves, placing them in God's role — as the woman in the parable placed her husband? Is not the attitude of your heart something like those in James 4:13: "We will go to such a city and buy and sell and make a profit"? Has your heart not said, "I will go and hear such a man and get comfort, get strength"? And do you wonder you remain weak, barren, and unfruitful? Are the ordinances God, that they should make you strong or comforted? You might hear them answer you, poor soul, as the king answered the woman in the siege of Samaria: "Help, O prayer — help, O minister!" But how can they help except the Lord help? These are Christ's servants. Christ keeps the key to His own cellar; they cannot so much as make you drink when you come to their Master's house. Therefore, poor soul, do not stop short of Christ himself. Press through all the crowd of ordinances and ask to speak with Jesus — to see Jesus and touch Him — and virtue will flow out.

Second: Ask your soul whether you have been thankful for the little strength you have. Even though you are not strong enough in grace to run with the foremost or keep pace with the tallest of your brothers, are you thankful that you have any strength at all? Even if it is only enough to call out after those you see outrunning you in grace — that is worth your thanks. Not all in David's army reached the rank of his few mighty warriors in prowess and honor, and yet they did not dismiss themselves from the army. You have reason to be thankful for even the humblest place in the army of saints. Even the smallest gift of Gospel mercy and grace must not be overlooked. As soon as Moses and his people were through the sea, they struck up a song before moving from the bank, acknowledging the wonderful appearance of God's power and mercy for them — though this was but one step in their journey. A howling wilderness lay before them, and they could not survive a few days on all their supplies. Yet for all the great victory, Moses praised God for this first taste of mercy. This holy man knew that the only way to keep credit with God so as to receive more was to stay faithful and pay down his praise for what had been received. If you want fuller gifts of divine strength, acknowledge God in what He has already done. Are you weak? Bless God you have life. Do you often fail in duty through weakness and fall into temptation? Grieve over this — yet bless God that you do not live in total neglect of duty out of godless contempt for it, and that instead of falling through weakness you do not lie down in the filth of sin through the wickedness of your heart. The ungrateful soul has no one else to blame for its lack of growth.

Third: Are you humble under the assistance and strength God has given you? Pride stops the pipeline. If the heart begins to swell, it is time for God to hold back and turn off the tap — for everything poured on such a soul runs over into self-congratulation and is as water poured on the ground in terms of any good it does the soul or any glory it brings to God. A proud heart and a high mountain are never fruitful. Now, beyond the common ways pride shows itself — in undervaluing others and overvaluing oneself, and the like — observe two other symptoms of it. First, pride appears in bold ventures — when a person runs into the mouth of temptation, relying on the confidence of the grace he has received. This was Peter's sin, which led him to go farther than humble faith warranted, walking right into the devil's territory and so becoming his prisoner for a time. The good man, when in his right frame of mind, had a low enough opinion of himself — as when he asked his Master, "Is it I?" fearing he might be the one to betray Him. But the same man who at one moment feared he might be the traitor could at another moment not think badly enough of himself to suspect he might deny his Master. Him? Never — though all the others might forsake Him, he would stand firm. Is this your case, Christian? Perhaps God has given you much understanding of His mind; you are skilled in the Word of life, and so you dare to breathe in corrupt air — as if only the weaker spirits of less-knowing Christians were at risk of being infected with the contagion of error and heresy. You have a large portion of grace — or at least you think so — and you venture where a humble-minded Christian would fear his feet might slip. Truly, you are now tempting God to allow your lock to be cut, when you are bold enough to lay your head in the lap of a temptation. Second, pride appears in the neglect of the means by which the saints' grace and comfort are to be nourished even at their strongest. Perhaps, Christian, when you are in fear and doubt you keep close to God — your pitcher is often at His door. But when you have obtained some measure of peace, a certain distance quickly grows between you and God; your pitcher no longer travels as it once did to these wells of salvation. No wonder you fall behind, even if you are rich in grace and comfort, since you are spending the old stock and not currently trading to bring in more. Or if you are not neglecting duty outright, perhaps you are not performing it with the humility that formerly adorned it. Then you prayed in a sense of your weakness to obtain strength; now you pray to display your strength so that others may admire you. And if once — like Hezekiah — we call in spectators to see our treasure and applaud us for our gifts and comfort, then it is high time for God, if He truly loves us, to send messengers to carry those things away from us that are carrying our hearts away from Him.

Fourth: If your heart does not convict you from what has been said — if you have sincerely waited on God and yet have not received the strength you desired — then let it be your resolve to live and die still waiting on Him. God does not tell us when He will come, and it would be presumptuous to set a time for Him on our own. "Stay in Jerusalem," Christ said to His disciples, "until you are clothed with power from on high" (Luke 24:49). He says the same to you: stay at Jerusalem. Wait on Him in the means He has appointed, until you are clothed with further power to put your corruptions to death. And for your comfort, know the following.

First: Your perseverance in waiting on God will itself be evidence of strong grace in you. The less encouragement you receive in duty, the more your faith and obedience prove their strength by holding you up in duty regardless. The merchant who keeps trading when times are so dead that all his goods sit unsold, and yet does not pull out but rather trades more and more — his stock must be large. No comfort in hearing, no relief in praying, and yet more hungry to hear and more frequent in prayer? O soul, great is your faith and patience.

Second: Rest assured that when you are at your greatest extremity, strength will come. "Those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength" (Isaiah 40:31). When the widow was preparing her last handful of meal, that was when the prophet was sent to sustain her household. When temptation is strong, your little strength nearly spent, and you are on the verge of yielding to your enemies — that is when you can expect reinforcements from heaven to enable you to hold out. So it was for Paul: "My grace is sufficient for you" — power from heaven to lift the siege and drive the tempter away. So it was for Job: when Satan had the upper hand against him, God stepped in and called Satan off — like a wise moderator who, when the respondent is being pressed hard by a skilled opponent, steps in before he is overwhelmed. "You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord's dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful" (James 5:11).

Ephesians 6:11 — Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.

This verse is a key to the one before it, in which the apostle had urged believers to lift their fainting spirits on the Lord and the power of His might. Now in these words he explains himself and shows how he would have them do this — not by coming into the field presumptiously without the armor God has appointed all His soldiers to wear, while boldly trusting in God's power to save them. The soul who has nothing but a carnal confidence in the name of God, puffed up by ignorance of both God and himself, is sure to fall short of the goal — heaven. No — the one who would have his confidence properly placed in God's power must conscientiously use the means appointed for his defense and not rush naked into battle. Like that fanatical man at Munster who insisted on going out to drive away the entire army besieging that city with no other weapon than a few words charged with the name of the Lord of hosts — which he blasphemously took upon himself to use — saying: "In the name of the Lord of hosts, depart!" He himself soon perished, teaching others wisdom at the price of his own folly. What foolish, swaggering language you will hear from the lips of the most godless and ignorant among us: they trust in God, hope in His mercy, defy the devil and all his works, and say similar things — and yet they are poor, naked creatures without a single piece of God's armor on their souls. To clear away such presumption from the saints' camp, the apostle adds this direction to his exhortation: "Put on the full armor of God." So the words fall into two general parts.

First: a direction attached to the former exhortation, showing how we may come, in the right way, to be strong in the Lord — namely, by putting on the full armor of God.

Second: a reason or argument supporting this direction — "so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil." In the direction, observe the following.

First: the equipment he directs us to put on — and that is armor.

Second: the kind or quality of this armor — the armor of God.

Third: the quantity or completeness of the armor — the full armor of God.

Fourth: the use of this armor — "Put on the full armor of God."

To begin with the first — the equipment every person must obtain who would fight Christ's battles. The question here is: What is this armor?

First, by armor is meant Christ. We read of "putting on the Lord Jesus" in Romans 13:14, where Christ is presented under the image of armor. The apostle does not tell them, for their rioting and drunkenness, to put on sobriety and temperance; for immorality and licentiousness, to put on chastity — as a philosopher might have done. Instead he says: "Put on the Lord Jesus Christ" — implying that until Christ is put on, the soul is unarmed. It is not a man's morality and philosophical virtues that will repel a temptation fired with full force from Satan's cannon — though it may deflect the smaller shot of a minor temptation. The person who is in armor, then, is the person who is in Christ. Furthermore, the graces of Christ are also armor — the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, and the rest. This is why we are also told to put on the new man (Ephesians 4:24), which is made up of all the various graces as its parts and members. The unarmed soul, therefore, is the unregenerate soul. This is not to exclude the duties and means which God has appointed the Christian to use for his defense.

With the phrase understood in this way, the point is: