are very divine and mightily fitted to gain their end They are words that couch under them very great Arguments to move us by If God have given us life which nothing but his kindness could move him to do we need not doubt of meat to preserve that life He that hath given us a body that needs cloathing will surely give us something to cloath it withal The Fowls are fed that can neither sow nor reap nor do they gather into Barns and shall we distrust Our anxiety is burdensom indeed but it does not advance us It neither feeds nor cloaths us God cloaths the flowers and Lillies of the field which are not capable of care and anxiety and that after a more gay manner than what any Monarch even Solomon himself was clothed And if the grass of the field which was not designed for any long continuance be thus beautified by God shall we fear nakedness These cares may better become the Heathens who had but a slender belief of God's special Providence they become us not who do profess a belief that God knows what our needs are These are the powerful Arguments that our Lord lays before us And can there be any thing more convincing than what our Saviour hath said Can any thing be more effectual to rid us of our troublesom cares for ever Can any thing be added to this Discourse If there may it is that surely which our Lord himself has added in the next words Mat. 6.33 34. But seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you Take therefore no thought for the morrow For the morrow shall take thought for the things of it self Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof If we will be careful let us take care to do the Will of God Let us do our part and God will take care of us We shall have enough to do with our present work let us leave futurities to him that is only wise and good But perhaps it is the least of our care what we shall eat and drink and wherewith we shall be cloathed We are careful about greater matters than these are And that is the smallest of our care what provision we shall make for our bodies We are full of thoughts how we shall be able to suffer persecution and continue constant to the death We may be brought before the great men of the World and how shall we do then for Wisdom and Courage We may be delivered up into the hands of powerful men What shall we then do Our Lord does not leave us in that case When they deliver you up says he take no thought how or what ye shall speak Mat. 10.19 For it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak It will be enough that we have help when we need it We ought to consider that we shall not be forgotten by God That nothing shall happen to us without his knowledge and permission Ver. 29 30 31. Are not two Sparrows sold for a farthing And one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father But the very hairs of your head are all numbred Fear ye not therefore ye are of more value than many Sparrows These words give us assurance of the very particular care and Providence of God and therein the greatest support under all our afflictions that is imaginable The World was greatly in the dark in the question of Gods Providence and there were great and foul errors crept into the World concerning it Thus Epicurus is said to have denied the Providence of God altogether Aristotle to have confined it to the Heavens Some of the Arabians to have restrained it to Universals only and some of the Jews to have limited it to Mankind and not extended it unto Beasts Nay some of the Jews were narrower still and would needs confine the Providence of God to the Jewish Land or Nation only Vid. Jacchiad in Dan. 7.3 Cum Annot. L. Emper. v. Abraven on Exod. 23.20 who were Gods Portion and Lot But our blessed Saviour does in the words above-named assure us that Gods care is not to be bounded and restrained And thus though he be not equally concerned for all his Creatures yet they are all a part of his care And he hath not only a general care of Mankind but a care of the Individuals also and a very special and particular care of his Worshippers and Followers Nay the very Beasts themselves are part of his care and not only Oxen Beasts of great labour and usefulness but the smallest fowls of the air even the Sparrows those cheap and inconsiderable ones Nor is God only concerned for the life of a man Our Saviour descends lower when he says The very hairs of your head are all numbred We are further assured by the Apostle that God careth for us and that therefore we ought to cast all our Care or burden 1 Pet. 5.7 as it is in the Psalmist Psal 55.23 to which these words seem to refer upon him But then he would have us cast all our care upon him Not only our care for meat and drink c. Our care for our selves but our care for our Friends and our Relatives Our care for future Events and Contingencies Phil. 4.6 Be careful for nothing says another Apostle 1 Cor. 7 3â—.35 And elsewhere he tells them to whom he writes that he would have them be without carefulness and that they might attend upon the Lord without distraction That is we must from the consideration of Gods special Providence discharge our selves of all our tormenting and disquieting cares giving up our selves intirely to the will of that God who rules and governs this lower World 2. I shall now shew how powerful an argument this is towards our support And that is First As by it we are discharged of our anxiety and disquiet of mind which for want of this consideration afflicts and burdens us If God govern the World we may be quiet and still We have nothing to do but obey his Will and to submit chearfully to his disposal of things We are not fit for the government and well it is for us that we are not concerned We want Wisdom and Power and are too shallow and too weak for so great a weight We have nothing to do now but Adore the Divine Wisdom and Goodness and to follow God It is well for us that we are discharged from a burden which neither we nor our Fathers were ever able to bear Psal 97.1 The Lord reigneth let the Earth rejoyce let the multitude of Isles be glad thereof Secondly As by this Doctrine we receive assurance that all things will be well administred and tend to a good account at last We shall not now need to fear We need not disquiet our selves with the things that happen as if they came to pass by chance or an inevitable fate God
It is very rarely that we make any great attainments unless we meet with Crosses Secondly They are very useful to the weaning of good men from this world and all worldly things They teach them to make a right judgment and estimate of things And this is a fruit of great wisdom and a step to the greatest perfection He that prospers knows but one part of the world he looks upon it on one side and does not know it throughly We do not know it perfectly till we come to suffer Till then we see the fair and glozing and false side of the world He that sees no more than this runs a great hazard The Shepherd in the Fable was tempted out of the hopes of gain to turn a Merchant He did so and lost his adventure upon a rough and tempestuous Sea But then he gained this wisdom by his loss not to trust to the Sea when it was calm The world does us the greatest mischief when it smiles and never does us a greater hurt than when it speaks us fair It is a great proficiency to be able to contemn the smiles and Courtship of the world Thirdly They are of great use to make us more earnest contenders for heaven They bring the good man nearer to God and to his happiness By these sufferings the good man is prepared for the enjoyment of God The contempt he meets with here makes him aspire after a future glory His poverty and pain and confinement put him upon breathing after the plenty and the joys and enlargement of a future state what he loses here he gains above And we are very happy when we do whatever the occasion be endeavour earnestly after an incorruptible Crown Fourthly They give us an experiment of our selves We know not what we are till we are tried It is easie to be valiant when we are in no danger Our courage is then proved when we are surrounded with danger It is the Storm that shews the skill and courage of the Sea-man We are reproached we shall now know whether or no we can pray and forgive them that speak evil of us without a cause We are injured now we shall know whether or not we can forgive an enemy We lose our goods we shall now see whether our faith and patience be genuine or not We are affronted this is the time to take a proof of our meekness If these things had not hapned the graces of good men had not been known to others nor to themselves But by this means good men have the comfort of this experience and others an advantage also It is much better to bear our evils well than to meet with none at all Jam. 1.2 3. Count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations knowing that the trying of your faith worketh patience Rom. 4.3 4. We glory in tribulation also says St. Paul knowing that tribulation worketh patience wherein ye greatly rejoyce says St. 1 Pet. 1.6 Peter though now for a season if need be ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations That the trial of your faith being much more precious than of gold that perisheth though it be tried in fire might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ Though we had these graces before we might yet have been without the comfort and our Brother without the advantage and God without the glory had we not been tried Fifthly Good men that have suffered much and in a good cause and with an undanted courage shall have a greater reward in an other life There are degrees of glory in the other state and these holy men shall be placed in the higher Stations of glory Rom. 8.17 If we suffer with him we shall be glorified together If we bear an heavy Cross we shall receive a glorious Crown I consider IV. That good men are supported under their sorrows and troubles here And if God enable them to endure well may he lay upon them what he pleaseth For the good man is well dealt with when he is enabled here and hath a sure Reward hereafter I do intend to discourse of the supports which the pious man will meet with in another place CHAP. II. HAving cleared the good Providence of God and shewed that the sufferings of good men are very consistent with his particular care and government I shall Secondly Shew you the great reasonableness of the Laws of Christ by which we are oblige to suffer for righteousness sake no only reproach and the loss of oâ—â— worldly goods but even life it self Our Saviours Precept is plain 〈◊〉 this matter Luk. 14.26 with Mat. 10.37 If any man come to mâ— says Christ and hate not his Father and Mother and Wife and Children and Brethren and Sisters yeâ— and his own life also he cannot be 〈◊〉 Disciple The meaning of theâ—â— words is plainly this that we caâ— not be the true Disciples of Chriâ—â— if we do not prefer his command before Father and Mother â— and our very life it self To hatâ— these things is to love them less thaâ— we do our Saviour as appearâ—â— from a parallel place Luk. 9.23 It is but fâ—â— we should choose to dye rathâ—â— than deny our Saviour and renounce our Religion And we aâ—â— frequently commanded by ouâ— Lord to deny our selves Mar. 8.34 to take up his Cross to follow him And we are assured that he that loseth his life for his sake shall find it Oâ— the other hand we are excluded from the hopes of mercy in another life if we do now deny our Saviour before men If we suffer Mat. 10.39 Ver. 33. 2 Tim. 2.12 we shall also reign with him If we deny him he will also deny us It is our interest as much as it is our duty to part with life it self in the confession of the truth Mat. 10.28 Fear not them says our Saviour which kill the body but are not able to kill the soul But rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in Hell And in another place he tells us Joh. 12.25 He that loveth his life shall lose it And he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal Now certain it is that our Lord is no hard Master and that all his Laws are very righteous and good Our Blessed Saviour promiseth us rest if we will become his followers and assures us Mat. 11.29 30. that his yoke is easie and his burden light He that undertakes the Laws of Christ and sincerely sets himself to obey them will never have any cause to complain of his Master or his Work They that find fault with the Laws of Christ are those that do not understand them aright or never did seriously apply themselves to the practice of them That we should choose to die rather than break his Laws and renounce his Religion is indeed one of the hardest Laws of Christ But
constantly and immutably good and will not deceive or deny those that ask him That love and kindness and all the degrees of goodness in any Earthly Parents was derived from God who is infinitely and unalterably good and will not fail to fulfil the word which he hath spoken nor can he be deceived or defeated He hath said it that cannot lie nor repent He hath promised who is able to do it And we may as justly disbelieve his Being as distrust his veracity and doubt of his Propensity and his power I proceed to 3. The condition required on our part for the obtaining this assistance And that is a very gentle and easie one Luk. 11.9 10. God will give his Holy Spirit to them that ask him Ask and it shall be given you seek and ye shall find knock and it shall be opened unto you For every one that asketh receiveth and he that seeketh findeth and to him that knocketh it shall be opened I do readily grant that we are not heard in all the Petitions which we put up to God And it is very well for us that so it is For we should soon destroy our selves if we should obtain that which we sometimes pray for But then this is to be understood with reference to the things of this life where the well instructed and modest man is to refer himself to God who knows what is best for him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 M. Antonin l. 10. In this case the good man prayes that God would give him and remove from him what he thinks fit And the very Heathen could teach men this Lesson But then for the case before us God hath declared his Will and put us upon Praying and that fervently also for the Holy Spirit And we have great need of his heavenly aid and assistance and now we can have no doubt but that we shall be heard because we are sure that we pray according to the Will of God 1 Joh. 5.14 15. And this is the confidence that we have in him that if we ask any thing according to his will he heareth us And if we know that he heareth us whatsoever we ask we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him And especially may we be assured of success when we are provided of so effectual an Intercessour as the Son of God He hath said Joh. 14.13 Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name that will I do that the Father may be glorified in the Son And we are certain moreover that when we pray for the Holy Spirit in the name of Christ we pray for that divine assistance which our Lord went into heaven to send among us This he told us saying Joh. 16.7 I tell you the truth it is expedient for you that I go away For if I go not away the Conforter will not come unto you but if I depart I will send him unto you Nay our Lord assures us that he will hear our Prayers that he will intercede in this very case so that we have here abundant security that we shall receive an answer to our Petition Joh. 14.14 16. If ye shall ask any thing in my name I will do it And presently he adds And I will pray the Father and he will give you another Comforter that he may abide with you for ever For our other requests which we put up for health or riches and the good things of this life our Lord has given us no particular promise of his effectual Intercession but he hath done it in this matter and hath thereby removed our fears and doubts of being heard And sure if God many times prevent our very Petitions and give us some measure of the Holy Spirit even before we ask him we shall then have no cause to fear but he will give greater measures of this Holy Spirit to them that do ask him All our care must be that we ask as we should That we pray for this heavenly assistance with great fervor and constancy that we cry mightily unto God and that we greatly humble our soules before him That we address to him with hunger and thirst and restless importunity that we seek as for Silver and search as for fine Gold That we vehemently desire what we pray for and thirst as the parched earth does for showers from heaven That we strive mightily in our Prayers to God and send up many strong cries That we pierce the Heavens with our cries and that we put forth all our strength That we employ all the powers that we have received and summon up all that is within us to call down this heavenly aid That we cherish and improve the measures of the Spirit which we have received and be greatly cautious that we do not by a careless and a trifling a profane and worldly temper grieve this Holy Spirit and send away this divine and heavenly Comforter That we do not seek our comfort elsewhere and oppose the divine assistance by our self-will and our inordinate affections 4. I proceed now to make some Application of what hath been said And 1. This speaks very much to the comfort of the weak and the fearful at least to all among them that are sincerely good and do desire greatly to become better Here is an help at hand that is sufficient and we need not now be cast down I shall speak to such in the words of the Prophet Isa 44.2 3 4. Fear not O Jacob my servant and thou Jesurun whom I have chosen For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty and flouds upon the dry ground I will pour my Spirit upon thy Seed and my blessing upon thine Off-spring And they shall spring up as among the grass as Willows by the water-courses This blessed time is now come and it is well for us that so it is We are not now unprovided of an heavenly aid God is ready to pour out upon us his Holy Spirit Our Lord came Isa 61.2 3. To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord To comfort all that mourn To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion to give unto them beauty for ashes the oyl of joy for mourning the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness that they might be called trees of righteousness the planting of the Lord that he might be glorified Let us not now fear nor be dismayed under all our afflictions and persecutions Greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world This heavenly Comforter will abide when earthly comforts leave us And may we but receive the Joy of the Holy Ghost we shall not need be over-whelmed with our earthly sorrows 2. This speaks our duty as well as our Privilege And we may learn what we are to do as well as what God hath done for us The Holy Spirit is promised by God but must be implored by us God will give him but not to the careless and cold the formal
times afterwards we have very large accounts of the sufferings of the Apostles and Primitive Christians for a long time and a very particular account of the exemplary patience and meekness courage and undauntedness of them that suffered These are things very well known to them that have read the holy Scriptures and the ancient Writers of the Christian Church Besides the many examples we have upon record of those who have with great patience suffered for the truth in the later Ages of Christianity We have many examples of those who have chearfully gone into Goales and given their bodies to be burnt for the sake of the truth Thirdly I shall shew you the great usefulness of these great examples to us For when we are directed to reflect upon them it is supposed that it is for our advantage that we should do so For it cannot be denied but that the Church hath gained much by the exemplary sufferings of holy men The bloud of Martys hath been a fruitful Seed And the Church did then grow when it was persecuted Phil. 1.12 14. I would ye should understand Brethren that the things which hapned unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the Gospel And many of the Brethren in the Lord waxing confident by my bonds are much more bold to speak the Word without fear Holy men have done great service to the Church by a resolute dying for the Truth Their death hath been like that of Samson's who destroyed more Philistins then than he had at any time before The Heathen could say of good men That if in their life they were profitable v. Arrian Epictet l. 4. c. 1. they were much more so in their death For by this means the Truth hath got ground and the Religion hath been spread in the world Men are very prone to favour the persecuted and afflicted side and where they see the afflicted support undauntedly they are very much inclined to judge favourably of their Cause Hence in the Primitive times men came into the Church when they saw the Christians suffer the greatest torments with the most invincible patience They began to enquire what this Religion was which did thus support its Followers And hence they were induced to the Profession of that Religion which did so powerfully support its Followers Plures efficimur quoties metimur à vobis Tert. Apol. c. 45 And thus when some were cut off others came in from the Heathen world But I shall particularly consider the usefulness of these examples to us I shall shew you what benefit we may receive from the patient sufferings of Martyrs and other holy men 1. We are by this means assured that the greatest torments may be endured and supported under We do very often fear that we should never be able to bear the scorching flames that we can never endure the torments of a Rack extremity of cold and hunger and other pains For we have been tenderly brought up and have been uneasie under small pains And have not known what hunger and thirst cold and nakedness mean Hence we conclude that we should never be able to endure great severities The truth is It were much to be feared that we should rather renounce our Religion than hold out under the sharpest perseution did we only look into our selves But when we consider the power of God and look upon the examples of holy Martyrs we have great cause to hope that we shall be able to submit to torments and to death for the sake of our Religion For if we are weak if we have been brought up tenderly if we are of a timerous nature c. so were many of those Martyrs who yet rejoyced afterwards in Prisons welcomed the Fire and Faggot and rejoyced that they were thought worthy to die for the name of Jesus And those have done this who did suspect themselves and were suspected by others also We are hereby encouraged to hope well when we see that men that were subject to the like passions with us have continued stedfast to the last 2. We are further hereby assured that God will not fail to give assistance in the time of need Which is a truth the belief whereof does much tend to quiet and comfort us amidst our many fears and distractions Hence we are encouraged to hope that God will stand by us and help us when our burden is heavy upon us and we can now come boldly unto the throne of grace Heb. 4.16 that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in the time of need This is the use that we are called upon to make of the sufferings of our Lord Cha. 12.3 Consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds Indeed God hath been pleased to assure us Heb. 13.5 that He will never leave us nor forsake us And the Apostle says 1 Cor. 10.13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man But God is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able But will with the temptation also make a way to escape that ye may be able to bear it In which words we are assured that God will give us a good event if we call in and depend upon his help and assistance 2 Thes 3.3 The Lord is faithful who shall establish you and keep you from all evil And the same Apostle elsewhere speaks to the same purpose 1 Thes 5.22 23 24. saying Abstain from all appearance of evil And the very God of peace sanctifie you wholly And I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ Faithful is he that calleth you who also will do it These are great promises and assurances which God hath been pleased to give us and we ought upon all occasions to consider them But so it is we are of little faith and very prone to fear But then seeing we are incompassed with so thick a cloud of Witnesses to whom these promises have been made good we are farther confirmed that he who hath done it will still perform the word which he hath spoken For these examples before our eyes have a great force towards the ridding us of those fears which are apt to solicite us For from them we learn what weak Creatures can do when they are assisted by a power from above 3. We are by this means farther confirmed in our Religion and consequently thereupon the more firmly obliged to continue stedfast in the Profession of it He that dies for his Religion and does it undauntedly does more than he that defends it by learned Discourses It is not every man can discern the force of Arguments He that lives well and that dies with courage for his Religion 't is he that defends his Faith and commends it to the Consciences of men This man does most effectually
vindicate his Religion from those aspersions that are cast upon it No man does more effectually refute the slanders against Religion than he that dies for it chearfully as for example This course confirms the truth of Religion There are those who would insinuate that Religion is a State-Engine contrived for worldly ends and for the better government of men That Heaven and Hell are no realities but contrived for the interest of humane Societies He that is willing to part with his life in defence of his Religion does destroy this insinuation and makes it evident that his Religion does not serve a worldly interest and that Heaven and Hell are great realities There are others that insinuate that Religion is an ineffectual Principle And if you were to judge of Religion by the Lives as well as Doctrines of some men you would be apt to think it a very dull and ineffectual Principle that were destitute of all power to enable men to do what it does command But then the man that forsakes this world that despises all its glories and continues undaunted under all its threats and frowns He that dares to be good whatever he suffer on that behalf such a man as this makes it appear that his Religion is a very powerful Principle and that it is accompanied with a Divine Assistance Again They that suffer for Religion do recommend the excellency and inward glories of Religion They discover the beauties of it And that they do when they give so great a proof of what it commends to us viz. A fervent love of God a contempt of the World a profound Meekness Patience and Charity Justice and Truth These are those things which shine in these examples and do speak aloud the perfections of that Religion which does produce them CHAP. VII I Come now to lay before you some other helps and assistances that the afflicted and persecuted Christian is provided with And in the next place I desire you to consider The Intercession of the Son of God And this is an unspeakable comfort and support where it is duly considered And that so it is we may learn from what we read of St. Stephen You know very well that he was accused and though he made his defence yet he was so far from appeasing his Enemies thereby that they were more enraged We read that they were cut to the heart Acts 7.54 55 56. and they gnashed on him with their teeth But though his Enemies were enraged and disturbed yet this holy man continues calm and quiet And what was it that kept him so We read what it was in these words But he being full of the Holy Ghost looked up stedfastly into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing on the right hand of God Here was that which kept him undisturbed when his Enemies were transported with fury Hence he had his strength and his undauntedness He says himself Behold I see the Heavens opened and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God And now though his Enemies gnash on him with their teeth though they cry out with a loud voice though they stop their ears and run upon him with one accord and cast him out of the City and stone him Yet the holy man is not for all this discomposed nor so far disturbed but that he was able to continue to call upon God and his blessed Saviour and to pray for his Enemies that put him to death And after this it is not said that he was killed or stoned that he was murdered or the like but that he fell asleep Ver. 60. After this gentle manner is this Saints death expressed But that which made his death so easie to him was that as he was full of the Holy Ghost so he saw Jesus at the right hand of God And we shall find that this sight of Jesus at Gods right hand will be of great moment towards our support under the greatest and sharpest miseries of this life Rom. 8.33 34. Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods Elect says St. Paul It is God that Justifieth Who is he that condemneth It is Christ that died But we have greater comfort than this and therefore he goes on Yea rather that is risen again nor does the Apostle stay here neither who is even at the right hand of God he goes farther still who also maketh intercession for us This is a great height indeed we are now very secure from danger since Jesus did not only die for our sins and rise again for our Justification but after this went into Heaven and is there concerned on our behalf Well might the Apostle now Triumphingly go on and he does so when he says Ver. 35 36 37 38 39. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or Sword as it is written for thy sake we are killed all the day long we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter nay in all these things we are more than Conquerours through him that loved us For I am perswaded that neither death nor life nor Angels nor Principalities nor Powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other Creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. But for the better proceeding in this comfortable Argument of Christs interceding for us in Heaven I shall First Shew where Christ now is viz. in Heaven at Gods right hand Secondly I shall shew you how far he is there concerned on our behalf Thirdly I shall shew you how this tends towards our support and comfort under the troubles of this life 1. I shall shew where Christ is viz. in Heaven He was contented for our sakes to be born of a Woman to lie in a Manager to be tempted in a Wilderness to die upon a Cross and to be buried in a Sepulchre But thanks be to God he that was born ever lives and he that died and was buried was raised from the dead and ascended into heaven Heb. 1.3 and is sate down on the right hand of the Majesty on high Chap. 2.9 crowned with glory and honour Chap. 7.26 Eph. 5.10 Chap. 1.20 21. Made higher than the Heavens He is ascended up far above all Heavens Far above all Principality and Power and Might and Dominion and every name that is named not only in this world but that which is to come Phil. 2.9 God hath highly exalted and given him a Name which is above every name 1 Pet. 3.22 He is gone into Heaven and is at the right hand of God Angels and Authorities and Powers being made subject unto him It cannot be denied but the Air and the Clouds are called by the name of heaven and consequently when Christ was in them he might be said to have been in Heaven But certain it is that the expressions
and the Type Our blessed Saviour hath brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel And the New Testament makes over to us our right and title to that blessed inheritance which our Lord hath purchased for us We had forfeited Gods favour and needed an Atonement The Law of Moses prescribed certain Sacrifices indeed for expiation and the procurement of the favour of God but it is very certain that those Sacrifices could not make the commers thereunto perfect Heb. 10.1 But then it pleased God to send his only Son to die for our sins and now he hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ 2 Cor. 5.18 19 21. and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation To wit that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself not imputing their trespasses unto them For he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him The Kingdom of Heaven is now opened to all Believers and none are now excluded from the hopes of that blessed state who do not shut themselves out by their unbelief and impenitence and contempt of the Laws of Christ For God so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son Joh. 3.16 17. that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved This is the comfortable Doctrine of the holy Scripture and hence it is that we have now great consolation For there can be nothing so much for our comfort as the assurance which we have of Gods favour which is better for us than life it self But then to put us out of all doubt for ever this truth is confirmed to us as well as taught by the holy Scriptures For our blessed Saviour wrought many Miracles to confirm to us the Doctrine which he taught and by that means hath given us the utmost assurance that this comfortable Doctrine is a divine truth To this purpose he cured the sick dispossessed the daemoniacks raised the dead restored the blind commanded the Sea and the Wind and rose from the dead the third day Many and various and supernatural are the works he did and which are written in the Gospels And many more he did which are not written Joh. 20.31 But these are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God and that believing ye might have life through his name God hath set his Seal to the divine truths which the Gospel does contain And hath effectually taken from us all cause of doubt and suspicion IV. The holy Scriptures tend very much to our comfort under our troubles as they do contain many precious Promises which tend this way God hath been pleased in these Writings to make many promises for the comfort of the afflicted and oppressed of them that fear him and trust in him and suffer for his names sake And nothing of what God hath said shall fall to the ground If we continue to trust in God and to do good we shall find great comfort from the holy Scriptures in our greatest sorrows Psal 31.19 O how great is thy goodness which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee Which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the Sons of men Happy is that man that puts himself under the Divine Protection Psal 32.10 Many sorrows shall be to the wicked But he that trusteth in the Lord mercy shall compass him about No man does so much consult his own safety as He does that does intirely trust in God and commit himself and his affairs unto him Psal 125.1 They that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion which cannot be moved but abideth for ever I deny not but such a man may fall into straits and difficulties but then he is not forsaken but can have a recourse to him that is at hand and able to save him Psal 14.2 3 4 5. When my Spirit was overwhelmed within me then thou knewest my path I looked on my right hand and beheld but there was no man that would know me refuge failed me no man cared for my Soul I cried unto thee O Lord I said Thou art my refuge and my portion in the Land of the Living The good man may be bereft of his worldly comforts and supports but then when he is most of all so God is present with him Nay we are then more peculiarly the care of God when we are abandoned by the Creature The afflicted man is particularly the charge of Heaven and does immediately belong to the divine care and Providence The devout Psalmist makes his affliction his argument to move God to have regard to him Psa 142.6 Attend unto my cry for I am brought very low Again Psal 70.5 But I am poor and needy and then he goes on Make hast unto me O God The Prayers of the afflicted righteous find a ready way to God they pierce the Heavens and are sure to obtain a blessing The righteous cry Psal 37.18 18. and the Lord heareth and delivereth them out of all their troubles The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart and saveth such as be of a contrite Spirit There is great comfort in the holy Scripture for every man that is sincerely good and does desire to be better And whatever his sorrow and affliction be he is not left comfortless If he be burdened with his sins harassed out by the cares and toiles of a vexatious world and very uneasie under the load which lies upon him yet is not this distressed and miserable Sinner left without hope and comfort Our Lord speaks to such as these are saying Mat. 11.28 Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest Take my yoak upon you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart and ye shall find rest unto your Souls For my yoak is easie and my burden is light How comfortable a Scripture is this to the dejected Sinner That hath in vain sought his happiness from the things of this life that hath toiled a great while to no purpose and is now under fears of Gods wrath breaking in upon him as a just punshment of a trifling and a vicious life These are most powerful words and if men would consider them duly would appear to have a mighty force upon the minds of men Can any thing be more welcom than rest to them that labour and are heavy laden Is any rest to be compared to the rest which is given to our Souls can any thing be more desirable for them that have served cruel Lords than that they should now submit to one that is meek and lowly in heart Can any thing be more inviting after a great bondage and slavery than a yoak that