As you know a man is said to lean upon a thing, not when he bears up himself only by his own feet, but when he rests a great part, if not the whole weight of his body, upon some thing or person else, so that if it fail, he falleth: so thus it is to lean, to rest upon Christ, to commit the whole weight and stress of our souls to him, that if he fail me, I am undone, I am lost for ever, I see I am in a miserable condition, I see he is an all-sufficient Saviour, I see that there is nothing but death in me, I see there is life enough in him, and he invites me to come over to him, he entreats, beseecheth, promiseth, and therefore I will go over to him, I will cast my self wholly on him, I will look no other way, there will I trust, and if I perish, I perish: I will dye in his arms, I will dye believing. This indeed is that great act of faith, which entitleth us to Christ, and gives us an interest in him; even in the dusk of the morning the soul hath an interest. And therefore on the contrary, there is no readier way to be mistaken, and so to miscarry, than to trust equally to two stays, to trust to Christ, and to trust to our selves too. As there is no way whereby a man is likelier to fall, than to trust equally to two boughs, whereof the one is sound, and the other rotten; whereof if one break, it is as bad as if both did, the man is sure to come to the ground; whereas had he ⟨p. 51⟩pitched his whole weight on the sound one only, he had been born up. So here, in leaning both on Christ and our selves; whereas if we commit our souls, and all their burdens to Christ only, if we fail, he sinks with us: We are sure to be upheld, the Promise, Covenant, the Oath of Christ, even Christ himself, and all would sink, if we fail.
As you know a man is said to lean upon a thing, not when he bears up himself onely by his own feet, but when he rests a great part, if not the whole weight of his body, upon some thing or person else, so that if it fail, he falleth: so thus it is to lean, to rest upon Christ, to commit the whole weight and stress of our souls to him, that if he fail me, I am undone, I am lost for ever, I see I am in a miserable condition, I see he is an all-sufficient Saviour, I see that there is nothing but death in me, I see there is life enough in him, and he invites me to come over to him, he intreats, beseecheth, promiseth, and therefore I will go over to him, I will cast my self wholly on him, I will look no other way, therewill I trust, and if I perish, I perish: I will dye in his arms, I will dye believing. This indeed is that great act of faith, which entituleth us to Christ, and gives us an interest in him; even in the dusk of the morning the soul hath an interest. And therefore on the contrary, there is no readier way to be mistaken, and so to miscarry, than to trust equally to two stays, to trust to Christ, and to trust to our selves too. As there is no way whereby a man is likelier to fall, than to trust equally to two boughs, whereof the one is sound, and the other rotten; whereof if one break, it is as bad as if both did, the man is sure to come to the ground; whereas had he ⟨p. 51⟩pitched his whole weight on the sound one onely, he had been born up. So here, in leaning both on Christ and our selves; whereas if we commit our souls, and all their burdens to Christ onely, if we fail, he sinks with us: We are sure to be upheld, the Promise, Covenant, the Oath of Christ, even Christ himself, and all would sink, if we fail.
