if I had not been undone The issue is good although the means seem never so cross This is excellently set forth under a type Ezek. 1.16 And their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel i. e. very cross and intangled one in another one goes one way and another goes another way and yet all perform one and the same work Thus is the providence of God it is often very cross and complexed it works by cross and intangled means yet carries on one glorious design All these cross ways and means work together as the Apostle saith for the good of them that love God Rom. 8.28 2. When a Christian is most in the dark yet he shall not want a secret though insensible conduct of Gods Holy Spirit that shall secure him from ruine in his way It is a notable relief to a blind man to have a sure guide God is a sure guide to a good man when he is unable to direct himself Alass no man is able to guide himself without the assistance of Gods Holy Spirit So Jer. 10.23 O Lord I know that the way of man is not in himself it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps Why how then shall he escape ruine and destruction when so many snares and rocks are in his way See that Psal 37.23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord. God goeth along with a good man and orders him in every step he takes though we cannot see a step of our way yet if we take God with us he will direct us I will guide thee with mine eye Psal 32.8 His eye is open upon the righteous and he will guide them in the right way even then when they cannot see their way before them and therefore is that counsel of Solomon In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths Prov. 3.5 6. As God orders the steps of a good man so he orders the ways of a good man It may be thou art apt to walk in one way and God will put thee into another where thou shalt find the greatest comfort and peace we never walk so safely as when God takes the sole care of us When Abraham followed God in the darkness of sense and reason not knowing whither he went his course was never better steered and oftentimes we do best when we know not what to do when we are at the greatest stand our reason darkned and our spirits perplexed and all the ways we can imagine of true peace and comfort block'd up and we know not where to set one foot forward then God comes and takes us by the hand and leads us into such a way as we dream't not of where our desired peace and comfort is prepared for us There is an excellent promise for this purpose Esay 35.8 And an high way shall be there and a way and it shall be called the way of holiness the unclean shall not pass over it but it shall be for those the way faring men though fools shall not erre therein Observe first God makes out a way for good men to walk in an high way Via Regia the Kings way the way of God an holy way or the way of holiness sin and wickedness is not Gods way Secondly fools shall not erre therein i. e. the people of God sometimes are much in the dark and know not what to do in a particular case I but yet they shall be guided that they shall not loose their way but how shall they be guided Why God will be with them and so that passage may be read for he shall be with them In our translation it is rendered but it shall be for those but it may be read thus but he i. e. God shall be to them or with them to conduct and guide them in their way How many Christians have cause to bless God and say I could never have found the way to peace and comfort had not God been my guide This very experience brought the Prophet to that confidence for the future As you may see in the second verses before my Text Psa 73.24 Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel and afterward receive me to glory 3. When a Christian is in the dark God is so far the strength of his heart that he can wait for light When they know not what to do nor what to think yet they can wait for light they are expectants And now Lord what wait I for My hope is in thee saith David Psal 39.7 My soul waiteth for the Lord more then they that watch for the morning Psal 130 7. As a man that hath a long journey to go upon very great and important business how doth he watch for the morning because the darkness of the night suspends his motion I but David waited more for the Lord then a traveller watcheth for the morning or as the words may be read as they that watch unto the morning and so he makes a comparison between himself and watchmen i. e. There is no watchman doth more observe and wait for the breaking forth of the light of the day then I do wait for the Lord. And this is a blessed relief to the soul to be put into a waiting posture When the soul knows not what to do yet it can wait for light Not like Saul And why should I wait for the Lord any longer But as David I waited patiently for the Lord Psal 40.1 Though a good heart will not let God wait long No nor at all willingly for obedience yet he is willing to wait as long as God seeth good for light to guide him in his obedience loath is a gratious heart to miscarry in his work or to tread awry or step out of Gods way and therefore he will wait for light glad would he be of one beam of light to clear up his spiritual state to him I but he knows that Gods time is the best It is sad to him to be in the dark yet he knows that none can scatter the cloud that overspreads him but God and therefore he concludes with the Prophet It is good both to wait and to hope in the Lord. 4. Though a good man may be in the dark yet God will not always leave him in the dark Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness Psal 112.4 Oftentimes when they least expect it then it ariseth as the night is darkest a little before the day breaks so when the thickest cloud hath overspread the soul then God causeth light to spring forth Even as it was with Saint Paul in another case 2 Corinth 1.8 10. We were pressed out of measure above strength insomuch that we despaired of life but we had the sentence of death in our selves that we should not trust in our selves but in the living God who delivered us from so great a death When his condition was at the heighth when nothing could help or relieve
therefore is that prayer of Peter 1 Pet. 5.10 Thirdly He is the preserver of your strength your life is laid up in God Col. 3.3 your strength is kept by the strength of God so Psal 91.1 God doth overshadow the strength of Saints that no breach can be made upon it Psal 63.7 In the shadow of thy wings will I trust Now for Demonstration I shall lay down six positions 1. All strength is in God originally and fully God is the first strength and the fountain of strength He is the root spring of strength He is all strength in himself He is wisdom it self and light it self and life it self and grace it self 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies sometimes the Original Fountain of things and God is called so because he is the beginning and efficient cause of all things out of himself thus Schindler The strength of a Saint is but a drop in the bucket a beam of the Sun a spark of fire in comparison of God He alone is all Whatever is in the creature is eminently in God 't is much more in him Hence is that Character which God gives of himself to Abraham Gen. 17.1 I am the Almighty God for this is peculiar unto him Many beings may be called strong or mighty but none may arrogate the title of Almighty but God 'T is God that is All-sufficient both for himself and for all beings below himself The stream is often low and yet the spring and fountain full and high The strength of the creature may fail but the strength of God never fails 'T is fully in God when 't is not in us Life may go out of the branch and yet remain in the root This is the happiness of Gods people that though they have little in themselves they have enough in God Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee Psal 84.5 For when communicated strength is spent yet there is an incommunicated fullness still in God They may say as the prodigal when he had spent his portion in my fathers house there is bread enough and to spare My light is gone and my life fails and my grace fails and I am reduced to a sad condition in my self I but there is enough in God there is light enough and life enough and grace enough God is All still even when I am nothing I may allude to the story of Hagar Gen. 21.15 to the 19. When the water was spent in her bottle God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water So when your bottles are all empty if God do but open your eyes so as to behold him you will see a well a fountain of all strength 1. The Israel of God Gods chosen and beloved ones in Christ have a peculiar interest in the strength of God the strength of God is their strength so the Prophet saith God is my strength As when Jehoshaphat made a Covenant with Ahab to go with him to Ramoth-Gilead he tells him that all he was and had was Ahabs 2 Chro. 18.3 I am as thou art and my people as thy people and my horses as thine i. e. he reserved nothing peculiar to himself but gave Ahab an interest in all so doth God he reserves nothing peculiar to himself but his honour and glory which he cannot give to another but gives his people an interest in all All the strength of God is made over to the people of God God hath nothing but what they have an interest in Whenever God speaks to a soul as he did to Abraham I will be thy God at that time God passeth and maketh over himself to it and now that soul hath a peculiar interest in God the strength the All-sufficiency of God is that mans the wisdom of God the holiness of God the mercy of God the will of God is his that heighth and depth that length and breadth of strength that is in God is a Saints When he reads the Scripture and there finds what riches of strength there is in God and through the Spirit of light is able to conceive very largely of God he may then say within himself All this is mine All that God is is mine When Saints go to God for strength either of nature or of grace they do not go as meer beggars but as children go to a father in whom they have an interest and in all that he hath and may with boldness plead their interest therein a most full place you have in Esay 63.15 16. Psal 119.94 And so when God gives forth himself to Saints he doth it not as some great man gives boons to all commers to express his bounty but as a father gives peculiar gifts to his children so Esay 43.1 2 3 4. 3. According to the Saints Communion with God and God's influence into them such is their strength Divine incomes give strength and maintain it When God takes up his dwelling in the heart it becomes strong and mighty never before We may say of men that are at a distance from God as the Prophet Hosea to Ephraim how weak is thine heart but of Saints as Paul of himself when I am weak then am I strong 2 Cor. 12.10 Paul had close Communion with God and Christ and now the power of Divine grace rested upon him and took up his residence in him to strength him The nearer the soul comes to God and the more it enjoys of God the stronger it is a man full of God is a man full of strength so you may see Micah 3.8 but truly I am full of power by the Spirit of God the Spirit of God was poured forth upon the Prophet and this filled him full of power The Disciples of Christ were weak and therefore Christ promiseth to baptize them with the Holy Ghost and with power now they are able and strong Even as when the Prophet Elias had been fed by the Raven he went in the strength thereof forty days 1 King 19.8 So when the soul hath fed it self upon Divine influence it walks in the strength thereof It is not here as with the lean kine of Pharaoh that devour all the fat and yet never the better for they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength Esay 40.31 God never lets that soul depart without this blessing that waits upon him I dare appeal to any experimental Christian for a witness hereunto Hear what Solomon saith Prov. 10.29 The way of the Lord is strength to the upright And also what David saith Psal 27.14 Wait on the Lord and he shall strengthen thy heart wait I say on the Lord. This is that which makes a disparity between one Christian and another yea between a Christian at one time and at another What makes one Christian stronger then another but the incomes of God one enjoys more of God then another one hath more Communion with God then another one receives more from God then another And hence it is that one can do that which another
work of God will most certainly cause a frown from God He hides his face from such as being ashamed to own them And indeed it is a shame that Satans servants should be more active and laborious in his vasallage and drudgery then the servants of God oftentimes are in their high and heavenly calling and employment I say God is even ashamed of them and therefore hides his face from them O it is very good for Christians to examine themselves when they find an ebb in their comforts whether there is not an ebb in their spirits that they are not so lively and active for God as they have been Secondly idle unactive Christians that do not lay out their strength for God are in danger of the loss of Gods assisting presence for a time To what purpose should God give in new influences when as the soul neglects to lay out his former incomes What reason hath the soul to expect that God should stand by him and give in a new supply of grace to sit still and do nothing God is not so prodigal of his grace and 't is but folly in the soul to expect it The promise runs thus the Lord is with you while you are with him i. e. when the soul waits upon God in the way of obedience and is faithful to lay out communicated strength therein to the utmost then God attends all his motions and communicates new supplies to help him forward therein but now when the heart grows dead and the spirit dull to Holy employment God withdraws himself and leaves the soul for a time Some say they must not enter upon a duty until the spirit of God moves them Why truly such men oftentimes sit still a long time without a motion from the spirit No we must attempt our duty and then we may hope for the motions of the spirit but otherwise we cannot The Holy Spirit is an active Spirit and he cannot endure to lodge in an idle unactive soul also when the soul once takes off his hand from Holy employment the Holy Spirit departs The Church never found such a sensible withdrawing of her beloved from her as when she was laid down to rest her self upon her pillow of ease and self enjoyment As you may see Cant. 5.2 6. She found it very hard to recal him and recover her enjoyment of him And so it will be with all those that are in that posture Mark her expression I opened to my beloved but my beloved had withdrawn himself and was gone my soul failed when he spake I sought him but I could not find him I called him but he gave me no answer See here how God repays the soul in its own Coyn. She will do nothing for God and now God will do nothing for her She would not answer God when he called but was dumb and silent and now God will not answer her when she calls She would not seek him when he offered to be found of her and now he will not be found though she seek him She would not lay out that strength for God which she had and now he denies her that strength which she wants Thirdly An idle unactive Christian is in danger of falling into some powerful temptation When a man once leaves off working for God Satan will presently set him to work If thou canst not find in thine heart to pray meditate believe repent and walk close with God the Devil will find thee work to thy cost The truth is the soul of man can't lie still it must move and act Now if it be taken off from that which is good it will fall to that which is naught Little did David think what a bait Satan had laid for him when he went up to the roof of his house and there walked from thence did those two horrible sins of uncleanness and murther take their rise When a man goeth forth out of his Chamber in a morning with a purpose to spend a day idly and vainly he little thinks what the issue thereof may be before night An idle unactive Christian tempts Satan to tempt him and Satan never goeth up and down unprovided but according to the temper of the person or the season of the year or the place of a mans converse or the age of his life fits and prepares such a snare for him as may most undoubtedly catch him to the breaking of his peace and the wounding of his conscience And indeed the less any Christian works for God the greater advantage Satan hath to work upon him When thou intermittest thy seasons of praying and conversing with God in his Holy Ordinances then the roaring Lion comes and makes a prey of thee Thou art then meat for his tooth And know this that sins of Commission do for the most part if not always take their rise at sins of Omission Thou dost not perform that which God commands and Satan provokes thee to that which God hath forbidden Thou straglest and wanderest out of Gods way and 't is no wonder if this high way adversary take thee up Fourthly Thou art in danger of having thy heart more corrupted hereby The heart of the best is bad enough but by idleness it will be worse Standing water will soon corrupt and so will an idle unactive spirit The less a Christian is imployed in Holy Duties the worse will his heart grow more prone to evil and less disposed to good When a Clock stands still long the wheels will contract rust and put it out of Order Even thus it will be with the heart of man when it is not in continual motion towards God and often wound up into an heavenly frame it contracts abundance of filth that puts it out of order and renders it unfit for holy action it his hard to get the heart into a good frame for communion with God if a Christian take never so much pains with it but if it be in never so good a temper it will soon be out again if a man take not as much pains to keep it so as to get it into it The corruption that is in mans heart will quickly overtop his grace if he stirs not up himself to oppose it An idle Christian cannot continue a good Christian long Fifthly If thou beest idle and unactive thy Spiritual strength will much abate So much as thou abatest of this Christian work so much will thy spiritual strength abate He that will not work when he can will not be able to work when he would For as grace is strengthened by exercise so it decays by idleness And it is a just judgement of God to take away our Talents from us when we do not improve them for his advantage Matt. 25. Branch 2. God is Israels portion for ever Now in the handling this truth I shall do three things 1. Prove it by Scripture 2. Explain it 3. Give you the grounds and reasons and so apply it First For proof turn to that of David
returning yet that expression of Love and Grace to them presently turned the bent and frame of their Spirits and quickned them to a speedy return Behold we come unto thee for thou art the Lord our God as you may see Jer. 3.22 And therefore it is that a gracious Soul longs for the sense and manifestations of Gods love not only for the peace and comfort that it brings along with it but because he knows that it a is quickner of his Heart and Will to a cheerful performance of obedience unto God 'T is that which begets a free Spirit in the Soul renders it ready and prompt unto all holy service And now set God call him to what he pleaseth and he stands ready prest to do it God hath now as it were a string upon his heart he may lead him about whither he will 4. Sometimes God cures the failing of the Will by removing those impediments that stopt its motion You know if a wheel be scotcht there is no stirring of it until that be removed even thus 't is here Sometimes the Will of man which is the wheel of Motion is scotcht so that it cannot move forward until that be removed Hence that of the Psalmist I will run the way of thy commandments when thou shalt enlarge my heart Psal 119.32 The word enlarge doth not only signifie to widen and extend a thing but also to set at liberty and to free it from impediments and incumbrances and so it is used Psal 4.1 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress or Thou hast set me at liberty And as it is applicable to the outward state and condition of a man so the Prophet makes use of the same word in reference to tie the inward state I will run the wayes of thy commands 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 when thou shalt set my heart at liberty i. e. There is that in my heart that cloggs me and hinders me that I cannot run the way of thy commands until thou dost remove it Sometime the mind is clogg'd with strong temptations Sometimes with sore pressures of grief and horror Sometimes with impetuous lusts and passions And untill the Soul be set free she cannot move in the waies of God And therefore divine relief comes into the Soul in this case to remove those obstructions and to take away those clogs And many a gracious Soul hath cause to say Lord thou hast enlarged my Heart My Heart was scotcht but thou hast set me at liberty I was pesterd with such a temptation and with such a pressure of grief and horrour or with such a passion and lust but thou hast removed it and set me at liberty I know the perfect and full enlargement of the soul is not wrought until she comes in heaven but God begins the work here and oftentimes when she is in the greatest streight and so stopt in her motion that she is like an instrument quite out of tune and ready to be hung up or laid by then God steps in and affords this gratious relief to it 5. Sometimes when God finds the soul in this dead and drowzie case that it hath little mind or spirit unto duty he makes use of the rod of correction and then when the soul feels it smart she rouseth up her self and sets to work Even as when Absalon sent for Joab to come to him once and again and saw he would not stir he commanded his servants to set Joabs field on fire and then Joab makes all the hast he could to Absalon 2 Sam. 14.29 30.31 even thus it is here God sends for us first one messenger comes and then another to tell us that God would have us come to him As you have it Cant. 2.14 Let me hear thy voice let me see thy face I but we stir not come not at God either to pray to him or praise him that at last God is forced to fire us out and then we come You have a notable place for this Hos 5.15 I will go and return to my place till they acknowledge their offence and seek my face in their affliction they will seek me early They that lay snorting in their bed of security in the time of prosperity will be better husbands in time of adversity they 'l get up early the word signifies they shall morning me i.e. they shall come in the morning of their time and seek me And so Esay 26.16 They poured out a prayer unto thee when thy chastning was upon them and in their affliction they visited thee Mark it when the rod was upon their back then they cry and then they beg I they poured out a prayer It was not as one observes upon the place a dropping now and then but it was violent and continual the spirit was stirred and now it cannot lie still Afflictions commonly move and stir the heart one way or other sometimes they stir the evil and cross humours that are in the heart of man and then he rages and fumes against God and his ways but where grace is there they stir up a lazy and a dull spirit to meet God in his way with mournings and supplications The finger may be in the eye because grief is in the heart but this sorrow will have a vent else the heart will not be at rest God and the soul must be friends or she can have no satisfaction When God corrects the soul in good earnest then she seeks him in good earnest and will not be quiet until she finds him So Esay 26.8 9. In the way of thy judgments O Lord have we waited for thee the desire of our soul is to thy name and to the remembrance of thee With my soul have I desired thee in the night with my spirit within me will I seek thee early Here is seeking indeed the whole soul and spirit put forth and that diligently and constantly and then with waiting until she find We have waited for thee 'T is true affections do not always work thus in the heart of a good man at first God whips and whips again before the soul stirs I but God will not give over whipping until she stirs Dull and heavy spirited Christians seldom go long without a rod at their backs and 't is a great mercy when the rod of correction is any ways efficacious to rouse them up out of their drouzie and sleepy state 3. A third particular case of the failing of the natural faculties of the soul is in point of retention the memory may fail As a man may have a good head and a naughty heart so a man may have a good heart and a naughty head a head that will hold little or nothing that tends to the support and comfort of his soul when his flesh fails him A good Christian may be like a leaking vessel that retains no liquor long he may let slip the word of Gods grace and the external works of Gods grace and not
that believe are justified Now if God justifies who can condemn Rom. 8.33 34. Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods elect It is God that justifieth Who is he that condemneth It is Christ that died yea rather that is risen again who is even at the right hand of the father who also maketh intercession for us Now if thy sin be pardoned then there is nothing which thou canst possibly fear will prevent thy relief and therefore be perswaded to set faith on work in Jesus Christ Go out of thy self to him for righteousness that thou mayest be found in him and believe that with God there is still mercy for thee and plenteous redemption Thus did David fetch in comfort against a time of need Psal 130.3 4. If thou Lord shouldst mark iniquities O Lord who shall stand but there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared I wait for the Lord my soul doth wait and in his word do I hope i. e. If Gods eye should be wholly fixt upon our sins and not upon Christs righteousness we could not be justified we should never be able to stand in his sight And if our eye be only fixt upon our sins and not upon Gods mercy in Christ we should never attain to any confidence in God for relief in time of need I but now saith David upon this ground I can wait for the Lord and hope in his word Yea upon this very ground he exhorts others to hope v. 7. Let Israel hope in the Lord for with the Lord there is mercy Still there is mercy though we have lived upon this stock of mercy all our daies yet there is enough still nay there is nothing spent of it And therefore take home the comfort hereof with you that divine relief shall be administred unto you in the time of your greatest need When your flesh fails and your heart fails God will be the strength of your heart and portion for ever FINIS THE PROPHET'S Amazing Vision Of a Wheel in the middle of a Wheel OR The admirableness of DIVINE PROVIDENCE Opened proved and improved In a Sermon preached at the Cathedral in Norwich July 30. 1673. With some additional Application By Samuel Blackerby Minister of the Gospel at Stow Market LONDON Printed for Nevil Simons at the Princes Arms in S. Paul's Church Yard 1674. SERMON III. Ezek. 1.16 And their work and their appearance was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel THese words have both their height of glory and also their depth of difficulty much excellency wrapt up in them but hard to be understood As the richest Pearls and purest Mines lie lowest in the earth and the sweetest Kernel hath the hardest shell so the richest and most precious Truths are wrapt up in a mystery not obvious to every mans understanding but must be sought as Silver and searched for as for hid Treasure As you have it Prov. 2.4 Much pains must be taken proper and suitable means used and yet when all is done we must pray with David Open thou mine eyes that I may behold wonderous things out of thy law And is not here a wonder for here is an invisible glory represented to us by a visible thing divine counsel set forth in an Hieroglyphick For in the foregoing verse we have a wheel upon the earth by the living creatures with his four faces and here we have a wheel in the middle of a wheel This this is the amazing glory By the one wheel upon the earth with its four faces some do understand the Universe or visible World which is as a wheel round and subject to wheelings and turnings mutations and changes and that in all the four quarters thereof and much may be said for this interpretation I shall only take leave to add this that this visible World is to be considered as consisting of and conteining in it those second causes instruments and means whereby God wheels about his own designs and plots together with their several appearances and faces and yet with one likeness in conspectu Dei This is one part of the Vision the wheel with its four faces The other is the wheel in the middle of a wheel This may be taken two waies 1. Transversly 2. Comprehensively First transversly and so two things are observable in it 1. That the wheels seemed cross to one another and entangled one in another as the lines and circles in a Globe cut and cross one another so say some And if so they do most lively represent the crossness intricacy and entangledness that is in all second causes each to other both in their natures and their motions The whole world is but entangled and cross wheels but I shall not detain you herein And therefore 2. There are others that say that all the wheels made up one spherical figure touching themselves at right angles that without turning or delay they might run and roul any way on any side And if so then they are a most lively emblem of that harmony that is in all things for though cross in themselves yet they serve to make one globe and do carry on one ultimate design According to that of the Apostle Rom. 8.28 All things work together for good This is the import of the wheels if taken transversly But Secondly They may be considered comprehensively one wheel within another As in some Watches there are wheels one in another and one that moves the rest And if so then here we have a Divine Mystery that outshines the former viz. That amazing glory of Divine Providence which works in all created beings moves them and sets them to work as the great and sprincipal wheel moves the lesser and inferiour And this this is the true form and work of the wheels The wheel of divine providence is set up in all wheels as the prime and principal wheel Obser From hence we shall observe That divine providence is admirable and Soul-amazing And this will appear if we take into consideration these three particulars 1. The esse The being and constitution of this divine wheel 2. The motus The motion thereof 3. The mysterium The mystery thereof And Oh that my discourse upon these might be verbum in Rota First The being of this divine wheel is very admirable for it is made up of infinite and transcendent glory 1. Of the light and counsel of Divine Wisdom 2. Of the soveraignty of Divine will Both these beams of glory are infinite and transcendent and do make up one most glorious and incomprehensible wheel in the divine being 'T is true they are distinguished as to us yet they are but one in God And so saith the School-man Cum esse intelligere in Deo indistincta sunt ipsum per suam scientiam causare res oportet adjuncta tamen voluntate Or rather take it in the words of the holy Apostle Eph. 1.11 He worketh all things after the counsel of his own will For as the
of God that it is capable of As the soul is in likeness unto God so it enjoys him Perfection of holiness gives the soul a perfect fruition of God Saints in glory are perfectly holy and therefore do enjoy God perfectly Secondly God dwells in the heart by gratious influx he is continually giving forth Divine virtue to a Saint as he is a fountain of grace and goodness so he diffuseth streams thereof into the hearts of his people he is ever doing them good and according to their needs so doth he supply them mercy flows in according to the state and condition of the soul sometimes healing sometimes quickning strengthning comforting directing and teaching Hence is that of the Prophet Psal 36.8 9. 4. It appears that God is a Saints portion by his improvement of his interest in God men usually do improve and make the best of their estates they can that they may live the most comfortably upon it that may be Saints are good husbands and they do not let their portion lie dead by them but do make the best of it they can 1. By Contemplation 2. By Supplication 3. By Application First By Contemplation a Saint takes great delight to behold God not essentially as he is in his own beauty and purity for so none can see God and live but manifestatively as he is pleased to reveal himself in his Son Jesus so John 1.18 When the Lord Jesus doth declare his Father to the soul it is a ravishing sight Even as a worldly man takes great delight to look upon his estate to see his bags of money his Barns of Grain his cattle in his pasture he feeds his mind upon them so doth the soul of a gratious man feed it self upon God by contemplation Psal 104.34 my meditation of him shall be sweet It was like sweet meats to the Prophets tast So Psal 139.17 18 how precious are thy thoughts unto me O God c. I am still with thee i. e. I think on thee in the night and wake with thee in the morning and wherever I go and wherever I am still my mind is on thee and every thought is admirable and exceeding precious to me a true Christian had rather spend an hour with God in Contemplation and Divine Meditation then Eternity with the world this feeds his soul and delights his heart and takes up his spirit Well might the Apostle say to be spiritually minded is life and peace No such life no such peace as flows in this way Secondly By Supplication the more he enjoys of God the larger are his desires after God He must be ever sucking and drawing at Divine breasts he goeth to God for all he wants and the more he receives the more he craves grace widens the heart and draws out the spirit so that a Christian never thinks he hath enough He drinks and drinks and yet he is the more thirsty he prays continually and without ceasing for one prayer begets another As a man that hath an estate first calls for one thing and then for another and the use of one makes him desire another and more of all So he that hath an interest in God first seeks one grace and then another and the use of one grace puts him upon the begging of another He wants knowledge and he begs that but knowledge without humility puffs up and this makes him beg the grace of humility he begs strength I but without faithfulness and skill to lay it forth it profits not and therefore he must have that he prays for wisdom and fidelity to use his strength As graces are linked and combined together for use and helpfulness each to other so are the souls desires like to hasty messengers ready to tread upon one anothers heels A Christian somtimes is big with twins of holy desires and one comes first to the birth and yet another like to Pharez steps forth and makes a breach upon it It is excellent to see how the soul gets ground still and goeth on still further and further by ' its desires As thriving men first buy one piece of land and then another until they have inlarged their territories to a mighty compass so do Christians inlarge their graces and comforts It is with a Christian as it is recorded of the rain that fell in Ahabs time at the prayer of Elijah 1 King 18.44 so a Christians desires and returns are little at the first but they greaten and greaten until they overspread the whole heavens of the soul Matth. 7.7 ask and ye shall receive seek and ye shall find knock and it shall be opened unto you Here is a gradation the soul proceeds by steps and accordingly receives and as the soul arises higher and higher in its desires and affections so grace ariseth higher and higher in its answers A prayerful soul comes at last to be a graceful soul Thou that art much with God in prayer shalt have much of God in thine heart As the Sun draws forth vapours from the earth not for it self but to fatten the earth so God draws forth the desires of the soul not to better or to add any thing to his own being or happiness but to better the soul and to add to its happiness and to make it compleat Thirdly By Application the soul emproves God A true Christian makes an advantage of all Divine incomes and enjoyments so that he encreases dayly with the increase of God As a worldly man turns the peny and makes it double and at last an hundred-fold so doth a Christian he hath an heavenly art whereby he trades with and grows rich in all goodness His four talents brings him eight his five gains him ten A Christians grace lies not dead by him and of no use but is dayly put forth into act and increaseth The more he enjoys of God the more he acteth for God and the better he thrives Prayer fetcheth in and love lays out until the man grows wonderfully rich and gains a wonderful stock within himself Use 1. By way of inference and hence we may infer First That the people of God are the richest people they have the best portion the best inheritance So the Prophet accounts it Psal 16.5 6. The Lord is my portion the lines are fallen unto me in a pleasant place Yea I have a goodly heritage A goodly heritage the best that can be had the fullest the richest and the most delightful Saints have Benjamins portion a mess five times so much as the worldling's is All is a Saints for they have God who is all What though they are sometimes very poor in a worldly respect yet they are wonderfully rich in an heavenly respect 2 Cor. 6.18 Jam 2.5 A Christian is a meer paradox and heavenly riddle he hath nothing and he hath All he is poor and rich Levi had no portion an ongst the tribes and yet had the best estate for God was his portion Alass a worldlings portion is but a dark
act as to relieve himself by an indirect course for he would not take the name of God upon him in vain he had rather die then do it Now when God hath thus drawn out the desires of the soul after grace then he gives in such a measure as shall preserve it and keep it from yielding to the temptation and Beloved it is a gratious relief to be kept in an holy and gratious frame of heart under a strong and powerful temptation 't is worthy of a Christians taking notice thereof So doth the Prophet this poor man cried and the Lord heard him Psal 34.6 Beloved if you be never so poor yet if God draws out your hearts after him in prayer you shall be kept that you shall not take any indirect course to help your selves but be able to say as David of himself this poor man cried and the Lord heard him As prayer is the desire of the soul formed into requests and petitions so crying is the importunity of the soul in prayer Petitions and requests presented to God with an humble and reverential boldness it is a wrestling with God for a blessing a perseverance in prayer with an holy resolution not to be put off Now 't is the poor that thus crys sense of want that pinches the soul joyned with some hopes of obtaining makes the soul to cry and he that crys shall be heard Divine relief shall come in to help it in this time of need Thus you see how relief comes in to a good man in the want of all outward comforts Secondly When the strength of the outward man fails And this is properly the failing of the flesh when a man is in a consumptive condition God smites the body and then the flesh wasts the beauty thereof fades and the senses grow dull and heavy The Prophet David had great experience hereof and therefore often mentions it in his Psalms Psal 38.10 my strength faileth and Psal 109.24 my flesh faileth of fatness and Psal 69.3 mine eyes fail He was brought low even to the mouth of the grave but Divine relief came in As you may see Psal 116.6 I was brought low and he helped me God sometimes raises a man from the very gates of death and gives him a new life restores him to his former health and strength But if God doth not thus by a gratious man yet he shall have cause to say the Lord is the strength of my heart in this weak and low estate and condition Divine relief shall be given to him 1. To support and strengthen him to bear his affliction with patience the power and grace of God is wonderfully seen in bearing up the spirits when the body sinks and in giving grace to exercise patience under the pains and sorrows of death you have heard saith Saint James of the patience of Job Jam. 5.11 As you heard of his corporal affliction how soarly he was handled so you have heard of his patience how gratiously he was he was supported that he could bear his affliction without murmuring or repining 't is true it made him groan I but the stroke was heavier then his groaning As he saith Job 23.2 Even to day is my complaint bitter my stroke is heavier then my groaning The spirit of a man will sustain corporal infirmities when God sustains the spirit Now patience under afflictions is equivalent to a deliverance from them to be able to bear an affliction is as great a mercy as to be freed from it if God rebukes the feavour of impatiency and thereby cures that it is as much as to rebuke a bodily distemper and thereby to cure it So you may see 1 Cor. 10.13 There hath no temptation taken you but that which is common to man but God is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able but will with the temptation also make a way to â—scape that ye may be able to bear it i. e. I can assure you that thus far you shall be set free from your temptations afflictions that you shal be able to bear them This is a gratious relief for there is no affliction but impatiency makes a greater affliction many afflict themselves when God doth not and many afflict themselves more then God doth their impatiency first makes their groaning heavier then their stroke and then their stroke heavier then it is in it self 2. Divine relief and strength comes into the heart of a good man in this consumptive condition to renew the inward man as the outward man decays So saith the Apostle 2 Cor. 4.16 Though our outward man perish yet our inward man is renewed day by day As God pulls down the old house the house of clay he frames and erects a new building that shall abide for ever So that a Christian may say as Peter Martyr said when he was dying My body is weak my mind is well well for the present and it will be better for the future The flesh and spirit of a good man are like two buckets when the flesh goeth down the spirit gets up he is ever best within when he is worst without when the body is going down to the earth from whence it came the soul is ascending to heaven from whence it came And you have a gratious promise for it Psal 92.13 14. Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God They shall still bring forth fruit in their old age they shall be fat and flourishing Old age shall have green fruit upon it When â—he flesh proves the most barren the spirit is most fruitful a true Christian never flourisheth so much as when old age hath nipt the flesh and it is a lovely sight to see gray hairs a consumptive body and a withered face fat and flourishing in Holiness and Righteousness to see Summer-fruit upon an old tree in Winter-time and yet thus it is with good Christians their Winter of old age is their most flourishing time When nature is most spent grace comes to its greatest strength and perfection Faith strongest love to God and Christ most enflamed hope most lively and holiness most beautiful and sparkling the greatest beauty in the soul when the body is turning to rottenness and putrifaction When the natural breath smells of the earth the spiritual breath savours most of heaven the eye of the soul most clear in discerning spiritual and heavenly things when the eye of the body grows dim and dark the hand of faith most steady to take hold on Divine promises when the corporal hand shakes with the palsie and the feet of the soul run fastest towards the mark for the price of the high calling in Christ when the bodily feet cannot move So true it is that a Christian may say as S. Paul said When I am weak then am I strong weak in my outward man but strong in the inward 3. Divine relief comes in to the heart of a
are about him stand weeping over him to hear his groans and to see him toss and tumble in his Bed and know not how to afford him any relief first they turn him to one side and then to another but the man finds no rest then God steps in gives a word of command and that layes him to rest refresheth and revives him in an instant the pain and sickness is removed and the man thinks himself in a new world Thus you see how divine relief comes in to Christians in the time of their greatest corporal weakness when they are ready to despair of all help therein Sometimes by divine supports inabling to bear it with patience as also by renewing the inward man and making that to thrive and flourish Sometimes so sanctifying it as that it proves the effectual death and decay of the old man in him Sometimes giving him a sweet foretast of Heaven in clearing up the evidence of Gods love to him and sometimes by mitigating and moderating the pain and grief wherewith he is afflicted In some or all these wayes good men have experience of the incomes of divine relief in this condition And thus much for the first particular wherein I have shewn you how God is the strength of a Christians heart when the flesh faileth Secondly Let us consider the failing of the Heart and see how divine relief comes into a good man in this case Now this failing of the Heart I reduced to three Heads 1. The failing of the natural faculties and that either by way of Apprehension or Election or Retention I call them Natural Faculties although they are sanctified and changed for Grace doth not alter and change the essence of the Soul but only the quality and inclination thereof Now though they are thus altered yet they may fail a man in whom true grace is 1. In respect of Apprehension The Understanding is the eye of the Soul whereby it seeth and discerneth spiritual objects I but sometimes the eye grows dim so that though he be a child of light yet he may walk in darkness as you have it Es 50.10 Who is there among you that feareth the Lord that walketh in darkness and hath no light Sometimes God is pleased to withdraw or cloud up the light and then though the eye be open yet the soul is in the dark the day of divine discoveries and manifestations may be turned into a dark night But sometimes the light shineth clearly upon the Soul and yet for want of a capacity to receive it the Soul is in the dark still as when the eye is shut a man seeth no more then he doth when the light is withdrawn from him and this was the case of the Pen-man of this Psalm as he confesseth of himself ver 22. So foolish was I and ignorant I was as a beast before thee You know whatever light of Reason is offered to a bruit it receiveth it not because it is beyond its faculty and power Read a Lecture of Philosophy to it and render it as plain as it can be made yet it understands nothing thereof Even thus the Prophet complains of himself That he was as a Bruit that understood not It was not for want of light shining but for want of a seeing eye He could not receive the light and therefore was very much in the dark and that in reference to three things 1. In respect of his own spiritual state and therefore mistook that He thought it bad although it was good for so he saith ver 13. Verily I have cleansed my hands in vain and washed my hands in innocency i. e. All my Religion is to no purpose it doth not at all advantage me that I have lived strictly according to the commands of God I might have spared a great deal of pains that I have taken to cleanse my heart and to wash my hands and have sped as well For notwithstanding all this I have been plagued all the day long and chastened every morning ver 14. Surely had God loved me had I belonged to him he would never have dealt thus with me 2. In reference to the spiritual state of others and therefore mistook that He thought the state of the foolish better then his own because they seemed to prosper ver 3. For I was envious at the foolish when I saw the prosperity of the wicked As he concluded his own estate bad so he concluded their's good He was so mistaken that he could have been content to have exchanged states with them and yet had he done so he had made a bad bargain for himself 3. In reference to God's mind touching his duty under this complexed providence he knew not what to do but was at a great loss exceedingly bewildred in his own thoughts through that darkness that had overspread his understanding and nothing less can be implied in these words I was as a beast before thee i. e. I knew not how to carry or behave my self toward God but acted very strangely and preposterously as one that had no command of himself or of his passions and this is the case sometimes of God's dear children they are so darkened in their Spirits as that they know neither how to judge of things nor how to act under divine dispensations And hence flow misapprehensions of themselves false conclusions of divine providence and cross actings to divine will Thus you see this particular case Let us now see what divine relief flows into the Soul herein 1. In time of the greatest darkness that is upon the Spirit of a Christian when 't is dark night with him when he meets with the darkest and most cross dispensation of divine providence that he concludes against himself and the goodness of his estate then God is bringing about some glorious eminent design for his good The more glorious any design of God is and the more it tends to the good of any Soul the more it is kept seccret and the less the Soul discerns it until it be wrought out There is many a good man that fears that God is setting himself in battel array against him and shooting the arrows of his displeasure and indignation at him and that the full vials of his wrath shall be poured forth upon him and yet at that time God is bringing about some eminent design of good for him It may be thou art questioning thy estate and concludest against thy self but God is about to clear it up to thee Thou doubtest of God's love and he is making way for the manifestation of it Thou art labouring under strong temptations and conflicts with strong corruptions I but God is giving in a glorious conquest and treading Satan under thy feet that which thou fearest will prove thy destruction shall be thy salvation God often works as Luther saith in mediis contrariis by contrary means God heals by wounds and makes alive by killing so that a Christian may say as he said I had been undone
retain them long with him I dare not question the truth of that mans grace that can't remember every truth he reads or hears delivered Nor may we say that the work of Gods grace is not wrought in every one that cannot at all times call to mind The great things that God hath done for him the Apostle Paul writing to the Hebrews tells them That they had forgotten the exhortation Heb. 12.5 Or you have forgotten the consolation as some render it For the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies both because consolation oft-times flows in by a word of exhortation and it intimates that they had forgotten both the word of comfort and the work of comfort And thus it is with many a good Christian he comes to Church with great desire to learn that which tends to the good of his soul and he is resolved to treasure it up in his memory I but that is not faithful to him but presently looseth that which he hath committed to its trust And it may be God hath done great things for him and given him great experience of his fatherly care over him and tender love to him I but he hath lost much of his experience that it is to him as if it had not been Oftentimes when Christians are under a cloud they forget that the Sun of Gods favour ever shined upon them And when they are in streights forget the great Salvation that God hath wrought for them when he called them out of a state of sin and misery into a state of grace and happiness And this is a great affliction to him that he can't remember the works of the right hand of the Lord nor the gracious and soul ravishing words of his mouth Now is there no relief to be had from God in this case Yes and that I shall shew you in three particulars 1. Sometimes God brings truths and experiences to our minds and remembrance when we stand in the greatest need of them God deals with us as natural parents do with a dear child whom they love exceedingly it may be they bestow a thing upon it which is very useful for it but for want of care it looseth it the parents finding it lay it up for the child against a time of need and then bring it forth Even thus doth God sometimes that truth and experience which we have lost he treasures up against a time of need then brings it forth when he knows it will do us the most good Comfort shall be given in when the soul hath quite forgotten that she ever had comfort And as 't is the office of the Holy Ghost to comfort mourners so in order hereunto he must teach the soul and bring things to our remembrance So it is promised John 14.26 But the comforter which is the Holy Ghost whom the Father will send in my name shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance First He must teach the soul those things that belong to comfort I but the soul is very apt to forget what she hath learned Why if it doth so then he is a remembrancer to bring things forgotten to our remembrance As 't is a notable comfort to a Christian in the time of trouble and sorrow to call the promises and providences of God to mind so it is part of the Office of the Holy Ghost to bring things to our remembrance for our comfort And sometimes when things are quite out of our remembrance and even buried in the grave of forgetfulness the Holy Ghost brings them all to our minds as fresh as if we had but newly received them Saint Paul wrote the same things to the Phillippians which he had either preach'd to them or wrote to them before that he might imprint them the better upon their minds and some gather out of Matth. 5. compared with Luke 6.20 that our Saviour preached the same Sermon twice over because many hearers are dull to conceive hard to believe and apt to forget And the Holy Ghost sometimes comes and Preaches that again to the soul which it may be she heard ten or twenty years before but had forgotten it Perhaps thou art at a great loss for a promise and for former experiences and wouldst give any thing in the world for the comfort that once thou hadst thereby and then the Holy Ghost gives them in to thee Dying Christians sometimes have had experience hereof when all their comfort hath fled from them as the brooks passed away from the troops of Tema 2. Sometimes when a Christian hath forgotten old experiences God creates new for his joy and comfort When old mercies are worn out of our remembrance he engraves new mercies upon our minds and when some promises of grace and comfort are slipt out of our memory he points us to others that are as suitable to our present state It may be thou hast forgot the promises of this life and God fastens the promises of eternal life upon thy spirit thou hast forgot something of that which thou hast learnt heretofore And to supply the want thereof he teacheth thee something which thou didst never learn and sometimes a word of precept is more needful to be taught then the word of promise and a Christian finds it so When the heart begins to grow wanton and loose under gratious promises and experiences it is just with God to take them away and to feed her with harder Diet yet so that she shall have cause to bless God at last for it for else she might have died of a surfeit God doth not always administer that to us which is most toothsome but that which is most wholsome not always that which is most delightful but that which is most needful as is hinted by our Saviour Matt. 6.8 Your father knoweth what you have need of i. e. You may be sure of that which God knows necessary and suitable to your present state and condition although he denies you that which you most desire A father doth not always provide the same diet for his children but gives them sometimes one thing and sometimes another but however they shall have that which is most needful for them and when he denies them that which their appetite longs for and it can't be had he gives them that which may be more for their health Even thus God doth with his children spiritual food they shall have and although they must not always feed upon the same dish yet they shall have that which is best for them New mercies are oftentimes given in to them who have forgotten old So that a Christian hath a new song put into his mouth to sing before the Lord as the Prophet saith Psal 40.3 He hath put a new song into my mouth even praise unto our God I confess it is the sin and weakness of Christians to forget old experiences of Gods goodness to them yet such is the indulgence of our heavenly Father as to supply our defects herein
is like a strong Fort or Garrison to a Christians Grace that keeps it safe It may be assaulted and beleaguered but shall never receive a mortal wound It is the great security of a Christian that God will not trust him with the root and principle of grace That shall never be in thine own keeping he trusts thee with the exercise of grace but not with the principle and root No he keeps that himself he is both the Garrison and the Commander in it and you may be sure that that is impregnable 2. God is the strength of a Christians heart when the infused habits of grace fail and sin grows strong and vigorous by healing and restoring him A Christian never fails in the exercise of grace but sin gives him a wound And therefore David prayed Lord heal my Soul for I have sinned Psal 41.4 And what David prayed for God promiseth to his people Hos 14.4 I will heal their back-slidings The weakness and decay of grace brings a Christian presently to the falling sickness and so it did David and Ephraim I but God will be a Physitian to the Soul in this case and will heal their diseases and so he did Davids falling-sickness for which he return'd the tribute of Praise Psal 103.3 My soul praise thou the Lord and all that is within me praise his holy name who healeth all thy diseases David had many diseases upon him once for one disease is the cause of another I but God healed all and raised him up again And herein the grace of God did shine forth with great lustre and glory that even ravished his soul in the sense thereof As it appears wonderful in preserving spiritual life and the root of grace so it is no less to be admired for its healing and restoring virtue that it puts forth upon the Soul when spiritual diseases have ceised upon it You have a notable place for this Cant. 8.5 I raised thee up under the apple-tree They are the words of Christ to his Spouse She had been feeding her self upon the forbidden fruit of earthly delights and sensual pleasures until she could stand upon her feet no longer and there she falls and lies I but then Christ comes to her seasonably takes her by the hand and raises her up Green fruit will cause distempers in the body natural and sensual delights and pleasures will cause diseases in the body spiritual none can cure them but Christ When thou art fallen under the Apple-tree he must raise thee up nay Christ will do it though he may suffer the poor Soul to fall yet he will not suffer it to lie and perish This is one main difference between the falls of a gracious man into sin and the fall of a wicked man God lets a wicked man fall and lie in his sin As he falls willingly and resolvedly so he lies wretchedly and desperately in his sin But as a godly man falls through a weakness of grace so God pities him and raises him up again Peter fell fouly when he denied his Master but he did not fall finally Christ raised him up and restored him to his former health and soundness So you may see Matth. 26.75 And Peter remembred the words of Jesus and he went out and wept bitterly The way that Christ takes to heal the backslidings of his people is to break their hearts and melt them into godly sorrow When poor Souls have been almost drown'd in the waies of sin he drowns their sin in the red sea of godly sorrow the Soul swims aloft but his sin sinks to the bottom that it may rise no more 3. God is the strength of a Christians heart when grace fails by working a new creation upon the heart The giving of grace at first is a creation and hence new Converts are called new creatures So the strengthening weak grace and reviving and renewing of grace is no less a creation it is the work of an Almighty power upon the Soul And therefore David prayed for it under this notion Create in me a clean heart O God and renew a right Spirit within me Psal 50.10 God puts forth the same power in strengthening the weakness of grace as he doth in giving the first act of grace as grace is not mans creature but Gods We are saith the Apostle Gods workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works Eph. 2.10 So the renewing and reviving grace is not mans work but Gods When he seeth a poor Christian lie languishing that he is scarce able to put forth one act of grace he can neither believe nor love nor obey that Satan makes a prey of him and is ready to carry him away captive as his prisoner God creates new strength and a new life and a new glory upon the Soul If a Christian hath his winter he shall have his spring also he shall not be alwaies without fruit Most full is that promise Hos 14.5 6. I will be as the dew unto Israel he shall grow as the lilly and cast forth his roots as Lebanon His branches shall spread and his beauty shall be as the olive tree and his smell as Lebanon Observe Gods method in working upon decaying Christians First he heals their backslidings so ver 4. I will heal their backslidings I but that is not all For without divine influence the Soul will be as apt to relapse as ever and therefore God promiseth as a further act of grace that he will be as the dew unto Israel Dew is of a fructifying and refreshing nature it calls forth the fruits of the earth when they lie hid in the roots of trees and herbs Even so is Divine Influence it is of a fructifying nature and calls forth the fruits of grace when they lie hid in the root thereof Let but God send forth his power and Grace will send forth new buds and blossoms of holiness that there shall be a new face upon a Christian He shall grow as the Lilliy cast forth his roots as Lebanon his branches shall spread and his beauty shall be as the Olive and his smell as Lebanon 4. God is the strength of a Christians heart by drawing forth much good out of this great evil It is a sore evil for a Christian to decay in grace and to fall into sin I but God works good out of this evil Four things God works by this and they are all good for him 1. Hereby God discovers that corruption that is in the heart As when the water ebbs and grows low then the earth appears then you may see what is at the bottom So when grace ebbs and grows low then the corruption of the heart appears then it is quickly known what foul dregs are at the bottom There is many a Christian that little thinks how full of sin his heart is until his grace grows languid and weak and then he comes to have a sad experience thereof Thus it was with David When grace became so weak in him as not to
be able to withstand a temptation then he saw the uncleanness of his heart and therefore cried to God to wash him and cleanse him and it is as if he had said Lord I see now what a filthy and unclean Spirit dwelleth in me Lord do thou purge it out and cleanse me from it If any one had gone to David and told him that at such a time he should be overcome by such a temptation and commit two great sins he would hardly have believed that his heart had been so bad But after wards his expeperience taught him 2. Hereby God teacheth the Soul where its strength lieth and on whom its grace depends The decay of grace shews that the strength thereof is not in man nor in grace it self but like the Vine it must have a supporter Grace can't live nor thrive without constant influences I but good men are too apt to depend upon their grace and not to go to him for strength in whom it lies Now when a Christian feels the decay of his grace and his own insufficiency to relieve and strengthen it this drives him out of himself to Christ This is one main difference between the total want of grace and a sense of decay in grace The total want of grace drives men from Christ but a sense of the decay of grace drives men to Christ So it did David his weakness brought him upon his knees 3. The falls of Christians through the weakness of grace and the power of sin are made notable antidotes and preservatives against final Apostasie For as there is nothing that estrangeth the heart from God as spiritual pride and self-confidence so nothing keeps the heart so close to God as a filial fear of offending God So you may see Jer. 32.40 And I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them to do them good but I will put my fear in their hearts that they shall not depart from me This is that which hemms in the Soul that it cannot go astray Now the falls of Christians provoke and draw forth this filial fear into act The burnt child dreads the fire and he that hath been stung with a Serpent will shun his hole so it is here None so fearful of falling into sin as they that have fallen None so wary and watchful none so resolute and stout against temptations and occasions of sin as those who have been at a time overcome 4. These falls and decayes are like mighty winds to the Oak that settles him faster and make him root deeper in Christ As the more the Oak is shaken if it falls not the faster and deeper it is rooted in the earth So when a Christian hath been shaken with the winds of temptations and corruptions the faster hold he layeth upon Christ and the deeper he is rooted in him For 1. His experience of Christ's faithfulness in keeping him from falling finally and totally strengthens his faith in Christ 2. His experience of Christ's pardoning love knits and unites his heart close to Christ First His experience of Christ's faithfulness in keeping him from falling totally and finally strengthens his faith in Christ As 't is a notable trial of Christ's faithfulness to keep Saints from falling away finally when they fall souly so experience of Christ's faithfulness is a notable strengthener of a Christians faith in Christ They that know thy name will put their trust in thee saith David Psal 9.10 A friend that keeps close to a man in time of need may well be trusted Even so 't is here Christ keeps close to a Christian even at that time when he deserves to be cast off and is both a shame and a grief to Christ Surely the experience hereof must needs be a great incouragement to a Christian to trust him for ever He seeth that Christs strength never fails although his own strength fail He seeth that there is grace enough in Christ to support him in the weakest condition and to raise him up when he is at the lowest Nay further he finds this strength put forth upon him according to the word of promise and though he is unbelieving yet Christ abides faithful to him And therefore he cannot but conclude from hence that Christ will be his strength for ever and will never fail him Secondly A Christians experience of the fulness and continuance of Christs pardoning love knits and unites his soul faster to Christ then ever this doth endear Christ to the soul exceedingly tryed love is an endearing love and if any thing will draw out the souls affections unto Christ and confirm them against all future assaults it is the renewing of pardons upon the renewal of offences When the soul shall hear Christ say as he doth Esay 43.24 25. Thou hast brought me no sweet cane with money neither hast thou filled me with the fat of thy sacrifices but thou hast made me to serve with thy sins thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities I am he that blotteth out thy transgression for mine own sake and will remember thy sins no more I say when the soul shall hear this it must needs be deeply affected herewith What! Will the Lord be gratious to such a vile wretch as I am Will he pardon a backslider Will he forgive the sin of one that hath made him to serve with his sin and wearied him with iniquities O here is wonderful love this is transcendent love and shall not I love him that hath loved me thus Yet Lord thou knowest that I love thee 't is true I have backslidden and grievously offended but I will do so no more Thus God sometimes doth the soul much good by that which in it self doth him the greatest hurt as pain easeth a Christian death revives him dissolution unites him so corruption clarifies him and this is a most gratious relief But before I leave this particular I must enter four cautions 1. That no man take up the better opinion of sin hereby for as darkness is nevertheless an evil though God bring light out of darkness so sin is nevertheless an evil though God is pleased to bring good out of it Poison is destructive although a Physician can so correct it as to make it medicinal and so is sin and the better opinion thou hast of sin the more evil and mortal it will be to thee 2. Take heed of lying in sin with hopes of a relief from God watch against it pray against it that thou mayest not be overcome of it but however if thou art overcome by a temptation if Satan hath tript up thy heels get upon thy feet again assoon as possibly thou canst if thou fallest with Peter weep with Peter and labour to find as much bitterness in sin as thou hast found of a seeming pleasure in it Remember this that more have fallen into sin with hopes of rising again then have risen after they have fallen Many sin with Peter but few repent with him
desired mercy when they are past all hope of it When the soul is at the very brink of despair then the mercy is given in to revive it and that is implied in those words of Solomon Prov. 13.12 Hope deferred maketh the heart sick but when the desire cometh it is a tree of life i. e. God may defer the mercy so long as to make the heart sick even unto death and then bestow iâ— upon the soul now when it cometh it is a tree of life an allusion to that tree that God planted in Paradise Gen. 2.9 A tree that was a symbole or sign of life as the Sacraments are of grace Now as the faith hope and comfort of a true Christian is fed nourished and revived by these external symbols signs so it is revived by the income of a desired mercy When the soul hath been languishing at the door of hope until it grows out of hope and is ready to perish then God throws in the mercy to revive and comfort it Nay further 3. God sometimes gives in the mercy in a way that is beyond all hope in a way that seems the most cross to the hopes of a Christian Sometimes God shuts up all the doors of hope and makes that to be the way of conveying mercy to us So God promised to his people of old Hos 2.15 The valley of Achor for a door of hope i. e. when they should be destitute of those means as might encourage them to hope and meet with the greatest difficulties and troubles that they could meet with then the desired mercy should be given Great crosses oftentimes make way for and usher in great mercies Now when mercy comes in unexpectedly and in a cross way it comes with the greater force and power upon the Soul to revive and comfort it Mercies that are common to the Soul do not make such a strong impression upon it as those that are either more special or come to the Soul in a singular and unexpected way Such mercies are very sweet and precious to the Soul 2. As there is relief for a good man in this case so when the heart fails through the hiding of Gods face And that I shall shew you briefly in three things 1. When a good man cannot see Gods face God speaks to him and gives him strength to seek his face When the Soul can't hear God yet sometimes she hears the voice of God So it was with David Psal 27.8 6. When thou saidst Seek my face my heart said unto thee Thy face Lord will I seeek Hide not thy face from me put not thy servant away in anger God hid his face from David I but he did not shut up his lips David had the happiness to hear his voice though it was but from behind a curtain And this encouraged and drew forth his Soul to seek Gods face So when Christ withdrew himself from his Spouse that she knew not what was become of him she sought him but could not find him I but she heard his voice Cant. 5.6 And it is a great comfort to a good man to hear the voice of God when he cannot see the face of God Sometimes God speaks to the Soul by his word and sometimes by his works and thereby draws it forth to seek his face This is a notable sign that God is not wholly and eternally departed from us When God leaves a wicked man he doth not so much as speak to him he shall not hear from God unless it be by way of denouncing judgement against him But when he withdraws and hides his face from a good man he shall hear the voice of God though he cannot see his well pleased face God is desirous to see their face although he hides his own and therefore calls to them to come and seek his face Thou saidst Seek my face and this voice of God caused an eccho in David's Soul And I said Thy face Lord will I seek And this is one end of God in hiding his face from the Soul that hereby he may draw forth the desires of it after him As a mother sometimes turns her back upon the child to see wehther it will cry after her Even thus doth God and it is wonderful delightful to him to hear a Soul cry after him when he hath withdrawn himself and his face from it 2. Sometimes when a good man can't see the well-pleased face of God he feels the hand of God not the weight thereof to crush him down but the power and strength thereof to sustain and uphold him That which the Church had experience of in another case when she was sick of love Cant. 2.6 she did promise to her self in this case Cant. 8.3 His left hand should be under her head and his right hand should embrace her Christ puts forth both hands one for the head and another for the heart to keep the soul from death in this case 1. The left hand of Christ is put under the head to keep up and maintain a good opinion of him When the soul is full of inward trouble it is full of thoughts So Psal 94.19 In the multitude of my thoughts within me Nay it is apt to have hard thoughts of God such as are unbecoming the dear children of so gratious a father We are apt to think that when God hides his face from us he hath forgotten to be gratious and in anger shut up his tender mercies from us that his mercy is clean for ever and that his promise fails for evermore that the Lord hath cast us off for ever and will be favourable no more To these and the like thoughts is a troubled soul very prone when God withdraws Now Christ to prevent these or to moderate them puts his hand under our head As the putting of ones hand under the head of a sick person is a great stay to it and affords it some ease that he may compose to rest so doth Christ deal with a soul that is sick and ready to die in the sense of Gods hiding his face from it He puts under his hand to keep the judgement right that it may maintain a good opinion of God and keep up good thoughts of him and this is a great ease to a good man for there is nothing afflicts the soul more then such hard thoughts of God they are a great torture and perplexity to the soul and when they are removed the mind finds great refreshment thereby 2. The right hand of Christ is put forth to embrace the soul As his left hand is under the head so his right hand doth embrace a good man and with this he stays the heart and keeps it from dying when the soul is going forth he stays it and keeps it in So saith David Psal 18.18 But the Lord was my stay The right hand of Divine Grace and strength doth compass the soul about and thereby keeps it from going forth and that is promised Psal 32.10
Mercy shall compass him about The mercy of God is a long arm and this doth incircle the soul and compass it about the soul can stir no way but mercy meets it to stay its flight Sometime God sends a friend to him who out of his own experience drops a seasonable word of comfort upon his soul and that is a mercy Job 33.23 Sometime God applies a word of Grace that enlivens his dead heart and that is a mercy Psal 119.50 Sometimes God brings to mind some former intimations of his love and grace to him Psal 42.6 And sometime and very often he stays the soul with this very thought that it is a great mercy of God to him that yet he is on this side hell Lam. 3.22 and though he can't see the face of God yet he is not put so far off but he may have the happiness to see it at the last 'T is mercy that he is not eternally banished from his presence And this stays the heart 3. Though God hides his face for a time yet he doth at one time or other unvail and discover it to the soul for its unspeakable joy and comfort If not in this life yet in the life to come a true Christian shall see the face of God again although it be hid for a time You have an excellent promise for this Esay 54.7 8. For a small moment have I forsaken thee but with great mercies will I gather thee in a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee saith the Lord thy redeemer Gods departure from a good man is not an eternal departure His hiding his face is not for ever Though thou canst not see it now yet thou shalt see it Thou mayst say with David Why art thou cast down O my soul and why art thou so disquieted within me hope thou in God for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance Psal 42.5 3. In case that the Animal Spirits do fail a man through the sense of sin and Gods displeasure for it there is relief to be had from God when the poisoned arrows of Divine wrath stick fast in the soul and drinks up the Spirits there is relief for it And this I shall also make evident to you in three things There are three remedies that God makes use of to cure the wounds that sin and Gods wrath make in the Soul 1. The blood of Sprinkling 2. The precious Balm of Gospel promises 3. The sweet oyl of the Holy Spirit 1. The blood of sprinkling or the blood of Christ sprinkled upon the heart this washeth and cleanseth the wound So 1 John 1.7 And the blood of Christ cleanseth us from all sin And so Revel 5. Vnto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood For as a wound in the body natural will not heal unless the blood and corruption be washed out no more will the wounds of the soul ever be cured unless they be first washed with the blood of Christ And therefore this is Gods first work to apply the blood of Christ to the wound and it is very effectual for this purpose as you may see Heb. 9.13 14. For if the blood of bulls and of goats and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh How much more shall the blood of Christ purge your conscience It first stancheth the blood and then purifies the wound and makes it fit for a plaister The meaning hereof is this that the knowledge of our justification by the righteousness of Christ is a singular and choice remedy for the taking away the sense of sin and Gods displeasure for it It is not only requisite that Christ shed his blood for us and that God hath accepted it as a full satisfaction to His Divine Justice which was offended by our sin but this must be applyed to us As under the Law it was not enough to have the blood of bulls and of goats but it must be sprinkled or else there was no cleansing even so unless God applies the blood of Christ to thy conscience and give thee the knowledge thereof that it is shed for thee in particular thy Spiritual wounds that sin and Satan hath made in thee will never be cleansed Thou mayest be justified before God but still thine own heart may accuse and condemn thee Though God doth not charge thy sin upon thee yet thou wilt be continually charging it upon thy self and the burden will be intolerable thy wounds will still bleed every remembrance of sin will draw new blood from thy heart It is true the blessing lies in Gods free remission of our sin but the comfort lies in our knowledge thereof A traitour may be pardoned and that may save his life but if he knows it not he looseth the comfort thereof Even thus it is until we know that God hath freely justified us in the blood of Christ the sense of sin and Divine wrath will be heavy upon the spirit of an awakened sinner and therefore God's sprinkling the blood of Christ upon the conscience must needs be a sweet relief 2. Another remedy which God makes use of for the curing of this spiritual wound is the balm of Gospel promises there are two sorts of promises by which God speaks comfort to a disconsolate soul 1. Inviting promises 2. Assuring and sealing promises 1. Inviting promises and by these he encourages a poor distressed sinner to come to him Such is that Matth. 11.28 Come unto me all ye that are weary and heavy laden And that Esay 55.1 Ho every one that thirsteth come ye to the waters he that hath no money come ye buy and eat yea come buy wine and milk without money and without price And that Rev. 22.17 And the Spirit and the Bride say come and let him that heareth say come and let him that is a thirst come and whosoever will let him take the water of life freely Now when a soul that heareth these promises considers with it self thus Sure I am that I am weary and heavy laden with the burden of sin sin is an heavy load upon my soul the arrows of Gods indignation have set my soul on fire that I stand in need of these cooling and refreshing waters I am a poor ceature I have no money nothing to give for the incomes of Gods grace and love I am a meer beggar and therefore must needs be one that God invites And thus God draws the soul to him that he may apply 2. The assuring and sealing promises of comfort Such as these Heb. 10.16 17. This is the Covenant that I will make with them after those days saith the Lord I will put my laws into their hearts and in their minds will I write them and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more And that in Esay 57.15 16 17 18 19. For thus saith the
high and lofty one that inhabiteth eternity whose name is holy I will dwell in the high and holy place with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite ones For I will not contend for ever neither will I be always wroth for the spirit should fail before me and the souls that I have made For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth and smote him I hid me and was wroth and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart I have seen his ways and will heal him I will lead him and restore comfort unto him I create the fruit of the lips peace peace to him that is far off and to him that is near saith the Lord and I will heal him Now as these promises are the matter of comfort so they are the means of comfort For when God applies them to a wounded soul there passeth a vertue and power through them to heal and cure it 3. To this he adds the oyl of his Holy Spirit and that he drops into the wound and this doth not only heal but takes away the very scar of the wound and renders the skin as fresh and beautiful as before Oyl in Scripture sets out joy and chearfulness and therefore it is called the oyl of joy And Esay 61.3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Sion to give unto them beauty for ashes and the oyl of joy for mourning This cures the mournful sad and perplexed spirit and makes the face to shine again with brightness and glory according to that Psal 104.15 And oyl to make the face to shine I do not say that God always raiseth the comfort of the soul thus high but sometimes he doth not only heal but anoint and make the soul fair and lovely in his eye For there is no such sight in Gods eye as a sanctified heart that is chearful and joyful before him such a soul is the joy and delight of his heart and especially where he hath made the deepest wound and filled the soul with the greatest horrour in the sense of his wrath and displeasure there when he comes to give peace and comfort he anoints the most the greater wound the greater measure of comfort and hence it is that many a soul blesseth God for its wounds because else it would never have attained to such joys and comforts as God gives in Thus I have shewn you what relief flows into the soul in this case 4. In case that the Animal Spirits fail through a sudden passion of fear There is relief for it And that four ways 1. Sometimes God preventeth the thing feared and never suffers it to come to pass 2. Sometimes God delivers the soul from its fears 3. Sometimes the thing feared is so ordered and disposed by the Lord that it is less then our fear not worth our fear 4. Sometimes God turns the fears of his servants into the right channel that instead of fearing evil they fear him more then ever they did First Sometime God prevents the thing feared and never suffers it to come to pass or at least not at that time we are afraid it will 't is true Job could say the thing which I feared is come upon me Job 3.25 I was not in safety neither had I rest nor was I quiet yet trouble came I but many a good man hath cause to say the thing which I greatly feared is not come upon me Though God did not deliver me from my distrustful fear yet he delivered me from that which I did fear As sometimes we groundlesly expect and hope for a thing that never comes so sometimes we groundlesly fear an evil that never comes As God denyes the desires of a groundless confidence in great mercy so he prevents our groundless fears in mercy For as wicked men are apt to fear evil less then they should so the godly are apt to fear evil more then they should But as that which wicked men fear not comes suddenly upon them so sometimes that which a godly man fears comes not at all This made David say Psa 34.4 I sought the Lord and he heard me and delivered me from all my fears i. e. He delivered me from the evils which I feared The effect is here put for the cause Secondly Sometimes the Lord delivers a good man from the fear of evil I mean from a distrustful distracting and tormenting fear which dispirits him and sinks his spirits As some fear where no fear is so sometimes God animates and lifts up the soul above fear where fear is True faith will strive with tormenting fears and when 't is made strong will cast them out There is an excellent promise for this Job 11.14.15 If iniquity be in thine hand put it far away and let not wickedness dwell in thy tabernacle For then thou shalt lift up thy face without spot yea thou shalt be stedfast and shalt not fear Noting out that when faith is so strong as to purifie the heart and life from sin then it sets the Soul free from the fear of those evils that come by sin Now this is a great relief to the Soul For to be freed from the fear of evil is better then to be freed from the evil The promise runs not thus Thou shalt be freed from evil but thou shalt be freed from the fear of evil Happiness consists more in removing inward then outward trouble He that is afraid of evil before it comes may be happy though it comes Thirdly The thing feared is so ordered and disposed by the Lord that it is a lesser evil then we feared and is not worth our fear Many are far more afraid then hurt or more hurt by their fears then by the evils they feared We are indeed very apt to greater evils and lesser mercies and that is the reason that we meet with evils with so much fear and mercies with so little faith The thoughts of one evil torments our Spirits more then the thoughts of many mercies cheers and comforts our Spirits I but Gods thoughts are above our thoughts and when we are afraid that the evil impending will be very great it proves very little 'T is with many Christians as with some inexperienced Patients they dread the taking of any Physick lest it should overpower nature but when they come to take it they find it works not half so much as they feared it would A wise Physitian tempers the potion according to the constitution of the body and the nature of the distemper and not according to the fears of the Patient Even thus doth God oftentimes deal with us he orders and corrects all our evils so that they prove less hurtful and more beneficial to us then we could think not one dram too much or too little He proportions not our purging Physick according to our fancies but to our necessity when a little will serve the turn he will
perfect cure Bless God for a little and that will be the way to obtain more Thou mayst get that with a thankful spirit which thou shalt never get with a froward 2. God works variously he relieves all his people but not all alike he cures all but not alwaies with one and the same receipt nor after one and the same manner and method He varies his dispensations much and therefore here may be a mistake that because God doth not make the very same applications to thee which he doth to another therefore thou concludest that God hath done nothing for thy cure and relief 'T is here as in the case of conversion Some Christians are apt to think they are not savingly converted because God did not work upon their hearts in the same way and manner that others are wrought upon They were not brought under those legal terrours nor held under a spirit of bondage in that measure and degree that others have been But this is to tie up God to one way of working grace when as he varies in his working Even such a mistake may be in this case Perhaps thou thinkest that God hath afforded thee no relief because it came not in the same way to thee as it hath done to others 'T is good to eye and observe the experiences of other Christians but not to limit God by them As the thoughts of God will be ever above our thoughts so the waies of his providence will be ever past finding out No man can trace God in some of his wayes they are so mysterious God doth not alwaies leave the print of his foot-steps where he goeth The way of an Eagle in the Air the way of a Ship in the midst of the Sea the way of a Serpent upon a Rock are not so untraceable as many of the waies of God It is mercy that God knows our Souls in the time of our failing though we cannot know every way and method of his relieving us 3. Sometimes distempers work cross that what is appointed for the cure of one is the occasion of another 'T is sometimes so in the body natural and it may prove so in the body spiritual When God is curing the weakness and failing of grace and that begins to recover its wonted strength then spiritual pride breaks forth some self-admiration begins to bud out and that puts God upon a new work It is very rare for a Christian to be strong in some of his graces and not to be too much exalted in his Spirit or for God to lift the heart up in the sense of his love and not grow wanton and secure 'T is pitty that fair weather should do any hurt But 't is thus with some souls that the Sun-shine of Divine Favour and the light of Gods countenance is so ill emproved that the heart grows worse with it and like bodies that have long fasted or are newly brought out of a languishing fit of sickness take a surfeit of their diet and fall again it may be into some worse disease Now here may be a great mistake in this if thou thinkest that because new failings and new distempers break forth God hath done nothing towards thy cure Had not thy distempers wrought so cross thou mightest have been upon thy feet again long before This is the first particular by way of answer to this case Thou mayest have received great relief from God and not know of it And I have shewen you wherein the mistake may lie in the gradation or variety of Gods working or in the cross working of soul distempers 2. Thou sayest that thou canst not set thy seal to the truth of the Doctrine because thou hast had no experience hereof Consider therefore in the next place that it may be Gods time of relieving thee is not yet come God will come in a time that is most seasonable though not always when we expect it Thy time may be come but Gods time is not yet come Gods hand is not shortened nor his arm weakened nor his heart shut up I but his time is lengthened out beyond thy expectation Some are fain to wait a long time for relief before it comes their eyes fail while they wait for God So did David Psal 69.3 Mine eyes fail while I wait for my God It may be thou hast thought the time very long I but if God seeth it good thou must wait still We read in the Gospel of a man that had an infirmity thirty eight years a long time Job 5.5 And what if God will try thee with thine infirmity as long yet when his time is come relief shall be given in thou shalt be made whole It may be thy case is not bad enough yet God will take thee a pin lower yet hee 'l draw a little more blood from thee and when there is scarce an hairs breadth between thee and death or ruine then relief shall come And therefore do not conclude that because thou hast no experience yet of the truth of the Doctrine that either it is not true or thou hast no saving interest in God for though thou hast no experience hereof yet thou mayest have great and wonderful experience hereafter 3. Consider that a Saints interest in God depends not upon his sense of Divine Relief but upon the All-sufficiency of Free-grace Thy interest will hold when thy sense thereof is lost Though thou mayst think that thou hast lost thy hold on God and canst not act faith on him yet if once thou hast had an interest in God God will not loose his hold on thee What though thou failest thy flesh and heart fails thee yet Divine Strength cannot fail In the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength Esay 26.4 And as long as God hath an arm to hold thee thou shalt not be lost Remember I pray thee saith Eliphaz to Job Who ever perished being innocent or where were the righteous out off Job 4.7 The ruine and perishing of souls is when they are totally and finally forsaken of God that God will not own them nor be a God unto them when they are utterly and eternally driven from the gratious presence of God never to see the well-pleased face of God I but who ever see the innocent thus to perish or the righteous thus cut off Joh. 10.28 I do give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish What though thou canst not see that hand that holds thy soul in life yet it will so hold thee that thy spiritual life shall not be taken from thee If those afflictions and distempers which make thy heart to fail could cause the strength of Gods free grace to fail then thou wouldst be in danger of an eternal ruine they might prejudice thy interest in God but though these have some influence upon thee they have no such influence upon God Now as long as they can have no influence upon the grace of God to weaken that they can have no influence upon thy