bring forth fruit in due season theÌ„ shall not our leaueâ— wither and that which we take in hand shall prosper vnto the full fruition and happy enioying of that his loue wherof he hath now giuen vs an assurance in his Sonne Iesus Christ. Read well and reape much poâ—â—esse your soules with patience and assist me with your prayers Your seruant for the Lord Iesus W. B. THE FIRST SERMON OF THE ASSVRAVNCE OF GODS LOVE Nouember 19. Psal. 41.11.12.13 By this I know that thou fauourest me because my enemy doth not triumph against me 12. And as for me thou vpholdest me in mine integritie and doest set me before thy face for euer 31. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel without end So be it euen so be it COncerning the author of this Psalme it was the Prophet Dauid who was both moued thereunto and guided therein by the holy Ghost and therfore we néed not doubt to receiue the doctrine thereof because he which is the spirite of truth neuer led any but to the truth The time when he made it was as it séemeth in y e 9. verse wheÌ„ Absalom aspiring to the kingdome like a monster in nature sought by the wicked counsell of that faithlesse counseller fained friend Achitophel to pull from his owne father the crowne vpon his head to lay his honour in the dust and his life in the graue No small teÌ„ptation either to blaspheme or to dispaire yet he did neither of both because God kept him from both but then eueÌ„ in that hard time of winter as we may call it bethought with him selfe how he might make his affliction an occasion of further profit to himselfe and the whole Church of God whereby it appeareth that no affliction is able to quaile the spirite of God in the godly but as oyle maketh the fire to flame out which before did but onely burne so with the godly when the outward man doth perish the inward man is renued and their afflictions doe make the spirite to flame out of theÌ„ to the good of others which before did but burne within them to their owne comfort Now for the matter of the Psalme In generall he sheweth 1. How great his afflictioÌ„ was 2. How greatly he profited by it But more particularly he recordeth 1. The blessed estate of such as did wisely consider of his distressed estate verses 1.2.3 2. He sheweth y e cause of his affliction to be his sinne ver 4.3 He setteth downe the greatnesse of his affliction and the daunger that he stoode iâ— for his enemies looked euery day for his death and destruction And of those his enemies he nameth thrée sortes The. 1. sort were flatterers of whom he complaineth and saith that they would come to sée him but they would speake lyes horde vp wickednesse in their hart as in a vessell and when they could get fit oportunitie they would emptie it vpon him vers 6. The 2. sorte were malitious whisperers which did nothing but priuily contriue his ouerthrow of whom he complaineth in the 7. 8. verses thus All that hate me whisper together against me euen against me do they imagine my hurt A mischief is light vpon him and he that is downe shall no more arise The 3. sort were a more trecherous brood who while they pretended kindnesse intended his subuersion like Iudas who couered his treason with a kisse Of these traiteroâ—s companions he complaineth in the 9. verse after this manner Yea my familiar frend whom I trusted which did eate of my bread hath lifted vp the heele against me And therefore being thus beset with open enemies on one side with flattering clawbackes on the other side with whisperers behinde traitors before his daunger must needes be great and his case in mans sight very desperate 4. He sheweth what meanes he vsed to preuent them all and that was prayer to God as appeareth in the 10. verse Therefore O lord raise me vp so shall I reward them But least Sathan might perswade him to doubt of Gods fauour towardes him in his affliction as he would haue done with Iob in his temptation and so make him either cold in prayer or distrufull in prayer that so he might also haue lost the fruite of his prayer therefore in the 5. place he proueth by two arguments y t all this notwithstanding God doth still fauour him The 1. is draweÌ„ froÌ„ his enemies person in the 11. verse The 2. is taken from the consideration of his owne person in the 12. verse Last of all because God had geuen him such tokens of his loue therfore he concludeth his Psalme with thankesgeuing vnto God in this sort Blessed be the Lord God of Israell world without end c. This Psalme was left vnto the Church of God doth teach vs. 1. To take héede how we do rashly coÌ„demne those that be in trouble and affliction and are beset with diuers sorts of enemies but wisely to consider and charitably to iudge of their cause if we looke for the Lordes helpe when we are in trouble our selues and not to measure Gods fauour by outward prosperitie nor his anger by outward aduersitie as blind worldlings commonly vse to do 2. That the vse of affliction is to worke in vs repentaunce for our sinnes to make vs flye to Gods mercy for succour as Dauid did 3. That Gods childreÌ„ while they liue shall liue in dauÌ„ger of open enemies of malitious whisperers and false brethren though they be as godly as Dauid was 4. That if we theÌ„ go to God by prayer we shall preuent all our enemies if they were as many as Dauids were 5. That in our prayers we must be assured of Gods loue in Christ to vs ward least otherwise we loose the fruite of our prayer 6. That when God hath heard vs we must with hartie consent prayse vnto him for it as Dauid did So much of y e Psal. in generall now to the text By this I know c. In this text we sée two things 1. How Dauid assureth himselfe of Gods loue towardes him 2. How thankefull he is to God for assuring him of his loue The .1 he doth by two arguments One takeÌ„ froÌ„ his enemies they were preueÌ„ted of their expectation therefore thou louest me The other is taken from his owne estate which was no whit hurt or impaired but bettered by them In his thankesgiuing we may note two things 1. To whom he giueth thankes namely to the Lord God of Israell 2. In what manner he geueth thankes with doubling of his speach in tokeÌ„ of his harty vnfained coÌ„sent to that which he spake as one afrayed that it was not wel inough when it was at the best he saith So be it euen so be it So much for y e methode now to the matter By this I know that thou fauorest me c. First here the Prophet speaketh of his knowledge and telleth vs that though he knew
owne glory and to the saluation of his children So God turned Adams fall to the manifesting of hiâ— owne glory and to Adams good for by thiâ— meanes had Adam experieÌ„ce of Gods greaâ— and infinite mercy and might say By this 〈◊〉 know that thou fauorest me because thoâ— forgauest me and didst not suffer the deuil to triumph against me so all the slippes and falles of Gods children are turned to their good in as much as by them they are made more fearefull of sinne and more watchfull ouer their wayes as the child is fearefull of the candle when he hath once burnt his finger in y e flame And S. Paule telleth vs from God that all things shall fall out for the good yea for the best to them that loue God Now of this point we may make a very holy vse It serueth first to confirme and vphold our faith in the prouidence of God and not to feare the endeuours of the wicked because we sée that God doth still dispose of theÌ„ to our good if we be his children Againe this may stand vs in good stead when our affeâ—tions begin to boyle in a burning desire of reuenge against our enemies would we be reuenged of theÌ„ The best way to be reuenged of our enemies is to pitie their case and to make that profite of them which Dauid did of his that is still to looke to God in theÌ„ theÌ„ shall we be sure to be no loosers but gayners by them whither they will or no. But here some may demaund and say Doth God vse to handle his beloued so or may a man be sure of Gods fauour being beset with so many enemies and ouerwhelmed with such heapes of troubles especially sinne being the cause wherewith God is prouoked to anger To which we may answere that sinne indéede is the cause of all our troubles but yet whatsoeuer the Lord layeth vpon his children here it is not a punishmeÌ„t of their sinne for that was discharged by the hellish suffrings of the Lord Iesus Christ but it is a fatherly correction froÌ„ which we are no more fréed by the death of Christ then we are fréed from our naturall death And it is layed vpon vs by our heaueÌ„ly father for two principall causes first to preuent sinne which we might fall into as presumption contempt vnthankefulnesse forgetfulnesse of God and many moe Secondly they are layed vpon vs as Phisicke to cure and heale sinnes which we are already fallen into and this is that which Dauid confesseth when he saith before I was afflicted I went astray but now I keepe thy word and therefore he saith It was good for him to be afflicted that he might learne the statutes of the Lord. And in both these endes of our afflictions the Lordes purpose is to stay vs that we runne not with the wicked world headlong to damnatioÌ„ whom he hath geuen ouer to them selues So that troubles and enemies are sent to vs the children of God as Phisicke and therewith all he sends a priuate messenger to tell vs that he loueth vs for all that it is because he loueth vs to that end y t we may be assured y t he loueth vs that messenger is his spirite of adoptioÌ„ which certifieth our spirites that we are the children of God And this being once made sure then all is sure But now the question is by what ordinarie meanes the spirite of adoption doth conuay this certificate of Gods fauour vnto the harts of Gods children in their afflictions for as God doth assure his children of his louing fauour in Christ Iesus so he doth it by ordinarie meanes which meanes being not vsed or neglected this assurance faileth and falleth from vs and nothing remaineth but either a bare faÌ„cie flotting in the aire in stead of a sure faith builded on a firme foundation and when trouble comes an impatient spirite to beare vp the burdeÌ„ and when death comes a heape of sorrow and a heauie waight of despaire to presse downe to y e lowest hells The meanes then by which the spirite of God doth worke this assuraunce in the harts of the godly is the preaching of the Gospell which is called glad tidings because it makes the harts of the faithfull to become ioyfull and glad And S Paule to put vs out of doubt that the spirite worketh not without the word of God calleth the word the sword of the spirite to teach vs that howsoeuer the spirite of God must beate downe Sathan and cut downe infidelitie impatiencie despaire presumption and all our vnrulie affectioÌ„s and howsoeuer it worketh faith patience ioy streÌ„gth courage c. yet all this it effecteth â—and bringeth to passe by the meanes of the word of God preached read heard marked and meditated vpoÌ„ for as the word without the spirite is but dead to the hearer so the spirite of God without the opening of Gods wil in hiâ— word doth not ordinarily giue this comfortable assurance of Gods loue Aske the Prophet Dauid himselfe who had this comfortable assuraunce of Gods fauour in affliction aske him I say how he came be it or how iâ— came to him and he will tell vs that by thâ— word of God he came vnto it for so he saith Except thy law had bene my delight I had perished in my affliction for therein he fouÌ„â— many gracious promises of his God both for the punishing of his enemies for the defending and rewarding of himselfe and all Gods seruaunts for the forgiuenesse of his sinnes which were the cause of all his troubles and therefore the promise of God he chalengeth at Gods hand RemeÌ„ber thy promise made to thy seruant wherein thou hast caused me to trust vpon this promise of God he resteth and stayeth himself It is my comfort in my trouble for thy promise hath quickned me And when he looked into this booke of God the storehouse of his promises there he found also how necessarie affliction was for him he found the causes thereof and what vse to make of all his enemies so through the inward working of the spirite of sanctification he behaued himselfe at all times accordingly and therefore when he saith it was good for him that he was afflicted he addeth that he might learne the statutes of the Lord to shew that the godly doe not know how good their afflictions be vntil they haue learned the statutes of the Lord. And therefore at another time he said that he was much moued at the prosperitie of the wicked and had much a do to kéepe himselfe in an innocent and vpright life hearing seeing the wicked so farre out of square vntill he went into the house of God and when he came into that schoole once he was taught by the word and the spirite of God what vse to make of all and then he saw how wisely and iustly the Lord ordereth all things
yea eate vâ— one another at law as we do Neither would we do so I am perswaded if we did throughly vnderstand the pollicies and slightes of Sathan for he is very busie to raise vp enemies against vs and then he is as busie to sâ—irre vs vp to reuengemeÌ„t what wilt thou put vp this at his hands c. then hath he that he would haue for while he sets vs one to â—unt another in the meane time he huntes vs all and therefore let vs pray to God to kéepe our harts sound and vpright If we did but consider on the other side what daunger our enemie is fallen into by vexing of vs when we giue him no cause we would be so farre from reuenging that we would rather pitie him and lameut him and pray for him as our Sauiour Christ did for his enemies Father forgiue them they know not they doe And as Steuen did for his Lord laye not this sinne â—o their charge For well may AlexaÌ„der the Copper-smith do Paule much hurt but the Lord will reward him according to his workes And the same God wil no doubt sée â—ur causes redressed in his good time And if it do come to this point that we be afflicted or wronged any manner of waâ— whatsoeuer the last remedy is to say Lord if I must néedes be thus handled or if thou wilt néedes take away my goods c. thy will be done onely kéepe my hart vpright before thée and put my affections in order and giue me grace that I may be content and put it to thée O Lord for I had rather haue all the world against me then to haue thée against me so long as thou louest me I care not who hate me Oh but if I should follow this counsell thou wilt say theÌ„ my enemy will laugh and reioyce and insult ouer me I will neuer beare that No I warraÌ„t thée and if he doth laugh at thée it is but froÌ„ the téeth outward for saith Salomon to the wicked there is sorrow euen in laughter he will not tell thée what is within him if thou didst or couldest sée into him thou shouldest sée that that would make thée to pitie him and euen shed teares for him We can not be better reuenged of our enemies then to let them sée how litle they preuayle against vs and how litle they moue our patience For as there is no such greef to a iester or a iugler as when hâ— doth sée that with all his iestes and foolerieâ— he cannot moue mirth nor chaunge the couÌ„tenaunces of them that heare him and sée him so there can be no greater torment to a wicked and a malitious enemy then to sée thée no whit gréeued nor moued at his mallice against thée but that thou do so beare his iniuries as if there were none at all for thy aduersaries purpose is to anger thée and to driue thée into thy dumpes which if he cannot bring to passe then is he chafed and vexed ten times more then he was before Therefore saith the Apostle Let vs not be ouercome with euill but ouercome euill with goodnesse to teach vs that good is stronger then euill and what is it that we desire but to ouercome our enemies or rather the euill that is in them theÌ„ we must do it with that which is contrary to their euill and that is goodnesse as fire is quenched not with fire but with water If theÌ„ thy enemy be vaine-glorious be not thou so too but be lowly giuing glory to God if he be puffed vp with pride be thou of an humble spirite if he boast himselfe abase thou thy selfe if he curse blesse thou if he be hoate be thou cold if he blaspheme doe not y u so but reproue him in good wordes if he be mad be thou stayed so doing y u shalt in the end both weare him wearye him and stay him too And wheÌ„ they sée this it will cut their very hart strings asunder and then thanke thou God for that he hath vpholdeÌ„ thee in thine integritie For Sathan whoÌ„ they serue hath not such a spite to our welth our learning or our cunning or credite though he loue none of all as he hath to our godlinesse the graces of Gods spirite in vs. Was it Iobs wealth that Sathan so much enuied or did he so sist him as he did because he was a rich man nothing gréeued the deuill so much as to sée Iob still continue in his vprightnesse and when he made him blaspheme and curse the day of his birth theÌ„ he left him for he careth not greatly how rich men be so that it be not in godlinesse nay he will helpe them to gather riches learning and credite c. if he sée that therewithall they may gather more sinne and he may gather them to hell as he was content yea and ready to make Adam eate one apple more when he had inough before because he knew not els how to set God and him at enimitie which were before at vnitie Now when Sathan shall thus sift vs as no doubt he doth and will sift vs as wheat is sifted saith Christ let vs theÌ„ looke to our faith pray y t it may not fayle then shall he his instrumeÌ„ts haue their labour for their trauel wheÌ„ we shal haue y e assuraÌ„ce of Gods fauor he vpholding vs in our integrity which God grauÌ„t for his mercy sake The Papists taught men to know whether they stood in the state of grace or no by many toyes and deuises as by going on pilgrimage hither and thither by offering to this stocke and to that blocke by going to shrift and by taking absolution at a balde Priestes hand by saying their stinte of MatteÌ„s and beads by kéeping of their dayes and houres and a number of such odd deuises but they were all deceiued because this was of the deuils inuenting for indéede by these things men were sure of the deuils geace but not of Gods grace But if we would know whether we stand in the state of grace or no indéede here is a triall if we finde Gods spirite by the preaching of the Gospell subduing the corruptions of our harts setling our faith in Gods promises through Christ Iesus and vpholding vs in our integritie when by course of nature we should fall into iniquitie then be we in the state of grace indeede for thus did Dauid assure himselfe of Gods fauour and so may we if we will watch our selues as Dauid did THE FOVRTH SERMON Decemb. 5.3 Sab. As for me thou vpholdest me c. IN these words we are to note further that the king doth not say simply I am vpholden or I haue kept mine integritie but he saith thou O Lord hast vpholden me and doest vphold me where we may obserue that though Dauids heart was sincere and sound and vpright before God frée from his enemies vniust accusations and frée from all