A caveat to the standing Christian, and to him that thinketh he standeth by William Gearing ...

CHAP. XVI.

2. YEt notwithstanding, though a godly man cannot fall from the state of grace, yet may he fall from that measure of grace which he hath; the day-star of grace may go back like the Sun in Ahaz dial 10 degrees, but shall never set; the Saints may go back from many degrees of love, but shall never fall from love it self; the spring of living waters may run low, but shall never dry up: Christ told Peter, I have prayed for thee, that thy faith may not fail, yet we see it did shake; non rogavit ut ne de∣ficeret, sed ut ne prorsus deficeret; his prayer was not, that there should be no failing at all, but that there should not be an utter decay.

3. A godly man may fall from the vigorous exercise of his graces; this is an infallible consequent of the former; for the actings of grace are proportionable to the measure; if strong, then vigorous actions; if weak, then weak acti∣ons: a decay of vital operations follows the decay of vi∣tal spirits: the less the flame is, the lesser is both the heat and light of the fire. He that is ambitious to put forth eminent acts of grace, must labour for an eminent mea∣sure of grace; he that desireth to believe as Abraham did, must have the like measure of faith as he had: a weak child cannot put forth manly acts. Of this kind of fall∣ing a godly man must take heed.

Reas. 1. Because of the excellency of grace: as it is said of truth, Quisquilia veritatis sunt preciosae, the sweep∣ings of truth are precious; so it may be said of grace: the very filings of gold are precious; one grain of grace is more worth then all the world; one act of faith is bet∣ter then silver, then fine gold, more precious then rubies; all things a man can desire are not to be compared to a dram of grace: a man is loth to lose the head of a pin that is made of gold, nor the smallest piece of a diamond;

shall a godly man be careless of the least degrees of grace, more worth then a Mine of gold or a rock of diamonds? See how careful the wise Virgins were, they would not spare one drop of their oil, though to save the soul of a∣nother: an Angel would sooner part with his glorious joy, then part with a drop of grace: he that truly know∣eth the worth of grace, 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; spiri∣tual 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 sor∣rows 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 wa∣ters 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 Phy∣sitians 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 hum∣bled 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 decay∣ing 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 bri∣ars, and with them he caught the men of Succoth: So God with the briars and thorns of afflictions teacheth his peo∣ple, 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 ob∣serve 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 spiri∣tual services: lose grace, and you lose your strength; you cannot pray as formerly, because you believe not as for∣merly; 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 commu∣nion with God again, or desire to recover your joy and comfort, or your spiritual strength again: as a man climb∣ing 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.