say Blesse the Lord O my soule and all that is within me blesse his holy name who forgiveth all thine iniquities and healeth all thy diseases Quest Prethee mind this and say doth it not speake to thy dejection Answ No wilt thou say I would beare sicknesse but that I feare death This thought I shall dye is that which casts me down Reply 'T is true I thinke and I know here is the bottome of the doubt and dejection to speake therefore to it directly I le grant it thou shalt dye though it may be not now but suppose I say now Case even now thou shalt die yet consider these things and thou needest not be dejected First Christ came to deliver thee from this feare Cure It s the feare of death that doth more deject then death it self Now remember Christ came to free thee from this feare For as much as the children are partakers of flesh and blood he also himselfe likewise tooke part of the same that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death that is the Devill And marke it deliver them who through the feare of death were all their life time subject unto bondage Heb. 2.14 15. Consider Christ hath destroyed him that had the power of death the Devill and hath delivered thee Couldest thou beleeve this and why shouldest thou not thou mightest triumph But Secondly Christ hath tooke away the sting of death Death is a Bee having the hony of deliverance from this vile body c. but it hath no sting For what saith the Scripture The sting of death is sin the strength of sin is the law but thankes bee to God who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ goe thou to that glorious chapter 1 Corinth 15. and read it O thou that art dejected with feares of death Thirdly Christ will be with thee in that hour thou fearest Thou shalt not dye alone for though all thy friends shall leave thee yet wil not Christ This David knew for speaking of his shepherd and who is the shepheard but our Lord Jesus as t is Hel 13.20 He saith although I walke through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evill he needed not for observe what he saith THOU ART WITH MEE thy rod and thy staffe they comfort me Psal 23.4 Albeit thy relations bid thee farewell and shake hands as not being willing nor able to keep thee longer company yet Christ wil not leave thee nor forsake thee In truth in life nor death hee 'le never doe that as t is Heb. 13.5 Fourthly Death shall be no death to thee A change it wil be and that from worse to the better but it s not a death Did not Christ say it Whosoever liveth and beleeveth in me shall never dye yea though he were dead yet shal he live John 11.26 Thou must not call that death which the Scripture cals but sleep The Scripture speakes of the dead in Christ that they sleep in Jesus 1 Thess 4.14 And she is not dead but sleepeth and our friend Lazarus sleepeth Now why shouldest thou O soule who art weary be cast down with the thoughts of sleep Fiftly Christ hath sweetned death for thee He hath layne in the grave and so honoured and softned that bed unto beleevers Would any child be afraid to lye in its mothers bed Is it not an Honour to lye down in the same bed in which the King of glory lay Art dejected O soule to go into thy Saviours Sepulchre what art thou cast downe with the feares of gain to dye is gaine said Paul Philip. 1.21 Sixtly Christ will raise you up againe Hee hath said so and if he should not he would not only breake his own word but disobey his fathers will neither of which hee 'l doe This is the fathers will who hath sent me that of all which he hath given me I should loose nothing but should raise it up at the last day This Christ spake once yea twice and pray marke it wel John 6 39 41. Christ O soul wil raise thee up againe Should the child be afraid to goe to sleep at night when his Father promiseth to raise him up in the morning Christ hath promised to raise up your bodies again yea and he hath promised to give you a new spirit into the bargaine for t is sowne a Naturall but raised a Spirituall body Put all this together O thou dejected soul and tell me now What cause hast thou to be cast downe with the thoughts of death May not these considerations cure that cause of thy dejection Thou art now troubled with sicknesse weaknesse paines c. but let death come doe not feare it and thou shalt be cured of all Diseases yea and which is better freed from all defilements Methinkes therefore you should rather desire to be desolved then feare death and imitate those who groaned to be uncloathed of this earthly house as knowing they have a better even a building with God an house not made with hands eternall in the Heavens 2 Cor. 5.1 Goe O cast down soule to that Scripture and thou wilt in it finde a Cordiall to cheere and cure thy spirit in this feare CHAP. 22. Cure for soules cast downe and dejected by the sence of Divine wrath A Little wrath of the Almighty casts the soule very low Cause even as low as Hell for what else is Hell but Divine wrath felt How many dejected hearts are there that cry out that the Almighty is angry that he frownes upon them and that every wrinckle in his forehead is a grave burying all their comforts When men smite God can cure and when God giveth quietnesse who then can make trouble but when be hideth his face who then can behold him Job 34.29 Indeed this is a sad cause of dejection and it puts the soule into a very dejected case indeed yet it is not incurable a soule that is cast down by the sence of Gods wrath may be raised if Christ will helpe it to minde and beleeve these particulars First This case is not singular even many holy men and women in all Ages of the world have been in this condition Cure Company is a comfort even in misery Thou needest not cry out O soule and say Was there ever sorrow like unto mine Yes there was thou feelest thine owne paine but David Job Heman Hezekiah c. felt as much peradventure more wrath then thou dost but why doe I speake of particulars When as I remember the Lord had not mercy but INDIGNATION upon Judah and Jerusalem i. e. the whole body of Israel threescore and ten yeares Zach. 1.12 yea as the body so the head of all the godly was made sensible of Gods wrath for Christ drunk the cup of his Fathers wrath it is more then a bad and unsound way of arguing I am under Gods wrath and therefore I am not Gods Childe This way of arguing condemnes all Gods
to the full when thou shalt enter into thy Masters joy when thou shalt rest from thy labours thy income shall follow thee when thou shalt come to Abrahams bosome and there thou shalt come dejected soule as poore a Lazarus as thou art then thou shalt have every prayer every sigh every groane come to remembrance and say now thou hast all that which we went out for Rouse up therefore O cast-downe soule God is a good Master you shall not labour in vaine Be not dejected but be stedfast unmoveable alway abounding in the worke of the Lord for as much as you know your labour is not in vaine in the Lord as t is 1 Cor. 15. last why then should you be cast downe for lacke of income CHAP. 20. Cure for Soules cast downe upon insultation of Satan and enemies I Remember another cause I mentioned of dejections was the insultation of Satan and enemies many soules are dejected at this that Satan and his instruments triumph over as it is at large shewed before Now to cure and comfort those Cure let me intreate dejected soules to minde and remember these insuing things First Satan will insult without ground Hee 'l say to David Where is his God and hee 'l but if to Christ concerning his being the sonne of God Sathan is an impudent enemy who will bragge and triumph against a soule for nothing It is the nature of a Dogge to barke a Lion to roare Woolfe a Wolfe to howle and it is the nature of Sathan to insult Be not therefore cast downe at it Secondly Though Sathan insults Christ is a friend and loves us still even at that time that Sathan insulted and buffeted Paul Christs grace was sufficient Should the Childe be cast down for the insulting of the Groome or the Scullion when he is beloved of his Father as his Heire What though Satan say Where is thy God thy hope c. mayest not thou O soule say My God and hope is in Heaven still All the Devils in Hell and men on earth shall never can never seperate between thee and thy God neither Principalities nor Powers nor Life nor Death nor any thing can separate c. Triumph O soule in that Rom. 8.35.37 though Sathan insult be not thou cast downe Thirdly The time shall come when thou shalt tread upon thy insulting enemy and when he shall be ashamed for all his insultations Remember O cast downe soule the God of peace will though thou canst not and that shortly tread downe Sathan under your even thy feet Rom. 16.20 Christ will take thee by the hand and owne thee in the presence of God Angels and men yea and Devills too And then thy enemy Sathan shall see who said where is thy God even then he shall see thy God as thine and be confounded for all his insultation over thee Lastly for wicked men who now it may be deride and scoffe at thee be not dejected for them Because the day will come when they will wish they were as thou art When they shall as much admire at thy happinesse and wisdome as now they sleight thy state and thoughts when God shall bring thee forth to light and thou shalt behold his righteousnesse Then shall all thy enemies see it and be ashamed which said where is the Lord thy God Then shall they licke the dust like a Serpent and shall fear not only because of the Lord our God but also because of thee as it is in that Excellent Scripture Mich. 7.9.10.17 which scripture if thou read seriously and act faith upon I dare assure thee of cure for this cause of dejection viz. insultation of Sathan and enemies CHAP. 21. Cure for Soules cast downe upon corporall Afflictions SPirituall dejection is sometimes caused by corporall affliction A sick body doth in some persons make a sad soul Cause When Hezekiah was sick and had received the sentence and message of death he turned to the wall and wept And the thoughts of the dying of his body produced dejection in his soul Thus indeed it is oft with others Now to cure this cause of dejection I shall not need to be large Only take a few ingredients which mixed together and applyed may serve in this case to raise the dejected Spirit First Consider the great ground of this dejection is a deceit Cure Afflicted soules interpret affliction amisse and therefore are cast downe They take every whipping to be an effect of anger whereas its a signe of love Your Father O dejected soul in your sicknesse is sweet He makes thee sick in thy body to cure some disease in thy soul He doth not afflict thee willingly T is only that thy spirit may be well that he makes thy body ill You have had fathers of your flesh who corrected you and yee gave them reverence should you not much rather be in subjection to the Father of spirits live Heb. 12.9 This is spoke in reference to affliction By this chastisement God seales up child-ship Do not despise therefore the chastenings of the Lord nor be not dejected for the word will beare this translation when thou art by sicknesse rebuked of the Lord 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i.e. they â—eject their own spirits Philo. Heb 12.5 It s a fault in the chastised child to be dogged and it s a failing in thee O soule by reason of corporall affliction which is but a fatherly chastisement to be dejected Besides Secondly Your father knows your frame He knowes what you can beare and hee 'le lay no more upon you then your strength can master The Lord will not alwayes chide neither will he keep his anger for ever 't is spoken of affliction by diseases as seemes to be hinted vers 3. But as a father pittyeth His children so the Lord pittieth them who feare him for hee knoweth our frame he remembreth wee are but dust As for man his dayes are but as grasse as a flower in the field so he flourisheth Psalm 103.9 13 14 15. Mind this O thou sick and sad soule thy father knowes thy frame he minds thou art but dust and he pittyes thee in all thy affliction which he layes upon thee Yea he sits by and makes all thy bed in thy sicknes as t is Psa 41. And he maketh sore and bindeth up be woundeth and his hand maketh whole as it is in Job 4 18. that is spoken of sicknesse too Christ if hee will can make thee whole And certainly if thou couldest beleeve thou shouldest see his glory as t is Joh. 11.40 Hath he not said enough to make thee say as David said I shall not dye but live to declare the workes of God The Lord hath chastened me sore but hath not given me over unto death see that place Psalm 118.17 18. O bear up dejected heart though thou be sick yet thou mayst recover and goe up to the house of God where thou mayest praise him for health restored to thee and
not this strange Sure I may well be disquieted who fish all night and catch nothing who act much and have but little or no income Time was when the spirit blew and my spices flowed Time was when the King sat at his table and my spiknard smelt Time was when the father smiled the son imbraced and the spirit warmed in every duty in every Ordinance But now oh now I want these injoyed incomes and may I not well bee disquieted and cast downe 6 The insultation of Satan and Enemies Sometimes causeth castings downe Satan is impudent and he doth sometimes insult if hee perceive the soule a little more then ordinary sad he takes advantage presently to say Where is now your God David was much disquieted and went in mourning because of the oppression of the enemy Psal 42.9 I am apt to thinke Satan may at lest be included in that word the Enemy For he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. the enemy in an especial manner Ah Lord saith the poor soul the lamb may well tremble when the lyon doth triumph Satan triumphs very terribly He calls all my hopes into question he askes me where is my God my Christ my Comforter He bids mee shew him my Promises and hee demands what is become of my confidence And may I not be cast downe justly over whom Satan thus insults And besides as Satan insults sometimes so his children wicked men insult often Jam 3.6 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to kill And as if their tongues were set on fire with hell they speake as their father doth They say daily unto me where is thy God ver 9. Now this is a killing to us say some soules And truly if the Lord bee with us why then is all this befallen us as hee said when they were under the oppression of the Midianites Judg. 6.13 Thus while Satan and wicked men are so impudent as to insult some soules are so weake as to bee cast downe 7 Even corporall affliction is sometimes a cause of spirituall casting downe A sick-body many times causeth a sad soule Hezekiah was sicke and that made him sadde the tidings of corporall death begat spirituall disquiet That tragicall relation of Hezekiahs casting downe is titled thus the writing of Hezekiah King of Judah when he had been sicke Esay 38.9 Indeede it falls out so that the soule following the temperament of the body is much disquieted when the body is afflicted Many souls chearfull enough when in health are over sad when sicke If God afflict the body we are apt upon that our selves to cast downe the soule It s needlesse in this to expatiate experience too too frequent shewes this that externall affliction is oft the principal and first cause of internall dejection 8 Adde to all these in the last place this viz. sence of Divine wrath This indeed of all the other is the greatest and most grounded cause of spirituall dejection A little wrath will make the soule to stoope If God in anger do but touch the hills they tremble His fury is poured out like fire faith the Prophet and the rockes are thrown down by him as it is Nahum 1.6 Surely say some soules we cannot dwell with everlasting burnings and such are all appearances of divine wrath Well might Job upon this ground say is my strenght the strength of stones as t is chap. 6.12 Alas if his strength had been the strength of rockes and mountaines it must needs faile when the arrowes of the Almighty were within him as t is there vers 4. It was this which cast down David here deeply for so he crys as out of the depth vers 7. Deep calleth unto deep at the noice of thy water-spouts all thy waves and thy billowes are gone over me I shall have occasion peradventure more then once in this Treatise to touch on this therefore I shall say no more here but only this that nothing hath in it more force to cast downe even the stoutest soules then the sence of Divine wrath CHAP. 10. Some Vses of the Doctrine by way of Application YOu have seen now the nature of spiritual dejection together with the diverse workings and causes thereof It stands us upon to mind these things and to improve them Christians you see you have cause enough to be cast down and even the choisest Saints are sometimes for those causes really cast downe and dejected There bee but three words of Application which I shall touch on in this Section and conclude it First Let this informe us of our imperfect state while we are in the flesh Our highest injoyments are not so sure as to deliver us from feare of falling Saints you see of the richest sort even such as are choicest are apt to be and sometimes are much cast down It s the vanity of some that they thinke and speake of present injoyments above what is meet Some have said Soules may come up to such a height as that they neither shall nor can be disquieted Yea some go so far as to censure all kind of doubting and to conclude soules in a damnable state because in a disquieted Surely such have not learned this truth as it is in Jesus You see a David cast downe and disquieted And you heare that even choicest Saints upon many causes are lyable to the like dejections Bee informed therefore to take heed how you dreame of a perfect and unalterable enjoyment of rest here Your rest though unspeakeably sweet is not unchangeably sure T is possibly you may think because you sometimes rejoyce with joy unspeakable that therefore your injoyment is unalterable But be not deceived even after high injoyments you may be dejected Even a Paul after a rapture as high as the third heaven was cast down low by a messenger from hell David said once hee should never bee moved 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the word is as much as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i.e. well or good pleasure yea and his bottome was free grace Divine good pleasure had made his mountain so firme Psal 30.6 7. And yet marke this David is now moved very much even to a soul-tumult Howle Fir-trees for the Cedar is fallen Be not high-minded ye babes in Christ sith father may and do fall Certainly if this be a truth as its clear it is that Saints of the highest attainments may be and sometimes are cast down then surely there is no perfect unalterable state of peace and unsettlednesse here It s true when we come home we shall sit down and be disquieted no more But our hope is not here Whilst we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord 2 Cor. 5.6 Such as talke of being at home in this life forget that they are in the body Christians beware of it for its a delusion to thinke that here you are above dejection you are not at any time so setled but you may be disquieted And therefore
things of Christ knoweth no man but the spirit of Christ But Secondly How is thy comfort brought in Is it from Christ in a free word of grace offering himselfe to sinners or is it as I may say from a Christ fetcht in by some performances of thine Certainly the lesse of self in the manner of Christs comming into the soule the more of the spirit in the comfort that ariseth thereupon Some soules have their comfort fetcht in rather by selfe in Christ i.e. what they see of themselves in the way of Christs comming in then by Christ in himselfe My meaning is some soules cannot be comforted in Christ unlesse they see Christ as it were fetched and comming in by their Humiliations Repentings Prayers c. Oh if they can upon them or in them see a Christ comming in they can be comforted This comfort I suspect is legall But now if thou canst say thy comfort as it came from Christ so it came and comes still from Christ held forth purely in a word of grace and that when thou couldest see nothing of seife to fetch in Christ that then in a promise of free grace as that he dyed for and justifies the ungodly when I say then thou wert inabled to receive comfort from Christ so brought it without any selfe-qualifications or performances Surely thy comfort is in and by the spirit for still the lesse of selfe the more of him Thirdly Whereunto doth thy comfort tend Confider this Tends it to a magnifying of Christ to a love and labour unto holinesse or tends it to selfe glorying and a kind of wantonnesse Pray mind it If thy comfort have any tendance to magnifie selfe as if it were something or to lessen sin as if it were nothing thou hast cause to suspect thy comfort is not of the spirit For the very hopes of comfort by him tends unto purifying Be that hath this hope purifies himselfe c. But now if upon any laste or hope of comfort from Christ thy soule begin to admire him in his infinite love for loving thee And to abhor sin for provoking him If thy soule is much in adoring him and not a little in abhorring of solfe If sence of comfort do make thee melt as it were into a Christ-loving and Sin-loathing frame and make thee study what maner of conversation thou shouldest have for that comfort which thou hast had Surely if this be the fruit of thy comfort thou needest not fear but that thy comfort is a fruit of the spirit Thus I have offered something in particular in order to the raising of such soules as are cast down and feare that their call conviction and comfort is not was not of or by the Spirit To this I will adde some things by way of consideration joyntly i th reference to the whole As now First Whatsoever thy call conviction and comfort be its precious and to be prized Suppose it be only in the letter as thou sayst yet in case it be at all t is precious How many thousands are there that no way had either call conviction or comfort But live and lye in sin without any calls or conviction and never questioning truth or ground of comfort go in mirth as Jobs phrase is in a moment downe to Hell Chap. 21.13 Secondly Though your call conviction and comfort be as yet but common it may be ere long speciall That which is first is not alwayes spirituall but that which is naturall and afterward that which is spirituall as it is 1 Cor. 15.46 Christ many times doth ingraft as some Divines say grace upon nature Often times Christ speciallizeth as I may say and spirituallizeth common workings such as at first have only been wrought upon in the letter have afterwards beene wrought on by the spirit Besides this Thirdly Consider if at present thy soule be brought up to close with Christ that now thou hangest as it were about his feet mourning onely for the want of his smiles waiting only for the discoveries of his loves If now thy soule can say I see a need of Christ I am convinced of the want of a Christ I onely pant after and look for the injoyment of a Christ all the comfort that I have all the support of my spirit lyes upon this that I hope he that shal come wil come and will not tarry and that the Lord whom thou lookest for will suddenly come If I say this be the present frame of thy spirit and speake soule is it not so why then art thou disquieted why art thou cast down why dost thou disturbe thy selfe with this fear that thy call conviction and comfort is not of the spirit Certainly when and where Christ is so discovered to be all in all and so pressed after the soul need not cast down it selfe with feare CHAP. 4. Satisfaction unto such as fear that all that which is in them is rather from education then regeneration THis was the fourth fear which I touched upon Case and the satisfaction hereof is to be indeavoured next now for such souls as are dejected and do discover themselves in this fear that which I shall speak unto them shall be in three steps As 1 Generally Satisfaction I desire such dejected soules as cry out Oh all that which is in them is but civillity and education and the like I say I desire such to consider three things as First What it is which in truth doth act them and carry them on in the things of Christ Is it only their head or is it not principally their heart Education doth seldome ingage conscience It may and doth bring into a custome and this it doth meerly upon head-principall i.e. a knowledge that such or such a duty is to be done and that Parents or Tutors have done it c. But now to be brought into the wayes of godlinesse upon heart principles as I may call them i.e. to do such or such a duty upon conscience as finding an ingagement there to them this goes farther then education Consider then dost not thou find a heart-ingagement to the things of Christ so that thou hast some love to and in what thou dost and a hatred to and griefe in the contrary Surely if it be so here is something more and higher then education Then Secondly Consider what if thy naturall relations were dead or which is worse opposite to the things of Christ Suppose this and search what wouldest thou be or doe then 2 Chro. 24. Joash his goodnesse of education it dyed with his Tutour Jehoiadah It s said Joash did that which was right in the sight of the Lord all the dayes of Jehoiadah the Priest But after the death of Jehoiadah we finde that Joash doth not onely leave off that which was right in the sight of the Lord but he served Groves and Idolls yea and he slew Iehoiada's sonne for testifying against him Now then suppose thy Parents and Tutor's dead nay
not only worke but that sometimes they prevaile sometimes the soule is actually overtaken with sinne and falls it may be into some foule fact now this causeth casting downe to cure which Cause I shall speake something in particular when I have premised this one thing in generall viz. It must be confessed it is sad to fall into sinne Sadnesse After the soule hath been in Christs armes to fall into the pits of Satan for so sins are must needs goe to its heart indeed it goes to Christs He is offended really and mightily that any soules who have tasted his grace in pardoning past sins and knowen that such a pardon cost his bloud I say he is offended that such should afterward commit or fall into any sinne but yet all things weighed there may be much yea and enough said to cure and comfort a soule dejected because of falls into sin after grace As First Such a thing as this is consistent with grace This is that which causeth the dejection of such soules as fall into sinne Cure that they are thereby drawne to doubt the truth of their grace for say they surely had we been ever really and strongly wrought upon wee could never have failen into such and such sins But yet these soules should doe well to remember that Sampson fell againe and againe into the same sinne of wantounesse See Judg. 14.3 15.20 16.1 and yet he is in the Catalogue of the children of Abraham and reckoned up amongst the worthy beleevers Heb. 11. It s the opinion of many holy and wise persons that David fell more then once into the sinne of lying and that therefore he prayed to be kept from the way of it Psal 119.29 I mention not this to countenance much lesse to incourage presumptuous desperate sinners but only to cure perplexed and dejected Saints ye are deceived O ye dejected soules if you thinke your falls into sinne be inconsistent with grace Secondly Consider falls into sinne are not falls from salvation The Covenant of Grace is not made null by thy fall O cast-downe soule though Israel have played the Harlot yet Christ remaines a Husband Jer. 3.1.1.14 God did expresly say though thy children sinne and though I visite their sinnes with a rod yet my Covenant will I not breake Psal 89. Peradventure O soule thou art cast downe as thinking thy fall into sinne hath cut off the band of the Covenant but thou art mistaken Yea Thirdly There is a speciall salve prepared for this sore a particular cure for this cause of dejection viz. Promises of pardon after falls into sinne I LE HEALE BACK-SLIDINGS Hos 14.3 Surely that supposeth falls into sinne after grace for what else is backsliding and that directly proposeth pardon and healing to such soules Returne yee backsliding children and I will heale your backslidings Jer. 3.22 Marke O dejected soule Christ calleth thee to returne and he speakes to thee as to a Childe still notwithstanding thy falls into sinne therefore be thou advised to arise and to goe to him urge him with his promise and hee 'l make it good Neither is this my advice but the advice of the Lord. Heare him in Hos 14. O Israel returne unto the Lord thy God marke it thy God still for thou hast fallen see soule how he points at thy state by thine iniquity Take with you words and turne to the Lord and say unto him Take away all iniquity and receive us graciously Rise up therefore and obey this command and counsell and certainly in this case thou wilt finde cure and comfort CHAP. 17. Cure for soules dejected about the Covenant of Grace I Said that ignorance of the Covenant of Grace was likewise a cause and a chiefe cause of Spirituall dejection and therefore I hinted in the use of the first Section advice to study it I shall briefly offer something to this here for many times dejected soules cry out They are and may be well cast downe for alas they are not in that Covenant Cause Were I in the Covenant of Grace cryes the dejected soule I could rejoyce but alas I doubt it and therefore I am dejected Alas I finde many things in that Covenant promised which indeed I could wish but alas I want and how can I thinke I am in the Covenant when I have not the things promised in it in my owne soule c. But let me intreat thee a little to consider these particulars in order Cure to cure this cause of thy dejection First The things of the â—ovenant are not wrought all together there are many particulars promised as feare new spirit tender heart c. each of which is wrought in its time and order It is true the generall root of all these is given to the soule viz. The Divine nature but yet the particular branches spring up in their season Thou wouldest see all O soul but thou must stay the time and thou shalt Secondly Neither is any one particular perfectly wrought at once a soft heart is a thing wrought by degrees and to have the Law written in our hearts is businesse of time it is a long Copy which Christs Spirit is writing a long time As we are alway learning so that is alway writing Thou O poore soule wouldest have all together and at once and in truth who would not be glad if it might be to have it so but we must wait for this worke is not the businesse of a day but of our whole life Thirdly Christ knowes who are in Covenant though we doe not He is the Mediator of it and he may see and know that thou art in that Covenant though thou doe not The Father who hath made a Purchase in his owne name and his Childes may and doth know the Childe to be in the writing though the Childe doe not Christ your Father made the Covenant in the purchase of his Bloud on your behalfe and so knowes thy name to be in it though thou cannot see nor read it there by reason of thy infant age and condition of Childe-hood But Lastly Suppose it as thou fearest take hold of the Covenant now 1 It is a free Covenant reached out to poore sinners upon tearmes of grace Free Grace rich grace and not upon workes or qualifications It promiseth all things but it requires nothing but acceptance 2 It is a full Covenant it extends to all sinnes originall actuall great little to sins of ignorance and infirmity to sins of presumption and obstinacy I say therefore Arise O cast-down soule God in the Covenant of Grace calls to rebels and saith Let them take hold of my strength that they may make peace with me they shal Esa 27.5 He calls every one to come to incline his eare and saith Hee 'l make an everlasting Covenant with them even the sure mercies of David Isa 55.1 2. It may be thou thinkest that thou hast stood out too long It is true a day
a time thou shouldest deny him CHAP. 9. Satisfaction for soules cast downe about Prayer BEsides those eight particular feares which I spake of in the sixth Chapter of the foregoing Section I added six other feares which do appeare in some dejected soules Now it s my desire to speake something to them in order to satisfie some soules that lye and labour under them Some there are that when they are cast downe doe much disquiet themselves about their prayers Case Oh say some we feare we never prayed in all our lives or if wee did wee question whether God ever heard us c. Now for the satisfaction of soules in this case I shall speake unto it in both its branches And Satisfaction First For such soules as are cast down and disquieted and cry out Oh they never prayed in all their lives It s true they say they have sometimes spoke in prayer but they doubt whether ever they prayed in prayer They feare they rather moved their lips then breathed their spirits c. There are these things which I would say unto such souls First This very fear argues a choice frame It proceeds from a very choyce spirit thus to fear Indeed a slight and common spirit doth pray it cares not how So the worke be done it s all they mind and it were well some minded so much But with what frame of spirit they pray alas that they looke not after Some there are that we call Protestants which in this are as bad as Papists that they rather give God a number of prayers then any thing else but now it argues a spirit something heightened to mind the manner of prayer to eye the spirit and the soul how that is in prayer Looke as it argues in things humaine an ordinary minde that can content it selfe with the bare doing of things how bunglingly so ever whereas it proceeds from a raisednesse of mind to see that every thing be well done as well as done to see it be done neatly c. So it argues in things divine a common spirit such an one as Caine had to be contented with a bare sacrifice a bare empty prayer But it discovers a spirit heightened such an one as Paul had to eye the spirit how it is in prayer Paul professeth he would pray in his spirit and with understanding While it may be many neither care for the spirit nor understanding So that this fear hath some good in it in as much as it proceeds from a choicenesse of spirit But Secondly Take heed you do not roshly nor groundlesly condemne your selfe Peradventure there was more of your spirit in prayer then you saw or say What dare you deny that at such and such a time your spirit was in your prayer If it were not then what meant those sighs and tears and groanes what meant that bearing of the bosome and those liftings up and wringing of the bonds if your spirit was not in your prayers Surely as in point of smning albeit wicked men should say their hearts were not in it Yet their joy and merriment in it would witnes against them So in the manner of praying though Saints doubt their hearts was not in it yet their sighs and groanes in the spirit though unutterable in themselves yet they could witnesse for them in this However Thirdly Can and dare you appeale to God that so far as you knew your heart it was at such and such a time in prayer Can you say Lord thou knowest that I desired such a grace c. and oh how glad was I in the bare thoughts and smalâ— hopes that I had of obtaining it But on the contrary how did the fear and sence of not obtaining it grieve me Surely if you can thus seriously and consideringly appeal to God you may conclude that your heart and spirit was in prayer Besides Fourthly Consider thy soule might have been and may be in a prayer notwithstanding many dulnesses and wanderings I find by experience that the ground of this fear is that dulnesse and those wandrings of our spirits in prayer Now cleare it is that notwithstanding these yet our spirit may be really and so accounted by God in duty You know in that duty of watching with Christ in his agony T is recorded the disciples slept yet marke it Christ saw and said their spirit was in it The spirit saith he is willing but the flesh is weake Christ saw their spirit and acknowledged its willingnesse notwithstanding their drousinesse And for wandrings you know t is possible for the eye to be fixed upon an object and yet not to be so fixt as to be altogether free from rowlings The eye may bee upon the sun and yet it may twinckle And certainly if we should say that the heart is not in prayer because of some wandrings wee should condemn the generation of the just For to be so intense upon God as to have no wandring thoughts at all is not attained unto by many if by any at all So that now why shouldest thou say thy spirit was not in prayer because of some dulnesse and wandrings T is possible that these things may be and yet God may see yea and acknowledge thy spirit to be in thy prayers Object But alas saith the soule cast down Suppose my spirit be or were in prayer what is that I feare I never prayed in Christs Spirit It is one thing to pray in our spirits another thing to pray in Christs spirit Now I feare I never prayed in the strength of Christs spirit however it might be in the strength and sincerity of my own For answer and satisfaction to this Ans let me intreate you to consider these particulars First This is a more choyce fear then the former It s a choyce thing to eye our owne spirit It s a choicer to eye Christs spirit in prayer Morall sincerity may a little put on the former But its divine sincerity which looks after and unto this Nadab and Abihu can content themselves with strange fire But Moses and Aaron will not offer but with holy fire It s certainly an evidence of a soule more then ordinarily heightned not to be content to pray in the sincerity of our spirit but to labour for the strength of Gods spirit Secondly T is possible to pray in the holy Ghost and yet to doubt it I find some doubting they never prayed in the spirit because they have been straitned and wanted those inlargements which others have c. Now mind it t is possible to pray in and that by the holy Ghost and yet not to be inlarged The soule may be so full as that it may not be able to vent it selfe Fulnesse of spirit doth sometimes cause straitning As now in Davids case it s said then went King David in and sat before the Lord c. Then i. e. when as Nathan had been and told him at large the rich and sweet intentions of God towards him Certainly
now Davids spirit could not chuse but be very full And yet mark what he saith Who am I O Lord God and what is my house that thou hast brought me hither-unto And this was yet a small thing in thy sight O Lord God but thou hast spoken also of thy servants house for a great while to come and is this the manner of men O Lord God But now marke it what followes upon this as it were entry upon the duty And what can David say more unto thee for thou O Lord knowest thy servant See how he is straitened so that hee cannot say more But he is fain to say as sometimes it may be you have done Lord thou knowest thy servant So that you see there may be the spirit where and while the soule is straitned and certainly as Hypocrites may have inlargements and yet not the Holy Ghost so Saints may have the Holy Ghost and yet want inlargements Thirdly Consider How much of God as a Father didst thou see in prayer It s the worke of the spirit to helpe the soule to see God as a father and to cry Abba and to fill the soule with not words and expressions but with sighs and groanes unutterable So that then to satisfie thy self O dejected soule in this feare consider thy very feare is choyce And it may not be as thou fearest But shall I suppose it suppose it should be so that as yet thou didst never pray Suppose I admit it that thou didst not in the sincerity of thy spirit nor in the assistance of Christs Spirit pray yet for all that consider these things First Free grace can and doth beseech soules to accept of peace and love who doe not begge for it God by us saith the Apostle beseecheth you Though thou didst not nor canst pray to God yet free Grace comes and as I may say prayes to thee Thou sayest I shall never have peace and reconciliation for I never by Prayer did beseech God for it Why remember God tenders and in his free grace comes and beseecheth you to accept of it Secondly God can give though ye cannot or doe not begge he is able to doe abundantly above all that we can aske or thinke Ephes 3.20 yea and he is willing for before they call I will answer saith the Lord And he is found of them that seeke him not Though God be pleased to come in in prayer yet he is not tyed to it Besides Thirdly consider its Christs worke to offer up prayers for us he lives for ever to make intercession Heb. 7.25 when thy heart is dead he lives and he prayes for those that doe not cannot pray for themselves Fourthly know the Spirit is promised for asking Luk. 11.13 you who cannot pray remember to aske and to waite for the Spirit And you have Christs word to encourage and assure you that you shall have the Spirit so that now why are you cast downe as fearing you never did pray consider your feare is good yet it may be groundlesse However Gods heart first opens it selfe to us Be not cast downe unto despaire know God can and will give to such as neither doe nor can aske besides in time he 'l prepare thy heart and cause his eare to heare as it is Psal 10.17 why may not this raise thy soule who art cast downe and sayest thou didst never pray Ob. But wilt thou say Suppose I have prayed indeed I hope I have and daily I desire to doe it but alas What though I pray if God doth not heare what though I call he doth not answer This O this doth disquiet my soule I have prayed oft but I feare I have been heard never Ans Indeed this is the other branch of the fear according to what Christ hath given me I shall endeavour to scatter it I must acknowledge O soule that its a misery scarce expressable to pray and not to be heard But yet know many conceive themselves in this misery without ground In order therefore to the satisfaction and raysing of thy soule under this dejection let me prevaile with thee to consider with sincere and serious spirit these particulars First God may have heard thee though thou doe not thinke so It s true peradventure God hath not yet returned an answer in some particulars but yet he may have heard your prayers God is a free Agent and so he may take his owne time to send an answer Suppose thou send a Letter to a friend by a sure Messenger what though you have not an answer presently will you say your Letter was lost or that your friend did not receive it Why the case is so your prayers are your letters to God and Christ is a sure messenger though as yet God hath not sent his answer yet your Letters are read your prayers are accepted and in time viz. Gods time they shall be punctually answered God will answer your prayers that cry unto him night and day though he heare long as it is Luk 18.7 But Secondly It s possible the answer may be sent and you have not observed it There are Letters at the Post-house sometimes for us which only want fetching home The Spirit who brings returnes from Heaven hath an answer for us but we eye him not Job speakes of Gods going by and he saw him not of his passing on and he perceived it not Job 9.11 O how many times doth God go by us in acts of providence clearly and directly answering our prayers and yet we doe not see it nor perceive it Besides Thirdly for any thing you know your prayers will not be answered till you are dead your Children or the Churches may have answers of your prayers when you are gone or it may be God will reserve the answer till your death How many dying soules have said now O now we see and heare that God hath answered all our prayers Why then art thou cast downe O soule about thy prayers as if they were not answered Obj. But I cannot beleeve that God will ever answer Sure I am its well if it be so that I have eyed Providences exactly and could as yet never see any answer and what God will doe for time to come I know not but I doubt c. Ans Be it as thou fearest what if God as yet have not answered thy prayers in many in any particulars yet be not dejected O soule over-much for consider First unanswered prayers are not lost thou hast not prayed in vaine for God never bid the house of Jacob doe so thy letters are filed up in Heaven and though they are not answered yet they are remembred God doth not forget your labour of love in your letters of love for such are prayers it s our duty to pray 't is Gods grace to answer though as yet he reveales not that grace yet it makes not voyd our duty Secoundly God may be pleased with thy prayers though he doe not answer The Mother is pleased with