: favor of God towards him-in all moveable conditions, he hath a fixed condition; therefore, let us not presume to find fault with God's dispensations, but let him do as he please. So He bring us to heaven at last, it is no matter what way; how rugged soever and rough it be, however beset with thorns and briers, so he bring us thither at last. This teaches God's children to know how to abound and how to be abased, as they ought to do. For there is no state but a christian may gather good matter out of it, as the bee gathers honey from every flower. A christian can practise the graces that ought and may be practised in all conditions. For instance, he can abound in expressing thankfulness to God he hath a spirit to be a faithful steward, in abundance-a spirit to honor God with that abundance, knowing that all is grass, "which withereth afore it groweth up," Psalm cxxix. 6: he can be humble: he can bend under the mighty hand of God: he can acknowledge and confess in his abasement the vanity of worldly favor and worldly greatness-he learns what it is. And so in the same way he can learn to exercise patience and all other graces, that are to be practised in a mean estate. Grace rises above all conditions-can manage and rule all estates of life, and make them serviceable to its own ends. A gracious man is not dejected overmuch with abasement; he is not lifted up overmuch with abundance, but he carries himself in an even manner, becoming a christian in all conditions. For abundance works upon the soul of man; he had need to have strong grace, that digests abundance. See how it wrought upon David and Solomon, they were better in adversity; and yet the child of God hath grace even to overcome the sins that are incident to abundance; he has grace to be lowly minded in a great estate, "not to trust in uncertain riches," 1 Tim. vi. 17; he knows by the Spirit of God what they are, and that he hath an inheritance of better things in another world-which teaches him to set a light esteem upon all things below. And so for dejection, the sin we are so subject to fall into in want, and putting forth our hands to evil means to shift the trouble that is on us. God's child can learn to want without tainting his conscience with ill courses, and he can want without impatience, without too much dejection of spirit, as if all were lost; when indeed, as a christian, he is in a manner rich all alike, for God is his portion, and howsoever a beam may be taken away, the sun is his; take away the stream, the fountain is his; in the poorest estate, God all-sufficient, Gen. xvii. 1, is his still: God never takes away himself. The christian knows this, and therefore he can want, as long as he hath the spring of all, without murmuring -without dejection of spirit. Whereas, those who have not been brought up in Christ's school, nor trained up in a variety of conditions, are able to do nothing; if they abound, they are proud; if they be cast down, they fret, as if there was no Providence to rule the world, as if they were fatherless children. But as a christian knows what it is to abound by experience, so he knows how to abound with practice of the graces, and how to want with the avoiding the snares that usually attend that condition. True, he learns it not very easily, nor very soon. Self-denial is the first lesson in Christ's school; having no wisdom of his own, but looking unto Christ; and to have no will of his own, further than his commandments guide us: and he that has learned self-denial, is in the right way to learn the blessed lesson of contentment in any condition whatsoever : but there are many things to be learned, before we can come to carry ourselves wisely in any condition. For besides self-denial, we must learn the doctrine of the covenant of grace. That God in Christ is become a Father to us, and carries a fatherly mind towards us, in what condition soever we are, he is a Father still, and intends us well, and will provide for us in the hardest condition: having taken the relation of a Father upon him, do you think he will fail in the carriage of a father towards us?" "He is very pitiful, and of tender mercy," James v. 11, he has respect to us in the basest condition; he, that knows God to be his Father, cast him into what condition you will, knows he hath a good portion. When grace comes, it takes out the sting of all ill, and then we find good in the worst estate. There is a vanity in the best things, and there is a good in the worst; grace gathers out the good; as God turns all to good, so grace discovers good in every condition. The Spirit of God sanctifies a christian to all conditions, and sanctifies every condition to him. What a blessed thing is it to be in the covenant of grace-to have God for our Father-to be in Christ-that let our outward condition be what it may, we shall have grace to carry ourselves in it God will go along with us by his Holy Spirit! What a blessed thing is it, in all the uncertainties of the world, to have a certain rule to go bynone but a christian hath this. "I have learned," saith St. Paul, "in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content," Phil. iv. 11. When did he learn it?-not before he was a christian. This proves the state of a christian to be above all others: a christian is not at the mercy of the world, his contentment is not a dependant contentment. You may cast him into prison, you may impoverish him, you may labor to debase and disgrace : him ;-but can you take away his faith? Can you take away his grace? Can Can you take away the love of God? No, God will rather increase all upon him; for the best things of a christian are not at the mercy of the world, nor at the mercy of his several conditions. Prosperity and adversity, these are out of him: he hath a state depending upon the good will of his heavenly Father, who loves him better than he loves himself: and out of love will work good out of the worst condition that can befal him. For whosoever hath the Spirit of Christ is enabled to do all things, he can resist evil, resist temptation, suffer affliction, enjoy prosperity, break off all sinful courses and take a new course, for so the apostle means, when he says, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me," Phil. iv. 13. The Spirit of Christ is a spirit of strength, 2 Tim. i. 7; it is the spirit of power, it is the soul of the christian's soul, and the life of his life. Now the strength of a man is in his spirit; the stronger spirit makes the abler man, Rom. xii. 6; and the Spirit of God being the strongest of spirits, indeed the strength of the spirit, it makes the christian in whom it dwells the ablest man. And then again, a christian is a new creature, therefore he is furnished with abilities fit for the new creature. When Adam was created, he was endued with all graces fit for his state of innocence: as when God made the heavens, he beautified it with stars; when he made the earth, he made trees and flowers: so now after the fall, when God brings a man in Christ to be a new creature, he hath abilities furnished to fit him for that new condition. Every particular grace of a new creature is a grace of strength. The Spirit of God is so strong in his children, in those that are truly his, that many have been willing to lay down their lives for his sake, the dearest possession to them in this world. The apostles were glad to suffer anything for Christ's sake, their hearts were so enlarged by the spirit of love. The spirit of faith too is a mighty spirit, an able spirit, it conquers God himself, as Jacob wrestled with the angel and prevailed, Gen. xxxii. 28: by the strength of God he overcame God. Under a sense of God's displeasure it will believe God's favor in Christ—it is able to break through the thickest clouds of discomfort whatsoever, "to hope against hope," Rom. iv. 18. You see the fruit and strength of all graces is attributed to faith, Heb. xi. 33: by faith they overcame, by faith they were strong; insinuating that faith is not only a strong grace in itself, but it gives vigour and strength to all other graces. Now every christian hath in a more or less measure a spirit of faith and love, and these will carry him through all states and conditions, that will often make men of the world wonder; for even in his worst state, he hath a spirit above the world; this faith overcomes the world, and he that is in the christian, (the Spirit of God) is stronger than he that is in the world. Let us try the truth of our state then. If thou art a real christian, what canst thou do? What sin canst thou resist, what burden of sorrow or affliction canst thou bear? How canst thou use the good blessings, that God sends thee, without abusing them? Grace manages all conditions. Thus if thou be a christian, answer to thy name, if not, thou art a mere professor yet. I beseech you, let us not deceive ourselves, the best have cause to mourn for their short comings in this kind; might have done much our consciences tell us, that we more than we have-that God would have enabled us to do more if we had not been false-hearted and betrayed ourselves; if we had not been negligent and careless in |