Chron. 33.13 For God is neer unto all that call upon him in truth hee will fulfill the desire of them that feare him hee also will heare their cry and will save them Psal 145.18 19. Object Oh but my troubles are such as there is no possibility of being delivered out of them therefore I feare it will bee but lost labor for mee to pray unto the Lord. Answ Though it bee impossible in thine eyes should it therefore bee impossible in my sight saith the Lord of hosts Zach. 8.6 Is there any thing too hard for the Lord Jerem. 32.27 Is thy condition worse then Manasses was Is thy case more desperate then Jonahs was yet hee prayed out of the deepe and was helped Therefore be not dismayed but draw neere with a true heart in assurance of faith Hebr. 10.22 It is a hard taske I confesse to beleeve that God will deliver us out of al our troubles but as hard as it is faith makes it easie by apprehending Gods power and truth in all his promises Thy troubles thou sayest are great But faith tells thee that God is greater and mightier to helpe thee out of them then the devill and all his instruments are able to keepe thee in them Object But I have a long time prayed and hoped but cold comfort appeares for all my prayers Answ It may be there lieth some sinne secretly in thy bosom unrepented of and so long never look that God should heare thee in mercy Your iniquities have separated between you and your God and your sinnes have hid his face from you that hee will not hear Esay 59.2 Therefore Let every one that calleth upon the Name of the Lord depart from iniquitie 2. Tim. 2.19 For God heareth not sinnrrs John 9.31 It was a curse laid upon Moab That hee shall come into the Temple to pray but hee shall not prevail Hab. 16.12 It was a token of Gods heavie displeasure and judgement upon Saul That he sought unto the Lord but hee would no way answere him neither by dreames nor by Vrim nor yet by Prophets 1. Samv 28.6 Thus will the Lord deal with all ungodly persons When you shall stretch out your hands I will hide mine eyes from you and though you make many prayers I will not heare for your hands are full of blood Isay 1.5 Mine eye shall not spare them neither will I have pittie and though they cry in mine eares with a loud voice yet will I not heare them Eze 8.18 Object But I have searched my heart and sorrowed for my sinnes and yet God answeres not my prayers Answer It may bee thou art not instant and earnest enough in prayer thou must be fervent and wrestle with God in thy prayers if thou wouldest speed The prayer of a righteous man availeth much if it bee fervent Jam. 5.16 God is a living God and therefore will not be sought unto with dead and drowsie affections Thou must cry and be instant with the Lord if thou wouldst have him to heare thee Object I have been as instant and earnest in my prayers as I can but yet I have no answer from the Lord. Answ It may be so but it may be thou hast not prayed in faith which if thou dost not it is impossible that thou shouldest be able by any prayers to prevaile with God Hee that commeth to God must beleeve that God is and that hee is a rewarder of them that seek him Hebr. 11.6 True it is that the strength of our wrestling and prevailing with God lieth in our prayers but how not as they be a forme and sound of words but as they are the worke or fruit of faith Let our prayers be never so many never so loud never so long yet if faith be wanting they want their virtue they will be as weake as Sampson was when he wanted his haire The stronger thy faith is the freer is thy accesse with boldnesse and confidence to the throne of grace and the better successe shall thy prayers finde with God though he do not by and by answere thee for the Lord peradventure intendeth to exercise thy faith and make triall of thy patience to see whether thou wilt grow weary or no. For hee loveth to bee importuned as appeareth by that parable Luk. 11.8 Let us therefore use this excellent help of Prayer seeing it is so prevalent with the Lord as the Scripture doth plentifully witnesse unto us Prayer being a service so acceptable and well pleasing unto God hee cannot but heare the cries and satisfie the requests of his children if they faithfully holily and uncessantly do seek unto him Object But have all that do thus pray their requests granted unto them Answ Either they have their requests or that which the Lord sees better for them As the Lord doth sometimes deferre so hee doth sometimes transferre his benefits giving unto us in stead of that which wee aske something better for us As he answered not Paul in that particular he desired but in bestowing his Grace upon him which was sufficient for him 2. Cor. 12.9 Vse 6 Sixtly is it thus Here then is a ground of admirable comfort unto the children of God in the midst of all those afflictions which shall befall them This may strengthen the weak hands and comfort the feeble knees Esay 35.3 of all such as are by God afflicted when they consider that hee intendeth our great good in afflicting of us For our afflictions are as eye-salves ro cleer our dim sight that our sinnes may more evidently appeare they serve for sowre sawce to bring us out of love with our sweet sinnes and as sand to scoure off the drosse and corruption of our nature They are occasions of preventing many evills which if they were not wee should be ready to runne into They are as a School-master to teach and instruct us in the way of godlinesse They serve to manifest unto the world but especially unto our selves the truth and soundnesse of our faith obedience patience and the rest of Gods graces to the honor of him that hath bestowed them upon us and to the comfort of our own soules who have received them They are instruments of fitting us for that service wherein the Lord is pleased to use us They teach us how to prize the benefits of God and to make more account of them then formerly wee have done They are as wormewood to wean us from the love of this world Whose pleasing delights and bewitching pleasures wee should linger after and be ever and anon sucking of them if our mouthes were not imbittered and so distasted with some afflictions They are as cords to draw us unto the Lord in prayer and to seek him more often and more diligently at the Throne of grace then formerly wee have done They bring us into some conformity with Christ Wee cannot deny but that the crosse is somthing an uncomfortable companion to consort with flesh and blood But blessed bee that affliction
4.31 At the end of those dayes I Nebuchadnezzar lift up mine eyes unto heaven and mine understanding was restored unto mee being a blinde beast before afflictions came Object But what if neither my conscience telleth me of any great sinnes committed by me nor the Lord revealeth unto me any sinne which hath provoked him to punish mee Answ Then thou must know and beleeve that thy affliction and crosse is for tryall for example for prevention and not for punishment The Lord will have the truth and strength of thy grace tryed God will have thee to bee a pattern unto others of obedience and patience or else by this affliction as hath been said he intendeth to prevent some sinne which if thou wert let alone thou wouldest fall into Reason 3 Thirdly it must needs bee that God by afflicting of us intendeth the bettering of us because by afflictions hee workes our hearts to a holy feare of his Majestie The judgements of the Lord make the very wicked oft to tremble as it is evident in divers places of the Scripture Egypt shall be like unto a woman for it shall be afraid and feare because of the moving hand of the Lord of hosts which hee shaketh over it Esay 19.16 The shaking of Gods rod makes many oft to tremble That all Israel may heare and feare and do no more any such wickednesse among you Deutr. 13.11 God whips his own to keep them in awe that the feare of God may ever be in our hearts not such a feare as is in the wicked who dread him only because of his power and will to punish them for sin and is therefore called a servile or slavish feare because it hath not the love of God or the hatred of sinne annexed unto it but a holy and a pious feare of God such a feare as is joyned with the hatred of evill Prov. 8.13 and so causeth an eschewing of evill as it is said of Job hee was one that feared God and eschewed evill Job 1.1 This is that feare the Lord wisheth might take up the hearts of his people Deut. 5.29 Oh that there were such an heart in them to feare mee and to keep all commandments alway Which feare the Lord increaseth in the hearts of his children by afflicting them 1. Sam. 12.18 The Lord sent the Israelites thunder and rain in harvest and the people feared the Lord. Prosperity and immunity from affliction makes many people secure careles fearelesse Because they have no changes therefore they feare not God Psal 55.19 Implying by these words that the want of the feare of God groweth from the want of affliction So Psal 73. the prosperity of the wicked is made the ground of their iniquitie There are no bands in their death they are lusty and strong They are not in trouble as other men neither plagued with other men Therfore pride is as a chain unto them They are licentious they speak wickedly they talke presumptuously c. These are the wicked who although they be long spared shall in the end be destroyed perish and horribly consumed because they did not chuse the feare of the Lord. Prov. 1.29 If then affliction is the means of working this feare in us it must needs be that God in-intendeth our great good by afflicting of us for no good thing shall be wanting to those that feare him Psal 34.9 The feare of God may bee compared unto the needle which makes way for the thred and drawes it after it even so the feare of the Lord makes way for much good and as it were draws it along withall First it is a means of our humiliation it will take downe our high thoughts and abate and abase our lofty spirits Jacobs feare of Esau made him to bow seven times unto his brother Esau High-mindednesse and feare are opposite one to the other hence Paul exhorteth us Rom. 11.20 Be not high-minded but feare Secondly the feare of God is as a bridle unto our unruly wills and as a curbe unto our disordered affections to represse sinne This kept the mid-wives from murdering the infants of the Hebrew women Exod. 1.21 This kept Joseph from yeelding to the lust of his adulterous Mistris How can I do this great wickednesse and so sinne against God Genes 39.9 Thirdly the feare of the Lord will make us couragious in Gods cause so as wee shall not feare the face of man Say not a confederacy neither feare you their feare nor be afraid of them sanctifie the Lord of hosts and let him be your feare and your dread Esa 8.12 13. There be amongst us too many face-fearers who had rather sinne against the Lord then displease sinfull men these I may compare unto little children which are afraid oft times to touch toyes and bables yet will be bold to put their finger into the fire But those that feare man more or before the Lord 〈◊〉 look to meet with the Judgement of God Jere. 1.17 Therefore let us feare the Lord and this will swallow up all needlesse feare of men as Aarons rod devoured the rod of the inchanters for the feare of the Lord procureth a good conscience and where a good conscience is there is holy courage and boldnesse the righteous are bold as a Lyon Prov. 28.1 Fourthly the feare of God keeps the heart and conscience waking and watchfull it leaves no place for security Hence the Apostle exhorts the Philipians to work out their salvation with feare and trembling Phil. 2.12 Serve the Lord in feare and rejoyce in trembllng Psal 2.11 Hee that feareth the Lord considereth that Gods eyes do alwayes behold him that whatsoever hee goes about though in secret or in darknesse yet all things are open and manifest unto the Lord Yea that he understands the thoughts and secrets of every heart Psal 139.2 and that nothing is hid from him The consideration whereof will make us to watch over our very thoughts seeing wee are lyable to Gods Judgements for evill thoughts as well as for evill words and workes Rom. 2.16 Fiftly and lastly the feare of God will make us happy for wonderfull are the benefits both temporall and spirituall which the feare of God procureth to us and ours Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord his generation shall be blessed riches and treasure shall be in his house Psalm 112.1 2 3. Such as feare the Lord have a promise of great prosperity Deut. 5.29 How great is thy goodnesse which thou hast laid up for them that feare thee Psalm 31.19 Not onely temporall good things but spirituall also for the secrets of the Lord are with them that feare him Psalm 25.14 Yea the Angels of the Lord do pitch and tent about those that feare him Psal 34.7 Great are the priviledges of such as feare God which in this life they partake of but the priviledges and mercies of another life are so great as wee are no way able to conceive of them May wee not then safely conclude
Christ the only begotten of the Father could not come to glory but through many tribulations and afflictions I hope the doctrine which I have delivered standeth without contradiction and that it is a most undoubted and undeniable truth that None no not the best of Gods children are without their trials and affflictions Reason 1 And if any should demand a reason why the Lord doth thus deal with his dear ones many may be rendered some whereof respect the sinnes of his children either as they are past present or to come Sometime the Lord afflicteth his children that so they may ransack and search their own hearts and consciences and so find out some sinnes which have a long time lurked in their breasts and are not as yet repented of Lament 3.39 40. Man suffereth for his sinne let us search and try our wayes The heart is deep yea deceitfull and wicked above all things who can know it Jere. 17.9 It hath many turnings and secret corners many holes for sinne to sculk and lurk in so as it will very hardly be found out unlesse a privie watch be set a narrow search be made In the examination of a craftie a cunning thief the Justice or Judge had need to gather his wits together and to have his eyes in his head least he be not able to find out that villany which will never be confessed though the evidence be cleer against it Affliction will quicken our wits and cleer our eye-sight so as we shall be the better able to finde out those sins which otherwise peradventure would never have beene discovered That person that cannot by affliction be wrought upon to search what is amisse in him will never do it If the conscience which hath been rockt asleep in the cradle of prosperity cannot bee awakned by affliction it is in a deep if not a deadly sleep Josephs brethren could be touched in their consciences for their unnaturall and cruell usage of their brother when they were in some straights suspected as they conceived to be spies and one of their brethren taken and bound before their eyes Genes 42.21 Whereas for divers yeares before they had no check of conscience for their sinne Iob in the day of his adversitie could call to mind old sinnes afflictions could bring them fresh to his remembrance Thou writest bitter things against me and makest me to possesse the iniquities of my youth Iob. 13.26 Elihu hath an excellent speech to this purpose If they be bound in fetters and tyed with the cords of affliction then will he shew them their worke and their sinnes Teaching us hereby that until such time as the Lord by some affliction or other doth hamper and shackle us wee have no list to finde out our sinnes but had rather cover and daube them over Whereas affliction like unto a prospective-glasse will shew us things a farre off and discover unto us many corruptions which wee have either buried or else slighted over In affliction wee can see our formalitie barrennesse loosnesse dead-heartednesse lithernesse in good duties pride hypocrisie earthly-mindednesse uncharitablenesse and many moe old and new sinnes which before we took little or no notice of Therefore if thou beest now under the rod of God or hereafter mayst be say unto thy heart surely there lieth some wedge of gold or Babylonish garment hid which the Lord would have me search and find out certainly there is some Ionah that hath raysed this storme there is some sinne or other that hath caused all this affliction to befall me which must be found out yea and cast out of my heart as Ionab was thrown out of the ship before this storm will be calme before the Lord will take off his hand from afflicting me Therefore do not repine at the Lords wise and righteous dealing but let thine anget and indignation reflect upon thine own vile heart cast thy selfe with all humilitie at the feet of God begge some of his eye-salve whereby the eyes of thy understanding may be enlightned that thou mayst be the more able to gage and search the bottom of thy heart find out that or those sinnes which have provoked the Lord against thee lest thou perish through impenitency St. Paul writing unto the Corinthians about their prophaning of the Lords ordinance their abuse of the Sacrament telleth them that for this cause many are weake and sick among you and many sleep for if wee would judge our selves wee should not be judged 1. Cor. 11.30.31 implying thus much that Gods hand lay upon them that so they might search out see and confesse their sinnes that so God might pardon them Therefore as at all times so especially in the time of affliction wee should narrowly sift and search our hearts lest any corruption lye lurking there to do us a mischief And if ever we bee brought to a sight and confession of our sinnes it will be while the rod is upon our backe when the Lord had throughly jerked Ephraim he could smite on his thigh bee ashamed and confounded because he did bear the reproach of his youth Jerem. 31.19 Old sinnes could bleed afresh before them when the hand of God did crush them The Lord by the Prophet Ezekiel told Jerusalem that he would judge her after the manner of harlots and would give her the blood of wrath and jealousie Ezek. 16.38 Because thou hast not remembred the dayes of thy youth but hast provoked me with all these things behold therefore I also have brought thy way upon thine head saith the Lord God yet hast thou not had consideration of all thine abominations Vers 43. Teaching us that the end of Gods correcting them was to bring them to a consideration and sight of their sinnes Reason 2 A second reason of the Lords dealing sharply with his children is to purge them and cleanse them from all their filthinesse of the flesh and spirit This appeares by divers places of Scripture I I will turn my hand upon thee and purely purge away thy drosse and take away all thy sinne Esa 1.25 And some of them of understanding shall fall to trie them and to purge them and to make them white Dan. 11.35 And so in Esa 4 4. When the Lord shal have washed away the filth of the daughters Sion and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgement and by the spirit of burning And Esay 27.9 By this shall the iniquitie of Jacob be purged and this is all the fruit even the taking away of his sinne not by justifying but by sanctifying them by the rod of affliction beating sinne out of its old corners for as Elihu said Iob 36.10 He openeth their ear to discipline and commandeth them that they return from iniquity when the Lord doth afflict us he doth really call upon us and charge us to turne from our evill wayes Hee knoweth my way and trieth me saies Iob 23.10 and I shall come forth like
with the net of the Gospel all the cost that is bestowed upon them all the pains that are taken with them do them little or no good All the good that the most of us learn is in the school of affliction So that affliction may say concerning the good wee have as Laban in another case said to Jacob Gen. 31.43 All that thou seest is mine So in some sence may affliction say Thy humility thy faith thy charity thy obedience c. all mine from whence hadst thou them of whom didst thou learn them but of me and therefore mayest thank me for them Blessed is the man saies David to the Lord Psal 94.12 whom thou chastisest and teachest him thy Law If we can pick no good out of our afflictions learn nothing from them woe will be unto us that ever we were corrected The judgements which are upon others should better us according to that of Esay 26. 9. Seeing thy judgements are in the earth the inhabitants of the world shall learn righteousnesse If God will have us to profit by the calamities and miseries which do befall others how much more by those afflictions which touch our own skin or come into our own bowels But alas such blocks such non-proficients wee are that the Lord may justly complain of us as he did of Israel in the dayes of Amos I have thus and thus corrected you Yet have you not returned unto mee saith the Lord. Amos. 4.8 9 10. Reason 5 Fiftly the Lord doth sometime afflict his children to try the truth of grace in them 1. Pet. 1.6 7. Ye are in heavinesse through manifold tentations that the triall of your Faith being much more precious then gold that perisheth might be found unto your praise Apoc. 2.10 Some of you shall be cast into prison that you may be tried The Lord thy God led thee saies Moses to Israel Deut. 8.2 this forty yeere in the wildernesse for to humble thee and to prove thee to know what was in thine heart Why doth not God know the secrets of al hearts doth not he understand our thoughts afarre off Psal 139 1. Why then should hee afflict his children to prove what is in their hearts That we being afflicted may know our own hearts the better and that others also may discern the truth of grace in us Every one almost will bee good whiles all things goe according to their hearts desire as the old saying is The devill is good while hee is pleased Even the wicked whiles there is nothing to thwart and crosse them will carry themselves temperatly and smoothly But let the Lord set fire upon their hedge of prosperity let the Lord but a little lay his hand upon them and you shall see that verified in them which Satan maliciously and falsly layd unto Jobs charge They will curse God to his face they will in a blasphemous manner spit out their venome and poison against the Lord. There is a bottomlesse gulfe of self-deceit in the hearts even of Gods children whence it comes to passe that they can hardly be brought to beleeve there is so much corruption in them as indeed there is but affliction yea sometime the fear of danger doth discover it unto us as appeares in Peter who hearing Christ say that all his Apostles should be offended that night and flie from him Matt. 26.31 utterly disclaimes such unfaithfulnesse and therefore telleth Christ that whatsoever became of the rest he would not forsake him whereas the very fear of some danger or trouble made him denie and forsware his master as if he knew him not Little do wee beleeve what filthy stuffe lurketh in these wicked hearts of ours untill such time as the Lord stirreth and provoketh us by afflictions A mans strength is never known untill such time as it be tried and he have some enemie to resist him Afflictions are tentations to try both the truth and the strength of grace in us our faith our patience our humilitie our obedience our love our courage and heavenly mindednesse then appeareth when affliction which is so contrary unto our nature doth encounter us For that corruption which dwelleth in us being exasperated and provoked by affliction will then or never shew it self in its proper colours Our frowardnesse impatience and infidelity will then appeare when wee are pained or pinched by affliction for then the flesh begins to kick and winch because Heb. 12.11 No chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous but grievous though afterward it bringeth the quiet fruit of righteousnesse unto them which are thereby exercised So that by affliction every one comes to have an experimentall knowledge of the truth and measure of any grace in him Whence hee may say of himselfe and others may beleeve and report of him as the Lord said to Abraham when hee saw how ready and willing he was to offer up his onely son Isaac whom hee so dearely loved Genes 22.12 Now I know that thou fearest God Whiles the Gospel doth go with a fair and calme gale whiles ease liberty and prosperity doth attend upon the profession thereof every one will be a Gospeler as Ester 8.17 Many of the people of the land became Jews when the fear of the Jews fell upon them But trouble and persecution tries the sound-hearted from false and hypocritical professors So that as Paul speaketh of heresies 1. Cor. 11.19 There must be heresies among you that they which are approved among you may be known So I may say of affliction there must bee afflictions among you that the truth of grace may be known in you Affliction saith Paul brings forth patience Rom. 5.31 which words to a carnall ear may sound like Samsons riddle Judges 14.14 Out of the eater came meat Patience to come out of affliction it may seem a paradox but it is a most divine truth not that afflictions do beget patience in the heart of a man but by them this gift and grace of patience is exercised and manifested in us and in our afflictions wee come to make experience of our patience Hence it is that our Saviour Christ is said Heb. 5.8 To have learned obedience by the things which he suffered Not that Christ was then to learn obedience but that in the time of his passions himself and others mighr see and discerne his obedience who preferred the will of his Father in drinking of that cup which was given him though it were never so bitter and unpleasing unto him Wee are all of us too prone to think better of our selves then there is just cause wee can promise our selves great things and build castles in the ayre all the while wee stretch our selves upon our beds and drink wine in bowles live at ease and in fulnesse but these paper buildings these clay walls of ours are quickly shaken and beaten downe if the Lord do but shoot one arrow of affliction out of his quiver against us Therefore the Lord in love and wisedome exerciseth
of olde were much puzled about the divine Providence thinking it an unseemly thing to make God the author of an evill and therefore affirmed that there were two gods The one was the Father of mercies and author of all good that doth betyde man The other was an evill god the enemie of mankind the actor of such evills as do befall man But wee acknowledge onely one God the wise and just dispenser of good and evill for out of the mouth of the most High proceedeth both evill and good Lam. 3.38 Plato and other Heathens would say That God was the cause of all good things in Nature beleeving and acknowledging a Divine Providence in prosperity but when adversity came they were of another minde It is reported of Cato that hee stoutly held and defended a Divine Providence all the while that Pompey prospered and the citie flourished but when he did see Pompey to bee overthrown by Caesar in so just a cause when hee beheld the body of Pompey cast upon the shoare without any honor of buriall and himselfe exposed to danger by Caesars army hee then changed his opinion denying that there was any Divine Providence but that all things fell out by chance It were well with many Christians which know or at least should know more of Gods minde then Coto knew if they were not somtimes sicke of Cato his disease for they can trust God and acknowledgeâ— his Providence all the while they live at ease and in prosperitie but let the Lord change their estate and then they change their minde or an the least they begin to demurre about the truth of this doctrine Object But how can it be said That God ordereth and disposeth of all afflictions when there be many euils which wee bring upon our selves and may thank our selves for as appeareth in divers places of Scripture Hast thou not procured this unto thy selfe in that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God Jerem. 2.17 Againe it is said Hos 13.9 O Israel thou hast destroyed thy selfe And ordinary experience tells us how many mischiefes many bring upon themselves through surfets ryot c. Answ Wee procure unto our selves by reason of our sins whatsoever evills do befall us Besides God by withdrawing or with-holding of his grace gives us over to our own lusts or Satanâ— tentaâ—ions and so makes us his instruments to worke our selves that mischiefe or to bring upon our own paies those evills hee intended should befall us Therefore it is undoubted truth that God hath his hand in our afflictions and it may bee confirmed by these reasons Reason 1 First in regard of the infinitenesse of his being filling both Heaven and Earth with his presence Am I a God at hand saith the Lord and not a God afarre off Can any hide himselfe in secret places that I shall not see him saith the Lord Doe not I fill Heaven and Earth Jerem. 23.23 24. Whither shall we goe from his spirit or whither shall wee flee from his presence Psal 139.7 If wee be in hell there shall the Lords hand take us yea though wee more hid in the bottome of the sea the Lord can thence command the serpent to bite us Amos 9.2 3. So that the Lord is every where The Heaven and the Heaven of Heavens is not able to containe him 1. King 8.27 Hee is above us beneath us he is before us and behind us he is without us and within us hee is not only all eye to observe all for his eyes behold all nations Psal 66.7 But he is also all hand to order and dispose of all particulars If any thing were out of Gods reach or did fall out beyond his presence and privity then were not the Lord infinite and then were he not God But the Lord being every where and filling every place must needs have the ordering and disposing of all things which are done in Heaven or in the earth for as it pleaseth the Lord so all things come to passe Reason 2 that the Lords hand should bee in every affliction which befalls us because Hee worketh all things after the counsell of his will Ephe. 1.11 Man may devise and plot what he please hee may take others into confederacie with him but the Lord laughes them to scorne Psal 37.13 Their counsell shall bee brought to nought their decree shall not stand Esay 8.10 But the counsell of the Lord shall stand and the thoughts of his heart throughout all ages Psal 33.11 So Esay 46.10 My counsell shall stand and I will do whatsoever I will If the Lord hath a will to any thing that thing must needs follow for his willing of it is the doing of it I have purposed it and I will do it Esay 46.11 Therefore they blasphem the omnipotencie and power of God who say That Gods will attendeth and follows mans and worketh in many things as our will inclineth which is to set the cart before the horse to make the supreme governesse come after the handmaid Object But doth it not please the Lord to afford so much libertie to his creature that some thing may bee done as wee will and best liketh us Answ The Scripture doth no where tell us that God doth at any time suspend his omnipotencie and purpose so farre as to put the staffe at any time out of his owne hand that man may will any thing against or without the will of God Wee may not say wee will go to the next towne But if God will Jam. 4.15 The heart of man purposeth a way but the Lord directeth his steps Prov. 16.9 Howsoever the wicked may bandy themselves against the Lord his anointed they can do no more nor other but whatsoever his hand and counsell hath appointed to bee done Act. 4.28 Reason 3 Thrdly because all the creatures both of Heaven and Earth and under the Earth are ready prest as so many servants and souldiers to be sent forth and commanded at the will of God their Soveraigne Lord and chieftaine If the Lord will lead any of his hosts against Pharoah and his people for the rescue and deliverance of Israel his chosen they shall march in battell aray and they shall follow in ten severall troups and at the heeles of one another The least the meanest and the vilest of these hosts though of Lice or Grashoppers under the conduct of the Lord shall be able to make head against this great Monarch Pharoah and bring down the spirit and stomack of this proud King who a little before asked Who is the Lord that I should heare his voice and let Israel go I know not the Lord neither will I let Israel go Exodus 5.2 All which considered namely That the Lord is every where fulfilling all places and that all things are effected as hee will and that all creatures are at his bay wee may safely conclude That no affliction can befall us but that which the Lord appointeth unto us as 1. Thes
personally holy and pure free from all fault without any blot or blemish of iniquitie but hee is holy and unblamable in regard of Gods gracious acceptation of him through Christ as if he had never sinned For you must know that where sinne is pardoned it is purged If thou canst truely mourne for thy sinne thou art forthwith disburdened of the guilt and freed from the eternal punishment of all thy former wickednesse Repentance if it be true doth cast sinne out of the heart and where this is done God laies down all quarels against such a person Therefore nourish no sin abandon it banish it from thee break off thy course of sinne betimes even whiles it is called to day and then Gods countenance will appear friendly comfortable unto thee and thy conscience will be quiet and speak peace unto thee Object This were some comfort if I could beleeve what you say or be able to apply it unto my selfe which I can not doe Answ This indeed is another sore affliction which lies heavie upon the hearts of many of Gods dear children They are for the most part annoyed and pestered with doubttings and unbeliefe The glad tidings of the Gospel some say are too good to be true or if true too good for them to share in And why for them because they say they are such sinners And came not Christ into the World to call sinners yea the greatest sinners such as Manasses and Paul was who acknowledged himselfe to be the chiefe of sinners 1. Tim. 1.15 The greater thy sinnes have been the more thine unworthinesse is the more will the grace of God shine in receiving of thee into grace and mercie Object If it were with me as it is with good people I could beleeve this if there were that grace in mee I perceive to be in others I make no question but God would be good unto me Answ Oh beware of spirituall Symonie Too many thinke that the mercie of God must be purchased by somthing of theirs if they were thus or thus quallified they durst beleeve if they had thus much sanctification they durst hope But these erre not knowing the Scriptures nor the goodnesse of God whose grace is freely bestowed upon all that partake of it Ho every one that thirsteth come yee to the waters and yee that have no silver come buy wine and milk without silver and without money Isa 55.1 In which words all condition of merit on our part is utterly excluded Christ in the Gospel is offered freely unto sinners and there is no more required at our hands but to receive and welcome him being offered freely unto us The water of life is tendered freely to all that desire it I will give to him that is athirst of the well of the water of life freely Revel 21.6 The Spirit and the Bride say Come and let him that is athirst come Revel 22.17 Object But I cannot thirst as I should Answ But hast thou a will Dost thou desire to thirst wouldest thou faine thirst hast thou a will These words are also added to draw on fearfull and doubting sinners and let whosoever will take of the water of life freely Revel 22.17 O sweet words O comfortable words Thou sayest thou wouldst faine have mercy faine have Christ what hinders thee from receiving him from beleeving Heere is a word heere is thy warrant to take Christ Nay thou art peremptorily commanded to beleeve 1. John 3.23 This is then his Commandment that wee beleeve in the namt of his Sonne Jesus Christ Thou hast as good warrant to beleeve the promises and to receive Christ as to love thy neighbor or to absteine from theft murder c. Darest thou kill commit adultrey or steale No. And why so Because these are breaches of Gods Commandment And dost thou not also break Gods Commandment when thou doubtest of his goodnesse when thou beleevest not God commands thee to receive Christ for thy salvation therefore if thou hang back through doubting if thou question Gods truth thou committest a greater sinne then if thou didst break the whol morral law therfore stand not on rhine own termes with God The Lord knew how base unworthy the best of us were when he tendred his Christ unto us The Gospell was to be preached unto every creature and Christ tendred unto every sinner for of what kind soever our sinnes have been the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sinne 1 Jo. 1.7 If thou wilt accept of Christ he will aceept of thee thou hast his word and promise Come unto me all ye that are weary and laden and I will ease you Mat. 11.28 Christ requires no more of thee but to come unto him no more but thy hearts consent to receive him before any other If thou canst but come and desire and take Christ to be thine it is enough for thy happinesse and salvation If thou hast but so much humiliation as may cause thee to abhorre thy selfe and to disclaime thine own worth as dung and dogs meate if thou hast but so much sorrow and heart breaking as may divorce thee from thy sinnes and make thee willing to accept of Christ thou art a happy person How darest thou then stand a loofe upon termes of thine own unworthinesse Is it any other then ingratefull rudenesse to prescribe the Lord upon what termes we shall have his wine and milke when as he bids us come and take it for nothing If any master should call one of his servants unto him and he should draw back and go away saying I am not fine enough to come before thee would this frivolous excuse be sufficient to beare him out in his unmanner like disobedience So when the Lord cals thee to partake of his mercy if thou hangest back because thou art not good enough as thou supposest what dost thou else but slight yea scorne the free grace and undeserved kindnesse of the Lord. Therefore be perswaded to make choice of Christ to be thine which if thou dost I dare assure thee thou art a justified person although thou dost not by and by feele the sweet influence of his grace nor the presence of his spirit perswading thy heart that heaven and salvation are questionlesse thine Object But some will say I have falne off from Christ I have broken that vow and covenant made betwixt us I have not walked so closely with the Lord as is required of me and as I have promised I have abused his love and favor and turned his Grace into wantonnesse nay which is worse my heart hath not melted nor dissolved into teares upon the view of my faylings which makes me feare that the Lord in displeasure hath cast me off and is departed from me Answ If he be so it will be but for a moment to humble thee to see how thou wilt take his absence but whereas thou saist thou hast broken covenant and therfore thinkest that the Lord hath cast thee off know that
thought of them Then feare not they shall not be layd to thy charge Assure thy selfe those sighes and groans which proceed from thy perplexed soul shall find so much grace and favor with God as they shall be able to prevaile with him for that blessing thou hast begd and standst in need of And although thou canst not pray as thou wouldst yet sigh and groane as thou shouldst and hee which knowes the secrets of all hearts will be able to understand the meaning of thy sighs and groans of the spirit within thee which doth plead and speak to God for thee Object But I feare the Lord doth abominate my sacrifice and service as loathsome hee may cast it as dung in my face and lay some judgement upon mee for offering up such a strange sacrifice unto him Answ If God hath given thee a heart to mourne for sinne he hath made thee able to offer him such a sacrifice as hee is well pleased with and therefore he can not but accept of thy person whatsoever thy failings have been Thy grieved soul and sorrowfull spirit is a sacrifice which casts a sweet savor in the Lords nostrills Psalm 51.17 And would God accept of thy sacrifice if hee had rejected thee No no assure thy selfe that God hath accepted of thy person if hee accepts of thy sacrifice The Lord had 〈…〉 and to his offering Gâ—â—e 4.4 The melting of thy soul and the kindly mourning over him whom thou hast pierced with thy sinne is a most infallible evidence of Gods love towards thee and of the saving presence of his holy Spirit abiding in thee Therefore let thy spirit rejoyce in that thou art able to mourne for sinne Those teares which proceed from a grieved soul and wounded spirit may be compared unto Aprill showers which bring on May-flowers although these showers wet where they fall Yet through the heat of the Sunne working with them they produce a great deale of sweetnesse in those plants and hearbs which they fall upon There is abundance of joy in all godly sorrow As the harvest is potentially in the seed so the harvest of true and sound joy growes out of this seed of sorrow Psalm 126.5 They that sow in teares shall reap in joy Why is thy soul then so troubled within thee why art thou still so sad so heavie and dejected Object Howsoever I grieve and mourn yet I can not beleeve that there is any truth of grace in mee in that I am not so fruitfull and profitable in my place and calling as I should and faine would bee I am a barren fruitlesse tree one that cumbers the earth fit for nothing but the fire Answ But is it not with thee as it fareth with some covetous earthly gripple-minded persons which spend their time in scraping and raking together these outward things pinch their bodies and are ever and anon whining and complaining that they have nothing when as their chests are full of good linnen their houses stored and stuffed full of utensills and their purse full of money but being blinded with the love of the world think they have nothing because they have not so much as their covetous eye would look over and therefore do neither thankfully acknowledge what they have received nor profitably improve any thing they do enjoy either to Gods glory their own comfort or others good Even so many afflicted souls being overladen with anguish of mind and deluded by Satan oft times complaine of the want of grace in the midst of plentie not seeing as the saying is wood for trees and thus do bely both God and themselves And it is just with the Lord somtimes to hold his children down with feares and doubtings because they have not been sufficiently thankfull to God for that rich grace they have received from him Our unthankfulnesse is not only as a great fogg and mist which doth exceedingly obscure and darken the grace of God in his children but is also as a worme or canker which eats into the sap and heart of grace so as it thrives not nor fructifies as otherwise it would do But such as are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God Psalm 92.13 Doth not the Prophet Jeremiah also tell us that those that trust in the Lord and whose hope the Lord is shall be as a tree planted by the water which spreadeth out her roots shall not care for the yeere of drought neither shall cease from yeelding fruit Jere. 17.8 Answ And is not this good fruit to bemoane thy barrennesse Admit that for the present thou dost not increase thy spirituall stock as thou desirest thou dost not perceive grace to thrive and grow in thee as thou dost behold it in others must it needs follow that thou are therefore utterly destitute and void of grace A man whiles hee is asleep makes no use of many good things hee hath a hand benummed with cold feels not that which it holds fast It may so fall out that grace may be somthing chilled in thee doth it therefore follow that it is quite killed in thee Thou must learn to put a difference betwixt no grace and grace some way infeebled for the present It fares with grace in the hearts of many of Gods children as it doth with the Moon somtimes in the full and somtimes in the wain or as with the Sea which somtimes flowes and sometimes ebbs even so through Satans malice and our own frailtie grace may seem somtime to ebbe in us and then no wonder if the heart be deaded and out inward peace disturbed through feares and doubtings Assure thy selfe this off and on this up and down this heat and cold ariseth from those principles of grace and corruption abiding in all the Lords people Corruption somtimes prevailes and this royles and troubles these living waters within us and makes them thick and muddy so as little good appeares in us but anon when the wind of the spirit blowes againe with its holy blast it cleanseth and refineth these troubled waters whose cleernesse may again be seen and whose goodnesse may be tasted Object But my case is worse then ordinary for I have returned with the dogge to lick up my old vomit after repenting and cleansing yea covenanting with God for ever to renounce and abandon my former sinnes I have with the swine wallowed in the old mire of filthinesse and therefore I cannot think that ever grace was in truth begun in mee Answ If it be so thy case is the more lamentable and fearefull but yet it is not desperate For divers of the Lords people many worthie ones have relapsed have fallen back unto old sinnes and yet by the goodnesse and mercie of God have recovered themselves againe and gained the love and favor of God Did not Abraham sinne the matter of Sarah his wife hazarding her chastitie by a poore plot yea a sinfull pollicie exposing his wife to adultrey for his own outward peace
That the end of Gods afflicting of us is the bettering of us When as by affliction hee brings us to a thorow knowledge and understanding of our selves to judge aright of the nature of sinne and so to come to abhorre and detest it and last of all by affliction wee are brought to feare the Lord. Not that afflictions of themselves do work this good in any for they only make the wound they do not heal they only cast us down but cannot raise us up againe they are as a Schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ they bring not Christ into the heart of a sinner It prepares the heart and makes a way for good it is only the spirit of God working with the Word and helping us to apply the same aright unto our selves which is the efficient cause of all good that betideth us yet because the Lord doth work good by affliction that thing is figuratively applyed unto affliction which is the proper worke of Gods Spirit in the hearts of his children Vse Is it so that the chiefe end of the Lords afflicting of us is the bettering of us Then are the Romanists grosly mistaken who say that God hath another end in correcting of us and that is say the Papists for the punishment of our sinnes and the satisfying of Gods Justice All sinne doth deserve a double punishment both temporall and eternall This latter say they Christ hath undergone for all his members but the former the temporall punishment lyeth upon our necks and must be undergone by us as a satisfaction to be made of our parts to the Justice of God And for proofe hereof they alledge the example of David who howsoever hee was received into mercie upon his humiliation and contrition and so freed from eternall punishment yet was hee not quit of that satisfaction which he was in his own person to make unto God for his offences therefore did hee say they indure temporal punishments A foul and a grose error and that which doth not only derogate from the all-sufficiencie of Christ his merrit and satisfaction for with one offering hath hee consecrated for ever them that are sanctified Hebrewes 10.24 But it also takes much from the goodnesse of God his love and mercie is wonderfully clouded eclipsed by their doctrine For whereas the Lord telleth us that hee doth afflict us in great love for the bettering of us for the beating of sinne down in us and driving it away from us they say that God correcteth us for the punishment of sinne in us and the satisfying of his justice Away therefore with their blasphemous doctrine and beleeve wee the Word of truth and be wee assured that our afflictions are rather furtherances of sanctification then any helps or means of satisfaction administred unto us rather as medicines and preservatives to help us then as swordes to wound or hurt us For the Lord in afflicting of us seeks us not himselfe alone and rather the bettering of us then the satisfying of his own minde for hee goeth unwillingly to punish Lam. 3.33 And yet how ready are wee to turn the truth of God into a lie wee are ready to think that the Lord doth punish us to ease his mind of us and that wee suffer to satisfie Truth it is that the Lord doth punish the wicked his enemies to ease himselfe and to be avenged of them Esay 1.24 But hee hath other ends as we have heard in afflicting his children therefore wee may not say by our temporall punishments wee are any way able fully to satisfie the justice of God for one sinne If this debt had not been discharged by Christ our surety wee should be cast into prison wee should perish everlastingly Vse 2 Therefore hold wee this as an undoubted truth that God may forgive us our sins yet here punish our persons not to exact any satisfaction of us as if Christ his satisfaction were insufficient and wee reconciled unto God by halves but to make us better for time to come Secondly if the end of Gods correcting us bee the bettering of us wee may take notice of our perverse and crooked nature and temper with whom gentle and faire means that is the Word of God and benefits bestowed upon us cannot prevail but that the Lord must bee forced to take this tart and unpleasing course with us namely correcting us for our amendment The Lord as hee proclames himselfe is a father of mercies slow to anger and of great patience long in his long-suffering one that delights not in our griefes but is rather grieved for our miseries Judges 10.16 and his bowels are troubled for us Jeremie 31.20 Object If the Lord were so unwilling to punish his children and so grieved for their sorrow and miserie as the Scripture telleth us why doth hee not which if it please him he might spare himselfe that labor and us those paines hee putteth us unto Answ His love and your good constraineth him so to deal with you Suppose thou hadst a childe that had broken his leg what course wouldst thou take with him for the helping and healing of him wouldst thou not bind him hand and foot tye him down to some place or other c Thy childe it may be cries out good father let me alone you hurt me c. Wouldst thou give over because of his cry Dost thou not rather cry with him to consider what paine thou art constrained to put him unto Wouldest thou not tell him O childe I may not let thee alone for then thou wilt be lame for ever yet still thy childe renews his cries good father if you love me let me alone Wouldst thou not reply againe O childe because I love thee I cannot let shee alone for then thou wert spoil'd for ever Even thus dealeth the Lord with us it is for our good and in love that hee doth any way chasten us this course hee must take with us unlesse hee should suffer us to perish which thing his love will not give him leave to do He smites us with the rod that wee die not and that our soules may bee delivered from hell Proverbes 23.13.14 Oh the wickednesse of our hearts and the rebellion of our wils that wee must bee thus hampered and handled before we can be bettered We may see and confesse if wee were not blind and hardned that corruption is deeply setled in us in that such sharp physick such bitter and unpleasing potions must be administred and that again and again unto us before we can be cleansed from that filthinesse of the flesh and spirit which is innated and setled in us Vse 3 In the third place wee are to be admonished from hence to profit by those light and gentle afflictions wherewith it shall please the Lord to exercise us For if little ones will not serve the turn to reclaim us greater shall bruise if not breake us If we shal dare to walke stubbornly against the Lord Then will he