after praying and striving to obtain but ah how few attain it Certainly there are not many among the multitude of Professors of this Generation that can say as Paul here did I am ready to be bound or to die for Christ CHAP. II. Shews that although God takes no delight in afflicting his people yet he sometimes exposeth them to great and grievous Sufferings with a brief account why and how he calls them thereunto THe Mercies and Compassions of God over his people are exceeding great and tender Psal 103.14 Like as a Father pitieth his Children so the Lord pitieth them that fear him he delights not in afflicting and grieving them Lam. 3.33 He doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the Children of men The Scripture intimates to us a seeming Conflict betwixt the Justice and Mercy of God when he is about to deliver up his people into their Enemies hands Hosea 11.8 9. How shall I give thee up Ephraim How shall I deliver thee Israel How shall I make thee as Adma How shall I set thee as Zeboim Mine heart is turned within me my repentings are kindled together Which shews us with what reluctance and great unwillingness the Lord goes about such work as this the work of Judgment is his strange work it pleases him better to exercise the milder Attribute of Mercy towards his Children Hence we find when he is preparing to execute his Judgments that he delays the execution as long as the honour of his Name and safety of his people will permit Jer. 44.22 He bears till he can bear no longer he often turns away his wrath from them Psal 78.38 39. He tryes them by lesser Judgments and gentler Corrections to prevent greater Amos 4.6 When his people are humbled under the threatnings of his wrath his heart is melted into compassion to them Jer. 31.17 20. And when ever his Mercy prevails against Judgment it is with joy and triumph Jam. 2.13 Mercy rejoyceth against Judgment For he feels his own tender compassions yerning over them he foreseeth and is no way willing to gratifie the insulting pride of his and their Enemies Deut. 32.26 27. I said I would scatter them into corners I would make the remembrance of them to cease from among men were it not that I feared the wrath of the Enemy lest their Adversaries should behave themselves strangely c. Yet all this notwithstanding it often falls out by the provocations of his Sons and Daughters that the Lord gives them up into the hands of their Enemies for the correction of their evils and the manifestation of his own glory Seneca though a Heathen could say that God loves his people with a Masculine love not with a Womanish Indulgence and Tenderness If need require they shall be in heaviness through manifold temptations 1 Pet. 1.6 He had rather their hearts should be heavy under adversity than vain and careless under prosperity the choicest Spirits have been exercised with the sharpest sufferings and those that now shine as Stars in Heaven have been trod under foot as Dung on the Earth 1 Cor. 4.11 Vnto this present hour we both hunger and thirst and are naked and buffeted and have no certain dwelling places and labour working with our hands being reviled we bless being persecuted we suffer it being defamed we entreat we are made as the filth of the world and the off-scouring of all things unto this day The eleventh Chapter to the Hebrews is a Compendium of the various and grievous sufferings of the Primitive Saints They were tortured they were sawn asunder were tempted were slain with the Sword they wandred about in Sheep-skins and Goat-skins being afflicted destitute tormented of whom the world was not worthy they wandred in Desarts and in Mountains in Dens and Caves of the Earth And since the Earth had dried up those Rivers of precious blood whereof the Sacred Records make mention what Seas of Christian blood have since those days been shed by bloody Persecutors Histories inform us that in the ten Primitive Persecutions so many of the Saints and Martyrs of Jesus have been slain as that you may allow five thousand a day to every day in the whole Year Those bloody Emperours sported themselves with the deaths of Gods dearest Saints many precious Christians were burnt by night at Rome to serve as Torches to light their Enemies in their passage through the Streets eight hundred thousand Martyrs are mentioned within the space of thirty Years since the Jesuits arose out of the Bottomless Pit To what grievous Sufferings did the Lord give up those precious Servants of Christ the Waldenses and Albigenses who received the Light of Reformation about the Year 1260. when the Fogs of Antichristian Darkness had overspread the Earth a People sound in Judgment as appears by their Letters Catechismes and Confessions which are extant a People of a simple plain and inoffensive behaviour yet with what fury and rage did that impious Pope Pius prosecute them to destruction driving them into the Woods and Mountains except the Aged and Children that could not flee who were murdered in the way Some famished in the Caves and Clefts of the Rocks others endured the Rack for eight hours together some beaten with Iron Rods others thrown from the tops of high Towers and broken to pieces What bloody Shambles and Slaughter-houses have France Ireland and England been made by Popish cruelty More might be related out of each Story than a tender-hearted Reader is able to bear the rehearsal of But what God hath done he may do again we are not better than our Fathers dismal Clouds of indignation are gathering over our heads charged with double destruction should the Lord please to make them break upon us we cannot imagine the rage of Satan to be abated now that his Kingdom hastens to its period Rev. 12.12 nor are his Instruments grown less cruel and skilful to destroy The Land indeed hath enjoyed a long rest and this Generation is acquainted with little more of Martyrdom than what the Histories of former times inform us of but yet let no man befool himself with a groundless expectation of a continuing tranquillity Augustin thinks that the Bloody Sweat which over-ran the Body of Christ in the Garden signified the sharp and grievous Sufferings which in his Mystical Body he should afterwards endure and indeed it is a truth that these are also called the Remains of Christs Sufferings Col. 1.24 His Personal Sufferings were indeed compleated at his Resurrection that Cup was full to the brim to which no drop of Suffering can be added but his Sufferings in his Mystical Body are not yet full by his Personal Sufferings he fully satisfied the wrath of God but the Sufferings of his People have not yet satisfied the wrath of men though Millions of precious Saints have shed their blood for Christ whose Souls are now crying under the Altar How long Lord how long Yet there are many more coming on behind in the same
fainting under his trouble Psal 61.2 in the Lord is everlasting strength El Shaddai is a name of encouragement to a feeble Soul Isa 40.29 30 31. And thus you see the first particular made good viz. What a strengthning influence it hath into a weak Soul Secondly In the next place let us see how it lightens the Christians Burden as well as strengthens his back to bear And certainly this Grace of Faith doth strangely alter the very Nature of Sufferings taking away both the heaviness and horrour of them and this it doth divers ways 1. By committing the business to Christ and leaving the matter with him and so quitting the Soul of all those anxieties and perturbations which are the very burden and weight of affliction Psal 37.5 For certainly that which sinks us in days of trouble is rather from within from our unruly seditious and clamorous thoughts than from the troubles themselves with which we conflict But by committing the matter to God the Soul is quickly brought to rest 2. By discovering much present good in our troubles the more good Faith discovers in a trouble the more supportable and easie it makes it to the Soul Now Faith brings in a comfortable Report that they are not only evils as the troubles of the wicked are Ezek. 7.5 but have an allay and mixture of much good Heb. 12.10 Isa 27.9 3. By fore-seeing the end and final removal of them and that near at hand 2 Cor. 4.17 That which daunts and amazes men in times of trouble is that they can see no end of them Hence the heart faints and hands hang down through discouragement But now Faith brings the joyful tidings of the end of troubles and saith to the Soul Why art thou cast down O my Soul and why so disquieted and discouraged within me as if thy sufferings were like the sufferings of the Damned endless and everlasting whereas they are but for a moment Yet a little a very little while and he that shall come will come and will not tarry Heb. 10.37 Yet a little while and then the days of thy mourning shall be over 4. By comparing our sufferings with the sufferings of others which exceedingly diminisheth and shrinks them up Sometimes the Believer compares his sufferings with Christs and then he is ashamed that ever he should complain and droop under them Oh! saith he What is this to that which the Lord Jesus suffered for me he suffered in all his Members Head Hands Side Feet from all hands Friends and Enemies in all his Offices Yea in his Soul as well as in his Body And indeed the sufferings of his Soul were the very Soul of his sufferings sometimes he compares them with the sufferings of others of the Saints in former Ages When he reads in Faith the History of their Persecutions he is shamed out of his Complaints and saith Am I better than my Fathers Sometimes he compares them with the sufferings of the Damned Oh what is this to the everlasting burnings What is a Prison to Hell How light and easie is it to suffer for Christ in comparison of those sufferings which are from Christ And thus the Soul is quieted and the terrour of sufferings abated 5. Faith entitles Christ to the Believers sufferings and puts them upon his score and so it exceedingly transforms and alters them Ah! it 's no small relief when a man can hold up the Bible as that Martyr did at the stake and say This is that which hath brought me hither Or as the Psalmist For thy sake we are killed all the day long Or as the Apostle Col. 1.24 I fill up that which is behind of the sufferings of Christ in my flesh 6. Lastly Faith ingages the presence of God to be and abide with the Soul in all its solitudes and sufferings It lays hold upon the Promises made to that purpose Psal 23.2 Isa 43.2 Heb. 13.5 John 14.18 and whilest a poor Soul enjoys this the very sense of troubles is swallowed up And thus I have given some brief hints how Faith relieves and strengthens the Soul in a suffering hour The next thing is to direct you how to improve this excellent Grace that it may do you such service as this in a time of need And in order thereunto I shall give you these seven Directions 1. Attend diligently upon the Ministration of the Gospel which is not only the procreant but also the conserving cause of Faith 1 Pet. 2.2 the Doctrine of Faith is the Food and Nutriment of the Grace of Faith There are its Rules its Encouragements its Cordials Thence Faith takes and treasures up its Michtams to which it hath recourse in times of need Every Attribute Command or Promise that shines forth there is a Dish for Faith to feed on but all together are a Royal Feast Psal 63.5 Some say the Land of Judea is called the Land of the Living in Psal 27.13 in respect of the Ordinances of God which that people enjoyed Certain it is they are the great Instruments of quickning Souls at first and preserving that life it so begat in them But then be sure they have Christs stamp upon them and that they be ministred by his own Officers and in his own way And so you may reasonably expect more fruits and influences from them than from all private gifts and helps in the World For the Lord loveth the Gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob Psal 87.2 and all private helps may say in comparison of Christs publick Ordinances as Gideon said to the men of Ephraim Judg. 8.2 What have we done in comparison of you 2. Improve well your Sacrament seasons those Harvest-days of Faith This Ordinance hath a direct and peculiar tendency to the improvement and strengthening of Faith It is a Pledge superadded to the Promise for Faiths sake Heavenly and Sublime Mysteries do therein stoop down to your Senses that you may have the clearer apprehensions of them and the clearer the apprehensions are the stronger the assent of Faith must needs be By this Seal also the Promise comes to be more ratified to us and the firmer the Promise appears to the Soul the more bold and adventurous Faith is in casting it self upon it Oh! how many poor doubting trembling Souls have in such a Season gathered the full ripe Fruits of Assurance from the Top-boughs of that Ordinance 3. Frequent actings of Faith are rare and special means of improving it To him that hath i. e. that improves and uses what he hath shall be given Mat. 25.29 This was the way by which Paul thrived in Faith and every other Grace so exceedingly that he out-grew them that were in Christ before him 1 Cor. 15.10 It 's true that its beginning in the Soul is not after the manner of other Habits either Moral or Natural This is not of Natural acquisition but by Divine Infusion but yet its improvement is in the same manner Oh then if ever you would
PREPARATION FOR SUFFERINGS OR The best Work in the worst Times WHEREIN The Necessity Excellency and Means of our readiness for Sufferings are evinced and prescribed our call to Suffering cleared and the great unreadiness of many Professours bewailed By John Flavel Minister of Christ in Devon Amos 4.12 Therefore thus will I do unto thee O Israel and because I will do this unto thee prepare to meet thy God O Israel Sapienti meliora sunt in votis deteriora vero in expectatione Plut. de Tranquil Gravius est vulnus quod non expectatur illa aegrius tollerantur quibus homo se non prius assuefecit Augustine LONDON Printed for Robert Boulter at the Turks-head in Cornhil 1681. THE EPISTLE TO THE READER IT was the observation of the Learned Gerson when the world was not so old by many years as now it is that Mundus senescens patitur Phantasias The aged world like aged persons dotes and growes whimsical in its old age the truth of which observation is confirmed by no one thing more than the fond and groundless dreams and phantasmes of tranquility and continuing prosperity wherewith the multitude please themselves even whilst the sins of the times are so great and the signs of the times so sad and lowring as they are It is not the design of this Manual to scare and affright any man with imaginary dangers much less to sow jealousies and foment the discontents of the times It being a just matter of lamentation that all the tokens of Gods anger produce with many of us no better fruit but bold Censures and loud Clamours instead of humiliation for our own sins and due preparation to take up our own Cross and follovv Christ in a suffering path which is the only mark and aim of this Tract We read the Histories of the Primitive Sufferers but not with a Spirit prepared to follovv them Some Censure them as too prodigal of their bloud and others commend their Courage and Constancy but where are they that sincerely resolve and prepare to be followers of them who thro faith and ptaience inherit the promises Heb. 6.12 or take them for an Example of suffering affliction and of patience Jam. 5.10 It is as much our interest as it is our duty to be seasonably avvakned out of our pleasant but most pernicious drovvziness Troubles will be so much the more sinking and intollerable by how much they steal upon us by vvay of surprizal For look as expectation deflowreth any temporal comfort by sucking out much of the sweetness thereof before hand and so we find the less in it when we come to the actual enjoyment So the expectation of evils abates much of the dread and terrour by accustoming our thoughts before hand to them and making preparation for them so that we find them not so grievous amazing and intolerable when they are come indeed This was exemplified to us very lively by holy Mr. Bradford the Martyr when the Keepers Wife came running into his Chamber saying O Mr. Bradford I bring you heavy Tidings for to morrow you must be burned your Chain is now buying and presently you must go to Newgate He put off his Hat and looking up to Heaven said O Lord I thank thee for it I have looked for this a long time it comes not suddainly to me the Lord make me worthy of it See in this Example the singular advantage of a prepared and ready soul Reader The Cup of Sufferings is a very bitter Cup and it is but needful that we provide somewhat to sweeten it that we may be able to receive it with Thanksgiving And what those sweetning ingredients are and how to prepare them you will have some direction and help in the following discourse which hath once already been presented to the publick view and that it may at this time also wherein nothing can be more seasonable become come farther useful and assisting to the people of God in their present duties is the hearty desire of Thine and the Churches Servant in Christ J. F. THE CONTENTS CHAPTER I. WHerein the Text is opened and the Doctrine propounded CHAP. II. Shews that although God takes no delight in afflicting his people yet sometimes he exposeth them to great and grievous sufferings with a brief account why or how he calls them thereunto CHAP. III. Shews that it is usual with God to premonish his people of approaching Trials and Sufferings with some account of the manner how and reasons why he so forewarns them CHAP. IV. Demonstrating the excellency of a prepared heart for the worst of sufferings and what a blessed thing it is to be ready to be bound or die for Christ as Paul here was CHAP. V. Evincing the necessity of a sound and real work of grace upon the heart to fit a man for the sufferings of Christ CHAP. VI. Wherein the nature of this work of grace in which our habitual fitness for sufferings lies is briefly opened and an account given of the great advantage the gracious person hath by it for suffering work CHAP. VII In which the necessity of getting clear evidences of the work of grace in us in order to our readiness for sufferings is held forth the nature of that evidence opened and divers things that cloud and obscure it removed out of the way CHAP. VIII Discovering the necessity of an improved faith for the right management of sufferings and directing to some special means for the improvement thereof CHAP. IX Shewing the need and usefulness of Christian fortitude in times of suffering and danger with a brief account of the nature thereof and the right means of attaining it CHAP. X. Discovering the necessity of an heart mortified to all earthly enjoyments in order to our readiness for a time of suffering with several directions for the attaining thereof CHAP. XI Wherein is opened the singular advantage that suffering Saints have by their skill and insight in the methods and mysteries of Satans temptations some of those methods opened and rules for avoiding the danger briefly prescribed CHAP. XII Sheweth that a choice part of our preparation for sufferings consisteth in the improvement of our praying abilities and keeping close with God in that heavenly exercise in days of temptation and distress wherein also of the nature and means of its improvemente CHAP. XIII Discovering the necessity of going out of our selves to Jesus Christ even when our habitual and actual preparations are at the greatest height and depending as constantly and intirely upon the influences of his Spirit as if we had done nothing together with the means of working our hearts into such a frame CHAP. XIV Containing the first use of the point by way of Conviction discovering the unreadiness of multitudes of professours for suffering work notwithstanding the gracious respites of judgments and the loud and long continued calls both of the word and the rod. CHAP. XV. Making a farther improvement of the point by way of Exhortation to all
and it burned him yet he laid it not to heart O prodigious sottishness it was not some small drops of Gods anger but the fury of his anger not some lighter skirmish of his Judgments with them but the strength of Battel it was not some particular stroaks upon single persons or families but it set him on fire round about a general Conflagration yet all this would not awaken them Fourthly The persecution of Gods faithful Ministers and People was another sin that procured and a sign that foretold the destruction of their Nation 2 Chron. 36.15 16. And the Lord God of their Fathers sent to them by his Messengers rising up betimes and sending because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place 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 There were also a number of upright Souls among them who desired to to worship God according to his own prescription but a Snare was laid for them in Mispah and a Net spread for them upon Tabor Hos 5.1 and this hastened Judgment towards them Mispah and Tabor were places lying in the way betwixt Samaria and Jerusalem where the true worship of God was and in those places Spies were set by the Priests to observe and inform against them so that it became very hazardous to attend the pure and incorrupt worship of God which quickly hastened on their ruine Fifthly The removal of godly and useful men by death in more than ordinary hast was to them a sign of desolation at hand Isa 57.1 The righteous perisheth and no man layeth it to heart and merciful men are taken away none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come In this case God acts towards his people as the Husbandman in a catching Harvest doth by his Corn he hurries it with a shuffling hast into the Barn when he sees a Storm coming or as a careful Father with his Sons that are abroad at School who sends his horses to setch them home speedily when he hears the Plague is begun in the place upon this ground the Prophet Amos bewails himself Amos 7.1 Woe is me for I am as when they have gathered the Summer fruits as the Grape gleanings of the Vintage there is no Cluster to eat my Soul desired the first ripe fruit q. d. Alas alas what miserable days are at hand what miseries must I expect to see the pleasant Clusters i. e. the Societies of the Saints are gathered away by the hand of death there are but few that remain here and there a single Saint like Grapes after the Vintage is done two or three upon the outmost branches Sixthly The general decay of the Life and Power of Godliness amongst them that were left foreboded destruction at the door this is both a provoking sin and a fore-running sign of National calamity Hosea 4.18 Their drink is sowre A Metaphor lively expressing the deadness and formality of the peoples in the worship of God it was like sowre or dead drink which hath lost its spirit and relish and is become flat such were their duties no spiritual life affection or savour in them they heard as if they heard not and prayed as if they prayed not the Ordinances of God were to them as the Ordinances of Men of which the Apostle saith that they perish in the using Seventhly To conclude Mutual Animosities Jars and Divisions were to them manifest symptoms of National calamities and desolations for then Ephraim envied Judah and Judah vexed Ephraim Isa 11.13 Hosea 9.7 The days of visitation are come the days of recompence are come Israel shall know it The Prophet is a fool the spiritual man is mad for the multitude of thine iniquities and the great hatred When such symptoms of Gods indignation do appear upon any people the Lord by them as by so many glazing Meteors and blazing Comets forewarns the World that his Judgments are near even at the door These Signs all men ought to observe and behold with trembling If you ask why doth God usually give such warnings of his indignation before it comes the reasons are 1. To prevent the execution 2. To make them more tollerable 3. To leave the incorrigible inexcusable First Warning is given with design to prevent the execution of Judgments Amos 4.12 Therefore thus will I do unto thee O Israel and because I will do this unto thee prepare to meet thy God O Israel i. e. prepare thy self to meet me in the way of my Judgments by Humiliation and Intercession to prevent the execution And what else was the design of God in sending Jonah to that great City Nineveh but to excite them to repentance for the prevention of their ruine This Jonah knew to be the Lords meaning how positive soever the words of his Commission were and therefore he declined the Message to secure his Credit knowing that if upon warning given they repented the gracious Nature of God would soon melt into compassion over them and Free Grace would make him appear as a Lyar for so we must expound his words Jonah 4.2 Was not this my saying when I was yet in my Country therefore I fled before unto Tarshis for I knew that thou art a gracious God and merciful slow to anger and of great kindness and repentest thee of the evil q. d. yea Lord I knew before-hand it would come to this thou sendest me positively to denounce thy Judgments to Nineveh mean time desiring nothing more than that the execution of them might be prevented by their repentance And thus thy Mercy hath exposed my Reputation in saving them from destruction Secondly God forewarns his people of Judgments to make them more tollerable when they come expected evils are nothing so heavy as those that come by surprizal for look as the long expectation of a Mercy makes it less sweet our thoughts having anticipated and suckt out much of the sweetness before-hand so the expectation of Judgments before they befall us makes them less bitter and burthensome than else they would be the Soul having inured and accustomed it self to them by frequent thoughts and prepared and made ready it self to entertain them as Paul did in my Text. To prevent the Disciples surprizal and offence at those days of Persecution that were coming upon them Christ foretold them and gave them fair warning before-hand Joh. 16.4 Thirdly He forewarns his people of approaching dangers to leave the incorrigible wholly inexcusable that those who have no sense of sin nor care to prevent ruine might have no Cloak for their folly when Judgments overtake them What wilt thou say when he shall punish thee Jer. 13.21 22. as if he should say What Plea or Apology is left thee after so many fair warnings and timely Premonitions Thou canst not say I have surprized thee or that thou was ruined before thou wast warned
the Waters cannot quench nor the Flood drown Cant. 8.6 Probatio amoris est exhibitio operis If you love Christ indeed shew your love by some fruits of it and surely this is a very choice fruit and proof of it There be many that profess a great deal of love to Christ but when it comes to this Touchstone it appears false and counterfeit but a meer flourish when no danger is near But that Soul which buckles on the Shooe of Preparation to follow him through Thorns and Briars and over the Rocks and Mountains of Difficulties and Troubles loves him indeed Jer. 2.2 3. Beloved it 's one of the choicest Discoveries of your love to your Master Christ yea it is such a testification of love to him as Angels are not capable of They shew their love by their readiness to do his Will in the execution of which they fly as with Wings Ezek. 1.24 But you only have the happiness of testifying your love by your readiness to suffer for him and is not this excellent 8. When the Heart is prepared for the worst Sufferings it 's an Argument that your Will is subdued to the Will of God for till this be done in a good measure you cannot stand ready to suffer for him But now to have the Will subdued by Grace to the Will of God is a very choice and excellent frame indeed for in this the main power of Grace lieth Look in what Faculty the chief Residence and strength of sin was in the same the chief Residence and power of Grace after Conversion is also Now it is in the Will that the strength and power of sin before Conversion lay See Joh. 5.40 Psal 81.11 Jer. 44.16 17. And indeed it was the Devils strong Hold which in the Day of Christs Power he storms and reduces to his Obedience Psal 110.3 Oh what a blessed thing is this the Will rules the Man it hath the Empire of the whole man it commands the Faculties of the Soul imperio politico and it commands the Members of the Body imperio despotico Now to have Christ and Grace rule that which rules and commands your inner and outer Man too is no small Mercy And a better Evidence that it is so cannot be given than this that you stand ready or do seriously prepare your selves to suffer the hardest things for Christ If your Will can like that Work it 's an Argument Grace hath conquered and subdued your wills indeed 9. This Preparation of Heart to Sufferings is an excellent thing because God is so abundantly pleased with it that he often excuses them from sufferings in whom he finds it and accepts it as if the service had been actually done So Abraham Gen. 22.12 he was ready to offer up his Isaac's life to God but God seeing his Servants heart really prepared and ready for that difficult service and high point of Self-denial provided himself another Sacrifice instead of Isaac Abraham shall have his Isaac back again and that with advantage for he hath with him not only a choice Experiment of his love to God but Gods high approbation of him and acceptation of his Offering It was all one in respect of Divine acceptance as if he had been slain and so the Scripture represents it Jam. 2.21 And in this sence that Promise is often made good to Gods People who stand ready to give up their Isaacs their lives liberties and dearest enjoyments to the Lord He that will lose his life for my Names sake shall save it Luk. 9.24 Now what a blessed thing is this you may this way have the Crown of Martyrdom and yet not shed one drop of blood for Christ actually Ah how kindly doth God accept it at his poor Creatures hands when he sees how willing they are to serve him with their best enjoyments It is well saith he to David that it was in thy heart 1 King 8.18 10. And then lastly to add no more it is beyond Controversie an excellent and blessed thing because should such a Christian after all his pains and preparations be overborn and fall by Temptation yet this preparation of his heart excuses his fall from those aggravations that are upon the falls of others and will give him both support under such a Condition and encouragement to hope for a speedy recovery out of it Ah! it 's no small comfort when a poor Soul that hath been overborn by temptation can come to God and say Lord thou knowest that this was not a wilful departure from my duty but contrary to the bent and resolution of my heart thou sawest my diligence before-hand to prepare for it thou sawest my fears and tremblings of heart about it O Lord forgive O Lord recover thy Servants wash away this spot it is one of the spots of thy children an infirmity not a Rebellion This may much stay the Soul Surely in this case thou hast many grounds of comfort that another wants For thy sin being but an infirmity 1. It 's that which is common to all Saints Psal 103.11 12 13 14. 2. God hath mercy and pardons for such sins as these else woe to the holiest Soul Psal 130.3 4. Solomon upon this ground pleads for mercy for them that prepared their hearts 2 Chron. 30.18 19. and God hath laid in sweet grounds of encouragement for such Souls Numb 15.27 28. Heb. 5.2 How tenderly doth Christ deal with the Disciples under this kind of sin Mat. 26.41 and though they forsook him for a time yet he received them again though they fled from him yet they all returned again and appeared boldly for Christ afterwards and sealed their Confession of him with their blood and that which recovered them again was this that their fall and departure was contrary to the resolution and standing frame and bent of their hearts for they resolved all to cleave to him to the death Mat. 26.35 whereas those that ingaged in a profession of him inconsiderately and never resolved nor prepared for the worst fell off from him and never returned any more Joh. 6.66 So then upon the whole you cannot but grant that it is a very blessed and excellent thing to prepare thus for the greatest Sufferings that can befall us for Christ We come next to shew wherein it lies CHAP. V. Evincing the necessity of a sound and real work of Grace upon the heart to fit a man for the Sufferings of Christ HAving shewed you that God doth sometimes put his dearest people upon very hard services for him and what an excellent thing it is to prepare our selves to obey the Call of God to them In the next place I come to shew you wherein this Preparation or readiness for Sufferings consists and how many things concur and contribute their assistance to this Work Now there is a two-fold Preparation or readiness for Suffering the one is habitual the other actual That habitual readiness is nothing else but the inclination of a Soul to suffer any
thing designed in this Chapter and is the result and issue of all that hath hitherto been said about this work of Grace Beloved can you imagine that God would imploy his infinite and glorious Power to produce this new Creature in such an excellent nature it being the Master-piece of all his Works of Wonder wrought upon man and not aim at some singular use and excellent end Every wise Agent designs some end and what God aims at he hath told us Isa 43.21 Ephes 2.20 And accordingly he expects singular things from such persons Mat. 5.47 If God had not aimed at some new service he need not have made a new Creature the old Creature was fit enough for the old use and service it was imployed in But God hath some choice service to be done wherein he will be glorified He will have his Name glorified even in this world by the active and passive obedience of his people But this being far above all the power of Nature God therefore brings them forth in a new and heavenly nature endowed with rare supernatural and divine qualities by which it is fitted and excellently prepared for any service of God by doing or by suffering which before he had no fitness or ability for The very Make and Constitution of this new Creature speaks its use and end As now if a man look upon a Sword or Knife supposing he had never seen either before yet I say by viewing the shape and properties of it he will say this was made to cut Even so here this new Creature was formed for some glorious and singular service for God to which it is exceedingly advantaged whether God put you upon doing or suffering If you ask wherein this advantage of the new Creature to honour God either way lies I answer It principally consists in its heavenly inclination or natural tendency to God This is its great advantage For by vertue of this 1. If God call a man to any Duty there is a Principle within closing with the Command without and moving the Soul freely and spontaneously to duty Psal 27.8 If God say Seek my face such an heart ecchoes to the call Thy face Lord will I seek And this is it which is call'd The writing of Gods Law in the heart Jer. 31.33 and must needs be a mighty advantage for now its work is its delight and wages Psal 19.11 The Command to such a Soul is not grievous 1 John 5.3 And by this it 's kept from tiring in duty and being weary of its work as you see what pains Children can take at play how they will run and sweat and endure knocks and falls and take no notice of it put them upon any manual labour and they cannot endure half so much When our work is our delight we never faint nor tire at it This inclination to God is to the Soul as wings to a Bird or sails to a Ship This carries the Soul easily through every duty O there is a vast difference betwixt a man that works for wages and one whose work is wages to him And here you may at once see wherein the principal difference betwixt the Hypocrite and the real Christian lies in the performance of duty and also have a true account of the reason why one perseveres in his work to the end when the other flags Why here is the true account of both the one is moved to duty from a natural inclination to it the other is forced upon it by some external motives For the Hypocrite takes not delight in the spiritual and inward part of duty but is secretly weary of it Mal. 1.13 only his ambition and self-ends put him upon it as a task But now the upright heart goes to God as his joy Psal 43.4 and saith It is good for me to draw nigh to God Psal 73. ult When the Sabbath comes that Golden Spot of the Week oh how he longs to see the beauty of the Lord in his Ordinances Psal 27.4 and when ingaged in the Worship of God he cannot satisfie himself in bodily service or to serve God in the oldness of the letter He knoweth that this perswasion cometh not of him that called him Gal. 5.7 8. He labours to ingage his heart to approach to God Jer. 30.21 And hence those mountings of heart and violent sallies of the desires heaven-ward And thus you see one rare advantage to glorifie God actively flowing from the inclination of this new Creature 2. But then secondly Hence in like manner hath the Soul as great an advantage for sufferings For this new Creature having such a natural tendency to God will enable the Soul in which it is to break its way to God through all the interposing obstacles and discouragements What are persecutions what are reproaches what are the fears and frowns of enemies but so many blocks thrown in the Souls way to keep it from God and Duty And indeed where this Principle of Grace is wanting they prove inaccessible Mountains Graceless hearts are stalled and quite discouraged by them but now this tendency of the Soul to God enables the Christian to break his way through all You may say of him in such a case as the Historian doth of Hannibal who forced a way over the Alps with Fire and Vinegar either he will find a way or make a way Shall Sword or Famine or any other Creature separate me from Christ saith an upright Soul No no it will through all to him and that from this tendency of his new Nature You see in Nature every thing hath a tendency to its center Fire will up do what you can to suppress it Water will to the Sea if it meet with Dams yea Mountains in its way if it cannot bear them down it will creep about some other way and wind and turn to find a passage to the Sea God is the center of all gracious Spirits and Grace will carry the Soul through all to him This is Grace and this is your advantage by it in the most difficult part of your work It will carry you through all make the hardest work easie and pleasant 2 Cor. 12.10 And if great sufferings or temptations interpose betwixt you and your God it will break through all and enable you to withstand all as it did Paul in the Text who forced his way not only through the fury of Enemies but also through the entreaties and tears of Friends CHAP. VII In which the necessity of getting clear Evidences of this work of Grace in us in order to our readiness for sufferings is held forth the nature of that Evidence opened and divers things that cloud and obscure it removed out of the way I Have done with habitual readiness consisting in an inwrought work of Grace The following particulars are the things in which our actual readiness lies And of them that which comes next to be handled is the getting of clear Evidences in our own Souls that this work hath been wrought
on us this will exceedingly tend to your strengthning and comfort in a suffering hour Blessed Paul who here professeth himself ready both for Bonds and Death was clear in this point 2 Tim. 4.6 7. 2 Tim. 1.12 And indeed had he been cloudy and dark in this he could not have said I am ready No no he had been in an ill case to undertake that Journey to Jerusalem And thou wilt find it a singular advantage in dark and difficult days to have all clear and right within Now for the opening of this I will shew 1. What the Evidence or Manifestation of the work of Grace is 2. How it appears to be of such great advantage to a suffering Saint 3. Prescribe some Rules for the obtaining of it 1. What it is And in short it 's nothing else but the Spirits shining upon his own work in the hearts of Believers thereby enabling them sensibly to see and feel it to their own satisfaction And this is exprest in Scripture under a pleasant variety of Metaphors Sometimes it is called the shedding abroad of the love of God in the heart Rom. 5.5 sometimes the lifting up of the light of Gods countenance Psal 4.6 and sometimes it 's exprest without a Trope by Christs manifesting himself to the Soul John 14.21 For the opening of it I desire you would consider these six things 1. That it is attainable by Believers in this life and that in a very high degree and measure Many of the Saints have had it in a full measure 1 Cor. 2.12 1 John 3.24 John 21.15 2. Though it be attainable by Believers yet it is a thing separable from true Grace and many precious Souls have gone mourning for the want of it Isa 50.10 This was sometimes the case of Heman David Job and multitudes more 3. During its continuance it is the sweetest thing in the world It swallows up all Troubles and doubles all other Comforts It puts more gladness into the heart than the increase of Corn and Wine Psal 4.6 Suavis hora sed brevis mora sapit quidem suavissime sed gustatur rarissime Bern. 4. Both in the continuation and removal of it the Spirit acts arbitrarily No man can say how long he shall walk in this pleasant Light Psal 30.7 By thy favour thou hast made my Mountain stand strong thou hiddest thy face and I was troubled And when in darkness none can say how long it will be e're that sweet Light break forth again God can scatter the Cloud unexpectedly in a moment Cant. 3.4 It was but a little that I passed from them but I found him whom my Soul loveth There is such an observable difference in David's Spirit in some Psalms as if one man had written the beginning and another the end of them 5. Though God can quickly remove the darkness and doubts of a Soul yet ordinarily the Saints find it a very hard and difficult thing to obtain and preserve the Evidences of their Graces Such is the darkness deadness and deceitfulness of the heart so much unevenness and inconstancy in their practice so many counterfeits of Grace and so many wiles and devices of Satan to rob them of their peace that few in comparison live in a constant and quiet fruition of it 6. Notwithstanding all these things which increase the difficulty yet God hath afforded his people a sure Light and sufficient means in the diligent use and improvement whereof they may attain a certainty of the work of Grace in them And there is a threefold Light by which it may most clearly and infallibly be discovered 1. Scripture Light which is able to discover the secrets of a mans heart to him and is therefore compared to the Anatomizers Knife Heb. 4.12 2. The Innate Light of Grace it self or if you will the Light of Experience 1 John 5.10 It hath some properties and operations which are as essential necessary and inseparable as heat is to the fire and may be as sensibly felt and perceived by the Soul Psal 119.20 3. The Light of the Spirit superadded to both the former which is sometimes called its Earnest sometimes its Seal The Spirit doth both plant the habits excite and draw forth the acts and also shine upon his own work that the Soul may see it and that sometimes with such a degree of Light as only begets peace and quiets the heart though it do not fully conquer all the doubts of it And at other times the heart is irradiated with so clear a Beam of Light that it 's able to draw forth the Triumphant Conclusion and say Now I know the things that are freely given me of God I believe and am sure And so much briefly for the opening of the nature of this Evidence 2. I shall shew you the necessity of it to a suffering Saint in order to the right management of a suffering condition And this will appear by the consideration of five things 1. You will readily grant that the Christians love to God hath a mighty influence into all his sufferings for God This Grace of love enables him victoriously to break through all difficulties and discouragements The Floods cannot drown it nor the Waters quench it Cant. 8.6 7. It facilitates the greatest hardships 1 John 5.3 And whatever a man suffer if it be not from this Principle it is neither acceptable to God nor available to himself 1 Cor. 13.3 But now nothing more inflames and quickens the Christians love to God than the knowledge of his interest in him and the sensible perception and taste of his love to the Soul Our love to God is but a reflection of his own love and the more powerful the stroak of the direct Beam is the more is that of the reflex Beam also Never doth that Flame of Jah burn with a more vehement heat than when the Soul hath the most clear manifestations of its interest in Christ and his benefits Luke 7.47 It must needs be of singular use to a suffering Saint Dem. 2 because it takes out the sinking weight of affliction That which sinks and breaks the Spirit is the conjunction and meeting of inward and outward troubles together then if the Lord do not strangely and extraordinarily support the Soul it 's wrackt and overwhelmed as the Ship in which Paul sailed was when it fell into a place where two Seas met Act. 27.41 Oh how tempestuous a Sea doth that Soul sail in that hath fightings without and fears within How must that poor Christians heart tremble and meditate terrour that when he retires from troubles without for some comfort and support within shall find a sad addition to his troubles from whence he expected relief against them Hence it was that Jeremy so earnestly deprecates such a misery Be not thou a terrour to me thou art my hope in the day of evil Jer. 17.17 This is prevented by this means If a man have a clear breast and all be quiet within he is like
one that hath a good Roof over his head when the Storm falls We glory in tribulation because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts Rom. 5.3 5. It is a Fountain of joy and comfort in the darkest and saddest hour Dem. 3 Hence the glorious triumphs of Saints in their afflictions Rom. 5.5 and in the Christians joy in the Lord lies much of his strength for sufferings Noh 8.10 If once the Spirit droop and sink the man is in a bad case to suffer holy joy it is the Oyl that makes the Chariot-wheels of the Soul free to follow the Lord Non tardat uncta rota To suffer with joyfulness for Christ is a qualification that Gods Eye is much upon in his suffering Servants Col. 1.11 How did the famous Worthies that went before us magnifie Christ and glorifie Religion by the holy triumphs of their faith and joy under tribulation One kiss'd the Apparator that brought him news of his Condemnation and was like a man transported with an excess of joy Another upon the pronouncing of the Sentence kneels down and with hands and eyes lifted up solemnly blesses God for such a day as that Oh how is Christ magnified by this And this cannot be until interest be cleared It 's true the faith of recumbency gives the Soul a secret support and enables the Christian to live but the faith of Evidence keeps him lively and prevents all those uncomfortable and uncomely sinkings and despondencies of spirit 2 Cor. 4.16 17. and therefore cannot but be of singular use to a Soul at such a time Lastly Dem. 4 It is of special use to a Christian under sufferings inasmuch as it enables him to repel the temptations that attend upon sufferings Nothing sets a keener edge upon his indignation against unworthy compliances than this Indeed a poor cloudy and dubious Christian will be apt to catch at deliverance though upon terms dishonourable to Christ but he that is clear in point of interest abhors compositions and capitulations upon unworthy terms and conditions Heb. 11.35 Heb. 10.34 He that sees the gain and reward of suffering will think he is offered to his loss when life and deliverance are set before him upon such hard terms as sin is And thus you see what influence it hath into a suffering condition 3. In the next place I promised to prescribe some Rules for the attaining of this Evidence and the dispelling of those doubts by which it is usually clouded in the Souls of Believers And oh that by the faithful use of them you may attain it against a suffering day come upon you And the first Rule I shall give you is this Rule 1 Make it your business to improve Grace more for the more vigorous it is the more evidential it must needs be 2 Pet. 1.5 6 7 8 9 10 11. Oh how much time have many Christians spent in enquiring after the lowest signs of sincerity and what may consist with Grace which had they spent in the diligent improvement of the means of Grace for the increasing of it they would have found it a shorter cut to peace and comfort by much Mistake not the Rule by which you are to try your selves lest you give a false judgment upon your selves Some are apt to make those things signs of Grace which are not and when the falseness of them is detected how is that poor Soul plunged into doubts and fears that leaned upon them As now If a man should conclude his sincerity from his diligence in attending on the Word preached this is but a Paralogism as the Apostle calls it Jam. 1.22 by which a man deceiveth his own Soul For that which is a note or mark must be proper to the thing notified and not common to any thing else There are divers sorts of marks some are exclusive the principal use of which is to convince bold Pretenders and discover Hypocrites Such is that 1 Cor. 9.9 It is a most certain sign where these are there is no Grace but yet it will not follow on the contrary that where these are not there is Grace See Luke 18.11 Others are inclusive the use of which is not so much for trying of the truth as the strength and degrees of Grace As now when Faith is described by the radiancy of it or by some of its heroick acts and promises made to some raised degrees and operations of it as that Ephes 3.12 c. Here a mistake is easily made Besides these or rather betwixt these are another sort of marks which are called positive marks and these agreeing to the lowest degree of Grace are for the tryal of the truth and sincerity of it Such are these 1 John 4.13 1 John 2.3 Matth. 5.3 Be sure to try by a proper mark Take heed of such sins as violate and wasteâ— the Conscience Rule 3 for these will quickly raise a Mist and involve the Soul in Clouds and darkness Psal 51.8 c. Such are sins against Light and the reclamations of Conscience Labour to shun those common mistakes that Christians make in judging of their state Rule 4 amongst which I shall select these five as principal ones 1. Call not your condition into question upon every failing and involuntary lapse into sin Iniquities prevail against me as for our transgressions thou shalt purge them away Psal 65.3 In short thou needest not call thy condition into question provided thou find thy Spirit working as Paul's did under the surprizals of temptation viz. If 1 thou do approve of and delight in the Law though thou fall short of it in thy practice Rom. 7.12 14. 2 If thy failings be involuntary and against the resolution and bent of thy Soul vers 25 18 19. 3 If it be the load and burden of thy Soul vers 24. 4 If the thoughts of deliverance comfort thee vers 25. 2. Question not the truth of thy Grace because it was not wrought in the same way and manner in thee as in others For there is great variety as to the circumstances of time and manner betwixt the Spirits operations upon one and another Compare the History of Paul's Conversion with that of the Jaylor Zacheus or Lydia and see the variety of circumstances 3. Conclude not that you have no Grace because you feel not those transportations and ravishing joys that other Christians speak of If thou canst not say as Paul doth Rom. 8.38 yet bless God if thou canst but breath forth such language as that Mark 9.24 Lord I believe help thou my unbelief 4. Say not thou hast no Grace because of the high attainments of some Hypocrites who in some things may excel thee When some persons read the sixth Chapter to the Hebrews they are startled to see to what a glorious height the Hypocrite may soar not considering that there are these three things wherein they excel the most glorious Hypocrite in the world 1 That Self was never dethroned in Hypocrites as it is in them All that
an Hypocrite doth is for himself 2 The Hypocrite never hated every sin as he doth but hath still some Agag Rimmon or Delilah 3 That the Hypocrite never acted in duty from the bent and inclination of a new nature taking delight in heavenly imployment but is moved rather as a Clock by the weights and poises of some external motives and advantages 5. Conclude not you have no Grace because you grow not so sensibly as some other Christians do You may be divers ways mistaken about this 1 You may measure your growth by your desires and then it appears nothing for the Christian aims high and grasps at all 2 Or by comparing your selves with such as have larger capacities time and advantages than you 3 Or by comparing your Graces with other mens Gifts which you mistake for their Graces 4 Or by thinking that all growth is upward in joy peace and comfort whereas you may grow in mortification and humility which is as true a growth as the former Oh! take heed of these mistakes they have been very prejudicial to the peace of many Christians Lastly Rule 5 Decline not sufferings when God gives you a faâ—â— call to them Oh! the Christians suffering time is commonly his clearest and most comfortable time Then the Spirit of God and glory reâ—teth on them 1 Pet. 4.14 That which hath been in suspence for some years is decided and cleared in a suffering hour And thus I have shewed you how to attain this necessary qualification also CHAP. VIII Discovering the necessity of an improved faith for the right management of sufferings and directing to some special means for the improvement thereof THE next thing conducing to our actual readiness for Sufferings is the improvement of Faith to some considerable degree of strength This is the Grace that must do the main service in such an hour and hath the principal hand in supporting the Christian under every burden This is the Grace that crowns our heads with Victory in the day of battel Ephes 6.16 Above all taking the Shield of Faith It s true every Grace is of use and contributes assistance suffering Saints have heen beholding to them all But of this we may say as Solomon of the Vertuous Woman Though many Graces have done excellently yet this excels them all In this Grace ready Paul was eminent It was the life he daily lived Gal. 2.20 Oh it is a precious grace 2 Pet. 1.1 so precious that Christ who seldom admired at any thing yet wondred at this Mat. 8.10 A victorious Grace it is that overcomes all difficulties Mark 9.23 By this Sword it was that all those famous Heroes Heb. 11. atchieved all those glorious Conquests and in every distress it may say to the Soul as Christ to the Disciples John 15.5 Without me ye can do nothing This is that Sword that hath obtained so many Victories over the World 1 John 5.4 and that trusty Shield that hath quenched so many deadly Darts of temptation as have been levelled at the very heart of the Christian in the day of battel By it a Christian lives when all outward sensible comforts die Hab. 2.4 It s the ground upon which the Christian fixes his foot and never fails under him 2 Cor. 1.24 The necessity of it will more clearly appear by considering how many ways it relieves the soul in trouble and disburthens the heart of all its sinking loads and pressures there are two things that sink a mans Spirit when under sufferings viz. The greatness of the troubles and the weakness of the soul to bear them against both which Faith relieves the soul viz. by making a weak soul strong and heavy troubles light First It makes a weak Soul strong and able to bear and this it doth divers ways 1. By purging out of the Soul those enfeebling weakning Distempers not only guilt in general which is to the Soul as a wound upon the bearing Shoulder Rom. 5.1 The removal whereof enables the Soul to bear any other burden Isa 33.24 But it also removes Fear that Tyrant Passion that cuts the Nerves of the Soul For as Faith comes in so Fear goes out Look in what degree the Fear of God is ascendant in the Soul proportionably the sinful fear of the Creature declines and vanisheth Esa 8.12 13. This fear extinguishes that as the Sun-shine puts out fire The Righteous is bold as a Lyon Prov. 28.1 The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies a young Lyon in his hot blood that knows no such thing as fear And look how much of the Soul is empty of Faith so much it s filled with fear Why are ye fearful O ye of little Faith Mat. 8.26 Certainly it 's a rare advantage to be freed from the common distraction in times of common destruction and this advantage the Soul hath by Faith 2. It strengthens the Soul to bear afflictions and hardships not only by purging out its weakning Distempers but by turning it self to Christ in whom all its strength lies and that suitably to the several Exigencies of the Soul in all its Distresses Doth Darkness like the shadow of Death overspread the Earth and all the Lights of Earthly Comforts disappear then Faith supports the Heart by looking to the Lord Mic. 7.7 and this look of Faith exceedingly revives the Heart Psal 34.5 and enlightens the Soul Doth God pluck away all Earthly Props from under your feet and leave you nothing visible to rest upon in that Exigence Faith puts forth a suitable act viz. Resting or staying upon God Esa 26.3 and by this the Soul comes to be quieted and established Psal 125.1 Do Temptations strive to put off the Soul from Christ and discourage it from leaning upon the Promise then it puts forth an act of Resolution Job 13.15 and so breaks its way through that discouragement Or hath the Soul been long seeking God for deliverance out of trouble and still there is silence in Heaven no Answer comes but instead of an Answer comes a Temptation to throw up the Duty and seek to deliver it self Then Faith puts forth another act upon Christ suitable to this distress viz. An act of waiting Isa 49.23 which waiting is opposed to that sinful haste which the Soul is tempted to Isa 28.16 Or doth God at any time call the Soul forth to some difficult service against which the Flesh and Carnal Reason dispute and plead Now Faith helps the Soul by putting forth an act of obedience and that whilst Carnal Reason stands by dissatisfied Gal. 1.16 And hence it is that Obedience carries the name of Faith upon it to shew its descent Rom. 16.26 Faith encourages the Soul to obey not only by urging Gods Command but by giving it Gods Warrant for its Indempnity Heb. 11.24 25 26. Or doth a poor Believer find himself over-match'd by Troubles and Temptations and his own inherent strength begin to fail under the burden then Faith leads him to an Omnipotent God and so secures him from
yet the Lord Jesus is kind and tender-hearted to his Prisoners he puts the kindnesses that any shew them upon his own account Mat. 25.36 He looks down from Heaven to hear the sighings and groanings of his Prisoners Psal 102.20 He will tenderly sympathize with you in all your Prison-Straights and Troubles 5. A Prison hath been hanfel'd and perfumed by the best and holiest of men in all Ages 1 Kings 22.27 Jer. 32 2. Mat. 4.12 Acts 5.18 Acts 26.10 God hath made it a setled School of Discipline to them 6. Should you to avoid a Prison commit a sin instead of being Man's Prisoner you shall be clapt up by God for he hath a Prison for your Souls even in this World Psal 142.7 and this is ten thousand times more dreadful than any Dungeon in the World Oh it 's a dark Prison not a Cranny to let in one Beam of Gods Countenance upon your poor Souls What a sad exchange have you made then 7. Consider what a ground of Comfort GOD hath laid in that Word Rev. 2.10 to obviate the Fears and Terrours incident to us in such a condition God hath limited Satan and his Instruments both for time number and all circumstances of the trial 8. Lastly You do not know what a Mercy may be in it It may be a time of retirement from the World and the Clamours and Distractions that are abroad These days of Imprisonment may be your Holy-days as a Prisoner of Christ once called them 4. Get an Heart mortified to the excessive and inordinate love of life This I confess is the highest and hardest point of Self-denial because it wraps up all other Self Interests in it But yet consider First Though life be very dear yet Jesus Christ is ten thousand times dearer than thy Life If thou be a Saint he is the Life of thy Life and the length of thy days and in comparison of him and his glory Saints should and have despised and slighted their Lives Luke 14.26 Rev. 12.11 Secondly Die you must and if by shrinking from Christ you should protract a miserable Life for a few days longer in the mean time losing that which is better that life Psal 63.3 Mat. 10.39 Oh when you lie upon your Death-bed you will wish that you had obeyed Gods Call and so have departed in peace Thirdly If you have cordially covenanted with Christ as all sincere Believers have done then have you yielded up your lives to him to be disposed for his glory Rom 14.7 So that look as Christ both lived and died for you so ought you to live as Christ And all the excellency you see in life consists in that reference and subserviency it hath to his glory I say then if you have understandingly and cordially transacted in a Covenant-way with him your care will not be so much how to shun Death as by what Death you may most glorifie God John 21.19 And certainly you can never lay them down upon a more honourable or comfortable account than in his cause and for his sake It was a great trouble to Luther that he carried his bloud to his Grave Fourthly To die for Christ is one of the highest Testifications of your Love to Christ that you are capable of Joh. 13.37 Yea 't is such a Testification of your Love to the Lord Jesus as Angels are not capable of making Fifthly Why should you decline even a violent death for Christ when as the bitterness of death is past and there is no Hell following the pale Horse It cannot separate you from Christ Rom. 8.38 Sixthly Think what a death Christ suffered for you in which the fulness of the Wrath both of God and Man met together so that he was fore amazed yet with desire did he desire it for your sakes 7. Lastly Think what a life you shall have with Christ as soon as this is deliver'd up to and for him 2 Tim. 2.12 It is but wink and you shall see God Oh that these things might provoke you to follow on and ply the Work of Mortification CHAP. XI Wherein is opened the singular advantage that suffering Saints have by their skill and in-sight into the Methods and Mysteries of Sathans Temptations some of those Wiles of Sathan opened and Rules for the avoiding of the danger briefly prescribed THE hazards and dangers of Christians in times of Perfecution arise not so much from their Sufferings as from the Temptations that always attend and are by Satan planted upon their Sufferings for the most part Sufferings and Temptations go together Heb. 11.37 And therefore it behoves such as are or expect to be called to Sufferings to dive into the Mysteries of Temptations and be well acquainted with the Enemies Designs upon them So was Paul and so he supposes all others to be that ingage in the same Cause We are not ignorant of his Devices 2 Cor. 2.11 There is a manifold advantage redounding to suffering Saints thereby 1. He that is well acquainted with the Methods of Temptation will be the better able to descry the first approaches and beginnings of it and a Temptation discovered is more then half conquered It is a special Artifice of Satan to shuffle in his Temptations as undiscernibly as may be into the Soul for he knows that in vain is the Net spread in the sight of any Bird Prov. 1.17 And therefore he ordinarily makes a suffering season to be a tempting season because sufferings like Fire to Iron make it impressive and operable they do ordinarily put the Soul into an hurry and distraction and so gives him an advantage to tempt the Soul with less suspition and greater success But now a skilful Christian that is acquainted with his Wiles will discern when he begins to enter into temptation as Christs expression is Luke 22.46 and so check the Temptation in its first Rife when it 's weakest and most easily broken Doubtless one Reason why so many fall by Temptation is because it 's got within them and hath prevailed far before it be discovered to be a Temptation 2. He that is well acquainted with Satans Methods of tempting will not only discern it sooner than another but also knows his Work and Duty and how to manage the Conflict with it which is a great matter There are many poor Souls that labour under strong Temptations and know not what to do They go up and down complaining from Christian to Christian whilest the Judicious Christian plies the Throne of Grace with strong Gries See 2 Cor. 12.8 keeps up his Watch Luke 22.46 countermines the Temptation by assaulting that Corruption by endeavours of Mortification which Satan assaults by Temptation 1 Cor. 9.27 3. Lastly To name no more he that is best acquainted with the Mystery of Temptation and can maintain his ground against it he shall be the persevering Christian under Persecutions and the victorious Christian over them Here lies the main Design of Satan in raising Persecution against the Saints It is not
that you grieve not the Spirit on whose influences and assistances you so intirely depend Even as much as a Ship doth upon the Gales of Wind for its motion 3. By honouring the Spirit which enables you to pray and that especially two ways 1 By dependances on him go not forth in your own strength to the Duty trust not upon your own promptness or preparations 2 By returning and with thankfulness ascribing the praise of all to him Be humble under all Enlargements Say Not I but Grace 4. By searching your own Hearts and examining your Necessities and Wants when you draw nigh to God this will be a Fountain of Matter and give you a deep Resentment of the worth of Mercies pray'd for 5. Lastly By looking more at the exercise of Graces and less at the discovery of Parts by labouring for Impressions more and pumping for Expressions less And thus I have briefly shewed you how to furnish your selves with this needful Qualification also CHAP. XIII Wherein is shewed the necessity of going out of our selves even when our habitual and actual Preparations are at the greatest height and depending as constantly and intirely upon the Spirit who is Lord of all gracious Influences as if we had done nothing Together with the means of working the Heart to such a frame THus you have seen your habitual and actual readiness for Sufferings and blessed is the Soul that gives diligence to this work But now lest all that I have said and you have wrought should be in vain I must let you know that all this will not secure you unless you can by Humility Faith and Self-denial go out of your selves to Christ and live upon him daily for supplie of Grace as much as if you had none of all this Furniture and Provision for Sufferings I confess Grace is a very beautiful and lovely Creature and it 's hard for a man to look upon his own Graces and not doat upon them But yet know that if you had all these excellent preparations that have been mentioned yea and all Angelical Perfections superadded yet are you not compleat without this dependance upon Christ Col. 2.10 When ever you go forth to suffer for Christ you should say in the Head of all your excellent Graces Duties and Preparations as Jehosaphat did when in the head of a puissant and mighty Army 2 Coron 20.12 O Lord I have no might nor strength but my Eyes are unto thee This was one thing in which Paul excelled and was a special part of his readiness See 1 Cor. 15.10 What a poor Creature is the eminentedst Saint left to himself in an hour of trial the Hop the Ivy and the Woodbind are taught by Nature to cling about stronger Props and Supporters What they do by Nature we should do by Grace The necessity and great advantage of this will appear upon divers Considerations 1. Consid 1 The Christians own imbecility and insufficiency even in the strength and hieght of all his Acquirements and Preparations what are you to grapple with such an Adversary Certainly you are no Match for him that conquered Adam hand to hand in his state of integrity It is not your inherent strength that enables you to stand but what you receive and daily derive from Jesus Christ Joh. 15.5 Without me or never so little separated from me ye can do nothing all our sufficiency is of God 2 Cor. 3.5 Upon this very consideration it was that the Apostle exhorts the Ephesians to be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might i.e. not to depend upon their own stock and furniture but Divine Assistances and daily Communications for we wrestle not with flesh and bloud but Principalities and Powers Ephes 6.10 12. in his own strength shall no man prevail 2. Consi 2 It is the great design of God in the Gospel to exalt his Son and to have all glory attributed and ascribed to him That in all things he might have the preheminence Col. 1.13 That Christ might be all in all Col. 3.11 Hence no Saint must have a self-sufficiency or be trusted with a stock as Adam was but Christ being filled with all the fulness of God and made the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or first Receptacle of all Grace For it pleased the Father that in him all fulness should dwell all the Saints are therefore to go to him for supplies and of his fulness to receive John 1.16 This fulness being a Ministerial fulness like that of the Sun or of a Fountain intended to supply all our wants And hence is it that Faith a self-emptying and denying Grace is appointed to be the Instrument of fetching our supplies from Christ All must be derived from him that all the praise and glory may be ascribed to him Phil. 4.14 And this is a most wise and congruous Ordination of God for hereby not only are his People the better secured but by this also the reproach that lay upon Christ is rolled away He was reproached on earth as barren empty weak Can any good come out of Nazareth He was looked upon as a Root springing out of a dry ground but by this shall his Reproach be wiped away So that unless you will go about to cross the great design of God in the exaltation of his Christ you must go out of your selves and humbly and constantly rely upon supplies from Christ and his grace to help in the times of need 3. Consi 3 A Christ an is constantly to depend upon Christ notwithstanding all his own preparations and inherent qualifications because the activity even of inherent Grace depends upon him Inherent Grace is beholding to exciting and assisting Grace for all it is enabled to do You cannot act a Grace without his Spirit * 1 Cor 15.10 2 Cor. 3.5 John 15.5 It may be said of Grace in us as it was of the Land of Canaan Deut. 11.10 11 12. It is not as the Land of Egypt whence ye come out where thou sowedst thy seed and waterdst it with thy foot as a Garden of Herbs But a Land of Hills and Vallies drinking water of the Rain of Heaven a Land which the Lord thy God careth for his Eyes are always upon it from the beginning of the year even to the end of the year As the life and fragrancy of Vegetables depends on the Influences of Heaven so do our Graces upon Christ And hence he is called 1 a Root Isa 11.10 2 An Head Col. 1.18 3 A Sun Mal. 4 2. 4 A Fountain Zech. 13.1 all which Comparisons do fully carry this Truth in them 4. Consid Lastly In this life of dependance lies your security And indeed this is the great difference betwixt the two Covenants In the first Adam's stock was in his own hands and so his security or misery depended upon the unconstrained choice of his own mutable and self determining Will But now in the New Covenant all are to go to Christ to depend upon him for
Father but they are all mercies purchased and paid for and therefore fear not the failing of your Graces 5. From the Spirit of Christ which dwelleth and abideth in thee and hath begun his saving work upon thee I say saving for else it would afford no argument His common works on Hypocrites come to nothing but in thee they cannot fail For 1. His Honour is pawned and ingaged to perfect it That reproach of the foolish Builder shall never lye upon him that he began to build but could not finish Besides this would irritate and void all that the Father and the Son have done for thee both their works are compleat and perfect in their kinds and the Spirit is the last efficient in order of working 2. Besides the Grace he hath already wrought in thee may give thee yet further and fuller assurance of its preservation inasmuch as it hath the nature of a Seal Pledge and Earnest of the whole Rom. 8.23 2 Cor. 1.22 So that it cannot fail 6. From those multitudes of Assertory Promissory and Comparative Scriptures the rich veins whereof run through the Book of God as so many streams to refresh thy Soul Of Assertory Scriptures see John 6.39 John 10.28 1 John 2.19 Of Promissory Scriptures see Issa 54.10 Jer. 34.40 1 Cor. 1.8 c. Of Comparative Scriptures see Psal 1.3 Psal 125. 1. John 4.14 c. The principal scope of all which is to shew the indefectible nature of true Grace in the Saints And now how should this refresh thy drooping Soul make thee gird up the loyns of thy mind since thou dost not run as one uncertain neither fightest as one that beats the Air 1 Cor. 9.26 but art so secured from total Apostacy as thou seest thou art by all these things O bless ye the Lord. But the Lord seems to be departed from my Soul Ob. 2 God is afar off from me and troubles are near I seem to be in such a case as Saul was when the Philistines made war upon him and God was departed from him and therefore I shall fall Not so Sol. for there are two sorts of Divine desertions The one is absolute when the Lord utterly forsakes his Creatures so that they shall never behold his face more The other is limited and respective and so he forsook his own Son and often doth his own Elect And of this kind some are only Cautional to prevent sin some are meerly Probational to try Grace and others Castigatory to chastise our negligence and carelesness Now though I have not a word of comfort to speak in the case of total and absolute Desertions yet of the latter which doubtless is thy case much may be said by way of support be it of which of the three sorts it will or in what degree it will For 1. This hath been the case of many precious Souls Psal 22.1 2. Psal 77.2 Psal 88.9 Job 13.24 25 26. This was poor Mr. Glovers case as you will find in his Story and it continued till he came within sight of the Stake therefore no new or strange thing hath happened to you 2. The Lord by this will advantage thee for perseverance not only as they are cautional against sin but as they make thee hold Christ the faster and prize his †Cam. 3.4 Presence at an higher rate when he shall please graciously to manifest himself to thee again 3. This shall not abide for ever it 's but a little Cloud and will blow over It is but for a moment and that moments Darkness ushers in everlasting Light Isa 54.7 Yea lastly The light of Gods Countenance shall not only be restored Certainly but it shall be restored Seasonably when thy Darkness is greatest thy trouble 's at the highest and thy hopes lowest He is a God of Judgment and knows how to time his own mercies Psa 138.3 But I am a weak Woman Ob. 3 or a young Person how shall I be able to confess Christ before Rulers and look great ones in the face Christ delights to make his Power known in such Sol. 2 Cor. 12.9 for he affects not Social glory 2. Thou shalt be holden up for God is able to make thee stand Rom. 14.4 Thou that art sensible of thine own infirmity mayest run to that Promise 3. Such poor weak Creatures shall endure when stronger if Self-confident fall Isa 40.30 31. Even the youths shall faint and be weary and the young men utterly fall but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength They shall mount up with wings as Eagles run and not be weary walk and not faint Youths and young men are bold daring and confident persons that trust to their own strength to whom such as wait upon the Lord stand here opposed They shall faint but these shall renew their strength Art thou one that waitest and dependest upon an All-sufficient God in the sense of thine own weakness This Promise then is for thee 4. You may furnish your selves at pleasure with Examples of the mighty Power of God resting upon such as you are out of our own Martyrology Thomas Drowry the poor blind Boy Fox Vol. 3. p. 703. What a presence of Spirit was with him when examined by the Chancellor Eulalia a Virgin of about twelve years of age see how she was acted above those years yea above the power of Nature Fox Vol. 1. p. 120. Tender Women yea Children act above themselves when assisted by a strong God And thus you have some help offered you by a weak hand in your present and most important work The Lord carry home all with Power upon your hearts that if God call you to suffer for him you may say as Paul did I am now ready to be offered up and the time of my departure is at hand I have fought a good fight I have finished my course I have kept the faith henceforth there is laid up for me a Crown of Righteousness which God the Righteous Judge shall give me at that day and not to me only but to them also which love his appearing 2 Tim. 4.6 And as you expect so to finish your course with joy be diligent in the use of all means to prepare and make your selves ready to follow the Call of God whether it be to Bonds or to Death for the Name of the Lord Jesus FINIS