the whole AromaofGo& 3 35 flefh , which had growne over it ? And 7on4b, (other- wife a holy Prophet) vv hen God %you'd fend himon an errand toNineveh, he hath his "hoes to feek, I mean that preparation and read ineffe with which his minde fhould have been fhod, to have gone at the firft call. Good Hizakiah wefinde how near his helmet of hope was of being beatenoffhis head, who tells us himfelf what his thoughts were in the day of his diftreffe, that he fhould not fee the Lord in the land of the living, expelling that God would never let go his hold, till like a Lion he had brokr kis bones, and at 147 made an endof him. Even Abraham himfelfe, famous for faith, yet had his fits of unbelief and chflruftful qualms coming over his valiant heart ; now in this cafe the Chriftians care fhould be to get his armour fpeedily repaired. A battered helmet is next to no Lima in point ofprefent ule; grace in a de cay, is like a man pull'd oft his legs by fickneffe ; if tome meanes be not uled to recover it, little fervice will bedone by it, or corn fort received from it. Therefore Chrift gives this Church ofE- phefies (to whom 'Pau/wrote this Epiftle) this counfel, To re- member fromwhence /he Was fallen, to repent anddo herfirfi works!. How many does a declining Chriftian wrong at once ? Firft, he wrongs God, and that in a high degree, becaufe God reckons upon more honour to be paid him in by his Saints grace, then by all other talents which his creatures have to trade with in the world, Henan in tonne fenfe better bear the open fins of the world, then the decayes of his Saints graces ; they by abufing their talents rob him but of his oyle3 11,1xe andwool: But the Chriftian by the other, bereaves himof the glory which fhould be paid him from his faith, zeal, patience, felf-denial, cerity and the refl. Suppofe a Mafter fhould mil one fervant withhis mony, and another withhis child to be look'c to ; would he not be more difpleafed to fee his dear childe hurt, or almoft kili'd by thenegligence of the one, then his money stollen by the carelefneffe of the other ? Grace is the new creature, the birthof the Spirit, when this comes to any harme by the Chriftians care- leffe walking, it mull needs go nearer the heart of God, then the wrong he bath from the world, who are trolled with nothing like this. Secondly, he that declines in grace, and labours not to repair it,he wrongs his brethren who have a (hare in one anothers grace; 8 he
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