because we are ripe for Judgment coming upon us like an Armed man that cannot be resisted 2 For our Miseries fears of Want of War Pain and Confusion for Distraction in our understandings Perplexity in our Wills Madness in our Passions boyling over in Dispair Which makes the Wicked Raging Forlorn Desperate Cursing and Blaspheming Foaming and Tearing like a Wild Bull in a Net 3. For our Deliverances from Sin and Miseries a Harbour out of a Raging Ocean a Calm in a Storm an Anchor a Rest a Rock in a dry and weary Land In a Tempest every man cries to his several God In Distress every man takes care for his Body and for his Soul pities himself should pity others helps himself and should help others prays for himself and should for others labours for himself and should for others Shifts for himself at last We know not what to think speak or do but look one upon another and all upon God SECT IX All Experiments Cordials 1. If ever there was a time of trial surely it is now Behold and see O all ye that pass by was there ever any Sorrow like unto my Sorrow wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger For these things I weep my eye my eye poureth out tears because the Comforter that should relieve my Sorrow is far from me Can we believe and will we believe now Do we dare to be honest still If ever Faith be found faithful it will be now If we cannot be happy now we shall be sure to be happy hereafter Veniet aliquando dies Time will end in Eternity All tears shall one day be wiped away from our eyes We have cause to be taken off from things below and to fix upon things above If there be deliverance it will come if none God's Will be done Sit down under the Judgment If we perish we perish Ly prostrate at the Footstool of God's Grace we cannot everlastingly perish Faith and a good Conscience will bring us peace at the last We know the worst 't is but a Temporal Life We can loose Great heart akings fear not them that can kill the Body and go no further but fear him that is able to destroy both Soul and Body in Hell fire The Lord can find away to deliver us which we cannot think of if he have any heart towards us or if we have any heart towards him He will seek to do us good if we will seek to do our selves good We have studied to do our selves good and our labour is in vain without God but our labour shall never be in vain in the Lord. Wo be unto them by whom the offences come it had been better for them if they had never been born or that they had been like the untimely fruit of a Woman which never saw the Sun 2. Is this a time to contend about Trifles Parties We had more need unite them and not Scratch and Devour one another as we do We must live and die together then let us live and die in love together Seek to reconcile all Parties at least bear with them and love them then look up to God and try if we shall be heard otherwise if we make many prayers he will not hear know this for certain the Party that is bloody and false shall be destroyed A Kingdom divided against it self cannot stand There will be Parties as long as the World lasts and those Parties will be of several Judgments as long as the World lasts These may instruct one another whither they will hear or whither they will forbear they must not devour one another therefore if they do both parties are guilty the innocent party may complain and defend themselves Is this a time to hunt after Honours Riches Pleasures till the Flood come and sweep us all away Throne of Grace 3. The last Refuge is the Throne of God's Grace never to depart from that is to be sure of Glory We know well what to do for our Eyes are upon God Signs of good 4. There are signs of fair Weather God remembers that we are but Dust and that the Breath is in our Nostrils and therefore he will not be always chiding lest the Spirits of men should fail before him and the Souls should die and perish which he hath Created God propounds the way of Peace 1. By opening unto us the Danger and discovering the Contrâ—vers of it 2. By raising up the Spirits of men to that pitch of detestation and utter abhorrence of those damnable Doctrines and Practices as are so universally destructive to the Church and Commonwealth 3. By offering ways and means to recover if we will take them God hath done his part but our business will not be done except we do our part What could God do more for his Vineyard which he hath not done but still we bring forth Wild Grapes God can and will save us if we will be saved 4. By giving us a Seed of Rare Champions Giants for Piety and Learning 5. If God had no delight in us Why hath he done so much for us already And why is he so ready to do for us still If we will yet repent we shall not perish Preparation for the worst 6. Prepare for the worst Hope for the best If we must die let us die together In Love in one anothers Arms. 2. In Faith in the Arms of God 3. In Justice doing no harm to one another in Righteousness having a good Cause and a good Conscience free from presumptuous sins and from blood guiltiness The will of the Lord must be done whither we will or no 't is best for us to be willing even against our Will we sin but God suffers and we suffer and God suffers we suffer altogether take heed we do not sin altogether We are not alone in sufferings let us not be altogether in sinnings God is with us in sufferings God is not with us in sinnings God is with us if we live not nor die not in sin this is comfort but God is far from us if we live and die in unrighteousness this is sorrow Look to Thoughts Words and Deeds that they be good now They that are profane and wicked as they were in times of safety are worse now in times of danger 'T is a bad sign to be bad still Will nothing do Then if your Sons and Daughters commit whoredoms and other Abominations let them alone for why should they be punished any more they will revolt more and more they that are wicked shall be wicked still But they that have fear'd the Lord and do fear the Lord and speak often one to another a Book of Remembrance is written of those men and God shall make up these Jewels carefully these have done what they can and can do no more they have satisfied themselves and shall satisfie God through Jesus Christ their Lord who hath satisfied for them because they have
same Sufferings or whither we be comforted it is for the same Consolation and Salvation And our Hope is stedfast knowing that as we are partakers of the Sufferings so shall we be also of the Consolation For we were pressed out of measure above strength so that we despaired even of Life But we had the sentence of Death in our selves that we should not trust in our selves but in God which raised the Dead who delivered us from so great a death and doth deliver in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us You also helping together by Prayer for us that for the Gift bestowed upon us by the means of many persons thanks may be given by many on our behalf For our reioycing is this the Testimony of our Conscience that in simplicity and Godly sincerity not with fleshly wisdom but by the grace of God we have had our conversation in the world and more abundantly to youward We have access by faith into this grace wherein to we stand and rejoyce in the Hope of the Glory of God And not only so but we glory in Tribulations also knowing that tribulation worketh patience and patience experience and experience hope and hope maketh not ashamed because the Love of God is shed abroad in our Hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us We count it all joy when we fall into divers temptations knowing this that the trying of our Faith worketh patience But let patience have her perfect work that we may be perfect and entire wanting nothing SECT X Thus when we have tried all we shall find God is all in all When the Iniquities of our heels compass us round about and take fast hold upon us we do but weary our selves in very vanity and labour in the very Fire In the mean while when all our bones are out of joynt and we lye upon the Rack of Extremity the World stares upon us and mocks us and with the Flesh and the Devil leaves us in the lurch and therefore we have no reason to trust them Still we retain our Inteprity till we dye not curse God nor speak unadvisedly with our Lips nor charge God foolishly Though he kill us yet will we put our trust in him We are content to receive Evil at the hands of God as well as Good When all Helps fail God will never fail us nor forsake us When my Father and my Mother forsook me the Lord took me up Can a Woman forget her Child Yes she may yet will not I forget thee The Plague walketh in darkness and the Pestilence destroyeth at noon day yet shall it not come nigh thee The Lord shall cover thy Head in the day of Battel This is marvellous in our eyes The Lord giveth sight to the Blind and openeth the Prison-Doors to them that are fast bound in Misery and Iron even when the Iron enters into their Souls He giveth Food to the Hungry He plucketh our Foot out of the Snare the Snare is broken and we are delivered He quencheth all the fiery Darts of the Devil and bruiseth Satan under every one of our Feet and through Christ we shall be more than Conquerors God works Miracles when he pleases He bringeth Souls out of Temptation and together with the Temptation giveth strength to bear it and opens a Door of Hope that we may escape in due time Our Extremity is an opportunity for him to shew Mercy Thou wilt not leave my Soul in Hell nor suffer thy Holy Ones to see everlasting Corruption The patient abiding of the Meek shall not perish for ever We do not know what the Lord will do with us nor what he will do for us but this we know that the Lord will lay no more upon us than what he will enable us for to bear and that his Grace shall be sufficient for us and that he remembers that we are but dust and therefore he will not always be chiding lest the Spirits of men fail before him and the Souls dye and perish which he hath created and in his Wrath he remembers Mercy and all things shall work together in the end for Gods Glory and for our good and this light Affliction which is but for a moment shall work for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory He is a Father to the Fatherless and a Husband to the Widow he careth for the stranger and him that hath none to help him Man liveth not by Bread alone but by every word which proceedeth out of the Mouth of God doth man live No Sparrow shall fall to the ground without his Providence and we cannot make one Hair black or white And now tell me should you trust in God or Man Why should we fear always O we of little Faith Methinks I see an Earned of Gods Favour So many given us The Chariots of Israel and the Horsemen thereof of whom the rest of the World is not worthy These stand in the Gap and our dead bones shall live 'T is time to Unite A man would have thought that the Presbyterians of all men would long ere now have come in unto us to the help of the Lord against the Mighty and Malicious Enemies that press so sore upon us to change our Religion Presbyterians and bring in Superstition and Idolatry and a change of Government both of Church and State A man would think in this Juncture of Time they should have sought to save themselves and us from common Destruction now or never yet still they will not look upon us but we will look upon God and he will save us without them Nor will we cry after them Curse ye Meroz c. Why should they stand so long upon a pitiful Surpliss or Cross or Ring c. What care we for these and such things as these no more than in Reverence to the Supream Power which hath commanded them and when the same Power pleases may countermand them for Order and Peace sake as they did before and we hold it our Duty to stand ready to perform Obedience to all Decency and Order Let them know that we are ready to part with them and with greater things than those upon Command if any thing would do and give them satisfaction if we might be assured of a Reconciliation at the last O when will it once be Will they play the same Game over again The Cheat is too much discovered for to do it in the same Age I hope not God forbid They say they hate Popery and so do we and that with as perfect a hatred as they can possibly do and perhaps much more And yet they teach their poor ignorant People to say our Divine Service is Popish and we are Popishly affected and fly from our Devotion as from the Mass or from the Alcoran or the Plague its self The Papists hate our Common Prayer most of all How then can it be Popish Father forgâ—ve them for some know not what they say
or what they do but others know very well what they say and do but their Gain stands in the way together with their Pride and Self-will What else can it be We wait for them but we depend upon the Lord. We have been ruined once by some body I hope neither they nor the Papist shall do it any more Amen Spiritual Presence of God The Spiritual Presence of God is we hope amongst us immediately more than that mediately in the Ark or Pillar of Fire or of a Cloud or of an Angel c. The Ark removed with the Camp a sign of God's prevence Our Ark is Christ who hath promised to be present with us by his Spirit unto the end of the World Christ is in us and We in him there are more with us then there are or can be against us And if God be for us Who can be against us Come then let us wait upon God in God's name there is great reason for it It is good to wait upon God and he that believeth will stay the Lord's leisure and he that believeth will not make hast and he that believeth shall never be ashamed for the patient expedition of the meek shall not perish for ever We do not prescribe any thing unto God nor teach him what her should do but we prefer our Petitions into the hands of God as a Blank beseeching him to write therein Mercy and Salvation and Deliverance in his own time and in his own manner and as for us we will lay our hands upon our mouths and be doing good Nevertheless not our wills nor the wills of Angels or men be done but God's will be done who does all things according to the Counsel of his own Will and will make every thing to work together for his own great Glory and for the good of all them that put their trust in him and we will hold our peace For we are all in his hands as the Clay is in the hand of the Potter's and he may do with us what he pleases but he can and will do us no wrong And the patient expectation of the Meek shall not perish for ever and through the tender Compassions of our God we even we shall never miscarry For we know not otherwise what to do O Lord but our eyes look unto thee SECT XI Expedients Lenitives Anodines there are in Cases of extremity as 1. Thinking Fill the Mind with the best Thoughts Thinking Desires Choices not Shadows but Substantial thing Peace with God care of Souls Eternity Death Judgment Heaven and Hell 2. Relieving in things not seen made evident Believing in things hoped for made present and substantial by Faith Things seen are but Temporal Grievous Vexatious Unprofitable Things not seen are Eternal Comfortable Satisfactory Gainful forgetting those things which are behind and pressing on to those things which are before ever raising the Soul above this World to the Word to come The benefit of troubles is to forget Temporals what we can and to remember Eternals and so use this World as tho we used it not looking out for a better state an Inheritance celestial undefiled and not fading away which were it not for those troubles we should build Tabernacles here and think it best to stay below In the time of Adversity consider Joseph's Brethren when involv'd all together at one time in one and the same Calamity in one place for one and the same Guilt recollected their memorie easily and said one to another we are verily Guilty concerning our Brother in that we saw the anguish of his Soul when he besought us and we would not hear and therefore is this distress come upon us and again Reuben more closely put it to them Speak I not unto you saying Do not sin against the Child and ye would not hear Therefore Behold also his blood is required 3. Innocency Innocency To be able to say Whose Ox have I taken or whose Ass have I taken or whom have I defrauded I am innocent from the blood of all men I have endeavoured to keep a good Conscience in all things void ot offence towards God and towards Men. Look about us look within us for the sin that sticks so close unto us and the iniquity of our heels that compasseth us round about for the plague of our own heart for the Accursed thing see where the shoo wrings us see the Conscience be clear that none of us suffer as an evil doer and 't is well enough 4. Union of Spiritual forces in Faith and Prayer Vnion Leave Controversies and contend for nothing but for the Faith Let all enjoy their opinions in Doctrine so we can but meet in Devotion and publick Worship we 'l be content and never persecute one another with the Tongue Fire or Faggot Write no more Volums of Polemical Divinity Beat all our Swords into Plow-shares and our Spears into Pruning-hooks and learn this kind of War no more by dipping our Tongues or Pens in Gall much less sheathing our Swords into one anothers bowels Use no Canina Eloquentia no Ecclesiastical Wars by my consent Reformers of all men should best agree Thieves and Robbers are peaceable among themselves and shall true men fall together by the ears Speak every one his mind a God's name but use no railing accusation especially against the Government What other things what better things can we do 5. Patience Patience And let Patience have its perfect working in us We are now in the Fiery Furnace of Trial and we shall come out in God's good time pure if we hold out to the end Nubecula est citòtransibit Stay a while deliverance will come it will not tarry God hath found out a way for Eternal Salvation which Angels or Men could not immagine and shall not God find out a way for Temporal Salvation which Angels or Men cannot think of Suppose the worst that Temporal Salvation came not to us it will come to our Posterity and Eternal Salvation to us both All the Afflictions of this World cannot be worthy of the Glory that shall be revealed hereafter First A bitter Cup to be Drank of a bitter Baptism to be Baptized with then comes the sitting at the Right hand and Left hand of God in his Hâ—avenly Kingdom wherefore comfort one another with these things as well as words Can you tell me of any better way Try if you can I should be glad to know it Is there any other God besides our God God knows none How is it possible man should Is there any other Remedy There is none Here is the Fire and the Altar and the Wood. all ready in order to a Sacrifice but where is the Lamb for a Burnt Offering Tho we cannot yet God can and will provide a Lamb though we can find none Shall poor Souls think you be lost because of Troubles No they shall be saved with them and cannot be saved without them this is our