And so I came to the words of the Text Then I said I am cast out of thy sight yet I will look again toward thy Holy Temple Which after I had open'd by shewing in what Sense Jonah was cast out of God's â—ight and what was the meaning of his looking again toward the holy Temple I â—hewed what may befal many that God may yet be working Grace in and have designs of eminent Good unto First They may be in a State of Blindness and Darkness yea thick and gross Darkness may be a great while upon them We read in the Gospel of a Man that was stark Blind that was born so and liv'd so all his days yet by the Povver of Jesus he immediately receiv'd his sight Mark 10.51 52. Ah! present Darkness is no ground of Despair you may see vvhat God in his Word says to such Isa 50.10 Who is among you that feareth the Lord that â—eyeth the voice of his Servant that walketh 〈◊〉 Darkness and hath no light Let him â—ust in the Name of the Lord and stay upon â—…s God Here is a certain Remedy for nose that are in Darkness to stay upon their God and here is a Duty that God requires even in a dark State to trust in his Name Secondly They may be as to their own Apprehension in a very hopeless and helpless Condition but yet even then there is both Hope and Help for them by looking toward the holy Temple that is by looking to Christ and believing what he is and what he says Oh! hear that sweet word flowing from his Lips Luke 4.18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he hath anointed me to preach the Gospel to the Poor he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted to preach Deliverance to the Captives and recovering of sight to the Blind to set at liberty them that are bruised Oh! What can be more fully and plainly expressed What can Christ speak more comfortably and more encouragingly to poor wounded Souls to look unto him Thus the Church by Faith look'd to God in a sad State Lam. 3.55 I called upon thy Name O Lord out of the low Dungeon And did she call or believe in vain Oh! No. Pray mark the next words Verse 56 57 58. Thou hast heard my voice hide not thine Ear at my breathing at my Cry Thou drewest near in the day that I called upon thee Thou saidst Fear not O Lord thou hast pleaded the cause of my Soul thou hast Redeemed my Life And what the Church did here experience all afflicted ones in like manner shall experience to their unspeakable Joy if they take the same course of looking to the Lord in the day of Trouble Thirdly They may have no Sense of God's Work in their Hearts which yet for all that may be really carrying on We read of the Peoples smiting their Breasts upon the doleful sight of Christ's Agony on the Cross Luke 23.48 But many poor Souls are smiting their Breasts with Sorrow because they can find no effect of Christ's Death in their Hearts They have not yet Taâ—ed that the Lord is Gracious 1 Pet. 2.8 And therefore they are breaking forth into hideous Lamentations and giving up themselves as lost Creatures Oh! but this is through a great Mistake there may be a blessed Work a glorious Work begun and yet you not at present sensible of it Fourthly They may be in their own Thoughts without the inâ—â—…ential Motion of God's Spirit And hence they are day and night â—ourning though still preserved and not consumed as the built was Exod. 3.3 Oh! how many do look upon themselves in no better a Condition than those dry Bones which God shewed the Prophet and ask'd him whether they could live Ezek. 37.3 4. But as these Bones the forsaken Jews will live when the Spirit of the Lord blows upon them so those Creatures that are at present dry and vvithout Sap and therefore are mourning in secret and crying out bitterly because of their desolate State shall most certainly if they look toward the holy Temple as Jonah here did find and feel after a little time the vivifying Influences of God's Spirit to their exceeding Joy and Comfort I then drew some Inferences from all this which I will make a brief Rehearsal of and so proceed First Then even in such a State we are not really out of God's sight Jonah was obvious to God when he was shut up in the Whales Belly and so is every Mourning Soul though under the blackest Circumstances Hear the Apostle as to this Heb. 4.13 Neither is there any Creature that is not manifest in his sight but all things are naked and opened unto the Eyes of him with whom we have to do Not a Tear flows from our Eyes not a Sigh or Sob comes from our Hearts though in never so secret a manner in never so retired a place but is naked and open unto God Christ told Nathaniel John 1.48 When thou wast under the Fig-tree I saw thee Ah! When any poor Creature is Weeping Lamenting and Bemoaning himself in Holes and Corners even then and there God sees him Secondly Oh! Then this State is the Will of God which must be submitted to Is there any Evil in the City and the Lord has not done it Jonah being in the Whales Belly was the Act of God God put him there So whatever Mourning State thou art in it is the Lord 's doing As Christ speaking of God's Gracious Revelation of Gospel-Light and Knowledge rather to Babes than to the Wise and Learned resolves it into God's Free-Will and distinguishing Goodness as the only moving cause thereof Matt. 11.26 Even so Father for so it seemed good in thy sight So should every poor Creature under the pressure of Temptation under Spiritual Conflict and Soul-trouble say Even so Father it is thy Will it should be so It hath seemed good unto thee thus to lay thy hand upon me and therefore come to this â—â—sult under such a Dispensation with 〈◊〉 dear Redeemer John 18.11 The Cap which my Father hath given me shall I not drink it So this stroak that my Father has laid upon me shall I not bear it Thirdly Then such a State is very dreadful to poor Creatures To be under the hiding of God's Face and left to the Hurries of the Tempter is sadly terrifying and affrightning The Spirit of a Man may sustain his Infirmity but a wounded Spirit who can bear If it was a grievous thing to Abraham to send away his Son and the Bond-woman out of his House Gen. 21.11 12. Oh! How much more grievous is it to poor Creatures when their Rest is gone Peace is gone and all Quietness is gone from them In such a Perplexity was Jonah here in the Whales Belly And thus David mournfully complain'd Psalm 30.7 Thou didst hide thy Face and I was troubled 'T is not a small but a very sore great tormenting Trouble when a Soul is left in the Dark
A Burning yet Unconsumed Bush Exemplified IN THE Dolorous Life and Glorious Death Of that Young Convert And Most Excellent SAINT Mrs. MARY HARRISON Who Departed this Life June the 21st in the 23d Year of her Age. OR A Brief and Faithful Narrative Of the Effectualness of her Conviction The Painfulness of her Conversion The Dreadfulness of her Temptation The Deplorableness of her Condition And the Triumphant Joyfulness of her Dissolution Together with the Author's Speech to the Inhabitants of Havant at the close of her Funeral Sermon Published in General for Common Good but particularly at the Request of some of the New gather'd Church at Chichester of which she was a Member And especially to satisfie a Worthy Friend far off who by Letters importun'd the Author thereunto By C. NICHOLETTS Minister of the Gospel in HAVANT LONDON Printed and Sold by B. Harris at the Golden Boars-Head in Grace-Church-street 1700. To the Reverend Mr. Richard Robins Pastor of a Congregation in London My very Dear and much Esteemed Brother WHEN I Reflect on the blessed Providence that opened so wide a Door for the Occupation of your Talent the last Winter at Chichester and the strange and amazing Success that attended your Labours there I cannot but hope the Glorious Day which Zion's Converts have so long Mourned Prayed and Waited for is nigh at Hand even a plentiful Effusion of the Spirit upon all the Followers of the Lamb of which more than a Taste was given in the mighty Portion that rested upon you whilst you were delivering your Masters Errand in that Place Your Face like Moses did eminently Shine during your Commemoration on that Mount of Vision to the Observation and Admiration of all the Beholders none but your self was ignorant of it so that the Multitude was ready to Hosanna you as they did your Master before you and in the same Language too Never Man spake like this Man And so strange a Consternation was there in the Minds of all and so wonderful a Conviction in the Hearts of many as quite confounded the Opposers of Gospel Light and Truth and made them even gnash their Teeth for Madness Oh! how did the Dukes of Palestina tremble and the Inhabitants of Canaan melt away How did the Formal and Legal Rabbies Vex and Fume that a Nehemiah so suddenly so unexpectedly stood on the Wall with undaunted Courage and they could not pluck him down That there appear'd a Man whom with all their Machinations they could not hinder to seek in good Earnest the Welfare of Immortal Souls by Preaching the Truth fully and clearly as it is in Jesus so that the People which before sat in Darkness saw great Light and to those who were and a long time had been in the Regions of the Shadow of Death Light sprung up But though the Enemies of Free-Grace were grieved exceedingly by your so powerful and spiritual Preaching the Children of the Bride-Chamber were as much Comforted Enlivened Refreshed and many poor Dead Sinners Awakened Convinced and Perswaded to Embrace the Everlasting Gospel which was Sounded in their Ears in such a Strain that many though Old Hearers to my Knowledge did Profess they never heard the Gospel before And Oh! What an Astonishing Change was visibly Observ'd in the Faces of the Inhabitants of Chichester Such Crowding and Thronging to hear the Word dropping as sweet smelling Myrrh from your Lips the Oldest Man Alive never saw the like The Walls of the Meeting-house though in the coldest Season of the Winter Sweated with Heat a true Emblem of the Warmth many Frozen Hearth felt by the reflective Rays of Zion's Glory and the Spirits of the most Ignorant were strangely Reviv'd with the fragrant odoriferous Savor of Aaron's sweet Perfume so Plentifully and in a Theop-must Manner disfus'd amongst them Concerning this Perfume which I take to be an eminent Type of the Riches of Free-Grace there was a Law Enacted in the Court of Heaven Whoever made any Thing like it should be put to Death If that Statute was still in Force few Preachers in our Day would be in danger of its Penalty Alas they don't come near it their Preaching is far enough wide from it They are either bellowing Bulls of Sinai thundering out the Terrors of the Law and belching forth the Flames of Hell to affrighten and distract poor Creatures and make them run Mad or else they are for putting them to Earn their expected Happiness as Adam was doom'd to Eat his Bread with the Sweat of their Brow This they must do and that they must do to get an Interest in Christ And then we have a Learned Receipt so many Pints of Repentance that must be extracted from the Limbeck of their moist Brains so many Pounds of Duties that must be weighed at the Beam of their own Intellects to make them capable of God's Acceptance and they must be sure to come full Loaded with a Bundle of Qualifications at their Backs if they would have Christ to be their Saviour Oh! What pitiful Trash is this how far from that Gospel which the Lord Jesus sends his Ambassadors whom he anoints with the Unction of the Holy One to Preach and Hold forth to poor Sinners That sounds forth a free Offer and Tender of Mercy to all that Look to and Believe in a Crucify'd Jesus of which Ambassadors Sir you apparently and beyond Contradiction manifested your self to be One and a chief One too when you first lifted up your Voice as a Trumpet in the Audience of the Inhabitants of Chichester Oh! how Beautiful were your Feet shod with the Preparation of the Glorious Gospel for that you brought good Tidings to them that were ready to Perish you Published Peace even that Peace which the World cannot give and which the Devil cannot take away you brought good Tidings of Good the Goodness of Free-Grace the Immense Ocean of Divine Love You Published Salvation and that with a Gospel Spirit and in a Gospel Dialect as it was Published by the Lord Jesus himself and all his Apostles You said unto Zion thy God Reigneth on the Throne of Mercy dispencing Grace and Favour to the worst of Sinners For this were your Labours Accepted for this was your Person Honoured for this was your Ministry in very high Esteem among all sorts of Persons How many will have cause to Bless God to all Eternity they ever saw your Face Oh! How many visible Seals of your Apostleship did you leave behind you when you left the Place You never Preached a Sermon there in Vain but many Eyes were Opened many Hearts Affected and deeply Touched many Consciences Awakened whenever you opened your Mouth which made a worthy Person well Vers'd in Gospel Affairs Write me Word then at London he verily Believ'd you did more Good Two or Three Sabbath-days in Chichester than any Minister yea than all the Ministers in Sussex had done Seven Years before This was very refreshing News to my Soul it made my Heart
which as yet is none of the softest like the Babe in Elisabeth's Womb leap within me for Joy This indeed indeared you very much to me and set me a Longing to be partaker of your Heavenly Gift and though I had several Letters from several Persons that spake very largely of you and the wonderful Things God did by you and that at such a Rate if I had not known them to be Men of Sobriety Faithfulness and eminent Piety I should certainly have Judg'd they had flown in their Language above the Capacity of an Hyperbole to bring 'em safely off yet early at my Return when I went my self to Chichester and saw the unusual Seriousness of the vast Auditory and the extraordinary Going forth of your Spirit both in Prayer and Preaching I was strangely amazed and forc'd to say with the Queen of Sheba The half of your deserved Fame was not told me and made this Remark in my own Breast There was no such Sight to be seen any where in our Israel and therefore left others to consider of it and speak their Minds And if the Lord goes on as he has graciously and wonderfully begun Chichester will be the Place of Religion in the South of England and we may take in the rest of the Points of the Compass Verily you have or rather the Great Jehovah by you lighted such a Candle there that the Enemies of Free-Grace with all their Tricks and Artifices with all their Growling and Grumbling with all their Lying and Slandering with all their Noise and Clamour yea with all their Cunning and Priest-craft will never be able to put out for Magna est veritas prevalebit Dagon must and shall fall before the Ark of the Living God Dear Brother I am in a large Field whilst I have your noble Chichesterian Acts under review which will be for ever your Praise in the Gates of the Daughter of Zion and your Eternal Rejoycing in the day of the Lord Jesus and so very large is this Field that I despair of finding the way out and therefore must be forc'd to stand still breaking forth in the Apostle's Admiration O the Depth of the Riches both of the Wisdom and Knowledge of God how unsearchable are his Judgments and how are his Ways past finding out Or taking up the Dictates of the Holy Spirit in the Mouth of Balaam According to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel Ay and now of Chichester too what has God wrought And though you did good even beyond Conception very much good even beyond Parallel whilst these Parts were Blessed with your Presence yet really the Good by way of Emphasis and which will be the most Sparkling Jewel in the Crown wherewith your Master will crown you in the Day of his Appearing was your speaking Peace to this Blessed Saint whose Sad Life is the Subject of the following Tract You were chosen out by the Lord of the Harvest and preferr'd before any of his Labourers to bring a Message of Peace and Comfort to her drooping Soul great Pains were used and many Essays made to effect a Cure upon her but alas all in vain No Words were wanting no Labour was spared no Gospel ways untryed for the easing her distressed Mind but all to no purpose If Prayers and Tears if publick and private Wrestlings with God if setting a-part Solemn Days if the spending part of many Nights if communicating of Experiences if opening and inculcating of the Promises if frequent Visits and labouring all manner of ways with her What shall I say If imparting the very Secrets of my Soul and all the Mysteries and Wonders of Grace my Gracious God ever made known to me in his Christ had any thing availed she had not been in those Shades of Horrid Darkness you found her For I can say in all Sincerity as Paul to the Corinthians My Mouth was opened my Heart was enlarged towards her Oh! how often did my Soul Mourn in Secret because I could not help her How many Tears did I shed in private because no words I spoke could take hold on her I was too unworthy of such an Honour My Poor Labours through the Influence of a Divine Blessing awakened her out of a Natural State but Success was denied to my Endeavours how great soever to Administer any Ease or Comfort That was your alotted Task by him with whom is the Residue of the Spirit Oh! to this end were you Born and for this cause came you unto Chichester to bear Witness unto the Truth to Gospel-truth Light and special Grace for the lifting up this Dear Languishing Soul who would not see who could not believe there was any Love or Redeeming Mercy for her till it was confirmed to her from your Lips then she saw the Beauty of the Lord as the Morning and the Glory of Jehovah her Righteousness as the Noon-day There was indeed before a Wind a Gale of Gospel-Truths that continually blew upon her but the Lord was not in the Wind There was a Fire of Zeal kindled in the Breasts of Ministers and many others always flaming in her Bosom but the Lord was not in the Fire and therefore though there was Balm enough fetch'd from Gilead and applied to her Wounds yet this Sorrowful Daughter of Jerusalem was not Healed till you came and God came with you as a Welcome Messenger of Salvation Then Oh! then the Son of Righteousness arose with Healing in his Wings in the Horizon of her Soul Then did the day break and the Shadows began to fly away and then did her Beloved come leaping over the Mountains and skipping over the Hills unto her Oh! Happy was the time wherein you first saw her and Blessed was the day in which it was told her Behold there is a Watch-man of the Lord 's sending a Work-man of the Lord 's preparing go and hear what he has to say to you As the Lord's way of Judgment so his ways of Mercy are in the Deep and his Footsteps coming towards a Poor Creature for Good and Comfort are not known So far am I from the Mode of this Generation to envy you or repine that you should do that in a few days which I could not do in many Months that the Lord knows I Love Honour Prize and Value you the more for it and you are much dearer to me since than ever you were before To you therefore I dedicate this short History of her Life and Death as that which of right belongs to you You knew her and was well known to her You pittied her in her doleful Agonies and took a great deal of Pains with her to help her out of the Deep Pit into which she was so horribly sunk The Lord reward you yea he will abundantly reward you for all your great Labour of Love to her precious Soul You were very high in her Esteem and exceeding Dear she never spoke of you but with wonderful Respect heartily