That Grace Only Is to Be Reckoned Sincere Which Can Endure Those Trials Which God Appoints
Sect. I. — Before I offer you the proofs and evidences of this truth, it will be necessary to prevent p2 some mistakes that may be occasioned by misunderstanding it.
Caution 1. And, in the first place, we are not to think assurance of our sincerity impossible to be had in this life, because as long as we live here we are in a state of trial; and how many trials soever have been made upon us already, yet still there are more to come; and we know not what we shall prove in future trials, though God has kept us upright in former trials. No, this is none of my meaning; nor does such a conclusion necessarily follow this assertion; for a Christian who has rightly closed with Christ at first, and been faithful in the duties of active and passive obedience hitherto, may be assured, on good grounds, of a victory before he come to the fire of his remaining trials. So was the Apostle: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Nay, in all these we are more than conquerors, through him that hath loved us.” Here is an assured triumph before the combat. So Job xxiii. 10. “But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” He appeals to God for the sincerity of his heart so far as he had hitherto gone in the way of religion; and thence concludes, that whatever trials God should bring him to, in time to come, he should “come forth as gold,” that is, he should not lose one grain by the fire. And this confidence of a gracious soul is built not only upon experience gained in former trials, but upon faith in the power, promises, and faithfulness of God, which are engaged for hira in the covenant of grace, to keep him in the greatest dangers that befal him in this world. He believes that the power of God is able to make him stand, though he has no power nor might in himself to overcome the least temptation: “You are kept,” as in a garrison, “by the power of God through faith unto salvation.” When Christ has once taken possession of the soul by his Spirit, he fortifies it by his power, as in a garrison; that, using the means, it may be surprised or betrayed no more into the enemy’s hand, so as finally to be lost.
He builds this confidence also upon the promises of God, which are his security in future dangers. And how are all the pages of the Bible bespangled with such promises, as the firmament is with bright and glorious stars! Such are these of the first magnitude: “Christ shall confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom ye are called into the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.” And no less satisfying and sweet is that in Jer. xxxii. 40. “And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.” And of the same nature is that also in John x. 27, 28. “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” If there be any hypocrite in sheep’s clothing, he has no part nor lot in this promise; but it secures the whole flock of Christ, great and small, against all danger.
He builds his assurance also upon the faithfulness of God, which stands engaged to make good every line, word, and syllable of his promises to his people. So we find in 1 Cor. x. 13. “There hath no temptation taken you, but such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it:” and in 2 Thess. iii. 3. “But the Lord is faithful, who shall establish you, and keep you from evil.”
Add to this the constant prevalent intercession of Christ in heaven for his people, in all their trials; and you will see that a sincere Christian needs not to deny himself the joy and comfort of his assurance, upon the account and supposition of his future trials.
Sect. II. — Caution 2, Nor do we here suppose in this assertion, that inherent grace in the saints has a sufficiency of ability in itself to endure the greatest and severest trials that can befal it in this world. It is certain that it shall be carried safely through all, but not in its own strength and ability.
This is a true observation of the learned Gerson, “The most perfect creature left to itself will fall into ruin.” This was exemplified in the angels that fell, and in Adam, though in a perfect state. Divine preservation is the prop which supports the best creatures from ruin. Grace itself is but a creature, and therefore a dependent being. It is but a stream, depending upon the supply of the fountain. If the fountain let not forth itself, what becomes of the stream? That is a true and judicious observation of the learned Dr. Ames, “The perseverance of believers, or the immutability of their condition, if we view the whole ground and reason of it, is not wholly from within or wholly from without itself; but partly from the nature of the spiritual life which flows from Christ unto them, and partly from the keeping, protection, and direction of God.” That protection is always afforded to this life of grace; and this life of grace always needs that protection. The best of men are but men at best. It was not Peter’s grace and resolution that kept him, but Christ’s care of him and intercession for him: “Be strong in the Lord,” says the apostle, “and in the power of his might.”.” Without me,” says Christ, “ye can do nothing.”
Neither of these is that which I have before me to prove; but this is that which I aim at, that such seeming grace as was never yet brought to the trial, nor will be able to bear the trial when God shall bring it thereto, must not pass for current as too frequently it does among us. Such grace will neither comfort us now nor save us hereafter.
Sect. III. — First, Great numbers of persons in the professing world are deceived and destroyed by trusting to seeming and untried grace.
This was the miserable condition of those Laodicean professors in the text: they reckoned themselves rich, but were really poor. All is not gold that glitters. Their supposed gold was never tried in the fire. If a man’s whole estate lay in some precious stone, suppose a rich diamond, how is he concerned to have it thoroughly tried, to see whether it will bear a smart stroke with a hammer, or fly like a Bristol diamond under it! All that you are worth lies in the truth and sincerity of your grace; and till that be tried, you know not whether you are worth any thing or nothing.
Reader, there are two sad sights in the world, which cannot but deeply affect every upright heart: one is, to see so many thousands of rational and ingenuous men in the Romish church, by an implicit faith in their guides, venturing their souls upon their bare word; never searching the Scriptures with their own eyes, but wholly trusting to the infallibility of a pope or a council; when, in the mean time, they would fear to take their word for a sum of money, without some further security. It is amazing to behold the soul- destroying, easy credulity of those men; but this is a stroke of madness and spiritual infatuation judicially inflicted upon them, that the judgment which is written might be fulfilled in them, “God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie,” And yet more amazing is that stroke of God upon multitudes of vain and formal professors even in the reformed Protestant churches, where no man is restrained from searching the Scriptures; nay, where men are so frequently and earnestly pressed, from Sabbath to Sabbath, to examine themselves and prove their own work, that yet so many are content to leave all at hazard, and, without any more ado or farther search in the matter, credit the report of their own deceitful hearts, and take all for granted, without due trial or examination of the matter. Surely, no one thing sends down more souls daily to hell out of the professing world, than this does. The five foolish virgins, the unprincipled professors in the reformed churches, perished this way. They took it for granted that all was well, because they had lamps of profession as well as others; and saw not the cheat till the cry was heard at midnight, and their unfurnished lamps went out, Matt. xxv.
2. The promises of salvation are made to tried grace, and such only as will endure the trial. Thus, “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which God hath promised to them that love him.” We must be first tried, and then crowned. “If a man strive for the mastery, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully.” The apostle manifestly alludes to the Roman games, to v*^hich there were judges appointed to see that no foul play was offered contrary to the laws of wrestling; and where it was found, the crown was denied them. Not to him that sets forth in the morning with resolution and gallantry, but to him that holds out till the evening of his life, is the promise made: “He that endureth to the end shall be saved.” So Rom. ii. 7. “To them who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for glory, and honour, and immortality, eternal life.” And once more: “We are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end.” So that if you should endure some few slighter troubles, and faint at last, give out when a closer trial befals you, all your labours and sufferings are in vain. Sincerity and final perseverance are the conditions of all special promises.
3. Every man’s graces and duties must be tried and weighed by God in the great day; and if they cannot endure these lesser trials to which God exposes them now, how will they endure that severe and exact trial to which he will bring them then?
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No man can search his own heart with that exactness in this world, as that with which God will search it in the world to come. I may say in this case to you, as the Lord spake to Jeremiah: “If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? And if in the land of peace, wherein thou trustedst, they have wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan?” This was spoken to encourage the prophet to constancy in his work: as if the Lord had said, O Jeremy, do the strivings of the men of Anathoth, thine own town, dishearten thee? Pluck up thy spirits, and faint not. There are harder trials than these that thou must undergo at Jerusalem. These are no more to what is coming, than the running with footmen is to the contending with horses, or the passing a small rivulet to the swellings of Jordan. To apply this: — if our graces and duties cannot bear these lighter trials; if a little lift of prosperity, or lighter stroke of adversity, discover so much falseness, rottenness, pride, and selfishness in the heart; if we cannot resist the motions of corruption, but yield ourselves to obey sin in the lusts of it; if we can neither keep our hearts with God in duties, nor mourn for our wanderings from him; if a few scoffs from wicked tongues, or trials of persecution from the hands of men, will cause us to faint in the way, and turn back from following the Lord, what shall we do when he comes whose “fan is in his hand, and who will thoroughly purge his floor,” who will try every man’s work as by fire, search the secrets of all hearts? Surely we can take little comfort in that which is so unable to bear the severe trials of that clay, that it cannot stand before the slighter trials of this day.
4. True grace is willing to be tried, and nothing is more desirable to an upright soul, than to know its own condition. If, therefore, we shun the trial, and are loath to search ourselves, or be searched by the Lord, our condition is suspicious, and we can take little comfort in it. It was David’s earnest desire that God would thoroughly search his heart and reins, and see if there were any way of wickedness in him, Psal. cxxxix. 23. False grace is shy of God’s eye; it cares not to be examined; but this is the delight of sincere ones: “Every one that doeth evil hateth the light, lest his deeds should be reproved; but he that doeth truth, cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.” The reason is plain why hypocrisy cannot endure to come to the touchstone and test; for hypocrites, having a secret consciousness of their own guilt and unsoundness, know that by this means their vain confidence would quickly be confuted, and all their reputation for religion blasted. But O if men dare not stand before the word, as it is now opened and applied by ministers, how will they stand when it shall be opened and applied in another manner by Jesus Christ?
O professor, if thy condition be good, thy heart right, thou wilt desire to know the very worst of it thyself; and when thou hast made the deepest search thou canst, thou wilt still fear thou hast not been severe enough and impartial enough to thyself. Nothing will give thee more content than when thou feelest the word dividing thy soul and spirit, thy joints and marrow. Nothing so much comforts thee under or after an affliction, as the discovery it has made of thy heart. Thou wilt seem to feel with what affection those words came from the prophet’s lips: “But thou, O Lord, knowest me; thou hast seen me, and tried mine heart toward thee.” O what a refreshing sweetness will stream through thy heart, and all the powers of thy soul, when thou canst make the like appeal to God with like sincerity! And certainly, without such a disposition of spirit towards the trial of our graces, we can have little evidence of the truth of them.