it may be perish by the splinters running into his hand Certainly this trusting in creatures hinders faith in the Creator and brings a curse in stead of a blessing Jer. 17.5 Thus saith the Lord Cursed be the man that trusteth in man and maketh flesh his arm and whose heart departeth from the Lord and ver 7. Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord and whose hope the Lord is Take heed Christians and beware of the evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God Heb. 3.12 which in this our corrupt nature these Puppets are apt to do 5. This briâ—â—leness of nature and natural things yieldeth sundry good instructions to young people and to the Parents Parents briefly are admonished in three things First not to pride themselves in lusty and likely Children as too many use to do making them so many idols and promising themselves great comfort by them it may be insulting over other men whose Children are weak and sickly wherewith the Lord is offended and sometime the likely Children are taken away or prove crosses when 〈◊〉 weaklings survive and become comforts to their parents Secondly parents even from the beginning should commend their children to the Lord by hearty prayer that if they dye in the birth or in their youth yet by Jesus Christ it may be well with their poor souls to eternity Oh that Ismael might lâ—ve in thy sight Thirdly they should begin with them betimes that by their gracious instructions they may quickly come to know and fear the Lord their God and so whatever becomes of them in the world yet their poor souls may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus Christ the highest acts of charity that can be shewed to our children Next for young people 1. They learn to walk in all humbleness of mind as those that may be soon snatched away and while they continue here are subject to many faintings and failings It concerns all to be cloathed with humility but especially young people whose judgment is not yet setled and they want the experience which in time they may have neither are they acquainted with themselves and their manifold weaknesses as in time they may be so that it is neither safe nor seemly for such to be shewing their opinion in matters to be talking much in company of Elder people especially to take upon them without a Calling to teach others as some bold men in these days have dangerously adventured Consider and fear if ye have the grace of God in you of a truth yet ye ought to walk in humility so to be worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called Eph. 4.12 Much more if the work of grace be not yet begun or not well evidenced here come those rules to be observed Prov. 3.5 6 7. Lean not to thine own understanding be not wise in thine own eyes fear the Lord and depart from evil 2. Beware of loose and Libertine courses which most young people do chuse and delight to take as best agreeing with their wild and foolish humors therefore called the lusts of youth and must be carefully avoided 2 Tim. 2 22. Fly youthful lusts As fleshly lusts and worldly lusts and lusts of the mind so the lusts of youth which are either peculiar to young people or most affected Remember and consider how these lusts are apt to forestall all good instructions of the word that there is no room for them â—â—â—her they cannot enter or if they do they are soon thrust ouâ— gain Mark 4.19 The lusts of other things entring choak the word and it becometh unfruitful When our young people are nipt in the bud they are scarce good ever afterward Our loose times have shewed it abundantly And after such lawlesness of young people comes that fearful summons Eccl. 11.9 Rejoyce O young man in thy youth and let thy heart chear thee in the days of thy youth and walk in the ways of thy heart and in the sight of thy eyes but know thou that for all these things God will bring thee unto judgment 3. Seeing all within you and without you is so fading and uncertain lift up your eyes and hearts to the Creator to get in with him and by him to obtain a solid and lasting good which may be sufficient for you in all other faintings and failings Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth and which is the whole duty of man fear God and keep his Commandments Eccl. 12.1 13. The wise man there had reckoned up all the vanities of the world and prescribed remedies against them and then bids us hear the conclusion of the whole matter in those two precepts When the soul is tyred out with the consideration of earthly vanities and distractive occurrences it should be think it self of getting home to his Ark where it may find rest for the soal of his foot as Psal 116.7 Return unto thy rest O my soul for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee It should be good instruction both to young and old when they find themselves perplexed or pricked with thorns of the world as who of us doth not to return to our God from whom by sin we departed Never till then shall we find rest and assured confidence Hos 2 6 7. When the Lord hedged up the Churches way with thorns that she could not find her paths then she said I will go and return to my first husband for then was it better with me then now And if young people in their young days would bethink themselves of returning to the Lord their God they might save themselves many scratches and woundings which afterward they are put to endure 4. Seeing all these things are so ye should all receive the exhortation which we give so often Make sure of Christ Make sure of Christ in him alone ye can find rest for your souls there is no salvation in any â—â—â—er no Name else given under heaven by which yâ—â—â—n be saved not Saints and Angels nor any of the creatures nor all of them put together all together could not redeem one soul nor make up the peace with the great God But in and by Christ all is firm and stable everlasting love everlasting compassions everlasting arms to embrace the Penitent an everlasting covenant promises most certain and sure to be performed Yea and Amen 2 Cor. 1.20 Bear us witness Christians we invite you day by day to come and receive Christ for your own we urge you with many Motives we tell you of your sin and danger and in the mean time ye feel in your selves the decays of nature and see in the mortality of your Neighbours what your case must be and ye know not how soon Once at last therefore be wise and Kiss the Son of God that in the worst straights ye may find enlargement and be blessed Psal 2.12 Blessed are they that trust in him If ye were commanded to do some great thing for blessedness would ye not
NOW and EVER SHEWING Where the Work of Conversion is throughly done it is done for ever ESA. 46.3 4. Hearken unto me O house of Jacob and all the remnant of the house of Israel which are born by me from the belly which are carryed from the womb And even to your old age I am he and even to hoar haires will I carry you I have made and I will bear even I will carry and will deliver you PSAL. 48.14 This God is our God for ever and ever he will be our guide even unto death By William Jemmat Preacher of the Gospel in Reading LONDON Printed by L. Miller for John Chandler Bookseller in Reading 1666. To the Serious Reader THere be two weighty truths about the grace of Conversion in a soul that shall be saved One that of necessity it must be done in this present life according to that of Salomon Eccl. 9.10 Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do do it with thy might for there is no work nor device nor knowledge nor wisdom in the grave whither thou goest Now or Never The other that when this work is once done well in some good manner as it ought to be done it is done for ever and shall never fail the Christian here or hereafter The former is a matter of serious diligence and carefulness The latter of strong and full consolation Happy is the soul that suffers it self to be perswaded and over-ruled in present to do this great business of coming home to his God and joyning it self to him in a perpetual Covenant that shall never be forgotten Hereby it hath done a work which shall last to Eternity and â—â—ver be undone any more Now and Ever And it is such a work as shall stand it in stead whatever sad occasions shall meet it in this evil and troublesome world Believers amidst all bodily infirmities and temptations and afflictions of this life yet in their God to whom through rich mercy they are come at conversion have a sure and strong stay to rest upon and may say as David Psal 73.26 My flesh and my heart faileth but God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever O precious portion for a soul to find setling and contentment A portion is that wich falls to a man upon division of Land or Goods Now the Lord in his most wise dâ—spensation allots to some a portion in temporals They have their portion in this life Psal 17.14 To others he reserves himself for a portion who is infinitely better then the multitude of Riches Pleasures Honours and all the finest accommodations And because God is the portion of Believers therefore it is the good part or portion Luke 10.42 It is a blisfull portion and makes those for ever happy who share in it Psal 144.15 It is an all-sufficient portion and in every respect able to serve our turns and give complete contentment Gen. 17.1 And it is an everlasting portion my portion for ever saith David And thâ— us the Lord becomes the portion of a believing soul partly by his own free and voluntary giving himself to it both in his eternal Decree and purpose as also by actual application partly by the souls voluntary accepting owning and chusing the Lord for a portion with which it will rest satisfied Lam. 3.24 The Lord is my portion saith my soul The Lord himself perswade strengthen and establish our hearts by believing that we may rest contented with this our portion and be in some measure thankful for it that seeing he hath vouchsafed to be our portion we may ever think it fitting and necessary to be a peculiar people and portion unto him Deut. 32 9. The Lords portion is his people Jacob is the lot of his Inheritance W. J. Now and Ever ISAIAH 40.30 31. Even the youths shall faint and be weary and the young men shall utterly fall But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength they shall mount up with wings as Eagles they shall run and not be weary they shall walk and not faint IN the beginning of this Chapter the Lord by his Prophet had promised great and glorious things to his poor Church as return out of the Babylonish Captivity with wonderful mercies procuring and accompanying the same and such as reach to the times of the Gospel ver 3. Christ comes to do it and the Baptist makes way for him therefore Believers may expect performance Which that they may do the Prophet doth lively set forth the Power and Wisdom of God which are the main helps to accomplish his Decrees he knows how to do it and he is able to do it and a Believer may easily collect that if the Lord be so powerful and careful in the Government of the world how much more will he so be for the good of his Church and Chosen Then it might be objected Yea but the Church seems to be of all other most neglected and is most troubled in the world and this makes us even faint and cast hope away ver 27. For this they are blamed in the Verses following and told that God is sufficient for his Church against all her enemies and in all her faintness and they shall see Great Ones of the world fail and come to nothing when his people shall survive and be triumphant This last is the mind of the Holy Ghost in these two last Verses which have an amplification of the Churches strength by opposition to the strength of nature and of the world Even the youths shall faint and be weary and the young men shall utterly fall but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength they shall mount up with wings as Eagles they shall run and not be weary they shall walk and not faint As if he had said None have the strength that Gods people have no not the stoutest and choycest men that are whom Generals and Commanders of War do pick out from the rest and most trust in and brag of their puissance yet faintness comes upon such by Hunger Cold Watching Travelling Fighting rumors that they hear of the enemies might fear which the Lord sends upon their spirits a thousand wayes to cool their courage But my people go upon better and higher Principles namely of my favour and of my special grace in them whereby through believing they shall become strong out of weakness and hold out to a full and glorious victory over all enemies both from hell and in the world Now this opposition of strength and strength leads us to these two Propositions One That all created strength is of a fainting and failing nature The other That the strength whereby true Christians stand in the favour of God and the expectation of heaven is greater and better then all the strength of nature even taken at the best and strongest Briefly of the former All created strength is of a fainting and failing nature Though there be not only a firm and healthy body but much
miserable to have ones spiritual strength so weakned even as miserable as to become poor after great wealthiness or sickly after great healthiness A lamentable change will nature and reason say and grace will teach a godly man to say likewise of spirituals By faith the Elders out of weakness were made strong and waxed valiant in fight Heb. 11.34 And this man of strong is become weak and fainteth in fighting the battels of the Lord. How is he decayed Oh this woful bankruptness of the soul whither doth it tend and what will be the end of these things unless the wiser course be taken in time Christians it concerns us much to lament and bewail this faintness whatever it is found in any Say not therefore I am safe in the main I cannot fall from grace I may do well enough though I be weaker then I was O who would miss so many comforts of the Spirit as such a one must miss or walk so heavily as such a one must walk it may be feel so many terrours as such a one must feel that there is but little difference between hell and him and he le ts go that perswasion concerning perseverance and hath some cause to doubt and fear he shall fall quite away I say who would be in such a woful case Therefore it is time to renew thy repentance and thy covenant and thy endeavours in footing it along in the ways of God as now toward a Sacrament the Lord offers thee new strength and more occasions to recover what is decayed since the last Sacrament he spreads his Table for thee again and hath kild his fatlings all is prepared and ready only be not thou unprepared and unready c. Know the only comfort is to them that take notice of their fainting and bewail it and would fain redress it Our Text saith They shall renew their strength Though their strength do decay at times yet it shall be renewed the labour that they take against a Sacrament shall not be lost therefore go in faith and go with confidence this is a promise and shall surely be performed Thou waitest on the Lord therefore thou shalt renew thy strength Heed and believe it and hear no accusing voices to the contrary either of the Devil or of thine own unbelieving heart Say not I often grow weak after I have been strong therefore I fear whether ever I shall come to that pitch and stature in grace or comfort which sometimes I had Know it is our condition in this life still to ebb and flow in heaven only we renew not our strength And divers Saints have relapsed as we see in the Spouse Cant. 3. and 5. And the promises here are indefinite after Relapses strength shall be renewed as well as in other cases though perhaps with more ado Only follow on and pray still one day thou shalt say as David Psal 138.3 in the day when I cryed thou answeredst me and strengthnedst me with strength in my soul And it is greater glory to God to preserve so weak a Vessel as thou art to his heavenly Kingdom having said My grace is sufficient for thee my strength is made perfect in weakness 2 Cor. 12.9 If we be strong in the Lord and the power of his might we are safe we are sure to do well enough Troubled we may be and shall be The Devil and the World and the Flesh will provide us troubles but in all this Conflict we shall stand and in the end overcome and in overcoming is the Crown and Glory To him that overcome will I give such and such mercies Now all this serves for Information Consolation and Exhortation USE I. INformation in two things If those things stand for truths according to the Scripture 1. Hereby is established the Doctrine of Saints perseverance in the estate of grace whereinto they are brought at their conversion When they are once regenerate and wait on the Lord as before they are sure to continue in that holy and happy estate to the end yea to an endless glory Now and Ever I speak not any thing to magnifie our selves and our pure naturals as some have pratled but only to advance the grace of God in Christ by whom we are able to do all things And we say It is vain whatsoever the Adversaries object concerning a mans own weakness that he is apt to fall into gross sins and shake off the grace of God and become no sheep no Member of Christ no Child of God no Heir of Heaven True of himself he is apt to do so and there is no other likelihood but if a Christian were left to himself he would fall both fearfully and finally We have an evil heart of unbelief to depart from the living God and are not sufficient of our selves to persevere in the good estate wherein we are set But what saith our Doctrine the strength whereby a true Christian standeth is a strength above that of Nature even most refined It is a borrowed strength a strength derived from God and will suffice him against all his weaknesses and all oppositions from hell and the world It will work so strongly in his heart that he will not fall away will not become a Goat when he was a Sheep will not run out of the sheepfold will not of a Child of God become a Child of the Devil nor lose the possession of heaven which he hath had in his eye to quicken and encourage him in his way The fear of God is so put into his heart that he neither can nor will depart from him The gifts and calling of God are without repentance God will never repent that he so revealed himself to the Elect and the Elect by grace shall never repent 2. The world is hereby convinced and condemned of passing rash and erroneous judgment upon the godly because of their falls and failings Oh they are Hypocrites Dissemblers make a shew of Religion and talk much of profession but see how they do the contrary But beware of Blasphemy It were good to hush and be silent and not condemn the Generation of Gods Children Know the Christian may be true though weak or he may be strong though weak in this or that particular his God is able to raise him again and make him stand Rom. 14 4. His strength shall be renewed when another with his meer civilities and formalities shall fall and fall without recovery I marvel what these would have said if they had lived in the days of David and seen him so scandalous in the matter of Urâ—ah Were they not Gods enemies who blasphemed because of those sins 2 Sam. 12.14 By this deed thou hast caused the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme It were time for all our Mockers and Censurers to repent bitterly USE II. THis stability of a godly mans estate ministers singular comfort to all who upon good evidence have owned and applyed Gods mercy to their poor hearts Their comfort is that they stand
according to the perverse humor which is grown in the soul Others are for their Honors and Preferments as if they would have a Jeremy come and reprove them in those words to Baruch Seekest thou great things to thy self Others too much hang upon evil and ungodly men or too much seek to keep in with the wicked multitude as if they meant no longer to be the Servants of Christ Gal. 1.10 If I go about to please men I am not the Servant of Christ Others are held from good duties through fear of men and kept in a luke-warm indifferency as if with Laodicea they thought good to be spewed out of the mouth of Christ For disguised fashions there is no talk now but they must be tolerated and may be used the Preachers were as good hold their peace as seek to take off these superfluities from their heads and shoulders they shall but get ill-will for speaking against these fashions And so of Marriages Sons of God now-a-days marry the Daughters of men and contrarywise and there is no remorse for it no sin in it all is well if there be State and Portion enough with other the like vanities In many things we see great embasement come upon the professed servants of God and such as we hope do serve him in truth To whom I may say as Christ said to his Disciples admiring the fine stones and buildings of the Temple Are these the things that ye look upon are these the contentful Objects of renewed souls what is your understanding enlightned and your judgment rectified and yet so dote upon such trifles as these are Why what need wings to mount up after these things these are the common prey of every unclean and base-conditioned Bird that never flies aloft these are for Owls and not for Eagles you shall leave these for men of this world who have their portion in this life Psal 17.14 Where the Carkase is thither will the Eagles be gathered together saith our Saviour He spake it of himself and of his coming to judgment Wherever he would appear to judge the world thither the godly would resort and come unto him Consider and gather up thy affections for heaven and make them as many as frequent as earnest as ever they were Christ is that sacred Carkase whereon thy soul must feed unto eternal life and if thou be an Eagle indeed thou wilt scent him strongly afar off and long for him and hasten after him as fast as thou canst Well do so here is now a Sacrament at hand and thereby an occasion to renew thy love of Christ and of the things that pertain to his Kingdom Now stir up thy self to thy ancient affections and actions renew thy Covenant with God soar aloft as thou wast wont to do let us see thee after this Sacrament more heavenly-minded then thou hast been of late days let thy speeches and courses speak louder that thou art for heaven in good sadness as we say say more do more give more spend more which may help thee in that journey The Jews upon their eating the Passover must presently walk out of Egypt and thereunto in eating must have a staff in their hand Let the Moral be thus this heavenly Banquet requires an heavenly Appetite affection conversation afterward Get out of the Egypt of this world as fast as thou canst He is an holy and happy Christian who takes every occasion to unfasten his heart from the world earthly in it self even after grace received and must be skrewed up by little and little upon every advantage that it may take So as he hath less earthly joy he shall have more of the heavenly The sweet peace with God and his own Conscience will infinitely countervail the want of all other peace and comfort whatsoever And thrice happy are those souls who by a right estemation of the worth of heavenly things and by a godly jealousie over their own hearts do keep their thoughts and affections above still looking downward with an holy disdain and weariness It is an high pitch of great grace for the heart to say and the life make it good Vanity of vanities vanity of vanities all is vanity and vexation of spirit Doctr. 2. It is the nature and duty of Christians truly fearing God to be chearful and lively in their holy course as the Eagles are nimble and full of spirits to mount upward so are and must Believers be the Lord loves a chearful giver and that is reason enough 2 Cor. 9.7 They must run and walk run and not be weary walk and not faint Use If they be not thus chearful it is a fault and must be amended It is because they wait not on the Lord so duly and carefully as they ought to do The promise is not performed because the condition is not observed Many Christians may wonder at themselves what is come to them that they are so heavy so unweildy so timerous so backward in the way of godliness Their spirits are even gone they have not the heavenly Meditations that sometime they had they delight not in the presence of God to come before him in prayer as sometime they did Accordingly they have but cold comfort and poor answer returned after their prayer They make not good motions nor put in a good word as heretofore Carnal fear and modesty have seised upon them Some one way and some another are mightily come behind themselves and that measure of liveliness which sometime was in them Hereupon they are troubled about their Estate or have just cause to be troubled Well let this be a watch-word to them to become as chearful as ever Say O Christian in every such case as the Psalmist Why art thou so cast down O my soul and why art thou so disquieted within me what is the matter that I am so untoward Stir up the gift that is in thee arise and shake thy self as Samson when he was bound with chains or cords repent and do the first works repent and entertain the first Love again Return O Shulam te return return Thou hast the Spirit of God in thee quench him not set him on work as lively as ever Pray and it shall be done Or if that will not serve the turn fast away this dull and melancholy Devil which possesseth thee as is said This kind goeth not out but by fasting and prayer Renew thy Covenant and Vows do something more then ordinary that is the way to be as lively as ever thou wast Consider the occasion which the Lord now offers unto thee Upon a good Banquet we use to be more lively then we were and to gather up our spirits which were almost spent and wasted No such Banquet as the Lord makes for his servants the flesh of his Son which is meat indeed and the blood of his Son which is drink indeed These are the fat things the Wine and Milk of the Gospel Esa 55.1 2. How can a Christian go rightly to
this Banquet and not be the better for it How is it possible Well remember what that is to go rightly and do it indeed it is often shewed in our ministery and you called upon none can say he knows not Then settle to do it He that loves grace indeed and the comforts of grace let him strive to be lively and get as much of it as he can Doctr. 3. It is the nature and duty of good Christians to be constant in their good courses to the end not to be weary when they run nor faint when they walk The duty is in Rev. 2.10 Be thou faithful unto the death The priviledge is in this place They are born of incorruptible seed led by an holy Spirit that abides with them for ever embraced with an everlasting love and Covenant strengthned by a mighty faith which overcomes the world and quencheth the fiery darts of the Devil And this of the Text stands by way of promise They shall mount up They shall run and not be weary They shall walk and not faint Now all the promises of God in Christ are Yea and Amen The Oath and Promise of God are two immutable things wherein it is impossible he should be deceived or deceive Object They are weary oftentimes and faint in their course afflictions dishearten and unsettle them corruption of nature even foils them Satan gets within them Answ At the worst they fall not either totally or finally nor are ever so weary or faint but their strength is renewed again and they may say as the Apostle 2 Cor. 4.8 9 16. We are troubled on every side yet not distressed we are perplexed but not in despair persecuted but not forsaken cast down but not destroyed We faint not but though our outward man perish yet the inward man is renewed day by day Use Let all that wait on the Lord with their hearts both rejoyce in their priviledge and look well to their duty 1. Rejoyce in your priviledge Your endeavours in holy ways shall be Crowned with perseverance and your perseverance with glory Your desires shall be answered and satisfied to the full When many fall you shall stand And in the day when you are shrewdly shaken yet still you shall stand or if you fall you shall surely rise again True you must fear in respect of your selves and your own unstedfastness but in respect of God you have no cause at all to fear or be dismayed Through the mercy and grace of your God who hath promised you are as sure one day to be in heaven as now you are upon earth 2. Look to your duty that is to keep your selves in the love of God as the Apostle Jude adviseth Be not high-minded but fear and Let him that standeth take heed left he fall Holy joy never breeds security nor a neglect of the means as carnal and presumptuous us useth to do And not only work out your salvation with fear and trembling to shun a total and final Apostasie but take heed of partial and temporary backslidings admit as few interruptions in the way of well-doing as possibly you can still shake up your selves out of every weariness and every fainting Beware of the preparative though not to everlasting destruction yet temporary chastisement especially in the soul by the absence of Christ who withdraws a while when security prevailes Cant. 3. and 5. Ever fear to come any whit near that fatal conclusion of hypocrites who one time or other fall away and shew they were never the men and women that they would be taken to be not of us though among us 1 John 2.19 And of such the Lord saith If any man draw back my soul hath no pleasure in him and they draw back to perdition Heb. 10.39 USE IV. Conclusion ALL this so being may encourage all to a godly life and to receive the grace of God when it is offered to them as that which will set them in such a blessed and permanent condition above all the excellency nature is any way able to reach or attain Alass man what art thou by nature in the greatest of thy strength thou art but a fainting dying man In thy youth the flower of thine age thou mayest be soon cropt and defaced and then without grace in thy heart thou goest to hell as surely as Belzebub What is the strength of legs or beauty or nimbleness or healthiness or any natural endowments pretty things in their kind and such as whereof a good use may be made but in respect of Gods favor and heaven very trifles If so then much more honor riches pleasures ease dainty diet and the like these some call the gifts of fortune and Scripture saith they take them wings and profit not them that have been exercised in them Heb. 13.9 Wisdom would that a man look beyond all these to the better and enduring substance It is good that the heart be established with grace and not with meats He that is born anew unto God shall also be strong in God Though his beginning be but small and weak yet his latter end shall increase exceedingly Others of strong shall become weak he of weak shall become strong Let us hear the end of all All flesh is grass and the glory of man as the flower of the field the grass withereth and the flower fadeth away but the word of the Lord endureth for ever and this is the word which by the Gospel we preach unto you 1 Pet. 1.24 25. FINIS