By acting Faith on this blessed Jesus the Fountain of living Waters their Souls shall be so satisfied as that they shall never hunger more never thirst more that is inordinately after the things of this World When your Souls want strength to bear your Burdens want comfort in your Distresses act Faith on this Jesus this Bread of Life thiâ Water of Life and you shall be refreshed you shall have Joy and Peace in believing Rom. 15. 13. Thirdly Jesus Christ is called the Sun of Righteousness and the bright Morning-Star Mal. 4. 3. Rev. 22. 16. He is the Fountain of Righteousness and Life as the Sun is of Light he hath healing in his Wings He was wounded for our Transgressions that by his Stripâ we might be healed Isa 53. 4 5. anâ 61. 1 2. He was appointed to heal thâ broken-hearted Luke 4. He will heal oâ back-slidings Hos 14. 4. He is the greaâ Physician he can heal all our Spirituaâ and Corporal Diseases His Blood iâ an healing Blood his Spirit an heaâing Spirit his Word an healing Word his Promises healing Promises Hâ hath all healing Vertue in him Hâ is the true brazen Serpent could wâ but act Faith on this Jesus we shoulâ be healed of all our Diseases He iâ the bright Morning-Star We are in Darkness Clouds and Darkness upon our Spirits many dark Providence befal us we see not our way manâ times know not what to do Now let us act Faith on Jesus he will brinâ Light out of Darkness We are under black Fears and Sorrows and aâ dark Night sometimes with us buâ if we can look up to this bright Morning-Star he will enlighten our Darkness he will shine in upon our Hearts and scatter all those Clouds and givâ us a joyful Morning Fourthly Jesus Christ is called the Captain of the Lord's Hosts and the Captain of our Salvation Josh 5. 14 15. Heb. 2. 10. He hath the command of all the Creatures for he is Head over all Things Eph. 1. 22. over Men and Devils All Power in Heaven and Earth is his Matth. 28. 18. O if we could act Faith on this Almighty Jesus our Hearts would not be troubled for any thing What can hurt us What should we fear Our Blessed Jesus our Saviour our Husband commands all Things he rules and over-rules all Things No Creature no Man no Devil can act any thing against us without our Lord's leave Believe in this Captain and let not your Hearts be troubled He will tread Satan under your Feet shortly Rom. 16. 20. He will make all his and our Enemies his Foot-stool Let us look by Faith unto our Captain and keep our Eye on him and follow him wheresoever he goeth Let us make him our Leader and by Faith in him we shall be more than Conquerors He hath overcome the Devil and the World for us and he will overcome all our Corruptions Fears and Sorrows in us and wiâ shortly set his Crown upon our Heads Christ is the Captain of our Salvation and in bringing of many Sons to Glory he was made perfect through Suffering Heb. 2. 14. John 16. last Act Faith iâ him who hath perfected our Salvation for us that Work is done and iâ was through Suffering to teach us tâ be willing to suffer also to walk iâ his Steps for in the way of Suffering he entred into his Glory and the very same way will he bring all his Sons and Daughters unto Glory So that while we are suffering for him or from him if we be his Children which we may know if we have his Spirit we are in the right and ready way tâ Glory And then have we any cause to let our Hearts be troubled with sinful Fears Cares and Sorrows Havâ we any cause to be cast down and discouraged while we are following ouâ Captain are making conformable tâ him travelling the same way to Heaven that he went thither the same waâ to Glory the way of Reproach Shame Grief Sorrow Fear Poverty Persecution Tribulation Desertion thâ same Steps that our Lord went to Glory O that we could but still keep our Eye on Jesus and often consider what way he went to Heaven and being our Captain we should shew our selves his good Souldiers and be content to go the same way Fifthly Jesus Christ is called the Consolation of Israel Luke 2. 25. A sweet Name indeed He is the only Person that brings true Comfort being the Fountain and Spring of all Consolation that One of a Thousand who gave himself a Ransom for us He it is that comforteth his People in all their Tribulations 2 Cor. 1. 3 4. He it is that speaketh and giveth his Peace to his People and when he giveth Peace none can cause Trouble And it is his Promise that when he hath brought his People into the Wilderness of Fears and Troubles that they know not which way to turn that then he will speak comfortably to them will speak to their Hearts as the Word in the Original signifies Hos 2. 14. I might largely shew here that Jesus Christ is the Consolation of his People many ways as by his coming from his Father into the World to become our Surety to undertake for us to take our Sins upon him and to make his Soul an Offering for our Sins and by his Blood to purchase our Remission Ephes 1. 7. O how comfortable is a Surety to one that is Arrested Indicted and Arraigned How comfortable is a Redeemer to a poor miserable Captive How comfortable iâ a Pardon to a condemned Malefactor All this is Jesus to his People and infinitely more He is Gold to make uâ rich white Raiment to cover our nakedness Eye-salve to make us see Rev. 3. 17 18. He is Light John 5. 12. the Light of Life the Fountain of Life of Spiritual and Eternal Life no Life but by him And he hath assured us That whosoever cometh to him and believeth in him shall have everlasting Life and shall not come in Condemnation Johâ 3. 16 36. He is afflicted in all our Afflictions Isa 63. 9. And is not this â comfortable Consideration All his Promises are as so many Breasts of Consolation all his Ordinances means oâ Consolation his Word a Word oâ Consolation yea his Rod of Affliction as well as his Staff is blessed for the Comfort of his People Psal 23. He hath also promised to send his Spirit the Comforter to his People to abide with them for ever John 16. 7. Yea Christ himself makes this his own special Work also to comfort them that mourn Isa 61. 2. and hath blessed those that mourn Matth. 5. 4. that is with godly Sorrow for saith he they shall be comforted How greatly then doth it concern us to believe in this Jesus the Consolation of Israel to look by Faith to this Fountain of Comfort look to his Office look to his Word and Promises beg him earnestly to send the Spirit the Comforter into your Hearts Look to Jesus alone for all
pardon all our Sins to give us his Spirit and all Grace here and Glory hereafter Now Christ our blessed Mediator hath perfectly fulfilled all that God required for us and in our room and stead that is most certain for he finished the work that his Father gave him to do and he hath made many sweet Promises to us That he will send the Spirit into our Hearts to work Faith in us to receive him and to apply the Merit of his Blood to us to sanctify and renew us thereby and hath promised That whosoever comes unto him he will in no wise cast out Matth. 11. 28. And all that come unto him shall find rest to their Souls That whosoever believeth in him shall be saved that he will keep them and nonâ shall pluck them out of his Hand Thaâ he will raise them up at the last Day John 10. 28. Assuring us That he iâ gone to Heaven as our Fore-runner tâ prepare a place for us there and that hâ will come again and take us to himself that where he is we may be also Now if we can but act Faith on this Jesus and on the Covenant whereof he is the Mediator and on his Promises applying them and relying on them our Hearts shall not be troubled Besides Let us consider there is not a passage of Providence from God to us but it comes through the Hand of this Mediator 1 Cor. 8. 6. All things are by him Put what you will in the Hand of a Mediator and in his Power it must needs turn to the good of him for whom he is a Mediator Now to support and comfort us in all our Troubles let us consider two things 1. This Mediator steps in between God's Wrath and us in all our Afflictions that no Fury or Effects of it may break forth from God on his People for whom he is the Mediator that nothing but Fatherly Love may be in the Chastisement and if Love send the Affliction whatever it be to try and purge c. there can be no hurt in that Affliction Again our Mediator interposeth either to hold off the Smart or to allay and mitigate it that it shall not distract Dan. 3. 25. no nor hurt 2. He steps in to uphold us and to strengthen our Weakness enabling us to endure Phil. 4. 4 12 13. It was the Mediator that did strengthen Paul The Lord stood by me and strengthned me said he Faith acted on this Blessed Mediator eying him and believing that our Afflictions come through his Hands even his who loved us and died for us our dearest Friend and who hath all Power in Heaven and Earth must be a mighty support to us in all our Troubles Fourthly Let Faith be acted as the Word of Christ also Ye believe the Word of God believe the Word of Christ also His Mouth is most sweet None but gracious Words proceed out of his Mouth Grace was poured into his Lips Psal 45. 2. and he poured out Grace in all his Words His whole Gospel is a Gospel of Grace Words of Peace and Salvation Hear him speaking most sweetly Matth. 11. 28. Come unto me all that are weary and heavyladen and I will give you rest O what sweet Words are these Ho every one that thirsteth come ye to the Waters and drink without Money and without Price Isa 55. 1 2. I am the Way the Truth and the Life Joh. 14. 6. Behold I stand at the Door and knock if any Man hear my Voice and open the Door I will come in and sup with him and he with me Rev. 3. 18. This is but a taste of those sweet Clusters of most refreshing Grapes which hang upon the Boughs of the Gospel let us take frequent view of what lies upon Record in the Evangelists and often read over the manifold Promises of Grace that fell from the sweet Mouth of our Blessed Lord and meditate and ponder and consider of them and act our Faith upon them and we shall find comfort in them his Words drop as an Honey-comb his Words are Spirit and Life More particularly First Our Faith must be acted upon Christ's Word of Precept his Word of Command in time of Trouble Fear not hâm that can kill the Body but ãâã that can cast both Soul and Body into âââll Luke 12. 4 32. Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer Let not your Heart be troubled nor let it be afraid Rejoice when Men shall persecute you c. Luke 21. 19. In patience posses ye your Souls with many such Now Christians must yeild up the Obedience of Faith to such Commands and urge them upon their Hearts charging themselves to obey theâ saying O my Soul my Lord hath forbidden me to fear to be troubled tâ be thoughtful to be dejected c. ââ hath commanded me to be patienâ yea to rejoice in my Suffering Heâ my Lord and I must obey him I muââ keep his Commandments else I cannoâ love him I must keep his Sayings or else I cannot be his Disciple ââ I keep his Commandments he wiâ manifest himself to my Soul his Father will love me and he will love me and they both will make theiâ abode with me for it is his Promise John 14. 21 23. Say thus â my Soul Jesus Christ is my King anâ my Law-giver I must obey him hâ is my Prophet also and I must heââ him in all things whatsoever he shaâ say unto me I have taken him for my Lord as well as for my Saviour for my King to rule me as well as for my Jesus to save me for my Prophet to teach me as well as for my Priest to satisfy for me O my Soul consider He is the Author of Eternal Salvation only to those that obey him Thus applying the Commands of Christ to our selves and urging his Authority upon our Hearts it will help us to bear up under our Troubles 2dly Act Faith upon the Promises of Christ of which somewhat was said before He hath promised to be always with us to send the Comforter to manifest himself unto us that he will not break the bruised Reed nor quench the smoaking Flax Mat. 19. 29. That he will give us an hundred-fold for all our Losses for his sake That he will gather us with his Arm carry us in his Bosom that he will hear our Prayers that he will give us a Crown a Kingdom Everlasting Life with many more O could we act our Faith upon his precious Promises and lie sucking by Faith on those full Breasts of Consolation and draw by Faith Prayer and Meditation from these Wells of Salvation we shouâd find sweet support under all our Troubles 3dly Faith acted on the Word â Threatning may put a stop to Hear Trouble Jesus Christ hath dreaâ fully threatned those that love Fatheâ or Mother Son or Daughter moâ than him or their own Lives aâ those that are ashamed of him â his Word and those that fall froâ him and those that
hear his Saying and do them not and those that aâ fruitless Branches c. Mat. 10. 3 Luke 14. 26. Mark 8. last Joh. 15. Faith acted on the Examples in thâ Word of Christ especially his oâ Example Learn of me saith he I â meck and lowly in Heart Matth. 11. â He was as a Lamb dumb before â Shearers 1 Pet. 1. 21. and we mââ follow his steps We have also â Cloud of Witnesses the Example of the Primitive Christians who boâ all their Troubles with Patience aâ Holy Courage and we are expresâ commanded to be Followers of theâ who through Faith and Patience inherâ the Promise Heb. 6. 12. Thus Faiâ acted on the Word of Christ wiâ help against all Heart-Trouble Fifthly Faith acted on the Work of Christ will either prevent or cure Heart-Trouble And that again if Faith be acted upon the Work he hath done for us already and upon the Work he is now doing for us in Heaven and upon the Work he is now doing in us on Earth and upon the Work he will do for us and in us and upon us at the last Day All which Works of Christ if we act our Faith on them we shall not be much troubled in our Hearts Believe also in Christ Believe me saith he for the Work 's sake John 14. 11. 1. Faith must be acted upon that great and glorious Work of Christ for us when he was upon Earth that Work which his Father gave him to do in the Days of his Flesh as our Redeemer and that in doing and in suffering for he came to do the Will of God by his Obedience as well as to suffer it by his Satââfaction and this is his state of Humiâiation He assumeâ Humane Nature entred the Virgin s Womb was bârn of her yet without Sin He lived on Earth a time doing Good and healing all manner of Diseases spent most of his time in Preaching Praying Fasting and revealing to Men the whole Will of God for their Salvation and fulfilling all Righteousness He professed he came not to do his own Will but the Will of him that sent him John 6. 38 39. And saith he This is the Father's Will which sent me thââ of all which he hath given me I shoulâ lose nothing but should raise it up aâ the last Day A comfortable Consideration indeed and a Cure for our Heart-Trouble That our Lord Jesus will raise up all our dead dear Relations and Friends now rotting in their Graves All that died in Jesus will Jesus bring with him 1 Thess 4. 16 17. And this also is the Father's Will That every one that seeth the Son that is every one that by Faith receiveth and believeth in the Son shall have Everlasting Life Now to accomplish and finish this Will of the Father was the whole Work oâ Christ upon Earth even to draw poor Souls unt him to work Faith in them by his Word and Spirit to fulfil the whole Law of God for them and in them Rom. 8. 4. And to begin and finish the whole Work of our Redemption Faith acted on this Work of Christ upon Earth for us in the several parts of it He being partaker of Flesh and Blood with us to deliver us from him that had the Power of Death that is the Devil and to free us from the fear of Death by which we were always subject to Bondage Heb. 2. I say if we can ãâã Faith on these Works of Christ for us we shall have no cause of Heart-Trouble Let us consider that our Blessed Lord denied himself on Earth and was well-pleased not to have his own Will nor to do his own Will but referred himself intirely to his Father's what reason have we poor Worms to be troubled when our Wills are cross'd Let us in Heart and Life say as we pray Thy Will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven Mat. 6. 10. And when the Will of God is done upon our Families and Relations let not our Hearts be troubled but let us imitate Jesus Christ in our submission to the Will of God making it our Work on Earth to be doing â the good we can and so to put hiâ on and walking as he walked aâ not be troubled Secondly Faith acted on Christ Suffering-Work on Earth will greatlâ contribute to our Support He waâ a Man of Sorrows Isa 53. 1 2. iâ that if we meet with Sorrows â Earth we do but drink of our Master own Cup and that should quiet us Christ's Suffeâââgs on Earth were â two kinds viz. ââr our Imitation aâ for Satisfaction for our Sins 1. For our Imitation His patiâââ suffering of Reproaches Scorns iâvilings Contradiction of Sinneââ Temptations Persecutions Bond Poverty Shame loss of Friends â suffering all with invincible Patienâ and Meekness without the least muâmuring repining disquiet or discoâtent without any Retaliation fââ when he was reviled he reviled not agaiâ he prayed for his Enemies c. aâ all this as our Example that we shoââ follow his steps 1 Pet. â 21 ââ â And if our Lord the Lord of Heâven and Earth suffered such thingâ what reason or cause have we to be troubled in our Hearts when we are persecuted reviled forsaken of all our Friends impoverished exposed to Shame and Sorrow seeing our Blessed Lord was so exposed and so exercised upon Earth Is it not enough for the Servant to be as his Master Shall we think to fare better than him His Sufferings were to teach us to bear ours with Christian Patience and to sanctify ours to us yea in all our Sufferings he sympathizeth with us Let us then act our Faith upon Christ's Sufferings on Earth his whole Life being a Life of Suffering he knew what Trouble meant he was acquainted with Grief he knew what it was to lose a Friend for in his greatest Trouble all his Disciples whom he calls his Friends forsook him and fled and being tempted himself he knows how to succour them that are tempted Heb. 2. 18. and 4. 15. He hath a feeling of all our Infirmities Let us labour to act Faith on Jesus and our Hearts will not be troubled 2. But his great Suffering-Worâ for us âas his Work of Satisfactioâ All our Sins being laid on him it pleaseâ the Lord to bruise him and to put him â grief and to make his Soul an Offerinâ for Sin He poured out his Soul unâ Death was numbred among Transgressor Isa 53. 6 10 12. Was made Sin for ââ He bare our Sins on his own Body on tâ Tree was made a Curse for us 2 Cor. â 20. Gal. 3. 10. suffered the Wrath â God for us to deliver us from thâ Wrath to come O blessed Jesus â when our Sins were upon him he wââ sore amazed groaned was exceeding sorrowful even unto Death He was ââ a bloody Sweat in a bitter Agony in thâ Garden He was falsly accused uâ justly condemned and then barbarouslâ crucified suffering that cursed anâ cruel shameful and painful
22 usually our Success is according to ouâ preparation as in Prayer Psal 10 17. compare 2 Chron. 12. 14. with 2 Chron. 19. 3. make Conscience theâ of preparation 2. Prayer Pour out your Hearâ to God in Prayer for a Blessing oâ the Word that you read or heaâ O lift up a Cry to God and say Lord make this Word effectual to worâ Faith in my Soul c. 3. Earnest Desire and Expectatis of meeting God in the Word and oâ his blessing on it if we expect nothing from it no wonder if we receive nothing there is a fulness of Blessing in the Gospel Rom. 15. 29. We should bring hungry and thirsty Souls after God the Living God as Psal 63. 1 2 3. and 84. 1 2. God filleth the Hungry with good things Luke 1. 53. Secondly Some things are Concomitant As 1. We must read and hear it as the Word of God and not as the Word of Man 1 Thess 2. 13. Acts 10. 33. and we must acknowledg God's Authority in it 2. Receive it with Meekness opening our Hearts to it and give it the most tender entertainment Jam. 1. 21. 3. With Love readiness of Mind and gladness of Heart 2 Thess 2. 10. Acts 2. 41. 4. With Faith giving credit to it believing it to be the Word of God Heb. 4. 2. 5. We must be careful to remember it See what great stress is laid upon our remembring 1 Cor. 15. 2. Our Salvation lies upon it Psal 119. 11. Love the Word for Love is the Act of Memory 6. Prayer must be added again for a Blessing Thirdly Some things must be done afterward also As 1. Meditation upon what you have heard and read for want of this usually all is lost I am perswaded this is one great Reason why most profit so little by the Word because they make no Conscience of Meditation they hear and read but never think more on it afterwards So Preaching Hearing Reading and all lost and Souls and Heaven and all lost For God's sake then whose Word you read and hear and for your own Souls sake if you are not willing they should perish for want of Faith make Conscience of Meditation on the Word Psal 1. 2. and 119. 97. if ever you get good by the Word meditate upon it 2. Application of it take it home to your selves Job 5. 27. Let it sink down into your Hearts saith Christ it must be an ingrafted Word you must receive it into your Hearts and not into your Heads only 2. Cor. 4. 6. your Hearts must be joined to it and mix'd with it 3. Practice Yielding up our selves to the Government of it making it the Standard and Rule of your whole Conversation We must be doers of the Word and not hearers only lest we deceive our own Souls Jam. 1. 22. 1 Pet. 1. 22. Mat. 7. 22 24. And in observing these Scripture-Rules here laid down in the careful and conscientious use of God's Word after this manner you may not doubt but the Holy Spirit of God will work with the Word of God to make it effectual to work this most precious Grace of Faith in us whereby to believe in God and in Christ to the Consolation and eternal Salvation of our Souls But if we neglect the Means God hath ordained to get Faith and for want of it die in our Sins and perish eternally our Destruction will be of our selves Direct III. Thirdly Would we have Faith Let us engage our whole Souls in the deep and serious consideration of the infinite unspeakable unconceivable Love of God the Father in this the highest and fullest demonstration of it in giving his Son his only begotten Son to be a Sin-Offering a Sacrifice a Ransom for poor Sinners and that for this very end and purpose that we poor Sinners might believe in him and by believing might not perish but might have Eternal Life I pray read and ponder upon the following Texts and let your most serious Thoughts fix on them and meditate on them Isa 53. throughout John 3. 16 17. Rom. 3. 25. Rom. 5. 8. 10. Prov. 8. 30. Col. 1. 12 13. 2 Cor. 5. 19 20 21. Rom. 8. 3. 8. 32. with many other which for brevity sake I cannot transcribe If we can but believe this wonderful Love of God the Father in giving his dear Son to be a Surety a Sin-Offering to lay all our Iniquities on him that he was pleased to bruise him and put him to Grief for us and consider and meditate upon the Heighth and Depth the Breadth and Length of this immense imcomprehensible Love of God in giving his Son and that on purpose that we might believe in him and by beleiving might have Eternal Life I say it will greatly help us to believe in his Son to accept of this his unspeakable Gift and to receive him as he is offered to us in the Gospel Moreover let us also consider of and deeply meditate upon the transcendent Love of the Son of God himself who though he were the Delight of his Father and lay in the Bosom of his Father even then his Delights were with the Sons of Men then was his Heart full of Love to poor Sinners and his Love brought him down from Heaven to Earth to assume Humane Nature to take upon him all the Sins of his People to bear them on his Soul and Body in the Garden there sweating great drops of Blood and on the Cross there pouring out his Heart-Blood made a Curse endured the full measure of the Wrath of God due for Sin and became the Ransom of Souls Philip. 2. 6 7 8. Luke 22. 44. Gal. 2. 20. He loved us and gave himself for us Loved us and washed us from our Sins in his Blood Rev. 1. 6. 1 Pet. 1. 18. 1 Pet. 2. 24. Gal. 3. 13. Tit. 2. 14. But while I am writing these things I cannot but conceive an Indignation against my self and heartily wish I were filled with Shame Sorrow and Grief of Spirit that having read and heard so often of the surpassing Love of God the Father in giving his Son and so often of the unspeakable Love of Jesus and to be no more affected with it no more sensible of it to have my Affections no more stirred and moved no more quickned and warmed Alas my dead Heart my Adamantine Heart Lord sprinkle it with that Blood Lord shed abroad that Love of thine upon my Heart abundantly by the holy Ghost Lord Jesus manifest thy Love to me that I may love thee I am ashamed and pained for want of Love to God to Jesus O that I could believe thy Love to my Soul then I should not chuse but love thee Lord I believe help my Unbelief The consideration of this Love of God and of Christ is a means to work Faith try it I pray you and you will find it so Direct IV. Fourthly Improve and act the Historical Faith you have on the Doctrines Promises and Threatnings in the
or in any near and dear Relation then sure there is Love strong Love in Jesus Christ to all Believers for in him is the Love of all Relations and therefore he expresseth it under all these Relations He calls us his Friends He is of a most tender a most merciful Nature full of Bowels of Compassion and of tender Mercies It would be endless to express the loving Nature of Jesus Christ to poor Believers which when a Believer duly considers ponders upon and acteth Faith upon it cannot but support him under all Heart-Trouble Act your Faith on Christ as yours your Jesus he that died for you he that sweated great drops of Blood for you in the Garden wrestling and grapling with his Father's Wrath for you in your Name and stead there and upon the Cross Consider that this your dearest Jesus now in Glory knows your Souls in Adversity he seeth all the Troubles of your Hearts he sympathizeth with you in all your Afflictions his Heart now in Heaven â touched with the feeling of your Infirmiââ on Earth Heb. 4. 15. He hath Humaâ Nature still though glorified He feels oâ Losses Crosses Griefs Pains Sorrow his Heart his most tender Heart is âfected O that we could but believe thiâ and thus consider with our selves Her sit solitary as a Widow or a Widowâ or Childless or Fatherless or Motherleâ or Friendless my Family is broken feel Pains and Sicknesses I am deprivâ of my Liberty my sweet Relations aâ comfortable Friends are laid in the Dust I have none about me to counsel or coâfort me I am brought low in the Woâ my Estate is diminished my Honour aâ Reputation lost my Pleasure gone ââ Flesh faileth me my Strength faileâ Lovers and Friends fail me c. Sâ Complaints we are apt enough to makâ and it may be worse than these My Gâ hath forsaken me he hides his Face frâ me I am compass'd about with Temâtations sad dejecting and distractiâ Thoughts I am persecuted banisheâ from House and Home all my outward aâ inward Comforts sail me These haâ been the Cases and Conditions of Godâ dearest Servants as Job David Heman and others But yet let not your Hearts be troubled for all this Ye believe in God act your Faith on God yea and act it on Christ also Believe in Jesus look up by Faith unto Jesus your dear Lord whatsoever whomsoever you have lost you have not lost your Jesus your best Friend your Heavenly Husband you have his Heart his Bowels towards you still you have his Eye his tender watchful provident Eye upon you still you have his Ear open to your Cries still yea you have his everlasting Arms underneath you to sustain you still for else you would sink Oh then act Faith upon the sweet Nature of Christ as your Head and Husband Can a Mother forget her sucking Child that she should not have compassion on the Son of her Womb Isa 49. 14. possibly she may But can Jesus forget those whom he died for and traâelled for No no he will not hide his Face for ever he will never forget his People Your Maker is your Husband and he is the Father of Mercies If we read these things or hear theâ read and do not apply them to ouâ own Souls by Faith if we do not mâditate on them and let them sink dowâ into our Hearts if we do not prâ earnestly that the Holy Spirit wouâ bring them home and lay them clâ to and fix them on our Hearts thâ will do us no good yield us no Comforâ therefore meditate on them apply theâ and act Faith upon them Secondly We must act Faith upâ the many precious Attributes of Jesâ Christ all which will afford to Faiâ much matter of support under all ââ Heart-Troubles whatever And thâ are exceeding many I shall mention oâ some First Jesus Christ is our Advocaâ with the Father 1 John 2. 1 2. Oâ that undertaketh for us to plead oâ Cause in that highest Court of Heâven If a Man be sued in Law or â accused of any Crime in any Court is a great priviledg to have a Sollicitâ there for him that is skilful and faâtâful and powerful with the Judg in thâ Court Jesus Christ is such an Advocatâ or Sollicitor for us in Heaven he wiâ plead our Cause and he is Wise he is the Wisdom of the Father he is a Great Counsellor and the only Counsellor none else can plead in that High Court and he is most Faithful he is a merciful and faithful High-Priest in all things pertaining to God Heb. 2. 17. He appears for us in Heaven Heb. 9. 24. When a Man is indicted in a Court and hath none to appear for him there he is in a bad Case But all poor Believers are in a better Case they have a blessed Advocate to appear in the Presence of God for them He continually presents his Blood his Sacrifice to the Father for them Heb. 10. 10. And it is his Will to have that Sacrifice accepted for our Justification and Sanctification Christ prevails so with his Father that he always heareth him John 11. 42. Now if we can act Faith on this Blessed Advocate in Heaven who is there always pleading for us ever-living to make continual Intercession for us Rom. 3. 25. presenting himself before God as our Sacrifice and Propitiation when Men accuse us and our own Consciences too when we are deprived of our near and dear Relations distressed with Pains and Sicknesses pinched wiâ Wants and Necessities I say then iâ us to act our Faith on this precioâ Advocate at the Right Hand of Gâ for us interceding there for us ââ who knows and feels all our Miser it must needs be a great support aâ relief to us and the best Remedy gainst our Heart-Troubles O that â could act Faith strongly on this oâ Advocate To have a Friend in Heaven aâ such a Friend so wise so powerfâ so faithful so merciful so sensibly âfected with all our Misery so tender able and so willing to hear and hâ us I say this is infinitely better thâ all the Friends that ever we had â could have on Earth And this Frieâ ever liveth and maketh continual Intecession for us And as this is mattâ of Comfort in case of Suffering so case of Sin too If any Man sin have an Advocate with the Father Jeâ Christ the Righteous and he is the Prâpitiation for our Sins 1 John 2. 1 â Faith acted on this blessed Advocate the best Remedy against Heart-Troublâ in case both of Sin and Suffering Secondly Jesus Christ is Bread from Heaven the true Bread for Souls the Bread of Life the Water of Life John 6. 35 48 51. Now when poor Saints are fed with the Bread of Affliction and with the Water of Adversity let them look up to Christ and act Faith upon him he will be living Bread Life-giving Bread living Waters to their Souls to revive their drooping and to refresh their fainting Spirits
and fully to satisfy our Souls O my Beloved and O my base and faithless Heart it is our base Vnbelief that doth us all the mischief that spoils our Peace that hinders our Comfort and makes us walk so heavily O let us bewail this God-dishonouring Sin this Peace-destroying Sin and let us who have received Jesus for our Lord and Saviour believe that he is ours indeed and that we are his indeed and then act our Faith upon him and our Hearts shall not be troubled Q. But may some say 'T is true if Christ be ours all is ours we believe that But how shall we know that Christ is ours A. Briefly thus If we be Christ's intirely and sincerely Christ's theâ Christ is ours I am my Beloved's anâ my Beloved is mine Cant. 2. 16. 6. 3. Her being Christ's was a sure evidence to her that Christ was hers Now it is not very hard to know whose we are whether we be Christ's or our own Christ's or the World's Christ's oâ the Devil's Let us take a little paiââ in trying and searching our selves the Matter requires it Whose are we Put this Question seriously to our Hearts in the sight of God Whose am I whose Image do I bear by whose Spirit am I acted who hath my Heart my chief Love and Delight Have we unfeignedly given up our selves to Christ Have we actually entred into Covenant with him and taken him for our Head and Husband Have we passed over and surrendred up our whole selves to Christ our Souls Bodies all our Concerns Have we given up our Hearts Heads Tongues Time Talents Estates Libeâties Relations and all to Christ Have we done this sincerely Then we have received Christ upon his Terms If we be Christ's and not our own and live unto Christ and not to our selves Rom. 14. 9. 1 Cor. 6. 20. Gal. 2. 20. and are content that Christ should dispose of us and ours as he pleaseth and are always labouring to be more and more like him and still longing for more and more Communion with him c. Then may we upon good Grounds conclude that Christ is ours If we be his he is ours Again if we truly believe in Christ then he is ours for it is by Faith that we receive him and are united to him and made one with him John 1. 12 13. and are by his Spirit and Word regenerated and made new Creatures and are enabled to walk after the Spirit and not after the Flesh 2 Cor. 5. 17. Rom. 8. 1 2. He that believeth hath the Witness in himself 1 John 5. 10. he need not go far to seek Make sure thy believing in Christ and thou hast the Witness in thy self that he is thine and that thou art his Q. But how shall we know that we have true Faith and that we do truly believe in Christ A. Briefly thus If we have been made sensible of our lost Condition by Nature of our misery by Sin of our Unbelief if we have found it an hard Work to believe if we have been made weary and heavy-laden with Sin so as to be truly willing to part with all Sin if we have been convinced of our absolute need of Christ and of his incomparable Excellency of his All-sufficiency and willingness to save us if Christ be most precious to us if these Convictions have been powerful in us to drive us from our Selves and the Creature and Sin if we have hereupon been perswaded and enabled sincerely to come unto Christ upon his Call in the Gospel to accept of him upon his Terms and to receive him as he is offered to us in the Gospel if our whole Hearts have opened to him and closed with him and we have given up our whole selves entirely to him and taken him for our only Lord and Saviour as the only way to God and do most sincerely resign up our selves to his Government trusting in him alone and relying upon him for Life and Righteousness for Grace and Glory then we do believe in him then have we this true Faith which is further to be known thus that it worketh in us true sincere Love to him and to all that is his his Word his People your Hearts will run out after him all your Affections will center in him This true Faith draws Vertue from Christ to purify the Heart and works Sanctification and Holiness it doth crucify your Affections to the World it works true Repentance and enables you to overcome the World and to realize the Glory of Heaven and to bear us up under all the Troubles in our way thither as in that 11th to the Hebrews enabling us to trust and betrust our selves our Souls and Bodies and all our Concernments with Christ by this Faith we shall stand by it we walk by it we live and hold on and hold out in following the Lamb to the end of of our Life Heb. 10. 38 c. Now certainly he that thus believes in Christ hath no cause of Heart-trouble but quietly submits to the good Will of his God in Christ under all the Dispensations of his Providence while he is here in this Vale of Tears until he come home to his Father's House in Peace where he shall meet his dearest Lord and an hearty welcome O this Faith this precious Faith in Christ will conquer all our base Fears moderate all our worldly Sorrows ease our Minds perplexed with earthly Cares and quiet our disturbed and distracted Thoughts about our outward Losses and Troubles By this Faith we shall find all our Losses made up in God and in Christ O then labour for it cry mightily to God for this great Gift cry to Jesus for it he is the Author and Finisher of it and labour to act it upon him continually and your Hearts shall not be troubled I dare affirm That if any thing bring Hearts-Ease in Heart-Trouble this will do it So long as our Faith holds up in Act and Exercise upon Christ we shall be free from Heart-trouble but when our Faith fails our Heart troubles prevail As when Moses lifted up his Hands and his Heart too by Faith Israel prevailed but when his Hands were down Amalek prevailed Faith and Heart-trouble are like a pair of Ballances when one goes up the other goes down Faith is the Counter-poize of Trouble of Heart Believe then in Jesus act Faith on him and that will prevent or cure Heart-trouble Continue in the Faith and your Heart-troubles will cease believe what Christ is and what he is to us Secondly Let us believe in Christ and believe where he is As to his Essential Presence he is in Heaven at the Father's right Hand making continual intercession for us to the Father Heb. 12. 2 3. Heb. 7. 25. He is our Advocate with the Father 1 John 2. 1 2. pleading our Cause presenting all our Services perfumed with his own Righteousness and resenting and feeling our Infirmities Sorrows and Sufferings sympathising with us In all our
Resurrection Ascension aââ Intercession and the Fruits of ââ your own Labours Prayers Tearâ and Sufferings and shall find that am faithful in making good all mâ Promises and that your Labouâ was not in vain in the Lord theâ shall there be no more any distancâ between you and me for ever Comfort your selves and comfort oââ another with these words Belieââ this and let not your Hearts be trââbled Thirdly That where I am ye may be also And what more can be deââred Where is Christ but at the rigââ Hand of the Majesty on high far aboââ all Principalities and Powers far abââ al Heavens Heb. 12. 2. there shall you be also O admirable astonishing Dignity that blessed Jesus will advance his poor Saints unto at that Day This high and wonderful Honour shall all his Saints have they shall now receive the Kingdom prepared for them and that Crown of Glory of Righteousness and of Life which Christ hath purchased for them perfectly freed now from all Sin and Sorrow and stated in an unchangeable state of Happiness and Blessedness What cause have we then to grieve for our dear Relations whom Christ hath taken to himself and placed in the Father's House who are now sitting at his right Hand in Glory and singing Hallelujahs And could we but firmly believe these Promises of our Lord and act our Faith in meditating ââxedly on them and on Jesus in them applying and appropriating them and Christ in them to our own Souls considering and pondering on them until our Hearts be warmed and our Affections stirred and kindled with them acting also Hope Love Joy Desire Delight Hunger Thirst Panting Breathing pouring out our Heart in Prayer to God for his Spirit ââ bring home these Promises to oâ Souls in Power fixing them upon oâ Hearts and helping us to lay hold oâ them and upon Christ in them aâ resigning up our whole Souls to Chriââ in them stedfastly relying on ââ Goodness and Faithfulness and truââing in him I say could we but do sâ and in the strength of God betrust oââ whole selves and all our Concerns thus with Christ and live in the lively Exercises of Faith thus on God and on Christ we should find this to be Hearts-Ease to us in all our Heart-Trouble Behold I lay in Sion a chieâ Corner-Stone Elect Precious and ââ that believeth in him shall not be confounded 1 Pet. 2. 6. Let all Heart-Trouble cease Let nought disturb your Peace Who Faith in God profess And in his Son no less For in the Father's House Are many Mansions sweet Christ hath prepar'd for us When we 're for them made meet THE END Appendix Quest IT may be demanded That having heard the Excellency aââ usefulness of this Soveraign Medicine ââ cure Heart-Trouble namely Faith iâ God and in Christ Can you tell us hoâ we may get this Faith and what meaâ we shall use to obtain it Answ I shall endeavour by the help of God's Spirit and Scripture-Light to direct you herein and aâ briefly as I may Direct I. First You must be convinced of your Vnbelief of the greatness of the Sin of Vnbelief and of your absolute need of Faith Of these three things you must be fully convinced 1. Of your Vnbelief for most People think they have Faith and thaâ they never were without it and therefore labour not for it Pray earnestly therefore that the Holy Spirit may be sent into your Hearts to work this Conviction in you for it 's his proper Work John 16. 8. to convince the World of Sin because they believe not on me saith our Lord this is the great Sin the damning Sin of the World their not believing on Christ Now that we may be convinced that by Nature we have no Faith let us consider these Scriptures Ephes 2. 1 2 12. and that until we are regenerate and born again we have no Faith is evident from John 1. 12 13. there believing in Christ and Regeneration are inseparably joined together Acts 15. 9. 26. 18. 20 21. From which Scriptures it is most evident that such as are Strangers to the Heart-purifying the Heart-sanctifying Work of Faith have no Faith if we have not truly repented nor know any saving Chânge wrought ân us and upon us by the Spirit of God for certain what-ever we think we have no true saving-Saving-Faith it is but a Fancy of this then we must be fully convinced and must most heartily beg the help of the Spirit to convince us 2. Of the greatness of the Sin of Unbelief it binds the Guilt of all other Sins upon us it is Disobedience and Rebellion against the great God for he commands us to believe 1 John 3. 21. and by our Unbelief we make God a Liar 1 John 5. 10. O horrible Wickedness And 3. We must be convinced also of our absolute need of Faith we must needs have it or we must perish Without Faith it is impossible to please God Heb. 11. 6. without it we cannot be the Children of God John 1. 12. Gal. 3. 26. without it we can have no pardon of Sin Acts 10. 43 Rom. 3. 25. John 8. 24. And in what a dangerous Case are we so long as we lie under the guilt of all our Sins Without Faith we are not reconciled to God nor justified Rom. 3. 22. 5. 1. Nor can we be sanctified Acts 26. 18. 2 Thess 2. 13. No access to God but by Faith Rom. 5. 2 Ephes 2. 18. No living the Life of Religion nor bearing up under Affliction nor holding out to the End without Faith Heb. 11. No Salvation nor Eternal Life without it Ephes 2. 18. Joh. 3. 16 36. Heb. 10. last Of all these things we must be convinced if ever we will have Faith Direct II. Secondly If we would have Faith we must diligently search the Scriptures read the Gospel attend on the reading and preaching of the Gospel for this very end that we may get Faith by it I say for this very end certainly that should be our End in reading and in hearing the Word which was God's End in publishing of it now this was his End in publishing of it John 20. 21. Rom. 16. 25 26. Rom. 10. 17. Acts 13. 48. Ephes 1. 13. This is the ordinary Means appointed by God to work Faith in the Souls of Men as appears by Acts 2. 42. and 4. 4. and 11. 20 21. and many more There are few that read and hear the Word for this End and therefore get no Faith by it Now that the Word read and heard may be effectual to work this precious this most necessary Grace of Faith in us there are some thingâ Antecedent some Concomitant and some Consequent upon our attendance on the Word and our use of it First Some things Antecedent aââ necessary 1. Preparation For want of thââ the Word most times proves ineffectâal It is the empty hungry-Soul thaâ relisheth and taketh in this Food Jam. 1. 21. 1 Pet. 2. 1. Mat. 13.
the proper meaâ to prevent this sinful malady of Hearâ Trouble that it might not seize oâ them or if it had to cure them ââ it viz. Ye Believe in God Believe also in mâ The lively Acting of true Faith upoâ God in Christ it is the best Preventive oâ and Remedy against Heart-Trouble undââ the greatest loss whatsoever Whicâ Proposition I shall prosecute in the Assistance of God's Spirit and accordinâ to the measure of Light and Grace I havâ received after this manner and methoâ following First by way of Demonstration 2ly O Confirmation And then to Apply and make Improvement of it for our use 1. By way of Demonstration Endeavouring to shew First That God's choicest Saints are in this World subject to all kinds of Troubles Losses and Afflictions and whence it is and why so Secondly That under those Losses and Afflictions they are subject to Despond to be Dejected and to be Troubled in their Hearts Thirdly What this Heart-Trouble is that Christ forbids here Fourthly How that Believing in God and Christ is the best means to prevent and cure this Heart-Trouble First That God's choicest Saints are liable to all kinds of Troubles Losses and Afflictions even the greatest heaviest and sorest as we read of Job David Heman and others God had but one Son without Sin but no Son without Suffering His only begotten Son was a Man of Sorrows and the Holy Ghost assures us that if ye be without chastning whereof all are partakers then are ye Bastards and not Sons Heb. 8. 12. God's Children are liable to Sufferings whether we consider them as Men or as Christians as Men Job 14. 1. Man that is born of a Woman is full of Trouble As our Relations and Comforts increase so do the Occasions of Trouble God never appointed this World to be the place of Man's Rest but of our Exercise and only a Passage to another World And in this our Passage we must look for Storms and Tempests If we can through Mercy obtain a tolerable Passage thorow this World and a comfortable Passage out of it into that better above we shall have cause to bless the Lord to all Eternity And much more as Christians must we expect Troubles for a Man is no sooner brought home to God but he must expect to be hated by the World assaulteâ by Satan chastned by the Lord our owâ corrupt Hearts will be always vexing the old Man the Flesh thwarting all thâ Motions of the new Nature lusting againââ the Spirit The Lusts of the Flesh wilâ be as Pricks in our Eyes and as Thorns iâ our Sides We shall have Enemies in ouâ own Houses But this Truth is so manifest in all thâ Scripture that I shall insist no longer oâ it only shall add this by way of Use Leâ all Christians prepare for Affliction by getting an Interest in God through Christ by getting Sin pardoned and purged by getting Peace with God and Conscience by getting Hearts crucified to the World and then when Troubles come let us bear them as Christians not murmur not repine but in patience possess our Souls not desponding nor fainting remembring that our Troubles are no more but infinitely less than we have deserved Job 34. 23. He will not lay upon Man more than right God perfectly understands our Need and knows our Strength 1 Pet. 1. 6. If need be ye are in heaviness He is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able 1 Cor. 10. 13. It is the Wise Just and Gracious God and our Father that tempers our Cup for us Many Earthly Parents do not correct their Children in measure being ignorant of their Nature and Disposition and therefore their Correction doth them no good Many Physicians mistake the Constitutions of their Patients and therefore may do them more hurt than good But God knows our Need and our Strength and so sutes all his Remedies accordingly therefore let us be patient bearing our Troubles with an equal Mind not suffering as per-force but willingly It is said Dan. 3. 28. That they yielded their Bodies that is chearfully to the Fire In our Affliction let us search our Hearts and try our Ways let us fly to God by Prayer and resign up our selves to him and trust in him casting our Cares and Burdens on him Psal 55. 22. 1 Pet. 5. 7. Moreover it is our Wisdom that while we are at ease have our Comforts about us let us look for Troubles Afflictions from God as well as for God are part of our Cross which we must take up daily Sickness death of Friends loss of Estate c. we must look for them that we may not be surprized He that buildeth an House or a Ship doth not make this his Work and Care that it should not rain upon it or that it should have no Storms or Tempests for this cannot be prevented by any care of ours but that the House or Ship may be made able to endure all without prejudice So must it be our care to provide for Afflictions for to prevent them altogether we cannot but prepare for them we may and must as was hinted before to treasure up God's Promises and store our Souls with Graces and spiritual Comforts and firm Resolutions in God's strength to bear up and hold on We had need be well shod with the preparation of the Gospel of Peace Eph. 6. 15. Most Christians are not mortified and crucified to the World not acquainted with God and the Promises as they ought to be nor so resolved to follow God fully as they ought and therefore are so dejected and discontented when Affliction comes O that we did count the Cost when we first begin to make Profession of Christ and that we had had such full Perswasions of the incomparable Worth and Excellencies of the Lord Jesus as that we could willingly part with all things for his sake O that we had such believing Apprehensions of the Wisdom Faithfulness Righteousness and Mercy of God such sights of his reconciled Face and such tastes of his fatherly Love to us in Christ as that we could quietly submit to his holy Will and be well satisfied with all his Dispensations towards us So much of this first Particular Secondly The Disciples of Christ under the Afflictions which they meet with in this World are apt to be troubled in their Hearts to be disquieted in their Minds to be dejected and discouraged It was so with holy David Psal 42. 5. Why art thou cast down O my Soul why art thou disquieted within me He was sensible of his Afflictions and that disquieted him and cast him down God's People are subject to such disquietments because they are Flesh and Blood subject to the same Passions made of the same Mould subject to the same Impressions from without as other Men and their Natures are upheld with the same Supports and Refreshments as others the withdrawing and want of which affecteth them as well as others And
any Spiritual Benefit by any Affliction we may certainly conclude that the Love of God was in that Affliction Fury is not in God towards his People Isa 27. 4. And he intends nothing âut our profit all his ends are for our good to purge away our Sins to wean us from the World to draw us nearer to himself to humble us to try us to conform us to Christ to prepare us for Gloây c. Now seeing God's Ends are âo much for our good we must conclude That all our Afflictions proceed from his Love and when we find any of those Ends accomplished in us and on us and that we have received real spiritual good by them we ought to be strengthned in âur Belief that God hath corrected us in Love so that Faith acted on the love of God in our Affliction will prevent or âure our Heart-trouble Our Lord told âis Disciples That the Father had loved âhem John 16. 27. Secondly Faith acted upon God's Gloriâus Attributes will fortify against Heartârouble First upon his All sufficiency Ye bâlieve that God is All-sufficient in aâ of himself alone every way able to sâply all Wants to make up and repair â Losses to satisfy all Desires to sustaâ under all Burdens and that without â earthly Comforts for how else are tâ Saints in Heaven happy who have noâ of these Earthly Enjoyments Ye belieâ this act your Faith on it He must neeâ be All-sufficient who made the Worlâ and all things in it and upholds it to tâ day He that owns all things and Possessor of Heaven and Earth He iâ that is your God your Father act yâ Faith on him and be comforted Secondly He is All-mighty you belieâ this So Christ hath told his Disciplâ All things are possible to God He can breâ the hardest Heart and can bind up â most broken Spirit He can make up â greatest Loss We are kept by the migâ Power of God 1 Pet. 1. 5. Oh how sâ is that Man that is in the Love and Câvenant and that lies in the Arms aâ Bosom of the Almighty God Deut. 33. â He can bring Light out of Darkness aâ make the greatest Loss to prove tâ greatest Gain He hath the Keys of tâ Grave to him belong the issues from Death All Power belongeth to him nothing is too hard for him Thirdly His absolute Soveraignty and Supremacy All Souls are his Ezek. 18. 4. He gives he takes who can hinder him May he not do with his own what pleaseth him Ye believe this Hath he not a Right in all the Works of his hands and may he not dispose of all as he will Fourthly His Vnchangeableness God is in one mind Job 23. 13 14. The thoughts of his Heart stand to all Generations He sets bounds to the Sea to the Life of Man and to all the Comforts of Life the number of his Months is with God Job 14. 5. Believe this Fifthly His Wisdom God is only wise the Fountain of Wisdom he doth all he doth in infinite Wisdom He is wise in Heart and worketh all things according to the counsel of his Will He knows what is best for us when to give when to take and what will do us most good Believe this And let not your Hearts be troubled Sixthly His Righteousness All his Ways are just and equal Yea when Clouds and Darkness are round about him his Providences towards us dark yet theâ Righteousness and Judgment are the habitâtion of his Throne God the Judge of tââ World can do no wrong believe this â God and it will quiet your minds Lastly His Faithfulness In faithfulnâ thou hast afflicted me saith holy Daviâ Psal 119. 75. He hath promised he wâ withhold no good thing from his Peopâ Now he sees and knows that Afflictioâ are good for them good for their Soulâ his daily Rod as good for their Souls his daily Bread is for their Bodies Therâfore he brings Afflictions on them and makes good his Promise to them O âlieve this and let not your Hearts be trâbled Certainly Faith acted on Goâ Attributes will support under the greatâ Stroaks and most grievous Losses Thirdly Faith acted on the Covenanâ Grace God's everlasting Covenant ââ help to support under Trouble Ye bâlieve in God that God hath made a Câvenant with you to become your Goâ Jerem. 31. 33. I will be your God and shall be my People This is infinitely moââ for God to become our God to give hiâ self to us than if he had said I will giâ you Crowns and Kingdoms Sons and Daughters when God saith I will be your God he saith I will be All that to you and I will do All that for you and bestow All that upon you which a God can be or do and which shall make you most happy for ever I will pardon your Sins I will give you new Hearts give you my Spirit I will give you Grace here and Glory hereafter This Acting of Faith in God's Covenant supported David in his greatest Troubles 2 Sam. 23. 5. a notaâle Text When the Lord had made âreach upon breach in his Family this Comforted him that God had made with him an everlasting Covenant That he was in Covenant with God that God was his God in Covenant this ballanced all his Losses and repaired all the Breaches made in his Relations tho his Family was wasted and blasted this answered all that he was in Covenant with God This is the Language of Faith If God be my God if I be his Child born of him reconciled to him pardoned justified sanctified in Covenant with him Why am I troubled though he give me neither Health nor Wealth nor Friends nor Relations Have I not enough in having God to be my God Is not God moâ than All But if God be not my God â have cause enough to be troubled theâ considering the Danger I am in and â Trouble for this should swallow up all ther Trouble For surely either God mine in Covenant or he is not if he mine in Covenant then tho he break â Family make breaches upon all my earâly Comforts yet he will not break â Covenant Psal 89. 32. and so long I â well enough If he leave me neither Sâ nor Daughter if he strip me of Frienâ Estate Liberty Health c. yet he â mains my God still and so long it is â enough it cannot be ill with a Maâ long as God is his ye believe this Fourthly Faith acted upon the Worâ God will support the Soul Ye beliâ God's Word the Word of Truth Psâ 119. 50. This is my Comfort in my Afflictiâ thy Word hath quickned me So ver 92. â not thy Law been my Delight I had perisâ in my Affliction First Consider the Word of Preceâ as in the Text it is Christ's Commaâ Let not your Hearts be troubled Maâ such Commands we have in Scripture â not to fear not to be cast down sorrow not as those that have no hope 1
Application of this First It follows hence that Heart-trouble under the afflicting Hand of God argues the weakness if not the want of Faith All those sorts of Heart-trouble and the parts of it which I have mentioned as Heart-Sorrow worldly Sorrow immoderate Mourning sinful Fear vexatious Care despondency of Spirit being offended disturbance of Mind Distraction Dejection Discouragement and the like all these slow from the want of Faith or at least from the weakness of Faith in God We do not believe in God we see the Causes of our Troubles they are mostly in our selves even our Vnbelief Whatever we profess we do not believe in God If we could but believe in God our Hearts would not be troubled O our want of Faith let us heartily lament it and cry to God for Pardon through the Blood of Christ If our Hearts be troubled where is our Faith in God What doth God and all that is in God signifâ to us What are we the better for a that infinite All sufficiency and Goodneâ that is in God if we do not act Faith uâon it Our Heart-troubles would be âred could we act Faith on God as â ought to do Immoderate Sorrow then is very uâ becoming Believers in God If we wiâ prove our selves Believers in God let â discharge our selves from Heart-troublâ and let us draw out Consolation for oâ Hearts by Faith from all those comfortâble Considerations of God and from â those abundant Excellencies that are â God O let us labour for Faith and aâ it let us live in the exercise of it at then surely we shall find comfort Secondly Let us all labour to get an Iâterest in God by Faith in Jesus Chriâ that so we may be able to look upoâ God as our God and then we may claiâ an Interest in All that God is and in â that God hath and so shall we have â cause of Heart-trouble in any Conditioâ For if God be ours All his Attributes aâ ours his gracious Covenant is ours hâ Word and Promises are ours All is ours Therefore should we labour in this aboâ all things spending all our Thoughts Affections and Spirits upon this O let us lay hold on God and his Covenant let us chuse him for our Portion and resign up our whole selves unfeignedly to him terminating and centring all our Desires Hope Love Delight in him alone placing all our Happiness in him and then commit all to him Whom have I in Heaven but thee and there is none upon Earth that I desire besides thee Psal 73. 23. The Second Question Secondly What is it to believe in Christ For saith he in the Text Believe also in me It is God in Christ that we must believe in not in God without Christ not in God out of Christ but believe in God in Christ Now what this believing in Christ is I shall endeavour to show looking up to the Father of Lights and to the Author and Finisher of our Faith for Light and Assistance In general It is to believe all that which is revealed in the Holy Scriptures concerning Christ to believe the Record that God hath given of him in his Word as 1 John 5. 10 11 12 13. Tâ believe that Jesus Christ is the eternal Sâ of God Joh. 1. 18. That he came oâ from the Father was made Flesh toâ upon him our Nature was born of Virgin lived on Earth in the form of Servant a poor despicable Life preacâed the Gospel working Miracles That he suffered upon the Cross with â the Sins of his People upon his Soul at Body that he bore the Curse of the Laâ the Wrath of God which was due to Maâ for Sin That he died a most painfâ shameful and cruel Death dying as Sacrifice to satisfy God's Justice to atâ and pacify his Wrath to make our Peaâ and to reconcile us to God That he roâ again from the Dead ascended into Heâven to prepare a Place there for â People That he sitteth at the right Haâ of God everlasting to make continuâ Intercession for us And that he shall coâ to judg the World at the last Day Aâ while he is absent from us in Person heâ on Earth he promised to send his Spirâ the Comforter into the World to coâvince and convert all those which hâ Father hath given him to call them bâ his Word to quicken strengthen staâlish comfort and confirm them until he come again to take them to himself that where he is there they may be also John 16. 1 2. This is the Record that God hath given of his Son That whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting Life John 3. 16 36. Now to believe in Christ is to believe all this Testimony of him And also out of a deep sense of our Sin and Misery and sight of Christ's infinite Excellency All-sufficiency and Willingness to save Sinners and upon his Call to us in the Gospel to come unto him weary and heavy laden with our Sins heartily willing to accept of the Lord Jesus upon his own Terms to take him for our only Lord to give up our whole Selves Souls and Bodies to his blessed Government by his Word and Spirit in all things and unfeignedly and unreservedly to enter into Covenant with him to become his and his alone and his for ever and to relie upon him for Life for Grace and Salvation this is to believe in Christ Thus believe in Christ and let not your Hearts be troubled The acting of this Faith on blessed Jesus is a singular means to prevent and cure all Heart-Trouble all Heart-Sorrows Cares Fears Vexations Despondencies Dejections and Distractions whatsoever thâ may arise in our Hearts by reason of aâ Loss Cross Disappointment Distress â Affliction that may befal us If we ââ but thus believe in Christ and rest aâ rely upon him and trust in him â Hearts shall not be troubled Q. But what is that in Christ whiâ Faith must act upon to effect this Cuâ of Heart-Trouble when Afflictions coâ upon us A. Such-like things as I shewed beforâ as are in God for Faith to act upon whiâ are these that follow First Faith must be acted upon ââ loving gracious sweet Nature of Jesâ Christ Our Lord Jesus is of a most lâving and sweet Nature he is Love indeeâ the Son of his Father's Love and altâgether lovely His Thoughts of us wâ believe in him were Thoughts of Loâ from Everlasting All his Words aâ sweet his Mouth is most sweet O whâ sweet Language doth he give his Church My Dove my Love my fair One my Sâster my Spouse c. Cant. 5. 16. Hâ loved us and gave himself for us Lovâ us and washed us in his Blood Rev. 1. 6 He is one of our Nature our Kinsman our Husband our Father our Elder Brother c. So that if there be any Love in the Head to the Members if any in the Father to the Child if any in the Husband to the Wife
Death oâ the Cross and all as our Surety and ââ a Sacrifice to God for our Sins Chriââ our Passover was sacrificed for us 1 Cor 5. 7. to make Atonement and Satiâfâction to the Law and Justice of Goâ for us Rom. 3. 25. This was the great Work of the Transcendent Love of Jesus Chrisâ when he was upon Earth when he travelled in Soul drank of the Brook in the way Psal 110. 7. that black Torrent of Wrath and Curses that lay in the way betwixt our Souls and Heaven which stopp'd up our Passage thitherward and made it utterly impassable for us But Jesus made a Passage by his Blood that his Redeemed might pass thorow So great were his Sufferings in this World for us that they made him cry out My God my God why hast thou forsaken me offering up strong Cries with Tears Mat. 27. 46. Heb. 5. 7. Now then let us act our Faith on the Sufferings of Christ here on Earth and believe that he suffered all those hard and heavy those bitter and grievous things for us and in our Names that he bore our Sins to satisfy God's Justice for them to purchase and procure our Pardon O that we could but believe in this Jesus that he sweated great drops of Blood for us and that he shed his very Heart-blood upon the Cross for us and by Faith apply and appropiate all this to our own Souls believing that he was wounded for our Transgressions smitten for â Sins that the chastisement of our Peâ was upon him Isa 53. that by â Blood of his Cross he hath made oâ Peace and hath purchased for us Etâânal Life Believe this and then â what little cause you have to have yâ Hearts troubled for any Loss or Crâ whatsoever The consideration iâ way of believing of what Christ hâ done for us and of what he hath sâfered for us should make us patienâ do or suffer any thing for him and frâ him Believe also in me Secondly Our Faith must be ãâã upon the Work of Christ which he â now doing for us in Heaven He is ââ idle there although he be set down â the Right Hand of the Majesty on Higâ but he is at work for his People therâ there he he maketh continual intercesââ for us Rom. 8. 34. He is there â our Advocate to plead our Cause aâ manage all our Businesses there pââsenting his Blood in the Vertue of to his Father for our Pardon presenâing our Persons and Services perfumeâ with the Incense of his own Righteouâness and by his Spirit applying thâ âââtue of all to our Souls He is able â save to the uttermost all that come unto âod by him seeing he ever liveth to make âtercession for us Heb. 7. 25. Of this â have spoken before Now if we âan act our Faith upon the Intercession âf Christ who knows all our Wants âurdens Cares and Fears and whose âffice it is to plead and intercede for âs in Heaven tho we may scarce have âny to plead or speak a word for us on âarth yet we should have no cause âo have our Hearts troubled We âave a faithful Friend to whom we âay commit our Cause Thirdly Christ is doing a Work ân us on Earth while he himself is in Heaven He is humbling us purging âs teaching us mortifying our Corâuptions crucifying our inordinate Affections sanctifying us and so preparing us for Heaven He is making âs meet for the Kingdom He is fitâing us for his Father's House by all âis Ordinances and by all his Proviâences by every Loss and Cross by âll our Afflictions as 2 Cor. 4. 17. Our âight Afflictions which are but for a moâent work for us that is by way of preparation a far more exceeding anâ eternal weight of Glory Jesus Chriââ is in the Word and in the Rod he â All in All He is still forming squâring fashioning and working by hâ Spirit Word and Rod upon his Peâple to make them more and moâ conformable to himself to square theâ as Stones for his Building to maââ them Habitations for himself Templâ for the holy God to dwell in and thâ he himself may delight to dwell iâ them here and to make them fit ââ dwell with him for ever in Glory Now let us labour to act our Faitâ on those blessed Works of Christ in uâ and believe that he is thus working iâ us even in and by all our Afflictioâ and labour to feel and find these grâcious Works carrying on in us and ââ shall have no cause to be troubled Moreover our Faith should be actâ upon the Work that Christ is now ââing for us in Heaven besides his ââtercession for us there he is preparing Place for us in Heaven as he told ââ Disciples to comfort them In ââ Father's House are many Mansions I â to prepare a Place for you A Place â Heaven is infinitely better and more to be desired than the best Place on Earth A Place in the Father's House ân the highest Heavens in that glorious Paradise above that 's the Place of all Places there the great and glorious God dwells there blessed Jesus dwells O that New Jerusalem the City of the âiving God that 's the Place indeed that House not made with hands eternal in the Heavens 2 Cor. 5. 1 2. Some think that Jesus went locally into Hell but we are sure he went locally into Heaven and we know for what he went there for he hath told us it was to prepare a Place for us there Here below all Places are full of Darkness Snares Temptations Fears Dangers Persecutions but that is a Place of perfect Peace perfect Rest of Light Comfort Joy and Consolation Here we are Pilgrims and Strangers there is our Home our Father's House Here we have no continuing City 1 Cor. 4. 11. no abiding Place Christ's People here in this World many times have no certain dwelling-place but are driven from House and Home forced to fly from one City to another from Town to Country from one Kingdom to another constrained to wander froâ Place to Place while others abide iâ their Habitations they must seek theiâ Quarters where they can find them â while under one Friend's Roof a whilâ under another's which is no small Affliction to them that feel it tho others lay it not to heart Now what shoulâ comfort us in this our Pilgrimage anâ Wilderness-condition what should support us in this our wandring and desolate State but that it was eveâ thus with our blessed Lord himself upon Earth who had not an House to put his Head in And so it was with his Disciples and with many choice Saints as Heb. 11. 37 38. What should bear up our Spirits but this comfortable Consideration that our Lord went to Heaven on purpose to prepare a Place for us there If the Earth cast us out Heaven will receive us If Men say to us Remove be gone hence depart away here is no Place no abiding for you our dear
away to wit that he might send them the Comforter he would remove from them a great Mercy the greatest earthly Mercy that ever they enjoyed which was his personal Presence they must part with so dear and near so sweet so loving so faithful a Friend as himself was to them And could there be a greater loss for this Sorrow had filled their Hearts But he tells them it was to make way for a greater Mercy which was to send them the Comforter in all the saving and miraculous Gifts of the Holy Ghost by which they should be able to do greater Works than he himself did John 14. 12. which was a greater Mercy than his bodily Presence with them and with this he calms and quiets their Minds Now if we can act Faith upon the Blessed Ends of Christ in removing our earthly Comforts from us which are to bestow upon us better Mercies to give us more of his Spirit and of the Grace and Comforts of it our Hearts would not be troubled could we believe that Christ's End in all his Chastisements is to prepare us for that Place in his Father's House it would comfort and support us His Ends are very good and that should quiet us So long as the People of Christ enjoy most of the Comforts of this World I speak it by sad experience commonly they enjoy least of God and of his Spirit and usually when Christ takes away their earthly Comforts then he manifests most of Himself and of his tender Love to them He brings them into the Wilderness and then speaks comfortably to them Hos 2. 14. then he speaks to their Hearts and not to their Ears only as in time of Prosperity then he gives out most of the Graces and Comforts of his Spirit Christ never takes away these outward Mercies from his People but with design to bestow better if our Discontent and Unbelief do not hinder When the Lord took away from his Servant David the young Child begotten in Adultery it was to give him a Solomon Thus I have endeavoured to shew what it is also to believe in Christ that thereby we may prevent and cure our Heart-trouble The last thing I have to do is to shew how Faith acted thus on God and Christ or on God in Christ is the best Preventive of and Remedy to cure all our Heart-troubles which hath indeed been shewn partly in the two former Particulars and will serve for the confirmation of the Point also Two ways principally Faith acted on God and Christ doth effect this great Cure of Heart-trouble and procure Hearts-Ease First By way of Application and Appropriation Secondly By way of Holy Confidence and Reliance First By Applying and Apropriating God and Christ to the Soul and All that God is and All that Christ is and all that God hath and all that Christ hath and All that God and Christ hath promised Faith applieth and appropriates All this to the Soul Faith gives the Soul Right Title Claim Propriety and Interest to and in God and Christ Faith makes All the Believer's own Believe and All is thine This is the Language of Faith My God my Lord my Christ my Saviour my Redeemer and this quiets and satisfies the Soul fully or nothing in Heaven or Earth can do it wheâ it can thus act its Faith on God and Christ So was David cured of his great Troubles 1 Sam. 30. 6. He encouraged himself in the Lord his God ââ God his God in Christ so in that pregnant Text 2 Sam. 23. 5. His Interest in God's Everlasting Covenant whereby God was become his God it Christ he acted his Faith upon and that satisfied him So Mich. 7. 7. Psâ 73. 25 26. Either God is ours or he is not either Christ is ours or he is not liââ God and Christ be not ours we have cause enough of Heart-trouble cause enough to mind our Danger and to be troubled at our very Hearts that we are in such a woful case and should now above all things labour after an Interest in God and in Christ whatever our Losses in the World be this dangerous State of our Souls should be most minded and speedily look'd after above all things But if God be ours and if Christ be ours if we have chosen God for our Portion in Christ and if we have rightly and truly received Jesus Christ the Lord for our only Lord and Saviour and have unfainedly given up our whole selves to him then may we act our Faith upon God as our God and upon Jesus Christ as ours and may claim our Right in God and in Christ and in All that God and Christ is and hath as our own and then what cause of any Heart-trouble If God be ours if Christ be ours All is ours Life ours Death ours What if we want Relations and Friends Honour Wealth and Health is not the All-sufficient God enough Is not Jesus in whom dwells all Fulness enough to supply the want of all This God proposed to Abraham I am thy God and to Israel Isa 41. 10. Jesus Christ is All and in All and if Christ be yours alâ is yours God is yours and all the Good of both Worlds are yours and what can you desire more Secondly Faith exercised in Holy Confidence in and Reliance upon God and Christ and the Promises will prevent or cure all our Heart-trouble David was cured both these ways Psal 31. 11 12 13 14 15. viz. by appropriating God to himself and by trusting in him I trusted in thee O Lord I said thou art my God Psal 43. 5. for God is pleased to ingage himself to discharge those Souls from Heart-trouble and sinful Fear who trust in him Psal 37. 40. Trouble doth disorder the Heart and discompose the Mind but Faith in this exercise of it trusting in the Lord doth fix and settle the Heart so that then no evil Tidings shall make such a Person afraid for his Heart is fixed trusting in the Lord Psal 1 12. 7. God hath promised to keep them in perfect peace whose Minds are staied on him because they trust in him Isa 26. 3. Diffidence is the cause of all Disquiet no true Rest can be had nor Quiet to our Minds but by Confidence in God Psal 2. last O the blessedness of those that trust in Christ God in Christ is the only fit Object of our Confidence in all our Extremities A Believer hath a God to go to in all his Troubles an All-mighty and loving Father in Christ and this should be our Comfort that we are in Covenant with him that rules the World and hath committed the Government of all things to his Son our dear Redeemer who hath bought us with his Blood and we may be sure that no hurt shall befal us that he can hinder and what cannot he hinder who hath all Power in Heaven and Earth and that hath the Keys of Hell and Death unto whom we are so near that he carries our Names on
the Reason why so many faint in the Day of Adversity and sink under Trouble and others use unlawful means to prevent Trouble or to get out of it It is because they want this Faith in God and Christ and for want of it too many miscarry under Affliction The Second Use is by way of Exhortation to all the Disciples of Christ in the Words of the Text Let not your Hearts be troubled but Believe in God and Believe in Christ You must get and act Faith in God and Christ this is the only Preventive the only Remedy against Heart-Trouble Our Lord in this Text commands it and commends it we must needs get Faith above all gettings next to Christ we must get Faith for we cannot have Christ without Faith Go to God for it it is his Work his Gift yea it is his Operation yea the same Power that raised up Jesus from the Dead must be put forth upon a Soul to work Faith Eph. 1. 19 20. The exceeding great and mighty working of the Power of God to raise up the Soul to God and Christ and to enable it to lay hold on God and Christ for such is our natural proneness to live by Sense and Carnal Reason and such is the most transcendent Excellency of God and Christ and of Divine Things which Faith looks unto and so great an Inclination we have to Self-sufficiency and so much rooted in Self-Love and inordinate Love of the Creature and so hard to take off the Soul from false bottoms and because we are such Strangers to God naturally and because there is so much Guilt of Sin still remaining on us by our renewed Provocations that we are afraid to entertain serious Thoughts of God and because of that infinite Distance between God and us we can never come to believe in him and rely upon him until our Hearts be renewed by the Power of Grace and this Divine Grace of Faith infused into them Therefore must we go to God and Christ and put up strong Cries and Prayers to God to work Faith in us and never give over until it be wrought in us And having got Faith we must act and exercise it upon God in Christ upon God I say He only is the Object of Faith and is worthy of it for a Man can be in no condition in which God is at a loss and cannot help him If Comforts and means of Deliverance be wanting God can create Comforts and command Deliverance Isa 57. 19. He can bring Light out of Darkness to him all things are possible 1. Then Faith assents to and is perswaded that there is a God the Infinite First and Best Being of all things and who giveth Being to all Things Hebr. 11. 6. 2. That in this Blessed Being are Three Persons Father Son and Holy Ghost and all the Object of our Faith 3. Faith must always act on God in Christ and not otherwise for in Christ God reconciles the World In Christ God becomes our Friend is at peace with us by Christ the Enmity between God and us is taken away in Christ God becomes our Father John 1. 12. Gal. 3. 26. 4. Faith is acted by Meditating on Considering of and Applying and Appropriating of God in Christ to the Soul laying claim to all that God is and to all that God hath as its own 5. It must also act upon the Promises of God in his Word and upon God and Christ in them God hath opened all his Heart to us in his Word making many sweet Promises exceeding great and precious Promises 2 Pet. 1. 4. and also He hath made a Covenant of Grace with us to bestow himself and all good things upon us upon which we must live until Promises eââ in Performances These Promises aââ our Spiritual Treasury Promises ãâã Pardon of Sin upon Repentance and Faith Promises of renewing sanctifying Grace Promises of the Spirit of Heaven of Eternal Life and Glory of Mansions in the Father's House and of all things needful it the way to the Kingdom that we shall want no good thing and that all things shall work together for our good c. Lastly That our Hearts may not be troubled but fully satisfied and comforted we must by Faith lay hold on God take hold of God's Strength which is his Mercy in Christ and most solemnly most considerately and most sincerely take God for our God in Christ and actually enter into Covenant with him This Covenant is founded upon Jesus Christ his Satisfaction and Righteousness and therefore we must also believe in Christ taking him for our only Lord and Saviour receiving him by Faith as he is offered to us in the Gospel to be All in All to us As God offers so Faith receives God offers himself in Christ and so Faith receives him God doth as it were say in the Gospel O poor lost Sinner come to my Son Jesus take him for thy only Lord and Saviour and by him come to me and take me for thy God and Father and by Faith the poor Believer ecchoeth back My Lord and my God I humbly and heartily come to thee accept of thee close with thee and so by Faith the believing Soul becomes one with God and Christ and hereupon the Soul by Faith cleaves to God and Christ and unfeignedly and unreservedly resigns and gives up its whole self to God in Christ taking God in Christ for his and intirely surrenders up it self to be the Lord's My Beloved is mine and I am his Now Faith thus acted will certainly cure all our Heart-Troubles In order then to obtain solid Comfort in all our Distresses let us carefully look whether these Acts of Faith have really passed upon our Souls Have we thus actually understandingly and sincerely believed in God aââ in Christ Have we unfeignedly eâtred into Covenant with God ââ Christ Can we conclude that Gââ is our God in Christ by our beiââ his If we be intirely his he is ãâã for certein 1 John 4. 19. Cant. 2. 1â If we place all our Happiness in hiâ Psal 73. 25. If we give him tââ Throne in our Hearts subjecting oâ whole selves to his Government making God in Christ all our Love ââ Trust Joy Desire Delight Feaâ our All cleaving to him alone and above all depending upon him as oââ chief Good contenting our selââ with him as All-sufficient for us âsigning up our selves to his goââ Will to be to do and suffer whââ he will If we can and do engagâ our selves to sincere Obedience thââ none of his Commandments be griâvous to us If in all things we giââ Christ the preheminence if we haââ received the Spirit of Christ as Rââ 8. 9. Gal. 4. 6. which joins us him and makes us one Spirit with hiâ and which is a Spirit of Adoption whereby the Soul seeing his Interest in God as his Father can freely go to God in all its straits If we have the Graces of the Spirit as Love Meekness Patience Humility