may encrease our inward spiritual comforts Hos 2.7,14 I will take away my corn and my wine and my wooll and my flax I will allure her and bring her into the Wilderness and speak comfortably unto her I might mention others of a like nature but I forbear by these you may see that God may intend his people much good when he depriveth them of their estates SECT 4. 4. Consider that though God hath taken much from you he might with equity and justice have taken away a great deal more from you and therefore you have no cause to repine that God hath taken away so much but rather to be thankful that God hath taken away no more from you For 1. God might have taken away your lives as well as your estates When Sodom was burnt Lot lost his house and his goods as may be gathered from Gen. 19. It was evening before the Angels came to him Vers 1. and in the morning about the time that the Sun rose God rained fire and brimstone upon the City Vers 23. Some time was spent in entertaining the Angels in going to his sons in law to acquaint them with the purpose of God to destroy Sodom in fleeing to Zoar so that he saved very little if any of his goods for what could a man that had such short warning of Sodom's destruction and was forced to flee for his life carry along with him Besides the loss of his goods and his house he lost his wife V. 26. and his sons in law and his daughters that were married to them V. 14. only Lot and his two Daughters that were unmarried got to Zoar yet he doth not murmur at his losses but looketh upon it as a great mercy that God had spared his life Gen. 19.19 Behold now thy servant hath found grace in thy sight and thou hast magnified thy mercy which thou hast shewed unto me in that thou hast spared my life When the Jews were carried captive into Babylon and Jerusalem was burnt with fire though they had lost their liberties and their dwellings were consumed they did not murmur because of their losses but looked upon it as a great mercy that themselves were not consumed also Lam. 3.22 It is of the Lords mercies that we are not consumed because his compassions fail not And notwithstanding their sufferings were very great such as could scarce be paralled by any that lived in former ages as we may see Lam. 1.12 yet they acknowledge that they had no cause of complaining seeing God had spared their lives Lam. 3.39 Wherefore doth a living man complain When the Ship in which the Apostle sailed was cast away and all the goods were lost he makes a light matter of their losses seeing their lives were preserved Acts 27.22,25 I exhort you to be of good cheer for there shall be no loss of any mans life among you but of the Ship Wherefore Sirs be of good cheer He calls upon them twice notwithstanding their losses to be of good cheer because their lives were preserved 2. God might have taken away your souls and cast them into everlasting burnings for you have sinned and The wages of sin is death Rom. 6.23 The Angels are more glorious creatures than man yet assoon as they had sinned God cast them into Hell 2 Pet. 2.4 God spared not the Angels that sinned but cast them down to Hell and delivered them into chains of darkness to be reserved unto judgment Now if God had dealt thus with you if instead of burning your houses he had taken away your souls and cast them into everlasting burnings your loss would have been incomparably greater than now it is though you had been owners of the whole world For what shall it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul Mark 8.36 5. God might have taken away his loving kindness from you as he did from the Jews Jer. 16.5 I have taken away my peace from this people saith the Lord even loving kindness and mercies Now that would have been a far greater loss than the loss of your estates yea than the loss of your lives for Gods loving kindness is better than life Ps 63.3 Because thy loving kindness is better than life my lips shall praise thee David spoke this when he was in the Wilderness of Judah as appears from the title of the Psalm and in this Wilderness he was destitute of all wordly comforts as appears by calling this place a drie and thirsty land where no water is yet enjoying Gods love in this desolate Wilderness he doth not murmur for want of what he enjoyed whilest he lived at home with his father or in Saul's Court but praiseth God for the sweetness and satisfaction which he enjoyed in the sense of Gods love And as David did so may we bless God if he hath not taken away his loving kindness from us whatever it be which God hath taken from us because his love is better than all other things SECT V. 5. Consider how you have sinned against the Lord and what you have deserved for your sins The reflecting upon your sins will make you patient under this and all other sufferings Micah 7.9 I will bear he indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him Lam. 3.39 Wherefore doth a living man complain a man for the punishment of his sins The calling to remembrance our sins may cause us to take patiently and contentedly the greatest afflictions on several accounts I will mention two 1. How great soever our sufferings are they are far less than our sins have deserved God never punisheth any man in this world either the godly or the wicked according to the desert of their sins Psal 103.10 He hath not dealt with us after our sins nor rewarded us according to our iniquities Job 's sufferings were very great he was the greatest man that lived in the Eastern part of the world and had all his estate taken from him in one day he did not only lose his estate but his children also his body was smitten with painful and noysome boyls and sores his soul also was full of trouble as he himself expresseth it Job 6.4 The Arrows of the Almighty are within me the poyson whereof drinketh up my spirit the terrors of God do set themselves in aray against me yet Job's sins had deserved greater things from God than what God was pleased to lay upon him Job 11.6 Know that God exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity deserveth The afflictions which the Jews endured at the destruction of Jerusalem and during the time of their captivity in Babylon which lasted 70. years were exceeding great so great as scarce any people in the world endured the like as we may see by these two Texts of Scripture Lam. 1.12 Is it nothing to you all ye that pass by behold and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow which is done unto me wherewith the Lord hath afflicted
Councils as they illustrate his Glory as they promote our good c. they may be said to please him Now that which pleaseth God should not displease us It is said of David who was a wise and a gracious Prince Whatsoever the King did pleased all the people 2 Sam. 3.36 The Lord our God infinitely transcendeth David in Wisdom and Goodness and therefore whatsoever the Lord doth should please all his people 7. It is God that made you who hath taken away your Estates from you and it is not meet that the Creature should quarrel murmur at or finde fault with any thing that his Maker doth Isa 45.9 Wo unto him that striveth with his Maker let the potsheard strive with the potsheards of the earth shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it what makest thou SECT 2. 2. Consider what it is which God hath taken away from you and this Consideration will minister several Arguments for the quieting of your mindes under all your losses though they have been very great For 1. God hath taken away nothing but that which was his own Your Houses your Goods your Silver and Gold and all that you have or ever had is the Lords 1 Chron. 29.11 All that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine Psal 24 1. The earth is the Lords and the fulness thereof the world and they that dwell therein Hos 2.7 Therefore will I return and take away my corn and my wine and my wool and my flax What Benhadad said to Ahab and Ahab replyed to Benhadad 1 King 20.3,4 Thy Silver and thy Gold is mine thy Wives also and thy Children even the goodliest are mine and the King of Israel answered and said My Lord O King according to thy saying I am thine and all that I have The like may God say to us Thy Silver and thy Gold is mine c. And we may say to the Lord O my Lord according to thy saying I am thine and all that I have Now we take upon us to dispose of those things which are our own as we see good Mat. 20.15 Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own And shall not we allow unto God that liberty which we take unto our selves shall we murmur against him when he taketh away nothing from us but that which is his own 2. God hath taken away nothing from you but what you were unworthy to enjoy Jacob was a great man the Angel that wrastled with him saith of him As a Prince hast thou power with God and Men and hast prevailed Gen. 32.28 Yet he looked upon himself as unworthy of the least of all the mercies that ever God bestowed upon him Gen. 32.10 I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which thou hast shewed unto thy servant As the Woman of Samaria said to Christ John 4.12 Art thou greater than our Father Jacob So may I say unto you Are you greater and better than Jacob if not then you must confess your selves unworthy of the least of all Gods mercies as he did and if you are unworthy of the least of all Gods mercies then you have no cause to repine at your losses seeing God hath taken nothing from you but what you were unworthy to enjoy 3. God hath taken nothing from you but that which you must of necessity have shortly parted with though this fire had not consumed any thing of your Estates It is but a very little while and you must leave this world and though you have never so much of this worlds goods you cannot carry one penny with you out of the world 1 Tim. 6.7 We brought nothing into this world and it is certain we can carry nothing out and upon this account the Apostle urgeth Christians to be content though they have never so little nothing besides food and raiment ver 8. Having food and raiment let us be therewith content And as we can carry nothing with us out of the world so it is altogether uncertain who shall possess what we leave behinde us Luke 12.20 This night shall thy soul be required of thee then whose shall those things be that thou hast provided If we have children to inherit the substance that we leave behinde us yet who can tell but the Extortioner may catch all that they have and Strangers devour their wealth Psal 109.11 Or if they should enjoy what we leave them yet who can tell whether they will spend it well or ill who can tell whether they will be wise men or fools Such thoughts as these weaned Solomon from the world and made him repent of all the pains he had taken in erecting stately Buildings and gathering together much Treasure Eccles 2.18,19 I hated all my labour which I had taken under the Sun because I should leave it unto the man that shall be after me and who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man or a fool yet shall he have rule over all my labour wherein I have laboured and wherein I have shewed my self wise under the Sun 4. That which God hath taken from you is but vanity yea more that which often proveth a vexation to the Soul and Spirit which is the better part of a man Solomon speaking of all worldly things saith of them Vanity of Vanities all is vanity Eccles 1.2 and afterwards reckoning up his outward enjoyments he doth tell us that his stately Buildings and his great Treasures were vanity as well as other things Eccles 2.4,5,8,17 I made me great works I builded me houses I made me Gardens and Orchards I gathered me also Silver and Gold and the peculiar treasures of Kings All is vanity and vexation of Spirit Should a wise man disquiet himself for the loss of a vanity or vex himself because he is deprived of that which is but vexation of Spirit 5. Riches are not that which most men think them to be They have less of good and more of evil in them than we are aware of I do not mean that riches are evil of themselves they are good blessings of God yet our corrupt natures are apt to turn them to an evil use VVherefore view your riches which you have lost not according to that estimation which men of the world have of riches but according to the judgement which the Holy Ghost giveth of them in the Scriptures where they are stiled Deceitful Riches Mark 4.19 Uncertain riches 1 Tim. 6.17 The Mammon of unrighteousness Luke 16.9 Vanity and vexation of Spirit as was hinted before Thorns Mat. 13.22 That which is not That which should be so far from disquieting our hearts that they are not worthy that such a noble creature as man should set his eyes upon them Prov. 23.5 Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not for riches certainly make themselves wings they flye away as an Eagle towards Heaven The Scriptures inform us that all that disquiet themselves about riches disquiet
all that they owe but are disabled by Gods providence 3. Cry to God that 〈◊〉 would finde out some way for you and raiâ—… up some supplies whereby you may be able to pay you Debts When one of the Sons of the Prophets was felling a beam and the axe head fell into the water he cries out to the Prophet 2 Kings 6.5 Alas Master for it was borrowed And the widow that was in debt crieâ—â—o Elisha to help her and he did help both the one and the other The God of Elisha is more merciful and can do greater things than Elisha therefore do you that are in debt cry unto the Lord and see what he will do for you The willingness of God to help poor Debters to get out of Debt may be seen several waves I will mention two 1. God wrought two Moracles for this end to enable those that were in debt to pay their debts The one was the multiplying the Widows oyl 1 Kings 4.1 to the 8. verse The other was the making iron to swim that the axe that was borrowed might be restored to the owner 1 Kings 6.5,6,7 Now Gods working Miracles to help poor people pay their debts may encourage those that are in debt to cry to God to help them 2. God commandeth us to own no man any thing Rom. 13.8 And we need not doubt but God is willing to help us to keep his Commandments And as you should cry to God to help you out of debt so also humble your souls for your sins for sometimes contracting of debts is inflicted as a judgement for sin Deut 28.15,43,44 If thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God to observe to do all his Commandments The stranger that is within thee shall get above thee very high and thou shalt be very low he shall lend to thee and thou shalt not lend to him he shall be the head and thou shalt be the tail The Lord hath promised concerning such as are careful to keep his Commandments that he will not only help them to pay their debts but he will so bless them that they shall have no need of borrowing but shall be in a capacity to lend to others Deut. 15.4,5,6 The Lord thy God shall greatly bless thee Only if thou carefully hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God and thou shalt lend unto many Nations and shalt not borrow The like is promised Deut. 28.12,13 The Lord shall open unto thee his good treasure the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season and to bless all the work of thine hand and thou shalt lend unto many Nations and shalt not borrow And the Lord shall make thee the head and not the tail and thou shalt be above only and thou shalt not be beneath if that thou hearken unto the Commandments of the Lord thy God which I command thee this day to observe and to do them Plead these promises with God and encourage your selves to hope in God to finde out some way whereby you may pay your debts And if God do answer your Prayers and raise up means for you whereby to get out of debt pay off your debts as fast as you can When God had multiplyed the oyl of the widow that was in debt the Prophet giveth her this advice 1 Kings 4.7 Go sell the oyl and pay thy debt and live thou and thy Children of the rest 4. It hath been the lot of men fearing God to die in debt and not to leave wherewithal to pay their debts We read of one of the Sons of the Prophets who did fear God that died in debt and left no goods behinde him not any thing in the house but a pot of oyl so that the Creditors came to seize upon his Children for bond-men 2 Kings 4.1,2 There cried a certain woman of the Wives of the Sons of the Prophets unto Elisha saying Thy servant my husband is dead and thou knowest that thy Servant did fear the Lord and the Creditor is come to take unto him my two Sons for Bond-men and Elisha said unto her What hast thou in the house and she said thine handmaid hath not any thing in the house save a pot of oyl So that if after all your endeavours you should not be able to pay your debts but should die in debt and leave nothing behinde you this may be some comfort that this hath been the condition of some eminent Servants of God for such was this widows husband he was one of the Sons of the Prophets he was known to be a man fearing God Thou knowest that thy servant did fear the Lord. Yet he died in debt and left not any thing to pay his debts withal 5. If you should be unable to pay your debts that you owe to men yet make sure you get your debts that you owe to God blotted out of Gods Book of Remembrance Our sins are our debts Mat. 6.12 Forgive us our debts compared with Luke 11.4 Forgive us our sins We should be more solicitous about getting these debts paid than any whatever and because we have nothing of our own to pay we should go to the Lord Jesus who is our surety and desire him to undertake for us What is said of the men of Israels resorting to David 1 Sam. 22.2 Every one that was in distress and every one that was in debt and every one that was discontented gathered themselves unto him and he became a captain over them The like should we do when we have any thing burdens and discontents and troubles our mindes whether it be debt or any other distress we should resort unto Jesus Christ and he will give us ease Mat. 11.28 Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest SECT 6. Obj. 6. I am brought into much misery and great straits already by my losses and may in a little time go through a great deal more and this doth much disquiet my minde Answ 1. Murmuring will not lessen your misery but encrease it for there is more evil in the least sin than in the greatest affliction murmuring will not procure you enlargement out of your straits but rather cause God to lay more burden upon you until he hath humbled and subdued your spirit and caused you to accept of the punishment of your iniquity 2. Call not your afflictions wherewith God correcteth you for to promote your spiritual and eternal welfare your misery rather account them a part of your happiness James 5.11 Behold we count them happy which endure Job 5.17 Behold happy is the man whom God correcteth therefore despise not thou the chastning of the Almighty Psal 94.12 Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest O Lord and teachest out of thy law We should be so far from disquieting our selves because of our afflictions that we should account it a matter of great joy when God is pleased to exercise us with divers temptations James 1.2 My brethren
themselves in vain Psal 39.6 Surely every man walketh in a vain shew surely they are disquieted in vain he heapeth up riches and knoweth not who shall gather them If this be the nature of riches if they be like thorns deceitful things not worthy the fixing of the eye upon them c. Why should you be perplexed in your minds for the breach which God hath made upon your Estates SECT 3. 3. Consider that God hath wise and gracious and merciful ends in this dispensation and intendeth you much good by taking away your estates from you When David was robbed of all that he had and his City of refuge was burnt with fire by the Amalekites he found that this as well as his other afflictions wrought for his good Psal 119.61,71 The bands of the wicked have robbed me It is good for me that I was afflicted that I might learn thy Statutes There is much mercy to the people of God in those paths that carry the greatest appearance of severity Psal 25.10 All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth to such as keep his Covenant and his Testimonies It is an unquestionable truth that God designs the doing his people good in every affliction which he layeth upon them Rom. 8.28 We know that all things work together for good unto them that love God And if all work together for your good then also your late losses though very great shall work for your good And is it not an unreasonable thing that you should be discontented when God dealeth mercifully with you that you should be discontented when God is doing you good What though you cannot see for the present how your losses should work for your good you may see it hereafter Joh. 13.7 What I do thou knowest not now but thou shalt know hereafter God may have several merciful ends and design your good several wayes in taking away your estates I will hint three or four gracious ends of God in cutting of his people short in outward things in order to their spiritual good and leave it to you to judge which of these God designs in your losses 1. God sometimes diminisheth his peoples wealth because he seeth that if he should have continued them in the enjoyment of their estates it would have been for their hurt Eccles 5.13 There is a sore evil which I have seen under the Sun namely riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt Riches may be hurtful several ways As 1. when they make us high-minded and rough in our speeches and carriages towards the poor This sin is very incident to rich men Prov. 18.23 The rich answereth roughly 1 Tim. 6.17 Charge them that are rich in this world that they be not high-minded 2. When they draw off our hearts from God and cause us to set them upon our riches then they prove hurtful Now the more we have of the world the more apt we are to set our hearts upon the world Psal 62.10 If riches increase set not your heart upon them 3. When they hinder our trusting in God and living by faith and we by reason of the multitude of our riches trust in them Now the more riches we have the more apt we are to trust in them Psal 52.7 But trusted in the abundance of his riches 1 Tim. 6.17 Charge them that are rich in this world that they trust not in uncertain riches but in the living God who giveth us richly all things to enjoy 4. When they fill our minds with cares and disturb our peace and this is usual with many rich men to have their minds disturbed about their estates both day and night Eccles 5.12 The abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep 5. When they draw a man to or drown him in any sinful lusts as idleness sensuality pride security c. they become hurtful 1 Tim. 6.9 They that will be rich fall into a temptation and a snare and into many foolish and hurtful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition Now if God foresaw that your estates would have been hurtful to you any of these wayes or any other way and thereupon took them away that they might not do you hurt you have no cause to complain but rather to be thankful If you say there is no fear that a good man should be hurt by his riches I answer Agur was a good man yet he was afraid lest riches should cause him to deny the Lord Prov. 30.8,9 Give me neither poverty nor riches lest I be full and deny thee and say who is the Lord. Is it not better that God should deny us the enjoyment of riches than leave us in process of time to deny him 2. God sometimes diminisheth our estates and brings us low because he intendeth to call us to great sufferings even to forsake all that we have The more a man hath of the world the harder it will be to part with all that he possesseth for Christ Mar. 10.21,22 Go thy way sell whatsoever thou hast and give to the poor And he was sad at that saying and went away grieved for he had great possessions The Apostles who were poor and had but little to leave at the call of Christ immediately left all and followed him Matth. 4.20 Luke 5.28 This forsaking of all for Christ is so necessary when we are called to it that without it we cannot be Christs Disciples Luke 14.33 Whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath he cannot be my Disciple Suppose God foresaw that if he had not brought you into a low condition you would rather have forsaken Christ than your Estates Hath he not dealt mercifully with you in taking away your Estates which would have hindred you from becoming Disciples of Christ 3. Riches oft times prove great hinderances to our salvation and God takes them away that he may make our passage to Heaven more easie Matth. 19.23,24 Jesus said unto his Disciples Verily I say unto you that a rich man shall hardly enter into the Kingdom of Heaven And again I say unto you It is easier for a Camel to go through the eye of a Needle than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God Suppose God saw your riches to be clogs to you and that they would have hindered your salvation Was it not good for you that God should take them away Is it not better that you should lose your Estates than lose the Kingdom of Heaven 4. God diminisheth our Estates that he may encrease our Graces Heb. 12.10 He chastneth us for our profit that we might be partakers of his holiness Ordinarily poor men are richer in grace than great men Jam. 2.5 Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith Grace is better than riches and have they then any cause to complain whom God maketh poor that he may make them rich in grace and holiness 5. God diminisheth our outward worldly comforts that he
without reflecting upon Christ for he is in himself a consuming fire But when we look upon God in and through Jesus Christ then we may see him to be a reconciled Father 2 Cor. 5.19 and to be the Father of Mercies and the God of all comfort 2 Cor. 1.3 3. If we would take up our rest in God we must labour to get and to keep Gods Presence with our Souls When we enjoy Gods gracious and blessed presence we finde that in God that giveth us rest and satisfaction under our greatest troubles Exod. 33.14 My presence shall go with thee and I will give thee rest Moses had been brought up by the space of forty years in Pharaohs Court where he had fared deliciously every day and he was now in a dry barren solitary Wilderness which afforded nothing that was good but was attended with many evils as Serpents and Scorpions c. What manner of place this Wilderness was we may see Jer. 2.6 Deut. 8.15 Here he was to continue and wander up and down by the space of forty years and that in the midst of a perverse and froward people that in all their straits did murmur against him for bringing of them out of the Land of Egypt his troubles sometimes were so great that we finde him praying to God to kill him out of hand and to make a sudden dispatch of him that he might not see his wretchedness Numb 11.15 Yet though the troubles he met with in the Wilderness were exceeding great and many and of long continuance viz. forty years his soul had rest in God by vertue of the Divine Presence that went along with him We may see also the virtue and power that is in Gods Presence to quiet and satisfie the Soul in the times of greatest trouble in Jer. 46.27,28 Jacob shall return and be in rest and at ease and none shall make him afraid fear thou not O Jacob my servant saith the Lord for I am with thee In the former part of the Chapter the Lord had threatned very sore calamities that they should be compassed about with fear on every side ver 5. that the Sword should devour round about and be satiate and made drunk with blood ver 10 14 c. and though these calamities should fall most upon other Nations Jacob was not to go wholly unpunished but was to have a share therein yet Jacob having a promise of Gods presence should thereby have rest and ease in all his troubles 4. We must maintain and keep our communion with God The oftner we draw near unto God the oftner we shall finde him drawing near to our souls according to what we finde James 4.8 Draw nigh to God and God will draw nigh to you and the oftner God draws nigh to our souls the more delight and contentment we shall finde in him The Psalmist speaking of such as approach unto God saith they shall be satisfied with the goodness of Gods House Psal 65.4 Blessed is the man whom thou choosest and cansest to approach unto thee that he may dwell in thy courts we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house even of thy Holy Temple There is much in conversing with good men for the filling and satisfying the spirit of one that is truly gracious he hath his greatest delight in the company of the Saints and Servants of God Rons 15.24 If first I be somewhat filled with your company Psal 16.2,3 My goodness extendeth not unto thee but to the Saints that are in the earth and to the excellent in whom is all my delight If there be such delight and satisfaction in conversing with good men there must needs be much more in conversing with the great God One main cause of the disturbance of our mindes when we meet with crosses is immoderate thirsting after the things of this world communion with God will take off this kinde of thirst from the souls John 4.14 Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life The oftner we go to God the more we shall ask and crave of him and the more we ask of God the more and better things we shall receive from him in order to the satisfying of our souls Psal 105.40 The people asked and he satisfied them with the bread of heaven Were but our desires after God greater we should finde more abundant satisfaction in him for He satisfieth the desire of every living thing Psal 145.16 5. If we would take up our rest and satisfaction in God we must set our love upon him As it is between a man and his Wife if a man have an entire love to his Wife he will be so satisfied in her that he will have no hankerings after any other women so much is implyed Prov. 5.18,19 Rejoyce with the wife of thy youth let her be as the loving hinde and pleasant roe let her breasts satisfie thee at all times and be thou ravisht alwayes with her love So it is between a man and God when a man hath an entire love to God he will be so abundantly satisfied in God that he will have no great desire after any other thing besides God compare Psal 18.1 with Psal 73.25 I will love thee O Lord my strength Whom have I in heaven but thee and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee When God hath set his love upon his people he resteth satisfied in them Psal 87.2 The Lord loveth the gates of Zion The Lord hath chosen Zion This is my rest for ever Psal 132.13,14 Zeph. 3.17 He will rejoyce over thee with joy he will rest in his love he will joy over thee with singing So also it will be with us when we have set our love upon God we shall then take up our rest in God 6. We must labour to get good evidences of Gods love to our souls and get our interest in God made clear Clear and well-grounded apprehensions of our interest in God and of Gods love to our souls do tend much to the bringing of our souls to take up their rest and satisfaction in God Deut. 33.23 O Naphthali satisfied with favour Psal 90.13 O satisfie us early with thy mercy that we may be glad and rejoyce all our dayes John 14.8 Shew us the Father and it sufficeth us When we know the Father and know him to be our God and Father in Christ we have enough we have that which sufficeth us 7. If we would take up our rest in God and abide satisfied in him when ever any thing disquiets our mindes and we have any load and burden upon our Spirits we must repair to Jesus Christ and cast our selves and our burdens upon the Lord Jesus in so doing we shall finde grace and vertue coming out of the Lord Jesus to preserve and sustain our souls in a quiet peaceable satisfied frame in all
be full and deny thee and say who is the Lord. God brought Gideons Army of two and thirty thousand to three hundred and gave this reason they were too many for him to give the Midianites into their hands lest Israel should vaunt himself saying Mine hand hath saved me Judges 7.2,3,4,7 Possibly for some such reason God hath lessened your Estates lest you should vaunt your selves or think that you were maintained by your Estates and not by the Providence of God It may be God saw that your Estates were so great that they would have hindred you entrance in at the strait gate Mat. 19.23,24 and therefore he lessened them that you might have a safer and more easie passage into the Kingdom of Heaven Would you be angry with that Physician that should draw away a great quantity of blood when as it did endanger your lives you have far less cause of being angry with God for taking away a great part of your Estates when they did endanger the salvation of your souls 4. Though your losses have been very great yet take heed of murmuring and repining against God lest he take away greater things from you By murmuring you will provoke God to take away your lives 1 Cor. 10.10 Neither murmure you as some of them murmured and were destroyed of the destroyer Now to lose life is a far greater loss than to lose an Estate By murmuring you are in danger to lose the favour of God Numb 11.1 When the people complained it displeased the Lord and the Lord heard it and his anger was kindled To lose Gods favour is more than to lose our lives for Psal 63.3 Thy loving kindeness is better than life SECT 2. Obj. 2. I have lost all that ever I had and am quite undone though my losses had been great if I had any thing left I should have been contented but will you blame me for being discontented when I have lost all that I was worth in the world and am quite undone Answ 1. God saw it was needful and expedient for the accomplishing of his designs in order to the promoting of your good to take away all that you had for God sends no more of any affliction than we need 1 Pet. 1.6 for a season if need be ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations It may be God saw nothing less than the taking all that you had would take off your affections from the world or lead you to repentance or put you upon living by Faith you may be assured that upon some account or other God saw it needful to take away your whole Estates from you else he would not have dealt thus with you 2. By undoing you God aims at saving of you He hath undone you in your outward Estates that he may save your Souls 2 Cor. 1.6 Whether we be afflicted it is for your consolation and salvation which is effectual or as it is in the Margin is wrought in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer The Apostle telleth us here that the Corinthians enduring the same sufferings which he suffered was an effectual means of working out their salvation Now a great part of the Apostles sufferings lay in the suffering the loss of all things Phil. 3.8 It is Gods design to prevent our being undone to all eternity when he chastneth us in this world 1 Cor. 11.32 When we are judged we are chastned of the Lord that we should not be condemned with the world Hath that man any cause to complain whom God undoeth here to prevent his being undone to all eternity 3. If ever you forsook any of your enjoyments for Christ or gave any thing to the poor Members of Christ or any other poor people for Christs sake then you have not lost all for whatever you have given to the poor or forsaken upon the account of Christ or the Gospel all that is yours still it is money laid up in a safe hand which shall be returned to you with an hundred fold encrease Prov. 19.17 He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord and that which he hath given will he pay him again That which is given to the poor is not lost it is but lent and it is lent to one that will pay what is lent with interest You that could not see the poor lack when you had wherewithal to relieve them God will not suffer you to lack any thing that is good for you Prov. 28.27 He that giveth to the poor shall not lack And what is said of that which is given to the poor the same may be said of that which hath been forsaken upon the account of Christ and the Gospel it is not lost but put out to interest and shall be rendered to us again with an hundred fold encrease if not in the same kinde in some other thing as good or better Matth. 19.29 Every one that hath for saken houses or Brethren or Sisters or Father or Mother or Wife or Children or Lands for my Names sake shall receive an hundred fold and shall inherit everlasting life And that this hundred fold is not meant of the recompence that we shall have in heaven but of that reward that we shall have in this present life besides eternal life in the other world is evident from Mark 10.29,30 Luke 18.29,30 4. Though you have lost all that you had yet you have not lost any of the Promises or the Providence of God You are as rich in promises as ever You have God in many Bonds which are of more value than the whole world Though the Fire had consumed all your Goods yet it hath consumed none of your Bonds I mean none of the Promises wherein God hath bound himself by promise that you shall want no good thing but that he will stand by you all your dayes and supply all your needs I will put you in minde of two or three of those many promises that the Lord hath made to this purpose which are more worth than all the Gold and Silver of the world Phil. 4.19 My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Jesus Christ Heb. 13.5 Let your conversation be without covetousness and be content with such things as ye have for he bath said I will never leave thee nor forsake thee Mat. 6.33 Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you All these things that is food and raiment and all things that are necessary for this life of which Christ was speaking in the foregoing verses And as you have not lost the promises of God so neither have you lost his providence he will take as much care of you now your Estates are gone as he did when you enjoyed them 1 Pet. 5,7 Casting all your care upon him for he careth for you It is not said who did care for you but he careth for you implying that God doth and ever
my self of much unrighteousness in the getting of my Estate and now my Estate that I get unrighteously is gone my guilt remains and I am full of horror in my conscience because of my sins and especially for this sin of unrighteousness Answ 1. Such as have been guilty of unrighteousness in their dealings have great cause of being troubled for they have committed an hainous fin which without repentance will most certainly shut them out of the Kingdom of Heaven 1 Cor. 6.9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God It is a sin which brings down great wrath from God 1 Thess 4.6 That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter because the Lord is the avenger of all such as we also have forewarned you and testified It makes a man an abomination to God Deut. 25.16 All that do unrighteously are an abomination to the Lord thy God 2. If you be troubled in conscience for your unrighteousness in your dealings with any man your way to get the trouble of your Conscience removed and to get true and solid peace is to do these things 1. Confess your sin to God You have wronged God as well as your neighbour by your unrighteousness in your dealings and therefore 't is meet that you should confess your sin to God and humble your souls in his sight and if you do confess your sin to God he will pardon this sin of unrighteousness as well as other sins 1 John 1.9 If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness 1. Leave off and cease from all unrighteous courses for the time to come and then the Lord will pardon all your former unrighteousness although your sin in that kinde hath been exceeding great Isa 55.7 Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return unto the Lord and he will have mercy upon him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon Isa 1.16,18 Wash ye make you clean put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes cease to do evil Come now and let us reason together saith the Lord though your sins be as scarlet they shall be as white as snow though they be red like crimson they shall be as wool 3. Flee to the Lord Jesus Christ and lay hold on him by a true and lively Faith Jesus Christ hath satisfied his Father for all our unjust dealings and all our other sins 1 Pet. 3.18 Christ hath once suffered for sins the just for the unjust that he might bring us unto God And such is the efficacy of his death and sufferings that whatever guilt troubleth the Conscience the Blood of Christ is able to remove it 1 John 1.7 The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all Sin And every one that believeth in Christ shall partake of the vertue and efficacy of his Blood for they shall be justified from all things whatsoever they have done either against God or men Acts 13.39 By him all that believe are justified from all things from which ye could not be justified by the Law of Moses The Corinthians were guilty of unrighteousness in their dealings 1 Cor. 6.8 You do wrong and defraud and that your brethren And ver 11. Such were some of you that is unrighteous thieves covetous extortioners c. as is expressed ver 9 10 Yet he adds ver 11. But ye are washed but ye are sanctified but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God Whence you may see that the Blood of Christ cleanseth from all kindes of unrighteousness as fraud theft extortion c. 4. Labour to get into Covenant with God It is one branch of Gods Covenant to pardon his peoples unrighteousness Heb. 8.10,12 This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel I will be merciful to their unrighteousness and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more 5. Make restitution to those whom you have wronged whatever you have taken from any man by fraud or extortion or any other unjust way restore it to him again Ezek. 33.15,16 If the wicked restore the pledge give again that he had robbed walk in the statutes of life without committing iniquity he shall surely live he shall not dye none of his sins that he hath committed shall be mentioned unto him he hath done that which is lawful and right he shall live thereby Without restitution where God gives ability and opportunity there can be no true peace of Conscience Job 20.18,19,20 According to his substance shall the restitution be and he shall not rejoyce therein because he hath oppressed and forsaken the poor because he hath violently taken away an house which he builded not surely he shall not feel quietness in his belly he shall not save of that which he desired Other Scriptures concerning restitution you may see in Levit. 6.2,3,4,5,6,7 Luke 19.8 If any say we are not able to make restitution the wrongs we have done are so great and we have so little left us by the Fire I answer 1. The Scripture even now mentioned may give some direction in this case According to his substance shall the restitution be If you are not able to restore the whole restore as far as you are able 2. If you be not able for the present resolve as soon as God makes you able that you will restore whatever you have gotten unjustly and perform your resolution and God will accept of your willing minde although you want ability to perform what your minde stands to 2 Cor. 8.12 SECT 16. Obj. 16. I am one that serve God and make conscience of keeping his Commandments and both I my self and many others that walk close with God have lost all our Estates and are undone by this Fire when as many that have no fear of God before their eyes but live prophane and dissolute lives have suffered nothing at all by this Fire and this troubleth me very much when I consider how God hath dealt with many of his servants and let others that serve him not go free I am ready to fret at the prosperity of the wicked and to repine at my own afflictions Answ 1. Such a temptation as this did sorely assault David when he looked upon his own afflictions how he was plagued all the day long and chastened every morning and looked also upon the prosperity of the wicked and saw that they were not in trouble or plagued like other men he was envious at the foolish and ready to stumble at this providence and was almost brought to say that all the pains he had taken in Religion was to no purpose Psal 73.2,3,4,5,12,13,14 And if such an eminent servant of God as David was assaulted with this temptation we need not wonder if some of Gods servants in these dayes meet with the like 2. When we
and people saying with a loud voice fear God and give glory to him for the hour of his judgment is come If this judgment that is come upon you will not prevail with you to give glory to God God will curse your blessings Mal. 2.2 If ye will not hear and if ye will not lay it to heart to give glory unto my name saith the Lord of hosts I will even send a curse upon you and I will curse your blessings yea I have cursed them already because ye do not lay it to heart If you ask how and wherein you should glorifie God under this affliction which he hath laid upon you I answer 1. Accept of the punishment of your iniquity and acknowledge that the Lord is just and righteous in all that is come upon you Then we give God the glory of his Judgments when we confess him to be just and righteous therein Rev. 15.3,4 Just and true are thy wayes thou King of Saints Who shall not fear thee O Lord and glorifie thy Name Thus Daniel gave glory to God when Jerusalem was laid waste and the Jews spoiled of their goods and carried captive into Babylon Dan. 9.14 The Lord hath watched upon the evil and brought it upon us for the Lord our God is righteous in all his works that he doth for we obeyed not his voice Yea do not only confess God to be righteous but also acknowledge him to be gracious in this dispensation say whereas our Houses and Estates are consumed by this Fire it is of the Lords mercies that we our selves are not consumed even because his compassions fail not Thus Lot gave glory to God when his house and goods were consumed in Sodom he looked upon it as a great mercy that he himself was not consumed also Gen. 19.19 Behold now thy servant hath found grace in thy sight and thou hast magnified thy mercy which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life 2. Though your sufferings have been very great yet give God thanks and praise his Holy Name for what he hath done for you by so doing you shall glorifie God Psal 50.23 Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me Isa 42.12 Let them give glory unto the Lord and declare his praise in the islands This relates to a time of Judgment I will destroy and devour at once I will make waste mountains and hills ver 14. 15. Even when God is rising up to judgment and devouring and destroying we must declare his praise and so give him the glory of his Judgments Let not this seem strange to you that I exhort you that have suffered great lostes by this Fire to praise God and give him thanks for 1. Job did thus when God had taken away all his Estate and Children he blesseth God Job 1.21 The Lord hath taken away blessed be the name of the Lord and Job did not sin or act imprudently in blessing God for his losses for it is said in the next words In all this Job sinned not nor charged God foolishly 2. It is the will of God that in every estate and condition and under every dispensation of his providence we should give thanks 1 Thess 5.18 In every thing give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you 3. There is much mercy mingled with the affliction it is mercy that your Estates were consumed and not your Lives it is mercy that your Houses only were burned whereas you might have been cast both body and soul into everlasting burnings and if you cannot give God thanks for the affliction it self yet at least give him thanks for the mercy that was mingled with the affliction 3. Let this affliction put you upon searching and trying your wayes and renewing your repentance and returning unto God of which you heard before for in so doing you shall give glory to God Rev. 16.9 They repented not to give him glory 4. Let this Judgment awaken in your souls a more lively fear and dread of God let it cause you to stand in such awe of God as to be afraid to offend him for then we give glory to God when we are afraid to sin against him Rev. 14.7 Fear God and give glory to him 5. You shall give glory to God by this Judgment if you be stirred up by it to live a more holy and righteous life Isa 60.21 Thy people shall be all righteous that I may be glorified If also it make you fruitful in good works John 15.8 Herein is my Father glorified that ye bear much fruit 6. Let this Judgment awaken you to a more diligent practice of what is commanded 1 Cor. 10.31 Whether therefore ye eat or drink or whatsoever ye do do all to the glory of God It was your duty ever since you were born to make Gods glory the highest and chiefest end of all your actions if you have not done so you have great cause to humble your souls before God for you have neglected the great end of your Creation Isa 43.7 Every one that is called by my name for I have created him for my glory If you did seek to advance the glory of God before this Judgment came upon you yet now be awakened hereby to seek Gods glory more zealously with more singleness of heart and do all your works both the works of your Calling and your natural Actions as your eating and drinking and your Religious Actions with more explicite intentions to glorifie God SECT 8. 8. Let the losses which you have sustained by this dreadful Fire take you off from laying up your Treasure upon the earth and put you upon laying up treasure in heaven That treasure which you lay up on earth may be taken from you several wayes you may lose it all in one day or if you do not lose it you must leave it all behinde you when you dye But that treasure which is laid up in heaven can by no means be taken from you but you shall enjoy the benefit of it to all eternity Remember therefore and follow the counsel and command of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Mat. 6.19,20,21 Lay not up for your selves treasures upon earth where moth and rust doth corrupt and where thieves break through and steal but lay up for your selves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt and where thieves do not break through and steal for where your treasure is there will your heart be also If you ask What is that treasure which we should lay up in heaven I answer All the good thoughts which you think and all the good words that you speak are treasure laid up in heaven Mal. 3.16 They that feared the Lord speak often one to another and the Lord hearkined and heard it and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord and that thought upon his name You see here that God treasureth up in his book of remembrance all the good words which we speak when
day and after his sickness he composed a Song or Psalm to set forth Gods praise and resolved to sing this Song in the house of God all the dayes of his life Isa 38.9,20 The writing of Hezekiah King of Judah when he had been sick and was recovered of his sickness then follows the Song it self to the 20. verse where he expresseth his resolution by way of gratitude to sing this Song all the dayes of his life The Lord was ready to save me therefore we will sing my Song to the stringed Instruments all the dayes of our life in the house of the Lord. Yet notwithstanding all this Hezekiah is taxed with not returning according to the benefit done unto him 6. They whose Houses and Estates have been preserved from this dreadful Fire may know what they ought to return to God for this great deliverance by observing what the Servants of God have returned unto the Lord at such times as God hath vouchsafed unto them any eminent deliverances though it were not a deliverance from Fire but from some other evil and also by considering what special duties God calleth for in his holy Word from such as have escaped those judgments that have fallen upon other men or have received any other signal mercy from the Lord. These things being premised I shall now answer the third Question SECT 1. 1. Render to God your love for his great mercy in preserving your houses and substance from being consumed by this Fire God deserves to be loved by all those whom he preserveth from any evils Ps 31.23 O love the Lord all ye his Saints for the Lord preserveth the faithful When David was in a wonderful manner delivered from the hands of his enemies he resolves with himself that he would love God with an entire and an endeared love for the deliverances he had received from him Psal 18. ver 1. compared with the title of the Psalm A Psalm of David the Servant of the Lord who spake unto the Lord the words of this Song in the day that the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul and he said I will love the Lord my strength The Hebrew word that is used in this place signifieth more then barely to love it notes an inward entire cordial love it is translated by Junius and also by Piscator Exintimis visceribus diligam te And at another time when David was communing with his own heart about what return he should make to God for delivering him from the gates of death upon his crying to him Ps 116.3,4,12 he determins to give God his love verse 1. I love the Lord because he heard my voice and my supplications That thing which a Christian prizeth most and desireth of God above all other things is his love Cant. 1.2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth for thy love is better than wine Psal 63.3 Thy loving kindness is better than life So it is with God that which he prizeth most from us and that which he desireth above all other things is that we should give him our love Deut. 10.12 And now Israel what doth the Lord thy God require of thee but to fear the Lord thy God to walk in all his wayes and to love him and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul Cant. 4.10 How fair is thy love my Sister my Spouse how much better is thy love than wine and the smell of thine oyntment than all spices If any ask which way shall we express our love to God for this great deliverance I answer 1. By hating and abhorring all evil and endeavouring to root out all manner of sin both from your selves and your families Psal 97.10 Ye that love the Lord hate evil Sin is an abominable thing in the sight of God and therefore he entreateth us that if we love him we would not do that which his soul hateth Jer. 44.4 Oh do not this abominable thing that I hate 2. Express your love to God by being careful to keep his Commandments John 14.15 If ye love me keep my Commandments 2 John 6. This is love that we walk after his Commandments God accounted obedience of his Commandments a truer token of love than the offering of a multitude of sacrifices in those times when sacrifices were in use 1 Sam. 15.22 Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt-offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord Behold to obey is better than sacrifice and to hearken than the fat of Rams 3. Express your love to God by doing all the service you can for his Saints and Servants You cannot be any wayes beneficial to God but you may be to his people Psal 16.2,3 My goodness extendeth not to thee but to the Saints that are in the earth and to the excellent in whom is all my delight And what you do for them the Lord will account of it as done unto himself Math. 25.40 Verily I say unto you inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren ye have done it unto me Three times our Lord Jesus calls upon Peter to express his love to him by doing good to his members Joh. 21.15,16,17 Jesus said to Simon Peter Simon son of Jonas lovest thou me more than these He saith unto him yea Lord thou knowest that I love thee He saith unto him Feed my Lambs He saith unto him the second time Lovest thou me He saith unto him yea Lord He saith unto him Feed my Sheep He saith unto him the third time Lovest thou me Feed my Sheep SECT 2. 2. They that have sustained little or no loss by this dreadful fire wherein so many thousands of persons and families have suffered very deeply have great cause to give thanks unto God for sparing and delivering their substance and their houses from this devouring Fire The Prophet Isaiah having mentioned altime of great desolation wherein a little remnant should escape telleth us what this remnant should render unto the Lord Isa 24.13,14 When thus it shall be in the midst of the Land among the people there shall be as the shaking of an Olive Tree and as the gleaning Grapes when the vintage is done they shall lift up their voice they shall sing for the majesty of the Lord Four times in one Psalm doth the Holy Ghost call upon the children of men to praise the Lord for delivering them out of their distresses Psal 107.8,15,21,31 O that men would praise the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men When David was delivered from the hands of violent men he was much affected with the mercy of God and determines to give God hearty thanks for it Psal 18.48,49 Thou hast delivered me from the violent man therefore will I give thanks unto thee O Lord among the Heathen and sing praise unto thy Name To be delivered from the violence
fornication but for the Lord Prov. 16.4 The Lord hath made all things for himself Rev. 4.11 Thou art worthy O Lord to receive glory and honour and power for thou hast created all things and for thy pleasure they are and were created Now seeing our bodies and souls were created for Gods pleasure Is it not meet they should be yielded up unto God 2. The Lord Jesus gave himself both body and soul for us He yielded his body to be crucified for us which was both a shameful and a painful death 1 Cor. 11.24 This is my body which was broken for you 1 Pet. 2.24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the Tree that we being dead unto sin should live unto righteousness by whose stripes ye were healed Isa 50.6 I gave my back to the smiters and my cheeks to them that plucked of the hair I hid not my face from shame and spitting Why should we refuse to give our bodies to be burned imprisoned banished tortured or to suffer any affliction for the sake of Christ seeing he gave his body to suffer such a shameful and painful death for us The Lord Jesus did not only give his body but his soul also an offering for our sins Isa 53.10 It pleased the Lord to bruise him he hath put him to grief when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin he shall see his seed Shall we stick at giving our souls to Christ when he did not stick at making his soul an offering for our sins 3. It will be much for the advantage both of our bodies and souls to give them unto God for he will sanctifie them and make them his Temple and come and dwell in them 1 Cor. 3.16 Know ye not that ye are the Temple of God and that the spirit of God dwelleth in you 2 Cor. 6.16 Ye are the Temple of the living God as God hath said I will dwell in them and walk in them Now who are they to whom the Apostle speaks when he saith Ye are the Temple of the living God c. They were such as had given themselves to God as you may see Chap. 8.5 But first gave their own selves to the Lord What greater honour or happiness are our souls and bodies capable of whilst they are in this world than to become Temples of the living God But besides this if we give our bodies and souls unto God he will glorifie both our bodies and souls in an unexpressible manner in the Kingdom of Heaven to all eternity The Sun is a glorious creature it dazleth our eyes to behold it God will give his Saints in Heaven a glory equal to the brightness of the Sun Matth. 13.43 Then shall the righteous shine forth as the Sun in the Kingdom of their Father yea they shall excel the Sun in glory for they shall be equal to the Angels and the Angels are far more glorious ceatures than the Sun Luk. 20.36 Neither can they dye any more for they are equal unto the Angels and are the Children of God being the Children of the Resurrection yea they shall be made like to Christ their bodies shall be made like to his glorious body Phil. 3.21 Who shall change our vile body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body and their souls shall be made like to his glorious soul 1 Joh. 3.2 We shall be like him for we shall see him as he is We that is not our bodies only or our souls only but our persons both body and soul shall be like him SECT 10. 10. Render to God the Sacrifices of righteousness When we have received any eminent mercy from God he expects that we should offer up unto him the sacrifice of a righteous and godly life which will please him better than all the Sacrifices that were offered up under the Law Psal 4.5 Offer the Sacrifices of Righteousness Psal 51.17,19 The Sacrifices of God are a broken spirit a broken and a contrite heart O God thou wilt not despise Then shalt thou be pleased with the Sacrifices of righteousness When David was wonderfully delivered from the snares of death he determines to offer this Sacrifice to God namely to walk humbly and holily before God all the dayes of his life Psal 116.6,7,8 I was brought low and he helped me Thou hast delivered my soul from death mine eyes from tears and my feet from falling Then see what he renders to God for this mercy I will walk before the Lord in the Land of the living I have touched upon this head before and therefore I shall not enlarge farther upon it only I shall add two Scriptures which do imply that it is our duty after we have received any eminent deliverances to labour after a more eminent degree of holiness than we had before and are also promises that God will sanctifie our deliverances for the making of us more holy Obad. 17. Upon mount Zion shall be deliverance and there shall be holiness Isa 4.2,3 In that day shall the Branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious and the fruit of the Earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel And it shall come to pass that he that is left in Zion and he that remaineth in Jerusalem shall be called holy even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem In the former Chapter the Prophet had foretold the ruine of Jerusalem and the fall of Judah Isa 2.8 and here he foretells that a little remnant should escape and promiseth that Gods judgments on others and his mercy in delivering them should conduce much to the promoting of their holiness and cause them to prize highly the Lord Jesus who is understood by the Branch of the Lord Zach. 3.8 by whose merits and mediation they should obtain their deliverance SECT 11. 11. Let this deliverance cause you to seek after and to trust in God for farther mercies and deliverances when you are brought into straits This use God servants have been wont to make of their deliverances as you may see by these instances Judg. 15.18 And he was sore a thirst and called on the Lord and said Thou hast given this great deliverance into the hand of thy servant and now shall I die for thirst and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised 1 Sam. 17.37 David said moreover The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the Lion and out of the paw of the Bear he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine 2 Cor. 1.10 Who delivered us from so great a death and doth deliver in him we trust that he will yet deliver us This God expects that when he hath shielded us from or helped us out of one trouble we should trust him when we come into another Psal 115.9 O Israel trust thou in the Lord he is their help and their shield Psal 61.3,4 Thou hast been a shelter for me and a strong Tower from the Enemy I will
count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations 3. Observe in this time of your affliction what sins God sets before you as the ground and cause of your present straits and be excited by the smart of the rod to humble your souls and set upon the work of repentance and God will soon turn your adversity into prosperity and your straits into enlargement Job 36.8,9,10,11,16 If they be bound in fetters and be holden in cords of affliction then he sheweth them their work and their transgression that they have exceeded he openeth also their ear to Discipline and commandeth that they return from iniquity If they obey and serve him they shall spend their dayes in prosperity and their years in pleasure Even so would he have removed thee out of the strait into a broad place where there is no straitness and that which should be set on thy table should be full of fatness SECT 7. Obj. 7. My Family is undone by this loss if I were a single person and none but my self were concerned in it I could bear it cheer fully but I have Wife and Children and if God should take me away I can leave them nothing and this troubles me Answ 1. It is the duty of Parents to provide for their Children 2 Cor. 12.14 Children ought not to lay up for their Parents but Parents for their Children and such persons as spend their Estates in Gaming Drinking or other riotous courses whereby they begger their Children are worse than Insiders 1 Tim. 5.8 If any provide not for his own and especially for those of his own house he hath denied the Faith and is worse than an Infidel But if a man out of conscience towards God hath endeavoured to make provision for his Children and God doth frustrate his endeavours this is his affliction but not his sin 2. Though you can leave your Children little or nothing yet God may raise them up to great Estates and to â—…igh Preferments after you are dead and gone Job 14.21 His sont come to honour and he knoweth it not Psal 113.7,8 He raiseth up the poor out of the dust and lifteth the needy out of the dunghil that he may set him with Princes even with the Princes of his people Psal 112.1,2,3 Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord that delighteth greatly in his Commandments his seed shall be mighty upon earth the generation of the upright shall be blessed health and riches shall be in his house 3. Though you can leave your Children little or nothing possibly it may be as well or better for them than if you had left them great Estates for their Estates might have been temptations to others to have made a prey of them and temptations to themselves to have lived in Idleness Luxury c. Children that are left with great Estates do as frequently miscarry as those that are left with less 4. If your Family should be undone by this loss yet seeing it is the Lords doing you must submit your selves to God You must leave all your Family concernments as well as personal to Gods disposal God threatned Eli with the ruine of his Family and tells him that his off-spring should crouch for a morsel of bread 1 Sam. 2.36 There were such heavy things denounced against his Family as were enough to make both the ears of every one that heard thereof to tingle 1 Sam. 3.11,12,13,14 Yet Eli bears all patiently because it was the Lords doing 1 Sam. 3.18 It is the Lord let him do what seemeth him good As David comforted himself under his Family afflictions by virtue of Gods Covenant made with his own soul 2 Sam. 23.5 Although my house be not so with God yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant ordered in all things and sure for this is all my salvation and all my desire although he make it not to grow The like consolation may every godly man draw from Gods Covenant when his Family is or he foreseeth it is like to be in an afflicted condition 5. Say not your Family is undone though you have lost all your Estate so that you can leave your Wives and Children nothing for though a godly man can leave his Children no visible Estate yet he leaveth them that which is far better than hundreds yea than thousands by the year For 1. He leaveth his Children in Covenant with God Gen. 17.7 I will establish my Covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting Covenant to be a God to thee and thy seed after thee He leaveth them heirs of the Promises Acts 2.39 The promise is unto you and to your Children Now to be left an heir of the Promises to be left in Covenant with God is far better than to be leftworth millions of money for the blessings of the Covenant are better than all riches and they are also more certain and durable blessings 2. He leaveth them a stock of alms God will recompence upon the children the alms that have been given by their Parents Onesiphorus his house fared the better for his refreshing of Paul 1 Tim. 1.16 The Lord give mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus for he oft refreshed me And the Psalmist telleth us that the seed of a godly man fare the better for his acts of mercy Psal 37.26 He is ever merciful and lendeth and his seed is blessed 3. He leaveth his Children a stock of Prayers All the Prayers that he hath put up for his Childrens welfare either civil or spiritual are kept in Gods remembrance and shall fall down upon their heads and hearts in due time 4. He leaveth them Gods blessing which is more worth than the whole world Prov. 20.7 The just man walketh in his integrity his Children are blessed after him The fruit of his holy walking shall fall upon his Children and Childrens Children even to a thousand generations Exod. 20.6 Shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my Commandments A godly man leaves his Children better than if he left them as great Estates as any men have in the world better than if he left them a Temporal Crown or an earthly Kingdom SECT 8. Obj. 8. I have formerly lived high and in good credit and esteem and have kept a plentiful and bountiful Table and now I am brought low and must fare hard and expect to be slighted and dis-regarded and I know not how to bear this had I alwayes lived in a poor mean way I could have born it better than to go from a high to a low condition Answ 1. It is God that hath brough you low 1 Sam. 2.7 The Lord maketh poor and maketh rich he bringeth low and lifteth up Psal 75.7 God is the judge he putteth down one and setteth up another Now no man must finde fault with any of Gods works Rom. 9.20 O man who art thou that replyest against God shall the thing formed say to him that formed it
abide in thy Tabernacle for ever I will trust in the covert of thy wings Psal 4.5 Offer the sacrifices of righteousness and put your trust in the Lord. God was much displeased with the Israelites when they did not trust in him notwithstanding he had done great things for them Psal 78.21,22,23,24 Anger came up against Israel because they believed not in God and trusted not in his salvation though he had commanded the clouds from above and opened the doors of heaven and had rained down Manna upon them to eat see also ver 32 33. For all this they sinned still and believed not for his wonderous works therefore their dayes did he consume in vanity and their years in trouble We render that which is very pleasing and acceptable to God when we put our trust in him for The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him in those that hope in his mercy Psal 147.11 If you ask For what should great and remarkable deliverances cause a man to trust in God I answer 1. When a man hath had any remarkable deliverance out of any trouble it should encourage him to trust in God under all his straits and troubles that come upon him all the dayes of his life Psal 18.50 Great deliverance giveth he to his King and sheweth mercy to his anointed to David and to his seed for evermore This Psalm was penned upon the occasion of that deliverance which God gave David out of the hands of Saul as you may see in the title of the Psalm and from this deliverance he concludeth that God would deliver him for ever Psal 6.9 The Lord hath heard my supplication the Lord will receive my Prayer see the fore-quoted Scriptures 1 Sam. 17.37 2 Cor. 1.10 But some may say How can this be That deliverance from one trouble or calamity should cause us to trust in God for deliverance from another when as we see they that escape one judgment are cut off or suffer deeply by another I answer 1. When God cuts off and destroys those whom he hath formerly delivered it is usually such as distrust him and turn away from him Jude 5. The Lord having saved the people out of the land of Egypt afterward destroyed them that believed not Josh 24.20 If ye forsake the Lord and serve strange gods then he will turn and do you hurt and consume you after that he hath done you good 2. When God brings his servants who trust in him into new troubles their faith is not vain but brings down a great blessing for when they are not delivered from troubles they are delivered in trouble and are kept from the evil of trouble that it doth not hurt them and this is a great deliverance Job 5.19 He shall deliver thee in six troubles yea in seven there shall no evil touch thee 2. Deliverance from temporal evils should encourage the servants of God to trust in the Lord for deliverance from spiritual evils and the bestowing upon them spiritual blessings As for instance 1. When they have had deliverance out of trouble they should conclude that God will also deliver them from all their sins and preserve them in a state of grace till he hath brought them to himself in glory Thus Paul concludes from his deliverance that he had from Nero that God would deliver him from every evil work 2 Tim. 4.17,18 I was delivered out of the mouth of the Lion and the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom 2. The servants of God that have escaped great calamities and been delivered from great dangers should trust in God for a broken heart to mourn for their sins for God promiseth this mercy to such as escape great judgments Ezek. 7.16 They that escape of them shall escape and shall be on the Mountains like Doves of the Valleys all of them mourning every one for his iniquity 3. When the servants of God escape out of great troubles it should cause them to trust in God to deliver them from the deceit of their own hearts and to direct the work of faith and repentance in truth in their souls Isa 10.20,21 The remnant of Israel and such as are escaped of the House of Jacob shall no more again stay upon him that smote them but shall stay upon the Lord the Holy One of Israel in truth the remnant shall return even the remnant of Jacob unto the mighty God This remnant unto whom God promiseth faith and repentance in truth are such as should escape the great calamities that were coming on the Jews as you may see ver 21 22. 4. When the servants of God have received any eminent deliverances they should be encouraged thereby to trust in God for power and strength to walk before God in holiness and righteousness as long as they live Psal 56.13 Thou hast delivered my soul from death wilt not thou deliver my feet from falling that I may walk before God in the light of the living If any say What grounds have the servants of God to take encouragement from temporal deliverances to trust in God for all spiritual blessings Amongst others that may be named I will mention these two 1. Redemption from outward troubles is given to the servants of God by vertue of the Covenant of Grace as well as spiritual blessings Psal 111.9 He sent redemption unto his people he hath commanded his covenant for ever Psal 106.44,45 Nevertheless he regarded their affliction when he heard their cry and he remembred for them his Covenant Now when we finde God remembring his Covenant in one kinde it may encourage us to trust in God for all the other blessings which are promised to us in Gods Covenant 2. Redemption from outward troubles is given to the servants of God from the same love of God that spiritual blessings are bestowed upon them Isa 63.9 In all their afflictions he was afflicted and the Angel of his presence saved them in his love and in his pity he redeemed them and he bare them and carried them all the dayes of old Isa 38.17 Behold for peace I had great bitterness but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption Psal 18.19 He brought me forth into a large place he delivered me because he delighted in me Now even outward deliverances being tokens of Gods love to his Servants they may thereby be encouraged to trust in God for spiritual blessings Psal 36.6,7,8 There is much of Gods love seen in his preserving our persons and goods O Lord thou preservest man and beast how excellent is thy loving kindeness his loving kindness should cause us to trust in him therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings And this loving kindeness of God should cause us to trust in him not only for outward but also for spiritual blessings as appears from the eighth verse SECT 12. 12. Let this deliverance cause you to prepare
for your day of visitation and to be ready to undergo whatever afflictions God shall see meet to lay upon you Amos 4.11,12 I have overthrown some of you as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and ye were as a fire-brand blucked out of the burning prepare to meet thy God O Israel Both they that have suffered by this Fire should prepare for farther sufferings as hath been hinted in the second Question and they that escaped this burning should prepare against the day of their visitation Preparing your selves for afflictions is no way inconsistent with that trusting in God to which I exhorted you in the former Section but is an effect and fruit of Faith It was Noah's faith and not his diffidence that moved him to prepare an Ark when he understood the Flood was coming Heb. 11.7 By Faith Noah being warned of God of things not seen as yet moved with fear prepared an Ark This being a needful point for a Christian to be prepared for all sorts of affliction I shall enlarge a little upon it and shew you 1. Why it is needful that we should be prepared for all kindes of affliction 2. How this may be done There is great reason that we should prepare our selves and stand ready for all sorts of affliction because 1. As we are men men that carry about with us a body of sin and death we are liable to troubles and calamities every day as long as we live in this world Job 5.7 Man is born unto trouble as the sparks flie upward Job 14.1 Man that is born of a woman is of few dayes and full of troubles For ought we know every day may bring forth as much trouble as we are able to bear if it be otherwise we must ascribe it to the goodness of God Matth. 6.34 Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof and this is our condition as long as we live to be liable to trouble and sorrow all our dayes Gen. 3.17 Cursed is the ground for thy sake in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the dayes of thy life There is not any one creature in the world no not that from which we promise our selves most comfort but at one time or another it may vex our very souls Eccles 2.17 All is vanity and vexation of spirit 2. As we are godly men so we are liable to many and great troubles Psal 34.19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous Rev. 7.14 These are they which came out of great tribulation Acts 14.22 We must through much tribulation enter into the Kingdom of God God would not have any godly man promise himself immunity from trouble but would have him prepare for the sharpest tryals 2 Tim. 3.12 Yea and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution If we look over the examples of Gods servants we shall finde they have all gone through very great tryals What crosses did Jacob meet with from his brother Esau his Uncle Laban his own Children c. there was scarce a day wherein he did not meet with some trouble as he tells Pharaoh Gen. 47.9 Few and evil have the dayes of the years of my life been David who was a man after Gods own heart had a great portion of troubles Psal 73.14 All the day long have I been plagued and chastned every morning Psal 31.9,10 Mine eye is consumed with grief yea my soul and my belly for my life is spent with grief and my years with sighing Heman was full of troubles and that from his youth up and those so great that he was ready to dye under them Psal 88.3,15 My soul is full of troubles and my life draweth nigh unto the grave I am afflicted and ready to dye from my youth up Yea Jesus Christ who was Gods own Son was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief Isa 53.3 3. We cannot assure our selves that we shall be exempted from any kinde of trouble for whilst we are in the body we are liable to all kindes of adversity Heb. 13.3 Remember them that are in bonds as bound with them and them which suffer adversity as being your selves also in the body Better than we are have met with all sorts of troubles Psal 88.7 Thou hast afflicted me with all thy wayes Psal 42.7 All thy waves and thy billows are gone over me We may meet with such afflications as we never looked for or scarce so much as thought of them Isa 64.3 Thou didst terrible things which we looked not for And as all sorts of afflictions do attend us so at all times and in all places we cannot promise our selves freedom from affliction in any place Acts 20.22,23 I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem not knowing the things that shall befal me there save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every City saying That bonds and afflictions abide me Neither can we promise our selves freedom from trouble any one day Prov. 27.1 Boast not thy self of to morrow for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth Now seeing we are liable to all sorts of afflictions in all places and at all times is it not our concernment to stand prepared continually for all sorts of tryals 4. God oft-times makes very great and suddain changes in our conditions when we least think of them when we are in the height of prosperity and adversity is far from our thoughts when we are looking for nothing but good dayes God suddenly exerciseth us with great tryals Job 30.26 When I looked for good then evil came unto me and when I waited for light there came darkness Psal 30.6,7 In my prosperity I said I shall never be moved Lord by thy savour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong thou didst hide thy face and I was troubled When Job said I shall dye in my nest I shall multiply my dayes as the sand Job 29.18 It was but a little after he complains Terrors are turned upon me they pursue my soul as the winde and my welfare passeth away as a cloud and now my soul is powred out upon me the dayes of affliction have taken hold upon me Job 30.15,16 When Abraham was full of joy for his Son Isaac there ariseth a great affliction in his Family Ishmael scoffs at Isaac Sarah makes sute to Abraham to cast out Hagar and her Son and it is said The thing was very grievous in Abrahams sight because of his Son Gen. 20.11 Afterwards when God was so eminently present with Abraham that Abimelech takes notice of it and desireth to make a league with him Gen. 20.22,23 and after he had been worshiping God ver 33. on a sudden God brought as great a tryal upon him as possibly could befal him he calls him to offer up his Son Isaac for a burnt-offering and that without any delay Gen. 22.2 Take now thy Son thine only Son Isaac whom thou lovest and get thee into the land Moriah and offer him there for a burnt-offering 'T is not take a year