fears troubled with a bad heart and a busie devil 〈◊〉 well as you they also had their clouds and damps as you have yet the Almighty power of God supported them and out of weakness they were made strong Despond not therefore but get a judgment satisfied Psal. 44. 22. A Conscience sprinkled 2 Tim. 1. 7. And a Call cleared Dan. 6. 10. Exercise Faith also with respect to Divine assistances and everlasting rewards as they did and doubt not but the same God that enabled them to finish their course with joy will be as good to you as he was to them Consider Christ hath done as much for you as he did for any of them and deserves as much from you as from any of them and hath prepared 〈◊〉 same glory for you that he prepared for them â— that such considerations might provoke you to shew as â—uch courage and love to Christ as any of them ever 〈◊〉 7. Rule If ever yi will get above the power of your own fears in a â—â—ffering day make haste to clear your interest in Christ and your pardon in his blood before that evil day com The clearer thâ—â—s the bolder you will be an assured Christian wâ—â—â—never known to be a coward in sufferings It is impoâ—â—â—ble to be clear of fears till you are cleared of the â—â—ubts about interest in and pardon by Christ. Nâ—thing is found more strengthening to our fears thâ—â— that which clouds our evidences and nothing â—â—re to quiet and cure our fears than that which clears â—r evidences The shedding abroad of Gods love iâ— our hearts will quickly fill them with a spirit of gâ—â—rying in tribulations Rom. 5. 5. When the beliâ—â—ing Hebrews once came to know in themselves tâ—â—t they had an enduring substance in Heaven they quickly found in themselves an unconcerned heart for the loss of their comforts on earth Heb. 10. 34. and so should we too For 1. Assurance satisfies a man that his treasure and true happiness is secured to him and laid out of the reach of all his enemies and so long as that is safe he hath all the reason in the world to be quiet and chearful I know saith Paul whom I have believed and am perswaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him against that day 2 Tim. 1. 12. And he gives this as the reason why he was not ashamed of Christs sufferings 2. The assured Christian knows that if death it self come which is the worst men can inflict 〈◊〉 shall be no loser by the exchange nay he shall 〈◊〉 the best bargain that ever he made since he 〈◊〉 parted with all in his afflictions to follow Christ There are two rich bargains a Christian makes 〈◊〉 is wheâ— he exchanges the world for Christ in his â—â—rst choice at his conversion in point of love and stimation the other is when he actually parts witâ—'he world for Christ at his dissolution both thâ—e are rich bargains and upon this ground it waâ—â—the Apostle said To me to live is Christ and to die is â—â—ain Phil. 1. 21. The death of a believer in Chrâ—â— is gain unspeakable but if a man would maâ—â— the utmost gain by dying he shall find it in dyinâ— for Christ as well as in Christ And to shew you werein the gain of such a death lies let a few particulâ—â—â— be weighed wherein the gain will be cast up in bâ—â—h he that is assured he dies in Christ knows 1. That his living time is hiâ—â—labouring time but his dying time is his harvest tiâ—â— whilst we live we are plowing and sowing in all teâ—â— duties of Religion but when we die then we reap 〈◊〉 fruit and comfort of all our labours and duties Gal. 6. 8 9. As much therefore as the reaping time is better than the sowing and plowing time so much better is the death than the life of a believer 2. A Believers living time is his fighting time but his dying time is his conquering and triumphing time 1 Cor. 15. 55 56. The conflict is sharp but the triumph is sweet and as much as victory and triumph is better than fighting so much is death better than life to him that dieth in Jesus 3 A Believers living time is his tiresome and weary time but his dying time is his resting and sleeping time Isai. 57. 2. Here we spend and faint there we rest in our beds and as much as refreshing rest in sleep is better than tiring and fainting so much is a Believers death better than his life 4. A Believers living time is his waiting and longing time but his time of dying is the time of enjoying what he hath long wished and waited for Phil. 1. 23. Here we groan and sigh for Christ there we behold and enjoy Christ and so much as vision and fruition is better and sweeter than hoping and waiting for it so much is a believers death better than his life 2. As the advantage a Believer makes of death is great to him by dying only in Christ so it is much greater and the richest improvement that can be made of death to die for Christ as well as in Christ For compare them in a few particulars and you shall find 1. That though a natural death hath less horrour yet a violent death for Christ hath more honour in it To him that dies united with Christ the grave is a bed of rest but to him that dies as a Martyr for Christ the grave is a bed of honour To you saith the Apostle it is given in the behalf of Christ not only to believe but also to suffer for his sake 1 Phil. 29. To you it is granted as a great honour and favour to suffer for Christ all that live in Christ have not the honour to lay down their lives for Christ. It was the great trouble of Ludovicâ—s Marsacus a Knight of France to be exempted because of his dignity from wearing his chain for Christ as the other Prisoners did and he resented it as a great injury Give mâ— saith he to his Keeper my chain as well as they and create me a Knight of that noble Order 2. By a natural death we only submit our selves to the unavoidable consequence of sin but in dying a violent death for Christ we give our testimony against the evil of sin and for the precious truths of Jesus Christ. The first is the payment of a debt of justice due by the fall of Adam the second is the payment of a debt of thankfulness and obedience due to Christ who redeemed us with his own bloud Thus we become witnesses for God as well as sufferers upon the account of sin In the first sin witnesseth against us in this we witness against it and indeed it is a great testimony against the evil of sin We declare to all the world that there is not so much evil in a Dungeon in a bloudy Ax or consuming flames as there is in sin That it is far better to
grievously wounded my own Conscience To this wounded and trembling conscience is opposed the spirit of a sound mind mentioned 2 Tim. 1. 7. God hath not given us the spirit of fear but of power of love and of a sound mind A sound mind is in this place the same thing with a pure and peaceable Conscience a mind or Conscience not infirmed or wounded with guilt as we say a sound or heal body which hath no disease to infirm it such a mind is opposed to the spirit of fear it will make a man bold as a Lion Nil conscire tibi nullâ Pallescere culpâ hic muâ—â—â— aheneus esto An evil and guilty Conscience foments fears and terrours three ways 1. by aggravating small matters and blowing them up to the height of the most fatal and destructive evils so it was with Cain Gen. 4. 14. Every one that meets me will slay me Now every child was a Giant in his eye and any body he met his over-match A guilty Conscience gives a man no sight of his enemy but through a magnifying or a multiplying glass 2 It begets Fears by interpreting all doubtful cases in the worst sense that can befastened upon them Pessimus in dubiis Augur timor If the Swallows do but chatter in the chimney Bessus interprets it to be a discovery of his crime that they are telling take of him and saying Bessus killed a man Nay 3 If a guilty Conscience have nothing to aggravate and magnifie nor any doubtful matter to interpret in a frightful sense it can and often doth create fears and terrors out of nothing at all the rules of Fear 〈◊〉 not like the rules in Arithmetick where many nothings make nothing but fear can make something out of nothing yea many thingâ— and great things out of nothing at all Psal. 53 5. there werâ— they in great feaâ— where no fear was here was a great fear raiseâ— or created out of nothing at allâ— had their fear been examined anâ— hunted home to its original it would have beeâ— found a pure creature of fancy a Chimaera haveâ—â—â— no fundamentum in re no other foundation but 〈◊〉 troubled fancy and a guilty Conscience thus it 〈◊〉 with Pashur he was a very wicked man and a bitâ—â— enemy to the Prophet Ieremy and if there be none 〈◊〉 fright and terrifie from abroad rather than he 〈◊〉 want it he shall be a terror to himself Ier. 20. 3 4. he was his own bug bear afraid of his own shadow and truly this is a great plague and misery he that is a terror to himself can no more flee from terrors than he can flee from himself O the efficâ—cy of Conscience how doth it arrest the stoutest sinners and make them tremble when there is no visible external cause of fear Nemo sejudice nocens absolvitur 1. Object But may not a good man whose sins are pardoned be affrighted with his own fancies and scared with his own imaginations Sol. No doubt he may for there is a twofold fountain of fears one in the body another in the soul one in the constitution another in the conscience it is the affliction and infelicity of many pardoned and gracious souls to be united and married to such distempered and ill habited bodies as shall afflict them without any real cause from within and wound them by their own diseases and distempers and these wounds can no more be prevented or cured by their reason or Religion than any other bodily disease suppose an Ague or a Feaver can be so cured Thus Physicians tell us when adust choler and melancholy overflows and abounds in the body as in the Hypochondriacal distemper c. what sad effects it hath upon the mind as well as upon the body there is not only a sad and fearful aspect or countenance without but sorrow fear and afflicting thoughts within this is a sore affliction to many good men whose Consciences are sprinkled with the bloud of Christ from guilt but yet God sees good to clog them with such afflictions as this for their humiliation and for the prevention of worse evils 2. Object But many bold and daring sinners are found who notwithstanding all the guilt with which their consciences are loaded can look dangers in the face without trembling yea they can look death it self the King of terrors in the face with less fear than better men Sol. True but the reason of that is from a spiritual judgment of God upon their hearts and consciences whereby they are hardened and seared as with an hot iron 2. Tim. 4. 2. and so Conscience is disabled for the present to do its office it cannot put forth its efficacy and activity now when it might be useful to their salvation but it will do it to purpose hereafter when their case shall be remediless 3. Cause 3. We see what a forge of Fears a guilty Conscience is and no less is the sin of Unbelief the real and proper cause of most distracting and afflictive fears so much as our Souls are empty of faith they are in times of trouble filled with fear We read of some that have died by no other hand but their own fears but we never read of any that died by fear who were once brought to live by faith If men would but dig to the root of their fears they should certainly find unbelief there Matth. 8. 26. Why are ye fearful Oye of little faith The less faith still the more fear Fear is generated by unbelief and unbelief strengthened by fear as in nature there is an observable 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 circular generation vapours beget showers and showers new vapours so it is in things moral and therefore all the skill in the world can never cure us of the disease of fear till God first cure us of our unbelief Christ therefore took the right method to rid the disciples of their fear by rebuking their unbelief The remains of this sin in Gods own people is the cause and fountain of their fears and more particularly to shew how fear is generated by unbelief let a few particulars be heedfully adverted 1. Unbelief weakens and stumbles the assenting act of Faith and thereby cuts off from the soul in a great measure its principal relief against dangers and troubles It is the use and office of Faith to reallize to the Soul the invisible things of the world to come and thereby encourage it against the fears and dangers of the present world Thus Moses forsook Egypt not fearing the wrath of the King for he endured as seeing him that is invisible Heb. 11. 27. If this assentting act of Faith be weakned or staggered in the soul if once invisibles seem uncertainties and visibles the only realities no wonder we are so scared and frighted when these visible and sensible comforts are exposed and endangered as they often are and will be in this mutable world That man must needs be afraid to stand his ground that
following Prescriptions and Rules must not think the Reading or bare remembring them will do the work but he must work them into his heart by believing and fixed meditation and live in the daily practice of them It is not our opening of our case to a Physician nor his Prescriptions and written directions that will cure a man but he must resolve to take the bitter and nauseous potions how much soever he loath it to abstain from hurtful diet how well soever he loves it if ever he expect to be a sound and healthful man So it is in this case also These things premised the 1. Rule The first Rule to relieve us against our Slavish Fears Is seriously to consider and more throughly to study the Covenant of Grace within the blessed Clasp and Bond whereof all believers are I think the clear understanding of the Nature Extent and Stability of the Covenant and of our interest therein would go a great way in the cure of our sinful and slavish Fears A Covenant is more than a naked promise in the Covenant God hath graciously consulted our weakness fears and doubts and therefore proceeds with us in the highest way of solemnity confirming his Promises by Oath Heb. 6. 13 17. and by Seals Rom. 4. 11. Putting himself under the most solemnties and engagements that can be to his people that from so firm a ratification of the Covenant with us we might have strong consolation Heb. 6. 18. He hath so ordered it that it might afford strong supports and the most reviving cordials to our faint and and timorous Spirits in all the plunges of trouble both from within and from without In the Covenant God makes over himself to his people to be unto them a God Ier. 31. 33. Heb. 8. 10. Wherein the Lord bestows himself in all his Glorious Essential properties upon us to the end that whatsoever his Almighty power Infinite wisdom and Incomprehensible mercy can afford for our protection support deliverance direction pardon or refreshment we might be assured shall be faithfully performed to us in all the straits fears and exigencies of our lives This God expects we should improve by Faith as the most sovereign antidote against all our Fears in this world Isaiah 43. 1 2. Thus saith the Lord that created thee O Jacob and he that formed thee O Israel fear not for I have redeemed thee I have called thee by thy name thou art mine when thou passest through the waters I will be with thee c. Isai. 41. 10. Fear not for I am with thee be not dismaied for I am thy God And if thou Reader be within the bond of this Covenant thou mayest surely find enough there to quiet thy heart whatever the matter or ground of thy fears be If God be thy Covenant God he will be with thee in all thy streights wants and troubles he will never leave nor forsake thee From the Covenant it was that David encouraged himself against all his troubles 2. Sam. 23. 5. Although my house be not so with God yet hath he made with me an everlasting Covenant well ordered in all things and sure and this is all my salvation and all my desire though he make it not to grow He could fetch all reliefs all comforts all salvations out of it and why cannot we He desired no more for the support of his heart this is all my desire and sure if we understood and believed it as he did we could desire no more to quiet and comfort our hearts than what this Covenant affords us For 1. Are we afraid what our enemies will do We know we are in the midst of Potent Politick and enraged enemies we have heard what they have done and see what they are preparing to do again we tremble to think what bloudy Tragedies are like to be acted over again in the World by their cruel hands But O what heroick and noble acts of Faith should the Covenant of thy God enable thee to exert amidst all these fears If God be thy God then thou hast an Almighty God on thy side and that is enough to extinguish all these Fears Psal. 118. 6. The Lord is on my side I will not fear what man can do unto me Your fears come in the name of man but your help in the name of the Lord Let them plot threaten yea and smite too God is a shield to all that fear him and if God be for us who can be against us 2. Are we afraid what God will do Fear it not your God will do nothing against your good think not that he may forget you it cannot be sooner may a tender mother forget her sucking child Isai. 49. 15. no no He withdraweth not his eye from the Righteous Iob 36. 7. His eyes are continually upon all the dangers and wants of your Souls and Bodies there is not a danger or an enemy stirring against you but his eye is upon it 2 Chron. 16. 9. Are you afraid he will forsake and cast you off 'T is true your sins have deserved he should do so but he hath secured you fully against that fear in his Covenant Ier. 32. 40. I will not turn away from them to do them good All your fears of Gods forgetting or forsaking you spring out of your ignorance of the Covenant 3. Are you afraid what you shall do 'T is usual for the people of God to propose difficult cases to themselves and put startling questions to their own hearts and there may be an excellent use of them to rouze them out of security put them upon the search and tryal of their conditions and estates and make preparation for the worst but Satan usually improves it to a quite contrary end to deject affright and discourage them O if fiery trials should come if my liberty and life come once to be toucht in earnest I fear I shall never have strength to go on a step farther in the way of Religion I am afraid I shall faint in the first encounter I shall deny the words of the Holy One make shipwrack of Faith and a good Conscience in the first gust of temptation I can hear and pray and profess but I doubt I cannot burn or bleed or lie in a dungeon for Christ. If I can scarce run with footmen in the land of peace how do I think to contend with Horses in the swellings of Iordan But yet all these are but groundless fears either forged in thy own misgiving heart or secretly shuffled by Satan into it for God hath abundantly secured thee against fear in this very particular by that most sweet supporting and blessed promise annexed to the former in the same Text Ier. 32. 40. I will put my fear into their hearts and that they shall not depart from me Here is another kind of Fear than that which so startles thee promised to be put into thy heart not a fear to shake and undermine thy assurance as this doth but to
Prisoner and there put to this miserable choice either to forego his life or that which was more precious his liberty of Conscience neither could his liberty be procured by his great friends at any lower rate than to recant his Religion this he was very unwilling to accept of till his hard imprisonment joyned with threats of much worse in case of his refusal at last wrought so upon him whilst he consulted with flesh and bloud as drew from him an Abrenunciation of that truth which he had so long professed and still believed Upon this he was restored to his liberty but never to his comfort for the sense of his own Apostasie and the daily sight of the cruel butcheries exercised upon others for their constant adherence to the truth made such deep impressions upon his broken spirit as brought him to a speedy end of his life yet not without some comfortable hopes at last Our own Histories abound with multitudes of such doleful examples Some have been in such horror of Conscience that they have chosen strangling rather than life they have felt that anguish of Conscience that hath put them upon desperate resolutions and attempts against their own lives to rid themselves of it This was the case of Peter Moon who being driven by his own fears to deny the truth presently fell into such horrour of Conscience that seeing a sword hanging in his Parlor would have sheathed it in his own bowels So Francis Spira before mentioned when he was near his end saw a knife on the Table and running to it would have mischieved himself had not his friends prevented him thereupon he said O that I were above God for I know that he will have no mercy on me He lay about eight weeks saith the Historian in a continual burning neither desiring nor receiving any thing but by force and that without digestion till he became as an Anatomy vehemently raging for drink yet fearful to live long dreadful of hell yet coveting death in a continual torment yet his own Tormentor and thus consuming himself with grief and horror impatience and despair like a living man in hell he represented an extraor dinary example of Gods justice and power and so ended his miserable life Surely it were good to fright our selves by such dreadful examples out of our sinful fears is any misery we can fear from the hands of man like this O Reader believe it it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of God Hadst thou ever felt the rage and efficacy of a wounded and distressed Conscience as these poor wretches felt it no fears or threats of men should drive thee into such an Hell upon earth as this is 2. And yet though this be a doleful case it is not the worst case your own sinful fears will cast you into except the Lord overcome and extinguish them in you by the fear of his name they will not only bring you into a kind of hell upon earth but into hell it self for evermore For so the righteous God hath said in his word of truth Rev. 21. 8. But the fearful and unbelieving c. shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone which is the second death Behold here the Marshal Law of Heaven executed upon Cowards and Renegadoes whose fears make them revolt from Christ in the time of danger Think upon this you timorous fainthearted professors you cannot bear the thoughts of lying in a nasty Dungeon how will you lie then in the lake of fire and brimstone You are afraid of the face and frowns of a man that shall die but how will you live among Devils Is the wrath of man like the fury of God poured out Is not the little finger of God heavier than the loyns of all the Tyrants in the World Remember what Christ hath said Matth. 10. 33. But whosoever shall deny me before men him will I also deny before my father which is in heaven Reader The time is coming when he that spake these words shall break out of Heaven with a shout accompanied with myriads of Angels and ten thousands of his Saints the Heavens and the Earth shall be in dreadful conflagrations round about him The last Trump shall sound the Graves shall open the Earth and Sea shall give up the dead that are in them Thine eyes shall see him ascend the awful throne of judgment his faithful ones that feared not to own and appear for him in the face of all enemies and dangers sitting on the bench as Assessors with him and then to be disclaimed and renounced for ever by Jesus Christ in the face of that great assembly and proclaimed a delinquent a Traitor to him that deniedst his name and truths because of the frowns of a fellow Creature long since withered as the grass O how wilt thou be able to endure this now put both these together in thy serious consideration think on the terrors of Conscience here and the desperate horror of it in Hell thiâ— as a perboiling that as a roasting in the flames of Gods insufferable wrath These as some scalding drops sprinkled before hand upon thy Conscience that tender and sensible part of man that as the lake burning for ever with fire and brimstone O who would suffer himself to be driven into all thiâ— misery by the fears of those sufferings which can but touch the flesh and for their duration they are but for a moment Think and think again upon those words of Christ Mark 8. 35. He that will save his life shall lose it It may be a prolonging of a miserable life a life worse than death even in thine own account a life without the comfort or joy of life a life ending in the second death and all this for fear of a trifle compareâ— with what thou shalt afterwards feel in thine own Conscience and less than a trifle nothing compareâ— with what thou must suffer from God for ever 3. Rule He that will overcome his fears of sufferings muâ—â— foresee and provide before hand for them The fear of Caution is a good cure to the fear of Distraction the more of that the less of this this fear will cure that as one fire draws forth another Heb. 11. 7 Noah being moved with fear prepared 〈◊〉 Ark. In which he provided as much for the rest anâ— quiet of his mind as he did for the safety of his person and family That which makes evils so frightful as they are is their coming by way of surprize upon us Those troubles that find us secure do leave us distracted and desperate Presumption of continued tranquillity proves one of the greatest aggravations of misery Trouble will lie heavy enough when it comes by way of expectation but it is intolerable when it comes quite contrary to expectation It will be the Lot of Babylon to suffer the unexpected Vials of Gods wrath and I wish none but she and her children may be so surprized
them their strong hold shall not secure them they shall find no shelter in the scorching heat of the day of trouble Moab Ashdod and Ekron have no more benefit by the Promises made to Sion than the Inhabitants of Rome can claim by the Charter of London If a wicked or hypocritical person cry to God in his distress he will not hear him Prov. 1. 25 26. Iob 27. 9. but will bid him go to his earthly refuges which he hath chosen if he go to the promises knock at those doors of hope they cannot relieve him being all made in Christ to believers if to the Name and Attributes of God all the dores are shut against them Psal. 34. 16. There are Seven dreadful Aggravations of a wicked man's troubles 1 When troubles come upon him the Curse of God follows him into his carnal refuges Ier. 17. 5. Cursed be the man that trusteth in man and maketh flesh his arm and whose heart departeth from the Lord. Trouble is the Arrow and this curse the venom of the Arrow which makes the Wound incurable 2. When troubles fall upon him from without a guilty conscience will terrifie him from within So that the mind can give no relief to the body but both sink under their own weights it is not so with the people of God they have inward relief under outward pressures 2 Cor. 4. 16. 3. The gusts and storms of wicked mens troubles may blow them into Hell and hurry them into eternal destruction if Death march towards them upon the pale Horse hell always follows him Rev. 6. 8. 4. If troubles and distresses overwhelm their hearts they can give them no vent or ease by prayer faith and resignation to God as his People use to do 1 Sam. 1. 18. 5. When their troubles and distresses come then comes the hour and power of their temptation and to shun sorrow they will fall into sin having no promise to be kept in the hour of temptation as the Saints have Rev. 3. 10. 6. When their troubles come they will be left alone in the midst of them these are their burthens and they alone must bear them Gods gracious comfortable supporting presence is only with his own people 7. If trouble or death come upon them as a storm they have no Anchor of Hope to drop in the Storm The wicked is driven away in his wickedness but the righteous hath hope in his death Prov. 14. 32. by all which it appears that a Christless person is a most helpless and shiftless creature in the day of trouble 2. Consect Secondly Hence it follows That Christians ought not to droop like other men in the day of trouble A Wicked mans boldness and a Christians cowardliness in times of affliction are alike ungrounded and uncomly Why should thy heart Christian despond and sink at this rate upon the prospect of approaching troubles Are there not safe and comfortable Chambers taken up and provided for thee against that day Is not the name of the Lord a strong Tower into which thou mayest run and be safe The heart of a good man saith Chrysostome should at all times be like the higher Heavens serene tranquil and clear whatever Thunders and Lightnings Storms and Tempests trouble and terrifie the lower World If a man have a good Roof over his head where he can sit dry and warm what need he trouble himself to hear the Winds roar the Lightnings flash and the Rains pour down without doors Why this is thy priviledge Christian A man to wit the man Christ Jesus shall be as an hiding place from the wind and a covert from the tempest as rivers of water in a dry place as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land Isa. 32. 2. Art thou in Christ and in the Covenant give me then one good reason for thy dejections in a day of trouble or if thou hast none to give hearken to these Reasons against it 1. If thou be in Christ thy Sins are forgiven thee and why should not a pardoned Soul he a chearful Soul in adversity Afflictions may buz and hum about thee like Bees that have lost their Sting but they can never hurt thee 2. If thou be in Christ thy God is with thee in all thy troubles and how can thy heart sink or faint in such a presence Let them that are alone in troubles fail under them but don't thou do so that art surrounded with Almighty Power Grace and Love Isa. 43. 1 2. 3. If thou be in Christ thy greatest afflictions shall prove thy best Friends and Benefactors Rom. 8. 28. Sure then thou art more afraid than hurt thou mistakest thy best Friends for thy worst Enemies thou and thy Afflictions shall part more comfortably than you met 4. If thou be in Christ thy Treasure is safe thy eternal happiness is out of the reach of all thine Enemies Luk. 12. 4. Luk. 10. 42. And if that be safe thou hast no cause to be sad to droop and tremble at the hazard of earthly comforts whilest heavenly and eternal things are safe is as if a man that had gotten his Pardon from the King and had it safe in his Bosom should be found weeping upon the way home because he hath lost his Staff or Glove These reasons are strong against the dejections of Gods people under outward troubles but yet I am sensible that all the reasoning in the world will not prevent their dejections except they will take pains to clear up their Interest in God against such a day Psal. 18. 2. and will act their faith by way of adherence and dependance upon God in the want of former light and evidence Isa. 50. 10. And lastly that they keep their consciences pure and inviolate which will be a spring of comfort in the midst of troubles 2 Cor. 1. 12. 3. Consect Thirdly It hence appears to be the greatest folly and vanity in the world to make any thing but God our refuge in the day of trouble This practice as you heard but now is under Gods curse and that which is cursed of God can never be comfortable to us It is an honour peculiar to God the right of Heaven and therefore cursed Sacriledge to bestow it on the Creature We read of some that make lies their refuge and hide themselves under Falshood thinking when the overflowing Scourge comes it shall not come nigh unto them Isa. 28. 15. They will trust to their wits and policies they will fawn and flatter lye and dissemble cast themselves into a thousand shapes and forms to save themselves but all in vain the Flood shall sweep away their refuge of lyes Others make Riches their trust and confidence Prov. 10. 15. The rich mans wealth is his strong city If Enemies come their money shall be their ransom but oh what a poor refuge will this be It may betray but cannot secure them Behold saith God I will stir up the Medes against them which shall not regard silver and