as if they saw Death Hell and Judgment and all ready to take hold of them VVhen news was brought unto Lewis of the death of his Mother perceiving by the countenance of the messengers that they were ready to tell him something that would afflict his heart Let me pray first saith he and then speak what ye have to say A man may be sure it is a time of finding when he can experience not onely present fears remov'd but his spirit brought up into such a gracious frame as he can quietly hear any thing without dishonouring God through murmuring and sinful passions either in his thoughts speech or action Secondly It is a time of finding 2. It is a time of finding when the Spirit faints not but is kept lively up in the duty of seeking when the Lords people faint not in their SEEKING but are kept up and have life and power given them to persist and persevere to the end As fresh Oyl poured often into the Lamp preserves the light from going out so their groanings and cries cease not day nor night through fresh supplies of the Spirit o Isa 40.29 30 31. He giveth power to the faint and to them that have no might he encreaseth strength Even the youths shall faint and be weary and the young men shall utterly fall But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength they shall mount up with wings as Eagles they shall run and not be weary and they shall walk and not faint The meaning is whereas proud Hypocries p Psa 20.8 33.16 52.7 trusting to their own strength power parts gifts lose what they have and make Ship-wrack of all On the other side such as are poor and q 1 Cor. 1.27 28. despised things of the world r 2 Cor. 12.9 God makes his power to appear in their weakness For though Å¿ Joh. 15.5 of themselves they can do nothing yet he enables them t Phil. 4.13 to do any thing And when they seem u 2 Cor. 8 9 utterly spent they have a new supply of strength to enable them to bear up and hold out and thus x Phil. 1.6 he perfecteth the good work begun in them And indeed this is a gracious return of prayer when the soul is not onely strengthened and enabled to hold out but is sweetly raised and enlarged in the work Though we have not the thing we ask yet if we can sigh more and weep more for it then we did Here is a time of finding yea such a FINDING as it is much better sometimes to be kept up by fresh supplies of the Spirit in sighs and tears then to have presently what is ask'd As the Husbandman the more seed he sows the larger is his Crop at harvest Doth the Lord keep thee sowing in tears doth he supply thee with precious seed Oh it is a blessing of blessings thy reaping y Gal. 6.9.10 in due season shall be accordingly I know Satan and Hypocrites are ready to reproach us with the little profit we have by our mournings You have been say they these three or four years in tears nothing but sighing crying out against Self-seekers Oppressors Covenant-breakers but what hearing-time have ye had a Mal. 3.14 What profit is it that ye have walked mournfully before the Lord of Hosts To this we answer Whereas we have not fainted but have been kept up in the work all this time yea have had such fresh springs of encouragement and enlargement that our tears and sighing the last to be more then the first Hence we are satisfied that the ears of the Lord of Sabboth have been open to our prayers Many and great were the discouragements which b Mat. 15.21 22. c. the woman of Canaan met with when she besought Christ for her daughter 1. Christ goes away from her as if he would not hear her when she had followed him and gotten a word from him what was it truly a hard saying He is not sent unto such as she Well she faints not neither is weary but continues her cry Lord Lord have mercy upon me VVhat follows next that her request was unseemly unreasonable viz. To cast Childrens bread to Dogs A man would think whilst Christ carried himself thus towards her it was no time of finding whereas in truth she found him all the while I say all this time that these discouragements and temptations lay upon her it was A TIME OF FINDING But you will say How I answer both in keeping up her soul that she fainted not and in making way for the discovery of that great faith which he gave her So that it was better for the woman that she was defer'd a while and strengthened in the work then to have had her request sooner granted To you therefore my Brethren and Companions in Tribulation and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ this I would humbly send to you whereas the Lord hath strengthned you in mourning and crying against the Abominations of the last Apostacie it is not onely matter of comfort to assure you that there hath been a time of finding but also and note it well there is a blessing in it and much divine love Oh it is love indeed unspeakable when the Lord draws from us abundance of tears and groans and enables us to wait long before he gives the blessing A word likewise to our DISSENTING-BRETHREN whose mourning of late is turned into laughter and their heaviness to joy Josephs afflictions are no more remembred neither the oppression and cry of the poor and needy c Eccl. 7.4 Their heart is not now in the house of mourning but in the house of mirth As if they were placed in the earth as Leviathan in the Sea only to take their sport and pastime therein Here lies the difference between you and your Brethren you laugh and are more merry then you used to be because of the advantages you have by these corrupt times whereas your poor Brethren are more in tears and in bitterness of Soul these 3. or 4. yeers then they us'd to be for the great dishonor scandal and reproach which you have brought to the name of God and profession of Religion by assisting and justifying of mens INTEREST against the interest of Christ and his people hear what the Lord saith to both d Luk. 6.21 Blessed are ye that weep NOW for ye shall laugh e Ver. 25. Woe unto you that laugh NOW for ye shall mourn and weep 3. A time of finding when Saints rest fully satisfied in the things they ask Thirdly When Mourners have such a return of prayer as they rest fully satisfied therein My meaning is the Lord perswades their hearts that he will so answer the travel of their Souls as all things shall work together to his Glory and their comfort and content and thus had Paul a time of finding when the Lord told
Ah ah Doe ye think that sobs and groans will doe it Of such Libertines and profane scoffers David speaks t Psa 14.6 The Counsel of the poor afflicted ye would make abaâ—hed because Iehovah is his hope that is Ye have derided the Godly when yee heard them in affliction to call upon the Lord and would discourage them from making God their Hope by faith and prayer Indeed this strikes deep when the Enemy reproacheth our prayers Iob found it so u Job 12.4 I am as one mocked of his neighbor calling upon God And David sadly complains of it x Psa 42.3 My tears have been my meat day and night while they continually say Where is thy God Again y vers 16. As with a sword in my bones mine enemies reproach me while they dayly say unto me Where is thy God A man that hath a weapon thrust to the bone cannot bear it long he must have it forth or dyes Though it be a grievous thing to have our prayers reproach'd yet this help we have by it namely it will force us to be the more fervent and earnest with God and not to rest day nor night till there be A TIME OF FINDING We finde in Scripture that the tryumphing of the wicked hath layn very much upon the Spirits of Saints and therefore have desired a Time of finding that the Enemy might not insult z Psa 13.34 Consider and hear me O Lord lest mine enemy say I have prevayled against him and those that trouble me rejoyce Again a Psa 140.8 Grant not O Lord the desire of the wicked further not his wicked device lest they exalt themselves What is it that Apostates and other wicked men would have That Mourners in Zion might have no Time of finding And what would they do should they have their desire It is not to be uttered the wickedness they would commit The Jewes report of one presuming to enter into the Holy of Holiest and abusing the Treasure there was by the hand of God immediately smitten The prayers and groanings of Saints are no other then Choyce things in the most Holy place And therefore when men begin to deride and reproach these Holy things surely judgment is not far off I remember Hezekiahs words b Isa 37.3 This is a day of trouble and of rebuke and of blasphemy for the children are come to birth and there is not strength to bring forth What he speaketh there is our present case when the child is at the birth the woman hath her sorest travel then either death or a speedy deliverance That our Tears Prayers and Sighings are reproach'd it hath brought the Work to the Birth Ah! how Zion now travels as having her last and sharpest pangs and throws upon her Methinks I hear her cry c Luk. 8.24 Master Master we perish But fear not Zion hear what thy God speaketh d Isa 66.9 Shall I bring to birth and not cause to bring forth As the Lord by the blasphemous reproaches and scornings of the Enemy viz. Priests Lawyers and Soldiers hath brought the work to the Birth and put the sharpest pangs now upon thee so he will speedily work out thy salvation e Isa 9.7 The zeal of the Lord will perform this 2. Because the Lord knowes we are weaklings Secondly Mourners shall have a Time of finding Because the Lord f Psa 103.14 knows their frame and remembreth they are dust Things that are brittle and tender should they be roughly handled would soon break to pieces As the Lord knows we are weaklings Babes Bruised reeds and smoaking flax so g Heb. 4.15 He is touched with a feeling of our infirmities and h Isa 57.17 will not contend for ever lest our spirits should fayl before him If a father should see his child at his foot gasping for life would he not pity him and preserve him if he could from perishing i Jon. 2.7 When my Soul fainted within me said Jonah I remembred the Lord and my prayers came unto thee into thine Holy Temple And this also makes me think a time of finding is nigh Because the Name of God and the Cause of Christ lies with such weight upon the Spirits of Mourners as they are even fainting under it Poor Hagar could not indure to hear the death-groans of her child for though she had heard him awhile weep and cry for water yet when she thought he was fainting away k Gen. 21.15 16. She leaves him and goes a good way off and lifts up her voyce and wept As DEATH-GROANS are now upon travelling Zion so the Lord sees it and he will not do as Hagar did go off from her there is no need for the water is not spent in his bottle but out of his fulness he will speedily supply her by granting her a blessed time of finding If a man should hear lamentable groanings and screeches at his gate and looking out at his window should behold poor people ready to starve through cold and hunger he could not having enough by him suffer them to perish It is thus with many of Gods people at this day they lie ready to starve before the Throne of Grace either FINDING or FAINTING And will he suffer such to famish Surely he will not he cannot for his promise l Pro. 10.3 Psal 107.5 6 7. is to do otherwise Suppose a Beast carry a burden so long as through weakness it begins to sink what man would not pitie it though it be a Beast and ease him of it The BURDEN hath been so long on the Lords Little ones and the m Dan. 7.25 Horn so weared them out as poor hearts they seem almost tyr'd One cries n Psa 94.14 My foot slippeth another o Eccles 7.7 Oppression makes him mad others p Ezek. 37.11 Our bones are dried up and our hope is lost c. others q Psa 125.3 The rod of the wicked hath been so long upon them as they are ready to put forth their hands to iniquity All this God knowes to be true and he knowes r Mat. 26.41 the flesh is weak and * Ephes 6.4 Col. 3.21 Parents must not provoke ther Children lest they be discouraged But what may we gather from it Our God will suddenly come and not keep silence to save all the meek of the earth Better one man should die then the whole Nation perish Methinkes things are come to that STRAIGHT that if Christs Enemies live his faithful Friends die if their spirits fail not the others will If God do not suddenly arise for his great Name some Sobbing-hearts wil break at his foot But fear not thou Worm-Iacob Å¿ Isa 43.3 I will give men for thee saith the Lord and people for thy life He will give the Little Horn to the burning flame The Last Apostacie shall perish THE HYPOCRITE SHALL REIGN NO MORE rather then thy Spirit shall fail for
over the Skull when nothing else is left not repenting of his Deed but because on that bone there remains no flesh to eat The Hieroglyphick is applyed to 〈◊〉 and WEEPING-HYPOCRITES who will shed tears when they have murthered the people yet so as not repenting for what they have done but fearing lest they should not have enough of MANS BLOOD to drink and swallow down Quest But if men acknowledge their sins before the Lord with fasting and weeping shall they have a time of finding doing no more I answer No q Jon 3.8 10. Except they turn from their evil way and from the violence that is in their hands When Joshua and the rest of the congregation knew who was the TROUBLER had they onely acknowledged that great wickedness and mourned for it I say done no more there had been no time of finding and so much the Lord tels them r Josh 7.12 except you destroy the accursed thing from among you I will not be with you any more So when it was told David that Å¿ 2 Sam. 21 1 2. c. The three years famine was for Saul and his bloody house because he slew the Gibeonites Had there been no more 〈◊〉 â—â—nfessing the sin and asking forgiveness the Lord would not have been intreated for the Land So it may be said of all others in the like case should they confess their Apostacy Falshood Oppression c. I say publickly acknowledge the same before God Angels and men appoint solemn days of fasts to weep and mourn for their sins Nevertheless except THE ACCURSED THING BE DESTROY'D the TROUBLER ston'd and judgment executed upon the BLOODY HOUSE OF SAUL there is no time of finding neither will the Lord regard such things and this the Scripture makes good t Pro. 28.13 He that covereth his sins shall not prosper whose confesseth and FORSAKETH them shall have mercy If it be so in what case then are such men who are so far from forsaking their sins as they will not confess them but call evil good c. yea more make account by keeping the Accursed thing to prosper and to carry all before them in spight as it were of God and of his Son and Zion But the perversness of transgressors shall destroy them Prov. 11.3 CHAP. VII How Saints may know it is a Time of Finding First WHen a man findes How a time of finding may be known 1. When all fears are removed and the spirit quiet that all distractions and unquietnesses are removed from him and a sweet calm breathes upon his Spirit u Psal 34.4 6. I sought the Lord saith David and he heard me and delivered me from all my fears Again This poor man cried and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles What his fears and troubles were the title of the Psalm shews David for fear of Saul goes to Achish King of Gath and being there he is in more fear then before Insomuch to save his life he useth x 1 Sam. 21.10 11 12. c. strange gestures indeed not beseeming a man much less the Lords anoynted But what doth he else Inwardly his soul is calling upon God and finding that all terrors and amazements were over and his spirit quiet he concludes it was a time of finding You shall see in time of much rain as the waters run down the hils they make a great noise by reason of the rubs in their way but no sooner are they fallen in and closed with the river but the hissing is ceased and all is quiet and still Oh! the unquietness sometimes of a poor soul by reason of the multitude of RVBS what through troubles without and fears within there is a strange noise confus'd like the noise of many waters y Psa 6.6 I am weary with my groaning a Psa 69.3 My throat is dryed all the night make I my bed to swim I water my couch with tears mine eyes fayl while I wait for my God Notwithstanding all this no sooner is this poor trembling shrub fallen into the stream of love and sweetly closeth with it but all casting down and disquietness is over b Psa 27.1 Iehovah is my light and my salvation for whom should I fear Jehovah is the strength of my life for whom should I dread VVe have the like example in David another time when Absalom made that unnatural rebellion against him at first he was c Psa 3.1 much troubled for d 2 Sam. 15 12. the conspiracy was great and the people multiplyed still with Absalom but when he poured out his Soul before the Lord he had that given in to him as he neither feared the number which the Traytor had with him nor the hellish counsel which Ahitophel might give him If a man should see a Lyon or Bear coming fiercely against him this could not but at first amaze him notwithstanding if he should perceive a place of safety by him and run to it and see himself in it now he would fear no more The malice and wrath of Persecutors their threatnings banishment imprisonment ruine of families and killing the body doth at first startle and affright a good man but having been with the Lord and graciously found him he fears not what any Tyrant can do cares not for his big words and stout looks for he sees the Tyrant bound and knows the Lord will not unchaine him neither suffer him to stir otherwise then it shall make for the glory of his great name in e Phil. 1.28 the salvation of the one and perdition of the other It was an evident sign that the Lord answered not Saul seeing his terror and trembling continued upon his heart Is not that Scripture in part fulfill'd at this day f Isa 33.14 The sinners in Zion are afrayd fearfulness hath surprized the Hypocrites Is not Cains case the condition of many g Gen. 4.15 they think every one that meets them will kill them h Pro. 14.13 In the midst of laughter their hearts are full of sorrow i Jer. 20.3 4. Magor-Missabib fear is round about them k Job 15.21 A dreadful sound is in their ear They dream of danger when they sleep and where ever they come l Deut. 28.66 Have no assurance of their lives Oh! what fantastick and pannick fears and Satanical delusions an unquiet guilty conscience causeth He that hath a minde to hurt others fears it is in the minde of every one to hurt him But what may we think of such people Truly I think if the Lord had any regard to their prayers he would not leave them under such continual terror and dreadful amazement m Psa 112.7 A good man shall not be afraid of any evil tidings But these people when n Jer. 49.23 they have heard any evil tidings they are faint-hearted And though it be but a Hear-say and a Noise and nothing in it yet they tremble