a look There is no need of an Arm a word and a look of Omnipotency will be efficacious both for the one and the other one Royal Edict from him will perform it Psal 44.4 Thou art my King command deliverance for Jacob. He hath Authority as a King Engagement as the Churches King As he hath right of Dominion so he hath an Office of Protection which the Church of right may claim and is it Jacob that wants deliverance be not afraid but sanctifie the Lord of Hosts himself Isa 8.12 13. To trust in his Power is to sanctifie his name and regard him as the Soveraign of all creatures and the Lord of Hosts If we sanctifie his name by relying on his Power he will sanctifie his name by engaging his Power 7. To this end study the Promises God hath made to his Church and what Predictions are upon Record 'T is a title of the faithful that they are such as keep the sayings of the Book of the Revelation Rev. 22.9 The Angel that came to John owns himself his fellow-servant and of the Prophets and those that keep the sayings of that Book See God's Bond and behold his witness compare the promise the prophecy and performance See his mercy in making them his truth in performing them let these be as the Hur and Aaron to support the glory of God in our Souls This will be a matter of praise and furnish us with Arguments to spread before God Daniel first looked into the Book for the set time of the Jews return from Babylon Dan. 9.2 and took his rise for pleas from thence You may have need of this food a Divine Promise is the best Cordial at a Stake or Gibbet or when a Sword is at your breast 8. When a time of straits comes wait patiently upon God Let not hope sink when reason is non-plust by storms and sees nothing but wracks Wait upon God in the way of his Judgments Isa 26.8 in his storms as well as calms God waits to be gracious and therefore we should wait to be gratified Not to wait is to be partners in that sin which brought destruction upon the Churches Enemies viz. pride It concerns God more in point of his glory to hasten deliverance in its due time than us in point of security but there is as much danger in coming too soon as too late By waiting we imitate the highest pattern who waits with patience for the Reformation of his Enemies and Christ who waits for the total Victory The longer God keeps the Church at any time under the Enemies Chains the sweeter will be his mercy to the one and the severer his Justice on the other The Israelites waited and God followed Pharaoh with Plagues as he followed them with burdens and took his time to cut off their Oppressors with most glory to himself and most comfort to them The Vision hath its appointed time Impatience will not make God break the Chains of his Resolves but Patience will bring down the blessing with great success and big with noble Births God is not out of the way of his wisdom and grace and we can never keep in our way but by patience in waiting By this we give him the honour of his wisdom by too much hastiness we check and controul him and will not let him be the Master and Conductor of his own blessings We many times get more good by waiting than we do by enjoying a mercy Such a posture keeps the Soul humble and believing whereas many times when we receive a mercy too hastily with one hand we let go faith and humility with the other Sincere Souls have the strongest and most heavenly raptures in a time of waiting Isa 40.31 They mount up with wings like Eagles 9. In times of such straits Be found only in a way of duty If our straits should ever prove as hard as the Israelites at the red Sea i. e. have something of a resemblance to their case let us follow Moses his counsel to them Exod. 14.13 Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. Let us not anticipate Gods gracious designs if we will have our finger where God only will have his arm God may withdraw this arm and leave us to the weakness of our own fingers Let them that want a God to relieve them use sinful and unworthy shifts for their deliverance If any success be found out of the way of duty it may be attended with a curse and want that favour of God which only can Sanctify it We may purchase a present deliverance with a more durable plague at the end of it because we forfeit that favour which only can work a real freedom Sinful ways do not glorify God but disparage him our actions at such a time particularly should adorn the gospel not discredit it for it is by the Sword of his mouth that such enemies will be destroyed and every Sword cuts best when it is sharpest and cleanest not when it is blunt and rusty Not but that lawful means may nay they must be used Noah though he went into the ark by Gods command and was not to stir out without his order yet he sets open the windows and sends forth a Raven and a Dove to bring him notice when the waters were dryed up 'T is a foolish thing to offend God who only can help us in our straits and by our sin to hold his Sword in his sheath which upon our obedience would be drawn for our relief We know not how soon we may need him and our distress be such that none but he can bring Salvation let no sin be a bar in the way 10. Be much in prayer Israel cryed unto the Lord before God did relieve Exod. 14.10 The persecuted Church cryed travelling in birth and found a security both for her self and her off-spring Rev. 12.2 c. The distress of the time is an argument to be used Psal 123.34 Have mercy upon us Lord for we are exceedingly filled with Contempt When Enemies are high and access to God free 't is an high contempt of God not to use the priviledge he allows us and 't is to trust in an arm of flesh rather than an arm of Omnipotence to think him either inexorable or unable And for encouragement consider you have Christ arm'd against his Spouses Enemies and provided with merit to make her prayers successful Our prayers may at last be turned into praises And we may say with David Psa 9.6 Oh thou enemy destructions are come to a perpetual end A DISCOURSE OF Delight in Prayer Psal 37.4 Delight thy self also in the Lord and he shall give thee the desires of thy heart THis Psalm in the beginning is a heap of Instructions The great Lesson intended in it is plac'd in verse 1. Fret not thy self because of evil doers neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity 'T is resum'd verse 7 8. where many Reasons are alledged to enforce it Fret not 1.
to understand the whole Psalm of Christ since the Apostle hath interpreted part of it of him Heb. 2. i. e. Make them utterly silent not knowing what firm Counsels to take or what successful orders to give And it being his end to destroy the works of the Devil the destroying the works must be the root of the being and preservation of the Church Did Christ then rise as a Conquerour out of the grave and sit down as King upon his throne to let the Devil and the world run away with the fruits of his victory Will he be so injurious to himself as to let his Throne be overturned by his enemies And to let the adversary of Sion repossess himself of that which he hath been so powerfully and successfully stript of Christ being King cannot be chased out of his Kingdom nor wants power to keep it from being utterly wasted To be the governour of Sion was as much in his first Commission as to be her Redeemer * Isa 49.10 He was to feâ—d guide his flock which is often in Scripture put for Ruling Christ as King will never leave beating up the quarters of Hell till he hath utterly routed their force and made the partizans of it his footstool and thereby established Sion beyond the fears of any tottering Therefore when he speaks of the Church of Smyrna which was to have a sore conflict with the Devil and feel the smart of him for 10 days understanding those 10 Ancient persecutions of the Church he assumes a new title for her encouragement Revel 2.8 These things saith the first and the last which was dead and is alive I was the first that listed you and embodied you for the war and I will be the last to bring up the rear I was first in raising you and I will be the last in preserving you Fear not the terror of those persecutions though they be to blood and death I was used so I was dead but I am now alive and I live for my Church to behold her battles to procure her victory and to Crown those that shall fall in the fight against her enemies Christ in encouraging them to suffer for him assures them of the security of a Church the Devil should not wast the whole but cast some of them into prison not all and that for their refining v. 10. The Devil shall cast some of you into prison that you may be tryed Christ lives still and acts as King for the security of Sion and preserving a Generation to serve him till the time comes that is promised Rev. 22.3 that there shall be no more curse but the Throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it and then his Servants shall serve him with a full security from all trouble 3. The Foundation of Sion is sure 'T is founded upon Christ the corner stone Christ is called the Foundation 1 Cor. 3.11 The Apostles are the Foundation Eph. 2.20 Christ is the Foundation personally the Apostles doctrinally Christ meritoriously the Apostles ministerially the Apostles in regard of the publication of the Doctrine Christ in regard of the efficacy of the Doctrine whereby the Church is established 1. The Church is ingrafted in Christ united to him one with him the parts of it are reckoned as his seed * Psal 22.30 A s ed shall serve him it shall be counted to the Lord as a generation As if they had sprung out of his loins as men naturally did from Adam's that as Adam was the Foundation of their corruption so shall Christ be the Foundation of their Restauration They shall be looked upon as the Children of Christ and Christ as their Father and as Father and Children legally counted one The Church is his own body Eph. 5.29 30. In loving and establishing the Church he loves establisheth himself Whatsoever is implanted in nature as a perfection is eminently in God Now since he hath twisted with our natures a care of our own bodies this care must be much more in the nature of Christ because his Church is as nearly united to him as our members to the flesh and the bones and he hath an higher affection to his mystical than we can have to our natural bodies Christ will no less secure and perfect his own body than a man would improve the beauty and strength of his natural body to preserve it from wounds from being mangled or scarrified unless it be for the security of the whole If he did not do it it would be a hatred of his own flesh which never any man in his right wits was ever guilty of The Eternity of Christ is made the Foundation of the Churches Establishment Psal 102.27 28. Thou art the Son and thy years shall have no end The Children of thy servants shall continue and their seed shall be established before thee There could be no strength in the Argument without union and communion with him The Church is settled upon him as a Foundation and therefore is of as long a duration as the Foundation upon which it stands the conjunction is so strait that if one fails the other must especially since as Christ is the head the Church is his fulness Eph. 1.22 23. Sion cannot be compleat but in him and Christ cannot be compleat without her A Foundation is of little use without a Superstructure a building falls not without a discredit to the Foundation upon which it stood Sions compleatness depends upon the strength of Christ and Christs mystical compleatness depends upon the stability of Sion he will not leave himself an imperfect and empty head 2. 'T is founded upon the Covenant Upon that which endures for ever and shall survive the Funeral of the whole world Heaven and Earth shall pass away but the Church is founded upon that which shall not pass away 1 Pet. 1.23 the Word of God c. Not such a word as that whereby he brought forth light in the world and form'd the Stars at the Creation a word that engaged him not to the perpetuating of it * Tarretin Sermons p. 330. This Covenant is more firm than the Pillars of Heaven and the Foundations of the Earth The Stars of Heaven shall dissolve the Sun shall be turned into darkness the Elements shall change their order for confusion But the Church being founded upon an eternal and immutable Covenant shall subsist in the midst of the confusions and flames of the world Isa 54.10 The Mountains shall depart and the Hills be removed but my Covenant of Peace shall not be removed 'T is more establish'd than the world The Apostle clearly intimates it in his commendation of Abraham's Faith when he tells us He looked for a City which hath foundations by virtue of the promise of a numerous seed Heb. 11.9 10. As if the world had no foundation in comparison of the Church 'T is beyond the skill of Hell to raze up the foundation and therefore impossible for it to beat down
voluptuousness fancy the pleasures in the ways of wisdom here and at God's right hand hereafter This is to deal with our hearts as Paul with his hearers The heads of the Catechism might be taken in order which would both encrease and actuate our knowledge Psal 40.5 to catch them with guile Stake your soul down to some serious and profitable mystery of Religion as the Majesty of God some particular Attribute his condescension in Christ the love of our Redeemer the value of his sufferings the vertue of his blood the end of his ascension the work of the Spirit the excellency of the soul beauty of holiness certainty of death terror of judgment torments of Hell and joys of Heaven Why may not that which was the subject of God's innumerable thoughts be the subject of ours God's thoughts and counsels were concerning Christ the end of his coming his death his precepts of holiness and promises of life and that not only speculatively but with an infinite pleasure in his own glory the creatures good to be accomplished by him Would it not be work enough for our thoughts all the day to travel over the length breadth height and depth of the love of Christ Would the greatness of the journey give us leisure to make any starts out of the way Having settled the Theme for all the day we shall find occasional assistances even from worldly businesses as Scholars who have some Exercise to make find helps in their own course of reading though the Book hath no design'd respect to their proper Theme Thus by imploying our minds about one thing chiefly we shall not only hinder them from vain excursions but make even common objects to be oyl to our good thoughts which otherwise would have been fuel for our bad Such generous liquor would scent our minds and conversations all the day that whatsoever motion came into our hearts would be tinctured with this spirit and savour of our morning thoughts as vessels having been filled with a rich wine communicate a relish of it to the liquors afterward put into them We might also more steadily go about our worldly business if we carry God in our minds as oâ—e foot of the Compass will more regularly move about the Circumference when the other remains firm in the Center 2. Look to the manner of it 1. Let it be intent Transitory thoughts are like the glances of the eye soon on and soon off they make no clear discovery and consequently raise no spritely affections Let it be one principal subject and without flitting from it for if our thoughts be unsteady we shall find but little warmth a burning glass often shifted fires nothing We must look at the things that are not seen as wistly as men do at a mark they shoot at 2 Cor. 4.18 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 Cor. 3.18 Such an intent meditation would change us into the image and cast us into the mould of those truths we think of it would make our minds more busie about them all the day as a glaring upon the Sun fills our eyes for some time after with the image of it To this purpose look upon your selves as deeply concern'd in the things you think of Our minds dwell upon that whereof we apprehend an absolute necessity A condemned person would scarce think of any thing but procuring a reprieve and his earnestness for this would bar the door against other intruders 2. Let it be affectionate and practical Meditation should excite a spiritual delight in God as it did in the Psalmist †Psa 104.34 My meditation of him shall be sweet I will be glad in the Lord. and a divine delight would keep up good thoughts and keep out impertinencies A bare speculation will tire the Soul and without application and pressing upon the will and affections will rather chill than warm devotion 'T is only by this means that we shall have the efficacy of truth in our wills and the sweetness in our affections as well as the notion of it in our understandings The more operative any truth is in this manner upon us the less power will other thoughts have to interrupt and the more disdainfully will the heart look upon them if they dare be impudent Never therefore leave thinking of a spiritual subject till your heart be affected with it If you think of the evil of sin leave not till your heart loath it if of God cease not till it mount up in admirations of him If you think of his Mercy melt for abusing it if of his Soveraignty awe your heart into obedient resolutions if of his Presence double your watch over your self If you meditate on Christ make no end till your hearts love him if of his Death plead the value of it for the justification of your persons and apply the vertue of it for the sanctification of your natures Without this practical stamp upon our affections we shall have light spirits while we have opportunity to converse with the most serious objects We often hear foolish thoughts breathing out themselves in a house of mourning in the midst of Coffins and trophies of death as if men were confident they should never die whereas none are so ridiculous as to assert they shall live for ever By this instance in a Truth so certainly assented to we may judg of the necessity of this direction in truths more doubtfully believed 7. Draw spiritual Inferences from occasional Objects David did but wistly consider the Heavens Psal 8.3 4. and he breaks out in self-abasement and humble admirations of God Glean matter of instruction to your selves and praise to your Maker from every thing you see It will be a degree of restoration to a state of innocency since this was Adam's task in Paradise Dwell not upon any created object only as a Virtuoso to gratifie your rational curiosity but as a Christian call Religion to the feast and make a spiritual improvement No creature can meet our eyes but affords us lessons worthy our thoughts besides the general notices of the power and wisdom of the Creator Thus may the Sheep read us a Lecture of patience the Dove of innocence the Ant and Bee raise blushes in us for our sluggishness and the stupid Oxe Isa 1.3 and dull Ass correct and shame our ungrateful ignorance And since our Saviour did set forth his own excellency in a sensible dress the consideration of those Metaphors by an acute fancy would garnish out divine truths more deliciously and conduct us into a more inward knowledge of the Mysteries of the Gospel He whose eyes are open cannot want an instructer unless he wants a heart Thus may a Tradesman spiritualize the matter he works upon and make his commodities serve in wholsom meditations to his mind and at once enrich both his Soul and his Coffers yea and in part restore the creatures to the happiness of answering a great end of their Creation which Man depriv'd
are peculiarly breath'd in by the spirit There are ordinary bubblings of grace in a renewed mind as there are of sins in an unregenerate heart for grace is as active a principle as any because 't is a participation of the divine nature But there are other thoughts darted in beyond the ordinary strain of thinking which like the beams of the Sun evidence both themselves and their original And as concerning these motions joyn'd together take these Directions in short 1. Welcom and entertain them As 't is our happiness as well as our duty to stifle evil motions so 't is our misery as well as our sin to extinguish heavenly Strange fire should be presently quench'd but that which descends from heaven upon the Altar of a holy soul 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Polycarp Epist ad Phil. terms holy persons must be kept alive by quickning meditation When a holy thought lights suddenly upon you which hath no connexion with any antecedent business in your mind provided it be not unseasonable nor hinder you from any absolutely necessary duty either of religion or your calling receive it as a messenger from heaven and the rather because 't is a stranger You know not but you may entertain an Angel yea something greater than an Angel even the Holy Ghost Open all the powers of your souls like so many Organ-pipes to receive the breath of this Spirit when he blows upon you 'T is a sign of an agreeableness between the heart and heaven when we close with and preserve spiritual motions We need not stand long to examine them they are evident by their holiness sweetness and spirituality We may as easily discern them as we can exotick plants from those that grow naturally in our own soil or as a palate at the first tast can distinguish between a rich and generous wine and a rough water The thoughts instill'd by the Spirit of adoption are not violent tumultuous full of perturbation but like himself gentle and dove-like solicitings Gal. 5.22 warm and holy impulses and when cherished leave the soul in a more humble heavenly pure and believing temper than they found it 'T is a high aggravation of sin to resist the Holy Ghost Acts 7.51 Yet we may quench his motions by neglect as well as by opposition and by that means lose both the profit and pleasure which would have attended the entertainment Salvation came both to Zacheus his house and heart upon embracing the first motion our Saviour was pleased to make him Had he slighted that 't is uncertain whether another should have been bestowed upon him The more such sprouts are planted and nourished in us the less room will stinking weeds have to root themselves and disperse their influence And for thy own good thoughts feed them and keep them alive that they may not be like a blaze of straw which takes birth and expires the same minute Brood upon them and kill them not as some birds do their young ones by too often flying from their nests David kept up a staple of sound and good thoughts he would scarce else have desired God to try and know them Psal 139.23 Tâ—y me and know my thoughts had they been only some few weak flashes at uncertain times 2. Improve them for those ends to which they naturally tend 'T is not enough to give them a bare reception and forbear the smothering of them but we must consider what affections are proper to be rais'd by them either in the search of some truth or performance of some duty Those gleams with shoot into us on the sudden have some lesson seal'd up in them to be opened and learned by us When Peter upon the crowing of the cock call'd to mind his Master's admonition he thought thereon and wept †Mar. 14 72. he did not only receive the spark but kindled a suitable affection A choice graff though kept very carefully by us yet if not presently set will wither and disappoint our expectation of the desired fruit No man is without some secret whispers to disswade him from some alluring and busie sin †Job 33.14 17. God speaks once yea twice that he may withdraw man from his purpose as Cain had by an audible voice Gen. 4.7 which had he observed to the damping the revengeful motion against his brother he had prevented his brother's death his own despair and eternal ruin Have you any motion to seek God's face as David had Let your hearts reply Thy face Lord will I seek * Psal 27.8 The address will be most acceptable at such a time when your heart is tuned by One that searcheth the deep things of God †1 Cor. 2.10 and knows his mind and what airs are most delightful to Him Let our motion be quick in any duty which the Spirit doth suggest and while he heaves our hearts and oyls our wheels we shall do more in any religious service and that more pleasantly and successfully than at another time with all our own art and industry for his injections are like water poured into a pump to raise up more and as Satan's motions are not without a main body to second them so neither do the Spirit 's go unattended without a sufficient strength to assist the entertainers of them Well then lye not at anchor when a fresh gale would fill thy sails but lay hold of the present opportunity These seasons are often like those influences from certain conjunctions of the Planets which if not according to the Astrologer's opinion presently applied pass away and return not again in many ages So the Spirit 's breathings are often determined that if they be not entertained with suitable affections the time will be unregainable and the same gracious opportunities of a sweet entercourse may be for ever lost for God will not have his holy Spirit dishonoured in always striving with wilful man Gen. 6.3 When Judas neglected our Saviour's advertisement John 13.21 the Devil quickly enters and hurries him to the execution of his traiterous project v. 27. and he never meets with any motion afterwards but from his new Master and that eternally fatal both to his body and soul 3. Refer them if possible to assist your Morning Meditation that like little Brooks arising from several Springs they may meet in one channel and compose a more useful Stream What straggling good thoughts arise though they may owe their birth to several occasions and tend divers ways yet list them in the service of that truth to which you have committed the government of your mind that day As Constables in a time of necessary business for the King take up men that are going about their honest and lawful occasions and force them to joyn in one employ for the publick Service Many accidental glances as was observed before will serve both to fix and illustrate your Morning Proposition But if it be an extraordinary injection and cannot be referred to your
he was their Saviour It seems to refer to the deliverance from Aegypt Shall I have so little regard to the League I have entred into with their Fathers as to be unconcern'd in their misery There is hope in Israel till God forgets his Covenant and Christ strip himself of the name of a Saviour Christ hath his Priestly habit in Heaven for his People but Eyes as flames of fire quick and piercing to consume the very hearts of his Enemies and Feet like fine Brass to trample upon them Rev. 1.13 14 15. He is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah to tear his Enemies as well as a Lamb slain to expiate the sins of his People He hath meekness for his Friends and terrible Majesty for his Enemies Psal 45.4 In thy Majesty ride prosperously because of meekness His kindness to his People makes him ride in Majesty against the others God will not be at rest till he hath revenged the Cause of his People Aegypt will be drowned Babylon will fall Rev. 18.2 Christ can have no satisfaction without it The Executioners of his Judgments in the North Country which was Babylon lying Northward from Jerusalem do quiet his Spirit both as tending to the glory of his Justice and the manifestation of his Mercy to his People Zach. 6.3 Christ will stain his garments in the blood of Edom and Bozra Isa 63.2 3. Edom the Posterity of Esau Bozra a City of Moab Types of the Churches Enemies The Jewish Doctors by Edom in the Prophets understand Rome Christ sits in Heaven till his Enemies be made his footstool All the time of his sitting God is acting and preparing things for a final Issue There is a strong cry of Blood and a file of Prayers the one will be revenged and the other will be answer'd Their own pride and cruelty witness against them God hath a noise of Petitions every day for a full end a combin'd importunity will prevail But clouds now hang over us a gloomy storm seems to threaten us God may indeed blow over the cloud Our Saviour hath the command of the storms and winds in Heaven as well as he had upon the Earth the Pillar of the cloud which hath hitherto conducted us may be our Guardian in the Rear to defend us But yet if he doth suffer them to prevail they shall be but as Whisks to brush off the dust wisps of Straw to cleanse the filthy Pot. You know what is to be done with them when their work is done Their Language indeed is Let Sion be defiled but they understand not the counsel of the Lord who in time will make the Horn of Sion Iron and her Hoofs Brass Micah 4.11 Though the Beasts that ascend out of the bottomless Pit do kill God's People Rev. 11.7 yet even in this Victory of theirs Satan himself shall be overcome As when Christ was taken out from among the living by Satans means it was but for a time but himself was cast out for ever so after this Victory the Church shall overcome Rev. 11. and God shall break the head of the Leviathan in the waters and when he doth by his wisdom contrive waies of salvation he will by his power execute them and save in such a way as may most glorifie himself and witness that the salvation was the immediate work of his arm Hos 2.7 I will save them by the Lord their God 2. Remember former deliverances in time of straits In our plenty of mercies we should not be unmindful how near we were to the Pit nor let the impression of God's power wisdom and mercy wear off from our hearts The Israelites were apt to forget the most signal mercies though they had seen them and had more sensibly tasted the sweetness of them than their Posterity God therefore often puts them in mind of them The Lord that brought them out of the Land of Aegypt out of the Iron Furnace Deut. 4.20 Hos 12.9 I the Lord your God from the Land of Aegypt Ezek. 23.3 It was the more fit to be remembred by them because many of them were fitter subjects for God's wrath with the Aegyptians than for his delivering-kindness since she committed whoredoms in Aegypt in her youth i. e. had been guilty of the Aegyptian Idolatry Unmindfulness of former experiences may make you hopeless of future deliverances The remembrance of former mercies is a ground of confidence in God for the like mercies for the future God recalls to his Peoples minds in their afflictions the memorable defeat of the Moabites by his sole power in the time of Jehoshaphat's Reign they should from that deliverance hope for as great from the hands of God in their straits And Zech. 10.11 God would have them consider their deliverance at the Red Sea as a ground of hope in the time of their distress 3. Thankfully remember former deliverances If we have not some praise for God we may suspect our selves * Lightfoot Temple cap. 3. p. 9. 'T is observed that the City Shushan the Royal seat of the Persian Monarchy was pourtrayed upon the east gate of the temple not because of the Persian command or because of their fear of that King as some think but to have a thankful remembrance of the wonderful deliverance of Purim which was wrought in Shushan Esth 9.26 If it had been only by the Persians command it would have been defaced after the fall of that Monarchy which held but thirty four years after the building of the second Temple The 136. Psalm is a good Copy where is a threefold exhortation to thankfulness in the beginning and one at the end and in the record of every mercy the burden of every verse is his mercy endureth for ever How should we imitate the Psalmist He broke the teeth of the invincible Leviathan in 88 and sent a strong wind to disperse the Fleet for his mercy endureth for ever God prevented the dreadful blast of Gun-powder for his mercy endureth for ever God sent the light of the Gospel into England and freed it from the yoke of Antichrists tyranny for his mercy endures for ever God hath been a wall of fire about Ireland in the protection of it for his mercy endureth for ever Let mercy receive the praise of what our own wisdom and power could not effect The way to overcome the same Enemies we fear is to praise God for what he hath before acted against them The strength of a people consists in praises as well as praying Psa 8.2 Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength In the Evangelist thou hast perfected praise Mat. 21.16 The more Hallelujahs we put up the more occasion God may give us for them If we have any fears of the overflowing deluge God formerly delivered us from our non-improvement of those deliverances the fruits whereof we enjoy this day may strengthen our fears When Israel was Idolatrous in Jeroboams reign yet God delivered them from the Syrians because he
punishment Psal 22.1 But thou art holy when he expostulates with God why he had forsaken him justifies Gods holiness Howsoever thou dealest with me thou art holy in all thy waies Thou dost me no wrong why should I complain when holiness and hatred of sin guides thee in all those actings with me 4. How earnest should we be to get rid of sin By pardon by Sanctification Guilt is the sting of punishment Sin only embitters trouble The Remission and Mortification of sin is the health of the Soul If the arrows head be out of a wound the cure will be more easy Look upon my affliction and my pain and forgive all my sin saith the Psalmist Psal 25.8 forgiveness of sin would mitigate the sharpness of his pain 5. How should we act faith on God in Christ before and under such a condition of punishment As we can never love God too much because he is the highest good so we can never trust God too much because he is one of immutable truth when we are in straits it is not for want of faithfulness in God but for want of Faith in us that we are many times not preserved We distrust God and this is the cause we fall into many distresses which otherwise would not come upon us or be quickly removed from us Did we grasp the promises closely and plead them earnestly we should often find the deliverance we desire We pray but we pray not in Faith we cry for deliverance but not with confidence we plead Gods power but forget his promise Many temporal promises are not perform'd to us not for want of truth in God but for want of faith in us Particular fiduciary acts will draw out the riches of a promise for want of which we remain poor in the midst of abundance Some think that the promise made to Josiah of his dying in peace which phrase is usually meant in Scripture of a peacable death upon the bed was not performed because Josiah was out of the way against the precept of God and therefore could not act faith requisite to the fulfilling of that promise for faith is much dampt in its actings under present contracted guilt †Tho. Goodwin This Faith in promises for outward preservation is not an absolute infallible assurance that God will bestow such outward things because the promises themselves are not absolute but it is rather an indefinite act of recumbency and submission referring it to his good pleasure towards us But it is certain we are very much defective in acting Faith upon promises for temporal mercies because it is an Epidemical distemper in us to trust God with our Souls rather than with our bodies and outward concerns 1. Exercise Faith before such a time Furnish your selves with the comforts of the Covenant and the efficacy of the death of Christ In bodily distempers our minds are discomposed and we cannot have that Freedom of thoughts and spiritual reflections This is the way to engage God who is the best assistant a very present help in time of trouble 2. Exercise it in the use of spiritual means God never Commanded us to trust him but in his own methods That is not trust in God which is attended with any wilful Omissions If we be careful in doing our duty God will be careful in doing what belongs to him Prayer is the best means for Faith to exercise it self in A spirit of Prayer before-hand is a sign of good success When the heart is drawn out to cry it is a sign God stands ready with the mercy in his hand Times of distress are times of calling upon God Psal 18.6 In my distress I called upon the Lord and he heard my cry God is to be acknowledged in all our ways Prov. 3.6 In the beginning by prayer for his direction in the end by praises for the success We are usually more earnest in trouble We have not at all times an equal fervency Christ himself some say had not for when he was in his agony he prayed more earnestly than before Luke 22.44 3. Act Faith upon the Relation God bears to you He is our Father We trust earthly Fathers and are confident they will not abuse us How much more ought we to trust our heavenly Father and not doubt of his sincerity towards us The greater the trouble the more we should plead Gods relation to us Our Saviour in the garden Mat. 26.39 42. at his entrance into his passion for us prays to God by the title of my Father whereas at other times he calls God Father without that appropriation But now he would excite his confidence and trust in God and those promises he had made him to assist him in that hour 4. Act Faith upon the attributes of God There is nothing in God can affright a believer There is not an attribute but seems fixed in God to encourage our dependance on him in any strait wisdom mercy truth omniscience power justice too for what comfort could we have to trust in an unjust God All which attributes are promised to be assistant to a believer in any case of need in the Covenant of grace where God makes himself over to us as our God and therefore all that God hath and is is promised there for our good Upon the Power of God Gods Omnipotence was the ground of our Saviours prayer to him in his distress and that which the Apostle seems to intimate his eyeing of Heb. 5.7 He offered up prayers unto him that was able to save him from death And Psal 16.1 The Psalmist or rather Christ pleads the power of God Preserve me O Lord for in thee do I put my trust 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Aquila renders it strong Plead the truth of God in his promise The promise that preceded the threatning viz. The bruising the Serpents head the defeating all his plots and designs whereof this was one to bring man into a state of punishment There is a promise which hath been especially tryed and made good though all in the book of God have been found true Psal 18.30 The Word of the Lord is tryed Not one word but the truth of it hath been tryed but especially this word That God is a buckler to them that trust in him i. e. That he will preserve and defend depending believers 5. Act Faith upon Christ Hath God delivered Christ to death It must be for some glorious end not for destruction of the Creature that might have been done without the death of his Son but for remission if so there is sufficient ground to trust him for every thing else We have a merciful high Priest which encourageth us to make our addresses to him He cannot but be touched with the feeling of our infirmities our penal infirmities which he suffered our sinful infirmities for which he suffered Where can he shew his mercy but in our misery Are we under Gods strokes Christ himself felt them that he might the better pity us
throat is ready to swallow if he had a morsel for it 2. 'T is a sign of habitual sin a state of sin This temper manifests that the will is habituated in sin though the hand doth not outwardly act it The inherent power of sin must be great when a man is greedy to commit that to which he hath no outward allurements or when those allurements are ballanced with contrary considerations when he hath either no outward temptation to it or the cross impediments are as strong or stronger than the temptation When men in the midst of such bars long for a temptation it is such a kind of desire in one way as the Creature hath in an other for the manifestation of the the Sons of God Rom. 8.19 For the earnest expectation of the Creature waits for the manifestation 't is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a putting out the head to see if he can find any coming to knock off the fetters not of his sin but of his forced morality In this case take two men one Commits a great sin upon a temptation even as it were over-power'd by it and had no thoughts no inclinations before that temptation appear'd which began first to spirit him Another Commits a lighter sin or would fain Commit it upon a weak temptation and many bars lying in the way and his heart was hankering and thirsting for some opportunity to Commit it which do you think really is the greater offence in point of heart and affection The first appears blacker but it is an invasion the other is really blacker because it is an affection and shews sin to be rooted in the heart as its proper soil wherein sin delights to grow and the soil delights to nourish it The one shews sin to be a stranger and a thief which hath waylaid him the other evidenceth sin to be an inmate and intimate friend Such a man is not oblig'd to his will for his abstinence from sin but to the outward hindrances and the resolving act of the will to Commit it were those impediments remov'd is as real an act of sin in the sight of God as any outward act can be in the sight of man because God measures the greatness of sin by the proportion of the will allowed to it therefore many sins which may be little in our account may be greater in Gods account than the seemingly blacker sins of others because there may be a greater ingrediency of the heart and affection in them than in the other 3. 'T is against the nature of our repentance and first closing with God Repentance is a change of the purpose of the heart not to Commit the same iniquity again nor any other Job 34.32 If I have done iniquity I will do no more 'T is the property of converting grace to make the Soul cleave to the Lord with full purpose of heart Act. 11.23 This is essential to it though there may be some startings out by passion and temptation A Pilots intention stands right for the port though by the violence of the wind he may be forced another way It alters not his purpose though it defer his performance This purpose is a perpetual intent Psal 119.112 v. I have inclined my heart to keep thy statutes alway even to the end It was an heart-purpose and inclination It regarded all Gods statutes not for a fit but perpetually which he manifests by two words alwaies even to the end to shew that the perpetuity of it doth difference it from the resolutions of wicked men who may indeed have some fits to do good but not a fixed purpose to cleave to the Lord these flashy purposes are like the flight of a bird which seems to touch Heaven and in a moment falls down to the earth as Saul resolved not to persecute David but we soon find him again upon his old game pursuit Where there is true grace there is hatred of all sin for hatred is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Can a man be resolv'd to Commit what he hates No. For his inward aversion would secure him more against it than all outward obstacles As this inward purpose of a good man is against all sin so more particularly against that which doth so easily beset him David seems in several places to be naturally inclind to lying but he takes up a particular resolution against it Psal 17.3 I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I have contrived to way-lay and intercept the sin of lying when it hath an occasion to approach me A good man hath not only purposes but he endeavours to fasten and strengthen those purposes by prayer So David v. 5. hold up my goings in thy paths that my footsteps slip not He strengthens himself by stirring up a liveliness in duty and by avoiding occasions of sin v. 4. I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer Whereas a wicked man neither steps out of the way of a temptation nor steps up to God for strength against it Now if all this be true that in conversion the heart hath a fixed resolution for God and his ways and that perpetually against all sin and particularly against the sin of our natural inclination and all this backt with strong cries how can it have a fixed resolution to Commit it if the way were outwardly fair for it 4. 'T is absolutely against the terms of the Covenant God requires in that a giving up our selves to him to be his people with our whole heart and Soul as he gives himself to us with his whole heart He will not be a Sharer of the heart with sin much less an underling to it God will not indure a competitor in the affections To serve God and mammon are inconsistent by the infallible Axiom of our Saviour Luke 16.13 Now as God cannot be true to his Covenant if he had purposes against the articles of it on his part so neither can we be true to our covenanting with him if we have setled purposes of heart against the Conditions of it Therefore the instability in the Covenant ariseth only from the falseness of the heart Psal 78.37 Their heart was not right with him neither were they stedfast in his Covenant The iniquity of our heels may compass us about and make us stumble in our walk yet our fears of being out with God may receive no establishment Psal 49.5 Wherefore should I fear when the iniquity of my heels shall compass me about Whether he means by iniquity the sins of his ordinary walk or the punishment of them is all one But yet if purposes of iniquity settle their residence in the heart though we never act it by reason of obstacles 't is a sign we never sincerely closed with God in Covenant nor God with us The very regards of iniquity in the heart put a bar to the regards of God towards us It hinders all Covenant acts on Gods part because it is a manifest breach of
their office of teaching Since he promised his presence with his ministry to the end of the world he will have a Church to the end of the world to enjoy the benefit of that promise to be taught by them It consisted not with the wisdom or faithfulness of Christ to promise a perpetuity to that if he knew it were to be cut short before the end of the world And this himself also assures the Church of in all its variety of states Revel 2.1 These things saith he that holds the seven Stars in his right hand who walks in the midst of the seven Golden Candlestiâ—k Not only seven Stars at one time or seven Golden Candlesticks in being together but in all the successions of the Church to the consummation of the world And as he describes himself by this title when he speaks of the Church of Ephesus which was the first state of the Church not only assuring her of his holding her Star and walking by her Candlestick but all the rest that were to follow so he doth renew the same expression in part when he speaks of the Church of Sardis which is the rising of the Church from the Apostacy wherein it had been covered in the Thyatirian state Revel 3.1 These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God and the seven Stars The seven spirits of God signifies the gifts for the building and perfecting the Church still in the hand of Christ which should be in a more plentiful way poured out than for some time before as they were in the first reformation He is still therefore as a Prophet walking in the Church in all ages Not only in the first Foundation of it by the Apostles but in the reformation of it after it had been buried in Superstition and Idolatry And at the restauration of the Church in the world there shall be a pure river of water as clear as Christal proceeding from the Throne of God and the Lamb Revel 22.1 i. e. Pure doctrine without any mud and mixtures 2. 'T is his part as a Priest to establish it in the favour of God and look to the reparations of his Temple The Church is his Temple A Temple is the proper seat the proper care of a Priest He is a Priest still upon his Throne Zach. 6.13 and that for ever As he hath therefore some thing to offer so he hath always some for whom he offers who are they but his Church His prayer on earth John 17. was but a model or draught of his intercession in Heaven one part of it is for preservation of them through the truth of God John 17.17 The keeping up the Gospel in the world in order to a sanctification of some is the matter of his intercession which is one part of his Priestly Office And we cannot imagine his plea for his Church to be weaker on his throne it being also a throne of grace than it was for his enemies when he was upon a cross of suffering The compassions annext to his Priesthood remain still Heb. 4.15 If his office be perpetual the qualifications necessary to that office are as durable as the office it self as long as there is any object for their exercise To what purpose are his compassions if he should not pity her for whom they were designed and for whose behoof he was furnisht with them He cannot be faithful to God in his office if he be not merciful and tender to Sion in her distresses He certainly pities her as he would himself were it possible he should be in an infirm condition He must lose his Soul before he can lose his pity and the Church must cease to be his body before she can cease to be the object of his compassions He hath the same sentiments now that he had when he called to Paul from Heaven Act. 9.4 It was not then Why persecutest thou mine but why persecutest thou me Nor is it so now as the relation continues the same so doth the compassion so do his sentiments so do his cares To what purpose doth he as a Priest sit upon a Throne of grace if he did not shew grace to his Sion against the cruel designs of her enemies As God pities us when he remembers our frame Psal 103.13 14. So no question doth Christ when he remembers Sions oppressions as a distressed child is the object of the fathers pitty Add to this That since the death of Christ was one part of his Priestly performance and that the virtue of his sacrifice is as eternal as his Priest-hood what a disparagement would it â—e to him and the virtue of his death if ever the world while it stood should be void of the fruits of it There can be no moment wherein it is not valid to expiate the sins of some men and therefore not a moment wherein the world shall be without a Sion whose sins are expiated by it Should the standar'd of Sion be snatcht away and torn by the powers of darkness what would become of the glory what would become of the virtue of the Redeemers death Would God consecrate him so solemnly by an oath to be a Priest to so little purpose How could it be for ever if the execution of that office should be interrupted by the cessation of a Church as long as the world stands upon its pillars Would it not be an empty title if the end of it were not performed We cannot imagine the falling of Sion but we must question the merit of his death the truth of his exaltation the strength of his intercession the faithfulness of his office and the sincerity and candor of his compassions 3. 'T is his part as a King to establish Sion in being and govern her The Prophets always testified that of his Government there should be no end If the Church should cease for one moment in the world what subjects would he have to govern here Can he be a King without a Kingdom or a governour without subjects to bear a voluntary and sincere witness to his name If he be King in Sion he will also have a Sion to own him and a Sion to rule in not only a conquest of the Serpentine brood and infernal powers was promised but the total and perpetual victory Gen. 3.15 The sted of the woman was to bruise the Serpents head When the head is bruised there is no more wisdom to guide or force to Spirit the arm and the other members of the body It was a promise made not only of Christ to man but of a compleat victory to Christ that he should outwit the Serpents wisdom and utterly discomfit the Serpents power If the conquest were not perfect and perpetual it could not be called a spoiling of principalities and powers as it is Col. 2.15 but an interruption or temporary check whence they might rescue themselves He is therefore said to still the enemy and the avenger * Psal 8.2 I make no scruple