of our eyes and bitter Pills and sharp lances for the health of our bodies much more ought we to bear with patience the smarting hand of Almighty God for the health of our souls There is no Affliction indeed joyous for the present but grievous but after it worketh the peaceable fruit of Righteousness to such as are exercised thereby Heb. 12.11 Consider that if we do continue faithfull unto the death we shall receive a Crown of Life And if we do but have an eye to that recompence of reward we shall easily be drawn as Moses was to esteem the reproach of Christ greater Riches then the Treasures of Egypt and to chuse rather to suffer Affliction with the People of God then to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season Heb. 11.25 26. For the happiness of that Kingdom which is to come is such that our Blessed Saviour accounts it matter of Comfort against all fear whatsoever as it doth plainly appear by those words of his Luke 12.32 Fear not little Flock for it is your Fathers good pleasure to give you the Kingdome Where the onely Argument that he makes use of for the encouraging of his little flock is the hopes of the Kingdom And again by that place Mat. 5.11 12. Blessed are ye when Men shall revile you and persecute you and shall say all manner of evil against you falsly for my sake Rejoyce and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in Heaven for so persecuted they the Prophets which were before you Wherein our Saviour doth hearten his Disciples against Persecution only upon this ground because their reward should be great in Heaven And surely in S. Paul's Computation the present Affliction is not worthy the speaking of in regard of that glory that shall be revealed Rom. 8.18 Neither is there indeed any comparison at all between them for the one is but a light momentary affliction the other is a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory 2 Cor. 4.17 So that this goodness of God in the Land of the Living is enough to keep us from fainting under the heaviest burden For though our outward Man decay yet while we have an eye to this joy set before us our inward Man will be renewed day by day Fitly therefore is the hope of this Happiness called the Anchor of the Soul and the Helmet of Salvation for by this Anchor we are preserved in the deep waters by this Helmet we are Protected in the times of danger and by flying unto this Hope we are sure to finde refuge in the day of evil And thus we may be comforted against evils present Now as for those that are yet to come we may thus resolve Either they shall not come at all For God will stand between us and harm and keep us quiet from fear of evil Without his providence nothing can befall us and therefore nothing shall befall us to do us hurt For he is a God that delighteth in the prosperity of his Servants Or if they do come Yet the Lord will deliver us out of all there shall be an end Enlargement will come and he will deliver his people even because he hath a favour unto them And in the mean time He will support us in them till deliverance do come and his grace will be sufficient for us For God is faithfull and will not suffer us to be tempted above that we are able But with the temptation also make away to escape that we may be able to bear it 1 Cor. 10.13 And he will also give us benefit by them For he maketh all to work together for good to those that love him Rom. 8 28. And thus we may be comforted against our fears also In a word there 's none can know the way to Heaven better then he that dwells there And therefore which way soever God leads us it is safe to follow him The uneasiness of the way makes us think that it is the farthest way about but the Lord knows it is the next way home And whatsoever they seem to us Yet all the wayes of the Lord are Mercy and Truth unto such as keep his Covenant and his Testimonies Psal 25.10 The Thirteenth Question MY troubles are great exceeding weighty and burdensome and there are no sorrows like unto my sorrows and this is that that doth so break my heart and drink up my Spirit Answer This is Answered in a word It is but a conceit of our own to think our own troubles the worst when as indeed they are but common temptations But say the worst grant that there be none like them yet if we shall compare them either with that which we have deserved or with that which Christ himself for us hath suffered or with that weight of glory that shall be revealed we shall then esteem them all as nothing And as great as they are if we would out only look up and consider duly from whence they come even that alone would be enough to make us patient For thus was it with David he was dumb and opened not his mouth considering who did it Psal 39.9 The Fourteenth Question But my Affliction is such that I am kept from enjoying the liberty of the House of God and from praysing him in the Congregation Answer This must needs be troublesome to minds well affected howbeit if God himself restrains us we may then be sure that he requires not our presence And in such a case if our desires be with the Congregation even that desire will be sufficient Neither is the Lord so confined to the Congregation but that he is near to all that call upon him faithfully wheresoever they be when necessity and not neglect is the reason of their absence And besides all this if at any time by reason of age or sickness we are not able to do those things which we do desire and did performe in the times of our health and strength then shall a willing mind be well pleasing unto God and good desires shall be accepted Yea furthermore this we must know for our consolation that a patient submitting to the good will of God is a Worshipping of him as appears by that Iob 1.20 21. Where Iob is said to Worship God when he did with patience and contentedness submit unto him This is indeed a glorifying of God and herein we acknowledge him to be our God and in thus submitting we shall perform unto God as good service as ever we did in all our lives For this is the passive part of true obedience and the tryal of sincerity in other things To serve the Lord when all goes well with us is much and it is altogether as much if not more to resolve to trust in him though he should kill us And if we can with Job hold fast our Righteousness and in the hour of semptation not fall away this is a true note of pure Religion and a manifest Argument of sincerity and truth The Fifteenth
own ease to submit unto him when once we have found him Now when we can be content to accept of Christ upon any terms then are we ready for him then are we fit to be admitted into him And when we do seek unto Christ for this admission he regards not so much how long we were at School under the Law how often we were lashed by it or how sorely we have smarted under it But all that he looks after is whether we be fit to come unto him Consider therefore with your self had you ever such a sight and sorrow for your sins as made you weary of them and out of love with them and willing to be eased of them and desirous of Interest in Christ and ready to accept of Christ upon any Terms rather then to goe without him Is it your grief that you cannot be more sorrowfull and do not you desire as much to be kept from sin for the time to come as to have all that pardoned that is past Surely if you stand thus affected then are you fitted and made ready for Christ and whether your sorrow were great or little yet it is a token that it was a true and a godly sorrow because it worketh repentance unto salvation never to be repented of It may be yet further objected Thus The Sixth Question I Confess that I have been grieved for my sins and I have been desirous to believe in Christ But I fear that my Sorrow is not good nor my Faith sound because my obedience is so faulty For I am not so willing to forsake all my sins nor so carefull to yield Christ Obedience as I should be or if I am willing so to do yet mine infirmities and my failings are such and so many that I fear my sorrow and my faith are not such as they ought to be Answer Certain it is that sorrow for sin will nothing avail us without amendment of Life The wicked must forsake his wayes if he expect pardon Isa 55.7 And it is he that confesseth his sins and forsaketh them that shall find mercy Prov. 28.13 If we willingly allow our selves in the practice of any thing displeasing unto God our condition is dangerous If we say that we abide in Christ we must walk as he walked or else we deceive our own souls 1 John 2.6 If we say that we have fellowship with God and yet walk in darkness we lye and the truth is not in us 1 John 1.6 And if it be not our study and exercise to yield Christ an Universal Obedience our Faith is but Presumption our Peace is but Security our Hopes are but Shadows and our Expectation will Perish But if we have an hearty desire and a sincere endeavour in all things to live honestly we may not from our failings and imperfections presently conclude that we are not sanctified at all that we have no Faith no Interest in Christ no love of God in us For perfection is not to be attained unto while we be in the body But sincerity is that which may be had and affords unto us matter of comfort For the Lord loves them that do follow after Righteousness Pro. 15.9 And they whose sincere desire and endeavour it is to have respect to all the commandments are accepted of him If it be our unfained desire study and endeavour in Obedience unto Christ to do whatsoever he commandeth If it be our care to cleanse our selves from all filthiness both of Flesh and Spirit and to perfect Holiness in the fear of God and not wickedly to depart from him in any thing I say if it be our unfained desire study and endeavour so to do we may safely conclude notwithstanding all our imperfections that our sorrow is good and our faith sound and that our sins are pardonable and our service is accepted and our souls shall be saved For in Gods account and acceptation that goes for a clean life which is not stained with wilfull pollutions and whose obedience is extended to the utmost of his knowledge and hath withall a purpose to amend what God shall hereafter make him know to be sinfull to that man is allowed the opinion of gracious See further of this point in Answer to Objection 16. The Seventh Question IF these things be so I find then that my condition at the present is good And if I were sure to dye in this Estate I make no doubt but I should be happy But I fear that I shall not continue in this Condition For my Enemies are Many and Mighty and Crafty and Watchfull and I myself am prone to Sin and apt to fall from my own Steadfastness And I finde by experience that many who have begun in the Spirit have ended in the Flesh and their latter Ends have been worse then their Beginnings This makes me to fear that I shall not continue faithfull unto the death And yet without this continuance I shall never Obtain the Crown of Life Answer All these things I confesse are true such are our Enemies such is our Weakness and the Misery of those that do turn back from the Holy Commandment given unto them is such that it had been better for them not to have known the way of Truth 2 Pet. 2.21 For they shall lose those things that they have done and their portion shall be with unbelievers So that a Man cannot chuse but have cause to fear Nevertheless there is comfort in God against this fear also Yea This very fear of Falling Away hath in it matter of consolation for it is a means to keep us from departing from God Ier. 32.40 And I will make an Everlasting Covenant with them that I will not turn away from them to do them good but I will put my fear in their hearts that they shall not depart from me Many there be that having begun well do yet at length grow weary of well doing and so lose what they have done And therefore let him that thinketh that he standeth take heed least he fall But yet let not our hearts be troubled let us not be dismayed with fear for the perseverance of such as are justified and sanctified in deed and in truth is certain and the foundation of God standeth sure the Lord knoweth who are his and he knoweth how to deliver them out of Temptation In further Answer to this Objection and the better to comfort us against this fear take special notice of these Texts of Scripture 1 Pet. 1.5 Who are kept by the Power of God through Faith unto Salvation ready to be revealed in the last time John 10.27 28 29. My Sheep hear my Voice and I know them and they follow me And I give unto them Eternal Life and they shall never Perish neither shall any Man pluck them out of my hand My Father which gave them me is greater then all And no Man is able to pluck them out of my Fathers hand 2 Chro. 16.9 For the eyes of the Lord run to
and fro throughout the whole Earth to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect towards him The Eighth Question BUt if the Perseverance and so Salvation of such as are in deed and in truth the Saints of God be so sure and certain what mean those frequent caveats which we meet with in the Scripture What mean those frequent exhortations to Perseverance Answer The Perseverance of such is sure and certain howbeit God brings it to pass by means It is wrought in them by God and yet their own endeavours also are required And these Caveats and exhortations are the means which God hath sanctified for the exciting of their endeavours and for their preservation from Apostacy Caveats we have many and many Threatnings Exhortations many and many Promises such as are Take heed to your selves Watch in all things Be steadfast and unmovable continue faithfull unto the Death and I will give thee the Crown of Life The latter end of back-sliders shall be worse then their beginning c. By which and other like passages we are not to think either that perseverance is in our own power or that the condition of Gods Peculiar People is mutable in regard of him But they do imply how prone we are to sin in regard of our selves And they shew that our own endeavours are required for the working out of our Salvation and they are the means sanctified of God for the preventing of sin and for the exciting of our care and so for the preserving of us unto his heavenly Kingdome And whereas we are said to be kept by the power of God We may not so understand it as if we our selves might in the mean time sit still and do nothing We are kept by God and yet we also must keep our selves It is God that keepeth us and yet we also must watch and pray But we are said to be kept by God for our greater encouragement For if our endeavours be sincere though they be but weak yet they will be effectuall because we have such a mighty helper And withall it is to teach us to whom we ougth to ascribe all the glory when our endeavours become effectual It is God that must have the glory of it for it is by his power that we are kept who worketh in us both to will and to do of his own good pleasure Be strong therefore in the Lord and in the power of his might He that is with us is mightier then they that be against us And therefore we need not fear for neither the power nor the policy of Hell shall prevaile against the People of God And the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it Mat. 16.18 The Ninth Question I Make no doubt of the power of God I know that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him but I doubt of his will I fear that he will not do it Answer Surely this is a needless fear for his love is everlasting his gifts and calling are without Repentance and whom he loveth to the End he loveth them And therefore Fear not the Lord will not forsake his People for his own Names sake because it hath pleased him to make you his People 1 Sam. 12.22 So that if once he hath loved us so well as to set us apart for himself He loveth himself better then to forsake us And though our unworthinesse deserve that God should deny us yet his Faithfulness is such that he cannot deny himself Think therefore upon his love Meditate upon his Power Call to mind his romise Forget not his Truth And commit the keeping of your soul unto him in well doing Care you to do well God will care for the rest For He preserveth the Souls of his Saints he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked Psal 79.10 The Tenth Question BUt seeing that mine own endeavours are required for the working out of my Salvation And seeing that my assurance of Salvation cannot be sound unless my care and diligence in the constant using of all good means tending thereunto be every way answerable Shew me I pray you by what means I may be enabled to continue patiently in well doing that so at the last I may obtain eternal life Answer Hereunto many things are useful the chiefest of which are these following 1. Labour to be sincere by considering that all our wayes are before God To walk before God is the way to be perfect and sincerity is the way to perseverance For the Righteous shall hold on his way and he that hath clean hands shall grow stronger and stronger Iob 17.6 But he whose heart is not upright before God will start aside in the time of Tryal See 1 Iohn 2.19 Labour to overcome the World that so neither the cares and glory of it may too deeply affect us nor yet the crosses and troubles of it too much affright us For each of these are great hinderances to the practice of piety Perfecution is that heat that doth wither the word and by it some are made to deny their Master And the cares of the World are the thorns that choke the Word and a means whereby it becomes unfruitfull For the love of Money is the root of all Evil which while some have coveted after they have erred from the Faith 1 Tim. 6.10 Arm your self therefore against both these and to this end consider with your self and think often upon that of our Saviour Mat. 16.26 What is a Man profited if he shall gain the whole World and lose his own Soul And upon that Mat. 8.38 He that is ashamed of me of him will the Son of Man be ashamed c. And upon that 2 Tim. 2.12 If we Suffer with him we shall Reign with him But if we Deny him he will also Deny us And learn to discern between those things that be seen and the things that be not seen For the things that be seen are but Temporall but the things which are not seen are Eternal 2 Cor. 4.18 3. Watch in all things for our Enemies are many and security is dangerous and sin is so deceitfull that it will quickly harden us And this is certain a Man never yields to his own corrupt disposition for the committing of any evil but he is ordinarily more willing to the second act then to the first And who then can tell how far he may go astray that doth but once give way to his own Corruption 4. Labour to grow in Grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ by considering that our Labour cannot be in vain in the Lord. This endeavour to grow in Grace is a special means to keep us from being drawn away with the errour of the wicked But standing still is in danger of turning back and lukewarmness is the way to grow key-cold 5. Despise not Prophecying if you would not quench the Spirit If we would not be weary of wel-doing we must wait upon
Question And yet after all this I must die and when a few years are come I shall go the way whence I shall not return and the fear of Death doth much amaze me Answer Verily there is no solid reason why it should for God hath given us victory over death it self through our Lord Jesus Christ The death of Christ was the death of death Death fastning upon him to whom it was not due lost it's sting and so became less able to hurt those that had deserved it Christ hath pulled out the sting of Death by dying for sin So that now like a Bee or Snake without a sting it may buzze about us and afright us but it cannot hurt us All the hurt that death can do to such as believe in the Lord Jesus is to free them out of Prison to put an end to their dayes of Sin to carry them home to their Fathers house to let them into their Masters joy to pull down those mouldring Cottages wherein they dwell and to build them up to Immortality For if we believe that Jesus Died and rose again them also that sleep in Jesus shall God bring with him and they shall be for ever with the Lord. And of this Happiness the worst kinde of Death that can befall us cannot deprive us A Man may dye in Poverty he may dye with Extreamity of Torments he may dye by common Calamities and yet he may dye in Faith and so dying his End shall be Peace For Blessed are the dead which dye in the Lord even so saith the Spirit c. Rev. 14.13 So that if we did but throughly understand the Nature of Death and what it is to the People of God we should be so far from being afraid of it that with Saint Paul we should rather desire to be dissolved because then we should be with Christ which is the best of all To shut up this Point and so likewise the whole matter concerning Afflictions this let me adde to the rest That if we do desire to get Good by these Meditations and to be upheld with Comfort in the time of Trouble we must Continue instant in prayer This is that Receipt which the Holy Ghost prescribes to all sorts of Persons against all manner of Grievances whatsoever James 5 23. This is that Remedy that is alwayes at hand and never out of season Yea this is that Messenger which being dispatched aright was never sent empty away Believe it If a Man were in a case more desperate then Death in a place worse then Hell yet if there he could pray heartily he should find Comfort and Strength even beyond Hope for our Prayers use to be with the utmost of our Hopes if not beyond them and yet God doth use to be better to us then our Prayers The Sixteenth Question I See now that there is matter enough of solid Comfort in the Word of God But the unevenness of my walking makes me to doubt that I have no Part nor Portion in those precious Promises which God hath made unto his People Answer Promises I confesse that are misapplied can afford to the Soul no solid Comfort But from our Failings we may not presently conclude That they do not at all belong to us For God looks upon the Heart and where Ability is wanting the Will is accepted Are not your Failings your Grief are they not besides your Will are they not contrary to the current of your Desires and the main bent of your Resolutions and Endeavours Is it not your Endeavour to do the Will of God though it cost you the parting with the Sweetest Sins even your own Iniquity And is it not your Resolution that you will not wickedly Depart from God If it be so then notwithstanding your Failings you may say with David I have kept thy Word For though this be not such a measure of keeping as the Law requireth yet it is such a keeping as God accepteth For he accounteth such as keep themselves from wilfull sins upright and innocent through Christ their Strength and their Redeemer as appears by that passage Psal 19.13 And this is a true Rule whereby to proceed in the judging of our selves If a Man that believes in Christ continues in an unknown Sin that cannot hinder the uprightness of his heart so the ignorance be not wilfull but the least touch of knowledge or wilfulness mars sincerity So that if our failings be not wilful though they be many yet they cannot hinder our interest in the promises of God And what can we now object more Do we doubt the truth of all these promises Surely we need not For God is not a Man that he should lye neither the Son of Man that he should repent Hath he spoken and shall he not do it Hath he said and shall it not come to pass Was he ever yet worse then his word And have not we had experience of his Love as well upon our selves as others Is he not the Faithful and True Witness and a God that is most zealous of his own glory Why then are we disquieted And why are our hearts dejected within us Still trust in God make straight steps to your feet Pray for Faith in the Promises and stir up your self to take hold of God tarry the Lords leasure and fear not Light is Sown for the Righteous and Gladness for such as be upright in heart It may lye buried in the ground out of sight for a season it may be somewhat long in coming up and very unlikely to come to any perfection Nevertheless in due season we shall reap if we faint not And therefore cast not away your confidence For the worst is past the good is begun the best is at hand Lift up therefore the hands that hang down and strengthen the feeble knees and run with patience the Race set before us and being partakers of such precious promises let us think upon them believe in them and live in them and in so doing we shall rejoyce with joy unspeakable and full of glory Hear the sum of all There is no Condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit Rom. 8.1 There is no Condemnation and there 's our comfort The ground hereof is Christ the way unto it is by Faith to be in him the evidence of it Is to walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit In the matter of merit Christ is all in matter of interest and application Faith is all in matter of evidence and manifestation new obedience is all Nothing can free us from Condemnation but Christ nothing can give us interest in Christ but faith nothing can assure us that we do truly believe in Christ and shall be delivered from condemnation but a care to be obedient unto Christ in all things wherefore let us so believe and so live for as many as walk according to this Rule peace shall be upon them and upon the Israel of God Now the God of hope fill us with all Joy and Peace in believing that we may abound in hope through the Power of the Holy Ghost Amen and Amen In the multitude of the Thoughts within me thy Comforts delight my Soul Psal 94.19 FINIS