By Wm. Gurnall, A.M.
(Continued from page 200)
Secondly: Our obedience and comfort are strong or weak, as our faith is on this principle.
(1) Our obedience; that being a child of faith, partakes of its parent’s strength or weakness. What an heroic act of obedience did Abraham perform in offering up his son! His faith being well set on the power of God, he carries that without staggering which would have laid a weak faith on the ground. No act of faith more strengthens for duty than that which eyes God’s almighty power engaged for its assistance. “Go in this thy might,” said God to Gideon, “have not I called thee?” As if He had said, “Can I not, will I not, carry thee through thy work?” Away goes Gideon in the faith of this, and doth wonders. This brought the righteous man from the east to God’s foot; though he knew not whither he went, yet he knew with whom he went, God Almighty. But take a soul not persuaded of this, how uneven and unstable is he in his obediential course! Every threat from man, if mighty, dismays him, because his faith is not fixed on the Almighty; and therefore he will sometimes shift off a duty, to comply with man, and betray his trust into the hands of a creature, because he hath fleshly eyes to behold the power of man, but wants a spiritual eye to see God at his back, to protect him with His almighty power: which, were his eyes open to see, he would not be so routed in his thoughts at the approach of a weak creature: “Should such a man as I flee?” saith good Nehemiah, chapter vi. 11. He was newly come from the throne of grace, where he had called in the help of the Almighty: verse 9. “O God, strengthen my hands.” And truly now he will rather die upon the place than disparage his God with a dishonourable retreat.
(2) The Christian’s comfort increaseth or declines as the aspect of his faith is to the power of God. Let the soul question that, or his interest in it, and his joy gusheth out, even as blood out of a broken vein. It is true, a soul may scramble to Heaven with much ado by a faith of recumbency, relying on God as able to save, without this persuasion of its interest in God: but such a soul goes with a scant side-wind, or like a ship whose masts are laid by the board, exposed to wind and weather, if others better appointed did not tow it along with them. Many fears like waves ever cover such a soul, that it is more under water than above; whereas one that sees itself folded in the arms of almighty power, O how such a soul goes mounting before the wind, with his sails filled with joy and peace! Let afflictions come, storms arise, this blessed soul knows where it shall land and be welcome. The name of God is his harbour, where he puts in as boldly as a man steps into his own house, when taken in a shower. He hears God calling him into this and other of His attributes, as chambers taken up for him: Isa. xxvi. 20, “Come, My people, enter thou into thy chambers.” God calls them His, and it were foolish modesty not to own what God gives. Isa., xlv. 24, “Surely, shall one say, In the Lord have I righteousness and strength;” that is, I have righteousness in God’s righteousness, strength in His strength; so that in this respect Christ can no more say that His strength is His own, and not the believer’s, than the husband can say, “My body is my own, and not my wife’s.” A soul persuaded of this may sing cheerfully with the sharpest thorn at his breast; so David, Ps. lvii. 7, “My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise.” What makes him so merry in so sad a place as the cave where he now was, he will tell in verse 1, where you have him nestling himself under the shadow of God’s wings; and now well may he sing care and fear away. A soul thus provided, may lie at ease on a hard bed. Do you not think they sleep as soundly who dwell on London Bridge, as they who live at Whitehall or Cheapside, knowing the waves that roll under them cannot hurt them? Even so may the saints rest quietly over the floods of death itself, and fear no ill. . .
Use 3. This speaks to you that are saints indeed. Be strong in the faith of this truth, make it an article of your creed: with the same faith that you believe there is a God, believe also this God’s almighty power is thy sure friend, and then improve it to thy best advantage.
As, First. In agonies of conscience that arise from the greatness of thy sins, fly for refuge to the almighty power of God. Truly, sirs, when a man’s sins are displayed in all their bloody
colours, and spread forth in their killing aggravations, and the eye of conscience awakened to behold them through the magnifying glass of temptation, they must needs surprise the creature with horror and amazement, till the soul can say with the prophet, for all this huge host, “There is yet more with me than against me.” One Almighty is more than many mighties. All these mighty sins and devils make not any almighty sin, or an almighty devil. Oppose to all the hideous charges brought against thee by them, this only attribute, as the French ambassador once silenced the Spaniard’s pride in repeating his master’s many titles, with one that drowned them all. God Himself, Hosea xi. 9, when He had aggravated His people’s sins to the height, then to show what a God can do, breaks out into a sweet promise: “I will not execute the fierceness of My anger.” And why not? “I am God, and not man.” I will show the almightiness of My mercy. Something like our usual phrase, when a child or a woman strikes us, “I am a man, and not a child or woman, therefore I will not strike again.” The very considering God to be God, supposeth Him to be almighty to pardon, as well as to avenge, and this is some relief; but then to consider it is almighty power in covenant to pardon, this is more: as none can bind God but Himself, so none can break the bond Himself makes; and are they not His own words, that He will abundantly pardon, Is. lv? He will multiply to pardon; as if He had said, “I will drop mercy with your sin, and spend all I have, rather than let it be said My good is overcome of your evil.”
Secondly. Improve this almighty power of God, and thy interest therein, in temptations to sin, when thou art overpowered, and fleest before the face of thy strong corruption, or fearest thou shalt one day fall by it. Make bold to take hold of this attribute, and reinforce thyself from it again to resist, and in resisting, to believe a timely victory over it. The Almighty God stands in sight of thee while thou art in the valley fighting, and stays but for a call from thee when distressed in battle, and then He will come to thy rescue: Jehoshaphat cried when in the throng of his enemies, and the Lord helped him; much more mayest thou promise thyself His succour in thy soul-combats. Betake thyself to the throne of grace with that promise, “Sin shall not have dominion over you;” and before you urge it (the more to help thy faith), comfort thyself with this, that though the word “almighty” is not expressed, yet it is implied in this and every promise, and thou mayest without adding a kittle to the Word of God, read it in thy soul: “Sin shall not have dominion over you, saith the Almighty God;” for this and all His attributes are the constant seal to all His promises. Now soul, put the
bond in suit, fear not the recovery: it is debt, and so due. He is able whom thou suest, and so there is no fear of losing the charge of the suit; and He that was so gracious to bind Himself when He was free, will be so faithful (being able) to perform now He is bound; only while thou expectest the performance of the promise, and the assistance of this almighty power against thy corruptions, take heed that thou keep under the shadow of this attribute, and condition of this promise, Ps. xci. 1. The shadow will not cool, except in it; what good to have the shadow, though of a mighty rock, when we sit in the open sun? to have almighty power engaged for us, and we to throw ourselves out of the protection thereof by bold sallies into the mouth of temptation? The saints’ falls have been when they run out of their trench and hold; for, like the conies, they are a weak people in themselves, and their strength lies in the rock of God’s almightiness, which is their habitation.
Thirdly. Christian, improve this when oppressed with the weight of any duty or service, which in thy place and calling lies upon thee. Perhaps thou findest the duty of thy calling too heavy for thy weak shoulders; make bold by faith to lay the heaviest end of thy burden on God’s shoulder, which is thine (if a believer as sure as God can make it by promise, when at any time thou art sick of thy work, and ready to think with Jonas to run from it; encourage thyself with that of God to Gideon, whom He called from the flail to thresh the mountains. “Go in this thy might; hath not God called thee?” Fall to the work God sets thee about, and thou engagest His strength for thee. “The way of the Lord is strength.” Run from thy work, and thou engagest God’s strength against thee; He will send some storm or other after thee to bring home His runaway servant. . . .
In a word, Christian, rely upon thy God, and make thy daily applications to the throne of grace for continual supplies of strength. You little think how kindly He takes it, that you will make use of Him; the oftener the better, and the more you come for, the more welcome; else why would Christ have told His disciples, “Hitherto ye have asked nothing,” but to express His large heart in giving? loth to put His hand to His purse for a little, and therefore by a familiar kind of rhetoric induces them to rise higher in asking. As Naaman when Gehazi asked one talent, entreats him to take two: such a bountiful heart thy God hath, while thou art asking a little peace and joy, He bids thee open thy mouth wide, and He will fill it. Go and ransack thy heart, Christian, from one end to the other, find out thy wants, acquaint thyself with all thy weakness, and set them before the Almighty, as the widow her empty vessel before the prophet;
hadst thou more than thou canst bring, thou mightest have them all filled. God hath strength enough to give, but He hath no strength to deny: where the Almighty Himself (with reverence be it spoken) is weak; even a child, the weakest in grace of His family, that can but say Father, is able to overcome Him; and therefore let not the weakness of thy faith discourage thee. No greater motive to the bowels of mercy to stir up almighty power to relieve thee, than thy weakness, when pleaded in the sense of it. The pale face and thin cheeks (I hope) move more with us, than the canting language of a stout, sturdy beggar. Thus the soul that comes laden in the sense of his weak faith, love, patience, the very weakness of them carries an argument along with them for succour.