evidence of the other O come come and be prevailed with by these things one and all to take up the Rest of your Souls purely and solely in God! CHAP. VI. Several plain and proper Directions to Souls how to attain unto this Life of a Rest in God With a Conclusion of the whole Matter TO live at Rest in God that is a sweet a blessed Life indeed but how may we attain to it Our Souls would be at it but how may we come up hereunto a few Directions in that case and I 'le close all 1. Would you indeed live at Rest in God Then despair of ever finding Rest any where but in him alone As long as we have any hopes of a Rest any where else we will not so purely take up our Rest in God as we should for woe and alas for us our heart is bent to back-slideing from him Hos 11.7 We are carnal and sensual and are addicted to carnal and sensual things as ever therefore you would live at Rest in God utterly despair in your selves of ever finding Rest yea any thing of Rest any where else the more we are driven out of the Creature out of all our false Rests and Reposes the nearer we are to an holy Rest and Repose in God it has been sufficiently evidenced and declared that there is no true Rest for a Soul but in God alone and you have both seen and heard it but my Beloved 't is one thing to hear this by the hearing of the ear and another thing for the Soul to come under the sense and power thereof so as indeed to be dead in our hopes to all other things and practically to despair of Rest and Happiness any where but in God alone Whatever we pretend or profess at least the most of us we still think that there is some Rest some Happiness in somewhat else besides God and short of God else what mean our eager desires after other things our delights in them when injoyed our grief and sorrow of heart when lost or wanting what means the secret bent and byas of our heart to stand off from God and cleave to other things and the like But all this must be rooted out firmly fixing this Foundation-principle in your Souls that there is no Rest for a Soul but in God alone and accordingly never have a thought of looking elsewhere And when at any time the heart would be going out to other things check it with this consideration Rest for the Soul is to be found only in God 2. Would you indeed live at Rest in God Then labour to know him much and to know him in Christ The more we know God the more we shall love him and the more we know and love him the more shall we Rest in him They that know thy Name saies the Psalmist will trust in thee Psal 9.10 they will Rest in thee depend on thee one great reason why we do not Rest in God is because we do not know him at least so know him as to carry in us right notions and apprehensions of him labour therefore to know God more and better labour to know him in Christ God in Christ is most sweet most lovely most ravishing and solacing to Souls God in Christ is a God of Love yea a God that is Love God is Love sayes St. John 1 Joh. 4.8 God in Christ is a God of Reconciliation God was in Christ reconciling the World unto himself not imputing their trespasses to them 2 Cor. 5.19 20. and Oh how sweet is God thus known God in Christ is the Father of Mercies the God of all Grace and Comfort 2 Cor. 1.3 he is a full free open Fountain of all Spiritual Good In 2 Cor. 4.6 we read of the light of the Knowledg of the Glory of God shining forth in the face of Christ and indeed the Light and Glory of God his Beauty Sweetness and Excellency shines forth no where so brightly and illustriously as in Jesus Christ To know God or to look on him out of Christ is what rather fills the Soul with trouble than brings it to Rest in him I remembred God and was troubled said he Psal 77.3 God out of Christ is no other than an angry Judge a consuming fire one that is ready to damn and destroy the Soul but in Christ he is a God of Pardon a God of Salvation to all that come by Christ to him Hence some of the Saints have profest that they durst not think of God out of Christ and you know what Luther's thoughts were by that out-cry of his I 'le have nothing to do with an absolute God O therefore labour to know God in Christ more being known in him he is infinitely sweet to Souls and they cannot but find that sweetness in him that shall draw and allure them to make him their Rest and All for ever 3. Would you indeed live at Rest in God Then labour to get your Covenant-interest in and Relation to God cleared up to you The clearer your interest in God is to you the fuller and more constant will your Rest in him be and indeed you will never so fully and sweetly acquiesce in God as you should until you come to some good sense of your Interest in him and Relation to him in Christ and the Covenant In 1 Sam. 30.6 't is said that David encouraged his heart in the Lord his God he saw God to be his God and seeing him to be so he encouraged himself in him he sat down satisfied and at Rest in him and that in the midst of many great and sore Distresses as you may there see Had he not seen him to be his I question whether he would have been able to sit down at Rest in him as he did especially in so great a storm So the Church Lam. 3.24 the Lord is my Portion saith my Soul therefore I 'le hope in him Seeing God to be her Portion She could hope trust Rest in him and that in a case of great calamity and distress I will not say a Soul cannot Rest in God without a sense of his interest in him no 't is the Souls duty to Rest in God however things go with him though he be in the dark though God has withdrawn himself from the Soul yet the Soul should trust in the Name of the Lord and Rest himself in his God Isa 50.10 still there is that in God that is a full and proper matter or ground of Rest in him for he is as High as Holy as Wise as Good as All-sufficient as ever he was and indeed we should learn to believe in the dark But though this be so yet still I say the clearer your Interest in God is to you the more fully and sweetly will you Rest in him The sense of an interest in God is what is most effectual to reduce a Soul to its Rest in God when through temptation it has been carryed off from it so we find
they thought not of before and so they wish that undone which they have done and do seek wayes of retracting their own Acts and 't is a saying I have read in Austin God sayes he changes his Works Deus mut at Opera non mutat Consilium Aug. not his Counsels O let us reverence and adore God in this his unchangeableness 4. God is unchangeable in his Kingdom and Rule God has a Kingdom and Dominion over the whole World which Kingdom and Dominion of his is that absolute Right and Power whereby he possesseth all things as his own and also orders and disposes of them as he pleases ruling and governing the whole World according to the Counsel of his own Will and in a subserviency to his own most wise and holy ends hence he is said to be over all Rom. 9.5 And above all Eph. 4.6 to wit in Kingdom Power and Dominion he has a right to all and he has the ordering and dispose of all both Persons and Things States and Kingdomes He is the most High that ruleth in the Kingdomes of Men and gives them to whomsoever he will Dan. 4.32 He workes all and orders all in the Kingdom of Providence as well as in the Kingdom of Grace and that according to the Counsel of his own Will Eph. 1.11 He rules and commands all He hath prepared his Throne in the Heavens and his Kingdom ruleth over all In Coelis i. e eminentissimè splendidissime potentissime universalissimeque gubernat omnia Gojer Psal 103.19 He doth whatsoever he pleases in Heaven and on Earth in the Seas and in all deep places Psal 135.6 Now in this Kingdom and Dominion of his he is unchangeable it admits of neither stop nor period he ruleth by his Power for ever Psal 66.7 Thy Kingdom O Lord is an everlasting Kingdom a Kingdom of Ages and thy Dominion endureth throughout all Generations * Regnum tuum Aeternum durat cum hominum regna morte saltem finiantur Mus in loc Psal 145.13 And I blessed the most High sayes Nebuchadnezzar whose Dominion is an everlasting Dominion and his Kingdom from Generation to Generation Dan. 4.34 Ah sirs whatever men think yet God governs the World and his Dominion is over all The Lord reigns saith the Psalmist Psal 93.1 He hath reigned He doth reign and He will reign for ever There is a day coming when all Rule Authority and Power shall be put down and that once for all even the Principality of the Angels themselves as Calvin observes not excepted 1 Cor. 15.24 But God reigns for ever and ever and his Kingdom has no end Thus he is unchangeable in his Kingdom and Rule in the World which is a great encouragement to the People of God O my Beloved God governs the World now as well as heretofore yea and he governs it in our Nature now as well as heretofore Joh. 5.27 He governs all by the Man Christ who has a natural tender care of and respect to his Church and People in all let us therefore say with the Psalmist The Lord reigneth let the people tremble the Lord reigneth let Sion rejoyce God is not God cannot be put by his Throne and Kingdom 5. God is unchangeable in his Covenant and Promise his Covenant and Promise with his People in Christ God hath made a Covenant with his People in Christ a Covenant of Peace a Covenant of Grace a Covenant of Love a Covenant founded upon Grace a Covenant full of Grace a Covenant wholly made up of Grace and Love from first to last therefore called Grace in the Abstract Rom. 6.14 a Full Covenant a Rich Covenant a Pretious Covenant a Covenant made up of Rich yea exceeding rich and pretious Promises and filled with exceeding rich and pretious Treasures pretious Grace pretious Peace pretious Pardon pretious Righteousness pretious Salvation with a pretious God a pretious Christ a pretious Spirit a pretious Heaven and Blessedness for ever Now in this Covenant and in all the pretious Promises of it is God the Lord unchangeable hence you have it so often called an Everlasting Covenant I will establish my Covenant between me and thee sayes God to Abraham for an Everlasting Covenant to be a God unto thee and to thy Seed after thee Gen. 17.7 Again I will make an Everlasting Covenant with them speaking of his people and I will not turn away from them to do them good Jer. 32.40 and as an Everlasting Covenant so an Everlasting and Sure Covenant God hath made with me an Everlasting Covenant sayes David well-ordered in all things and sure 2 Sam. 23.5 and again Come and I will make with you an Everlasting Covenant even the Sure Mercies of David Isa 55.3 Hence also 't is called a Covenant of Salt * Pactum Salis q. d. incorruptum stabile perpetuum Vatab. Num. 18.19 that is a firm a durable an unchangeable Covenant Many other wayes does God set forth the immutability of his Covenant Sal symbolum incorruptions ideoque in foederibus sanciendis usurpatum ad indicandum ea incorrupte inviolate servanda esse Bonfr in loc and that for the encouragement of our Faith and Comfort how sweet is that Word and what a rest may it be to Faith Isa 54.9 10. This is as the Waters of Noah unto me for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the Earth so have I sworn that I will no more be wroth with thee nor rebuke thee For the Mountains shall depart and the Hills be removed but my kindness shall not depart from thee neither shall the Covenant of my Peace be removed saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee Pray observe God had in the two foregoing verses promised his Church and People that though for a small moment he had forsaken them yet with great Mercies he would gather them and that though in a little wrath he had hid his face from them for a moment yet with Everlasting kindness he would have mercy on them and here in these two verses he gives them a double ground of the assurance hereof the one taken from his Oath and the unchangeableness thereof ver 9. the other from his Covenant and the unchangeableness thereof ver 10. For the Mountains shall depart c. as if he should say The Mountains and Hills may sooner be removed than my Covenant yea the time will come when these shall be removed but the time will never come that my Covenant shall fail or be removed But what if his People sin what then Why then he will correct and chastise them for their sin but his Covenant he will keep firm and inviolable for ever notwithstanding For this you have a full and an express Text Psal 89.30 31 32 33 34. If his Children forsake my Law and walk not in my Judgments if they break my Statutes and keep not my Commandments then will I visit their Transgressions with a Rod and their Iniquities
with stripes Nevertheless O gracious nevertheless my loveing-kindness will I not take from him nor suffer my faithfulness to fail my Covenant will I not braek c. We sin and break and break and sin and God chastises us it may be for our sin but yet still his Covenant remaines firm and unchangeable So 2 Tim. 2.13 If we believe not yet he abideth faithful he cannot deny himself Oh I have an unbelieving heart and I shall I fear forfeit all although thou hast an unbelieving heart yet God remains faithful Thus God is unchangeable in his Covenant Alas his Covenant is built upon unchangeable Love and seal'd with unchangeable Blood and cannot therefore but be unchangeable and as the Covenant so all the Promises of the Covenant are sure and unchangeable they are all yea and Amen in Christ 2 Cor. 1.20 that is they are all sure firm unchangeable Promises Promises that will certainly be made good Men promise many times and change but God promises and changes not and this some conceive to be held forth in that Name of his I am Exod. 3.14 I am that I am or I am what I was or I will be what I was that is as one expounds it Eroquteram i. e. ero factis qut eram in promissis Alting I will be in my Performances what I was in my Promises God makes good all his promises to a tittle he that is Truth it self and Faithfulness it self cannot lie cannot faile Promissa tua sunt Domine quis falli timeat cum promittit veritas Aug. 'T is a sweet saying I have read in Austin They are thy Promises O Lord and who need fear being deceived when Truth it self promises Oh we need not fear we need not question for God is true God is faithful Oh how sweet are the thoughts of an unchangeable Covenant God has laid himself under bonds to his People when he was infinitely free in himself and under bonds to do great things for them to pardon their iniquities transgressions and sins to give them a new heart and a new Spirit to pour out his Spirit upon them to cause them to walk in his Statutes and Judgements to do them to write his Laws in their Hearts and put them into their inward parts to cleanse them from all their filthiness and idols to put his fear into their hearts that they shall never depart from him and which is all in one to be a God unto them and that they shall be his People that is he has laid himself under bonds to be to them and to do for them what a God can be to and do for them and he is firm and unchangeable in all and all shall assuredly have its accomplishment in its season Oh how sweet is this this was Davids death-bed Cordial 2 Sam. 23.5 Although my House be not so with God yet he hath made with me an Everlasting Covenant and this is all my Salvation and all my Desire and indeed well it might for what could David or any desire more than is contained in God's Covenant which has Heaven and Earth God and the Creature Time and Eternity all in it Oh study this Covenant of God and the unchangeableness of it and you will find it an unchangeable Spring of Comfort to you God himself found fault with the first Covenant 't is said and why Why because it made no provision for his People against sin but you will be able to find no fault with this Covenant this being well-ordered in all things and sure as in the place last quoted you have it 6. God is unchangeable in his Grace and Love to his People God loves his People and that with a choice and peculiar Love a Love like that wherewith he loves Christ himself Joh. 17.23 They are indeed the dearly beloved of his soul as you have it Jer. 12.7 and in this Love of his towards them he is unchangeable alwayes the same which I shall at once a little open and evince unto you in three Propositions 1. God is unchangeable in his Love it self to his People that being alwayes the same towards them I have loved thee sayes God to his People with an Everlasting Love Jer. 31.3 with a Love that is from everlasting to everlasting without change or period God's Love to his People is so firm and stable that nothing whatever can possibly null or alter it nothing can possibly cast them out of his heart if any thing could do it it would be their sinnings against him and their breakings with him but these do not cannot do it so he has told us Psal 89.30 31 32 33. If they sin I 'le correct them for their sin but my loveing-kindness I will not take from them or as some render it I will not so much as interrupt my Love towards them as if he should say though they sin yet I 'le love them still God does not love the sins of his People no he hates them but he loves their persons notwithstanding their sins But what if afflictions and temptations be added to their sins and both the one and the other rise high will not this break off his Love from them No see that triumph of the Apostle upon this account Rom. 8. ult Who shall separate us from the Love of God shall Tribulation or Distress or Persecution and the like Nay in all these things we are more than Conquerers through him that loved us for I am perswaded that neither Death nor Life nor Angels nor Principalityes 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. Here you see are afflictions and temptations added to sins yea here are heights and depths of these things but all cannot separate God's People from his Love nor cast them out of his Heart One I remember gives the sum of the whole in this short word Ab aeterno dilexit in aeternum diliget Scult in loc God hath loved from eternity and he will love to eternity The truth is could either sins or sufferings cast us out of God's Heart and separate us from his Love who then among the Saints could hope to continue in his Love and upon his Heart Besides in the place lately quoted Isa 54.9.10 God sayes expresly that though the Mountains should be removed yet his kindness to his People should not be removed no that remains firm and stedfast for ever True God may possibly afflict his People and that many wayes and very sorely he may speak against them as against Ephraim Jer. 31.20 write against them and that bitter things as against Job Job 13.26 He may fight against them as against those Isa 63.10 He may frown upon them and let in his terrors into them as he did upon and into Heman Psal 88. ult but yet still he loves them still they are dear to him 2.
is but a little while and Man and his Wrath both shall change and die but God and his Wrath will live for ever O learn to fear and tremble at his Wrath and beware how for a little fading changeable delight in sin you throw your selves under unchangeable wrath and fury Poor sinner thou makest light of God's Wrath as if it were an inconsiderable thing witness thy wilful and daily provoaking of it against thee by sin witness thy insensibleness of and under the tokens and revelations of it witness thy neglect of Christ and of making thy peace with God by him and the like but Soul view it in the Glass of his infinite Unchangeableness and then see whether it be a thing to be made light of or no the Saints they tremble but in the apprehension of it Who knows he power of thine Anger says Moses Psal 90.11 They sigh they bleed they groan yea they die and are even distracted under a little temporal sprinklings and droppings of it Psal 88.15.16 yea they dread and tremble many times at but the revelation of it against others I was afraid sayes Moses of the anger and hot displeasure wherewith the Lord was wrath against you to destroy you Deut. 9.19 Moses could contemn the Wrath of man yea of Man whose Wrath of all men is most terrible the Wrath of a King Heb. 11.27 but yet he trembles at the Wrath of God when 't was provoaked against others thus the Saints tremble at God's Wrath yea more the Devils themselves do dread and tremble at God's Wrath the Devils believe and tremble Jam. 2.19 they believe there is a God and they tremble at the apprehension of the Wrath of that God And sinner whoever thou art how light soever thou mayest now make of God's Wrath yet know that there is a time coming when thou and the stoutest sinners in the World must and will tremble at it See that one text Isa 33.14 The sinners in Sion are afraid fearfulness hath surprized the hypocrite Why what is the matter Verily nothing but the sight and apprehension of God's Wrath and Vengeance coming upon them so much the following words shew Who among us shall dwell with devouring fire Who amongst us shall dwell with everlasting burnings They saw God's Wrath to be as a devouring fire they saw the terror of it in the Glass of God's Unchangeableness and therefore call it everlasting burnings and this filled them with dread and trembling Take one place more Rev. 6.15 16 17. in vers 16 17. We find some crying out to the mountains and rocks to fall on them and hide them from the face of him that sitteth upon the throne and from the Wrath of the Lamb For say they the great day of his Wrath is come and who shall be able to stand Well but who are they that thus cry out Surely they are onely a company of low-spirited Creatures thinkest thou they are only some Women and Children or some base cowardly Ones that never had the Spirit and Courage of Men No Soul they are no such Persons they are the Kings of the Earth and the great Men and the rich Men and the chief Captains and the mighty Men and every bond-man and every free-men all sorts of Men Men of the highest place the highest estates the highest courage and valour as well as others these all are said to hide themselves in the Dens and in the Rocks of the Mountains and call unto the Mountaines and Rocks saying Fall on us Oh but we shall fall heavy no matter fall on us but to what purpose Why to hide us from the Wrath of God why what is the matter are you afraid of the Wrath of God Time was you slighted and disregarded it as an inconsiderable thing and do you so dread it now and tremble at it now that you cry to us Rocks and Mountains to fall on you to hide you from it Oh yes good Rocks good Mountains fall on us you will lie light and easie upon us in comparison of what the Wrath of God will do How Why should you think so You had other thoughts of God's Wrath a while agoe why do you so dread it and tremble at it now O because the great day of his Wrath is come and none can stand before it say they We lookt on this Wrath a while agoe at a distance and then it seemed a light thing but now the day yea the great day of his Wrath is come and there is no standing for us while we lookt at it at a distance we could stand before it and make light of it yea in some lesser dayes of Wrath we have born up well enough but now his Wrath is come near us yea and the fulness and fierceness of it is breaking forth against us now we see this Wrath to be more dreadful and formidable and that we can never stand up either under it or against it Say ye so reply the Rocks and Mountains then no wonder you cry to us to hide you from it but truly 't is more then we can do for you you must now bear and graple with that wrath for ever as to any relief we can afford you in the case O sinner when the great day of God's Wrath shall come then if not before thou also wilt tremble at his Wrath Indeed now wouldest thou see it and tremble at it thou mightest cry to a Rock that could and would hide thee from it provided thou gettest into it I mean Christ that Rock of Ages he being imbraced by Faith and thy Soul having union with him would hide and secure thee against the Wrath of God for ever but if thou wilt go on to make light of this Wrath and to provoke it daily against thee by sin thou wilt at last sink under the weight and burthen thereof for ever 6. In the Glass of God's Unchangeableness we see the true reason why the best of us all are not consumed and accordingly let us give the glory of it where 't is due Beloved why are you and I and others not consumed True we meet with some afflictions and are exercised with some disticulties now and then but why are we not utterly consumed and destroyed Verily 't is not because we are able to save our selves nor is it because we deserve that God should save us but 't is purely and solely because our God is unchangeable This account the Text it self gives of it I am the Lord I change not therefore ye Sons of Jacob are not consumed All our security lies in God's Immutability we perish not because he changes not Pray give me leave a little to be free with you and my self Why are we not consumed with an external consumption We are sorely broken many of us 't is true we are broken in our Estates in our Healths in our Comforts in our Relations but why are we not utterly destroyed Why are we alive Why have we any one comfort about us
plunged into very deep and sore distresses such as are ready to sink and overwhelm Her she is oftentimes afflicted tossed with tempests and not comforted Isa 45.11 Such indeed is Her condition at this day and as good old Ely sate trembling for the Ark of God a Type of the Church 1 Sam. 4.13 so it may be some may now sit trembling for the Church of God fearing how 't will go with Her and indeed he is not one of Sions Children that is not concerned for Sions Afflictions But loe my Beloved in the midst of all such fears and tremblings of heart here is is strong consolation God is Unchangeable and being Unchangeable he will certainly support and deliver his Church and that in the best way and fittest season God has never yet sail'd his Church in Her afflictions yea 't is admirable to consider how hitherto he has carried it towards Her under all Her distresses how sweetly he has supported Her and how seasonably he has delivered Her When they were in Egypt in the Iron Furnace when they were in the Wilderness when they were in the Red Sea when they were in Babylon in Hamans time and in Herods when the Neck of the whole Church of God was upon the Block at once as it were And also all down along through the times of Antichristian Tyrany and Persecution to this very day O how admirably has God wrought for them both in supporting and delivering of them and certainly what he has done that he can and will do for them again as the case shall require God is Unchangeable His Hand is not shortned that he cannot save nor his Ear grown heavy that he cannot hear Isa 59.1 God being Unchangeable he is as tender of and careful for his Church and People as ever he was being Unchangeable he is every way the same to his People now as he was formerly the same in his Love to them his Jealousie for them his Sympathy with them his Interest in them he stands in the same Covenant-Relation to them that ever he did he is their King their Head their Husband their Friend their Father their Shepherd now as well as heretofore and he is every way as able to help them and accordingly will support and in due time deliver them and this Faith sees and rests assured of Isa 51.9 10 11 12. Awake awake put on strength O Arm of the Lord awake as in the ancients dayes in the Generations of old Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab and wounded the Dragon Art thou not it which hath dryed the Sea the Waters of the great Deep that hath made the depths of the Sea a way for the ransomed to past over c. So again 2 Cor. 1.9 10. But we had the sentence of death in our selves that we should not trust in our selves but in God who raiseth the dead who delivered us from so great a death and doth deliver in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us Mark Faith you see argues from what God has done to what he will do for his poor Church and People And what bottom or ground has it so to do but his Unchangeableness Let Sion therefore the Church and People of God take heed of that language which she spake of old Isa 49.14 Sion said the Lord hath forsaken me and my God hath forgotten me And as Jacob elsewhere My way is hid from the Lord and my judgement is passed over by my God for God must change e're this can be True God may permit his Church to be sorely afflicted as at this day but 't is but to illustrate his own Glory the more in Her support and deliverance 3. God being Unchangeable his Enemies shall be destroyed they shall all die and perish I mean his incorrigible implacable Enemies who will not stoop to the Scepter of his Kingdom God may and sometimes does permit his and his Peoples Enemies to practise and prosper and that for a long time together he lets them alone in their sins and oppositions against both himself and them yea he even fills their belly with his hid Treasure as you have it Psal 17.14 he lets them injoy some of the best of outward Comforts and contentments and that in great fulness which oftentimes proves a great burthen and temptation to his poor afflicted People such as is ready even to sink and bear them down So it was with the Psalmist Psal 73. beg and 't is so many times with us but Remember that God is Unchangeable and being Unchangeable though he may permit his and his Peoples Enemies to practise and prosper for a time yet not alwayes no they shall be destroyed and that with a great destruction Pray observe how things issued at last in that very Psalm Psal 73.10 c. Surely thou didst set them in slippery places thou castedst them down into destruction how are they brought into desolation as in a moment they are utterly consumed with terrors c. Pray observe he was not more offended at nor was he more ready to envy their prosperity before than now he wonders at their ruine and destruction So Psal 37.35 c. I have seen the wicked in great power and spreading himself like a green bay-tree yet he passed away and loe he was not yea I sought him but he could not be found the transgressors shall be destroyed together the end of the wicked shall be cut off So Deut. 32.35 36. To me belongeth vengeance and recompence sayes God in reference to his and his Peoples Enemies their foot shall slide in due time for the day of their calamity is at hand and the things which shall come upon them make hast for the Lord shall judge his People c. Still you see though God permit his and his Peoples Enemies to prosper for a time yet at last they are destroyed and as sure as God is Unchangeable they shall be destroyed Pray compare but my Text with the verse immediately preceeding Mal. 3.5 6. I will come near to you to judgment sayes God and I will be a swift witness against the Sorcerers and against the Adulterers and against false Swearers and against all that oppress the Hireling in his Wages the Widow and the Fatherless and that fear not me saith the Lord. q.d. I 'le suddenly and terribly destroy all mine Enemies all that go on in their sinings against me But how shall we be assured of this He tells you in the next words for I am the Lord I change not q.d. as sure as I am God and Unchangeable they shall be destroyed O Sirs though God permits his and his Peoples Enemies to prosper for a time yet he alwayes certainly destroys them in the conclusion and he will do so still because he is Unchangeable God is every way the same that ever he was the same in Holiness Jealousy Justice Power that ever he was He is as holy now as ever he was and so does hate sin as
and I am satisfied with what he does Thus the Soul gets right apprehensions of the Will and Providence of God concerning him and hereupon is sweetly satisfied and sits down at Rest in God in the midst of all he does to him or with him True God may deal somewhat severely with him he may break him with breach upon breach as he did Job he may cause all his Waves and his Billows to pass over him as he dealt with David but still the Soul looks upon all to be Holy Just and Good and no other than what God in his Sovereignty may do and so he Rests satisfied therewith he Rests content in God and his Will under all there are no disquietments or perplexities of Spirit no distractions or discomposures of Soul no frettings no tumults no murmurings no risings of heart against God or his Will but there is a sweet calm serenity and Rest in the Soul he is in a sedate serene posture in his God and this Rest in God the Psalmist speaks of Psal 37.7 Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for him fret not thy self because of him that prospereth in the way Resting in God is here opposed to fretting and so must note a quiet sedate well-composed Spirit in God 2. 'T is for a Soul to sit down satisfied with what God is as all and so it lies in a full and ample satisfaction in and with the Divine presence and fulness 'T is for a Soul to take up in and with the blessed God as his only and all-sufficient Portion and happiness for ever God my Beloved is an All-sufficient God he asserts his own All-sufficiency Gen. 17.1 I am God all-sufficient saies he to Abraham q. d. I am infinitely sufficient for my self and I am infinitely sufficient for thee and all my People to make the one and the other happy for ever God is an inexhaustible Fountain of Light Life Love Blessedness Perfection and Glory there is all good in God and he that has God has all To him that overcometh will I give to inherit all things And how so I will be his God Rev. 21.7 He has all good all happiness in him and in him we may find all as in its Fountain-fulness and purity Now the Soul seeing God to be such a God and withal looking upon him as his God in Covenant sits down satisfied with him alone saying I have enough I have all and so is at Rest in him whether he has much or little any thing or nothing of this worlds good whether the streams run high or low with him yet here is a a Fountain of infinite sweetness and blessedness and he drinks there and satisfies himself there he sees the Fountain is so full that he needs not the streams to make him happy and accordingly sits down satisfied therewith and is at Rest Thus David's Soul was at Rest in God Ps l. 16.5 6. the Lord is the portion of mine Inheritance and of my Cup Well and what then Why he sits down at Rest in him the lines saies he are fallen to me in pleasant places yea I have a goodly heritage I have enough enough for delight and enough for satisfaction I have as much as my Soul can wish or desire so Psal 17.15 As for me I will behold thy Face in Righteousness I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness in the verse immediately preceding he had spoken of some whose portion and happiness is in this World well and pray David where and in what is your Portion your happiness My Portion is in God and my Happiness is in God saies he in the sight of God and in the likeness of God let others take up their Rest Portion and Happiness where and in what they will God is my Rest my Portion my Happiness my All for ever as for me I will behold c. Again the Lord lives saies he and blessed be my Rock Psal 18.46 q. d. such and such Comforts are dead and gone they are not as Jacob spake of his sons well but however God lives still I have a living God and he is a living Happiness and that 's enough So 2 Sam. 23.5 Although my House be not so with God yet he hath made with me an everlasting Covenant ordered in all things and sure and this is all my Salvation and all my desire q. d. God is my God by Covenant and here is my happiness even all that my Soul can wish and accordingly he is at Rest in his God And Psal 73.25 26. Whom have I in heaven but thee and there is none upon Earth that I desire in comparison of thee my heart and my flesh faileth but God is the Rock of my heart and my Portion for ever How dark soever things lookt with him yet he looking to his God was satisfied and at Rest in him and with him as infinitely enough for him The Prophet Habakkuk resolved upon the same course Hab. 3.17 18. Although the Fig-tree shall not blossom neither shall Fruit be in the Vines the labour of the Olive shall fail c. yet will I rejoice in the Lord I will joy in the God of my Salvation He supposes the worst that could come and yet still resolves to be at Rest in God and that God alone shall be enough for him when all other things fail Thus the holy Soul sits down satissied with God alone setting God and an interest in God over and against all his Wants Losses Burthens Difficulties Temptations as one infinitely able to relieve and satisfie him under all his language to God is Lord let others take the Word and the good things thereof give me thy Self and I have enough run out to broken Cisterns who will let me have a free recourse unto the Fountain and I am satisfied 't is true the Tyde of Creature-comforts runs low with me and on the other hand the Waves and Surges of Affliction rise high but God is all-sufficient and I have enough in him he sees a little of that glorious Fullness Sweetness and Blessedness that is in God and hereupon sings an holy Requiem unto himself saying Soul take thine ease thou hast Goods Light Life Love Blessedness Salvation enough laid up for thee for many dayes yea for the dayes of Eternity take thine ease sit down satisfied in and with thy God alone had'st thou ten thousand Worlds without him thou had'st nothing but in him thou hast all Rest thou therefore in him Thus you see what 't is for a Soul to be at Rest in God and when he may be said to be at Rest in him CHAP. III. The great Obligations the Saints are under thus to live at Rest in God Several of these Obligations insisted on as the first evidence of the Truth of our Proposition HAving seen what 't is for a Soul to be at Rest in God our next work shall be to shew you what Obligations the Saints are under thus to live at Rest in him and that
to him So again Psal 142.4 5. I looked on my right hand and beheld but there was no man that would know me resuge failed me no man cared for my Soul Well and what then Why he runs to God vouches him afresh for his I cryed unto thee O Lord I said thou art my refuge and my portion in the Land of the living So the Church in Her great troubles and afflictions does in like manner the Lord is my Portion saith She Lam. 3.24 Sometimes upon occasion of some eminent mercy or deliverance wrought by God for them they do make a new choice of God and vouch him afresh to be theirs so those Exod. 15.2 The Lord is my strength and song and he is become my Salvation He is my God I will prepare him an Habitation my Fathers God I will exult him He wrought a signal deliverance for them he had carried them through the Red Sea delivered them from Pharaoh and the Egyptians whom he drowned for their sakes and now they sing a song of praise to God and vouch him to be their God they renew Covenant with God and so their choice of him as their Rest their Portion their All for ever Thus the Church does Psal 48.14 This God is our God for ever and ever he will be our God and guide even unto Death God had done great things for Her and hereupon she vouches him afresh for hers David often does the like sometimes again upon occasion of some fresh discoveries made of God in his love and beauty to them or their being taken into some near and intimate communion with him then they chuse him afresh and vouch him to be theirs afresh So Psal 73.25 26. the Psalmist whoever he was did Whom have I in Heaven but thee saies he to God and there is none upon Earth that I desire besides thee thou art the Rock of my Heart and my Portion for ever Here is a new choice of God made by this holy Man and upon what occasion was it Why he had been with God in his Sanctuary that is he had been conversing with God in his Word and Ordinances he had had some new displayes and discoveries of his Love Beauty and Excellency made to him and hereupon he chuses God afresh and vouches him to be his All both in Heaven and upon Earth So you know when the Spouse had been led into the Banquetting House by Christ and had had the Banner of his Love displayed over Her when She had been feasted by him in his House of Wine then She made a new choice of Christ and vouches him for hers afresh My Beloved is mine and I am his Cant. 2.6 Thus the Saints both at first and also often afterwards in their walking with God have chosen and do chuse him to 〈◊〉 their God and Portion their Rest and Happiness and should they not then Rest in him◠Surely this choice of theirs calls aloud and should be a mighty Obligation upon them to live at Rest in God for ever 3. The third Obligation the Saints are under to live at Rest in God is this God is at Rest in them as the Saints have chosen God for their Rest so God hath chosen them for his Rest and his Soul is at Rest in them Psal 132.13 14 The Lord hath chosen Zion he hath desired it for his Habitation this is my Rest for ever here will I dwell for I have desired it Zion here is a Type of the Church and People of God and as such God's Soul is at Rest in Her This is my Rest The Saints are and to eternity will be a delight and solace to the Soul of God God is indeed delighted and at Rest in his People above all the workes of his hands Hence the Church is called The delight of God Isa 62.4 Hence also he is said to rejoice over them with joy to rest in his love upon them and to joy over them with singing Zeph. 3.18 God is in some sort more delighted and at Rest in his People than in the Angels themselves and indeed he sees a greater beauty and glory upon them than upon the Angels he looks upon the Angels as standing in their own Beauty their own Holiness and Righteousness only but he looks upon his Saints as standing in and cloathed with the Beauty and Righteousness of Christ and that is much more glorious than the Angels The Beauty and Righteousness of the Angels is the Beauty and Righteousness but of Creatures but the Beauty and Righteousness of the Saints is the Beauty and Righteousness of him that is God-man God as well as Man Rom. 1.17 and on this account God's Soul is more at Rest in them God is chiefly delighted and at Rest in himself and the perfections of his own being next to himself his Soul is delighted and at rest in Christ as Mediator Behold mine Elect in whom my Soul delighteth saith the Father of him Isa 42.1 and next to Christ the Mediator his Soul is at Rest in his Saints and People in and through Christ he looks upon them not as they are in themselves but as they are in Christ not as aapart from Christ but as made one with Christ and so as shining in his Beauty and clothed with his Righteousness as participating in all his Amiablenesses he lookes upon them not so much according to what they are at present as according to what they are in the Counsels of his own love and what he intends to make them and so they are all glorious both within and without and accordingly he is delighted in them Now is God's Soul at Rest in them and should not their Souls be at Rest in him O what a mighty Obligation is this upon them alwaycs to be at Rest in God! 4. The fourth Obligation the Saints are under to live at Rest in God is this They hope to and assuredly shall live at Rest in God and with God for ever in Heaven Heaven is a state of Rest so the Apostle represents it their remaineth a Rest to the People of God Heb. 4.9 't is a state of Rest in God and with God and in this Rest the Saints hope to live and live for ever Hence they are said to have this Hope every one that hath this Hope 1 Joh. 3.3 this Hope that is the Hope of seeing Christ and being made like him in the other World the Hope of Heaven the eternal Rest Saints then are persons that have this Hope hence also Heaven and the Rest to come is called Hope the Hope which is laid up for you Spem hic posuit pro rc sperata nam spes in animis nostris est gloria quam speramus in Caelis Calv. in Loc. Col. 1.5 and the blessed Hope looking for the blessed Hope Tit. 2.13 In both these places Heaven and the coming Rest is called Hope For Hope here as Calvin and others observe is put for the Object of Hope or the Good