Jesus Oh it is good for thee to rejoyce in them The Gospel is glad tidings of joy yea Luke 2. 10. of great joy to all Believers Dost thou find thy self sad sullen and discontented Oh check and chide thy self for thy unchearfulness Take the Prophet David for thy Pattern Psal 42. 5 11. Ps 43. 5. who no less than three times in two short Psalms together rebukes himself for this very thing Why art thou cast down Oh my Soul and why art thou disquieted within me Neglect not those divine Consolations that have been propounded to thee Stir up and provoke thy self to this holy Duty in the extent of it Rejoyce in the Lord alway That which Eliphaz Job 15. 11 12. sometime said to Job when he would not be comforted by God nor by his Counsel let me apply to the disconsolate dejected and drooping Soul Are the Consolations of God small with thee Is this thing strange unto thee Why doth thine heart take thee away and what do thine eyes mean Seem the Consolations of God small unto thee Thou hast heard twice so many Causes of rejoycing as there is of sorrowing in the same Particulars why then takest thou no more joy in God why then takest thou no more comfort in Christ why dost thou not rejoyce in the Lord alway Certainly beloved the true reason why we rejoyce not enough is because we are not enough Christians Well would you now for the future practise this Apostolical precept of rejoycing in the Lord alway then observe I pray these four Means following Means 1 First Get you a true justifying Faith get you a good assurance of Salvation this is a sure way to keep the heart chearful The Light of Gods countenance favourably shining upon us through Christ adds more comfort than when our Corn and Wine and Oil is increased The joy that groweth from this ground Psal 4. 6 7. 1 Pet. 1. 8. is unspeakable and glorious This is able to make a man rejoyce when he hath never so many means to make him heavy for being justified by Faith we have peace with God Rom. 5. 1 3. through Jesus Christ our Lord neither that only but we also rejoyce in tribulation This it was that made Paul and Silas rejoyce and sing in Prison True Faith gives a man many Act. 16. 25. sound grounds of comfort it gives a man many Reasons of solid rejoycing For first It assures him of the pardon of his sins and when he once knows that no affliction need trouble him Son be of good comfort thy sins are forgiven Matth. 9. 2. thee saith Christ to the sick of the Palsie Thy sins which were the cause of thy Sickness they are forgiven therefore be of good chear Secondly He that hath true Faith knows that he shall never lose the favour of God after he hath once obtained it how many signes soever of Gods anger may be upon him and is not this a notable ground of rejoycing when a man is by Faith perswaded that neither Life nor Death nor Rom. 8. 38 39. Principalities nor Powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other Creature shall be able to separate him from the Love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Thirdly He that hath true Faith knows God will have a tender respect to his weakness in whatsoever affliction he shall lay upon him that it shall not exceed his Rom. 8. 26. strength God will be the strength of his Spirit God will support and enable him to bear it that he faint not under it God is faithful saith the Apostle and will not suffer you to be 1 Cor. 10. 13 tempted above that you are able but will even give the issue with the temptation that ye may be able to bear it Fourthly He that hath true Faith is assured that whatsoever affliction God layeth upon him it shall in the end tend to his good and to the furtherance of his Salvation Also we know that all things work together for the best unto them Rom. 8. 28. that love God even to them that are called according to his purpose So S. Paul Fifthly He that hath true faith knows the end will pay for all and that after a while all tears shall be wiped from his eyes and he shall enjoy unspeakable comfort I should Psal 27. 13. have fainted saith David except I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the Land of the living And this of the first Means of continual rejoycing If you would rejoyce in the Lord alway you must then get you a true justifying Faith a good assurance of your salvation Means 2 Secondly A second Means to rejoyce alway is to take care to keep a good Conscience That man that in all things is careful to please God and to keep his Conscience pure that he fall not into any known and grievous sin shall ever have a quiet and chearful heart he may rejoyce alwayes Our rejoycing is this saith S. Paul even the testimony of our 2 Cor. 1. 12. Conscience that in simplicity and godly pureness we have had our conversation in the world This will make a man chearful at all times not in prosperity only but even in adversity also and therefore Solomon calls it a continual Feast And Pro. 15. 15. in this respect the Apostle calleth Righteousness a Brestplate that will defend the heart even in the evil day Would you Eph. 6. 14. therefore have a cheerful heart would you be comfortable and rejoyce always even in affliction in the time of your sickness and at the hour of your death have a care then of a good Conscience take heed of known sins That man only that in all things is careful to please God and to keep his Conscience pure that he fall not into any known and grievous sin shall have a quiet and chearful heart he only may rejoyce alwayes Means 3 Thirdly The third Means to make us rejoyce alway is to make the Lord our Treasure and not any earthly thing If a man do not overvalue these earthly Comforts as namely Husbands Wives Friends Children Health Wealth Liberty Peace c. nor account them his chief treasure but esteem them as they are indeed even transitory Comforts and account the Lord and his Favour and Grace his chief Treasure If a man set not his heart on these things but love them only in the Lord then shall he not be oppressed with immoderate sorrow for them when God shall take them away Such a man may rejoyce still whereas he that maketh these worldly things his chief Treasure and setteth his heart upon them he cannot rejoyce alway he must needs be oppressed with sorrow when he shall be deprived of them You may see it in the example of Ahab who when he could not get Naboths Vineyard his spirit was exceeding sad he could not eat his Bread And
gustum quam post fastidium before we have tasted it than after we have surfeited on it The more hold we take of this the more we lose our hold upon God Turn ye therefore my beloved Brethren from this vain false and short joy that seeks you and seek that joy of verity that joy in the Lord which shall for ever content and never cloy you Quest But what may some man say may we not rejoyce at all in temporal things May we not chearfully enjoy those outward things that God hath been pleased to bestow upon us Answ Yes Beloved I deny not but you may so as you take these two Cautions along with you First You must have a diligent care to prevent Excess Whether we eat or drink or whatsoever we do else 1 Cor. 10. 31. Rom. 13. 13. Luke 21. 34 all must be done to the Glory of God Gluttony and Drunkenness are the works of Darkness contrary to honest walking you must take heed therefore lest at at any time your hearts be oppressed with them Secondly You may rejoyce in the enjoyment of these outward things always provided that God be not banished out of your thoughts We may be merry but God must be by we may please our selves so long as we displease not him All our joy is not reserved for the next life some is afforded us on earth Gods greater Light doth not extinguish the less Friends Children Wine Oyl Health Liberty Competency are not given us for discontent we may not make them indeed Gods Rivals but we may rejoyce in them as Gods Blessings In themselves they are nothing in him they are worth our joy They wrong Christians that forbid them mirth The Gospel is not such dull Metal but the Tidings of joy to all Believers When the Lord hath Luke 2. 10. made us happy he gives us no thanks to make our selves miserable If we find God reconciled Christ our Advocate the Holy Spirit our Comforter if we have peace in our Conscience and in Heaven an Inheritance we should be both angry and ashamed at our selves to ask on earth that Question Why art thou sad or cast down Oh my Soul If we be in Christ our very bread Psal 42. 11. is a Symbole of the Bread of Life and our Wine and Beer a Token of that Cup we shall drink in Heaven What should discomfort us if the Lord be with us Only let 's be sure that our Delights exclude not the Presence of God Rejoyce we may nay rejoyce we must it is our duty enjoyned by the Apostle but look we to the Limitation that the Lord be in it Rejoyce in the Lord. The Third Part The Extent I have done with two parts of my Text The Duty and the Limitation of it I shall now proceed to the Third which is the Extent of the Duty in the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 alway 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rejoyce in the Lord alway This seems at first view a strange Paradox an intricate Riddle nay indeed a meer contradiction For how can we weep lament and sorrow too as our blessed Saviour Joh. 16. 20. himself hath said we shall and yet rejoyce also and that alwayes too as the Apostle here saith we should Rejoyce in the Lord alway How is it possible that weeping and rejoycing should comply and agree together in one and the same Subject at one and the same time Do not Contraries expel each other Yes Beloved they do indeed but these are not contraries Christian Rejoycing and Christian Mourning do well agree together in one and the same Subject at one and the same time too Take a Similitude from a Traveller to illustrate this unto you A Traveller may rejoyce to see the Sun shine and yet he may be sorrowful too at the very same time to behold some Clouds arising to eclipse his Light from him So it is Beloved with Gods Children they may rejoyce to see the Sun of Gods Favour shining comfortably upon them and yet at the same time they may weep too to behold some of their cloudy sins arising to obscure it Nullus enim justus sanctus caret peccato Aug. nec tamen ex hoc desinit esse justus vel sanctus cum affectu teneat Sanctitatem There is no man so righteous or holy as to be without sin and yet he ceaseth not to be righteous or holy so long as he affecteth Holiness so S. Aug. The burning Bush in which God appeared to Moses that Exod. 3. 2. was not burnt up because God was in it sheweth us how Gods Church and Chosen may both weep continually and yet rejoyce continually too Weep they must continually because they are alwayes compassed about with the fiery flames of Affliction Again rejoyce they must continually because they are not consumed but comforted by God in the midst of all calamities We have seen saith S. Gregory Clouds dissolving themselves Greg. into drops upon the Earth and yet the Sun-beams resplendently reflecting refreshment on the same at the same instant of time So it is with Gods Children here on Earth the doleful Clouds of sin and affliction for sin do often distil-Chrystal showers from their eyes and yet the Sun of Righteousness shines at the same instant most comfortably in their hearts and causeth them to rejoyce witness holy David who tells us that in the multitude of the Psal 94. 19. sorrows of his heart Gods Comforts still refreshed his Soul We will now descend to the demonstration of this unto you in some few Particulars Six Causes I have formerly observed in my Sermon on the 16th of John at the 20th verse Printed in the Year 1643. to move the Righteous to weep continually but lo now I bring you twice so many more Causes out of Gods Storehouse to make them rejoyce even in the same things alwayes The first cause of their weeping is for their own sins against God This made David every night to water his Couch with his Tears This made Mary Magdalen Psal 6. 6. Luke 7. 38. weep as if she poured forth water not by drops but by floods This made Peter weep bitterly yea and this made S. Paul cry out heavily Miser ego homo quis me Matth. 26. 75. Rom. 7. 24. eripiet c. Oh wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death Yes blessed Saint thou hast a Deliverer Jesus Christ our Lord he is the Propitiation for thy sins and not for thine only but for all the sins of all the Elect. Rejoyce 1 John 2. 2. therefore in this Oh ye Righteous first Because there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus And then secondly Because you walk not after the Flesh but Rom. 8. 1. after the Spirit Your sins are remitted and therefore you have cause to be chearful If there be sorrow in the contrition of sin much more then is there joy in the
remission of sin One dram of this joy out-values all the loads of the other sorrow Like men over-burdened we feel most comfortable ease when the Cross of Christ takes all this weight from our shoulders When sin is remitted nothing can much afflict The greatest sorrow to the heart penitent proves the greatest joy to the heart pardoned It is not possible for joy and comfort to be there absent where Gods kindness is present Can that heart be void of Consolation which is inhabited by the God of Consolation May he who hath the Fountain and Ocean of Gladness within him remain a dry Pit and be utterly empty and void of gladness No no they who have been pressed with the burden of sin will be much refreshed with deliverance from it They who have been terrified with the guiltiness of sin and the horrible sight of Damnation cannot chuse but be joyful at the pardon thereof when their Souls are lifted up with the hope of Salvation As Oyl will overtop all other Liquors and cannot be kept under so will this joy overtop all other Sorrows and cannot be suppressed The second cause of Gods Childrens weeping here on Earth is for the sins of others Davids Eyes gush'd Psal 119. 136. 2 Pet. 2. 8. out with Rivers of Tears because men kept not Gods Laws And righteous Lot mourns for the ungodly conversation of the wicked Sodomites For he being righteous saith S. Peter and dwelling among them in seeing and hearing vexed his righteous Soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds Yet they are to rejoyce in this also First Because God keepeth them from committing such sins as others do commit because they are preserved from â—â—â—ing with others into the same excess of riot And then Secondly Because God will wound the hairy scalp of such 1 Pet. 4. 4. Psal 58. 10. as go on still in their wickedness And the Righteous shall rejoyce saith the Psalmist when he seeth the vengeance Thirdly The Third Cause of their weeping is for the Judgments of God upon the Land The Prophet Jeremiah Jer. 9. 1. weeps most abundantly for this Oh that mine head saith he were full of water and mine eyes a fountain of tears that I might weep day and night for the slain of the Daughter of my people The Captivity of Babylon Psal 137. 4. marred the Mirth of Jerusalem How shall we sing the Lords Song in such distress in a strange Land Certainly when God troubles the state of our Peace he would trouble the eyes of our heads when the Thunder shakes the Air the Clouds weep to still it Nothing is more without comfort than Darkness nor is there any thing more without joy than Calamity How then shall we rejoyce in this when the Judgments of God are abroad in the Earth Yes thus Beloved First Because God hath hitherto preserved us from the Judgments upon the Land as namely from Plague Pestilence Fire and Famine from Battel Murder and sudden death insomuch as we may say with the Prophet David A thousand have fallen at our left hand and ten thousand at Psal 91. 7. our right hand but it hath not come near us Unto Gods Children there is alwayes comfort in calamity unto the righteous there ariseth Light in Darkness They need not be afraid for the terrour by night nor for the Arrow that Psal 112. 4. Psal 91. â—5 flieth by day And then secondly They may rejoyce again in this that if so be it should please God to take them away by any sweeping Judgment yet their Souls cannot be touched they are sure to be saved and to be carried into Abrahams Bosom It is enough to make Luk. 16. 22 them rejoyce in any Judgment whatsoever happens to know that it shall work together for the best for them Rom. 8. 28. Fourthly The Fourth cause of Gods Childrens weeping is for the afflictions of poor Joseph for them that are tossed from Post to Pillar for them that are driven from house and home in a word for them that are for Christs sake brought to great extremity Mine eye casteth out Rivers of water saith the Prophet Jeremy for the Lam. 3. 48 49. destruction of the Daughter of my people yea mine eye droppeth without stay and ceaseth not But how shall we rejoyce in this Yes thus First Because the light afflictions of this present life do cause an eternal weight of Glory yea a far more excellent and eternal weight of Glory as the blessed Apostle assures us And then Secondly because Sanguis Martyrum est Semen Ecclesiae because the blood of Martyrs is the seed of the Church What is a few drops of Blood here to the Kingdom of Heaven hereafter My Brethren saith S. James count Jam. 1. 2. it exceeding joy when ye fall into divers Temptations What S. James joy in trouble joy in affliction Will the world believe you S. James Yes the world of Elect will they have proved it they have learned this benefit by good experience they have found their sorrows have been turned into joy heaviness might endure for a night but joy hath come in the morning We are not destitute of comfort even here in the midst of fiery trials blessed be God for it but this is nothing to that which is to be revealed The glory to come doth every way surmount the present afflictions of Gods Children and therefore in this they have cause to rejoyce also Fifthly The Fifth cause of Gods Childrens weeping is for the loss of dear Friends thus David we read mourned for Jonathan Woe is me for thee my Brother Jonathan Thus 2 Sam. 1. 26 Jo. 11 33 35. Mary yea and Christ himself do weep for Lazarus And how shall we do to rejoyce in this Yes thus we may yea and thus we must rejoyce in this First Because they rest from their Labours And secondly Because they are delivered Rev. 14. 13. from the Evils to come They are happy whose glass is well run out Foelices nimium quibus est Fortuna peracta as the Poet most divinely They rest from those Labours which tire us that live and the works which we are to follow follow them And are not these sufficient Causes of rejoycing in that Particular Sixthly and lastly Gods Children are to weep because they are but as Pilgrims and Strangers here on earth For 2 Cor. 5. 2. therefore we sigh saith the Apostle desiring to be cloathed with our house which is from heaven Yet they are to rejoyce in this too First Because they have most Royal Mansions Joh. 14. 2 3. prepared for them in heaven And secondly Because they are sure to be possessed of them in the end Thus you see Gods Children though they be as sorrowing continually 2 Cor. 6. 10. yet are they also alway rejoycing Rejoyce in the Lord alway Dost thou feel now in thy self the Evidences and Pledges Applic. of the favour of God in Christ