with a great and terrible God and is scared with apprehensions of his infinite and eternal wrath Than which no evil is or can be greater You see at what height Christs conflict with it wrought when it made him sweat as it were great clots of bloud Of all temporal evils death is the greatest and therefore Iob calls it the King of terrours Iob 18. 14. or the most terrible of terribles Thuanus relates two strange instances of the fear of death One of a certain Captain who was so terrified with the fear of death that he poured out a kind of bloudy sweat from all parts of his body Another is of a Young man condemned for a small matter by Sixtus Quintus who was so vehemently terrified with the fears of death that he shed a kind of bloudy tears These are strange and terrible effects of fear but vastly short of what Christ felt and suffered who grapled with a far greater evil than the Terrors of death even the wrath of an incensed God poured out to the full and that immediately upon him But yet evil as evil is rather the object of hatred than of fear it must be an imminent or near approaching evil which we see not how to escape or put by that provokes fear and rouzes this Lion And therefore the Saints in glory are perfectly freed from fear because they are out of the reach of all danger Nor do we that are here in the midst of evils fear them till we see them approching us and we see not how to avoid them To hear of Fire Plague or the Sword in the Indies doth not affright us because the evil is so remote from us It 's far enough off we are in no danger of it but when it is in the Town much more when within our own dwellings we tremble Evil hurts us not by a simple apprehension of its nature but of its union and all propinquity is a degree of union as a learned Divine speaks And its worth Observation that all carnal security is maintained by putting evils at a great distance from us As it is noted of those secure Sensualists Amos 6. 3. they put far from them the evil day the meaning is not that they did or could put the evil one minute farther from them in reality but only by imagination and fancy they shut their own eyes and would not see it lest it should give an unpleasing interruption to their mirth and this is the reason why death puts the living into no more fear because it is apprehended as remote and at an undetermined distance whereas if the precise time of death were known especially if that time were near it would greatly scare and terrifie This is the nature of natural Fear the infelicity of nature which we all groan under the effects of It is in all the creatures in some degree but among them all none suffer more by it than man for hereby he becomes his own tormentor nor is any torment greater than this when it prevails in an high degree upon us Indeed all constitutions and tempers admit not the same degrees of fear some are naturally couragious and stout like the Lyon for magnanimity and fortitude others exceeding timorous and faint-hearted like the Hare or Hart one little dog will make an hundred of them fear and flee before him Luther was a man of great courage and presence of mind in dangers Melancthon very timorous and subject to despondency thus the difference betwixt them is expressed in one of Luther's Letters to him I am well nigh a secure spectator of things and esteem not any thing these fierce and threatning Papists I much dislike those anxious cares which as thou writest do almost consume thee There might be as great a stock of grace in one as in the other but Melancthon's grace had not the advantage of so stout and couragious a temper of body and mind as Luther's had Thus briefly of natural Fear SECT II. THere is a Fear which is formally and intrinsically sinful not only our infelicity but our fault not our simple affliction and burden but our great evil and provocation and such is the fear here dissuaded called Their Fear i. e. the fear wherewith carnal and unbelieving men do fear when dangers threaten them and the sinfulness of it lies in five things 1. In the spring and cause of it which is unbelief and an unworthy distrust of God when we dare not rely upon the security of a divine promise nor trust to Gods protection in the way of ouâ— duty This was the very case of that people Isai. 30. 15. Thus saith the Lord the holy one of Israel in returning and rest shall ye be saved in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength and ye would not but ye said no for we will flee upon horses therefore shall ye flee and we will ride upon the swift therefore shall they that pursue you be swift one thousand shall flee at the rebuke of one c. Thus stood the case Sennacherib with a mighty Host was ready to invade them this puts them into a fright in this distress God assures them by the mouth of the Prophet That in returning and rest they should be saved in quietness and confidence should be their strength The meaning is never perplex your selves with various councels and projects to secure your selves under the wings of Egypt or any other Protector but with a composed quiet and calm temper of mind rest upon my power by faith take my promises for your security this shall be your salvation and your strength more effectual to your preservation than Armies Garisons or any creature defence in the World one act of faith shall do you better service than Pharaoh and all his forces can do But ye said no q. d. we dare not trust to that a good horse will do us more service at such a time than a good promise Egypt is a better security in their eye than Heaven This is the fruit of gross infidelity And as wicked men do thus forsake God and cleave to the creature in time of trouble so there is found a spice of this distrustfulness of God producing fear and trouble in the best men It was in the Disciples themselves Matth. 8. 26. Why are ye fearful O ye of little faith A Storm had befallen them at Sea danger began to threaten them and presently you find a storm within their fears were more boisterous than the winds and had more need of calming than the sea and it was all from their unbelief as Christ tells them the less their faith the greater their fear If a man can but rely upon God in a promise so far as he is enabled to believe so far he will reckon himself well secured Illyricus in his Catalogue of the witnesses relates this remarkable passage of one Andreas Proles a godly aged Divine who lived somewhat before Luther and taught many
Faith from thence is sweet and sure If I shall never be forsaken of my God let Hell and Earth do their worst I can never be miserable 2. The Unchangeable God hath promised to maintain their graces and thereby his interest in them for ever Ier. 32. 40. And I will make an everlasting Covenant with them that I will not turn away from them to do them good but I will put my fear in their hearts that they shall not depart from me Where the Lord undertakes for both parts in the Covenant his own and theirs I will not turn away from them O unexpressible mercy Yea but Lord may the poor Believer say that is not so much my fear as that my treacherous heart will turn away from thee No saith God I will take care for that also I will put my fear into thy heart and thou shalt never depart from me 3. The Unchangeable God hath promised to establish the Covenant with them for ever so that those who are 〈◊〉 taken into that gracious Covenant shall never be turned out of it again Isa. 54. 10. The mountains shall depart and the Hills be removed but my kindness shall not depart from thee neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee 4. The Unchangeable God hath secured his loving kindness to his people by Promise under all the trials and smarting rods of affliction with which he chastens them in this world he hath reserved to himself the liberty of afflicting them but bound himself by promise never to remove his favour from them Psal. 89. 33 34. I will visit their transgression with the rod and their iniquity with siripes nevertheless my loving kindness will I not take from them nor suffer my faithfulness to fail 5. The Promises of a joyful resurrection from the dead are grounded upon the Immutability of God Matth. 22. 32. I am the God of Abraham the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob God is not the God of the dead but the God of the living Death hath made a great change upon them but none upon their God though they be not he is still the same therefore they are not lost in death but shall assuredly be found again in the resurrection 6. To conclude the promises of the Saints eternal happiness with God in Heaven are founded in his Immutability 1 Cor. 1. 8 9. Tit. 1. 2. By all which you see what a pleasant lodging is prepared for the Saints in the unchangeable promises of God amidst all the changes and alterations here below 2. Once more let us view the unchangeableness of God in his Providences towards his people whatever changes it makes upon us or whatever changes we seem to discern in it nothing is more certain than this that it holds one and the samâ— tenor pursues one and the same design in all that it doth upon us or about us Providences indeed are very variable but the designs and ends of God in them all are invariable and the same for ever It is noted in Ezek. 1. 12. that The wheels went straight forward whither the spirit was to go they went and they turned not when they went As it is in Nature so in Providence you have one day fair halcyon and bright another dark and full of storm one season hâ—t another cold but all these serve to one and the same end and design to make the earth fruitful and the aim of all Providences is to make you holy and happy That is a sweet Promise Rom. 8. 28. All things shall work together for good to them that love God This is the compass by which all Proviâ—ences steer their course as a Ship at Sea doth by the Card but more particularly let us note the unchangeableness of God in his Providences of all kinds effective and permissive and see in them all his unchangeable righteousness and goodness 1. It must needs be so considering the unchangeableness of his decree 2 Tim. 2. 19. The foundation of God standeth sure Providences serve but never frustrate execute but cannot make void the decree so that you may say of the most afflicting Providences as David doth of the stormy winds Psal. 148. 8. they all fulfil his word 2. The Wisdom of God proves it he will not suffer his works or permissions to clash with his designs and purposes Divine Wisdom shews it self in the steddy direction of all things to the ultimate end To open this in some particulars consider 1. Doth the Lord permit wicked men to rage and insult persecute and vex his people Yet all this while Providence is in its right way it walks in as direct a line to your good as when it is in a more pleasant path of Peace Ier. 24. 5. Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel like these good figs so will I acknowledge them that are carried away captive of Judah whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldâ—ans for their good Israel was sent to Babylon for their good This improves your faith and patience Rev. 13. 10. Here is the patience and fâ—ith of the Saints So Râ—m 5. 2 3. By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand and rejoyce in hope of the glory of God and not only so but we glory in tribulations also knowing that tribulatiâ—n worketh patience By this you are weaned from and mortified to this world 2. Doth the Lord in his Providence order many and frequent close and smarting afflictions for you Why lo here is the same design managing as effectually as if all the peace and prosperity in the World were ordered for you The face of Providence indeed is not the same but the love of God is still the the same he loves you as much when he smites as when he smiles on you for what are his ends in afflicting you and what the sanctified fruits of your afflictions Is it not 1. To purge your iniquities Isa. 27. 9. By this therefore shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged and this is all the fruit to take away his sin 2. To reduce your hearts to God Psal. 119. 67. Before I was afflicted I went astray but now have I kept thy word 3. To quicken you to your duties let the best man be without afflictions and he will quickly grow dull in the way of his duty 3. Doth God let loose the chain of Satan to tempt and buffet you Yet is he still the same God to you as before for do but observe his ends in that permission and you will find that by these things the Lord is leading you towards that desired assurance of his love which your Souls long after Few Christians attain to any considerable settlement of Soul but by such shakings and combates the end of these permissions is to put you to your knees and blow up a greater flame and fervour of Spirit in Prayer 2 Cor. 12. 8. So that eventually
at the tormenting of Marcus Bishop of Arethusa told the Apostate to his face We are ashamed O Emperor the Christians laugh at your cruelty and grow more resolute by it So Lactantius also testifies of them our women and children saith he not to speak of men overcome their torments and the fire cannot fetch so much as a sigh from them If carnal fear once get the ascendant over us all our courage and resolution will flag and melt away we may suffer out of unavoidable necessity but shall never honour Christ and Religion by our sufferings 5. Effect Carnal fear is the very root of Apostacy it hath made thousands of professors to faint and fall away in the hour of temptation it is not so much from the fury of our enemies without as from our own fears within that temptations become victorious over us from the beginning of fears Christ dates the beginning apostacy Matth. 24. 9 10. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted and shall kill you and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name sake and then shall many be offended When troubles and dangers come to an height then fears begin to work at an height too and then is the critical hour fears are high and faith is low temptation strong and resistance weak Satan knocks at the door and fear opens it and yields up the soul to him except special aid and assistance come in seasonably from heaven so long as we can profess Religion without any great hazard of life liberty or estates we may shew much zeal and forwardness in the ways of godliness but when it comes to the sharpes to resisting unto bloud few will be found to own and assert it openly in the face of such dangers The first retreat is usually made from a free and open to a close and concealed practice of Religion not opening our windows as Daniel did to shew we care not who knows we dare worship our God and are not ashamed of our duties but hiding our principles and practices with all the art and care imaginable reckoning it well if we can escape danger by letting fall our profession which might expose us to it But if the inquest go on and we cannot be secured any longer under this refuge we must comply with false worship and give some open signal that we do so or else be marked out for ruine then saith Fear give a little more ground and retreat to the next security which is to comply seemingly with that which we do not allow hoping God will be merciful to us and accept us if we keep our hearts for him though we are forced thus to dissemble and hide our principles Eamus ad communem errorem said Calderinus when going to the Mass Let us go to the common error and as Seneca adviseth about worshipping the Roman Gods in animi religione non habeat sed in actibus fingat let us make a semblance and shew of worshipping them though our hearts give no Religious respect to them But if still the temptation hunt us further and we come to be more narrowly sifted and put to a severer Test by subscribing contrary Articles or renouncing our former avowed principles and that upon penalty of death and loss of all that is dear to us in this World now nothing in all the world hazards our eternal salvation as our own fears will do this is like to be the rock on which we shall split all and make an horrible shipwrack both of truth and peace This was the case of Cranmer whose fears caused him to subscribe against the dictates of his own Conscience and cowardly to betray the known truth and indeed there is no temptation in the world that hath overthrown so many as that which hath been backt and edged with fear the love of Preferments and honours hath slain its thousands but fear of sufferings its ten thousands 6. Effect Sinful Fear puts men under great bondage of Spirit and makes Death a thousand times more terrible and intolerable than it would otherways be to us You Read of some Heb. 2. 15. Who through the fear of death were all their life time subject to bondage i. e. It kept them in a miserable anxiety and perplexity of mind like slaves that tremble at the whip which is held over them Thus many thousands live under the lash so terrible is the name of death especially a violent death that they are not able with patience to hear 〈◊〉 mentioned which gave the ground of that saying Praestat semel quam semper mori It s better to die once than to be dying always And surely there is not a more miserable life any poor creature can live than such a trembling life as this is For 1. Such a bondage as this destroys all the comfort and pleasure of life no pleasure can grow or thrive under the shadow of this cursed Plant Nil ei beatum cui semper aliquis terror impendeat saith Cicero All the comforts we possess in this World are imbittered by it 'T is storied of Democles a flatterer of Dionysius the Tyrant that he told him he was the happiest man in the World having Wealth Power Majesty and abundance of all things Dionysius sets the Flatterer in all his own pomp at a Table furnished with all dainties and attended upon as a King but with an heavy sharp sword hanging by a single Horse hair right over his head this made him quake and tremble so that he could neither eat nor drink but desired to be freed from that estate The design was to convince him how miserable a life they live who live under the continual terrors of impending death and ruine It was a sore judgment which God threatned against them in Ier. 5. 6. A Lion out of the forrest shall slay them and a Wolf of the evening shall spoil them a Leopard shall watch over their Cities every one that goeth out thence shall be torn in pieces What a miserable life must those people live who could not stir out of the City but they presently were seized by Lions Wolves and Leopards that watch'd over them and lurked in all the Avenewes to make them a prey and yet this is more tolerable than for a mans own fear to watch continually over him 2. And yet I could wish this were the worst of it and that our Fears destroyed no better comforts than the natural comforts of this life but alas they also destroy our spiritual comforts which we might have from Gods promises and our own and others experiences which are incomparably the sweetest pleasures men have in this World But as no creature comfort is pleasant so no promise relishes like it self to him that lives in this bondage of Fear when the terrors of death are great the consolations of the Almighty are small In the written word are found all sorts of refreshing strengthening and heart-reviving promises prepared by the wisdom and care of
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
lose our carnal friends estates liberties and lives than part with Christs truths and a good Conscience as Zuinglius said What sort of death should not a Christian chuse what punishment should he not rather undergo yea into what vault of hell should he not rather chuse to be cast than to witness against truth Conscience 3. A natural death in Christ may be as safe to our selves but a violent death for Christ will be more beneficial to others by the former we shall come to heaven our selves but by the latter we may bring many souls thither The bloud of the Martyrs is truly called the seed of the Church Many waxed confident by Pauls bonds his sufferings fell out to the furtherance of the Gospel and so may ours In this case a Christian like Samson doth greater service against Satan and his cause by his death than by his life If we only die a natural death in our beds we die in possession of the truths of Christ our selves but if we die Martyrs for Christ we secure that precious inheritance to the generations to come and those that are yet unborn shall bless God not only for his truths but for our courage zeal and constancy by which it was preserved for them and transmitted to them By all this you see that death to a Believer is great gain it 's great gain if he only die in Christ it 's all that and a great deal more added if he also die for Christ And he that is assured of such advantages by death either way must needs feel his fears of death shrink away before such assurances yea he will rather have life in patience and death in desire he will not only submit quietly but rejoyce exceedingly to be used by God in such honourable imployment Assurance will call a bloudy death a safe passage to Canaan through the Red Sea It will call Satan that instigates these his instruments and all that are imployed in such bloudy work by him so many Balaams brought to curse but they do indeed bless the people of God and not curse them The assured Christian looks upon his death as his wedding day Rev. 19. 7. And therefore it doth not much differ whether the horse sent to fetch him to Christ be pale or red so he may be with Christ his love as Ignatius call'd him He looks upon death as his day of enlargement out of Prison 2 Cor. 5. 8. and it is not much odds what hand open the door or whether a friend or enemy close his eyes so he have his liberty and may be with Christ. O then give the Lord no rest till your hearts be at rest by the assurance of his love and the pardon of your sins when you can boldly say the Lord is your help you will quickly say what immediately follows I will not fear what man shall do unto me Heb. 13. 6. And why if thy heart be upright mayest thou not attain it Full assurance is possible else it had not been put into the command 2 Pet. 1. 10. The sealing graces are in you the sealing spirit is ready to do it for you the sealing promises belong to you but we give not all diligence and therefore go without the comfort of it Would we pray more and strive more would we keep our hearts with a stricter watch mortifie sin more throughly and walk before God more accurately how soon may we attain this blessed assurance and in it an excellent cure for our distracting and slavish fears 8. Rule Let him that designs to free himself of distracting fears be careful to maintain the purity of his conscience and integrity of his ways in the whole course of his conversation in this world Uprightness will give us boldness and purity will yield us peace Isa. 32. The work of righteousness shall be peace and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever Look as fear follows guilt and guile so peace and quietness follows Righteousness and sincerity Prov. 28. 1. The wicked flee when none pursueth but the righteous are bold as a Lyon His confidence is great because his Conscience is quiet the peace of God guards his heart and mind There are three remarkable steps by which Christians rise to the height of courage in tribulations Rom. 5. 1 2 3 4. First they are justified and acquitted from guilt by faith v. 1. Then they are brought into a state of favour and acceptation with God v. 2. Thence they rise one step higher even to a view of Heaven and the glory to come V. 3. and from thence they take an easy step to glorying in tribulations v. 4. I say 't is an easy step for let a man once obtain the pardon of sin the favour of God and a believing view and prospect of the glory to come and it is so easy to triumph in tribulation in such a station as that is that it will be as hard to hinder it as to hinder a man from laughing when he is tickled Christians have always found it a spring of courage and comfort 2 Cor. 1. 12. This is our rejoycing even the testimony of our Consciences that in all sincerity and godly simplicity not with fleshly wisdom but by the grace of God we have had our conversation in this world Their hearts did not reproach them with by-ends in Religion their Consciences witnessed that they made not Religion a cloak to cover any fleshly design but were sincere in what they professed and this enabled them to rejoyce in the midst of sufferings An earthen vessel set empty to the fire will crack and fly in pieces and so will an hypocritical formal and meer nominal Christian but he that hath such substantial and real principles of courage as these within him will endure the trial and be never the worse for the fire The very Heathens discovered the advantage of Moral integrity and the peace it yielded to their natural Consciences in times of trouble Nil câ—nscire tibi nullâ pallescere culpa hic murus aheneus estc It was to them as a wall of brass much more will godly simplicity and the sprinkling of the bloud of Christ upon our Consciences secure and encourage our hearts This Atheistical Age laughs Conscience and purity to scorn but let them laugh this is it will make thee laugh when they shall cry Paul exercised himself or made it his business To have always a Conscience void of offence both towards God and towards men Acts 24. 16. And it was richly worth his labour it repayed him ten thousand fold in the peace courage and comfort it gave him in all the troubles of his life which were great and many Conscience must be the bearing shoulder on which the burden must lie beware therefore it be not galled with guilt or put out of joynt by any fall into sin 't is sad bearing on such a shoulder Instead of bearing your burdens you will not be able
Iud. 5. So in Ezekiel's vision a part even of those hairs which were spared were afterwards cast into the fire Ezek 5. 4. Preservation from the dominion of sin and the wrath to come is peculiar to Gods own people but as for temporal deliverances we cannot infer that conclusion 2. Nor yet can we say that all Gods people shall be preserved that promise Zeph. 2. 3. leaves it upon a may be many a precious Christian hath fallen in the common calamity they have been preserved in but not from trouble But it is usual with God to preserve some in the sorest judgments And the grounds of it are 1. Because some must be left as a seed to propagate and preserve the Church which is perpetual and can never fail he never so overthrows nations as Sodom was overthrown Isa. 1. 9. this was the ground of that promise Ier. 30. 11. For I am with thee saith the Lord to save thee though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee yet will I not make a full end of thee And of that plea Amos 7. 2. O Lord God forgive I beseech thee by whom shall Iacob arise for he is small Except the Lord had left a small remnant we had been as Sodom Remarkable to this purpose is that Scripture Isa. 6. 13. But yet in it shall be a tenth and it shall return and shall be eaten As a Teyl-tree and as an Oak whose substance is in them when they cast their leaves So the holy seed shall be the substance thereof This preserved remnant is the holy seed by which the Church is propagated and continued Psal. 102. 28. 2. Because God will even in this world own and reward the fears and sorrows of his people for the sins of the times and sufferings of the Church with the joy and comfort of better times and a participation of Sions consolation so Isa. 66. 10. Rejoyce ye with Jerusalem ye that have mourned for her They that have sown in tears do sometimes live to reap in joy Psal. 125. 6. they shall say as Isa. 25. 9. Lo this is our God we have waited for him and he is come to save us And those that live not to reap down in this world the harvest of their own Prayers and tears shall be no losers a full and better reward shall be given them in heaven Isa. 57. 22 3. Because the preserved remnant of Saints are they that must actually give unto God the glory of all his providential administrations in the world both of judgments and mercies upon others and towards themselves They that go down to the pit do not celebrate his praise the living the living they praise him Isa. 38. 18 19. Thus when God turned back Sion's captivity the Remnant of Saints that were preserved were they that recorded his praise Psal. 126. 1 2. Then was our mouth filled with laughter And fully to this sense is that Scripture Psal. 102. 19 20 21. He delivers those that are appointed to death i. e. That men had doomed to death That they may declare the name of the Lord in Sion and his praise in Jerusalem 4. The hiding of the Saints in evil days is the greatest discovery of the hand of God in the world when he hides them he shews himself and that both to the Saints and to their enemies It is one of the most glorious mysteries of providence that ever the world beheld viz. the strange and wonderful protection of poor helpless Christians from the rage and fury of their mighty and malicious enemies though they walk visibly among them yet they are as it were hid from their hands but not from their eyes So Ier. 1. 18. You find God made that Prophet among the envious Princes and against an enraged and mighty King As a defenced City and as an iron pillar and as a brazen wall And indeed it was easier to them to conquer and take in the strongest Fort or Garison than that single Person who yet walked day by day naked and open among them So Luther a poor Monk was made invincible all the Papal power could not touch him for God hid him All the world against one Athanasius and yet not able to destroy him for God hid him This is the display of the glorious power of God in the world and he hath much honour by it Well then if there be a God that takes care of his own in evil days do not you be distractingly careful what shall become of you in such times you cannot see how it is possible for you to escape buâ— 2 Pet. 2. 4 5 6. the Lord knows how to deliver when you do not Little did Lot know the way and manner of his preservation till God opened it to him nor Noah till God contrived it for him There was no way to be contrived by them for escape He that knew how to deliver them can deliver you also Leave your selves to Gods dispose it shall certainly be to your advantage the Church is his peculiar care Isa. 27. 3. I the Lord do keep it I will water it every moment lest any hurt it I will keep it night and day The more you commit your selves to his care the more you engage it Isa. 26. 3. Thou wilt keep him in prefect peace whose mind is stayed on thee because he trusteth in thee He will certainly find a place of safety for his people under or in Heaven Neither be too much dejected when the number of visible professors seems but small think not the Church will perish when it is brought so low This was Elijah's case he thought he had been left alone that Religion had been preserved in his single person as the Phoenix of the world but see 1 Kings 19. 18. God hath enough left if we were in our graves to continue Religion in the world it concerns him more than you to look to that CHAP. V. Evincing the fourth Proposition viz. That God usually premonisheth the World especially his own of his judgments before they befal them SECT I. GOd first warns and then smites he delights not to surprise men when indignation was coming he tells his people of it in the Text and admonisheth them to hide themselves Surely the Lord will do nothing but he revealeth his secrets to his servants the Prophets Amos 3. 7. Thus when the flood was to come upon the old world he gave them one hundred and twenty years warning of it Gen. 6. 3. compared with 1. Pet. 3. 19. So when Sodom was to be destroyed God would not hide it from Abraham Gen. 18. 17. Shall I hide from Abraham the thing that I do The like discovery was made unto Lot Gâ—â— 19. 12 13 14. So when the Captivity was at hand Ezekiel was commanded to give the Iews solemn warning of it from God Ezek. 3. 17. Hear the word at my mouth and give them warning from me And when their City and Temple was to be destroyed by
these permissions of Providence prove singular advantages and blessings to you SECT III. WHat remains then seeing God is Unchangeable in his love to his People pursuing the the great ends of all his gracious promises in a steddy course of Providence wherein he will never effect or permit any thing that is really repugnant to his own glory or their good but that we enter also into this Camber of Rest shut the doors about us and comfortably improve the unchangeableness of God while we see nothing but changes and troubles here below 1. Enter into Gods Unchangeableness by Faith take up your lodgings in this sweet Attribute also and to encourage your Faith thereunto seriously consider a few particulars 1. Consider how constant firm and unchangeable God hath been to his people in all times and streights not one among the many thousands of his people that are passed on before you but by frequent and certain experience have found him so What a singular encouragement should this be to our Faith in the case before us Psal. 9. 10. They that know thy name will put their trust in thee for thou Lord hast not forsaken them that seek thee So Isa. 25. 4. Thou hast been a strength to the poor a strength to the needy in his distress a refuge from the storm a shaddow from the heat when the blast of the terrible ones is as the storm against the wall Neither is there any thing in your experience contradictory to the encouraging reports others have made of God you must acknowledge that notwithstanding your own changeableness who have hardly been able to maintain your hearts in any Spiritual frame towards God for one day together yet his mercies towards you have been new every morning and great hath been his Faithfulness You have often turned aside from the way of your duty and have not followed God in a steddy course of obedience and yet for all that his goodness and mercy have followed you all the days of your life as it is Psal. 23. 6. 2. Consider how often you have doubted and mistrusted the unchangeableness of God and been forced with shame and sorrow to retract your folly therein God hath many times convinced you that his love to you is an unchangeable love how many changes soever in the course of his Providence have passed over you consult Isa. 49. 14. and Psal. 77 78. and see how the cases parallel both in respect of Gods constancy to them and you and the inconstancy of his peoples Faith then and yours now your fears and doubts are the same with theirs though his goodness and love have been as unchangeable to you as ever it was towards them 3. Consider the Advocateship and intercession of Jesus Christ in Heaven for you by vertue whereof the favour and love of God becomes unalterable towards his people If any thing can be supposed to cool or quench the love of God towards you nothing in the world is more like to do it than your sin and this indeed is that which you fear will estrange and alienate the heart of your God from you But Reader if thou be one that sincerely mournest for all the grief and dishonour of God by thy sin appliest the bloud of sprinkling to thy Soul by Faith and makest mortification and watchfulness thy daily business comfort thy self against that fear from that singular encouragement given thee in this case 1 Iohn 2. 1 2. My little children these things write I unto you that ye sin not and if any man sin we have an Advocate with the Father Iesus Christ the righteous and he is the propitiation for our sins Look as the death of Christ healed the great breach betwixt God and thy Soul by thy reconciliation at first so the powerful Intercession of Christ in Heaven effectually prevents all new breaches betwixt God and thy Soul afterwards so that he will never totally and finally cast thee off again 2. Shut the door behind you against all objections scruples and questionings of Gods immutability and by a resolved and steddy Faith maintain the the honour of God in this point by thy constant adherence to it and dependence upon it and especially see that thou give him the glory of his unchangeableness 1. When thou shalt see the greatest alterations and changes made by his Providence in the World What though thou shouldest live to see all things turned upside down the foundations out of course all things drawing into a Sea of confusion and trouble Yet in the midst of those publick distractions and distress of Nations Encourage thou thy self in this thy God and his love to his people is the same for ever Psal. 46. 1 2 3 4 5. God is our refuge and strength a very present help in trouble Therefore will we not fear though the earth be moved and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea God is in the midst of her she shall not be moved 2. Live by Faith upon Gods unchangeableness under the greatest changes of your own condition in this world Providence may make great alterations upon all your outward conforts it may cast you down how dear soever you be to God from riches into poverty from health into sickness from honour into reproach from liberty into bondage thou mayest overlive thy comfortable relations and of a Naomi become a Marah Thou hast lifted me up and cast me down said as good a man as you Psal. 102. 10. Yet still it is your duty and will be your great priviledge in the midst of all these changes to act your faith upon the never changing God as that holy man did Hab. 3. 17. Although the Fig-tree shall not blossom neither fruit be in the vine the labour of the olive shall fail and the fields shall yield no meat the flocks shall be cut off from the fold and there shall be no herd in the stalls yet will I rejoyce in the Lord I will joy in the God of my salvation q. d. Suppose a thousand disappointments of my earthly hopes yet will I maintain my hope in God O Christian with how many yets notwithstandings and neverthelesses must thy faith bear up in times of trouble or thou 'l sink 3. See thou live upon Gods unchangeableness when age and sickness shall inform thee that thy great change is at hand though thy heart and thy flesh fail comfort thy self with this thy God will never fail thee Psal. 73. 16. O God saith David thou hast taught me from my youth and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works now also when I am old and gray headed forsake me not Psal. 71 17 18. 4. Live upon the unchangeableness of God under the greatest and saddest changes of your Spiritual condition God may cloud the light of his countenance over thy Soul he may fill thee with fears and troubles and the comforter that should relieve thee may seem to be far off yet still maintain thy faith in