it i. e. he convinceth a Christian of the greatness and heinousness of the sin It is possible for a Christian that is sound and upright in the main to have so great a failing in his Will that for a time he may but jog on in the way of God that other Christians outstrip him far that set out long after him and yet he may be very insensible thereof until God is pleased to strike a dart of spiritual conviction through his very heart and this wakens and rouzes him up and makes him bestir himself and consider where he is and what he hath been doing all this while A clear place for this you have Cant. 5.2 I sleep but my heart waketh it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh saying open to me my sister This is the ingenuous confession of the Church wherein she acknowledgeth that carnal deadness and security that had overtaken her I sleep or I have been asleep Now a Christian never sleeps spiritually or in a spiritual sense but when his Will flags and fails when that falls to a kind of indifferency or is not strongly bent and inclined but grows cold and dead which is the symptome of a sleepy man I but did Christ suffer his Spouse to lie in this sleepy state No! See how he awakens and rouzes her up he calls to her and bids her open to him whereby he let in a beam of divine light and convinc'd her of her sin and this was the first step to her cure this made her open her eyes as when a man awakes out of sleep he first opens his eyes and then he rises So 't is with a sleepy and dull Christian God's first work upon him is to open his eyes that he may see his sin and be affected with it and this will make him stir O beloved it may be you do not know the evil that is in a sleepy estate the sin that is inindifferency and halting in the waies of God and in the weakness of your Resolution to walk therein you take little notice it may be of the coldness and deadness of your hearts unto holy duties or of the fickleness and inconstancy of your Spirits in them but at one time or other you must expect a Soul-awakening voice that will make you open your eyes and then you will see how great a sin it is What though thou dost not cast off the waies of God yet this heartlessness in them is sin enough if God should charge thee with it to sink thy Soul as low as Hell Secondly God cures this sleeping evil by reviving and renewing the inscription and impression of Divine Law upon the heart A good man never grows dull and dead but when Divine Law is not in its full strength and power upon the heart As this is a means of divine life so it is a restorer and renewer of life When the heart is exceeding dead and indisposed to any thing that is good this can quicken it and hence is that of David Psal 119.93 It is a blessed thing for a dead and dull heart to be quickned unto and in the way of God But this will not be unless the word of God come with life and power upon the heart And this effect is worth remembring and a good man will say with David I will never forget thy Precepts for with them thou hast quickned me It may be thou goest to read or hear the word with a dead and dull Spirit and by that God quickens thee Oh remember it and never forget it It was a great and wonderful mercy to thee that God did write his Law upon thy heart when he first brought thee under the bond of his everlasting Covenant and then bowed and inclined thy heart to a ready and free obedience thereunto It was a day of power when he made thee willing to take his yoak upon thee And it is a great mercy that he is pleased to revive and renew the characters of this divine and heavenly Law upon thy Spirit when they seemed to be obliterated and blotted out when thou hadst almost lost the power and life thereof upon thy Spirit that there was little stirring or moving in thy Will towards Heaven God deals with a Christian as a man deals with his Watch when it goeth dull and begins to beat slowly he gets the Spring which is the principle of its motion mended and renewed So when the heart of man grows dull and heavie his motions very cold and dead unto any good God mends and renews the Will which is the spring and principle of motion in the heart and for that end he sets Divine Law and will to work upon it When God's Will moves upon our Will then 't is quick and liuely in its motions towards God not else if that be dead towards him the man is dead to any thing that is good I know the Law as it is a Covenant of Works is a killing Instrument it slew Saint Paul and laid him a bleeding before God but as it is a Covenant of Grace so it is a quickning Instrument and sets the Soul a going after God in the use of those means which he hath appointed 3. Sometimes God cures this sad distemper by shedding his love abroad upon the heart Divine Love is both a heart-quickner and a heart-in-flamer We saith the Apostle love him because he loved us first 1 Jo. 4.19 Our love is but the reflex of his Gods love to us is founded in it self He loves because he will love but our love to God is founded on his love Nothing in us moved him to love us but God's love to us moves us to love him and therefore it is that as God manifests his love to us so we are able to love him The love of Christ constraineth us 1 Cor. 5.17 As when the Sun shineth then Flowers open so when the love of God shines upon the Soul it opens to God then the Heart is enlarged for God the Will is carried out with high resolutions to follow him fully in all the waies of his commands As the hiding of Gods face is a great damp upon the Spirit that makes it drive on very heavily in the way of God so the shining of his face is a notable quickner of the Spirit it is like oil to the wheel that helps on the motion with greater ease When once a Soul hath tasted the love of God and got some sense thereof the pulse of holy desires will begin to beat strong after the enjoyment of him it is impossible for a Christian to remain dead under the warm beams of this most glorious Sun It is very observable that no sooner did God call to Israel to return with a gracious promise of healing their backslidings and of pardoning their iniquities But they answer Behold we come unto thee for thou art the Lord our God Though their Hearts were turned even quite away from God and their Wills exceeding averse from
by a suitable dispensation and to remember us when we forget him 3. Sometimes God supplies the want of a good memory by a mighty and efficacious blessing of his Holy Spirit so that there is much conveyed into the heart to better that little that is retained in the head A good work may be wrought upon the heart when very few words that are delivered by the Preacher are remembred The word sometimes passes through the soul and leaves a sweet savour behind it although it stayeth not It may be a poor soul goeth to hear a Sermon and upon his return would think he had lost all his pains were it not for this that he hath felt the power and efficacy of the Spirit of God upon his heart to do him good and for this he blesseth God He finds his heart quickned or melted or established in the faith and this is better to him than if he had it all by heart without such gratious effects 'T is good to remember what you hear but 't is better to be what you hear when it may be said of you as our Saviour of his Disciples Now are ye clean through the word which I have spoken to you John 15.3 As a sieve will not hold the water that is put into it yet is washed and cleansed by it even thus it is with some hearers though they can retain nothing of the expression of the word yet they are cleansed by the lively and efficacious impression thereof Beloved I speak not this to incourage any one in careless hearing and wilful neglect of retaining what they hear but for the comfort of those who when they have given all diligence in their attention yet their memory fails them in retaining what they have heard And I desire that all would take notice of this one thing that though it be the duty of all to treasure up the word in their heads yet the desire of their souls should be chiefly carried out after an impression thereof upon their hearts Head knowledge is good but heart knowledge is better To be able to repeat a Sermon is good but to live a Sermon is better And thou mayst be sure that God will inable thee to live truth in some measure although thou art not able to express the words thereof as they are delivered to thee And this shall be thy Relief in this case Thus much shall serve to shew you how Divine Relief flows in to the soul when the natural faculties thereof fail 2. Divine Relief flows in from God to the Soul of a good man when his infused habits fail and in the opening of this I must hold to my propounded method 1. I shall shew you that they may fail and how far they may fail 2. How relief flows into the Soul in this case First The infused habits of Grace and Virtue may fail There is not a Grace in a Christian but may fail at one time or other Though the state of Grace abideth alwaies yet every mans grace if any mans doth not alwaies abide in the same state A true frame of Grace shall never be destroyed but the heart of a gracious man doth not alwaies continue in the same frame The stream may not be cut off and yet there may be ebbings as well as flowings It may be low water with a Christian at some time in point of inherent grace as well as spiritual comfort He that hath the most grace may seem like him that hath the least and that in three things 1. In respect of the strength of Grace 2. In respect of the vigour and activity of Grace 3. In respect of the beauty and lustre of Grace First in respect of the strength of Grace Grace is not alwaies in the same strength Abraham was strong in Faith yet his Faith was not alwaies alike We find his Fear too strong for his Faith Abraham's Faith had ebbings and declinings Job's Patience at the first was mighty to bear and undergo his afflictions yet at some time it flagg'd Secondly Grace may fail in point of life and vigour The spiritual life of a Christian may not be alwaies lively and active Faith and love may not die and yet they may stir very little the fire of holy affections not be extinct and yet not flame The Church of Ephesus had left her first Love but she had not left off to love she loved Christ I but not as she did at first So it may be with others there may be an abatement of their love although not an extinguishment of it Thirdly Grace may fail in respect of its beauty and loveliness the beauty thereof may fade much 'T is with a Christian as 't is with a fruit-bearing tree the beauty of the tree is its leaves and fruit Now when the fruit is pluckt and the leaves fallen the beauty is gone Even so the holy fruit of a Christian is the beauty of a Christian that which renders him and his grace very lovely in the eyes of good men but when the fruit is off the tree when you see not the fruit of holiness and of spirituality growig upon him in his season the beauty of a Christian is departed from him And thus it may be with a good man for a time He that formerly acted very humbly may upon some temptation act very proudly He that once acted very self-denyingly may at another time act very self-seekingly He that formerly walked like a Saint and truly acted the part of a Saint may act not only below a Saint but below a man Such changes and varieties are found upon the most gratious frames of Spirit which the best of Saints have in this world The strength of grace may so far abate as that the strength of sin may increase The vigour and life of grace may so far abate as that little or nothing may appear but the deformity of sin Secondly What relief flows into the heart of a good man in this case God is still the strength of his heart 1. By preserving the root and principle of grace alive that would die if it were not preserved by a divine power Every Christian would cease to be gracious as well as fail in the exercise of grace if he were wholly left to himself I but Christians are kept in a state of grace by the power of God 1 Pet. 1.5 Grace in a Christian is the root of a Christian and therefore Believers are said to be rooted and grounded in love Eph. 3.17 and as the root may live when the fruit falls off nay when the trunk of the tree withers and decays that there is little life in it so it may be with a Christian I but how is this Root kept alive Why it is kept by an Almighty power Though a Christian doth not alwaies take care of his graces that they may be liuely and strong yet God doth alwaies take care that the root of grace may live he will keep that alive Divine power
John 1.13 born not of blood or as in the Original not of bloods nor of the will of man but of God Many men boast and brag much of their parentage and the family or house they came out of Such a Duke such a Lord such a great person was their Father or Grandfather and such a great person is their brother or their uncle or near allies But alas what is this to a mans being born from above to come out of the family of heaven to have God for thy Father and Christ for thy Brother and near ally the other is not to be named with this No were thy earthly parents beggars from door to door and thou born naturally upon a dunghil yet if thou hast God for thy Spiritual Father thou art more nobly descended then all the great ones in the world if they are not born from above as well as from beneath I tell thee thy relation speaks thee noble and honorable 2. Look upon him as to his education and breeding and see how he is disciplined and trained up and you must needs be taken therewith He is remarkable for that there are many that will boast of their breeding if not of their birth And indeed there is as much to be considered in that if not more then in the other And therefore Alexander the Great thought himself as much bound to his Tutor as to his Father because the one gave him his being but the other his well-being the one was the instrument of life and the other fitted him to live in the world Why Beloved a godly man hath not only the best birth but the best breeding for as he is born of God so he is taught of God Whoever is the usher or sub-tutor God is the Master-teacher So John 6.45 It is written in the Prophets And they shall be all taught of God And 1 Thes 4.9 Ye are taught of God to love one another Now if God undertakes the work it must needs be admirably well done those must needs be well taught that have God for their teacher for as he teacheth men the best things that can be taught and learnt so he teacheth them in the best way that can be used not only in the best method but also with the greatest efficacy and power he makes them such as he teacheth them to be and causeth them to do that which he teacheth them to do And in all enricheth and ennobleth the minds and spirits of his Disciples with such kind of learning and knowledge as is not to be found in the whole world he makes them all experimental Scholars in the great and profound mysteries of Heaven So that there is not one in all the world that can be a match for the meanest Scholar in his School No take a man that with Bereugarius is able almost to dispute de omni scibili or with Solomon to unravel Nature from the Cedar to the Hyssop yet a poor Soul in the lowest form in Gods School that is taught of him is able to baffle and to confound such an one if once they come to engage in the matters of Heaven 'T is very true Beloved Humane Learning ought not to be despised Humane Arts and Sciences are brave ornaments to the mind and are very useful in many respects I but not to be compared with divine and heavenly light and knowledge If Humane Learning be as the Ring Divine Learning is as the Pearl or Diamond in the Ring and far exceeds it in worth and excellency 3. Look upon him as to the complexion of his Soul and the air of his Countenance And indeed as a man may read much of the complexion of another mans Soul in the air of his Countenance so did Jacob in Laban's which put him to the flight So there is much glory and beauty in the Soul and Countenance of a godly man Solomon saith Wisdom makes the face to shine how much more doth it make the Soul to shine for that is the seat thereof Mark that of the Apostle 2 Cor. 3.18 We all with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord are changed into the same image Now if there be beauty and glory in the Original there must needs be beauty and glory in the Copy else the Copy will not be any wayes answerable to the Original And therefore saith Christ to his Church Cant. 2.14 Let me hear thy voice and see thy countenance for pleasant is thy voice and thy countenance is comely Yea he is so taken therewith that it puts him as it were into a rapture it ravisheth his Soul or takes away his Heart as the Hebrew signifies Cant. 4.9 And indeed a gracious Soul is a lovely and amiable Soul the greatest beauty in the world She stands not in need of a black patch to set her off or to commend her to others 4. Look upon a godly man as to his life and conversation and you must needs say that he is very remarkable for he is one that walks with God in the way of God even in that way that leads to the fullest fruition and enjoyment of God Nay he is one that lives the life that God lives in some measure for he lives a life of holiness and that is the life that God lives 'T is true he lives on the Earth but his conversation is in Heaven where his God and his Treasure is Yea 't is true he lives in Flesh but not after the Flesh for whilst he lives in Flesh he lives in the Spirit and walks in the Spirit and so turns the life of Nature into a life of Grace Now the more excellent the life of any being is the more remarkable and admirable is that being What is it that renders an Angel so admirable but because he lives an Angelical life And what is it that advanceth a man above a beast but because he lives a better life then a beast doth I speak now of men that live like men and not like bruits and so that advanceth a godly man above all other men because he lives a better life then others do The life of Reason is better then the life of Sense but the life of Grace and Religion is far better then the life of Reason Had I but time to set it forth in some particular instances this demonstration would carry a strong conviction with it into the hearts of any unbyassed hearers and cause them to confess that none upon the face of the earth live such honourable and noble lives as Saints do Holiness of life is a conformity to the most noble and honourable Rule even the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus Holiness of life is a conformity to the most noble and honourable pattern Holiness of life is the power and virtue of Christ expressed to the life 't is the Divine nature manifested in Humane flesh 't is the Spirit of God breathing through corporal acts Holiness of life is the
admiration of Angels the joy and delight of the eternal God he taketh pleasure in his Saints and therefore must needs be a taking object 't is very true 't is a great Paradox and Riddle to the men of the world For it is simplicity without foolery 't is gravity without moroseness 't is humility without will-worship 't is singularity without affectation 't is reservedness without narrowness and streightness of spirit 't is an holy freedom and liberty without licenciousness meekness without cowardize stoutness and valour of Spirit without pride and cruelty patient for God but impatient against sin a sufferer in its own cause but a warriour in Christs a death unto sin and the world but a new life unto righteousness and unto God The man dies to all things here below that are sinful vain and transitory and lives unto things above Nay which is the most to be admired in him is this that a Saints life is not only cross and contrary to the life and conversation of wicked and ungodly men but ever when others are worst then he labours to be best Thee have I seen righteous saith God to Noah I the worse they grow the better he labours to be like the glow-worm that shines brightest in a dark night Then Daniel opened his window when Prayer to the true God was decried and by the most restrained Then did Elijah plead for God when almost the whole Nation were for Baal and Baals Prophets were 450 here was great odds between them and yet the Prophets holy zeal carried him through his undertaking until he saw a good success thereof Holiness of heart and life hath ever carried away the Bell and Crown at last And therefore well might the Psalmist say in our Text Marke the perfect man and behold the upright for the end of that man is peace The end of his actings and the end of his life is peace And that leads me to a 5. Demonstration of the excellency and admirableness of a godly man and is the second part of the Text viz. The motive or argument wherewith the Psalmist presseth and urgeth his exhortation and holy injunction Mark the perfect man and behold the upright for the end of that man is peace The finis cui the end for which he is set is for Peace And the finis cujus his end and winding up is Peace Arias Montanus renders it The last to the man is peace 'T is true he meets with many a brush by the way in the world Saints shall have trouble on every side none meets with so many all winds blow cross to him at one time or another Sin Satan and the World he is their But and Mark at which they level all their poisonous and deadly Arrows If an Heathen could say Nos fuimus Troes agitamur ventis What may not a Saint say in this respect Surely as the Prophet Esay 54.12 I am afflicted tossed with a tempest and not comforted Or as the Apostle St. Paul Without were fightings within were fears Or as the Church Psal 128.3 The plowers plowed upon my back they made long their furrows I but still mark and behold him in all this look not only to his setting out but to his Journeys end for though he sails through rough and rugged waves and is oft in danger of splitting upon Soul-ruining Rocks or sticking in the Sands yet at last he arrives at the Haven of Rest The end of that man is peace And it must needs be so for as Christ hath forewarn'd him of the one so he hath assured him of the other John 16.33 In the world you shall have trouble but in me ye shall have peace If they han't it in this life yet they shall not miss of it in the life to come The end of those men is peace The best Wine is reserved for the last and the Crown for the Conquest 'T is very true that Grace is given to men here in this life or else 't is never given I but 't is as true that if Peace be denied to a gracious Soul in this life yet it shall not be denied to her in the life to come Esay 32.17 Though the Soul sows in tears all the time of her abode in the body yet she shall reap in joy when she hath got her freedom from that prison Below she may haply spend her daies in mourning but above she shall spend an eternity in singing and rejoycing Here she mourns and sighs and cries because she is no better but there she shall rejoyce and sing because she is so well And indeed the word Peace is of large extent it comprehends all the desires of the Soul of man even felicity and happiness to the utmost And therefore the ancient Salutation of the Jews was Peace for that is the most desirable thing Heaven would be no Heaven if there were no Peace enjoyable there And Hell would be no Hell if Peace were enjoyable there Give a man true and solid Peace and you give him Heaven take Peace from him and he is in Hell Holiness and Wickedness divides the World and Peace and Trouble divides the states of men in the world To the wicked God saith There is no Peace to the godly he saith The end is Peace For 1. Then he is above all danger above the power of Sin the malice of Men and the rage of Hell He hath nothing to trouble or disquiet him no temptations from without nor from within he is now sinless and therefore sorrowless A godly man goes free into Heaven and there enjoyes the utmost freedom 2. Then he is at his Center and there enjoyes Rest and therefore Peace God is the proper Center of the Soul And therefore as the ancient Father hath it we are not at rest until we come to God I but when we come to God then we are at rest for then we are in our proper Sphear In thy presence is fulness of joy and at thy right hand are pleasures for evermore I joy without sorrow and pleasure without pain I and such a fulness as puts an end to all anxious and painful desires for in God the Soul enjoyes full and perfect satisfaction without any glut When I awake saith the Psalmist I shall be satisfied with thy likeness And when the Appetite is satisfied and the Belly filled we say the Bones are at rest Sure I am when the Soul is full she is at rest here she is in motion travelling from Duty to Duty and from Ordinance to Ordinance and from Scripture to Scripture and all to get something of God whom she loves and after whom she breaths but in Heaven she is at rest for there she is filled with all the fulness of God God is the All of a gracious Soul here and there he will be all in all to her and all in her The lines of his glory will be compleatly drawn upon her then and she swallowed up in divine embraces without the least
THE CONTENTS THe Introduction to the words of the Text. Page 1. The Psalmists two-fold Experiment his Malady and Relief a Demonstration that God is good to Israel Page 2 The Particulars contained in the Text with the Observations raised from each Particular Page 4 The first principal Doctrine That God is the Rock of a Saints heart strength and portion for ever Page 5 Divided into two Branches Page 6 The first branch that God is the Rock of a Saints heart strength proved by Scripture ib. Explained in three particulars 1. He is the Author and giver of all strength 2. He is the increaser and perfecter of a Saints strength 3. He is the preserver of a Saints strength ib. Six Positions laid down by way of Demonstration Page 7 1. All strength is in God originally and fully ib. 2. The Israel of God have a peculiar interest in the strength of God Page 8 3. According to the Saints communion with God and Gods influence into them such is their strength Page 9 4. According to the fulness and extent of Grace promised in the Covenant of Grace such is Gods influence into the hearts of his people for their strength Page 13 5. According to that mutual Transact that is between God the Father and his Son Christ Jesus both on Gods part and on the Believers part so doth the Covenant give forth its vertue and grace to the Believer Page 14 6. According to the Spirits Revelation of this Grace in the Heart such is our sense and feeling thereof and according to our sense and feeling thereof such is our comfort Page 18 Vse of Instruction to all true Believers 1. To account God their strength 2. To give God the glory of their strength Page 19 The second Branch of the first principal Doctrine That God is Israels portion for ever proved and explained Page 40 Demonstrated by shewing how God comes to be a Saints portion Page 44 The Vse of Inference is in three particulars 1. That the people of God are the richest people Page 52 2. That the people of God are a truly happy people Page 53 3. That the people of God cannot be made miserable ib. The second Vse is of Instruction to teach us 1. Where to have a Portion for our selves and ours Page 54 2. That if we would have God to be our portion we must be his Page 56 The third Vse is of Direction and Counsel to Gods Israel 1. To learn the distinction to the height between God in himself or God in the Creature and the Creature without God Page 59 2. To be content with such things as they have Page 61 3. Not to be solicitously or distrustfully careful for what they want Page 62 4. Above all to be thankful for the enjoyment of God Page 63 The second principal Doctrine That Divine Relief flows from God to his people according to their necessity Page 64 The particular Cases wherein a Christian stands in need of Divine Relief are failing of the Flesh and failing of the Heart Page 65 Divine Relief flows in divers wayes when the comforts of a mans life fails him Page 66 Divine Relief flows in divers wayes when the outward man fails Page 75 Divine Relief flows in when the Vnderstanding fails Page 87 When the Will fails Page 94 When the Memory fails Page 102 Divine Relief flows in when the infused habits fail Page 110 God works four things for the Christians good by his decay in Grace and falling into Sin Page 114 1. Hereby God discovers that corruption that is in the Heart ib. 2. Hereby God teaches the Soul where its strength lies Page 115 3. The falls of Christians through the weakness of Grace and the power of Sin are made notable Antidotes and Preservatives against final Apostacie ib. 4. These falls and decayes settle him faster and make him root deeper in Christ Page 116 Four Cautions entered hereupon Page 118 Divine Relief flows in when the Animal Spirits fail through Disappointment Page 122 When they fail through the hiding of Gods face Page 124 When they fail through a sense of Sin and Gods displeasure for it Page 128 When they fail through a sudden passion of fear Page 132 When they fail through some strong temptation of Satan Page 136 The Doctrine confirmed by three Reasons The First Taken from that near relation that is between God and good men Page 140 The second taken from Gods design in all his peoples straights and necessities Page 142 The third taken from the beautifulness of Relief in the time of necessity Page 144 A grand Case put by a Christian that doubts of his Interest in God because he hath no experience of Divine Relief flowing into him according to his necessity resolved Page 145 Vse 1. From this Doctrine is inferr'd the woful state and condition of those who have no Interest in God Page 152 The second Vse is of Comfort to all that have an Interest in God Page 154 An Objection against taking Comfort from this Doctrine drawn from the Christians unworthy walking of former Relief answered Page 155 Jehovah Iireh OR THE Saints Relief In a Time of EXIGENCY Held forth in several Sermons Preached at Stowe Market in SVFFOLK By Samuel Blackerby Minister of the Gospel and Vicar there LONDON Printed for Nevil Simons at the Princes Arms in S. Paul's Church Yard 1674. SERMON I. The Saints Relief in a time of Exigency Psal 73.26 My flesh and my heart faileth but God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever THough Divine truth may be clearly understood by Divine revelation yet the heart of a Christian is then most confirmed and settled in the belief thereof and most confident to assert it when he hath had some experience of the power and life thereof in himself when he can say I know this by experience The first conception and rise of true faith and sound knowledge springeth from Divine principles revealed and explained by the Holy Spirit but the confirmation thereof flows from experiments made and had of those principles We need go no further than this Psalm for a proof hereof The Prophet whoever he was was one that was endued with a saving knowledge of Divine Principles and with faith therein I but the confirmation of his faith was made by a Divine work in which the life and power of those principles shone forth He did believe at first that God was good to Israel I but his faith was not strong and able to overcome an assault and to quench this fiery dart that Satan shot at him until he had found the truth of this principle by experience in himself So you may see vers 2 3 13 14. Sense prevails against his faith until such a Divine work was wrought in himself as terminated his faith and sense in one object Now he can with boldness and great confidence assert that God is good to Israel c. For he is able to give a demonstration thereof
be able to withstand a temptation then he saw the uncleanness of his heart and therefore cried to God to wash him and cleanse him and it is as if he had said Lord I see now what a filthy and unclean Spirit dwelleth in me Lord do thou purge it out and cleanse me from it If any one had gone to David and told him that at such a time he should be overcome by such a temptation and commit two great sins he would hardly have believed that his heart had been so bad But after wards his expeperience taught him 2. Hereby God teacheth the Soul where its strength lieth and on whom its grace depends The decay of grace shews that the strength thereof is not in man nor in grace it self but like the Vine it must have a supporter Grace can't live nor thrive without constant influences I but good men are too apt to depend upon their grace and not to go to him for strength in whom it lies Now when a Christian feels the decay of his grace and his own insufficiency to relieve and strengthen it this drives him out of himself to Christ This is one main difference between the total want of grace and a sense of decay in grace The total want of grace drives men from Christ but a sense of the decay of grace drives men to Christ So it did David his weakness brought him upon his knees 3. The falls of Christians through the weakness of grace and the power of sin are made notable antidotes and preservatives against final Apostasie For as there is nothing that estrangeth the heart from God as spiritual pride and self-confidence so nothing keeps the heart so close to God as a filial fear of offending God So you may see Jer. 32.40 And I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them to do them good but I will put my fear in their hearts that they shall not depart from me This is that which hemms in the Soul that it cannot go astray Now the falls of Christians provoke and draw forth this filial fear into act The burnt child dreads the fire and he that hath been stung with a Serpent will shun his hole so it is here None so fearful of falling into sin as they that have fallen None so wary and watchful none so resolute and stout against temptations and occasions of sin as those who have been at a time overcome 4. These falls and decayes are like mighty winds to the Oak that settles him faster and make him root deeper in Christ As the more the Oak is shaken if it falls not the faster and deeper it is rooted in the earth So when a Christian hath been shaken with the winds of temptations and corruptions the faster hold he layeth upon Christ and the deeper he is rooted in him For 1. His experience of Christ's faithfulness in keeping him from falling finally and totally strengthens his faith in Christ 2. His experience of Christ's pardoning love knits and unites his heart close to Christ First His experience of Christ's faithfulness in keeping him from falling totally and finally strengthens his faith in Christ As 't is a notable trial of Christ's faithfulness to keep Saints from falling away finally when they fall souly so experience of Christ's faithfulness is a notable strengthener of a Christians faith in Christ They that know thy name will put their trust in thee saith David Psal 9.10 A friend that keeps close to a man in time of need may well be trusted Even so 't is here Christ keeps close to a Christian even at that time when he deserves to be cast off and is both a shame and a grief to Christ Surely the experience hereof must needs be a great incouragement to a Christian to trust him for ever He seeth that Christs strength never fails although his own strength fail He seeth that there is grace enough in Christ to support him in the weakest condition and to raise him up when he is at the lowest Nay further he finds this strength put forth upon him according to the word of promise and though he is unbelieving yet Christ abides faithful to him And therefore he cannot but conclude from hence that Christ will be his strength for ever and will never fail him Secondly A Christians experience of the fulness and continuance of Christs pardoning love knits and unites his soul faster to Christ then ever this doth endear Christ to the soul exceedingly tryed love is an endearing love and if any thing will draw out the souls affections unto Christ and confirm them against all future assaults it is the renewing of pardons upon the renewal of offences When the soul shall hear Christ say as he doth Esay 43.24 25. Thou hast brought me no sweet cane with money neither hast thou filled me with the fat of thy sacrifices but thou hast made me to serve with thy sins thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities I am he that blotteth out thy transgression for mine own sake and will remember thy sins no more I say when the soul shall hear this it must needs be deeply affected herewith What! Will the Lord be gratious to such a vile wretch as I am Will he pardon a backslider Will he forgive the sin of one that hath made him to serve with his sin and wearied him with iniquities O here is wonderful love this is transcendent love and shall not I love him that hath loved me thus Yet Lord thou knowest that I love thee 't is true I have backslidden and grievously offended but I will do so no more Thus God sometimes doth the soul much good by that which in it self doth him the greatest hurt as pain easeth a Christian death revives him dissolution unites him so corruption clarifies him and this is a most gratious relief But before I leave this particular I must enter four cautions 1. That no man take up the better opinion of sin hereby for as darkness is nevertheless an evil though God bring light out of darkness so sin is nevertheless an evil though God is pleased to bring good out of it Poison is destructive although a Physician can so correct it as to make it medicinal and so is sin and the better opinion thou hast of sin the more evil and mortal it will be to thee 2. Take heed of lying in sin with hopes of a relief from God watch against it pray against it that thou mayest not be overcome of it but however if thou art overcome by a temptation if Satan hath tript up thy heels get upon thy feet again assoon as possibly thou canst if thou fallest with Peter weep with Peter and labour to find as much bitterness in sin as thou hast found of a seeming pleasure in it Remember this that more have fallen into sin with hopes of rising again then have risen after they have fallen Many sin with Peter but few repent with him
3. Labour to prevent decays in grace It is easier to keep health then to recover it And it is easier to maintain grace in strength and vigour then to recover any degree of grace when 't is lost Though it be Gods goodness to restore grace yet it is your duty to prevent the loss thereof 4. Watch the first decay of grace least it grow to a total consumption of all observe the least flagging of faith and love when it comes to a trial a little grace may serve to repair a little decay but thou wilt stand in need of much to repair a great decay and therefore as soon as grace begins to fail do thou begin to repair O ply the throne of grace for strengthening influences least thy weakness prove dangerous and desperate however do not abuse relieving grace by a present security 3. The third particular failing of the heart is the failing of Animal spirits that the man is ready to fall into a swoon or the soul just taking its flight from the body and leaving its old habitation So the Church complains Cant. 5.6 My soul failed Arias Montanus renders it My soul went forth And this made David cry out Hear me speedily O Lord my spirit faileth I am like them that go down into the pit David was a man ful of spirit and yet he was at this time as if he had had no spirit As 't is said of Nabal his heart died within him and became as a stone 1 Sam. 25.87 And thus it may be with a good man at some time and that in these cases 1. When hope is deserr'd and expectation disappointed Hope deferr'd saith Solomon makes the bea rt sick Prov. 13.12 i. e. When the thing hoped for is deferr'd a mans heart is set upon a thing and he hopes for the obtaining it and he waits and waits and yet it comes not this makes the heart sick but if his expectation be disappointed then his spirit dies It often falls out that mans time and Gods time are not the same Man sets a time to himself and thinks thus at such a time such a mercy and such a good will come in I but Gods time may be long after Now when he seeth that still he must wait and yet the mercy comes not his heart fails his spirit sinks 2. When God hides his face from the soul and she can't see it This was Davids case Psal 143.7 My spirit faileth hide not thy face from me least I be like unto them that go down into the pit i. e. The hiding of thy face will quite kill my spirits As the light of Gods countenance is the life of the soul so the hiding of Gods countenance is its death No sooner doth God depart from a good man but his soul is ready to depart So it was with the Church Cant. 5.6 I opened to my beloved but my beloved had withdrawn himself and was gone my soul failed when he spake I sought him but I could not find him I called him but he gave me no answer 3. When the soul is wounded with the sense of sin and of Gods displeasure for sin the burden and pain is intolerable and then the spirit sinks As nothing sinks the spirit so much as sorrow and grief So no grief is so heavy upon the soul as grief for sin and the sense of Gods wrath You have a notable passage for this Job 6.4 For the arrows of the Almighty are within me the poison whereof drink up my spirits An arrow is a deadly Engine so called in Hebrew from its effect cutting or wounding and God sometimes shoots an arrow which pierceth into the soul cuts and wounds it yea sometimes he shoots a poisoned dart and that drinks up the spirit i. e. it kills the spirit Even as a great fire drinks up a little water that is thrown upon it So Gods wrath drinks up the spirit it leaves no spirit in the heart of a man 4. A sudden passion of fear makes the heart to fail So Luke 21.26 Mens hearts failing them for fear Fear when it is excessive dispirits a man When Josephs brethren found their money in their sacks it is said their hearts failed them and why for they were afraid Gen. 42.28 5. Some strong temptation of Satan may make the heart to fail especially if grace be weak Satans assaults sometimes are very violent they come upon the heart with great power like a mighty torrent that overwhelms and sinks the spirit Thus Luther was assaulted by him His temptation was so strong that it seemed to him as if the swelling surges of the Sea did sound aloud at his left ear and that so violently that die he must except they presently grew calm afterwards when the noise came within his head he fell down as one dead and was so cold in each part that he had remaining neither heat nor blood nor sense nor voice and thus it hath been with others The temptations of Satan are sometimes so strong and violent upon the soul as to cause the Animal Spirits to fail These are the particular cases wherein God reveals and makes known the greatness of his strength for the relief of his people 1. When a mans heart fails him through a disappointment then there is a relief for him 1. By exchanging a mercy the soul hopes for one and God gives in a better and more desireable God deals not with his people as Laban dealt with Jacob instead of a fair and beautiful Rachel he put him off with a blear eyed Leah No! God doth the contrary it may be thou art set upon a blear-eyed Leah and God gives thee a fair Rachel My meaning is when the heart of a Christian is set upon and strongly carried out after a low and inferiour mercy and the soul is sick for want of it even ready to die God gives him an higher and more glorious mercy As God is often better to us then our desires so he is better to us then our hopes and when he disappoints our hopes he gives us a mercy that is beyond our hopes For God is no way tyed to the hopes of his people but onely to his word of promise and that he will perform in his own way and time Now sometimes the hope of a Christian may be falsely bottom'd and not rightly fixt on Gods word and then it is no wonder if we meet with a disappointment I but though God doth frustrate our expectation he will not break his word The promise of God doth not fail although we are apt to think it doth when our hope and expectation is disappointed The word of the Lord standeth sure even then when we are not sure that the thing we desire and hope for shall be granted to us and hence it comes that instead of the mercy we desire God gives us in that which he hath promised although not desired nor hoped for 2. God relieves the hearts of his people by giving in the
Mercy shall compass him about The mercy of God is a long arm and this doth incircle the soul and compass it about the soul can stir no way but mercy meets it to stay its flight Sometime God sends a friend to him who out of his own experience drops a seasonable word of comfort upon his soul and that is a mercy Job 33.23 Sometime God applies a word of Grace that enlivens his dead heart and that is a mercy Psal 119.50 Sometimes God brings to mind some former intimations of his love and grace to him Psal 42.6 And sometime and very often he stays the soul with this very thought that it is a great mercy of God to him that yet he is on this side hell Lam. 3.22 and though he can't see the face of God yet he is not put so far off but he may have the happiness to see it at the last 'T is mercy that he is not eternally banished from his presence And this stays the heart 3. Though God hides his face for a time yet he doth at one time or other unvail and discover it to the soul for its unspeakable joy and comfort If not in this life yet in the life to come a true Christian shall see the face of God again although it be hid for a time You have an excellent promise for this Esay 54.7 8. For a small moment have I forsaken thee but with great mercies will I gather thee in a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee saith the Lord thy redeemer Gods departure from a good man is not an eternal departure His hiding his face is not for ever Though thou canst not see it now yet thou shalt see it Thou mayst say with David Why art thou cast down O my soul and why art thou so disquieted within me hope thou in God for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance Psal 42.5 3. In case that the Animal Spirits do fail a man through the sense of sin and Gods displeasure for it there is relief to be had from God when the poisoned arrows of Divine wrath stick fast in the soul and drinks up the Spirits there is relief for it And this I shall also make evident to you in three things There are three remedies that God makes use of to cure the wounds that sin and Gods wrath make in the Soul 1. The blood of Sprinkling 2. The precious Balm of Gospel promises 3. The sweet oyl of the Holy Spirit 1. The blood of sprinkling or the blood of Christ sprinkled upon the heart this washeth and cleanseth the wound So 1 John 1.7 And the blood of Christ cleanseth us from all sin And so Revel 5. Vnto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood For as a wound in the body natural will not heal unless the blood and corruption be washed out no more will the wounds of the soul ever be cured unless they be first washed with the blood of Christ And therefore this is Gods first work to apply the blood of Christ to the wound and it is very effectual for this purpose as you may see Heb. 9.13 14. For if the blood of bulls and of goats and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh How much more shall the blood of Christ purge your conscience It first stancheth the blood and then purifies the wound and makes it fit for a plaister The meaning hereof is this that the knowledge of our justification by the righteousness of Christ is a singular and choice remedy for the taking away the sense of sin and Gods displeasure for it It is not only requisite that Christ shed his blood for us and that God hath accepted it as a full satisfaction to His Divine Justice which was offended by our sin but this must be applyed to us As under the Law it was not enough to have the blood of bulls and of goats but it must be sprinkled or else there was no cleansing even so unless God applies the blood of Christ to thy conscience and give thee the knowledge thereof that it is shed for thee in particular thy Spiritual wounds that sin and Satan hath made in thee will never be cleansed Thou mayest be justified before God but still thine own heart may accuse and condemn thee Though God doth not charge thy sin upon thee yet thou wilt be continually charging it upon thy self and the burden will be intolerable thy wounds will still bleed every remembrance of sin will draw new blood from thy heart It is true the blessing lies in Gods free remission of our sin but the comfort lies in our knowledge thereof A traitour may be pardoned and that may save his life but if he knows it not he looseth the comfort thereof Even thus it is until we know that God hath freely justified us in the blood of Christ the sense of sin and Divine wrath will be heavy upon the spirit of an awakened sinner and therefore God's sprinkling the blood of Christ upon the conscience must needs be a sweet relief 2. Another remedy which God makes use of for the curing of this spiritual wound is the balm of Gospel promises there are two sorts of promises by which God speaks comfort to a disconsolate soul 1. Inviting promises 2. Assuring and sealing promises 1. Inviting promises and by these he encourages a poor distressed sinner to come to him Such is that Matth. 11.28 Come unto me all ye that are weary and heavy laden And that Esay 55.1 Ho every one that thirsteth come ye to the waters he that hath no money come ye buy and eat yea come buy wine and milk without money and without price And that Rev. 22.17 And the Spirit and the Bride say come and let him that heareth say come and let him that is a thirst come and whosoever will let him take the water of life freely Now when a soul that heareth these promises considers with it self thus Sure I am that I am weary and heavy laden with the burden of sin sin is an heavy load upon my soul the arrows of Gods indignation have set my soul on fire that I stand in need of these cooling and refreshing waters I am a poor ceature I have no money nothing to give for the incomes of Gods grace and love I am a meer beggar and therefore must needs be one that God invites And thus God draws the soul to him that he may apply 2. The assuring and sealing promises of comfort Such as these Heb. 10.16 17. This is the Covenant that I will make with them after those days saith the Lord I will put my laws into their hearts and in their minds will I write them and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more And that in Esay 57.15 16 17 18 19. For thus saith the