his providences intend our good then there are four duties that I desire to propound to you and I will but propound them for I cannot press them the time being gone 1. Believe this truth 2. Apply this truth 3. Act according to this truth 4. Draw out the sweetness of this truth First I would have you believe this truth that God in all his dispensations though they seem never so strange and harsh to you yet intends your spirituall good Believe it may some say what do you think we are atheists do you think we do not believe the Scripture when God saies all things work for good I it may be you believe it but it is one thing to believe with a notional faith and another thing to believe with a practicall faith You read of the work of faith with power 2 Thes 1.11 there are many it may be that believe this truth with a notional faith I but few that believe it with a practicall faith for example there are none of us but believe we are mortall that we are poor frail creatures that must die and drop down to the dust we know not how soon we believe this doctrine with a notionall faith I but how few believe it with a practical faith so as to prepare for their latter end to make their whole life a preparation for their dying day the devils they believe too they believe that God is a holy and a just God and will render to them according to their deserts at that great day when they must be judged before all the Angels and before all the Saints I but for all this they do not repent they have a notional faith I but they have not a practicall faith so it may be you believe this Doctrine but do you believe it practically so as to make use of it that you are able to say certainly this providence this affliction though sharp yet tendeth to my spirituall good But Secondly As I would have you to believe this truth so I would have you apply it unto your own souls that when afflictions come or troubles come or sickness comes when the loss of a dear husband or wife or the loss of a hopefull child or the loss of an estate comes when pangs and pains and fears and streights come upon you you may say to every one of them you are welcome you come with your commission do the work that God ets you about I know that though for the present you are very painfull yet at the laft you will be very beneficiall as I have heard the story of a boy in a Ship when there was such a storm that threatned the sinking of the Ship presently hesat still and was not at all troubled and being asked why he was not troubled when he saw they were in jeopardy of death every minute O saies he I know my Father sits at the stern I know my God hath the disposing of all and he will order all for good And O that we could do so this is to apply this Doctrine and not only to believe it Thirdly I would have you act according to your faith and therefore let the utmost endeavour of your souls be in this that you may find a spirituall advantage by every passage of providence and that every condition may draw you nearer to your God I confess this is a hard lesson to be learnt but yet there are these five means that may help you I will but name hem First If you would act so that every condition may drawy on nearer to God you must live not by sight and sense but by saith for if you look upon Afflictions with an eye of sence you will see no good in them at all but if you look upon them with an eye of faith then you will say sanctified Affliction is better than unsanctified prosperity sanctified sickness better than unsanctified health and sanctified poverty better than unsanctified riches For our light affliction saith the Apostle which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternall weight of Glory How did he know this he tels you in the next words While we look not at the things which are seen but at the things which are not seen c. 2 Cor. 4.17 18. as if he should say look not with as eye of flesh but with an eye of Faith And then secondly As a great deal of faith so a great deal of patience is required also you must not look that the good of affliction should come presently as I told you in one of the limitations No affliction for the present seemeth to be joyous but grievous nevertheless afterwards it yeeldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby Heb. 12.11 As you must exercise faith so you must be contented to wait also Thirdly There must be a great deal of self-denial too so that you can be content to be crost of your own wills that Gods will may be fulfilled Fourthly You must resolve you will not part with your integrity though to avoid any affliction you must not choose iniquity rather than affliction but you must choose the greatest affliction rather than you will commit the least sin If you keep your integrity than this is certain every affliction will work for your good and you shall find every providence will tend to your spirituall advantage in your worst condition but on the contrary if you part with your integrity you shall meet with a curse in the best of your outward conditions here below And then in the Fift and last place If you would have all thingswork for good you must be much in prayer Phil. 1.19 saies the Apostle speaking of afflictions I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ and this is the third Duty And then Fourthly And so I have done Do not onely believe and apply and act according to but labour to draw out the sweetness of this truth that you may be able to rejoyce in the time of temptation My brethren count it all joy when you fall into divers temptations Jam. 1.2 What to rejoyce in temptations may some say if the Apostle had said my brethren count it all sorrow when you fall into divers temptations he had said something but count it all joy when you fall into divers temptations yes and the Apostle knew very well what he said for he knew that they that sow most in tears shall reap most of all in joy and they that can bear afflictions and temptations with most quiet calm and serene spirits they shall have the blessed fruit of righteousness though for the present they are exercised thereby and God will do them a great deal of good and will at length bring them to heaven though by the gates of hell and 't is a great deal better to be brought to heaven by the gates of hell than to be brought to hell by the gates of heaven and it is better to have our hell here than to have our hell hereafter to have a hell of misery to all eternity the Lord write every one of these things in our hearts that we may be able to speak by experience that every one of these providences shall be for our good And so much shall suffice for this Text and for this time FINIS ERRATA PAge 10. line 15. r. deserts us p. 20. l. 18. r. hear p 25. l. 7. r. of whom p. 34. l. 12. r. others p. 41. l. 8. r. it self p. 50. l 9. in some Copies r. had Judah
The judgement of man is one thing saies he but the judgment of God is another thing And therefore notwithstanding all my innocent life which you so much applaud I am afraid to die I would apply it thus If the godly the righteous those that are sincere are so much troubled at the dregs of Guile and Hppocrisie that are in their own hearts O! what cause then have they to tremble that have no sincerity at all in them And when that great day comes wherein the secrets of all hearts shall be made manifest wherein God will disclose the counsels of the heart and all those secret rottennesses and uncleanesses that are in mens spirits when that day shall come 1 Cor. 4.5 which the Apostle speaks of that will be a day of discovery of all that inward filthiness that is now disguised and cloakt under a fair pretence of holiness and the like O! where then will such ungodly ones where will such rotten hearted sinners be able to appear Let this therefore be the second question Are you sincerely good or are you rotten at heart yea or no And then thirdly Answer to this question and then I will tell you whether you are good or no. Are you constantly good are you stedfastly good God complains of Ephraim Hosea 6.4 O Ephraim what shall I doe unto thee O Judah what shall I doe unto thee as if he should say I know not what course to take with you for your goodness is as a morning cloud and as the early dew it goeth away that is their goodness was of no continuance at all many such there are in these dayes they are not constant in that which is good they begin in the spirit but end in the flesh they are good for a while but afterwards they shamefully fall away either from the truth or from the love or from the Obedience of the Gospell Just like your young Scholars that begin newly to write it may be they write two or three letters very handsomely but by and by they blur all their copy O! take heed you be not such but if you be stedfast unmoveable abounding in the work of the Lord if you hold out to the end if you retain your integrity in the worst of times if you be faithfull to God his cause and truth if you be established in the truth and doe not start aside and are not led away with the error of the wicked to fall from your own stedfastness if you be stedfast Christians than are you good Christians Answer but these three questions and then I can tell whether you are good or no. This is the first Use I should have call'd it a Use of examination you should call your selves to an account whether you be good Figs or bad Figs Alas this is a time wherein many grow worse and worse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 Tim. 3.13 Evill men and seducers wax worse and worse saies the Apostle every day just like a round stone upon the top of a hill when once it begins to tumble it tumbles and tumbles and tumbles till it comes to the bottome O! this is the case of many at this day they run from errour to errour from sin to sin and from one wickedness to another till they plunge themselves irrecoverably into the pit of destruction but see whether you grow better and better and retain your own goodness whether you be impartially good sincerely good and constantly good yea or no My second Use is for exhortation Let me beseech and exhort you this day in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ whosepoor Messenger I am That every one of you would strive to be good in bad Times that you would endeavour to be like Lot in Sodom and to be like Lights in the world in the midest of a Crooked Phil. 2.16 and Preverse Generation holding forth the word of life and holding fast the word of truth There is a holding forth the word of truth that is by an undaunted profession and a holding fast the word of truth that is by an undaunted resolution that you would be like to Fishes that retain their freshness in the salt-water O! that I could perswade you to doe as Peter said not onely to say so but do so Mat. 26.33 Though all men shall be offended because of thee yet will I never be offended How many motives might I use to press you to this First Consider by doing this you shall be like unto your God for it is said of God Psal 119.68 Thou art good and doest good You all hope to be like unto God in glory labour then to be like unto God in grace It is said of our blessed Saviour Act. 10.38 That he went about doing good and healing those that were oppressed of the devil O! that we could labour to be good and to be doing good continually But some may say how hard a matter is it to be good in bad Times Alas it is an extream hard matter for a man to retain his integrity then and to swim against the stream when there are so many snares and so many temptations I answer and I beseech you remember it the best Christians are still bred up in the worst times like as the soundest sheep are bred up in the shortest commons It is very observable that the Church and Religion have ever lost ground in times of Prosperity and have ever gained ground in times of persecution and therefore when Constantine had endowed the Church with large revenews Religio peperit divitias filia devoravit matrâ—â—n it was said Religion like a kind mother hath brought forth plenty but plenty like an unkind daughter hath devoured her mother And it is observed that in Diaclesians time which was the Tenth and last persecution the more Religion was opposed the more a thousand times it prospered insomuch that that bloody Emperour when he saw that the more he strove against Christ the lesse he prevailed and the more he thought to suppress Religion the more it thrived he went in a pet and said down his Empire and betook himself to a solitary life he saw there was no good to be done that way And St Hilary that lived in the times of that persecutor did professe that he was more afraid of Toleration than of persecution and he gives this reason For saies he the Toleration of Religion will make men Appostates but the persecution of Religion usually makes men Martyrs So that the Church gains by Persecutions and by troubles and God looks you should be the best Christians in the worst times and it will be a great token of your sincerity if you can hold your own at that time when others are warping and declining But then secondly take another motive and 't is this consider if you be good amongst those that are bad good in bad Times this is that which will bring most honour to God whose honour should be dearer to us
with them and stands by them all the while The use of this point is First By way of Instruction We should take notice of the faithfulness of God and admire it and bless him for it God is a faithful God he is a never changing friend alas we see amongst men friends are false and fickle and unfaithfull they deal with us many times as Job complains his friends did My brethren have dealt deceitfully as a brook Job 6.15 a Brook that in the winter time hath rain enough yet in the summer time when the cattle stand in most need of water then all the Brook is dried up so saies he my friends deal deceitfully with me in the times of my distress and danger and are then the furthest of all from me and so David complains Psal 38.11 My lovers and my friends stand a loof from my sore and my kinsmen stand afar off But God is not such a friend God is never nearer to us than when trouble is near God never speaks so kindly so comfortably to the hearts of his children as he doth when he brings them into a Wilderness Hos 2.14 Therefore behold I will allure her and bring her into the Wilderness and speak comfortably unto her When God brings us into the worst condition he is then the best God unto us when we are in the saddest condition we have many times the sweetest communion with our God Psal 73.26 saies David My flesh and my heart faileth but God is the strength of my heart and my partion for ever And that is a very comfortable passage of the Psalmist Psalm 142.3 4 5. When my Spirit was overwhelmed within me then thou knewest my paths When I was almost at my wits end ready to sink down in sorrow then thou tookest notice of me And I looked saies he on my right hand and beheld but there was no man that would know me refuge failed me no man cared for my soul then I cryed unto thee O Lord and said thou art my refuge and my portion in the Land of the living A wonderfull comfortable passage and O! why do not we break out into admiration and say O! God who is like unto thee who so loving a God who so faithfull a God who so tender hearted and compassionate a Father as thou art that ever ownest thy children when they have most need of thee But then secondly Use 2 Another Use I would make of this Point is this Doth God own us in the day of our fears and streights and in the day of our dangers and distresses and doth God own us before our enemies then it should teach us to own God before his enemies to acknow ledge him before the worst of men and in the worst of times First We should acknowledge God before the worst of men before Papists or Atheifts or Hereticks or Seducers or Hypocrites or Apostates or scorners of Religion for these are the worst of his enemies To own God before his freinds this is no great matter there is no ttryall in that because there is no opposition but see what our Saviour saies Mar. 8.38 Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinfull generaton of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy Angels Our Saviour doth not say whosoever shall be ashamed of me before a gracious generation for none will be ashamed of Christ then but whosoever shall be ash amed of me before an adulterous generation Though the men with whom we converse and amongst whom we live be never so base and vile though they be never such backsliding provoking scandalous prophane wretches and such as are opposers of God his truth and Gospel yet our Saviour looks we should own him before these men even before an adulterous generation else he will not own us at the great and dreadfull day of his appearing Thus you shall see Paul owned Jesus Christ before Nero that bloody Monster of men 2 Tim. 4.16 At my first answer no man stood with me I hat is when he appeared before Nero yet notwithstanding Paul stood for God then and God stood by Paul Thus Peter John owned Jesus Christ before Annas and Caiphas and before the Priest and Rulers and all those that were the desparate enimies of the Gospel though they threatned and imprisoned them We cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard Act. 4.20 And then God looks that we should own him not onely before the worst of men but in the worst of times to own God in good times it is no great matter Hypocrites can own God in good times but God looks we should own him in times of apostacy when Religion growes out of credit when it is lookt upon as madness as Morositie as Hypocrisie and I know not what God owns us when others forsake us and therefore God looks that we should own him when others forsake him Thus you shall see Elijah did 1 Kin. 19.10 when there was such a generall apostacy that he thought there had not been a godly man left in Israel besides himself saies he I onely am left yet notwithstanding I have been very jealous for the Lord God of Hosts 1 Kin. 18.40 And very jealous indeed he was for at one time he slew and caused to be slain no lesse than four hundred of Jesebels false Prophets I confess that act of Elijahs was an extraordinary act and much like that of Phinehas one of the High Priests that slew Zimry and Cozby in his zeal for God Numb 25.8 Doubtless this act of Phinehas was also an extraordinary act and by Divine instinct as judicious Calvin well observes but though their actions be not to be imitated yet their zeal is worthy imitation for Elijah owned God when none stood by him And as we should own God in times of apostacy so in times of opposition When there is a desperate contention against the truth we should earnestly contend contend as in an agony 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the truth as I once opened that Text to you the Epistle of St Jude vers 3. The more violent men are against the truth the more valiant we should be for it and the more outragious others are in wayes of sin the more couragious should we be in wayes of holiness the more others oppose Religion and Reformation and the power of godliness the more should we hold forth the word of truth and hold fast the word of life by an undaunted resolution Thus the Prophet Jeremiah did Jeremi 6.10 11. The word of the Lord is to them a reproach saies he They have no delight in it therefore I am full of the fury of the Lord I am weary with holding in and Act. 17.16 St Pauls Spirit was stirred it waxed hot within him when he saw the Athenians wholly given to Idolatry And God looks we should own him and his
cause not onely in times of apostacy and in times of contention and opposition against the truth but in times of danger and persecution if he should call us to suffer for it Thus did the Martyrs and O! that some of that holy fire and zeal of love to God that burnt in their brests were kindled in the hearts of every one of us The godly Martyrs in the Primitive times and in Queen Maries daies carried the truth as it were in their armes in the midst of accusations persecutions slanders reproaches and in the defence of the truth they were contented to passe through honour and dishonour through evil report and good report Nay through bonds and imprisonments through racks and whips through fire and flames and all the malice and mischief that earth and hell could invent and all the power that the devil and darkness could raise against them could not quench but rather kindled their zeal O! that we had I say some of those sparks that burnt in their breasts Many there are that se em to own God and Religion and his cause and truth in calme and quiet times when their profession costs them nothing but as those Jews that one day cryed Hosanna blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord the next day cryed Crucifie him Crucifie him away with him away with him So likwise the very same professors if they be not sound in the faith that cry up Religion in times of prosperity will cry down Religion in times of adversity Many there are that will be contented to follow Christ to Mount Olivet I but they will not follow him to Mount Calvarist to suffer any thing with him or indure any thing for him no Christ shall suffer and his cause and truth shall suffer and Religion and reformation and all shall suffer rather than they will suffer with him As the King of Navarre once said to Beza In matters of Religion and Reformation I will lanch no farther into the Sea than I may be sure to return safe back again to Land O! this is the temper of many men but let it not be ours let us be rowing though it be against wind and tide let us resolve with David Psal 119.31 I will stick unto thy testimonies I am glewed unto thy truth so the Hebrew word signifies so glewed that nothing shall draw me off 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or drive me from it David was one that did indeed stick unto the word of God admirably sometimes he was derided and scorned for the truth Psal 119.51 The proud have had me greatly in derision yet have I not declined from thy Law and Psal 69.12 The drunkards made a song of him yet did he not decline from the Law of God sometimes again he was plundered and spoiled and lost much of his estate for sticking to the truth Psal 119.61 The bands of the wicked have robbed me yet have I not forgotten thy Law And he was not onely derided and scorned and plundered but he was persecuted too ver 161. Princes have persecuted me without a cause but my heart stands in awe of thy word here was a man that stuck to God and his truth whatsoever he suffered And O that the same resolution were fixed in our hearts that was in the heart of holy Paul 2 Cor. 13.8 We can do nothing against the truth but for the truth As if he should say though all the world speak against the truth though they should band and binde themselves against it yet we cannot speak against the truth but must speak for it and plead for it and die for it if we be called to it This is to own God when he owns us and if we can thus own God and his cause and truth certainly we shall never be losers by him though for the present we may be losers for him for we serve a Master that will make up all our losses And this is the second Use And thirdly to shut up this Point with a word of Consolation Doth God acknowledge and own his people in the day of their dangers and distresses then here is a word of unspeakable comfort to all that are true Israelites true professors those that stick to God and his truth and testimonies for if God do own and acknowledge us here on earth then certainly he will much more own and acknowledge us at the great day of Christs appearing when the wicked would give the whole world for one smile of his countenance Luke 23.30 when they shall cry to the mountains to fall on them and to the hils to cover them and hide them from the wrath of the Lamb when their hearts shall fail them for fear and looking for those dreadfull things that are falling on them saies Christ even at that time do you lift up your heads with joy Luke 21.26.28 for the day of your redemption draws nigh God the Father will own his people at that day when he will put a difference between the righteous and the wicked between them that fear him and them that fear him not Mal. 3.18 and will say as in Isa 65.13 14. Behold my servants shall eat but ye shall be hungry behold my servants shall drink but ye shall be thirsty behold my servants shall rejoyce but ye shall be ashamed behold my servants shall sing for joy of heart but ye shall cry for sorrow of heart and howl for vexation of spirit And as God the Father will own them so Jesus Christ will own them at that great day Matth. 10.32 Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven and he that overcomes Rev. 3.5 I will confess his name before my Father and before his holy Angels Jesus Christ at that great day will visibly own all his servants that have owned him and owned his cause and will say Father these are my servants these are my friends these are my Children nay these are my Jewels Mat. 25.35 36. when I was hungry in my members they fed me when I was thirsty they gave me drink when I was naked in my poor members on earth they cloathed me when I was sick they visited me when I was in prison they came and relieved me Mat 25.35 36. and Father here is a man that laid down his estate for me and was content to be plundered and spoyled so he might but keep his integrity and here is another lost his credit for me and was content to be reviled and reproached and to be counted the off-scouring of all things for me nay here is another laid down his very life for me he loved not his life to the death but was contented to part with his life rather than to part with the peace of a good conscience Father all these have stuck to me these are they that have borne me company and have continued with me in the times of my temptations they
than are ye bastards and not sons As they say of the Eagit shee tries her young ones by setting their eyes against the bright and scorching beames of the Sun and if they cannot endure those scorching beames she rejects them as spurious and as a bastardly brood So God somtimes tries his Children to see whether they will be constant or no and whether they be his own Children or bastards And so he tries their gracess whether they be golden graces Re v. 3.18 I counsell thee to buy of me gold tryed in the fire 'T is a Text I once opened to you and I shewed you by gold there is ment the golden graces of the Spirit of God and pray mark our Saviour would have such gold as is tryed in the fire implying thus much that our graces are not true graces unless they be able to hold out in the day of tryall and tribulation gold you know will endure the fire The Apostle speaking of our faith 1 Pet. 1.7 saies The very tryall of it is much more precious then gold that perisheth And if the tryall of it be so precious what will the victory or conquest of it be As one saies Some vertues and graces they are like Stars that shine not in the day time of prosperity but shine onely in the night of adversity We had never known Jobs patience had not we known Jobs sufferings As their is Honey you know in the comb but it comes not out usually till it be prest and as there is sweet water in the Rose leaf but it comes not out till it be fired and as the strength of a Tower is not known till an assault and battery be made against it So there are many graces in a Christian that will never be discovered till the day of affliction And as the Lord afflicts us for the tryall of our graces so likewise for the exercise of our graces faith would not be exercised were it not for afflictions We know not what to doe but our eyes are toward thee 2 Chron. 20.12 And patience would not be exercised were it not for afflictions Rom. 5.3 and therefore the Apostle saith Tribulations worke patience And obedience would not be exercised were it not for afflictions it is said of our Saviour Hebr. 5.8 that He learnt obedience by the things which he suffered A man trained up in the school of affliction will gain more good by one Sermon than another will gain by ten for in times of prosperity we usually have a deafe ear some truths we understand not others we believe not we kick at some truths and fret at others but affliction opens the ear for discipline Job 36.10 And so servent prayer would not be exercised were it not for afflictions Isa 26.16 Lord in trouble have they visited thee they pouered out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them They prayed to purpose then A man may pray in times of prosperitie but he seldome pouers out a prayer till affliction comes as One saies Prayer without afflictions is but like a bird without wings 'T is said of our blessed Saviour when he was in an agonie he prayed a great deal the more earnestly So that affliction adds much to the grace of prayer And our simpathy likewise towards our bretheren would not be exercised like afflictions work like affections neither would our fear of the great and holy name of God be exercised so that affllictions are both for the tryall and for the exercises of our graces Thirdly Another good God intends by afflictions is in reference to our present comsorts and enjoyments that we may not surfer upon the lucious contentments here below therefore in the midst of our comforts God gives us some crosses to diet us as in the midst of our crosses he gives us some comforts to support us the Lord knows that we have weak heads and are not able to bear a prosperous estate without some bitter ingredient If any of you have a Child that hath but a weak head and he is drinking wine one comes and mingles a little water with the wine you thank him for it because your poor Child is not able to bear strong drink therefore it is a great favour to have some water mingled with it God I say sees that we are not able to bear a prosperous estate and therefore it is a great mercie that he mingles some affliction with it and thereby by imbitters our comforts and so seasons our joys that we may not surfet with them and indeed one main end that God aims at in all our afflictions is to imbitter all outward things to us that himself alone may be sweet to our poor souls God would not have us set our hearts upon things here below he would not have these outward comforts to steal away our hearts as Absolom stole away the hearts of the people nor would he have us say as Peter did it is good being here or to set up our staff here but to be willing to part with what we do enjoy and to contemn it in comparison of what we do expect That is a third thing in reference to our present comforts Fourthly Another good God intends likewise is in reference to our future hopes for these afflictions these severe dispensations of his providence they are both the way to Glory and they work out our Glory they are the way to Glory Luke 24.26 Ought not Christ to have suffered these things and so to enter into his Glory What hath the head gone that way and must not the member go the same way also Nay they work out our Glory 2 Cor 4.17 for our light affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternall weight of Glory Afflictions they are but the file wherewith God doth polish and square us that we may be fit stones in his spirituall building Thus you see the first thing opened unto you what Good God intends in the severest of his dispensations But secondly Who are they to whom God intends this good certainly God doth not intend it unto all Figs he never intended it to the wicked but he intends it to those that are good Figs as it is here in the text I but how shall we do to know we are good Figs I gave you three Characters you may remember the last Lords day let me very briefly give you but three more now that so you may know whether you be those good Figs to whom this promise belongs that all the severe dispensations of God shall be for your good First If you be upright in heart Psal 125.4 Do good O Lord unto those that be good I but who are they he tels you in the next words to them that are upright in their hearts If you be good not only in appearance but good in proof if you be good in reality for you know rotten Figs may make as fair a shew as the best Figs