and Places The Duty is commanded and commended Ye do well that ye take heed ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ye do well or beautifully this is your Christian Beauty and Comliness in the Eyes of God Now this Duty is urged and amplified urged by divers Arguments some taken from the excellency of the Word it self First It is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã a Word of Prophesie or a Prophetical Word written by Divine Inspiration the same that is spoken of in verse 20. called Prophesie of Scripture Secondly It is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã a more sure Word Some think the Comparative is put for the Superlative as Acts 25.10 ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã as thou very wel or best knowest But I take it rather to be meant Comparatively for the Word of God written is surer than that Voyce which they heard in the Mount whereof he spake in the former Verse More sure is the Word written than that Voyce of Revelation not ratione veritatis not in regard of the Truth uttered for that Voyce was as true as any word in the Scripture but more sure ratione manifestationis more certain setled and established Secondly Some Arguments are taken from the usefulness of the Word to us for it is as a light shining in a dark place and therefore it is good for us to take heed thereunto But how long must we take heed to it even as long as we live and whilst we are in the dark especially even till the day dawn and the Sun shine in his ful strength and brightness in your hearts which is the Second thing whereby this Duty is amplified Some think that is to be understood of a Supernatural Revelation and Light which God doth set up in the Soul which when a man hath obtained then he is to take heed to the written Word no longer But that cannot be 1. Because the Apostle doth here prefer the written Word before a Revelation from Heaven Now if he do prefer it before a Divine Revelation then it is not to give place to the dawning of some special Light and Revelation in the Heart for then he should destroy in the latter part of the Verse what he had affirmed and built up in the former part 2. One Scripture is to be explained by another but Esai 3.20 the Lord saith To the Law and to the Testimony if they speak not according to this Word it is because there is no Light or morning in them If therefore any man do pretend Light or the shining of the morning Star in his Soul so as to lay by the Word written that Light is no true Light and so this Interpretation can be no true Interpretation of these words 3. This Interpretation doth suppose that this morning Star did not shine in the Apostles Time and that then the Apostles with the Saints of those Times had not this Light within them for the Apostle saith We have a more sure Word and ye do well that ye take heed thereunto Al the Saints and People of God then did walk by and take heed unto the written Word yet they had Light within them This Interpretation therefore is contrary to the sence of âhe Apostle here Others think that these Words are spoken to the beleeving Jews in reference to the Prophets of the Old Testament as if the Apostle should say The glorious Light of the Gospel hath not yet fully conquered your hearts and therefore til your Gospel-Light be more cleer you shal do wel to take heed to the Prophets of the Old Testament who do al testifie with us of Christ But this wil seem to argue That when Gospel-Light doth more fully rise upon us then we may lay by the Prophets of the Old Testament Others think that this day dawning and the Day-star arising doth note that ful and cleer Vision of God and Christ which is yet to come Now because the whol Earth shal be filled with the knowledg of the Lord in the latter daies in respect to which Time it 's promised Revel 2.28 I will give him the morning-star and in Chap. 22.16 Christ doth appear to the Saints under that Title saying I am the bright morning-star Therefore it is conceived by some That the Apostle here doth relate to that time and so the sence of the words should be this Though now ye be in the dark yet ye have the Light of the Scripture to walk by whereto ye shal do wel that ye take heed til ye be brought to and under a more glorious and cleer Dispensation But the word used for the morning-Star Revel 2.22 is not the same that is here used and translated the Day-Star The Scripture shal not be out of date in the daies of those glorious Times for the Wals of that City the New Jerusalem which shal come down from Heaven hath twelve Foundations and in them the names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb Revel 21.14 This Interpretation doth suppose that the morning Star or the Sun for so the word may be rendred ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Suid. as Suidas saith doth not shine in our hearts now and that it hath not shined already whereas it is said Luk. 1. concerning Christs first coming verse 78. Whereby the Day-spring from on high hath visited us to give light to them that sit in darkness c. And the Apostle Paul saith the day is far spent and ye are the Children of Light and of the day Surely therefore the day had then dawned in those Times and therefore these words cannot only relate to the glorious Times that are yet to come Others say these words do relate unto Heavenly Glory and so the meaning of the words should be That we are to take heed unto the written Word until we come into Heaven which thing is true But where do we find in Scripture that the Glory of Heaven is said thus to dawn or shine in our hearts Or that Christ is said thus to shine in our hearts in regard of Heavenly Glory Therefore I think the word Vntil is not to be taken exclusively but as in other Scriptures Psal 110. Sit thou on my right hand until I make thine Enemies thy foot-stool Shal Christ sit on Gods right hand no longer Shal he not sit there for ever Yea he shal sit there for ever after al Enemies are subdued But the words shew what Christ shal enjoy and do whilst the Enemies rage he shal sit in power judging on the right hand of God not that he shal not sit there when they are subdued So here Ye do well saith the Apostle that ye take heed to the Word till the day dawn and the Day-Star arise and shine in your hearts that is til ye have more cleer Light not that ye lay by the Word then but because ye are now in the dark I 'le tel you saies the Apostle what ye shal do whilst ye are in the dark even take heed to the Word written And so the Doctrine
way of beleeving and then Christ wil give you more Ye know how it was with Nathaniel When Nathaniel beleeved upon what Christ had spoken saies Christ unto him Beleevest thou because I said unto thee I saw thee under the Fig-tree I wil shew thee greater things thou shalt see the Angels of God ascending and descending upon the son of man So wil the Lord Christ say to a poor soul I have spoken a word unto thee and I gave thee a little peace and doest thou beleeve because of the word I have spoken unto thee thou shalt see greater things and I wil give thee abundance of peace Look into Isa 48. vers 18. and there you shal find the Lord speaking thus O that thou hadst hearkened to my Commandements then had thy peace been as a river and thy righteousness as the waves of the Sea When the Lord speaks and cals upon people to beleeve if then they do hearken to him then shal their peace be like a river And when does the Lord cal in a special manner upon people to beleeve When he gives out a word and when he gives them a little peace then he is calling upon them to beleeve now return and now beleeve saies the Lord. Ye know how it was with Eliah when they wanted rain and had wanted rain for a long time Eliah sends his servant towards the Sea to see if he could perceive any rain coming and Eliah fals down upon his face in prayer his servant goes but no sign of rain he goes again and no sign of rain and the seventh time Eliah's servant perceives a cloud of the bigness of an hand and he comes down unto his Master and tells him he had seen a cloud the bigness of a mans hand Whereupon Eliah concludes and saies Come let us up I hear the noise of many waters So say I you have been upon your face and have been much discouraged yet if you have been at prayer and a little refreshment comes though it be but the bigness of an hand yet conclude and say surely there is more rain a coming Come O my soul Why art thou cast down and why art thou disquieted within me hope in God and wait on him I hear abundance of rain a coming When our Savior Christ sometimes speaks peace he doth at the first speak by a smal word and if that be improved then he speaks more Ye know how it was with Mary she was at the Sepulcher and had been enquiring after her Lord and saies she to the Angells they have taken away my Lord and the Angells talked âo her and could not comfort her But at last comes our savior Christ and he speaks to her and then she was comforted But what does he say to her onely one word Mary so when a man is in trouble the Lord comes sometimes and speaks but a word he takes a promise it may be and sets on a word thereof upon the soul and the heart answers Rabboni my Lord. Doth the Lord therefore speak but one word unto thee yet stir up thy self in beleeving and hearken to him for he wil speak yet more fully and playnly onely when he speaks listen hearken diligently unto him and improve what he sayth so shal your peace be as a River and your righteousnes as the Ocean And thus I have done with the first Argument TRUE PEACE MAY BE INTERRUPTED Sermon II. PSALM 42.11 Why art thou cast down O my Soul Stepney April 23. 1648. and why art thou disquieted within me c. Doct. 2 IT is possible that the Saints and People of God may be much discouraged and cast down Though there be an inward Peace and quietness of Soul which they are ordinarily indued with yet possibly this Peace may be interrupted and themselves much discouraged and cast down Here are two words in the Text speak as much Cast-down Disquieted And three times in this Psalm the Psalmist saith His Soul was cast down within him yet this David was a man of great Peace and Comfort ordinarily And as with David so it was is and will be with other Saints This is so ordinary a case that âhe Holy Ghost hath provided a standing Psalm or Prayer on purpose for such as are in this condiââon Psalm 102. the Title A Prayer or Psalm of the afflicted when he is over-whelmed and poureth out his complaint before the Lord. In Psal 119.25 he saith My belly cleaves to the dust and that is low indeed And vers 28. My soul melteth for heaviness I am not only sad and heavy but my soul melteth for heaviness Canticles 5. The Spouse saith Her heart was gone or my soul failed within me And if we look into Psalm 143. we find at the 4. vers that the Psalmist saith My Spirit is over-whelmed and my heart within me is desolate What do all these expressions high great and many speak but this Truth that is now before us For the more full cleering and opening of it I shall labor to shew First How far it is possible for a good man to be discouraged or cast down Secondly How it doth come to pass that he is so discouraged Thirdly How those Discouragements can stand with his Grace and goodness Fourthly How they may be healed and cured Quest 1 And First If you ask How far the Discouragements of the Saints may reach For will some say I know it is possible that the most gracious holy man may be much discouraged but not with such discouragments as mine are Answ 1 I Answer What are yours Are you so far disquieted discouraged cast down as to refuse the word promise or consolation that is brought unto you So far may the discouragments of the Saints extend Psal 77. vers 3. I remembred God and was troubled He doth not say I remembred my sin and was troubled but God Yea I was not onely troubled but I did complain and my spirit was overwhelmed within me But when the promise came and mercy came and comfort came did he refuse that too yes vers 2. my soul refuseth to be comforted Answ 2 Secondly Are you so far discouraged disquieted cast down that your very body feeleth the smart of your discouragements that you do not onely refuse the promise and al comfort for your soul but even for your body Then look into Psal 102. and see if your case may not be paralleld vers 4. My heart is smitten and withered like grass so that I forget to eate my bread vers 5. By reason of the voice âf my groaning my bones cleave to my skin vers 6. I am like a Pelican of the wilderness and I am like an Owl of the desârt vers 9. I have eaten ashes like bread and mingled my drink with weeping vers 10. Because of thine indignation and thy wrath for thou hast lifted me up and cast me down vers 11. My dayes are like a shadow that declineth and I am withered like grass O! but I am not
Lord have you any reason to be discouraged certainly you have not therefore why should you not check your selves as David here and say Why art thou cast down O my soul and why art thou disquieted within me Only by the way Let no man mis-apply this Doctrine saying If we should not be discouraged although we do want Assurance then I will neglect the getting of my Assurance Beloved ye see into what times we are now fallen times of War and Rumors of War times of Blood these are dying times and is this a time for any of you to want Assurance of Gods Love When your Hay lies abroad in the Summer and you see a shower coming you say Cock up Cock up And I would to God you might not see showers a coming and yet your Evidences for Heaven lie at random Wherefore in the Name of the Lord Cock up Cock up and you that have false Assurance for you have heard that a man may think his condition is good when it is naught yea that he may die so too look you well into your condition and consider your condition duly this is no time to have false Assurance labor then to get true Assurance and you that have Assurance labor to grow up more and more into it and the riches thereof Quest But suppose for the present I do want Assurance I confess indeed I ought not to be discouraged although I do want Assurance as I have heard but it is an hard thing to bear up ones heart against all discouragemânts in the want of the Assurance of Gods Love In Sola Christi morte totam siduciam tuam constitue huic morti te totum committe hac morte te totum contege eique te totum involve si Dominus te voluerit judicare dic Domine mortem nostri Jesu Christi objicio inter me et te et judicium tuum aliter tecum non contendo ipsius meritum affero promerito meo quod habere debuissem et heu non habeo Anselm in Meditat. Cavendum est in lucta cum Deo ne fragili fundamento innitaris quod ille facit qui de meritis suis confidit nam ut ille qui solis meritis suis innititur Deo auxilio seipsum privat sic qui de seipso toâaliter diffidit et soli gratiae innititur Dei adjutorium ad se trahit Parisiensis in Lib. de Rhetor. Div. Propter incertitudinem propriae justitiae tutissimum est siduciam totam sola Dei miserecordia reponere Bellarm. Lib. 5. de Justif cap. â but suppose I do want it for the present what shall I now do that I may bear up against Discouragements in this Condition Answ Some few things by way of Direction here and so I conclude this Argument First therefore Doest thou want Assurance of Gods Love and of thine own Salvation Labor more and more for to put to Sea I mean to the Sea and Ocean of Gods Love and the deeps of Christs Merit and Satisfaction When you are at Sea in a Storm or stress of Weather you desire Sea-room and if ye have Sea-room enough ye think all is well It may be there are some Passengers in the Vessel or Ship and they say For the Love of God set us ashore we are not able to ride out this storm O! set us upon some Land or other But the skilful Marriner saith Nay but still keep to Sea if ye come to the Shoar we are undone we are all lost Creatures So in this case the time of the want of your Assurance is a storm-time it is a time of great stress upon your soul and if ye skil not the Methods of Christ you wil say O! now set me upon some Duty upon the Coast of mine own Righteousness or mine own Holiness but if you have a skil in the way of the Gospel you will rather cry out and say O! Lord keep my soul in the Ocean of thy free Love Sea-room Sea-room and all is wel enough Now there is Sea-room enough in the Ocean of Gods free Love and of Christs Merits and Satisfaction but if you touch upon your own Righteousness you do but endanger your soul and sink your own heart into more despairing doubts and fears stand off therefore now from your own Shoar and keep to Sea even that great Sea of Gods Love and Christs Merits Secondly If you do want Assurance Take heed that you do not hearken unto any thing out of an Ordinance contrary unto the comfort which the Lord speaks to you in the time of an Ordinance Ye come to an Ordinance and there the Lord begins to comfort you so you go away and ye are satisfied and your souls are refreshed but then afterwards you sit down and parly with Satan and with your own souls and ye lose all again and doubt again turning Gods Wine into your own Vinegar and are unsatisfied again But suppose that a Father should give an Estate of Land unto his Child and make it over to him with the best Conveyance that the Law can provide and then this Son having laid down his Conveyance some where negligently a cunning Lawyer that he may get Money from him should come and write on the backside of this Conveyance For such and such Reasons this Conveyance is naught Should the Son do well thereupon to say my Father hath done nothing for me I have been deceived all this while my Father hath given me nothing Were this fair dealing with his Father and if he should run this course should he ever have any Assurance of his Land firm in his own thoughts Now so it is with you that are the People of God the Lord hath given you a fair Inheritance Heaven is your Inheritance the fairest and best Inheritance the Lord hath given it you under Hand and Seal and somtimes you think your Evidence is cleer and you lay it by and Satan comes and scribbles on the back of it and he saith it is naught and you beleeve it and then you doubt again and you are unsatisfied again Is this fair dealing with God Surely no. Wherefore then doest thou want Assurance The way to get it and the way not to be discouraged in the want of it is this Take heed that ye never hearken to any thing out of an Ordinance contrary to the Comfort which you have received in an Ordinance Answ 3 Thirdly Take heed that you be not discontented with your Condition Discontentment breeds Discouragement But doest thou want the Assurance of Gods Love Say thus with thine own soul However it be yet wil I wait on God when the Lord pleaseth he will give me Assurance I will only labor to be contented with my condition But if ye be discontented ye wil certainly be discouraged Answ 4 Fourthly If you do want Assurance of Gods Love and of your own Salvation Take heed that you do not say I shall never be Assured take heed you do not say I shal
a man is never quite overcome till he lie down then through Grace every Godly man should say I wil never give up my weapon Why art thou cast down O my Soul Still wait on God Object 6 But yet all this reacheth not my Case or Condition for I fear that Temptations are not such Temptations as are incident unto Gods People as my sin and spot is not the spot of Gods People so that my Temptations are not that they are not such as Gods own Children do meet withal and I rather fear it because that since the time that I have set my face towards Heaven I have met with such Temptations as I did never feel before Surely therefore all is not right with me have I not cause then to be discouraged and cast down Answ No For I pray what are the Temptations of Gods People and how do they take them First When a Godly man is tempted to any sin if he fal into it then he is tempted again with Unbelief to think that all is naught even all that ever he had done before tempted to aggravate his sin and to despair When a wicked man is tempted to what is evil if he fall into it then he is tempted to presume tempted to excuse his sin and to think and say This is but a slip or youâhful carriage God is merciful and the like and so he is tempted to presume This usually is the way and manner of Satan with the Godly and Ungodly Secondly When a Godly man is tempted to what is evil if he fal into it the Devil then tempteth him to think it was no Temptation and to lay all upon himself saying I have done foolishly I will go out and weep bitterly the Devil had no hand here in it it was al mine own When a wicked man is tempted to what is evil if he fal into it he is then tempted afresh to think it is but a temptation and I was drawn into it by others it was not my self Satan tempted me or such a one tempted me the Woman that thou gavest me or the Friend that was with me and so he doth lay it on others This is usually the way and manner of Satan with the Godly and Ungodly Thirdly When a Godly man is tempted to what is evil he rather startles at the Sin than at the burden of it When a wicked man is tempted to what is evil he rather startles at the Burden and at the Punishment than at the Evil and sin of it And this we see cleerly in Matth. 26. our Savior tels the Disciples at verse 21. that one of them should betray him whereupon they were all of them astonished and said every one one by one Lord is it I These were good Disciples Judas yet stirs not But at verse 25. it is said Then Judas which betrayed him Answered and said Master is it I Then When Look to verse 24. and you shal read that our Savior speaks of the burden and punishment of his sin The Son of man goes as it is written of him but wo unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed it had been good for that man if he had not been born Then Judas answered Is it I Lord Then he startled The true and gracious Disciples of Christ startled at the sin when Christ did but name the sin but Then not a word from Judas but when Christ speaks of the punishment and burden of his sin then Judas startleth and not a word from them So that plainly a gracious soul startleth at the Evil of a Temptation more than the Burden of it a wicked man more at the burden than at the Evil of it This is the way of the Godly and Ungodly in their Temptations And as for you poor tempted doubting Souls that labor under sad Temptations and think it hath not been with you as with others have you not even found it thus Can you not say of a Truth Lord My Soul hath found it thus For after I have sinned I have been tempted again to doubt of my Child-ship and to sad despair when I have been tempted to sin and have fallen into it I have laid all upon my self and said it is no Temptation but this is my own corruption yea Lord thou knowest my soul hath been more startled at the Evil of the Temptation than at the Burden as for the Burden of my Temptation I leave that to thee take it off when thou wilt but O that my soul were freed from the evil of it Then be of good Comfort it is no otherwise with you than what may be with Gods dearest Children your spot is no other than what may be the spot of Gods own People And whereas you say I fear that al is not right because I find such Temptations now since I have looked towards Heaven which I did never feel before Do you think that Peter ever did deny Christ before he was converted to Jesus Christ Did David ever number the People whilst he was in the state of Nature Do you read that the Children of Israel wanted Water and Bread while they were in Egypt or that they met with so many Temptations there as they did after God had appeared mightily to them Was not Christ tempted after baptized and heard a voyce from Heaven saying This is my well beloved Son in whom I am well pleased Did he ever meet with such Temptations before he was so declared to be the beloved Son of God from Heaven And if God do not measure a godly man by any one Action under any present Temptation nor cast his everlasting condition thereby then what reason is there why he should be discouraged in this respect Look into the Scripture and you shall find That though God doth chastise his People for their miscarriage and change of their behavior under their Temptation yet he doth never measure a godly man or cast his everlasting Condition by that You wil not measure Milk when it seeths and wallops but when it is cool And God wil not measure his Children by what they are when they wallop in some Temptation but by what they are when they are cool and most themselves So he did deal with Job Jeremiah and Moses and al his Children indeed he doth not deal so by the wicked he measures them somtimes by one carriage and they are cast thereby that even everlastingly they are cast thereby Ananias and Saphira lyed but once to the Holy Ghost that we read of and Satan had a hand therein for saith the Apostle Why hath Satan filled your heart that you should lie unto the Holy Ghost yet they were cast thereby It was but one Act that Saul did when he spared Agag and the Fatlings yet he was cast thereby It was but one act that Adam did and Eve did when they did eat the forbidden Fruit and Satan tempted them to it yet they were cast thereby and al Man-kind lost thereby Why
as to beleeve But if you do beleeve be in Christ are godly and have made your Peace with God blessed are you of the Lord nothing shal offend you nothing shall discourage you But if not godly if not in Christ if not beleeving every thing shall offend thee and discourage thee and thou hast no reason to be encouraged whatever thy condition be Shall we not then my beloved all of us as in the presence of the Lord seriously look into our condition and consider whether we be in Christ I or not But suppose I be in Christ or I be not in Christ beleeve or not beleeve what then If yet you do not beleeve if yet you be not in Christ if yet you be not Godly this Doctrine doth here from the Lord hold forth an invitation to you to come unto Jesus Christ for if a man be in Christ and be Godly then he hath no reason to be discouraged whatever his condition be If a man be not Godly he hath no reason to be encouraged whatever his condition be On the one hand there lies al Encouragements On the other hand there lies all Discouragements Now therefore in the Name of the Lord do I here this morning lay before this Congregation Life and Death Encouragement on the one hand and Discouragement on the other hand and if there be an Adulterer a Swearer a Lying Child or a Stealing Servant if there be ever a poor Wanton a Sabbath-breaker an Opposer of God here I beseech you in the Lord come unto Jesus Christ by all these Encouragements that I have been speaking of by all the Mercies of the new Covenant and by the Salvation of thine own soul man or woman I beseech you come unto Jesus Christ O! that men and women would give no rest unto themselves til they have made their Peace with God and til they have gotten into Jesus Christ And in case that you be in Christ and that you do beleeve that you be godly and have made your Peace with God Then see that ye walk up unto all these Encouragements see that you walk in the Comforts of the Holy Ghost O! you that are Godly if these things be as you have heard Why hang you down your heads why are you cast down and disquieted why do you not walk in the comforts of this Truth declared and in the strength of these Encouragements You see what a venture we have run to speak comfort to you that want comfort You have heard in several Exercises That a godly man hath no reason for his Discouragements whatever his condition be Not in regard of sin Not in regard of Failings and successlessness in Duties Not in regard of want of Assurance Not in regard of Temptation Not in regard of Affliction Not in regard of Desertion And now not in regard of his Condition in it self considered Now after all this I appeal to you you that are without comfort Do you not think that there are some wicked men in this Congregation that have presumed when they have heard these things preached and have said These things belong to me and so have endangered their own souls by presumption comforting themselves when they should not be comforted I appeal to you Whether you do not think That there are some wicked men in the Congregation that have thus endangered their souls by mis-application of these Consolations And if so that there hath been this hazard run and all to comfort you then will you now refuse this comfort O! you that have refused comfort al this while receive it in the Lord and you that were never comforted before now comfort your selves and walk in the comforts of the Holy Ghost And you that have gone up and down fearing trembling doubting and much discouraged yet now at the last say Why art thou cast down O my soul and why art thou disquieted within me Hope in God wait on God trust in God for I shall yet praise him who is the health of my Countenance and my God How you should so hope and wait and trust in God as to bear up your hearts against all discouragements I shall yet speak to in the next Exercise So much for the Ninth and Last Instance THE CURE OF Discouragements BY FAITH IN Jesus Christ Sermon XIII PSALM 42.11 Why art thou cast down O my Soul Stepney June 25. 1648. and why art thou disquieted within me Hope in God or wait thou or trust thou in God YOU have heard of the Saints Discouragements and the unreasonableness of them there is no just cause or reason for their Discouragements Would you now hear of some means against them The Psalmist saith in these words Hope thou in God or trust thou in God or wait thou on God And so the Doctrine plainly is this Doct. Faith is the Help against all Discouragements Hoping Trusting Waiting on God is the special if not the only means appointed against all Discouragements I had verily fainted unless I had beleeved saith David to see the goodness of the Lord in the Land of the Living I had fainted unless I had beleeved Faith bears up the heart against all Discouragements For your more cleer understanding of this Truth and our better proceeding I shal labor First To shew you what it is to Hope Trust in God or to Wait on him Secondly That Faith doth quiet ones heart in the times of Discouragements Thirdly That it is the Duty of all the Saints and People of God when Discouragements do arise then and then especially to trust in God and to exercise their Faith Fourthly VVhat there is in Faith that can bear up the heart against all Discouragements and how Faith doth it Quest 1 First If ye ask VVhat it is to Hope in God to Trust in God and to VVait on him Answ I Answer That to Hope in God is to expect Help from God To Trust in God is to rely or rest upon God for Help And to wait on him is to continue and abide in this Expectation or Relyance Properly according to Scripture Phrase Trusting in God is the Recumbency or the Relyance of the soul upon God in Christ for some good thing that lies out of sight I say first it is the Recumbency or Relyance of the soul upon God the staying of the soul upon God so you read in Isa 26.3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee because he trusteth in thee So the Spouse in the Canticles is found leaning upon her Beloved and so we are commanded to trust not ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã only but ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã on him that raiseth Christ from the dead which notes a siducial repose Rom. 4. â3 so that Trusting in God is to stay upon him And then I say it is the Relyance or the stayance of the soul upon God in Christ and so I take it to be meant here for the word here translated God Hope or Trust in God
is in the plural number Elohim and so when the Prophet in Isa 26. doth exhort unto Trusting in the Lord he gives this reason at verse 4. For in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength so you read it but according to the Hebrew thus Trust in the Lord for ever for in Jehovah jah is everlasting strength For in Jehovah jah Jah is an abridgment or an abreviation of Jehovah noting the Son of God and so when Jesus Christ comes in the latter end of the world to sit upon his glorious Throne the converting Jew shal praise him under that name singing as you read in Revel 19. Halelujah praise the Jah which if you compare with Psalm 68. you shal find is to be understood of Christ at verse 4. Sing unto God sing praises to his Name extol him that rides upon the Heavens by his Name Jah rejoyce before him extol him that rideth upon the Heavens by his Name Jah and they shal sing Hallelujah Now if you look into the 18. verse of that Psalm you shal find the reason why this Jah is to be praised for saith the Psalm Thou hast ascended on high thou hast led Captivity captive thou hast received Gifts for men Which words Ephes 4. are applied to Christ But unto every one of us is given according to the measure of the Gift of Christ verse 8. Wherefore he saith when he ascended up on high he led Captivity captive and gave Gifts unto men So that when the Prophet doth exhort us to trust in Jehovah Jah he exhorteth us to trust in the Lord in Christ and therefore I say both according to the old and new Testament Faith is the repose or recumbency of the soul upon God in Christ But yet that is not all A man that doth repose upon God in Christ trusting in him doth trust unto him for some good thing that lies out of sight and therefore the Apostle saith That Faith is the Evidence of things not seen Heb. 11. where he gives divers Instances of Abraham Sarah Moses and others who all did repose upon God for somwhat that lay out of view and this indeed is only worthy of the name of Faith I will trust a man that is most unworthy I will trust a Thief I will trust a Lyer so far as I can see him But as Parisiensis saith well this is Fides Deo digna Faith worthy of God to repose on God for somwhat that lies out of sight and out of view and when a man doth thus stay himself upon God in Christ for somwhat that lies out of sight then he is said to trust in God and when a man doth continue thus then he is said for to wait on God This is the First But then Quest 2 Secondly How may it appear that Faith and the exercise thereof will quiet the soul suppress or allay Discouragements Answ You know how it was with Hannah when she had received a word from God She went away saith the Text and looked no more sorrowful her heart was quieted Why she had a word from God and though before she was a woman of a sorrowful Spirit yet having received a word from God and beleeving that word her heart was quiet Prov. 16.3 Commit thy Works unto the Lord there is Faith and thy thoughts shall be established there is Quietude And if you look again into Isa 26. you shal find that the Scripture is most expresâ for this verse 3. Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is staid on thee because he trusteth in thee Mark the words First The Lord doth here engage himself to give peace unto those that do stay upon him that have this Faith of Relyance though they have not yet attained to the Faith of Assurance to be able to say I know my sin is pardoned and that Christ is mine yet if they can but stay themselves upon God the Lord doth hereby engage himself to give peace unto them yea he doth noâ only engage himself to give peace unto such a soul as staies himself upon God but double Peace you read it in your English perfect Peace thou wilt keep him in perfect Peace but in the Hebrew it is Peace Peace thou wilt keep him in double Peace he shall have Peace and Peace not Peace and Doubting not Peace and no Peace but if he stay himself upon the Lord he shall have Peace Peace he shall have double Peace Yea the Lord doth not only engage to give Peace unto such a soul but to keep him in Peace Thou wilt keep him in perfect Peace or in Peace Peace and all upon this account Because he trusteth in thee not because he prayed not because he humbled hiâself though that is his Duty and he doth thereby placere Deo though not placare Deum but because he trusteth in thee because he stayeth himself upon thee And ye know that if ye have a business depending at Law though for the present you be much troubled about it yet if you have a Friend a Lawyer that is able faithful and willing to look to it if you can but leave your business with him it doth very much quiet your heart the very leaving your business with him doth quiet your mind So here If a man can but leave his business and his Cause and his Things with God then he is at rest and he may say Return unto thy rest O my soul as David did which is done by Faith And to cleer this a little Three or Four things there are that do ordinarily cause disquietude or discouragement First The darkness that is in the Understanding for when a man is in the dark especially if he be alone he is very apt to be skared and to be disquieted Secondly Inordinate and unruly Affections and Passions especially that of Fear whereby the soul is benighted Thirdly Guilt of Conscience Though there be much water that doth beat upon the Ship at Sea yet it sinketh not but when there is a leak a hole in the Ship then the Ship sinketh and the water doth become its grave So though there be many troubles that beat upon a man yet his heart doth not sink but when there is a leak in his Conscience when there is a hole there when a man hath a guilty Conscience then he sinketh and his heart fails him And Fourthly The apprehension of Gods Greatness with our distance from him Now Faith cures all this for in opposition to the first of Darkness Faith brings Light into the soul and shews a man his Way and his Warrant for what he doth Secondly It doth pare and take off those inordinate and unruly affections and passions that are in the soul and therefore in Psalm 37. at ver 1. and 7. you shal find that fretting and trusting are set in opposition Fret not thy self because of the evil Doer verse 3. but trust in the Lord. And again verse 7. Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for him fret not thy self
Faith can and wil do these and al these things certainly therfore Faith and Faith alone is that Grace which wil bear up the heart against al Discouragements Applic. Now if Faith be such an help against al discouragements Then in case that Discouragements do arise you see what to do Exercise your Faith Trust in the Lord trust in the Lord for ever for in Jehovah Jah is everlasting strength he is the Rock of Ages trust in him O! ye People of the Lord trust in the Lord for ever pour out your hearts before him Wâât Hope Trust in the Lord. Quest But will every Faith quiet a mans heart against Discouragements suppress and allay our Discouragements Answ No There is a Feigned and there is an Unfeigned Faith There is an Effectual and there is an Ineffectual Faith There is an Operative working Faith and there is a Workless Faith Saith the Apostle Thou sayest thou hast Faith shew me thy Faith by thy Works The more precious a thing is the more Counterfeits there are of it And what is more precious than Faith therefore there is a counterfeit Faith and a counterfeit Faith wilâ not quiet ones heart suppress and allay ones fears yea true saving Faith wil not do it neither in the habit it is only that Faith can do it which God rewardeth God doth not reward the habit of Grace but the act of Grace he rewardeth men according to their works and not according to their habits Yea strong and grown Faith wil not do it alwaies A man may have assurance of Gods Love and yet he may be discouraged You say indeed if I had but the assurance of Gods Love in Christ and did know that God were mine and that I had an interest in Jesus Chrâât I would never be discouraged But be not deceived when David spake the words of the Text he had assurance for he saith I shall yeâ praise him who is the health of my Countenance and my God and yet he was discouraged for he saith Why art thou cast down O my soul and why art thou disquieted within me So then it is not every Faith nor alwaies true Faith nor alwaies grown Faith can do it Quest But how then should a man so exercise his Faith as he may bear up his heart against all Discouragements in case that Discouragements do arise Answ 1 First You must be humbled for your Unbelief A man can never beleeve as he should that is not humbled for his Unbelief and he is not far from Faith and the workings thereof that is humbled for Unbelief and the workings thereof You shall see therefore in Lament 3. that as soon as the Church had reproved her self for her Unbelief how presently the gathereth Hope saith she at verse 17. Thou hast removed my soul far from peace I forgot prosperity and I did my strength and my hope is perished from the Lord. Now she huâbles her self for it Remembring mine affliction and my misery the wormwood and the gâl my soul hath them still in remembrance and is humbled in me this I recal to minâ thereforh have I hope I humbled my self for my former Unbelief and dispairing thoughts and words and therefore have I hope Some think they do wel to doubt O! saies one if I should not thus fear and doubt I should grow secure But a man may be tutus though he be not Securus Safety speaks opposition to Danger Security to Watchfulness yea there is an holy Security which we are to labor alter and the more we are freed from these doubting fears the more we attain unto that Security Would you therefore so exercise your Faith as that you may not labor under sad Discouragements take heed that you do not please your self in your doubting but be humbled for your Unbelief Answ 2 Sâcondly Be sure that you do not go to God immediately without Christ but with Christ in your Arms Ye beleeve in God beleeve also in me saith our Savior God out of Christ is a consuming fire and there 's no coming at him so he is a dreadful God and we tremble at his presence not rely on him Now we are very apt to go unto him alone and to trust in a naked God for there is much of old Adam in us stil the Vessel keeps that savor long wherewith it was first seasoned And at the first Adam went unto God immediately and trusted unto him immediately But now saies Luther give me a God cloathed with Flesh God manifested in the Flesh is the Object of our Faith Take heed of a Natural Faith for that wil end in Discouragement Answ 3 Thirdly If you would to exercise your Faith as that you may not be discouraged whatever your Condition be Then trust in the Lord himself and not in your own Duties your own Enlargements Humiliation or Holiness I know men say that they do not trust in any of these things but in God alone But suppose now that a man should come to borrow a Sum of Money of you it may be an hundred pounds and you will not lend him this Sum of Money unless he gives you a Pawn or unless such and such men be bound with him wil you say that you trust this man alone surely no. So when a poor soul wil not trust the Lord unless he have a Pawn from God unless this or that Duty or Enlargement shal become bound for God do you trust God alone David saith in the 62. Psalm at the 5th verse My soul wait thou ONLY upon God for my expectation is from him and then see what the issue is at verse 6. He ONLY is my Rock and my Salvation he is my Defence I shall not be moved He had said at verse 2. thus He only is my Rock and my Salvation he is my Defence I shal not be greatly moved But when he had digested this matter a little further and more fully he leaves out the word greatly and saith I shal not be moved Wherefore would you âo trust in the Lord as you may not be moved trust in the Lord Alone although you have nothing to be bound with or for the Lord. Answ 4 Fourthly If you would trust in the Lord so as you may not be discouraged Then trust in the Lord before you do act or move or work in your busineâs Some there are that wil trust in God when they can go no further they wil act and work and do what they can and when they can go no further then they say I wil trust in the Lord for the rest But saith the Psalmist Psal 37.3 Trust in the Lord and do good he doth not say do good and go as far as you can and when you can no further then trust in the Lord No but saith he Trust in the Lord and do good But if you think to do good and to go as far as you can and then to trust such a trust as this wil end in discouragement and therefore
we see nothing of the Mercy promised it 's no presumption then to hold and keep fast the Promise Quest But suppose the Lord hath given me a Promise and now after the Promise given I see nothing of the mercy promised and that all my Comforts are out of sight how shal I be able to bear up my heart against all Discouragements notwithstanding I see nothing but what is contrary to the thing promised and to the mercy desired Answ Either thou hast assurance of Gods Love or else thou hast not If thou hast assurance of the Love of God then put thy self often to this disjunction O my soul either it is thy Duty to beleeve or it is not If it be not thy Duty to beleeve why dost thou beleeve at al If it be not thy Duty to beleeve and rest on Christ why dost thou rest upon Christ at al And if it be thy Duty to rest on Christ and beleeve why then should st thou not beleeve at al times and trust perfectly unto the Lord And if you have Assurance then actuate your Assurance mind your self of your Priviledges and your Interest in Christ then you wil say unto your self what though I have nothing but bad tidings from this world yet notwithstanding I have nothing but good tidings from the other world and from my Father above and if Christ be mine then al is mine Life is mine and Death is mine and what though al my Comforts be dead and are gone and are al out of sight yet Christ is a living Christ Christ is a living Savior and therefore be of good Comfort O my soul But if you do want assurance of the Love of God then yet you must and may look on Christ who is the Brazen Serpent the only Brazen Serpent and your very looking upon him in the time of your Discouragement shal go for Faith Look unto me âaith he from all the ends of the Earth and be saved Again If you want Assurance you may and must turn your eye and your thoughts from those Objections that do invade your Faith 'T is said of Abraham That he considered not the weakness of his own Body and this was imputed unto him for beleeving that he considered not what might invade his Faith And so this shal be imputed unto you for Faith if when these Objâctions shal come in upon you you turn your Eye from them unto Jesus Christ and do not consider them And if you do want Assurance then set your selves to beleeve that you do beleeve Faith is the Evidence of thân âs not seen and therefore if your Faith be not seen you must beleeve that you do beleeve thou âust beleeve somtimes that thou hast Faith As there is a feeling in Prayer so Faith haâh it's feeling too and therefore iâ you cannot see your Faith you must beleeve that you do beleeve And whether you have Assurance or have not Assurance consider these few things as some Helps to your Faith in this case First That God doth never lead his People unto any great Mercy but first he doth put the Sentence of Dâath upon al the means that do rend unto it Thus it was with Abraham so with Joseph so with David and many others Secondly That it iâ a great sin to liâât âods Mercy as wel as to limit his Power You say it is a great sin to limit the Power of God the Children of âârael are condeââed for this they limited the Holy One of Iârael they tempted the Lord and limited the Holy One of Israel Now dââh not a man limit God when he limits his Mercy as wel as when he limits his Power And when you say you shal never have such a mercy granted because I now see the contrary is not this to limit his Mercy Thirdly That when the Lord hath given out a Promise to his People he doth then somtimes try whether they wil trust to his naked Word or no. Christ hath his times to try men and when he gives out a Promise and bringeth the soul into a quite contrary condition this is his trying time And therefore hath the Lord now given out a Promise unto you and do you see nothing but what is contrary to the thing promised Say unto thine own soul O my soul it may be Christ is now trying of me it may be this is my trying time and therefore now wil I wait on God Fourthly That God doth oftentimes fulfil one Promise by denying another Hath the Lord therefore given thee a Promise and doest thou see nothing but what is contrary to the thing promised Now know and remember That we have by not having God doth give by denying and fulfils some Promises by not fulfilling others Fiftly That when we see nothing but what is contrary unto our help then is Christs time to help I read as I remember but twice in the new Testament that mention is made of Christs Hour once in John 13. And he knowing that his hour was coming and that was the hour of darkness Once in John 2.4 when his Mother came unto him for Wine he said Woman my hour is not yet come But afterwards when their own Wine was done and their pots were fill'd with Water then he turns their Water into Wine then Christs hour was come So now when al our Bottles are dry when there is no Wine of Comfort in our own Bottles then is Christs hour and when the hour of darkness is upon our Condition then is Christs hour And if thou would'st but say so unto thine own soul Soul Christs time and hour is an hour of darkness Christs time is a time when there is no Wine in our own Bottles Now thus it is with me I have no Wine left in my own Bottles my Bottles are al dry and empty and there is an hour of darkness upon my Condition therefore this time is the time for Christ to help me This would cause you to wait on God and exercise Faith in the lowest Condition even when you see nothing but the contrary unto your desires and the Lords Promises Sixtly That either you are under an extraordinary Affliction or an ordinary Either you are under an ordinary Temptation or an extraordinary Either you are under an extraordinary Desertion or an ordinary Either thy streit or stress and trouble is ordinary or else it is extraordinary If it be an ordinary trouble why then are you troubled more thân ordinary why are you discouraged extraordinarily If your Affliction or Misery be extraordinary then either God hath brought you into this condition and hath led you heretofore in a way of extraordinary deliverance or of ordinary deliverance if God have led you heretofore in a way of ordinary deliverance what means those wonderful incomes of Love and supporting Grace that you have had when your soul have been ready to sink and to die within you And if the Lord hath heretofore led you in a way of extraordinary deliverance and
hath now brought you into this extraordinary condition then know from the Lord that it is as great a sin for you now not to trust in God for extraordinary mercy as it would have been for you not to have trusted in the Lord for ordinary deliverance in an ordinary case You know how it was with the Children of Israel they sinned greatly in the Wilderness so much that the Lord kept them out of the Land of Canaan and many of their Carkasses fel in the Wilderness what was the reason the Text tels us they did not beleeve Wherein was their Unbelief They did not trust God for meat in the Wilderness why but that had been a miracle to have Meat in the Wilderness true yet this was their Unbelief That they did not trust God for Meat in the Wilderness Again they sinned and did not trust God for Water why but it was a miracle for them to have Water in that place where no Water was naturally true yet because the Lord had led them in a way of miracles before they sinned now in that they did not trust God for miracles and it was as great a sin that they did not trust God for Miracles being led in a way of Miracles as that they did not trust God for ordinary mercies when the Lord led them in waies of ordinary mercies So I say to you If God lead you in a way of ordinaries then must you trust God for ordinaries but if ordinary means cannot be had and God have led you in a way of extraordinaries it is then a sin in you to tie God to ordinaries Are you therefore in an extraordinary case and streit know that it is no sin now to trust God for extraordinary mercy help and relief Seventhly And if after al these things your hearts fail you and you would so trust in God as that you may not be discouraged whatever your condition be then ask thine own soul these Questions First Whether there be any gain by doubting whether there is any Spiritual gain to be made by doubting Faith purifies the heart but doth doubting purifie the heart Secondly Whether there is any thing in all the World more pleasing to God than to trust the Lord in and by Jesus Christ when all Comforts are out of view and when you see nothing but what is contrary to the thing promised Thirdly Whether you must not venture upon Christ at the last and if you must venture upon Christ at the last why not now as wel as at the last When a man comes to go over a River though he ride once and again into the Water and comes out saying I fear it is too deep for me yet considering that there is no other way for him he resolves to venture for saith he the longer I stay the higher the Waters wil rise and there is no other way for me and I must through at the last as good at the first as at the last and so he doth venture through and is safe Thus it is here You must venture upon Christ at the last there is no other way but venturing upon Jesus Christ thou must do it at the last and were it not as good for you to do it at the first as at the last Surely the longer you stay the harder you wil find it to venture and the more difficulties wil arise upon the work of Beleeving You say now O! but my heart is not humbled O! but I am a great sinner and should I venture upon Jesus Christ But wil thy heart be more humbled by keeping from Christ and shalt thou be a less sinner by keeping from him No certainly but the longer you stay from Christ the harder work it wil be to venture upon Christ at the last Wherefore if there be ever a poor drooping doubting fearing trembling heart in al this Congregation know That I do here in the Name of the Lord call out to you and say O soul man or woman Venture venture venture upon Christ now for you must come to this venturing Work at the last and if ever it is true here better at the first than at the last Must you not venture upon Christ at the last and if at last why not now Thus ply and follow your own souls with these three Questions And Eighthly If you would so trust in God as that you may not be discouraged whatever your condition be Then consider frequently and seriously what a blessed thing it is for to wait on God and for God yea what a reasonable thing it is that you should wait for him and on him For He hath waited on you and for your Repentance He waited in the daies of Noah for the Repentance of the old World and he waited long 1 Pet. 3.20 a long while also hath he waited for your repentance if he had not waited long what had become of you Yea and he hath not only waited but he doth stil and wil wait to shew Mercy Esai 30.18 he waiteth to shew mercy on them that wait for his Mercy Now shal God wait for us and for our Repentance and shal not we wait for him and his Grace Ye have waited on others and do stil wait on others who is there in al the World that you deal with but you do wait upon Will ye instance in great men must you not wait long to speak with them yea though it be for their own good It 's recorded of Henry the Emperor of Germany That when he came to speak with the Pope the Pope made him and his Wife and eldest Son stand waiting three daies in the cold Winter season at his Pallace Gates before he would speak with the Emperor Wil ye instance in your Inferiors and such as are beneath you must you not wait even for them that do wait on you your Servants if you bid them do a thing you must wait til it be done and if you bid them come you must wait til they come Or wil ye instance in other Creatures Do you not wait on the Sun for Light on the Water for Coolness on the Fire for heat Now if we wait on the Creatures al the Creatures is it not reasonable that we wait on the Creator Yet further Do ye not somtimes wait on the Lusts of men yea ye have somtimes waited on your own Lusts The Adulterer waiteth for the twy-light saith Job And hâw often have you waited for an opportunity of sinning Now wil ye wait on Men your Inferiors other Creatures yea on the Wils and Lusts of Men and wil you not wait on the Grace of God Look when you give over waiting then may deliverance come and if it come then how wil you be filled with shame and confusion 2 Kingâ 6. last the King said It is a vain thing to wait on God any longer And if ye look into the next Chapter at verse 1. ye shal find that deliverance came in the next words No sooner had the
hers say they was of God But others think rather that it was from Satan who would have hundred the death of Christ and so the great Work of Mans Redemption But if ye look into Job 7. ye shal find that he saith to God Thou skarest me with Dreams yet it was Satan that did it for as before when Satan by his Instruments took all from Job he saith The Lord hath taken away so here when Satan vexed and skared him with Dreams he saith to God acknowledging his Providence Thou skarest me with Dreams and yet I say it was Satan for he was put into Satans hand and whatever affliction he met with it was from Satan and his Instruments So that the trouble and suffering of the Dream doth not argue that it is from God It is a very hard thing to know whether it be of God or from Satan And in case that the Dream be of God yet it is an hard thing to know the meaning and Interpretation of it for Pharaoh had a Dream but al his Magitians could not interpret it that was a work for Joseph And so though Nebuchadnezzar had a Dream and that might be oâ God yet neither he nor his wise men could tel the Interpretation thereof that was a work for Daniel the work of a Prophet A wicked man may have a Dream from God but it requires the Spirit of no less than a Prophet to give the Interpretation thereof But now Are we at such Uncertainties in reading the Word Can none but a Prophet understand the Scripture The Priests and Levites gave the Sence of the Word to the People ordinarily yet they were no Prophets The Word of the Lord is a Light and Lanthorn unto al our feet plain and easie to be understood in al those things that are absolutely necessary unto our Salvation Quest But may not God speak unto us by a Dream now if he will Answ Wiâhout doubt he may if he please God is free But where do we find in Scripture that Dreams are an Ordinance of God now wherein he hath commanded us to wait upon him for the expectance of any Mercy And if God should speak to me by a Dream yet if I make that a sign of mine own Godliness or of Gods Love to me then am I under a delusion for even wicked men have had their Dâââms from God Balaam and Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar and others Do I therefore dream a strange Dream and conclude that therefore I am in Gods Love because he thus speaks to me then am I deceived What wise man is there in the World that wil or dare lay and venture his Soul and Salvation upon a Dream or the Interpretation of it But you may and must say and venture your Souls and Salvation upon the Scripture Surely therfore the light of Dreams is not to be compared therewith Quest But suppose that I have an immediate Voyce is not that to be compared with the Scripture Answ An immediate Voyce say you Either that immediate Voyce is from Hel or from Heaven If it come from Hel to report and certifie you of the Torments thereof that you may repent of your Sins then hear what our Savior saith of that in compare with the Scripture Luke 16.31 they have Moses and the Prophets And if they hear not Moses anâ the Prophets neither will they be perswaded though one rose from the dead And if that Voyce which you have do come from Heaven then either it is the voyce of an Angel or of God himself If it be the Voyce of an Angel then see what the Apostle saith of that in compare with the Word and Scripture Gal. 1.8 Though we or an Angel from Heaven preach any other Gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto âou let him be accursed And this is thââ Gospel which we have now written in this Book of the Galaâians And if the Voyce which you have do come from God himsâlâ then see what the Apostle saith here of that in compare with the Scripture verse 17. There came a Voyce to Christ from thâ excellent Glory saying This is my beloved Son and this ââyce which came from Heaven we heard verse 19. And we have also a more sure Word of Prophesie which is the written Woââ for saith he no Prophesie of Scripture c. So that ye see this written Word of God or the Scripture is beyond al Dreams and immediate Voyces It may be some wil say But may not God âpeak by an immediate Voyce to a Soul now To which I answer What God may do is one thing and what he doth in the way of a setled Ordinance wherein we are to wait on him and expect from him is another thing ye read in Heb. 1.1 2. thus God who at sundry times and in dâvers manners spake in time past by the Prophets hath in these last daies spokân by his Son In time past he spake by Visions Dreams and Voyces If there be such an Ordinance stil wherein we are stil to wait on God why doth the Apostle make this difference between times past and the present time of the Son Nay saies Luther but there is such a sufficiency in the Scripture That thâugh some men should have Visions Dreams and Voyces yet the Scripture is so ful that nec curo nec desidero I neither care for nor desire them I read of a certain Woman a Religious Lady of the Emperesses âed-Chamber whose Name was Gregoria that being much troubled about her Salvation did write to Gregory that she would never cease importuning him til he had sent her word that he had received a Revelation from Heaven that she should be saved To whom he returned this Answer Rem difficilem postulas et inutilem Thou desirest an hard matter and unprofitable hard for me to obtain and unprofitable for thy self to have And so say I If any should come to me desiring to implore God for such a Voyce or Dream or Revelation I must answer Man or Woman thou desirest an hard work for me to do and a thing unprofitable for thy selâ to have Thou hast the Scriptures go search the Scriptures wait thou upon God therein for in them are the words of Eternal Life they are a sure and a safe Light more sure safe and certain than al Revelations Visions Dreams or immediate Voyces And thus I have done with the Second Instance Instance 3 As for Impressions made upon the Soul whether by a particular Word or without it the Scripture or the written Word of God is more sure than those and the Light thereof the best and most excellent Light in compare with the Light of Impressions For First Impressions though good are not our dayly food Aqua vitae or strong Water is good in a quothing fainting fit but it is not good to make it our dayly Drink So here In case the Soul be in a fainting fit it 's good to have the Impression of
is not the time of the Dragon but the red Dragon that is the Heathen Roman Emperor did persecute the Woman Rev. 12. standing before her to devour the man Child the Seed of the Church as soon as she was delivered verse 2 3. Yet this good and holy man thought that that must needs be the meaning of the forty two Months because the Interpretation came to him with such an impression Possibly therefore a good man may be much deceived by Impressions especially when they come with a particular word But where do we find in al the Scripture That we are to judg of Doctrines by Impressions No but by the written Word of God that is the only Rule whereby we must judg comparing Spiritual things Foxus in Apoc. 13. p 216. with Spiritual things and one Scripture with another Though there may be much comfort found in the way of Impressions especially coming with a word yet if the word be not set upon the heart according to the true sense and scope of it we have cause to fear that the Impression is not of God but an illusion of Satan For where do we find in Scripture That ever God did set a Word upon the Soul but in the true sense and scope of it The Devil brought a word to Christ and applied it not according to the true Scope thereof Cast thy self down saies he he shall give his Angels charge over thee this was not according to the Scope of the Scripture But if God set on a Scripture with a deep Impression it was alwaies according to the true sense and scope of the Scripture For example Nehemiah being at Prayer as ye read Chap. 1. God gave him a word with a sweet Impression and it was according to the true sense thereof So Acts 4. the Apostles were at Prayer and God gave a word to them out of Psal 2. and it was according to the true scope thereof Where do we find that ever God did set on a particular Word but according to the true meaning of it Have I therefore an Impression with a Word yet if the Word be not set on my Soul according to the true meaning and scope of it then have I cause to fear that it is rather a delusion of Satan than the Impression of God Though the Impression be of God yet if the Application be beyond the Impression I am stil in an Error There is an Impression of a Word and there is the Application of it the Impression may be Gods and the Application may be mine own The Lord gave Abraham a Word that his Seed should be as the Stars but he made a false Application thereof when he went unto Hagar for the fulfilling of that Word So the Lord gave a Word to Eliphaz Job 4.12 Now a thing was secretly brought to me and mine ear received a little thereof fear came upon me and trembling verse 14. Then a Spirit passed before my face it stood still but I could not discern it then I heard a Voyce saying Shall mortal man be more just than God verse 15. Here was an Impression with a Word and this was from God but he applies this to and against Job Chap. 5.1 the Impression was of God but the Application was his own Possibly then a man may have an Impression from God with a Word yet the Application may be his own but though the Impression be never so âul and deep yet if the Application be beyond the Impression he is stil in an Error And therefore seeing that it is an easie thing and usual even for the Children of Abraham to make Application beyond the Impression the safest sure I way is to keep cloâe to the written Word of God which is both the Judg of al our Doctrinâs and the only Rule of al our Practices and therefore above and beyond al Impressions whether with or without a Word And thus I have done with the Third Instance Instance 4 As for that Light and Law of Grace which is in the Saints the Light of the Scripture is beyond and more excellent than that For The Light and Law within us here is imperfect for we see but in part and know in part 1 Cor. 13.9 Now we see through a Glass darkly And lest any man should think that Paul spake this only of some Babes in Christ he speaketh out yet more expresly putting himself into the number ver 12. Now I know in part and this in part is set in opposition to what is perfect for saies he verse 9. We know in part and prophesie in part but when that which is perfect is come c. verse 10. So that whatever Law or Light or Knowledg is within us now is imperfect but the Word of God written the Scripture and the Light thereof is perfect for saies the Psalmist The Law of the Lord is perfect Psal 19. The Law of Grace within and the Light within is not able to convince others If I feel a Light and Law within me and say this must needs be so for I find it thus within me I have a Light within me for it this wil not convince another But the Scripture by the breathing of the Spirit of God with it wil convince another and is able to convince another Tit. 1.9 Holding fast the faithful Word that he may be able by sound Doctrine both to exhort and convince gain-sayers How are gain-sayers to be convinced then what by the Light or Law within No but by sound Doctrine fetched from the faithful Word Quest Is there then no use of the Law and Light and Spirit within us doth not God speak and direct thereby Answ 1 Yea The Spirit of a man saith Solomon is the Candle of the Lord searching al the inward rooms of the Belly When God doth set up a Light or Candle in the Soul he may thereby go into al the inward Chambers of the Soul discovering those heaps of sin that are in the Soul Answ 2 Yea This inward Law and Light doth not only discover evil but it doth incline to good and strongly incline the Soul thereunto therefore it is called a Law not because it is a Rule to us for the body of death and sin is called the Law in your Members but because of its power and force to incline the Soul unto what is good Answ 3 Yea It doth not only incline a man unto what is good but it enables him thereunto It is that Principle upon which al his good actions grow and from whence they spring All true good must proceed from a good Principle and this Law and Light and Spirit within is that Principle whereby a man is enabled unto what is good But Secondly Though the Law and Light and Spirit within us be a Principle of good yet it is not the Rule of our Goodness or Lives For If the Law and Light and Spirit within be our Rule then what need the Scripture or the Word without any longer
have much Experience yet if we do not trust in the Word of Promise under Christ over and beyond al our Experience we do evil And if al our Experience is to be reduced to the Word written then the Scripture is more excellent than al Experience but all our Experience is to be reduced unto Scripture Surely therefore the Scripture or the Word of God written is more excellent than al Experience and the Light thereof And thus I have done with the Fifth Instance Instance 6 As for Divine Providence the Scripture is a more sure Light than it For God doth somtimes try us by his Providence he doth somtimes lay a Providential Dispensation before us to try and see what we wil do So he led the Children of Israel in the Wilderness forty Yeers to try them and to know what they would do and to humble them But the Scripture is the Rule of our doing and therefore a more safe and sure Light to walk by And if the Providence of God extendeth unto al our Actions good and evil and to evil as wel as unto what is good then there is no certain Rule or Judgment to be made up from thence Now so it is that the Providence of God extendeth unto al our Sins the Jews crucified Christ Gods Providences did extend unto that Being delivered up by the determinate Counsel and fore-knowledg of God ye have taken and by wicked hands ye have crucified him Acts 2.23 When Jonah fled from God there was then present a Ship that was bound for Tarshish here was a Providence And when Josephs Brethren sold him into Egypt there came by certain Merchants who did trade into Egypt here was a Providence Now if the Providence of God do thus extend to our very Sins then we cannot make up our Judgment our Rule from a bare Providence but you may make up your Judgment and Rule from the Scripture and the Word of God written Quest Doth not God speak by Providence guide and direct by Providence somtimes Answ 1 Yea He doth somtimes guide us with his Eye as the Psalmist speaks Thus when the King could not sleep he called for the Records and âound therein that Mordecai had been faithful to him the Providentiâl Eye of God did guide the King to do somthing for Mordecai And when Abrahams Servant prayed and the Damsel came forth to meet him according to his Prayer The Providence of God did lead and guide to that Marriage of Isaac and Rebecca But though the Lord doth somtimes guide us with the Eye of his Providence yet if I make the Providence of God the Rule of Lawfulness or Unlawfulness then am I in a great error and exposed thereby unto al sin for then may I say if I be tempted to kill or murder my self the Providence of God is the Rule of Lawfulness or Unlawfulness Now here is a Knife a Rope a Pond or an Instrument of Death which fals in my way by unexpected Providence therefore I wil and must now murder my self Understand the thing rightly therefore I pray you thus In case that two things are before me and both are Lawful Providence opening a door to one and shutting the door upon the other it doth direct to that one and not to the other but the Providence of God doth not make a thing Lawful which is in it's self unlawful it doth direct us in doing of a thing Lawful but it doth not make a thing Lawful it is not the Rule of Lawfulness or Unlawfulness but the Scripture and the Word of God is it is the only Rule whereby I may and must make up my Judgment of Lawfulness and Unlawfulness it is that only which doth stamp Lawfulness upon an Action Surely therefore the Light of the Scripture is more excellent Light than Divine Providence And thus I have done with the Sixt Instance Instance 7 As for Humane Reason and the Light thereof Scripture-Light is more excellent than it For Though Humane Reason be a Beam of Divine Wisdom Morn praefat Lib. de vera relig prefat Lib. de Euch. Ames de traductione peccatoris ad vitam et de lum nat et Grae. Dr. Vort. de ratione humana de rebus fidei Alting Loc. com pars 1. Loc. 2 dg Tunc solum vere Deum cognoscimus quando ipsum esse credimus supra omne id quod de Deo cogitari ab homine possibile est Aquin. contra Gent. Lib. 1. Cap. 5 6. yet if it be not enlightened with an higher Light of the Gospel it cannot reach unto the things of God as it should it is Panis pauperum the poor mans Bread compared by some to the Dough which the Israelites brought out of Egypt which was prepared with much Labor and then called Panis Pauperum Deut. 16.3 But the Word of God in the Scriptures is compared to Manna called the Bread of Angels for the Gospel did come down from Heaven in a special manner for though Reason be the Gift of God yet it doth proceed from God as he is God and General Ruler of the World But the Gospel and the Light thereof did proceed from the Father by the Son to the Church Rev. 22.1 And he shewed me a pure River of Water of Life cleer as Crystal proceeding out of the Throne of God and of the Lamb. John 1.17 18. Though Reason be the Gift of God and a Beam of the Wisdom of God yet it cannot sufficiently discover a mans Sins unto him not his secret sins not his Original Sin not his Sin of Unbelief and against the Gospel but the Word of God the Scripture Light can and doth And as meer Humane Reason cannot make a sufficient discovery of Sin so it cannot strengthen against Sin and Temptation Temptations answered by Reason wil return again it cannot convert the Soul But the Word of the Lord is perfect converting the Soul Pâal 19. Though the Lâght of Reason be good yet it is not a saving Light How many are there in the World who have strong Reason yet shal go to Hell and miscarry to al Eternity But the Light of the Scripture Gospel-Light is saving Light Surgunt indocti said a great Bishop and learned man et capiunt Calum et nos cum omni Doctrina nostra trudimur in infernum Poor men arise and take the Kingdom of Heaven by force when we with al our Learning are thrust into Hell Why so The poor receive the Gospel not many wise not many Learned Father I thank thee saith Christ thou hast revealed these things to Babes 'T is Revelation-Light from the Gospel that doth bring to Heaven meer Humane Reason cannot do it Quest Is there then no use of Reason and of the Light thereof Answ 1 Yea much Not only in Civil things but in the things of God comparing Spiritual things with Spiritual Dr. Voeti p. 5 6 7. de ratione humana in rebus fidei Did not Christ himself make use of Reason to
man can foretel future things by the Stars then what need of Prophesie The Lord tels us in Esai 47. that he wil bring evil upon his People which they with al their Astrologers should not be able to foresee and hide themselves from verse 11. Therefore shall evil come upon thee and thou shalt not know whence it riseth No! but we wil might they say go unto our Astrologers Do so saies God verse 12. Stand now with thine Inchantments and with the multitude of thy Sorceries if so be thou maist be able to profit and verse 13. Let now the Astrologers the Star-gazers the Monthly Prognosticators stand up and save thee Behold they shall be as stubble verse 14. Iâ Aâârologers and Star-gazers can foretel the several Changes in States and Common-wealths and what great things shal come to pass therein and how they come to pass then why doth God say here that in spight of al them thou shalt not know whence this evil comes verse 11. Surely therefore such things as these are not to be read in the Book of the Heavens Quest But is there no Light of Knowledg to be had from the Stars and do not the Heavens teach and declare the Lords handy-work will ye condemn all Astronomy Answ 1 Astronomy No. There is much difference between Astronomy the Lawful knowledg of the Stars and Judicial Astrology whereby men would foretel al Events I gâant First Thât there is a teaching Work in the Heavens The Heavens declare the Glory of the Lord and so do al thââââââtures yet this âeaching is not able to convert the Souâ ãâã therefore when the Psalmist had said in Psal 19. The ââavens declare c. he comes to shew where the true converting teaching is to be found even in the Scriptures verse 7. The Law of the Lord is perfect converting the Soul Secondly I grant also That the Stars are for Signs So the Word saith Gen. 1.14 Let there be Lights in the Firmament to divide the day from the night and let them be for signs and for seasons and for daies and for yeers But how for Signs of the Weather As the Sun when it setteth with a red Skie foresheweth a fair day to follow Matth. 16.2 Yea and somtimes they import and are signs of Gods Displeasure Luke 21.25 Ordinarily they are for Signs to know when to sow and plant and prune and reap And are Signs to sail by for the Marriners at Sea Yea Thirdly I grant that the Stars have a great influence upon these Sublunary things even upon the Bodies of Men and Women Answ 2 Secondly But though the Stars have a great influence upon this neather World are signs of weather and have a teaching power with them as al other Creatures have Yet if a man shal undertake by the Stars to foretel future Events which are accidental depending on the Wils and Actions of Men he doth plainly step into the Chair of God this is Gods great Prerogative therefore saith he Esai 41.23 Shew the things that are to come hereafter that we may know that ye are gods Those men therefore that wil undertake to shew the things that are to come hereafter would be known to be gods But though they would be gods themselves yet why should they not let God be God stil Qui fatum ponit Deum tollit he that sets up a Fate doth destroy God and if al things come to pass by Influence of the Stars else they cannot pretend to foreknowledg of them then al things must come to pass by a Fate Yea what doth this practice otherwise than as Austin observes wel make God the Author of all the Sin in the World Malti hoc dicunt fatum mihi fecit stellae me fecerunt ita jam per circuitum ad Dââm volunt perveniâe per circuâtum vâlunt peâvenire ad Deum accuâââdum qui nolunt de câmpendio venire ad Dâum placândum ââdicunt fatum mihi âecit q id est fatâm stellae mei câââââ quid âunâ stelâae certe isiae quâs ãâã C lo peâspicimus et quis eâs feciâ Dâus qui eas ordinavit Deus erâo vides qââd voluâtii dicere Deus fecit ut peccatem ita ille injustus tu justus quod iâsi ille fâcillet tu non peccassâs tolle istas excuâationes in peccatis memento illius Psalmi Ne declines cor meum in verba maligna ad excusanda peccata c. Ad haec magni viri sunt qui defendunt peccata sua magni sunt qui numerant sâdera Et computant stellas et tempora et dicunt quis quando Vel peccet vel bâne vivat et quando Mars facit homicidium et Venus adulterium magni Docti viri videntur in hoc saculo sed quid ait Psal Ne declines cor c. Austin in Psal 31. Omne Corporale signum vel est effectus ejus cujus est signuÌ sicut fumus significat ignem a quo c usatur vel est cum non potest autem dici quod dispositiones Caelestium Corporum et motus sint effectus futurorum et ventuum nec possunt reduci in aliquam superâorem rem communem quo sit corporalis c. Aquin. 22. Quest 95. Art 5. Seductus enim ab inimico cum esset fidelis d u Mathematicus fuit seductus seducens deceptus decipicus illexit fefellit multa mendacia locutus est contra Deum qui dedit hominibus potestatem faciendi quod bonum est et non faciendi quâd malum est iste dicebat quod adulterium non faciebar propria voluntas sed Venus justum non faciebat Deus sed Jovis et alia multa Sacrilega non parva quam multis eum putatis Christianis nummos abstulille ãâã quam multi ab eo emerunt mendaciâm c Austin in Psal 71 post âractâtum cum Mathematicus in populo monstâaretur For if these Astrologers can foretel future things which depend on the Will of man and that by the Stars then the Stars and their Influence must be the cause thereof For as Aquinas observes If such a Constellation be a Sign of an Event then it must be the Effect of it or the Cause of it the Effect it cannot be And if the Influence of the Stars be the Cause of al sinful Actions then God must be the cause of al sin for he hath made the Star and given it such an Influence This doth so cleerly follow that Austin telling the Story of a mans converting from this wicked Art saith the man did confess that whilst he practiced that Art he with others held that Adulterium non faciâbat voluntas propria sed Venus A mans own will was not the cause of Adultery but the Sâar Venus a mans own wil was not the cause of Murder but the Star Mars Thus saith hâ doth this Art of Judicial Astrology lay the Sin of al the World upon God himself and it must needs do so for
their daies according to your sense and meaning yet they still attended on the written Word of God Surely therefore the meaning of the Text is not according to that Conjecture Some therefore would have the words to be read thus Till the day-star arise on your hearts and so think they are spoken of the Day of Judgment concerning which time Paul saies 1 Cor. 4 5. That Christ will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and will make manifest the Counsels of the heart ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã emphatice solet sumi pro ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã etiam donec et continuitatem significare seu consecutionem non exceptionem vel exclusionem futuri temporis Genebrad in Psal 109. But as ye have heard in the Explication of the Text the word Vntil in Scripture Phrase is not alwaies taken exclusively for Example David saith Ps 57.1 My soul trusteth in thee O God and in the shadow of thy wings will I trust till this Calamity be over-past What would David trust in God no longer Yes but he would do it especially whilst that Calamity continued So Psal 123. he saith Our eyes wait upon the Lord our God till he have mercy upon us What would they wait on God no longer Yes but in their distress especially So Cant. 2.16 17. I am my beloveds and my beloved is mine he feedeth among the Lillies until the day break What doth Christ feed among the Lillies no longer wil he not feed among the Lillies after the day break Yes But the word Till or Vntil is not alwaies to be taken exclusively And I 'le give you but one Scripture for it amongst many in the New Testament Matth. 12.20 A bruised Reed will he not break and the smoaking Flax shall he not quench until he bring forth Judgment unto Victory What wil Christ break the bruised Reed then and quench the smoaking Flax after he hath brought Judgment to Victory No but the word Vntil in Scripture Phrase is not alwaies to be taken exclusively And so here in this Text Ye do wel that ye take heed to the word of Prophesie until the day dawn and the day-star arise in your hearts Hac enim particula ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã donec Scriptura atque adeo Lingua Hebraica affirmat quod in dubitationem possit incidere Genebrad Ibid. not that then you should cease taking heed to the Word but because you are now in the dark now and now especially ye are to take heed thereunto Quest But why are the Saints and People of God to take heed unto the Scripture and the written Word of God especially in their dark times and seasons Answ Because they are then in most danger of stumbling and falling he that walketh in the dark stumbleth and who is not then apt to fal But by taking heed to this sure Light they shal be kept from the power of their darkness The Scripture tels us of darkness and of the power of darkness A good man may be in the dark but he is kept from the power of it by taking heed unto this great and most sure Light yea though he be in the darkness of some Error for the greatest Errors lie neerest to the sweetest Truths and though he do not see that Truth for the present yet if he do take heed unto the Word the sweetness of that Truth shal ouse through the Error and preserve and keep me from the Power of it But if ye look into 2 Tim. 3. ye shal find the Apostle doth inform Timothy of very sad and dark times that shal be in the latter daies verse 1. In the last daies perillous times shal come 1. He tels him wherein the peril of these times shal consist 2. He tels him the signs thereof 3. He comforts him under it 4. He shews how he and we may be kept from the power of that darkness In the last daies perillous times shal come for saies he Men shal be Lovers of themselves covetous Boasters proud Blasphemers disobedient to Parents unthankful unholy without Natural affection truce-breakers false accusers incontinent fierce despisers of those that are good having a form of Godliness c. ver 2 3 4 5. It seems then that men may be thus wicked yet may bear up to a form of Godliness 2. He tels Timothy the sign of these perillous times and who these persons are Such as creep into Houses and lead captive silly women laden with divers lusts verse 6. Who also shall resist the Truth in the Ministry as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses ver 8. 3. He comforts him against the evil of these dark Times verse 9. But they shall proceed no further for their folly or madness shall be manifest to all men 4. He directs him and us by him how to stand and hold fast ver 14. and that is two waies First by avoiding and turning away from these corrupt men verse 5. From such turn away speak not to them or with them go not to them but turn away from them Secondly By taking heed to the Word of God preached and written verse 14. But continue thou in the things that thou hast learned and hast been assured of knowing of whom thou hast learned them and that from a child thou hast known the holy Scriptures which are able to make thee wise to Salvation So that here the Apostle doth refer him both to the Word preached and written as if he should say the only way to be kept from seducers verse 13. men of corrupt minds reprobate concerning the Faith is to take heed unto the Scripture And indeed what is the reason that so many in these daies of ours are deceived but because they do not take heed unto this great and most sure Light This is that great and most excellent Light which we are to take heed unto at al times but especially in our dark times and places and thus we shal be preserved Object But if this be such a preservative against the power of darkness why then are so many men in the dark who doth not run to Scripture What Heretick is there or ever was who did not plead and lay claim to Scripture Answ All Hereticks do not lay claim to Scripture Some deny the Scripture some do not Some as Theodoret observes of the Hereticks in his time wil make use of those Scriptures which seem to make for them ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Si videant petitis è Scripturae demonstrationibus stultitiam suam constringi tum Scripturae recusant et scopum et usum si quando vero putant sibi favere nudum aliquod effatum á genuina recisum orationis serie ad suum propositum accommodant suis confirmandis Tecod opus contra varias Hereses quae sunt in 2. Tom. oper Athanas. but as for those Scriptures which are plainly against them they reject and if close pressed wil deny the very Body of the Scripture as any Rule to them But it 's
Lord give you a cleer understanding in al things CHRIST IN TRAVEL Wherein is shewed I. The Travel of Christ or Christ in Travel II. His Assurance of Issue III. The Contentment that he doth and shall find therein By William Bridge Preacher of the Gospel at Yarmouth LONDON Printed by Peter Cole in Leaden-Hall and are to be sold at his Shop at the sign of the Printing-Press in Cornhil neer the Royal Exchange 1656. CHRIST IN TRAVEL Sermon I. ISAIAH 53.11 He shall see of the Travel of his Soul and be satisfied IN this Chapter we have a ful Treatise of the Sufferings of Christ wherein the Prophet Isaiah speaks with such cleerness as if he rather were an Apostle after Christ than a Prophet before him Bernard tels us that there are three things which we are especially to mind and behold in the Sufferings of Christ the Work the Manner and the Cause thereof In the Cause he was Innocent in the Manner Patient and in the Work excellent saith he But the Prophet Isaiah doth insist on four things 1. The greatness of Christs Sufferings which he expresseth in many Words That he was despised and rejected of men a man of Sorrows and acquainted with Griefs that we hid our Faces from him despised and esteemed him not ver 3. that he was stâicken smitten and afflicted of God ver 4. Wounded and bruised ver 5. Oppressed afflicted and brought as a Sheep to the slaughter ver 7. Imprisoned and cut off from the Land of the Living ver 8. bruised by his Father and put to grief ver 10. In travel of Soul and numbred amongst Transgressors ver 11 12 2. The Cause of his Sufferings which aâ the Prophet ãâã âaâ for our sins he was wounded for our transgressions he was bruised for our iniquities verse â 3. The Manner of his Sufferings He is brought aâ a Lamb to the slaughter and as a Sheep before the Shearers is dumb so opened he not his mouth verse 7. 4. The Fruit Issue and Success of his Sufferings For he shall see his Seed and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand verse 10. And he shall see the Travel of his Soul and be satisfied verse 11. So that these words do plainly hold forth the fruit and issue of our Lords Sufferings and the certainty thereof The Sufferings were great for they are here called a Travel and the Travel of his Soul the word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã signifies a toylsom painful and wearisom Labor such a Labor say some as is used by those that grind in a Mil Mercerus such a Labor say others as Adam was to use in the sweat of his Brows after the Fal Avenarius as a Curse of sin unto which the Holy Ghost doth here relate because our Savior in these Sufferings was made a Curse for us Forerius Es 53. such a Labor say others so great so painful as women do endure in their sore Travel English Annotations and indeed the word signifies as much and so it 's used in Psal 7.14 Behold he travelleth with iniquity and hath conceived mischief alluding to the pains of a Woman in Travel and so it may be wel translated in this place for the word Soul is a Feminine term as if the Holy Ghost would decipher the Sufferings of Christ by the pangs of a Woman in Travel Now this Travel is also said to be the Travel of his Soul not only because it was a great and sore Travel but because it did extend to his Soul The word Soul is indeed somtimes used for ones Life and somtimes for the Person of a Man But then it doth not exclude the Soul but include it rather So here he shal see the travel of his Soul that is that travel which is not only in his Body but his Soul too This he is promised to see He shall see the Travel that is the Fruit thereof So Psal 128.2 Thou shalt eat the Labor of thine hands that is the Fruit of thy Labor what thine hand hath labored for seeing doth note enjoyment and the enjoyment of the thing desired So Psal 54.7 Mine Eye hath seen its desire upon mine Enemy the word Desire is not in the Hebrew but the Original runs thus Mine Eye hath seen upon mine Enemies We ad Desires because that is the Sense thereof for Seeing notes enjoyment of ones desires and therefore in that the Prophet saith he shal see the Travel of his Soul and be satisfied the meaning is That Christ shal so enjoy the issue and fruit of his Sufferings as he shal have ful content and delight therein And so the Doctrine from the whol is this Doct. That Christ shall certainly see the Travel of his Soul and be satisfied He did not lay down his Life at a venture nor suffer so many things at uncertainties but he had assurance of success He shall see saith the Lord by way of Promise both to him and us the Travel of his Soul and be satisfied For the opening and cleering hereof three great Arguments wil fal under our Consideration 1. The Travel of Christ or Christ in Travel 2. His Assurance of Issue 3. The Contentment that he doth and shal find therein As for the Travel of Christ His Sufferings were very painful a Travel and an hard Labor Acts 2.24 it 's said that he was somtimes in the pains of Death some Books read it in the pains of Hell but the word rendred Pains signifies the Pains and Pangs of a Woman in Travel Haec vox ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã et partum significat et dolorem parturientem Vict. Strigil Perk. Gal. 4. It is the same word that is used by Paul Gal. 4. My little Children with whom I travel in Birth and it signifies not only the Travel of the Woman at the Birth of the Child but the painful bearing thereof before the Birth these Pains and Pangs did as it were fal on Christ in his Sufferings So that in al the Sufferings of Christ ye may see Christ in Travel He was in Travel for us and this Travel was an hard Labor For It was A sore Travel A long and a tedious Travel And An helpless Travel First It was a Sore Travel both in regard of his Soul and Body First As for his Body His Sufferings were very painful For they were Universal Extream and Lingering They were Vniversal for he suffered from al hands Somthing he suffered from the Jews and somthing from the Gentiles somtimes from Men and somtimes from Women from and by the hand of Magistrates Kings and Princes from and by the hand of Priests from and by the hand of the Common People and the Soldiers Why do the Heathen rage and People imagine a vain thing the Kings of the Earth stood up and the Rulers took Counsel against the Lord and against his Christ Acts 4.25 26. He did not only suffer by the hand of strangers but from his own Friends and
Christ suffering in his Soul I shal deliver my self in these Four Propositions 1. That Christ did truly suffer in his Soul 2. That he did suffer in his Soul immediately 3. That he did suffer and encounter with the Wrath of God 4. That he did suffer and endure the very torments of Hel in this Life Prop. 1 Our Lord and Savior Christ did truly suffer in his Soul for it pleased the Father to bruise him and hath put him to grief Perspicuum est sicut Corpus flagellatum ita animam vere doluisse ne ex parte veritas et ex parte mendacium credatur in Christo Hierom. in Esa 53. Isa 53.10 And saith Christ himself My Soul is heavy unto Death he was in a great Agony Luk 22. insomuch as he sweat drops of Blood verse 42. Now an Agony signifies the sorrows of Combaterâ entring the Lifâs with the sence of their utmost dangers of Life ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Matthew tels us that he began to be very sorrowful ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã to be berounded or besieged with Sorrow Chap. 26.36 37. My Soul saith Christ is exceeding sorrowful ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Timorem significat sive metum impendentis mali et vixaliter inveniri apud bonos authores vereque Graecos Chamier Cap. 16. Lib. 5. Tom. 2. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Hesychius Nam scopus loci est explicare infirmitates à Christo susceptas et quamvis aliquando ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã cauââm genitivo notat internam causam motus vel actionis quae significatur verbo regente nunquam tamen significat causam externe impellentem ad actionem Ames Bellar. enervat ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã even unto death Mark tels us that he was sore amazed amazement notes an universal Cessation of the Faculties of the Soul from their several Functions he was afraid and he was sore afraid the Apostle saies that he was heard Heb. 5. in the thing that he feared ver 7. The word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã here used doth somtimes signifie Reverence or Piety but so it cannot be taken in this place for it 's said he was delivered or heard ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã from his Fear But Amazement is more than Fear And Mark tels us that he began to be sore amazed Chap. 14.33 Yea he was not only amazed but he was very heavy and he began to be very heavy so we read it but the English word is too short ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã he began to be so affected with evil as that he was as it were disabled for the minding of any thing else the word is compounded of a privative and ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã People as if he began to be out of the Body ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã significat maximam consternationem adeo ut nulla admittatur consolatio Nicol. Arnold Relig. Socinia pag. 501. it 's the same word that is used in Phil. 2.26 And was full of heaviness Now if our Lord and Savior Christ was thus sorrowful and exceeding sorrowful amazed and sore amazed heavy and his Soul heavy even unto death then surely he did truly suffer in his Soul But it may be that Crellius and the Socinians with their Friends wil tel us that his Soul suffered only by way of Sympathy and fellow-feeling with his Body Therefore Prop. 2 I ad in the Second place That as he did truly suffer in his Soul so he did suffer in his Soul immediately for look where the Disobedience of the First Adam began there the Obedience of the Second Adam did begin also Now the Disobedience of the First Adam was not only in his Body in eating with his mouth the forbidden Fruit but in his Soul likewise and he did eat with his Body because he did affect with his Soul to be like God there did his sin begin viz. in the Pride and Unbelief of his heart and therefore the Obedience of the Second Adam was not only to be performed with his Body but with his Soul and to begin there the Soul is not properly said to suffer when the Body suffers and by way of sympathy but when a grief is taken or an affliction Et sane nisi paenae fuisset particeps anima corporibus tamen fuisset Redemptor Calvin Institut Lib. 2. Cap. 16. which doth first arrest the mind and heart of men Now Christ did truly suffer in his Soul for as his active Obedience was Spiritual in his Soul as wel as Corporal in his Body so was and ought to be his passive also and if Christs Sorrow did not begin in his Soul why is it said that he troubled himself ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã John 11.33 When he saw her weeping and the Jews weeping he groaned in the Spirit and was troubled Quam pudenda fuisset haec mollities eousque torqueri ob communis mortis formidinem ut sanguineo sudore diffluerit neque posset recreari nisi Angelorum conspectu quod illa precatio ter repetita transeat caelix c. annon ex incredibili amaritudine animi profecta ostendit asperius et majus arduum fuisse Christi certamen quam cum morte communi Calvin ibid. but according to the Original and your Margent he troubled himself Why so but because this trouble of his did begin from within and upon this account he did sweat drops of Blood when his Body was in good health and free from every sickness the Body wil not sweat but when Nature is oppressed when it 's under some outward burden then it sweats Christ was under no outward burden of Disease only death was now approaching the fear of which alone simply considered could not make him sweat drops of Blood for saies he I have a Baptism to be baptized with and how am I streightened till it be accomplished Luk. 12.50 Surely there was some other evil the apprehension whereof did immediately fal upon his Soul which did run and flow over into his Body Christ did suffer in his Soul immediately That 's the Second Proposition Prop. 3 As Christ did suffer in his Soul immediately so he did suffer and conflict with the Wrath of God I do not say Neque tantum innuimus Deum fuisse unquam illi adversarium vel iratum quando enim dilecto filio in quo animus ejus acquievit irasceretur sed hoc nos dicimus Divinae severitatis gravitatem eum sustinuisse quoniam manu Dei percussus et afflictus omnia irati et punientis Dei signa expertus est Calvin ibid. that the Father was wroth or angry with his Person some do here distinguish of the wrath of God somtimes it is taken for the hatred of Persons so the Reprobates are called Vessels of Wrath Rom. 9.22 Somtimes it is taken for the execution of Corrective Justice so God is said to be wroth with his own People Deut. 4.21 Somtimes it 's taken for the execution of Vindicative Justice and
Either Christ hath suffered the Wrath and Justice of God for the Elect denounced against sin Gen. 2.17 Or God doth dispense with the execution thereof Or the Elect are stil to suffer it But the Elect are not stil to suffer it and God doth not wil not cannot by his ordinate Power dispense with the execution of it and therefore Christ hath suffered it for them but the execution of that Law did extend to the Wrath of God and Torments of Hel upon Soul and Body Certainly therefore our Lord and Savior Christ hath not only suffered in his Body but in his Soul too and that immediately Neither can the strength of these Arguments and Reasons be waved by saying That Christ did or might satisfie the Law by enduring somwhat equivolent to the punishment due according to the Letter of it For The Law is not satisfied unless the thing be paid or endured in the kind which the Law doth require although somthing be paid or endured which is equivalent to the dammage made by the trespass As in case the Law requiring an Eye for an Eye and a Tooth for a Tooth that a Jew did strike out his Brothers Tooth and the Judg did order that his Eye should be put out for it though the Eye be equivalent to a Tooth yet the Law should not be satisfied with that Judgment and in case that a man stole an Ox from another five Oxen being to be restored by the Law if the Judg had given the wronged person one Ox every way as good as his own yet the Law should not have been satisfied So that an equivalent may be paid or endured yet the Law not satisfied The punishment which the Law The day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt die the death doth threaten is death and the Wrath of God paena sensus et paena damni Now those that oppose the Truth in hand say that Christ did not bear the Wrath of God nor was forsaken by God as to his Soul And is an outward forsaking being left to the malice of men equivalent to the Wrath of God Either Christ did bear the Wrath of God or not either he did endure the punishment of loss and sence upon his Soul and Body or not if he did then he did endure the same punishment in kind that we should have done if he did not but somwhat equivalent then there is some evil that is equivalent to the Wrath of God But there is no evil equivalent to the Wrath of God surely therfore he did endure our punishment in kind even the Wrath of God and the torments of Hel for us so far as they were due to us by the Threatning in it self considered And if Christ have thus suffered for us both in his Soul and body then his Travel was a sore Travel But Secondly As the Travel of Christ was a sore Travel so it was a long and tedious Travel he was in the pains of this Travel from his Cradle to the last breath of his Cross not only in his Death Locus Esaiae dicitur adimpleri ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã enim docet quid speres uâi Lyranus litera gesta docet quid credas allegoria moralis quid agas quid speres anagogia cum enim multâ miracula edere incipiebat Christus fieri potuisset ut vulgus exâstimasset Christum tamen excellentem et mirisicum esse chyrurgum ad hoc precavendum Matthaeus hominum mentes elevare per ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã de Christo altius quid sperare voluit but in his Life al along Upon which account Matthew doth apply those words of the Prophet Isaiah Surely he hath born our griefs and carried our sins unto what Christ did and suffered in his Life for saith the Gospel of Matthew Chap. 8.16 When evening was come they brought unto him many that were possessed with Devils and he cast out the spirits with his Word and healed all that were sick Mark tels us that all the City was gathered together at the door Chap. 1.32.33 So that he did cure and heal them with his own Trouble according to that of John 11.33 when Lazarus was dead Chemnit harmon sic Rupertus Ferus Flaccius in glos super 8. c. Matth. 17. Per sanationes corporis animae sanationem representavit ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã autem absolute significat onerose portare Apoc. 2.3 cum molestia portare Matth. 20.12 Konick Disp 25. loc 83. and he saw them weeping he groaned and he wept and so he raised Lazarus wel therefore might the Evangelist apply that of Esai to this occasion for he took away the Diseases of the People by his own suffering with them and cast out the Devils by his conflicting with them and so though he did not come into the extremity of this Travel til the last yet he had many pains and pangs al along whilst he lived He wept and he wept and he wept again three times we read of his weeping once at the raising of Lazarus those were his Regal Tears once at his coming into Jerusalem when he said Thy House is left to thee desolate those were his Prophetical Tears once at the last in his Agony when he prayed with cries and tears Heb. 5. those were his Priestly tears his whol time was a weeping time a sorrowful time and therefore the Apostle counts of his Sufferings from the time of his coming into the World Heb. 10. 5. Wherefore when he cometh into the World he saith Sacrifice and Offering thou would'st not but a Body hast thou prepared me This Travel then was a long and tedious Travel Thirdly As it was a long and tedious Travel so it was an helpless Travel helpless in regard of men and they all forsook him saith the Text. When a Woman is in Travel Friends come and Midwife comes and Helpers come But when Christ was in Travel even his very Friends forsook him yea God himself did forsake him no Friend nor Midwife nor Helper but in this matter he trode the Wine-press of his Fathers Wrath alone O! what an hard Labor was here yet thus thus in regard of his body thus in regard of his Soul Christ was in Travel for us Quest But suppose that Christ was in Travel and thus in Travel for us what then Answ Then it is our Duty to come in and behold this hard and sore Labor When Moses saw the Bush burning that was not consumed he said I wil stand stil and behold this wonder But behold a greater wonder is here Christ bearing our sins in the fire of the Wrath of God and yet not consumed shal we not then stand stil and behold this wonder of Love Hereby you see al the Attributes and Divine Perfections of God in Conjunction and meeting as in their dwelling place ye may see much of the Wisdom Power Justice and Goodness of God scattered up and down in the Creatures There is an Honey in every Flower which the Bee can find
and discern but in the Hive doth the several Honeys of the Creatures meet and dwel that is the House thereof So there is a sweet tast of the several Attributes of God in al the Creatures but in Christ doth his fulness dwel bodily and in his suffering you may see the Wisdom Power Justice and Mercy of God in Conjunction and so know God indeed which knowledg was more worth to Paul than al other Knowledges for saith he I desire to know nothing but Christ and him crucified Hereby also I mean by the consideration of this great and sore Travel you wil prize and value Christ more and have your hearts drawn out with Love to him for shal I not prize him that suffered the Wrath of God and the torments of Hel for me The more you see his Love to you the more wil your hearts be inflamed with Love to him Now the greater his sufferings for you do appear to you the more you see his Love to you When I am lift up saith he I will draw all men after me that is when I am lift up on the Cross he doth not say when I am transfigured at Mount Tabor I wil draw al to me yet there was a drawing glory which made Peter say It is good for us to be here But his Love is the most drawing Object and that was glorious in suffering Thereby you wil learn to prize al your enjoyments for thus you wil see what they cost what rate they are at in the Kings Book there is no blessing or mercy which ye do enjoy but was bought in by Christ he laid down his Life for you and in him are you blessed with al Spiritual Blessings But did Christ suffer such hard things for my enjoyments O! what infinite cause have I then to prize them al Hereby also you wil be made willing to suffer any thing for Christ to become low and mean for him to endure the reproach anger and wrath of men for him For shal Christ suffer so hard a Labor for me in his Body in his Soul and shal not I suffer in my Estate and Name for him Shal he suffer the Wrath of God for me and shal not I be willing to suffer the wrath of man for him Shal he endure the very torments of Hel for me and shal not I be willing to suffer a little on Earth for him Thereby you wil be made unwilling to put him to a new Suffering for you those that fal away and decline do crucifie the Lord afresh saith the Apostle and put him to an open shame when Professors walk scandalously they put Christ to an open shame to a new Suffering But is this true That Christ hath suffered so great things for me and shal he now suffer by me what hath he not suffered enough already He hath suffered in his Body in his Soul the Wrath of God the very Torments of Hel and is not this enough God forbid that ever I should so walk that Christ should yet suffer by me who hath suffered such things for me Hereby also you shal be able to overcome your Temptations Corruptions and to be more fruitful and profitable and gracious in your lives here is the Shop of Vertues Officina virtutum whatever Grace or Vertue you want you may have in this Shop if you wil come for it Dost thou want hatred of sin here you may see it in its own colors and the reward thereof for if God spared not his own Son but he endured the Wrath of God and the very Torments of Hel when sin was but imputed to him O! what an Hel and flaming Fire shal those endure who have sin of their own and must bear it themselves And saies Gerard would you see the Torments of Hel the true punishment of sin Ito ad Montem Calvariae Go to Mount Calvary Or dost thou want Patience in thine Afflictions behold the Travel of Christ as a Lamb he opened not his mouth before the Shearer Or dost thou want a tender broken heart truly his heart is hard indeed which the sight of these breakings of Christ wil not break Hereby also you wil be engaged unto his Commandements and Ordinances For what are the Ordinances which now we enjoy but the Representation of a Suffering Christ whereby we hold forth the Lords Death til he come What is al our Preaching and your Hearing but of Christ crucified What is Baptism Lords Supper or any other Ordinances but that Bed wherein we have communion with a suffering Christ and shal Christ suffer such bitter things for us in his Soul and Body and shal we throw up those Ordinances whereby we are to have Communion with him in these Sufferings God forbid And hereby also you that are of a fearful heart may fully conclude the willingness of God to save Sinners For if God the Father had not been very willing he would never have put his own only Son to so great a Suffering for their Salvation What can be more abhorrent from the heart of a tender Father than to put his own only and obedient Son unto Death it goes to the heart of a tender Father to see his Child die I will not see the death of the Child said Hagar and she sate down over against him and lift up her voyce Gen. 21.16 and wept but to lay his own hands upon him in reference to his Death this is a grief beyond al expression yet this did God the Father do for he bruised his Son he put him to grief he smote him and he laid on him the iniquities of us al. Surely if God the Father had not been infinitely willing to save Sinners he would never have done a thing so contrary to him and if Christ himself were not willing he would never have suffered such hard things for their Salvation What is not a Woman willing to do for that Child whom she hath had a sore Travel for Now Christs Travel was a sore Travel surely therefore he is infinitely willing to save sinners and if God the Father be willing and Christ be willing then why should not every poor doubting drooping Soul say Lord I beleeve help thou mine unbelief I once doubted of thy Love because I doubted of thy willingness to save such as I am yea often have I put an If upon thy willingness saying with the Leper Lord if thou wilt thou canst make me clean But now I see thou art willing to save sinners why should I then doubt again And upon this account al poor sinners may be encouraged to come to Christ for if Christ did come down from Heaven for you wil he refuse you when you come to him If he have suffered such hard and bitter things for sinners do ye think he wil cast them away that do come to him surely he wil not O! what great encouragement doth this Doctrine proclaim unto al poor and great sinners for to come to Christ And hereby also your
ends and effects of his Death but al the particular men in the World shal not be âaved nâr beleeve and repent and therefore certainly he did not die for every particular man in the World but of this more in the next Exercise Only as a concluding word Applic. 2 Let Comfort be to whom Comfort belongs here is much much Comfort for al those that are âhe ââed of Christ whom he died for and travelled with You shal âee the travel of Christs Soul accomplished in your Salvation Sanctification and Consolation for he hath purchased and merited your Glory therefore you shal have the same it was your Justification that he was in travel for therefore you shal see the same it was your Sanctification and Holiness that he did travel for and he shal not miscarry it was your Comfort and Consolation and Salvation that he was in Travel for and therefore in due time you shal see the same Object But I fear that I am none of his Seed that he did not die for me Answ He died for his Sheep I lay down my Life for my Sheep saith he a Sheep is an harmless Creature it can be hurt by any but it can do hurt to none it is a prey to al but doth prey upon none So are the Sheep of Christ innocent harmless and without horns as the word is be innocent as Doves or without horns as Doves Absque cornibus translatio Graci vocabuli à placidis animalibus sumpta videtur quae natura nullis cornibus armavit ad depellendam injuriam aut si armavit cornibus ad id non utuntur Luc. Brugens in Matth. 10. vers 16. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã a Sheep is an useful profitable Creature nothing not useful in it the Flesh the Wool the very Dung thereof profitable So are the Sheep of Christ and his Sheep hear his Voyce but know not the Voyce of a Stranger and if you be in your Life harmless profitable hearing the Voyce of Christ in the Gospel then are you his Sheep and he did die for you 2. If you can leave the bâsom of your sweet Relations and suffer for Christ then did he leave the bosom of his Father and suffer for you for we love him because he loved us first al our Grace is but the reflexion of his 3. If he intercedes for you in Heaven then he died for you on Earth now he ever liveth to make Intercession for al those that come unto God by him you come unto God by him therefore he goes unto God for you and therefore died for you 4. He died to reconcile God to us and us unto God if you be reconciled to God and the things of God so as you do now love the Truths Waies and things of God âhich you once hated then is God also reconciled to you Now thus it is with you you can say through Grace I do love those Truths and Waies and Things of God which I once hated therefore you are reconciled to God therefore he is reconciled to you and therefore Christ died for you 5. If you can fulfil the Law of Christ then hath Christ died for you for those that he died for he satisfied and fulfilled the Law for and if you can fulfil his Law you may safely say he hath obeyed and fulfilled the Law for me now the Law of Christ is to bear one anothers burdens Bear ye one anothers burdens saith the Apostle and so fulfil the Law of Christ this you do and can do therefore he hath fulfilled the Law for you and so hath died for you 6. If you be the Seed and Children of Christ then did he travel and die for you the Children of Christ are such as are willing to be instructed by him ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã to instruct comes from ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã a Child because it is the property of a Child to be willing to be instructed a Child doth obey his Father without why 's and wherefore's meerly because the Father commands his Command is the Childs Reason for my Father bid me c. the Child is contented with the Fathers carving goes to school about its business and leaves its provision to the Father living in dependance on him Now thus it is with you you do depend on Christ leave your Coâdition to him and obey and do because Christ or God commandâ and are willing to be instâucted by him Surely therefore you are the Seed of Christ and therefore Christ died for you even for you in particular and therefore though the great effects of his Death may yet be hidden from you yet he shal obtain al his ends upon you in your Justification Sanctification Consolation Salvation for he hath merited al these at the hand of the Father and the Father wil surely give out what Christ hath purchased for he is Faithful wherefore comfort your selves in these things O al ye Seed of the Lord. CHRIST IN TRAVEL AND The Contentment which he doth and shal find in his Assurance of Issue Sermon III. ISAIAH 53.11 He shall see of the Travel of his Soul and be satisfied HAving spoken to the Second Branch of the Doctrine viz. Chri t s Assurance of Issue and his âight thereof the Third Branch now follows which is Delectatio se habet in affectibus sicut quies naturalis in corporalibus est enim aliqua convenientia seu connaturalitas Aquin. The Contentment delight and satisfaction which he doth and shall find therein Satisfaction or delight is nothing else but that Sabbath or rest which the Soul finds in the Fruition of the thing desired and as the thing is less or more desired so the delight and satisfaction in the Fruition of it is less or more now Christ did very much desire to see the Fruit of his Travel I thirst said he on the Cross which is the strongest of desires and what did he thirst after but the Salvation of Man-kind the Fruit and Issue of his Travel The Bread of the laboring man is sweet saith Solomon and the word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã here used for the Travel of Christ signifies such a toylsom labor as the poor man doth exercise in the sweat of his Brows to get his dayly Bread it is much contentment and satisfaction which the thirsty man doth find in his Drink or the hungry man doth find in his Meat or Bread Now the word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã here used and translated Saâisfied is the same that is used in Psal 107. The hungry he will satisfie with Bread and is it not a great satisfaction delight and contentment which the Woman finds in the sight of her Child which she hath had a sore travel for Our Savior tels us that she forgets her Labor and Travel for joy that a Man-child is born into the world Such a Travel was that of Christs Sufferings and such contentment doth and wil he find in his issue and therefore as Jacob said These are the
shal see their perseverance and Salvation Vse 3 But more practically This Doctrine looks wishly upon both Godly men and Ungodly It cals upon those that are ungodly to delight themselves in the Lord and to satisfie themselves in Christ in the things of Christ and in the Seed of Christ Doth Christ delight in his Seed and wil you hate despise and scorn his Seed Is he satisfied in seeing the Travel of his Soul in the saving effects of his Death justifying sanctifying and comforting the Children of Men and wil you be displeased therewith Wil you be pleased and satisfied in your sins and vain Conversation when Christ is satisfied in the Redemption of Men from their Iniquity and vain Conversation The Conversion of a Sinner is the Fruit of Christs Travel wherein he rejoyces and is delighted with a great delight and doth it grieve you to see a sinner turned from the evil of his waies Take heed how you walk contrary to Christ for if you walk contrary to him he wil walk contrary unto you and either he wil rejoyce and be satisfied in your Conversion or he wil be satisfied in your Damnation and if you do not convert and turn unto God how can you think that you are the Seed of Christ whom he hath travelled with But This Doctrine looks wishly also upon the Godly such as are the visible Seed of Christ and to you it saith 1. Why should you not be contented and satisfied with Christ alone al his delights are in you why should not al your delights be in him Is he satisfied in you why then should not you be satisfied with him and with that Condition which he carves for you Through him the Father is satisfied for your sins and he is satisfied in your person why then should not you be satisfied about your Condition 2. Why should you not labor to convert and draw others unto Christ Thereby he sees the Fruit of his Travel which is his delight wil you not do what you can to advance Christs delights And 3. If Christ be satisfied and delighted in you why should you not improve his Affection for the good of the Church King Ahasuerus was taken with and did delight much in Esther and she improved his Affection for the good of the Church have you gotten the heart of Christ the affections of Christ and will not you improve them for the good of the Church surely it is your Duty And 4. Upon this account why should you not labor to excel in Vertue his delights are in his Seed and they are such saith the Psalmist as do excel in Vertue Psal 16. Now therefore that you may in some measure answer the delights of Christ O labor more and more to excel in Vertue Quest What excellent things shall we that are the visible Seed of Christ do that we may answer the delights contentments and satisfactions which he doth take in us Answ 1 Many First in reference to Christ himself and his Service It is an excellent thing to have and bear the same mind to Christ that he had and bare unto us he did neglect his own Glory to procure our Comfort so for us to neglect our own Comfort to procure his Glory is excellent in time of Temptation to look upon Christ as our Gift and in time of presumption to look upon him as our Example to trust in Christ as if we had no works and yet to work as if we had no Christ I mean for a man to be so obedient to the Commandement as if he would be saved by the Law and yet to rest on the Promise as if he would be saved by Grace and in al our Service to God in Christ to walk by a Law without us and yet by a Law within us by a Law without us as our Rule and by a Law within us as our Principle These are excellent things in regard of Christ and his Service As for the Ordinances and means of Grace It is an excellent thing so to use the publick Ordinance as we may be more fit for private Exercise and so to use our private Exercise as we may be the more fit for publick Ordinances to wait upon God in the use of al means yet not to tie the workings of the Spirit unto any one particular to observe what that Ordinance is that is most decried and dispised by the World and to advance and honor that to worship Christ in a Manger These are excellent things in regard of the Ordinances and Means of Grace As for your Graces Gifts and Comforts An excellent thing it is for a man so to exercise one Grace as he may be fit for another so to exercise his Faith as he may be fit for Repentance and so to exercise his Repentance as he may grow up into more Assurance to make al your Graces Parents to your Comforts and your Comforts Hand-maids to your Graces that your Gifts may beautifie your Graces and your Graces sanctifie your Gifts to be of high Parts and a low Spirit to know much and yet to love respect and honor those that know less These are excellent things in regard of our Gifts Graces and Comforts As for your Condition It 's an excellent thing for a man to be thankful for his present Condition and yet not to be in love therewith nor to live thereon it 's ill to murmur in any Condition it 's good to be content in some but in every Condition to be thankful is excellent To fear the Lord in Prosperity and to love him in Adversity never to think that my condition is extraordinary to trust God with my condition by Experience and yet to trust in God for my condition over and beyond al experience These are excellent things in reference to our Condition As for your Converse and dealing with men An excellent thing it is to use no Company but such as you may receive sâme good from or communicate some good unto to take no offence and to give none being very unwilling to give offence and very backâard to take it to rejoyce in anothers Graces and to grieve for anothers sins to be a Lamb in ones own Cause and a Lyon in Gods of a sweet and meek disposition yet zealous and active for God and in al our dealings with men to deal with God through men saying if they curse or bless God hath bid them do it and in case that any man offend you to be more ready to forgive than he is to acknowledg his offence that your forgiveness may rather draw out his acknowledgment than his acknowledgment draw out your forgiveness These are excellent things in regard of our converse or dealings with men As for your Callings and outward Estates It is an excellent thing for a man so to use his particular Calling as he may be fit for his General and so to use his General as he may be fit for his particular To make your Sail fit for your
Vessel that your heart may not be too big for your business nor your work too big for your heart But your self par negotio being like the Ant or Pismire that doth rather abound in Pectore in the Breast ubi animus est where the mind lies than in Ventre in the Belly ubi stercus est where the dung lies and if your Estate be great to account your self Gods Steward not his Treasurer and if it be little to study rather how to give an account of your little than to encrease unto much These are excellent things in regard of your Callings and Estates As for your Recreations and outward Mirths It is an excellent thing for a man so to be merry as he may not grieve for his Mirth afterwards to have your part and share in the Saints breakings as wel as in their rejoycings so to rejoyce in the Creature as not to forget the Creator so to rejoyce in the Servant as not to forget the Master so to rejoyce in your Inn as not to forget your Home so to recreate your self as you may not take pleasure in your pleasure but to rise from this Table with an appetite not with a glut and to be a bungler at the best Recreation and to make al your Recreations as so many Engagements to serve God the more freely and cheerfully These are excellent things in regard of your Mirths and Recreations As for the Works of God and his Dispensations It is an excellent thing for a man to know what Gods Design is yet to admire where you cannot understand to praise God for his Judgments as wel as for his Mercies for his Hel as wel as for his Heaven and though the vial be powred out upon your Relation yet to bless God and at least to be silent remember Aaron And in al Gods dealings stil to make a good and candid Interpretation for that wil argue your Love to God which wil argue his Love to you for that which ends in your Love to him came from his Love to you These are excellent things in regard of Gods Works and Dispensations As for Truth and Error It 's an excellent thing for a man so to mind the Truth of the Times as he do not neglect the Power of Godliness and so to mind the Power of Godliness as he do not neglect the Truth of the Times an excellent thing for a man so to mind new Truth as not to lose old Truth and so to keep the old Truth as not to neglect new Truths And in al times to stand free from the Monopoly of an Opinion for it is the property of an Error to monopolize the man and to engross his thoughts words and actions but he that placeth his Religion in one Opinion hath no Religion in Truth though his Opinion be true Good therefore it is to stand cleer and free from these Monopolies These are excellent things in regard of Truth and Error As for your Death It is an excellent thing for a man to desire to die and yet be contented to live to desire Death for the enjoyment of God and to be contented to live for the Work of God to give up your daies to God as an act of your Faith which you have received from him as an act of his Love to say in truth if my Father have any more work for me to do I shal live longer if his work be done I am willing to go home to my Father though I ride home behind the worst Servant that he keeps in his House An excellent thing it is to die standing or kneeling to die on that ground where I should live and to live on that ground where I would die These are excellent things in regard of Death Now excellent things do become those that are the Seed the visible Seed of Christ Are you therefore the visible Seed of Christ then these excellent things do become you for his delight is in the Saints and such as excel in Vertue Now therefore as you do desire to answer unto Christs delights O labor more and more to excel in vertue And thus I have done with this great Argument Christ in Travel the greatness of his Travel his Assurance of Issue and his delight and satisfaction in the sight thereof Christ shal certainly see the Travel of his Soul and be satisfied and if you do not yet see the issue of his Travel accomplished on your Soul yet stay wait and expect for saith the Text He shall see the Travel of his Soul and be satisfied and in due time you shal see it too and be satisfied Wherefore wait on the Lord and again I say Wait on the Lord. FINIS M R Bridge's New Works viz. 1. Scripture-Light 2. Christ in Travel 3. A Lifting up for the Down-cast c. THE GOOD MAN'S PEACE Sermon I. PSALM 42.11 Stepney April 16. 1648. Why art thou cast down O my Soul and why art thou disquieted within me Hope thou in God for I will yet praise him who is the health of my Countenance and my God IN these Words ye read of the sad Discouragements of a gracious Spirit with those Remedies that he applied and used against them The Discouragements are exprest in Two Words under Two Similitudes Cast-down Disquieted As a man is bowed or cast down under the weight of some heavy burden so art thou cast down O my soul saies David And as the Sea in the time of a storm is much disquieted so art thou also disquieted wiâhin me O my Soul The Remedies that he useth against these Discouragements are Two Self-Reprehension and Self-Admoni ion First He doth chide himself for his diffidence and distrust in God Why art thou cast down O my soul and why art thou disquieted within me He chides and rebukes himself for it Secondly He doth admonish and call upon himself for to wait upon and hope in God Hope thou in God Why First Because I shal yet be delivered For I shall yet praise him Secondly Because Salvation belongs unto him alone He is the health of my Countenance Or the Salvation of my Countenance Thirdly Because he is in Covenant with me and I with him He is my God The health of my Countenance and my God I begin with the former part of this Verse wherein you may observe these Three things First That there is an inward Peace and Quietude of Soul which the Saints and People of God ordinarily are endued with This is implyed Secondly It is possible that this Peace may be interrupted so far as Gods People may be much discouraged cast down and disquieted Thirdly That the Saints and People of God have no reason for their Discouragements what ever their Condition be VVhy art thou cast down and why art thou thus disquieted within me thou hast no reason for it The latter of these being the main is that indeed which I specially aim at But because the two former will give the better rise unto this
last and they are also profitable for us to consider I shall take them in their order and speak only unto the first at this time which is this Doct. 1 There is an inward Peace and Quietude of Soul which the Saints and People of God ordinarily are endued with Therefore David saies here Why art thou cast down and why art thou disquieted within me It seems then that this was not his ordinary temper his Pulse did not alwaies beat thus high in this way of Discouragement but ordinarily he had Peace and quiet within So that I say There is an inward peace and quietness of soul which the Saints and people of God ordinarily are endued withal Ordinarily they are arrayed in white so they are brought in Rev. 7.13.14 verses What are these which are arayed in white robes at the 13. They are such as have washed their robes and made them White in the blood of the Lamb verse 14. this book of the Revelatâon doth attend much unto the Jewish customes and among the Jewes they had their Mourning their Rejoycing garment the Mourning garment was a black garment and therefore when a man is brought in in a mourning way he is brought in in a black garment as ye find in the next Psal the 43. the 2. vers why go ye in mourning the word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Signifies Black Why goe ye in Black because of the oppression of the enemy So that the mourning garmenâ was the Black garment the Black garment was the mourning garment And the white garment was the Reioycing gââment therefore Eccles 9.8 it is said let thy garments be alwayes white and let thy h ead lack no oyntment Upon which âccount the nobles amongst the Hebrewes were called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã becanâ they were clothed with white rayment Eccles Martinus de Râa sing S. Script Lib. 2. Cap. 1. 10.17 bâessed art thou O land when thy king is the son of nobles Heb. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the âon of princes or of those that are in white I confess this phrase doâh somtimes note the purity and holiness of the person so Rev. 3.4 Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments and they shal walk with me in white for they are worthy but ordinarily it notes the joy fulness and comfortableness of our state so in Rev. 7. the Saints are brought in in white not onely because of their purity and cleaneness but because of their rejoycing I say then ordinarily the Saints and people of God go in white they have a peace and a rest within Great peace have they that love thy law saies the Psalmist and nothing shal offend them Rom. 2.10 But glory honor and peace to every man that worketh good to the Jew first and also to the Gentile Let him be what he wil be if he be godly if he work that which is good Glory Honor and Peace shal be upon him not onely an outward but an inward peace he shal have And indeed how can it be otherwise For the Saints and people of God do walk with God they converse with God they do acquaint themselves with God Now if ye look into Job 22.21 ye shal find that this acquaintance bringeth rest peace Acquaint now thy self with him and be at peace The Saints and people of God are as I may so speak of Gods special acquaintance and so they have peace for they do walk with God and have communion with him They have communion with the Father and he is the God of al consolation they have communion and fellowship with the Son and he is the Prince of peace they have communion and fellowship with the Spirit and he is the Comforter they have communion with the Father and the Son and the Spirit in and by the Gospel and that is the word of peace the Gospel of peace How can it therefore be but that the Saints and people of God ordinarily should have peace within But to make out this more fully unto you Consider I pray How the Father the Son and the Holy-ghost with whom the Saints and people of God have communion and fellowship are engaged for their peace I. The Father is engaged to give peace unto them He is engaged by his Prerogative by his Commandement by his Promise by Christs Purchase and by the Saints Chastisements He is engaged by his Prerogative Kings and Princes wil stand ye know for their Prerogatives And this is the great Perogative of God the Father to give peace inward peace I create the fruit of the lips Isa 57.19 peace peace And he is called âhe God of peace the God of Consolation not the God oâ Indignation not the God of War but the God of Peace This is the great Prerogative of God the Father to give peace unto his people He is engaged also by vertue of his Commandement And therefore if ye look into Isay 40.1.2 Ye shal find that he commands the Prophets and Ministers to preach comfort Comfort ye comfort ye my people saith your God vers 1. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished that her iniquity is pardoned for she hath received of the Lords hand double for al her sins Suppose a mans Affliction or Temptation be very great or much he hath commanded us to comfort and comfort twice Comfort ye comfort ye not once but twice Comfort ye comfort ye my people saith the Lord. But there are divers comforters that are indeed like Jobs comforters like Jobs friends they speak hard words unto poor distressed souls Wel saies he therefore at vers 2. speak ye comfortably so ye read it but in the Hebrew speak ye to the heart ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã speak soft and sweet words speak to the heart of Jerusalem O! but my Temptation is so great that I am not able to hear those that come to comfort me Mark what follows Speak ye to the heart of Jerusalem and cry unto her lift up thy voice and cry if a poor soul be distressed tempted and cannot hear easily you that are Ministers lift up your voice and cry not onely speak to the heart but cry lift up your voice and cry unto her Wel but what are they to speak and cry There are three things which wil comfort a poor distressed soul and they are here to be spoken Say 1. That her warfare is accomplished Affliction and Temptation is at an end it shal be no more 2. That her iniquity is pardoned Her sin is forgiven fully and freely 3. That she hath received at the Lords hand double for al her sins God hath no more against her no quarrel no controversie no further Punishment to inflict upon her she hath sufficiently born the punishment of her iniquity thus the Lord hath commanded Ministers for to preach peace and to preach Comfort And what God hath commanded us to speak he hath ingaged himself to
the child of Grace and the mother of Grace There is a peace thât arises from the apprehension of Gods common goodness which is common peace And there is a special peace that arises from the apprehension of Gods special favor and free Grace true peace is the Daughter of that Grace yet it is the Parent of inherent Grace or of Gracious actions I should rather say the Nurse Phil. 4.7 for sayes the Apostle The peace of God that passes all understanding keep or guard your minds and hearts This saving peace is a Guard unto al our Graces As falâe peace is a guard to our sins so true peace is a guard unto al our Graces True saving peace is such a peace as is wrought by faith Being justified by faith we have peace Rom. 15. The Lord give you peace in beleeving saies the Apostle It comes in a way of Faith true saving peace is wrought by faith False peace is such as is either born with us and was never interrupted being the offspring of nature onely or the Emanation of a natural Conscience or such as is wrought out by time time working out ones trouble True saving peace wil live in the sight of sin False peace doth not indure the light of sin A Godly man the more he doth see his sin unless he be under temptation the more peace he hath a wicked man the more he doth see his sin the less peace he hath and al his peace arises from a not sight of his sin True saving peace loves to be examined is willing to be examined it loves to be tryed But false peace cannot indure examination it flyes from the light it doth not love to be tryed True saving peace is spoken by God I wil hear what the Lord wil say Psal 85.8 for he wil speak peace saies the Psalmist When God speaks peace he speaks it to a soul under or after temptation When God speaks peace he speaks it with a strong hand giving such peace as no creature in the world is able to give When God speaks peace it is a peace beyond al expression The peace of God that passeth al understanding it cannot be uttered Now though a wicked man have peace and much peace and quiet within yet God doth not speak it for it was not spoken to him in or after temptation it was not spoken by a strong and unresistable hand it is such a peace as may be wrought by time time working off the trouble or the pleasures and contentments of the world may beget the like it is not a peace that is beyond al expression a peace beyond al understanding but a low peace which you may easily express But now as for you that are Godly that make this Objection and have this fear and scruple in your hearts I wil here appeal unto your own souls you know and remember your former trouble now ye have peace and ye have rest within I appeal to you I say whether yea or no when ye were in that trouble suppose I or another Minister or ten others of your own chusing suppose a hundred should have come to you with one promise after another had we been able to have spoken comfort to you O no if the Lord had not spoken comfort to me it had not been in the power of al the Ministers in the world to have spoken comfort unto my soul but the Lord certainly hath done it Yet I appeal to you Are you not willing to have your peace examined are you not willing to have your peace your inward peace âryed yes withal my soul I would have my peace tryed and truly I could not hope that my peace were right if I were not willing to have it examined Wel yet I appeal to you further And do not you find that you have peace even then when you do see your sins and the more you see your sins upon the back of Christ the more peace you have yes And do not you find this that your peace came in in a way of Beleeving from the sight of Christ laying hold on the Promise by the prospect of free Grace yes I must needs say so Had I not had a promise to stay my soul upon had I not had a view of tree Grace had I not seen the Lord Jesus I had never had any peace in my poor soul but the Lord knows that thus I attained my peace Wel then be of good comfort Man or Woman I tell thee from the Lord thy peace and quiet is right I know what the danger is of sewing pillows under mens Elbows and speaking peace where none ought to be spoken but I say if it be thus with thy soul notwithstanding al thy sins and fears from the Lord I say unto thee thy peace is right go in peace and the God of peace tread down Satan under thy feet Object But I fear that my peace my inward peace is not right because it doth not last and continue Answ The Second Doctrine answers to that Objection for the second Doctrine saith That a Godly mans peace may be interrupted Object But one thing yet troubles me and makes me fear that my peace and quiet it not good and that is because I came so lightly and slightly by it I see how it hath been and it with others of the people of God some that have been long afflicted and wounded and have lien troubled a great while and so they have had peace but as for me it is not so with me I came lightly and slightly by my peace and quiet and therefore I do even fear that the Lord never spak peace yet unto my soul Answ Doest thou say Lightly how lightly hast thou stollen thy peace or have others bought their peace for you say others have been much afflicted and troubled and had a great deal of heart-smart But I pray tel me did those who have had al this trouble did they purchase or buy their peace at the hand of Christ withal this trouble or did Christ give them that peace and comfort freely Buy it no surely they did never purchase it never buy it but Christ gave it them freely Why if Christ gave it them freely after al their troublâ why may he not give it thee freely after less trouble I have read and so have you in the Gospel a Parable of two that came into the Vineyard to work the one in the beginning of the day who bare the heat of the day and the other at the latter end of the day and both had a penny When they were both paid he that was there at the beginning of the day murmurs saying I have been here al this day and I have born the heat of the day and I have but a penny and the other that came in at the latter end of the day hath a penny as wel as I the man that had been there working at the beginning and heat of the day he murmurs but he
that came at the latter end he did not murmur nor say surely my penny is naught because I have a penny given me as wel as he that hath born the heat of the day If any should complain those that have born the heat of the day that have been so much troubled should in reason be the persons but hath the Lord taken you and given you a penny the same peace with him who bare the heat of the day and wil you complain and say surely my penny is falâe coyn and my peace naught because I have not born and indured so much trouble as another hath you know some children are born into the world with more pain than others some with less pain should the Child that is born with less pain say I am a Bastard because I was not born with so much pain as the other was When Christ is formed in the souls of men women some are regenerate and born again with more pain some are regenerate and born again with less pain should he that is born with less pain say I am a Bastard and not a true Son because there was not so much pain at my first regeneration as such a one had you know how it was with Zacheus Christ comes unto his house and the same day that he came he said to Zacheus This day it Salvation come to thy house He had assurance the first day But Paul is converted and he lyes troubled and is three dayes blind Should Zacheus now say Surely I am not Converted for I never lay three dayes blind nor was so much troubled as Paul was No surely no more may you say that your Peace is false because you have not such abundance of trouble as others have you are not to make anothers Measure your Rule God goes several waies with his People as well in regard of Peace as in regard of Grace This therefore I say unto you Look unto your Peace it self Have you peace and quietness of soul Then bless and praise the Lord for that peace of yours Yea do not only praise the Lord for your peace and quiet but praise the Lord that ye came so sweetly by it in a way of Free-grace and if for any thing you are to be troubled it is for this That you should nick-name the Grace of God and call it little or false Christ calls it free and you call it false O be humbled for this and praise the Lord for any measure of quiet and peace that he hath given unto thee Object But wil another say All this doth not come up to my case for I have no Peace nor Quiet in my soul to be thankful for Some there are that have Peace and Quiet indeed and they no question ought to be very thankful for it but my poor soul hath been long afflicted troublâd and I never yet had assurance of Gods Love in Christ I have not this Peace and Quiet within What shall I dâ that I may attain unto it or what should a poor soul do to get and attain this Peace and Quiet within Answ Ye know what the Psalmist saies I will hear what the Lord will say for he will speak Peace unto his People Psal 85.8 It is not in my power or in the power of any poor Creature to speak Peace unto you but it is the Lord only that must speak Peace unto thy soul and the Lord speaks Peace in the way of an Ordinance Quest But what does the Lord say what does the Lord speak from his Word in the way of an Ordinance that I who was never yet setled may attain unto this inward Peace and Quietude of soul Answ 1 First He wills you to study and consider much the Death Sufferings and Fulness of the Satisfaction made by Jesus Christ Go down into the Grave of Christ Christs Blood is the Object of Faith and Faith brings Peace Unbelief is a painful sin and Faith is an easing and quieting Grace Being justified by Faith we have Peace c. Rom. 5.1 The more you see the free and infinite Love of God the more will your heart be at rest and quiet within you And where shall you see the Love of God but in the Death of Christ By seeing Christ on the Cross you see Divine Love in triumph All true Peace within arises from sight of Peace made without Where shall you read of that but in Christ's Death And therefore saies the Prophet The Chastisement of our Peace was upon him In Psal 41. ye have a Promise made of great Blessing unto him that considereth the Poor Blessed is he that considereth the poor Who is this poor Tarnovius tels us from the 10. verse That it is Christ in his Sufferings for as he observes this Psalm is a Psalm of Christ verse 9. Yea mine own familiar friend in whom I trusted which did eat of my bread hath lift up his heel against me They are the words of Christ and Christ speaks this Psalm and this poor to be considered is Christ in his Sufferings Saies he I will not here debate the truth of this Interpretation but if true the Lord promised here a blessing to him that doth wisely consider the Death and Sufferings of Christ And wherein doth that blessing he and consist Pauper hic Christus est et beatos istos predicat qui dolores et cruciatus ipsius quos pro nobis sustinuit grato et fideli animo recte considerant Tarnovius in Psalmum 41. The Lord will deliver him in the time of trouble ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã In the evil day or in the day of evil saith the Chaldee Paraphrase In the day of vexation saith Symmachus Now the day of Temptation Doubts and great Fears is an evil day and a day of vexation This Day will God deliver him from who doth wisely ponder on the death of Christ Could we see the heart of Christ we should doubt no more and in his death you may see his heart in his Blood you may see his heart Ye know what the Prophet Isaiah saies Lord wilt thou not ordain Peace who hast wrought all our works for us And where shall ye find that God hath wrought all our works for us but in Christs Grave and Death Secondly Ye must not only go unto the Grave of Christ and study his Death but you must go unto Christ Himself for Peace He is the great Peace-maker hath a Commission to take up all Differences without us and within us Ye know his words The Lord God hath given me the Tongue of the Learned saies he that I may speak a word in due season to him that is weary Go then to Christ and press this engagement and say Lord thou hast therefore received the Tongue of the Learned that thou mayest speak a word in due season to him that is weary And O Lord I am one of those wearied souls wearied with my Temptations wearied with inward trouble now Lord speak a word
in due season to this poor wounded and wearied soul Thus go to Christ Only in your Addresses to Christ Be sure that ye go in Uprightness Take heed that you do not desire peace meerly for the comfort of it but as an help unto your Grace He will give Grace and Glory and no good thing will he with-hold from him that walks uprightly Good men seek Peace for Grace sake but wicked men and Hypocrites seek Grace for Peace sake When you do make your Addresses for Peace be sure you come to Christ in uprightness and take heed that you do not desire peace only for the Comfort of it but as an help unto your Grace 2. And when you go unto Christ for peace Carry the Promise with you go in the way of the Promise 3. Go and waite long on Christ wait upon him onely and kâep his way Some say they do wait on God but they do not keep his way they throw up their Duty if they have not comfort presently but in your addresses to Christ go and wait long on him and in case that peace and comfort doth not come presently lay by that great question a little Whether you be in Christ or no whether you be the child of God or no. The great trouble is this O! I am affraid I am not the child of God if I did but know that I am the child of God I should have peace If peace and comfort therefore do not come presently lay that question aside a little and in due time Christ wil answer that question too onely now for the present wait on him and keep his way But because it wil be said should not we be humbled for sin committed Oportet te saepe agere quod non vis et quod vis oportet relinquere and is not Humiliation a good means to get peace within therefore in the Third place In al your Humiliation carry Christ along with you When you go to mourn for sin begin aloft with Christ and do not alwayes think to begin below with sin and so to come up to Christ but begin aloft with Christ and so by your Humiliation fal down upon sin You say O! but I would be first Humbled before I do go to Christ but I pray tel me Can ye be Humbled and not see your sin and where can ye have such a prospect of sin as in the death of Christ is there any thing in the world that can shew you the misery ugliness and damning nature of sin as the death of Christ If you begin with Christ then you wil certainly come down to your sin and be Humbled for it but if you begin with sin you wil not certainly come up to Christ There is many a poor soul that hath said I wil be first humbled for my sin and then I wil go to Christ but he hath stuck so long in the legal work that he hath never come at Christ And if you be humbled before you do come to Christ you wil have no great peace and comfort in your Humiliation but if you first come to Christ and then carry Christ along with you to your Humiliation then you wil have much comfort and peace therein would you therefore be so Humbled as you may have peace thereby Be sure of this that you carry Christ with you unto that work do not begin alwayes with sin to go up to Christ but rather begin at Christ and so fal down upon sin In the Fourth place labor to Mortify your affections and to get your will melted into the wil of God As the winds are to the Sea so are the affections to the soul of man so long as the Sea is hurryed with the wind it hath no âest or quiet and what is the reason that our hearts are no more calmed and quieted but because wee have not yet resigned up our wils to the wil of God t is our own wil that troubles our peace Propria voluntas turbat pacem get but your wil Mortifyed into the wil of God and you 'l say Lord I would fayn have peace yet not my wil but thy wil be done I would have peace presently yet I have no wil but thine therefore Lord when thou wilt and as thou wilt not my wil but thine own wil be done Thus do and you are at rest presently Fiftly Doest thou want peace and comfort and quietude of soul Take heed how you walk with doubting company take heed how you walk with those that are ful of fears and doubtings As one drunkard doth make another and one swearer doth beget another and one opposer of Godliness doth draw on another and one adulterer doth make another So one doubting Christian doth make another You that are weak and ful of doubtings should go and lean upon those that are strong and have ful assurance and you that have assurance should give the shoulder to those that are weak and say come and lean upon me and I wil be an help unto you You know how it is with the Ivie and the Vine the Ivie leans upon the Oak and the Vine upon the Posts or the house-side the Ivie and the Vine do not lean one upon another if the Ivie and the Vine should come and lean one upon another what twisting would there be and both would sal to the ground but the Ivie leans upon the Oak and the Vine upon the Posts or the house-side So a weak Christian should go and lean upon a strong Christian but if one doubter leanes upon another doubter both wil fal to the ground I have read of a woman that was under great temptations and meeting with another in the same condition said to her I am affraid I shal be damned so am I too said the other O but said she again I do not onely fear but I am sure of it certaynly I shal be damned I but said the other yet my condition is worse for I am damned already Here was damned and damned O! said one I shal certainly be damned O! said the other I am damned already O! what communion is here is this to build up one another Do you therefore want Comfort and peace You that are weak go and lean upon those that are strong and have ful assurance and you that have assurance be not unwilling to give forth your shoulder unto those that are weak and are ful of doubtings And to end al. Doest thou want peace and inward quietude of soul Whensoever the Lord then doth but begin to speak the least peace unto thine heart take heed that you do not refuse it but rather improve it and stir up your selves then in a way of beleeving praise God for every smile and rejoyce in the least If a bowed sixpence as it were be sent you from Heaven lay it up even every love-token Peace is a tender thing Doth the Lord begin to speak peace to any of your souls now stir up your selves in a
onely so far discouraged as to refuse comfort for soul and body but my soul refuseth Duty and casts off Duty too for the present Answ 3 Thirdly therefore It is possible that a good and gracious mans discouragments may extend thus far too You wil think it strange that I find an instance for this in that holy man Jeremiah yet if you look into Jer. 20.7.8 and 9. verses you find it made good Indeed saith he The word was as fire in my bones and I could not forbear But for the time he did resolve to forbear preaching in the name of God which was his duty which he had commission to do for saies he I wil not make mention of him nor speak any more in his name This Holy Gracious man was under temptation he was much discouraged and thereupon he said so Yet verse 13. he saith Sing to the Lord praise the Lord for he hath delivered the soul of the poor from the hand of evil doers But then mark the next words Cursed be the day wherein I was born let not the day wherein my mother bare me be blessed Cursed be the man who brought tidings to my Father saying A man child is born to thee What a sudden change was here even in the best of the Saints from incouragments to discouragements O! but I have not only cursed the day of my birth as Jeremie and wished that I had never been born But I am weary of my life and have sought after mine own death and was there ever any Godly Gracious man that was thus discouraged and cast down Answ 4 Yes What think you of Job I was weary of my life Job 10.1 And in the 3. Job pouring out his complaint in regard of himself he saith vers 20. Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery and life to the bitter in soul vers 21. Which long for death but it cometh not and dig for it more than for hid treasures Now ye know that those which dig for Gold and Silver dig industriously and earnestly Thus it is with me saies Job I am so afflicted and distressed and in such bitterness of soul that I long for death and dig for it as for hid treasures O! what a mighty deep of discouragments may the Saints and people of God fal into and yet be Godly Gracious Quest 2 But why doth God suffer his own people and dearest children to be thus discouraged and their peace to be interrupted I know wil some say that al our present joy and comfort is but a creature and so may be ecclipsed and that Satan is near unto the best of Gods children thrusting and pushing them forward into these discouragments that they may be like unto himself who is a discouraged Spirit Answ Sic verus justitiae Sol nonnunquam oritur ad nos accedit a liquando rursus a nostro climaâe aberrat utrumque tamen benesicium nostrum est Frumentum in Terram jactum eget aliquo tempore ut congelatur induretur aliquo etiam ut molliatur neutrum illi obest utrumque nâcessarium est unum ut crescat alterum ut Radices agat Granat but why will God suffer it to be so In General It is for their good for their good they have and for their good they do want their Peace and Comfort The Star which led the wise men to Christ did not alwaies go before them but somtimes it appeared somtimes it was hidden from them but both appearance and hiding was for their benefit its first appearance invited them to Christ and its withdrawance made them more diligent in seeking after him So when Christ hid himself from his Mother Mary she sought him the more and when she found him she rejoyced the more but both his absence and his presence her fear and her comfort was for her good for his absence did encrease and draw out her desires and his presence did encrease and draw out her joyes When God is absent from us then we have testimonies of our Love to God by our desires after him and when he is present then we have testimonies of his Love to us by the shines of his Countenance so that whether God shines or not whether we have comfort or not both is for our good Thus in the General but yet more Particularly First Ye know it is Gods way and manner to deal with the Children of men according to their own dispositions to stoop and condescend unto their infirmities Therefore saies the Prophet Hosea Hos 11.4 He draws us with the Cords of a man Now it is mans disposition to come to God at the second hand So long as man can find a fulness in any Creature he comes not to God but first he sees an emptiness in the Creature Duty and Ordinance and then he saies O what a fulness is in God himself in Christ himself 1 Tim. 5.5 The Widdow that is desolate trusteth in God though a Widdow yet if not desolate somtimes she would not trust and therefore God suffers a desolation to come upon her Widdowhood When Davids men took up stones to have stoned him then the Text saies He encouraged himself in the Lord his God 1 Sam. 30.6 So long as man hath encouragement els-where he doth not encourage himself in the Lord his God This being mans Nature and God having a design of Love upon his own Children he suffers a damp and discouragement to pass upon all their Comforts their Peace to be interrupted their hearts disquieted and their souls discouraged that so they may encourage themselves in God alone Secondly This inward Peace and quietness of soul is so great a Commodity that God would have the price to be inhanced and raised Common and ordinary blessings once lost and found again are extraordinary It is a common and ordinary mercy that a man sits in his Shop and walks up and down in his Trade but if he be sick a while lose his health and not able for five or six weeks to look into his Shop if then he can get down but one day O saies he what an extraordinary mercy and blessing is it that I should go down again Thus the interruption of an ordinary blessing does raise it to an extraordinary So long as a man hath his health and strength though he be able to travel forty fifty three-score miles a day he is not much affected therewith but if he be sick a little and at deaths door and then begins to recover though he can but put forth his Hand or stir his Leg he blesses God and saies O Friends I can stir my self in my bed I can move my Hand or my Leg what an extraordinary mercy and blessing is this So in this caie So long as a man hath inward Peace and quietness of soul without interruption he looks upon it as a common mercy and blessing but if his Peace be a little interrupted and his soul buffeted by Satan
and then he recovers his Peace O saies he what an extraordinary blessing and mercy is this Now God will somtimes raise the price of this Commodity from an ordinary to an extraordinary blessing and therefore he doth suffer his own Children and deerest Servants to be thus discouraged and their peace to be interrupted Thirdly God is a tender Father and he would have all the Love of his Children he would not have his Children to love their Nurse more than himself Our Joy and Peace and Comfort is but the Nurse of our Graces now when God sees that his Children fall in love more with the Nurse than with himself then he removes the Nurse and causes their Peace to be suspended and interrupted he will not have the Nurse to be loved more than himself Fourthly Somtimes God doth suffer this cloud to arise upon the Peace and Comforts of his People Ignorandum non est consolationes spirituales esse infantium ciâum lac dulce quo Deus nutrit suos a mundi voluptatibus avocat ut harum volupâatum inescati dulcedine alias omnes consolationes contemnant amoris Divini dulcedine capti omnem amorem mundi abjiciant Deus negat suis consolationes ut siant perfectiores Granateus that he may train them up unto more perfection Comfort is the Childrens Milk ye may observe therefore that the weaker Christian hath somtimes more lively sensible Comforts than the stronger Christian hath Why but because this inward Joy and Peace and Comfort is that Milk and sweet Honey whereby they are drawn off from the pleasures and sweetness of the world and as these Comforts do wean us from the worlds comforts so we have need to be weaned again from these weaners which God doth somtimes by restraining of them and so we grow up unto more perfection Fifthly Somtimes again God sees his Children do grow vain and light and froathy and wanton and secure under their Peace and Comfort and then he withdraws himself hides his face and so they do lose their Comfort This was the case in Canticles 5. where the Spouse saith My soul failed within me at verse 6. But why I opened to my beloved but my beloved had withdrawn himself And why had he withdrawn himself He comes and makes a tender of Love and Mercy verse 2. and she would none verse 3. I have put off my Coat how shall I put it on I have washed my feet how shall I defile them that is I am now laid to sleep they are words that import security and upon her security he withdraws himself and being withdrawn her soul fails within her And thus it is many times with the Children of God in their particulars the Lord sees that they grow secure vain froathy and wanton under their peace and comfort then he withdraws himself and their peace faileth Sixtly Our Lord and Savior Christ is a tender Chyrurgion who hath set all our bones which we our selves have broken by our sins You know that a wise and an honest Chyrurgion though he desire his Patient may be quickly cured yet if he sees the Plaister doth not lie right he takes it off again for it is not laid right saith he So doth Christ do he sees that the Comforts of his People somtimes are not right laid and therefore saith he though I desire this poor wounded soul may be quickly cured yet because this Comfort this Promise this Experience doth not lie right it must be taken off again Now the Comforts of the Saints are so laid somtimes as the very laying of them doth breed discomfort As in the sowing of Seed it is not enough that the Seed be good but it must be well sown else the very sowing thereof may cause weeds So though Light be sown for the Righteous yet somtimes it is so sown as that the very sowing thereof doth breed these weeds of fears and discouragements that you may say and that without Prophesie Here is a poor soul that ere long will be much discouraged though for the present full of comfort Object But this is hard to say Can ye foretel a mans Discouragements even in the time of his Comfort who is there among all the Saints so comforted concerning whom you may say surely this man will be much discouraged again Answ 1 First When a man a good man doth lay his Spiritual Comfort upon outward Blessings you may say before-hand this mans Comfort will never hold but ere long he will be much disquieted and this was the reason why the Saints in the time of the old Testament labored under so many Discouragements even because they measured the Love of God so much by these outward blessings Psal 143.4 Therefore my Spirit is over-whelmed within me Why so Verse 3. Because the enemy prevailed He measured Gods Love too much by these outward things and therfore when the Enemy broke in upon him he thought God did not love him and so he was over-whelmed thus in regard of all outward blessings Seest thou therefore a man who raiseth his perswasion of Gods Love from the smiles of any Creature say of such a man before-hand O this poor soul ere long wil be in the dark and under some discouragements Answ 2 When a man is unthankful for true Peace and unhumbled for false Peace he cannot hold his Peace long Before a man is converted he hath Peace within For when the strong man keeps the house all is at Peace but it is false Peace after a man is converted he hath Peace within and it is true Peace God expecteth that a man should be humbled for his former false Peace and thankful for his present true Peace Now when God sees one both unhumbled for false Peace and unthankful for his present true Peace the Spirit of the Lord is grieved so it withdraweth and the soul is comfortless Answ 3 When a man doth raise his Comfort only from somwhat that he doth find within himself from Grace that he doth find within and not from Grace without from Christ within and not from Christ without then his Comfort will not hold Perpetuum est quod habet causam perpetuantem that is perpetual which hath a perpetuating cause Grace without is perpetual Christs own personal Obedience in the merit of it is perpetual but the actings of Grace within us are not perpetual or not perpetually obvious to sight and therefore cannot perpetually comfort Indeed our Grace within and obedience is in some respects a cause of our Peace First a Causa sine qua non a cause without which we can have no Comfort for a godly man can have no comfort if he have no obedience Secondly A cause which doth removere prohibens remove what hinders our Comfort namely our sin Thirdly A Cause witnessing for there are three that bear witness The Spirit Water and Blood Water which is our Sanctification is one Fourthly A Cause confirming for by our Obedience and Sanctification our
if you ask him why do not you sow your ground and repair your houses his answer is ready I dare not lay out much cost because my title is in question So here so long as a mans title to Christ is in question he cannot improve Christ as he should If a man be going a journy and know not his way he loseth much of his way and of the comfort of it in inquiring after the way and thinking whether he be right or wrong when he comes at three or four turnings there he stands whilst he might ride a mile and when he comes above in the field and sees a shephard at a distance from him he rides up to him to inquire whether he be in his way or not yea and al the day long he is thinking of his way whether he be right whereas if he knew his way he might have many precious thoughts of God and of the word So in this case while a man is doubting and fearing and knows not whether he be in the way to Heaven or no how much precious time is lost thoughts of Christ lost thankfulness for Mercy lost of al hearts the scripture saith an unbeleeving heart is an evil heart and when mens hearts are discouraged and cast down are they not unbeleeving Who would not therfore take heed of these discouragements and of the interruption of their peace Quest 4 But suppose now that I have lost my comforts times were heretofore when my soul was ful of joy but now I am quite discouraged what should a poor soul do to recover his peace and comfort again that interrupted peace may be restored Answ 1 Some things by way of Question some things by way of direction First Hast thou quite forgot the yeares of the right hand of the most high hast thou lost al thy former experiences too I know that usually when our comforts fail our former experiences fail yet not alwaies for the Psalmist saith here my soul is cast down yet at the same time vers 6. he saith Therefore I wil remember thee from the land of Jordan and of the Hermonites from the hil Missar So Psal 77 The Psalmist having said at the 7. vers Wil the Lord cast off for ever and wil he be favorable no more is his mercy clean gon for ever and doth his promise fail for evermore hath God forgotten to be Gracious c he addeth in the same breath but I wil remember the years of the right hand of the most high Ye know what the disciples said Did not our hearts glow within us while he opened the scriptures to us Luk. 24.32 Beloved you have no comfort now wel but you remember at such a time when you were al alone in your chamber and no soul was near you how the Lord came and opened the scriptures the promise to your soul wherewith your heart did glow within you Have you quite forgotten the openings of those scriptures to you I speak not of the Glowings for I suppose they are now gone but are the scriptures gone that were then opened to you did not you say in your last trouble and down-cast condition if ever the Lord appear to me again I wil never doubt of his mercy more And did he not appear unto you and open the promise unto your heart and have you now forgotten these things this is your infirmity why should you not remember the days and times and workes and experiences of the right hand of the most high Answ 2 Secondly Do you not use the means for the restoring of your comforts in such a manner as thereby you do lose them more A man may have great desire after some preferment and place which many ride for but one is so hasty that he rides over hedg and ditch and thereby fals and hurts himself so others get before him and by his too much hast he doth lose his place Thus it is sometimes with good people they make so much hast to their comfort that they lose it by their hast they would have it sooner if they went on in an ordinary way of waiting on God without such posting hast but they must have it to day O! let me know my interest in Christ to day saith one or else I am undone for ever Thus by stinting and limiting God to a time they tempt the holy one and so are more distant from their comfort the more the child cries and is froward under the rod the longer is the rod continued Some seek comfort in a way of reason and think to reason out their temptation and to reason in their comfort but as one saith wel dispute not with God lest you be confounded dispute not with Satan lest you be deceived Some again tire themselves in duty neglecting of their calling the truth is prayer is a friend to comfort and more than ordinary time is to be used in prayer for those that are troubled in conscience but when men under temptations and without comforts throw up their callings thinking that nothing is to be done but prayer by throwing aside their calling they lay themselves open to more temptations of Satan they do so tire out their natural spirits in duty that they are flat and dead in duty so their temptations are the more increased and their comforts more distanced Wherefore consider if you would have comfort restored again whether you do not use the means of comfort in such a manner as to set you at a further distance from it Answ 3 Thirdly Whether have you not strained and reached for some outward comfort so far as to lose your inward comfort I read of Francis Spira that when he was in horror of conscience he could not with peace and quietness behold his wife and children for to get an estate for them he denyed the truth and therfore when they came before him in his trouble he cryed out in much horror How terrible is the sight of these to me they had been comforts to him before yet now he could not away with the sight of them O! thought he for your sakes and for your provision I have denyed the truth and yeilded to these superstitions and therefore sayes he How terrible is the sight of these unto me What peace or comfort had Judas in the sight of his thirty pence look what outward comfort a man strains his conscience for that wil be death unto him to behold We read of David that when his men had ventured for the waters of Bethlehem he would not drink of it but poured it out before the Lord for saith he why should I drink the bloud of these men he did not sin in desiring of it nor did he command his men for to venture through the enemies quarters for those Hebrew words ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã quis dabit who wil give me are but words of wishing who wil give me to drink of the waters of Bethlehem that is O! that I had the waters of
a stil voice and there was God So when God appears to a soul somtimes he doth first send a threatning and shakes the Rocks and Mountains and hard hearts and his converting Grace may not be there but there is a stil voice behind the voice of the promise God is there and al this shaking of the threatning is but to make way unto the stil voice of the promise that is behind Object O! but if I should read the scriptures much in this condition I should meet with many other things which concern not me there are many histories in the scripture which suites not with my condition and so I should get no good or comfort Answ Say not so Christ cures per modum divertentiae by way of divertency as you do those that are grieved If a friend have lost a husband or wife or child you do not speak of the lost person and say O! what a sweet friend or husband or wife or child you have lost but you speak of somthing else and then afterwards you are able to speak of the person lost but first you divert his mind from the matter of his grief and so you do cure his grief Thus doth Christ also when he cures a poor wounded grieved soul he doth not alwayes speak to the subject matter of grief in hand but leads the heart somtimes into the consideration of other truths and then afterwards doth speak unto the matter that is now concerning he cures by way of divertency Study therefore O! study the scriptures much for thus the Lord wil pour wine and oyl into your bleeding wounds and in due time you wil say as David did In the multitude of my thoughts Psal 94.19 Quest O Lord thy comforts have comforted my soul But suppose the Lord do restore to me the joy of my Salvation that the bones which I have broken may rejoyce suppose there be a return of peace and joy what shal I do then Answ I shal not need to tel you what then you wil tel me what then for you wil say O! now I must be thankful now I must beleeve now I wil never doubt of mercy and of grace again Onely take these few words of advice First Be sure that you understand your comforts rightly be not mistaken in them labor to distil and refine your comforts As there was a mixt company came out of Egypt which set the Israelites a murmuring so there is a mixt company that comes with your comforts Every creature is born into the world with some filth when you have comfort labor to find out and seperate the dross and filth put away that mixt company Rose leaves keep not long in the leaf distilled comforts keep the longest Secondly If you would be rid of Satan from coming into your quarters fal you upon his the way to keep the enemy out of our country is to fal into his so deal with Satan do him al the mischief you can be not barely offensive up and be doing against him Thirdly If you would keep your comforts put them al into the hand of Christ to be kept for you a child that knows not how to keep his mony if he get a penny from any friend he brings it to his father or mother and saith mother pray keep this penny for me You have experience that you cannot keep your own comforts you wil lose and spend them quickly As Jesus Christ is the Lord Treasurer of al our Graces so he is the Lord keeper of al our comforts and therefore when God is pleased to give in any comfort to you go to Jesus Christ and say Lord keep my comforts for me keep my evidences for me keep my assurance for me ye must not onely depend upon Christ for Graces but for comforts and aswel for the keeping as for the getting of them Fourthly As you have any spiritual comfort from Christ spend al for Christ for though in temporal things the way to have little is to spend much yet in spiritual things the more you spend the more you have and therefore whatsoever comfort you have spend it with the Saints Do as Moses did when Moses was in Pharoahs Court and in great preferment standing in the presence of the King he went out to visit his brethren and to comfort them under their burdens I wil see saith he how it fares with my brethren under their Burdens So do you also hath the Lord spoken peace and comfort to your soul and do you now stand in the presence of the King of Kings having his face shining on you with your comforts al restored unto you now then go out unto your brethren and inquire who they are that labor under any burden and with the same comfort wherewith you have been comforted your selves comfort others knowing this for certain that the more you spend the more you shal have and the longer you shal keep your comforts yea and this Christ expects that what comforts we have from him we should spend for him And thus I have also done with the Second Argument SAINTS Should not be DISCOURAGED Whatever their Condition be Sermon III. PSALM 42.11 Why art thou cast down O my Soul Stepney April 30. 1648. and why art thou disquieted within me c. HAving spoken of the two first Doctrines the third followeth which is this The Saints and people of God have no Doct. 3 true reason for their discouragements whatever their condition be David had as much cause and reason for his discouragements here as any other for he did want ordinances yea he was kept from the ordinances therefore saith he vers 1.2 As the heart panteth after the water brookes so panteth my soul after thee O God my soul thirsteth for God for the living God when shal I come and appear before God yea after he had known the sweetness of them he was deprived of them vers 4. For I had gon with the multitude I went with them to the house of God And in this condition he had many enemies he was in the state of affliction and persecution his enemies reproached him they reproached him in the matter of his God and that daily vers 3. and 10. While they continually say unto me where is thy God As a sword in my bones mine enemies reproach me while they say daily unto me where is thy God And he was now under great desertions though the enemies did reproach him in the matter of his God yet if God had been present with him he had been wel enough but they said where is now thy God and his own heart said so too that God had left and forsaken him which was his failing vers 9. I wil say unto God my rock why hast thou forsaken me yet for al this he saith why art thou cast down O my soul As if he should say Thine enemies do not onely reproach thee in the matter of thy God but thine own heart thou art now kept from those
their condition be John 14. vers 1. Let not your heart be troubled saith our Savior to his disciples As if he should say I am now to dy to leave you al to go to my Father and when I am gone you wil meet with many troubles but I would not have you discouraged Let not your heart be troubled But now if thou dyest we shal then lose thy presence and what greater trouble or affliction can there be than the loss of thy presence Wel saith Christ yet I would not have you troubled at heart Let not your heart be troubled But if we lose thee O Lord we shal lose al the ordinances and those many sweet opportunities of receiving good for our souls which we have injoyed by thy presence Be it so saith our savior yet I would not have you troubled at the heart Let not your heart be troubled But Lord if we lose thee we shal be as sheep scattered some wil deny thee al wil forsake thee and when the shepherd is smitten we as sheep shal be al disperst and fal into sad temptations afflictions and desertions Wel saith he however it be yet I would not have you troubled at the heart let not your heart be troubled however this is Christs mind wil and pleasure concerning his disciples And if you say how may it appear that God the father would have his people to be of the same mind and disposition never to be discouraged It appears plainly because God hath provided promises of comfort succour and relief sutable to al conditions I dare boldly challenge al men to shew me any one condition which God hath not provided a promise of comfort mercy and succor sutable unto it Yea and if you look upon the promises and mark them wel you shal find they are so laid worded and moulded as that al discouragââg objections may be fully answered and taken off as the rise For example suppose the Church of God be under perse ution of enemies Isa 54.17 No weapon that is formed aâââi âhâe shal prosper But you wil say our enemies O Lord are âany they rise up against us and gather into bodies and conâââârate against thy servants vers 15. he takes off that thus bâââd they shal surely rather together but not by me whosoever shal gaâher together against thee shal fal for thy sake But O Lord they have go ten instruments of death and the whol power oâ the Militia and Ammunition into their hands Be it so saith the Lord vers 16. Behold I have created the Smith that bloweth the coles in the fire and thaâ bringeth forth an instrument for his work and I have created the waster to destroy no weapon that is formed against thee shal prosper But O Lord they have got authority on their side and they rise against us in judgment Mark then what follows vers 17. And every tongue that shal rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn But this is a promise made unto the Jewish Church only and not to us Not so this is the heritage of the servants of the Lord vers 17. So that if you be the Servants of the Lord this promise tels you it is made to you But we are in an unbeleeving condition and are not able to lay hold on this promise Wel but saith this promise this is the heritage or the servants of the Lord Children shal have their inheritance though for the present they are not able to sue for it it falls upân them in course O! but we may sin against the Lord cut our selves off from this promise this inheritance Mark then what follows and their righteousness is of me saith the Lord not only this promise is of me but the righteousness whereby they shal beleeve and lay hold on it and walk under it is of me saith the Lord. O! how Graciously is this promise laid whereby al unbeleeving objections may be taken off so it is in al the promises do but observe and mark them they are so moulded ordered worded as that every word of the promise doth hold forth a distinct answer unto your objections Now if God have so laid his promises that al unbeleeving objections may be taken off as they rise what doth this argue but that God our Father would not have his people discouraged whatever their condition be therfore they have no reason for it Answ 4 There is no matter of discouragement which the Saints do or can meet withal but there is a greater incouragement bound up therewith or comes along with it God doth never more Graciously appear to his people than when there is the greatest matter for their discouragement John lay some years in the bosom of Jesus Christ whilst Christ lived but then he had not the revelation given him Christ dies John is afflicted persecuted driven into the Isle of Patmos there an exile and there Christ appears to him and gives him that blessed book of comfort the book of the revelation We read of Jacob that at one time especially he did so see the Lord that he called the name of the place Peniel for I have seen the Lord Gen. 32.30 saith he and when was that but when Churlish Laban was on one side of him and his rough brother Esau coming out against him in an hostile way on the other side Once he had a vision of a Ladder the top whereof was in heaven and the foot on earth Angels ascending and descending upon it which in John 1. Chap. Christ interprets to be himself You shal see the Angels ascending and descending upon the Son of man but when had he this vision not al the while he was in his Fathers house buâ when he was fain to fly from the anger of his brother lay in the open field in the night and had no pillow but an hard stone to ly upon then doth Christ thus appear to him and make such a discovery and manifestation of himself as he never had before And when was it that Mr. Robert Glover was so filled with heavenly joyes that he cryed out he is come he is come ye read of him in the book of Martyrs that for five years together he was worn out consumed with fears and troubles he could neither eat nor sleep he was so afflicted in his soul upon the apprehension of some backsliding he thought he must needs be thrown down to hell when he died yea he thought saith the story of him that he could not more despair in hell yet after this long time of wrastling with this Temptation it pleased God to come in with comforts But I say when was this why then especially when he came within sight of the stake then he cryed out with clapping of his hands he is come he is come Thus doth God with whom are reserves of mercies reserve his sweetest consolations for the time of our sowrest afflictions and doth temper the one with the other in most fit proportion Yea
and wil no bread down with you but leavened bread sowr bread the bread of mourning wil you thus keep your passover your christian feast some of you have been doubting fearing trembling cast down discouraged many years and is it not yet time to bewail your unbelief to honor free Grace what wil you alwaies grieve the Spirit the Father and Christ alwaies be frustrating of Christs work wil ye alwaies be eating old leaven is it not yet time to say why art thou cast down O my soul and why art thou disquieted within me hope in him for I shal yet praise him who is the health of my countenance and my God Quest I know indeed that I have no just and scripture reason for my discouragements but I see there is much reason against it yet I am one of a troubled spirit I would fain have it otherwise that at last I might glorify free Grace what should I do that I may bear up against al discouragements that I may not be discouraged whatever my condition be Answ The onely way which the Psalmist useth here is to hope trust beleeve in God and how we should use our faith in Christ as that we may not be discouraged followes after for the present take these directons First If we would not be discouraged in any condition Then never lay your comforts upon your condition nor be in love with any condition for it self let not your condition it self be the cause or bottom of your incouragements Hang a cloak or garment upon a rotten peg and that wil break and the garment fal down now there is no condition but is a rotten peg every condition is alterable no condition so firm and fast but is exposed to many changes it is a rotten hold God is Pillars his name is Adonai which signifies so much and in Isa 26. we are commanded to trust in the Lord for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength or the rock of ages And saith the Psalmist my flesh faileth ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Psal 73.26 and my heart faileth but God is the rock of my heart for ever so the Hebrew Lay your comforts upon your own condition and you do but build on the sand which wil be carryed away with every wind and storm and tempest but if upon Christ himself upon God himself ye build upon the Rock and though the flouds and stormes and winds do rise and beat upon you yet you shal not lose your comforts because they are built upon a rock Secondly Be sure that you think of Christ in a right way and manner Christus titulos âibi sumit qui presenti rerum conditioni conveâiant unde varium suae gloriae radium in singuliâ Epistolis ad Ecclesias spargit pro vaâia fortuna qua sunt Ecclesiae quo docet illud immensae divinae majestatis inprimis esse mente contemplandum quod in rem preseniem maxime conducat Brightân in Apocal. 2. P. 43. as he suteth with your condition and as he is held forth in the Gospel We are very apt to have mis-thoughts of Christ as Satan doth transform himself into an Angel of light so he would transform Christ before you into an Angel of darkness But the scripture holds him forth under such Relations as do make him very amiable unto poor sinners Are you accused by Satan world or your own conscience He is called your Advocate Are you ignorant He is called the Prophet Are you guilty of sin He is called A Priest and high Priest Are you afflicted with many enemies inward and outward He is called a King and King of Kings Are you in streights He is called your way Are you hungry or thirsty he is called bread and water of life Are you affraid you shal fal away and be condemned at the last He is our second Adam a publick person in whose death we dyed and in whose satisfaction we satisfyed As there is no Temptation or affliction but some promise or other doth especially sute there withal So there is no condition but some Name some Title some Attribute of Christ doth especially sute with it and as you do not look on Christ but in reference to your condition so you are not to look upon your condition alone but with Christs Attribute sutable thereunto if you look upon Christs Attribute of love without your condition you may presume if on your condition without Christs Attribute of love you may despair think on both together you wil not be discouraged Thirdly If your discouragements begin to arise and press in upon you check your self and say why should I multiply thoughts without knowledg why should I tire out my soul with these thoughts am I able to ad one cubit to my spiritual state am I by al my thoughtfulness able to alter my condition yea doth not my thoughtfulness set me at a farther distance from the mercy desired The truth is the only way to lose the comfort desired is to be sollicitous about it as the only way to have an outward blessing is to be content to go without it So the only way to have a spiritual or outward affliction removed is to be contented that it should be continued if God and Christ wil have it so But you wil have your affliction presently removed and you must presently know that you are in the state of Grace and the child of God or else you wil be discouraged and as the bird in the net the more it strives the more it is intangled so with you also Wherefore do temptations afflictions desertions come and Satan joyn with them and say unto thy soul this wil ever be answer wel but I therefore beleeve the contrary because thou sayest so Satan who art a Lyar yet if God wil have it so I am contented I leave it to him whether I shal ever be in this condition or not is not my question but now O Lord let me serve thee that is al my desire let me see thee as thou pleasest when thou pleasest I have done Lord I have done I have been questioning and questioning my condition these many years I see there is no end of that yea the more I do the more I may I get nothing by it why therefore O my soul should I tear out my self with this kind of thoughtfulness thus check your selves Fourthly When ever you think of any thing which is in it self terrible or matter of discouragement be sure that you mingle the Consideration thereof with those sweet things which God hath given and prescribed to you There is nothing terrible but God hath joyned some comfortable thing with it the Name of God is terrible he is called the great and dreadful God but to sweeten this he is called the God of all Consolations Death is terrible it 's called the King of Terrors but to sweeten this it is called a Sleep The day of Judgment is terrible but to sweeten that our present Advocate shal
be our future Judg yea our best Friend and our dear Husband Now if you abstract the terror of any Object from the sweetness of it no wonder if you be much discouraged It is our Duty to behold things as God presents them and to take things as God doth give them What God hath joyned together no man may put asunder If you consider the sweetness of an Object or Condition without the sowrness of it then you may grow too wanton if you consider the terror of an Object or Condition without the sweetness of it then you may be too fearful But if you think on both together then you will fear and beleeve and beleeve and fear and so be kept from Discouragement Fifthly If you would not be discouraged whatever your condition be Labor more and more to get your self-love mortified even Religious self-love All your Dscouragements are from self-love not from the venom of your condition but from the poyson of self-love O but I am discouraged because I have no assurance Well but suppose you had assurance what then then I should have Comfort And is not here Self O but I am discouraged about my everlasting Condition And is not that Self doth not that word Condition sound ones Self I dare boldly say there is no tumult or immoderate Discouragement in the soul but hath Self at the bottom Could I leave my self and my Condition with God and Christ and mind his Service Glory and Honor more God would take care of my Comfort but when I mind my self and my condition so much and his Service Glory and Honor so little no wonder that I am so much discouraged Therefore labor more and more to mortifie self-love and so shall you never be discouraged whatever your condition be Sixtly In case that Temptation press in upon you and urge you to sad Discouragements speak to this purpose unto your own soul Why should I buy my Repentance at so dear a rate There is none of all these doubtings unbeleeving fears and discouragements but you will be ashamed and repent of afterwards You know how it is with the Traveller he thinks the Sun is not yet up and so he loyters and sits down but the Sun creeping up behind the cloud at last breaks out upon his face and is got before him and then he saies O what a fool was I to think the Sun was not up because I saw it not what an unwise man was I thus to loyter and sit down So it will be with you you now lie down upon the Earth and your belly cleaves to the dust by reason of your Discouragements but the Grace of God and the Love of Christ is creeping up behind the dark cloud and it will break out at the last upon you and shine into your face with the Golden beams of mercy it will prevent you and be before you and then you wil say O what a fool was I to be thus discouraged what an unworthy Creature I to doubt thus of Gods Love I have sinned I have sinned by all my unbeleef now the Lord pardon me all my doubtings I am O Lord ashamed of these my doubtings and questionings of thy Love pardon them O Lord unto my soul This is that which you must come to you must at last be ashamed and repent of these your unbeleefs doubtings and fears and therefore when-ever they press in upon thee say at the first unto thy self Why should I buy my Repentance at so dear a rate by yielding unto these Discouragements And for this very reason because that Discouragements are to be repented of Therefore the Saints and People of God have no reason to be discouraged whatever their Condition be And thus have I spoken to this Truth under a more General Consideration through Grace I shall labor to cleer it further to you by Particulars A LIFTING UP In case of GREAT SINS Serm. IV PSALM 42.11 Stepney May 7. 1651. Why art thou cast down O my Soul and why art thou disquieted within me c. THE Doctrine or Observation that now we are pressing from these words is this That the Saints and People of God have no reason for their Discouragements whatever their condition be no just true Scripture Reason for their Discouragements whatever their Condition be It is cleer by the Words and proved the last day by some General Considerations Now more Particularly to make it out by divers Instances Nine things there are which usually are the Grounds and Occasions of the Discouragements of Gods People 1. Somtimes their Discouragements are drawn from their greater and grosser sins 2. Somtimes they do arise from the weakness of Grace 3. Somtimes they are taken from their failing in and non-acceptance of Duty 4. Somtimes they are drawn from their want of Evidence for Heaven and non-assurance of the Love of God 5. Somtimes they do come from their Temptations 6. Somtimes from their Desertions 7. Somtimes from their Afflictions 8. Somtimes from their Unserviceableness 9. Somtimes from their Condition it self Now if in all these Respects the Saints and People of God have no reason to be discouraged then we may safely conclude That a godly man should not be discouraged whatever his condition be I shall labor therefore through the Grace of Christ to make out this great Truth unto you in all these Respects and begin with the First at this time Somtimes the Discouragements of the Saints and Instance 1 People of God are drawn from their Sins their greater and grosser Sins The Peace and Quiet of the Saints and People of God is many times interrupted by their Sins O saies one I am a man or woman of a rebellious heart I have so sleight a Spirit so unholy and uneven a conversation that when I reflect upon my heart and life I cannot but be discouraged I know indeed it is a great evil for a man to labor under a âore temptation or a sad desertion but were my heart good my life good my conversation good I should not be discouraged but as for me I have committed and do commit such and âuen great sins have I not reason and just reason now to be discouraged Answ No For Discouragement it self is a sin another sin a Gospel sin now my sin against the Law is no just cause why I should sin against the Gospel I confess indeed there is much evil in every sin the least sin is worse than the greatest affliction Afflictions Judgments and punishments are but the Claws of this Lyon it is more contrary to God than the Misery of Hell Chrysostom had so great a sence of the evil of it that when the Empress sent him a threatening Message Go tell her said he Nil nisi peccatum metuo I fear nothing but sin And in some respects the sins of the Godly are worse than the sins of others for they grieve the Spirit more they dishonor Christ more they grieve the Saints more they wound the Name
and Blasphemy Surely it doth Have ye any reason then to be discouraged under the power of this Objection Object But suppose that a man have sinned greatly against his conscience or against his light against his knowledg hath he not just cause or reason then to be cast down and to be quite discouraged Answ No For if there be a Sacrifice for such a sin as this is then a man hath no reason to be quite discouraged cause to be humbled as you shal hear afterward but no reason to be discouraged Now in the times of the old Testament in the times of the Law among the Jews there was a Sacrifice not only for sin committed ignorantly but also for sin coâitted against light and against consc ence and I appeal to you who ever you are that make this objection do you not think that Peter when he denyed his Lord and Master sinned against his conscieâce against his light and against his knowledg surely then there is no reason that a man should be quite discouraged no not in this respect Object But suppose that a mans sins be exceeding great gross and hainous for I do confess that possibly a Godly man may sin some sin against his light and against his conscience somtimes but as for me my sin is exceeding great gross and hainous and have I not just cause and reason now to be discouraged Answ No not yet For though your sin be great is not Gods mercy great exceeding great is not the Satisfaction of Christ great are the merits of Christs blood smal is not God the great God of Heaven and Earth able to do great things you grant that God is almighty in providing for you and is he not almighty also in pardoning wil ye spoil God of his almightiness in pardoning You say your sin is great but is it infiniteâ is there any more infinites than one and that is God is your sin as big as God as big as Christ Is Jesus Christ only a mediator for smal sins wil you bring down the satisfaction of Christ and the âercy of God to your own model Hath not the Lord said concerning pardoning mercy That his thoughts are not as our thoughts but as the heavens are greater than the earth so are his thoughts in this respect beyond our thoughts Hath not the Lord said in Isa 43. unto the people of the Jews at vers 22. But thou hast not called upon me O Jacob but thou hast been weary of me O Israel Vers 23. Thou hast not brought me the smal cattel of thy burnt offering neither hast thou honored me with thy Sacrifices Vers 24. Thou hast bought me no sweet cane with mony neither hast thou filled me with the fat of thy Sacrifice but thou hast made me to serve with thy sins thou hast wearied me with thy iniquity yet vers 25. I even I am he that blotteth out thy transgression for my own sake and wil not remember thy sins Here are sins and great sins and if the Lord wil therefore pardon sin because it is great unto his people ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã quoniam grandis est Hierom. then surely they have no reason to be quite discouraged in this respect Now look what David saith in Psal 25. vers 11. For thy name sake O Lord pardon mine iniquity for it is great mark his argument pardon mine iniquity ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Septuag ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Chaldee Par. for it is great if David use this reason then may you also and if this be a reason why God should pardon sin because it is great then this cannot be a reason a just reason why you should be discouraged Object But suppose that a mans sin be the sin of revolting declining for this is my case wil some say I have striven and striven against my sin a long while and I return unto it again times were heretofore that I have been exceeding forward and ready unto what is good but now I am much declined abated and even gone backward with revolting and deep revolting and I have layn long so even for many years have I not reason and just reason now to be discouraged and cast down within my self Answ No not yet For though this be a sufficient cause of great humiliation for backsliding in scripture phrase is called rebellion and rebellion as the sin of witch-craft yet a good man hath no reason to be discouraged in this regard for thus saith the Lord Jer. 3.1 They say if a man put away his wife and she go from him and become another mans shal he return unto her again shal not that land be greatly polluted but thou hast played the Harlot with many lovers yet return again unto me saith the Lord. And vers 12. return thou back-sliding Israel saith the Lord and I wil not cause mine anger to fal upon you for I am merciful saith the Lord and I wil not keep anger for ever again vers 14. Turn O back-sliding Children for I am marryed unto you if ever the Lord Jesus Christ did betroth himself unto any soul he wil never put that soul away again I hate putting away saith God Men put away their wives among the Jewes but saith the Lord I hate putting away And Isae 50. vers 1. Thus saith the Lord where is the Bil of your mothers divorcement whom I have puâ away or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you Among the Jews the husband did put away his wife upon smal occasions As for adultery you know that was death he did not put away his wife upon adultery she was to dy for it but the husbands put away their wives upon other occasions and when they put away their wives they gave the wife a bil of divorce that so upon al occasions the woman might shew thereby that she was free from such a man Now saith the Lord you that charge me and complain that I have put you away come and shew me the bil of divorce Thus saith the Lord where is the bil c. Poor soul thou complainest that I have put thee away come then and shew me the bil of divorce let any one who complains that I have put him away and cast him off come and bring out his bil of divorce This ye cannot do men indeed put away but if ever the Lord Christ doth match himself unto thee he wil never put thee away again And whereas you say That you are declined and have much revolted and so have continued even many yeers Consider whether you be not mistaken Every abatement in affection is not a declining in grace possibly we may not grieve for sin afterward so much as at our first conversion yet we may hate it more at first you may pray more against it yet afterward watch more against it we never see the face of sin so ugly as in the glass of Gods free love do you not see the
free love of God more possibly your affections might be higher at the first but is not conviction more cleer and ful as affections dry up so we grow more setled in our judgment and if your judgment be more setled you are not declined though your affections be somewhat abated And whereas you say That you have returned to your sin again and again and have continued under your revolt for many yeers I shal only tel you what Mr. Bilney a blessed Martyr once said hearing a Minister preach very terribly against sin and saying thus Behold thou old sinner thou hast layn rotting in the grave of thy sin this threescore years and dost thou now think to go to heaven in one yeer dost thou think to go forward to heaven more in one yeer than thou hast gone backward to hel these threescore yeers Ah! said Mr. Bilney here is goodly preaching of repentance in the name of Christ Had I heard such doctrine preached heretofore my poor soul had despaired for ever but saith he the Lord Christ dyed for sinners young sinners and old sinners for one as wel as the other such as have layn long in sin aswel as those that have layn but a little while in sin if they wil come home unto Christ And you know what our Savior saith if thy Brother transgress against thee forgive him But Lord he hath transgressed against me once and I have forgiven him yet saith our Savior forgive him again O! but Lord I have forgiven him again and again and yet he returns to his fault again then forgive him again saith Christ But Lord how often shal I forgive my Brother Saith our Savior if he sin against thee Seaventy seven times and saies that he doth repent do thou forgive so oft And now shal the Lord Jesus Christ injoyn us to forgive our Brother if he sin against us seventy seaven times and wil not the Lord Christ forgive much more if a poor soul do turn unto him and say Lord I repent me that I have sinned against thee Wil the Lord Christ command me a poor sinner to forgive so many times how often wil the great God forgive what seaventy seven times nay seaven hundred times seaven hundred And have ye any reason then to be discouraged in this respect surely you have not Object But suppose that a man have sinned fowly greatly and he cannot repent or be humbled enough for that is my case I have sinned I have sinned greatly and now after al my heart is hard and I cannot be humbled enough O! I cannot repent enough hath he not just cause and reason for his discouragement now yea now to be quite discouraged Answ No not yet For what if the Lord wil have your humiliation from you by degrees should you be so or so mucâ humbled for the present it may be it would be with you as it hââh been with others you would never think of your sins afterward but may be the Lord wil have this work of humiliation to stay long upon thy soul and he wil not give it you al at once Some there are that when they come into a house they pay a great in-come and little rent others pay a little in-come and a great rent so it is with souls that come to Christ some at the first lay down a great humiliation and they have lesser of it afterward some have less at the first and have more afterwards by continuance in it and what now if the Lord wil lead thy soul in this latter way this latter way may be the better way if the Lord think fit Sepe negatur cum quaeâitur et conceditur cuâ non expectatur ut ex eo constet esse ò pus divinae graciae Bonavent Again It may be that if you had so much or so much humiliation now at the first you would think that in and by and for your humiliation you should have acceptance with God and the remiâsion of your sin if you be kept off from this rock danger by your want of that degree of humiliation which you would have and so be trayned up to prize the Lords free Grace in giving you humiliation have you any cause to complayn Again If you had so much or so much humiliation for the present iâ may be then you would have the less humility a little humility is as good as a great deal of humiliation as good being humble as being humbled Now because thou art not humbled therefore thy soul is kept humble hadst thou many tears and abundance of tears may be then thou wouldest be proud but the Lord doth deny thee tears and thou art not humbled to the degrees of thy own desires and so the Lord keeps thee humble by the want of thy humiliation Again It may be that if you were humbled so or so much at the present or at the first you would have the less fear of your own heart The more humbled it may be the less after-fear and the less humbled the more after-fear the less humbled sometimes the more a man fears his own heart and his own condition Gracious fear is as good as humiliation and if that which you want in humilâation you have it made up in fear have you any reason to be discouraged I know it is usual with Satan to say unto the people of God at their first coming on to Christ that they are not humbled enough and so keeps them off from Mercy and Grace But I pray tell me Can ye ever be humbled enough Can there be any proportion between your sins and your humiliation The Truth is we should labor that our Humiliation be answerable to our sin but God is not pleased with grief for grief God is not pleased with sorrow for sorrow the end of all our sorrow and grief is to imbitter our sin to us to make us to prize Jesus Christ to wean us from the delights and pleasures of the Creature to discover the deceitfulness and naughtiness of our own hearts In scripture phrase and language or the new Testament Repentance is called an after-wisdom an after-mind ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã a bethinking of ones self it is called a conviction now though you be not humbled unto the degree which you do desire yet notwithstanding do you not bethink your self are you not convinced of the evil of your former way hath not the Lord now given you an after-wisdom and do not you say concerning your sin O! if it were to do again I would not do it for al the world Thus it is with the Servants and people of God though they cannot be humbled so much as they would be yet notwithstanding they are thus far humbled thus far grieved that their sins are imbittered and themselves thereby weaned from the delights and pleasures of the world convinced of the evil of their sin and what they want in humiliation they have it in humility the less humbled the more they are kept
humble and what they do want at the first they have it afterwards by degrees soaking into their souls Have they then any reason to be discouraged in these respects surely no. Quest But should not a Godly Gracious man be fully grieved and humbled for his sin Answ Grieved humbled for his sin yes surely though the Lord through the over-ruling hand of his Grace do work never so much good out of my sin unto me yet I am to be humbled for it and the rather to be humbled for it because he works good out of it I have read indeed of the Mother of those three Learned men Lumbard Gratian and Comaestor the three great pillars of the Roman Church for Lumbard wrote the sentences and Gratian the Popish Decretals and Comaestor Historiam Scholasticam that when she lay on her death bed and the Priest came unto her and called upon her for repentance of her whoredomes Hos tres Gratianum viz. Pet. Lumbardum et Pet. Comaestorem fuisse Germanos ex adulterio natos quorum mater cum in extremis peccatum suum confiteretur et confessor redargueret crimen perpetrati aduâterii quia valde grave esset et ideo multum deberet dolore et penitentiam agere respondet illa Pater scio quod adulterium peccatum magnum est sed considerans quantum bonum secutum est cum isti silii mei sint lumina magna in Ecclesia Ego non valeo paenitere Cui confessor hoc ex dono Dei est ex te autem adulterium crimen magnum et de hoc doleas c. Decret fol. 1. Gratiani vita for these three Lumbard Gratian and Comaestor were her bastards as the very popish writers do record it he telling her that she must be greatly afflicted grieved and humbled for her uncleanness or else she could not be saved why said she I confess indeed that whoredom and uncleanness is a great sin but considering what a great deal of good hath come to the Church of God by my sin that three such great lights have been brought forth into the world by my sin Non valeo paenitentiam agere I cannot I wil not repent thus it is with many poor ignorant souls when they see how the Lord by his over-ruling hand doth work good unto them out of their sin as some outward blessings mercys they do not repent of their sin but rather justify themselves in their sins but now take a Godly man a gracious soul and the more that he sees the Lord working good out of his sin the more he is humbled for it and upon that very ground because God works good of it therefore he is humbled the more Yet further it is observed that though the Lord did ordinarily cal David his servant yet when David had sinned that great sin he sent the prophet to him saying Go say to David he had lost the title of servant now bare David now single David now David without the title my servant And so though God ordinarily called the people of Israel his people yet when they had committed that great sin of Idolatry in the matter of the Golden Calfe the Lord doth not cal them his people but he saith to Moses The people not My people but The people and Thy people Moses now they had lost their old title Thus I say the sins of Gods own people do deprive them and divest them of their spiritual priviledges and can a gracious heart look upon this and consider how he is divested and disrobed of his spiritual priviledges and not mourn under it Can one friend grieve another friend and not be grieved himself The Saints by their sins they grieve God who is their best friend and therefore certainly they must needs be grieved they must needs be humbled or there is no Grace not grieved not humbled not Gracious But now because they are grieved and humbled for sin committed therefore they are not discouraged I say because they are grieved and because they are humbled for sin committed therefore they are not discouraged for discouragement is a hinderance to humiliation and the more truly a man is humbled for sin committed the less he is discouraged and the more a man is discouraged the less he is truly humbled Quest You wil say then but what is the difference between these a man is to be humbled and not discouraged not discouraged and yet to be humbled what is the difference between these two being humbled and being discouraged Answ It is a profitable question and worth our time by way of answer therefore thus First When a man is humbled truly humbled the object of his grief sorrow or trouble is sin it self as a dishonor done unto God the object of discouragement is a mans own condition or sin in order to his own condition the ultimate object of discouragement being a mans own condition when a man is discouraged you shal find stil that his trouble runs al out upon his own condition O! saith a discouraged person I have sinned I have thus sinned and therefore my condition is naught and if my condition be naught now it wil never be better Lord what wil become of my soul Stil his trouble is about his own condition But when a man is grieved and truly humbled for sin his trouble is about sin it self as a dishonor done unto God To clear this by scripture you know Cain was discouraged but Cain was not humbled how may that appear Cain was troubled about his condition Ah! saith he My punishment is greater than I can bear on the other side the poor prodigal was humbled but not discouraged how may that appear his trouble was about his sin and not about his condition I wil return unto my Father saith he and I wil say unto him I have sinned against Heaven and before thee and I am no more worthy to be called thy Son make me as one of thy hired servants David sometimes was both discouraged and humbled and then you find his repentance and humiliation to be very brackish but if you look into the Psal 51. you shal find David humbled but not discouraged for it is a penitential Psalm therefore humbled and not discouraged for stil he did keep his Assurance vers 14. Deliver me from blood-guiltiness O God thou God of my Salvation But what was his repentance his trouble about It was about his sin and not about his condition read vers 23. and so on Wash me throughly from mine iniquity and clense me from my sin for I acknowledg my transgression and my sin is ever before me Against thee thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight Behold I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me stil ye see his eye is upon his sin and not upon his condition only So that I say when a man is truly humbled and grieved for sin the object of his grief is sin as a dishonor
done unto God when a man is discouraged and not humbled then his trouble is al about his condition and what wil become of him Secondly True humiliation it is no enemy but a real friend unto spiritual joy to our rejoyceing in God The more a man is humbled for sin committed the more he wil rejoyce in God and rejoyce that he can grieve for Sin He grieves and rejoyceth that he can grieve for sin therefore humiliation by our Savior Christ is made an effect of the comforter I wil send the comforter and he shal convince the world of sin because there is comfort alwaies goes along with true humiliation it is not an enemy but a friend to our spiritual rejoycing but discouragement is an enemy to spiritual joy A man that is discouraged is grieved and he is sad upon his grief and if ye tel him that he must rejoyce in God and cal upon him to rejoyce in God O! no saith he it is not for me to rejoyce I am a man of another disposition joy doth not belong to me or to one in my condition But now when a man is truly humbled the more he is humbled for Sin the more he can rejoyce in God but the more a man is discouraged the less he rejoyceth in God Thirdly The more a man is humbled truly humbled for Sin the more he is found in Duty the more a man is discouraged the more his hands are weakened to Duty As it is with the Water if the Water do continue in its true stream it doth not over-flow the Banks it doth not break down the Dam Somtimes you have a great fall of Water a great and mighty flood and then the River over-flows the Banks and the Water bears down the Dam. So here Duty is the Bank of Sorrow Grief and Humiliation for Sin I say your Duties are the Banks of all your Godly Sorrow and when a mans Sorrow or Grief doth arise to such an height that it swels over Duty and a man saith I will pray no more it is to no purpose and I will hear no more for there is no hope for my soul and I will examine my own heart no more when thus Sorrow swels over Duty and breaks down the Dam of Duty then it is Discouragement it is not Humiliation be not mistaken this is not Humiliation this is a plain Discouragement There is a great difference then between Discouragement and Humiliation Many People indeed do call their Discouragements Humiliation but the Lord knows there is not a drop of Humiliation in a flood of Discouragement Would you therefore be humbled O then be not discouraged for the more you are discouraged the less you will be humbled and the more humbled you are the less discouraged you wil be Quest But if there be such a great difference between these and if it be our Duty to be humbled for sin but not to be discouraged What should a man do to bear up his heart to the work of Humiliation and yet bear up against all Discouragement How shall I be so humbled as I may not be discouraged or what shal a man do that he may be humbled and yet not be discouraged in his Humiliation Answ 1 First Let Christians carry this Rule alwaies up and down with them namely That a man is to be humbled for his sin although it be never so smal but he is not to be discouraged for his sin though it be never so great Both these parts are true A man is not to be discouraged under his sin although it be never so great because Discouragement it self is a sin and that cannot help against sin Sin cannot help against sin A man is to be humbled for his sin although it be never so smal for it is a dishonor to God and little sins make way to great sins So then if thou would'st be humbled and not discouraged carry this Rule up and down with you and alwaies remember it upon all occasions It is my Duty and I have reason to be humbled for my sin although it be never so smal but I have no reason to be discouraged under my sin though it be never so great Answ 2 Secondly In all your Humiliation be sure that you never part or separate those things that God hath joyned together God hath joyned Commandement and Promise together the Promise the Commandement are born Twins there is never a Commandement that you read of but hath a Promise annexed to it a Promise of Assistance a Promise of Acceptance and a Promise of Reward If you look upon the Commandement it self without the Promise then you will despair if you look upon the Promise without the Commandement then you will presume But look upon Promise and Commandement Commandement and Promise together then ye will be humbled in case ye have sinned but ye wil not be discouraged The Lord you know hath given two Eyes to man and if a man should put out one and say I can see well enough with the other what need I have two he should sin greatly So for the soul the Lord hath given two eyes as I may so speak the eye of Conscience which is to look upon Gods Commandement and the eye of Faith which is to look upon Gods Promise and if any man will say I will put out the eye of Faith I can see well enough with the Eye of Conscience upon Gods Commandement he shal do ill and very ill and if a man shall say I will put out the Eye of Conscience for I can see well enough with the Eye of Faith he shal do very ill But whenever you find you have sinned against any Commandement presently say Where is the Promise I may not look upon the Commandement without the Promise nor the Promise without the Commandement Thus joyn both together and you shall not be discouraged yet be humbled Answ 3 Thirdly In all your Humiliation take heed that you do not mourn for your sin only in order to your condition but rather mourn over your condition in order to your sin Humiliation you have heard is objectated upon Sin it self as a dishonor to God the Object of our Humiliation is Sin it self as a dishonor done unto God but now the Object of our Discouragement you have heard is our Condition only our Condition Well then would you be humbled so as you may not be discouraged take heed that you do not stand poring only upon your Condition but rather say thus unto thine own soul O my soul thou hast been much mistaken the Lord pardon it for all this questioning hath been about thy Condition and what will become of thee and if at any time thou hast grieved for Sin it hath been in order to thy condition because thy condition is naught and because thou did'st not know what should become of thee but now if thou would'st be truly humbled and not be discouraged then lay aside a little the thoughts of
your own condition and pitch upon sin as a breach of Gods Law a transgression of the Law of God a dishonor done to God and as a breach of the Law of Love between Christ and you Thus I say if you would be humbled and not discouraged rather mourn over your Condition in order to your Sin than for your Sin in order to your Condition Answ 4 Fourthly In your Humiliation take heed that you do not meddle too much with Gods Prerogative and with Gods Peculiar In Humiliation a man is to meddle with that which belongs to man Some things there are that are peculiar to God and are his Prerogative You see how it is with the Birds of the Air so long as the Birds fly up and down here in the Air they do live comfortably but if the Birds do fly up to the Element of Fire it wil burn their Wings and they will fall down head-long So here so long as a man in his Humiliation keeps within his own Compass and Element he may walk comfortably there but if a man in Humiliation will soar up unto Gods Prerogative certainly his Soul wil fal down upon the Earth and be much discouraged Now I pray what is more the Prerogative and Peculiar of God than this To know who is a Reprobate and who is not When a man is humbled and grieved about his Sin and he finds that he hath sinned much against God and thereupon he concludes himself to be a Reprobate is not this âo come upon Gods Prerogative The Scripture tels a man indeed what he is for the present That a man for the present is a Drunkard or a Swearer or a Sabbath-breaker or an Adulterer and therefore the Scripture tels him for the present that he is in the state of Nature and under the wrath of God but doth the Scripture tel him that he is a Reprobate that he can never be converted and turned to God Surely this is Gods great Prerogative to know his Secret which he reserves to himself and therefore when a man goes to be humbled before God and concludes O! I am a Reprobate and there is no hope for me and I shal never be converted this is to soar too high into Gods Prerogative and he wil burn his wings and he wil fal down into great Discouragement Therefore in al your Humiliation take heed that you do not fal upon any thing that is the Peculiar and Prerogative of God for then you wil not be humbled but discouraged Answ 5 Fifthly The more you are humbled and grieved by the Sight of Gods free Love and Grace the more you wil be humbled and the less discouraged When you come to Humiliation you are humbled because you have sinned against God but how do you present this God to your own soul Do you present him as a Judg only or as a Father also Do you present the Lord unto your soul only under the Notion or Attribute of his Greatness or under the Notion and Attribute of his Goodness also Luther said thus When my heart is brisk and jolly I present God unto my self under the notion of his Greatness but when my heart is low and fearing then I present God to me under the notion of his Goodness One while I consider Christ as my Example another while as my Gift when my heart is too high then I consider Christ as my Example when my spirit is too low I consider Christ as my Gift So do you also I know you wil say I cannot somtimes present the Lord unto my soul under the notion of a Father because I have no assurance of his Love Yet you may consider the Lord as gracious in himself as good in himself and loving in himself and say I have thus and thus Sinned against a gracious God and although thou hast not assurance of Gods Love to thee in Particular yet if you can present God to your soul under the Notion of his general Goodness as good in himself you will never be discouraged but be humbled Answ 6 Sixtly and lastly If you would be truly humbled and not be discouraged not discouraged and yet humbled then beat and drive up all your sins to your unbeleef and lay the stress and weight of all your sorrow upon that Sin As in matter of thankfulness if a man do run up every Mercy unto the Fountain Mercy the Blood of Jesus Christ he wil be most thankful So in the matter of Humiliation If a man do run up every Sin unto the Fountain the Head Sin he wil be most humbled Now what is the great Sin the Fountain Sin the Head Sin of al your Sins but Unbelief and beleeve it he is never far from Faith that is humbled for his Unbeleef and he wil never be discouraged that is not far from Faith Now therefore if at any time you find your soul in any Sin then say This hath my Unbeleef done I did not think that I had had such an unbeleeving heart O! what an unbeleeving heart have I This even all this Sin hath my Unbeleef brought forth Now the Lord heal my unbeleeving heart A soul grieved for unbeleef wil never be discouraged too much nor be humbled too little he wil be humbled in truth for sin because he is humbled for his unbeleef which is the mother Sin yet he wil not be discouraged because he is humbled for that which doth cause al discouragements Lay therefore the weight of your sorrow upon this Sin and you shal be truly humbled without unjust discouragement And thus I have dispatched the first particular by al which you see That a Gracious Godly man though he hath just cause for humiliation yet he hath no just and scripture reason to be discouraged for his Sin though he have Sinned and Sinned greatly yet no discouragement is to grow upon this condition And thus I have done with the First Instance A LIFTING UP In case of WEAK GRACE Serm. V PSALM 42.11 Why art thou cast down O my Soul and why art thou disquieted within me c. Instance 2 SOmtimes the Discouragements of the Saints do arise from the weakness of their Graces O! saies one I am a poor feeble and a weak Creature some are strong in the Lord and in the power of his Might who do a great deal of Service for God in their day but as for me I am a poor Babe in Christ if a Babe and so am able to do little or nothing for God Therefore I am thus discouraged and cast down have I not just cause and reason for it Answ No For God is able to make all Grace to abound towards you that ye alwaies having all sufficiency in all things may abound to every good Work 2 Cor. 9.8 And if God have recompenced your weakness with Wisdom then surely you have no cause to complain of your weakness Admonemur nullam creaturam propter parvitatem contemnendam esse quando qui dem quod illis in
sate under the means yet you have no just cause and reason for Discouragement for though you may be weak in regard of others yee you may be strong in regard of your former self and be more strong in the Lord and in the power of his might than you have been heretofore And to cleer that Consider The more extensive a mans Obedience is unto Gods Commandements the more he is grown in Grace Weak Christians are much in some Duties and therein they are most intense but little or nothing in others and as they grow in Grace so their hearts are dilated and extended unto other Duties The more exact and accurate a man is in Duty the more he doth grow in Grace and the more he grows in Grace the more exact and accurate he doth grow in his Duty He that writes better than he did before doth not write more Paper or make more Letters only he doth write more exactly and accurately So the gâown Christian doth not perform more duties than he did before but the same more exactly The more a man sees and understands his Christian Liberty and yet doth walk more strictly the more he doth grow in Grace Some think they grow in Grace because they have more understanding in their Christian liberty though they do walk more loosly these are deceived in their spiritual growth but if I know my Christian liberty more fully and now do walk more strictly in my life then do I grow in Grace indeed Now is it not thus with you yes through Grace I am able to say That I see my Christian liberty more than I did heretofore and yet I am morâ strict in my life though I cannot yet pray as I would and hear as I would and perform duty as I would yet I do perform my duties with more exactness than formerly and though I have not so much affection as I had in this or that work of God yet now I find that I am more dilated and my obedience is more extended and extensive unto Gods waies and Commandements than before Then though you are stil weak in regard of others yet you are grown stronger in regard of your former self and therefore certainly you have no just cause or reason to be discouraged in this regard Quest But suppose that I am yet but weak in Grace and Temptations or discouragements press in upon me in regard of the weakness of my Grace what shal I do that I may be able to bear up my heart against those discouragements Answ 1 Then consider what a great charge God the Father hath given to Christ of those that are weak Isa 42.1 Behold my servant whom I uphold mine Elect in whom my soul delighteth I have put my spirit upon him c. but why vers 3. A bruised Reed shal he not break and the smoaking Flax shal not he quench This is my Charge saith the Father which I give to my Son And upon this account he came into the world That those who have life might have it in abundance and for this cause he did die for us Rom. 5.6 For when we were yet without strength in due time or according to the time that is the time appointed by the Father Christ died for the ungodly Answ 2 Consider also what charge our Savior Christ did give unto his Apostles and in them to al the Ministers of the Gospel concerning those that are weak in Grace Peter Peter said our Savior Lovest thou me then feed my sheep And again Lovest thou me then feed my lambs And again thirdly Lovest thou me feed my lambs Have a care of those that are weak in Grace Al the time that Christ lived upon Earth he went about doing good healing al sicknesses and diseases and condescending to the weaknesses of men One comes to him and thought to have stollen her cure yet Christ did bear with her Another comes and puts an If upon his wil Lord If thou wilt thou canst make me clean And he did bear with him Another comes and puts an If upon his power Lord If thou canst do any thing c. Yet Christ did yeild to him And when he left the world then he charges his Apostles with the weak Saints Feed my Lambs and again Feed my Lambs Answ 3 Consider also what a great mercy it is to have a little Grace though it be but a little For though you have never so little Grace yet if you have Grace in truth you have union with Christ you have communion with the Father you have your own nature taken away and are partakers of the divine nature you have a right and title unto al the promises yea unto al the Ordinances yea unto al the Creatures Your afflictions are not curses the curse is taken out of every cross you have an interest in al that Christ hath done and suffered you are made partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in light an inheritance uncorruptible undefiled that fadeth not away you have God for your Portion Christ for your Savior the Spirit for your Comforter Heaven for your Inheritance the Angels for your Guard and all the Creatures in the Earth under your feet this and all this you have though you have never so little Grace and can you read over al this Inventory of mercies and sit discouraged in the midst of them Answ 4 Yet if al this wil not prevayl in the time of your Temptation think with your self and consider seriously How much you shal weaken your self yet more and more by your discouragements in this kind Al discouragements weaken humiliation weakens not the greatest humiliation doth not weaken but the least discouragement doth upon what account soever Now if al discouragements do weaken then what an unreasonable thing is it for me to be discouraged at the sight of my weakness but so it is that discouragements even from the sight of our own weakness do yet more and more weaken surely therefore it is an unreasonable thing for a man to be discouraged at the sight of his own weakness wherefore lift up your hands O! ye Saints and be ye lift up O! ye drooping souls Wee aâe commanded ye may read our Commission Isa 35.3 To strengthen the weak hands and to confirm the feeble knees and to say to them that are of a fearful spirit be strong fear not And if it be our duty to say and speak thus then it is your duty to encourage your self in the Lord and to say to your self be strong O my soul and fear not Be thankful for your little and in due time you shal have much labor also for much yet be content with little even with little Grace if God wil have it so And thus I have done with the Second Instance A LIFTING UP In case of MISCARRIAGE OF DUTIES Serm. VI PSALM 42.11 Why art thou cast down O my Soul Stepney May 14. 1648. and why art thou disquieted within me c. Instance 3
periclitari causam cujus patrocinium suscepit ibid. because it is mixt with his Thirdly If our acceptance of duty do not come in by the door of performance but by another door and that door is Christ then a Godly man hath no reason to be discouraged though there be many failings in his performance Now al our acceptance of duty comes in by Christ because our Sacrifices are mingled with Christs perfumes Revel 8. vers 4. And the smoak of the incense which came with the prayers of the Saints ascended up before God out of the Angels hand Our prayers go unto God the Father through the hand of Christ did our prayers go immediatly out of our own hands into the Fathers hand we might have causâ to fear but it goes by the hand of Christ Christ takes it and hath it into the preâence of God the Father As it is with your soul or your body when you die through your body be crooked or deformed and your soul defiled yet when you die Christ meets your soul and invests it with Glory and so brings it into the presence of God the Father so it is with your duty your duty it may be deformâd defiled or a crooked duty but Christ meetes your duty and he clothes it with his Glory and so hath it into the presence of God the Father and thus it is with al the Saints and people of God surely then though they have cause to be afflicted by reason of their failing in duty yet they have no reason at al why they should be discouraged Object But I have no Parts or Gifts in duties therâfore I am thus discouraged some there are that have great abilities in duty they pray and can pray with great abilities they go to a sermon and can bring away every word and have a great Gift in conference but as for me I am a poor creature who want al these Gifts I have no utterance in conference I have no abilities in prayer I have no memory for a Sermon my memory is even as a sieve good things run out presently I have no Gifts at al a poor Sea-man or Trades-man I am that have no Parts no Gifts in duty and have not I just cause and reason now to be discouraged Answ 1 No For whosoever you are that make this objection Do ye not know That the Glory of the second Temple was greater than the first Solomon you know built a great House and it was a Glorious building much Gold and Silver in it the second Temple was not so ful of Gold and Silver and yet it is said of the second Temple That the Glory of it was beyond the Glory of the first why this reason is given because The desire of al Nations should come into it That is Christ who is indeed The desire of al Nations De facto Gold and Silver is the desire of al Nations but De jure and by right the Lord Jesus Christ is the desire of al Nations and because that Christ the desire of al Nations should come into the Second Temple therfore the Glory of it was beyond the Glory of the first Now thy soul is the Temple of the Holy-Ghost it may be thou hast not so much Gold and Silver not such Golden Parts and Golden Gifts as another hath but if the desirâ of al Nations the Lord Jesus Christ be come into thy soul hast thou any reason to complain Thus it is with every child of God though he hath not those Parts and Gifts that another hath yet the Lord Jesus the desire of al Nations is come into his Temple into his soul and therefore he hath no reason to be discouraged Answ 2 If the want of Parts and Gifts be better for you then you have no reason to be discouraged for the want of them Now you know that it is better for a man that hath but a little stock to have a little farm than to have a great farm and a little stock a man that hath but a little stock and a great farm may for the present brave it out and converse with company that are in estate beyond him but at last he wil decay and break better that a man who hath but a little stock should have a little farm sutable to his stock Now God our Father sees that thou hast a little good there are some good things found in thee but these good things this little stock is not big enough for a great farm of Parts and Gifts and because the Lord sees that thy stock of Grace is not great enough for such a great farm of Parts therefore in design of mercy he hath thus ordered it that thou shouldest have a less farm of Gifts Answ 3 If our Parts and Gifts do not commend our services and duties unto God then have you no reason to be discouraged for the want of them Now so it is that they do not commend us nor our services unto God When you have good meat in a dish possibly you wil lay flowers upon it cut Oranges and Lemons and lay upon the side of the dish but a wise man knowes that the meat is never the better for tho e flowers or for the sugar that lies on the side of the platter a wise man knowes that if those were wanting the meate were never the worse Beloved God our Father is of infinite wiâdom these Parts and Gifts are flowers indeed and they help to cook ouâ a duty and to make it more acceptable to men but the Lord who is wisdom knowes that the duty is never the beâter and he knows that when these flowers are wanting the duty is never the worse All flesh is grass and the flower thâreof and it fades away Parts and Gifts are but flesh and our wise God knows the âeat is never the worser when these flowers are wanting Yea if I had al Parts and al Gifts that I were able to preach and speak like an Angel and that I were able to cast out Devills yet notwithstanding if I have not Christ and Grace within my Parts and Gifts will but sink me deeper into Hell Two men suppose do fall into the River one man hath bagâ of Gold about him and the other none he that hath none makes a shift to swim and get away but he that hath the bags of Gold about him sinks by his Gold and he cries out as he sinks O! take away these bags of Gold this Gold undoeth me this Gold sinks me So these Golden Parts and Golden Gifts if a man hath not Grace withal hath not Christ within shall but sink him the deeper into Hell These commend us not I say nor our Service unto God nor doth the want thereof discommend us unto him Answ 4 You say and complain That you have no Parts or Gifts but I pray hath not the Lord recompenced the want of them some other way unto you Phylosophy saith of Nature Vbi deficit in uno abundat
of Gold or Silver in his hand and saith the Father if you can get this out of my hand you shall have it so the Child strives and pulls and works and then the Father opens his hand by degrees first one finger then another and then another and at last his whol hand and the child thinks he hath got the money by his own strength and labor whereas the Father intended to give it him but in that way So here God intends to give us a mercy in the way of Prayer and he sets us a praying for it and we think we obtain it by the strength of our own prayer as if we did move and change the will of God by our Duty but all the enlargements in the world make no alteration in the will of God he is immovable unchangable and the same for ever But he will give out his blessings in a way of prayer therefore it is our Duty to pray yet we must not be discouraged though we cannot pray as we would Fourthly It is usual with the Lord to restrain Prayer before he doth give enlargement and to make a man speechless before he openeth his Mouâh Luke 1. we read so of Zacharias a gracious and holy man at the 67. verse it is said of him that He was filled with the Holy Ghost and he prophesied Yet if you look into the former part of the Chapter you shall find that before he was thus filled with the Holy Ghost and Prophesied he was dumb and stricken with dumbness verse 20. saith the Angel to him And behold thou shalt be dumb and not able to speak So he continued dumb before he was filled with the Holy Ghost and prophesied It may be here is a further Mystery in this quando oramus non ideo oramus ut per hoc Divinam dispositionem immutemus sed ut impetremus id quod deus disposuit sanctorum oratio nobis impetrandum Tostat Mat. 6. for Zachary was a Levitical and a Legal Priest and our Lord and Savior Christ being to come into the world immediately who knows but that Zachary was thus stricken with dumbness to shew that the Lord will silence all our Legal Performances before he wil enlarge us with the enlargements of Christ and of the Gospel This is Gods usual way with his People it may be thou hast gone on in Duty in a Legal manner and now thou art stricken with dumbness yet if God have a design to discover more of Christ to thy soul and to enlarge thee with the Enlargements of the Holy Ghost have you any cause to complain Fifthly As for the dulness of your Heart in Duty and Prayer though dulness be an ill-sin yet the sence thereof is a good sign As the Tââstle is a good sign of a fat ground though it be an ill Weed so the sence of your dulness is a good sign though it be an ill sin for it argues that you are used to private Duties for dulness in private and pride in publick Duties is the Temptation Only here remember Three things 1. That you do not measure or judg of your everlasting Condition by your present Affection 2. That you do not forbear Duty because of your dulness in it because Duty is a great remedy against it and whither should a dead soul go but to the living God 3. That one great cause of your dulness is your doubting and discouragement and therefore no reason that you should be discouraged because of it lest you augment the same Sixtly What is Prayer and the Nature of it Prayer is the powring out of the soul to God not the powring out of words not the powring out of expressions but the powring out of the soul to God Words many times and expressions are a great way off from the soul but sighs and groans are next the soul and have more of the soul in them than words and expressions many times have now thou complainest that thy heart is straightened and dead and dull but when you are so straightened in Prayer do ye not at that time powr out sighs and groans after Prayer saying O! what freedom once I had O! Lord that I might have the like freedom again And whereas you say now that your heart is hardened in Duty consider whether there be not a great mistake about hardness and softness of heart Durum est quod tactui non cedit molle cedit A hard thing doth not yield to the touch but a soft thing doth Wax yields when it is touched because it is soft and Wool yields when it is touched because it is soft but an hard thing yields not And upon this account it is said of Pharaoh That his heart was hard why Because he did not yield to God he had not a yielding disposition Now there is many a poor soul complains that his heart is hard and yet notwithstanding he hath a yielding disposition to every Truth a yielding disposition to every Affliction and Dispensation of God Wherefore doest thou complain and say O! my heare is very hard yet if at this time thou hast a yielding disposition to yield to every Truth of God and to yield to every touch of the Lords hand know from the Lord that here is a soft heart be not mistaken but many are mistaken and because they are mistaken herein and it is bât a mistake therefore they have no reason for to be discouraged Object But I do not only want enlargement and softenings of heart in Duty but I am oppressed and filled with distractions my heart is not only dull and dead and straightened but I feel many positive evils As the Leaves of a Tree are eaten up with Catterpillars so I may say my Duties are eaten up ââth distractions I never go to Duty but the Lord knows a world of distractions come in upon me and have I not just cause and reason to be discouraged now Answ Surely this is a great evil for as one saith well Tantum temporis oras quantum attendis so much time you pray as you do attend in prayer and upon this account if the Lord should abstract all the out-goings of our souls in Duty and all our distractions from our prayers O! how little of prayer would be left many times It were an incivility you wil say when a Petitioner hath gotten the Kings Ear for the poor Petitioner then to turn his back upon the King and what an evil must it needs be when a poor soul hath gotten the Ear of God then to turn the back by way of distractions upon the Lord who comes down to hear his Prayer We use to say When the Candle burns the Mouse bites not or the Mouse nibbles not when the Candle doth not burn then the Mouse eats the Candle but when the Candle burns the Mâuse doth not bite the same And so long as a mans heart is warm and inflamed in prayer he is freed from distractions but when a mans heart is
event to God Go to prayer go and perform thy duty leaving the event of that unto God and the Lord that hath promised wil certainly fulfil it thou shalt be sustained and though thou art moved for the present thou shalt not be moved forever And thus I have done with the Third Instance A LIFTING UP IN THE Want of Assurance Sermon VII PSALM 42.11 Why art thou cast down O my Soul Stepney May 21. 1648. and why art thou disquieted within me c. Instance 4 SOmetimes the discouragements of Gods people are drawn From the want of their Evidence for Heaven And thus they reason or argue I am a poor creature who do want Assurance oâ the love of God and of mine own Salvation therefore I am thus discouraged indeed if I had any evidence of an interest in Christ I should never be discouraged whatever my condition were but alas I want the Assurance of Gods love and of eternal life should I now die I do not know whether I should go to Heaven or Hell and what would become of my soul to al eternity O! I want Assurance of my Salvation and therefore I am thus discouraged have I not just cause and reason for my discouragements now Answ No no reason yet It is indeed a great evil and a sore affliction to want the Assurance of Gods love and of ones own Salvation yet notwithstanding the want of this Assurance is no sufficient ground or bottom for your discouragement I confess it is a great evil and a sore affliction for a man to want Assurance for sin and affliction are twisted together in the want of Assurance As of al blessings those are the greatest where Grace and comfort are joyned together so where sin and affliction are twisted together of al afflictions they are the most afflictive and thus it is in the want of Assurance for as in Assurance there is somthing of Grace and somthing of comfort or reward so in the want of Assurance there is somwhat of sin or unbelief and somwhat of affliction too sin and affliction affliction and sin are both twisted together in the want of Assurance The truth is a man that wants the Assurance of Gods love and of his interest in Christ is neither fit to receive mercy from God nor to make return of love and praise to God as he should Not fit to receive mercy as he should for though he would have Christ come in yet by unbelief he shuts the door against him and he makes an evil interpretation of mercies offered unto him if a mercy or blessing be tendered unto him he saith this comes in judgment to me it is a blessing indeed in it self but I fear it is a judgment to me Thus he makes an il interpretation of blessings and so unfit to receive And he is not fit to make returns of love to God again Assurance returns praise And therefore saith the text here O! my soul wait on God hope in God for I shal yet praise him why for he is my God praise grows upon assurance and upon this account I say he is neither fit to receive mercy nor to make return of praise as he should Yea further He that wants Assurance of Gods love converseth too much with Satan as he that hath the Assurance of Gods love doth converse with Christ the spirit bearing witness to him that he is the Child of God So he that doth want Assurance converseth with Satan and Sacan though falsly is stil bearing witness to his spirit that he is not the child of God and is it not a misery to be in these converses with Satan to be under his hellish droppings David felt one pang of unbelief and he cryed out and said It is too painful for me O! what a pain is it then to lie bed-rid of an unbeleeving heart you know a chast and a loving wife counts it an affliction to her to be followed with the solicitations of an unworthy person to suspect and be jealous of her husbands love for saith she he doth therefore follow me with these solicitations makeing me to suspect my husbands love that so he may attain his own filthy desires So saith a gracious soul the Devil is alwaies following and tempting me to suspect the Love of Christ and he doth therefore do it that he may attain his mind upon me for the Devil knows wel enough that the more I suspect Christs Love the more I shal embrace Satans love The truth is Beloved this want of Assurance of Gods Love or Interest in Christ is an in-let to many sins and miseries for first a man doubts of his own Salvation and after he hath continued doubting then he riseth up unto a full conclusion saying now know I that Christ doth not love me I did but doubt before but now I know he doth not love me And after he is risen to this conclusion then shortly he riseth higher and he goes further thus If Christ doth not love me now he will never love me and if I have not interest in Christ now after all the Preaching I have heard and Ordinances enjoyed if I have not an Interest in Christ now I shal never have it and so the longer I live the more I aggravate my condemnation therefore as good in Hel at first as at the last and therefore now I wil even make a way my self O! what a black Chain is here and the first link is the want of Assurance If you should see a Child â pretty Child lie in the open streets and none own it would it not make your Bowels yern within you Come to the little one and say Child where 's thy Father I know not saith the Child Where 's thy Mother Child I know not Who is thy Father what 's thy Fathers name Child I know not Would it not make your heart ake to see such a little one in the streets But for a poor soul to lie in the street as it were and not know his Father whether God be his Father or the Devil be his Father for a soul to say I do not know my Father whether God in Christ be my Father yea or no this is pitiful indeed The word Father is a sweet word for it sweetens all our Duties take the word Father out of Prayer and how sour is it Surely therefore it is a sad and sore affliction to want the Assurance of Gods Love in Christ But now although it be a great evil and a sore Affliction for to want this Assurance yet I say the Saints and People of God have no reason to be cast down or discouraged although they do want the same Quest How may that appear Answ 1 First thus If the want of Assurance be not the damning unbelief then a man hath no reason to be quite discouraged although he do want Assurance Now though there may be much unbelief bound up in the want of Assurance yet I say the bare want of
Threatening may be repealed then you have no cause to fear in this respect Now a Threatening is therefore given that it may not be fulfilled Joshuah knew this so well that he professeth to the Lord That therefore he fled to Tarshish because saith he O Lord I knew that thou art a merciful God As if he should say I knew O Lord thou art so merciful a God that though thou hast threatened Nineveh yet thou wilt reverse thy Threatening But a Promise once given unto a soul shal never be reversed or repealed It may rise up to an Oath as somtimes it doth for when God gives a Promise to a soul and opposition ariseth if then God gives out the same Promise again it amounts to an Oath As I live saith the Lord I will never reverse this Promise that I have made to thee But a Promise once given shal never be reversed or reâealed Gal. 3. you have the case that is now before you Saith Paul at verse 15. I speak after the manner of men though it be but a mans Covenant yet if it be confirmed no man disanulleth or addeth thereunto Now to Abraham and his Seed were the Promises made And therefore saith the Apostle the Promise shall not be disanulled although the Law came after the Promise But if the Promise that the Lord gave to Abraham was not disanulled by the Law that came four hundred and thirty years after verse 17. Wherefore then serves the Law Verse 19 he tels you It was added because of transgression So now say you If that the Promise that God hath given heretofore be not disanulled and made void by the Threatening that follows after wherefore then was the Law or the Threatening given unto my soul It was added because of transgression God had some transgression of yours to discover unto you that you did not think of and therefore the Threatening and the Law came after But the Promise is quite out of sight and I have lost it And did not the Jews also lose the sight of the Promise which was given to Abraham When the Lord gave the Law and they stood quaking and trembling before Mount Sinai did not they then lose the sight of the Promise that was given to Abraham So say I although thou hast lost the sight of the Promise that once thou hadst and a threatening be come in the room of it the Promise that was once given thee it may be four hundred and thirty daies ago or many years ago shal never be disanulled or reversed And the reason is this Because God doth not repent in the matter of the Gospel Ye read in Scripture that God is said somtimes to repent It repented the Lord that he made man somtimes it is said that the Lord doth not repent I am not a man that I should repent How are these two reconciled God doth repent and God doth not repent Thus to our present Purpose God repents as to the matter of the Threatening but God never repents as to the matter of the Promise God repents as to the matter of the Threatening and therefore saith the Lord to Jeremiah I am weary of my repenting I have threatened and threatened and I am weary of threatening Here God repented as to the matter of the threatening but God never repents as to the matter of the Promise And therefore saith the Apostle in Rom. 11. The Gifts and Calling of God are without Repentance And the Promise is a great Gift So then as to the matter of the Promise God doth never repent Wherefore poor soul hast thou a Promise given thee may be five years ago may be ten years ago may be twenty years ago and hast thou lost the sight of this Promise and instead of the Promise is there a Threatening come upon thy soul that makes thy heart quake and tremble I here tell thee from the Lord the Promise that was once given unto thee though now thou hast lost the sight of it shall never be repealed or recalled O! what matter of incouragement is here is here matter of discouragements nay rather here is matter of great incouragement Object O! but yet this is not my case I do not only want Assurance of Gods love but I have Assurance of Gods displeasure I do not only want Assurance of my Salvation but I have Assurance of my damnation I do not only want the testimony of the spirit bearing witness with my spirit that I am the child of God but I have another testimony within my soul beaâing witness to me that I am a reprobate and have I not cause to be discouraged Answ 1 No not yet for it may be you look upon the back-side of Gods dispensation if we look upon the face of Gods dispensation we see his love and good pleasure but if we look on the backside thereof we conclude nothing but anger displeasure It may be it is so with you in this case But Answ 2 Secondly If you find no such testimony of reprobation as you speak of in al the scripture then you have no reason to fear or to be discouraged in this respect now search the scripture and you shal not find in al the word any ground for such a testimony of reprobation We read indeed of Francis Spira notorious for his despair when his friends came to comfort him having spake comfortable words unto him That he said why go ye about to comfort me comfort belongs not to me for I am a reprobate O! said one of his friends do not say so for none are able to say so yes said he as the elect of God have a spirit within them bearing witness that they are the children of God so reprobates have another spirit bearing witness with their spirits that they are not the children of God but the children of Satan and such a spirit of reprobation have I. But my beloved if there be such a spirit or a testimony of reprobation as this is either it must be from the spirit of God or from the spirit of Satan if from the spirit of Satan then he is a lyer not to be beleeved if it be from the spirit of God how doth it suit with the word for the spirit of God is called the Comforter can such a spirit of reprobation come from the comforter and if you have such a testimony as this is either you must have it from the word or from the spirit of God alone without the word if from the word then from the threatening for it is not from the promise nor from the command if from the threatening a threatening may be repealed a threatening may be reversed as you have heard and if you have it from the spirit of the Lord how can it be that the spirit should be called a Comforter surely therefore if you have such a spirit of reprobation in your bosom it is from Satan and he is a Lyer But my beloved I wil in this appeal to you
go to Heaven and be saved for ever What then though thou hast stayed long and hast long wanted Assurance yet God hath not led thee so far as he hath led some and thy condition is no other than that which may befal the dear servants and children of God Answ 3 But Thirdly Though for the present you do want Assurance of Gods love and of your own Salvation yet if you may conclude by Scripture Arguments that you shal have it before you die then have you no reason to be discouraged Now though this or that particular Christian in a case not ordinary do die under a cloud and with much fear and doubting about his everlasting condition yet there are Arguments in scripture whereby a man may ordinarily know and conclude that he shal have peace and Assurance before he dies For example Arg. 1 First He that is content to stay and go without a mercy if God wil have it so shal not want it for ever For the Patient abiding of the meek shal noâ be forgotten for ever Psal 9. As the way to have affliction continued is to be discontented under it so the way to have it removed is to be contented with it There is a Faith of Expectance a Faith of Relyance and the Faith of Assurance The Faith of Expectance wil rise up into a Faith of Reliance and the Faith of Reliance to the Faith of Assurance there is seldom a may-be Faith but hath a shal-be and it is at the bottom if God would make it float Arg. 2 Secondly If the Lord hath wrought wonders for thy soul when thou wert in the wilderness and in a desert then certainly he wil bring thee into the land of rest So he dealt by David so he dealt by Israel so he wil deal by thee Arg. 3 Thirdly If thy heart be upright in the matter of thine Assurance God will certainly give Assurance unto thee Psal 84.11 for ye know what the Psalmist saith The Losd wil give Grace and Glory and no good thing wil he withold from them that walk uprightly If therefore I say thy heart hath been upright in the matter of thine assurance the Lord wil give thee assurance though for the present thou want'st it Now I pray when is a mans heart upright in the matter of his Assurance but when he doth desire Assurance of Gods love and of his own Salvation rather that he may praise and serve God the more than for his own comfort For this look in Psal 9. and see how David reasons to this purpose vers 13. 14. Have mercy upon me O Lord consider my trouble which I suffer of them that hate me thou that liftest me up from the gates of death That I may shew forth al thy praise in the gates of the daughter of Zion I wil rejoyce in thy Salvation Here are three things observable First he was in a very low condition at the gates of death From the gates of death saith he Gates of death that is the power of death The gates of Hel shal not prevail that is the powers of Hel shal not prevail so here the gates of death that is the powers of death David was under the power of death at the gates of death and now in this condition he prayes unto the Lord for mercy that the Lord would lift him up but why doth he pray so mark his end At vers 14. Have mercy upon me O Lord consider my trouble why That I may shew forth thy praise in the gates of the daughter of Zion O Loâd bring me from the gates of death that I may praise thee in the gates of the daughter of Zion not for my own comfort Lord but that I may praisâ thee Wel but what inference doth he make of this see what followes in the latter end of vers 14. I wil or shal rejoyce in thy Salvation O Lord my heart hath been upright in this petition and now I know thou wilt grant my prayer I wil I shal rejoyce in thy Salvation Arg. 4 Fourthly When a man can praise God for what he hath although his condition be very sad God wil give him more and give him a better condition If God shew mercy saith one or give a blessing and I praise God I pay my debt but if my case be low and sad and I praise God then then God is pleased to be called my debtor and he wil certainly pay his debt Arg. 5 Fiftly If the Lord be the health of your countenance you shal have the assurance of your Salvation in due time though now you want it Thus the Psalmist reasons in the text Wait on God or hope in God for I shal yet praise him why for he is the health of my countenance but when is God said to be the health of our countenance when his smiles make us look cheerly and his frowns make us look sadly if I look wel when God smiles though al relations frown and do look il when God frowns though al my relations smile then is God the health of my countenance Now I appeal to you beloved you that do want Assurance hath it not been thus with you Do ye not earnestly desire Assurance yet are content to stay wait and go without it if God wil have it so Hath not the Lord shewn wonders for thy soul when thou hast been in a wildered condition in preserving and keeping thee from doing evil to thy self and have not you been upright in the matter of your Assurance saying thus O Lord give me Assurance of thy love not that I may have comfort only but that I may be more fit to serve thee And have ye not praised the Lord in your sad condition for what you have And hath not the Lord been the health of your countenance so that when the Lord hath smiled upon you then you have looked wel and when the Lord hath frowned upon you then you have looked il surely you cannot but say I must not deny these things I cannot be faithful to mine own soul if I should deny them yea Lord thou knowest and my soul knowes it That thou hast done wonders for me when I have been in a low desert and wildered condition And O Lord thou knowest I desire Assurance of thy love not for my own comfort onely but that I may be more sit to praise and serve thee And Lord thou knowest I have praised thee in some measure for what I have Yea Lord thou art the health of my countenance when thou smilest upon me then I look wel and when thou frownest upon me then I look ill I may say in truth the Lord is the health of my countenance wel then I say unto thee from the Lord go in peace and be of good comfort though thou doest for the present want comfort and Assurance of thy Salvation thou shalt have it in due time And if al these things be true O! you that are the people of the
never have a Promise take heed you do not say I shall never be Comforted take heed you do not say I shal never have the Testimony of the Spirit bearing witness with my Spirit that I am the Child of God do not say thus I shal never be helped I am in a sad condition and I shal never be better I am in an uncomfortable condition and I shal never be comforted I want Assurance and I shall never have Assurance Beloved this ye cannot say for who knows what God will do whose waies are in the deep and whose foot-steps are not known You know how it is with a sick person If the Physitian come and tels him there is hope of life then his heart dies not but if the Physitian saith to him Sir you are in a great and dangerous Feaver and I would wish you to settle your Estate and look out for comfort for your soul for the truth is you will never be recovered then his heart dies So here take a poor soul that wants Assurance If he saith there is hope that I may be assured he is not discouraged but if he saith I have no Assurance and I shall never have it then he is quite discouraged it is this word Never that doth discourage O! I shal never be encouraged and I shall never have Assurance and I shall never have the Testimony of Gods Spirit Take heed that you do not say I shall never be Assured that is a Temptation take heed of the word Never in this case Answ 5 Fiftly and lastly Carry this for a Rule with you and remember it much That the less Assurance you have the more precious your obedience may be and the more kindly God may take it at your hands It is no great matter for a man to write and to work by the Day light or Candle light but for a man to write or to work in the dark is hard So here it is no great matter comparatively for a man to pray and to work spiritually while he is in the light but for a poor soul to pray and to work towards God and to be obedient when he is in the dark and hath no Assurance of the Love of God is somthing I confess indeed that the more Assurance you have the more full your Obedience will be but the less Assurance you have the more ingenuous may be your Obedience I say The more full your Assurance is the more full and large your Obedience will be but the less Assurance you have the more ingenuous your Obedience may be Every Child will serve his Father for his Portion and for his Inheritance but when a Child shall doubt of his Fathers Love yea when a Child shall conclude and say I know that my Father will dis-inherit me I know that my Father will bestow nothing upon me yet I will serve him because he is my Father will not all men say Here is ingenuity indeed in this Child So between God and you It is good for a Christian to be obedient at all times and the more Assurance you have the more you are bound to obey but doth thy soul fear that God will dis-inherit thee and yet doest thou say However it be I will obey God for he is my Father though I cannot see him yet wil I serve him and though I have no Comfort from God yet will I be obedient to him for it is my Duty he is my Father The Lord will take this kindly at thine hands and what thou wantest in the largeness shal be made up in the ingenuity of thine Obedience Wherefore then doest thou want Assurance of the Love of God Comfort thy self with this and say within thine own soul well though I do want Assurance I hope through Grace I am in some measure Obedient and the less Assurance I haâe the more kindly God takes my Obedience at my hand and therefore why should I be discouraged or cast down Think and think often of this Rule and it will help you to be obedient and bear up your hearts also in the want of Assurance And thus I have done with the Fourth Instance A LIFTING UP In case of TEMPTATION Sermon VIII PSALM 42.11 Stepney May 28. 1648. Why art thou cast down O my Soul and why art thou disquieted within me c. Instance 5. SOmetimes the Discouragements of the Saints are drawn From their Temptations And thus they Argue with themselves I am a poor Creature that hath labored under many Temptations never any so tempted as I have been These two three four five six or many yeers that I have lyen under these Temptations and no relief comes no help comes have I not reason then to be discouraged and cast down Answ No No reason yet I grant That the least Temptations are great Afflictions for the more a man is unfitted by Affliction for Gods Service either in doing good or receiving good the worser and more heavy is that Affliction to a gracious Spirit Now though God doth so over-rule the Temptations of his People that they receive good thereby as appeareth afterward yet the Temptation in it self doth indispose a man unto what is good The more a man is tempted unto what is evil the more a man is hindred from what is good It is an Affliction to a gracious heart to be conflicting fighting and combating with a man but in Temptations we do combate and conflict immediately with Satan who is the Prince of the Air with Principalities and Powers with that evil One who for his devouring Nature is called a Lyon for his Cruelty is called a Dragon and for his subtilty an old Serpent and in every Temptation a poor soul goes into the field with Satan and fights a Duel with him Satan hath saith Christ to Peter desired you in which Duel and Combat a man doth not miscarry for this present Life barely but if he miscarry he miscarries to all Eternity he dies is killed and slain to all Eternity O! what a mighty hazard doth a poor soul âun in every Temptation The Chast and good Woman counts it an Affliction to her so long as she lives if she be but once violenced if a filthy person meet her in the field and violence her though she do not consent unto him she wrings her hands and saith I am undone for ever Now these Temptations are the Solicitations of an unclean Spirit and what though a man do not consent unto them yet thereby his soul suffers violence O! saith a gracious soul what though I do not consent yet what an infinite misery is it to be thus abused defiled and violenced by these Temptations The more any affliction doth seize on soul and body the greater it is it is Comfort in a Family that the Wife is well when the Husband is sick or that the Husband is well when the Wife is down where both are down at once it is a sad Family indeed So though the Soul be
now from home and travelling ãâ¦ã a strange Countrey and do you think it is possible ãâã âould it not be a wonder that meeting with so many cross waiâs you should never be at a stand about your Condition or question your way whether you be right or no Give me leave to propound you a Parable Suppose two men one goes very brave fares deliciously is very merry and full of money yet hath no Lands no Calling nothing left him no friends to maintain him nor no honest way known to bring him in money and yet he is full of it The other works hard fares meanly goes plainly and he is oft complaining I fear I shal want and miscarry yet he hath a Calling some Land good Friends and some Money Which of these two think you doth come most honestly by his Money Will you not all say the latter For though he hath but little yet he works hath a Lawful Calling waies known for to bring it in But as for the other though fine brave and looks high yet he hath nothing to bring it in I sear he comes not well by it So Spiritually there are two sorts of People in the world One that is very confident of his Salvation and full of Comfort yet he prayeth not in private reads not meditates not examineth not his own heart takes no pains about his soul but is often spending keeping ill company will be somtimes drunk swear and be unclean yet he is very confident he shall go to Heaven The other praies hears reads meditates walketh with all strictness in his life and conversation yet he is alwaies doubting and fearing but through Grace he hath some Comfort Which of these two think you is in the best condition and comes most honestly by his Comfort Will you not say surely the latter for though he fears yet he is alwaies doing working Heaven-ward The other though confident and ful of Comforts hath no good way for to bring them in and therefore surely his Evidence for Heaven is stolen his Comforts are all stolen But as for the other though he hath but little Comfort yet he comes truly by it Thus it may be with you whilst others swaggering it and braving it out with their Comfort and false Confidence go to Hell and perish everlastingly It is a sure Rule That Gods Promise of Mercy doth suppose our Misery if he promise health he supposeth our sickness if he promise Grace it supposeth our sin Now though in the times of the old Testament God promised much outward Blessing yet in the times of the new Testament the Mercy promised is To send the Comforter the Spirit who shall bear witness unto our Spirits that we are the Children of God often our Savior saith I wil send the Comforââ Why but to show that in the times of the Gospel the People of God shall labor under doubtings and be full of fears about their Spiritual estate and therefore though you do doubt of your Child-ship which is your evil yet your state herein is no other than what may be the state and condition of Gods own People in these Gospel times why therefore should you be discouraged in this respect Object 3 But I do not only doubt of my Child-ship I am not only tempted to doubt whether I be the Child of God or no but I labor under sad and searful temptations I am tempted to strange and horrid things such as I fear to name I am even tempted to make away my self tempted with blasphemous thoughts to doubt whether there be a God or no whether the Scripture be true and to say that I have sinned against the holy Ghost such and such things I am tempted to as my very soul and flesh doth tremble at and have I not just cause and reason now to be discouraged and cast down Answ I confess this is sad indeed I do not read in Scripture though I read of many sins of the Godly that ever any Godly man did make away himself It is a good Speech of Austin Sibi auferendo presentem vâtam abnegant futuram Men by taking away their present life deââ themselves their future life But because saith Mr. Perkins ãâ¦ã âone this whose lives have been counted honest ãâ¦ã âly therefore my Sentence is thus I dare not ãâ¦ã damned because of their former life and I dare not say they are saved because of their sinful death yet for the Temptation it self I say if it do not come to act as there is no Duty which a Godly man doth perform but a wicked man may do the same yet remain wicked so there is no Temptation which a wicked man may yield unto but a godly man may be tempted unto yet remain godly was not Christ himself tempted by Satan to throw himself down from the Pinacle of the Temple yet he did it not Only my Counsel and Advice from the Lord is If any be troubled with such a Temptation be sure you reveal it and discover it presently and as for those horrid blasphemous suggestions which lie so heavy upon your souls which make your heart and flesh to tremble at the rising of them Ye have read how it was with the King of Moab when he could not break through the Hoast of Israel nor make them cease from following the Victory he presented unto their view a horrible Spectacle sacrificing on the walls his own dear Son and Heir to the Crown that so the Israelites being not able to endure the view of that inhumane sight might give over the Victory Thus doth Satan do when he cannot drive a gracious soul out of the field any other way then he presenteth such horrid inhumane suggestions to him that he may scare him from the good waies of God it is not in our power to hinder Satan from presenting these things to our thoughts When you come into wicked ungodly and prophane Company if they wil swear and curse and blaspheme you cannot hinder them from speaking nor your self from hearing you may sit down and mourn saying O! what Blasphemy is here what Cursing is here but do what you can they will fill your Ears with these things Now Satan being a Spirit he is able to present these Blasphemies to your Spirits and you cannot hinder it you may cry out and say O! what Blasphemy is here O! what a burden is this to my soul But he can present them to you whether you wil or not and did he not present these things unto Christ himself All these things will I give thee saith he if thou wilt fall down and worship me what greater Blasphemy can be imagined than that the God of Heaven and Earth as Christ was should worship Satan yet hereunto he did tempt our Lord and Savior And if our God doth so order the Temptations of his Children as that thereby they are kept from sin have they any reason to be discouraged now by these horrid Temptations Many a man is kept from
Because they were upon a Covenant of Works So when men are under a Covenant of Works if they miscarry but in one action though tempted thereto by Satan yet God may cast them thereby Now al the wicked stil are under the Covenant of Works and therefore though it be but one act wherein they miscarry and they be drawn thereunto by Satan yet God somtimes doth and justly may cast them thereby unto al Eternity But as for the Saints and People of God they are not under a Covenant of Works but of Grace al of them are so and therefore God deals graciously with them not measuring them by any one carriage under one Temptation No saith the Lord it is but the time of their Temptation I wil not measure this man or woman by what they are now but as they are when they are cool most themselves and out of Temptation O! what a Gracious Priviledg is this Who would not labor to get into Christ to become Godly to be in this Covenant of Grace And as for you that are Godly tel me upon al this accompt Have you any just cause and reason for your discouragements under your Temptations Surely No whatever your Temptations be yet you have no reason for discouragement Quest But what then What shall I do that I may bear up my heart against all discouragements in this kind that I may not be cast down or discouraged by reason of my Temptations I confess indeed that there is no reason why a godly man should be discouraged in this respect but yet it is a hard thing to bear up against all Discouragements in time of Temptation What shall I do in this case that I may not be discouraged whatever my Temptations be Answ I will say nothing to your Natural Temper If Temptations arise from Natural Causes then Natural Means as Physick are to be used and applied and People should do well to be perswaded thereunto But somwhat by way of Direction Spiritually First If you would not be discouraged under your Temptations Take heed that when you are in Temptation you do not expect too much from any one means of help over expectation breeds discouragement disappointment doth breed Discouragement it is not the sadness of your Condition but Disappointment that doth cause Discouragement If a man be in debt and under an Arrest so long as he thinks he hath friends to bail him or some Goods and Commodities to make sale of he is not discouraged but if he expect much from his friends and all fail him and his goods be seized that he cannot have help come in at that door nor from any other means which he expected from then he is quite discouraged If a man be in the Water wherein there is danger of drowning so long as he can get hold of somthing that wil bear him up he is not discouraged but if he lay hold of some tuft of Grass on the Bank side and that breaks he falls back again and is more plunged into the Water and if he be not scared out of al thoughts he is more discouraged than ever So here In Temptation we are as in the Water and in fear of drowning crying out We sink we sink then we fly to some tuft of Grass some means or other and if that break or fail then we are quite discouraged Would you not therefore be dejected or cast down in time of Temptation take heed that you do not lay all your strength upon one tuft of Grass this or that mans Counsel this or that particular means but say rather I am now indeed in the deep and in fear of drowning see no means of deliverance but Gods waies are in the deep and he is infinite he hath waies and means that I know not of therefore though I use the means yet I will not rest on them and though all tufts of Grass break and Anchors come home yet I wil wait on God Secondly If you would not be discouraged in time of Temptation Take heed that you do not say of your Temptation This is no Temptation Satan tempts first unto what is evil and then he tempts Gods People to think that their Temptation is no Temptation as long as a man thinks it is but a Temptation he thinks it wil not last long it is but a Temptation it wil not hold alwaies and so his heart is in some measure upheld with hope But when Satan can perswade that the Temptation is no Temptation but a worser matter then the heart sinks and dies take heed therefore that ye do not say that your Temptation is no Temptation Thirdly Consider what infinite Engagements are upon Jesus Christ to succor and relieve poor tempted souls you can never be discouraged under Temptation so long as you think how mightily Christ is engaged to help those that are tempted and engaged he is many waies Engaged by his own Temptations for hâ was therefore tempted that he might be able experimentally to succor those that are tempted Engaged he is by Promise for he hath said he will not quench the smoaking flax yea though it hath more smoak than fire Engaged he is by his Interest in you and his Name upon you Engaged he is by his own Gracious Disposition when he was upon Earth he cured those that were vexed by Satan Art thou now tempted thou art now vexed by Satan Christ is as gracious in Heaven as he was on Earth Engaged he is by Office for saith the Apostle We have not such an High-Priest as cannot be touched with our infirmities but was in all points tempted as we are that he might succor those that are tempted he is our great High-Priest When the man-slayer was pursued by the Avenger of Blood if the man-slayer fled unto a City of Refuge he was safe there where he was to stay til the death of the High-Priest and when the High-Priest died then he was set at liberty The Lord Jesus Christ is our High-Priest by whose Death we are set at liberty and by whose Life we are al preserved it is his Office to succor poor tempted souls pursued by Avengers of blood and if a good man be faithful in his Office much more wil Christ by whom al other men are faithful Yea God our Father hath erected an Office for the succoring of poor tempted souls and Jesus Christ hath this Office whenever therfore you are tempted fear you shal miscarry under your Temptation then remember Christ and say O! but the Lord Jesus is in Office he is bound by Office to succor poor tempted souls and such a one am I he is engaged by his own Temptation he is engaged by Promise he is engaged by his Interest in me and his Name upon me he is engaged by his own Dâsposition he is engaged by hââ Office and therefore though I be tempted unto what is evil yet avoid Satan for I shal be delivered I am tempted but I shall be delivered for the Lord
Jesus Christ is engaged for my deliverance Do but think of Christs Engagement and you wil never be discouraged whatever your Temptations be Fourthly Think not to comfort or relieve your self in Temptation with meer Phylosophical or Moral Reasons for the Disease of Temptation is stronger than that Physick Temptations answered by Reason wil return again but Temptations dipt in the Blood of Christ wil return no more or not with such violence and success Ye see how it is with a Candle that is blown out it is easily lighted again but if you put it into Water then it is more hard to light So Temptations blown out with Resolutions and Moral Reasons do easily return but quenched in Christs Blood do not so Christ is an Universal good Reason can hold forth but a particular good Now there is that in an Universal Good which wil answer unto al your Ills but as for Moral Reasons the Tempter wil say to them Christ we know and the Promise we know but who are ye It is God himself saith the Apostle 2 Cor. 1. Who comforteth us in all our Tribulations Are we in the dark Christ only can light the Candle Fifthly Be not unwilling to advise with those that have trodden the way of Temptation though they be weaker than your self Christ was stronger than any Angel yet in the time of his Agony the Angels came and comforted him Possibly a stronger may be comforted and strengthened by a weak hand in the time of an Agony and Temptation-time is Agony-time Are you therefore tempted and in the dark Speak with those Children of Light that have gone through this dark Entry of Temptation Who knows but that God may speak that comfort to you by a weaker hand which you could never obtain by a stronger Sixtly But especially speak and converse with the Promise hear what the Promise speaketh The Lord by it saith That no Temptation shal overtake you 1 Cor. 10.13 but what is common to men O! say you never any one was troubled with such Temptations as I am but saith the Apostle say not so For no Temptation hath overtaken you but what is common to men You think that your Temptation is extraordinary and the truth is that is a second Temptation at the back of the first it is a Temptation to think that my Temptation is extraordinary yet say you O! my Condition is extraordinary my Affliction extraordinary and my Temptation extraordinary but saies the Apostle No Temptation hath overtaken you but what is common c. You think that you shal never be able to bear your Temptation O say you I am a poor weak Creature my Temptation is strong and great therefore I shal never be able to bear it But saies the Apostle God is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able Again you think that you shal never be rid of this Temptation O say you I have been tempted thus and thus long and no deliverance comes nor no likelyhood of deliverance surely therefore I shal never be delivered But the Apostle saith God is faithful who wil with the Temptation make a way for escape He will give an out-let open a door and window that this smoak may go out It may be you see not this door it may be out of sight so the door of the Ark was in the time of the Flood but when the Ark was built the door was built So when Satan built this Temptation God did build a door in the sides thereof and in due time you shal see it But may I be sure of that you 'l say Yes as sure as God is Faithful for he hath pawned his Faithfulness for the truth of this Promise But God is faithful saies the Apostle who wil with the Temptation make a way for escape O! that men would mind the Promise more and all the words thereof They are so hurried somtimes with the Temptation that they cannot hear the Promise But is all this true O! then attend the Promise hear what the Promise speaketh Seventhly and Lastly Consider also what Comforts lie behind your Temptations as Temptations somtimes lie in ambush behind your Performances so Comforts lie in ambush behind your Temptations and as the greatest Temptations do somtimes follow the highest manifestations of Gods Love witness the 3d and 4th Chapters of Matthew so the greatest Consolations do somtimes follow the worst Temptations When did the Angels minister unto Christ but when he had made a good dispatch of Temptations So it shal be with you also for Christ was tempted that by his Example and issue of Temptation he might succor you under your Temptation Ye have heard of the Patience of Job and what end the Lord made with him he had twice as much after the Temptation was over as he had before and if you ride out this storm assuredly the good Angels wil come and minister to you and your Consolations shal be doubled unto what ye had before Wherefore my Brethren take unto you the whol Armor of God that ye may be able to withstand in this evil day and having done al to stand And so much for the Fift Instance A LIFTING UP In case of DESERTION Sermon IX PSALM 42.11 Stepney June 1648. Why art thou cast down O my Soul and why art thou disquieted within me c. Instance 6 SOmtimes the Discouragements of the Saints are taken from their Desertiâtions spiritual Desertions And this was Davids case here for saith he verse 10. As a Sword in my bones mine Enemies reproached me while they say unto me Where is thy God And verse 9. I wil say unto God My Rock why hast thou forgotten me And this is the ordinary case of Gods Children O! saith one the Lord hath forgotten me hid his face from me and hath forsaken my soul and therefore I am thus discouraged I do not complain for want or loss of outward Mercies and Blessings yea though all the world should forsake me I should not be much afflicted if God and Christ were present with me but times were when the Candle of the Lord shined upon me when I walked as I thoâght in the light of his Countenance but now the Lord hath hiâ his face from me and hath left and forsaken my soul have I not just cause and reason to be cast down now and to be much disquâeted Answ No. I grant and it must neeâs be grânted That it is a most sad thing for a gracious heart to wanâ the ârace and presence of God and Christ to be deserted and forsaken by Christ yea I do not know any thing or any Affliction that is so afflictive to a gracious heart as this For take any other Affliction and though it be great yet it is but a particular Affliction the loss of some Particular Good and the putting out of some one Candle or the hiding of some one Star But if Christ hide his face and God withdraw or hide
himself it is the darkening of the Sun which brings an universal darkness upon the soul and it imbitters al other Afflictions for as the presence of Christ sweetens all other Comforts so the absence or forsakings of Christ do imbitter al other Sufferings and cut off al our relief and remedy against them So long as the face of God shines upon a poor soul he may run to Christ and relieve and help himself against his Affliction true my Friends forsake me my Relations forsake me but Christ hath not forsaken me but if God and Christ forsake where shal a man relieve or refresh himself in this stormy day And as those sins are greatest that cut off our relief against other sins so those Afflictions are greatest that cut off our relief against other Afflictions Such is this of al Afflictions it looks the most like a Judgment to a Gracious Soul O Lord Psal 6.1 saith David Correct me not in thine Anger nor chasten me in thy hot Displeasure When God hides his face and forsakes the soul he seems to correct in Anger and in hot displeasure herein a Christian doth as it were combat with God himself he fights with men somtimes and then he is more than a Conquerer because Christ fighteth with him and in him he fights with Satan Principalities and Powers and then he doth overcome because Christ is with him but O! saith the soul in this Desertion God is mine Enemy here I must fight it out hand to hand with Divine Anger and what shal I do now how is it possible that I should now escape The truth is this Affliction above al others seems to draw a Curtain over al our Comforts and to put an end unto al our Spiritual joy What Birds sing in the Winter time some may but ordinarily they do not If you walk abroad in the Winter time and hear no Birds sing and one say to you What is the reason of this deep silence two or three months ago when we walked in the Fields every Wood had its several Musick how sweetly did the Birds sing then but now they are al silent what is the reason You wil easily answer I then indeed it was Summer time then the Sun shone upon them and âo they sang âut now the warming and enlivening beams of the Sun are gone âhey sing no more Beloved the Light of Gods Countenance is oâr Spring Desertion is our Winter show me that Sainâ that is able to sing in this Winter time I confess it is possible for a man to âo it and some there are Habakkuk was one that learned âhis song of Faith but âow few are able to sing and rejoyce when God hides himself No saith the soul two or three months ago the Lord shined upon me and then I could sing indeed but now God and Christ is gone and so al my songs are gone and joyes are gone and I fear I shal never see them again or rejoyce in Christ again It is said of Mary That when she went to Christs Sepulchre she wept and though the Angel came to her and said Why weepest thou yet she continued weeping the presence of an Angel could not comfort her Why O! saith she They have taken away my Lord and I know not where they have laid him Would it not grieve a Prince to be dispossest of and to lose his Crown to be made like an ordinary man This Presence of Christ is the Crown of a Christian and therefore when God had forsaken the Church as we read in Lam. 5. she complained verse 16. The Crown is falâen from my Head Why ver 20. Wherefore doest thou forget us for evâr and forsake us so long a time Ver. 22. Thou hast utterly rejected us thou art very wroth against us Take away the presence of Christ and ye set a Christian among the ordinary rank of men and must he not needs be troubled when his Crown is thus taken from his Head I have read of a Religious Woman that having born Nine Children professed That she had rather endure all the pains of those Nine Travels at once than endure the Misery of the loss of Gods Presence And indeed this Affliction of Gods forsaking a man is so great that if a man feel it not I even fear it is because he is forsaken indeed But now though there be never so much Gal and Wormwood in this Cup yet the Children of God have no reason to faint at the drinking of it no just cause or reason yet to faint or be discouraged or cast down Quest How may that appear Answ 1 First For the cleering of this Truth to you ye must know That God or Christ is said to forsake a man either in regard of his Power Grace or Strength or in regard of the comfortable feelings of his Love either in reâârd of Union or in regard of Vision 1. In regard of Union He never forsakes his own People 2. In regard of his Power Grace and Strength he never forsakes them totally 3. And in regard of Vision or comfortable feelings though he do forsake for a time yet he wil return again and if al these be true have they any reason to be much discouraged For the first ye know what is said Those whom he loves John 13.1 he loves unto the end As for the Second ye know what he saith also I will never leave thee nor forsake thee Heb. 13.5 1 Pet. 1.5 We are kept by the Power of God unto Salvation And as for the Third hath not the Lord promised Isay 54. that he wil return again with advantage ver 7. For a smal moment have I forsaken thee but with great mercy will I gather thee In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment but with everlasting kindness wil I have mercy on thee saith the Lord thy Redeemer ver 8. Now ye know that Friends are not much troubled at such a parting which is but for a time It is said of the Church of Ephesus That when Paul âook leave of them they wept Because he said they should see his face no more The Saints cannot say so in regard of Christ though they see not his face for the present yet they cannot say I shal see his face no more for he wil return again yea and return with advantage for though he forsakes for a moment yet with great mercy and with everlasting kindness wil the Lord have mercy on them What then though you be forsaken for a moment have you any just cause and reason for your Discouragement Answ 2 Secondly If Christ do therefore forsake his People that he may not forsake them and hath a design of Love and nothing but of Love upon them in his forsaking then have they no just cause for their Discouragements Now I pray What is the reason why God doth forsake his People for a time or a moment hath he any deââgn but Love upon them Doth he
not therefore withdraw himself from them that he might draw them to himself Doth he not therefore hide his face for a moment that he may not turn his back upon them for ever Doth he not therefore forsake them for a moment that they might die unto all the world and long after Heaven where there is no forsaking Doth he not therefore forsake them for a moment that they might die unto the way of sence and learn to live by Faith which is the proper work of this Life Doth he not therefore forsake them for a moment that in this Winter of their Desertion the Weeds and Vermin of their sins may be killed and mortified Doth he not therefore forsake them for a moment that he may see their Love to him In time of his Presence we have the sence of his Love to us but in the time of his absence then he seeth and we our selves have the sence of our Love to him Doth he not therefore forsake them for a moment that their very Joyes and Comforts may be more fervent exalted and enlarged It is our Nature to rejoyce most in a Comfort when it is redeemed from the hand of Death and recovered from loss The wise men when they saw the lost Star again then they rejoyced with exceeding great joy Did they not rejoyce iâ the Star before Surely they did But they rejoyced more even with exceeding great joy when they had found the lost Star And this is our Nature we rejoyce most in the finding of lost mercies Now the Lord Christ knows our Nature and therefore that he may raise our joy our praise our thankfulness for his Presence Face and Manifestation of his Love he doth somtimes withdraw them So that in al his withdrawings he hath a Design of Love upon our souls have we any reason then to be much discouraged though deserted Answ 3 Thirdly Though it pleaseth God to hide his Face from his People somtimes insomuch as they are in the dark and in a very dark Condition yet they are never so much in the dark but that they have light enough to work by For what day is there in all the yeer that is so short dark and gloomy but a man may see to work by Indeed somtimes the Sun is in the Eclipse somtimes behind a Cloud somtimes it breaks not forth with his Golden beams as at other times but if the Sun be up and it be day a man hath alwaies light enough to work by Now the Sun is alwaies up with the Saints it is alwaies day with them though the Beams of the Sun of Righteousness do not shine yet it is alwaies day they are not Children of darkness they may have a dark day of it but though it be never so dark they may find light enough to do the great Work which they came into the World for which is to beleeve and trust and stay themselves on God this â man may do in the darkest time when he hath no light and therefore saith the Prophet Let him that walks in darkness and seeth no light stay himself upon the Name of the Lord. What then though you have not so much light as you would have to refresh your selves by yet if you have light enough to do your Fathers Work by and the greatest work of this Life is to trust in God and beleeve have you then any reason for your discouragements Thus it is with al the Saints though they may be in the dark and the Sun shines not out upon them yet it is alwaies day with them and they have light enough when it is darkest to do their Fatherâ work and business by and therefore certainly the Saints have no reason to be cast down and discouraged although they be much forsaken deserted and in the dark Object 1 But Jesus Christ hath not only deserted forsaken and withdrawn himself from me in regard of Vision but I fear also in regard of Vnion not in regard of comfortable feelings only but in regard of strength and power and therefore I am afraid and discouraged and have I not cause for it Answ No. For a man that is in the dark is not able to judg of his own Grace or Christs Strength in him Now you are in Desertion therefore in the dark therefore not able to judg of your own Grace and Christs Strength in you yet if you can judg in this Condition and wil deal faithfully with your own souls is there not as much of Christs Strength and Grace in your Lives and Conversations as when ye had that presence which ye mourn after excepting your enlargements in Duties I confess indeed that â Gracious man in time of Desertion hath not those enlargements as he had when Gods Face shined upon him but setting aside your enlargements what is there in your Conversations wanting now which you had then and is the very want of enlargement a sufficient reason to say that Christ is gone and hath forsaken me not only in regard of Vision but in regard of Union Strength and Grace We read in Cant. 5.5 That when Christ withdraws from the Spouse there is some Mirrh left upon the ringles of the door the Spouse ariseth follows after him and enquireth for him saying Did you see my beloved She met with the Watchmen they smote her and she was willing to bear their smiting that she might hear of Christ she stands and admireth at the beauty and excellency of her Beloved White and ruddy the fairest of ten thousand Now in this Desertion of yours is there not some Mirrh upon the ringles of your heart Do you not still stand admiring Christ and his Excellencies Do you not enquire after your Beloved going to one and to another saying Did you see him whom my soul loveth Are you not willing that the Watchmen should smite you so ye may but meet with Christ again And wil ye say then he is not only gone in regard of Vision but in regard of Union Power Strength and Grace too Surely you have no reason for it Object 2 But I am not only forsaken and deserted and want the Comfortable feelings and manifestations of Love which I once had and do now desire to have but I do find the contrary tokens of Gods Displeasure manifestations of his Anger were it only the withdrawings of Love I might bear it but Christ is angry God is angry appears to be mine Enemy and have I not reason now to be much discouraged Answ No For if this hath been the condition of the Saints before you why should you fear your state in this respect Now look into Isay 57. and you shal ãâã that God saith I was wroth and smote him he did not only hide his face but he was wroth yea he is not only wroth but he smote his People too and yet the Promise is I will restore comfort to him and to his mourners Did not Job think and say that God was angry with him
and become his Enemy and did not Job's Friends think that God loved them and was their Friend and his Enemy yet if you look into Job 42. you find that God was more pleased with Job for he was fain to pray for them before they could be accepted and know ye not that it is Christs usual manner to personate an Enemy when he intends the most Friendship to seem a stranger when he intends the most communion It is said that God was angry with Moses Exod. 4. yet even then he gave him such a Promise of mercy as he had not before ver 14 15 16. Ye know what Davids choyce was Lord let me fall into thy hands and not into the hands of men for with thee is mercy It is somtimes a mercy to be immediately chastised by the hand of God our Father God might turn us over to the hands of men but if God wil take us into his own hand and chastise with his own hand immediately there is love in it If a Prince should say to his Officers My whol Kingdom is before you do right and execute Justice and Judgment but as for such and such a Family if they shall commit any fault I wil chastise them immediately with mine own hand you shal not meddle with them I wil do it my self would not this argue love Thus it is with the Saints in the time of Desertion then God takes the soul into his own hand all Creatures and Officers of his Anger stand by and meddle not in other Afflictions God turns us over to his Officers but in Desertion there he doth correct immediately and therefore though he strikes yet there is Love at the bottom and the more Christ doth sympathize with you in any Affliction the less cause you have to be discouraged Christ is our sympathizing High-Priest in al our Afflictions but the more we are like to him in any Affliction the more he doth sympathize and his heart let out the more unto us Jesus Christ was in Desertion himself and not only forsaken but for our sakes under the wrath and displeasure of God his Father and therefore when he sees a soul not only deserted but under anger and displeasure of God then he saith O! there is a soul that is in my case and so he does most commiserate and compassionate that person have you then any reason to be discouraged in this respect Object 3 But this is not my case For I am not only deserted forsaken under manifestations of Christs displeasure but I have sinned and drawn down this Desertion upon my own soul and therefore now it is that I am thus discouraged and have I not reason for it Answ No For God doth not alwaies desert and forsake his People for their sins somtimes he doth and somtimes he doth not as appears by comparing the 3d and 5th Chapters of the Canticles and it may be he doth now withdraw from you not for your sin and if there be but a may be of it there is no reason for discouragement But suppose it be so look I pray into Isay 57. again and see what the Lord hath promised to a poor soul in this condition ver 17. 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 Wil ye say the Lord doth not only hide his fâce from you but he hath smitten you So here Wil ye say O! but I have sinned and drawn this desertion upon my self So here For the iniquity of his Covetousness I was wroth and smote him Will ye say O! but I have sinned on both sides of this Desertion I have sinned before the Desertion came which sin was the cause of it and I have sinned since I have been deserted by my frowardness and peevish carriage So here For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth and hid me there is sin on the one side and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart there is sin on the other side of Desertion Here is sin on both sides what then is there any hope or comfort or mercy for a heart in this condition Yes saith the Lord I will restore comfort unto him and to his mourners O! but it is not comfort that my soul desires but I have a foul filthy unclean wicked heart of mine own O! that my heart were healed Is there any hope of healing mercy in this condition Yes saith the Lord in the Text I have seen his waies and will heal him O! but though I be healed I shal sin again and wander from God again nay saith the Lord But I have seen his waies and will heal him and will lead him also But I see no means or likelihood of al this how can it be Yes very well for saith the Lord ver 19. I create the fruit of the Lips Peace peace peace to him that is afar off and I will heal him again O! what Comfort is here what an upholding Promise is here Can you read it or think of it and your heart sink before it Object 4 This is but part of my condition for I have sinned Christ hath forsaken me I have sinned Christ hath smote me and he goes on smiting goes on angry goes on displeased I have been deserted a long while in the dark a long while and I am so far from the light that it doth even grow darker and darker my condition being more sad every day than other every day I am more deserted and my condition worser have I not reason to be cast down and discouraged now Answ No For when was it worst with the Israelites They had an ill time of it al the while they were in the Land of Egypt a dark time but was it not worst with them immediately before their deliverance Did not the Task-Masters then beat them When was it worst with David ill at al times in the Wilderness but was it not worst with him at Ziklag when he had lost his Wives and his own men took up stones against him Psal 10. we read that David saith Why standest thou afar off O Lord and hidest thy self in the time of trouble hiding is more and worâer than standing afar off When the Sun is going down then it seems to be far off but when it is hidden then it is set and is further off So saith David Lord thou art not only afar off but even out of sight quite out of sight and art hidden from me his Desertion grew higher and higher And if you look into Psal 13. you find that he speaks to the like purpose How long wilt thou bide thy face from me how long wilt thou forget me O Lord for ever As hiding is more than standing afar off so it is worse than forgetting For as Musculus observes wel forgetting is but Remissio amoris a man that loves another may forget him yet he may love him well but
it self We read of Saul indeed That when he was forsaken he cryed out and said God hath forsaken me the Philistims are upon me God hath forsaken me but it is in order to an outward evil the Philistims are upon me But the Saints when they are forsaken are sensible of this evil simply for it self and think the time long and tedious when they are so forsaken O Lord saith David how long wilt thou hide thy face from me what for ever But I say Was ever man forsaken was ever man quite forsaken of God that was sensible of this evil only and simply for it self Fourthly Did you ever read in al the Word of God That ever a man was finally forsaken who was tender in the point of sin who sate mourning after God We read in the Romans That when God gave up the Gentiles to their sins they gave up themselves unto al uncleanness and were past feeling The Saints and People of God on the contrary in the time of their Desertion are tender in the point of sin and they mourn after God When was a man ever forsaken whose heart was in this frame Fiftly Did you ever read that Christ did finally forsake a man in whose heart and soul stil he did leave his Goods Furniture and Spiritual Houshold-stuff A man somtimes goes from home and somtimes he doth quite leave his house There is much difference between those two If a man leave his house and comes no more then he carries away all his goods and when ye see them carried away ye say this man wil come no more But though a man ride a great Journey yet he may come again and ye say surely he wil come again why Because still his Goods Wife and Children are in his House So if Christ reject a man and go away finally he carries away all his Goods Spiritual Gifts Graces and Principles But though he be long absent yet if his Houshold-stuff abide in the heart if there be the same desires after him and delight in him and admiring of him and mourning for want of him ye may say surely he wil come again Why Because his Houshold-stuff is here still When did Christ ever forsake a man in whose heart he left this Spiritual Furniture Sixtly Did ye ever know a man finally forsaken of Christ who did long after the presence of Christ as the greatest good and looked upon his absence as the greatest evil and affliction in all the world being willing to kiss the feet of Jesus Christ and to serve him in the lowest and meanest condition so he might but enjoy him We find that the Saints desire above all things to be kist with the kisses of Christs mouth and therefore the Book of the Camicles doth so begin chap. 2. ver 1. Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth even because that is the first and the chiefest of the Saints desires in this Life but if Christ wil not kiss me with the kisses of his mouth saith a gracious soul yet I am willing to kiss his feet as Mary did There is a time a coming when he wil kiss me with the kisses of his mouth for ever but for the present if I can but kiss his feet here I have hope to be kissed by him in Heaven Now I say Did Christ ever forsake a man finally who did thus long after Christ himself Can those that are forsaken mourn after his presence as the best thing and for his absence as the greatest evil in al the world I appeal to your own Souls and Bosoms herein whoever you are that labor under this fear that Christ is gone and he wil return no more suppose that God hath hid his face from you seems to forget you and to be angry with you yet in the midst of all these darknesses Do you find an evil Spirit an envious malicious Spirit from the Lord seizing upon you Do you find that you can find in your heart to forsake God and the good Waies of God Yea rather do you not find the contrary though you want the sence of Gods Love Have you not the sence of your own sin and when you want the sence of your own perfection have you not some sence of your own imperfection Don't you look upon this Desertion as the greatest Affliction in al the world Can you not mourn after God and his Presence Doth not Christ every foot send in one token of his Love or another to visit your souls And are you not willing to kiss the feet of Jesus Christ O yes I must needs say though I have fears that Christ is gone and wil return no more yet I praise the Lord I do not find an envious malicious persecuting Spirit in my soul unto the Saints and People of God I don't find that my heart is willing to forsake Christ and the good waies of Christ But I find that I can mourn for the absence of Christ simply for it self and look upon it as the greatest affliction in the world That I am ever willing to kiss the feet of Jesus Christ And to be in the lowest and meanest Condition so he would but return unto my soul again Yea and I must needs say That every foot I receive one token or other one Promise or another to visit me in my condition Then be of good comfort though Christ be absent yet he wil return again and with great mercy and with everlasting kindness wil he gather your souls unto himself again and thus I say it shal be with all the Saints Surely therefore they have no reason for their Discouragements whatever their Desertions be Why therefore should not every one say Why art thou cast down O my soul and why art thou so disquieted within me Quest Vpon all this account I see I have not so much reason for my Discouragement but it is an hard thing to bear up ones heart from sinking in the time of Desertion when God hides his face What shall I do then and this may be the condition of us all that I may bear up my heart against this Discouragement even when I am most in the dark and Christ hides his face from me or forsakes me Answ 1 First Take heed that ye don't measure Gods eternal Affection by some present Dispensation There is an Eternal Displeasure against a man and there is a present Displeasure with a man Eternal Displeasure or hatred cannot stand with Eternal Love but Eternal Love and present Displeasure may stand together A Father may be displeased with the Child for the present and yet may love him with Paternal Love So God may and doth love though for the present displeased But when men measure Eternal Affection by present Dispensation then they are quite discouraged and you will find all Discouragements in this case do arise from hence Some there are that do walk by particular Providences Experiences Words Manifestations and In-comes of Love and when they have them then
and quiet under the hand of God then he is called to that other work which his Affliction doth lead him to It may be your Affliction may hinder you from your former work which God hath call'd you from but it doth not hinder you from that work whereunto you are now called by your Affliction And what though my Affliction doth hinder me from my former work yet if God wil not fault me for the neglect of that have I any reason to be discouraged becaus I do not do it This is certain That if God cal me to a new work he wil never blame me if I lay by the former You wil not blame your Servants if they lay by their former work when you call them to a new and when God leads into a new Affliction then he doth cal to a new work Answ 3 And as for matter of Temptation and Sin this is certain That that Affliction doth never expose a man to a new sin which doth make him sensible of his former sin Now as you have heard the Afflictions of the Saints do both discover and heal their sins making them sensible of them which they were not before And if you look into Psal 125.3 you find a Promise to this purpose The Rod of the wicked shall not rest on the Lot of the Righteous lest the Righteous put forth their hand to iniquity As it is with a Master that sets his Servant to beat the dust out of his Garment though he cause the rod or stick to pass upon the Garment yet he will not suffer it to rest so long upon the Garment as it shal be torn thereby Your Affliction is Gods Rod and he suffers it to pass upon your Garment Why That he may fetch out your dust therewith but he wil not suffer this Rod to rest so long upon you as to tear your Garment Lest the Righteous put forth their hand unto iniquity saith the Text. Answ 4 And if this fear of yours be a good sign of your Grace then why should you be discouraged in this respect Now what better sign of Truth and Uprightness of heart have you than this That you are therefore troubled at your Affliction because it doth expose to Temptation and Sin and because it doth hinder you from what is good Do you not say so Lord thou knowest I am therefore afflicted under this Affliction not because of the burden of it so much but because thereby I am hindred from doing and receiving good and exposed to such Temptations as for the Affliction it self though it be great yet Lord thou knowest I should submit to it and be quiet under it were I not thereby exposed unto what is evil Here now is sincerity here is uprightness and will you then be discouraged nay rather have you not cause and reason to be much encouraged Object 6 This is not my fear or cause of my discouragement but I am under a great and sore Affliction so and so afflicted and I fear I have brought my self into this Affliction by my sin had not my sin been the cause of my Affliction I should not be troubled but O! my Affliction is great and long and I am perswaded that my own sin is the cause thereof yea and that which aggravateth the matter is I cannot find out what the sin is if God would but discover it to me I should be more at quiet but my sin is the cause of my affliction and I know not what the particular sin is that hath brought me into this affliction and have I not just cause and reason for my discouragement now Answ No For did not Jonah bring himself into his Affliction by his sin and yet when did God more fully appear to him than when he was in the Whales Belly Did not David bring himself into his Affliction by his sin he sinned in the matter of Vriah and the Lord said The Sword shall never depart from thy House and what was the Sword of Absolon but an Affliction which dropped out of that Threatening brought upon him by his sin and yet when was Davids heart in a better frame If saith he the Lord have any pleasure in me he will bring me back to the Ark again if not let him do with me what seemeth good in his Eyes And when did God more fully appear to David than under this Affliction for he prayed The Lord turn the Counsel of Achittophel into folly and God heard him presently And if ye look into Deut. 4. you shall find a standing Promise made for your Comfort in this matter verse 25. If you shall corrupt your selves and make a graven Image or the likeness of any thing and shall do evil in the sight of the Lord to provoke him to anger I call Heaven and Earth to witness against you this day That you shall soon utterly perish from the Land ye shal not prolong your daies the Lord will scatter you among the Nations and you shall be left few in number among the Heathen and there you shall serve gods the work of mens hands But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God thou shalt find him if thou seek him with all thine heart and all thy soul 1. Here was a great Affliction to be driven out into another Country 2. This Affliction was caused by their great sins 3. Yet the Promise is That if from thence from this valley and bottom they did seek the Lord he would shew mercy to them And all this in the times of the Law and is not God as gracious now in the times of the Gospel as then in the times of the Law And what though you cannot find out what the particular sin is it is good to search but somtimes it is better for a poor soul that it is not discovered For if I be under an affliction for some particular sin and find it out then I am once humbled for it and go no further but if I find it not out I search and search and so am humbled continually for many sins and therefore I say it is somtimes better that the particular sin is not discovered Why then should a godly gracious soul be discouraged in this respect Surely he hath no reason for it Object 7 Yet there is one thing sticks with me in regard of personal Afflictions I fear that they do not come from Gods Love were I certain that this Affliction did proceed from Gods Love then I should never be troubled but I even see the visible Characters of Gods displeasure and anger engraven upon my Afflictions and therefore I am thus discouraged have I not cause and reason now Answ 1 No For if Affliction do rather argue Gods Love than Hatred then have you no reason to be discouraged Now though Affliction do not argue Gods Love yet I say it doth rather argue Love than Hatred A man may be no Father to a Child yet he may correct him But if two Children commit
So in honoring God a man honors himself yea and thereby God doth put hânor on him for what is honor but Testimonium de alicujus excellentia Testifying of anothers Excellency and the more I testifie of any Excellency in a man the more I honor him Now when God doth betrust a man with his Work he testifies of an excellency in him The Lord hath counted me faithful and put me into his Work saith Paul yea the greatest greatness in this world is to wait upon the great God Therefore faith our Savior of John the Baptist Amângst them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than he Matth. 11.11 And if ye look into Gen. 1. ye shal find That the Moon is câlled one of the two great Lights ver 16. And God made two great Lights the greater to rule the day and the lesser to rule the night But though the Moon is said to be lesser than the Sun yet it is said to be one of the two greaâ Lights And why so are there not other Stars greater than the Moon Yes but because the Moon is the most influential and serviceable to the world therefore it is said to be greater than others So that in âods account the more service we do in the world the greater we are and the more honorable in Gods Eyes Answ 3 Thereby also we are kept from the dint of Temptations idleness breeds Temptation Our Vacation is the Devils Term Homines nihil agendo male discunt agere otium est vivi hominis sepultura Sen. when we are least at work for God then is Satan most at work about us By doing nothing men learn to do evil yea Idleness is the burying of a living man Answ 4 Great and good Employment is the Mercy promised That can hardly be a smal mercy which the great God doth promise promised Mercies are the sweeâest Mercies Now thâ Lord promiseth Esay 58.18 That if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry c. The Lord shall guide thee continually and they that shall be of thee shal build the old wast places thou shalt raise up the Foundations of many Generations and thou shalt be called the Repairer of the Breaches the Restorer of Paths to dwell in Here is Employment and Betrustment promised Answ 5 The more useful and serviceable a man is to God the more apt and ready God wil be to pardon his failings not only the failings of his present employment but of the other part of his life also What a great failing was that in Rahab to say the Spyes were gone when she had hid them in the top of her house yet the Lord pardoned this failing to her Why Because she beleeved and was useful and serviceable unto Gods great design in that her day And if ye look into Numb ãâã ye shall find That though Aaron and Miriam were both engaged in the same sin and evil of envying and murmuring against Moses yet the Lord spaâed Aaron when he strook Miriam with a Leprosie But why saith Abulensis was not Aaron smitten with the Leprosie as well as Miriam what because he was not so deeply in the Transgression as she was No for verse 1. it 's said Then spake Aaron and Miriam not as if she were put on by him Or because that Aaron confessed his sin as she did not No for so did Miriam also for she was a good woman Or because that God owed Aaron a punishment till afterwards ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Chrysostom Hom. 3. ad Collos No for that appears not by the Text but he was the High-Priest and if he had been smitten with Leprosie it would have brought his Ministry under some contempt the Work of the Lord would have ceased for a time also and though he failed in this thing yet he was otherwise a very useful and serviceable man and God would shew his aptness and readiness to pardon such rather than others Answ 6 If a man be employed for God in any special Service and Work the Lord will not only pardon his failings but if he be faithful in his Work God will bless him and set a Character of Love and Favor upon him What a Character of Love did the Lord set on Caleb and Joshua Of all men in Scripture it 's said of Caleb that he followed the Lord fully and this Character God himself did set upon him Numb 15.24 But my Servant Caleb because he had another spirit with him and hath followed me fully c. But why did God own and dignifie Caleb thus Even because he was faithful in that Work Service and Employment which God did call him to Answ 7 Yea The Serviceable man is the only man who doth live and speak when he is dead I mean for God Some are very active and serviceable for the Devil whilst they live they write and print wanton filthy Books and they speak while they are dead but it is still for Satan Others are very active and serviceable for God while they live they write and print works of Faith and Holiness and they also speak when they are dead as it 's said of Abel Who being dead yet speaketh but how doth he speak now The Apostle tels us Heb. 11. by Faith By which ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã It relates unto ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Faith Well but what cast of Faith did he do He offered a more excellent Sacrifice than his Elder Brother which was the work and Service of his day So that the Serviceable man is the only man who doth speak when hâ is dead Surely therfore it is a very great Priviledg and Mercy to be used and employed for God in his Work and Service Yet if God will not use me why should I be discouraged or complain Is not God free and may not he employ whom he pleaseth Shall the poor Potsheard say unto him why doest thou lay me by What if God will cross hands and lay his right hand on anothers head and his left hand on mine Shall I think to direct and order the hands of Gods Providence as Joseph would have altered Jacobs Iâ not his Work his own and may not he put it out unto whom he please and if I complain thereof is not this my pride Proud men scorn their own employment and envy at others It 's a mercy indeed to be employed for God yet if God will not trust me with his Service as I desire why should I be discouraged Yet I may be Gods Servant For First The Service of God is two-fold Somtimes it is taken for some special Employment which a man is called forth unto And somtimes it is taken for our ordinary Obedience unto Gods Commandements In the first sence it is used often in Numb 4. and frequently in the old Testament called The Service of the Tabernacle of the Congregation So in the new Testament also Rom. 15.31 That my Service may be accepted In the second sence it is used
did Why Because he feared the Lord. So then if a man be employed in way of Love and Mercy to himself he doth not make his Employment a shooing-horn to his own Preferment 'T is enough for me my Masters work is done saith he neither doth God use to pay them al their wages here whom he employes in mercie to themselves But as the Merchant if he have to deal with a stranger for a less Commodity he paies him down presently but if with a friend for some great priced Commodity he takes time and doth not pay down his money presently So if God have to do with a stranger as Nebuchadnezzar he wil pay him wages presently but if God deals with a friend whom he employes in mercy to himself then he doth put off his ful payment til afterwards He doth Gods work without any great noise or notice of himself like Christ He lifts not up his voyce in the street and as the Angels in Ezek. 1. His hands are under his wings he hath four hands to work with but they are not seen they are under his wings Let your Light so shine before men saies Christ that they may see your good works not your selves and glorifie your Father not your selves As it is with the Fisher so with him he shews the bait but hides himself he holds forth the word of Truth but not himself though he have four hands to work with yet they are all under his wings hidden but saies Jehu Come and see my zeal for the Lord of Hosts This is another difference If God do use and Employ a man in a way of Love and Mercy to himself he is willing to be used and contented to be laid by and to ãâ¦ã more Another man is not so if he have been used ãâ¦ã âng he thinks he must be used in other things and ãâ¦ã cannot bâar it that God should lay him by and use anoââ Thus iâ was with Sâul he could not be conteââ ãâ¦ã should use David But when God told Eli that he ãâ¦ã and his House by he answered Good is the Word of ãâã Lord for he was a good man and one whom God had âsed ãâã Love and Mercie to himâelf and so when God had done wiâh him he was conâent thereââth He thât is âred and eâployed in way of Love and Mercie to himself wil do the Work oâ the Loâdfully though he do his own works by halfs Caleb did his own work by halfâ and the Work of God âully for he was used in Mercy to himself and others Jehu did the Work of the Lord by halfs and his own work fully for though he was uâed in Mercy to some and Judgment to others yet not in Love to himself When God doth use a man in a way of Judgment he hath ordinarily more skil at pulling down and destroying what is mans than in setting up and building what is Gods But when God doth use him in a way of Love and Mercy to his own soul he hath a dexterity in and a heart to the setting up of what is Gods witness Jehu on the one hand and Nehemiah on the othâr hand How is it therefore with thee Hast thou a skil at pulling down what is mans and no skil nor heart to set up what is Gods Hast thou been employed and used in Gods Service and have you done your own work fully and Gods work by halfs Art thou not contented to be laid by and that God should use another Doest thou make a noise in the work and thy hands not under thy wings Hast thou made a goodly outward Bargain of the Lords Work and his Service as a shooing-horn to thine own ends Hast thou not grown in Experience Faith and Holiness by this work but in Pride rather Hast thou not been very tender of the Name of God in thy Service nor been acquainted with Gods Design nor thine heart drawn out the more to love the Lord Then surely God hath not used or employed thee in Love and Mercy to thine own soul But if thine heart have been drawn out with Love to God by thy very Service and Employments and thou hast been in some measure acquainted with Gods Design in that Service and hast been very tender of the Name of God and more willing to hazard thy self than to defile his Name and hast grown in Grace by the exercise of thy Gifts and hast made no Bargain of the Lords Service but hast had thy hands under thy wings and hast not done Gods Work by halfs and now after all art contented that God shall lay thee by and make use of others then surely the Lord hath used and employed thee in a way of Love and Mercie to thine own Soul and therefore why should'st thou be discouraged in this respect Certainly you have no just cause or true reason for it Quest But suppose that the Lord either shall not use me in his Service or if he do that difficulties and oppositions press in upon me or that I meet with no success in my work according to my desire what shall I do that I may be able to bear up my heart against all discouragements in this kind Answ 1 First In case that God do not cal you forth to any work or special Employment Then Consider that you have now the more time to mind your own soul and to attend to your own Condition Some are so employed that they have not time enough to pray read meditate examine their own hearts and to look into their own Condition yea though a mans work do lie in the Ministry 't is possible that he may so mind his publick work as to neglect his private But now if thou hast no publick Employment or Service then you have the more time for to spend upon your own soul the more time to converse with the Lord in private and to look into your own Condition And if you be not called forth to work and yet are willing to work you shal be paid for that work and service which you never did As some men shal be punished for those sins which they did never commit in the gross act because they were willing and had a desire to commit the same so some shal be paid for that work and service for God which they never did perform because they were willing to have done the same Now is it not a great mercy to be paid for that work which I never did Such is the Priviledg of al those that are not called to Service and yet are willing to it Answ 2 Secondly In case That you are employed in Gods Work and Service and difficulties press in upon you Then Consider That the greater the Difficultie is the greater shall your Obedience be in carrying on the Work and the more you do follow after Dutie and redeem it from the hand of Difficulty the greater shall your Comfort and reward be when all is done And the more that any Service Work or
therein A LIFTING UP In case of Discouragements DRAWN From the Condition it self Sermon XII PSALM 42.11 Stepney June 18. 1648. Why art thou cast down O my Soul and why art thou disquieted within me c. Instance 9 SOmetimes the Discouragements of Gods People are drawn from their Condition the Condition it self O! saith one My Condition is exceeding sad both for Soul and Body there is no Condition that is like to mine my Affliction and my Condition are twisted and woven in together my Affliction Misery and my Calamity are seated in my very Condition they do not only grow upon my Condition but are in the Condition it self and therefore I am thus discouraged have I not cause and reason for it Answ 1 No I wil grant and must confess it 's possible that a Godly mans condition in regard of outwards may be very bad Cum bene sit malis et male bonis when it goes wel with those that are bad and ill with those that are good I am strongly solicited to beleeve there is no God said the Heathen but we have learned better Divinity than this A mans Condition may be very bad and yet the man himself may be very good and God may be good to him Yea Answ 2 It 's possible that a godly mans Condition in regard of the world may be worser than the Condition of a wicked man for what else is the meaning of the Parable of Dives and Lazarus Jacob was driven out of his Fathers house and lodged in the open fields in the night whilst wicked Esau prophane Esau staid at home and lay in his warm bed ye do not read that ever Esau did serve so hard a Service in Labans house as Jacob did nor are ye able to parallel Esau's misery with Jacob's yet saith the Lord Jacob have I loved and Esau have I hated So that it is possible for a good and godly mans Condition in regard of the world to be worser than the condition of the wicked Yea Answ 3 It is possible that a godly mans Condition may be worser in regard of outwards after his Conversion worser I say than before his Conversion Grace is fain somtimes to wear Sins Cloaths and a gracious man somtimes doth wear the punishment of that sin which he committed before his Conversion What think you of Paul do you read that ever Paul before his Conversion was put into the stocks that he was whipped up and down the streets like a Rogue that he was imprisoned that he was stoned by his Country-men But after his Conversion he was so used In the beginning of that 19. Chapter of the Acts he breatheth out threatenings against the Saints and goes out to kill the People of God but no sooner is Paul converted but the Jews sought to kill him So that I say possâbly a gracious mans Condition in regard of outwards may be worser at least for a time than it was before he was converted and drawn to God But now Take a godly mans Condition and though it be never so sad yet there is no reason why he should be discouraged or cast down because of his Condition in it self considered For By way of Demonstration First If his Condition be carved out unto him by the hand of his Father who is of infinite wisdom and love then he hath no reason to complain or to be disquieted Now look into Psal 16. see what David saith of Christ and Christ of the Saints at verse 6. My lines are fallen unto me in a pleasant place yea I have a fair Heritage or a goodly Heritage Why verse 5. The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup. Three Things are most considerable here First These words are plainly spoken of our Lord and Savior Christ and of his great Sufferings as appears by verse 10. For thou wilt not leave my soul in Hell neither wilt thou suffer thine holy One to see Corruption Men and Brethren saith the Apostle in Acts 2.29 Let me speak unto you of the Patriark David that he is both dead and buried and his Sepulchre is with us unto this day therefore being a Prophet and God had sworn unto him that of the fruit of his Loyns according to the Flesh he would raise up Christ to sit on his Throne he seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ At verse 27. of the 2d chapter ye have the same words that you have here in Psal 16. Thou wilt not leave my soul in Hell neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption So that plainly the words of the Psalm are spoken of Christ and of his great Sufferings But now in the Second place Though his Sufferings were very great and many yet saith he My lines are fallen unto me in a pleasant place and I have a goodly Heritage But why so The Reason is in the Third place in verse 5. The Lord is the portion of my Inheritance and of my Cup the Lord my Father saith he hath drawn out my lines for me he hath measured out my condition and the Lord himself is my portion and the portion of mine Inheritance Thus now may every godly man say My lines are fallen unto me in a pleasant place yea I have a goodly Heritage Why for the Lord is the Portion of mine Inheritance and of my Cup Surely therefore he hath no reason to be discouraged whatever his Condition be Again Secondly If a man do not live upon his Condition it self but upon his call into his Condition then he hath no reason to be discouraged in regard of his Condition it self Now as our Lord and Savior Christ said Man lives not by Bread but by every Word of God so say I Man lives not upon his Condition but upon Gods Call into his Condition and if God cal a man into a Condition he wil maintain him in it therefore you find those two go together in Psal 16. Thou maintainest my Lot at the latter end of verse 5. And my lines are fallen to me in a pleasant place And thus it was with the Children of Israel when they went through the red Sea it is said The Waters stood like a wall on each side of them ye never read before of a wall of water and yet then the waters were as a wall unto them a strange kind of Wall made of Waters but saith the Text The Waters were as a Wall stood as a Wall on each side of them Beloved Gods Call is our Wall which wil bear off and bear up ones heart under troubles and discouragements O! âaith a gracious soul what abundance of opposition do I meet withal in my Condition but yet the Lord hath called me into this Condition and therefore I am quiet I am contented I am satisfied I confess I did not think to have met with so much Affliction in my Condition as now I do but God hath called me into it and therefore I have Comfort Thus it
is with al the Saints they are led by Gods Call into their Condition and they can shew their Patent they can say here is my Call Now if a man do not live upon the Condition it self but upon Gods Call into his Condition and God doth cal his People into whatsoever condition they are then they have no reason to be discouraged by reason of their Condition Again Thirdly If there be no Condition that a godly man can fall into but there is some mercy that is mixed with it and Jesus Christ hath paid for that too then a man hath no reason to be discouraged whatever his condition be Now you know what Solomon saith Shall a living man complain is not a living Dog better than a dead Lyon Some Mercy stil that is mixed with Misery and Jesus Christ hath paid the Reckoning godly men have nothing to pay not any thing to pay Suppose you were invited to a great Feast and some of the Dishes were not so wel dressed or cooked up as you desire would you find fault would you complain No Why Because this feast doth cost me nothing the Master of the Feast may find fault but I am a Guest and it cost me nothing and therefore I have no reason to complain Beloved the Lord Jesus Christ is the great Master of the Feast and of al the Comforts which you have and he hath paid all your reckoning there is nothing for you to pay and if you bring in your Prayers your Tears your Obedience as matter of Payment they wil not be taken âo saith Christ I have paid al my self witness these empty Purses these empty Veins of mine as for you O my Friends ye are welcom but you have nothing to pay not a penny not a faâthing I say there is no condition that a godly man can fal into but there is some mercy that is mixed withal and Christ hath paid the reckoning for the mercy too surely then the People or God have no reason to be discouraged by reason of their condition Object 1 But wil some say I am in a poor low mean base and despised condition and therefore I am thus disquieted as for those that are in a prosperous estate and condition they may well bear up their heads and be of good comfort Rich men indeed and those that are in a prosperous condition have many opportunities of serving God publickly and privately which a poor man hath not they have time to frequent the Ordinances in the week to converse much with God in private whilst the poor man is fain to be at work for his living and glad he can get his living too there is no man knows the misery of a poor condition but those that are in it and such is my condition and therefore I am thus discouraged have I not cause and reason for it Answ No for whosoever you are that speak or think thus Do you know what the burden of Prosperity is You see a Town somtimes upon the side of a Hill and you say what a fine Town is there what pleasant Meadows are about it what excellent Woods what clean Waies unto it Thus you speak at a distance But when you draw neer unto this Town and go through some of the Lanes you find them very dirty and then you say I did not think at a distance that there had been such a dirty Lane about this Town I saw nothing but fine and clean Meadows when I was at a distance I did not think there had been such dirty passages to it So when you look upon Prosperity at a distance you think there is no dirty Lanes no foul Passages to it and from it but when you come neer unto it then you find many a dirty passage and you say O! what dirty sloughs are here The Truth is the more Prosperous I speak now of outward Prosperity a mans Condition is the more opportunities he hath of doing and receiving good But if you look into Numbers 4. you shal find That every opportunity of Service carries a burden with it and therefore the Service of the Levites is often and in many verses of the Chapter called a burden I wil name but one which is the last According to the Commandement of the Lord they were numbered by the hand of Moses every one according to his Service and according to his Burden Service and Burden do here go together Burden and Service Service and Burden And now poor soul is it a burden to you that you are freed from a burden hath not our Lord and Savior Christ said and do you not find it in Experience That the poor receive the Gospel is not a living Sprig of a Tree better than a dead Arm The poor Hen you know so long as she lives is upon the Dunghil and there she is scraping and picking up her living but when she is dead then she is brought unto the Masters Table The Hawk on the contrary while he is living is carryed upon the Fist and upon the Arm and hath good flesh and provision made for him and a house to sit in but when the Hawk dieth then he is thrown out unto the Dunghil So in this case so long as a poor godly man is living here it may be he is upon the Dunghil and picking up his living a little and a little but when he dieth then he is brought into his Masters presence But the rich ungodly man when he dieth though while he lived he had great provision yet then he is thrown out unto the Dunghil and comes no more into his Masters Presence O! you that are godly though in a low condition would you then change your condition with the wicked The lower your Condition is the higher is your Obedience if you submit unto the work of your Condition this is Angelical Obedience for the Angels though in order of Nature they are above Men yet at the Command of God they are ministring Spirits unto Men attend and look to Men that are much below them in Nature and the lower the work is that they do in tending Men the higher is their Obedience to God So say I The lower the work of your Condition is the higher and more Angelical Luc. 6. Vae vobis divitibus quoniam accepistis hic consolationem vestram non simpliciter dicit Christus quoniam consolationem recipitis in hac vita sed addit Vestram quasi ista sit ipsorum portio ultra quam nihil illis boni sit expectandum amplius unde in Graeco pulchre positum est ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Musculus in Matth. â p. 67. Non est simplex verbum ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã âed compositum ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã significat antein ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã non tamen simplic ter recipâre ât haâeâe fed portionem solatâi sui jam accepisse et jam habere ât âoâtea mâllam aliam et ââhil amplâââ vel petere possit vel expectare deâent
out your skil and strength and hath no design but of Love upon you wil you then be discouraged Thus it is with all the Saints surely therefore they have no reason to be cast down in this respect Object 3 O! but I am not so much troubled about my outward Condition as about the condition of my Soul the Lord knows my Souls Condition is very sad for somtimes I am under the Ordinances and somtimes not somtimes I can stir out to an Ordinance but somtimes oppositions keep me at home I am not under a setled Ordinance and when I am under the Ordinance I get little good thereby I hear and I do not remember my heart is hard and dead and dull and it is little that I profit and therefore I am thus discouraged have I not cause and reason now Answ 1 No not yet For âiâst As for your want of Ordinances if God lead you to the want of an Ordinance he wil make the very want of an Ordinance to âe an Ordinance to you When the Children of Israel came into the Land of Canaan where there was ordinary food then Manna ceased but when ordinary food could not be had as in the Wilderness then they had Manna Bread that was baked in the Clouds then they had Angels Food immediately from God and immediate Mercies that come immediately out of the hand of God are the sweetest Mercies God doth alwaies give some opportunities of good unto his People either of doing good or receiving good and the less opportunity they have of receiving good usually the more opportunity they have of doing good what though your hand be empty of receiving opportunities yet if your hand be full of doing opportunities have you any cause to be discouraged God knows how to give the comfort of an Ordinance in the want of an Ordinance When Jonah was in the Whales belly he prayed and in his prayer he looked towards the Temple though he was absent from it and the Lord heard his prayer And Beloved if the Lord do remember your carriage labor of Love Longings Groanings Mournings after the Ordinances as much when you want them as he remembers your enlargements under them then you have no reason to be discouraged in this respect Now look into Psal 132. and you shal see how David presseth the Lord to remember him verse 1. Lord remember David and all his afflictions he was in great Afflictions and he desired the Lord to remember him but under what Notion would he have the Lord remember him why saith he remember him How he sware unto the Lord verse 2. and vowed unto the mighty God of Jacob surely I will not come into the Tabernacle of my House nor go up into my Bed I will not give sleep to mine eyes or slumber to mine eye-lids until I have found out a place for the Lord an Habitation for the mighty God of Jacob. He wanted the Ordinance and his heart was restless after it and now he desires the Lord to remember him for this So that I say God wil in a special manner remember your carriage labor of Love longings and groanings after Ordinances when you want them O! but though the Lord do remember us in due time yet what shal we do in the mean time Mark what follows at verse 6. Lo we heard of it at Ephrata we found it in the fields of the woods What is that Lo we heard of it at Ephrata we heard of it that is we heard of the Ark which he had spoken of before and the Habitation of the mighty God of Jacob. We heard of it at Ephrata as if he should say it was commonly reported and thought that the Lord would settle his Ark and his House and Habitation at Ephrata at Bethlehem a plentiful place but now we have found it in the fields of the Wood. Now we find that the Lord wil settle his House and his Ark at Jerusalem which is compassed about with Hills full of Woods in the Fields of the Forrest have we found it Beloved our eye is all upon Ephrata upon Bethlebem upon the plentiful place but the Lord doth so order things in his Goodness that when he brings his People into the Woods the Fields the Forrest there they find his Ark his Presence and his Habitation in the midst of it And what godly man is there whom God hath called at any time from the Ordinance but he may say thus Lo we heard of it at Ephrata but we have found it in the Fields of the Woods and if you do not find the Presence of God and the Ark of God and his Habitation at Ephrata yet if ye find him in the Fields of the Woods in the barren Forrests have you any cause to complain No surely you have not O! but I am in a plentiful place for the present I am at Ephrata I am not in the barren Fields I am under plentiful and precious Ordinances but I do not remember I hear and I remember not Answ 2 Secondly Therefore ye must know That as for your want of Memory there is an Head-Memory and there is an Heart-Memory Some have an Head-Memory whereby they are able to give an account presently of all they have heard in their due order but they want an Heart-Memory to suggest the things to them when they should use the same Some again have an Heart-Memory so as they can remember the things when they should use them but they have no Head-Memory Now if you can remember the things as you are to use them though you forget the words and Method have you any cause to complain ãâã ââugh the words heard do depart from you yet your heart ãâã âe kept sweet by the hearing of them Water is often poured into a Vessel and runs out presently yet it keeps the Vessel sweet So now though you hear and hear and hear again and you cannot remember and the things heard do not stay by you as you desire yet your soul may be kept sweet thereby Answ 3 Thirdly As for your Deadness It is some life to feel ones own deadness for there is a Death and a Deadness as I may so speak There is a Life and a Liveliness a man may be alive and yet not lively as a sick person So a man may be under some deadness and yet not be dead unto death There is a deadness that is opposite to liveliness and there is a deadness that is opposite to life Now you complain O! my heart is dead my heart is dead this argues that it is but a deadness that is opposite to liveliness else you could not feel your own deadness A man that is stark dead cannot feel that he is dead I say therefore in that you feel your own deadness it argues that it is but a deadness that is opposite to liveliness and not that deadness that is opposite to Life it self and if you be alive in opposition to death though you have a
deadness in you that is opposite unto liveliness have you any reason to be quite discouraged and cast down The Trades-man complains that his Trade is dead and you complain that your heart is dead this argues that your Trade is there and that your Trade is in the matter of your heart Answ 4 Fourthly As for your unprofitableness and unfruitfulness under the Means and Ordinances ye know that there is a difference between Unfruitfulness and less Fruitfulness the good Ground brings forth Fruit in some thirty in some sixty in some an hundred fold thirty is less than sixty yet this is not unfruitfulness sixty is less fruit than an hundred fold yet this is not barrenness A good man may be less fruitful than another or thââ he was formerly yet he may be fruitful and it may be thus with you But suppose you cannot profit under the means and be indeed unfruitful yet there is a great deal of difference between the unfruitfulness of the good Tree and the barrenness of the barren fig-tree 1. Though a good man be unfruitful yet he is very sensible of his unfruitfulness O! saith he there is not a more barren vile wretched unprofitable heart in all the world than mine 't is not so w th the barren soul 2. Though a good man may be too unfruitful yet he doth not cumber the ground the barren fig-tree doth Luke 13. that is he doth eat out the heart of the soyl from others doth hinder others he is a cumber to the place family where he growe and lives the good man is not so but though he is unprofitable in his own eyes yet in truth he is profitable to the souls of others 3. Though a gooâ ãâã doth not profit so much as he should and would yet he is ãâ¦ã that any means should be used with him for his profit and growth even to be digged about and dunged And I will dig about it Luke 13. and dung it Upon which words saith Bernard Non refugit faeditatem medii qui expectat facunditatem animae Dung is a means unsavory and he that desires the growth of his Grace wil not refuse the foulness of the means that means which to flesh and blood is unsavory 4. Though a good man may be very unfruitful yet God wil not cut him down he wil prune him and cut him in such a time as he may grow thereby but he will not cut him down But the barren Fig-tree he will cut it down cut it down saith the owner why should it cumber the ground any longer But however it be Art thou unfruitful unprofitable under the means then have you cause to be humbled Humble your self therefore before the Lord your God yet be you not diâcouraged Object 4 O! but yet this is not my case only for I do not barely complain of my unprofitableness under the Means and Ordinances though that is much but I fear that my Spiritual condition is not right and if my spiritual condition be not good and right after I have lived thus long under such searching means and Ministry I fear it will never be right I do not read in all the Scripture that ever an Hypocrite was converted Publicans and sinners I read of but I do not read of an Hypocrite converted and having lived under the means of Grace thus long if now my c ndition be unsound then I am an Hypocrite and indeed this I fear and therefore I am thus discouraged have I not cause and reason for it Answ 1 No For though you have lien long under the means of Grace and are not converted yet there is hope there is hope concerning this When our Lord and Savior Christ rose from the dead the stone was rouled and removed away and when the Lord Christ doth raise up a poor soul he will rowl away the stone though it be as heavy as death though it be as heavy as Hypocrisy though the stone be as heavy as Hell it self yea Christ wil rowl away the stone though it hath lien long upon you And I pray what think you of Paul was not Paul an Hypocrite before his Conversion Wo to you Scribes and Pharisees Hypocrites saith our Savior and saith Paul concerning himself concerning the Law I was a Pharisee our Savior saith that the Scribes and Pharisees were Hypocrites and Paul saith concerning himself he waâ a Pharisee and yet he converted There is one Hypocrite then converted and you may read of orhers Answ 2 But is not this usual with Gods own Children do they not speak it somtime out thât they are but Hypocri es I am but an Hypocriââe Ye read of that blessed Martyr Mr. John Bradford that being in Prison and writing to a friend he Subscribes his Letter thus Yours in Christ a mâst unprofitable haâd-hearred mi erable sinner And another Letter he subscribes thus Yours in Christ a very pa nted Hypocrite John Bradford Some here are that think their souls are sincere and yet they are most unsound Some again think they are unâound and yet they are most sincere Answ 3 But to come a little neerer and yet I must but touch upon it Did ever Hypocrite long and mourn after the Preâence of Goâ in Christ as the best thing iâ al the world Did ever Hypocrite dwel and abide in the work or private examination of his own soul Did ever Hypocrite love Grace better or more than Gift oâ that most which is the most Spiritual most savory Did ever Hypocrite desire Peace Comfort for Grace sake not rather Grace for Peace sake Do Hâpocrites ordânarily think they are Hypocrites where do you find that in the Scripture that Hâpocrites ordinarily think they are Hypocrites If Hâpocriâie be a mans burden it is not his condition Did ever any Hypocrite walk contrary to himself to his former self when men were truly converted they did So you read of Zacheus before he was converted he was a grââ Oppressor and a covetous man but being oâce converted saith he Lord behold the half of my goods I give unto the poor and if I have wronâed any man I'âe restore fourfold here he walks contrary to himself So the Jaylor before he was converted he imprisoned the Apostles and whipped them till the blood ran down upon their backs but being converted he hath them into his houâe sets meat before them and washeth thâiâ wounds he walks contrary to his own former self So Paul before he was converted he persecuted the Saints and the Gospel after converted then he did preach the Gospel which before he persecuted thus he walked contrary to his former self I have read or heard of a yong man that was given much to jeering and scoffing and his Mother being godly he would frequently jeer and scoff at his own Mother it pleased God at the last to work savingly upon him and then he would never come into the presence of his Mother but he would fal down upon his
knees not in the morning and evening for a blessing but whenever he came into the presence of his Mother he would fall down in a reverential way upon his knees til she bid him stand up I do not commend the action but I speak this to shew That when a man is converted and turned to God then he wil walk contrary to himself Now whoever you be that make this Objection Have you not found it thus in your own souls I appeal unto you Cannot you say thus Indeed it is little I enjoy of God here but the Lord knows I do long and mourn for the presence of God iâ Christ as the best thing in al the world and I am much in the examination of mine own heart in private when no eye doth see me and I do desire those things most that are the most Spiritual and the most savory those my soul closeth most with and I do not desire Grace for Comfort but I desire Comfort for Grace and Ah Lord thou knowest I have gone up and down fearing for many yeers together that I have been an Hypocrite I have sate down weeping and said O! I am an Hypocrite I am an Hypocrite Hypocrisie hath been my burden indeed And Lord thou knowest I do now walk contrary to my former self before the Lord was pleased to work upon me so and so and so I lived but now through Grace I do walk contrary to my former self Then Soul be of good comfort for though there may be many failings for which you should be humbled yet do not say that thou art an Hypocrite thy condition is or may be very good wherefore go in Peace and the Lord comfort thee Object. 5. O! but wil some say this is not my case yet for I do not only fear that my condition is unsound but I am afraid that I am concluded under it and it will never be otherwise for there are but some few Elect and chosen ones that shall âe saved to all eternity it may be one of a hundred or one of a thousand and things are now cast in time according to Gods Decree before time Indeed if this were true That Christ died for all for all particular men and that Christ intendeth to save every particular man as the Doctrine of some is then I should have hope but I have heard that this Doctrine is not true and that Christ did not die for all men with intention to save every particular man and therefore seeing that few are under Election one of an hundred or two of a thousand I fear that I am none of them and therefore I am thus discouraged have I not cause and reason now Answ No For though this Doctrine be true That there is a certain number of Elect Persons who are but few comparatively and that there is no such thing as General Redemption yet this is no way prejudicial to the rise or growth of your Comfort As for Election It is true indeed that there is a certain number of Elecââersons Non qui futuri eramus sed uâ essemus nempe certum est nempe manifestum est ideo quippe tales eramus futuri quos elegit ipse predestinans ut per gratiam ejus tales essemus Austin L. Predestin Cap. 8. whom God hath chosen to Grace and eternal Glory before the Foundation of the World was laid for the Apostle Paul saith expressly Ephes 1.3 That we are chosen in Christ before the Foundation of the World he doth not say blessed be God who hath decreed to chuse us but who hath chosen us nor doth he say who hath chosen All but US where some arâ chosen others are left nor doth he say who hath chosen us upon foresight of our Faith or Holiness but that we may be holy Holiness being the fruit of Election and if ye look into Matth. 25. ye shall find that those who stand at Christs right hand at the day of Judgment unto whom he saith Come ye blessed inherit the Kingdom are such for whom the Kingdom was prepared bâfore the Foundation of the World Now this number of Elect Persons is certain and unalterable for the Foundation of God standeth sure And as the Schoolmen observe If a man that is predestinated to life could be damned then the Will of God might be altered for when he doth predestinate a man to life he wills his Salvation and when he damns a man he wils his Damnation and therefore if those that are predestinated to life can be damned then the Wil of God may be altered which is impossible for his Will is like himself unchangable As the number of Elect Persons is certain and cannot be diminished nor augmented so the Lord doth certainly know all those persons for their Names are written in the Book of Life and the Lord knows who are his that is saith Mr. Bains God only knows his Collectively no Man or Creature doth in this sense know who are Gods But though God only knows by himself who those are that are approved for his yet a man may know that he is one of those Elect for if I see my self set apart from the world in time then may I know that God hath separated me from others before time and if I have chosen God for my Portion then may I know that God hath chosen me for we chuâe him because he hath chosen us first and if I love God in time and beleeve on Christ then I may know that he hath loved me and given himself for me for all our Grace is but a reflection of his Grace If you see the Prints and Characters of the Seal upon the Wax you know the Seal hath been set upon it though you did not see when it was done Of this mind was that blessed Martyr Mr. John Bradford with whom Mr. Fox doth joyn Vol. 3. p. 354. Acts Monum in his Annotations upon Mr. Bradfords Faith Thus do I wade saith he in Predestination in such sort as God hath opened I begin with Creation from thence I come to Redemption so to Justification and so to Election De Electione judicandum est à posteriori We must judg of Election by that which cometh after that is by our Faith and belief in Christ not thâ Faith is the Efficient Cause of our Election but the Effect rather and the Cause certificatory or the cau e of our Certification whereby we are brought to the knowledg of our Election and to this purpose doth the Apostle exhort us to make our Calling and Election sure Give all diligence saith he to make your Calling aâd Election sure Iâ seems then 1. Thaâ tâere are some who are Eââcted 2. That a man may know and âe assured of his own Eâection 3. That the way to know this is not to begin a loft but to begin below with our Vocation and therefore the Apostle puts Election last saying not make your Election and your Vocation sure but make your
not spent al my mercy upon David or upon Abraham or upon Paul or upon Peter but I keep mercy for thousands O! but yet my sins do recoyl I am the greatest Sinner in the world for I have sinned al kinds of sin I have sinned al sorts of sins and therefore I fear there ãâã no hope for me Yet saith the Lord be not discouraged for I keep mercy for thousands forgiving iniquity transgression and sin even all sorts and al kinds of sins the Sin of Nature and the Sin of Life the Sin of Weakness and the Sin of Presumption the Sin of Ignorance and the Sin against Knowledg these saith the Lord I forgive even al sorts and al kinds of Sins and this is my Name for ever O! but I am afraid to lay hold upon this Promise for I think this is a Doctrine of Liberty Say not so saith the Lord at the next verse I will by no means cleer the guilty But if there be ever a poor drooping fearing trembling soul that desires to know my Name Lo saith the Lord here is my Name whereby I wil be known for ever The Lord Jehovah that gives a Being to things that are not The Mighty God The Merciful God The Gracious God Abundant in Goodness and in Truth Reserving Mercy for thousands Forgiving iniquity transgression and sin and this is my Name for ever Now Faith comes and closeth with this Name of God leading the Soul into this rich Wardrop and so doth quiet the heart against all Discouragements Answ 3 Thirdly Faith doth put the Soul under Gods Commandement and leaveth God to Answer unto al such Objections and Inconveniences as may come thereby which if a man can do he may be very quiet Now true saving Faith wil enable him to do this for ye know how it was with the three Children Shadrach Meshach and Abednego they put themselves under Gods Commandement The Lord commanded and said Thou shalt not make to thy self any graven Image Well but the King commands them to fal down before his Image No say they we wil not stir we wil not bow but saith the King I wil make you bow or I wil heat the Furnace seven times hotter for you Well be it so say they as for that we are not solicitous we wil do the work that God hath set us to do we wil put our selves under Gods Command we know that our God is able to deliver us and whether he wil deliver us or no we wil leave that to him let him answer to the inconveniencies and mischiefs that follow upon his Work for saith the Text They trusted in the Lord. And so you know it was with Noah Noah was commanded to build an Ark for saith the Lord yet an hundred twenty yeers and the whol world shal be destroyed and therefore Noah build thou an Ark for thy self and thy family which Noah did and put himself under this Command But now the world the old world might speak thus as certainly the language of their Conversation was Noah Dost thou think that thou art the only man in al the world that God loves Dost thou think Noah that God loves thee one man more than al the men or the world and thy one Family more than al the Families in the world beside And if thou dost beleeve what thou preachest That the World shal be destroyed by Water in an hundred and twenty yeers why dost thou marry and begeâ Châldren as thou hast done since thou hast preached this Doctrine And Noah if thou dost make an Ark or a Ship who shal be the Pilate who shal be the Mââriner the Sââler As for thy self thou hast been a Preacher and dost thou think that thou and thy few Sons are able to guide and gâvern so great a Vessel If it be as thou preacheât That the âeasts the wild Beasts of the Field shal come unto this Ark the Lyon and the Bear and the Tyger wil they not tear thee to pieces And if all the Beasts of the field two by two shal come into the Ark Noah wil there not be such a stench in the Ark with their dung as wil poyson thee shalt thou be ever able to live thinkest thou Wel for al this Noah goes on and he built the Ark and leaves God that âet him on work to answer to al these Objections and to all those Inconveniences that might come by the doing the thing which God commands And so doth Faith alwaies Faith puts a man under the Commandement of God and leaves God to answer to those Oâjections and inconveniences that may come thereby Now when a man can do thus must he not needs be quiet It is to speak more briefly the proper wârk of Faith to resign and give up our wils unto God for by the resignation of the wil unto God we do trust God with our selves and Conditions It is the proper work of Faith to fal with a suitable Promise and to apply the same if that Plaister of the Promise be noâ laid on the Soul with a warm hand it wil not stick And what is the reason that the Promise sticks not upon many souls but because it is laid on with the cold and chil hand of Unbelief Now the hand of Faith is a warm hand It 's the proper work of Faith to trade with the Call of God for true saving Faith is a venturing Grace but without a Call it wil not venture It is the proper work of Faith to see the hand of God in every Dispensation The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away saith Faith I was dumb and opened not my mouth for thou Lord hast done it saith Faith It 's the proper work of Faiâh to look on both sides of Gods Dispensation and of our own Condition there is a dark side of a Dispensation and there is a light side thereof Sence and Reason looks on the dark side alone Faith seeth both sides Come my beloved Brethren said Laâimer to his fellow Prisoners when he went to the Stake though we pass through he fire to day yet we shal light such a Candle in England as shal never be put out again He saw both sides of the Dispensation why but because he beleeved It is the proper work of Faith to see one Contrary in another for it speaks and concludes as the Word of Faith doth Now the word oâ Faith speaketh on this wise I will give you a door of Hope in the Valley of Achor And the Lord shall judg his People and repent towards his Servants when he seeth that their power is gone and none shut up or left Deut. 32.36 It is the proper work of Faith to engage God to succor Psal 37.40 For the Lord shall save them because they trust in him So Esai 26.3 Thou will keep them in perfect peace because they trust in thee Now when a man can do al these things wil he not be quiet and free from Discouragements Surely he wil.
I say trust in the Lord first before you do work at all Answ 5 Fiftly If you would trust in the Lord so as you may not be discouraged what ever your Condition be Then trust in the Lord Jesus Christ in the first place before you trust in the Promise Christs Blood is the great and first Object of our Faith In times of the old Testament they came to Christ by the Promise because Christ was not then come but promised now Christ is come we come to the Promises by Christ Yet mistake not there is a Promise of Christ and a soul must come to Christ in that Promise But I speak of particular words and Promises Some wil not trust in Christ unless they have this or that particular word set upon their hearts and spirits and so indeed do rather rest on the bare letter of the Word or the sence and impression that is made upon the soul by the setting on of the Promise But al the Promises are Yea and Amen in Christ Christ therefore is first and if a man doth trust in the Promise first and so go unto Christ afterward then when he wants a particular Word or a Promise he wil not trust in Christ but be quite discouraged But when a man doth trust in the Lord Christ first and in particular Promises afterwards then though a particular Promise doth not shine forth yet his Faith lives and he is not diâcouraged wherefore venture upon Jesus Christ first and then upon the Promise as given unto thee by the hand of Christ Answ 6 Sixtly if you would so trust in the Lord as you may not be discouraged whaâââer your Condition be Then if ever it pleaseth the Lord to give our a Promise to you never let it go but hold it fast although you see nothing but the contrary unto the thing promised This was Abrahams case the Lord gave Abraham a Promise but Abraham saw the contrary to the thing promised yet Abraham did not dispute the Promise he did not stagger at the Promise and say Surely the Lord hath not given me this Promise it ââs but a delusion and I was deceived No but Abraham stil beââs up to the Promise and doth not dispute or stagger at the same So must you do likewise if ever the Lord give out a Promise to you hold it keep it never let it go although you do see the contrary Object O! but this is hard work indeed and if I should do so I fear that I should presume and that I should tempt the Lord What! trust in the Lord when there is no means in view yea when I see the contrary unto the thing promised I would do it but I fear I should presume and tempt the Lord. Answ Tempt the Lord say ye Dost thou know what it is for to tempt the Lord It is said oâ the Children of Israel That they tempted the Lord and said Is God amongst us And when thou sayest after al the experience of Gods preâence with thee Is God with me Is hot this rather for to tempt the Lord It is said of the Children of Israel That they tempted the Lord and limited the Holy One of Israel and when you limit God and say I shal never receive this Mercy for now I do see the contrary Is not this rather for to tempt the Lord Properly and according to Scripture Phrase to tempt the Lord is to put God upon a tryal for the satisfying of ones lust and therefore if you look into Psal 78. you shal find that these two go together at verse 18. They tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their Lust To put God upon a work for the satisfying of ones Lust is indeed to tempt the Lord Every putting God upon a tryal is not a tempting God but to put God upon a tryal for the satisfying of ones lust this is to tempt the Lord And therefore it is said the wicked Jews came to our Savior Christ tempting him and saying Shew us a sign Gideon desired a sign and yet he did not tempt the Lord Why Because he did not desire a sign to satisfie his Lust but to strengthen his Faith But now these Jews came and desired a sign to satisfie their Lust and therefore saith our Savior Christ unto them Ye wicked and Adulterous Generation How comes the word Adulterous in there Why look as it is with a woman that is nâught filthy and unworthy her Husband sending a Message to her and warning her to take heed of such Company when the Messenger comes I doubt saith she whether you come from my Husband or no and what sign have you that you come from my Husband she knows that he comes from her Husband but because she may go on in her sin she asketh a sign How may I know that you come from my Husband So it was with these wicked Jews they asked a sign that so they might go on in their sins whereupon our Savior saith Ye wicked and Adulterous Generation But now when a poor doubâing fearing trembling soul shal desire to beleeve and would fain have some token from the Lord to strengthen his Faith he is not Adulterous then nor doth he tempt the Lord nor presume for is it presumption for a man to keep the Sabbath day No Why Because it is commanded Is it presumption for a Child to obey his Parents No Why Because it is commanded So it is commanded for a soul to beleeve when al comforts are out of sight and when he sees nothing but what is contrary to the thing promised Presumption properly is the taking of a thing before it 's given or offered But in this case the Promise is given and therefore no presumption for to hold it fast There is a Two-fold Preâumption which you read of in Scripture One whereby men do rest upon their own Workâ for Salvation without Christ So the Jews did and therein they presumed of mercy before it was given unto them Another whereby men do as they think or in their way rest on Christ for Salvation and yet live without Works and Obâdience and therein they preââme also because they take mercy âhen it 's not given them Eââ if I rââl on the Promise or on Chrâst that I may be made the more holy doing what I can to be fruitful in every good work yet resting upon Christ for al this is no presumption Why Because I do not take mercy before it is offered and though I hold the Promise fast when I see nothing but what is contrary to the thing promised yet this is no presumption Why Because I do what 's commanded For saies the Apostle Let them that suffer according to the Will of God commââ the keeping of their souls to him in well doing as unto a Faithful Creator Now Creation-Work is out of nothing it is light out of darkness Yet thus are we commanded to commit our souls unto God and therefore though al fail and
King said It 's a vain thing to wait on God any longer but the Prophet in the next words saith To morrow about this time shall a measure of sine flower be sold for a shekel and two measures of barley for a shekel in the Gates of Samaria Chap. 7. verse 1. So that deliverance doth somtimes come when men give over waiting And if deliverance do thus come to you what shame and grief wil this be to you how wil you befool your self and say O! what a fool was I that I could not wait a little longer I have given over waiting and lo now deliverance is come and I have no comfort in it When you give over waiting then you lose al your former labors though you have performed many Duties yet if you do not wait upon God therein you do lose al your prayers It 's said of Saul 1 Sam. 28.6 That he enquired of the Lord who answered him not and so he sought unto a woman that had a Familiar Spirit ver 7. yet 1 Chron. 10.14 it 's said That he enquired not of the Lord He enquired and he enquired not how doth this agree Wel for though he did enquire of the Lord yet because he did not wait upon God therein but gave over waiting his enquiring in Scripture Phrase is said to be no eâquiring Prayer without waiâing in Scripture Phrase is no Prayer Look when a man doth give over waiting then d th he lo e al his labor his former Prayer is noâhing his former Duty noâhing it shal not once be remembred or imputed to him On the other side If you wait on God he wil not alway forget your work of Faith though he may seem to forget you yet the patient abiding of the meek shall not be forgotten for ever Psal 9.18 God wil come and visit you in due time He that doth come wil come and will not tarry yea and your very waiting that I may speak with reverence wil make him come the sooner 'T is not so with men if you expect a friend you do go forth to meet him but 't is not your expecting waiting that wil make him come But so it is with God your very expecting of him and waiting for him wil make him come and therefore the holy men in Scripture use this Argument with God for mercy Let me not be ashamed for I have waited on thee yea and if God do come he wil come with a recompence and pay you al your forbearance-Money Es 35. yea and when he doth come you shal be able to triumph in his appearing and say Lo this is our God we have waited for him if you have not waited you cannot triumph in his appearance but if you wait you shal say when he comes Lo this is my God and I have waited for him yea the Lord wil not only câme buâ he wil come with a blessing for Blessed are all those that wait on him yea he wil not only bless you upon your waiting but he wil strengthen you therein Esai 40. Those that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength O! what a blessed thing is it then for to wait on God who would not hope trust wait on the Lord Is there any thing to be gotten by your sad Discouragements O ye of little Faith Are you able to alter one hair of your Condition by al your thoughtfulness Is it not much better now for to wait on God Why then do you not call your own heart aside and say Come O my soul Why hast thou limited the Holy One of Israel thus long Why hast thou dishonored Christ thus long by thy vain fears Why art thou cast down O my soul and why art thou disquieted within me Hope trust wait on God for he is the health of my Countenance and my God And thus now I have done with this great Argument ye have had the Patience to hear it Isa 35.4 the Lord give you Grace to practice it I conclude all with the words of my Commission Ye that are of a fearful spirit be strong fear not behold your God will come even God with a recompence he will come and save you OF THE SIN Against the HOLY GHOST Wherein is shewed I. What this Sin against the Holy Ghost is II. How and in what respect this Sin against the Holy Ghost is above all other Sins the Vnpardonable Sin By William Bridge of Yarmouth LONDON Printed by Peter Cole in Leaden-Hall and are to be sold at his Shop at the sign of the Printing-Press in Cornhil neer the Royal Exchange 1656. OF THE SIN Against the HOLY GHOST Matthew 12.31 32. Preached At Stepney Decemb. 29. 1650. VVherefore I say unto you All manner of sin and blasphemy shal be forgiven unto men but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man shall be forgiven but whosoever speaketh a word against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven him neither in this world neither in the world to come HERE are two great Arguments laid before you in these words First The largeness of Gods heart in forgiving sins unto the Children of men Every sin All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men Secondly You have here the unpardonableness of the Sin against the Holy Ghost But the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men I would rather chuse to speak unto the former Argument but if I should do so at the first possibly some poor soul would say Though Gods heart be very large in forgiving sins yet there is one sin that shal never be forgiven the Sin against the Holy Ghost and I fear I have committed that That I may therefore take away this Obstruction and make your way plain and easie to the forgiving mercy of the Lord I shal at this timââeak unto the last of these two Arguments But the blaspheâââââainst the Holy Ghost shal not be forgiven Whosoever speaâââ against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven him neither in this world neither in the world to come For the opening of which words two Questions must be answered Quest 1 The First is Whether these Jews that our Savior spake these words unto did then sin against the Holy Ghost Answ Some think No. But I rather conceive That these Pharisees did sin this Sin against the Holy Ghost for if you look into the 3d Chapter of Mark ye shal find that our Lord and Savior spake this because of some words that they had spoken against him he had cast out Devils and they said He âast out Devils by the Prince of Devils verse 22. Whereupon our Savior reasoned with them and at last he saith ãâã verse â8 Verily I say unto you All sins shall be forgiven unto the Sons of men and blasphemies Verse 29. But he that shall blaspheme against the holy Ghost shal never be forgiven And the reason
man have sinned this Sin he is past Prayer and past Pardon he is past Sacrifice the truth is this man is in the Devils case The Devil you know is reserved in Chains unto the great Day and he cannot get out So if a man hath sinned this Sin though he live ten yeers twenty yeers or thirty yeers he is reserved in Chains and he shal never be pardoned he is upon the Devils ground O! what a misery is it to commit this Sin O! what a mercy is it then to be kept from it Now here is Hope for the greatest Sinner in the Congregation upon this account saith our Savior All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men except the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost Hast thou therefore been a great Sinner Hast thou been a Drunkard Hast thou been a Wanton Hast thou been a Swearer Hast thou been an Opposer of the People of the Lord and hath the Lord kept thee from this great transgression Man or Woman here is Hope yet Who would not then turn to God Come Drunkard Swearer Wanton here is yet hope for thy soul who would not come in to Christ And O! What Comfort is here for Beleevers that are in Christ If thou beest in Christ and a Beleever thou canst not sin this Sin that look as it is with a man that hath sinned this Sin he cannot be pardoned so if a man be the Child of God a Beleever in Christ he cannot sin this Sin for he that is born of God sinneth not neither can he for the Seed of God abides in him O! you that are Beleevers comfort your selves with this Truth Here is Comfort for all the People of the Lord from this Doctrine Applic. 4 But in the fourth place If the Sin against the Holy Ghost be indeed the unpardonable Sin what cause have we al to look to our steps to our words to our actions Beloved this Sin against the Holy Ghost is the Professors Sin a man less than a Professor cannot sin this Sin against the holy Ghost this Sin against the holy Ghost is the knowing mans sin a man less than a knowing man cannot sin the Sin against the holy Ghost And as I said before a man may possibly go very far in sin and yet not commit this great unpardonable Sin So now on the other side I say Possibly a man may go very far in Religion and yet he may sin this Sin These Pharisees that committed it had the Key of Knowledg knowing they were and very knowing in the Scriptures as for Zeal they travelled Sea and Land to make a Proselyte for their Practice they fasted twice a week exceeding strict in observing the Sabboth day the Lights of the Church and the Eyes of all the People were upon them for their Guides and yet these men sinned this Sin against the Holy Ghost O! what care should there be in al our souls how had we al need to look to our waies The more Truth revealed the more danger of sinning this Sin the more great Works of God are done by the very Spirit and Finger of God if men do oppose and blaspheme the more danger of sinning this great Sin Now I wil appeal to you When was there ever more Light revealed than in these daies of ours yet when more opposing and blaspheming of it When were there ever such great Works done by the very Spirit and Finger of God and yet when more opposing and blaspheming Are there not some that have been convinced that the Spirit of God breathed upon their hearts in such and such Ordinances and such and such Waies and yet now oppose and blaspheme those very waies of God wherein they said heretofore they had the Spirit of God Are there not some that are convinced that in these Times great things are done by the very Finger by the Power and Arm of God among us and that in order to our salvation and yet how do men speak against them and blaspheme I wil not say that these men do it out of malice and therefore I do not charge this Sin against the Holy Ghost upon them But beloved in the Lord this is certain That in knowing Times Times when God is doing great things by his own Finger then is this Sin stirring most The Times of Christ and of the Apostles were Times of great Light when God wrought by his own Finger then was this Sin committed Now in these Times there is much breaking forth of Light and great things done by the very Finger of God therefore I say there is great danger if men do now blaspheme wherefore I say again take heed to your souls you that are Professors look to your steps in these daies of ours Quest But you wil say We grant indeed that this Sin against the Holy Ghost is the unpardonable Sin and wo be to them that do fal into it and it cannot be committed but by a knowing man but what shall we do that we may be kept from this great Transgression that whatsoever sin we do fall into yet we may be kept from this great Evil and this unpardonable Sin Answ I would that you would mind and consider the Description which you have heard and think of it But I wil tel you what David did saith David O Lord keep back thy Servant from presumptuous sins so shall I be free from the great transgression It seems then that presumptuous sinning makes way to this great Transgression When is a man said to sin presumptuously When a man sins upon this score That God wil shew mercy to him saying I know indeed it is not good for me to go to such a wicked Company it is a sin so to do but I wil venture and repent afterwards for God wil shew mercy To venture upon a sin presuming that God wil shew mercy and that a man shal repent afterwards is presumption and presumptuous sinning makes way to this great Transgression therefore would you be kept from this great Transgression go to God with David and say O Lord keep back thy Servant from presumptuous sins so shall I be free from the great transgression Again Be alwaies humbled for lesser sins He shal never fal into the greatest that is alwaies humbled for the least he shal never fall into the worst that is alwaies humbled for the smallest Besides Fear is the Keeper of Innocency Timor innocentiae custos Fear is the Guard of Innocency If you alwaies fear to commit it you shal never commit the same In case that you do at any time fal into sin say Well but through the Grace of God though I commit what is evil I wil never oppose what is good by the Grace of God I wil carry this Rule along with me Though I commit what is evil I wil never oppose what is good In case any great Work be done before you that lies beyond your reach and beyond your fatham say Though I do not understand
this Work I wil admire and though I cannot reach it yet I wil not blaspheme and âpeak against it And if heretofore Christian thou hast found God breathing upon thy heart in any Ordinance publick or private Hinc discimus quantopere nobis ab odio fratrum câândum est quandoquidem eo sit ut quandoque odio hominis in ipsam Dei vâritatem feramur precipites Cartw. Harm âag 357. or in any Way of God take heed as for thy life that thou dost never speak evil or blaspheme that way of God wherein thou hast sound the Spirit of God breathing This Sin is alwaies accompanied with invidentia fratrum with the envy of the Saints and therefore some have thought the Sin against the Holy Ghost did consist in it in the envying of the Saints but though that be not it yet that accompanies it Canst thou not find thy own heart rise to those heights of Graces that others do take heed you never envy the Saints lest you fal from envying those that are good to oppose Goodness it self which is the proper Work of the Holy Ghost And if indeed you would be kept from this great Transgression then take heed of al declinings and the steps thereof There are three steps as in our Conversion to God so in our Apostacy declining and going out from God Three steps in our coming in to God First a mans Affection is taken with that which is good Then his Judgment is convinced And then his Wilstrikes in and he resolves with al his heart and soul to cleave to the Lord for ever So in a mans Declining and going out from God First a mans Affection declines Then his Judgment alters I thought so and so indeed before but now I am of another mind And then it comes to his Will and he wil go on and let Parents say and Ministers say and Friends say what they wil yet he wil go on and that because he wil. Now saith the Apostle If any man sin wilfully after he hath received the knowledg of the Truth there remaineth no more Sacrifice for sin therefore as you desire to be kept from this great Transgression doth your Affections decline take heed your Judgment do not alter Doth your Judgment alter take heed that your Wil be not perverse O! take heed of al Declinings and the stepâ thereof But finally Forsake not the Assembling of your selves together as the manner of some have been but as heretofore provoke one another to Love and good Works and so much the more as you see the day approaching and what I say to you I say to al and to mine own soul Let us breath after the Spirit and walk in the Spirit For there is no Condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit O! let us pray to God for his keeping Grace it is he alone that keeps us and the Lord keep al our souls from this great Transgression OF THE SIN OF INFIRMITY Wherein is shewed besides other things I. That a man may possibly fall into the same Sin again and again yet be a true Disciple II. That this Sin may be but a Sin of Infirmity III. That being so Christ will not leave him in it but will come again and not cast him off By William Bridge Preacher of the Gospel at Yarmouth LONDON Printed by Peter Cole in Leaden-Hall and are to be sold at his Shop at the sign of the Printing-Press in Cornhil neer the Royal Exchange 1656. OF THE SIN OF INFIRMITY Matthew 26.43 Preached At Stepney And he came and found them asleep again for their eyes were heavy IN the Verses next precedent and consequent you may see the difference between the true and the false Disciple both sin'd but they differ in their sin and in the issue of it The true Disciple sleeps when he should have prayed and he slept again and again that was his sin for our Savior commanded them to watch and pray but Christ wakened them and would not leave them sleeping he came to them with his wakening mercy and they were awakened that was the issue of their sin But the false Disciple Judas was awake and he watched unto what was evil the good Disciple slept unto what was good and the false Disciple watched unto what was evil that was his sin For while Christ yet spake ver 17. Lo Judas one of the Twelve came and with him a great multitude with Swords and Staves from the chief Priests and Elders of the People Now he that betrayed him gave them a sign saying Whomsoever I shall kiss that same is he hold him fast and forthwith he came to Jesus and said Hail Master and kissed him This was his Sin wherein our Savior leaves him and doth not awaken him but suffered him to go on leading him forth with the Workers of iniquity That was the issue of his Sin In this 43. verse you have the true Disciples Sin and his Lords Grace his dealing by Christ and Christs dealing by him First He slept when he should have been at Prayer which Sin is described by the Cause thereof and by the Repetition of it The Cause of it in these words For their Eyes were heavy this sin therefore was a Sin of Infirmity a Sin of Weakness and so our Savior cals it verse 41. for saith he The Spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak The Repetition of this Sin you have in these words He found them asleep again Christ had wakened them before and commanded them to pray but they slept again and again thus did they deal by Christ Secondly But how did Christ deal by them he did not leave them in their Sin not cast them off as he did deal by Judas but he came to them again and as they slept again so Christ came again his waking Grace and Mercy was as high as their slumbring Sin they sin again and he comes again So that the Doctrine from the whol verse is this Doct. Though a man do sin again and again yet if his sin be a Sin of Infirmity Christ will not leave him in it but will come again and not cast him off For the opening and cleering whereof Three things will fall under our Consideration 1. That a man may possibly fall into the same sin again and again yet be a true Disciple 2. That this Sin may be but a Sin of Infirmity 3. That being so Christ will not leave him in it but will come again and not cast him off First It is possible that a good man may fall into the same sin again and again I confess it is an Evil thing so to do and a great Evil In some respects it may be worser to fal into the same sin than to fall into others for this may more wast ones Peace and destroy the Assurance of Gods Love sins against Light do the most darken Now when we have repented
sin that a wicked man commits which is a Sin of Infirmity because he is dead then a man may commit a sin that is but smal in the bulk and yet no Sin of Infirmity 2. But I think my sin is a Sin of Infirmity because I am tempted to it and because I am drawn on by others But I pray was not Adam tempted unto the eating of the forbidden Fruit by Eve And was not was Eve tempted by Satan And wil you cal that a Sin of Infirmity that condemned al the World as Adams Sin did And I pray you was not Aaron put upon making of the Golden Calf by the People and wil you cal that Sin of Idolatry a Sin of Infirmity Possibly a man may be tempted drawn unto Sin by others and put upon it by others and yet the Sin may be no Sin of Infirmity 3. But I think my Sin is a Sin of Infirmity because I do strive against it And I pray did not Pilate strive against the crucifying of Christ he would have delivered him from the Jews cals for a bason of Water and washed his hands saying I am free from the blood of this man used means and did strive against it and yet the Sin of Pilate no Sin of Infirmity Possibly therefore a man may strive against his Sin and yet the Sin be no Sin of Infirmity 4. But my Sin is a Sin of Infirmity because I am troubled after it And was not Esau troubled after he had sold his Birth-right for a mess of pottage did he not seek it with tears And when Judas had betrayed his Master and our Savior it is said that he repented of what he had done and was troubled Surely then though the Sin that I commit may be lesser in bulk than anothers Sin and smal comparatively and though I be drawn into it by others and though I do strive against it and though I am troubled after it yet it may be no Sin of Infirmity Yet good Lord how many poor souls are there that deceive themselves and think that their sins are but Sins of Infirmity and thus are mistaken on the left hand But Secondly As some are mistaken on the left hand thinking that their Sins are Sins of Infirmity when indeed they are not so others on the right hand are mistaken and think that their Sins are not Sins of Infirmity but of a worser Nature when indeed they are And that upon a Three-fold accompt First Because they Sin knowingly Secondly Because they fal into the same Sin again and again and do lie therein Thirdly Because they fal into the Sin after Admonition Object 1 O! saith one I fear my Sin is no Sin of Infirmity for I sin knowingly and with deliberation I sin against my knowledg and against my Conscience and therefore my Sin can be no Sin of Infirmity Adrian sic definit peccatum ex infirmitate est actus vel omissio culpabilis sine deliberatione propter passionis impetum facta hac tamen definitione non complectitur omne peccatum ex infirmitate nam potest peccatum ex infirmitate accidere cum deliberatione imo vero ut sit peccatum debet esse aliqua deliberatio Vasquez 12. Q. 77. A. 3. Utrum sit possibile quod aliquis sciens ex infirmitate peccet Dicendum quod communiter ab omnibus ponitur aliqua peccata ex infirmitate committi quae à peccatis ex ignorantia non distinguerentur nisi contingeret aliquem scientem ex infirmitate peccare Tho. Aquinas Quest Disputat de causa peccati Att. 9. p. 96. But for Answer hereunto you must know it is one thing for a man to sin knowingly and another thing for a man to sin out of knowledg or against his knowledg As in case the of Ignorance it is one thing for a man to sin ignoranter and another thing to sin ex ignorantia A man sins ignorantly when ignorance is the companion of his Sin only A man sins out of ignorance when ignorance is the only cause of his Sin and not the companion only As for example Suppose a man be in fight in a great Battel and he kil another he kils him because he did not know him if he had known him in the Battel he would not have killed him here his ignorance is not the companion only but the cause of it So that it is one thing to sin ignorantly and another thing to sin out of ignorance A man sins ignorantly when ignorance is the companion of his fact A man sins out of ignorance when ignorance is the cause of it So a man sins knowingly when knowledg is the companion of his fact but a man sins out of knowledg or he sins against knowledg when knowledg is the cause thereof as when a man doth use his knowledg to make distinctions and shifts for his sin whereby he is emboldened to it and continues in it Knowledg is somtimes only a companion of sin as when a man knows that the first risings of Sin are evil this knowledg is no cause of them but meerly a companion Somtimes knowledg is the cause of Sin as when a man doth know that his way is naught and he doth deliberately consult and devise excuses and lyes to hide the same here his knowledg is the cause of those Sinful excuses and the man doth not only Sin knowingly and with knowledg but out of knowledg and against his knowledg and this cannot stand with infirmity but the former may for the Disciple knew that it was evil for them to sleep yet their Sin was a Sin of Infirmity Object 2 O! but I fear that my Sin is no Sin of Infirmity because I fal into it again and again and do lie in it Answ But do ye know what it is to lie in Sin There is much mistake about lying in Sin Possibly a man may lie in a Sin yet never fal into the gross Acts thereof he may he in the breach of the seventh Commandement and yet never commit the gross Act of Adultery he may he in the Sin of Covetousness yet never be any great Oppressor So on the other side a man may possibly fall divers times into the same Sin and yet not lie therein for properly a man is said to lie in Sin when he doth continue in it and not purge it out so he that is born of God Sinneth not because his heart is as a Fountain or Spring that purifies it self from that dirt and filth of Sin which doth fal into it but as the Apostle speaks The whol world lies in wickedness Why Because a wicked mans heart is as a Lake or standing Pool which keeps all that dirt which is thrown into it Now if you do thus keep and lie in your Sin why do you so complain this your complaining argues that there is some purging out and therefore you do not lie in Sin Object 3 O! but I fear my Sin cannot be a Sin of Infirmity because I fall
of God that are unsetled in the Truth These things write I unto thee saith Paul to Timothy that thou mayest know how to behave thy self in the House of God which is the Church of the living God the Pillar and Ground of Truth Yea every Member of a Church should be a Pillar in the House of God So the Lord promiseth to the Church of Philadelphia Surely therefore it is matter of great Importance for a Church and people of God to be setled and established But Thirdly and especially It is a great Mercy and Blessing for a particular soul to be setled in the Truth and established in the good Waies of God It 's a good thing saith the Apostle that the heart be established with Grace not with Meats which have not profited them that have been exercised therein Possibly a mans heart may be comforted and strengthâned with Meats Psal 104.15 it 's said And Wine that maketh glad the heart of man and Bread which strengtheneth mans heart Where the same word is used by the Septuagint that is here used in the Text. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Septuag But the Apostle Paul doth relate to the Ceremonial Law for the Jews converted to Christ Judaei ad Christum conversi supââstitiosius inhaerebant observationi legalium ceremoniarum cumprimis discriââini ciborum a Moyse prescripto illis haec sententià est opposita Gerrard in loc were too superstitiously addicted to the observation of Legal Ceremonies especially those which concerned Meats and difference of Meats Rom. 14.2 Col. 2.16 and to those is this Speech opposed It is good that the heart be established with Grace as if he should say some think to find Establishment in the observation of Meats and Doctrines for the Jewish Ceremonies but the best Establishment is in the Doctrine of the Gospel Quidam in genere intelligunt interna et Spiritualia Dei dona quibus homines sanctificantur quidam doctrinam Christianam side susceptam Gratiam Christianismi ut sit sensus firmitatem et stabilimentum cordis quaerendum esse in gratia Dei quam N. T. mediator Christus attulit non in observatione ciborum quam Moses tradidit Ibid. and the Grace of God revealed in the Gospel Some think that by Grace here we are to understand Holiness and those Spiritual Gifts whereby men are Sanctified But having said in the former words Be not carried about with divers and strange Doctrines these words seâm to comply and correspond better with them if by Grace we understand the Doctrine of the New Testament from which the Galatians are said to fall Ye are fallen from Grace when they returned to the Law But in both respects it is a good or beautiful thing that the heart be established with Grace For It is the ground of all our Fruitfulness Ye know how it is with a Tree or Plant thâugh in it self it be never so good yet if it be not setled in the Earth it bringeth forth no Fruit If the Plant be good and the Soyl good it may bring forth good Fruit but if you be alwaies removing it from one place to another it cannot bring forth Fruit. And what is the reason that many are so unfruitful in their lives but because they are so unsetled in their hearts and Judgments The Tree that is planted by the Waters side brings forth Fruit in its season Psal 1. But as for the Ungodly it is not so with them They are as the Chaff that brings forth no Fruit whom the wind drives to and fro And the Truth is an unsetled man is neither fit to receive good nor to do good So long as the Vessel is moved up and down ye cannot pour the Liquor into it and who can write exactly when his arm is jogged Can any man walk exactly in a crowd which one while carrieth him this way and anoâher while that way No surely Neither can an unsetled unestablished heart walk exactly with the Lord his God It is the bottom of al our Praises The Birds do not ordinarily sing til they be set they do not usually sing flying but when they are fixed then they begin to sing So saith David My heart is fixed O God my heart is fixed and what then then saith he I will sing and give praise but not til then and what is the reason that many pass âo many yeers of their lives in doubtings and fears never praising God for any love or Mercy to them but because they are unsetled in their Spiritual Estate and Condition It is the beginning of our Perseverance Then I begin to persevere when I begin to settle and to established as Instability is the beginning of Apostacy so Settledness is the beginning of Perseverance It is that good thing which pleaseth God exceedingly God was so pleased with Jehosaphat upon that account that he passed by and winked at al his Infirmities even because his heart was fixed and established 2 Chron. 19.2 the Prophet reproves him for joyning with the Ungodly Nevertheless saith he there are good things found in thee in that thou hast taken away the Groves out of the Land and hast prepared thine heart So ye read it but I think rather And hast fixed established or set thine heart to seek God On the contrary it 's said of Rehoboam though he did many good things That he did evil in the sight of the Lord because he prepared not or because he fixed not established not ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in Niphal ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Paratus sâmus stabilis qui nec everti nec impediri qucat in Pirl et Hiphil paravit preparavit sinnavit confirmavit stabilivit includit firmitatem et certitudinem Shindlerg set not his heart to seek God 2 Chron. 12.14 it is the same word which we translate Establish in other Scriptures as Psal 40.2 He hath set my feet upon a Rock and established my goings and it notes such a fixation and settlement whereby a man doth so continue in his way and course that he wil not be put out of it This Rehoboam wanted for he was ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã a soft hearted man naturally and though he did many things that were right and good yet he was led by the Counsel of his yong men and his heart was not set and fixed to seek the Lord but Jehosaphat was of a stedfast Spirit and would not be put out of his way and therefore though he did some things amiss yet the Lord commends him and accepts of him So that although a man do many good things yet if his heart be not fixed and established the Lord will pass by and not regard the same But though a man do commit great evils yet if his heart be set to seek the Lord God wil pardon and pass by al his Failângs O! Cur quaeso in tanta multitudine valoâum ne naum quidem vitreum reperituâ diââs quod cum facile frangâtur est symbolum inconstantiae quam
like a drunken man Job 12.25 Again He girdeth their Loynâ with a Girdle verse 18. He speaketh the word and it standeth fast who said to Solomon and so to al the Princes of the Earth If thou wilt walk before me in integrity of heart and in uprightness to do according to all that I have commanded thee and wilt keep my Statute âand my Judgments then I will establish the Throne of thy ãâã as upon Israel for ever 1 Kings 9.4 5. As for a Church it is âe alone who doth settle and establish it Psal 87 ââ âââââd of Zion it shall be said this and that man was born in her and the Highest himself shal establish her And as for a âââicuââ person ât is God alone that doth settle him both in hâââââwârd and Spiritual Condition In his outward Condition Prââ 15.25 The Lord ââll destroy the House of the proud âut he will estâblâsh the âârder of the Widdow And in his Spââiuaâ Estââ and Condition 2 Thes 2.17 Now our Lord Jesus Christ hâââelf and God our Father comfort your heart saith the Apostle and establâsh you in every good word and Work and Psal 90.17 the Psalmist doth address himself unto God for this saâing Establish thou the Work of our hands upon us yea the work of our hands establish thou it And if it be so great a Blessing to be thus setled and established if we have so great need of establishing Grace and it belongs unto God alone to work it then surely it is not only a matter worthy of our Prayer but our Duty also to say and pray with the Psalmist Stabâish thou O Lord the work of our hands upon us yea the work of our hands establish thou it And thus you have the Doctrine cleered in the Parts thereof If it be so great a Mercy and Blessing to be setled fixed Applicat and established in the Truth and good Waies of God then what cause have al thoâe that me now established to praise the Lord and say I was a poor unsetled person but through Grace I am now setled The more unto lâd the Times are and men in the Times the greater is the Mercy to be truly fixed and established Hath the Lord therefore setled your heart in these unsetled Times O! then give thanks unto the Lord and say My heart is fixed O God my heart is fixed I will sing and give praise Object O! but I cannot find this fixation of spirit in my soul nor that stedfastness in my life as I desire and therefore I cannot praise the Lord as I should Answ It may be so Yet know that there is much difference between variety of Grace and Instability of Spirit The exercise of various Graces is a great Blessing Instability of Spirit is a great Evil Ye may exercise one Grace which you did not exercise before and you may perform one gracious Work which you did not before yet this no instability of Spirit You must know also That there is a kind of shaking which is consistent with this true Setledness and Establishment of heart Ye see how it is with the Ships in the Harbor and with those Ships which lie at Anchor though they be not driven and tossed up and down with the Waves of the Sea yet in the time of a storm they do move and are shaken So it may be with thy soul Though thou hast cast Anchor within the Vail and art come into thy Harbor yet thou maist be somwhat moved and shaken But though you be in some measure shaken yet you are not tossed up and down as those that are not at Anchor and therefore O! what cause have you in these unsetled Times for to praise the Lord If Establishment be so great a Blessing what a sad Condition are those in that are not established not setled not fixed either in their Judgments or Lives Not a Mountebank come to Town but they must run to him for some of his Salves not a wandring Star appear but they must go to him for some of his Light These are those unlearned and unstable souls these are those that are laid out for a prey unto Satans Instruments as Satan goes up and down seeking whom he may devour so do his Instruments and there are a People that through the just Judgment of God shal be a prey unto them and who are those but these unlearned and unstable souls Some again are unsetled in their Lives and Practices somtimes they are for God and somtimes against him somtimes for his Service and somtimes against it These are those that are contrary to al men and to themselves These are those that are like to Ephraim whose Righteousness is like the morning dew fading and vanishing And both these are as the Picture or Map in the Frame which you may carry from one Room to another hang it in this room and it suits wel with it carry it into another Room hang it up there and it suits wel with that and whatever Room you hang it in it can comply therewith whereas if it be in no Frame only glewed or plaistered to the wall ye cannot remove it without tearing of it So in this ease Take a good and gracious fixed Soul and you may sooner tear him than remove him from the Truth or the good Waies of Christ but an unsetled person is for every Room and for every Company carry him into one Company and he can comply with it carry him into a second third or fourth he can comply with al Why but because his heart is unfixed not established But wo unto him for he is upon the Road to Apostacy Instability is the high way to Apostacy O! the sad condition of those that are not established Quest What shall we do then that we may be established It is a Mercy and great Blessing for a Nation Church and Particular person to be sâtled What shall we do that in all these respects we may be established Answ I As for a Nation or Châââtian State It must first settle Religion such a Naâion can never be setled til Religion be setled for Religion is the main Mâst and if that be not strengthened al the Tackling wil be loose Esai 33.23 The Tacklings are loosed saith the Prophât they could not wel strengthen their Mast they could not sprââd their Sââl and Deut. 28.9 it 's said The Lord shal câmâââââe Bââssing upon thee in thy Store-houses and in all that th usââât ââaââ hand unto and he shal bless thee in the Land which the Loâd thy God giveth thee verse 8. Yea The Lâââd shââ ãâ¦ã if thou shalt keep the Commandemânt oâ he Lord ãâ¦ã walk in his Waies v. 9. And all the peoplâ of thâ Earth sâââ be afraid of thee verse 10. And if ye look inâo thâ Book of the Kings and Chronicles ye shal observe that in the latter Daies of he Kingdoms of Israel and Judah before theââ Caââââty these Kingdoms were unsetled only upon
Sin which they carry to the Devils Ordinances Who can come freely off from the Devils ground Wil men tempt God and think to prosper And what is it to tempt God but to put him upon an unnecessary Protection and Preservation of us Take heed therefore how you come at such Meetings lest you leaving God he do leave you Answ 6 Whatever Truth you know do not only know it in a Spiritual way but put the same into practice for he that know Truth carnally is not far from error and the way to be established in the Truth is to walk therein As ye have therefore received Christ saith the Apostle so walk in him rooted and built up in him and established in the Faith 2 Col. 6.7 Answ 7 Then go to God for his Establishing Grace and put your Judgments into the hand of Christ to keep them for you even as you would put your Children or Family into Gods hand to keep them for you when you are absent from them so put your Judgment into Gods hand to keep it for you also For it is God alone who doth settle us even the God of al Grace and he hath said Prov. 16.3 Commit thy Works unto the Lord and thy thoughts shall be established It is he that hangeth weights on the wings of the wind who hath founded the Earth on nothing and therefore though your thoughts be as âleeting and uncertain as the wind yet he can hang weights upon them he can make you solid staid sober who do now stagger to and fro like a Drunken man And if you put your Judgment into Christs hand he wil keep it for you for faithful is he who hath called you who wil also establish your hearts in the Truth received Quest 2 But what shall I do that I may be more setled in my Life and established in the good Waies of God for I want Settlement in my Waies and Practices Answ 1 First You must be very sensible of your own unsetledness and be humbled for it He is not far from Grace that is senâible of his sin that is contrary to it he is not far from Humility that is sensible of his Pride nor far from Sincerity that is sensible of his Hypocrisie nor far from Faith that is sensible of his Unbelief nor far from Establishment that is very sensible of his own Unsetledness Answ 2 Secondly Labor for a serious Spirit a staid solid and a serious Spirit a serious Spirit and an established heart go together Prov. 4.26 Ponder the path of thy feet and let all thy Waies be established Yong men generally are more unsettled than Antient men and what is the reason of it but because Ancient men are the more serious and ponderous yong men are the less serious and so the more unsetled Labor therefore to be more serious for the more you think of the greatness of God and the great things of your everlasting Estate and Condition the more serious you wil be Answ 3 Thirdly Be sure that you do not live upon your Condition it self but on the God of your Condition that is perpetual which hath a perpetuating Cause God is perpetual Perpetuum est quod habet causam perpetuantem but your Condition is uncertain although it be never so firm and good therefore live not upon your Condition I say but on the God of your Condition Answ 4 Fourthly Take heed of a divided heart that you have not a mind Et dabo eis cor unum 1. Mihi soli deserviens non idolis nunc enim divisum quando habent cor quo et me et idola colunt sic interpretatur R David eodemque sensu vertit Chald. Paraph. Alii cor unum 1. Simplex vocari putant quasi dicat faciam ut me simplici ac sinceâo ânimo colant alii unum id est amicum atque consentiens quod in Christianis sactum fuisse scribit Lucas Act 4. multitudinis autem credentiam erat cor unum et anima una Septuâg videntur pro ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã legisse ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã alterum veâterunt enim ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã et dabo illis cor alterum 1. Novum qui sensus magnopere mihi placet id enim videtur dicere voluisse cum dixit unum et cum dixit spiritum novum confirmat hanc interpretationem Ezek. 36.25 hanc eandem repetens sententiam non dixit dabo vobis cor unum sed dabo vobis cor novum et spiritum novum quanquam Jer. cap. 32 39. cor unum et viam unam dixit quid autem vocet cor alterum et spiritum alterum declarat statim cum dicit aufetam cor lapideum de carne corum et dabo eis cor carneum Maldonat in Ezek. 11. cap. 19. and a mind The double-minded man is unstable in all his waies saith the Apostle Now a man may hâve a mind and a mind thus when his Conâcieâce runs one way and his Affection anothâr way So it was with Herod his Conscieâce told him that John was a just and an holy man and a pâwerful Preacher therefore his mind was to deliver him but his affection was to gratifie the Damsel which begged Johns head and so his mind was to kil him Pilate also had a mind and a mind the mind of his Conâcience was to deliver Christ but the mind of his Affection wâs to gratifie and plââe the Jews Zedekiah had a mind and a mind thâ mind of his Conscience was âo spare Jââemiah but thâ mind of his Affection was to gratifie hiâ Nobl s And between these two âânds how unconstant was he So now if the Mind of your Conscience lie one way and the mind of your Affection âe another way you wil be wrung like Pauls Ship between two streams one while you wil be a Servant unto your Affection another while a Servanâ to your Conscience and so between both you wil never be setled take heed therefore of this divided heart the Lord hath promised to give us one heart Ezek. 11. oneness in regard of God that we shal be one with him oneness in regard of men that we shal be one wiâh them oneness in regard of our selves that we shal not be divided in our own souls Therefore pray unto him for this Oneness and he wil fulfil this his Promise Answ 5 Fiftly Be sure that you put on the whol Armor of God for if you do not withstand in the day of Temptation ye cannot stand for ye fight not with flesh and blood saith the Apostle but with a more crafty powerful enemy and therefore if any place lie open he will be sure to find it out You know how it was with Ahab A man drew a bow and shot an Arrow at a venture and wounded him between the Joynts of the Harness Now Satan knows where your naked open place is and therefore if you be not harnessed al over with every Duty with every Truth and with every
do watch for your Souls If you stand fast we live say they and your constancy is our rejoycing You have been constant in seeking âarthly things which are in their own Nature unconstant Multos annos laborant homines et constantes sunt pro rebus mundi inconstantibus et fugitivis quia inconstantes sumus pro aeterna et constanti gloria and wil ye be constant in seeking unconstant things and not constant in seeking those things that are most constant and durable Riches If you be not constant in good you wil be constant in what is evil if not setled in the Truth you wil be tenacious of Error which is the greatest evil renacity in Error or instability in Truth I say not but seldom any are uâstable in good but they are most tenacious in what is evil And the more unsetled you are the more you make the way to Heaven difficult and uneasie you think and say O! Difficile putabis perseverare at difficilius est iterum incipere multo molestius inceptare sepius equi minorem vim faciunt cum continuant iter trahentes currum quam cum repetere volunt postquam steterunt non fugiunt difficultatem qui cessant ab opere nam perseverando facillius ââet si potuisti incipere quod difficilius est poteris continuare facilius Euseb Nierem de adorat Lib. 3. Cap. 7. this Work of God is exceeding hard and very difficult and therefore you leave it off then you come to it again and then you leave it off again but by your leaving it off you do make it difficult If an Horse be ââdden with an even hand he wil go wel al the day but if somtimes you ride him upon the Spir and then he stand a while and then ride him on the Spir again and then he stand and take cold again he wil sooner tire And what is the reason that many men are so often jaded tire and give in but because they do not keep an even pace in good Now therefore as you do desire that the way to Heaven may be ãâã easie to you that you may not be tenacious in what is evil that you may not grieve the Ministers of the Gospel Instruments of your Good and Conversion that you may not lie open unto sad and new Temptations and that you may not be a scandal to the good Name of God for what hurt hath the precious Name of God done to you labor to be more setled fixed and established which that you may be think and think much on these Motives And lastly Go to God by Prayer for this Fixation and Establishment of Soul he is apt and ready to pardon your former unevenness and want of Establishment Psal 78.37 it 's said of the Israelites that they were not stedfast in the Covenant Yet God being merciful forgave their Iniquity verse 38. and he it is alone who hangeth weights on the wings of the wind and therefore though your Spirits have been as light as the wind it self yet he wil hang weights upon them therefore go to him For be is the God of all Grace Who having called you to his Eternal Glory after you have suffered a while wil restore strengthen stablish and settle you FINIS TWO SERMONS I. The great Things Faith can Do. II. The great Things Faith can Suffer Preached by VVilliam Bridge somtimes Fellow of Emmanuel Colledg in Cambridg and now Pastor of the Church of Christ in Great Yarmouth in Norfolk 1216. LONDON Printed by Peter Cole in Leaden-Hall and are to be sold at his Shop at the sign of the Printing-Press in Cornhil neer the Royal Exchange 1656. THE EPISTLE TO THE READER Reader ALthough some of the Notions in these two Sermons may be already published in some former Works of this Author yet the Subject being both useful and seasonable for these times which are calling upon the Saints to Do and Suffer great Things and the publishing of them being much desired by many who heard them I have perus'd them and look upon them as conducing much to thy spiritual good And that the blessing of the Lord may go along with and make them very advantagious to thy soul both in doing and suffering for Christ is the prayer of Thy true Friend William Greenhil June 13. 1656. Reader THe Contents of these twenty five Sermons are now collected by the Printer for thy ease and Benefit THE GREAT THINGS Faith can do Hebrews 11.32 Preached at the Charter-House Decemb. 23. 1655. And what shall I say more for the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and of Barak and of Sampson and of Jeptha of David also and Samuel and of the Prophets who through Faith subdued Kingdoms wrought Righteousness obtained Promises stopped the mouths of Lyons quenched the violence of fire escaped the edg of the Sword out of weakness were made strong waxed valiant in fight turned to flight the Armies of the Aliens women received their dead raised to life again c. IN this Eleventh Chapter to the Hebrews you have a little Book of Chronicles wherein the Beleevers of the old Testament do stand upon Record for their great Work of Faith In the former part of the Chapter the Apostle doth instance in several Beleevers at large In the latter part he is more compendious and draws up the Instances into a narrower Room for saith he The time would fail me to ââl of Gideon of Barak and of Sampson and of Jeptha c. Now these Beleevers that he doth instance in in the latter part of the Chapter are of two sorts some famous and of good reports for their actions and some for their sufferings some did great things and some suffered great things and both by their Faith Those that suffered great things are mentioned in the following words Others were tortured not accepting of deliverance Those that did great things by their Faith in these Verses their Persons are mentioned and the fruits and effects of their Faith for which they are mentioned in these Verses Their Persons are mentioned in Verse 32. ye have their Names there their State Condition and their Order their Names Gideon and Barak and Sampson and Jeptha and David their State and Condition some were Kings some were Judges some were Prophets Faith runs through al Conditions and Ranks of Men Faith and true Grace is able to make a Plantation upon every Condition of men And as for their order here Gideon is before Barak and Sampson is before Jeptha yet if you look into the Story in the Judges you shal find Barak is before Gideon and Jeptha before Sampson and here Gideon set first and Sampson first why because they excelled in Faith and those are most excellent in Gods eyes who are most eminent in Faith those are most excellent in Gods Eyes who most excel in Faith But now as for the Fruits and Effects of their Faith they are many here are no less than ten mentioned in
Heaven from an Angel or from God himself yet the Scripture is beyond al Dreams and immediate Voyces ibid. INSTANCE III The written Word is better than Impressions upon the Soul Page 23 1 The written Word is our dayly food Impressions are not Page 23 2 All Impressions are from the written word ibid. 3 Impressions are dangerous to walk by the written word not Page 24 Quest Is there no use of Impressions with or without a particular Word Is there no light that shines through them ibid. Answ Affirmatively 1 They comfort in temptations ibid. 2 They may guide a doubtful soul ibid. 3 They may strengthen the heart ibid. Negatively 1 Impressions are no Judg of true Doctrine but the written Word is Page 25 2 Impressions may bring much comfort upon the heart especially coming with the Word yet they may be delusions of the Devil if it be not according to the true sence and scope of the Word set upon the heart Page 26 3 Though the impression be of God yet if the Application be beyond Impression I still err ibid. INSTANCE IV The Light of Scripture is beyond the Light and Law of Grace in the Saints Page 27 1 The Light within us here is imperfect the Law of God perfect ibid. 2 The light within us cannot convince others ibid. Quest Is there no use of the light within us doth not God direct thereby ibid. Answ Affirmatively 1 It is a Candle of the Lord in the soul Page 28 2 It inclines us to good as it discovers evil ibid. 3 It enableth a man to do good and is that principle whence all good actions flow ibid. Negatively Though it be a principle of good yet it is not the rule of our lives ibid. I. If it were the Rule what need the Scripture But the Scripture is the Rule ibid. Object If the Spirit within me be the same by which the Scripture was written what need I wait on the Scripture any longer ibid. Answ It is sent to be your Help not to be your Rule Page 29 Reasons 1 You may have the same spirit but not the same inspiration of the spirit ibid. 2 If the Law and Light and Spirit within were the Rule a man might do any wickedness without sinning ibid. 3 If the light within were my Rule then am I my own Rule and consequently I am God Page 29 II. The Law Light and Spirit is a great Help in our way to life yet it must be tried by the Word ibid. INSTANCE V The written Word better than Experience Page 30 1 All Light of Experience is borrowed from Scripture ib. 2 It is short of Scripture ibid. 3 Without the Word it cannot heal our Vnbelief ibid. Quest Is there no use of experience is there no light therein ib. Answ 1 Affirmatively Yea much for it bringeth Hope ibid. 2 Negativelvely It is not the ground of our Faith though it be an help to our Faith The written Word is the first ground of faith and hope ib. 3 All experience is to be reduced to the Word written Page 31 INSTANCE VI As for Divine Providence the Scripture is a more sure light than it ibid. Reasons 1 God doth somtimes try us by his Providence to see what we will do but the Scripture is the Rule of our doing ibâd 2 The Providence of God extendeth to all our actions be they good or evil and therfore no certain Rule from thence to make up our judgment by but you may make up your Judgment and certain Rule from the Scripture ibid. Quest Doth not God speak by Providence guide and direct by Providence somtimes ibid. Answ Affirmatively 1 Yea he doth somtimes guide us with his eye as the Psalmist speaks ibid. 2 Though God doth this yet to make the Providence of God the Rule of Lawfulness and Vnlawfulness is a great error The Providence of God maketh nothing lawful that is in it self unlawful but the Scripture is the Rule only whereby to make up our Judgment what is lawful what not Page 32 INSTANCE VII Scripture is more excellent than the Light of Human Reason ibid. Reasons 1 Reason is the poor mans bread but Gods Word is the bread of Angels ibid. 2 Though Reason be the Gift of God yet it cannot sufficiently discover sin ibid. 3 It cannot strengthen us against sin and temptation nor convert the soul but Gods Word can Page 33 4 It is not saving Light but Gospel-light is saving light Page 33 Quest Is there no use of the light of Reason ibid Answ Affirmaâively 1 Yea much not only in civil things but in the things of God ibid. 2 Reason is but an Handmaid and Rââsons before faith lessââ âuâ after saith they strengthen it Page 34 3 In things of God we must deny ouâ Reason but we must not dâny the Scripture ibid. INSTANCE VIII Judiciuâ Astrology cried up as a great light in these daââ Page 35 1 Buâ ãâã in truth a work of daââ ãâã forbidden by God ibid. 2 It desiââyeth Prophesie ib. Quest Is there no light of Knowledg from the Stars do not the Heavens declare Gods handy work will you condemn all Astronomy Page 36 Answ Negatively 1 Astromy No. There is much difference between the Lawful knowledg of the Stars and Judicial Astrology to foretel future events ibid. 2 The Stars are for signs of Weather and have a teaching power in them but he that would foretel future events by them makes himself a God sets up Fate and destroies God makes God the Author of all the sin in the World ibid. A brief of the whol matter repâated Page 38 Sermon III. The Fourth General Proposition Scripture Light the most sure Light Page 39 The Reasons 1 It is the Word of the Son of God Christ only is not called the Word of God but the Word written is also called the Word of God Page 40 2 The Scripture is the only Rule of our lives proved by many Reasons ibid. 3 It is the Salt that seasoneth al our enjoyments the great relief of our Souls in time of Temptations it sanctifieth all our outward comforts Page 41 4 It shall be our Judg at the great day Page 42 5 It shall be established upon us ibid. An Objection answered concerning the word Until which it not to be taken exclusively ibid. Quest Why are the Saints to take heed unto Scripture specially in dark times Page 43 Answ Because they are then in most danger of falling ibid. Object All Hereticks lay claim to Scripture-Light Page 44 45 Answ Some do some do not 'T is one thing to cite Scripture and another thing to take heed thereunto ibid. Application 1 We must bless God for Human Learning ibid. 2 They that foââake or deny the Scripture are ân a sad Condition ibid. 3 Take heed to the Scripture Page 46 Quest What must we do to take heed to Scripture ibid. Answ Three things 1 Take heed to understand it 2 Take heed to keep it 3 Attend to walk by
peace because I came so lightly by it Page 14 Answ All peace is the free gift of God for Christ his sake not for our sufferings Page 15 Object I want that Peace within how shall I come by it ibid. Answ The Lord only can speak this peace to thee which he doth speak in the way of his Ordinance ibid. Quest What doth the Lord speak in his Ordinances that may quiet my Soul ibid. Answ 1 You are willed to consider much of the fulness of Christs satisfaction ibid. God for Christs sake works all our works for us Page 16 2 Christ is our Peace-maker we must go to him ibid. The manner how we must go 1 Go in uprightness Page 17 2 Carry the Promise with you ibid. 3 Wait long on Christ till Peace do come ibid. Quest Must we not be humbled for sins committed ibid. Answ In all your Humiliation carry Christ along with you ibid. 4 Labor to mortifie your affections ibid. 5 Walk not with doubting company Page 18 6 When God speaks a little peace to thee refuse it not for it will encrease Page 19 This is amplified Page 20 Sermon II. DOCT. 2. The Saints may be under much discouragement Page 21 Two words in the Text most Emphatical Cast down Disquieted ibid. The words opened by four Questions Page 22 1 How far a good man may be discouraged 2 How it comes that he is discouraged 3 How discouragements can stand with Grace 4 How they may be cured Quest 1. How far may a good man be discouraged Page 22 Answ 1 A Saint may refuse Comfort for the Soul ibid. 2 For the Body also ibid. 3 A good man may refuse Duty Page 23 4 He may be weary of his life ibid. Quest 2. Why doth God suffer his Children to be so discouraged ibid. Answ In general It is for their good Page 24 More particularly 1 It is Gods way to deal so with men ibid. 2 This way God sets a greater price on our inward peace Page 25 3 God will have us to love him only ibid. 4 He thus trains up his Children to more perfection ib. 5 He doth this to keep his Chil-from security Page 24 6 This is explained by the similitude of a Chyrurgeon dealing with his Patient Page 26 Object Can any man foretel a mans discouragement ibid. Answ Affirmatively 1 It may be foretold when a man placeth his Spiritual Comfort on outward Blessings Page 27 2 When a man is unthankful for true peace and not humbled for false Peace ibid 3 When a man doth raise his Comfort only from Grace within and not from Christ without Yet Grace within is 1. A Cause sine qua non 2. It removes all impediments of Comfoât 3. It is a witnessing Cause 4. It is a confirming Cause ibid. 4 When a man layeth his comfort on the impression or coming in of the Word rather than upon the Word iâ self The words on Psal 16.4 critically expounded Page 28 Quest 3. How can all this stand with Grace ibid. Answ Affirmatively The Saints are never so discouraged but there is some Grace left ibid. Quest Is there no evil in Discouragements Page 29 Answ Affirmatively Very much ibid. Quest 4. What must a poor Soul do to recover its peace lost Page 30 Answered partly by way of Question partly by Direction ibid. 1 Hast thou quite forgot thy former peace Page 31 2 Do you not use the means for restoring your Comforts ibid. Some seek Comfort by way of reasoning with God Some seek it in Duty neglecting their Calling Both are dâceived 3 Have you not so far strained for some outward comfort as to lose your inward comfort ibid. Quest What shall I do that my comforts may be restored Page 32 Answ By Direction in three things 1 Do what you would do to be justified ibid. 2 Seek whether God hath withdrawn his presence for your sin ibid. An Objection answered Page 33 3 Read the Scriptures much ibid. Object What if I do they may not comfort me ib. Answ You cannot tell till you prove it Page 34 Somtimes the Promise comes to us somtimes we go to it ib. Object I shall meet with threatnings in the Scripture ibid. Answ Negatively for Threatnings lead you to the Promise Page 34 Object There are many other things in Scripture that concern noâ my Condition ibid. Answ Negatively Christ cureth us somtimes by diverting our minds ibid. Quest Where Peace returns what must I do Page 35 Answ 1 Be sure it be true Peace ib. 2 Fall upon Satans Quarters ibid. 3 Put all your Comforts into Christs hands ibid. 4 Spend all for Christ comfort others Page 36 Sermon III. DOCT. 3. Davids condition is put for a pattern Page 42 Habakkuks Condition ibid A Godly man may rejoyce in any Condition ibid. The Saints think they have reason for their Discouragements Page 43 The Saints may have reason for their Discouragements ibid. Quest What have the Saints that is a sufficient Bulwark against all discouragements ibid. Answ 1 A godly man hath a propriety in God ibid. How God is my God Page 44 2 God knows him and his condition ibid. 3 God will not have his People to be discouraged proved from God the Son to God the Father Page 45 4 The Saints have no discouragement but there is a greater Encouragement bound up with it Page 46 God makes our discouragements causes of encouragements Page 47 5 A prayâng man can never be very miserable Page 48 4 The matter of our discouragements is but as a cloud ibid. Quest How shall it appear to be but a cloud ibid. Answ 1 If this Cloud come after the Promise Page 49 2 If a man can see to work Page 50 3 If there be some openings of light with the darkness by intermission ibid. Application Page 51 Object I have reason to be discouraged for I have no feeling of Gods Love ibid. Answ 1 We do not live by feeling but by Faith ibid. 2 The great difference between a Godly man and a wicked man in this Page 52 3 An Exhortation to the Saints not to be dscouraged for four Reasons ibid. 1 You rejoyce Satan when you are discouraged ibid. 2 You grieve the heart of God ib. 3 You do thereby make void the end of Christs coming ibid. 4 You make your self unfit for Christs Service ibid. Quest What shall a man do to bear up against all discouragements Page 54 Answ 1 Never lay your Comforts upon any Condition ibid. 2 Think of Christ in a right way Page 55 3 Check your self for being discouraged ibid 4 Mix the thoughts of your Discouragements with thoughts of Comfort ibid. 5 Mortifie Self-Love Page 56 6 Question your self for being discouraged ibid. So much for the Proof in general Page 57 Sermon IV. The Point is cleered and proved by nine particular Instances Page 58 1 Discouragements from gross sins Page 59 2 From weakness of Grace 3 From their failing in Duty 4 From want of evidence of Gods
Love 5 From Temptations 6 From Desertions 7 From Afflictions 8 From Vnserviceableness 9 From the Condition it self INSTANCE I. Proved by way of Question and Answer Page 60 Quest How may this appear ibid. Answ 1 They know they shal never be condemned Page 61 2 Their sins shall never part God and them proved by the Covenant made with Noâh Page 62 3 Their sins are occasions of more Grace proved Page 63 Object Suppose my sin be such that there is no such found to be pardoned in Scripture may I not be discouraged ibid. Answ Negatively ibid. Object Suppose a man sin against his conscience and knowledg ib. Answ Negatively Page 65 Object Suppose it be an exceeding great sin a godly man hath committed ibid. Answ Negatively ibid. Object Suppose it be a sin of revolâing and back-sliding Page 66 1 Answ Negatively 2 You may be mistaken 3 Christ died for sinners were they yong or old in their sins Page 67 Object Suppose a man cannot repent enough for his sin presently Page 67 Answ Negatively Page 68 And proved by three Reasons Quest Should not a godly man be humbled for his sin Page 69 Answ Affirmatively Reasons to prove it by Page 70 Quest What is the difference between humbled and discouraged ibid. Answ 1 When a man is humbled the Object of his grief is his sin but he is not discouraged Cain was discouraged but not humbled Page 71 2 True humiliation is a real friend to spiritual Joy ibid. 3 True humiliation brings on Diety Discouragement drives us from it Page 72 Quest How shall a man be humbled and not discouraged ibid. Answ 1 A man must be humbled for his sin be it never so smal but not discouraged for his sin be it never so great ib. 2 In your humiliation do not part that which God hath joyned Page 73 3 Mourn not for your sin in order to your condition but mourn over your condition in order to your sin ibid. 4 In your humiliation meddle not too much with Gods Prerogative Page 74 5 The more you are humbled at the sight of Gods free Grace the less you will be discouraged Somtimes we present the Lord to our souls under the notion of his greatness and somtimes under the notion of Goodness Whence he cites a saying of Luthers ibid. 6 If you would be humbled and not discouraged lay the stress of all your sorrow upon your sin and drive up your sin to your Vnbelief Page 75 Sermon V. ISTANCE II. A Complaint of smal Grace Page 76 The Answer negatively God recompenceth weakness with wisdom Page 77 Every godly man is a wise man ibid. Quest Is it no disadvantage to be weak in Grace ibid. Answ affirmatively 1 He is the more ready to stumble and fall ibid. 2 His Comforts are more easily quenched Page 78 3 He cannot glorifie God as the strong Christian may for three Reasons ibid. 1 He doubteth oftener ib. 2 The more a man lives by hope the more he glorifies God Page 78 3 A strong Christian will do great things for God Page 79 4 A strong Christian can tend the publick a weak Christian cannot ibid. 5 A strong Christian can wait long on God a weak cannot ibid. 6 A strong Christian is helpful to others ibid. Secondly There is no reason of being discouraged ibid. The Reason are two 1 Weakness doth not exclude mercy ibid. 2 The weak Christian hath as many Promises from God as the strong ibid. 1 If your weak Grace be true Grace you have as great a share in Christs Righteousness as the strongest Christian hath Page 80 2 The Promises of Scripture are most to those that are weak in Grace ibid. 3 Weak Christians have most kisses from God Page 81 3 If I be weak in Grace if Christ will condescend to mine infirmities I need not be discouraged Page 82 4 Christ puts a Why and a Wherfore on the discouragements of weak Christians ib. 5 A Christian would be discouraged if he did not somtimes find this smalness of Grace within him Page 83 Object It is an uncomfortable thing to be weak ibid. 1 Answ Negatively Page 83 2 There is difference between uncomfortableness and less comfort ibid. Quest How shall I know that my little grace is an earnest of more grace ibid. Answ 1 Because you have the Spirit of Adoption ibid. 2 If you mourn for little grace and wait on God for more ibid. Object I am not discouraged at my weakness for the uncomfortableness of it but for the unserviceableness of it Page 84 Answ 1 You ought not so to be discouraged for the spiritual victory lies not in our selves ib. 2 Though your grace be weak yet you may do much for God ibid. Object I am most discouraged in regard of my own guiltiness Page 85 Answ 1 You may be mistaken ibid. 2 If your sin have weakened your grace you must be humbled but not discouraged for three Reasons ibid. 1 If nothing have befallen you but what may befal a true Beleever ibid. 2 Though grace be weakened by sin yet if it be true it cannot fail ibid. 3 If the Promise belong to you Page 86 Object I fear my Grace is not true but common Grace Page 86 Differences between true and common Grace ibid. 1 True grace though smal wil not oppose much grace ibid. 2 It loves to be tried ibid. 3 It is very inquisitive after the waies of God and further Truths Page 87 4 It is much in humiliation ib. 5 It works proportionably to its strength ibid. 6 It is willing to learn of others ibid. 7 It is very sensible of its own weakness Page 88 Object I am an old Professor yet weak in grace ibid. Answ You may be weak in respect of others yet strong in respect of your former parts This is cleered by three Reasons ibid. 1 The more extensive a mans Obedience is the more he is grown in grace ibid. 2 The more exact a man is in Duty the more he is grown in grace ibid. 3 The more a man understands his Christian Liberty and yet walks more strictly the more he is grown in grace Page 89 Quest If I be weak in grace and temptations press me what must I do ibid. Answ 1 Consider what a great charge God the Father hath given to Christs âf those that are weak ibid. 2 Consider what charge Christ gave to his Apostles and Ministers of those that are weak ibid. 3 Consider what a great mercy it is to have a little true grace Page 90 4 Think how your grace will grow weaker under discoucouragements ibid. Sermon VI. INSTANCE III. Object A dull heart in Duty causeth discouragement Page 92 Answ Negatively There is reason to be afflicted but not to be discouraged ib. Quest How may that appear Page 93 Answ 1 Every good man is in Covenant with God ibid 2 Though his Duty be done in weakness there is somwhat of Christ in it ibid. 3 Our acceptance of Duty must not come
Doctrine Page 325 3 If you do beleeve then see that you walk answerable thereunto ibid. Sermon XIII Means against Discouragements Page 327 DOCT. Faith is the Help against all Discouragements Page 328 For your better understanding consider 1 What is Hope ibid. 2 That Faith quiets the heart in sad times ibid. 3 It is the day of all the Saints to trust in God especially at that time ibid. 4 What there is in faith and how faith can do it ibid. Quest 1. What is it to trust in God ib. Answ 1 To trust in God is to rely on God for help c. ibid. 2 He that trusteth in God doth trust unto him for some good thing that lieth out of sight Page 329 Quest 2. How may it appear that Faith will quiet the soul Page 330 Answ It is proved several waies out of Scripture ibid. Faith gives free access to God Page 331 There are three Vails in Scripture 1. Of Obscurity 2. The Vail of covering guilt 3. A Vail of shame Page 332 Quest 3. How may it appear that when discouragements arise Faith must then be exercised and then especially ibid. Answ It was Davids case and the Scripture is express for it ibid. Quest 4. What power hath Faith to allay discouragements what is in faith can do it and how doth faith do it Page 333 Answ 1 Faith gives a man the true prospect of things past present and to come And all Discouragements arise because men do not see things as they are ibid. 2 True saving Faith sees that in God and in Christ which answers all our fears Page 335 3 Faith puts the Soul under Gods Commandements to answer all Objections Page 336 More briefly of saving Faith 1 It is the proper work of Faith to resign our wils unto Gods wil. Page 337 2 It is the proper work of Faith to apply a suitable Promise ibid. 3 True faith will not venture without Gods Call Page 338 4 True faith sees the hand of God in every dispensation ibid. 5 True faith looks on both sides of Gods Dispensation and of our own Condition ibid. 6 Fath sees one contrary in another ibid. 7 It is the work of true faith to engage God to suffer ibid. Application Then if discouragements arise exercise your faith ibid. Quest Will every faith quiet a mans heart ibid. Answ Negatively For There is a feigned and uneffectual and there is an unfeigned and effectual faith A counterfet faith will not quiet a mans soul c. ibid. Quest How then shal a man exercise his faith that he may bear up against all Discouragements Page 339 Answ 1 You must be humbled for your unbelief c. ibâd 2 Go not to God without Christ Page 340 3 Trust in the Lord himself and not in your own duties ibid. 4 Trust in the Lord before you do act in your business ibid. 5 Trust in Jesus Christ before you trust in the Promise Page 341 6 If God give you a Promise never let it go though you see nothing but the contrary ibid. Object I fear I should presume and tempt the Lord ibid. Answ To doubt after so much experience were rather to tempt the Lord Page 342 Quest If God give me a Promise and I see no performance how shall I not be discouraged Page 343 Answ Either it is thy Duty to beleeve on Christ or not if not why dost thou beleeve at all If it be thy Duty why shouldest thou not rely on him ibid. Be of good comfort for 1 If you want assurance in God look on Christ Page 344 2 If you want assurance turn your eyes from those Objections that invade your faith ibid. 3 Beleeve that you do beleeve Helps for Faith Page 344 1 God never leads his People to any great mercy but he puts the sentence of death on all means that tend to it ib. 2 It is a great sin to limit Gods mercy as to limit his power ibid. 3 When God gives a Promise he somtimes trieth whether we will beleeve or not ibid. 4 God often times fulfils one Promise and denieth another ibid. 5 When we see nothing but what is contrary to help then is Christs time to help Page 345 6 Be your Affliction ordinary or extraordinary you must trust to God for mercy ibid. 7 Questions to ask a mans own Soul to encourage us Page 346 8 Consider frequently and seriously what a blessed thing it is to trust in God Page 347 It is reasonable to wait on God For 1 He waited on you for your Repentance ibid. 2 You have waited on men wil you not wait on God ibid. 3 When you give over waiting deliverance may come to your shame Page 348 4 If you give over waiting you lose all your former labor ibid. 5 If you wait on God he will not alwaies forget your work of Faith Page 349 The Sin against the Holy Ghost ON Matth. 12.31 32. THere are two Arguments in the words Page 353 1 The largeness of Gods heart in forgiving sins to men ib. 2 The unpardonableness of the sin against the Holy Ghost ibid. I had rather speak first to the former but to prevent Objections from some distressed soul I shal fiâst speak to the latter Page 354 For opening the words Quest 1. Whether the Jews our Savior spake then to did then sin against the Holy Ghost ib. Answ Some think No But I rather think Yes for the Reasons in the Text. ibid. Quest 2. Is there any so giveness of sins in the world to come ibid. Answ It is an unusual Phrase noting the eternity of misery Page 355 DOCT. The Sin against the Holy Ghost is an unpardonable sin Page 355 The Truth opened by the enquiry into two things 1 What the Sin against the holy Ghost is ibid. 2 How this sin is unpardonable beyond other sins ibid. For to say what this sin is ibid. I answer Negaâively and Affirmaââvely ibid. 1 Negatively It is not that sin whereby men do barely deny the Deity of the Holy Ghost c. ibid. 2 Nor is it every opposition to the work of the Holy Ghost c. Page 356 3 It is not necessary that every man who sins against the holy Ghost should be an universal Apostate as iâ is ordinarily thought ibid. There is a two-fold Apostate Either one that declineth from the profession of the Truth Or one that rebels against the Tâuth revealed and wil go no further cleered by an example Page 357 4 Final Vnbelief and Impenitency is not the sin against the holy Ghost neither that a man lives and dies in nor that he purposeth to live in to the last for many have so purposed to live yet have been converted ibâd 1 The Jews did then commit this sin yet they had not continued in it to their death ibid. 2 Final unbelief is rather sin against God the Son ibid. 3 If final unbelief be this sin then Christ should threaten that he which dieth in his sin should not be forgiven
Ordinance you cannot withstand him wherefore saith the Apostle Take unto you the whol Armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand stand therefore having your loyns girt about with Truth having on the Breast-plate of Righteousness and your feet shod wâth the preparation of the Goâpel of Peace Above all take the Shield of Faith and take the Helmet of Salvation and the Sword of the Spirit and pray alwaies with all manner of prayer and supplication and watch thereunto c. Ephes 6.13 14 15 16 17 18. Answ 6 Sixtly The more delight and contentment that you find in the good Waies of God the more your hearts wil be fixed established and staked down to them Comfort and Establishment go together 2 Thes 2.17 A man wil never hold to that work long which he finds no comfort and delight in when the Devil draws a man from Duty he doth not tel him at the first that the Duty is naught or evil but he labors to clog the way of that Duty with many Difficultieâ for saith he if I can make this man draw heavily and uncomfortably in his Duty he wil soon cast it off And indeed what is the reason that men are so off and on to and fro in the good Waies of God but because they do not find delight and contentment in them Do you therefore desire to be fixed and established labor more and more then to make your way to Heaven easie and comfortable to you Now that the way to Heaven may be made sweet and easie to you 1. Be sure that you do not separate between Gods Commandement and his Promise there is no one thing which God hath commanded us to do but he hath promised strength and Grace to perform it with If I look upon the Command alone then the Work doth seem hard to me but if I take in the Promise then it is most sweet and easie 2. Be sure that you apply your self unto Gods Work according unto Gods Method let that be first which he hath made first and that last which he hath made last A Fâgge or ââllet is easily drawn from the Stack if you begin aloââ but if you wil take out that first which doth lie below it wil come haâdly So in regard of Duties there are some Duties which do lie above and some that lie beneath some are to be performed firât and some after first you must beleeve and then do good Trust in the Lord saith the Psalmist and do good But if you wil do good before you beleeve then it wil come off with difficulty Gods own Method observed makes his way sweet and easie 3. Be sure that you improve and make use of that variety which God hath given you Varietas refocillat variety refresheth and Gods variety is most refreshing But if I wil hold my self only to one Duty when God hath given me many and so neglect Gods variety no wonder that his Work is made hard and tedious Are you therefore weary with praying Apply your self unto Reading Aâe you weary in Reading Away then to Conference Possibly youâ heart may be backward to Prayer but by that time you have been a while Reading and Meditating you shal be fit for Prayer and having been a while at Prayer you shal be more fit for Conference but if you wil keep your self only to one Duty your way to Heaven wil be more difficult Observe therefore Gods variâty and neglect not the same 4. Be sure that you do not stint your self unto any Work or Duty so as to say Thus far wil I go and no further If a man be in a Journey and hath fixed al his Stages he rides in continual pain and fear lest he should not reach his appointed place by his time appointed But if he say I wil go as far as the Providence of God wil carry me then he rides more at ease in his mind al the day long So in our Journey to Heaven if you say thus far I wil go this day and no further then you wil go in continual pain lest you should not reach your appointed Stâge but if you say I wil pray morning evening and as much as I can hear as much as I can read and meditate as much as I can I wil go as far for Hââven this day as I can then the Work or God wil come off wâth more ease and âweetness and with less difficulty I speak not this against set tiââ of Pâayer and Duây but against stinting and âânting God ând your own hearts O! let us take heed of ââaâ 5. If you would so sweeten the Waies of God as that you may be more fixâd and established therein then labor more and moââ to naturââze them unto your own souls violent things nevââ hold natuâââ things do The Sun is constant in rising every ãâã for it 's natural The Stone if thrown up into the Aâr doth descend conâtantly for it 's natural So iâ the Woâk of God be Natural to you you wil be constant in it and though you be puâ by it yet you wil return again and again Labor therâfore to naturallize the Work of God to your own soul so shal it be more and more sweet and easie and you wil be more fixed setled and established therein for it is delight that doth give fixation Answ 7 Seventhly If you would be fixed and established in the good Waies of God then consider these ensuing Motives 1. Thereby you shal rid and free your selves from Temptations which wil otherwise press in and return upon you The Jews saw that Pilate was wavering and not fixed for Christ so they came upon him with new volleys of Temptations and carried him at the last but when the Disciples saw that Pauls heart was fixed on his Journey to Jerusalem they gave over their siege and lâft him to his own thoughts and though Naomi did perswade Ruth to return unto her own Country and Kindred yeâ at the last she left speaking to her for saith the Text She saw that she was stedfastly minded to go with her Ruth 1.18 As an unsetled Spirit doth lie open unto new Temptations and doth invite them so a setled fixed and established heart shal be freed from them This fixation of Soul is a great honor unto your Profession and thereby ye shal walk worthy of the Gospel Phil. 1. he that is unsetled unconstant and uneven in his course doth bring no honor unto his Profession but laies stumbling-blocks before the blind and doth offend the World do you not see say they Qui servat constantiam servat dignitatem what a giddy and unsetled People some of these Professors are but there or there is a man that doth walk closely with God there is a Christian indeed he that keeps his constancy keeps his dignity Thereby you shal rejoyce the hearts of those that are set over you in the Lord who