that are his he corrects but for a time but his anger never asswageth towards the reprobate though for a long time he deferre And therefore grudge not to see the wicked flourish like a green Bay-tree for a time passe but by a little and upon your return his place will not be found for God holds not the wicked innocent But for you though you be afflicted here you shall be comforted hereafter for through many afflictions we must enter into the Kingdome of Heaven This is the Kings high-way to happinesse and there is not a Saint in Heaven but hath led this way and beaten this path before us For Stones cannot be squared for Pallaceworke without the stroke of the Hammar and we must be content to endure the stroaks of Gods Hammar of afflictions that we may be polished and squared and made lively Stones fit to be layd in the Heavenly Jerusalem What matters it then to see Dives here flant it in Purple and fare deliciously every day when at last he must be tormented in flames while hunger-starved Lazarus though afflicted here yet his comfort is hereafter and is transported from the Porch of a Tyrant to the Bosome of Abraham Besides though God useth many wayes to bring us home unto him yet none more then affliction It was Hunger that drove the Prodigall home to his Father And surely nothing so opens the Eyes of the soule as misery and trouble O how correction opens those Eyes which prosperity kept shut O how often doth the paining of the Body work the saving of the Soule O how often doe missortunes like the Rungs in Jacobs Ladder serve to mount out soules up to Heaven Let God then wound us so he will but heale us let him strik our Bodies with sicknesse with sores with restraint so he will but with these wounds heale out Soules Let come what will come so it but chase us to God drive us home to his House end in Prayer and make us cry unto the Lord. 10. But still the afflicted soule goeth on and sayeth Though God tell us that he holds not the wicked iunocent and will not surely cleare them but ordains them for judgement and reserves them for correction yet we dayly see that they doe not onely flourish here in this world but goe to their graves in peace and are not to any outward appearance in trouble like other men Well saith God in the tenth or last place Say they doe yet will I meet with them in their Children and punish their sins in their posterity Visiting the iniquities of the Fathers upon the Children and upon their Childrens Children unto the third and fourth Generation they shall be sure to tast of the bitter Cup of Gods wrath here as their Fathers doe in Hell Thus if this name of God in these ten severall properties were but rightly understood and applyed were it but as oyntment poured out and spread upon our hearts there is nothing in distresse nothing in trouble nothing in misery could hinder us from crying to the Lord considering he is strong mereifull gracious abundant in goodnesse and truth and forgiving iniquity transgression and sin c. But without any further enlargement upon these proparties in their severall particulars I will onely clap them altogether and make Application and so hasten you again to the House of Mourning to cry unto the Lord. Is the Lord thus strong and mercifull and gracious c. then why should a Christian trouble himselfe at any thing that befals him here Hath he crafty enemies let him goe cry to the Lord for direction his wisedome is infinitely beyond their policy Hath he strong enemies let him goe cry to the Lord he is mightier and stronger then they all In a word hath he any outward affliction or inward corruption that doth annoy or trouble him let him goe cry to the Lord and have recourse to his God and there he shall find remedy for all nay whatsoever mans ease be if he hut seek the Lord he shall have help Psal 145.18.19 So sayes that Princely Prophet God is neer to all that call upon him yea to all that call upon him in truth He will fulfill the desire of them that feare him he also will heare their cry and will save them And though their hearts be so oppressed that they can utter no words that 's no matter God will have respect to their very desires and surely their teares speak highest and their sighs cry loudest in the Ears of God Let us then groane for a broken heart and sigh and fob and weep and cry Cry unto the Lord. Thus having done with this peoples behaviour in the time of Famine and likewise with the Remedy they used they east their burthen upon the Lord as also with the Motives inducing them thereunto because he is able being the Lord and willing because their God Let us now close up all in our mourning garments and robing our soules with the inward sackcloth of sorrow not onely Pray but Weep nor Weep alone but Cry Cry unto the Lord. From whence the Point is this They who would not have God to shut his eares against their Prayers must be sure that they not onely Pray but Cry and that their Petitions proceed from a broken heart and an humble spirit For till the heart be even pulled in pieces by godly sorrow and rent in sunder with godly griefe sin and lust will not out and then there can be no acceptance looked for from God either of us or of our services The sacrifice of God saith David Psal 51.17 is a sorrowfull spirit a broken and a contrite heart O God thou wilt not despise Mar. 7.35 And therefore did Christ groane in his Spirit when he Prayed for that poor man in the Gospel So did Hannah sigh and weep sore 1 Sam. 1.15 and poured out her soule before God And there is good reason to move us to labour thus to be inwardly touched for till we have a sense and feeling of our wants we may well speak but we can never Pray till the heart be pained with sin its impossible it should be fervent for the pardon of it He that hath no feeling of poverty cannot earnestly intreat for a supply of his necessities He that hath no feeling of his sicknesse can never be an instant suiter for the means of health So he that hath no feeling of his spirituall poverty can never covetously hunt after those true treasures which onely enrich his soule to all eternity And he that hath no sense of his sin-sick soule can never seek to that true Physitian who onely can apply Physicke to his bleeding heart and sin-sick burthened soule This serves for the reproofe of those that come with drowsie verball Prayers those that come with words of course to intreat God to pardon their sins and strengthen their Faith but never poure out their soules before God but onely spend a little breath and they
want nothing that is good Againe he hath promised Psal 50.15 That if we call upon him in the day of trouble he will not onely heare but deliver And who ever did so and found not according to his expectation Then why should not we rest upon his promise hath the Mouth of the Lord spoken it and shall he not doe it for take away his Truth and take away his God head What then though in these hard times our money is gone our goods gone our lands and possessions gone our liberty gone our Friends gone and all our outward slayes be gone But is Gods truth gone Hath he not promised to provide for us when we are poor as well as when we are rich when we are in sicknesse as well as when we are in health Hath not he said Heb. 13.5 I will not leave thee nor forsake thee Did not he provide for us in our Infancy and shall we not trust him in our Age Let every man in all trouble and distresse confidently and humbly say Heb. 13.6 The Lord is my helper I will not feare what Man can doe unto me We have his promise to heare and help and not to leave and forsake but to deliver when we call upon him And since his promise is passed he will performe it for he is abundant in truth And therefore let us cry unto the Lord. 7. But the poor sin burthened soule may perhaps still say What though the Lord be abundant in truth and never promiseth but doth performe What 's all this to me whose soule must needs be loathsome unto him being all spotted with sin wallowing in the puddle of iniquity and that with consent and delight to For this goe look upon Mary Magdalen Luke 7. and others whose soules thou shalt find as filthy and loathsome as thine but when once they fell to bathe and wash them in the River of Repentance and to swell and rinse them in a Iordan of sorrow then see how God dealt with them and be not dismayed though thy sins be of the deepest tincture for there is mercy in store for thee And so he himselfe tells thee in the next place That he is a God reserving mercy for thousands giving us to understand thereby that he hath Flouds of mercy for all that stand in need of it Never went any to God for mercy but he found mercy if he sought in Faith as God bids him for he hath mercy in store for thousands With Earthly Kings he that coms not first speeds worst but it is not so with the King of Heaven he hath sufficient for those that come to him last as well as for those that come to him first his Fountain is never dry the well-spring of his mercy continually Flowes he can comfort thousands as well as one person and yet his store not be lessened one whit Surely there are many thousands in Heaven that were once as bad as we are and yet now they are in a Paradise of rest they are now gone from misery to mercy from a wretched life to a far better being and quite out of the reach of all sin and sorrow Then who would not come to such a Physitian as hath wrought so perfect a cure upon so many and that of free cost and never suffered any one to miscarry that was willing to be his Patient Men did lye at the Poole of Bethesda many Yeares expecting to be healed we need not lye so long at the gates of Heaven for the outing of our soules but we are sure to be perfectly helped when we are truely humbled and fitted for help And therefore let not our sins discourage us seeing there is mercy in store our God being a God reserving mercy for thousands nor hinder us from comming to that God of mercy whose mercy knows no limits And cry unto the Lord. 8. But still the poor afflicted soule over-laden with sin perhaps may say I know that God is a God of mercy and hath mercy in store for thousands But alas my sins sinke me my miseries doe not so much trouble me as my sins which are many and grievous and sins of the largest magnitude and of long continuance With what face then or hopes dare I come and cry unto the Lord For that courage Christian thou whose soule is thus wounded with sin for hadst thou all the sins and sores that might be thou needest not be disheartned from comming unto the Lord seeing he himselfe tells thee in the next place that he is a God forgiving iniquity transgression and sin and if he should not shew himselfe to be such a God towards the militant Church he should lose both his name and his people at once but he pardons all these kinds of sin he pardons iniquity that is originall sin and the perversnesse of our nature that cleaves so fast unto us he pardons transgression that is sins of rebellion and presumption and he pardons sin that is sins of custome and such as are grown to an habit and if any one be weary of this burthen God will give him a speedy dispatch the heavy laden if they come unto him le will ease them And this a man may boldly claime at Gods hand and intreat him to be God for that he could not be unlesse he should performe this for us And therefore though nothing trouble thee so much as thy sins and though they be never so many great and grievous and of long continuance nay though thou wert more leprous then Gehezi more uncleane then Magdaleue and more blind in soule then ever Bartimcus was in body yet courage sinner and remember that thy God is a God forgiving iniquity transgression and sin and therefore down on thy Knees and sall to thy Prayers And cry unto the Lord. 9. But for all this that hath been said of Gods goodnesse towards his chosen the poor afflicted soule may perhaps object as unbeliefe is full of objections and say Alas we see how wicked men prosper hold up their heads and flourish in the world they have their Barues full and Cubbords full and Chests full and all things goe with them according to their hearts desire whereas Gods Children sinke and are trampled under foot the Righteous are wrouged and the Church over-run by the ungodly of the World Nay saith God in the next place let not that trouble nor dishearten thee For I am a God that holds not the wicked innocent let them take their swing and make havock for a time God may spare them long yet will visit them at the last Nahum 1.2.3 For God is jealous and the Lord revengeth even the Lord of anger the Lord will take vengeance on his adversaries and he reserveth wrath for his enemies The Lord is slow to anger but he is great in power and will not surely cleare the wicked Hab. 1.12 And as Habakkuk saith He hath ordained them for judgement and established them for correction Whereas those
in the time of Famine fly unto God in this their woefull wretched and miserable estate when all outward and worldly comforts fayle them and lay their burthen upon him because they knew that he was able to feed and help them though the cisternes of the world were growne dry being the Lord and as willing as able being their God For the majesty of God is so glorious that it would make them fly from him and his essence is so incomprehensible that it is a light that none can have accesse unto and an huge Sea that will drowne such as will adventure to wade into it but the Knowledge of Gods sufficiency and power to help and of his mercy and free favour whereby he is ready and willing to help that 's it that encourageth them to come before the Lord and call upon his Name with strong cryes and earnest requests with sighs and sobs and groanes and cry unto the Lord. Whence the point is this That the knowledge of Gods power and mercy is the onely cause that brings Christians into Gods presence and makes them call upon him in trouble When they are plunged in misery in distresse then God shall be sure of their custome and company like these people here who when all their hopes were perished then they run to God and cast all upon him whom they knew was able to bring Water out of the Flint as well as out of the River and Bread out of the Clouds as well as out of the Barne Canaan they knew could not maintain them without Gods blessing and with it a barren Wildernesse could and therefore to him they fly and cry They cry unto the Lord. For this look onely upon Psalme the ninth and tenth Verse where the Prophet sheweth how they come to seek unto God They that know thy name will trust in thee for thou never faylest them that seek thee How come they to seek God They first trust in God by the Knowledge of Gods Name which name is the Lord strong gracious and mercifull and till men come to know this Name they can never come to trust in God nor to seek God but by the right understanding and applying of the Name of God Nothing in distresse can hinder them from crying unto the Lord because they know that there is no evill but in his name they may have an Antidote against it no fore but there they shall have a salve to cure it no disease but there they shall have a remedy to help it no wound but there they shall have a Playster to heale it no sicknesse but there they shall have a cordiall to comfort it and Physicke to recover it no doubt but there they shall find a refolution for it nor no good thing but there they may get a certainty of obtaining it And therefore to hearten you in all assayes in all distresses miseries and calamities whatsoever to fly to this Name which will be like an Oyntment poured forth to fill and delight the hearts of the Faithfull with the odour of it And though I cannot give you a definition of the Lord your God yet take that description of the name of God notably and comfortably set downe to my hand in Exodus where you may heare the Lord himselfe Proclayming his Name in these ten severall properties Exod. 34.6.7 The Lord the Lord strong mercifull and gracious slow to anger and abundant in goodnesse and truth reserving mercy for thousands forgiving iniquity transgression and sins and not making the wicked innocent visiting the iniquity of the Fathers upon the Children and upon the Childrens Children unto the third and fourth Generation Then what misery what trouble what distresse what affliction what calamity can hindâ—r us from comming to the Lord upon the Feet of Faith and Prayer to cry unto the Lord. 1. Are you layd in the low Dungeon of misery as Ionaâ— was in the Dungeon of Hell in the bottome of the Sea in the belly of the Whale Are your Enemies mighty your sufferings many and your oppressions and pressures heavy then cry unto the Lord for he is the Lord strong all power is in him and from him and for him he is the mighty God and he doth not onely use his might for our Salvation but for our Enemies destruction If then your troubles be great and your Enemies mighty be not dismayed your God is greater and mightier to help you out of them then they are to hold you still in them and he rides upon the Heavens full of Majesty and full of ability to deliver you and to set you free from the strongest bonds of affliction Come but once to know Gods all-sufficient Power then no affliction or tryall shall make you faint The least affliction if God support us not in it will be too strong for us but the greatest nay the rushing in of all at once upon us if this strong God be on our side shall not be able to hurt uâ— or daunt us and therefore when our Hands cannot help us nor our Tongues prevaile with unreasonable men let us fly unto this strong Tower the Lord our God And cry unto the Lord. 2 And now least any poor afflicted soule hearing of Gods Power should say I know that God is strong and powerfull but what is that to me it may be he may use his power to my overthrow Nay saith the Lord God is mercifull as well as powerfull and therefore why should any be discouraged by misery since misery is the very object of mercy and the Eye of Divine pitty is ever fixed upon it For the God whom we serve hath no other riches then the riches of his mercy And this was the argument that David so often used Psal 6.2.3.4 Have mercy on me O Lord for I am weake â— O Lord heale me for my bones are vexed my soule is also sore troubled but Lord how long wilt thou delay Returns O Lord deliver my soule save me for thy mercies sake And in anâ—ther Psalme Psal 86.1 Incline thine Eare O Lord and heare me for I am poor and needy And if we come but crying unto him our very misery will be sufficient to work upon him for mercy so that he will be ready to entertaine us like the Father of the Prodigall with an Vnde plangis why weepest thou my Sonne â—â—k 15.20 I will clothe thee with the best Rayment and put my Gold Ring upon thy finger and thy Fare shall be the daintiest morsell nay he will like that Father of the Prodigall stand ready to receive us with his armes uâ—foulded to â—mbrace us with his hands open to invite us with gifts with his head inclined to afford us the kisse of peace and shew forth his love unto us upon every occasion as the Prophet Hosea testifieth Hos 14.4 saying In thee the Fatherlesse shall find mercy Let us then lift up our soules and cry continually in all straits and troubles to this God of
speed accordingly for their cold Prayers bring but cold successe And this is true not onely of the wicked but even of the godly Psal 32.3.4.5 David roared and cryed but was never the better till he confessed his sin and was inwardly grieved for the same and then both sin and punishment were removed at once Therefore let us strive with the Lord in our Prayers and Supplications labouring for this fighing and crying this inward sorrow which is so needfull that doing as this people did in the time of Famine we may speed as they did in this time of our calamity For thus saith he that is high and excellent he that inhabiteth eternity Isa 57.15 whose name is the Holy one I dwell with him that is of a contrite and humble spirit to revive the spirit of the humble and to give life to them that are of a contrite heart And the longer we wayt and cry the greater measure of comfort we shall have and the longer it shall tarry with us And therefore since servency in Prayer is so requisite let us not onely Pray but Cry Cry unto the Lord. And for our comforts we shall find God as ready to heare as we are to cry and if we send up our Petitions unto him with sighs and groans he will send down speedy and comfortable help unto us and we shall be sure of good successe even above that we can ask or think As it is in the Lamentations Lamt 3.5 c. Thou hast heard my Voyce thou drewest neer in the day that I called upon thee Whether we desire the suppression of our enemies or subduing of our own corruptions or whatsoever else we shall be sure to speed well God will draw neer unto us by his mercifull presence and with gracious deliverance if we draw neer unto him in our miseries and afflictions So saith our Saviour Mat. 7.8 Whosoever asketh receiveth and he that seeketh findeth and to him that knocketh it shall be opened Let us then knocke at Gods presence Chamber-doore and though we be never so mean never so contemptible we shall have no repulse For he will fulfill the desires of those that feare him he will also heare their cry their sins though never so many in number or grosse in nature cannot hinder Gods favour Witnesse the Israelites who lived many years without the true God 2 Chron. 13. yet whosoever returned in his misery and sought God he was found of him Another example of Gods goodnesse in this regard we have in Jonah who though for his Rebellion he was cast into the Sea yet God heard him out of the belly of the fish and set him upon the dry land again A third shall be that notorious Theefe who had spent all his life in the Devils service yet no sooner cryes Lord remember me Luke 22.42.43 but Christ not once casting him in the teeth with his sins gives him this good and quick and comfortable dispatch To day shalt thou be with me in Paradise The last for this shall be Manasses who had been a most weefull and miserable sinner 2 Chron. 33. yet When he cryed to the Lord in his distresse he heard him set him free and restored him to his Kingdome Here then is comfort for every distressed soule let us but call upon the name of our God and then help and comfort is at hand for God is neer to all that call upon him in truth though it be not with such strength of Faith as we should yet if we seek him he will be found of us and he limits us not to time conditions or things but we may look for help at all times in all straits and in all things and when we have most need then we shall be sure of the best help But now if we would be certain of this comsort we must observe these three Rules Job 11.14 First We must put all wickednesse out of our hearts and out of our hands we must humble our selves and turn from our wicked wayes we must remove our sins and then God will remove our crosses James 4.8 So Saint James exhorts Purge your hands ye sinners and purifie your hearts ye double minded And this is it we must doe if we will have God to draw neer unto us for God will not dwell in an heart defiled with sin he will turn both eyes and ears from us if we continue in our evill wayes because that when our Tongues cry for mercy then our Sins cry for vengeance and though we cannot come to him without iniquity yet we may come to him without the love and liking of iniquity we may come with shame and sorrow for our iniquity and then our sins neither hinder our Prayers nor stop or keep back Gods favour from us Secondly We must seek God according to all his means as we find in the Canticles Cant. 3.1.2 c. Who when the Church had lost Christ that is the feeling of his love and the sense of that Communion which formerly she had with him she then useth all private and publick means and at length commeth to conserence with Gods servants which few will doe till they be driven to it of necessity and then having wayted a while she finds him whom her soule loveth The same must be our practice if one medicine will not serve the turn use another Pray Fast Meditate Confer and then at last the Lord will be found in mercy but as we are slack in using any of the means so shall we fayle in our comfortable expectation of favour from God Thirdly We must use the means diligently and in good earnest for if we have a base account of Gods mercies its just that we should goe without them James 5.16 The Prayer of the righteous avayleth much but upon this condition Psal 72.12 if it be fervent God delivereth the poor when he cryeth but if they would have hearing there must be crying God poures forth Floods of grace but upon whom The Prophet tells us Isay 44.3 Onely on the thirsty ground God filleth the hungry with good things but they must be hungry they must be such as feel themselves pincht and starved with spirituall famine Luke 1.53 Christ was sent to Preach the acceptable yeare but not to the mighty and States of the world To whom then even to Prisoners and Captives that is to such as could grieve and mourn for their Captivity Hence is it that a number reade and heare and pray and yet prevaile not because they doe it so drowsily and carelesly the Lord desers to help them because they are not fit for help because they doe not strive and wrastle in their Prayers Let us therefore use all the means with constancy and carefulnesse and then we shall obtain our hearts desire even above that we can ask or think for if we would not have God to shut his ears to our Prayers we must not