have not the gift of Faith do not miss it but they that have it though but in a little do insatiably desire the increase of it But do you find that the more you put forward to come to Christ the more you are put back by doubts and temptations It is right the resemblance of him that was sick of the palsie Mark 2.4 fain he would have been brought to Christ but could not come at him for the press This press that stops you are the snares of the world vain imaginations nay perhaps humility a broken heart and a tender conscience Yet find out a way to come to your Saviour though the throng be cumbersom If there be no other way untile the house break down the roof to be brought unto him call unto the Lord to dissolve this house of clay that thy Soul may see him clearly without all impediment But at the worst of all do you lie in a swoon as it were do you think there is no life no motion in your Faith do you fear the light of grace is so eclipsed that you have lost all communion with Christ Remember and be assured that you could not miss Christ so much unless Christ were in you Because God loves you he seems to leave you and withdraws out of the way for a time because he would be found and makes you desire to seek him that you may hold him the surer to you when you enjoy him A mother that hath conceiv'd may think not long after that she perceives some tokens of her conception in a while she doubts of it again and wisheth some signs of better satisfaction she hangs long under many assays of fear and perswasion at last she finds the babe spring in her womb and is utterly confirm'd So it is with them in whom Christ is born anew they have found the Lord yet sometime as it is in the Canticles He is behind the lattice that we miss him with a spiritual jealousie and fall into many of these fits as if he were quite departed And in this state of trepidation we must be exercised that we may know that holy fear and a troubled spirit are heavenly qualities that may consist with Faith Yet I have more to ask Do you look dejectedly upon your Faith because you apprehend it is not full of life in the root nor loden with fruit in Godly practice Wo be to them that are not sensible of those infirmities It is one of the best lessons in the New Testament 2 Tim. 2.1 Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus but it is one of the hardest God gives a measure of Faith to all in the Covenant that call upon him but we have this gift in earthen vessels and taint it with the affections of our carnal mind The best Faith is weak wavering short-sighted riseth and falls like a tune in musick Therefore to encourage a perplexed mind hearken to Isaiah Chap. 35.4 Say to them that are of a sorrowful heart be strong fear not For though it be but an Infant-faith it is a true Faith as an Infant is a true man in the essence of a man though not a man in growth perfect in the real being though not in the degrees wherein we must strive to grow up more and more To prove the truth of it believe all the Word of God and it can be no wider and for the soundness of it believe in Christ and look for salvation in him alone then it is as legitimate and true born as is the Faith of any Saint that is far more noble A dim or a blear-eye that lookt upon the brazen Serpent did procure a remedy for a wound as much as a clear and well-condition'd Eye And a little Faith casting its weak beams upon Christ and his death will go far The quantity of a grain of Mustard-seed hath warmth and vertue in it to spread abundantly If any Faith on earth had shaken off all frailty and comprehended the joys of Heaven without casting its eye aside to the love of this world I do not conceive how the body could subsist any longer here but that the Soul in that extasie would be dissolved and fly away Lastly as God sees such sins in you as you cannot see so he sees such Graces in you as you cannot perceive The charitable to whom Christ speaks when they are at his right hand Matth. 25. do deny such good things to be in them as Christ did profess they had The Canaanitish woman found no better in her self than the vileness of a Dog that waited for crums under the table but Christ commends her for her great Faith The Centurion Matth. 8. saw nothing but unworthiness in his person but Christ gave him the praise above all those to whom he had preacht in Israel Confess then and be not ashamed to say Lord I believe help my unbelief and take consolation that water-springs shall flow out of a barren ground which suspected it self to be parcht and dry Though you see but little by your own light it is because it is put into the Lanthorn of humility And let these be the consolations of Faith CHAP. II. That a Christian's Comfort flows from the Grace of Hope The object of Hope is 1. That which is Good 2. A Good absent 3. Though absent yet possible and that for three Reasons 4. Though possible yet difficult An account of two sorts of difficulties with particular encouragements against them YET know that Faith never rides single but it carries Hope before it Faith is the substance of things Hoped for Heb. 11.1 No Scripture doth better contain them both in a little than Titus Chap. 1. Verse 1 2. The Apostle says That the Faith of Gods Elect first acknowledgeth the Truth Secondly That it is according to Godliness Thirdly It is in hope of Eternal life which God that cannot lye promised before the world began When you see a weight of iron tied to a line wound up on a wheel from the ground to the top of an house remember it is like the heart of a sinner leaden and heavy lying upon the ground and wound up in this Text with the line of Hope to the top of Heaven Heaven then is the express and fair object of Hope and God in his promise is the procurer Promise I say For we do not grope for Heaven blind-fold and fall upon it out of our own head without a warrant but our assurance is incomparably the best that can be given and in the best manners a Promise made before the world began that is freely unrequested when we could have no being to ask it and made over to Christ the Mediator that it should be put into his hand to perform it to us And it is unchangeable as is all the truth of God for he cannot lye neither is there any shadow of change in him What can we desire more Carry this evidence along with you and shew it to
your self upon every disquietness and deep plunge of heart and how can you chuse but convince your self that your melancholy and distrust is causeless The hope of the righteous shall be gladness Prov. 10.26 And we rejoyce in hope Rom. 12.12 The design of Hope is consider'd four ways First it intends unto that which is good which makes a difference between Hope and Fear for we hope for that which is good we fear that which is evil Secondly It is not that good which is present but absent and this makes a difference between Hope and Fruition Rom. 8.24 Hope that is seen is not hope for what a man seeth why doth he yet hope for Thirdly Though it be a good absent and not yet obtained yet it is possible which is the difference between Hope and Despair but we have no colour for despair since all things are possible to God Fourthly It is a possible good but bonum arduum to be gotten with difficulty and pains which puts a difference between the diligence of Hope and careless Security These are the four promontories of Hope and a good wind blows from every quarter I. First It is good for a man to Hope since we hope for that which is good so good that it exceeds all that Eye hath seen for as yet we see not God but in his creatures Nor Ear hath heard it that is in its full unutterable excellency which the words of Holy Scripture cannot express to our imperfect reason Then neither can it enter into the heart of man for things can seem no greater than words can utter We know as yet but in part hereafter we shall know as we are known If we have boasted to the Heathen that we look for a Kingdom and a Crown of glory we are sure we shall not be ashamed of that hope Rom. 5.5 We may be ashamed that we have doted upon petty things out of which we have devised felicity and they have failed and deceiv'd us but our treasure laid up in the Heaven is so sure that in the end and in the day of trial none shall insult over our hope and say where is now the Lord your God If a mortal man detain the wages of the labourer 't is a sin Therefore it cannot be incident to God who is not unrighteous to forget our work and labour of love Heb. 6.10 We shall not always be forgotten our Expectation shall not perish for ever Psal 9.18 The judgment of a good eye-sight is to see afar off so is the judgment of a good hope to remark the unspeakable reward of a better age to come Whereupon it hath sufficient satisfaction and content to leave or to lose all it hath things not worthy to be compared to the glory which is revealed in us Rom. 8.18 The rich Mines and Golden trade of both the Indies are on the other side the Line so the rich trade of Hope is in the other world Change your poor fraught which is your lading in this vessel of clay and barter it for an immortal possession Hope that is not under the embers but mounts up in a trembling flame reckons not what it is worth by a very little which it hath in hand but by its share which is reserved in the store-house of God's eternal recompence Now I am abased but there is mine honour a far abundant exceeding weight of glory Now I carry about a crazy sickly body there it shall be immortal and incident to no distemper Now my neighbours and acquaintance despise me and run far from me there I shall be enrolled with Angels and Saints and with the Church of the first born and with the Spirits of just men made perfect Heb. 12.23 Now I live in all disorder of Church-ordinances in distraction of Schisms in the filthy stanch of old and new heresies but there is the new Jerusalem where all things set forth the glory of the Lamb in beauty and holiness and truth Now I must die and deliver up my body unto the dust but Christ died and rose the third day and will bring again with him in due time all those that sleep and comfort one another with these words saith St. Paul 1 Thess 4.14 And as when Christ ascended into Heaven He went up with a merry noise and the Lord with the sound of the trumpet Psal 47.5 So let every heart break out into praise and gladness whose hope flies up unto the Lord in his holy places Holding fast the confidence and the rejoycing of hope firm unto the end Heb. 3.6 II. Stay yet and consider it is a good which is absent that we hope for When it is come and brought to pass Hope is at the journeys end Say to the righteous it shall be well with him for they shall eat the fruit of their doings Isa 3.10 It shall be well Dixit erit It is not paid down as we say in ready money but we have a good bond for assurance Let me object upon this Doth not Hope deferr'd afflict the Soul Yet be not disheartened it is better than so For first we have somewhat in hand because that which Faith lays hold of is really and actually its own now Hope is Faith's rent-gatherer and takes up that which Faith claims upon the bargain which Christ hath made for us To be clearer yet Eph. 1. verses 13 14. We are sealed with the holy Spirit of promise which is the earnest of our inheritance You see then that though we have not the inheritance as yet we have the earnest of it and an earnest-penny is more than nothing Here I must distinguish between a pledge and an earnest A pledge is laid down for assurance to repay that which was lent but an earnest is given upon a bargain to keep that till the rest be brought in Now the earnest that we receive of the Kingdom to come is the seal of the Spirit an imprinted comfort that it shall be ours A seal that cannot be defaced a comfort that cannot be taken from us So much as you have of that seal so much you have of the earnest therefore you cannot say that Hope hath quite nothing to stay its longing The blossoms of the Spring do not only promise but are God's earnest to represent the fruits which will wax ripe in Autumn I will make it out in another similitude He that is in a Merchants ware-house where spices are stored up shall have some taste of them in his palate by their strong scent though he put not one corn into his mouth so we taste Heaven because the Spirit that comes from Heaven dwells in us and gives many delightful signs of a glorified reversion But to go forward it may not be denied but that Hope is anxious and restless till it come to enjoy How tedious a thing it is to stay long without the company of them whom we entirely love And can it be otherwise than irksom to be so long absent from the vision of
the first enticement no nor upon the second or third assault Resist the Devil and he will fly from you quit your self like a man fight like a Christian The flesh is weak but the Spirit is willing ready able to assist you Matth. 26.41 Thus Hope waxeth valiant and assures it self of victory against customs habits and all contracted impotencies 2. Lay now our adventure the toil and peril of our labour wherein we are employ'd in another balance and more difficulty will appear For Hope is wise and doth not flatter it self as if the Kingdom of Heaven were accessible with little pains What carefulness ought this to work in us what self-denial what fear what zeal what unblamable conversation I run I fight I keep under my body and bring it into subjection 1 Cor. 9.27 For Christ Jesus I have suffered the loss of all things Phil. 3.8 Christ having overcome the sharpness of death hath opened the kingdom of Heaven to all believers yet to put us to our skill and labour to follow mark what he hath taught us Matth. 7.14 Strait is the gate and narrow is the way that leadeth unto life and few there be that find it And therefore is it so strait and narrow a question worthy to be resolved to teach us and to comfort us First a very religious life is said by a Metaphor to go in at a strait gate because it is our master-piece to find the door or to begin well therefore it is call'd to be born again For as to be born into the world needs more art and skilful Midwifery than to bring us up so to be regenerate to begin to live the life that is in Christ is exceeding irksom to flesh and bloud so many are the enticements that throng about the way to keep us from the door and to hold us in love with those sins which have been our companions As an Orator will be more timorous to deliver the first period of his speech than all that follows so we stick long at the first on-set to reform to be strict to pass away with so much vanity as must be forsaken The penitent thief could not find the door till he was going out of the world St. Paul as some compute was twenty eight years old before he left to be a blasphemer But rush on and make way through all resistances he that hath one foot over the threshold and hath cast the world behind him is well advanced into the courts of our God Secondly A Heavenly mind gathers it self up into one wish and no more One thing have I desired of the Lord which I will require Psal 27.4 Grant me thy self O Lord and I will ask no more The new creature asks nothing of God but to enjoy God give me this O Lord and for the rest let Ziba take all I will part with all to buy that one Pearl the riches of Heavenly grace The servant of sin hath all manner of pleasures under Heaven to trade in Can he ask for a shop with more variety of ware why may he not have these you will say and life eternal to boot Some of them are inconsistent with life eternal but all are not so they be added and not sought for as our Saviour distinguisheth First seek the kingdom of God and these things shall be added Matth. 6.33 But if you seek them which is to love them for themselves and above the kingdom of God it is like a man that carries a piece of timber at bredth upon his back there is no door wide enough for a man to get in with such an impediment upon his shoulders It is not the gate that excludes him but he thrusts himself out with his own improvidence Thirdly There are thousands of scandals millions of errors to be avoided but truth and holiness are in the middle in a little compass and happy is he that shuns extreams and falls perpendicularly upon the golden mean The Commandments of God are but ten words Deut. 4.13 the inventions of men and the forms of will-worship are innumerous Pray Fast give Alms Christ comprehends much external duty under those three Heads but the Traditions of men are more than can be put into a Catalogue Call upon God in the time of trouble that and no more is the Pole-star of Faith in Prayer but what a compass doth Monkishness take in to drop beads in the invocation of Angels and Saints Profaneness neglects the honour of God Superstition falls into needless excesses about it the true fear of God is in the centre as far from the one extream as from the other As in an accurate Song you must keep Minim-time or else you will put the whole Quire out so look that you sing the new song of the Lord with trembling and accurate observation miss neither Cliff nor Note that is neither sound doctrine nor pious practice These are the Reasons why it is so hard to get access to Christ in a narrow way and through a strait gate If these difficulties be not discern'd by some it is because they take up Christianity as it is in use among men and as they are born to it But they that came to it in their years of understanding and were trained up in Church-discipline many years before they were baptized and all that time were put to exact trial what they would prove and were taught it over and over how the Laws of Christ were far stricter than any other Laws in the world these were preacquainted with the Covenant which they must perform and then received it with the largest and hardest conditions Yet they were brought on with two special comforts First that God did behold from Heaven the mightiness of the task which we took upon us the troubles of persecutions the dangers of temptations the infirmities of man to resist them He knows whereof we are made he remembreth we are but dust it puts him to admire the performances of his Saints as Jesus marvelled at the Centurion's Faith Matth. 8.10 Secondly when we are under our hazards we shall have an answer from the Lord as St. Paul had My grace is sufficient for thee for my strength is made perfect in weakness 2 Cor. 12.11 Therefore as the Lord said of David when he had chosen him I have laid help upon one that is mighty Psalm 89.19 So we casting our selves upon the help of God upon one that is Almighty though of our selves we have gathered little into our Omer the blessing of God upon it will not let us lack Every hard matter that rose among the people was to be brought to Moses Exod. 18.16 so in every hard cause desire the Lord to plead it and to judge it bring it to him leave it in his Court and he will end it These are the Cordials to revive Hope touching the difficulties it finds in the way to obtain that Good which is set before it CHAP. III. How a Christian's Comforts flow from the