Justification is confirmed and the sence thereof so that Obedience is one cause but not the only cause of our Peace nor the principal When therefore you see the streams of a mans Comfort run in this Channel raising all his comfort only or principally from his obedience or acting of Grace within then you may say though the stream be now full stay but a little and ere long you will see it dried and this man wil be much discouraged Answ 4 When a man a good man doth lay his comfort rather upon the impression or comings in of the Word than upon the Word it self For example Suppose a man take the Bible and upon the opening thereof doth pitch on some Promise for the present he is much refreshed and comforted or suppose that he doth not open the Bible nor read the Scripture but sitting down in a dark condition some Promise doth come to him which before he thought not of now at the coming of this Promise his heart is much raised warmed and comforted insomuch that he concludeth saying Now I am a child of God now I know that God loves me that I have a share in Christ either this man raiseth his comfort from the Word it self or from the comings in of the Word if from the Word it self how can his comfort die if up-upon the bare coming in of the Word how can his Comfort live For when a Word comes not then his Comforts fail We read in Psal 16. That he shall multiply sorrows that hasteneth after another your Translation reads it thus Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but the word God is not in the Hebrew The whol Verse are the words of Christ what saith he at verse 2. O my soul thou hast said unto the Lord thou art my Lord my Goodness Holiness or Righteousness is not for thee but for the Saints that are in the Earth and for the excellent in whom is all my delight But O Lord our Savior what if we do not go to thy Goodness Holiness and Righteousness resting upon that alone He answereth Their sorrows shall be multiplied who hasten after another And is not this to hasten after another when men rest upon the bare coming in of the Word or the impressions on the heart that are made thereby Where do we read in all the Scripture turn from one end of the Bible to the other and where do we read that Christ hath appointed any such way of Comfort as this that a man should raise his Comforts from pitching or by an opening of the Book If I pitch upon a Promise to day and so have comfort may I not pitch upon a threatening to morrow and so have no comfort again Where hath Christ appointed any such way as this that I should measure Gods Love or cast my everlasting condition by the coming in of a particular word Indeed God doth somtimes by his Providence upon the opening of the Bible cause our eye to fall upon some Promise which is a Providential Comfort he doth somtimes send a particular word to stay and bear up ones soul in a particular distress or affliction but not that I should measure his everlasting Love or cast my condition by the coming in of every word this therefore is to hasten after another and how many sorrows are multiplied upon the hearts of Gods People hereby How many poor souls are there that walk in this way God our Father sees it that the Plaister is not right laid and so he is fain to take it off but all from a design of Love to lay it right and for these reasons God suffers his own People to be much discouraged Quest 3 But how can all this stand with Grace Can a man be thus comforted and discouraged discouraged and then comforted again thus to and fro in his comfort yet in Christ yet gracious yet holy Answ Yes For though there be much evil in this traversing up and down Revertere anima mea in requiem tuam Psal 116. observemus verbum revertendi quo admonemur fieri quidem subinde ut animus piorum optata requie privatur et variis discriminibus inquietetur verum juxta id accidere consolationis quod suo tempore conceditur illis Divinitus ut ad quictem suam revertantur Muscul in Psal 116. yet in the Saints there is still a mixture of some Grace withal some Grace mixed with their discouragements Take the Saints and people of God and though they be much discouraged and cast down yet stil they mourn after God and though they cannot wait so patiently as they would yet they say in truth if they did but know that God would come at last they would wait al their lives here is Grace and though they cannot mourn for sins past for which they are most disquieted yet they dare not put forth their hand willingly unto any sin present I have read of one that was so troubled and cast down that he said and thought I find so little comfort in my soul that I would willingly suffer my body to live in burning fire until Christs coming so that I might but have the assurance of Gods love and favor and though I am perswaded I shal go to hel yet my hope is that my paines here wil be mitigated there in al which trouble saith my author nothing in the world could perswade him to do any thing willingly that was displeasing to God this man was at the last comforted and then he would often say the Devil took advantage of my sorrow for evil things to make me unthankful for good things But I speak this to shew that the Saints are never so discouraged 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Faeces à 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 custodivit quia vina sua vi conservant but stil there is a Grace that is mixed withal they dare not sin Yea and though by their very discouragements they do sin against the Gospel in unbelief yet by the same discouragements they are kept from their sins against the law these discouragements being as the lees that do keep the wines Yea and though they do rest too much upon their righteousness whereby their feet sink into divers sloughs yet it is because they would be the more obedient to God their father and in the midst of al their discouragement profess in truth I would give al the world for the presence of God here is Grace a mixture of Grace withal no marvel therefore that these discouragements may be in a Godly Gracious man Quest But is there no evil in this to be thus fluctuating to and fro comforted and then discouraged is there no evil in these discouragements Answ Much very much I shal not enter into the particulars But how can they improve Christ as they should in this condition So long as a mans title for his land is in question he cannot sow his ground nor build houses and
a dispersed People Be it so yet your Sufferings are but a Modicum a little 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 both in regard of measure and time and after you have thus suffered a little and a little while the God of al Grace wil restore stablish strengthen and settle you This have I prayed for you So that the Doctrine from the Verse is this DOCT. It is a great Blessing of God and worthy of all our Prayer to be Established and Setled in the Truth and Good Waies of God Setling Grace and Mercy in opposition both to outward and inward trouble is a great Mercy and well worth praying for It is a great Mercy and Blessing to be outwardly setled The Apostle speaks here in reference to that opposition and hatred which they met with from the world in scattering them as a People and as a Church for saith he verse 9. Be stedfast in the Faith knowing that the same Afflictions are accomplished in your Brethren that are in the world As also in reference to those Temptations of Satan which they labored under for saith he verse 5. Your Adversary the Devil as a roaring Lyon walketh about seeking whom he may devour So that I say 1 It is a great Mercy for a Nation and State to be setled 2 A Mercy and great Blessing for a Church to be setled 3 A great Blessing and Mercy for a Particular Soul to be setled in the good VVaies of God First It is a great Mercy and Blessing for a Nation or Kingdom to be in a setled Estate and Condition outwardly for it is the Mercy promised and promised Mercies are no smal Mercies Now the Lord promiseth to his People when he deals with them in a way of Mercy to settle and establish them Jer. 24.6 For I will set mine eyes upon them for good and I will bring them again to this land and I will build them and not pull them down and I wil plant them and not pluck them up So chap. 32. verse 37. And I will cause them to dwel safely yea verse 41. I will rejoyce over them to do them good and I will plant them in this Land assuredly with my whol heart and with my whol soul This also was that Mercy which the Lord Promised to David 2 Sam. 7.16 But thine House and thy Kingdom shall be established for ever before thee and thy Throne shal be established for ever And if ye look into 2 Chron. 9.8 ye shal find that this establishing of a Nation or Kingdom is both a sign and a fruit of Gods Love Blessed be the Lord thy God said the Queen of Sheba to Solomon which delighteth in thee to set thee on his Throne to be King for the Lord thy God because thy God loved Israel to establish them for ever therefore made he thee King over them c. On the other side when God is angry with a People then he pours a Spirit of Giddiness and Perversness on them that they run to and fro and stagger like a drunken man and are as the Leaf shaken with every wind 1 Kings 14.15 The Lord threatens Israel to smite them as a reed is shaken in the water because they had made them Groves provoking the Lord to anger A great Judgment then it is to be shaken like a reed in the Water This also is a Fruit of Gods Anger and when a People are in this posture it argues that God hath smitten them in his Anger But when may a People be said to be thus smitten as a Reed shaken in the Water Even then when they are driven to and fro with every wind when they are easily moved and put by their Station Sicut solet moveri arundo in aqua Scilicet quia arundines faciliter moventur in aqua quocunque vento impellente aut levi aquarum decursu ita Israell incideret ìn magnas calamitates et Deus faceret cum tam passibilem ut à quocunque insurgente contra eum posset percuti Abulens in Loc. so that any one that rises up against them may afflict them and lay them low And if this unsetled shaking Condition be a great Judgment upon a Nation or People then surely the contrary is a great Mercy it is a great Blessing indeed for any Kingdom or Nation to be in a setled Estate and Condition Secondly As it is a Mercy and Blessing for a Nation to be settled and established so for the Church of God For when the Church hath this rest then it is edified walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost Acts 9.31 Establishment is the Mercy promised to the Church also Esai 2.2 It shall come to pass in the last daies that the Mountain of the Lords House shall be established in the top of the Mountains What is more setled on Earth than a Mountain The House of the Lord shal be as a Mountain upon the Mountains in the last daies great shal be the glory of the latter Daies As the Sins and Apostacies of the latter Daies shal be the greatest Sins and Apostacies so the Glory of the Churches shal be the greatest in the last daies And the Establishment of the Churches is not only promised but promised as part of the Glory of the latter Times It is that Mercy and Blessing which the Apostles labored for continually 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Fâ—rst they took a great deal of pains to convert and bring men home to God being converted the Apostles then formed them into several Churches and Churches being planted then their great work and business was to Establish them Acts 14.21 And when they had preached the Gospel to that City or had Gospellized that City and had taught many or had Discipled many or those that were sit and worthy they returned again to Lystra to Iconium and Antioch confirming the souls of the Disciples and exhorting them to continue in the Faith c. This they also prayed for and therefore as the Apostle Peter shuts up his Epistle with this Prayer for the dispersed Christian-Jews so the Apostle Paul doth close up his Epistle to the Corinths with the same desire and Prayer for them 2 Cor. 13. And this also we wish even your perfection verse 9. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And Rom. 16.25 he concludes thus Now to him that is of power to establish you c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 where the Apostle Paul useth two of these four words that are used by Peter The closing wish doth alwaies fal upon some precious mercy And as it is the Mercy prayed for so somtimes it is made the Signal Mercy whereby the Church is declared to be the Church of Christ Whose House ye are saith the Apostle to the Hebrews if you hold fast the Confidence of your rejoycing stedfast to the end An House is setled fixed and established a Tent is removable but an House is not so unworthy are those of the Name of the House
and Places The Duty is commanded and commended Ye do well that ye take heed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ye do well or beautifully this is your Christian Beauty and Comliness in the Eyes of God Now this Duty is urged and amplified urged by divers Arguments some taken from the excellency of the Word it self First It is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Word of Prophesie or a Prophetical Word written by Divine Inspiration the same that is spoken of in verse 20. called Prophesie of Scripture Secondly It is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a more sure Word Some think the Comparative is put for the Superlative as Acts 25.10 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as thou very wel or best knowest But I take it rather to be meant Comparatively for the Word of God written is surer than that Voyce which they heard in the Mount whereof he spake in the former Verse More sure is the Word written than that Voyce of Revelation not ratione veritatis not in regard of the Truth uttered for that Voyce was as true as any word in the Scripture but more sure ratione manifestationis more certain setled and established Secondly Some Arguments are taken from the usefulness of the Word to us for it is as a light shining in a dark place and therefore it is good for us to take heed thereunto But how long must we take heed to it even as long as we live and whilst we are in the dark especially even till the day dawn and the Sun shine in his ful strength and brightness in your hearts which is the Second thing whereby this Duty is amplified Some think that is to be understood of a Supernatural Revelation and Light which God doth set up in the Soul which when a man hath obtained then he is to take heed to the written Word no longer But that cannot be 1. Because the Apostle doth here prefer the written Word before a Revelation from Heaven Now if he do prefer it before a Divine Revelation then it is not to give place to the dawning of some special Light and Revelation in the Heart for then he should destroy in the latter part of the Verse what he had affirmed and built up in the former part 2. One Scripture is to be explained by another but Esai 3.20 the Lord saith To the Law and to the Testimony if they speak not according to this Word it is because there is no Light or morning in them If therefore any man do pretend Light or the shining of the morning Star in his Soul so as to lay by the Word written that Light is no true Light and so this Interpretation can be no true Interpretation of these words 3. This Interpretation doth suppose that this morning Star did not shine in the Apostles Time and that then the Apostles with the Saints of those Times had not this Light within them for the Apostle saith We have a more sure Word and ye do well that ye take heed thereunto Al the Saints and People of God then did walk by and take heed unto the written Word yet they had Light within them This Interpretation therefore is contrary to the sence of â—he Apostle here Others think that these Words are spoken to the beleeving Jews in reference to the Prophets of the Old Testament as if the Apostle should say The glorious Light of the Gospel hath not yet fully conquered your hearts and therefore til your Gospel-Light be more cleer you shal do wel to take heed to the Prophets of the Old Testament who do al testifie with us of Christ But this wil seem to argue That when Gospel-Light doth more fully rise upon us then we may lay by the Prophets of the Old Testament Others think that this day dawning and the Day-star arising doth note that ful and cleer Vision of God and Christ which is yet to come Now because the whol Earth shal be filled with the knowledg of the Lord in the latter daies in respect to which Time it 's promised Revel 2.28 I will give him the morning-star and in Chap. 22.16 Christ doth appear to the Saints under that Title saying I am the bright morning-star Therefore it is conceived by some That the Apostle here doth relate to that time and so the sence of the words should be this Though now ye be in the dark yet ye have the Light of the Scripture to walk by whereto ye shal do wel that ye take heed til ye be brought to and under a more glorious and cleer Dispensation But the word used for the morning-Star Revel 2.22 is not the same that is here used and translated the Day-Star The Scripture shal not be out of date in the daies of those glorious Times for the Wals of that City the New Jerusalem which shal come down from Heaven hath twelve Foundations and in them the names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb Revel 21.14 This Interpretation doth suppose that the morning Star or the Sun for so the word may be rendred 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Suid. as Suidas saith doth not shine in our hearts now and that it hath not shined already whereas it is said Luk. 1. concerning Christs first coming verse 78. Whereby the Day-spring from on high hath visited us to give light to them that sit in darkness c. And the Apostle Paul saith the day is far spent and ye are the Children of Light and of the day Surely therefore the day had then dawned in those Times and therefore these words cannot only relate to the glorious Times that are yet to come Others say these words do relate unto Heavenly Glory and so the meaning of the words should be That we are to take heed unto the written Word until we come into Heaven which thing is true But where do we find in Scripture that the Glory of Heaven is said thus to dawn or shine in our hearts Or that Christ is said thus to shine in our hearts in regard of Heavenly Glory Therefore I think the word Vntil is not to be taken exclusively but as in other Scriptures Psal 110. Sit thou on my right hand until I make thine Enemies thy foot-stool Shal Christ sit on Gods right hand no longer Shal he not sit there for ever Yea he shal sit there for ever after al Enemies are subdued But the words shew what Christ shal enjoy and do whilst the Enemies rage he shal sit in power judging on the right hand of God not that he shal not sit there when they are subdued So here Ye do well saith the Apostle that ye take heed to the Word till the day dawn and the Day-Star arise and shine in your hearts that is til ye have more cleer Light not that ye lay by the Word then but because ye are now in the dark I 'le tel you saies the Apostle what ye shal do whilst ye are in the dark even take heed to the Word written And so the Doctrine