and discern but in the Hive doth the several Honeys of the Creatures meet and dwel that is the House thereof So there is a sweet tast of the several Attributes of God in al the Creatures but in Christ doth his fulness dwel bodily and in his suffering you may see the Wisdom Power Justice and Mercy of God in Conjunction and so know God indeed which knowledg was more worth to Paul than al other Knowledges for saith he I desire to know nothing but Christ and him crucified Hereby also I mean by the consideration of this great and sore Travel you wil prize and value Christ more and have your hearts drawn out with Love to him for shal I not prize him that suffered the Wrath of God and the torments of Hel for me The more you see his Love to you the more wil your hearts be inflamed with Love to him Now the greater his sufferings for you do appear to you the more you see his Love to you When I am lift up saith he I will draw all men after me that is when I am lift up on the Cross he doth not say when I am transfigured at Mount Tabor I wil draw al to me yet there was a drawing glory which made Peter say It is good for us to be here But his Love is the most drawing Object and that was glorious in suffering Thereby you wil learn to prize al your enjoyments for thus you wil see what they cost what rate they are at in the Kings Book there is no blessing or mercy which ye do enjoy but was bought in by Christ he laid down his Life for you and in him are you blessed with al Spiritual Blessings But did Christ suffer such hard things for my enjoyments O! what infinite cause have I then to prize them al Hereby also you wil be made willing to suffer any thing for Christ to become low and mean for him to endure the reproach anger and wrath of men for him For shal Christ suffer so hard a Labor for me in his Body in his Soul and shal not I suffer in my Estate and Name for him Shal he suffer the Wrath of God for me and shal not I be willing to suffer the wrath of man for him Shal he endure the very torments of Hel for me and shal not I be willing to suffer a little on Earth for him Thereby you wil be made unwilling to put him to a new Suffering for you those that fal away and decline do crucifie the Lord afresh saith the Apostle and put him to an open shame when Professors walk scandalously they put Christ to an open shame to a new Suffering But is this true That Christ hath suffered so great things for me and shal he now suffer by me what hath he not suffered enough already He hath suffered in his Body in his Soul the Wrath of God the very Torments of Hel and is not this enough God forbid that ever I should so walk that Christ should yet suffer by me who hath suffered such things for me Hereby also you shal be able to overcome your Temptations Corruptions and to be more fruitful and profitable and gracious in your lives here is the Shop of Vertues Officina virtutum whatever Grace or Vertue you want you may have in this Shop if you wil come for it Dost thou want hatred of sin here you may see it in its own colors and the reward thereof for if God spared not his own Son but he endured the Wrath of God and the very Torments of Hel when sin was but imputed to him O! what an Hel and flaming Fire shal those endure who have sin of their own and must bear it themselves And saies Gerard would you see the Torments of Hel the true punishment of sin Ito ad Montem Calvariae Go to Mount Calvary Or dost thou want Patience in thine Afflictions behold the Travel of Christ as a Lamb he opened not his mouth before the Shearer Or dost thou want a tender broken heart truly his heart is hard indeed which the sight of these breakings of Christ wil not break Hereby also you wil be engaged unto his Commandements and Ordinances For what are the Ordinances which now we enjoy but the Representation of a Suffering Christ whereby we hold forth the Lords Death til he come What is al our Preaching and your Hearing but of Christ crucified What is Baptism Lords Supper or any other Ordinances but that Bed wherein we have communion with a suffering Christ and shal Christ suffer such bitter things for us in his Soul and Body and shal we throw up those Ordinances whereby we are to have Communion with him in these Sufferings God forbid And hereby also you that are of a fearful heart may fully conclude the willingness of God to save Sinners For if God the Father had not been very willing he would never have put his own only Son to so great a Suffering for their Salvation What can be more abhorrent from the heart of a tender Father than to put his own only and obedient Son unto Death it goes to the heart of a tender Father to see his Child die I will not see the death of the Child said Hagar and she sate down over against him and lift up her voyce Gen. 21.16 and wept but to lay his own hands upon him in reference to his Death this is a grief beyond al expression yet this did God the Father do for he bruised his Son he put him to grief he smote him and he laid on him the iniquities of us al. Surely if God the Father had not been infinitely willing to save Sinners he would never have done a thing so contrary to him and if Christ himself were not willing he would never have suffered such hard things for their Salvation What is not a Woman willing to do for that Child whom she hath had a sore Travel for Now Christs Travel was a sore Travel surely therefore he is infinitely willing to save sinners and if God the Father be willing and Christ be willing then why should not every poor doubting drooping Soul say Lord I beleeve help thou mine unbelief I once doubted of thy Love because I doubted of thy willingness to save such as I am yea often have I put an If upon thy willingness saying with the Leper Lord if thou wilt thou canst make me clean But now I see thou art willing to save sinners why should I then doubt again And upon this account al poor sinners may be encouraged to come to Christ for if Christ did come down from Heaven for you wil he refuse you when you come to him If he have suffered such hard and bitter things for sinners do ye think he wil cast them away that do come to him surely he wil not O! what great encouragement doth this Doctrine proclaim unto al poor and great sinners for to come to Christ And hereby also your
go to Heaven and be saved for ever What then though thou hast stayed long and hast long wanted Assurance yet God hath not led thee so far as he hath led some and thy condition is no other than that which may befal the dear servants and children of God Answ 3 But Thirdly Though for the present you do want Assurance of Gods love and of your own Salvation yet if you may conclude by Scripture Arguments that you shal have it before you die then have you no reason to be discouraged Now though this or that particular Christian in a case not ordinary do die under a cloud and with much fear and doubting about his everlasting condition yet there are Arguments in scripture whereby a man may ordinarily know and conclude that he shal have peace and Assurance before he dies For example Arg. 1 First He that is content to stay and go without a mercy if God wil have it so shal not want it for ever For the Patient abiding of the meek shal noâ— be forgotten for ever Psal 9. As the way to have affliction continued is to be discontented under it so the way to have it removed is to be contented with it There is a Faith of Expectance a Faith of Relyance and the Faith of Assurance The Faith of Expectance wil rise up into a Faith of Reliance and the Faith of Reliance to the Faith of Assurance there is seldom a may-be Faith but hath a shal-be and it is at the bottom if God would make it float Arg. 2 Secondly If the Lord hath wrought wonders for thy soul when thou wert in the wilderness and in a desert then certainly he wil bring thee into the land of rest So he dealt by David so he dealt by Israel so he wil deal by thee Arg. 3 Thirdly If thy heart be upright in the matter of thine Assurance God will certainly give Assurance unto thee Psal 84.11 for ye know what the Psalmist saith The Losd wil give Grace and Glory and no good thing wil he withold from them that walk uprightly If therefore I say thy heart hath been upright in the matter of thine assurance the Lord wil give thee assurance though for the present thou want'st it Now I pray when is a mans heart upright in the matter of his Assurance but when he doth desire Assurance of Gods love and of his own Salvation rather that he may praise and serve God the more than for his own comfort For this look in Psal 9. and see how David reasons to this purpose vers 13. 14. Have mercy upon me O Lord consider my trouble which I suffer of them that hate me thou that liftest me up from the gates of death That I may shew forth al thy praise in the gates of the daughter of Zion I wil rejoyce in thy Salvation Here are three things observable First he was in a very low condition at the gates of death From the gates of death saith he Gates of death that is the power of death The gates of Hel shal not prevail that is the powers of Hel shal not prevail so here the gates of death that is the powers of death David was under the power of death at the gates of death and now in this condition he prayes unto the Lord for mercy that the Lord would lift him up but why doth he pray so mark his end At vers 14. Have mercy upon me O Lord consider my trouble why That I may shew forth thy praise in the gates of the daughter of Zion O Loâ—d bring me from the gates of death that I may praise thee in the gates of the daughter of Zion not for my own comfort Lord but that I may praisâ— thee Wel but what inference doth he make of this see what followes in the latter end of vers 14. I wil or shal rejoyce in thy Salvation O Lord my heart hath been upright in this petition and now I know thou wilt grant my prayer I wil I shal rejoyce in thy Salvation Arg. 4 Fourthly When a man can praise God for what he hath although his condition be very sad God wil give him more and give him a better condition If God shew mercy saith one or give a blessing and I praise God I pay my debt but if my case be low and sad and I praise God then then God is pleased to be called my debtor and he wil certainly pay his debt Arg. 5 Fiftly If the Lord be the health of your countenance you shal have the assurance of your Salvation in due time though now you want it Thus the Psalmist reasons in the text Wait on God or hope in God for I shal yet praise him why for he is the health of my countenance but when is God said to be the health of our countenance when his smiles make us look cheerly and his frowns make us look sadly if I look wel when God smiles though al relations frown and do look il when God frowns though al my relations smile then is God the health of my countenance Now I appeal to you beloved you that do want Assurance hath it not been thus with you Do ye not earnestly desire Assurance yet are content to stay wait and go without it if God wil have it so Hath not the Lord shewn wonders for thy soul when thou hast been in a wildered condition in preserving and keeping thee from doing evil to thy self and have not you been upright in the matter of your Assurance saying thus O Lord give me Assurance of thy love not that I may have comfort only but that I may be more fit to serve thee And have ye not praised the Lord in your sad condition for what you have And hath not the Lord been the health of your countenance so that when the Lord hath smiled upon you then you have looked wel and when the Lord hath frowned upon you then you have looked il surely you cannot but say I must not deny these things I cannot be faithful to mine own soul if I should deny them yea Lord thou knowest and my soul knowes it That thou hast done wonders for me when I have been in a low desert and wildered condition And O Lord thou knowest I desire Assurance of thy love not for my own comfort onely but that I may be more sit to praise and serve thee And Lord thou knowest I have praised thee in some measure for what I have Yea Lord thou art the health of my countenance when thou smilest upon me then I look wel and when thou frownest upon me then I look ill I may say in truth the Lord is the health of my countenance wel then I say unto thee from the Lord go in peace and be of good comfort though thou doest for the present want comfort and Assurance of thy Salvation thou shalt have it in due time And if al these things be true O! you that are the people of the
a great Help in Suffering times Now it is Faith and only Faith that can gather up and mannage Experiences The Lord saith he that delivered me from the Lyon and the Bear it was Faith that did gather up this Experience and did mannage it So in Psal 56. When I cry unto thee at verse 9. then shall mine Enemies turn back how do you know this saith he this I know how for God is for me this I know for God is for me I have this experience of God that he is with me and for me and therefore I know it But Thirdly The more that any man is able to apply the Promise the more able he wil be to suffer to incounter with Sufferings the Promise is a great Shelter in a rainy day Now there is nothing but Faith that can apply the Promise the Promise is the Plaister that none but the warm hand of Faith can lay on upon the Sore if it be laid on by any other hands it wil not stick I have heard of a poor doubting Soul drawiâ—g neer to her Death and the Minister pressing one Promise after another O Sir saith she these are gracious Promises but they wil not stick upon my heart And what is the Reason that the Promise indeed doth not stick upon many hearts but because it is laid on by the chil and cold hand of Unbelief Remember Faith hath a warm hand and only Faith hath a warm hand to lay on the Promise But then again Fourthly The more that any man doth see his Call cleerly his Cal to Suffer the more able he wil be to encounter with his Sufferings Now it is Faith only that doth Trade with the Call of God Gods Call is a great Wal a strong Wal Gods Call can make a Wal of Water When the Children of Israel went through the red Sea the Water stood like a Wal on each side it was Gods Cal that made those Wals there is nothing but Faith that doth converse with the Call of God and makes out the Cal of God Three things cal us to suffer 1. The Commandement of Christ If thou wilt be my Disciple thou must deny thy self and take up thy Cross 2. The Example of Christ for thereunto are we called in 1 Pet. 2.5 Christ hath left us an example of Suffering And 3. Suffering strength with suffering opportunity Now there is nothing but Faith is able to discern these things and therfore Faith and Faith alone is that Grace under Christ which can carry us through our affliction and Suffering although they be never so great Object But you wil say We have heard and read of many that have suffered hard things and yet had none of this Faith no true saving Faith and yet have suffered great and hard things Answ True you have heard it may be of some Jesuites dying for their Religion it is possible that a wicked man may suffer much and that upon the account of his Religion too but as Austin speaks There is an unlikeness of suffering in the likeness of Suffering As saith he Gold is in the same Fire with the Wood and with the Straw with the same Fire the Straw is consumed and the Gold is refined Things suffered may be alike and yet a great unlikeness in the suffering And to cleer up this to you that you may see that Faith alone is able to do this First Though a wicked man may suffer very great and hard things yet he may also suffer as an evil Doer If ye suffer for evil doing saith the Apostle what thanks have ye But Faith true saving Faith it doth wel and suffers ill And Secondly Though a wicked man may suffer much and very hard things yet he doth not suffer upon choyce he would chuse rather if it were at his choyce to make a breach upon Conscience than a breach in his Estate for to lose his Conscience than to lose his Life he doth not suffer upon choyce Faith doth By Faith Moses chose rather to suffer Affliction with the People of God True saving Faith it suffers great and hard things and that upon choyce And Thirdly Though a wicked man may suffer much yet he doth not lay the stress of al upon the word of Faith the stress of al is laid upon somwhat else Faith loves to suffer and it laies the stress of al a mans Sufferings upon the word of Faith Fourthly Though a wicked man may suffer much and that upon an account of Religion yet it may be he is sullen or froward or discontented not cheerful but Faith suffers cheerfully Paul and Silas sung in the Stocks and the Primitive Christians took with joyfulness the spoiling of their Goods And so the Martyrs in Queen Maries daies It is reported that when Mr. Philpot was in the Dungeon the Bishop sent to him to know why he was so merry Seeing a pair of Stocks in the Dungeon saith he there 's a pair of Organs that I have not played on yet making himself cheerful in the time he was in the Dungeon And meeting with a Minister that had recanted and informing him better the Minister made a Recantation of his Recantation and was as cheerful as any others Faith suffers cheerfully Fiftly Though a wicked man may suffer much and that upon the account of his Religion yet he wil rest upon his Sufferings Faith wil make one suffer and keep one from resting upon ones Suffering As in regard of Duty Faith wil make one perform a Duty and it wil keep one from resting upon that Performance So in regard of Sufferings Faith wil make one suffer and it wil keep one from resting upon ones Suffering In case that a man hath done much Faith wil put him on to suffer as if he had done nothing and in case a man hath suffered much Faith wil put him upon doing as if he had suffered nothing according to that of our Savior He that will be my Disciple let him deny himself and take up his Cross and follow me follow me when after a suffering not to sit down and rest there but to follow me after a Suffering Again Sixtly Though a wicked man may suffer much and that upon the account of his Religion and be very confident yet he wil give in at last I have read of a great Atheist that was burnt to Death in Paris for blaspheming of Jesus Christ and as he was going to the Stake saith he to the Fryars and Priests that followed him Behold how boldly I go to the Fire as for your Lord and Master Christ he went trembling to his death and sweat drops of blood but I in the strength of Reason under which I sacrifice my Life go with boldness unto these flames But when he came there and his Tongue was cut out for Blasphemy the Story saith that then he cried out and roared out like a Bull vidi ego hominem saith the Author I saw the man I saw him when he was at the Stake In