and asked for them often And except they had Signs and Wonders they would not believe In the broad Day-light of the Gospel we have no need of these things nor want we awakening by Monitors in Heaven or Earth into a Sense and Awe of the Divine Majesty We must now believe without a Sign and derive our Repentance not from mighty Earthquakes and Prodigies but from the ingenuous understanding sense of Sin Representation of God Terrible Among all Nations Christian and Heathen the Sweetness of Divine Goodness hath been too much sowred with this Leaven and disgusted by this Gall of Bitterness 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 said Herodotus taxed justly therefore by Plutarch God is represented as envious and dreadful to Mankind As if his Counsels were taken up with contriving nothing but Plagues and Thunderbolts forged in the shop of Torments perplexing Mortals from living a quiet life here for the short moment of time which they have to live A Pestilential Air breathed from Hell eating out the Vitals of the Soul of Devotion The quite contrary is to be believed of God that he doth not willingly grieve the hearts of the Children of Men. That he delights not in the death of any Sinner but rather that he should turn from his Sins and live Judgment is his strange work Mercy is that in which he most delighteth above all his other Works Blessed be God The more the heart of Man out-grows the Joys and Fears of the World the less Prodigies for futurities are esteemed Divination by Heathens The Gentiles that lifted not up their minds sufficiently unto Heaven invented and practiced most the Arts of Magick and Divination by Augury Sorcery Magick Guts of Beasts c. The Jews that were promised a Heaven on this side thereof looked after the Signs of the Times here below But the Introduction of a better Hope hath few Intimations of future Events except in the Revelation which most Learned men do judge to be already accomplished as looking after another World The Devil is not of God's Counsel Christ's coming hath put our all the Fires of his Altars silenced all his Oracles Even the Temple and Ceremonial Services of God are all abolished to bring in a Spiritual Worship every where And as for Judgments and Calamities they are changed into the nature of Mercies and are as a launcing of a corrupt Member to save the rest that are sound A true Son of Wisdom doth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 kiss and embrace all the Issues of Divine Providence and Goodness and they are welcom by the Grace of God and God is above the Devil Ergo We look not to Prodigies but to Providence not downwards upon Earthly Judgments and Deaths but upwards to Heavenly Hopes and Comforts We take most care for the Inward Man We count our selves secure in God who hath freely given us Christ and will with him also freely give us all things Freedom of Spirit and Love secures us from Bondage and Fear All Jewish and Paganish Expiations are weak Holy Hearts and Lives are the best Sacrifices Spiritual Weapons overcome Carnal and this kind goeth not out but by Prayer and Fasting Agents free and not free As for Prodigies so long as God is a Free Agent so long as Natural Causes are Necessary Agents not knowing what they do So long as Men are Free Agents knowing what they do so long as Providence directs and rules Necessary Agents to produce or not produce Plagues Deluges or Droughts Plenty or Famine c. which are not in their own power and much less in our power So long as Providence orders Free Agents in their own power to do or not to do what is in their Sphere Agents free and not free So long as Peace and War Love or hatred depends upon those Free Agents in their Counsels and Elections under God and 't is their own fault if they miscarry otherwise then God would have them because not rightly chosen according to the Will of God So long Comets and Meteors point not directly nor indirectly at the voluntary Changes and Chances of this Moral and Mortal Life Comets are from Natural involuntary Causes and may produce Natural and Involuntary Effects of Fires and Waters Plagues or Famines c. as do more afar off the Sun Moon and Stars or may be hindred from producing them by the Arbitrary Will and Power of God So long we will lay no stress upon such things Astra regunt homines sed regit Astra Deus But for Arbitrary Effects they spring from Arbitrary Causes free to be produced or not to be produced according as the Wills of Men are pleased or not pleased to determine themselves one way or other as God hath ordered them that they should depend upon Mens free Will altogether as God hath ordered them that they should depend one way or another such as Coelibates Mariages Degrees Covenants Leagues Gifts Deprivations Degradations Releases Charges or Discharges c. depending upon the Will of Men as it is impowered under the Will of God Besides who can read in Stars or Meteors such Contingencies under God depend only upon mans free Will Obj. Josephus reports strange sights in the Aire before Jerusalem was taken Sol. The Synagogue was but newly buried and not yet setled in its Grave It was but early days yet and besides Comets must happen at one time or other and therefore either before or after fatal Contingencies if before then they are vulgarly accounted Causes if after What are they then All Causes must be before their Effects and not at the time of the effects nor after them If there be Characters of such effects which as yet lie fast asleep in their Causes and God knows how long if shall be before they shall be awakned Who shall dare to rouze them up before their time And how angry would such effects be to be disturbed or hastned to their birth by any but God their Master How can it be I say if there be any such Characters Of what kind are those Characters then Are Comets the Finger of God Or the Pen in his hands We are sure his Will is written in his word by his Spirit The writings of the Old Testament we know and the writings of the New Testament we know But what are these Thus far we read in great letters that he that runneth may read them The Heavens declare the glory of God and the Firmament sheweth his handy work and every Herb speaks a God look upon the Sun and praise him that made him whose eyes are Ten-thousand times brighter than the Sun in his full clearness But in future Contingencies God only knows them it is not for us to enquire after them And what eye of an Astrologer can discern them more than another mans or who brought them a Ladder to climb up so high and what skill have they to read them more than any other Man or to understand when they have read
A SERMON Preached on the Fast-Day December 22. 1680. IN THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF ROCHESTER By ROBERT DIXON D. D Vice-Dean of the said Church LONDON Printed by S. Roycroft for Robert Clavel at the Sign of the Peacock in St. Paul's Church-yard 1681. A SERMON Preached on the Fast-Day c. II CHRON. XX. 12. Neither know we what to do but our eyes are upon thee SECTION I. THE Children of Ammon and Moah Coherence and Mount Seir whom God would not let the Children of Israel invade when they came out of the Land of Egypt but they turned from them and destroyed them not rewarded them so ill for their forbearance when it was in their power to have destroyed them that they came up with a mighty Force against them to cast them out of their Possession which the Lord had given them to inherit Then Jehoshaphat feared and took the right course and set himself to seek the Lord and proclaimed a Fast throughout all Judah And Judah gathered themselves together to ask help of the Lord even out of all the Cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord. Then as Kings and Prophets and some few Others in those daies had the Spirit of Prayer In the Gospel times the Spirit is poured out more plentifully upon all Flesh Jehoshaphat stood in the Congregation of Judah and Jerusalem in the House of the Lord before the New Court and uttered an ingenious Prayer in which he briefly declared the Justice of their Cause and their Confidence in God Then after him upon the Spirit of Jahaziel the Son of Zechariah a Levite of the Sons of Asaph came the Spirit of the Lord in the midst of the Congregation and encouraged them not to be afraid or dismayed of those Ammonites Moabites and Idumaeans which were so great a Multitude because the Battel was not theirs but Gods bidding them stand still and see the Salvation of the Lord and that the Lord would be with them Because they believed in the Lord their God and his Prophets therefore they should prosper and accordingly it came to pass for their Enemies destroyed one another and their dead bodies fell to the Earth and none escaped and they took the spoil in great abundance and they returned to Jerusalem to give thanks to the Lord for their great deliverance This course our Gracious King and his whole Kingdom have taken against Their implacable Enemies both at home and abroad and we pray as they did this day with one mouth Behold how they reward us to come to cast us out of thy possession which thou hast given us to inherit O our God wilt thou not judge them for we have no might against this great Company that cometh against us Neither know we what to do but our eyes are upon thee SECT II. The Subject is Last Resolution The Points are 1. Extremity We know not what to do 2. Remedy But our eyes are upon thee Extremity a helpless Condition Extremity when all outward hopes fail when Sins are upon us and Enemies upon our back the World the Flesh and the Devil all for mischief and utter ruine There are several kinds of Extremities as of Sins and of Miseries 1. Personal Extremities of Sins and Miseries that is such as we bring upon our selves by wilful disobedience Personal 2. National Extremities of Sins and Miseries that is which a whole People bring upon their Nation by their wilful Rebellion National 3. Church Extremities of Sins and Miseries that is which they bring upon the whole Church by their wilful disobedience Ecclesiastical In all these Distractions and Confusions we know not what to do we are at the last cast finding no help from our selves or any other Creature Angels or Men our Eyes are only upon God So we are the Causes of our own Extremities upon our selves and upon the whole Nation and upon the whole Church So Others are the Causes of our Personal Extremities And Others are the Causes of our National Extremities And Others are the Causes of our Ecclesiastical Extremities So we are the Causes of Personal Extremities upon Others And we are the Causes of National Extremities upon Others And We are the Causes of Church Extremities upon Others So we do our selves Harm and we do others Harm and others do us Harm And then we fly to God to do us Good and others fly to God to do us Good and we fly to God to do others Good II. Remedy Remedy Faith in God Bodily Extremities we must fall into Soul Extremities we may avoid Deus Providebit God will secure us from both Want of Care brings all these upon us Care remedies all these In God's Ark we may be safe in our Persons Nation and Church when in the Devil's Ark all the World is drowned There is therefore a Time to unite all Personal Forces Wit There is a Time to unite all National Forces Arms. There is a Time to unite all Church Forces Prayer 1. Wicked men run headlong into straits as the Horse rusheth into the Battel or an Ox goeth to the slaughter as a Bird hastneth into the Snare as a Fool runneth to the Correction of the Stocks not knowing it is for their lives As the Fish swimmeth playing through the Waters of Jordan into the Dead Sea Preying greedily on the pleasant Bait swallows therewith the deadly Hook There is poyson of Death in the Pot before they know it They go down into Hell in a moment before they know where they are No fore-cast no fore-sight at all embrace present things not regarding futurity Eat and Drink and die to morrow Dance delicately into the Grave Sail fairly into Gulphs Rocks and Quicksands O Navis quò te referent in mare novi fluctus c. A short life and a pleasant Crown themselves with Rose-buds before they be withered fill themselves with costly Wine and Ointments and let no flower of the Spring pass by them The Prodigal spent his Estate upon Harlots and came to Swines and Husks From Liberty me run into Licentiousness and fall together by the ears and of Freemen become Slaves Run in Debt into a Gaol to die Rob and Kill and come to the Gallows Drink drunk and stagger into their Graves Stab Pistol Poyson one another suddenly they perish and come to a fearful end 2. Righteous men are never forlorn Troubled on every side yet not distressed perplexed but not in despair persecuted but not forsaken cast down but not destroyed I never saw the Righteous forsaken nor their Seed begging their bread the Lord careth for the Righteous he is their helper and delivereth them out of all their Troubles The Wicked in their fury lay on sore strokes upon them if God be angry but a little they will be sure to help forward the affliction all they can taking more leave than is given them to shew their Malice till God burn that Rod in the fire that would lie longer upon the Back of the Righteous
than it should do Rejoyce not against me O my Enemy for though I fall yet shall I rise again The Bush burneth but is not consumed The Lord knoweth how to uphold and comfort and deliver No body knows the Comforts and the mighty Assistances that flow from the Divine Spirit upon the Spirits of afflicted Servants and Children of God making ample satisfaction for all the Sufferings of this life superadding the Assurance of everlasting Salvation into which through many Afflictions we must enter The Righteous suffer justly from God but wrongfully from the Sons of Men they have deserved it from God but not from Men. They are basely betrayed and abused even for Well-doing Christ was numbred among this Transgressors but he was innocent and had done nothing amiss The two Thieves had their deserts He was betrayed with a Kiss of his Servant that did what he listed with the Purse and eat of his Masters Bread and dipt his Morsel in his Dish Joab took Abner aside to speak with him quietly he thinking no harm and smote him under the fifth Rib that he died not as a Fool died bound hand and feet that he could not help himself but unawares as a man falleth before a Treacherous Enemy Such usage the best of Men find of whom the World is not worthy Let us oppress say they the poor Righteous man and not spare the Widow nor reverence the ancient Gray-hairs Let our strength be the Law of our Justice for that which is feeble is found to be nothing worth Let us lay wait for the Righteous because he is not for our turn and he is clean contrary to our doings he was made to reprove our thoughts He is grievous unto us even to behold for his life is not like other men his ways are of another fashion If the Just man be the Son of God he will help him and deliver him out of the hand of his Enemies Let us examine him with despitefulness and torment that we may know his Meekness and prove his Patience But the Souls of the Righteous are still in the hand of God whatever becomes of their Bodies and there shall no torment touch them Though they be punished in the sight of God yet their hope is full of a glorious and blessed Immortality And having been a little chastised they shall be greatly rewarded for God proved them and found them worthy for himself They that put their trust in the Lord shall understand the Truth and such as be faithful in Love shall abide with him for Grace and Mercy is to his Saints and he taketh care for his Elect. These are the Sufferings and this is the perfecting of the Patience and Faith of the Saints even unto the death of the Body and after death the Patience of their Souls continueth waiting and crying from under the Altar Lord how long how long O Lord holy and true dost thou not judge and avenge our Blood on them that dwell on the Earth While they lived the eyes of their Faith were upon God an Evidence of their deliverance not seen and the Substance thereof hoped for If they fail in the Flesh they never fail in the Spirit if they fail in the false Honours and Riches they never fail in the true Honours and Riches For them to live is Christ and to die is gain and whether they live or die they are the Lords Whatever their Beginning be their End is Peace A bed of Thorns is to them a bed of Roses The Wicked kiss a painted Jezabel ravish a Cloud tantalize Chimera's desperate trying all their Wits using all means but the true which is Repentance from dead works to serve the living God instead of which they die in their sins cursing God and blaspheming cursing the Stars and the Fates and what not so they go to their place Such shame have all God's Enemies and such honour have all his Saints SECTION III. I might here make a Metaphysical Discourse of Spiritual Desertions and Streights that they say Spiritual Desertions God puts his People into and leaves them in for a time and times hiding his face and again looking upon them casting them down and lifting them up Like Parents leaving their Children to cry and want and then satisfying their wants I am not certain that these are the usual waies and methods of God's dealing with Souls God's waies are in the Deep and his paths are in the great Waters and his footsteps are not known I find it was the way of God's proceeding under the Old Testament in Legal dispensations of Judgments and Mercies but I do not find it is so now I find the Spirit is called the Spirit of comfort and when in seems to depart fear not for it is not departed as to the comforts of the Body much more of the Soul And that God delighteth not in grieving the Sons of Men nor doth he fright-Mortals into Regeneration for though there be fear in the Flesh which is weak yet there is joy in the Spirit which is willing all along under various Dispensations and Measures creating hope above hope and contrary unto Hope which is the Anchor of the Soul The Messenger of Satan hath been miraculously sent to buffet some great Saints in the Body here to try their Faith that the Soul might be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus St. Paul was in a great strait but it was of Love between two that is betwixt his own and his Disciples happiness whether it were best for him to live or die he had a desire to both but did not well know which to choose though the one were better for him than the other To depart and to be with Christ was far better for him but to stay among his Disciples was better for thein A great contest and striving of Love as in another place he saith He could wish himself accursed for his Brethren his Companions sake the Jews rather than they should be cast away The like Spirit we find in Moses in a Rapture of Love wishing to be blotted out of the Book of Life rather than the People should perish David was brought into a great strait which to choose for one he must of the three Judgments of Pestilence Famine or the Sword but he chose the last and least because it was better to fall into the hands of God than of men for with God there was mercy but with men there was none Job complained in the errour of his life cursing the day of his birth and wishing for death Elijah in distress prayed that he might die Jonah was angry even unto death for a small matter of the shadow of a Gourd and because his Prophecy came not to pass Thus for want of Faith in Extremities of Sufferings many fools in all hast would go down to the Grave to secure themselves there and many of them died indeed by their own hands in a mad mood and wished themselves alive again when it
What fruit can we have in those things whereof we shall one day be ashamed 2. We believe Extremities recoverable Rejoyce not against me O my Enemy for tho I fall yet I shall rise again God brings to the gate of the Grave and brings back again he kills and maks alive he raiseth up the poor out of the dust and setteth him among the Princes of the Earth He raiseth up light out of darkness Order out of Confusion Plenty out of Want Health out of Sickness Truth out of Error Peace out of War Life out of Death and he only can doe after this fashion What is it that God cannot do Is any thing too hard for the Lord The Heathens cryed to their God's and cut themselves with Launces till the blood gushed out saying O Baal hear us but there was no Answer nor any that regarded God only is the God that heareth Prayers and unto him must all Flesh come And whither should we go but unto him that hath the words of Eternal life Whither should Children fly but to their Parents Servants but to their Lords Sheep but to their Shepherds Subjects but to their Princes and all Clients but to their Patrons Guardians and Protectors All lack a Saviour in distress All cry what shall we do Whither shall we go Who will shew us any good Lord save us we perish our eyes are only upon thee from whom only cometh our Salvation Whom have we in Heaven but thee and who is there on Earth that we can desire in comparison of thee The eyes of all things look up unto thee and thou givest them their meat in due season thou openest thine hand wide and fillest every Creature plentifully with thy blessings the young Ravens call upon God and are fed by him Doth God take care for Revens How much more of us O we of little Faith Our Fathers hoped in thee and thou didst deliver them they put their trust in thee and were not confounded Fear not little Flock for it is your Fathers pleasure to give you a Kingdom Let not your hearts be troubled the World shall hate you but it hated me before it hated you and if they have done these things to the green Tree well may they do them to the dry The Servant must not be above his Master it is well that he be as his Master In the World ye shall have tribulation but be of good cheer I have overcome the World I have sent you forth as Sheep amongst Wolves who shall come to you in Sheeps clothing and wear a rough Garment to deceive therefore be wise as Serpents and innocent as Doves 'T is hard to avoid a Hypocrite a false Brother Against a professed Enemy we stand in defiance upon our Guard and we expect no good but harm from such but a Hypocrite kisses and betrays embraces and cuts your throat None of these are to be trusted especially they that call us Heretical doggs Dross and Vermin Reprobates and Castaways and out of the Pale of the Church They are utterly deceitful upon the Balance they are lighter than vanity it self their throat is an open Sepulchre they flatter with their lips but dissemble with their double heart their words are softer than butter smoother than Oyle and sharper than a two edged Sword therefore trust them not What trust can there be in those men who maintain false Principles and Practices They are Giants the Sons of Anak their Walls are mounted up to Heaven They have great might and exceeding Malice but the Lord from Heaven is mightier He beholds the tears of the oppressed how they run down their cheeks every day and there is none to comfort them He sees and smiles and laughs them to scorn when they laugh his Servants to scorn while they come about them like Bees and would eat them as they eat bread and are confederate against them they shall be extinct as the Fire among the Thorns suddenly do they perish and come to a fearful end In the mean time great is the patience and comfort of the Saints their Soul is among Lions Briars and Thorns tare them they fly to the Rocks and cling to the ragged Rocks for want of a covering and no man careth for their Soul but God careth for them and his Grace shall be sufficient for them The Lord is on our side we will not fear what man can do unto us We call upon the Lord in our distress and he heareth us and sets our feet in a large room The Lord taketh our part with them that help us therefore shall we see our desire upon them that hate us It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man it is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in Princes All Nations may compass us round about but in the Name of the Lord we shall destroy them they may thrust soar at us to make us fall but the Lord will uphold us He is our strength and our song and is become our salvation the right hand of the Lord bringeth mighty things to pass We shall not die but live and declare the works of the Lord the living they shall praise him as we do this day O let us live that we may praise thee The Lord hath chastned us sore but he will not give us over unto death The Stone which the builder srefused is become the head stone of the corner Save now we beseech thee O Lord O Lord send us now Prosperity O give thanks unto the Name of the Lord for he is good for his mercy endureth for ever 3. God suffereth his People to be brought into Extremities and delivereth them looking up unto him with the eye of Faith when all other hopes fail Instances SECT VIII Adam and Eve hid themselves from God for shame after they had fallen and were driven out of Paradise and kept out by a flaming Sword till by Repentance they recovered and kept the favour of God Lot was saved out of the flames of Sodom The Three Children were untoucht in the midst of the fiery Furnace Susanna rescued from the Unrighteous Judges Daniel was safe in the hungry Lyons Den. Jews saved from the destruction plotted by Haman Joseph was brought out of the Pit and from the Prison and advanced to honour and greatness Prophets hid by fifty in a Cave Seven Thousand reserved in Israel that bowed not their knees unto Baal and whose mouths had not kissed him Above Forty Conspirators that vowed they would not eat nor drink till they had killed Paul Moses and Aaron saved from the Conspiracy of Corah Dathan and Abiram Aaron offered Incense and stood in the Gap between the living and the dead and the Plague ceased David built an Altar and the Plague stayed Sennacheribs Host destroyed by an Angel and Hezekiah saved Egypt saved from famine by Josephs care Sudden plenty in Samaria after sudden famine as if the Windows of Heaven were opened as
this World Why Because I know and feel That 1. God is mine by his own Act and Deed not only of Creation as he is to all but of Redemption as he would be to all if they would take it and is to all that do embrace it to whom he therefore giveth power that they should be called the Sons of God And then God's Work is done 2. I am God's by my own Act and Deed not only by owning my self to be the Work of his Hands but covenanting with him to do and suffer his Will in and upon me and to trust to him that he will be my exceeding great Reward And so I may call God Father And then my work is done While a Soul is abstracted with mutual Enjoyments Studies and Raptures with God no worldly Grievances can affect such sublime Spirits as they do those that grovel upon the ground in the concerns chiefly of the Flesh and of the World 'T was said of Archimedes that his Mind being intent upon Demonstrations when the City was besieged and the Enemy broke in upon him he perceived not the Danger of his Death till it seized upon his Contemplations Death it self is not fear'd nor felt so much in the Flesh to a man that is mortified to the Flesh before-hand from the Corruptions and Lusts thereof waiting all the days of our appointed time till his change do come looking for after this earthly house of his Tabernacle is dissolved to have a building of God an house not made with hands eternal in the Heavens but groaning earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with his house which is from Heaven that being clothed he shall not be found naked not for that he would be unclothed but clothed upon so that mortality might be swallowed up of life desiring not in the Flesh but in the Spirit to be dissolved and to be with Christ which is far better Other thoughts and cares are eating fretting and consuming but these are healing comforting and reviving caring for God how we may please him that cares for us By these the Soul is upheld from sinking into despair when the Flesh the World and the Devil are alltogether about our ears Thus we bear up against the Waves because our Stern is good or Keel is sound and our Pilot steers a right Course Do not therefore break my heart with worldly fears I have a mind to hope as well as fear I have crowded my Head already among the Stars I may be vex'd in my Body but that also being ioyn'd to the Head will follow after it by degrees and Christ which is my Head will draw my whole Body Soul and Spirit after him with whom I am already in Faith in Heavenly places My Tribulation worketh in me patience and patience experience and experience hope and I shall never be ashamed So I encourage all Sufferers Durate rebus vosmet servate secundis Dabit Deus his quoque finem Virg. Upbraid me not but pity me for I am resolved and therefore tempt me no more it is enough that I suffer I murmure not let me alone Oro miserere laborum tantorum miserere animi non digna ferentis They that sow in tears shall reap in joy and bring their Sheaves with them after a few days I shall find the comfort of it An humble Soul aims high God and my Right but all in Christ God be merciful to me a Sinner for his free Grace in Christ Jesus only Amen If in this Life only we have hope we are of all men the most miserable It is so short and miserable that in our Extremities we look one upon another and know not what to do What shall we do in Death That puts an end to all worldly Extremities eases the poor Captive in the Dungeon from his Bonds and the oppressed from all Tyranny and is too often wished for in the error of our Life but is a beginning of endless Extremities to them that have no hope We that could not tell what to do in Life what shall we do in Death When the naked Soul sits trembling upon the pale lip to be plunged into the bottomless Abyss of Eternity But if in this Life our hope be full of a Glorious and Blessed Immortality we know what to do there is hope in Death When the Body goes to the Dust the Soul returns to God that gave it to the God of Abraham and of Isaac and Jacob who is not the God of the Dead but of the Living for they are all alive in the Spirit with God and shall live with him in the Body when the times of Refreshment shall come from the Lord. My Son if thou come to serve the Lord prepare thy Soul for Temptation set thy Heart aright and constantly endure and make not hast in time of trouble Cleave unto him and depart not away that thou mayst be encreased in thy last end Whatsoever is brought unto thee take chearfully and be patient when thou art changed to a low estate For Gold is tried in the Fire and acceptable men in the Furnace of Adversity Believe in him and he will help thee order thy way aright and trust in him Ye that fear the Lord wait for his Mercy and go not aside lest ye fall Ye that fear the Lord believe him and your reward shall not fail Ye that fear the Lord hope for good and for everlasting Joy and Mercy Look at the Generations of old and see Did ever any trust in the Lord and was confounded Or did any abide in his Fear and was forsaken Or whom did he ever despise that called upon him For the Lord is full of Compassion and Mercy long suffering and very pitisul and forgiveth sins and saveth in time of Affliction Wo be to fearful hearts and faint hands and the Sinner that goeth two ways Wo to him that is faint-hearted for he believeth not therefore shall he not be deseded Wo unto you that have lost patience and what will ye do when the Lord shall visit you They that fear the Lord will not disobey his Word and they that love him will keep his ways They that fear the Lord will seek that which is well-pleasing unto him and they that love him shall be filled with the Law They that fear the Lord will prepare their hearts and humble their Souls in his Sight saying we will fall into the hands of the Lord and not into the hands of Men for as his Majesty is so is his Mercy Blessed be God even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ the Father of Mercies and the God of Comfort who comforteth us in all our tribulation that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble by the comfort wherewith we our selves are comforted of God For as the Sufferings of Christ abound in us so our Consolation also aboundeth by Christ and whither we be afflicted it is for our Consolation and Salvation which is effectual in the enduring of the
same Sufferings or whither we be comforted it is for the same Consolation and Salvation And our Hope is stedfast knowing that as we are partakers of the Sufferings so shall we be also of the Consolation For we were pressed out of measure above strength so that we despaired even of Life But we had the sentence of Death in our selves that we should not trust in our selves but in God which raised the Dead who delivered us from so great a death and doth deliver in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us You also helping together by Prayer for us that for the Gift bestowed upon us by the means of many persons thanks may be given by many on our behalf For our reioycing is this the Testimony of our Conscience that in simplicity and Godly sincerity not with fleshly wisdom but by the grace of God we have had our conversation in the world and more abundantly to youward We have access by faith into this grace wherein to we stand and rejoyce in the Hope of the Glory of God And not only so but we glory in Tribulations also knowing that tribulation worketh patience and patience experience and experience hope and hope maketh not ashamed because the Love of God is shed abroad in our Hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us We count it all joy when we fall into divers temptations knowing this that the trying of our Faith worketh patience But let patience have her perfect work that we may be perfect and entire wanting nothing SECT X Thus when we have tried all we shall find God is all in all When the Iniquities of our heels compass us round about and take fast hold upon us we do but weary our selves in very vanity and labour in the very Fire In the mean while when all our bones are out of joynt and we lye upon the Rack of Extremity the World stares upon us and mocks us and with the Flesh and the Devil leaves us in the lurch and therefore we have no reason to trust them Still we retain our Inteprity till we dye not curse God nor speak unadvisedly with our Lips nor charge God foolishly Though he kill us yet will we put our trust in him We are content to receive Evil at the hands of God as well as Good When all Helps fail God will never fail us nor forsake us When my Father and my Mother forsook me the Lord took me up Can a Woman forget her Child Yes she may yet will not I forget thee The Plague walketh in darkness and the Pestilence destroyeth at noon day yet shall it not come nigh thee The Lord shall cover thy Head in the day of Battel This is marvellous in our eyes The Lord giveth sight to the Blind and openeth the Prison-Doors to them that are fast bound in Misery and Iron even when the Iron enters into their Souls He giveth Food to the Hungry He plucketh our Foot out of the Snare the Snare is broken and we are delivered He quencheth all the fiery Darts of the Devil and bruiseth Satan under every one of our Feet and through Christ we shall be more than Conquerors God works Miracles when he pleases He bringeth Souls out of Temptation and together with the Temptation giveth strength to bear it and opens a Door of Hope that we may escape in due time Our Extremity is an opportunity for him to shew Mercy Thou wilt not leave my Soul in Hell nor suffer thy Holy Ones to see everlasting Corruption The patient abiding of the Meek shall not perish for ever We do not know what the Lord will do with us nor what he will do for us but this we know that the Lord will lay no more upon us than what he will enable us for to bear and that his Grace shall be sufficient for us and that he remembers that we are but dust and therefore he will not always be chiding lest the Spirits of men fail before him and the Souls dye and perish which he hath created and in his Wrath he remembers Mercy and all things shall work together in the end for Gods Glory and for our good and this light Affliction which is but for a moment shall work for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory He is a Father to the Fatherless and a Husband to the Widow he careth for the stranger and him that hath none to help him Man liveth not by Bread alone but by every word which proceedeth out of the Mouth of God doth man live No Sparrow shall fall to the ground without his Providence and we cannot make one Hair black or white And now tell me should you trust in God or Man Why should we fear always O we of little Faith Methinks I see an Earned of Gods Favour So many given us The Chariots of Israel and the Horsemen thereof of whom the rest of the World is not worthy These stand in the Gap and our dead bones shall live 'T is time to Unite A man would have thought that the Presbyterians of all men would long ere now have come in unto us to the help of the Lord against the Mighty and Malicious Enemies that press so sore upon us to change our Religion Presbyterians and bring in Superstition and Idolatry and a change of Government both of Church and State A man would think in this Juncture of Time they should have sought to save themselves and us from common Destruction now or never yet still they will not look upon us but we will look upon God and he will save us without them Nor will we cry after them Curse ye Meroz c. Why should they stand so long upon a pitiful Surpliss or Cross or Ring c. What care we for these and such things as these no more than in Reverence to the Supream Power which hath commanded them and when the same Power pleases may countermand them for Order and Peace sake as they did before and we hold it our Duty to stand ready to perform Obedience to all Decency and Order Let them know that we are ready to part with them and with greater things than those upon Command if any thing would do and give them satisfaction if we might be assured of a Reconciliation at the last O when will it once be Will they play the same Game over again The Cheat is too much discovered for to do it in the same Age I hope not God forbid They say they hate Popery and so do we and that with as perfect a hatred as they can possibly do and perhaps much more And yet they teach their poor ignorant People to say our Divine Service is Popish and we are Popishly affected and fly from our Devotion as from the Mass or from the Alcoran or the Plague its self The Papists hate our Common Prayer most of all How then can it be Popish Father forgâ—ve them for some know not what they say