end I am the Lord I change not Jesus Christ yesterday to Day and the same for ever His works indeed of the first Creation are changable to the worse and weaker but so is not he of old hast thou laid the foundation of the Earth and the Heavens are the Works of thy Hands they shall perish but thou shalt endure they all of them shall wax old like a Garment but thou art the same And so are all his works of the second Creation The renewing graces of his holy Spirit the older they are the newer and fresher and more flourishing they grow They that are partakers of them can say as Caleb did to Joshua Forty Years old was I when Moses sent me to espie the Land I am this Day fourscore and five Years old as yet I am as strong this Day as I was the Day when Moses sent me as my strength was then even so is my strength now for War both to go out and to come in So it is said of Moses who was an hundred and twenty Years old when he dyed yet his Eye was not dim nor his natural force abated How much more may it be said of the everlasting Lord God that his Eyes are as sharp sighted as ever nor is his Divine force abated The Eyes of the Lord run too and fro throughout the whole Earth to shew himself strong in the behalf of those whose heart is perfect towards him Is his hand shortned that it cannot redeem Or have I no power to deliver Behold the Lords hand is not shortned that it cannot save neither his Eare heavy that it cannot hear And as his Power is so is his Mercy and Truth The Mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him and his righteousness unto Childrens Children Thy faithfulness is unto all Generations This House therefore with all its Furniture is alway new and fresh which can be said of no other nor is it new formally only but also effectively Hast thou not known hast thou not heard that the everlasting God the Lord the Creator of the ends of the Earth fainteth not neither is weary His strength never decayeth nor doth his will ever alter towards his who by a never failing Power of the Holy Spirit are carryed as it were upon Eagles Wings to Heaven to the mark of their supernal Calling Yea their Wings grow like unto Eagles that is they grow young and renew in spiritual Vigour 9. It is a dwelling house dwelling in as well as dwelt in an habitation inhabiting in each of its Inhabitants which no other house is God is oft said to dwell in Heaven Unto thee will I lift up mine Eyes O thou that dwellest in the Heavens Look down from Heaven and behold from the Habitation of thy Holiness and of thy Glory I dwell in the High and Holy Place The Heaven is my Throne We must not understand this placing God in Heaven as if he were totally circumscribed there for this is contrary to his infinite greatness Behold the Heaven and Heaven of Heavens cannot contain thee Do not I fill Heaven and Earth saith the Lord. Nor must we think he is so in Heaven as if his sight of things below were hindered by Heaven as a Curtain drawn before him as those great Fools thought for this is contrary to his Omnisciency But he is said to be in Heaven because he doth there most immediatly and visibly manifest his Majesty and exhibit the fulness of his Glory and because from thence he doth most manifest his powerful providence wisdome justice and mercy we are commanded when we pray to him to conceive of him as being in Heaven to teach us to raise our Souls as high in praise as possibly we can above the Earth beyond Heaven our thoughts cannot soar As also how to make Prayers pleasing to God both for matter and manner God is as oft said to dwell on Earth to have his Residence among his ancient People in the Land wherein they dwelt Defile not the Land which ye shall inhabit wherein I dwell for I the Lord dwell among the Children of Israel The Lord hath chosen Zion he hath desired it for his Habitation This is my rest for ever here will I dwell for I have desired it Blessed be the Lord out of Zion which dwelleth at Hierusalem I have surely built thee an House to dwell in A setled place for thee to abide in for ever In that place as in the flitting Tabernacle which Moses made he caused his Name to dwell that is he made manifest and known in those places the sacred Signs of his Presence as it were by his own proper name His Majesty and Glory in singular and wonderful effects of Grace and Power Every regenerate and faithful Man and Woman hath ever been is and will be owned and acknowledged the Temple of the Holy Blessed and Glorious Trinity Ye are the Temple of the Living God as God hath said I will dwell in them and walk in them That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith Ye are not in the Flesh but in the Spirit if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you Know you not that your Body is the Temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you which ye have of God These things are signifyed by this dwelling of the Spirit in Believers 1. That his Spirit is effectual and mighty to possess and govern them enlightning their minds to know and powerfully guiding them to do the known will of God 2. That his Presence is continual not as of a Guest who lodgeth for a Night at an Inne and is gone next Day nor as a Sojourner but as an owner and Possessor to abide for ever I will pray the Father and he shall give you another Comforter that he may abâ—de with you for ever even the Spirit of Truth he dwelleth in you and shall be in you 3. The manner of his Presence not by Infiniteness of Power as he is present to all Creatures to sustain them but by his grace and healthful effects If the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the Dead dwell in you he shall quicken your immortal Souls and mortal Bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you 10. It is a movable Habitation according to the motion of those that dwell in it accompanying them whithersoever they go covering them where-soever they are Some Creatures carry their Houses about with them So doth every new Creature They are never out of this their own House The Israelites during their abode in the Wilderness dwelt in Tents Forty Years The Arabians and other People do so constantly having no firm Habitations In time of War and in travelling these moveable Houses were and still are in use Places to dwell in so made as they might be
is by closing with him Many Nations shall be joyned unto the Lord and shall be my People and I will dwell in the midst of them This joyning makes this natural dwelling Neither let the Son of the Stranger that hath tyed himself to the Lord speak saying the Lord hath utterly separated me from his People Also the Sons of the Stranger that joyn themselves to the Lord to serve him and love the Name of the Lord to be his servants even them will I bring to my holy Mountain and their Sacrifices shall be accepted He that is joyned to the Lord is one Spirit United with Christ and so to God the Father in Body and Soul as by a Bond of spiritual Matrimony in the Communion of the Spirit of Holiness This actual closing with God is especially by faith which is a trusting in his mercy through the mediation of his Son with an obediential affiance I have trusted in thy mercy and by this means made thee my Habitation and Salvation wherein I take no small Consolation Let him trust in the Name of the Lord and stay upon his God Rely with hearty confidence upon his faithful promises and most powerful wise and good providence for preventing and removing of evils and obtaining all good spiritual temporal and eternal The want of this is noted in that wicked mighty Man Loe this is the Man that made not God his strength but trusted in the abundance of his Riches and strengthned himself in his wickedness By repenting whereof and closing with God by a religious trust he might have made him his dwelling place for not doing so he is threatned to be pluckt out of his own dwelling place 3. God is made our Habitation by cleaving to him thus closed with persevering in faith and holiness adhearing constantly and abiding faithfully to God Seeking and expecting all our safety from his sole protection and accordingly qualifying our selves for a capacity thereof keeping in the way to which he hath promised his safeguard This is the meaning of the subject of this proposition in the first Verse of this Psalm He that dwelleth in the secret Place of the most High The same with making the Lord even the most High our Habitation Sticking fast also to him with the affections of the heart especially that of Love which hath the Nature of Glew The Soul of Jonathan was knit with the Soul of David and Jonathan loved him as his own Soul Ruth clave to Naoimi intreat me not says she to hear thee or to return from following after thee For whither thou goest I will go and where thou lodgest I will lodge where thou dyest will I dye and there will I be buried Hezekiah cleave unto the Lord and departed not from him but kept his Commandments him shalt thou serve and to him shalt thou cleave thus thou shalt make him thy habitation To the later Branch of the Question I answer in the words of the Apostle John in his first Epistle where he gives among others these four Characters of Persons dwelling in God 1. He that keepeth his Commandments dwelleth in him and he in him The Commandments of the moral Law are meant which whosoever keepeth approves himself to God and Men and to his own Conscience that he hath his dwelling in God He that lives in the breach of them evidenceth that he hath not his abiding in God Nor will obedience to some of these Commandments be any comfort to a Mans conscience that God is his habitation That young Man in the Gospel could say to Christ who bad him if he would enter into life keep the Commandments and mentions sundry of them All these things have I kept from my Youth up The proud Pharisee thanked God he was not as other Men were Extortioners Unjust Adulterers that he fasted twice a Week and gave Tithes of all that he possessed Herod did many things Obedience must be Universal Whosoever shall keep the whole Law and yet is guilty in one point offendeth in all David did according to all that God commanded him Zacharias and Elizabeth walked in all the Commandments and Ordinances of the Lord then shall I not be ashamed when I have respect unto all thy Commandments Conscience must be made of every sin great and small They only are blessed that do no iniquity I have refrained my Feet from every evil way I hate every false way Darling sins must be abandoned and abominated sins of constitution calling company I kept my self from mine iniquity So must every secret sin even of thought Why should I think upon a Maid Whosoever shall break one of these least Commandments shall be excluded out of Heaven yea all appearance of evil must be abstain'd from And conscience must be made of every duty how costly dangerous or difficult soever 2 Cor. 8. 7. Phil. 4. 8 9. Dan. 6. 10. Rom. 12. 19 20. True it is we must be most careful of such duties that God hath laid a charge upon us especially to perform namely substantial duties of Piety and Charity and the duties of our particular Callings and Relations Mat. 22. 38 39 23. 23 24. 1 Sam. 15. 22. Hos 6. 6. Luk. 3. 13 14. 1 Tim. 6. 1 2. Tit. 2. 15. Eph. 5. 22. Not that it is expected that we should legally keep all these Commandments for this is impossible while we are in these earthly Tabernacles Evangelical obedience will be accepted which stands in five things 1. That we approve of all the Commandments of God I esteem all thy Commandments to be right the Law is holy the Commandment is holy just and good 2. That we unfeignedly will and earnestly endeavour to keep the whole Law We trust we have a good conscience in all things willing to live honestly O that my ways were directed to keep thy Statutes Let now thine Ear be attentive to the Prayer of thy Servants who desire to fear thy Name 3. That there be in us as earnest an endeavour Herein do I exercise my self to have always a Conscience void of offence both towards God and Man 4. That we unfeignedly repent as oft as we fall or fail Grieving that we have done amiss and resolve to do so no more If thy Brother Sin against Thee seven times in a Day and seven times in a Day turn again to thee saying I repent thou shalt forgive him Repent and be converted that your sins may be blotted out I gave her space to repent of her Fornication and she repented not They repented not to give him glory neither repented they of their murders or of their Sorceries nor of their thefts no Man repented him of his wickedness saying what have I done There was under the Law a Sacrifice even for Perjury whereby a Man seals himself to the Devil 5. That we believe in the Lord
longest to be freed from it It 's Grace certainly that makes thee able to discern so hidden and close a Corruption and to hate it And as sense and feeling is a certain sign of a living Man as was now said So thy sense of hypocrisie with a hatred of it is a sure note and token of thy sincerity So that thou art not in the Flesh but in the Spirit Nor matters it so much what evil motions thou findest in thy self as how thou standest affected to them There are and will be filthy scums rising up in thy heart continually while thou livest here But while thou castest it off as it riseth by confession and self-condemnation it shall never hurt thee God will not condemn but absolve and acquit thee of it Thou mayest and oughtest to take comfort in the allowance of the Law of God in thy judgment and in thy will consenting to do it having an unfeigned desire purpose and endeavour to please God and to do his will this being the work of God's sanctifying Spirit and a special fruit of Christ's purchase as real comfort therefore herein as if thou wast perfect in obedience For if there be first a willing mind it is accepted according to that a Man hath nor shall he be rejected for that he hath not In this God's choicest Servants have comforted themselves against all their imperfections and falls and failings Obj. But I question the truth of my desires Answ That thou need'st not do as long as thou esteemest God's grace and favour above all things Seeking by prayer and other means every Day to grow less sinful and more holy and mournest for thy Daily miscarriages lamenting after the Lord. Obj. But my Conscience condemns me for an Hypocrite Ans O spiteful bitter thought bitterly spiteful thought Thou hast reason to discredit thy Conscience if it be opposite to the Word of God and not to regard it against the Word of God If our heart condemn us God is greater than our heart and knoweth all things He knowes the way thou takest that it is right And his word which is the Judge of Conscience hath given Sentence on the right side And therefore thou art bound in this case to check and condemn thy Conscience for troubling thee causlesly So did David and Job Let me give thee one caution take heed of making inherent Grace the only and chief ground of thy comfort Though it is indeed the only evidence of thy title to comfort For in so doing thou shalt commit two great evils one against thy self in leaning upon a bruised Reed for thine own Spirit may fail thee and be overwhelmed and thy heart may reproach thee another against the Lord making an Idol of that gift of his which cannot be so trusted in without sin Rely more upon God's Grace without thee than that which is within thee Yet cherish also inherent Holiness as thy only evidence of Life Eternal and the beginning of it Finally give not credit to thy misgiving heart that would perswade thee thou hast no assurance that God is thy Habitation For thou hast that degree of assurance which is necessary to the beeing of Grace the lowest degree of certainty which is in every true believer consisting in an application of adherence Whereby the Soul of a penitent sinner casts it self upon Jesus Christ with a resolved humble recumbency cleaving to him as the Ivy doth to the Oak Eagle to the Carkass goes out of it self renouncing its own Merits and relying upon the Person and Merits of Christ his active and passive obedience for forgiveness of sins and for Life and Salvation This is the act of Faith and every one that thus receiveth him with an Obediential affiance knows that and that through him dwelling in his heart he hath his dwelling in God You therefore as yet that have not any comfortable assurance cease hence-forth to doubt and fear and assay to joyn your selves with them that have with whom we are next to deal as Saul assayed to joyn himself to the Disciples at Jerusalem Who will not at all as they were awhile of him be afraid of you but receive you joyfully into their blessed Society And when thou hast told despair Divine Herbert's strange story Say to it as he doth Hark Despair away THE FOURTH SERMON HAving dealt with those of this Divine Houshold that have as yet no comfortable assurance that the Lord is their Habitation we proceed to deal with them that have higher degrees of assurance which carry sensible comfort with them one is the Application of Experience when a Christian discerns in himself Divine impressions effects of regenerating Grace two or three whereof we will mention The prime and most general is a real change of the whole Man from evil to good This is a sure evidence of our being in Christ If any Man be in Christ he is a new Creature old things are past away all things are become new Whoever is changed in all his senses motions and affections speeches and actions is certainly ingrafted into the Body of Christ by his spirit The substance of the Soul and Body is the same the qualities and operations altered Another is walking in the light as God is the light Living and conversing following that light of God which is conferred upon us by Grace evidenceth us to be partakers of the Divine Nature Purifying our selves as he is pure Hereby we know we have fellowship one with another God with us and we with him that he dwells in us and we in him Love to the Brethren Christ's whole spiritual kindred who are knit to him to the bond of Faith and among themselves by that of love another infallible note We know that we have passed from Death to Life because we love the Brethren When a Christian's faith in lively exercise reflects upon its own acts receptive of Christ and operative by him having withall a sanctified Conscience witnessing sincerity in the actings he gathers by discourse and reasoning his own spiritual estate as Paul did Our rejoycing is this the testimony of our Conscience that in simplicity and godly sincerity not with fleshly wisdome but by the grace of God we have had our conversation in the World and now abundantly to you-ward Such an application of experience had Thomas upon his Faith not quite exquisit before but very weak was raised and renewed by beholding touching and feeling The other application is that of evidence when the testimony of God's spirit comes and concurs with ours when we finde the Holy Ghost in us not only as a seal imprinting the graces of Christ upon our Souls nor only as an earnest giving us the first Fruits and as it were handle of Heaven Those holy and Heavenly Gift conferred in this life being a pledg of the perfection which shall be in the next but
all fulness with marrow What is Wines on the Lees what are all earthly royal dainties to these rich graces and Divine special favours and blessings offered and bestowed and participated of in the Sacraments At which sumptuous and delicious banquet every worthy receiver that has made due preparation by self examination is or should be much affected and ravished As the Divine Poet was who thus expresseth himself First as to the manner of Importation and submission Herb. H. Com. Not in rich Ornament or fine Aray Nor in a Wedge of Gold Thou who for me wast sold To me dost now thy self convey For so thou should'st without me stil have been Leaving within me Sin But by the way of nourishment strength Thou creepest into my Breast Making thy Way my Rest And thy small quantities my length Which spread their Forces into every part Meeting Sins force and art Yet can these not get over to my Soul Leaping the Wall that parts Our Souls and fleshly Hearts But as the out-works they may controll My Rebel-flesh and carrying thy Name Affright both sin and shame Only thy grace which with these Elements comes Knoweth the ready way And hath the Privy Key Op'ning the Souls most subtile Roomes While those to Spirits refin'd at Door attend Dispatches from their Friend Give me my Captive Soul or take My Body also thither Another life like this will make Them both to be together Before that Sin turn'd Flesh to stone And all our Lump to leaven A fervent sigh might well have blown Our innocent Earth to Heaven For sure when Adam did not know To sin or sin to smother He might to Heav'n from Paradise go As from one Room to another Thou hast restor'd us to this ease By this thy Heavenly blood Which I can go to when I please And leave the Earth to their food When he was pleased to go to this Heavenly Banquet and he was so pleased as oft as might be and so should every godly Christian hear him warbling this Divine Rapture Idem the Banquet Welcome sweet and sacred cheer Welcome deer With me in me live and dwell For thy neatness passeth sight Thy delight Passeth Tongue to taste or tell O what sweetness from the Bowl Fills my Soul Such as is and makes Divine Is some Star fled from the Sphere Melted there As we Sugar melt in Wine Or hath sweetness in the Bread Made a head To subdue the smell of Sin Flow'rs and gums and powders giving All their living Lest the Enemy should win Doubtless neither Star nor Flower Hath the Power Such a sweetness to impart Only God who gives perfumes Flesh assumes And with it perfumes my heart But as Pomanders and sweet Wood Still are good Yet being bruised are better sented God to shew how far his love Could improve Here as broken is presented c. Let the wonder of this pitty Be my ditty And take up my lines and life Hearken under pain of Death Hands and breath Strive in this and love the strife Nor found he this food beyond all degrees of comparison nourishing and strengthning but he feeleth it also most effectually healing Physick as appeares by what he speaks to his pratling Conscience which call'd every fair look sowl every sweet Dish sower If thou persist I will tell thee That I have Physick to expell thee And the Receipt shall be My Saviours Blood when ever at his board I do but taste it straight it cleanseth me And leaves thee not a Word No not a Tooth or Nail to scratch And at my actions carp or catch Here is therefore no such provision of food no such sumptuous fair in any House as this Solomon's so much admired was as Husks yea and stark hunger compared to this and each of the Houshold fares alike And they have both Dinner and Supper every Day of the same delicates that which Matthew calls a Dinner Luke calls a Supper And they are called upon to feed heartrly Eat O Friends Drink yea drink abnndantly O well-beloved Nor are there any such fellow-Commoners to Dine and Sup with any where as here These are all Noble Honourable Persons The choicest and most excellent Kings and Priests A chosen Generation a Royal Priesthood a Holy Nation a peculiar People Yea the King of Kings and Lord of Lords Dines and Sups with them Mephibosheth thought it no small honour that David set him among them that did eat at his own Table How great honour must it then be to sit at Christs Table who is David's Lord And to increase their comfort they have assurance of the same Session with him in the Kingdome of Glory I appoint you saith he a Kingdome as my Father hath appointed me that ye may eat and drink at my Table in my Kingdome Nor are there any such servitures in any House as in this to wit the Holy Angels Are they not all Ministering Spirits sent forth to Minister for them who shall he Heirs of Salvation There are that make them both Cooks and Butlers that dress and dish up and bring in the provision of this continual Feast attend at Table and Minister Cups of Consolation And moreover wait upon every Member of this Family when they go abroad about the works of their Callings and in all the changes of their life who have care of them besides this common attendance a peculiar Guardian of Angels from their new birth at least as some probably gather from sundry Scriptures Nor are there any such Vessels in any House to serve up the Meat and Drink in as are in this The Dishes Spoons Covers and Bowles belonging to the Sanctuary were all of pure Gold so were all the Vessels of the pure Table All the drinking Vessels of King Solomon were of Gold and all the Vessels of the House of the forrest of Lebanon were of pure Gold At that Royal Feast which Ahasuerus made to all his Princes and Servants That lasted an hundred and fourscore Days They gave them Drink in Vessels of Gold The Vessels of this House wherein the Saints dwell and wherein they have their Meat and Drink served up are much more precious than the Gold that perisheth which is corruptible how pure soever even great and precious promises in which are contained all the choicest Viands that Earth and Heaven can yield both for the nourishment of Soul and Body For Godliness is profitable for all things having the promise of the Life that now is and that which is to come Nor are there any such Seats to rest both Souls and Bodies on in taking repast in any House as in this Kings have had their Seats for themselves and by them for their Children and Favorites on which they sate down to eat meat they were terrestrial these coelestial places We read of the great King sitting at his Table with his Spouse
common judgments with evil ones yea it is observed that when God brings any common judgments he usually begins with his own the dearly beloved of his Soul Yea that his stroaks are sorer upon them than upon any others Yea and when wicked Men whose habitation the Devil is as they are his for he dwells in them yea they are incarnate Devils when these I say are free from all manner of outward evils pious Men who have made God their habitation have immunity from none And that they are more-over obnoxious to inward afflictions terror of Conscience and wounds of Spirit which is an intolerable pressure and therefore the promise must be understood of their freedome from the form of poenal evils which is the revenging wrath of God and the power such evils have to separate the Soul from the Love of God And the meaning is they never have any dram of God's revenging justice on them A little of his chastising wrath some afflictions may have for a little moment nor shall any of them singly or all of them joyntly be able to separate them from his Love in Christ Nay they shall all co-operate for the furtherance of their spiritual and eternal good They believe as they are taught to pray that God would deliver them from all evil That is that he will either keep away evil imminent that it come not at all or that he will so assist in suffering as that they shall not sink under the burden or that he will take away the force and strength of the Instrument that it shall not be able to act according to its Nature or that he will remove the evil clean away or finally that he will take them away from the evil to come or that he will alter the nature of the evil and turn it to good One of these ways God will deliver them whose habitation he is and any of these ways is this promise made good to them No more need to be said to prove the Lord the best Habitation and them to be the most yea the only happy ones who have made him their habitation THE SECOND SERMON THe Question will be what it is to make God our Habitation And how may we know that we dwell in him To the first part of the Question I answer it is to make choice of him to close with him and to cleave unto him 1. To make choice of God as the sole Seat of our Souls rest and the only object of the Worship and Service of our whole Man The chief end and use of a House is well known to be rest Where is the House that ye build unto me and where is the place of my rest Every Man's House is the place of his rest My People shall dwell in a peaceable Habitation and in sure dwellings and in quiet resting places I Nebucadnezar was at rest in my House Rest is both the Privation and a perfection of motion That in respect of the acquisition of the end of motion For therefore things move that they may rest Rest is deservedly esteemed a choice and chief good We may say of it what the Preacher doth of Light Truly Light is sweet Truly rest is sweet It was no deception of sight in Issachar when he saw that rest was good The truth is it is the good of goods It may be said of it as David did of Goliah's sword There is none like that give it me No good like this of rest all other good things without it availe nothing All Creatures desire rest the wild Beasts of the Desart and of the Island the Satyr and the screetch-Owle seek and finde for themselves a place of Rest It 's noted as a comfortable priviledge which Foxes and the Birds of the Air had above our Saviour that they had Holes and Nests to rest in The Dove sent out of the Ark sought but found no rest for the soal of her foot therefore returned again to that place of her rest Special Order is taken for the Oxe and the Ass that they should have One Day of Rest in Seven It kils the heart of the Earth to be alwayes tilled and therefore the Country-man lets it lye sometimes fallow that by taking rest it may get heart The very Devils affect a House upon this account The unclean Spirit gone out of a Man walked through dry places seeking rest and finding none I will he says return unto my House where I came out where I had rest Yea God himself seems to be joyed when a House of rest was builded for him to dwell in Arise O Lord unto thy rest the Lord hath chosen Zion he hath desired it for his Habitation This is my rest for ever here will I dwell for I have desired it for a Habitation and he blessed the seventh Day because that he rested thereon from all his Work The best thing one friend can wish to another or procure for another is rest The Lord grant that you may finde rest my Daughter Shall I not seek rest for thee that it may be well with thee And the worst mischief one can do his Neighbour is to spoyle his rest Lay not wait O wicked Man against the dwelling place of the righteous spoyle not his resting place The goodness and badness of every Mans condition is measured by rest This hath more rest than the other Yea for rest Death it self is desirable Why dyed I not from the Womb Why did I not give up the Ghost when I came out of the Belly Then had I been at rest There the weary be at rest There the Prisoners rest together Though bodily rest be a great good and promised as a blessing Thou shalt take thy rest in safety Israel shall be in rest and quiet yet it is not to be compared to the rest of the Soul which indeed is the Soul of rest And without which the best resting places with the greatest conveniencies that the whole World can yield can give no content witness Haman And the transcendent excellency of this rest is evidenced by its contrary a restless unquiet mind is a burden importable Let the Question be put concerning this rest which Job propounds But where shall wisdome be found and where is the place of Understanding Where may we finde the Souls Rest and what is the place of its repose The Answer is given negatively that it is not to be found in any Creatures They will each of them give the same answer which the depth of the Sea doth It is not in me the Depth saith and the Sea saith it is not in me Herb. Ch. Peace Sweet peace where dost thou dwell I humbly crave Let me once know I sought thee in a secret Cave And ask'd if peace were there A hollow Wind did seem to answer no. Go seek else
where I did and going did a Rain-bow note Surely thought I This is the Lace of Peaces Coat I will search out the matter But while I lookt the Clouds immediatly Did break and scatter Then I went to a Garden and did spie A gallant Flower The Crown Imperial sure said I Peace at the root must dwell But when I digg'd I saw a Worm devour What shew'd so well Pleasures Riches Honours under which all the good things of the World are comprehended are utterly impotent altogether insufficient to give the Soul of Man any Rest Herb. Dot. False glozing pleasures Casks of Happiness Foolish Night fires Womens and Childrens wishes Chases in Arras guilded emptiness Shaddows well mounted dreams in a Career Embroider'd lies nothing between two dishes These are the Pleasures here Riches seem to be something able to do something in order to this end but in truth they are nothing can do nothing Labour not to be rich Wilt thou set thine Eyes upon that which is not wherefore do you lay out your labour for that which satisfyeth not Take Earthly Honours in and take his testimony who had all these in abundance made tryal of them to finde what good was in them and was more able to improve them than was ever any meer Man since the fall and hear him after his utmost experimental disquisition that not only he found not what he taught namely rest for his Soul Vanity of Vanities saith the Preacher Vanity of Vanities all is Vanity But that he found the clean contrary trouble sorrow anguish bitterness Vexation of Spirit The rich Man is brought in singing a Requiem to his Soul Soul thou hast much goods laid up for many Years take thine ease eat drink and be merry But wisdom upbraids his folly for placing his joy and peace in his possessions and promising to give his Soul ease and rest in his abundance 2. Nor is it to be found in knowledge Humane or Divine not in the former For in much wisdome is much grief and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow Learning cannot be attained without great pains of mind and body and he that hath attained the highest degree and greatest measure hath his minde more unsatisfied than when he began to study And herein Children and fools have the advantage who as they want wit so they want wo. Not to know much but to know nothing in the sweetest life of all Nor in this neither for experience shews that such that give themselves most to the study of Scripture and get greatest ability to discourse of Divine matters are as far from rest as others which appears by the falling off of many of them from one Sect to another till they have made tryal of every dispensation as they call it and then they are as far from satisfaction as ever and farther 3. Nor in a form of Godliness 't is not the outward profession of the true Religion nor frequent use of holy Ordinances or religious exercises publick private secret that hath any more power to bring rest and quiet to the soul than Elishah's staff laid upon the dead Childes face had to bring heat or life into it The frequent complaints of many Christians that are much in both confirm this 4. Much less in Doctrines and Inventions of Men. These are Husks that Swines do eat they that fill their Bellies with them are like unto Pharaoh's lean kine And as they nourish not so they quiet not miserable Comforters are they all All that would take up their rest in any of these may hear the Prophet speaking thus unto them Arise ye and depart for this is not your Rest Positively the Souls true rest is to be had only in God who is a fit Harbour and Heaven for the heart to cast Anchor in because he is a Spirit 2. Being infinite he is able to fill the boundless and endless desires of it Moreover he made the Soul for himself And gave it at the first a Being in himself a local Being in the Body and a Spiritual Being in himself This being in God is Mans first being when Man fell by sin God in Justice cast him out of himself Forsook him and so the Union and the Communion that he had with God was broken off Hence it is that the Soul being out of God its proper Habitation can have no true rest till it return thither Return unto thy Rest O my Soul The first step the Soul takes in this return to its rest is a free and well-advised choice of God to dwell in him and serve there observing and conforming to the Laws and Orders of the House Joshua put the Children of Israel to their choice Choose you this Day whom you will serve whether the God your Fathers served on the other side of the Flood or the Gods of the Amorites in whose Land ye dwell if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord. Professeth her resolution that whatsoever they did what choice soever they made He and his House would serve the Lord. They make the same profession express the same resolution God forbid that we should do otherwise we are witnesses against our selves that we have chosen us the Lord to serve even the Lord our God him will we serve and his Voice will we obey Such a choice David made I have voluntarily Decreed to give up my self to be guided by thy Word I have chosen thy Precepts above other things for my soverain good and treasure with which I am resolued to be satisfied and contented and precisely to order my words and thoughts and actions according to them Having inclined my Heart to perform thy Statutes always even unto the end And being fully purposed that my Mouth shall not transgress and that my Feet shall run the wayes of thy Commandments Yea were I put to my choice I would choose rather to sit at the Threshold of the House of my God to be a Door-keeper in it than to dwell in the Tents of Wickedness The like choice did the three Children make and so did Daniel and Moses and Mary and those ancient Martyrs who would not accept deliverance which was offered them conditionally that they would deny the true God and not serve him this is the first way whereby Men make God their habitation namely by choosing him giving him their judgments wills and affections the probation before all other Persons or things or service Whom have I in Heaven but thee and there is none upon Earth that I desire in comparison of thee A Day in thy Courts is better than a thousand Thy loving kindness is better than Life How much better is thy Love than Wine and the smell of thine Oyntments than all Spices The Law of thy Mouth is better to me than thousands of Gold and Silver It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in Princes The second follows which
hypocrites have been conversant in them even afflicting their souls and fasting frequently and praying on such Days very servently And this is that which God's Ministers are bound to press upon Men that are in a natural condition to do matter of duty to set themselves as objects of the spirit of God attending upon Divine Ordinances As a neglected Courtier sets himself in the Kings sight standing and waiting where he usually passeth and there humbly faces him It is observed that the Spirits out-goings are only upon such as face him He goes right on and turns not as he goes They must do as Esther did who esteemed her self as lovely as she could in the Kings sight set her self in the best dress she had as an object of the Kings call and see what good success she had by so doing Qu. How far doth nature qualifie her self for grace when she reacheth forth her abilities as far as she can Answ 1. Morally God took occasion from Ahab's humiliation to spare his life when upon hearing of Elijah's words he rent his cloaths put Sack-cloath upon his flesh and fasted and lay in Sack-cloth and went softly seest thou saith God unto the Prophet how Ahab humbleth himself before me because he humbleth himself before me I will not bring the evil in his Days So he took occasion from what those noble Bereans did in bringing their Bodies to publick Assembly takeing the heads of Paul's Sermons and examining the Notes they had taken by the Scriptures to work effectual faith in them 2. Passively a Man makes himself an object of the grace Life a handle for the Spirit to lay hold upon when he harps upon the string of his misery Cries out of his sin implores mercy and waits for grace in the use of means And it is not only possible that he may be translated out of the state of nature into the state of grace but probable he shall be so The Gospel being the market of grace he that goes to buy there without Money it 's probably he may be furnished to his mind As they that lay at the Pool of Bethesda waiting for the moving of the Water were in fair probability to be healed of their Diseases The Scribe that answered discreetly was not far from the Kingdom of God If there be no certainty of obtaining saving grace yet this should not discourage any natural Man from doing their utmost for the obtaining of it no more than the Husband-man is discouraged from Plowing Sowing because he is not certain he shall have his seed again No more is the Merchant sure he shall have his Ship come home laden with goods yet he ventures and so do all that trade for earthly commodities The Argument or motive to pains-taking from a peradventure or may be hath a force in it 2 Tim. 2. 25 26. Dan. 4. 27. Joel 2. 14. Zeph. 2. 3. They that neglect to use the means are sure to perish and such are most Men in these last Days who embezzel Nature's abilities make her poorer than she is strip her naked even of common Principles Sensual livers that drown all in Belial manners and having stifled Conscience give themselves over to work all uncleanness with greediness live as if they had no God to serve no soul to save or as if their souls served only as the souls of Swine to keep their Bodies from putrifying They that are less licentious and lead a civil life are generally prodigiously sloathful work not at all or not with half their might as if grace and glory were not worth the while to labour for Now them that are such we command and exhort to be impatient of a natural condition to look upon grace as lovely and the Mother of delights Herb. Ch. the Foil If we could see below The Spheer of Virtue and each shining grace As plainly as that above doth show This were the better Skie the brighter place God hath made Stars the foyle To set off Virtues Griefs to set off sinning Yet in this wretched World we toyle As if Grief were not foul nor Virtue winning Thus saith the Lord God O ye House of Israel let it suffice you of all your abominations It is now even time to turn over a new leaf Let possibility and probability put you upon straining your selves with all your strength for the improving of Nature in her abilities and prove me now herewith saith the Lord. If so the common grace I have given you to actuate nature I will not also add sanctifying saving Grace Yea let me assure you that if you finde in your selves a valuing of an estate of Grace in your selves above all earthly things and a vehement and constant desire to have admission into God's Grace and savour and that not only for the benefit and comfort it brings with it but for the beauty and excellency it brings with it also at least you would and wish heartily that it were the ground of your desire and if withall your purpose and resolution be to persevere in the use of all the means appointed to bring you to this estate God hath begun a work of Grace in your Souls which he will perfect and you are in the number of those thrice happy People whose habitation the Lord Jehovah is With whom we are next to deal And first with those whose habitation God is sure enough but they have no comfortable assurance that he is so Cannot say as David here in my Text He is my refuge I say they are not comfortably assured for there are none whose habitation the Lord is are utterly without all assurance Certainly the Lord is theirs that he dwells in them and they in him but many of them know not that they have this knowledge and some of them deny it yea conceive and conclude that they are out of God and as far from him as Hell from Heaven That it 's possible for Men to know a thing and not to know they know it yea to deny that they know it appears by these words of Thomas in the name of all his fellow Disciples to our Saviour who had assured him that Whither he went they knew and knew the way Lord we know not whither thou goest and how can we know the way They knew both but they knew not that they knew either And that Men in the state of Grace and abiding in God may be so far from any sensible and comfortable assurance of their interest in God of his love and favour towards them that they may seem to be assured of the contrary apprehend him as their mortal Enemy appeares by those words of Job He teareth me in his wrath who hateth me Mine Enemy sharpeneth his Eyes upon me Wherefore hidest thou thy face and holdest me for thine Enemy Now the Grounds and Reasons why many precious Souls have such doubts and feares and are apt to pass such a sad conclusion
quite cut off from the spiritual communion with Christ the true foundation of life and grace Or if they have brought forth any fruit at any time materially good the root and manner and end have been all naught stark naught worse than naught They never did any thing for God in obedience and out of love to him or with an intent to honour and please him thereby Take them at the best and it may be said of them what was said of Israel Israel is an empty Vine he bringeth forth fruit unto himself They have been self-seekers and selfdependers and self-ascribers in all that ever they have seemed to do for God Answ To this Objection I have these two things to say 1. That it is possible for a Man to be in God and yet to see no goodness at all in himself nothing but evil nothing at all to commend him to God nothing but what may make him odious in his sight The Centurion saw nothing of worth in himself why Christ should come to him or he to Christ Though others thought him to be a worthy Man and so reported him to be to Christ And Christ himself gives testimony not only he had true faith but a great measure of it I have not found so great faith no not in Israel No more did the Woman of Canaan see any goodness in her self she confesseth her self to be an unclean Person but Christ both graceth and gratifieth her gives a very high commendation of her Heroical Faith And what goodness saw Paul in himself when he said I am a carnal Man sold under sin Hear the Confession of our Holy Mother and all her Genuine Children We are all an unclean thing all our righteousness is as filthy rags We acknowledge that our Persons and all our actions even the most praise worthy of them namely those wherewith we did thy service are all contaminated with abominable filth 2. That it is an Argument of true goodness to see little goodness much evil in thy self If thou canst and dost bewail the absence of that the presence of this findest a disallowance and deep detestation of it in thy heart and makest continual resistance against it Mourning for the want and absence of a friend argues truth of affection and love to him Thou wouldst not couldst not grieve because thou art not good if there were not in thee a love of goodness And the sight of so much sin in thy Soul proves thee to have light in it For whatsoever doth make manifest is Light And thy sensibleness of the burden of thy sins tells thee that thou livest much more thy stirring and strugling to be rid of them and the War thou makest against them A dead man can neither feel nor stir nor strive there is therefore spirit in thee as well as flesh For the Flesh lusteth against the Spirit and the Spirit against the Flesh and these are contrary the one to the other so that ye cannot do the things that ye would Every new Man is two Men. The two Armies in the Shulamite maintain civil broyles within her as the two Babes did in Rebecca's Womb. This Combate with Corruption may comfort thee Though still I must grant that as there is natural life and conscience in the wicked so common Grace may strive uneffectually in them And the Spirit in the Godly does conquer their reigning sin as well as strive but not all their infirmities Saint Paul doth comfort himself with this raising up his Soul even to an holy insultation and triumphing For after he had described the two contrary principles the Combatants within him the unregenerate and regenerate part and the combate or conflict it self between them That hindering from the evil which he would do and putting him upon the evil he would not do This disapproving and hating the evil which he did and approving the good which he did not he comforts himself in this that he consented to the Law of God delighted in it that to will to keep it perfectly was present with him and although he found a foyl given to the new man captivated which makes him make a miserable out-cry Wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from this Body of Death that is tyed to me and which I am compelled to carry about with me tired with the luggage and poysoned with the stench Yet through the Grace of God in Jesus Christ I am filled with comfort rejoyce and triumph as more than a Conqueror I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I my self serve the Law of God but with my Flesh the Law of Sin I bless God for his Grace in Christ who doth not impute this corruption unto me to condemnation But still that it is only sins of infirmity and not such as are inconsistent with spiritual life which were in Paul and are in all the Godly So though thou seest nothing but Flesh in thy self if a Man may believe thee yet thou walkest not after it for though thou walkest in the Flesh yet thou dost not fulfill the lusts of the flesh followest not with consent the motions of thy own natural corruption Thou sowest not to the Flesh taking no other care but to please thy carnal appetite but on the contrary thou sowest to thy Spirit imploying thy care and labour in obedience to the motions of the Holy Spirit that thy will is to do so thou canst say in sincerity and this may be thy rejoycing as it was Paul's Obj. But I am full of hypocrisie which Paul was free from all the signes of hypocrisie that I finde in the Bible I finde in my self not one sign of sincerity Answ What the Apostle saith of Sin in general If we say that we have no sin we deceive our selves may be said of this sin of hypocrisie if we say we have no hypocrisie the truth of Grace is not in us Obj. But it 's said of Israelites indeed that there is no guile in them And they only are blessed in whose Spirit there is no guile therefore I have cause to conclude my self cursed Answ These places must be understood as those where it is said Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin and his seed remaineth in him and he cannot sin because he is born of God They also do no iniquity The meaning is they give not themselves over to sin they sin not with full consent they fall not into the purpose though sometimes into the act of Sin Sin reigns not in their mortal Bodies that they should obey it in the lusts thereof It hath not Dominion over them Obj. But this Sin of Hypocrisie Reignes in me Answ But that it doth not is evident by this because thou discernest it and art so troubled with it complainest to God and Men of it and judgest thy self for it and hatest it
it is for Brethren both by nature and grace to dwell together in Unity both of judgment and affection Next he expounds and so proves the pleasure and the profit of this two-fold Unity First by parable and similitude which is double to shew the pleasure he compares it to that odoriferous anointing Oyl which God commanded to be made and compounded after the Art of the Apothecary which when it was poured upon Aaron's head ran down upon his Beard and thence went to his Skirts So this sweet communion of spiritual grace cunningly composed of united minds and affections passeth down from Christ our Head not only upon the stronger Professours which are as great an Ornament to the Church as a Beard is on the Face of a Man but also to the meanest and weakest Christian Members To set forth the pleasure of it he compares it to Dew which is a special blessing sent upon the Earth for the refreshing thereof which falls freely and therefore is said to be begotten of God and finely distilled down in so small drops that it cannot be perceived till it be laid and fully it falls into lowest Valleys as well as highest Hills and fitly in Spring for growth in Harvest for ripening and fruitfully making the Ground bring forth abundantly So it is in all these respects with spiritual graces especially with this And then he proves it by plain strong and binding demonstration where this Unity is God commandeth the blessing and life for ever-more that is promiseth and fully performes it in this life spiritually and corporally and hereafter Eternally I hinted this Unity to be twofold and will speak a little to both First of mind and judgment it is a thing greatly to be wished and sought after that all God's Children and Servants dwelling together in the same House might be of one mind and judgment in all points The Apostle oft earnestly presseth this frequently striketh upon this String Now I beseech you Brethren by the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ that ye all speak the same thing and that there be no Divisions among you but that ye be perfectly joyned together in the same mind and in the same judgment be of one mind for matter of Opinion If there be therefore any consolation in Christ if any comfort and love if any fellowship of the Spirit if any bowels of mercy fulfill ye my joy that ye may be like-minded being of one accord and of one mind A most passionate obtestation importing a most vehement desire of their good agreement whereunto he conjures them by all the bonds of love between him and them Perswasion it self could not speak more perswasively Here are so many words so many Weapons able to pierce and work upon any heart that had not an Iron sinew How many Arguments doth he take from one to inforce his Exhortation with all possible carefulness To keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace One Body one Spirit one Hope one Lord one Faith one Baptisme one God and Father of all The Apostle well knew the neerer they were agreed in Judgment the faster their affections would be knit one to another and beside the great advantage that all wicked Men take at the disagreement of God's People should make them desirous to be all of one mind and to compose all the differences that are between them Let there be I pray thee no strife between thee me between c. for we are brethren not only upon this account but because the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwell in the Land and because of our dissention we shall give them occasion to speak evil of our holy Religion and alienate their hearts more from it How oft have you had this cast in your Dish by enemies both to the form power of godliness when you have perswaded them to embrace both Agree first among your selves There is no such stumbling Block at this Day in this Land laid in the way of ungodly Men through God's just Judgment indeed and it is necessary there should be such offences but woe unto you if you become occasions of such offences if you repent not that you are so and labour not to take away the stumbling Block out of your way by endeavouring to be all of one mind But because perfect Unity is not to be expected till the Church be come to her perfection There must be Heresies among you Sects and Dissentions concerning Tenets and Grounds of Doctrine and wayes of Worship It is a thing unavoidable by reason of the Devil's malice Men's wickedness and God's most wise counsel and according to the frequent predictions of the Holy Ghost God indeed hath promised to give his People One Heart and one Way But the meaning is that they shall all agree in all Fundamental points of Doctrine and in all substantial ways of Worship in which they should joyntly and conformably serve him but in points of Religion and Circumstances of divine Worship that are of inferiour moment there will be Brethren different in Opinion and practice from you towards whom you are bound to bear brotherly love which is of a bearing and forbearing nature and not suffer difference in judgment to work in you the least alienation of affection towards them What a deal of pains does the Apostle take to work Christians to a charitable Toleration each of other 1. Disswading them from censuring one another for or in the use of things indifferent the parties that dissented were weak and strong Christians the things wherein were Meats and Days the strong thought all difference of Meates prohibited by the Law to be abolished by Christ and therefore did not forbear to feed on any and they conceived all Jewish Festivals to be abrogated by God and so observed them not The weak not seeing their own liberty in the case of Meates choose rather to eat Herbs than with a doubting Conscience to feed upon Meats forbidden and conceiving the Festivals not to be abrogated still observed them In both these cases the Apostle gives negative directions and exhortations to both sorts of Christians Viz. That in the case of Meates the strong should not contemn the weak as superstitious for abstaining Nor the weak censure the strong as prophane for neglecting the observation of distinction of them And in the case of Dayes that neither of them should do any thing with a gain-saying or doubting Conscience pressing these directions with sundry Arguments and that by no means the strong should give the least offence to their weak brethren by abuse of their liberty 2. And he perswades every one to study not to please himself but his Neighbour to edification for his good by the example of Christ who did not only not please himself but sought the good of others and so saith he must we bearing one with another receiving one another as he received us to be partakers of
distress and vexation of mind call to mind such promises as are fitted to your condition For there can be no condition imagined but there are promises suited to it and a Christian wisdome must be to accommodate the remedy to the sore and malady of his heart Enquire what word there is in God's Book to still the tempests and distempers of your spirits and then make application of it Promises faithfully remembered and well digested will arm and fortifie your Souls that they shall be able to put any case of trouble inward or outward and come off victoriously and triumphantly Put case you be as poor as Job Lazarus the Prophets Widdow Call to mind the promises of temporal blessings in abundance Put case you be persecuted by the tongues or hands of wicked Men call to mind the promises that you shall be delivered your enemies confounded Put case your hearts be heavy for some great losses of Goods or Friends Call to mind the promises that you shall be gainers by your losses Put case your spirits be wounded with the sense of Divine wrath Call to mind the promises of pardon peace and rest Put case your Graces be weak and corruptions strong Call to mind the promises of sanctification and quickening Put case some great eminent danger threaten you Call to mind the promises that nothing shall hurt you that every thing that befalls you shall work together for your spiritual and eternal good 2. Provision thus brought in by the Memory the next work of Faith is to prepare and make it fit nourishment This is done by searching for and finding out that Grace or part of obedience upon which the fruition of the promise depends to which sufficient hath been spoken already nor will it be disheartned for weakness if there be truth yea if no more than a true desire Mat. 5. 3 6. Neh. 1. 11. The third and last chief work of Faith is application of the promises to your selves in particular this is feeding upon the provisions brought in and dressed Faith first does its utmost to assure the soul that what God hath promised is already done Mark 11. 24. 15. 28. Job 13. 15. Yea and it makes it good thus 1. It hath Christ and he is all 2. It hath if not the thing promised as good or better 3. When it findes much ado It goes to God and seeks help of him Mark 9. 24. 2 Chr. 20. 12. Psal 73. 23. 24. 27. and concludes with the Psalmist 60. 12. 73. 1. You will be sure to finde while you live here on Earth the Devil ever anon throwing his Fiery darts into your Souls You must take the Apostles advice to stand alwayes Armed with the whole Armour of God Above all taking the Shield of Faith whereby ye shall be able to quench all his Fiery Darts THE EIGHTH SERMON YOu have heard what the Daily Duty is of all who live and dwell in God viz. To live by Faith How faith maintains the Soul in life and the Apostle bidding you to take the Shield of Faith and to use and move and mannage it according to the place Satan casting his Darts at you aimes at and according to the kindes of his temptations I shall give you a truth and tast how faith may be mannaged and what the several acts of Faith are by which the fierceness of these Darts of Satan may be quenched There are six Fiery Darts besides many others which Sathan throwes at the Souls of those that dwell in God whereby he works them much disquiet and trouble The first and worst is concerning the forgiveness of sins He would and often doth perswade them that their sins are unpardoned and that God will damn them for their manifold transgressions and mighty sins The apprehension of this fills their Souls with horror nor can the greatness and grievousness of this affliction be expressed A second is Concerning their spiritual Estate he would make them believe they are yet in a state of Unregeneracy and that the Root of the matter is not in them but that they are but painted Hypocrites A third is Concerning Mortification of Lusts and Sanctification of Life neither of which they have attained and they are afraid they never shall A fourth is Fear of Poverty and temporal Misery what will become of them in sickness and old Age they cannot tell want coming on them like an Armed Man this Dart sets on Fire many Lusts A fifth is Concerning the right use of prosperity and adversity Satan perswades them they neither do nor ever shall use either rightly A sixth is Fear of falling away Faith rightly mannaged will blunt the piercing points of all these Darts and take away all the burning Poyson in them and so repell them that the Soul shall not be hurt at all by them though until Faith have done it suffer much affliction by each of them I shall not now undertake to shew what be the several acts of Faith that have force to overcome these several temptations but will declare very briefly what those acts are whereby Faith supports and settles the Soul and makes it victorious in any trouble or affliction whatsoever inward or outward which may be applyed to any of the cases fore-mentioned Qu. What use will this Doctrine be to those that are not under any trouble that have no manner of affliction upon them Ans There is no Christian that is at any time of his life free from all affections no Day comes so fair over any godly Man's head wherein he meets not with some matter of grief yea so much that he findes enough ado to sustain and master it Luk. 9. 23. 2. Those that are now free from affliction may they know not how soon be hem'd in compassed about and overwhelmed with variety of afflictions as Job was and therefore ought to live in continual expectation of crosses and distresses publick domestical personal and although there are great hopes of peaceable times yet hopes may be frustrate our sins are many and mighty which gives us just cause to fear God's judgments we have also Enemies many and politick and malicious and the Devil and his Instruments are busie but howsoever how calm soever the publick state may be yet afflictions and miseries may and will sure enough befall those that fear God If not outward yet inward Many are the afflictions of the righteous And manifold are their infirmities in their afflictions and therefore they are called by that name Evils will not come the sooner because expected but they will fall the lighter And faith is necessary that they may so do it cannot therefore but be necessary and profitable to acquaint you with the acts of Faith in general at least whereby a Christian Soul may be upheld in evil times against all afflictions and miseries whatsoever This grace well acted will bring