Let every one that hath by baptism begun to renounce the devil and all his works, entirely dedicate himself to the service of the Lord of hosts: *Let him deeply consider, with how high and holy a majesty, with how great a monarch (who indeed, is the only potentate) he hath entrusted his soul and body; and no more fear them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul. Let him think with himself how secure he is under the protection of so great a King. He dwelleth in the secret of the Most High; he abideth in the shadow of the Almighty. But let him also duly consider, that he is not to fight this combat by his own strength; but that the captain of the Lord’s hosts, delivering his own sword to him, will arm him with his own power, and say unto him, as he did unto Joshua, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. Have not I commanded thee? Be strong, and of good courage; be not afraid; neither be thou dismayed: for [♦]the Lord thy God is with thee, whithersoever thou goest.
[♦] duplicate word “the” removed
In fine, renew thyself in the daily spirit of thy mind, and draw life and nourishment from the word of God. Stir up thyself in prayer, and strengthen thyself with the company of other faithful Christians: since, where two or three are gathered together in his name, there is Christ in the midst of them. Thou oughtest to stir up the gift of God, the child-like, chearful spirit always, and without intermission, even as a fire, by constant blowing is kept up to a flame. Press towards higher degrees of faith, by pondering the promises of God, and continually exercising thy love to thy neighbour, with all singleness of heart, to the uttermost of thy power, wherever God giveth thee opportunity. For nothing conduces more to the increase of faith, than a continual exercise of it.
And if a man know himself to be naturally bashful and fearful, let him with the greater earnestness assault this enemy, and labour to keep a conscience void of offence, lest his natural fearfulness grow upon him. Let him have a care, in the beginning, not to make himself the slave of other men, especially of them that are in high places; but behave himself always as a faithful servant of God, in all discretion and humility. Or, if he has at first fallen short, let him the more now encourage himself in God, to obey him henceforth rather than man; not suffering himself to be any more shaken either by force or subtilty. He ought to lift up his head in the power of Christ, though under the hardest combat; and to make the glory of God his whole and sole end, in all he does, or leaves undone. Blessed is he that thus standeth his ground in all combats and assaults; he shall go from faith to faith, from strength to strength, and finally overcome all things with Christ.
CHAPTER VI.
Of Christian discretion.
1.AS flesh and blood is commonly inclined either to exceed or fall short in matters of duty; so it is easy, while we avoid the fear of man, to run into presumption, rashness, and inconsiderateness. Therefore it is necessary that we be continually on our guard, that so our boldness may be ever tempered by wisdom; that wisdom I mean which cometh from above, and is called by St. Luke, the wisdom of the just. And so St. Paul stiles it the spirit of a sound mind: God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. For indeed one spirit works all this in man; and through him again in others; making him not only discharge his duty with undaunted courage, and giving him a pure desire to promote nothing but the glory of God, and the good of his neighbour, but enabling him also, in all his doings and sufferings, to behave with divine prudence and wisdom. And if any lack this wisdom, let him ask of God, and it shall be given him. It shall surely be given him, who continually keeps a watchful eye over his own spirit; who is ever humbling himself in the sight of God; and, like a helpless infant, praying to God for discretion and understanding, and taking the word of God for his constant counsellor.
2. Where this foundation is laid, we need not fear any hurt from the boldness of faith. And though perhaps, for want of experience, it may not always be exerted in due time and place, yet we are to take heed, as soon as we are sensible of it, not to be too much dejected for this imperfection; but to praise God, who therefore shews us our failings, that we may mend them, and who will himself supply what is yet behind. And whenever we observe such failings in others, we ought to be particularly cautious how we judge them. For God will not judge according to our, but according to his own mind; and out of the mouths of babes and sucklings he hath often perfected praise.
But hereby we do not in the least reflect upon any one, who, from a long experience in the ways of the Lord, doth, in the spirit of love, mind his brother of the failings, which have overtaken him in any of his actions. By this he doth not stifle any good that is in him, but rather prunes the good tree from its superfluous, irregular shoots, taking care of, and having an eye over it, that it may bring forth its fruit in due season.