DIRECTIONS to believers for the preserving of faith 4/4

 Fifth Direction.  If thou wouldst preserve thy faith, labour to increase it.  None [are] in more dan­ger of losing what they have than those poor-spirited men who are content with what they have.  A spark is sooner smothered than a flame; a drop more easily drunk up and dried than a river.  The stronger thy faith is, the safer thy faith is from the enemies’ as­saults.  The intelligence which an enemy hath of a castle's being weakly provided for a siege, is enough to bring him against it, which else should not have been troubled with his company.  The devil is a coward, and he loves to fight on the greatest advantage; and greater he cannot have than the weakness of the Christian’s faith.  Didst thou but know, Christian, the many privileges of a strong faith above a weak, thou wouldst never rest till thou hadst it.  Strong faith comes conqueror out of those temptations where weak faith is foiled and taken prisoner.  Those Philis­tines could not stand before Samson in his strength, who durst dance about him scornfully in his weak­ness.  When David’s faith was up how undauntedly did he look death in the face! I Sam. 30:6.  But, when that was out of heart, O how poor-spirited is he! —ready to run his head into every hole, though never so dishonourably, to save himself, I Sam. 21:13.

           Strong faith frees the Christian from those heart-rending thoughts which weak faith must needs be op­pressed with.  ‘Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee,’ Isa. 26:3.  So much faith, so much inward peace and quietness.  If little faith, then little peace and serenity, through the storms that our unbelieving fears will necessarily gather.  If strong faith, then strong peace; for so the ingemination in the Hebrew, ‘peace, peace,’ imports. It is confessed that weak faith hath as much peace with God through Christ as the other hath by his strong faith, but not so much bosom peace.  Weak faith will as surely land the Christian in heaven as strong faith; for it is impossible the least dram of true grace should perish, being all incorruptible seed.  But the weak doubting Christian is not like to have so pleasant a voyage thither as another with strong faith. Though all in the ship come safe to shore, yet he that is all the way sea‑sick hath not so comfortable a voy­age as he that is strong and healthful.  There are many delightful prospects occur in a journey which he that is sick and weak loseth the pleasure of.  But the strong man views all with abundance of delight; and though he wisheth with all his heart he was at home, yet the entertainment he hath from these do much shorten and sweeten his way to him.  Thus, Christian, there are many previous delights which saints travel­ling to heaven meet on their way thither—besides what God hath for them at their journey’s end—but it is the Christian whose faith is strong and active on the promise that finds them.  This is he who sees the spiritual glories in the promise that ravish his soul with unspeakable delight; while the doubting Chris­tian's eye of faith is so gummed up with unbelieving fears that he can see little to affect him in it.  This is he that goes singing all the way with the promise in his eye; while the weak Christian, kept in continual pain with his own doubts and jealousies, goes sighing and mourning with a heavy heart, because his interest in the promise is yet under a dispute in his own thoughts.  As you would not therefore live uncomfortably, and have a dull melancholy walk of it to heaven, labour to strengthen your faith.

           Question.  But may be you will ask, How may I know whether my faith be strong or weak?  I answer by these following characters.