his Mouth cometh Knowledg and Understanding And this Word is the Word not onely of Wisdom but of Grace also a means to work and to increase it until 't is perfected in Glory Act. 20. 32. And now Brethren I commend you to God and to the Word of his Grace which is able to build you up and to give you an Inheritance among all them that are sanctified 2. God is very much provoked when his Word is contemned therefore he afflicts that his Word may be regarded surely then a disregard to it angers him 'T is great Condescension in God to speak to man 't is great kindness to speak to man for his own good but when man shall neither regard his own good nor the Lords condescending kindness this very much incenses God against him The Apostles Caution is very strict and with a great deal of Reason Heb. 12. 25. See that ye refuse not him that speaketh for if they escaped not who refused him that spake on Earth much more shall not we escape if we turn away from Him that speaketh from Heaven When lighter Afflictions are ineffectual to make men stand in awe of the Word of God desolating Judgments many times follow 2 Chron. 36. 16. But they mocked the Messengers of God and despised his Words and misused his Prophets until the Wrath of the Lord arose against his People till there was no remedy 3. When God is very angry a believing Subjection to his Word is the way to have his Wrath appeased Indeed nothing satisfies the Justice of God but Christs Sacrifice of himself upon the Cross for Sin nothing Merits the favour of God but the Obedience and Sufferings of his Dear Son But yet Obedience to the Word of God is like taking away the fewel from the fire whereby the fire is extinguished when according to the Word we cease to do evil and learn to doi well the ground of Gods controversie is at an end It was a dreadful Prophesie yet forty days and Nineveh shall be destroyed This Word was believed and as it was a loud call to Repentance so that call was answered and obeyed it issued well the Ninevites repent of their wickedness God repents of his Anger and does not pour it upon them Jon. 3. 10. And God saw their Works that they turned from their evil ways and God repented of the evil that he had said that he would do unto them and did it not 4. When God lets Sinners alone in a wicked neglect of his Word without afflicting them 't is to be feared he intends they shall dy without Wisdom Gods forbearing to afflict is sometimes an Argument of great displeasure Isa 1. 5. Why should ye be stricken any more ye will still revolt more and more And being stricken no more they are the more hardned from his fear till at last as Fishes are taken in an evil Net and as Birds are caught in the Snare so these Sinners are snared in an evil time when it falleth suddenly upon them Eccles 9. 12. 5. Saints which are not exercised with Affliction had need to be very careful that gentler methods which are used be effectual to their Progress in Grace and Holiness 'T is found harder to know how to abound than how to want more difficult to avoid the Snares of Prosperity than to overcome the Temptations of Adversity Hence that Caution Deut. 8. 10 11. When thou hast eaten and art full beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God in not keeping his Commandments and his Judgments and his Statutes which I command thee this day If you seldom feel the Rod but onely fair means are used Oh admire Divine goodness and with great care take heed to his Word being very thankful and fruitful together And if in the height of Prosperity where neither frown is seen in Gods face nor blow felt from his hand He is with Joy remembred and served this Obedience is with great evidence of Sincerity and Uprightness 6. Saints who after feel the Rod of Affliction should have a more than ordinary regard to the Word of God They should tremble at it for God has a special regard to them that tremble at his Word Isa 66. 2. And they should rejoice with trembling in it Saints who are frequently chastised are intrusted with the more Talents and should improve them accordingly Another day we shall be called to account what Benefit we have received by Afflictions as well as how we have profited under Ordinances Frequent Troubles should make our Consciences more tender Sin by the blows of the Rod should be struck more dead we should live more as Pilgrims on Earth our Eye should be more upon the Heavenly Inheritance and the Apple of our Eye should not be kept with greater chariness than we keep the Word of God Prov. 7. 2. Keep my Commandments and live and my Law as the Apple of thine Eye USE II. Of Counsel to All to incline their Ears and apply their Hearts to learn the Word of God That you may attain to this Learning incomparably the truest and best Learning in the World is the design of Preaching and you see 't is the design of Afflicting Providences And Mercies are bestowed with the same intent Psal 105. 45. All the deliverances wrought for Israel God wrought them to this end That they might observe his Statutes and keep his Laws That Wisdom which is to be found in the Word of God is a Treasure more valuable than all the Treasures on Earth and this Treasure lies deep but 't is highly worth searching for And therefore Solomon signifies to us that we should seek for it as for Silver and search for it as for hid Treasures Prov. 2. 4. If thou seekest her as Silver and searchest for her as for hid Treasures then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord and find the Knowledge of God Nay this Word of God is not only your Treasure but 't is as much as your Life is worth to neglect this Word of God Deut. 32. 46 47. Set your Hearts unto all the Words which I testifie among you this day for it is not a vain thing for you for it is your Life Here I shall answer two Questions and so conclude this Discourse The First is Which Way this Learning in the Word of God may be attained The Second is What are sufficient and comfortable Evidences that the Word of God is truly Learned The First Question is Which Way this Learning in the Word of God may be attained Unto this I Answer 1. Let every Rod you feel cause a stricter search into the Word 'T is part of the Rods Language Tolle lege take the Word and Read and be better acquainted with it The Rod is used in Grammar Schools that Authors there may be more diligently Studied God uses his Rod in his own School that his Book the Holy Bible may be the better understood and practised There is not any Affliction but it ought
and Duties to Man are done with a greater regard unto God Himself Gods Approbation is more minded and the Eye being single looks not so much at other things but aims at this that God in all things may have Glory which indeed of Right appertains to Him 6. Another good Consequent of Affliction is a more full and compleat Victory over the World and silencing the God of it When Sickness seizeth upon the Saints the Love of the World is hereby struck more dead The World is out of Countenance and ashamed now to appear it's alluring Power and Charms are all gone And Satan the God of it does not so much care now to offer it Mammon can neither cure the diseased Body nor ease the afflicted Mind Affliction takes off the fine Mask upon Mammons Face and then 't is plainly seen how sorry a Master he is and how poor all his store The World cannot yield true Contentment to any for that little while they are the Inhabitants of it and can any thing of this World be carried away into another World Ah no! 1 Tim. 6. 7. For we brought nothing into this World and 't is certain we can carry nothing out He that has most of the World what is it all to him when he is leaving the World and all behind him Suppose the greatest Possessour of Earthly Riches lying upon a Death-bed in his fainting Fits and dying Agonies lay some baggs of Gold upon his Pillows bring in the sweetest Consort of Musick shew him the costliest Raiment he ever â—wore let a Table be spread and furnisht with the choicest Dainties and let the greatest Beauties stand by him proffering themselves and their service to him Alas Alas what 's all this to a Man that is breathing out his last Breath and ready to appear and give an account of himself unto the Judge of all Affliction gives a smart Admonition that this World is to be contemned in Comparison of the better and enduring Substance Satan notwithstanding his Subtlety is easily baffled in Affliction think seriously of Death and Judgment and all that He offers is just nothing though he should make as large an offer as he did to Christ in the hour of his Temptation when he shewed him all the Kingdoms of the World and the Glory of them 7. Another good Consequent of Affliction is an Increase of Grace and an abundance of the Fruits of Righteousness Wicked men receive not Correction being put into the Furnace they are found and rejected as Reprobate Silver but the Correction of the Saints is the Probation Augmentation and evidencing of the Grace of God in them Faith is tried and by trial is strengthned Patience Experience Hope augmented Rom. 5. 3 4 5. Tribulation worketh Patience Patience Experience 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 to us The Lords tender Compassions towards his afflicted Children exceedingly endears him their Father to them His gracious Visits His stretching forth his own Everlasting Arm for their Sustentation when ready to sink under their Burthens His remembring Mercy in the greatest Severity His being within call and readiness to hear and help fills their Hearts with Love and Resolution to live and cleave to him With how much Tenderness and Compassion does the Lord express himself towards his afflicted ones Psal 69. 33. For the Lord heareth the Poor and despiseth not his Prisoners And Psal 22. 24. For he hath not despised nor abhorred the Affliction of the afflicted neither hath he hid his Face from him but when he cried unto him he heard Saints are great gainers by Affliction because Godliness which is great Gain which is profitable for all things is more powerful than before The Rod of Correction by a Miracle of Grace like that of Aarons Buds and Blossoms and brings forth the Fruits of Righteousness which are most excellent A rare sight it is indeed to see a man coming out of a bed of Languishing or any other Furnace of Affliction more like to Angels in Purity more like to Christ who was Holy Harmless Vndefiled and separate from Sinners more like unto God himself being more exactly Righteous in all his ways and more exemplarily Holy in all manner of Conversation 8. Another good Consequent of Affliction is an high esteem of Time and affecting Apprehensions of Death Judgment and Eternity Affliction brings Death within view Jobs Calamity makes his Mortality much thought of the things of the World had left him he speaks as a man just ready to leave the World Job 17. 1 13 14. My Breath is corrupt my Days are extinct the Graves are ready for me If I wait the Grave is my House I have made my Bed in the Darkness I have said to Corruption thou art my Father and to the Worm thou art my Mother and my Sister He claims kindred to the Worms and Corruption Death was most familiar to his Thoughts and in his Imagination the Grave was his Bed already Now at Death the Saints consider that Time comes to a full stop and Judgment will follow and fix them in Eternity It is of great use to us when our Thoughts dwell in Eternity before we our selves enter upon Eternity this makes an Holy and Happy Eternity infinitely desireable in our Eyes And how do we look unto Jesus through whom Eternal Life is given and with what Circumspection is the way of Holiness walked in which ends in Life Everlasting Rom. 6. 22 23. Affliction awakens the Saints care to improve Time to work while 't is day for it will be too late to work when the Night is once come and how are they concerned that there time be not ended before Eternity be well provided for 9. Another good Consequent of Affliction is Serious Diligence to make the Calling and Election sure When Affliction finds us at uncertainties in reference to our Spiritual State our doubts and fears are amazing and tormenting 'T is sad for a man to look upon himself as dying and then to say O animula vagula blandula Quae nunc abibis in loca O my Soul thou art departing hence but whither oh whither art thou going What is like to be the place of thy Eternal abode which must never be changed To be dying and doubting at the same time is very sad though we are really never so safe What is a well grounded Evidence of the Love of God in Christ worth upon a bed of Sickness How valuable and comfortable the Spirits Testimony concerning our Adoption Now Affliction puts the Saints upon a more strict and impartial Self-examination and upon a more thorow and perceivable turning unto God Lam. 3. 39 40. Wherefore doth the living man complain a man for the Punishment of his Sins Let us search and try our ways and turn unto the Lord our God Affliction makes that Admonition of the Apostle to be heeded 2 Pet. 1. 10 11.
not at all taken notice of if his anger is not at all minded nor any course or care taken to appease it it will be blown up to the greater fierceness and this fire may quickly devour consume and having begun with thee make a speedy and utter end of thee 3. It concerns you to fear Him under whose Power you are and who is able to destroy both the Body and the Soul likewise Luk. 12. 4 5. And I say unto you my Friends Be not afraid of them that kill the Body and after that have no more that they can do But I will forewarn you whom you shall fear fear him who after he hath killed hath Power to cast into Hell yea I say unto you fear him His hands did make that Earthly House of your Tabernacle and he can bring it to the dust again Your Souls he can require when be pleases and if you dye in your Sins your Souls will be doom'd to the place where other damned Spirits are and they are lost beyond all hopes and possibility of recovery Oh! sanctifie the Lord of Hosts in whose hand you are under whose hand you groan by making him your fear and dread he can command both first and second death to seize on you Rev. 6. 8. And I looked and behold a Pale Horse and his Name that sate on him was Death and Hell followed with him Death is the King of Terrors but Hell is ten thousand times more terrible Oh! be afraid of that mighty hand which with one blow can both kill and damn you together You cannot secure your selves by Hiding by Flight or by Resistance for Gods Eye is all-seeing his Power and Hand is irresistible and extends it self all Heaven and Earth and Hell over therefore humbling your selves and Submission would be the best and wisest way that you can take 4. In this ill Case in which you are remember now your evil ways and your doings that have not been good Ezek. 36. 31. Then shall ye remember your evil ways and your doings that were not good and shall loath your selves in your own sight for your Iniquities and Abominations Your remembring of your Transgressions is one way to have God forget them loath your selves and he will not loath you condemning your selves is the way not to be condemned by him Humble your selves in the sight of the Lord and he will lift you up Jam. 4. 10. Oh smite upon your thighs and say What have we done How manifold are our Transgressions How mighty are our Sins What guilt have we incurr'd How monstrously black and foul are our Defilements What wrath have we provoked How hot and low a place in Hell have we deserved Innumerable Evils compass us about our Iniquities have taken hold upon us so that we are not able to look up they are more than the Hairs of our Heads therefore our Hearts fail us Psal 40. 12. See how deceitful polluting and damnable the Nature of Sin is call your selves by the right Name Fools foes to your selves Self-murtherers and Self-destroyers in giving way to Iniquity Be utterly displeased with your selves for sinning against God and wronging your own Souls and fall out with all sin for ever 5. Be Inquisitive what you must do to be saved You that are outwardly afflicted and also prickt in the Heart and wounded in your Consciences should very seriously inquire whether the door of Hope be not yet open to you and what course you must take to be saved from Sin and Wrath and to have your Peace with God made Indeed the Lord speaks confoundingly and terribly to wicked men in their Calamity Prov. 1. 26 27 28 29. I will laugh at your Calamity and will mock when your fear cometh when your fear cometh as Desolation and Destruction as a Whirlwind when Distress and Anguish cometh upon you then shall they call upon me but I will not Answer They shall seek me early but they shall not find me for that they hated Knowledg and did not chuse the fear of the Lord. And do you acknowledge that the Lord might justly speak such Language to you but withal know that these distressed Sinners had these cries extorted from them meerly by Calamity but had no desire to be turned from their Iniquities Therefore you that are brought very low by Affliction do not only cry to God to deliver you from your trouble but that he would also purge away your Sins for his Name sake Psal 79. 9. And let not your Disconsolate Spirits doubt for there is hope in Israel concerning you Psal 130. 7 8. Let Israel hope in the Lord for with the Lord there is Mercy and with him is plenteous Redemption and he will redeem Israel from all his Iniquities 6. Look upon God as accessible and reconcileable in a Mediator who is his beloved Son the Lord Jesus Christ has suffered once for Sins the just for the unjust that he might bring men to God 1 Pet. 3. 18. And God is in Christ reconciling the World to himself not imputing their Trespasses to them 2 Cor. 5. 19. Now then saith the Apostle We are Ambassadors for Christ as though God did beseech you by us we pray you in Christs stead be ye reconciled to God God is more forward to be at Peace with you then you are aware He intreats you to accept of that Pardon which you desire and so much need but fear you shall not obtain and if you value his favour in Christ and intreat it with your whole Heart you shall not die under his Displeasure Psal 119. 58. I intreated thy favour with my whole Heart be merciful to me according to thy Word Are you willing upon any terms to have the breach made up between God and you Do you consent to be any thing to do any thing to part with any thing which he would have you so you may be but His and He Yours a God in Covenant with you and a Father to you Then let your drooping Hearts revive for there is an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the Righteous who is the Propitiation for the Sins of the whole World 1 Joh. 2. 1 2. His Blood speaks better things than that of Abel cries louder for Mercy than your Sin can cry for Vengeance Here you may safely venture your Faith for Christs Blood is the Blood of him who is God as well as man and he is able to reconcile God and Men together and those men who have been never so much alienated and Enemies in their Minds by Reason of wicked Works Col. 1. 21. In your Affliction be sensible of Gods anger and readily grant the justness of it but do not look upon if as not to be appeased If you come to him by Jesus Christ you will find his Fury all gone Isa 27. 4 5. Fury is not in me let him take hold of my Strength that he may make Peace with me and he shall make Peace with me 7. Pray to be turned
has done its work for which 't was laid upon you 'T is sad when Affliction goes off without doing any good to the afflicted when the Rod is like the first King that Israel had given in Gods Anger and taken away in his Wrath. When the Lord afflicts his Dispensations are mixed Checker-work Black and White Goodness and Severity together and there should be a Mixture of Holy Affections that are diverse one from the other answerably in your Hearts This is notably represented by one of our English Poets and his Verses have a great deal of Sense and Direction in them Ah my dear angry Lord Since thou dost Love yet strike Herberts Bitter-sweet P. 165. Cast down yet help afford Sure I will do the like I will complain the Praise I will bewail approve And all my four-sweet days I will lament and love Be not too eager for the removal of the stroke you smart under that removal is but a common Mercy but the Sanctification of it is peculiar kindness that which accompanies Salvation If the Plaister lies not on long enough it heals not the Sore if the Potion be cast up again assoon as taken down it works not a cure God knows when 't is fittest to remove your trouble therefore be dump with Silence and wait with Patience till this fittest time comes David did so though he was in an horrible Pit in the Miry Clay he was not over eager to be pluckt out but exercised Patience and how Happy was the issue Psal 40. 1 2 3. I waited patiently for the Lord and he inclined unto me and heard my cry he brought me up also out of an horrible Pit out of the Miry Clay and set my Feet upon a Rock and established my goings And he hath put a new Song in my Mouth even Praise unto our God many shall see it and fear and trust in the Lord. 8. Under Affliction let there be a most profound Subjection to the Father of Spirits Lights and Mercies The Father of Spirits will take special care of Souls and consult their Health and Reace and endless welfare If the Soul be safe the Body must be safe in the same Bottom The Body that belongs to a sanctified Soul must be a Glorious Body at the Resurrection of the Just And since the Lord is the Father of Lights you may conclude he perfectly understands what is most conducive to your Interest and what kind and degree of Affliction is most expedient and best for you and because he is the Father of Mercies Mercy he delights in as a man does in his own off-spring he will deal tenderly with you Mercy shall not be forgotten in the greatest Severity Psal 103. 13. Like as a Father pittieth his Children so the Lord pittieth them that fear him for he knoweth our frame and remembreth we aye dust Subjection to God when he afflicts becomes you and besides this Subjection is the way of Life Heb. 12. 9. Furthermore we have had Fathers of our Flesh who corrected us and we gave them Reverence shall we not much rather be in Subjection to the Father of Spirits and live Subjection to God is the wisest course to have temporal Life prolonged and liv'd to purpose and Eternal Life at length vouchsafed In the second Place I am to direct you how to carry it after Affliction now is a time of great danger when the Heart is apt to shew both its Wickedness and Deceitfulness together and to grow secure as if all Peril were over therefore 1. Keep alive in your Hearts the same Apprehensions of things after Affliction which you had under Affliction Things are really as they were though we of Sick grow well again therefore our thoughts of them should not alter The great Truths revealed and so much insisted on in the Word of God in Affliction had deep Impressions upon our Spirits How clearly and concernedly did we then perceive that Christ is the onely Saviour that all things were justly to be accounted loss that he might be gained We lookt upon time as too precious a thing to be spent Idly or Wickedly The Soul was lookt upon as more worth than the whole World and more to be regarded not to be neglected for the Worlds sake Mat. 16. 26. What shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole World and lose his own Soul or what shall a man give in exchange for his Soul How did the thoughts of Eternity affect our Hearts when we were in the depth of Affliction Our Apprehensions of this Truth were amazing That all must quickly be in Eternity and all must be unto Eternity either in Joy or Wo. Our Conceptions of these and such like things were most rectified in Affliction therefore when Affliction is removed our Judgments should still remain the same The concerns of another World should always be esteemed far greater than the highest concerns of this Seriousness well becomes us in those matters which are of Everlasting Consequence where carelesness or mistake will issue in endless ruine understanding Diligence in Eternal Happiness 2. After Affliction be very Jealous over your own Spirits which are so very prone to deal treacherously both with God and your selves You are not naturally trusty to either but unfaithful to God and unfaithful to your own Souls Hearken how the Lord complains Hos 6. 7. They like men have transgressed the Covenant they have dealt treacherously against me You do not know your selves to be men if you don't know your selves to be treacherous and strongly inclined to break through all obligations in Point of Duty Gratitude and Interest it self which you are under ever since the first Adams Apostacy and fall from God his Posterity have a vehement Propension to start aside alike deceitful bowes A notable instance of the Hearts treachery in Afflictions and instability upon the removal of it you have Psal 78. 34 35 36 37. When he slew them then they sought him they returned and inquired early after God they remembred that God was their Rock and the high God their Redeemer nevertheless they did flatter him with their Lips and lied unto him with their Tongues for their Heart was not right with him neither were they stedfast in his Covenant Mens Resolutions in Afflictions are like Nautarum Vota the Vows of Marriners in a Storm the first things that are broken when once they get safe to Shore Be sure therefore to check your hearts and lift them up to God to secure them when first you perceive them so much as begin to start aside Apostacy begins in the Heart that does first turn back from God then afterwards the steps decline from his ways distrusting therefore your own Hearts follow Solomons Counsel Prov. 4. 23. And keep them with all diligence and unto your own strictest Vigilancy add fervent Prayer that the Lord would make your Hearts clean Hearts and that he would renew and keep your Spirits right with him Psal 51. 10. 3.
behind will you be lavish of that time still will you lose any more Oh see the Wisdom of redeeming Time Eph. 5. 15 16. See then that ye walk circumspectly not as Fools but as wise redeeming the time because the days are evil And fear the loss of time 1 Pet. 1. 17. If ye call on the Father who without respect of Persons judgeth according to every mans work pass the time of your sojourning here in fear Be sure to lose no more for to lose all your time is most certainly to lose your selves and that for ever In the other World there is no obtaining Mercy by those who all the while they were in this World slighted Mercy There is no working out your own Salvation after death if all your Life-time Salvation be neglected 7. After Affliction be full of gratitude Holy Ingenuity and Love The Calves of your Lips most acceptable Sacrifices should be offered frequently nay continually with an enlarged Heart with a willing mind David was in danger of losing his Life among the Philistines God preserves it How Fruitful are his Lips in Praises Psal 34. 1 2 3 4. I will bless the Lord at all times his Praise shall continually be in my Mouth my Soul shall make her boast in the Lord the humble shall hear thereof and be glad Oh magnifie the Lord with me and let us exalt his Name together I sought the Lord and he heard me and delivered me from all my fears Hezekiah had been deliver'd from deadly Sickness he was raised by special Favour and Power when according to Nature Death was unavoidable Coming so unexpectedly and so quickly from a seeming Death-Bed to the Temple how does he make that Temple Ring with his Thanskgivings Isa 38. 17 19. Behold for Peace I had great bitterness but thou hast in love to my Soul deliver'd it from the Pit of Corruption thou hast cast all my Sins behind thy back The living the living he shall Praise thee as I do this day the Father to the Children shall make known thy Truth Not onely must your Mouths be fill'd with Praises but your Hearts with Love and Ingenuity should make you study what to render unto God Observe the working of the Psalmists grateful Breast after God had deliver'd his Soul from Death his Eyes from Tears and his Feet from falling Psal 116. 1. I love the Lord because he hath heard my Voice and my Supplication V. 3. The Sorrows of Death compassed me the Pains of Hell got hold upon me V. 5 6. Gracious is the Lord and Righteous yea our God is merciful I was brought low and he helped me V. 7. Return to thy rest O my Soul for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee V. 12. What shall I render to the Lord for all his Benefits towards me He thought nothing too good nothing too much for that God who had been so good to him who had done so much for him Still you should be contriving to make more suitable returns for what you have received and with your Praises and Service your Hearts and Love must be the Principal part of the returns you make Love lies in Desire and Delight no Mercies so desirable as the Father of Mercies God Himself is more to be delighted in than any of the Benefits he bestows Take heed of loving Deliverance more than your Deliverer Mercies themselves are Idolized and it provokes the Lord to Jealousie if they are prized and delighted in more than the Lord God of your Mercies Therefore the Psalmist though he valued Deliverance from Enemies and Trouble yet principally rejoices in God himself Psal 9. 2. I will be glad and rejoice in Thee I will Praise thy Name O thou most High Rejoice in God more than in the return of Health more than in the Prolongation of Life or any other Comfort and Enjoyment Mercies attain their end when God is more endeared to you by them God will be all in all in Heaven and the more he is your all at present the more of Heaven you enjoy on Earth 8. After Affliction be sensible you are not safe in your own Hands therefore commit the keeping of your Souls to God 1 Pet. 4. 19. Let them commit the keeping of their Souls to Him in well-doing as unto a Faithful Creator If you are indeed wise and know your selves you will distrust your selves Self-Confidence is an undeniable Argument of Self-Ignorance Trust your selves in no hands but those out of which none shall ever be able to pluck you and those are hands of Christ and the Father Joh. 10. 27 28 29. My Sheep hear my Voice and I know them and they follow me and I give unto them Life Eternal and they shall never perish neither shall any pluck them out of my hand My Father which gave them me is greater than All and none is able to pluck them out of my Fathers hand Not onely in the Hour and Agony of Death but all your lives long every Day and Hour you have need still to be commending your Spirits unto God for they are safe with none besides Psal 31. 5. Into thy hands do I commit my Spirit thou hast redeemed me O Lord God of Truth USE IV. Of Counsel more peculiarly to Saints who are afflicted Shew your selves to be Saints indeed and let your Graces now be much in Exercise Spices beaten in the Mortar are the more Fragrant Afflicted Saints should manifest a rare and excellent Spirit but no Dissatisfaction or Discontent considering the Truth of this Doctrine that they are afflicted for their good You that are Saints in your Troubles you need Counsel and 't is not to be doubted but you will heed it I shall give it in these particulars 1. Be Patient whatever your Affliction is That God whom you serve is patient towards Man has been patient towards you how many affronts and Provocations has he born put up and pardoned The Lord Jesus Christ was a Pattern of Patience and Meekness When he was reviled of Men he reviled not again when he suffered he threatned not 1 Pet. 2. 23. Nay many had Life by his Blood who imbrued their hands in that Blood and shed it And when it Vivificatâ—â— Christi sanguine etiam qui fudit sanguinem Christi Talis est Christi ac tanta patientia quae nisi talis existeret Paulum quoque Apostolum Ecclesia non haberet Cypr. de bono Patientiae p. mihi 316. pleased his Father to bruise him and to put him to grief yet as a Lamb brought to the slaughter and as a Sheep before her Shearers is dumb so he opened not his Mouth Isa 53. 7. The Members of the Body should imitate Christ the Head in Patience It may be an Inducement to a quiet bearing of Affliction that far worse has been demerited by the very best than is endured Ezr. 9. 13. Thou our God hast punished us less than our Iniquities deserve But the Benefit of Affliction proves that Patience
received it not as the Word of men but as it is in Truth the Word of God which worketh effectually in you that believe This Word shews its Power in pulling down strong holds in casting down Imaginations and every high thing that exalteth it self against the Knowledg of God and in bringing thoughts into Captivity and Obedience to Christ 2 Cor. 10. 4 5. The Spirit of God wrought Signs and Wonders and divers Miracles according to his own Will for the Confirmation of the Gospel when first it was published in the World and these were part of the Spirit 's Demonstration of its Truth And Miracles in the New Creation cease not to be wrought still by the same Spirit The Word is made an effectual means to make the dead in Sin alive to God to make the Blind to see and the Lame to walk in the Way of Gods Commandments 7. Learning the Word implies a ready and Hearty embracing what the Word of God Offers and Promises Mammon and Satan make but very poor and mean offers and their Promises are deceitful they can offer nothing but what is temporal the things they boast of are onely good in appearance and they quickly vanish away Indeed there is something that is Eternal but 't is Eternal Wo and Misery that abides the worldly and the wicked but this Satan studiously endeavours to conceal from them Whereas the offers of the Gospel are great and glorious worthy of all acceptation and by all to be accepted the Promises here are so firm that they shall remain when Heaven and Earth shall pass away Psal 119. 152. Concerning thy Testimonies I have known of old that thou hast founded them for ever If the Children of men might have their wish and would wish but wisely they would wish for what the Word assures to all Accepters of it Here is justifying Righteousness for the guilty and Condemned here is Healing Sanctifying Grace for the Diseased and Defiled here is Strength for the Weak and Comfort for them that are cast down and for lost Souls great and Everlasting Salvation How can he be said to have learned the Word of God or to know when he is well offer'd by whom such offers are refused 8. Learning the Word implies the Subjection and Conformity of the whole man to the commands of the Word of God Promises and Priviledges are to be studied and embraced and Precepts and Commands are to be received He that casts the commands behind his back is very Presumptuous in applying Promises to himself That Hope will make a man ashamed which is not accompanied with Obedience Hearken to the Psalmist Psal 119. 166 167 168. Lord I have hoped for thy Salvation and done thy Commandments My Soul hath kept thy Testimonies and I love them exceedingly I have kept thy Precepts and thy Testimonies for all my ways are before Thee He that has learned the Word of God knows that the Law is not made void by Faith but established Rom. 3. 31. Do we then by Faith make void the Law through Faith God forbid yea we establish the Law Christ the Churches Head and Prophet in his Sermon upon the Mount shews the extent of the Law requiring Purity in the Heart and Thoughts as well as in the Life and Actions condemns them who shall break the least of these Commands and shall teach men so but those that teach and do them he owns as great in his Kingdom Mat. 5. 19. The Law spoken from Mount Sinai is established by the Legislator Christ in Mount Sion as a Rule of Righteousness And they who are rightly instructed which walk according to this Rule both Heart and Conversation will be order'd according to its Direction and Peace and Mercy will be upon them and hereby they shew themselves indeed the Israel of God 9. Learning the Word implies a living in Expectation and Hope of that Glory which God in his Word has revealed Rom. 5. 2. By whom we have access by Faith into this Grace wherein we stand and rejoice in Hope of the Glory of God The Apostle tells that our Saviour Jesus Christ hath abolished Death and hath brought Life and Immortality to light by the Gospel What Joy is set before us to encourage patient continuance in Faith and well-doing Were it not for this the Disciples of Christ would be of all men most miserable 1 Cor. 15. 19. But since the Glory hoped for is so sure and near they are the onely Happy ones in the World He that learned the Word aright Heaven is in his Eye there is his Heart and Treasure He knows he cannot be perfectly Holy or Happy till he come thither and when once come there Holiness and Happiness will be perfect in degree and endless in Duration Nothing therefore can move him away from the Hope of the Gospel He abides in the Word and the Word in him and stands fast in the Lord himself and at last receives the blessed Life that is promised 1 Joh. 2. 24 25. Let that therefore abide in you which ye have heard from the beginning if that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you ye also shall continue in the Son and in the Father and this is the Promise that he hath Promised us even Eternal Life And if all this be implied in Learning the Word of God How many may Conscience reproach for never having learned the Word to this day Strangers they are to its Power and haters of its Purity and most foolishly and wickedly neglect that Grace and Salvation which is there tender'd to them How many may Sigh for Sorrow that they have learned the Word of God no better that their Faith is no stronger their delight in the Word of God no greater and that there are so many defects in their Obedience to it How should we all groan with earnest desires that God Himself would be our Teacher and make us right Learners of his Word And if He is pleased to teach us how Blessed Holy and Wise will his teaching make us and such also we shall continue for that teaching will have a lasting effect upon us Psal 119. 33 Teach me O Lord the Way of thy Statutes and I shall keep it unto the end In the second Place I am to shew the Influence that the Rod of God has to make his Word the better Learned 1. The Rod of Affliction awakens the Conscience So that it is very punctual in doing its Office Conscience being startled causes fear Where there was too much unconcernedness and stupidity before The Consciences of Josephs Brethren after the great Injury they did him lay in a deep sleep for many Years together but Distress and Affliction awakened them Gen. 42. 21. They said one to another We are verily guilty concerning our Brother in that we saw the anguish of his Soul when he besought us and we would not hear therefore is this distress come upon us Conscience being awakened is full of remorse