A Golden Chain

Desertion in sin, is when God withdrawing the assistance of his spirit, a man is left to fall into some actual and grievous sin. And for all this no man is to think that God is the author of sin, but only man that falleth, & Satan. A resemblance of this trueth we may see in a staff: which, if a man shall take & set upright upon the ground, so long as he holds it with his hand, it stands upright; but so soon as he withdraws his hand, though he never push it down, it falls of it self. In this desertion was the good king Hezekiah, of whom the holy Ghost speaketh thus:¹ Hezekiah prospered in all his ways, therefore dealing with the Ambassadors of the Princes of Babel which set to him to enquire of the wonder which was done in the land, God left him (namely, to the pride of his heart to exalt himself) in tempting him, that he might try out all that was in his heart. To this place appertain, Noes drunkenness, Davids adultery, Peter denial of Christ. The reason of such desertions may be this. If a patient shall be grievously sick, the physician will use all manner of means that can be devised to recover him, & if he once come to a desperate case, the physician rather then he will not restore him, will employ all his skill; he will take poison, and so temper it, and against the nature thereof he will make a sovereign remedy to recover health. The elect children of God, are diseased with an inward, hidden, and spiritual pride; whereby they affect themselves, and desire to be something in themselves forth of Christ: and this sin is very dangerous: first• because when other sins die in a man, this secret pride gets strength: for Gods grace is the matter of pride, in such wise, that a man will be proud, because he is not proud: for example, if any shall be tempted of the devil to some proud behaviour, and by Gods grace get the victory; then the heart thus thinketh, Oh thou hast done well, thou hast foiled the enemy, neither pride nor any other sin can prevail against thee; such and such could never have done so: and a very good man shall hardly be free from such kind of motions in this life. Secondly, there is no greater enemy to faith then pride is: for it poisoneth the heart and maketh it uncapable of that grace, so long as it beareth any sway:

Desertion in sinne, is when God withdrawing the assistance of his spirit, a man is left to fall into some actuall and grieuous sin. And for all this no man is to thinke that God is the author of sin, but onely man that falleth, & Satan. A resemblance of this trueth we may see in a staffe: which, if a man shall take & set vpright vpon the ground, so long as he holds it with his hand, it stands vpright; but so soone as he withdrawes his hand, though he neuer push it down, it falls of it selfe. In this desertion was the good king Hezechiah, of whom the holy Ghost speaketh thus: