nothing is good in Religion which does not catch and overmaster rational Affections reduce the will of Man into an Harmony with the Will of God and better the Life Oh be not in love with a notional Religion Let the Holy Spirit that illustrious Ray of Divine Love reflected upon and from the Son of Righteousness descend into thy bowels dwell and act in thy very inmost heart by his Light to create Life Be in love with no knowledge but that which is of a transforming power and tendency that by its vertue thou may'st be intirely renewed after the Imagine of God That Knowledge which will introduce Faith that Faith which will work by Love that Love which to the rest will add as 2 Pet. 1.5 6 7. Vertue Temperance Patience Godliness Brotherly-kindness and in summ all the Elements of a holy conversation that and that only will be introductive of solid Peace and Consolation But this hath all been spoke only upon supposition of a dfferent yet very proper Translation of the Words in V. 10. and. 12. Which are rendred chastize Now must we Procecd upon this authorized Version and 't is certain the Words will allow it as among other Places is demonstrable from 1 Kin. 12.11 14. My Father chastised you with whips c. Psal 118.18 Chastening the Lord hath chastened me but hath not given me over to death Here the word cannot signify to teach or instruct in a proper Sence Yet in the place I discourse upon there 's nothing to enforce this Sence but rather the other as the English Annotator observes Only the Syriack Version the Chaldee Paraphrast Piscator Vatablus Ainsworth c. render it here as we do chasten And if it receive the former Sence may it not seem restrain'd to such Instructions as in a peculiar manner qualifie Men patiently to bear and improve Afflictions This Sence will be favoured by that clause in the following Verse which is declarative of the end and use of these Teachings finding rest in the day of adversity Paraphrase the whole thus Oh the blessednesses of the mighty man Psal 33.16 whom thou so instructest inwardly by thy Spirit and teachest Outwardly by thy Law in the Ministry of the Word and other Ordinances * So Calvin as to engage and enable him with an even composed Spirit resting in the good pleasure of thy Goodness and with patience to indure Adversity Thus I make account 't is a parallel to Jam. 1.12 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 happy Blessed is the Man that not suffereth meerly but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 patiently endureth Temptation For the Substantive derived from it viz. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is rend red Patience V 34. and ch 5.11 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we count happy or bless the patiently indureing or biding under ye have heard of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Patience of Job or Trial 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for being 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 approved he shall receive the Crown of Life c. It seems to be an allusion to the Isthmick or Olympick Games in Greece where if any doubt did arise about the Victory the Agonists or Contenders did appeal to the Judges and he who by their Suffrage or Judgment was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 approv'd did receive the Garland or Crown Thus here Blessed is the man whom thou so disciplinest and learnest as to give rest or quiet sedateness or settlement of mind or appeasement Prov. 15.18 the same word of all turbulent motions in the working raging sea of his Passions and Affections which otherwise cannot be quiet composed and rest Isai 57.20 the same word again till or while the Pit be digged for the wicked For as Dr. Hammond well observes if it be understood of external rest or freedom from the days of Evil the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is not properly translated until For that supposes the rest in being before the removal and in the very time of disrest or oppression or adversity by the wicked and the rest to terminate or end when the Wicked are destroyed But 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is translated While Job 1.16 17 18. While he was yet speaking c. and yet more accommodately to this place When Jonah 4.2 Was not this my saying when I was yet in my own Country c. Thus here when the pit of corruption as the word signifies shall be digged for the Wicked the Lord 's blessed ones shall rest from the days of Adversity Then is the season for it This literal proper Sence seems more suitable than Calvin's figurative For Moral Rest answers not the Letter of the Text as well as civil 'T is rest from not in the days of evil as it should if the moral sence for quiet of mind obtain yet I think there may be a commodious Sence given of the Words retaining the until which is the only Basis of the moral sence and still interpret the words concerning Political Rest For until does not alway signifie the cessation of the preceding State upon the introduction of that which it relates to Hereof there are multitudes of Instances Rom. 5.13 Vntil the Law Sin was in the World but it did not cease to be when the Law came Rev. 2.25 Hold fast till I come Must they let go their hold then But to confine my self to the Hebr. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Isai 22.14 This Iniquity shall not be purged from you till you die If not 'till then 't will never Not to wander out of this Book of Psalms Psal 112.8 He shall not be affraid until he see his desire upon his enemies and sure his fearlesness will not determin then Psal 110.1 Sit thou on my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool Must Christ forsake God's right hand when that is accomplished I 'll add no more It cannot then by necessary consequence be concluded from the until here that the Rest or Quiet of the Blessed shall expire when the Wicked perish it rather infers a more eminent degree of it So also it does in the cited places denote and import an answerable amplification in the succeeding state of what was in the foregoing if it be capable of gradation as sure David's fearlesness would be greater after his desire was accomplished upon his Enemies than before Let that interpret this He shall be fearless before even when his enemies hope to have their desire of him much more when he has his of them Thus God will give those whom he graciously instructs and teaches real quiet and rest both when the wicked Reigns and when he is Ruin'd So that I make it a privilege and part of Blessedness granted by special indulgence to these to be secured from trouble in troublous Times to have a good day when others not so taught of God meet with an evil day to be hid in the day of God's Anger to be preserved from the Malice and persecution of the Wicked This sometimes the Lord vouchsafes to
Holy Penman would not have born up himself in Conscience of Innocence with respect either to God or Man had he harboured any designs to usurp the proper Honour of the God of Revenges in seeking by Violence to right himself against that Throne of Iniquity which even by a Law endeavoured to do him manifest wrong So Sacred is the Majesty of a Prince that a good Conscience cannot be maintain'd in affronting it though it act Unrighteously much less when it acts righteously under an absolute and unlimited Monarchy There 's no relief on Earth against a Throne though of Iniquity From its unjust Judgment we have with the Psalmist liberty of Appeal to Heaven but to attempt otherways is a manifest violation of the Rights both of God and Man Of God by invading his Property Of the King for who made thee his Judge and set thee above him Let the Supreme Monarch that rules be what he will Just or Unjust Jew or Heathen or Turk or Papist or Protestant true Worshiper or Idolater Christian Antichristian Religious Irreligious Holy or Wicked I find not any Warrant either in the Word of God from Precept or Example nor in any Ancient Father not in any approved Protestant Writer for any Private Persons or Society of such to oppose him by Violence but the quite contrary Calvin I know is charg'd with Antimonarchical Principles but how justly will appear to any serious Considerer of that last Chapter of his Institutions where § 7. sub fin he says The Government of one which least pleased the Great Wits of Old is commended by an eximious Testimony of God above the rest And § 8. permits not private Men to dispute which is best And though he upon some accounts like Aristocracy or a temper of that and Polity as best Yet saith Non id quidem per se Not of it self But because Kings rarely moderate themselves c. which plainly intimates that he judged Monarchy the best in it self though Monarchs not always the best Yet whatever be less eligible ex vitio personarum he will not allow so much as the desire of a change in the Government set over us by God but condemns it as Foolish Needless and Noxious Non modo stulta erit supervacua sed prorsus noxi◠etiam cogitatio And how strict he is in requiring Subjection even to Tyrannical Princes See § 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31. which would be too tedious to transcribe That which some pick out to snarl at in the end of § 31. De privatis hominibus semper loquor Nam siqui nunc sint c. as though he allow'd the three States to resist the King This cannot be concluded from his Words which are Hypothetical limited with a Forte and 't is but pro officio intercedere and they are only Persons qui se Dei ordinatione libertatis tutores positos norunt which he does not forbid non veto And let any Man of sence judge whether this be a true or false Proposition Those Persons who know themselves ordain'd of God to be Guardians of Peoples Liberties ought to interceed according to the tenor of their Office with ferocient Princes in the Peoples behalf and not connive at their Oppressions To make pro Officio contra Officium suum is wise Interpretation but since he confines them within the boundaries of their Office or Duty he must be a very Spider indeed that can such Poyson out of it But that may seem more important which we find here ver 16. He demands Who will rise up for me c. Whatever he meant doubtless he judg'd it consistent with Innocency and a good Conscience To clear which 1. The Hebrew to a Word runs thus Who will rise to me with the Evil Doers Who will stand to me with the Workers of Iniquity Now make what you can of it for the Doctrine of opposing Princes Admit that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 may be Translated For me or in my behalf as 't is Gen. 23.8 c. Yet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 does not import Opposition and Contrariety but Conjunction and Association being of the kindred of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 People And 't is not that I remember any where in the Bible beside translated against In all places where the Holy Ghost would signifie the Enmity or Contrariety of Persons or things another Preposition is used either 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to select one place of Multitudes because very like the Phrase here Psal 34.16 The Face of the LORD is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 against them that do evil c. Or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to look no farther than this Psalm and but two Verses below my Text ver 21. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They troop against the Soul of the Just 'T is not sure for nothing that the Spirit of God here lays aside the usual manner of expressing himself The reason is above our reach But may not this account bid fair toward a Probability That possibly some Persons were with Saul and his Pertakers from whom the Psalmist had reason to expect better things than from those who were his profest Enemies The sense then will be Which of you all that being born down with the stream of the times associate with ill Men will now rise and stand for me to interpose and speak in my behalf as once did the truly noble Jonathan a Friend incomparable 2. The end for which he expected they should rise and stand up is not express'd in that Verse but the next has it express a help Vnless the LORD supply out of the former Verse had risen or stood a help to me c. For since those Words will make good sense why should aliene be inserted Therefore on the other hand make up the former Verse by adding that out of this which was the end of their expected rising and standing and 't is thus Who will rise or stand a help to me with evil Doers c. Now consider the quality of this help he expected was it Forcible Violent Vengeful by Arms and Bloodshed No this Psalm repudiates it in his appeals to the God of Revenges And 1 Sam. 24.12 13. and 26.8 9 10 11 16 23. He disclaims and abhors it as sinful urgently dehorts from it and rebukes the temptation to it when irritated by his Followers and invited by a fair opportunity and plansible argument Behold the day of the which the LORD said unto thee Behold I will deliver thine Enemy into thy hand that thou mayst do to him as shall seem good unto thee It was then Moral help that he expected Help by Counsel and Perswasion not by Power and Compulsion Such as he had from God which was not a coactive but a gentle rational and unforcible bowing the wills of Adversaries to desist God did not constrain but incline the Mind and Heart of Saul to cease the pursuit at Selah Hammalekoth 1 Sam. 23.26 27 28. To leave him untoucht and
which being cultivated by External Advantages and his own more than ordinary Industry he became an universal Scholar comprehending the whole Encyclopaedia of all profitable Literature a solid Logician a good Linguist a fluent Rhetorician a profound Philosopher and very skilful in the Mathematicks Being thus well accomplished for Learning and Parts after he had taken his Degrees in the University the first Essay he made upon the Publick Stage was about Peterborough where staying but a little season he came into his Native Country about the Year 1660. and his Uncle Mr. William Clarkson who was Parson of Add-hill dying he was presented to that Parsonage by Esq Arthington of Arthington the Patron he accepted of it but enjoyed it but a little space for Dr. Hich Parson of Guiseley challenged it as his by right upon King Charles the Seconds Return having been excluded by the Act against Pluralities made by the Parliament Mr. Sharp was capable of it having been Ordain'd by a Bishop yet he saw there was no contending with so great a Man especially in that juncture he was willing to resign although Mr. Arthington would have tryed his Title to present by Law but he declined it for at that time he saw a Cloud approaching with covered us all and so retired to his Father's House where he was of singular use living privately and following his Studies very close attending upon Publick Ordinances in the Parish Church at Bradford where that worthy Person Mr. Abraham Brooksbank was Vicar till he removed to Reading But when the Licences granted by King Charles 2. in 72. came forth he took the opportunity to exercise his Ministry in his own House being crowded with great numbers that flock'd to hear him About that time he married Mrs. Bagnall's Daughter by whom he had one Daughter but both dyed After a season he married Mr. Sales Daughter an excellent N. C. Minister by whom he had several Children but none are now living but one Son and one Daughter He had a call to Preach at Morley where he was very industrious and highly esteemed But the Inhabitants of that populous Town of Leeds having built a large Chappel upon Mr. Richard Streattons remove to London gave him a call which he embraced living at his own House at Horton riding mostly on Lords day Morning to Leeds and back again at Evening in Summer time at least which was above a dozen Miles and Preaching twice which at length he found too hard for him therefore he bought a House in Leeds repaired it built to it and kept House there and at Horton also where his necessary affairs requir'd his frequent attendance He was in Labours more abundant and spared not his own Body or Estate that he might do good to Souls and edifie the Church of God He was very self-denying and stood not upon Worldly Incomes whether they were more or less he was very well content so that he gave strict charge to those who collected that small Pittance he accepted of in consideration of his Labours not to urge any but only receive the voluntary Contributions of those who were as well able as willing He was exceeding Temperate mortified to all Earthly Enjoyments of great Aequanimity Sociable to all yet prized above all others such as feared God these were his chosen Companions He invited Ministers and Christian Friends frequently to days of Fasting and Prayer in his own House and went upon a call abroad upon those Occasions He was indeed very excellent in Prayer and had a peculiar way of pleading with God by serious sensible Expostulations with great Ardency and Affection which made it appear to Intelligent Christians that he was much with God in Prayer and very familiar with him few had those rare Gifts or exercised Grace at that rate and no doubt God dealt familiarly with his Soul he lived near God and now is with his God His Prayers were usually long but not tedious being flowered with variety of sweet Expressions and Pathetical Expostulations and I doubt not but the Lord graciously accepted his Person and vouchsafed many gracious Answers to his ardent Prayers as might appear in several Instances which I forbear to mention He was a fluent Preacher a Master of Words not so much abounding in Rhetorical Flourishes as in Pithy and Profitable Sentences very taking with his Auditors that fit under his Ministry with great delight His Sermons were Elaborate and Accurate all he did was exceeding Polite and Scholar-like his Method was peculiar to himself and sometimes Cryptical but always suitable to the matter and proper to the end design'd not to please the Fancy but to inform the Judgment convince the Conscience work upon the Will and Affections and change the Heart and Life He hath often said he should never have been so cautious and so careful of his Words had not his Father been so critical and found so many faults with him which he studied to rectifie this did him good though he found it hard to stoop to but as he was sensible of his Paternal Authority and his own Filial Duty so he was convinc'd of his Fathers judicious Exceptions and the tendency thereof to his own Benefit He was very Sound and Orthodox and trod much in the old Path though he was well acquainted with the Controversies of the Times and very able to oppugne Error and defend the Truth yet he was of a peaceable Spirit making the best Constructions of doubtful Phrases and inclined rather to compose Differences Civil and Sacred than to espouse a Party he was of a Catholick Spirit and spake well of what was good in Persons that differed from him he was very unwilling to engage in any Controversie only some knowing his Acuteness and Genius desired his help in three Cases first against the Papists upon occasion of a young Man turning that way and sending a Letter to his Relations which he answered very Learnedly and to great Satisfaction 2dly Two Papers he writ in Reply to two Conformists who grievously and rigidly censured their peaceable Brethren the one in Print the other in Writing both which he Answered and Confuted both well deserved Publishing but the Times would not then bear it and now they may seem out of season but are still preserved as choice Manuscripts in the Hands of Friends As is also 3dly an Answer to some Queries supposed to be Dr. Owens Whether Persons who have engaged unto Reformation and another way of Divine Worship according to the Word of God c. may lawfully go unto and attend on the use of the Common Prayer in Divine Worship c. He had a lofty Poetical Strain wherein he sometimes for a diversion employed himself upon special Occasions as upon the Death of that Worthy Grave Divine Mr. Elkanah Wales and upon the Burning of London in 1666. which being show'd to Dr. Robert Wild he seem'd surpriz'd and ingenuously acknowledg'd that Man should be his Master he would yeild the Laurel to the
a world of crafty Politicks and inventive cunning to devise whatever that unfathomable depth of Malice and Emity can direct against us to ruin us everlastingly together with an unknown and unimaginably great sufficiency of Power and Activity to execute what they contrive and they have no limits of their duration on this side Eternity Oh dreadful Host indeed what may they despair to effect upon impotent and degenerate sinful Man But the dependance of things one upon another I see has made me forget my Scope which was to remember the Fears of Sin and Temptation to it rather than the Tempter I proceed to the 2. Danger wherein the Psalmist did apprehend himself viz. of Death not so much Natural as Violent His Enemies design'd to Murther him by a pretended Law notwithstanding his Righteousness and Innocency and for that end had sentenced and condemned him ver 21.22 Whence he declares ver 17. Vnless the Lord had been my help my Soul had almost or quickly dwelt in silence My Soul that is I my self the better part by a Figure being put for the Person or rather for the worse part the Body dwelt in silence i. e. the Grave as is unanimously agreed by Interpreters according to Psal 115.17 The Dead praise not the Lord nor any that go down into silence Which is not to be understood of the Soul but Body only Psal 49.12 20. Nevertheless or And Man being in Honour abideth not a Night he is like the Beasts that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are silent i. e. Dead Psal 31.17 fully Death indeed is the King of Terrors 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Arist Job 18.14 Of all Terribles the most terrible to Nature because it dissolves its most amicable Bands and utterly extinguishes all those hopes which it has for many years been kindling and were it not for the reliefs of Grace it would certainly fill Men with unspeakable Agonies could they view it in all its antecedent and consequent Pomp and Circumstances For 't is only ignorance of this very solemn change that causes the most so fool-hardily and without concern to entertain the thoughts and approaches of it But a violent Death God's Effections are always better milder than his Permissions when a Man lies at the mercy of those whose tender Mercies are Cruelty must needs cause more bitter Reflections than where Nature gently expires under the compassionate tender Hands of the God of Nature who always contends in measure that the Spirit may not fail and the Soul which he hath made To this Head then appertains the trouble arising from Fears of Suffering and Affliction of what kind soever In particular those that accompany and follow Death especially the Terrors of Judgment and Hell which is Eternal Death This the Psalmist sometimes felt the sting and torture of as a preventive Medicine that he might not feel it everlastingly Psal 116.3 The pains of Hell gat hold upon me call'd the Cords of Hell Psal 18.5 marg 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whence perhaps our English Word Cable it sometimes signifies Corruption Destruction Mic. 2.10 Troops Bands Companies Psal 119.61 either of these may suit well enough But above all Fear of God's Anger and just Displeasure most heavily sits upon the Spirit of a Gracious Man All the Troops of Hell and Triumphs of Cruelty are but Mormo's in comparison Finite Fury cannot plague infinitely therefore our Saviour advises Luke 12.4 5. Be not affraid of them that kill the Body and after that have no more that they can do But I will forwarn you whom you shall fear Fear him which after he hath killed hath power to cast into Hell yea I say unto you fear him Filial Fear of God indeed brings no trouble but joy 'T is only a Fear working to Bondage oppressive to Nature a Rebel against Reason stupifying the Spirits enervating the Will damping the Affections over-throwing our Resolution defeating our Counsels confounding our Consciences betraying us into a base and unworthy servitude to our own corrupt Imaginations Errors and Ignorance and every exteriour Agent that has the power or will to abuse them and our Credulity to our Prejudice and Perdition 2. Grieving Thoughts and Impressions The Evils did not lie perdue at a distance but in a close encounter charg'd home and wounded his Heart that it bleeds here in godly Sorrow Indeed whatever causes Fear and Despair does also introduce Grief when it becomes present but his Mind was overwhelmed with such Reflections as had a peculiar influence upon his Sorrow beside those that did produce Fear and Despair As 1. The Sins of others The foul Enormities of Wicked Men whereof several are named 1. Pride Ver. 2. Render a Reward to the Proud a Reward in Vengeance In this Sin the Devil began the Dance and all his Servants wear his Livery and tread in his Steps For this their Loftiness and triumphing Arrogance his Heart groan'd out the double How long ver 3. Words of Lamentation Indeed when men are despis'd they are either anger'd or griev'd anger'd if Proud griev'd if Lowly incens'd if Passionate if Meek troubled 'T is the property of Pride to despise and slight all but bear slighting from none 2. Boasting The inward filth of Pride and Arrogance foaming out at the Mouth ver 4. All the workers of Iniquity speak boast themselves the coherence seems to intimate that the things they boasted of were their own height and power to oppress the Innocent Being got to the top of the Mount of Honour and Worldly Prosperity which puft them up they imagin'd it for their Security and Glory to fall down upon and crush and break in pieces God's Heritage and this they gloried in as becoming their Grandeur Potency Now to be not only trod and trampled upon with the foot of Pride and spurn'd kick'd away like a Dog but also hear the Proud-doers brag of it as a brave and worthy Fact as it heightens the Sin of the Actors so the Sorrow of the Sufferers both as an addition to their own Affliction and also a further aggravation of the Sin 'T is easier to bear a scorn in deeds when a Man has the liberty to suppose that possibly it may not be the issue of design and a malicious Mind or that the Agent may after grieve for and repent of it than to bear their blessing themselves in it praismg themselves for it which is a testimony of their love to it delight in it But if the Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 be taken in a softer sence shall will or do speak of or speak themselves praedicabunt se The future for the present tense a common Enallage except the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 be repeated here again out of the foregoing Verse as our Translaters think it must But then why not also in the Fifth and Sixth Verses where the Verbs are all future yet rendred in the present Interlin i. e. will vaunt praise or extol themselves in Words magnifie
and the Herd and their Soul shall be as a Watered Garden c. Yea there ' t is The Blessings of this Life are then good indeed when the Donation of the Goodness of the Lord Divine Love with them gives them a Relish incomparable Job sometimes consulted his Bed for Comfort Job 7.13 and 't is no little satisfaction to enjoy the quiet Repose of a single Night But what are all the downy Contents of this Nature to the Everlasting Repose and Rest both of Body and Soul in the Love of God who though he be an everliving Activity yet is an ever-loving quiet resting Place for all that having been wearied out with the Sins and Labours and Troubles and Miseries of a Cumbersome World betake themselves to him as their only Contentation Cant. 3. King Solomon as a Type of Christ made Himself 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Conjugal Bed This the Original Word may seem indeed most properly to signifie from the 7th Verse where the Espousals plainly refer to this that Exhortation being grounded upon this Narration the midst thereof being 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Strowed with Love for the Daughters of Jerusalem A Bed of Ease indeed The Whole World cannot Afford a Bed as soft as Love as sweet as the refreshing Love of an infinitely Lovely and Loving God I have read of a Man who not content with Epicureism in Retail resolv'd at once to gratifie every Sence with an accumulated Association of all imaginable Sensualities yet all was only the Swinish Pleasure of a Day But there is an Eternity of Delights in the Favour of God first to the Soul but redounding to the Sence also Truly Light is sweet and 't is good for the Eyes to behold the Sun 't is a Periphrasis of Life as the Connexion with the followng Verse demonstrates Eccl. 11.7 8. How delicious is the Flavour and Fragrancy of Odours and the inexplicable Varieties and Ravishments of Sounds c. But are these worthy to be thought of in Comparison of the ever Refreshing Light of God's Countenance the Never-fading Delights of Divine Love and Goodness the Unimitable Splendour of the Sun of Righteousness Mal. 4.2 who is the Brightness of his Fathers Glory Heb. 1.2 the savour of Christ's Precious Oyntments Cant. 1.3 The rapturous Melody of the Celestial Quire but above all the every thing Harmonious Beautiful Lovely Glorious in the Divine Nature wherein our very sense shall be in a generous transport with the highest incomparable supersensual everlasting Gratifications much more our Minds For the Goodness of God is every thing pleasing profitable honest in the utmost eminency of Glory There 's no mole in this Beauty no spots in this Sun no Night to this Day but an immense and eternal variety of all delectable Excellencies in an invariable unity of unblemishable Perfection nothing to give a check to the Appetite to interrupt and abate the pleasure of Enjoyment or put a period to the solace accruing from it It singularly pleases a Man to be well thought of and well provided for When Men are low yet if their Reputation run high it bears up their Spirits in the depression of their Estates and as Noble Blood in the Veins is by many accounted an essential Dignity when their Wealth and Substance falls into detriment that their Heart cannot stoop to any servile Offices or Imployments below the Grandeur of its more stately and generous Pulsations their Glory they think shines as the Sun through a Cloud and is like a Cordial Elixir in a fainting fit of Fortune So Credit of both kinds Fame Trust both as it imports the Honour of a fair Reputation and Good Name and as it entitles a Man to a right in the kindness of his Friend and the belief of all Men that every one speaks well of him is ready to do well to him all Honour him all Credit him and freely Concredit their all with him this is valued as much as Money in the Purse The Wisest of Men prefers it as more eligible Prov. 22.1 and affirms that it makes the Bones fat Prov. 15.30 But if the Love of God put a value upon us and worthless that we are we have nothing else to recommend us as the Kings Stamp upon a Brass Farthing if he ennoble us with his Grace Nobilitas sola est atque unica virtus that we can derive our Pedegree and Extraction from Heaven through the New Birth this is the truest sweetest noblest Satisfaction We are indeed the basest through Sin of the whole Creation God made us at first through his Image next in honour to the Holy Angels Psal 8.5 We by our Apostacy and Corruption make our selves not a little lower than Devils and in this debasement does Divine Goodness find us but here it does not leave us Love and Love alone exalts us and crowns us with Glory Dignity and Hon ur and how high we are in the account of Love however base in our selves is demonstrated by the price it was willing to pay for our Redemption Nothing rais'd us to this height in the estimate of Love but only Love according to Deut. 7.7 8. The Lord did not set his Love upon you because ye were moe c. But because the Lord loved you c. His Love was its own and only motive and why should it not What can be a more noble Incitement to it than the Glory of its most excellent communicative Nature What mov'd it at first to design an Object to diffuse its benign influences upon What lovely qualities were in a non-entity to draw it out into such admirable Condescentions Let it then go no less than self-sufficient all-sufficient without the subsidiary invitement of all external Objects Divine Goodness neither needs nor desires a Procatarctick cause And this is a Comfort unspeakable Were I to bring my wellcome to Heaven and to be dignified with the honour of so renowned a degree of Perfection as to be able to stand upon my Reputation before God and not beg his good Opinion but merit it the Conscience of my deficiency and demerit would for ever confound me But since Love brings my all with it and its arguments to respect me are derived from its own Bowels and its height is so wonderful that there can be no proportion in the highest created goodness to it so as to deserve it and its depth so unfathomable that the greatest misdeservings cannot put a bar to the liberty of its actings for the relief even of the Chief of Sinners 1 Tim. 1.15 Have I not a World of reason to cast off all melancholy desponding Imaginations and solace my self in this Paradise of everlasting Love and free Grace Oh Joy unspeakable and full of Glory To be well provided for is next The World had rather live by Sight than Faith He 's but ill to live all whose Wealth is in another Man's Pocket and may be puft away with the malevolent Breath of
safety if not in an Omnipotent hand Where without it He is the Rock of my refuge says the Psalmist Vers 22. The Name of the Lord is a strong Tower the Righteous runneth to it and is safe Prov. 18.10 and 29.25 and 21.31 Psal 4.8 12.5 Infiniteness is an impregnable Fortress Psal 18.2 Here have we the comfort of being above the reach of Malice in a quiet and secure Sanctuary Build thy Tabernacle here and nothing can endanger thee make sure of an interest in this and thou hast no reason to be afraid But if thy Fears be not blown over yet a solid Hope may waft thee into Paradise This is a thing that in the greatest hazard will buoy up a sinking Heart and the more grounded our Hope the more refreshing Cut the Cable and loose this Security and we float a drift without Card or Compass in a bottomless Gulf of Misery Nothing so deadly as Despair 'T is the utter wrack and ruin of all our Joy But if we have good reason to expect liberation from an unsupportable Evil or to wait for the communication of a satisfying Good or of the continuance of its Enjoyment so that a sufficient compensation will be made us in this for the hurt we received by the former or if the evil invading us cut off our hopes of present recompence yet if we be certain of a competency of support and succour or that we shall not feel it in the full amplitude of its malignity but with abatement and mitigation that it shall only have a short being but no biding and rest upon us that we shall see through it we are less solicitous in our Minds and herein feel no little relief Now what a safe ground have our Hopes to anchor upon in God's Almightiness Here 's all Hope nought to be despair'd of What is there not to be had in boundless Perfection What may not be hoped for from omnipotent Goodness Can there be any capacity in a finite Being to which infiniteness cannot extend Can there be a rational expectation in a limited Nature to which unlimited Grace will not accommodate it self The unfathomable excellency of God declares him all-sufficient to answer thy expectance to the full and his free gracious Communicativeness and Promise render all thy hopes from him rational Thou canst not desire much less expect more than God can give and he is willing to grant more than thou canst hope for Nothing in thee can be the measure of his unmeasurable Power and Bounty in dispensing whatever may be for thy good and 't is not rational Hope which is not guided by this discretion to look for nothing but what is good in it self or to us For evil is not appetible and what is not the object of Desire cannot be of Hope but Fear Now the Judge of what is Good or Evil in it self or to us is not our Fancy or Appetite or Lust but the unbiassable Wisdom of God We must therefore have recourse to that powerful Hand which is the Agent and Factor for such unconceivable Wisdom and Grace and what cannot that do in our troubled Hearts which both in Heaven and Earth can do all things exceeding abundantly above all that we ask and think Eph. 3.20 It can both prepare us for Comfort by conquering our enmity against it indisposition for it unsuitableness to it and by creating those Qualifications and Conditions which are prerequisite to our enjoyment of it and also prepare it for us and apply it Is thy state so bad that thou canst not be duly comforted Almightiness can change it by regenerating thee Eph. 1.19 20. with 2.1 And supply out of the foregoing Verse that ye may know what is the exceeding greatness of his Power to us ward who believe according to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the inworking of the might of his Power which be wrought in Christ raising him from the Dead and you who were dead in Trespasses and Sins For as the Learned observe this is the plain and evident coherence what interposes is to be included in a Parenthesis Is thy Heart so stubborn sullen or over-whelmed with Anguish or any other Passion that Rachel-like thou wilt not be Comforted even this his Power can subdue and bow into a spontaneous forwardness to accept his gracious offers Art thou so debased and vile in thine own Eyes that thou darest not presume to be Comforted Omnipotence can and will be the instrument of Goodness and Fidelity to create inthee an humble confidence in receiving and applying it as thy peculiarly design'd Portion for which thou art under an immediate preparation The Tempter is not so able to molest as thy Redeemer to pacifie thy Conscience and because he is more able he is more willing also The liberty to act in acting being proportion'd to the potency of the rational Agent What we can best do we most readily freely and cheerfully do Every thing that can be congruously done is not only possible but facil easie to Omnipotency He made a World with a Word Gen. 1. By a Word sustains it 2 Pet. 3.7 And the mere suspence of that Word will destroy it as follows thence by necessary consequence For if by that Word they be reserved in store for the Fire of that day it follows that without it they cannot be reserved The effect must needs be remov'd with its immediate continuing cause they cannot be kept and reserv'd without a Keeper and Reserver continuing his influence for that end as the Light cannot subsist if the Sun Moon and Stars be taken away This Word of Power which upholds all things Heb. 1.2 is engaged for the sustentation of troubled Hearts Psal 55.22 For the bruising Satan the great troubler of Souls under our feet Rom. 16.20 which is spoken I conceive with relation to the Devils discomforting Power My ground is the title given to him who effects this viz. The God of Peace The Devil's power to discompose and disease us cannot equal God's power to heal with Peace which therefore and because 't is produced out of nothing in us is stiled a Creation Isa 57.19 I create the fruit of the Lips Peace Peace to him that is far off the Gentile and to him that is near the Jew saith the Lord and I will heal him What the end of his creating Peace was he had told in the foregoing Verse 18. viz. to Comfort him I have seen his ways Covetousness going frowardly in the way of his own Heart ver 17. and will heal him I will lead him also and restore Comforts to him and his Mourners And who is this I that undertakes all this You may be resolv'd herein by ver 15. 'T is the high and lofty one that inhabits Eternity whose name is Holy who dwells in the high and holy Place c. Words importing the most Majestick Soveraign Power Kings have the Power of Peace and War The Creation of Peace is an Act of God's Supreme Majesty as well
as tender Mercy speaks the height of his Power as fully as the depth of his Love whence Elihu in Job 34.29 When he maketh quietness who then can condemn so all Translations Chald. Greek Lat. c. or make trouble and when he hideth his Face who then can behold him whether it be done 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 upon a Nation or upon a Man only against is not so ordinary a signification of the Word not doth so well suite both the opposite parts of the foregoing Clause of the Verse which it respects in common If God thus give Rest and Quiet and thereby Peace and Comfort what Power can controll him and destroy his Work surely none And why the reason is to be deduced from his Almightiness All the Malignancy and Enmity of Earth and Hell though in a confederacy of united Virulence Policy Power and Violence indeavouring to make a breach in or of that secure Peace wherewith a Good Conscience as a Brazen Wall doth guard fortifie and surround a true Servant of God by a Commission deriv'd from Heaven will but be like the vain attempts of the impotent Waves against a Rock which instead of overturning it only dash themselves in pieces Without the interposure of Omnipotence the Comfort of sinful Man would be impossible in that order of Government which Divine Wisdom hath pitch'd upon as most congruous for his Salvation For supposing Sin and God's purpose not to permit all Mankind to perish everlastingly under that Justice into the Hands whereof the administration of his Kingdom did necessarily fall upon the Apostacy of Man and supposing God's determination to uphold the honour of his Justice and Government in pardoning none but upon Consideration and in virtue of a satisfaction given to Justice I affirm 1. That satisfaction could not possibly be made for the injury done to God by Sin except only by Omnipotency For Death being threatned for Sin the threatning in the substance of it must be executed or both Justice and Fidelity violated For since in the nature of the thing some Punishment cannot but be due for so high an affront to the Divine Authority and Regiment and since the Commination had determin'd and exprest the kind of Punishment in substance to be Death with an Emphasis How could the Deity be just in his Word or his Deed had all been wholly wav'd Therefore the Satisfaction given must be by suffering the Penalty to the full in its substance The Threatning doth not express any thing concerning the greatness extensive or intensive of the Punishment only that it be proportionable to the Crime Justice requires The Crime is vertually infinite The Condition of the Creature will not admit of a Punishment intensively infinite Therefore the Death threatned can only be extensively infinite that is Eternal But an eternal duration that has a beginning is not actually infinite vertually therefore The Sin then being vertually infinite the Punishment proportion'd and threatned must be vertually infinite also i. e. as infinite as the state of the Creature was capable to admit If now this viz an Aeviternal Death be inflicted in kind because an end of it is impossible there could not possibly be any Satisfaction any Salvation Satisfaction therefore must be in another kind of vertually infinite suffering viz. that intensively so And 't is very consistent with Justice to admit this Commutation since it has its full demand therein viz. a Punishment proportionable to the Fault i. e. vertually infinite But now nothing short of Omnipotency or infinite Power can bear or wrestle thorow a Punishment infinite or which is Omnipoenal 2. Neither could any Power less than infinite raise the Satisfier of Justice from the Death Temporal which was indispensibly to be undergone by him and to this 't is ascribed Eph. 1.19 20. to be presently transcribed Lastly the same Power qualifies for the Fruits of this Satisfaction in Pardon and Consolation Eph. 1.19 20. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the exceeding greatness of his Power to us-ward who believe according to the working of his mighty Power which he wrought in Christ raising him from the Dead and you who were dead in Trespasses c. Chap. 2.1 If this be not Omnipotency what is I had rather speak and think as the Holy Ghost teaches than in the profundity of my Reason make my self wiser than him who inspired the Holy Men of God whose Names these Writings bear Yet do constantly and confidently affirm that in working these Preparations or creating Grace in the Heart which quickens it Omnipotence is sufficiently able so to act under the conduct of Omniscience as to offer no violence to the faculties of Man at all Cleared before but through the influence of a more commanding Light in his Mind doth lead him in the exercise of a full intemerate and ingenuous liberty through the strait Gate of Regeneration into Eternal Rest and Peace In short we are sometimes involved in such Soul-troubles so insuperable and intolerable Prov. 18.14 A wounded Spirit who can bear and such inextricable insupportable straits exigences and occurrents of Providence and are reduc'd to such a pinch of extremity that without a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God in the Mount a supernatural Conduct and Power 't is impossible to bear up under them or be delivered from them These were oft experimented Cases with our Psalmist as appears particularly from ver 17 18. and as much is insinuated ver 20 21 22. and the cruel oppressions of the whole Church ver 5 6. evidence that it was not exempted And where can an over-whelmed Soul or a wasted desolate Church groaning under the Fury and Madness of Malice and Violence in numberless Legions of Principalities and Powers and spiritual and carnal Wickednesses in high and low Places and the Rulers and Sons of the Darkness of the World the whole Militia of Satan in Hell Earth and their own Hearts O where can they find defence refuge and relief against such an over-match of barbarous Enmity except in the Almightiness of Heaven In such distresses we have nothing left to comfort us beside this Omnipotent Power of God and it is enough more than enough All-sufficient § 5. God's Fidelity and Vnchangableness in Word and Deed to which I refer ver 14 15. For the Lord will not cast off his People c. This is still a more near ground of Consolation For other Divine Perfections stand in an indifference to us we have no right to take comfort in them till a Promise bring and lay them before us and engage them for us upon certain terms which accomplished all our Mercy is rendred Necessity and Destiny Yet a Promise that may never be perform'd will administer no certain indefeisible relief being only as a broken Reed * Hence the promised Mercies are suspended upon Conditions in us that the whole right of performing them may not stand in the liberty of the Maker but become Justice and Necessity to him that
against the Poison of all adverse accidents For since nothing diseases disquiets me but only as far as it gets within me and no external Occurrents can be so great Evils as internal Sanctity is a good because the utmost that the fiery rage of Earth and Hell can do against me is but finite whilst under the conduct and influence of real Holiness I am secure that I do and shall enjoy the all-sufficient Reliefs of infinite goodness and therefore my Miseries only commit a Rape upon my imaginative and irascible Powers whilst my Comforts are seated deep in my Rational which through Divine Grace have regain'd the Soveraignty it necessarily follows that the potency of all outward Evils to torment me is boundlesly short of the Omnipotency of that Internal Heaven that I feel in my conscience to content and ease me and my Sorrows will be perfectly run down by my Joys and Consolations But then this I must acknowledge that neither can my Conscience be good nor I comfortably Innocent i. e. neither acting nor imagining evil against Men nor Righteous i. e. designing and doing all the good I can out of an inward principle of Love and Justice unless I be truly a Sanctified Person For external fair demeanour toward Men without an inward Inclination and Affection thereto is but only Hypocrisie before God 2. Privilege is Propriety in God with the assurance of it both in Vers 22. and in those Two Words MY GOD. For he could not without presumption or falshood say this if he knew it not And 't is not the common interest of Nature founded in the Relation of Creatures which every Man nay Devil may justly claim that these words here import but a special Propriety through Grace founded in Regeneration and Adoption In short 't is not a congenit and general but a federal and peculiar right in God which must bottom our Consolation When we are taught of God out of his Law Vers 12. in such a manner as to have that Law of God Writ in our Hearts according to the tenor of the Covenant of Grace Jer. 31.33 c. God thereby giving us a sensible Demonstration that he is our God so as he is not to those who though the Work of his hands of Power yet are not his Workmanship by Grace created in Christ Jesus to good Works Ephes 2.10 Then and not till then have we Right to the Fruits of Righteousness in Peace and Joy unspeakable and upon our assurance Right in them 'T is but little Satisfaction to be able to plead no better title to God than Apostate Spirits or Infidels But if we can upon good Grounds assure our selves that God is ours in the singular Relation of a gracious Father who hath begot us again to a lively hope through the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the Dead we therein have also the evidence that every thing in God is ours to enstate us in the Perfection of Felicity and Consolation He that is blest with any Plerophory that God is federally his and consequently that he hath a clear title to Jesus Christ and all his Benefits hath also a full and sufficient Testimony in that very thing of a sure and indefeisible right to the Holy Spirit and all his Comforts For these are absolutely inseparable both in Nature and Divine Donation And if we have an interest in one Covenant Blessing 't is a pledge of assurance that we have all They are four 1. Sanctification of which before I will put my Laws into their Minds and write them in their Hearts 2. Propriety in God or Adoption I will be to them a God and they shall be to me a People 3. Special Illumination or saving Knowledge They shall not teach every Man his Neighbour and every Man his Brother saying Know the Lord for all shall know me from the least to the greatest 4. Pardon of Sin or Justification I will be merciful to their Vnrighteousness and their Sins and their Iniquities will I remember no more All here is will and shall Words of Authority and Command These Four are not only by the Covenant indissolubly connected but also in the reason of the thing For there can be no possible evidence that God is ours in special and hath savingly enlightned our Minds and pardoned our Sins but only real and undissembled Goodness and that which is of God's Creation by Writing his Laws in our Hearts can be no other Therefore this is the leading Mercy in the Covenant as inferring the rest and declaring the truth of all If then God be ours we are certainly Sanctified Illuminated and Pardoned but the contrary if God be not ours by peculiar and special Right They mutually prove each other and the absence or denial of one excludes all 't is impossible they should be divided Canst thou without self-deceiving say with the Psalmist and in his sence MY GOD then canst thou as truly say I am Pardoned I am Sanctified c. Here then is the very Root of all Spiritual Comfort For trouble of Conscience which is its contrary is founded by Sin The Filth the Guilt the Power afflict and wound our Spirits If these be removed the ground of the trouble vanishes and if we have an inward feeling and assurance that they are removed the trouble it self is actually taken away Now Pardon is the taking away the guilt of Sin we have no reason to fear the Wrath to which it did bind us over and Sanctification is the taking away the Power and Filth of Sin in us I say in us for Sanctification doth not abolish the filthy Nature of Sin in it self but rather discover it to us more abundantly to excite our abhorrency and loathing and this very Detestation is the main of our cleansing from the filth of Sin this washes away that stain wherewith our Souls were blemished that is God deals with us as if there were none is as kind and favourable to us and as freely converses with us as if we never had been polluted and will continue so to do till we renew the defilement For the sake of Christ he overlooks all those spots and deformities the turpitude and disgrace whereof made us cover our Faces in shame before his pure all-discerning Eye and he looks upon us and we look upon our selves as clear unblamable and beautiful in his Eyes when we really hate those Evils that have defiled us and as the spring of that hatred without which it can never be nor be pleasing to God when we are replenished with the Riches of his Grace and adorned with the Robes of his Sons Righteousness for both concur to our acceptation Sanctification also destroys the Commanding but not at first the Rebelling the Regal but not Tyrannical Power of Sin though it be our strength even against this and at last will abolish it It so subdues our Lusts that they shall not Reign though they may resist as contumacious Enemies They are look'd upon as Traitors
Mixture of many Imperfections and Miscarriages and Pollutions by reason whereof he stands in need of Pardon and Justification that he cannot insist upon it as capable of rendring his Person and Actions in strict Justice acceptable to or allowable by the Righteous Judge of Quick and Dead Bildad there will admit him to stand in no higher Rank than that of a Worm when any thing in him aspires to a Competition with God as indeed there 's no Proportion betwixt Finite and Insinite And that the High and Lofty One that inhabits Eternity should humble and debase Himself to engage so admirably for so minute a Being make Provision so incomparably rich and glorious for a vile Worm is a Work of unparallell'd Bounty and Magnificence congruous and answerable to the immense Perfection of God but infinitely above the Merit and Meanness of Man Comfort 'T is a comprehensive an incomprehensible Blessing like Him who Gives it who Is it All that God hath done still doth and intends to do is implied in it or may be inferr'd from it All the eternal good Purposes of the Divine Majesty for the Benefit of Man the whole Undertaking and Purchase of His Well-beloved Son every of the Gifts Graces and Workings of the Holy Spirit are summ'd up here For a Man is not capable of actual Comfort till he enjoy Assurance as hath been evinced nor of assurance till he be Justified and Sanctified nor of these without the Spirit of Grace nor of that without the Mediation of Christ nor is he capable of Eternal Comfort till he enjoy all these in their Fulness This one Mercy therefore is All because where It is given All are given before or with it and it is given as the Fruit of All the Bestowal of it being the consummate Act of Divine Munificence In Summ Comfort in part is part of Heaven perfect Comfort is perfect Heaven Oh astonishing Grace Oh unimitable Goodness in the Donor Oh unlimitable Blessedness in the Possessor Oh what is man Lord that thou art thus mindful of him or the son of man that thou dost thus visit him Erect thy self Oh my Soul into an admiring Contemplation of this Descent of Majesty so stupendous so benign so beneficial Refresh thy Thoughts with it daily Let it dwell with thee Resolve and endeavour to endear to thy self that infinite Goodness which so incredibly humbles it self for thy advantage Improve it for that end for if this Meditation do not Better thee thou wilt be worse for it to all Eternity CHAP. XVI Elenctical Inferences NExt I have Deductions of Two Sorts according to the Signification of the Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Convictive and Reprehensive The Convictive are either Theoretical or Practical concerning Faith or Conscience This First confutes and condemns the Doctrine of Incertitude or the Impugners of Assurance For if in this Life there be Comfort there must be Assurance The Latter is neither Possible nor Rational without the former Which is thus proved Divine Actual Comfort being that Satisfaction Ease Quiet and Peace of Mind and Conscience which settles our discomposed discomposing troublesome Thoughts and Affections into a sweet Harmony and Rest cannot possibly be a brutish stupidity of Conscience but must proceed upon Light and Evidence For God does not act upon us as Blocks and Stones which have no Faculties or Sense to guide them but only an Obediential Power in a passive way to yield to the Conduct of His Wisdom and Omnipotence He does not still and becalm our tempestuous Hearts as the Sea which knows not what it does when it submits to the uncontroulable Violence of His Commands No He leads our Rational Powers in the sweet Method of their spontaneous natural activity into the Paths of Righteousness which issue in Peace Jam. 3.18 Which is therefore call'd Guiding Luk. 1.77 78 79. To give the Knowledge of Salvation to his People 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the taking away of their Sins whether by Remission or Sanctification or both 78. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 By or through the Bowels of Mercy of our God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in which the Day-spring Sun-rise Mal. 4.2 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 East Mat. 2.1 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from on high hath visited us 79. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to make an Epiphany to shine forth To give Light to them that sit in Darkness and the shadow of Death 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to streighten to guide streight our feet into the way of Peace A pregnant Scripture for my Purpose Peace then there can be none that 's Solid and Divine of which alone we enquire out of the way of Peace We cannot when sitting in darkness and the shadow of Death stumble or hit into that way without a Guide No other Guide can there be but the Sun of Righteousness the Day-spring visiting us Without Light He neither can nor will be our Guide This Light from the Day-spring is no other than the Knowledge of Salvation in the taking away of Sins which when particularly apply'd to my self is only this I know that I shall obtain Salvation by this viz. the taking away of my Sins and that 's neither more nor less than Assurance all which Blessings accrue to us through the Bowels of Mercy of our God 'T is not possible that a Man's Conscience should be truly comforted except he know that Comfort appertains to him is his right For though the Contemplation of Golden Mountains may gratifie the Imagination of a Fool yet no wise Man counts himself richer for a dream of the Spanish Silver Mines in Potosi c. or the Golden Tagus or Rio de Plata That Athenian is upon Record for no Philosopher who solac'd himself with a conceit that all the Ships arriving at the Port were his own Sound Peace of Mind is always founded upon good Evidence of an undoubted Right to Peace For if I doubt that I deceive mine own Soul in speaking Peace to my self where there is no Peace that very dubiousness will rack and torture me as much as possibly more than I should have been bad I never claim'd Peace since an usurpation of what I have no title to is a new sin superadded to the old sore of Soul-disquieters and the very fear that I am guilty of it hath Torment Now I cannot possibly be assur'd that Comfort belongs to me of right unless I find within my self the dispositions that qualifie for Comfort that is except I be consolable I cannot be comforted If I be not agreeable to Comfort it is not agreeable to me For the right to Comfort is not Absolute but Conditional 'T is not Nature that entitles to it but Grace therefore in all the Epistolary Salutations 't is first Grace then Peace Whence a Man can be no more assured that he hath right to Comfort than he is assured he hath true Grace And Experience demonstrates that a Person if he understand himself to be absolutely inconsolable who
intolerable burthen thy daily lamentation Thou darest not assume to thy self any comfort nor be at rest in thy Spirit till thou beest in some good degree safied that God and goodness have as far as Humane Infirmity and this present state will permit the all of thy Heart Mind Soul and Strength or thy most earnest pressing active industrious persevering desires hereof which not to feel is a grief and torment insupportable and drives thee to new exercises of Repentance and Faith in Christ for Pardon and Aid that thy second endeavours may be more upright thy after thoughts more efficacious And do'st thou seek and find ease and rest for thy self in no other method than looking and coming to Jesus with a weary labouring heavy-laden Heart entirely devoted to him and therefore sincerely willing and desirous to learn of him meekness and lowliness of Heart and to take his Yoak upon thee which is easie and his Burthen which is light Matt. 11.29 30. If this be thy frame practice and way and thou canst not wilt not comfort thy self till thy sense and real feeling of these things and a full insight into thy self make thy way very plain as infinitely afraid of being cheated by Satan or choused by thine own deceitful Heart under a shadow of Spiritual Joys into substantial Woes If thy Feet being first guided into the paths of Righteousness be guided also with this caution and wariness into the way of Peace and setled in a quiet and comfortable Repose this ½ doubt not is real Divine Consolation 3. The differences of true and false Comforts which are derived from the Subject or Persons feeling their reviving Influence or rather indeed the adjuncts of those Persons considered in their absolute or relative State are as palpable as any The soundest Joys being only the Possession of a truly Regenerate Godly Soul The unsound lodging in the wicked Hypocritical for the most part as their proper Habitation So that if it can be known to a Mans self whether he be really good or bad it may ordinarily be known whether his Peace be right or wrong But for this I refer to the Characters of the Psalmist in the beginning of this Discourse I only add That where there 's no Life there can be no true Comfort 'T is My God vers 22. Now he is not the God of the dead but of the living Matth. 22.32 'T is no less true in a Spiritual sense than a Natural If My God in natural Relation argue the Life of Nature My God in federal Relation does as strongly infer the Life of Grace For 't is not any where affirmed of Cain Esau Judas c. after their Death that God was then their God as of Abraham c. although they be no less alive in Soul the Immortality whereof is a common Privilege and admits of no degrees in one more than other My God then to Abraham c. is another thing and to be taken in another sense than that wherein it may be applicable to Cain c. since 't is used of the godly after Death in an appropriate incommunicable sense It may truly be apply'd to the very Devils and damned in any sense not importing the Moral Spiritual Life of Purity and Peace but in this 't is the sole Prerogative of the godly that are born again not of Blood nor of the Will of the Flesh nor of the Will of Man but of God Joh. 1.13 When therefore our Psalmist owns the Divine Majesty under the Relation of My God the meaning is Mine to whom I am confederated united as a principle of new Divine Spiritual Life as the Soul of my Soul in whose all I have a true federal Right in his Being his Perfections his Knowledge Coodness Love Life Peace c. whose Comforts therefore benignly eye me and invite my acceptance because I and all mine are his He himself and all his through not Creation merely but the Covenant of Grace are mine I therefore possess living Comforts because I enjoy a living God as mine own by Vital Vnion Indeed Spiritual Joys only affect Spiritual living Souls Cordials are never administred to disanimated Carkases nor Divine Comforts to the Dead in Sins and Trespasses First Resurrection then Ascension into a Heaven of Rest Natural Animal Life inherits no Spiritual Peace 1 Cor. 15.44 50 51. any more than a natural Body Celestial Pleasures All must be changed ere they can be translated into this Paradise As the corruptible part of us is abolished at the Resurrection of the Body else we cannot enter into Life So the corrupting part must be Crucified at the Resurrection of our Souls or we cannot enter into Peace Isa 57.2 He shall enter into Peace they shall rest upon their Beds walking in uprightness A Scripture something cloudy which the former clause being singular this plural in the Hebrew and both Figurative renders yet more perplex'd But by a Transposition not unusual and taking the last word of the foregoing Verse as a Supplement to this being 't is the Substantive to the Participle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it may be read thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Righteous walking in his uprightness shall come goe into Peace they i. e. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sickly Men of Mercy or Holiness shall quietly rest upon their Beds To compleat the sentence and sense understand and insert here 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 walking in uprightness for although the number disagree yet the matter requires it An exceeding proper allusion to the Signification of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Enosh A Bed for the sick The Bed is either 1. The Grave for the Body a common Metaphor 2 Chron. 16.14 c. as 't is to stile Death a sleep yet this would but be a jejune Interpretation improper to the place for even to the wicked 't is so 2. Therefore the Bed imports the state of everlasting repose and rest for the Soul in Heaven Though righteous and merciful Men of infirm Bodies and Souls be taken away from approaching Evils yet living and dying in uprightness they enter into never ending Rest and Peace That is their Portion after Death and the first Fruits thereof their present Possession That of Solomon Eccles 2.2 is every way verified of the wicked I said of laughter it is mad and of mirth what doth it For what greater frenzy than to laugh in the face of incensed condemning Justice And Oh mirth what dist thou In the midst of the devouring Fire and everlasting Burnings which are already kindled in a cauterized Conscience though for a little while rak'd up and smothered But whether so or no I am sure there 's just reason that even in laughter their hearts should be marvellous sorrowful because the end of that mirth will be doleful heaviness Prov. 14.13 For the wicked are like the troubled Sea when it cannot rest whose Waters cast up mire and dirt There is no peace saith my God to the wicked Isa
the Psalmists process here For before the Text though he have frequent occasion to make mention of God almost in every one of the foregoing Verses viz. ten or eleven times yet 't is with that seeming distance and strangeness that we meet not with a word of appropriation to himself in special But upon the benigne Aspect of the Consolations of God his Love will no longer stand off but makes its nearest approaches and runs into his embraces in a double affectionate claim of Propriety in the compass of four Verses following as oft as he mentions the Lord he follows it with a Relative not permitting it to pass by as before like an Alien Vers 22. The Lord is my defence My God is the Rock of my Refuge I have now abundant reason to follow him with relation Love as mine own since he love my Soul into Rest and Peace becoming my Comforter Oh sweet reviving token of the singular Love of my God! How dearly do I love him for it Yet this is not all Is this Honey-comb for my self alone Do I arrogate sole Propriety in these Riches No my Charity obliges me to Judge that my Brethren in Affliction are not destitute of the same Consolation through interest in God I so love my Neighbour as to make account he is as good as my self and has an equal share with me in this infinite Treasure therefore for my Brethren and Companions sake I say OUR GOD without restriction to my self Vers 23. Yea our God shall out them off He is a common good yours as well as mine and brings a common benefit to us all in saving us from our Adversaries And herein he shews not only his love to Man and thereby consequentially that it did respect a higher object 1 Joh. 4.20 21. but directly and immediately demonstrates that he grew in love to God himself in that he glorifies the Communicativeness of Divine Goodness by an acknowledgment of its extensiveness in a peculiar manner to Multitudes besides himself even all included in the relative OUR as if it had been said I love him because he loves me so as to be mine I love him yet more because he together with me loves mine condescending to be theirs also I love that goodness that flows to me I further love that goodness that overflows to all with me my Friends my People For my own sake for their sake for its own sake I love it above all Thus as the Work of Righteousness is Peace and the effect of Righteousness quietness and assurance for ever Isa 32.17 So on the other hand the Work of Peace is Righteousness Psal 85.8 I will hear what 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the strong God Jehovah will speak because he will speak peace to his people and to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his merciful ones 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Indicatively not Imperatively and they shall not return to folly This Peace will be a preservative against Sin whence 't is said to Engarrison our Minds and Hearts in that so often mentioned Phil. 4.7 so promotes it that Holiness which some call Negative but it is no less productive of Positive Holiness Isa 61.2 3. Christ is anointed and endowed with the Holy Spirit to Preach good tidings c. To comfort all that mourn To appoint unto them that mourn in Sion to give unto them beauty for Ashes the Oyl of joy for mourning the Garment of Praise for the Spirit of heaviness But wherefore all this It follows That they might be called i. e. might be as before Isa 4.3 and 35.8 and 56.7 compared with Luk. 19.46 Matth. 5.9 19. Trees of Righteousness the planting of the Lord that he might be glorified To this purpose also is that Prayer of the Apostle 2 Thes 2.16 17. God who loves and gives everlasting Consolation through Grace comfort your Hearts and stablish you in every good Word and Work Grace begets Consolation and this begets good Conversation He that through Grace comforts does also through Comfort establish in every good Word and Work Shew then Oh my Soul the soundness of thy Comforts by their Fruits That Peace which is imprignant is impostorous In what further degree do thy inward Joys impower thee to Love the Lord the giver or thy Neighbour thy Partaker Canst thou pretend Peace in thy Conscience and live in contention or uncharitableness with thy Brother Does not thy inward Comfort calm thy passions meeken thy converses render thee profitable useful to Men in the best endeavours to induce them to love God and Vertue and abhor Immorality Viciousness and Hypocrisie that by thy means they may be also led in this method into the way of Peace and through it again into the way of Purity If thy Comforts be solid and sincere thou wilt by them be enabled to use the utmost diligence in propagating them since that is one of Gods great Designs in communicating them 2 Cor. 1.3 4. Blessed be God even the Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ the Father of Mercies and the God of all Comfort who comforteth us in all our Tribulation for what end That we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble by the Comfort wherewith we our selves are comforted of God And if God make thee able thou ought'st to be willing They are only fallacious Joys that are envious A corrupt Heart so that it self do but enjoy rest matters not though all the World be in trouble nay grudges others the quiet it enjoys and triumphs or secretly rejoyces at or at least is not afflicted in their Afflictions Haman will drink and be jolly when the whole City is in perplexity A wicked Soul is not concern'd for the content of any beside it self will rather add Affliction to the afflicted than indeavour or rejoyce in their Consolation Thy Comfort is not good if not conformable to the Fountain of Goodness in Communicativeness As far as confin'd 't is corrupt In the Harvest of true Joys thy Jordan will overflow the Banks Uncharritable illiberal unbountiful Consolations are Illusions If thy light and gladness diffuse not its beneficial rayes abroad to revive and refresh the Disconsolate Heart 't is but a glimmering Meteor not a Beam from the Sun of Righteousness and thus does it not extend it self if a Vital Heat and Influence do not accompany it as 't is but a flashy wild deceitful Spark Isa 50.11 which will vanish into Smoak and darkness if it be not kindled by a flame of true Love to God and Universal Righteousness Wherefore thou canst never bless thy self in reflection upon thine own Peace if it engage thee not in serious cares to propagate Holiness first and thereby Peace For an unholy Soul is absolutely inconsolable for want of Right therefore should be so for want of Will since a Will to apply Comforts without Right will certainly reduce to that woful plight which the Apostle with so much concern reports 1 Thes 5.3 When they shall say peace and