doth incourage me to hope that the Printing and Reading of them will be so too You have them and the rest Printed as they were studied and penn'd but I cannot say as they were preached The Matter is the same I but they may want something of their heat and life unless a diligent reading of them be attended with the Spirit of Life As the Subjects are various so various motives and impressions upon my Spirit put me upon preaching of them at Stow. And in all I hope I was under a Divine Conduct For 1. When I perceived my Ministerial Labours and Employment were necessarily augmented and did exceed my first engagement and expectation my Flesh and my Heart began to fail So that I was ready to say with the Apostle Who is sufficient for these things and therefore could not fix upon a Text in all the Book of God more suitable then Psal 73.26 both to my self and also to others who at that time had their failings of Flesh and Heart also 2. When I had experienced the power and presence of God with me so that the Hearts of many both in the Town and Countrey seemed to be knit to me upon a Spiritual account I was then throughly convinced that it was the Wheel within the Wheel that brought me hither and therefore made choice of Ezekiels Vision of the Wheels or the Mystery of Divine Providence as a fit Subject to treat of in this place And afterwards contracted the chief of the matter contained in many Sermons into a narrower compass and preached it in a more eminent place I am not altogether insensible that this precious Liquor broached and drawn forth in studying and preaching hath passed through an impure Pipe This Heavenly Treasure hath been put into an Earthen Vessel and therefore may have received some hurt and detriment yea have a taste thereof But I hope that the sense of your own imperfections and failures in spiritual undertakings for we are all as an unclean thing and our Righteousness as filthy rags will be an effectual enducement to you to plead with God on my behalf that what is mine therein may be pardoned and on your own behalf that what is his he will so own as to make it powerful upon your Spirits whilst you are reading and meditating thereon in order to your present and eternal advantage I bless the Lord for any fruits of my Labours in preaching among you and if the Lord shall please to lengthen out my Life to see an increase thereof by Printing I shall say with David I will praise him yet more and more Yea then I shall have gained my end in this New Work and say with the Apostle in reference to both What is my crown and glory are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus However Gods glory your spiritual advantage and publick service to the Church being the marks I aim at in this Undertaking If I spend my strength for nought and in vain at present yet surely my Judgement is with the Lord and my Work with my God and when I am rotting in my grave the Seed which hath been sowing in Stow many years may spring up and bring forth a plentiful and glorious harvest The Lord grant that none of you do make it evident at the last that you are either of the number of high-way hearers thorny-ground or stony-ground hearers But that you all may be good-ground fit and prepared to receive the Seed that God hath yet to sow among you by the hands of his seeds-men so that though they sow in tears yet at last they may reap in joy As for my self I shall not cease to pray yea to beg the prayers of others that the Gospel may still run and be glorified among you that this Son of Light Glory and Grace may never set upon you in a cloud and that your glorious day of Gods visitation in mercy may not wind up in a dark and dreadful night of darkness and desolation I can do no less at present then put you in mind of and publish the kindness of God to you and to my self in you for that distinguishing mercy of God that is written upon Sâ—ow in a very fair and legible Character even to the admiration of many that live near us yea to strangers also whose occasions have invited and drawn them hither insomuch that some very judicious persons have expressed their Hearts to me in these and such like words That there is scarce a Town to be found in many miles distance so eminently blessed and that in many respects What they have said upon Report I shall now publish upon my own observation and experience and that in some particulars 1. That there is so much Brotherly love and union of Heart among you in order to Spiritual and Evangelical ends although some difference in Judgement as to some Circumstances 2. That in the space of almost eleven years there hath not been one that professed Godliness in the Town that hath separated from the publick preaching of the Word 3. That when the Arrows of the Pestilence flew thick round about us God preserved us 4. That under your Peace and Liberty you have wonderfully thriven and prospered in your worldly Estate so that there is a new face upon the Town 5. That God hath given you a more then ordinary Spirit of Zeal for his Glory and of Charity towards the Souls of young ones in the Town Witness the Agreement and Subscription of many of you for the Education of poor Children and a strict observation of the Lords Day 6. I must not forget your Kindness to my self And that 1. In your Unanimity of Spirit to receive entertain and encourage me at my first coming among you 2. In your frequent Visits and Night-watchings with me in my Sicknesses and sore Afflictions 3. But especially in your daily remembrance of me at the Throne of Grace and constant attendance upon the Word preached in publick I have often said it that my Life hath been given in to the Prayers of my people And let the Reader know that I account it no small favour and smile from Heaven that I live among a praying people Though all of them be not yet many are Now Gentlemen and Neighbours for all these Favours I return you my hearty thanks and as a Testimonial thereof I must tell the World that I bless the Lord for his providence in my Removal hither and in continuing me thus long among you and do not repent me of the hard Labour Afflictions Trials and Temptations which I have endured here The Lord grant that our mutual Love may not only continue but increase and that our winding up may be better then our beginning For then shall we triumph in glory and sing Halelujahs together for ever and ever For this end he shall not cease to pray for you who is Your Servant in the work of the Gospel Samuel Blackerby Stow-Market Decemb 2. 1673.
all goes yet the heart is born up in the enjoyment of God as Habakkuk was Hab. 3.17 And also when all is enjoyed Deut. 3.8 10 11. God may have the glory and praise of all Deut. 6.9 10 11. O Beloved maintain a constant sense of Divine fulness upon your spirits 't is not enough for a Christian to make God his All and to know him to be so but to present God thus always to his mind and spirit What is it for a man to be worth a vast estate if he be unmindful of it though he be never so rich yet he looks upon himself as poor and so lives a dejected and a disconsolate life Thus it is with a Christian though he makes God his portion yet if he be unmindful of God his comfort will fade and fall And so on the other side when he is full of the creature his heart will be too much elevated and puffed up if he forgetteth him who filleth all in all forgetfulness of God either raiseth a man too high or else casts him down too low he that forgets God will either be proud or else despondent 2. Is God your portion then be content with such things as you have Heb. 13.5 What though thou hast not enough in the world yet thou hast enough in God and though thou hast not a self-sufficiency yet thou hast an All-sufficiency God is thine All. Let not this trouble thee that the world can't be a God unto thee or that thou hast not all that the world can afford thee in kind for thou hast more in God Remember this that the life of man consists not in the abundance of riches Luk. 12.15 Thou canst neither live upon them nor prolong thy life by them thou canst neither comfort thy self with them if God withdraws nor increase them without his word of blessing but contentation with a little is great riches if God presents himself to thee in it as thine All. O therefore murmure not repine not fret not thy self because the stream is low when as thou hast the fountain that can never be drawn dry 3. Be not solicitously or distrustfully careful for what you want the presence of God will fully supply the absence of any creature thou hast enough to live upon when all created comforts fail thee Hence is that of the Apostle Phil. 4.6 God will not suffer thee to want any good that is needful for thee Psa 34.9 10. What thou canst not enjoy in the creature thou shalt enjoy in God himself A Christians motto may be this Nil habeo nil careo nil curo I have nothing self-denyal hath outed me of all all is to him as nothing I want nothing for he hath all in God I take care for nothing for he looks upon God for his provision A carking solicitous man takes Gods office out of his hand for God hath made it his work to take the care of his people and hath made it their duty to be careful for nothing 1 Pet. 5.7 There is a double care 1. Cura officii 2. Cura eventus First There is a care of duty and so every man is bound to labour in that calling wherein God hath set him carefully and industriously 'T is not only lawful but our duty to make provisions for back and belly for our selves and others So Rom. 12.17 1 Tim. 5.8 Secondly There is a care of event and so we ought to be without care we are to look at God for the event and issue of all and for a blessing upon all conscience of duty and faith in God are to be inseperably conjoyned we must use the means and yet look beyond it Neglect of means is disobedience and distracting care about the issue is infidelity two rocks on which the soul is apt to split if not rightly steered by a Divine hand 4. Is God your portion then above all be thankful for the enjoyment of God every gift that cometh down from God requires thanks but much more when God gives thee himself in every thing give thanks saith the Apostle 1 Thess 5.18 For this is the will of God but how much should our hearts be enlarged with thanks and praise for the incomes of God himself as the enjoyment of good is the object of thanks so our thanks should be proportioned to the good enjoyed the highest good should have the highest praise So David Psal 118.28 Thou art my God I will praise thee thou art my God I will exalt thee SERMON II. PSAL. LXXIII XXVI My flesh and my heart faileth but God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever WE have raised two Doctrines out of these words 1. That God is the Rock or Strength of an Israelites heart and his portion for ever 2. That Divine relief flows from God to his people according to their necessity We have dispatcht the first of these and shall now proceed to the Second That Divine relief flows from God to his people according to their necessity When flesh and heart faileth then God is the strength of their heart and portion When the old stock is almost spent God renews it again When the fire is almost out he throws on new fewel When the old house is falling upon our heads he underprops it When the Cistern fails the Conduit shall run In plain English when a Christian stands in greatest need of relief and help God will communicate the most of himself to him God oftentimes leads his people as he did Abraham to the top of the mount of trials temptations and afflictions and then appears to them in grace and goodness that they may set up their stone and write Jehova Iireh upon it the Lord will be seen Now for the more methodical handling this Doctrine I shall do these three things 1. Consider the particular cases wherein a Christian stands in need of relief 2. Shew you how relief flows from God to Christians in those cases 3. Give you the grounds and reasons thereof First For the cases wherein a Christian stands in need of relief and these are reducible to two heads according to the Prophet here in our Text. 1. Failing of the flesh 2. Failing of the heart First Failing of the flesh and this is twofold 1. When the comforts of a mans life fail him 2. When the strength of the outward man fails Secondly There is a failing of the heart and that is threefold 1. When the faculties of the soul fail and cannot perform their due offices either by way of apprehension election or retention 2. When the acquired or infused habits of the heart are weakned or indisposed to act 3. When the animal spirits are expiring and even breathing forth This as I hinted at the first in opening the Text was the Prophets case who pen'd this Psalm He was brought very love even to the very pit ready to die soul and body failed all without and all within failed and then God was the strength of
his hellish temptations God will bring him out with an holy triumph Hence is that of Psal 5.11 12. But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice let them ever shout for joy because thou defendest them let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee For thou Lord wilt bless the righteous with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield The Hebrew word signifies thou wilt crown him with a shield Some think that the Prophet alludes to a custome of the Athenians who were wont if a Soldier brought his Shield with him out of the battel safe and whole although he lost his Sword to lay his Shield upon his head and with that as with a Diadem to crown him He that holds fast the shield of Faith in an hour of temptation shall wear it on his head as his crown The trial of a Christians faith which is much more precious then of gold that perisheth though it be tried with fire shall be found unto praise honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ 1 Pet. 1.7 And hence is that of the Apostle I have fought the good fight I have kept the faith and from henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness 2 Tim. 4.7 8. Thus I have opened the Doctrine and shewed you what relief flows from God to his people both when their flesh fails and when their heart fails 1. When the natural faculties of the Soul fail 2. When the infused habits of the Soul fail and 3. When the animal Spirits fail Now I will give you the grounds and Reasons thereof Reas 1. Taken from that near relation that is between God and good men He is their Father and they his Children he is their Husband and they his Wife Now this double relation speaks forth that infinite love that God bears to them and special care that God hath of them God bears a love to his people not only like to the love of a Father but infinitely beyond the love of a Father the love of a Father to his Child is but a dark resemblance of the love of God to his Children and therefore as God out-loves all Parents so he out-does all Parents His love is the love of an infinite Father and therefore knows no bounds either of time or measure and his relief is proportionable to his love Relief wrought by an Almighty arm See this clearly held forth Jer. 31.9 I will cause them to walk by the rivers of water in straaight way wherein they shall not stumble And why for I am a father unto Israel and Ephraim is my first-born Divine Paternity is one main ground of a Saints relief This is the reason why he will cause them to walk by the rivers of water in a straight way wherein they shall not stumble because he is their Father You know what dear and tender affection a good Father beareth to his Children especially to his first-born All the Childs wants weakness and grief are a trouble and grief to the Father Much more is God affected with the faintings and failings of his Children So Es 63.8 9. He said surely they are my people so he was their Saviour In all their afflictions he was afflicted and the Angel of his presence saved them in his love and in his pity he redeemed them and he bare them and carried them all the dayes of old The Prophet alludes to the Song of Moses Deut. 32.11 As an Eagle stirreth up her nest fluttereth over her young spreadeth abroad her wings taketh them beareth them on her wings so the Lord alone did lead him How doth this silly creature bestir her self when her young ones are in danger She stirs up her nest she fluttereth over her young and spreadeth abroad her wings And if all this will not secure them she takes them up and bears them upon her wings But how much more will God who is the fountain of such a disposition in his creature bestir himself and put forth his Almighty arm for the relief of his dear ones He will bear them upon the wing of his providence and carry them out of all danger Satan shall not make a prey of them If any thing will draw forth the bowels of a creature the same will draw forth the bowels of God yea much more Luke 11.13 If ye being evil know how to give good gifts unto your children how much more shall your heavenly father give the Spirit Alas the love of the Creature is but a drop in comparison of the love of God and therefore there must needs be more life and vigour in the love of God then in the love of all creatures As there is more heat in the body of the Sun then in all its raies were they all contracted into one ray so it is here And therefore if an earthly creature be so apt to tender the good and welfare of those that belong to it what propensity is there in the heart of God to relieve his people when they are in any straights Many an Orphan sits down and weeps over himself in his calamity and thus bemoans his condition If my Father were alive he would not see me want he would pity and relieve me in my sad condition Why Beloved there is never a child of God that needs put finger in the eye in this respect for your Father is alive he lives for ever he is an everlasting Father and as our Text saith A portion for ever And as he is a tender Father so he is a kind Husband So Es 54.5 For thy maker is thine Husband Though he will not relieve and help men because he is their maker yet he will relieve and help all those to whom he is an Husband As long as marriage Covenant holds God will take the care of his Spouse in sickness as well as in health in poverty as in riches in weakness as in strength Nay as a good Husband is most tender over his Wife in the time of her weakness and sickness even so is God to his Spouse she shall want nothing that an Almighty hand can provide for her Reas 2. Taken from Gods design in all his peoples straights and necessities God lets them fall into straights that he may have the glory of their relief Whatever hand brings them in it is a divine hand that must bring them out We may say of all a Christians troubles and failings both of Flesh and Spirit as our Saviour said of Lazarus his death John 11.4 This sickness is not unto death but for the glory of God that the Son of God might be glorified thereby Lazarus must die yea and be buried also that Christ might have the glory of his resurrection and that after he had been dead four daies His sickness was unto death but not to death eternal for he had a speedy resurrection that made his death but a trance or a long sleep Happy Lazarus as one saith though sick and
dead to be an instrument of glory to be given to God Thus it is with Saints in their spiritual sicknesses they are not unto death but for the glory of God that Christ may be glorified in their relief Otherwise God is able to prevent them but might nature alwaies have its course there would be no room for wonders Nature must sometimes have a stop that the glory of God may appear Saints comforts and strengths must lie a bleeding and die that the glory of God may appear in their resurrection And wherein doth the glory of God appear more then in such a work as this This is a glorious work a work that outshines all common and ordinary works of God For God to breath upon dead and dry bones that they shall live again For God to bring a Jonas out of the Whales belly where he was buried alive three dayes For God to set Job upon his leggs again and to put him into stock both within doors and without when he had stript him of all and to make his last daies better then his first this was a glorious work a work wherein God is much glorified As the beams of the Sun reflected and sent back renders the Sun very glorious So 't is here Reas 3. Taken from the beautifulness of Relief in time of necessity Every thing is beautiful in its season Eccl. 3.11 And relief is very beautiful in time of necessity because it is seasonable True necessity puts a decorum upon every act that is requisite to be put forth therein It would be very absurd to do that at one time which may and ought to be done at another Should those things be done for a person in health that are done in the time of his sickness they would be very ridiculous but done in season and with due order they are very comely God therefore times his works well and that puts a beauty upon them Mans necessity is therefore Gods opportunity to express the riches of his mercy He calls not the righteous but sinners to repentance Physick is not for those that are in health but for the sick So Divine Relief is for those whose flesh fails and whose heart fails Divine strength is for them that have no might And this beautifies Divine dispensations For as God loves to beautifie the the house of his glory so he loves to beautifie the works of his glory These are the Reasons of the Doctrine Now before I come to the Application I must speak something to the doubts and scruples of weak Christians Case Perhaps some will be apt to say If it be true that Divine Relief flows from God to his people according to necessity then I am afraid that I do not belong to God because I have no experience hereof My flesh hath falled and my heart fails I but I do not find relief coming in Resolution Now to such I have three words by way of Answer 1. I beseech you take heed of charging God foolishly for for ought thou understandest yet this may prove a vain and foolish denying that grace of God which thou hast not received in vain Thou mayest have received relief from God in many of these cases and yet be insensible thereof It may be with thee as it was with Jacob God hath been with thee supported and relieved thee and yet thou not know it God conveys Divine Relief insensibly sometimes as well as seasonably When a man is in a swoon many things may be given him to fetch him again and to recover his Spirits and yet the man insensible thereof it may be so with thee Thou hast been in a spiritual swoon and God hath administred many heart-reviving Cordials that hath brought thee to some life again and yet thou maist be insensible thereof It is good therefore to take a more strict survey of thy spiritual state and perhaps upon examination thou wilt find some prints of Divine Relief upon thy Soul For as wicked men do not find their state so bad as it is because they overlook it so sometimes good men do not find their spiritual state so good as it is because they overlook it The piece of Silver that the woman thought she had lost was in the house although she knew not where it was until she did light a candle sweep the house and seek diligently for it as you may see Luke 15.8 God may have sent thee a token of his love and thou mayst have it in thy heart and yet not know it Thou hadst best set up a candle even the word of God in thine heart and by that light search thy heart and that diligently and then thou mayst find it 'T is true some particular acts of relieving grace are so full and strong upon the heart of a Christian that he cannot be insensible thereof but there are others that are conveyed to the Soul in a more secret and insensible way God writes a Letter of consolation to the Soul sometimes in so small a character that she hath much ado to read it it is hard for her to spell out the mind of God therein God deals with Christians as some wise Physitians do with some of their Patients they give them Physick and they never know of it something must be put into their Beer or something into their broth Even so God gives much relief to Christians in their spiritual weakness that the Soul knows not of Little did Jacobs brethren know that they had their money in their Sacks when they came homewards out of the land of Egypt No when they came to bait and opened their Sacks they found it Even thus it may be with many a child of God thy money thy relief may be in thy heart and yet thou ignorant of it Perhaps when thou comest to refresh and lookest within to see what thou hast thou mayst find that which thou dreamedst not of There are three things that sometimes hide relief from the eye of the Soul and are an occasion of the Souls mistake 1. God works gradually herein The cure is not perfected the first day that God takes thee in hand and some diseases are long before they will be cured Now here may be a great mistake If thou thinkest that God hath made no application to thee because thou art not perfectly cured of thy distemper thou dost wrong God exceedingly Thou mayst be in a tendency to a cure God may have done much for thee and yet thy sore may run and thy wound be very wide still Look again therefore and see if there be never a Plaister upon the sore thou mayst be in a way of cure though not cured Strength may be given in although thou art not strengthened with all might Here may be rather matter of thankfulness then of complaint and thou shouldst rather give God the glory of what he hath done for thee be it never so little then sit down dejected because all is not yet done that is requisite to a
perfect cure Bless God for a little and that will be the way to obtain more Thou mayst get that with a thankful spirit which thou shalt never get with a froward 2. God works variously he relieves all his people but not all alike he cures all but not alwaies with one and the same receipt nor after one and the same manner and method He varies his dispensations much and therefore here may be a mistake that because God doth not make the very same applications to thee which he doth to another therefore thou concludest that God hath done nothing for thy cure and relief 'T is here as in the case of conversion Some Christians are apt to think they are not savingly converted because God did not work upon their hearts in the same way and manner that others are wrought upon They were not brought under those legal terrours nor held under a spirit of bondage in that measure and degree that others have been But this is to tie up God to one way of working grace when as he varies in his working Even such a mistake may be in this case Perhaps thou thinkest that God hath afforded thee no relief because it came not in the same way to thee as it hath done to others 'T is good to eye and observe the experiences of other Christians but not to limit God by them As the thoughts of God will be ever above our thoughts so the waies of his providence will be ever past finding out No man can trace God in some of his wayes they are so mysterious God doth not alwaies leave the print of his foot-steps where he goeth The way of an Eagle in the Air the way of a Ship in the midst of the Sea the way of a Serpent upon a Rock are not so untraceable as many of the waies of God It is mercy that God knows our Souls in the time of our failing though we cannot know every way and method of his relieving us 3. Sometimes distempers work cross that what is appointed for the cure of one is the occasion of another 'T is sometimes so in the body natural and it may prove so in the body spiritual When God is curing the weakness and failing of grace and that begins to recover its wonted strength then spiritual pride breaks forth some self-admiration begins to bud out and that puts God upon a new work It is very rare for a Christian to be strong in some of his graces and not to be too much exalted in his Spirit or for God to lift the heart up in the sense of his love and not grow wanton and secure 'T is pitty that fair weather should do any hurt But 't is thus with some souls that the Sun-shine of Divine Favour and the light of Gods countenance is so ill emproved that the heart grows worse with it and like bodies that have long fasted or are newly brought out of a languishing fit of sickness take a surfeit of their diet and fall again it may be into some worse disease Now here may be a great mistake in this if thou thinkest that because new failings and new distempers break forth God hath done nothing towards thy cure Had not thy distempers wrought so cross thou mightest have been upon thy feet again long before This is the first particular by way of answer to this case Thou mayest have received great relief from God and not know of it And I have shewen you wherein the mistake may lie in the gradation or variety of Gods working or in the cross working of soul distempers 2. Thou sayest that thou canst not set thy seal to the truth of the Doctrine because thou hast had no experience hereof Consider therefore in the next place that it may be Gods time of relieving thee is not yet come God will come in a time that is most seasonable though not always when we expect it Thy time may be come but Gods time is not yet come Gods hand is not shortened nor his arm weakened nor his heart shut up I but his time is lengthened out beyond thy expectation Some are fain to wait a long time for relief before it comes their eyes fail while they wait for God So did David Psal 69.3 Mine eyes fail while I wait for my God It may be thou hast thought the time very long I but if God seeth it good thou must wait still We read in the Gospel of a man that had an infirmity thirty eight years a long time Job 5.5 And what if God will try thee with thine infirmity as long yet when his time is come relief shall be given in thou shalt be made whole It may be thy case is not bad enough yet God will take thee a pin lower yet hee 'l draw a little more blood from thee and when there is scarce an hairs breadth between thee and death or ruine then relief shall come And therefore do not conclude that because thou hast no experience yet of the truth of the Doctrine that either it is not true or thou hast no saving interest in God for though thou hast no experience hereof yet thou mayest have great and wonderful experience hereafter 3. Consider that a Saints interest in God depends not upon his sense of Divine Relief but upon the All-sufficiency of Free-grace Thy interest will hold when thy sense thereof is lost Though thou mayst think that thou hast lost thy hold on God and canst not act faith on him yet if once thou hast had an interest in God God will not loose his hold on thee What though thou failest thy flesh and heart fails thee yet Divine Strength cannot fail In the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength Esay 26.4 And as long as God hath an arm to hold thee thou shalt not be lost Remember I pray thee saith Eliphaz to Job Who ever perished being innocent or where were the righteous out off Job 4.7 The ruine and perishing of souls is when they are totally and finally forsaken of God that God will not own them nor be a God unto them when they are utterly and eternally driven from the gratious presence of God never to see the well-pleased face of God I but who ever see the innocent thus to perish or the righteous thus cut off Joh. 10.28 I do give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish What though thou canst not see that hand that holds thy soul in life yet it will so hold thee that thy spiritual life shall not be taken from thee If those afflictions and distempers which make thy heart to fail could cause the strength of Gods free grace to fail then thou wouldst be in danger of an eternal ruine they might prejudice thy interest in God but though these have some influence upon thee they have no such influence upon God Now as long as they can have no influence upon the grace of God to weaken that they can have no influence upon thy