people and exiles from the Covenant in the day of their distresses much more will he comfort his own people A father will not take care of a Kite and neglect his child Hagar was comforted and Ishmael in a necessary instant when the bottle was spent and they knew not what to doe Further in temporall mercies God answereth his people seasonably When Aegypt's flower was spent then it rained Mannah I may instance in Sampsons thirst Elijahs fasting c. An Angel a Raven a Brook a Widow-woman were his Purveyers But I 'le enlarge the proofe in spirituall things and persons Daniel found divine assistance in the Lions den Dan. chap. 6. 22. chap. 9. 21 22. My God hath sent his Angel and hath shut the Lions mouthes that they have not hurt mee Forasmuch as before him innocency was found in mee and also before thee O King have I done noe hurt chap. 9. Yea whiles I was speaking in praier even the man Gabriel whom I had seene in the vision at the beginning being caused to fly swiftly touched me about the time of evening oblation David amidst multitudes of distracting thoughts found God his comfort Ps 94. 19. In the multitude of my thoughts within mee thy comforts delight my soule Paul in a â—ore conflict met with seasonable refreshing comforts 2 Cor. 12. 9. And he said unto mee my grace is sufficient for thee for my strength is made perfect in weakenesse most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon mee so true is that Ps 126. 1. When the Lord turned againe the captivity of Zion we were like them that dreame then was our mouth filled with laughter and our tongue with singing Then said they among the Heathen the Lord hath done great thinges for them Isai 16. 1 2 3. The spirit of the Lord God is upon mee because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meeke he hath sent me to binde up the broken hearted to proclaime liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to them that are bound to proclaime the acceptable yeare of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God to comfort all that mourne to appoint unto them that mourne in Zion to give unto them beauty for ashes the oyl of joy for mourning the garment of praise for the spirit of heavinesse that they might be called trees of righteousnesse the planting of the Lord that he might be glorified When there 's a double tale of bricks required Cum duplicantur lateres veniâ— deus then comes God and brings deliverance when 430 yeares for Israels comming out of Aegypt 70 for comming out of Babylon 13 for the daughter of Abraham 36 for the impotent cripple were expired then came seasonable deliverance So for morning for sin In that day and whilst Mary was weeping Christ came When the Disciples were going to Emmaus and discoursing of Christ then comes Christ and cleares up their judgments 2 Scripture Reasons Reason 1. The scripture reasons are 1. Because God hath prefixed and limited a peculiar time for deliverance When the fit season is come the appointed time of God then deliverance will come and will not tarry Heb. 10. 36 37. For yee have need of patience that after ye have done the will of God ye might receive the promise for yet a little while and he that shall come will come and will not tarry 2. God would have a people prepared for him Mat. 3. 3. This Reason 2 is he that was spoken of by the Prophet Esaias saying The voice of one crying in the wildernesse Prepare ye the way of the Lord make his paths straight 3. The price of the mercy will be the more esteemed O how Reason 3 welcome was a deliverance to Israel in the brick-Kilne misery will make us prizâ— mercy at the highest rate 4. The greater glory will redound to God when he helpes at a Reason 4 time of need Ps 46. 1. God is our refuge and strength a very present help in trouble 5. It 's usuall with God to looke upon a people in a low estate that Reason 5 it may appeare that none but a God can bring deliverance Isai 33. 9. 10. The earth mourneth and languisheth Lebanon is ashamed and hâ—wen downe Sharon is like a wildernesse and Bashan and Carmel shake off their fruits Now will I rise saith the Lord now will I be exalted now will I lift up my selfe Deut. 32. 36. For the Lord shall judge his people and repent himselfe for his servants when he seeth that their power is gone and there is none shut up or left 2 Kings 14. 26. For the Lord saw the affliction of Israel that it was very bitter for there was not any shut up nor any left nor any helper for Israel Thus was the poore woman healed by Iesus Christ when she lost all upon Physitians And joy came after a great mourning in my text 6. All the gifts and graces of the spirit will be set a working viz. Reason 6 of prayer faith love hope patience and when joy comes as the birth and issue of all these O how welcome will deliverance be Now I le cast the scripture counsells into an use of exhortation Vse 1 1. Be exhorted to possesse your soules with patience Luke 21. â—9 In your patience possesse ye your soules Heb. 10. 36. For yee have need of patience that after yee have done the will of God yee might receive the promise Be patient waite quietly upon God 2. Encourage your selves in God so did David 1 Sam 30. 6. 3. Learn to live by faith Heb. 2. 4. The just shall live by faith 4. Be much in prayer Aske and ye shall receive 5. Limit not the holy one of Israel to times or meanes It was the Israelites great fault in Limiting the holy one of Israel 6. Take heed of omitting duties or of abating of love zeale meditation c. Adde to thy duties If God send not comfort at one time it may come at another and that may be a more convenient time Knock harder cry lowder wrestle tug harder at the oare But the other doctrine is the Principall which I intend and I Doctrine 2 shall handle it more largly That there 's a fountaine c. The invitations are many Isai 55. 1. Ho every one that thirsteth come yee to the waters and he that hath no monâ—y come ye bye and eat yea come buy wine and milke without money and without price Iohn 7. 37. If any man thirst let him come unto me and drinke Rev. 22. 17. And the spirit and the bride say Come and let him that heareth say come And let him that is athirst come And whosoever will let him come and take of the waters of life freely Rev. 21. 6. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountaine of the water of life freely And the vertues of this fountaine are set forth John 4. 14.
strength and power in the hands of men if they mis-imploy it God can give strength to wounded men to do great exploits For though ye had smitten the Jer. 37. 10. whole army of the Caldeans that fight against you and there remained but wounded men among them yet should they rise up every man in his tent and burn this city with fire And God can cause the lame to take the prey Thy tacklings are loosed they could not well strengthen their Isa 33. 23. mast they could not spread the sail then is the prey of a great spoil divided the lame take the prey Let us leave off murmuring and repining and wait to see what God will do with us and for us His time is next He will bring to pass his own work his own way to his own glory The third and last Argument I shall name shall be drawn from Arg. 3. Drawn from the benefit of waiting Isa 40. 31. the singular benefit and utility of the duty Art thou weak wait and thou shalt receive strength They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength they shall mount up on wings as eagles they shall run and not be weary they shall walk and not faint Art thou afraid of shame and disgrace lest contempt and ignominy be cast upon the Church of God see what the Prophet Isaiah saith It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth and the inhabitants thereof are as grashoppers Isa 40. 22 23. that stretcheth out the heaven as a curtain and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in that bringeth the Princes to nothing he maketh the Judges of the earth as vanity Dost thou desire Gods blessing wait and thou shalt have it And therefore doth the Lord wait that he Isa 30. 18. may be gracious unto you and therefore will he be exalted that he may have mercy upon you For the Lord is a God of judgement Blessed are all they that wait for him God knows when and how to help his Cum duplicaÌ„tur lateres venit Deus Isa 3â— 9 10 people In the mount God will be seen When the Bricks were doubled then came God and delivered the Israelites from their Aegyptian bondage The earth mourneth languisheth Lebanâ—n is ashamed and hewed down Sharon is like a wilderness and Bashan and Carmâ—l shake off their fruits Now will I rise saith the Lord now will I be exalted now will I lift up my self When helps from earth have been cut off then help came from Heaven When Abraham was stretching forth his hand to kill Isaac then the Angel said Stay thy hand When David was hemm'd in on every side then a way was made for his escape by the Philistines Invasion When Paul was a killing and they were beating of him to beat out his life then came news of an Insurrection in Jerusalem and by that diversion Paul was repreived God hath a way of escape for his people in Fire and Water When thou passest thorow the waters I will be with thee and thorow the Isa 43. 2 3. rivers they shall not over-flâ—w thee when thou walkâ—st thorow the fire thou shalt not be burnt neither shall the flame kindle upon thee Sometimes they have their lives for a prey other times they are made a prey and suffer in a common calamity Yet though the Saints suffer they have an hiding-place And a man shall be as an hiding-place from Isa 32. 2. the wind and a covert from the tempest as rivers of water in a dry place as the shaddow of a great rock in a weary land They have a Pella a Zoar sometimes where they may securely escape with their lives yet they have always a refuge and shelter in the Divine Promises They have a rock higher then themselves from the end of the earth saith the Psalmist will I cry unto thee when my heart is overwhelmed Psalm 61. 2. lead me to the rock that is higher then I. It 's an obliged duty to wait upon the Counsels of God By waiting we may look for good successe because we goe Gods way by murmuring or reviling we cannot look for comfort because we goe the way of flesh and blood By patience the pain and anguish of our fore is mitigated by impatience it corrodes and is inrag'd Thus far of the Doctrinal part I shall improve all unto four Use 1. For Terror Uses viz. For Reprehension Exhortation Direction and Consolation It breathes forth terror and severe reproof unto the murmuring spirits of these present times Never more complaining in our Streets Oh! we would have peace upon any tearms when will the Sword be put into the sheath when shall the Kingdom be setled That complaint is frequently taken up Hast thou utterly rejected Judah Hath thy soul loathed Zion Why hast thou smitten us and Jer. 14. 1â— there is no healing for us we looked for peace and there is no good and for the time of healing but behold trouble For Answer I expostulate with Jehu What Peace What Peace with Rome What Peace with Benhadad What Peace with falshood Peace upon such tearms will prove but a Body massacring a Soul-murdering Peace What Peace with our lusts and corruptions Till they be slaughtered what peace can we expect Can we expect a cessation of punishing before there be a cessation of sinning Can we expect peace with men as long as we continue at War with God For all those Monethly Fasts and days of Humiliation where 's a serious Reformation of our hearts and lives You know how hasty Saul was he forced himself to sacrifice and would not stay till Samuel came it cost him his Kingdom The Israelites would not wait Gods time but were hasty for an encounter with the Amalekites and you may see what they got by it they fell before them and were discomfited unto Hormah Then the Amalekites came down and the Canaanites that dwelt in the hill and smote Numb 14. 45. them and discomfited them even unto Hormah And what 's the ground of this hastiness of spirit It 's infidelity because we believe not God upon his Word we are such hot spurres we out-run Providence and antidate Deliverance We go devised ways untract pathes according to secret impulses quite contrary to the rode of the Word did we believe the faithfulness of God That he is faithful that hath promised that the gates of hell shall not prevail against his Church we should possess our selves with patience and wait quietly for deliverance We usually say that hasty men never want woe Rash preproperous and preposterous practices are the ruine of practitioners An impatient man is a gate without an hinge Janua sine cardine What shame is it for a Christian to be like Hercules furens or like the Demoniack mentioned in the Gospel rending and tearing himself An impatient male-contented person is Felo de se his own Executioner What a weakness was it in
not be bitternesse in the end but where God is the most bitter pill of affliction is sweet and pleasant St Bernard hath a speciall Bernard Orat de bonis deserendis observation in a declamation de bonis deserendis non Isaac sed aries morietur c. If you be willing to sacrifice your Isaac which signifies laughter i. e. your pleasure your Isaac your pleasure shall not dye it is the Ramme the stubbornesse of spirit which shall dye but your Isaac shall live you shall have pleasure still Wherefore cast downe all your joyes comforts and pleasures at Gods feet in an humble submission saying Lord here they are do with me and them what seemes good in thine eyes When the heart is thus took of the world it 's in a fit temper and is best qualified for the comforts of God and over and above when thy spirit is in this frame of resignation of all unto God he in mercy may vouchsafe unto thee the comfortable fruition of them Thus you have heard what Demonstrations I have propounded for the evincing of this pretious Doctrine that all joy and comfort amidst the greatest discomforts is to be found in God Now that I may presse what hath been said home unto your Applicat practice 1. I shall inferre something by way of comfort unto those that make the Lord the joy of their soules 2. In the next place I shall exhort you unto so excellent and necessary duty 3. In the last place I shall lay downe some Directions how this sacred duty of rejoycing in God ought to be exexercised within these limits I shall confine my ensueing Application In the first place this discovers unto us the comfortable condition Vse 1. For Comfort of the Children of God O blessed men whose hope and comfort the Lord is comfort yee comfort yee my people saith the Lord to these comfort appertaines as their peculiar right and interest let them amidst greatest calamities lift up their heads for their redemption draweth nigh All the sufferings of Christ his sweating of drops of blood were for them Christ wept that they might rejoyce he drunk a cup of gall and vinegar that they might drink a cup of new wine in the Kingdome of Heaven and he wore a Crowne of Thornes that they might weare a Crowne of Glory Oh! be not dismayed at any evill tydings and mourne not as men with out hope notwithstanding the confusion and troubles of the Land of our Nativity Let faith hope and patience be exercised Hope is the propp of the righteous that stayes the soule from falling were it not for hope the heart would breake in these conflicting daies of sin where there are such sad thoughts of heart for the afflictions of Joseph and for the divisions of Reuben We know not what to do we have no strength of our selves but let me tell you as Nehemiah did the Jewes Neh. 8. 10. The joy of the Lord is your strength Hee 's a fountaine inexhausted though the Cisternes of the Creatures are drawne dry he continues a God of strength though all sublunary things are as weak as water when Parents forsake a man then the Lord takes pitty upon him when riches make themselves wings and flye away as an Eagle towards heaven God becomes thy riches and inricheth thee with grace and so thou gainest by thy lossesse As Joseph told Pharaoh God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace so say I God shall answer thy doubts and let in peace and tranquility into thy soule Melchior Adamus records this observeable passage in Melchior Adamus In vita Oecolampadii the life of Oecolampadius when some of his friends askt him whether the light did not offend him Tangens pectus inquit abunde lucis est he clapt his hands upon his breast and said here 's light enough When the light of God shines in thy bosome and thou discernest Gods reconciled countenance in Christ thou hast enough Strive therefore to exterminate all thoughts of doubtting and diffidence feare not stand still and behold the salvation of the Lord. However things go with thee though clouds hang over thee and they resolve and melt thy heart into abundance of teares and sorrowes yet let my Prophets resolution set thy affections a working yet I will rejoyce in the Lord I will joy in the God of my salvation 2. In the second place suffer I beseech you my brethren the Vse 2. For Exhortation word of Exhortation Oh! that I could perswade you to your duty I shall branch it out into three particulars 1. To make God your joy 2. To account him your treasure 3. To have recourse to him as your refuge 1. Make God your joy There 's no man but hath some principle Dut. 1. Make God your joy of joy or inward working motion within his own bosome and according to the variety of fansies and humours the joyes and comforts are bottom'd upon a various and different ground 1. One man fixeth his joy upon his riches A 2. Upon his honour and reputation A 3. Upon his delights and pleasures But the Godly mans honours riches pleasures are wholly terminated upon the Lord his God When the man in the Gospell had bought the field wherein he found the pearle of price he was ravisht with joy beyond expression and apprehension The grace of God revealed to the soule of man is this Gemme of superlative estimation thou must part with all thy riches pleasures and comforts nay with all the world for this and thou hereby makest the wisest bargaine that ever was made For by the losse of earth thou gainest heaven what joy possest the spirit of the Eunuch after Phillip had baptized him and brought Christ home unto him the Text saith he went away rejoycing Such is the joy of a spiritualliz'd man whose God is his joy and Consolation though troubles and miseries come thick and threefold yet his heart is fixed upon Mount Zion that it cannot be removed nay upon the God of Zion There 's some inward working principle that will swallow up all discomforts whatsoever This spirituall joy dasheth all carnall joyes This is the only true sollid joy arising from Gods reconciled countenance in Christ which makes a man rejoyce in the Holy Ghost with joy unspeakable and full of glory It 's said in Judges that the young Levites heart was glad when the children of Dan proffer'd promotion to him much more joy resides in the spirituall mans soule and conscience when he thinks of his Crownes and of the joyes of Heaven and of the sweet uninterrupted Communion with Jesus Christ unto all eternity Oh! then make God thy joy The serenity of his countenance will dissipate all these clouds the refreshings and those soule ravishing comforts of Christ will infinitely exceed the greatest discomforts in the Universe The joy of the world may be took from thee by the men of the world There are many Anabaptisticall Antiministeriall spirits