affections with holy desires to imbrace him z Psal 24. 7 and to set open the gates and doores of our souls that this King of glory may come in and dwell with us for ever If we do sincerely from the heart desire such a glorious King and such a bountifull Inhabitant to make his perpetuall abode with us then we must presse hard upon him and importune him earnestly with our frequent and fervent Prayers to abide and dwell with us a Gen. 19 2 3. The two Angels that came to Sodome refused to tarry all night with Lot upon his first intreaty but when he pressed greatly upon them they turned in unto him and entered into his house and he made them a feast and they did eat and then they preserved him from the burning But behold b Revel 3. 20 Christ standeth at the door of our hearts and knocks if we hear his voice and open the door he will come in to us and will sup with us we shall sup with him O the happinesse of that soul that doth hear the voice of Christ when he calls and doth open his heart unto him when he knocks either by the Ministery of his Word by the motions of his Spirit by afflictions troubles crosses or by any other meanes whatsoever But if we will intertain Christ we must have no corrivall with him for God and Mammon Christ and Belial cannot dwell together Thus saith Christ c Luk. 26 13 Ye cannot serve God and Mammon for no man can serve two masters Also thus saith Paul d 2 Cor. 6. 14 15 What communion hath light with darknesse and what concord hath Christ with Belial e Mat. 10 37. If we love father or mother son or daughtor more then Christ we are not worthy of him If the affections of our hearts are carried after the riches preferments and pleasures of this world or after any darling sin then Christ will not dwell there and we lose the comfortable and blessed Presence of the eternall Son of God and the fulnesse of all his excellencies and rich endowments for that which is nothing else but vanity and vexation of spirit Wherefore now we may Meditate comfortably on God through Jesus Christ our Saviour for the terriblenesse of his Majesty is clouded with the vail of his goodnesse the severity of his justice is sweetened with his mercy and tender compassion Christ hath taken our souls out of the hand of Gods justice and hath put them into the hand of his mercy where they shall be kept for true blessednesse to all eternity If his greatnesse doth affright us his goodnesse will allure us if his justice doth drive us from him his mercy and love will draw us to him for by Christ we have a neer relation to God himself either as his servants by grace or as his children by adoption in both which respects our Meditations of him will be exceedingly delightfull to us So likewise if we fix our thoughts upon Christ though his excellencies and dignities are far above the reach of our humane capacity yet by faith we do apprehend him to be our Redeemer and our Advocate now at the right hand of God his Father in the highest heavens and therefore our Meditations of him cannot but ravish our souls with heavenly joy and spirituall consolation in the assurance of our Redemption and of our Atonement with God and also in the hope of our eternall salvation and to be heirs of the kingdome of heaven which he hath purchased for us with his own blood How to Meditate on the Holy Ghost THe Holy Geost is the same spirituall Essence and Being with the Father and with the Son coequall and coeternall with them both but as the Deity is distinguished into three Persons the holy Ghost proceedeth from the Father and from the Son and he is the third Person in the sacred Trinity Christ doth prove that the holy Ghost proceedeth from the Father in these words a Iohn 15 26 But when the comforter is come whom I will send unto you from the Father he shall testifie of me That he proceedeth from the Son is manifest by this of Paul b Gal. 4. 6 And because ye are sons God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts crying Abba Father John also the beloved Disciple of Christ maketh it plain that the holy Ghost is the third Person in the holy Trinity by these words c 2 Joh 5. 7 There are three that bear record in heaven The Father the Word and the holy Ghost and these three aâ—e One. The Prophet calls him d Isa 11. 2 The spirit of Wisdome and understanding the spirit of counsel and strength the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD e Heb. 9. 14 He is the eternall spirit of God from whom nothing can be hidden according to this of David f Psal 139 7 Whither shall I go from thy Sptrit or whither shall I flee from thy presence Christ calleth him the Spirit of truth g Ioh 14. 16 7. And I will pray the Father and he shall give you another comforter that he may abide with you forever even the Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive John calls him h Rev. 11. 11 the Spirit of life because by the power of his grace de doth quicken our hearts and revive us when we are dead in our trespasses and sins Paul doth also call him i Rom. 8. 15 16 the Spirit of adoption to witnesse to our spirits that we are the children of God If we fix our Meditations on the holy Ghost as he is in his Divine Essence and Being or as he is one of the three Persons in the sacred Trinity we shall be confounded in these deep mysteries of the Trinity in Unity and Unity in Trinity but if we Meditate upon him according to his proper Office as he is a Comforter or according to his severall operations in our hearts we shall then find much comfortable matter for our hearts to Meditate upon which will minister heavenly and spirituall consolation to our poor souls First therefore we must consider that the proper Office of the holy Ghost is to be a comforter to us in all our afflictions and sufferings for we are dayly exposed to many tribulations and calamities either for the profession of the Name of Christ for the triall of our graces or for our correction when we lye in sin without repentance which would easily swallow us up if we had not some true comforter to support and comfort us in them k 1 Pet. 2. 1â— 1 There is also an host of sinfull lusts in us that war against our souls which do dayly assault us with strong temptations and we are round beset with perills dangers and spirituall enemies which continually threaten our downfall and ruine and do seek to hinder our salvation But above all we are sometimes wounded in our
be so well disposed for such an heavenly duty or else the divell will be ready to suggest unto him evill thoughts or to bring into his remembrance some of his former sins to disquiet the peace of his conscience to trouble the tranquillity of his minde and so to interrupt his thoughts that his meditations may not be for the honour of God nor yet fruitfull and profitable to himself and therefore he must crave the assistance of the Spirit of GOD by Prayer Rules of direction for our holy Meditations VVHerefore now that our Meditations may be holy and acceptable to God and that we may finde sweetnesse and comfort in them we must carefully observe these few Directions following The first is to fix our meditations upon holy things and not upon that which is vain and unprofitable for they do most conduce to the glory of God and to the comfort of our soules This is Pauls counsell a Col. 3. 1 2 to set our affections on things above not on things on the earth whereby we shall give a clear evidence that we are risen with Christ from the death of sin to the life of grace As our affections are carried so are our meditations if they are carried to worldly vanities our mindes will be so incumbered that we cannot freely meditate upon those things that concern the Kingdom of heaven neither will our meditations be for Gods glory or for our eternall good But if our affections are carried toward heavenly things then our meditations will be spirituall and heavenly and our actions will be tending to the honour of God b 1 Chron. 29. 3. David set his affection to the house of his God and therefore he prepared abundantly of his own proper good of gold and silver which he gave to the building of it Wherefore it concerneth us very much to keep our hearts close unto God that our minds may be raised up to him in our heavenly contemplations and that he may be glorified in all our actions The second direction is that our meditations must be of the heart as well as of the brain otherwise this Duty is not so performed that God will accept it It is the heart which God respecteth in all our services to him without which our best duties are not regarded c Luk. 2. 19 The blessed Virgin kept all the sayings of the shepherds and others concerning Christ and pondered them in her heart Oh how acceptable is that sacrifice which is offered up to God with a pure and perfect heart how effectuall is that Prayer which is presented unto him with a true and faithfull heart how pleasing are those Almes to God that are given to the poor with a willing heart and how comfortable are those meditations which proceed from an upright heart The brain may work and the cogitations of the minde may be set upon holy objects and all to little purpose if the affections of the heart be wanting Thirdly the end of our meditations must crown the work with gracious acceptance and this must be the glory of God We do greatly honour God in our meditations when we ruminate upon his incomprehensible Essence how infinite he is in all his Divine Attributes and how wonderfull in all his works also when we meditate upon his Law and upon his gracious promises to us in Christ if hereby we are brought to reverence and adore his Sacred Majesty to love him for his goodnesse and to yield due obedience unto his commands and if we can rest upon his promises and discern his wisdome and glory by his Works This must be the main end of our meditations and if we do seriously meditate upon the holy things of God to an holy end then God will accept them and we shall be edified by them But if we propound any other end to our selves whether it be for discourse or vain-glory or the like we seek not the honour of God herein but we delude our selves and defraud our souls of that heavenly comfort which otherwise they might have Fourthly our hearts and consciences must be purified and cleansed from dead works by faith and true repentance that an holy zeal may be kindled in our affections and that our souls may feel the comfort of a spirituall warmth by our holy meditations For if there be any guilt of sin that cleaveth fast to our consciences because we have no assurance by repentance that it is washt away in the blood of Christ by faith it will cool the zeal of our affections and stop the current of Gods assisting grace so that our meditations can make no holy impression in our hearts no print of Piety in our lives and conversations neither can they send forth any beams of true consolation to our souls Wherefore if our hearts are not sanctified and seasoned with grace our meditations cannot be to the glory of God nor to our own spirituall good neither can we say as the Psalmist did d Psal 104 34. My meditation of God shall be sweet I will be glad in the Lord. This will move our hearts and affections and will put a spirituall life into our meditations when our hearts are cleansed from the guilt of sin so that we can freely meditate upon the bounty and goodnesse of God in all his dealings with us this we may do if faith goeth along in all our holy meditations Fifthly we must have some spirituall understanding in those things whereon we desire to meditate that the holy Ghost may guide us in our meditations and then we shall glorifie God and comfort our souls thereby otherwise the thoughts of our hearts will wander and go far astray from the matter whereupon they should be fixed and we may easily lose our selves in the dark if the spirit of God doth not give us some spiritual light to guide and direct us therein and we can receive no benefit by this holy service if it be not performed with an understanding heart The more knowledge we have of what we intend to meditate the more will our hearts be enlarged for it and the deeper impressions will our meditations make in our affections and the greater will be the comfort of our souls This was the saying of the Psalmist e Psal 49. 3. The meditation of my heart shall be of understanding Thus saith Paul f 1 Cor. 14 15 I will pray with the spirit and I will pray with the understanding also I will sing with thâ— spirit and I wil sing with the understanding also so likewise we must meditate with the spirit and with the understanding also How can we learn the Commandements of God and how can we keep his Law if the Lord doth not give us understanding in them by his Spirit This heavenly wisdome is the gift of God which we must with all care and diligence labour for according to this of Solomon g Prov. 4. 7. Wisdome is the principall thing therefore get Wisdom and with all
consciences with the guilt of sin which is a burden heavier than we can bear Thus saith the wise man l Prov. 18. 14 A wounded spirit who can bear We can have no true comfort in these or the like afflictions but what cometh from the holy Ghost and no hope of succour or relief in our distresses without him if our spirits are wounded he onely can apply the true Balm of Gilead to cure them This Balm is the blood of Christ which is an universall Remedy to cure all the spiritual diseases of our souls and none but the holy Ghost can apply it to our hearts by Faith Also if the holy Ghost doth not refresh us with the comforts of grace and with the assurance of the love and favour of God we shall be ready to sink under the great weight of our calamities and miseries But we may draw comfort enough from the holy Ghost in what sad condition soever we be for he will sweeten the bitternesse of all our sufferings with true peace of conscience and tranquility of minde in the assurance of the pardon of our sins he will sanctifie all our afflictions and sorrowes with saving grace that they shall be for our good and will witnesse to our spirits that we are in grace and favour with God through Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour Also he will give us strength and courage to suffer any thing for Christ and for righteousnesse sake and likewise heavenly wisedome rightly to use every part of the whole armour of God to defend our selves from all our spirituall enemies and to beat back or quench all the fiery darts of the divell that his temptations and evill suggestions may not wound our souls to the death Lastly he will perfect all with the gift of perseverance so that we shall be able to stand fast in the day of tryall and we shall have assured hope of conquest and victory in all our conflicts and combates here and to be crowned with immortall glory hereafter Now let this be the desire of our souls and the Meditation of our hearts to draw comfort from the holy Ghost when we are afflicted troubled or any way perplexed with grief of heart sorrow of spirit or anguish of soul which we may do if we know that no outward comforts can support us without God and therefore we do not rest and rely upon them but do seek to the true comforter by earnest and faithfull Prayer in all our necessities which is a sure means to draw comfort from him when we want it Also if we be truly sensible that we do want his gracious assistance to carry us on cheerfully through all the difficulties and dangers that we shal meet with in this world upon our humble supplications to him he will return us a comfortable answer as shall be best for us So likewise if the guilt of our sins doth stick close unto us or if we possesse our former iniquities by a sinfull remembrance of them so that we are truly humbled in the sight and sense of them and that our hearts are touched with a godly sorrow for them the holy Ghost will then come with spirituall consolation to comfort our poor souls with an holy assurance that all our sins are washt away in the blood of Christ by faith Lastly we may draw comfort from this spiritual fountain by our pious and devout Meditations of him for then he will give us a sweet taste of his heavenly graces to comfort us in all conditions of life and he will give us spirituall joy in the midst of all our afflictions also he will unite us unto Christ by Faith and will seal our Redemption to us by his blood whereby we shall enjoy eternal felicity for ever O what sweet Meditations may we draw from this heavenly Comforter in all the sadnesse of our hearts Thus we may Meditate on the holy Ghost as he is the true comforter of our souls we come now to consider of his Divine Operations from whence we may also draw much profitable and comfortable matter for our holy Meditations And for our better understanding herein this eternal spirit of life is set forth in the holy Scriptures by severall resemblances to shew in what manner and how variously he worketh in our hearts that our Meditations may be ordered accordingly First the holy Ghost is resembled to a dove for when Christ was baptized m Mat. 3. 16 he descended in the similitude of a dove and rested upon him which was to shew his spirituall anointing to his Office of Mediatorship and to set forth the true nature of Christ how humble and and meek he was how innocent and harmlesse how loving and how ready and willing he was to do good to all These dove-like qualities were poured upon Christ above measure that we his members might receive the same in some measure from him by the holy Ghost for he will put all the faculties of our souls all the affections of our hearts and all the parts of our bodies into a new frame he will change the corruptions of our nature into an holy temper of proud and haughty minded he will make us lowly and meek of hatefull and malicious he will make us loving and courteous to all he will so season us with sanctifying grace throughout that our evill disposition shall be changed into a gracious condition This spirit of truth will bring us an Olive leafe n Gen. 8. 11 like Noahs dove to let us know that though we be in the midst of troubles dangers or distresses yet we shall be preserved and delivered and though we be troubled disquieted or perplexed in our mindes yet at the last we shall have peace tranquillity spirituall joy and comfort Now by this resemblance of the holy Ghost we may examine our selves what purity and holinesse he hath wrought in us what meeknesse of spirit what patience under the crosse what love to God and to our neighbour and how far we are sanctified in all the affections of our hearts in all the parts of our bodies also how much the corruptions of our nature are weakned in us and how far we are changed from that which is sinful to newness of life if we can finde these Operations of the holy Ghost in us they wil afford us profitable matter for our hearts to meditate upon to the glory of God and for the comfort of our own soules Secondly some of the operations of the holy Ghost are set forth unto us by the resemblance of that o Exod. 13 21 pillar of a cloud which went before the children of Israel by day when they marched out of Egypt to guide them the right way that God would have them go toward the Land of Canaan This pillar did also protect and defend them from their enemies it kept the scorching heat of the Sun from them and it cooled and moistned the earth with sweet and comfortable dewes which was a great refreshing
THE COMFORT OF THE SOUL Laid down by way of Meditation upon some heads of Christian Religion very profitable for every true Christian Composed and writen by Iohn Anthony of London Doctor of Physick Psal 19. ver 14. Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be alwayes acceptable in thy sight O Lord my strength and my Redeemer LONDON Printed for G. Dawson and are to be sold by John Mountague at the Sign of the White-Dragon in Duck-Lane 1654. I have perused these Divine Meditations Intituled the Comfort of the Soul and do find them to be so Orthodox and solide pious and profitable that I do approve them well worthy to be Printed and Published JOHN DOVVNAME To the Right Honourable Dame Elizabeth Dygby Baronesse of Geshal in the Kingdom of Ireland Grace Mercy and Peace from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ HAving nothing of mine own that is worthy your Acceptance to express my Cordiall respects and thankfulnesse for those many favours which I have received from you I have taken some spirituall Receipts out of Gods sacred Dispensatory which I am bold to present or Dedicate to your Honour because they are speciall Cordialls for the spirits and precious Antidotes against the evill of sad times Wherein also you will finde some Balm of Gilead for the cure of all spirituall diseases if it be applyed close to the part that is ill affected with the hand of Faith If these things do relish well with your spirituall Palate then I am confident you will take sometime to ruminate hereupon for I know it hath been your constant course to Meditate something dayly of Divine and heavenly things which did strongly induce me to present these unripe fruits of my labours to you which I gathered in mine old age for mine own use according to my first Intention Though I have thus laboured out of my Calling as I am a Physician yet I am not out of my profession as I am a Christian Now seing this Work is come to Publick view I do humbly desire your favourable construction of the frailties that are in it and that you will be pleased to vindicate it from carping spirits for I did not write it to please their curiosity but to refresh and comfort those that do any way stand in need of spirituall consolation If any thing herein can give you any reasonable satisfaction let God have the honour and glory of his own Work and I shall greatly rejoice therein and shall still remain your much obliged Servant JOHN ANTHONY To the READER COurteous Reader if thou dost live under the Crosse and art sensible of these sad times or if Gods visitation be upon thee which makes thee to sigh and groan under the burden and pressure of thy sorrowes so that thy soul desireth comfort and thy spirits want spirituall refreshing and heavenly consolation then I have written this Treatise for thee which I present to thy view wherein thou shalt finde the true way how to demean thy self under Gods visitation how to bear thy crosse with a contented patience how to make the burden of thy sorrowes more easie or how to be delivered out of them if God seeth it to be most for his glory and best for thy good also how to refresh thy spirits and comfort thy soul in what kinde soever it is afflicted Here also thou shalt finde that many of Gods dear servants have suffered as great afflictions as thou canst and yet God did send them comfort and deliverance but specially what Christ thy Saviour hath suffered for thee and what benefit and comfort thou maist have by it if thou canst draw it to thy self and make a particular application of it to thine own sorrowful condition without which it will yeeld thee but small consolation in thy miseries If thou dost meet with any thing here that will fit thy present condition either for edification or for comfort thou must ruminate well upon it to suck out the spirituall juiâ—e to imprint it in thy minde and to bring it close home to thy heart that it may comfort thy soul and cure thy wounded Spirit David found great comfort when he did Meditate on the Word of God My soul saith he shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatnesse and my mouth shall praise thee with joyfull Psal 63. 5 6 lips when I remember thee upon my bed and meditate on thee in the night watches And it must needs be so for this is a duty which God requireth and he takes speciall notice of those that do practice it to pour down his blessings upon them as he did upon Isaack who went out dayly into the field to Meditate Gen. 24. 63 64. upon the wonderfull Works of God and then at that very time God sent him a vertuous Wife If the Spirit of God goeth along with thee in thy holy Meditations they cannot but be comfortable to thy soul thou wilt then conceive aright of the secret and hidden things of God and thou wilt see the infinite wisdom ond power of God in all the Creatures his goodnesse and bounty to thee in them and a glympse of the Majesty and glory of the great Creator God Almighty His holy Spirit will also open thy heart to let in whatsoever spirituall good thou reapest by thy pious Meditations For if thou lookest upon the creature and doest not Meditate something of God in it thou dost look upon it in vain and if thou readest or hearest his Word Preached and dost not settle it upon thy affections by ruminating upon it thou canst not edifie thy heart nor comfort thy soul thereby So likewise if thou doest read any thing in this Treatise that is comfortable to poor dejected Spirits it will not comfort thee if it be not well digested in thy heart and applyed to thine own soul If thou art not acquainted with this holy Duty I have given thee some directions how to perform it and if thou doest first practise it upon thy self to meditate upon thine own condition what thou art by nature and what by grace and considerest seriously in thy thoughts what way thou walkest what steps thou treadest and to what end thy wayes do tend thou wilt not onely come to the knowledge of thy self but thou wilt also learn how to Meditate profitably and comfortably upon God thy Creator upon Jesus Christ thy Redeemer and upon the Holy Ghost thy Sanctifier and Comforter I conclude with this saying of an ancient Father Nothing is found more sweet in this life nothing is conceived more comfortable nothing doth so separate the affections from the love of this world nothing doth so fortifie the minde against temptations nothing doth so stir up man and further him to every good work and duty as the grace and benefit of Divine Meditation and heavenly contemplation Thine in the Lord Christ JOHN ANTHONY A Table of these severall Heads contained in this Book MEditation is a Duty
if we have a true sight of our own basenesse that we are but as clay in the hand of the Potter or as an earthen pitcher which is easily broken in pieces we cannot but be afraid to draw near so great and glorious a Majesty to contemplate his greatnesse and power the breath of whose Nostrils is able to consume us But if we consider that our sins have laid us open to the rigour of his justice and have justly moved him to pour down upon us the full vialls of his wrath and indignation to our eternall destruction it must needs then strike terrour into our hearts when we come before him in our heavenly Meditations for he is a sin-revenging God l Heb. 12. 29. and a consuming fire he will suffer no sin to go unpunished This doth make our sins the more hainous and the punishment of them the more grievous because they are committed against an Omnipotent and most glorious God from whom we had our first being and from whose goodnesse we do dayly receive all blessings both spirituall and temporall that are needfull for us Wherefore we cannot Meditate with comfort upon God when the guilt of our sins cleaveth to our souls We cannot chearfully lift up our hearts unto him when our consciences do accuse us of sin that we have offended God our Creator and that we lye under the curse of his Law and are in continuall expectation to have the penalty of it inflicted upon us which we know we have justly deserved Thus it is with us until we can apprehend God to be reconciled unto us by the merit of the death of Christ which we must apply to our own hearts by faith When God doth visite us with afflictions and troubles as he hath done to many of his dear servants that we feel the smart of his rod and his hand heavy upon us it will take away the comfort of our Meditations and make us afraid of his judgements as it was with holy Job David and others because sometimes they are very terrible to us Thus saith Job unto God in his afflictions m Iob. 13. 21. Withdraw thine hand far from me and let not thy dread make me afraid Again he saith thus n Iob 6. 4. The terrours of God do set themselves in array against me If God be so dreadfull to his own servants how then can the wicked and sinners appear before him how can they withstand his judgements or bear the fiercenesse of his wrath and fury he cast the disobedient Angels out of heaven without any hope of redemption he cast Adam out of Paradise and laid a severe curse upon the earth for his sake and upon all his posterity for his sin he drowned the whole world and consumed Sodom and Gomorrah with fire he gave his own people into the hands of their enemies for their transgressions and brought grievous judgements upon many particular offenders Wherefore we cannot deny but that the Meditation of these and the like works of Gods justice must needs be dreadful and uncomfortable to us if we look onely upon the justice of God and not also upon his mercy But above all it is most dreadfull to Meditate upon the day of judgement when we must appear before this great and terrible God to give a strict account unto him of whatsoever we have done here in the flesh whether it be good or evill o Ioel. 2. 11. That day is great and terrible who can abide it Then shall all our secret sins be brought to light and laid open to the view of heaven and earth then it wil appear how we have served God what good we have done and what evill we have shunned and then we must answer for every idle word that we have spoken Then shall be great confusion both in heaven and in earth to the astonishment of all Nations for p Luk. 21. 27. they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with much power and glory and with great authority and majesty q 2 Cor. 5. 10. All must then be presented before the judgement seat of Christ r 1 Cor. 4. 5. who will bring to light those things that were hidden in darknesse and will manifest all the thoughts of every mans heart Å¿ Luk. 23. 30. Rev. 6. 16 Then the wicked shall say to the hills fall upon us and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne and from the anger of the Lamb because the great day of wrath is come This terrour will be so unspeakable that it will make every mans heart to tremble for the just men and the Angels themselves are said to fear surely then it must needs be dreadfull to think upon it What a fearfull day will it be to carelesse and loose livers who carry the guilt of sin upon their souls with them unto judgement how will it terrifie them when they see such dreadfull feares and miseries to rush in upon them t Math. 24. 29. Then they shall see the Sun to be darkened and the moon not to give her light then the Stars shall fall from heaven and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken Thus saith the Prophet u Isa 13. 13 14. The earth shall remove out of her place in the wrath of the LORD of hosts and in the day of his fierce anger and it shall be as the chased Roe and as the sheep that no man taketh up Then shall they see all sepulchers open and to yield forth their dead bodies of all men high and low rich and poor to stand there naked before the Judge and before his Angels and in the face of all creatures their sins shall be revealed their secret offences shall be laid open and they shall be constrained to give an account of those things whereof they would disdain to have been told in this life Consider now who can Meditate upon the eternall God this great and terrible Judge without much fear and dread if he cannot appear before him with a good conscience and who can think upon that fearfull day of account without much terrour and trouble of spirit if he hath not some good assurance of the pardon of his sins by his true repentance and that he is reconciled to God by faith in Christ Wealth and honours cannot help the Judge will not be partiall neither will he be corrupted an evill conscience will not be silent no intercession of worldly friends can prevail at that day all things wil cry for vengeance upon the wicked and reprobate to yield them cause of fear and terrour but nothing will yield them any hope of comfort Above them shall be their dreadfull Judge who is offended with them for their wickednesse beneath them they shall see hell open and the cruell furnace ready boyling to receive then on their right hand their sins accusing them on the left hand the divels are ready to execute Gods eternall
to Meditate upon his Almighty power his Divine Wisedome his glorious Majesty and his admirable goodnesse to the sons of men a Rom. 1. 20 For the invisible things of God that is his eternall power and Godhead are seen by the Creation of the world being understood by the things that are made to the intent that every man should be without excuse Thus saith the Prophet b Jer. 10. 12 He hath made the earth by his power he hath established the world by his wisdome and hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion And thus saith the Psalmist c Psal 111. 6 7. He hath shewed his people the power of his Works that he may give them the heritage of the heathen The works of his hands are verity and judgement d Psal 104. 24 25. O Lord how manifold are thy Works in wisdome hast thou made them all the earth is full of thy riches so is this great and wide sea wherein are things creeping innumerable both small and great beasts Also David saith thus e Psal 19. 1. The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament sheweth his handy work But if we consider the goodnesse of the Lord in all his Works we shall finde no end thereof f Exod 34. 6 He is abundant in goodnesse and truth g Psal 33 5 The earth is full of the goodnesse of the Lord. h Psal 52. 2 The goodnesse of God endureth continually There is no creature though it be never so contemptible but it findeth the goodnesse of God and there is no moment of time but we have experience of his goodnesse and mercy to us Behold and see the beauty and splendor of the Sun of the Moon and of all the Sarres admire their gloririous bodies and what lustre they cast down upon the earth how they rejoice to run their course in their severall orbs wherein God hath placed them and yet they do not crosse or hinder each other in their motions also how God doth by them measure out time how he governeth the day by the Sun and how he ruleth the night by the Moon and Starres Consider also how usefull and comfortable these glorious creatures are to us and how God divided the year by them into Winter and Summer Spring-time and Harvest and hath continued these severall seasons even to this day as he said to Noah presently after the flood i Gen. 8. 22 While the earth remaineth seed time and Harvest cold and heat summer and winter and day and night shall not ceâ—se All these do clearly set forth the glory of God the Wisdome the Power and the goodnesse of the great Creatour What shall we say now to our selves Shall these irrationall Creatures keep their appointed stations and shall we go astray from God Shall they obey the will of God and shall we rebell against him Shall they run their course with joy and delight according to the will of God and shall we be backward in a Religious and pious course of life contrary to his will Shall we have no heavenly thoughts no holy desires to do the will of God and no sincere devotion in the worship and service of our God Oh let the comfortable presence of the Sun and the beauty of the Moon and the brightnesse of every Starre move us day and night to raise up our thoughts and to set our Meditations upon God their Maker whose Glory doth infinitely surpasse the brightnesse of them all and let us study to praise and magnifie him for his goodnesse and for his wonderfull works that he hath wrought for the sons of men If we look upon the birds and â—ouls of the aire or upon the beasts of the field and consider how God provided food and rayment and weapons of defence for them all how he preserveth them in their kindes and what great increase they bring forth through his blessing we may see a glympse of the glory of God even in them his care in providing for them and his great Wisdome in the variety of their kindes k Job 39. What goodly wings and feathers hath God given to the Peacock and to the Ostrich what strength to the horse what swiâ—tnesse to the Eagle how terrible is the Leviathan none is so â— Job 41. 19 fierce that dare stir him up who then is able to stand before God m Luk 12. 27 How hath God cloathed the Lillies Solomon in all his glory was not arraied like one of them There is no creature so base and contemptible in our eyes but that we may see the print of Gods finger upon it and there is no plant that groweth in the earth but is full of the goodnesse of God and usefull to man The Psalmist telleth us n Psal 148. that both the senselesse and sensible creatures have a voice to praise the goodnesse of the Lord how can we then be silent Consider the Lark to imitate her for the higher she mounteth the more cheerfully she singeth so likewise the higher we raise up our affections toward heaven in singing praises unto God the sweeter will our melody be in his ears If our spirits mount up to heaven in our contemplations upon the Works of God we cannot but acknowledge to his honour and glory what excellent Workmanship and Wisdome he hath shewed even in the least of them and how wonderfull good and gracious he hath been to us because he hath made them all for our good that we should glorifie God in the right use of them But if we look upon the Creatures with a superficiall eye and if we have the dayly use and service of them and can finde no matter to ruminate upon for the glory of God o Deu. 29. 4 then the Lord hath not given us an heart to perceive and eyes to see and ears to hear what great things God hath done for us and what blessings he hath bestowed upon us to this day Consider further how plentifully God hath provided for man he hath given him some creatures for nutriment some for cloathing others for ornament some are for his delight and lawful pleasure and others are for his necessary occasions so likewise p Luk. 12. 22 God doth feed the fowles of the aire and every living creature and he doth cloath the very grasse of the field Thus saith the Lord unto Job q Job 38. 41 Who provideth for the raven his food when his young ones cry unto God they wander for lack of â—eat This was to strengthen Jâ—bs confidence in God for though he were now brought down from greatest plenty to the greatest want and penury from the highest honour to the lowest degree of ignominy and reproach yet God had still a care of him and was all sufficient to raise him up again to honour and to provide what was needfull for him Also though he were now in the furnace of affliction and upon the test for the tryall of his
ignominy and such blasphemies to be cast upon him and if he could not deliver himself then Peter would bring himself into many perils and dangers if he did acknowledge that he was one of his Disciples and the Priests and Elders would use him far worse than they did his Master Also if Christ had not some way or other offended though Peter did not know it the Priests and Elders would not be so cruellie bent against him These or the like suggestions the Devil did probably cast into Peters mind to increase his fears to weaken his faith and to overthrow that confidence which he had in Christ Thus the sting of that old Serpent went along with the words of a silly damosel which Peter did not suspect and they entered so deep into him that they poysoned his heart with unbelief and made him to denie that he was a follower of Jesus and also he began to curse and swear that he knew him not b Luk. 22 31 32. though Christ had told him that Satan desired to sift him as wheat and that he should thrice deny him before the Cock did crow which was to make him the more watchful over his words and the more careful of himself yet he did dangerously fall from his dear Lord and Master and he had not recovered himself if Christ had not prayed for him that his faith might not fail for he knew that Peter was not able by his own power to withstand such a strong temptation but would be shamefullie foyled in it though he was so confident of his own strength When Peter was in this fearful condition by his great sin through the cunning of the Devil Christ did graciously look back upon him and touched his heart with his Spirit c Mark 14. and made him remember the crowing of the Cock which was the token of remembrance that Christ gave him Then Peter knew how heinously he had sinned and then also he presently went out from that wicked companie to avoid further occasions of sinning and wept bitterly which was a true Testimonie of the sorrow of his heart because he had so grosly denied his dear Master Here we may discover the frailty of the flesh though we be in the state of Grace if God doth not still uphold us with the power of his Grace For our passions will over-power us our sins will prevail against us and every temptation of the Devil will make us let go the Anchor of our Hope in God if we had not the benefit of Christs prayer that our Faith fail not in these our spiritual conflicts Here also we may see what deep impression sudden fear will sometimes make in our hearts for it will sink our Spirits and take away all humane Strength and Courage Thus it was with Josephs Brethren when they found their Mony in their Sacks mouth d Gen. 42. 28. for their heart failed and they were afraid The Canaanites were not able to stand before the Children of Israel e Denr 11. 25. because the Lord did lay the fear of them and the dread of them upon all the Land Sudden fear will also shake the very foundation of our faith and of all other spiritual Graces that are in us as it wrought upon Peter at this time This is an humane Passion that all men are subject unto but a good Conscience and a watchful Eye are the best preservatives against it For as the Psalmist saith f Psal 53. 4 5. The workers of iniquity are in great fear where no fear is because the guilt of their sin lieth upon their Consciences Here also we may discover the policy of the Devil who putteth his Hook into such plausible and harmless Baits as do give us no occasion to suspect any hurt or danger whereby we are easily brought under his power if we have not the assistance of Gods holy Spirit to escape them Wherefore we have great cause to stand continually upon our watch and to suspect our own strength and to be careful what we speak and what we hear what we do and what we see done what steps we tread and what company we come into for there might be much danger where we see no appearance of it Let Peters example keep us from presuming upon our own strength lest God doth permit the Devil to winnow us as Wheat that we may know how weak we â—re without the power of his Grace and to make us afraid of falling into temptations This fear is not slavish but it is an holy and a true filial fear which will keep us from all occasions of sin whereby God may be dishonoured and it will bring us to an holy care how to walk circumspectly before God in all Piety and Godliness it will also restrain us from all sinful desires and put us forward to the practise of all holy duties From hence also we may draw sweet Consolation to our Souls though the measure of our Faith and of other Graces be but smal for the Devil can do nothing without leave and permission from God who will not give him power against us above our strength but will restrain him from effecting that which his malicious will doth intend and purpose for our hurt He may be permitted to sift us with his temptations as he did Peter he may bring troubles and afflictions upon us as he did upon Job but he shall never overthrow our Faith nor quite bereave us of Hope for God will so order and dispose of our sufferings that they shall procure our good either to purge us from some corruptions that we cherish or else to make us keep more close to our God and this is our great comfort That Christ hath Prayed for us that our Faith might hold out to the end though the combat we fight be very difficult and dangerous and our strength very weak Afflictions and Crosses will try our patience Scorns and Reproaches will try the meekness of our spirits Want and Penury will try our trust and confidence in the providence of God anguish of Soul for sin will try our Faith and Hope in Christ want of answer to our praiers will try the fervencie and faithfulness of them and the fear of persecution or torment will try our constancie and perseverence in the truth If we find anie Grace weak in us Christ will make it stronger if we sue unto him for it by our faithful Praiers For the Spirit of Grace rested upon him that Grace might plentifullie flow down to all that have interest in him by Faith g Psal 13. 3. 2. Like the precious Oyntment that was poured upon Aarons head which went down to the skirts of his garments If this be our Condition that we are daily subject to divers temptations which of our selves we can neither prevent nor overcome we must then keep close to our gracious Saviour and Redeemer who onlie can keep us from them or preserve us in them h 1 Cor. 30. 13.
inheritance hereafter Fourthly when death comes near to us we have most need of the best comforts both for soul and body that we may the more strongly encounter with this terrible enemy in the dissolution of our souls from our bodies but Christ at this time had soure vinegar given him which could no way comfort him but rather aggravate his pains and sorrowes when he was every way in great extremity This doth fitly resemble the case of many of Gods dear servants for they are often troubled and perplexed with many fears doubtings temptations and evil sugestions of the devil when they are to enter into a single combate with death it self for then he will lay their sins before them with all the aggravations that may be and he will labour to hide the mercies of God in Christ from them that they might have no hope or comfort to support them in this great conflict which doth put them into trouble of minde grief of heart and anguish of spirit and it is more uncomfortable and unpleasing to their spirituall taste than any vinegar can be to the palate Then is the time when the Divell is most maliciously bent against them then doth he bestirre himself to trouble the Peace of their consciences to disquiet the tranquillity of their mindes and to keep them from the assurance of the love and favour of God to them in Christ that they should not comfortably resign up their souls unto God he will affright them with the fear of death with the greatnesse of their sins with the hypocrisie of their hearts with their infidelity and unbelief he will labour to keep the gracious promises of God from them or else to perswade them that they belong not unto them that so they should have no comfortable assurance of the pardon of their sins Also he will terrifie them with the fear of Gods justice and with the terrour of the dreadfull day of judgement if it were possible to drive them into despair But here is comfort for a poor sinner that it is thus assaulted by the Divel when he is near his departure out of this life or at any other time that Christ hath sanctified all these sorrowes and conflicts to him and he will confirm his faith and stablish his hope upon his true humiliation for his sins and then those fears and doubtings will vanish away for he knoweth that we are not able to resist such temptations and the weaknesse of our spirits and of body is such that we cannot withstand such strong assaults and therefore Christ will give most strength to our inward man when the outward man is most weak and he will most weaken the power of the Divell when his malice is strongest to do us hurt And though we may be dangerously foyled in these spirituall combates yet Christ will uphold our faith he will give us spirituall consolation and will speak peace to our souls and consciences when through weaknesse of body we cannot expresse the joy and comfort of it Fifthly before we can willingly leave this world we must be well perswaded that we shall injoy a better habitation in the world to come which holy perswasion that we may have we must seriously consider how we have done the works which God hath appointed us how we have improved the talent that he hath lent us how we have glorified God in our calling and what good we have done to our neighbour according to the means and ability that God hath given us for we must give an account of all these things before the Tribunall Seat of God and we shall be judged according to our works Wherefore if we can truly say that we have done Gods works to the best of our power with an upright heart and that we have well improved our time and our talent to the glory of God then we may say with Christ It is finished and with Paul t 2 Tim. 7. 8 I have finished my course and have kept the faith henceforth is laid up for me a Crown of Righteousnesse which the Lord the righteous Judge shall give me at that day and not to me onely but unto all them also that love his appearing And though our work hath been very imperfectly done by us yet Christ our Saviour will make it perfect by that which he hath done for us in our nature and God will accept it for his sake then we shall cheerfully resign up our souls to God at the hour of our dissolution Sixthly Christ doth here teach us to commend our souls into the hands of God we received them immediatly from God and therefore we ought to resign them up again unto him he breathed into us the breath of life which is our chiefest and most precious Jewell and therefore we ought to keep it holy and undefiled for him that when he is pleased to call for it we may be sure to deliver it up to himself for the Divell will be ready watching for it as soon as it is separated from the body and none can keep it from him but onely God Wherefore we must keep our souls so pure and clean that God may accept them and take them into his charge for if we present unto him a filthy soul polluted with the guilt of sin we have no ground to believe that God will take care of it and keep it unto the general resurrection Wherefore we should study and labour to keep our souls clean from sin by washing them dayly in the blood of Christ by faith if they be stained with the sins of the day we should thus cleanse them at night before we sleep and if they are defiled with the pollutions of the night â— we must not forget to wash them with the teares sighes and groanes that flow from a sorrowfull and contrite heart in the morning before we set about our necessary occasions in our calling that we may comfortably believe that God will blesse and prosper our handy work If this be our dayly and constant practise the blessing of God will go along with us in all our actions sin cannot then cleave to our souls to make death fearfull to us death cannot then come suddenly upon us neither will the remembrance of it be terrible but we shall cheerfully commend our souls to God because we may confidently believe that he will keep them in his heavenly mansions untill they shall be again united to our bodies with an unseparable union and made glorious bodies fit to live and reign with Christ for ever But naturall men know not the worth of their souls nor the great price wherewith they are redeemed if they belong unto Christ they suppose that the soul cometh from a Principle of nature as the body doth whereas it is an immortall spirit which proceedeth not from any mortall principle but is breathed into us by the holy Ghost as soon as the body is framed in the wombe and made capable to receive this breath of
which was determined by all the three Persons in the holy Trinity before the world was he laid aside his Glory and humbled himself for that great Work which was decreed in the secret Counsel of God and to be wrought at his appointed time The first degree of Christs Humiliation was that he gave away the manifestation of glory of his Deity which he had with the Father in heaven which was his due from his first incarnation the bright beams whereof were clouded with his humanity for he took upon himself our flesh and was cloathed with our weak and frail nature and was subject to such humane passions and infirmities as might be without sin This was a great degree of Humiliation for the eternall King of glory to leave his glorious mansions in heaven and to come down and be with us men here upon earth and to take up his habitation in an earthly tabernacle which was subject to hunger thirst and heat and cold to pain torment and death it self The second Degree of his Humiliation was that he took upon himself the guilt of our sins and did undertake to fulfill the whole righteousnesse of the Law for us and to satisfie the justice of God for all the sins of his Elect not that his humane nature was polluted or stained with any sin For the holy Ghost did so sanctifie the Virgins wombe that he was conceived and born without Originall sin and he lived without any actuall transgression but our sins were imputed to him and therefore as the Apostle saith a Gal. 3. 13 He was made a curse for us Also b Tit. 2. 14. Christ gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purifie unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works He gave his body and all the parts of it to the persecutors tormentors he gave his blood to be spilt and his life for the redemption of man he gave his soul to suffer anguish and sorrow c â—sa 53. 10. and to be aâ— of fering for sin also in some sort he gave his Deity by suffering most horrible blasphemies that were cast upon him d Acts 20. 28. and God purchased to himself a Church with his own blood This was a very low abasement of Christ when he left all his glory in heaven and came down to live here upon earth not in the nature of Angels but he cloathed himself with our flesh which was all stained and defiled with the guilt of our sins e Isa 53. 6. for God laid on him the iniquity of us all The third degreee of Christs Humiliation was that he was content with a mean condition of life here upon earth his birth and education was very mean he was exposed to wants and necessities to perils and dangers even from his infancy and after he began his Ministry he had no abiding place f Mat. 8. 20. he had not where to lay his head and he did the office of a servant to his own Disciple g John 13. 5 when he washed their feet for as the Apostle saith h Phâ—l 2. 7. He made himself of nâ— reputation and took upon him the form of a servant Christ continually travelled from place to place to teach the people to heal the sick to cleanse the lepers and to cast out Devils he was often wearied often hungry and often thirsty Thus was his whole life full of sorrowes and full of afflictions and thus low did the eternall Son of God humble and abase himself to advance us and to perfect the work of our redemption Lastly in his passion he was made a scorn to the most abject of all the people and a derision both to Jew and Gentile he suffered both in his soul and in his body as much anguish pain and torment as the power of the divell and the malice of wicked men was able to inflict upon him And as if all this was not sufficient to humble him enough God himself did fiercely assault him for he kept all comfort from him when he was in his greatest extremity and his wrath went along with all his other sufferings When Christ had suffered to the full so much as the justice of God required in satisfaction for all our sins and that the work of our Redemption was perfectly finished then he commended his soul unto God and dyed upon the Crosse according to this of the Apostle i Phil. 2 8. He humbled himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the crosse this kinde of death was most painfull shamefull and accursed Here is a short view of the humiliation of Christ for our weak understandings cannot reach to the depth of that which Christ suffered for us much lesse can we reach to the honour and dignity of his Person in his Divine nature which doth make his sufferings and his Humiliation far the greater If we do seriously meditate upon it with pious affections it will teach us to adore his sacred Majesty with reverence and godly fear to love him with a perfect love to serve and obey him with a pure and upright heart and to suffer any thing for his sake with a cheerfull minde Also if we have gained any grace by the death and passion of Christ it will teach us meeknesse of spirit and humility of minde though we have places of preheminence and authority above other men If God shall bring us down from an high degree to a mean condition of life we shall bear it contentedly because God is the sole disposer of all things and he can raise us to an higher degree if he pleaseth If what we have be too little for us and that we can improve more to the best advantage of Gods glory he will then in his good time bestow more upon us If our life be full of troubles and sorrowes the Humiliation of Christ will teach us k 1 Pet. 5. 6 7 to humble our selves under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt us in due time We may safely cast our care upon him for he careth for us l Psal 18. 35 His right hand will hold us up m Psal 17. 5 He will hold up our goings in his paths that our footsteps slip not n Cant. 2. 6. Christ also will put his left hand under our heads and with his right hand he will imbrace us Wherefore if we have this gracious humility of spirit it will produce these and many more blessed fruits to give us comfort in a troublesome and painfull life And when death comes it will be favourable to a meek and humble spirit and well-come to a good conscience if we be thus qualified it will bring us to our graves in peace and then we shall have a joyfull and a blessed resurrection Christ did willingly humble himself to the death for us why should we be unwilling to resign up our life unto him do we know no other happinesse or
true believer hath by Christ in this life above all other men that have no interest in him by faith and examine thy self hereby what thou hast gained by him If thou hast used the blessings of God and his good creatures soberly and temperately to his glory and not to pamper or cherish any sin to dishonour him thereby and doest return thanks unto God for them with a sincere heart because he is the sole giver of all things that thou injoyest then Christ hath taken away the curse that was upon them and hath made them blessings to thee which thou maist freely use to thy comfort otherwise thou canst finde little comfort in them Also if thou dost truly believe that thy sins were imputed unto Christ and hast an holy assurance hereof by the dayly renuing of thy repentance for thy dayly sins then thou maist be fully perswaded that the guilt of sin which was a burden to thy conscience and did cleave close to thy soul is taken away and that Christ hath nailed it to his crosse whereby thou art freed from the curse of the Law and from the condemnation of sin This consideration will much comfort thee when thou art under the crosse for the evill of punishment that was in thine afflictions is taken away it being part of the curse and thou art but chastised for thy good and not punished for thy hurt Examine thy self yet further what thou hast gained by Christ for if thou canst over-power thy corruptions by the strength of grace and canst leave thy sins before they leave thee and that the remembrance of them is bitter to thy soul and doest dayly strive with a true purpose of heart to newnesse of life then thou hast an evident sign that Christ hath taken away the dominion of sin in thee z Ezek. 36. 25. and hath poured clean water upon thy soul to purifie cleanse thee from all thy filthines Also if thou dost find the fruits of the Spirit of sanctification that thou hast an holy desire to the means of grace and a faithful endeavour to grow stronger in grace that thy heart may be stablished in the truth and thy Faith firm to uphold thee in thy sufferings and tryalls then thou hast gotten great gain and much Advantage by Christ But if thou art perswaded of thine Adoption by Faith in him thou canst not conceive how great thy gain will be for whatsoever a childe can desire of a loving Father thou mayest expect much more from God nothing shall be too dear for thee nothing shall be hurtfull to thee and nothing shall be concealed from thee that may be profitable and advantageous to the salvation of thy soul Let us consider now that our hearts may ruminate well upon it for our great comfort what honour we have by being made the sons of God a 1 Sam. 18. 23. When Sauls servants came to perswade David to be the Kings son in law he gave them this answer Seemeth it to you a light thing to be a Kings son in law seeing that I am a poor man and lightly esteemed How great then is the honour and how highly to be esteemed for a poor wretched captive to be made the Son of the eternall and everliving God to have such a Father to come to in all our necessities such a Refuge in all our distresses such a Protectour against all our enemies and to be heir to such an Inheritance as is incorruptible and eternal which Christ hath reserved for us in heaven Wherefore we should be holy and undefiled in our conversations as becometh the sons of such a Father we should not walk stubbornly before him but in filial fear and reverence obeying his holy will and commands with filial love and submitting to his rod and corrections as a childe ought to submit to his Father If our services are thus performed to God he will then be a tender and a gracious Father to us If we have this Gain by Christ in this life what is the gain of the whole world to it What is all earthly honour to the honour of a true Christian and yet most men covet and desire that gain and that honour and they neglect the true Gain and the true honour of a Christian which is chiefly to be desired b Mat. 16. 26 What is a man profited saith Christ if be shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul If we injoy Christ we have a rich Patrimony we can want no comfort whatsoever shall betide us in soul or in body in goods or good name he will repair all our losses in Adam with his abundant righteousnesse he will also repair all our losses in children servants or estate either in this life c Job 42 10 as he did unto Job or else in the life to come in a more plentifull manner Christ will likewise furnish us with all spiritual abilities to encounter with the enemies of our salvation to stand firmly for the truth and for a good conscience and to endure the tryall of our faith love hope and patience and he will make perfect whatsoever is wanting or imperfect in us d 2 Cor. 12. 9 for his grace is sufficient for us and his strength is made perfect in weaknesse his love and his care of us doth most shine forth when we do most a base and humble our selves and when we do acknowledge our unworthinesse of it In the last place we should Meditate with all thankfulnesse upon the great benefit that we have by the Covenant of grace which Christ hath sealed for us with his blood for we may faithfully believe and comfortably expect that God will perform his condition expressed therein to us though we cannot perfectly perform our conditions to him also that he will purifie and cleanse us from all our filthinesse e Jer. 32. 40. and will put his fear in our hearts that we shall not depart from him Wherefore let not the failings and frailties of the flesh discomfort us nor weaken our faith and confidence in the goodnesse of God to us in Christ for the flesh will rebell against the spirit and the corruptions of the unregenerate part will sometimes breake out upon us to dash and hinder our comfort in this gracious Covenant Therefore Christ hath ordained the two Sacraments to seal this Covenant to our souls for the better confirmation of our Faith f Gal. 3. 26 27. For if we are baptized into Christ by Faith we have put on Christ we are members of his Church and this Covenant is sealed to us g 1 John 1. 7 and the blood of Christ hath cleansed us from all sin If age or sicknesse or any thing else beside sanctifying grace doth keep us from sinning against God this is not the true purging away of sin nor the regeneration and renewing of the holy Ghost because the evill concupisence of the flesh and the sinful desires of the minde will remain strong and
blessed Saviour to us that he hath not onely given us the shield of faith for our defence against these spiritual enemies y Eph. 6. but hath also furnished us with the whole armour of God which we must put on and buckle close to us with the girdle of verity apprehended by faith that we may be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might and be able to stand against the wiles of the devill For we wrestle not against flesh and bloud but against principalities and powers against the rulers of the darknesse of this world and against spiritual wickedness in high places Also Christ hath given us the wisdom of his Spirit so to use every piece of this spiritual armour that neither by force nor by fraud the devill shall be able to hurt us or to hinder the salvation of our soules For Christ knew how violently we should be assaulted and the weaknesse of our own strength to resist and how cunningly our enemies would plot to undermine us and therefore we should need this spiritual armour to defend our selves and to offend our adversaries and likewise his Spirit of wisdome and his almighty power to use that armour as we ought Fifthly Faith doth much support and comfort us in all the sorrows and troubles of this life for so long as we live in the flesh we are subject to many tribulations and extremities which we cannot patiently bear without the help of faith Princes have their cares the great men of the world are not free from troubles there is no condition of life that can challenge a priviledge from worldly incumbrances and miseries against all which faith doth comfort the servants of God in his promises to uphold them from sinking under their afflictions by that vertue and power which they draw thereby from the sufferings of Christ Wherefore if we doe confide in the promises of God and rest upom them by faith as made unto us so that we can wait without murmuring Gods own time for the performance of them they will then sweeten our sorrows ease us in our troubles comfort us in the afflictions of our soules and give us an assured hope of deliverance out of our distresses The good Kings of Juda and the valient men of Israel obtained many great victories beyond humane expectation because they believed and rested upon the word of promise which they had from the Lord. z Josh 11. 6 8. When Joshua saw divers Kings come against him he was afraid but God did strengthen him with the promise of victory which he rested upon and God made his word good unto him a Judg. 4. 7. Baruch had the like promise against Sisera which the Lord did faithfully perform b 1 King 20 Ahab had two great victories over the Syrians though he were a wicked King because he rested upon the promise of God c 1 Chron. 14. 10. David overcame the Philistims because he believed the word of God d 1 Sam. 30. 8. Also he recovered all the spoil that the Amalekites had taken out of Ziglag because he trusted to the word of promise which he had from God David did find by manifold experience how faithful God was in the performance of his promises which made him so much delight in the Word of God and so often to meditate on his promises which did exceedingly strengthen him in all his afflictions and troubles e Psa 34. 19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous but the Lord delivereth him out of them all f Psa 50. 15 Call upon me in the day of trouble I will deliver thee and thou shalt glorifie me g Psa 42. 11 Why art thou cast down O my soul and why art thou disquieted within me hope thou in God for I shall yet praise him who is the health of my countenance and my God Thus may a poor soul cheer up his drouping spirits when his mind is perplexed or when troubles and sorrows compasse him about on every side if he hath a word of promise from God to rest upon When God doth visit us with afflictions he hath then some work to doe in us for his own glory and for our good and we must then make use of our faith which will help us much to joyn with him in his own work because he intendeth our good thereby and then he will the sooner remove his rod of correction from us We may understand what Gods purpose is when his rod is upon us if we mark and observe in what manner he doth visit us and also if we doe truly examine our steps how we walk before God from day to day for then we shall discover what good we have omitted and what evill we have committed and we shall find some sweet motions of his Sprit to direct us what we ought to doe for the more speedy effecting of his work in us If our conscience doth tell us of some particular sinnes that have provoked God against us then he will punish us according to the nature of those sins If we are too much addicted to the world he will visit us with crosses losses and troubles in our estate if we are in danger of spiritual pride he will pull us down with a thorn in the flesh or send a Messenger of Satan to buffet us h 2 Cor. 1â— 7. as he did Paul If we are too fond and indulgent to our children he will either take them away or visit us with sorrowes and grief of heart in them as it was with David If we have any darling sin as Sampson had his Dalilah God will make that very sin to be bitternesse to us in the end if by faith in Christ we have not a sweeter taste of the love and goodnesse of God to us If God seeth us secure or presuming upon our own strength he will withdraw his assisting grace and suffer us to fall into many temptations and into grosse sins as he did Peter to make us more watchful over our wayes and to depend more upon him Thus we may find what God intendeth when we are under his visitation for then God calls for true humiliation and repentance for that very sin which he hath discovered to us and a true turning from it unto God with a faithful indeavour to better obedience and then he will forgive our sin and heal our disease by faith in the bloud of Christ But if our conscience doth clear us and yet Gods visitation is upon us it is then to exercise us under the crosse to be made conformable unto Christ our head in his sufferings or to try our faith our patience our hope and affiance in God and what constancy we have to continue faithful to the end though God should delay to remove the crosse from us all which do tend to the glory of God and to our own good i John 9. 3 The man in the Gospel was blind from his birth and yet neither he