and only he will sooner part with a drop of his hearts blood then with a drop of grace Reas 2. Because of the sad effects which undoubtedly follow falling from the measure of grace 1. Though you shall not lose your union yet you may lose your sweet communion with God and Christ spiritual and doleful desertion is sometimes the reward of your spiritual decays God withdraws his favour for your withdrawing from his grace that when you sigh out your sad complaints My God my God why hast thou forsaken me God answereth because thou hast forsaken thy first love thy first zeal Oh rather justifie me and condemn thy self and say O my God I have forsaken my first love therefore hast thou forsaken me the fountain of life hath forsaken me because I have forsaken him 2. The second sad effect is the loss of your comfort the loss of your inward joy and peace follows the loss of your graces spiritual joy and comforts do ebbe and flow according to the ebbing and flowing of grace the sorrows of Hell are sometimes the chastisement of the loss of the grace of Heaven want of grace doth not occasion sorrow so much as the loss of grace What the Papists feign of Purgatory and the Souls there viz. that there be two rivers one of fire and the other of water when the souls are vehemently scorcht with the heat of the fire they leap into the river of water when they freeze with cold they leap into the fire this may be an emblem of a godly man decays of grace translate him out of the waters of comfort into Hell flames the recovery of grace translates him from sorrow into joy again He that will maintain his peace and comfort let him maintain his graces 3. Great temptations unto some great sin do follow men upon falling from their measure of grace and Gods denying assisting grace at that time that sometimes they fall into some sin which wasteth their consciences As Physitians to cure a man of the Lethargy do let him fall into a burning fever so God to cure our decays suffers us sometimes to fall into some dreadful sin that being humbled we may revive our graces As David's enemies said of themselves Let us pursue him let us overtake him for God hath forsaken him So the Divels cry out of a decaying Christian let us pursue him let us overtake him with some strong temptations for God hath forsaken him 4. Sometimes great afflictions overtake us when we decline in grace God deals with his own children as Gideon did with the men of Succoth Judg. 8.16 He took the elders of the City and thorns of the wilderness and briars and with them he caught the men of Succoth So God with the briars and thorns of afflictions teacheth his people and makes them know the bitterness of falling from their graces by such means a recovery is wrought in them Hos 2.6 5. Your lusts grow through the decay of grace Lusts and grace are in us as two buckets in a well if the bucket of grace goes down sin riseth up Your Gardeners observe of trees planted neer together in a fat soil if the one withereth the other flourisheth the more it is true of grace and sin If grace decay sin will flourish the more if you delight not in the graces of Gods Spirit he will make you to groan under the burden of your lusts if you do not believe as formerly he will make you to cry out Oh my cursed unbelief if you do not walk humbly with God he will make you cry out Oh my cursed pride c. 6. A decay in all duties of godliness followeth a decay in your graces Grace makes the wheels of your chariots run gallantly the more grace in your hearts the more activity in prayer the more spiritual strength in all spiritual services lose grace and you lose your strength you cannot pray as formerly because you believe not as formerly you are not fervent in prayer because you are not zealous as heretofore the less oil is in the lamp the more dimly it burneth you cannot expect a great heat from the fire if you take out the fuel that maintaineth it Reas 3. Consider the folly of this course the grace that ye lose you must repair again if you desire communion with God again or desire to recover your joy and comfort or your spiritual strength again as a man climbing a ladder falling from many rounds can never get to the top till he hath recovered the very step from which he fell so it is in our fall from grace we must never look to enjoy what we formerly had till we recover that measure of grace from which we fell CHAP. XVII Vse 1. THe first Use is of Exhortation You that think you are in the state of grace and have abundance of the Spirit poured out upon you have a watchful eye that ye spill not a drop of the grace of God it is Gods own image will ye not be careful to keep that from the least defacing it is the divine nature will you part with that it is the blood royal of Heaven lose not a drop of it Do you desire to maintain communion with God to walk in the light of his countenance to be filled with the joy of Christ do you desire to run like a Giant the course of Christianity then take heed of falling from that measure of grace you have received Quest What must we take heed of that we fall not Resp 1. Take heed of the neglect of holy duties Watermen say they lose more by missing one stroke then they can gain by many So may a Christian lose more by neglect of one duty of one Ordinance then he can gain by many that man will not grow rich in grace that grows poor in duty the praying the hearing the meditating Christian is the thriving Christian as in nature the seed brings forth the flowers and the flowers bring forth the seed if one fail both will fail so in grace the seed of saving grace brings forth the flower of spiritual duties and the flower of spiritual duties brings forth the seed and fruit of grace 2. Take heed of remissness in duty remissness in grace will follow upon it in praying we must pray in hearing hear serve God with all your might then God will strengthen us with all might in the inner man that man that doth not exercise his graces in duties will lose his graces he that prays not in faith will lose faith in praying it is an heavy curse if a man in seeing see not and in hearing hear not it is no less when a man in praying prayeth not 3. Take heed of over-much love of the world the love of the world is a cause of total apostacy from God as we see in Judas and Demas he that is too careful in seeking the things of the world will be too careless in seeking the things of Christ The Arabians have
you ought to take heed of falling away in divers respects 1. All the good that ever you did in your lives will prove lost labour if you fall away all your fastings prayings hearing of Sermons humiliations all your zeal and forwardness all your righteousness shall be forgotten as if you had never done any holy duty or service at all Ezek. 18.24 for as it is said of a backslider returning home again ver 22. that all his transgressions which he had before committed shall not be mentioned so when a Professor turneth away from his righteousness all his former righteousness shall not be remembred God will look on that man as if he had never prayed nor done any good duty at all 2. If you fall away all the good you have done shall be an aggravation of your destruction of your torments in Hell all thy prayers all thy fastings c. shall be as so many piles of wood to encrease the fire of Hell all the Sermons thou hast heard shall heat Hell seven times hotter for thee then others thy profession lifted thee up to Heaven it shall then cast thee down to the lowest Hell Tell me O ye tormenting Divels ye that are the keepers of Gods house of eternal correction and vengeance hath not the Judge of all the world expressed in his Warranâ— that when as the petty drunkards and other profane persons are to be lashed but with whips only that you shall lash Judas and Demas with scorpions 3. If you fall away God will never take any pleasure in you more It is no less then treason for a Subject to withdraw his allegiance from his Prince and become a servant to his Enemy and it is high treason against Christ to fall from him and become a servant to his Enemy it makes God to abhor him If any man draw back my soul shall have no pleasure in him Heb. 10.38 The husband may bear much with the froward humours of his wife while she is chast and sincere but if she withdraw from him and follow after other Lovers he cannot endure it God takes no delight either in the persons or services of Apostates whatsoever duties are done by them in their declining estate the Lord abhorreth he takes delight in his Spouse that keeps close to him Cant. 2.14 O my Dove saith he let me see thy countenance sweet is thy voice and thy face is comely but God heareth not the prayers regardeth not the services of such sinners as these are if any be performed by them 4. A spiritual curse from God commonly seizeth on Apostates which as the waters of jealousie under the Law given to suspected women made their bellies to rot so this curse upon Apostates will make their gifts parts seeming graces to rot an Apostate like Nebuchadnezzars image degenerateth from an head of gold and breast of silver into feet of iron and clay when a man keeps close to God he blesseth that little that he hath and it encreaseth into a great stock but when a man departs from God he is like a sieve that can hold no water or like a golden cup with an hole in the bottom as the tree which our Saviour cursed for having no fruit when he came to seek some from it dried up immediately from the top to the roots so a spiritual rottenness doth immediately and insensibly spread over their parts and gifts and spiritual abilities How can it be otherwise for the Spirit of God which gives life to all ceaseth from his common workings in them when the soul leaves the body it hastens to putrefaction presently so doth a Christian wither and decay when the Spirit of God leaveth him That curse which David wished to the mountains of Gilboa on which Saul and Jonathan were slain falls upon backsliders Ye mountains of Gilboa let no rain nor dew fail upon you so God saith of such as fall away from him let not the dew of my Word fall upon thy heart any more hear thou but never understand my Word more He that goes from Jerusalem to Jericho shall surely fall among Thieves and lose his raiment and be wounded Grace is like the leaves of a tree when they fall off from the tree winter cometh on immediately See what backsliders are termed in Scripture they are called degenerate Plants and strange Vines Jerem. 2.21 Reprobate silver shall men call them Jerem. 6.30 they are like land-floods that run violently and spend their strength as quickly and soon dry up Job 6.15 they are compared to Summer-fruits that soon putrifie Amos 8.1 2. our Saviour compareth them to shallow-rooted corn that soon withereth for want of depth of earth Math. 13.20 they are called empty vines bringing forth fruit to themselves Hos 10.1 Hâ—w woful was the hand of God upon Spira and Latomus of Lovain whose minds being fiâ—led with divine terrours unto their end cryed out that they were damned and rejected of God because that against their conscience they had fallen from the truths of the Gospel 5. Because of Gods dreadful exemplary revenge which sometimes he executeth upon such as fall away from him filling their consciences with horrour and their souls with final despair of mercy time was when they had some flashy comforts in duty but this spring is now dried up from them the Spirit of God is departed from them and an evil spirit from the Lord is fallen upon them as it did on Saul tormenting them with horrour and possessing them with dreadful apprehensions of inevitable and intolerable damnation Who can conceive what Boanerges what sons of thunder their consciences become within their bosoms continually crying out upon them Oh wretched creature what hast thou done whom hast thou forsaken what hast thou cast off thy God thy Lord hast thou forsaken the fountain of living waters hast thou forsaken him who is the God of peace the God of comfort of happiness of all goodness I must tell thee God hath forsaken thee and he will say to thee Receive within thy self the determinate sentence of damnation which the Court of Heaven hath irrevocably passed upon thee Moreover God sometimes executeth some outward remarkable judgment upon revolters Lot's wife had been in Egypt and not poisoned with the superstitions of Egypt lived in Sodom and not polluted with the sins of Sodom she was delivered from the errours of Vr delivered from the captivity of the five Kings and at last delivered from perishing with the Cities of the Plain yet after all this she forsook her own mercy and perisheth in the sin of defection therefore saith our Saviour Remember Lot's wife Luke 17.32 6. However the present dealings of God are with backsliders yet in the end they shall certainly fall into everlasting destruction from the glorious presence of that God whose gracious presence they despised in this life God will then punish their departure from him with a departure he will then say to them seeing ye have departed from me ye shall
the hearts of Divels glad O let it not be said of you as Paul of the Galathians Ye did run well for a time O what hath bewitched or besorted you that ye are turned aside Christ saith Where I am there shall my servant be also Are ye willing to be with Christ hereafter and will you not follow him here do you think to run away from him here and be with him in Heaven if you leave him he can soon have other and better followers but be ye sure ye shall never find such a Saviour such a Master again Consider how unwilling God is to part with you though you have been guilty of some revoltings Hos 11.7 8. see how God saith in the like case My people are bent to backsliding from me c. How shall I deliver thee up Ephraim how shall I deliver thee Israel thou art bent to backsliding and deservest I should give thee up yet I cannot tell how to do it CHAP. XIII Vse 3. LEt me now call upon lapsed and backsliding Christians to take notice of their sad condition and bewail their loss Take that counsel given to the Church of Ephesus Rev. 2.4 5. Remember from whence thou art fallen and from whom thou art departed thou art departed from God the fountain of life If a rush go out of the water it quickly withereth and if a soul depart from God it will soon decay Let all those that are in this estate bewail their sad condition Time was they were as trees planted by the rivers of water spreading and flourishing their fruits were fair and full but now they are become as trees in the wilderness in a forlorn estate their sweet Spring is turned into a sad Autumn their first days were their best days and their last their worst days Time was they were full of liveliness in Gods service but now they are cold and dead their halcyon days are fled away and the bonds of death have taken hold of them Ah! let such a one say My heart was once the Temple of God and the Throne of Christ I had sweet commerce with God receiving lively oracles from his mouth daily but now I sit in the region of darkness time was his statutes were my songs in this vale of Boehim but now I taste no sweetness in them while I kept close with God the tears which I abundantly poured forth were as pleasant waters to me but now the fountain is stopp'd and these streams are dried up and gone my heart was wont to melt in duty but now my comfort is gone and that heart that was once an heart of flesh is now become an heart of stone Oh what is become of the chain of graces that were linked together within me where are those operations of faith where is that lively hope where are those overflowings of love that once I had where are those holy desires those heavenly raptures those enflamed affections those heavenly ejaculations those spiritual dispositions that once met in a blessed conjunction in my soul I that was once under the guardianship of Angels am now constrained like Daniel to lie down in the den of horrour among devouring Lions Time was I had recourse to God and oh how sweet was the repast I had in his presence but now my God is gone my glory is departed I entreat thee O backsliding soul to remember from whence thou art fallen and lament thy doleful estate and reckon that in this condition thou art more miserable then those that never tasted that God is gracious because once thou wast in a happy condition Miserum est fuisse faelicem it is a miserable thing once to have been happy The wicked think they are well enough without God because they never knew what it was to enjoy him but this is the backsliders misery that he hath lost him whom once he did enjoy CHAP. XIV Vse 4. LEt me now perswade backsliders to return to God resolve with the Church Hos 2.7 I will go and return to my first husband for then it was better with me then now make haste to recover out of this sad estate the business requires speed what the Angel said to Peter I say to you Arise quickly Act. 12.7 while you are in this condition you are at a great and constant loss you lose much peace much inward strength many refreshings from Gods Spirit many love-tokens from Christ many tastes of spiritual delights therefore make haste and return do as the Disciples when Christ called them they left all and followed him and as David when for a time he had declined I thought on my ways and turned my feet to thy testimonies Psal 119.59 60. I made haste and delayed not to keep thy commandments Oh do not delay your returning to God! if your hearts tempt you to delay consider that delay is but a modest denial when men have a mind to put away repentance they put it off God requires a present returning to him the longer you delay the deeper you run into Gods debt and run the more under the power of sin I will propound a motive or two to encourage such persons to return 1. Consider Gods willingness to receive such as return to him David's heart longed to go forth to meet his son Absalom the Father of the Prodigal made haste to receive and welcome his straying son that went from him into a far Country and rejoyced that he that was lost was found again God calls upon such to return Return ye back-sliding children Oh that every backslider could say with the Church Behold we come unto thee for thou art the Lord our God Jerem. 3.22 2. Turn to him and he will heal all your backslidings Hos 14.4 There is no Physitian in heaven or in earth can cure this falling-sickness but God only he will not only heal you by the application of the blood of Christ to pardon you but also by the application of his Spirit of grace to renew and establish you in grace and when the Lord healeth his peoples backslidings he will never upbraid them with what they have done he looks upon backsliding Ephraim upon his repentance as a pleasant child and though God spake against him yet his heart is still upon him I remember him still I will surely have mercy upon him Jerem. 31.20 But if after all this you will not return the Lord may shut you up in a desperate state for ever Joh. 8.21 I go away saith Christ to the obstinate Jews and you shall seek me but you shall dye in your sins Oh consider that hereafter you may find God as inexorable as now you are obstinate and then though you should seek him he may leave you to dye in your sins and then wo unto you if you dye in such a condition then the back-slider in heart shall be filled with his own ways Prov. 14.14 Backsliders shall eat the fruit of their own way and be filled with their own devices the turning away