in the Seas and all deep places You see Divine pleasure is the only rule according to which Divine Power exerts it self in the world we are not therefore to limit and restrain it in our narrow and shallow thoughts and to think in this or in that the Power of God may help or secure us but to believe that he is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or think Thus those Worthies Dan. 3. 17. by Faith exalted the power of God above the order and common rule of second causes Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace and he will deliver us out of thine hand O King Their faith resting it self upon the Omnipotent power of God expected deliverance from it in an extraordinary way 't is true this is no standing rule for our faith ordinarily to work by nor have we ground to expect such miraculous Salvations but yet when extraordinary difficulties press us and the common ways and means of deliverance are shut up we ought by faith to exalt the Omnipotency of God by ascribing the glory thereof to him and leave our selves to his good pleasure without straitning or narrowing his Almighty power according to the mold of our poor low thoughts and apprehensions of it For so the Lord himself directeth our faith in difficult cases Isa. 55. 8 9. For my thoughts are not your thoughts neither are your ways my ways saith the Lord for as the Heavens are higher than the earth So are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts He speaks there of his pardoning mercy which he will not have his people to contract and limit according to the model and platform of their own desponding misgiving and unbelieving thoughts but to exalt and glorifie it according to its unbounded fulness as it is in the thoughts of God the fountain of that mercy so it ought to be with respect to his power about which his thoughts and ours do vastly differ the power of God as we cast it in the mould of our thoughts is as vastly different and disproportionate from what it is in the thoughts of God the fountain thereof as the earth is to the heavens which is but a small inconsiderable point compared with them 2. The power of God is a Supreme and Sovereign power from which all creature power is derived and by which it is over-ruled restrained and limited at his pleasure Nebuchadnezzar was a great Monarch he ruled over other Kings yet he held his Kingdom from God it was God that placed not only the Crown upon his head but his head upon his shoulders Dan. 2. 37. Thou O King art a King of Kings for the God of Heaven â—ath given thee a Kingdom power and strength and glory Hence it follows that no creature can move tongue or hand against any of Gods people but by vertue of a Commission or permission from their God albeit they think not so Knowest thou not saith Pilate unto Christ that I have power to crucifie thee and power to release thee Proud worm what an ignorant and insolent boast was this of his own power and how doth Christ spoil and shame it in his answer Iohn 19. 10. Thou couldest have no power at all against me except it were given thee from above Wicked men like wild horses would run over and trample under foot all the people of God in the world were it not that the bridle of Divine providence had a strong curb to restrain them Ezek. 22. 6. The Princes of Israel every one were in thee to their power to shed bloud And it was well for Gods Israel that their power was not as large as their wills were this world is a raging and boisterous Sea which sorely toffes the passengers for heaven that sail upon it but this is their comfort and security The Lord stilleth the noise of the sea the noise of the waves and the tumult of the people Ps. 65. 7. Moral as well as natural waves are checked and bounded by Divine power Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee and the remainder of wrath thou shalt restrain Psal. 76. 10. As a man turns so much water into the channel as will drive the mill and turns away the rest in another sluce Yea not only the power of man but the power of Devils also is under the restraint and limitation of this power Rev. 3. 10. Satan shall cast some of you into prison and ye shall have tribulation ten days He would have cast them into their graves yea into hell if he could but it must be only into a Prison He would have kept them in prison till they had died and rotted there but it must be only for ten days Oh glorious Sovereign power which thus keeps the reins of Government in its own hand 3. The power of God is an everlasting power time doth not weaken or diminish it as it doth all creature powers Isa. 40. 28. The Lord the Creator of the ends of the earth fainteth not neither is weary Isa. 59. 1. The Lords hand is not shortened i. e. He hath as much power now as ever he had and can do for his people as much as ever he did time will decay the power of the strongest creature and make him faiâ—â— and feeble but the Creator of the ends of the eartâ— fainteth not Thou saith the Psalmist abidest for ever thy years flee not Psal. 102. 27. In Gods working there is no expence of his strength he is able to do as much as ever he did to act over again all the glorious deliverances that ever he wrought for his people from the beginning of the World to do as much for his Church now as he did at the Red sea and upon this ground the Church builds its Plea Isa. 51. 9 10. Awake awake put on strength O arm of the Lord awake as in the ancient days in the generations of old art thou not it that hast cut Rahab and wounded the Dragon q. d. Lord why should not thy people at this day expect as glorious productions of thy power as any of them found in former ages SECT II. LEt us view the power of God in the vast extent of its operation and then you will find it working beyond the line 1. Of Creature power 2. Of Creature expectation 3. Of Humane probability 1. Beyond the line of all created power even upon the hearts thoughts and minds of men where no creature hath any jurisdiction So Gen. 31. 29. God bound up the Spirit of Laban and becalmed it towards Iacob So Psal. 106. 46. He made them also to be pitied of all them that carried them captives Thus the Lord promised Ieremy Ier. 15. 11. I will cause the enemies to entreat thee well in the time of evil This power of God softens the hearts of the most fierce and cruel enemies and sweetens the spirits of the most bitter and enraged foes of
his people 2. Beyond the line of all Creature expectations Eph. 3. 20. God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or think He doth so in Spirituals as appears by those two famous Parables Luke 15. 19. 22. And am no more worthy to be called thy son make me as one of thy hired servants But the Father said to his servants bring forth the best robe and put it on him and put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet The Prodigal desired to be but as an hired servant and lo the fatted Calf is 〈◊〉 for him and musick to his meat and the gold ring upon his finger And in Matth. 18. 26 27. The Debtor did but desire patience and the Creditor forgave the Debt O thinks a poor humbled Sinner if I might have but the least glimpse of hope how sweet would it be But God brings him to more than he expects even the clear shining of assurance It is so in Temporals the Church confesses the Lord did things they looked not for Isa. 64. 3. And in both Spirituals and Temporals this power moves in an higher Orb than our thoughts Isa. 55. 8 9. My thoughts are not your thoughts nor my ways your ways but as far as the heavens are above the earth so are my thoughts above your thoughts The earth is but a punctum to the Heavens all its tallest Cedars Mountains and Pyramids cannot reach it He speaks as was said before of Gods pitying pardoning and merciful thoughts and shews that no Creatâ—re can think of God as he doth of the creature under sin or under misery Our thoughts are not his eitâ—er First by way of simple cogitation we cannot thiâ—k such thoughts towards others in misery by way of pity or under sin against us by way of pardon as God doth Nor Secondly are our thoughts as Gods in respect of reflexive comprehension i. e. We cannot conceive or comprehend what those thoughts of God towards us are when we fall into sin or misery jâ—st as he thinks them they are altered debased and straitened as soon as ever they come into our thoughts See an excellent instance in Gen. 48. 11. I had not thought to see thy face and lo God hath shewed me all thy seed A surprizing providence and thus the Divine power works in a Sphere above all the thoughts prayers and expectations of men 3. It works beyond all probabilities and rational conjectures of men this Almighty power hath â—â—ted deliverances for the people of God when things have been brought to the lowest ebb and all the means of salvation have been hid from their eyes We have diverse famous instances of this in Scripture wherein we may observe a remarkable gradation in the working of this Almighty power It is said in the 2 Kings 14. 26 27. The Lord saw the affliction of Israel that it was very bitter for there was not any shut up nor any left nor any helper for Israel A deplorable state how inevitable was their ruine to the eye of sense Well might it be called a bitter affliction Yet from this immediate power arose for them a sweet and unexpected Salvation and if we look into 2 Cor. 1. 9 10. we shall find the Apostles and choicest Christians of those times giving up themselves as lost men all ways of escape being quite out of sight for so much those words signifie We had the sentence of death in our selves i. e. We yielded our selves for dead men But though they were sentenced to death yea though they sentenced themselves this power which wrought above all their thoughts and rational conjectures reprieved them And yet one step farther in Ezek. 37. 4 5 6 7. The people of God are there represented as actually dead yea as in their graves yea as rotted in their graves and their very bones dry like those that are dead of old so utterly improbable was their recovery Yet by the working of this Almighty power which subdueth all things to it self their graves in Babylon were opened the breath of life came into them bone came to bone and there stood up a very great Army it was the working of this power above the thoughts of mans heart which gave the ground of that famous Proverb Gen. 22. 14. In the Mount of the Lord it shall â—eseen And the ground of that famous Promise Zech. 14. 7. At evening time it shall be light i. e. Light shall unexpectedly spring up when all men according to the course and order of Nature expect nothing but increasing darkness How extensive is the power of God in its glorious operations SECT III. LEt us view the power of God in its relation to the promises for so it becomes our Sanctuary in the day of trouble if the Power of God be the Chamber 't is the Promise of God which is that Golden ' Key that opens it And if we well consult the Scriptures in this matter we shall find the Almighty power of God made over to his people by promise for many excellent ends and uses in the day of their trouble As 1. To uphold and support them when their own strength fails Isa. 41. 10. Fear thou not for I am with thee be not dismayed for I am thy God I will strengthen thee yea I will help thee yea I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness And which of the Saints have not sensibly felt these everlasting arms underneath their spirits when afflictions have pressed them above their own strength So runs the promise to Paul in 2 Cor. 12. 9. My grace is sufficient for thee for my strength is made perfect in weakness i. e. It is made known in thy weakness Our weakness adds nothing to Gods power it doth not make his power perfect but it hath the better advantage of its discovery and puts forth it self more signally and conspicuously in our weakness as the stars which never shine so gloriously as in the darkest night 2. To preserve them in all their dangers to which they lie exposed in Soul and Body 1 Pet. 1. 5. You are kept saith the Apostle by the mighty power of God Kept as in a Garison this is their arm every morning as it is Isa. 33. 2. O Lord be gracious unto us we have waited for thee be thou their arm every morning our salvation also in the time of trouble The Arm is that member which is fitted for the defence of the body and for that end so placed by the God of Nature that it may guard every part above and below it but as good they were bound behind our backs for any help they can give us in some cases It is Gods Arm that defends us and not our own This invisible power of God makes the Saints the worlds wonder Psal. 71. 7. I am as a wonder to many but thou art my strong refuge To see poor defenceless Creatures preserved in the midst of furious enemies that is just
prohibited 2. An effectual remedy prescribed 3. A singular encouragement to apply that remedy 1. An evil practice prohibited Fear not their fear neither be afraid This is that sinful principle which was but too apt to incline them to do as others did scil to say a confederacy Sinful fears are apt to drive the best men into sinful compliances and indirect shifts to help themselves Their fear may be understood two ways 1. Subjectively 2. Effectively 1. Subjectively for the self same fear wherewith the carnal and unbelieving Iews feared a fear that enslaved them in bondage of Spirit a fear that is the fruit of sin a sin in its own nature the cause of much sin to them and a just punishment of God upon them for their other sins 2. Effectively Let not your fear produce in you such mischievous effects as their fear doth to make you forget God magnifie the creature prefer your own wits and policies to the Almighty power and unspotted faithfulness of God if you say but how shall we help it 2. Why in the next place you have An Effectual remedy prescribed But sanctifie the Lord of hosts himself and let him be your fear and your dread The fear of God will swallow up the fear of Man a reverential awe and dread of God will extinguish the slavish fear of the creature as the Sun-shine puts out fire or as one fire fetches out another so will this fear fetch out that By sanctifying the Lord of Hosts himself is meant a due ascription of the glory of his Sovereign power wisdom and faithfulness not only in verbal and professed acknowledgments thereof but especially in those internal acts of affiance resignation and intire dependence on him which as they are the choicest respects of the creature towards its God and give him the greatest glory so they are certainly the most beneficial and comfortable acts we can perform for our own peace and safety in times of danger If a man do really look to God in a day of trouble and fear as to the Lord of Hosts i. e. one that governs all the creatures and all their actions at whose beck and command all the Armies of Heaven and Earth are and then can rely upon the care and love of this God as a child in danger of trouble reposes on and commits himself with greatest confidence to the care and protection of his Father O what peace what rest must necessarily follow upon this Who would be afraid to pass through the midst of Armed Troops and Regiments whilst he knows that the General of that Army is his own Father The more power this filial fear of God obtains in your hearts the less will you dread the power of the Creature When the Dictator ruled at Rome then all other Officers ceased and so in a great measure will all other fears where the fear of God is Dictator in the heart This is the Remedy 3. And to enable us to apply this remedy in the worst and most difficult times we have a singular encouragement proposed If we will thus sanctifie the Lord of Hosts himself by such an acknowledgment of and child-like dependence on him in times of danger then he will be to us for a Sanctuary i. e. he will surely protect defend and provide for us in the worst times and cases then will the Lord Create upon every dwelling-place of mount Zion and upon her Assemblies a cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night for upon all the glory shall be a defence and there shall be a Tabernacle for a shadow in the day-time from the heat and for a place of refuge and for a covert from the storm and from rain Let the winds roar the rain beat the lightnings flash you are in safety and have a good roof over your heads Hence these two points of Doctrine offer themselves 1. Doctrine That the best men are too apt to be overcome with slavish fears in times of eminent distress and danger 2. Doctrine That the fear of God is the most effectual means to extinguish the sinful fear of man and to secure us from danger These two points take in the substance and scope of the Text but because I design to treat in the following Chapters of the Kinds Nature Uses Causes Effects and Remedies of Fear I shall not distinctly prosecute them but proceed in this order in the following Chapters CHAP. II. Wherein the kinds and nature of Fear are opened and particularly the distracting slavish Fear of Creatures SECT I. THere is a threefold Fear found in men viz. Fear 1. Natural 2. Sinful 3. Religious 1. Natural Fear of which all are partakers that partake of the common nature not one excepted Natural Fear is the trouble or perturbation of mind from the apprehension of approaching evil or impending danger The Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 comes from a Verb that signifies Flight this is not always sinful but it is always the fruit and consequent of sin Since sin entred into our nature there is no shaking off Fear no sooner had Adam transgressed but he feared and fled hiding himself among the Trees of the Garden Gen. 3. 8. when he had transgressed the Covenant he presently feared the execution of the Curse First he eats then he hides And this afflictive passion is from him transmitted and derived to all his children To this natural Fear it pleased our Lord Iesus Christ to subject himself in the days of his flesh he was afraid yea he was sore amazed Mark 14. 33. For though his humane nature was absolutely free from â—in yet he came in the likeness of sinful flesh Rom. 8. 3. This fear creates great trouble and perturbation in the mind 1 Iohn 4. 18. Fear hath torment in proportion to the danger is the fear and in proportion to the fear the trouble and distraction of the mind if the fear be exceeding great reason is displaced and can conduct us no farther as the Psalmist speaks of Mariners in a Storm they are at their wits end Psal. 107. 27. or as it is varied in the Margin all wisdom is swallowed up and this is the meaning of Deut. 28. 25. that they should go out against their enemies one way and flee before them seven ways i. e. so great shall be the fright and distraction that they shall attempt now one way then another striving every way but liking none for fear so far betrays the succours of reason that their counsels are always in uncertainty and at a loss and the usual voice of a man in this condition is I know not what to do I know not which way to turn Evil is the object of fear and the greater the evil is the stronger the fear must needs be and therefore the terrours of an awakened and terrified conscience must be allowed to be the greatest of terrours because in that case a man hath to do
death in this extremity it is now in The Mother answered I refer that to the will of God But said her friend if God would â—â—fer it to you what would you chuse then Why truly said she if God would refer it to me I would even refer it to God again This is the true committing of our selves and our troublesome concerns to the Lord. 4. The committing act of Faith implies our renouncing and disclaiming all confidence and trust in the arm of flesh and an expectation of relief from God only If we commit our selves to God we must cease from man Isai. 2. 22. To trust God in part and the Creature in part is to set one foot upon a Rock and the other in a Quick-sand Those acts of Faith that give the intire glory to God give real relief and comfort to us 2. Let us see what grounds and encouragements the people of God have to commit themselves and all the matters of their fear to God and so to enjoy the peace and comfort of a resigned will and there are two sorts of encouragements before you let the case be as difficult and frightful as it will you may find sufficient encouragements in God and somewhat from your selves viz. your relation to him and experiences of him 1. In God there is all that your hearts can desire to encourage you to trust him over all and commit all into his hands For 1. He is able to help and relieve you let the case be never so bad yet let Israel hope in the Lord for with the Lord is plenteous redemption Psal. 130. 7 8. Plenteous redemption i. e. all the stores of power choice of methods plenty of means abundance of ways to save his people when they can see no way out of their troubles Therefore hope Israel in Iehovah 2. As his Power is Almighty so his Wisdom is Infinite and unsearchable He is a God of judgment blessed are all they that wait for him Isa. 30. 18. When the Apostle Peter had related the wonderful preservations of Noah in the Deluge and of Lot in Sodom one in a general destruction of the world by Water and the other in the overthrow of those Cities by Fire He concludes and so should we The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptation 2 Pet. 2. 9. Some men have much Power but little wisdom to manage it others are wise and prudent but want ability in God there is an infinite fulness of both 3. His love to and tenderness over his people is transcendent and unparallelled and this sets his wisdom and power both a work for their good hence it is that his eyes of providence run continually throughout the whole earth to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose hearts are perfect i. e. upright towards him 2 Chron. 16. 9. Thus you see how he is every way fitted as a proper object of your trust 2. Consider your selves and you shall find encouragements to commit all to God For 1. You are his children and to whom should children commit themselves in dangers and fears but to their own father Doubtless thou art our father saith the distressed Church Isai. 63. 15 16. Yea Christian Thy maker is thy husband Isai. 54. 5. Is not that a sufficient ground to cast thy self upon him What! a Child not trust its own Father A wife not commit her self to her own husband 2. You have trusted him with a far greater concern already than your estates liberties or lives you have committed your souls to him and your eâ—rnal interests 2 Tim. 1. 12. Shall we commit the â—ewel and dispute the Cabinet Trust him for heaven and doubt him for earth 3. You have ever found him faithful in all that you trusted him with all your experiences are so many good grounds of confidence Psal. 9. 10. Well then resolve to trust God over all and quietly leave the dispose of every thing to him he hath been with you in all former streights wants and fears hitherto he hath helped you and cannot he do so again except you tell him how O trust in his wisdom power and love and lean not to your own understandings The fruit of resignation will be peace 5. Rule If ever you well get rid of your fears and distractions get your affections mortified to the world and to the inordinate and immoderate love of every injoyment in the world The more you are mortified the less you will be terrified 't is not the dead but the living world that puts our hearts into such fears and tremblings If our hearts were once crucified they would soon be quieted 'T is the strength of our affections that puts so much strength into our afflictions It was not therefore without great reason that the Apostle compares the life of a Christian to the life of a Souldier who if he mean to follow the Camp and acquit himself bravely in fight must not intangle himself with the affairs of this life 2 Tim. 2. 4. Sure there is no following Christ's Camp but with a disintangled heart from the world for proportionable to the heat of our love will be the strength and height of our fears about these things more particularly if ever you will rid your selves of your uncomfortable and uncomely fears use all Gods means to mortifie your affections to the exorbitant esteem and love of 1. Your Estates 2. Your Liberty 3. Your Lives 1. Get mortified and cooled hearts to your Possessions and Estates in the world The poorest age afforded the richest Christians and noblest Martyrs Ships deepest laden are not best for encounters The believing Hebrews took joyfully the spoiling of their goods knowing in themselves that they had in heaven a better and induring substance Heb. 10. 34. They carried it rather like unconcerned Spectators than the true Proprietors They rejoyced when rude Souldiers carried out their goods as if so many friends had been bringing them in And whence was this But from an heart fixed upon Heaven and mortified to things on Earth Doubtless they esteemed and valued their Estates as the good providences of God for their more comfortable accommodation in this world but it seems they did and O that we could look upon them as mercies of the lowest and meanest rank and nature The substance laid up in Heaven was a better substance and as long as that was safe the loss of this did not afflict them They could bless God for these things which for a little time did minister refreshment to them but they knew them to be transitory enjoyments things that would make to themselves wings and flee away if their enemies had not toucht them but the substance laid up for them in Heaven that was an enduring substance So far as those earthly things might further them towards Heavenly things so far they prized and valued them but if Satan would turn them into snares and temptations to deprive them of their better substance in Heaven they could
expectations of Gods righteous judgments It is indeed below faith to expect evil days with despondency and distraction but surely it is a noble exercise of Faith so to expect them as to make due preparation for them SECT II. ANd if we enquire for what End God gives such warnings to the world and premonishes them from Heaven of the judgments that are coming on the earth know that he doth it upon a threefold account 1. To prevent their Execution 2. To leave the Careless inexcusable 3. To make them more tolerable and easie to his own people 1. Warning is given with design to prevent the execution of judgments this is plain from Amos 4. 12. Therefore will I do this unto thee there is warning given and because I will do this prepare to meet thy God O Israel There is the gracious design of preventing it by bringing them seasonably upon their knees at the foot of an angry God You see the Lord expects it from all his Children that they fall at his feet in deep humiliation and fervent intercession whenever he goes forth in the way of judgment What else was the design of God in sending Ionah to Nineveh with that dreadful message but to excite them to repentance and prevent their ruine This Ionah guessed at and therefore declined the message to secure his credit well knowing that if they took warning and repented the gracious nature of God would soon melt into compassion over them Free grace would make him appear as a liar among the people for to that sense his own words sound Ionah 4. 2. Was not this my saying when I was yet in my Countrey Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish for I knew that thou art a gracious God q. d. I thought before hand it would come to this I knew how willing thou art to be prevented by repentance therefore to secure my credit I fled to Tarshish 2. He forewarns of judgments to leave the Incorrigible wholly inexcusable that those who have neither sense of Sin nor fear of Judgment before might have no cloak for their folly nor plea for themselves afterward What wilt thou say when he shall punish thee Ier. 13. 21 22. q. d. What Plea or Apology is left thee after so many fair warnings You cannot say you were surprized before you were admonished or ruined before you were warned 3. God warns of Judgments before they come to make them the more easie to his people when they come indeed thus in Iohn 16. 4. Christ foretold his Disciples of their approaching sufferings that when they came they should not be found amazed at them or unprovided for them for unexpected miseries are astonishing to the best men and destructive to wicked men Luke 17. 26 27 28. Well then if it be so let all that are wise in heart consider the Signs of the times and seasonably hearken to Gods warnings The Lords voice crieth to the Citâ— and the man of wisdom shall see thy name hear ye the rod and who hath appointed it Mica 6. 9. 'T is our wisdom to way-lay our troubles and provide for the worst estate whilst we enjoy the best happy is he that is at once believing and praying for good days and preparing for the worst Noah's example is our advantage Heb. 11. 7. Who by faith being warned of God of things not seen as yet moved with fear prepared an Ark. Preventing mercies are the most ravishing mercies Psal. 59. 10. And preventing calamities are the sorest calamities Amos 9. 10. And let us heartily bewail the supiness and carelesness of the world in which we live who take no notice of Gods warnings but put the evil day far from them Amos 6. 3. who will admit no fear till they are past all hope they see God housing his Saints apace yet will not see the evil to come from which God takes them Isa. 57. 1 2. 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 he shall enter into peace they shall rest in their beds each one walking in his uprightness They hear the cry of sin which is gone up to heaven but cry not for the abominations that are committed nor tremble at the judgments that they will procure O careless Sinners drowned in Stupidity and sleeping like Ionah under the Hatches when others are upon their knees and at their wits end do Saints tremble and are you secure Have not you more reason to be afraid than they If judgments come the greatest harm it can do them is but to hasten them to Heaven but as for you it may hurry you away to Hell They only fear tribulation in the way but you will not fear damnation in the end Believe it Reader in days of common calamity both Heaven and Hell will fill apace CHAP. VI. Demonstrating the fifth Proposition viz. That Gods Attributes Promises and Providences are prepared for the security of his people in the greatest distresses that befal them in the World SECT I. HAving more briefly dispatched the foregoing preliminary Propositions it remains that we now more fully open this fifth Proposition which contains the main subject matter of this Discourse here therefore our meditations must fix and abide and truly such is the deliciousness of the subject to Spiritual hearts that I judge it wholly needless to offer any other motive besides it self to engage your affections Let us therefore view our Chambers and see how well God hath provided for his Children in all their distresses that befal them in this world it is our fathers voice that calls to us Come my people enter thou into thy chambers And the 1. Chamber Which comes to be opened as a Refuge to distressed Believers in a stormy day is that most secure and safe Attribute of Divine Power into this let us first enter by serious and believing meditation and see how safe they are whom God hides under the protection thereof in the worst and most dangerous days In opening this Attribute we shall consider it 1. In its own Nature and Property 2. With respect to the Promises 3. As it is actuated by Providence on the behalf of distressed Saints And then give you a comfortable prospect of their safe and happy condition who take up their lodgings by Faith in this Attribute of God 1. Let us consider the Power of God in it self and we shall find it represented to us in the Scriptures in these three lovely Properties viz. Power 1. Omnipotent 2. Supreme 3. Everlasting 1. As an Omnipotent and All-sufficient Power which hath no bounds or limits but the pleasure and will of God Dan. 4. 34 35. He doth according to his will in the armies of Heaven and among the Inhabitants of the earth and none can stay his hand or say unto him What dost thou So Psalm 135. 6. Whatsoever the Lord pleased that did he in Heaven and in Earth
matter of wonder but God being their invisible refuge that solves the wonder to this end the Power of God is by promise engaged to his people Isa. 27. 3. I the Lord do keep it I will water it every moment lest any hurt it I will keep it night and day And thus they subsist in the midst of dangers and troubles as the burning Bush the Emblem of the Church did amidst the devouring flames Exod. 3. 3. 3. To deliver them out of their distresses so runs the Promise Psal. 91. 14 15. Because he hath set his love upon me therefore will I deliver him I will set him on high because he hath known my name he shall call upon me and I will answer him I will be with him in trouble I will deliver him and honour him And Ier. 30. 7. Alas for that day is great so that none is like it It is even the time of Jacob's trouble but ye shall be saved out of it And surely there can be no distress so great no case of Believers so sorlorn but 1. It 's easie with God to save them out of it Are they to the eye of Sense lost as hopeless as men in the grave Yet see Ezek. 37. 12. O my people I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves and bring you into the land of Israel And he doth whatever he doth easily with a word Ps. 44. 4. Thou art my king O God command deliverances for Jacob. And it requireth no more violent motion to do it than he that swimeth in the water uses Isa. 25. 11. A gentle easie motion of the hand doth it 2. And as the power of God can deliver them easily so speedily Their deliverance is often wrought by way of surprizal Isa. 17. 14. Behold at evening tide trouble and in the morning he is not So the Church prays in Pâ— 126. 4. turn again our captivity as the streams in the South The Southern Countreys are dry the streams there come not in a gentle and slow current but being occasioned by violent sudden spouts of Rain they presently overflow the Countrey and as soon retire So speedily can the power of God free his people from their dangers and fears 3. Yea such is the excellency of his delivering power that he can save alone without any contribution of Creature aids So Isa. 59. 16. He wondered that there was no intercessour therefore his hand brought salvation unto him and his righteousness sustained him We read indeed Iudg. 5. 23. Of helping the Lord but that is not to express his need but their duty we have continual need of God but he hath no need of us he uses instruments but not out of necessity his arm alone can save us be the danger never so great or the visible means of deliverance never so remote 4. Once more let us view this Chamber of Divine power as it is continually opened by the hand of providence to receive and secure the people of God in all their dangers 'T is said 2 Chro. 16. 9. The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to shew himself strong in behalf of them whose heart is perfect towards him Where you have an excellent account of the immediacy universality and efficacy of Divine Providence as it uses and applies this Divine power for the guard and defence of that people who are its charge he doth not only set Angels to watch for them but his own eyes keep Sentinel even those seven eyes of Providence mentioned Zech. 3. 9. which never sleep nor slumber for they are said to run continually to and fro and that not in this or that particular place only for the service of some more eminent and excellent persons but through the whole earth 'T is an encompassing and surrounding providence which hath its eye upon all whose hearts are upright all the Saints are within the line of its care and protection the eye of Providence discovereth all their dangers and its arm defends them for he shews himself strong in their behalf The secret but Almighty efficacy of Providence is also excellently described to us in Ezek. 1. 8. where the Angels are said to have their hands under their wings working secretly and undiscernibly but very effectually for the Saints committed to their charge Like unto which is that in Hab. 3. 4. where it is said of God that He had horns coming out of his hands and there was the hiding of his power The hand is the instrument of action denoting Gods active power and the horns coming out of them are the glorious raies and beams of that power shining forth in the salvation of his people O that we could sun our selves in those chearful and reviving beams of Divine power by considering how gloriously they have broken forth and shone out for the salvation of his people in all Ages So it did for Israel at the Red Sea Exod. 15. 6. So for Iehoshaphat in that great streight 2 Chron. 20. 12 15. And so in the time of Hezekiah 2 Kings 19. 3. 7. Yea in all ages from the beginning of the World the Saints have been sheltered under these wings of Divine Power Isa. 51. 9. 10. Thus Providence hath hanged and adorned this Chamber of Divine power with the delightful Histories of the Churches manifold preservations by it SECT IV. HAving taken a short view of this glorious Chamber of Gods power absolutely in it self and also in relation to his promises and providences it remains now that I press and perswade all the people of God under their fears and dangers according to Gods gracious invitation to enter into it shut their doors and to behold with delight this glorious Attribute working for them in all their exigencies and distresses 1. Enter into this Chamber of Divine power all ye that fear the Lord and hide your selves there in these dangerous and distressful days let me say to you as the Prophet did to the poor distressed Iews Zech. 9. 12. Turn ye to your strong hold ye prisoners of hope Strong holds might they say Why where are they The walls of Ierusalem are in the dust the Temple burnt with fire Sion an heap what meanest thou then in telling us of our strong holds Why admit all this yet there is Satis praesidii in uno Deo Refuge enough for you in God alone as Calvin excellently notes upon that place Christian art not thou able to fetch a good subsistence for thy Soul by Faith out of the Almighty power of God The renowned Saints of old did so Abraham Isaac and Iacob met with as many difficulties and plunges of trouble in their time as ever you did or shall meet with yet by the exercise of their faith upon this Attribute they lived comfortably and why cannot you Exod. 6. 3. I appeared saith God unto Abraham Isaac and Jacob by the name of God Almighty They kept house and feasted by Faith upon this name
of mine O that we could do as Abraham did Rom 4. 21. We have the same Attribute but alas we have not such a Faith as his was to improve it It is easie to believe the Almighty power of God in a calm but not so easie to resign our selves to it and securely rest upon it in a Storm of adversity But oh what peace and rest would our Faith procure us by the free use and exercise of it this way to assist your faith in this difficulty wherein we find the faith of a Moses sometimes staggered Let me briefly offer you these four following encouragements 1. Consider how your gracious God hath engaged this his Almighty power by Promise and Covenant for the security of his people God pawned it as it were to Abraham in that famous promise Gen. 17. 1. I am the Almighty God walk thou before me and be perfect And Gen. 15. 1. Fear not Abraham I am thy shield Say not this was Abraham's peculiar priviledge for if you consult Hos. 12. 4. and Heb. 13. 5 6. you will find that Believers in these days have as good a title to the promises made in those days as those worthies had to whom they were immeately made 2. If you be Believers your relation to God strongly engageth his power for you as well as his own promises Surely saith God they are my people children that will not lie so he became their Saviour Isa. 63. 8. We say Relations have the least of Entity but the greatest of efficacy you find it so in your own experience let a wife child or friend be in eminent danger and it shall engage all the power you have to succour and deliver them 3. This glorious power of God is engaged for you by the very malice and wickedness of your enemies who will be apt to impute the ruine of the Saints to the defects of power in their God from whence those excellent arguments are drawn Numb 14. 15 16. Now if thou shalt kill all this people as one man then the nations which have heard the fame of thee will speak saying because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land which he sware unto them therefore he hath slain them in the wilderness And again Deut. 32. 26 27. you shall find the Lord improving this argument for them himself if they do not plead it for themselves he will 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 left their adversaries should behave themselves strangely and lest they should say our hand is high and the Lord hath not done all this O see how much you are beholding to the very rage of your enemies for your deliverances from them 4. To conclude the very reliance of your Souls by faith upon the power of God your very leaning upon his arm engages it for your protection Isa. 26. 3. Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee because he trusteth in thee Puzle not your selves therefore any longer about qualifications but know that the very acting of your faith on God the recumbency of your Souls upon him is that which will engage him for your defence how weak and defective soever thou art in other respects 2. Having thus entered by Faith into this Chamber of Divine power the next counsel the Text gives you is to shut the door behind you i. e. after the acting of your faith and the quiet repose of your Souls upon Gods Almighty power then take heed lest unbelieving fears and jealousies creep in again and disturb the rest of your Souls in God you find a sad instance of this in Moses Numb 11. 21 23. After so many glorious acts and triumphs of his Faith how were his heels tripped up by diffidence which crept in afterwards good men may be posed with difficult providences and made to stagger The Isâ—aelites had lived upon miracles many years yet Psal. 78. 20. Can he give bread also Good Martha objects difficulty to Christ. Ioh. 11. 39. By this time he stinketh O 't is a glorious thing to give God the glory of his Almighty power in difficult cases that we cannot comprehend See Zech. 8. 6. If it be marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days should it be also marvellous in mine eyes saith the Lord of hosts Difficulties are for men but not for God because it is marvellous in your eyes must it be so in Gods Various objections will be apt to arise in your hearts to drive you out of this your refuge As 1. Objection O but the long continuance of our troubles and distresses will sink our very hearts Isa. 40. 27. Why sayest thou O Jacob and speakest O Israel my way is hid from the Lord and my judgment is passed over from my God Sol. But O wait upon God without fainting Heb. 2. 3 The vision is yet for an appointed time but at the end of it shall speak and not lie though it tarry wait for it because it will surely come it will not tarry 2. Objection O but our former hopes and expectations of deliverance are frustrated Ier. 8. 15. We looked for peace but no good came and for a time of health and behold trouble Sol. O but yet be not discouraged see how the Psalmist begins the 69 Psal with trembling and ends it with triumph the husbandman waiteth and so must you 3. Objection But there is no sign or appearance of our deliverance Sol. What then this is no new thing Psal. 74. 9. We see not our signs there is no more any Prophet neither is there any among â—s that knoweth how long 4. Objection But all things work contrary to our hope Sol. Why so did things with Abraham yet see Rom. 4. 18. against hope he believed in hope 3. Observe further with delight the out goings and glorious workings of Divine power for you and for the Church in times of trouble this is sweet entertainment for your Souls 't is food for Faith Psal. 74. 14. Thou breakest the heads of Leviathan in pieces and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness and here I beseech you behold and admire 1. It 's mysterious and admirable protection of the Saints in all their dangers They feed as Sheep in the midst of Wolves Luke 10. 3. they lie among them that are set on fire Psal. 57. 4. Their habitation is in the midst of deceit Ier. 9. 6. Yet they are kept in safety by the mighty power of God 2. Behold and admire it in casting the bonds of restraint upon your enemies that though they would yet they cannot hurt you our dangers are visible and our fears great but our security and safety admirable Isa. 51. 13. Thou hast feared continually every day because of the fury of the oppressour as if he were ready to destroy and where is the
perfoming his Promises we shall find it is built upon stable and unshaken pillars viz. 1. The Holiness of his Nature 2. The All-sufficiency of his Power 3. The Honour of his Name 4. The Unchangeableness of his Nature 1. The Faithfulness of God is built upon the perfect Holiness of his Nature by reason whereof it is impossible for God to lie Tit. 1 2. Heb. 6. 18. The deceitfulness of men flows from the corruption of the Humane Nature but God is not as man that he should lye neither as the son of man that he should repent â—hath he said and shall he not do it Or hath he spoken and shall he not make it good Numb 23. 19. If there be no defect in his Being there can be none in his working if his Nature be pure Holiness all his ways must be perfect Faithfulness 2. It is built upon the All-sufficiency of his Power whatsoever he hath promised to his people he is able to perform it men sometimes falsifie their promises through the defects of ability to perform them but God never out-promised himself if he will work none can lett Isa. 43. 13. He can do whatsoever he pleaseth to do Psal. 135. 6. The Holiness of his Nature engageth and the Almightiness of his Power enables him to be Faithful 3. The glory and Honour of his Name may assure us of his Faithfulness in making good the Promises and all that good which is in the promises to a tittle for wherever you find a Promise of God you also find the Name and Honour of God given as security for the performance of it and so his name hath ever been pleaded with him by his people as a mighty argument to work for them Ioshuah 7. 9. What wilt thou do to thy great name q. d. Lord thine Honour is a thousand times more than our lives it is no such great matter what becomes of us but ah Lord it is of infinite concernment that the glory of thy Name be secured and thy faithfulness kept pure and unspotted in the world So again Exod. 32. 11 12. And Moses besought the Lord his God and said Lord why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people which thou hast brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand Wherefore should the Egyptians speak and say for mifchief did he bring them out to â—lay them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth turn from thy fierce wrath and repent of this evil against thy people q. d. It will be sad enough for the hands of the Egyptians to â—all upon thy people but infinitely worse for the tongues of the Egyptians to fall upon thy Name 4. The unchangeableness of his Nature gives us the fullest assurance of his Faithfulness in the Promises Mal. 3. 6. I am the Lord I change not therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed Gods unchangeableness is his peoples indempnity and best security in the midst of dangers whilst there is not yea and nay with God there should be no ups and downs offs and on s in our faith that which gives steadiness to the Promises should give steadiness also to our expectations for the performance of them and so much briefly of the Faithfulness of God absolutely considered in the Nature and grounds of it 2. Next let us view the Faithfulness of God as it relates to the many great and precious Promises made unto his people for their security both in their Concernments 1. Temporal 2. Spiritual 1. We find the Faithfulness of God pawned and pledged for the security of his people in their Spiritual and eternal concernments against all their dangers and fears threatning them on that account and that more especially in these three respects 1. It is given them as their great and best security for the Pardon of their sins 1 Iohn 1. 9. If we confâ—ss our siâ—â—s he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse â—s from all unrighteousness Our greatest danger comes from sin Guilt is a fountain of Fears a pardoned Soul only can look other troubles in the face boldly As Guilt breeds fear so Pardon breeds Courage and Gods Faithfulness in the Covenant is as it were that Pardon-office from whence we fetch our discharges and acquittances Isa. 43. 25. I even I am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake The promises of remission are made for Christs sake and when made they must be fulfilled for his own that is his Faithfulness sake 2. It is engaged for the perseverance of the Saints and their continuance in the ways of God in the most hazardous and difficult times this was the encouragement given them 1 Cor. 1. 8 9. Who shall also confirm you unto the end that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Iesus Christ God is faithful by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Iesus Christ our Lord. Ah Lord might those Corinthians say the Powers of the World are against us Suffering and Death before us a Treacherous and fearful heart within us Ay but yet fear not Christ shall confirm you whosoever opposes you though the World and your own hearts be deceitful yet comfort your selves with this your God is Faithful 3. The Faithfulness of God is given by promise for his Peoples security in and encouragement against all their sufferings and afflictions in this World â— Thes. 3. 2 3. That we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men for all men have not faith but the Lord is faithful who shall stablish you and keep you from evil He prays they may be delivered from absurd treacherous and unfaithful men who would trapan and betray them to ruine but this is proposed as their relief that when the treachery of men shall bring them into trouble the Faithfulness of God shall support them under and deliver them out of those troubles they shall have Spiritual supports from God under their deepest sufferings from men 1 Pet. 4. 19. 2. Gods Faithfulness is engaged for his peoples indempnity and security amidst the Temporal and outward evils whereunto they are liable in this world and that either to preserve them from troubles Psal. 91. 1 2 3 4. or to open a seasonable door of deliverance out of trouble 1 Cor. 10. 13. In both or either of which the hearts of Christians may be at rest in this troublesome world for what need those troubles fright us which either shall never touch us or if they do shall never hurt much less ruine us SECT III. HAving taken a short view of Gods Faithfulness in the Promises it will be a lovely sight to take one view of it more as it is actuated and exerted in his Providences over his people believe it Christians the Faithfulness of God runs through all his works of providence whenever he goes forth to work in the World Faithfulness is the girdle of his loins Isa. 11. 5.
them their strong hold shall not secure them they shall find no shelter in the scorching heat of the day of trouble Moab Ashdod and Ekron have no more benefit by the Promises made to Sion than the Inhabitants of Rome can claim by the Charter of London If a wicked or hypocritical person cry to God in his distress he will not hear him Prov. 1. 25 26. Iob 27. 9. but will bid him go to his earthly refuges which he hath chosen if he go to the promises knock at those doors of hope they cannot relieve him being all made in Christ to believers if to the Name and Attributes of God all the dores are shut against them Psal. 34. 16. There are Seven dreadful Aggravations of a wicked man's troubles 1 When troubles come upon him the Curse of God follows him into his carnal refuges Ier. 17. 5. Cursed be the man that trusteth in man and maketh flesh his arm and whose heart departeth from the Lord. Trouble is the Arrow and this curse the venom of the Arrow which makes the Wound incurable 2. When troubles fall upon him from without a guilty conscience will terrifie him from within So that the mind can give no relief to the body but both sink under their own weights it is not so with the people of God they have inward relief under outward pressures 2 Cor. 4. 16. 3. The gusts and storms of wicked mens troubles may blow them into Hell and hurry them into eternal destruction if Death march towards them upon the pale Horse hell always follows him Rev. 6. 8. 4. If troubles and distresses overwhelm their hearts they can give them no vent or ease by prayer faith and resignation to God as his People use to do 1 Sam. 1. 18. 5. When their troubles and distresses come then comes the hour and power of their temptation and to shun sorrow they will fall into sin having no promise to be kept in the hour of temptation as the Saints have Rev. 3. 10. 6. When their troubles come they will be left alone in the midst of them these are their burthens and they alone must bear them Gods gracious comfortable supporting presence is only with his own people 7. If trouble or death come upon them as a storm they have no Anchor of Hope to drop in the Storm The wicked is driven away in his wickedness but the righteous hath hope in his death Prov. 14. 32. by all which it appears that a Christless person is a most helpless and shiftless creature in the day of trouble 2. Consect Secondly Hence it follows That Christians ought not to droop like other men in the day of trouble A Wicked mans boldness and a Christians cowardliness in times of affliction are alike ungrounded and uncomly Why should thy heart Christian despond and sink at this rate upon the prospect of approaching troubles Are there not safe and comfortable Chambers taken up and provided for thee against that day Is not the name of the Lord a strong Tower into which thou mayest run and be safe The heart of a good man saith Chrysostome should at all times be like the higher Heavens serene tranquil and clear whatever Thunders and Lightnings Storms and Tempests trouble and terrifie the lower World If a man have a good Roof over his head where he can sit dry and warm what need he trouble himself to hear the Winds roar the Lightnings flash and the Rains pour down without doors Why this is thy priviledge Christian A man to wit the man Christ Jesus shall be as an hiding place from the wind and a covert from the tempest as rivers of water in a dry place as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land Isa. 32. 2. Art thou in Christ and in the Covenant give me then one good reason for thy dejections in a day of trouble or if thou hast none to give hearken to these Reasons against it 1. If thou be in Christ thy Sins are forgiven thee and why should not a pardoned Soul he a chearful Soul in adversity Afflictions may buz and hum about thee like Bees that have lost their Sting but they can never hurt thee 2. If thou be in Christ thy God is with thee in all thy troubles and how can thy heart sink or faint in such a presence Let them that are alone in troubles fail under them but don't thou do so that art surrounded with Almighty Power Grace and Love Isa. 43. 1 2. 3. If thou be in Christ thy greatest afflictions shall prove thy best Friends and Benefactors Rom. 8. 28. Sure then thou art more afraid than hurt thou mistakest thy best Friends for thy worst Enemies thou and thy Afflictions shall part more comfortably than you met 4. If thou be in Christ thy Treasure is safe thy eternal happiness is out of the reach of all thine Enemies Luk. 12. 4. Luk. 10. 42. And if that be safe thou hast no cause to be sad to droop and tremble at the hazard of earthly comforts whilest heavenly and eternal things are safe is as if a man that had gotten his Pardon from the King and had it safe in his Bosom should be found weeping upon the way home because he hath lost his Staff or Glove These reasons are strong against the dejections of Gods people under outward troubles but yet I am sensible that all the reasoning in the world will not prevent their dejections except they will take pains to clear up their Interest in God against such a day Psal. 18. 2. and will act their faith by way of adherence and dependance upon God in the want of former light and evidence Isa. 50. 10. And lastly that they keep their consciences pure and inviolate which will be a spring of comfort in the midst of troubles 2 Cor. 1. 12. 3. Consect Thirdly It hence appears to be the greatest folly and vanity in the world to make any thing but God our refuge in the day of trouble This practice as you heard but now is under Gods curse and that which is cursed of God can never be comfortable to us It is an honour peculiar to God the right of Heaven and therefore cursed Sacriledge to bestow it on the Creature We read of some that make lies their refuge and hide themselves under Falshood thinking when the overflowing Scourge comes it shall not come nigh unto them Isa. 28. 15. They will trust to their wits and policies they will fawn and flatter lye and dissemble cast themselves into a thousand shapes and forms to save themselves but all in vain the Flood shall sweep away their refuge of lyes Others make Riches their trust and confidence Prov. 10. 15. The rich mans wealth is his strong city If Enemies come their money shall be their ransom but oh what a poor refuge will this be It may betray but cannot secure them Behold saith God I will stir up the Medes against them which shall not regard silver and