Saviour He prayed that if it were possible the Cup might pass but then he adds Not my will but thy will be done There is great danger in neglecting our duty in this matter and he will be very ready to deny his Lord who hath not throughly learned this Lesson Whatever happens to us now let us resign our selves to Gods Will. Is my dearest Friend or Child dead Is our health impaired Is our Estate wasted Let us say always Let the will of the Lord be done By these steps we shall perfectly learn this Lesson and practise it then when God shall send for us by death into another World V. Do all the good which you can This tends to the making our death more easie unto us For our account is lessened hereby and consequently death it self is the less to be feared Besides that acts of mercy have a promise of mercy belonging to them They that shew mercy shall receive it It is enough that they are sure of their reward This takes away much of the terrour of death it self And the merciful man is well dealt with if he be supported under the Agonies of death This is better for him than to be delivered from it Psal 41.3 And we know there is a particular promise of support to the merciful man even then when he is threatned with death On the other hand he that shews no mercy must not expect to find it He that hides his Talent in a Napkin is unprepared to meet his Lord He will have a very sad account not only that squanders away but he that hides his Lords Money VI. Frequently and diligently examine your selves Call your selves to a strict and severe account often This will be a great preparation for any evils which may happen to us and against death it self We shall never be safe if we do not take this course For this examination is in order to the knowing our state to God-ward and to our repentance and consequently our pardon We must confess our sins and in order to that we must know them For our Confession the more general it is the more dangerous the more particular the more safe For though we hope for pardon upon a general repentance where we cannot find out all our secret sins yet this does not give us hope of pardon upon a general repentance where upon search we may be more particular From whence it may easily appear how much a strict and diligent examination of our selves tends to our comfort and our peace and how much it does dispose and prepare us for sufferings and for death it self We are at ease and at liberty when our accounts are cleared and setled Whereas it is a burden to every honest mind to think that his affairs are entangled and perplexed and that he is not able to adjust his accounts Let any man but seriously consider how much he offends every day either in doing what he should not or not doing what he should In omitting his duty or in doing it slightly and he will soon find he hath work to do at the close of every day before he betake himself to rest And then sure he will be very unfit for death if he have the follies and errors of a whole life or a great part of it to unravel and to account for Such a man must needs be full of fears and jealousies that all is not right who hath not been very careful to try whether it be so or not It were well that this self-examination were the work of every day For as we might find enough to employ our selves in without troubling our selves with the faults of our Neighbours so I am sure we could not take a better course to secure our own souls And it was required that a man should examine himself before he received the Communion 1 Cor. 11.28 at that time when Christians communicated very frequently if not every day And though we excuse our selves too easily from frequent communicating yet they that do that cannot deny but that it is their duty to be prepared for it and consequently to examine themselves also VII Set your house in order My meaning is that we would do that duty which we owe to one another in order to our more comfortable passage hence And there are many things that fall under this head which every wise and good man would do before he goes hence Such are the making our Wills and setling our worldly Estate making restitution where we have done wrong being reconciled where there hath been a grudge or difference disburdening our Consciences where they are oppressed seeking satisfaction where we are in doubt and clearing our accounts with others where they are entangled These things and such like have a tendency toward the comfort and ease of our minds and when they are done we are left at greater liberty and freedom chearfully to bear whatever evil God thinks fit to exercise us with VIII Be very much in Religious Exercises and in the Service of God Such as reading and hearing meditating of heavenly things and receiving the Sacrament and frequent Abstractions from the hurries and the amusements of this lower world But especially let us give our selves much to Prayer Let us with all humility and fervour with all attention and watchfulness with prostrate souls and broken hearts implore the aid and assistance of God and of his Holy Spirit that we may continue faithful unto death that we may receive the Crown of righteousness Prayer is very seasonable at such a time as this Jam. 5.13 and it is recommended to us from the Example as well as from the Precept of our blessed Saviour Luk. 21.36 22.44 of whom it is said that being in an Agony he prayed more earnestly I shall now shew you how we are to demean and behave our selves under our sufferings And before I do that I shall premise the following particulars First That we ought not to run after sufferings and to bring them upon our selves We are not obliged to throw away our lives but to stay till God calls for them at our hand Our Religion allows us the wisdom of Serpents though it strictly require the innocence of Doves It is lawful in some cases to flee and decline our sufferings and in many Cases it is fit and expedient that we should do so Mat. 10.23 By this means we may reserve our selves for farther service and avoid the temptation But if our flight betray our Religion and endanger our Brethren that are under our charge we ought to stand to it and rather part with our lives Our lives are then to be given up when we gain a greater end but they are so long to be preserved as we may keep them without prejudice to our Conscience and the Salvation of our Brother Secondly That we are to take great heed that we do not suffer as evil doers 1 Pet 4.15 Let none of you suffer as a murderer or as
fit for that blessed immortality which is brought to light through the Gospel The particular care and Providence of God is another very powerful Argument to quiet and ease our minds under all events oâ— things This Doctrine the holy Scripture does not only teach buâ— directs us to the right use and application of it to our selves and very frequently calls upon us to make the right use of it Hencâ— it is that we are so frequently exhorted to be careful for nothing tâ— trust in God to cast our care and our burden upon him To acknowledge him in all our ways And wâ—â— are also frequently called off from all self-confidence or trust in any Creature whatsoever We are warned not to trust to our own Wisdomâ— our Riches our Allies and Worldly assistances And the holy Scripture does upon all occasions expose the Vanity of those men whâ— trust in any thing but God and it represents upon all occasions how inconsiderable the best of the Creatures are Again The Promise of the Holy Spirit is another great support to us and a strong consolation under the sorrows and difficulties of this mortal life Now the holy Scripture does not only contain such a Promise but also puts us upon that course in which we shall not fail to receive the comforts and assistances of this divine Spirit We are assured that God will give his holy Spirit to them that ask him and the holy Scripture which gives us this assurance does also with great vehemency put us upon begging of God this heavenly assistance It puts us upon asking upon seeking and knocking upon all Prayer and Supplication It also puts us upon purity of heart that we may be disposed to receive this Holy Spirit and warns us that we do not by our lusts and foolish practices grieve or quench this holy Spirit of God And now if we be perswaded to follow this advice we shall not fail of help and of comfort and of peace and joy that passeth understanding We shall be able to bear up under the greatest sorrows and pressures of this lower world Psal 23.4 Yea though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death we shall fear no evil But then it becomes us at all times to implore this Spirit of God and to pray with the Psalmist Psal 50.10 11 12. Create in me a clean heart O God and renew a right Spirit within me Cast me not away from thy presence and take not thy holy Spirit from me Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation and uphold me with thy free Spirit The example of Christ and holy men who have suffered for the truth are not barely laid before us in the Scripture but we are also directed in our afflictions to keep our eye upon these great examples and if we do that we shall be greatly encouraged to persevere in our Christian course and tread in the steps of those glorious examples The Disciple is not above his Master and we shall find it no hard thing to suffer if we consider whose Servants we are If they did such things to the green tree why should we think much that men should do so also to the dry Hence it is that the Holy Scripture puts us upon looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of the Faith which we profess and upon considering the Examples of the Prophets who have spoken in the name of the Lord and have been very exemplary for suffering and affliction and for patience Again The intercession of the Son of God is a most comfortable Doctrine of the Scripture But it does not only teach us this but directs us also to the use of it For the holy Scripture does now send us to God by Jesus Christ and puts us upon going to the throne of grace with a becoming boldness and assurance that we shall now be accepted through him who died for us and ever lives to make Intercession for those who come unto God by him III. The holy Scriptures tend very much to our comfort under all our sorrows as they are the instrument of conveyance of the greatest blessings to us They are Gods act and deed and on Gods part a great assurance to us of those blessings which are only able to make us happy and are able to make us so in spight of all the miseries that can befall us in this present life The Scriptures are not only to be considered as a Map and draught of our Inheritance which we hope for but as a Testament and declared Will which give us a right and title to and consequently a full assurance that we shall indeed enjoy those things which we find presented to us there They do not only lay them before us but they are by these divine Writings made over to us We are by our blessed Saviour no more Servants but Sons Gal. 4.7 and if we be Sons we are also Heirs of God through Christ But then the holy Scriptures are the Deeds and Conveyances of this Estate And as they are so they tend greatly to our comfort and support under the afflictions of this life and in the Midst of them we may now justly esteem our selves happy as having so full an assurance of a future inheritance Our Deeds and Writings for our worldly Estate we value greatly because they shew our Title and our Right and therefore we preserve them with great care and please our selves that they are good and well attested It is no little blessing and ought to be no small comfort to us that we have the holy Scriptures which are a declaration of Gods favour and good will towards us It was the great Priviledge of the Jews that God had given them his Law He shewed his word unto Jacob Psal 147.19 20. his Statutes and his Judgments unto Israel He had not dealt so with any Nation and for his Judgments they have not known them The Apostle reckons it a Priviledge which the Jew enjoyed above the rest of the world that they had Gods Law among them Rom. 3.1 2. What advantage then hath the Jew Or what profit is there of Circumcision Much every way chiefly because that unto them were committed the Oracles of God This one thing did very much exalt the Jewish People above their Neighbours And their Law gave them their Title to their Country and was the Instrument of Conveyance of their Inheritance to them And hence we find their Law is sometime called their Inheritance Dent. 33.4 Moses commanded us a Law even the Inheritance of the Congregation of Jacob. Indeed their Law was their Charter and Instrument that contained their Title which they had to their Possessions And the Land which they possessed was a Type of Heaven Heb. 10.1 and their Law and their Service was a shadow of good things to come But thanks be to God the case is well mended with us now We have the substance clearly revealed of which they had the shadow
yet I shall shew the reasonableness of it And to that purpose shall commend to your serious consideration the following particulars First Let us consider whose Law this is and we shall find that the Author of the Law does greatly recommend it to us How hard soever it may otherwise seem yet that it is the command of our Lord Jesus Christ that consideration is of great moment to reconcile us to it We ought not to think any thing unreasonable or hard which our Blessed Lord and dear Redeemer lays upon us For we are well assured of his great love and affection towards us He hath given us great proof that he loved us when he was content for our sakes not only to become a man but to die a shameful and painful death to bring us unto God Let us stay a while upon this consideration and meditate upon the unheard-of love of our Lord Jesus and we shall soon see great cause to think him a good Master even then when he does oblige us to die for his sake If our hearts be cold and chill if we find them dampt and sinking let us then meditate of our Lords love and that will be of great use to inflame them and give them spirit Does Jesus say that we must not fear them that kill the body that we must hate our own lives if we will be his Disciples Good is that word of our Dearest Lord will the pious Soul say Death shall be welcome when ever it comes and it will be not only our duty to die when our Lord would have us but our honour and great Priviledge to be thought worthy to die for him who was contented to die for us Alas this is but very little to what our Lord and Master hath done for us He was from everlasting the eternal Son of the Father He was happy and glorious and yet for our sakes he was content to stoop from Heaven to Earth from the happiness and glories above to the pain and contempt of this lower world He that was the brightness of his Fathers glory was willing to be eclipsed and obscured with our flesh and with our infirmities He that upheld all things by the word of his power was yet contented to be inclosed in the Womb of a Virgin to be wrapt up in swadling cloaths to lie in a Stable to be subject to his Creatures to be tempted by the Devil to be hungred and thirsty to be buffeted and hanged on a Tree that he might save lost Mankind He was at these pains for the helpless and for sinners for Caitiffs and Rebels for them who had dishonoured his Father and ruined themselves Here is a love without a Parallel a love that passeth knowledge a love that is stronger than death and that surpasseth the love of women Here are all the dimensions of love here is height and depth a length and breadth Jesus did that for his Enemies which rarely hath been done for the greatest Friends and Benefactors Greater love than this hath no man that he should lay down his life for his Friend This is the highest flight of friendship and we have but few examples of it Our Lords kindness rose higher by far He died for the ungodly for the weak and them that were without all hope Who can seriously think of this and not find himself constrained by the ove of Jesus to be willing to die for him It is an easie task that lies upon us to love him that hath first loved us and to die for him that died for us This is very reasonable and a most gentle command to lay down our life for him who first laid down his for us We see some Servants will hazard their lives for the sake of their Masters Loyal Subjects will not stick to shed their bloud in defence of their King and Country There are those would dare to die for a good man or for a faithful friend My Lord must needs be dearer to me than any of my Relatives or my fellow Creatures I must be very ungrateful if I forget his love But that which still does farther recommend this Law to us is this That our Saviour commands no more than what he himself did He would we should die in bearing witness to the truth It is fit we should do it and he led us the way He hath recommended this Precept to us not only by his Doctrine but by his Example also Indeed our Lord was silent when he was reproached and inconsistently accused but he was not so when he was adjured by the High Priest to tell him whether he were the Christ Mat. 26.63 64. the Son of God or not He witnessed a good Confession before Pontius Pilate and tells him To this end was I born Joh. 18.17 and for this cause came I into the world that I should bear witness unto the truth Our Lord sealed the truth with his own bloud and does not put his Followers upon that which he declined himself This Example of our Lord does give great force to his Law And it is very reasonable we should do what the great Captain of our Salvation hath done Every where we judge this very reasonable The Souldier thinks himself obliged to shew courage when he sees his General expose himself to the thickest of the danger And the Servant thinks himself well dealt with when his Master commands no more of him than what he is willing to do himself The Disciple is not above his Master nor the Servant above his Lord. That is not thought an hard Law which the Law-giver suffers himself to be concluded by 2. Let us consider the command it self and that is that we should rather part with this life than to deny our Lord and forfeit our hopes of a better life This may at first sight seem a very hard saying but when we draw near and consider it well we shall find it a very reasonable Law and that it is no objection against what our Lord hath said when he tells us that his yoke is easie and his burden light The truth is we disquiet our selves in vain and as our happiness is but phantastick and imaginary so is a great part of our misery also We make a false judgment of things and set a very unequal rate and price upon them And this we commonly do in the account we make of life and death For as we esteem of this life at a greater rate than we ought so we judge death to be a greater evil than indeed it is I desire that you would under this general head consider well the following particulars And 1. That barely to live is not in it self a thing of any vast moment It is no high Prerogative and unvaluable peculiar For the smallest Mite or Ante the vilest Worm or Serpent live as well as we When Marcellinus was sick all that were about him flattered him and said that which they thought would please him most Every man
constantly and immutably good and will not deceive or deny those that ask him That love and kindness and all the degrees of goodness in any Earthly Parents was derived from God who is infinitely and unalterably good and will not fail to fulfil the word which he hath spoken nor can he be deceived or defeated He hath said it that cannot lie nor repent He hath promised who is able to do it And we may as justly disbelieve his Being as distrust his veracity and doubt of his Propensity and his power I proceed to 3. The condition required on our part for the obtaining this assistance And that is a very gentle and easie one Luk. 11.9 10. God will give his Holy Spirit to them that ask him Ask and it shall be given you seek and ye shall find knock and it shall be opened unto you For every one that asketh receiveth and he that seeketh findeth and to him that knocketh it shall be opened I do readily grant that we are not heard in all the Petitions which we put up to God And it is very well for us that so it is For we should soon destroy our selves if we should obtain that which we sometimes pray for But then this is to be understood with reference to the things of this life where the well instructed and modest man is to refer himself to God who knows what is best for him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 M. Antonin l. 10. In this case the good man prayes that God would give him and remove from him what he thinks fit And the very Heathen could teach men this Lesson But then for the case before us God hath declared his Will and put us upon Praying and that fervently also for the Holy Spirit And we have great need of his heavenly aid and assistance and now we can have no doubt but that we shall be heard because we are sure that we pray according to the Will of God 1 Joh. 5.14 15. And this is the confidence that we have in him that if we ask any thing according to his will he heareth us And if we know that he heareth us whatsoever we ask we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him And especially may we be assured of success when we are provided of so effectual an Intercessour as the Son of God He hath said Joh. 14.13 Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name that will I do that the Father may be glorified in the Son And we are certain moreover that when we pray for the Holy Spirit in the name of Christ we pray for that divine assistance which our Lord went into heaven to send among us This he told us saying Joh. 16.7 I tell you the truth it is expedient for you that I go away For if I go not away the Conforter will not come unto you but if I depart I will send him unto you Nay our Lord assures us that he will hear our Prayers that he will intercede in this very case so that we have here abundant security that we shall receive an answer to our Petition Joh. 14.14 16. If ye shall ask any thing in my name I will do it And presently he adds And I will pray the Father and he will give you another Comforter that he may abide with you for ever For our other requests which we put up for health or riches and the good things of this life our Lord has given us no particular promise of his effectual Intercession but he hath done it in this matter and hath thereby removed our fears and doubts of being heard And sure if God many times prevent our very Petitions and give us some measure of the Holy Spirit even before we ask him we shall then have no cause to fear but he will give greater measures of this Holy Spirit to them that do ask him All our care must be that we ask as we should That we pray for this heavenly assistance with great fervor and constancy that we cry mightily unto God and that we greatly humble our soules before him That we address to him with hunger and thirst and restless importunity that we seek as for Silver and search as for fine Gold That we vehemently desire what we pray for and thirst as the parched earth does for showers from heaven That we strive mightily in our Prayers to God and send up many strong cries That we pierce the Heavens with our cries and that we put forth all our strength That we employ all the powers that we have received and summon up all that is within us to call down this heavenly aid That we cherish and improve the measures of the Spirit which we have received and be greatly cautious that we do not by a careless and a trifling a profane and worldly temper grieve this Holy Spirit and send away this divine and heavenly Comforter That we do not seek our comfort elsewhere and oppose the divine assistance by our self-will and our inordinate affections 4. I proceed now to make some Application of what hath been said And 1. This speaks very much to the comfort of the weak and the fearful at least to all among them that are sincerely good and do desire greatly to become better Here is an help at hand that is sufficient and we need not now be cast down I shall speak to such in the words of the Prophet Isa 44.2 3 4. Fear not O Jacob my servant and thou Jesurun whom I have chosen For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty and flouds upon the dry ground I will pour my Spirit upon thy Seed and my blessing upon thine Off-spring And they shall spring up as among the grass as Willows by the water-courses This blessed time is now come and it is well for us that so it is We are not now unprovided of an heavenly aid God is ready to pour out upon us his Holy Spirit Our Lord came Isa 61.2 3. To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord To comfort all that mourn To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion to give unto them beauty for ashes the oyl of joy for mourning the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness that they might be called trees of righteousness the planting of the Lord that he might be glorified Let us not now fear nor be dismayed under all our afflictions and persecutions Greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world This heavenly Comforter will abide when earthly comforts leave us And may we but receive the Joy of the Holy Ghost we shall not need be over-whelmed with our earthly sorrows 2. This speaks our duty as well as our Privilege And we may learn what we are to do as well as what God hath done for us The Holy Spirit is promised by God but must be implored by us God will give him but not to the careless and cold the formal
and indifferent the loose and the profane Let us then be exhorted to ask and seek and knock Let us now fervently implore this Holy Comforter this Spirit of truth and power I need not tell you what great need we have of power from above We are weak Creatures full of our fears exposed to many evils and sufferings and need an help from above to confirm and strengthen us We know not how soon we may be called forth to suffer the extremest evils or may be stript and deprived of all our worldly Goods and Possessions We cannot tell how soon we may lie upon our dying beds when our Soul shall sit ready to take its flight from our trembling lips when our Flesh shall fail us and we shall be abandoned by our earthly comforts and supports Whither shall we go for comfort then What will support us under these trials but the sense of Gods love and the Joy of the Holy Ghost This Comfort will reconcile us to Prisons and to Poverty and to Death it self We shall then have hope even in Death it self Rom. 5.5 And such an hope as maketh not ashamed because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us CHAP. VI. I Shall in the next place consider the Example of Christ and of holy men who have suffered the greatest evils which this world could inflict upon them And for the better speaking to this I shall First Take notice that the Holy Scripture calls upon us to reflect upon these Examples under our afflictions Secondly I shall give you a very short account of their sufferings Thirdly I shall shew you the great usefulness of these great examples unto us 1. I shall take notice that the holy Scripture calls upon us to reflect upon these examples under our afflictions The Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews gives us a large account of the sufferings of holy men And then subjoyns Chap. 11. Heb. 12.1 2. Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of Witnesses let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us and let us run with patience the Race that is set before us looking unto Jesus the Author and finisher of our faith Who for the joy that was set before him endured the Cross despising the shame c. He animates them by these great examples which they were therefore obliged to keep in their eye And they are at once put in mind to reflect upon the exemplary sufferings of holy men and of our blessed Saviour To the same purpose St. James exhorts those to whom he writes Jam. 5.10 11. Take my Brethren the Prophets who have spoken in the name of the Lord for an example of suffering affliction and of patience Ye have heard of the Patience of Job and have seen the end of the Lord. i. e. as ye have read or heard of the Patience of Job who lived many Ages before and probably suffered before the Law of Moses was given so ye have many of you seen how patiently our Lord Jesus suffered It was one end of our Lords sufferings that we might learn patience from his example 1 Pet. 2.21 For even hereunto were ye called because Christ also suffered for us leaving us an example that ye should follow his steps And indeed the holy Scripture is very large and very particular in giving us an account of the sufferings and of the patience of Christ and of holy men that we might learn to write after so fair a Copy and imitate them in patience and resignation to the Will of God which in them was so exemplary For whatsoever things were written afore time Rom. 15.4 were written for our learning that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope 2. I shall give you a very short account of their sufferings And First Of the sufferings of Jesus the Author and the finisher of our faith His whole life was little else than a continual suffering And he was a most unparallel'd example of Innocence and of suffering and not only of sufferings but of the greatest meekness and exemplary patience under them He was born in a Stable and died upon a Cross Born among Beasts and died among Malefactors He was persecuted as soon as he was born and when he was capable of doing no evil he was hunted after as a Malefactor His Persecution began from Herod an Idumaean it was carried on by the Jews his Countrymen and compleated by Pilate the Roman And though he hurt no man yet he was pursued by all His great Poverty did not protect him from Envy His profound Meekness did not preserve him from the Contradictions of Sinners And his known Innocence did not save him from the Sentence of Death His body was like one of ours He was as sensible of pain as we are And certain it is that his Enemies loaded it greatly What part of him was exempt His Head was Crowned with Thorns his Hands and Feet were pierced with Nailes his Side was goared with a Spear his Shoulders loaded with a Cross He was spit upon buffeted and scourged And at last hanged on a Tree without regard and pity His Soul was afflicted greatly Mat. 26.37 38. Mar. 14.33 He was sorrowful and heavy and that even to death He was sore amazed Luk. 22.44 and very heavy He was in an Agony and sweat as it were drops of bloud Psal 22.14 His heart was like Wax melted in the midst of of his Bowels At length he is forced to bear his Cross on that he is hanged there he bleeds and there he cries out My God my God why hast thou forsaken me But as he endured the Cross so he despised the shame For his death was ignominious as well as painful He died among Criminals and the death of the worst and vilest of men Thus did our Saviour suffer Thus entred he into his glory And all this he bore with invincible patience He did not want power to rescue himself and to punish his Enemies nor did he want the greatest provocation He was innocent and had lived an useful life But for all this he is not provoked against his Enemies nor does he complain against God For as he prays for his enemies so he resigns himself unto God Secondly For the sufferings of Holy men both before and since our Saviours death I must not undertake to give you an account It would fill some Volumes to be particular in this Argument We read of those before our Saviours sufferings of whom this world was not worthy that had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings Heb. 11.36 of bonds and imprisonments That were stoned and sawn asunder tempted and slain with the Sword that wandred about in Sheep-skins and Goat-skins being destitute afflictted tormented They wandred in Deserts and Mountains and were in Dens and Caves of the Earth And for the
and the Type Our blessed Saviour hath brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel And the New Testament makes over to us our right and title to that blessed inheritance which our Lord hath purchased for us We had forfeited Gods favour and needed an Atonement The Law of Moses prescribed certain Sacrifices indeed for expiation and the procurement of the favour of God but it is very certain that those Sacrifices could not make the commers thereunto perfect Heb. 10.1 But then it pleased God to send his only Son to die for our sins and now he hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ 2 Cor. 5.18 19 21. and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation To wit that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself not imputing their trespasses unto them For he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him The Kingdom of Heaven is now opened to all Believers and none are now excluded from the hopes of that blessed state who do not shut themselves out by their unbelief and impenitence and contempt of the Laws of Christ For God so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son Joh. 3.16 17. that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved This is the comfortable Doctrine of the holy Scripture and hence it is that we have now great consolation For there can be nothing so much for our comfort as the assurance which we have of Gods favour which is better for us than life it self But then to put us out of all doubt for ever this truth is confirmed to us as well as taught by the holy Scriptures For our blessed Saviour wrought many Miracles to confirm to us the Doctrine which he taught and by that means hath given us the utmost assurance that this comfortable Doctrine is a divine truth To this purpose he cured the sick dispossessed the daemoniacks raised the dead restored the blind commanded the Sea and the Wind and rose from the dead the third day Many and various and supernatural are the works he did and which are written in the Gospels And many more he did which are not written Joh. 20.31 But these are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God and that believing ye might have life through his name God hath set his Seal to the divine truths which the Gospel does contain And hath effectually taken from us all cause of doubt and suspicion IV. The holy Scriptures tend very much to our comfort under our troubles as they do contain many precious Promises which tend this way God hath been pleased in these Writings to make many promises for the comfort of the afflicted and oppressed of them that fear him and trust in him and suffer for his names sake And nothing of what God hath said shall fall to the ground If we continue to trust in God and to do good we shall find great comfort from the holy Scriptures in our greatest sorrows Psal 31.19 O how great is thy goodness which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee Which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the Sons of men Happy is that man that puts himself under the Divine Protection Psal 32.10 Many sorrows shall be to the wicked But he that trusteth in the Lord mercy shall compass him about No man does so much consult his own safety as He does that does intirely trust in God and commit himself and his affairs unto him Psal 125.1 They that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion which cannot be moved but abideth for ever I deny not but such a man may fall into straits and difficulties but then he is not forsaken but can have a recourse to him that is at hand and able to save him Psal 14.2 3 4 5. When my Spirit was overwhelmed within me then thou knewest my path I looked on my right hand and beheld but there was no man that would know me refuge failed me no man cared for my Soul I cried unto thee O Lord I said Thou art my refuge and my portion in the Land of the Living The good man may be bereft of his worldly comforts and supports but then when he is most of all so God is present with him Nay we are then more peculiarly the care of God when we are abandoned by the Creature The afflicted man is particularly the charge of Heaven and does immediately belong to the divine care and Providence The devout Psalmist makes his affliction his argument to move God to have regard to him Psa 142.6 Attend unto my cry for I am brought very low Again Psal 70.5 But I am poor and needy and then he goes on Make hast unto me O God The Prayers of the afflicted righteous find a ready way to God they pierce the Heavens and are sure to obtain a blessing The righteous cry Psal 37.18 18. and the Lord heareth and delivereth them out of all their troubles The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart and saveth such as be of a contrite Spirit There is great comfort in the holy Scripture for every man that is sincerely good and does desire to be better And whatever his sorrow and affliction be he is not left comfortless If he be burdened with his sins harassed out by the cares and toiles of a vexatious world and very uneasie under the load which lies upon him yet is not this distressed and miserable Sinner left without hope and comfort Our Lord speaks to such as these are saying Mat. 11.28 Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest Take my yoak upon you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart and ye shall find rest unto your Souls For my yoak is easie and my burden is light How comfortable a Scripture is this to the dejected Sinner That hath in vain sought his happiness from the things of this life that hath toiled a great while to no purpose and is now under fears of Gods wrath breaking in upon him as a just punshment of a trifling and a vicious life These are most powerful words and if men would consider them duly would appear to have a mighty force upon the minds of men Can any thing be more welcom than rest to them that labour and are heavy laden Is any rest to be compared to the rest which is given to our Souls can any thing be more desirable for them that have served cruel Lords than that they should now submit to one that is meek and lowly in heart Can any thing be more inviting after a great bondage and slavery than a yoak that