and the Type Our blessed Saviour hath brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel And the New Testament makes over to us our right and title to that blessed inheritance which our Lord hath purchased for us We had forfeited Gods favour and needed an Atonement The Law of Moses prescribed certain Sacrifices indeed for expiation and the procurement of the favour of God but it is very certain that those Sacrifices could not make the commers thereunto perfect Heb. 10.1 But then it pleased God to send his only Son to die for our sins and now he hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ 2 Cor. 5.18 19 21. and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation To wit that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself not imputing their trespasses unto them For he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him The Kingdom of Heaven is now opened to all Believers and none are now excluded from the hopes of that blessed state who do not shut themselves out by their unbelief and impenitence and contempt of the Laws of Christ For God so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son Joh. 3.16 17. that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved This is the comfortable Doctrine of the holy Scripture and hence it is that we have now great consolation For there can be nothing so much for our comfort as the assurance which we have of Gods favour which is better for us than life it self But then to put us out of all doubt for ever this truth is confirmed to us as well as taught by the holy Scriptures For our blessed Saviour wrought many Miracles to confirm to us the Doctrine which he taught and by that means hath given us the utmost assurance that this comfortable Doctrine is a divine truth To this purpose he cured the sick dispossessed the daemoniacks raised the dead restored the blind commanded the Sea and the Wind and rose from the dead the third day Many and various and supernatural are the works he did and which are written in the Gospels And many more he did which are not written Joh. 20.31 But these are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God and that believing ye might have life through his name God hath set his Seal to the divine truths which the Gospel does contain And hath effectually taken from us all cause of doubt and suspicion IV. The holy Scriptures tend very much to our comfort under our troubles as they do contain many precious Promises which tend this way God hath been pleased in these Writings to make many promises for the comfort of the afflicted and oppressed of them that fear him and trust in him and suffer for his names sake And nothing of what God hath said shall fall to the ground If we continue to trust in God and to do good we shall find great comfort from the holy Scriptures in our greatest sorrows Psal 31.19 O how great is thy goodness which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee Which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the Sons of men Happy is that man that puts himself under the Divine Protection Psal 32.10 Many sorrows shall be to the wicked But he that trusteth in the Lord mercy shall compass him about No man does so much consult his own safety as He does that does intirely trust in God and commit himself and his affairs unto him Psal 125.1 They that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion which cannot be moved but abideth for ever I deny not but such a man may fall into straits and difficulties but then he is not forsaken but can have a recourse to him that is at hand and able to save him Psal 14.2 3 4 5. When my Spirit was overwhelmed within me then thou knewest my path I looked on my right hand and beheld but there was no man that would know me refuge failed me no man cared for my Soul I cried unto thee O Lord I said Thou art my refuge and my portion in the Land of the Living The good man may be bereft of his worldly comforts and supports but then when he is most of all so God is present with him Nay we are then more peculiarly the care of God when we are abandoned by the Creature The afflicted man is particularly the charge of Heaven and does immediately belong to the divine care and Providence The devout Psalmist makes his affliction his argument to move God to have regard to him Psa 142.6 Attend unto my cry for I am brought very low Again Psal 70.5 But I am poor and needy and then he goes on Make hast unto me O God The Prayers of the afflicted righteous find a ready way to God they pierce the Heavens and are sure to obtain a blessing The righteous cry Psal 37.18 18. and the Lord heareth and delivereth them out of all their troubles The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart and saveth such as be of a contrite Spirit There is great comfort in the holy Scripture for every man that is sincerely good and does desire to be better And whatever his sorrow and affliction be he is not left comfortless If he be burdened with his sins harassed out by the cares and toiles of a vexatious world and very uneasie under the load which lies upon him yet is not this distressed and miserable Sinner left without hope and comfort Our Lord speaks to such as these are saying Mat. 11.28 Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest Take my yoak upon you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart and ye shall find rest unto your Souls For my yoak is easie and my burden is light How comfortable a Scripture is this to the dejected Sinner That hath in vain sought his happiness from the things of this life that hath toiled a great while to no purpose and is now under fears of Gods wrath breaking in upon him as a just punshment of a trifling and a vicious life These are most powerful words and if men would consider them duly would appear to have a mighty force upon the minds of men Can any thing be more welcom than rest to them that labour and are heavy laden Is any rest to be compared to the rest which is given to our Souls can any thing be more desirable for them that have served cruel Lords than that they should now submit to one that is meek and lowly in heart Can any thing be more inviting after a great bondage and slavery than a yoak that
governs the World And it is well for us that so it is We are safer much in his hands than in our own and dearer we are to him than to our selves We rejoyce under the Government of a wise and good King We have greater cause to rejoyce in this that God reigns And that if we consider his infinite Wisdom his Goodness and Almighty Power His Wisdom assures that he will do what is best And we are not fit Judges of that We are not able to see into the secrets of Government It is enough to us that God is infinitely wise and so not only knows what is best but what is best for us and what is the fittest time of helping us But then his Goodness and Holiness give us a full assurance that he will not let them that are truly good and suffer upon that account lose their reward That he will not govern Arbitrarily but will do good to them that are good And since his Power is infinite also we are secure that he will not be defeated in bringing his own Counsels to pass And therefore the holy and pious soul give◠it self up intirely unto Gods disposal being well assured of Gods good will to him and knowing well that his infinite Wisdom cannot be deceived nor his Almighty Power defeated 3. I shall make some Application of this And that I shall do in the following Particulars First This may serve to reprove our murmuring and impatience under the evils which we meet with here below We complain bitterly under our several troubles and afflictions not considering the hand that lays them on us We do not as we ought when we are distressed look up with great reverence to our Creator but we curse our Stars or we are angry with our Brother who is the immediate Instrument of our trouble or we impute our misery to our inadvertence and do disquiet our selves in vain If our Child or Friend die we accuse the Physician or our selves If we suffer in our Goods we quarrel with our Servants or are angry at the Times In a word we are uneasie and restless not considering that God governs the World and that the very hairs of our head are numbred Our Friend did not die without Gods knowledge Our Goods were not lost without his regard And who are we that we should murmur and complain and say unto God What dost thou If God govern the World we may well be shamed to repine and murmur If he disposeth things below we shall be very blameable if we murmur at our own Lot and Portion Secondly Hence we may be seasonably exhorted to acknowledge this great truth by a suitable life and conversation It is a great influence which this belief ought to have upon us It ought to render us contented with our Lot and Portion of things To endue us with courage to encounter difficulties It ought to quicken us in our devotions Let us not faint under the sorrows that overtake us If God govern the World we ought quietly to commit our cause to him and not go about to wrest the Government out of his hand It becomes greatly to trust in him at all times and not to let go our Faith and our Hope whatever troubles befall us in this mortal life 1 Pet. 5.10 11. The God of all grace who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus after that ye have suffered a while make you perfect stablish strengthen settle you To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever Amen CHAP. V. OUr Religion does assure us of the power and presence of the holy Spirit of God under our sufferings for righteousness sake and this is another great support which the sincere disciples of Christ are furnished with 1 Pet. 4.14 If ye be reproached for the name of Christ happy are ye for the Spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you It is worth our observing by the way that this Spirit is in this place represented to us under the Character of the Spirit of glory and that very fitly also when the Apostle assures those men of this divine assistance who are reproached for the name of Christ The Spirit of glory will sufficiently support good men under the reproach and scorn they meet withal 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vid. N. T. Edit Curcellaei There is a certain Greek Copy that hath it the Spirit of glory and of power I shall not need to contend for that reading being well assured that he who receives the Divine Spirit receives the Spirit of power also as I shall have occasion to shew you afterwards It is to be observed that the Apostle assures them to whom he writes that this Holy Spirit whom he calls the Spirit of glory and of God shall rest upon them He shall not only give them a visit in their sorrows and so leave them but he shall stay and abide with them And this agrees with what our blessed Saviour promised Joh. 14.16 17. I will pray the Father and he shall give you another Comforter that he may abide with you for ever Even the Spirit of truth c. But for my more orderly speaking to this matter I shall First Shew you the sufficiency of this divine assistance Secondly I shall lay before you the great assurance which we have that we shall receive this heavenly aid Thirdly The condition on our part required for the obtaining this assistance Fourthly The Application of it 1. I shall shew you the sufficiency of this Divine assistance which God hath made us the Promise of We shall have great cause to believe that our help will bear proportion to our work and that whatever is laid upon us does not exceed the proportion of the strength which we receive to bear it And then we shall have no cause to find fault of our Master or of our work when our help bears proportion to our work and duty Now we need more than an ordinary help in these two Cases First To enable us against persecutions for the sake of our Religion Secondly To support and comfort us under our losses and other afflictions which we shall meet with in this present life I shall therefore shew you that the Spirit of God will afford sufficient help in both these cases 1. We need more than ordinary assistance to enable us against persecutions for the sake of our Religion The Christian hath as quick a sense of pain as other men his Religion does not destroy his flesh and bloud and change it into Brass Heb. 12.11 He is as apprehensive and as sensible of the evils of life as any other man is And besides that he is is by his Profession exposed to all the miseries of humane life To cold and nakedness To hunger and thirst To scorn and reproach To stripes and to buffetings To Wheels and Racks to restraint and to death death it self It were not an easie thing to recount the very many
that holy Martyrs and those that have been persecuted for righteousness sake have been able to persevere in bearing witness to the truth notwithstanding all the torments which they did endure from their enemies hands They that were tortured endured with singular patience their Tormentors Cruelties and wearied out those men who were their Executioners Nor were they only the Ministers of Religion who might be supposed to be endued with a greater measure of the Spirit that endured with undaunted resolution but the Lay-people also even Women were able to endure the greatest severities I should be endless if I should go about to tell what great examples we have in former and later Ages upon record to this purpose 2. We need a more than ordinary assistance to support and comfort us under the losses and other afflictions which we meet with in this present life The Comforts of this life what price soever we may set upon them are at best very uncertain to us And we very often out-live those blessings which rendered this present life comfortable to us We are deprived of the delight of our eyes and the labour of our hands and of that which was the joy of our hearts Our dearest Friends are snatcht away from our Embraces our Children and our Relatives are taken from us by a sudden and an unlooked-for death and we are bereft of the plenty and the store which once we did enjoy and are left solitary and there is none to comfort us In this case the devout and pious Christian is of all men in the world the best provided for He hath peace and comfort which the world knows nothing of And that he hath from the Holy Spirit of God which he is endued with In this dry and barren Wilderness he hath his fresh Springs And after all his losses and his toyl he haâ— a Comforter that visits him and abides with him for ever Thus the Promise runs which ouâ— Lord made a little before he lesâ— the World Joh. 14.16 And a most gracious Promise this to us who live in these houses of clay and that are faâ—â— removed from our Country and our Fathers house We shall be sure to meet with tribulations here to hear store of evil tidings and very sad stories of the miseries that befall others and that threaten us Thanks be to God for the comforts of the Holy Ghost It is to be hoped that we shall thereby be soâ— far refreshed and relieved as to support us under all our other sorrows in our way to Heaven This Holy Spirit is like the Rock that followed the men of Israel in the Desert and furnished them with water in a dry and thirsty Land This is that Oyl of gladness that makes us rejoyce in the midst of the sorrows of this mortal life The Seal of God that tells us to whom we do belong and the Earnest of our future inheritance which does ascertain us of a great reward in Reversion And by this means we are upheld by this heavenly Comforter under sickness and poverty pain and reproach confinement and the fears of death till we are set at liberty and placed among the Spirits of just men made perfect 2. I shall lay before you the great assurance that we shall receive this heavenly aid For we cannot but be throughly convinced that this Promise of the Holy Spirit is an exceeding great and precious one We are next to consider what great ground we have to expect that this heavenly gift shall be bestowed upon us So it is that if we look down into our own breasts we shall find our selves in so ill a case that we cannot think them fit Temples for so pure and holy a Being as the Spirit of God Our Souls are like the Earth when it was without form and void and darkness was upon the face of the Deep We may soon discover the need we have of this Divine assistance to digest and put in order to cherish and enlighten this dark and confused Chaos But all this while we have no assurance that we shall be thus favoured But blessed be the name of God we have great assurance that he will send his Holy Spirit into our hearts and not forsake us And what that assurance is you may take in the following particulars 1. We have the Promise of God and that to us ought to be enough God had of old foretold Isa 44.3 Joel 1.18 Act. 2.17 that in the times of the Messias he would pour his holy Spirit plentifully even upon all flesh A Promise that was in great measure fulfilled at the day of Pentecost next after the Ascension of the Son of God He did before that command his Apostles Acts 1.4 5. that they should not depart from Jerusalem but wait for the Promise of the Father which saith he ye have heard of me For John truly baptized with water but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence Our Lord had given them before this a great assurance that this Comforter should come and abide with them for ever And we need not doubt but that he that promised would make good his word to us 2. Especially if it be considered how necessary this Holy Spirit is for the compleating and finishing the work of mans Redemption It It is true we were redeemed by the bloud of Christ but then we are renewed by the Holy Spirit and by him enabled to give obedience to his Laws Heb. 5 9â— who is the Author of Eternal Salvation but it is to them that do obey him Since God hath given us his Son we need no longer doubt but that he will with him give us all things especially all things needful for life and godliness We need not doubt of receiving the supports of the Holy Spirit to enable us to profess that truth constantly which the same Spirit dictated to holy men Heb. 2.4 and which was confirmed by Signs and Wonders and divers Miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost There is no room left for doubting but that we shall receive this Holy Spirit if we constantly and fervently implore him 3. Again our Saviour hath given us the utmost assurance in those words where he says Luk. 11.13 If ye then being evil know how to give good gifts unto your Children how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him Parents do not use to deny their Children what is needful for them Nor do they need a positive Law to oblige them to it There is a Law in their nature does direct and determine them in this case And those Parents that are otherwise evil men are yet very prone to bestow good things on their Children Now then who can doubt of Gods readiness to bestow his Holy Spirit upon them that ask him Earthly Parents are evil they are so by nature and more so by custom and a course of sinning But our heavenly Father is
great assurance of success having such a Mediator and Intercessor But our Saviour goes on Ver. 24. Hitherto ye have asked nothing in my name i. e. ye have not as yet made a trial how powerful a name mine is But for for the future he directs and encourages them Ask and ye shall receive that your joy may be full And presently afterwards he gives them great assurance that their Prayers shall now be heard upon his account Joh. 16.26 27. At that day ye shall ask in my name and I say not unto you that I will pray the Father for you For the Father himself loveth you because ye have loved me and have believed that I came out from God III. I proceed now to shew you how what hath been said tends towards our support and comfort under the troubles of this life And that it does several ways 1. The exaltation of Christ to the right hand of God is much for our comfort as it gives us great hope that we shall also be received into heaven Our nature is advanced and this gives us hope that we shall also in due time be received into the same happy place For as Christs Resurrection is made an Argument which infers ours so our Lords being exalted into heaven speaks the great hopes that we have of coming thither And this Consideration does mightily tend to comfort us under the sorrows of this life Joh. 14.4 Let not your heart be troubled says our Lord. But then what follows tends greatly to support them I go to prepare a place for you And if I go and prepare a place for you I will come again and receive you unto my self that where I am there ye may be also Thanks be to God a door of hope is now opened by the Exaltation of our Saviour Heb. 6.19 20. Which hope we have as an anchor of the Soul both sure and stedfast and which entreth into that within the Vail Whither the forerunner is for us entred even Jesus made an High Priest for ever after the order of Melchizedec None under the Law of Moses Heb. 9.7 8. might enter into the Holy of Holies but the High Priest only and that but once a year and not without bloud The Holy Ghost this signifying that the way into the Holiest of all was not yet made manifest while as the first Tabernacle was yet standing There was a vail or partition between the Holy of Holies and the other part of the Temple And when our Saviour suffered death this Vail of the Temple was rent in twain after a most miraculous manner For though indeed there be mention made of an Earthquake at the same time yet that the Vail was not rent by the Earthquake appears from hence that the Text says it was rent from the top to the bottom Mat. 27.51 not from the bottom to the top as it would have been if it been the effect of an Earthquake Now it is no hard matter to explain the meaning of this The Holy of Holies was a Type of Heaven The rest of the Temple and Tabernacle of the rest of the world There was a Vail that shut up the way to Heaven but when our Lord suffered he opened the way that was shut up before and a while after he went himself within the Vail and took our nature with him and by doing so and sending us the Holy Spirit thence he hath given us assurance that where he is we shall likewise be He hath taken a pledge I mean our flesh which he hath carried into heaven as a Pledge that we shall enter thither Pignus totius Summae Tert. de res Carn 2 Thes 4.17 18. and given us the earnest of his Holy Spirit in token that we belong to him and that we shall ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words 2. What hath been said tends to our comfort as it gives us assurance of a Divine Assistance at hand for our succour and support and for the enabling us to do as well as suffer the whole will of God We have not the least cause to doubt either of the Power or readiness and Proneness of our Lord to help us and support us under all our conflicts and especially then when we are persecuted for righteousnes sake Our Saviour is not a mere Spectator he does not only see us fight but he helps us to overcome Whatever it is that troubles us we are not left without a Prince and a Saviour and one that is able to save to the uttermost And this must needs tend very greatly to the quieting of our minds under all the troubles and sorrows that we meet withal 3. This tends very much to our support and comfort as it encourages our Prayers and assures us that we shall succeed when we make our addresses to God and implore his Divine aid and assistance We have a merciful High Priest that was made like unto us and hath about him a sense of our infirmities Heb. 4.16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need Heb. 10.19 20 21 22. Having therefore Brethren boldness to enter into the Holiest by the bloud of Jesus by a new and living way which he hath consecrated for us through the Vail that is to say his Flesh and having an High Priest over the House of God Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith having our hearts sprinkled from an evil Conscience and our bodies washed with pure water CHAP. VIII ANother great comfort and support which the Christian is provided with under the sorrows of this life is that of the Holy Scripture The Psalmist expresses the great comfort he received from the Law of God in his affliction Psal 119.92 Vnless thy Law had been my delights I should then have perished in my affliction He doth elsewhere express his great esteem for and the great delight he had in the Law of God The Law of thy mouth is better unto me Ver. 72. than thousands of Gold and Silver He elsewhere tells us that the Statutes of the Lord are right Psal 19.8 rejoycing the heart the Commandment of the Lord is pure enlightening the eyes and speaking presently afterwards of the Judgments of the Lord he says of them Ver. 10. More to be desired are they than Gold yea than much fine Gold sweeter also than honey and the honey Comb. And now it is no wonder that we find him professing in these words Psal 119.127 128. I love thy Commandments above Gold yea above fine Gold I esteem all thy Precepts concerning all things to be right After this he adds Rivers of waters run down mine eyes Ver. 136. because they keep not thy Law Thus was the devout Psalmist affected towards the Law of God This was his comfort and his joy his riches and