discouraged Page 267 Obj. But besides National miseries I have many Personal Afflictions therefore c. Page 268 Answ Negatively for 1 It is no new-thing for the Saints to be personally afflicted ibid. 2 When they are afflicted they are in some respects more sensible of their affliction than the wicked are ibid. 3 As they will be sensible of affliction so they are very apt to be much discouraged by reason of them ibid. Four things considerable to cleer this Truth Page 269 1 What the Sufferings of the Saints are ibid. 2 Whence they proceed 3 What accompanies them 4 What follows them Page 269 For the first 1 They are parts of Christs Purchase for them ibid. 2 They proceed from Gods love Page 270 3 Much supporting Grace accompanies them Page 271 4 They bring forth quiet fruits of Righteousness Page 272 Object 1. My afflictions are without end therefore c. Page 273 Answ Negatively For God takes away your comforts for a time that you may not be drunk with them ibid. Object 2. My Afflictions are not usual but new ones and strange Page 274 Answ You think so but not truly ibid. Object 3. I want all kinds of Mercies my Afflictions have no bottom ibid. Answ It was Davids case ibid. Object 4. But my dearest friends hate me therefore c. Page 275 Answ negatively For Our greatest Enemies may prove our greatest Friends ibid. Object 5. But my afflictions expose me to all Temptations therefore c. Page 276 Answ negatively For 1 May be you are mistaken ib. 2 God by affliction cals a man to some other work ibid. 3 No affliction doth expose a man to a new sin that makes him sensible of his former sin ibid. 4 When a man thus fears it is a sign of Grace Page 277 Object 6. My sin is the cause of my affliction and I know not what sin it is therefore c. ibid. Answ negatively For So it was with Jonah so with David c. ibid. It is somtimes better for a particular sin to lie undiscovered Page 278 Object 7. But I fear my afflictions come from Gods displeasure therfore c. ibid. Answ negatively For 1 Afflictions argue Gods love rather than his hatred ibid. 2 Is there any thing in God that is not a friend to all the Saints ibid. 3 But what are those visible Characters of love engraven on affliction Page 279 1 If affliction be a blessing then it comes from love ibid. 2 If affliction end in our love to God then it comes from Gods love tâ— us ib. 3 If affliction teacheth the mind of God then it doth come from love ibid. 4 If iâ— be but in measure and at a seasonable time then it comes from love ibid. 5 God is more especially present in affliction than at other times Page 279 Object 8. But our whol Nation is afflicted therefore c. Page 280 Answ negatively This is a sad thing If ever England had cause to be humbled under the hand of the Lord it is now Yet say to the Righteous in evil times it shal go wel with him ibid. Quest What must we do to bear up against all discouragements Page 282 Answ 1 If you have assurance of Gods love in Christ hold to that if you have it not this afflâ—ction shal bring you to it ibid. 2 Remember much your Fellowship with Christ in his Sufferings ibid. 3 Labor more to be a stranger to the world and to live by Faith ibid. 4 Consider what Christ hath born and left you to bear Page 283 5 Consider frequently and seriously what abundance of good you and others may get by your afflictions ibid. 6 When afflictions come look not only on the evil of it but on the good of it too ibid. Sermon XI INSTANCE VIII Object Either men think they are not called forth to work for God or they want abilities or they have no success therefore Page 285 Answ negatively For 1 Is Family work nothing There is a three-fold sweat saith Luther Political Ecclesiastical Domestical Page 286 2 Is it nothing to be trusted with the work of your Christian Station ibid. 3 Is it nothing to be imployed to comfort others ibid. Object 1. But God doth not imploy me in the world I am an useless Creature therefore c. ib. Answ 1 It is a great blessing to be imployed in any Service of God ibid. 2 The more a man doth for God the more he doth honor God Page 287 3 By being imployed we are kept from Temptations ibid. 4 Great imployment is the mercy promised ibid. 5 The more serviceable a man is for God the more will God be apt to pardon his failings Page 288 6 If a man be faithful in Gods work God will bless him Page 288 7 The serviceable man for God is the only man that doth live and speak when he is dead ibid. I may be Gods Servant though I am not imployed by him in his Service For Page 289 1 The Service of God is two-fold either publick or private The private Service is the saving Service though we have no publick imployment ibid. 2 Special or publick imployment is various also either in a mean or a great imployment ibid. 3 Though God do not use me at present he may use me afterwards Page 290 4 A man may be so imployed and yet go to Hell and he may not be imployed and yet go to Heaven ibid. 5 You must rejoyce when others are imployed ibid. Object 2. But I want abilities therefore c. Page 291 Answ negatively For 1 Gods greatest works are not alwaies done by the greatest abilities ibid. 2 Our best abilities are from God ibid. 3 The Spirit of God doth not alwaies breath alike Page 292 4 If God call you to a work he will give you needful assistance in that time ibid. Object 3. I fear I intrude into Gods work because I want abilities ibid. Answ Negatively 1 God somtimes first calls a man and then gives abilities afterward ibid. 2 If Gods door-keepers do judg you able you must rest on their judgment Page 293 Though I am to judg of mine own grace yet others and not I must judg of my abilities ibid. Object 4. I fear I am an intruder because I meet with so many difficulties ibid. Answ 1 What good action doth not ibid. 2 The greatest Call from God usually finds the greatest difficulties Page 294 Obiect 5. God I beleeve hath called me to his Service but I am unserviceable ibid. Answ That is ill indeed ibid. But this complaâ—nt sheweth you are willing to serve God therefore be not discouraged Page 295 Object 6. I work and have no success in my work therefore c. ibid. Answ Negatively 1 You may mistake the success Page 296 2 Gods dearest Children here somtimes labored all night and caught nâ—thing Page 296 Object 7. I fear God hath imployed me in the way of judgment and not of mercy therefore Page 297 Answ negatively For 1
last and they are also profitable for us to consider I shall take them in their order and speak only unto the first at this time which is this Doct. 1 There is an inward Peace and Quietude of Soul which the Saints and People of God ordinarily are endued with Therefore David saies here Why art thou cast down and why art thou disquieted within me It seems then that this was not his ordinary temper his Pulse did not alwaies beat thus high in this way of Discouragement but ordinarily he had Peace and quiet within So that I say There is an inward peace and quietness of soul which the Saints and people of God ordinarily are endued withal Ordinarily they are arrayed in white so they are brought in Rev. 7.13.14 verses What are these which are arayed in white robes at the 13. They are such as have washed their robes and made them White in the blood of the Lamb verse 14. this book of the Revelatâ—on doth attend much unto the Jewish customes and among the Jewes they had their Mourning their Rejoycing garment the Mourning garment was a black garment and therefore when a man is brought in in a mourning way he is brought in in a black garment as ye find in the next Psal the 43. the 2. vers why go ye in mourning the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Signifies Black Why goe ye in Black because of the oppression of the enemy So that the mourning garmenâ— was the Black garment the Black garment was the mourning garment And the white garment was the Reioycing gâ—â—ment therefore Eccles 9.8 it is said let thy garments be alwayes white and let thy h ead lack no oyntment Upon which â—ccount the nobles amongst the Hebrewes were called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 becanâ— they were clothed with white rayment Eccles Martinus de Râ—a sing S. Script Lib. 2. Cap. 1. 10.17 bâ—essed art thou O land when thy king is the son of nobles Heb. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the â—on of princes or of those that are in white I confess this phrase doâ—h somtimes note the purity and holiness of the person so Rev. 3.4 Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments and they shal walk with me in white for they are worthy but ordinarily it notes the joy fulness and comfortableness of our state so in Rev. 7. the Saints are brought in in white not onely because of their purity and cleaneness but because of their rejoycing I say then ordinarily the Saints and people of God go in white they have a peace and a rest within Great peace have they that love thy law saies the Psalmist and nothing shal offend them Rom. 2.10 But glory honor and peace to every man that worketh good to the Jew first and also to the Gentile Let him be what he wil be if he be godly if he work that which is good Glory Honor and Peace shal be upon him not onely an outward but an inward peace he shal have And indeed how can it be otherwise For the Saints and people of God do walk with God they converse with God they do acquaint themselves with God Now if ye look into Job 22.21 ye shal find that this acquaintance bringeth rest peace Acquaint now thy self with him and be at peace The Saints and people of God are as I may so speak of Gods special acquaintance and so they have peace for they do walk with God and have communion with him They have communion with the Father and he is the God of al consolation they have communion and fellowship with the Son and he is the Prince of peace they have communion and fellowship with the Spirit and he is the Comforter they have communion with the Father and the Son and the Spirit in and by the Gospel and that is the word of peace the Gospel of peace How can it therefore be but that the Saints and people of God ordinarily should have peace within But to make out this more fully unto you Consider I pray How the Father the Son and the Holy-ghost with whom the Saints and people of God have communion and fellowship are engaged for their peace I. The Father is engaged to give peace unto them He is engaged by his Prerogative by his Commandement by his Promise by Christs Purchase and by the Saints Chastisements He is engaged by his Prerogative Kings and Princes wil stand ye know for their Prerogatives And this is the great Perogative of God the Father to give peace inward peace I create the fruit of the lips Isa 57.19 peace peace And he is called â—he God of peace the God of Consolation not the God oâ— Indignation not the God of War but the God of Peace This is the great Prerogative of God the Father to give peace unto his people He is engaged also by vertue of his Commandement And therefore if ye look into Isay 40.1.2 Ye shal find that he commands the Prophets and Ministers to preach comfort Comfort ye comfort ye my people saith your God vers 1. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished that her iniquity is pardoned for she hath received of the Lords hand double for al her sins Suppose a mans Affliction or Temptation be very great or much he hath commanded us to comfort and comfort twice Comfort ye comfort ye not once but twice Comfort ye comfort ye my people saith the Lord. But there are divers comforters that are indeed like Jobs comforters like Jobs friends they speak hard words unto poor distressed souls Wel saies he therefore at vers 2. speak ye comfortably so ye read it but in the Hebrew speak ye to the heart 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 speak soft and sweet words speak to the heart of Jerusalem O! but my Temptation is so great that I am not able to hear those that come to comfort me Mark what follows Speak ye to the heart of Jerusalem and cry unto her lift up thy voice and cry if a poor soul be distressed tempted and cannot hear easily you that are Ministers lift up your voice and cry not onely speak to the heart but cry lift up your voice and cry unto her Wel but what are they to speak and cry There are three things which wil comfort a poor distressed soul and they are here to be spoken Say 1. That her warfare is accomplished Affliction and Temptation is at an end it shal be no more 2. That her iniquity is pardoned Her sin is forgiven fully and freely 3. That she hath received at the Lords hand double for al her sins God hath no more against her no quarrel no controversie no further Punishment to inflict upon her she hath sufficiently born the punishment of her iniquity thus the Lord hath commanded Ministers for to preach peace and to preach Comfort And what God hath commanded us to speak he hath ingaged himself to
Lavamini mundi estote Esa 1. Lavatur et mundus est qui et preterrita plangit et iterum non admittit lavatur et non est mundus qui plangit quod gessit nec descrit sed post lachrimas stenda haec quae sleverat repetit August Ser 66. de tempore and then fall into that very sin which they repented of they do sin against Light yea it is a kind of repenting of ones Repentance for as when a man hath gone on iâ— a sinful way and doth return unto God he doth then repent of his sin so when a man hath gone on in a good way and doth return to his sin then he doth as it were repent of his Repentance when God pardoneth a man he saith Go and sin no more do I therefore return unto the same sin then am I most unthankful dis-ingenuous and disobedient yea it is exceedingly displeasing unto the Lord for a man to fal into the same sin again and again ye shal observe therefore That although the Lord pardoned the Children of Israel that great sin of Idolatry in the matter of the Golden Calf yet in reference to the Land of Promise he did not pardon their Unbelief and murmuring for they entered not into Canaan Why Because of their Unbelief saith the Apostle Now if you look into Numb 14.19 you shal find that Moses prayed Pardon I beseech thee O Lord the iniquity of this People according to the greatness of thy mercy and as thou hast forgiven this People from Egypt even till now And the Lord said I have pardoned according to thy word But as truly as I live all the Earth shall be filled with the Glory of the Lord. At ver 22. Because all these men which have seen my Glory and my Miracles which I did in Egypt and in the Wilderness and have tempted me now these ten times and have not hearkened to my voyce surely they shal not see the Land which I sware to give unto their Fathers Though I pardon them saith God they shal never come into Canaan the Land of Rest that I have promised Why Because they have sinned these ten times murmuring again and again and again so that it is exceedingly displeasing unto the Lord for a man to fal into the same sin again and again But yet I say it is possible that a good man and true Disciple of Christ may fal into the same sin again and again It was a sin for them thus to sleep when our Savior had commanded them to watch and pray but they slept again and again Look I pray you it to Job 19. and see what Job saith concerning his friends These ten times saith bâ— at verse 3. have ye reproached me yet are ye not ashamed It is an evil thing to reproach a man it is worser to reproach a godly man it is yet worser to reproach a godly man under Affliction and to afflict the afflicted but to reproach a man ten times this is evil indeed yet saith Job These ten times have ye reproached me and yet Job's Friends were godly Possibly then a good man may fal into the same sin again and again ten times that is very often And you know how it was with Abraham the Father of the Faithful you read in Genesis 12. that when he was driven by reason of Famine into Egypt he desired his Wife Sarah to say that she was his Sister which indeed was no lye but his sin of Unbelief and very evil for thereby he put his Wife upon a great Temptation he was reproved for it as you read in the Chapter yet if you look into the 20. Chapter you shal find that he was at the same work again And Abraham journeyed towards the South Country and Abraham said at ver 2. of Sarah his Wife she is my Sister And so also if you look into 2. Chron. 19. you shal find it was thus with that good King Jehosaphat complying too much with the King of Israel for which he is reproved at verse 2. And Jehu went out to meet him and said to King Jehosaphat shouldest thou help the ungodly and love them that hate the Lord therfore is wrath upon thee from before the Lord yet if you look into the 20. Chapter you shal find that he fals into the same sin again And Eliazar prophesied against Jehosaphat saying at the last verse Because thou hast joyned thy self with Ahaziah the Lord hath broken thy works and the Ships were broken that they were not able to go to Tarshish Jehosaphat a good man yet he fals into the same sin again So that I shal not need to spend longer time in this it is too apparent Possibly a good man a true Disciple of Christ may fal into the same Sin again and again That is the First Secondly Though a man do fall into the same Sin again and again yet it may be but an Infirmity For the opening and cleering of this we must consider what a Sin of Infirmity is and what is the true notion of it which being cleered the Truth proposed wil Naturally fal into your bosom Properly therefore a Sin of Infirmity is that sin which doth rather arise from want of strength to resist than from wil to commit else it should be wickedness and not weakness But in Scripture Phrase it is called a weakness as here in this Chapter The Spirit is willing but the Flesh is weak and Rom. 6.19 I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity or weakness of your flesh And therefore It must be in one that hath Spiritual Life You do not say that a stone is infirm or weak Why Because a stone hath no life in it infirmity is a defect in one that hath life And I say it doth arise not from wilfulness but want of strength to resist Now this want of strength to resist doth either arise from some Natural cause which one cannot avoid of which Paul speaks in Rom. 7.19 The good that I would I do not but the evil which I would not that I do and why so he gives the reason at verse 21. I find then a Law that when I would do good evil is present with me and verse 23. I find a Law in my Members fighting against the Law of my Mind and leading me captive c. Or else it doth arise from some present distemper and that either in the Mind and Judgment and then it is called an Error Who knoweth the Errors of his Life Psal 19. Heb. 3.2 Or else this distemper doth arise from some present passion fear or the like whereby a man is hurried into evil and then he is said to be overtaken Gal. 6.1 So that when a man is alive unto God and doth commit a Sin for want of strength to resist then he is said to sin out of infirmity First Therfore if you ask The sins whereinto the godly falleth are not presumptuous but are ordinarily of weakness