yours he that doth not endeavour by honest prudent diligent care to provide for his own is worse than an Infidel 1 Tim. 5.8 But yet trusting in God would not suffer you to be carkingly carefull for any thing Be careful for nothing Phil. 4. â— it would free you from all those cares that distract the head and divide the heart from other and better things yea it would free you from all carnal fears of evil Ob. Sedg on Psal 23 3. though you walk in the valley of the shadow of death that is though you meet with dangers as terrible as death though those dangers beset you as the Mountains do the Valleys though you be as neer to death as the shadow is unto the body Psal 112.7 8. though there be but a step between you and death But alas do not your carking cares and carnal fears either divert you from duty Mal. 3 1â— as if it were a vain thing to serve and wait upon the Lord or else distract you in duties in reading hearing praying meditating c. O that this may be your sin no more Verily if God shall never be trusted in by you you shall certainly and for ought you know suddenly be consumed by him What said the Bramble when chosen King Come and put your trust in my shadow and if not let sire come out of the Bramble and devour the Cedars of Lebanon Judg. 9.15 No wonder that Fire is proceeded from God to devour the tallest Cedars for their not trusting in him You should take the more heed of this sin because of your proneness to it and because of its being the life and vigour of every sin all sin is departing from God and we depart from God only because we do not trust in him 3 Creature confidence Against trusting in any Creature Luk 18.9 pâ—al 52.7 Isa 30.12 trusting in somewhat that is not God Is not this still your iniquity Do not you still trust in somewhat either within or without your selves Do not some still trust in their sins Loe this is the Man that made not God his trust but strengthned himself in his wickedness you trust in oppression and perversness and stay thereon Do not you still lay as fast hold of your sins as a lame Man of his Crutches Jer. 8.5 Lye on psal 62.8 in M. E. at C. p. 433 439. Prov. 3.5 Do not you hold fast deceit and refuse to return Do not you think that if your sins fall you shall fall Do not you think that you cannot live if you should leave your lying dissembling cheating flattering sinfull compliances with such and such Do not you still lean to your own understandings If you do you cannot trust in the Lord with all your hearts your own wisdome Isa 47 10. 1 Cor. 3 19. Rom. 8. â— your own politick contrivances for your safety will pervert you your wisdome will appear foolishness with God yea emnity against God Do not you still trust in your own hearts in your own purposes and resolutions against your sins and for God and in your promises of what you will do hereafter He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool prov 18.26 Jer. 17.9 but he that walketh wisely shall be delivered Alaâ— the heart of man is deceitfull above all things Do not you still trust in your own righteousness There is no more safety therein to secure you from the wrath of God in his Judgments in this World than there is to secure you from the wrath of God in Hell phil 3.8 9. This Paul knew and therefore he suffered the loss of all things and stil counted them dung that he might be found in Christ as his only City of refuge not having his own righteousness Do not you stil trust in the strength vigour and health of your bodies Engl. Annâ—t on Is 57.10 May it not still be laid to thy charge that thou dost finde the life of thy hand i. e. Thou still imaginest that so long as thou art so strong and healthy thou shalt not want sufficient means to support thee Do not you stil trust in your Cities Castles strong holds and yet doth not God tell you all thy strong holds shall be like Fig-trees Nahum 3 12 with the first ripe Figs if they be shaken they shall fall into the mouth of the eater Do not you still trust in your wealth It is so hard to have riches and not trust in them that what one Evangelist calls having of riches another calls trusting in them The rich Mans wealth is his strong City prov 18 11 and as an high wall in his conceit i. e. He conceiveth himself as safe in the midst of his wealth as if he were in a Tower as high as Heaven he thinks himself past the reach of danger but he is deceived Riches avail not in the day of wrath prov 11 4. Eccl 7.12 Zeph. 1.18 â—â—â—im 6.17 Col. 3.5 It is true at sometimes and in some cases money is a defence or shadow but in the day of Gods wrath money is but a shadow and no defence Trust nâ—t therefore any more in uncertain riches Be not once more guilty of this kind of Idolatry Do not some still truâ—t in their worldly greatness O! woe to him Hab. 2.9 that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house that he may seâ— his Neâ— on high that he may be delivered from the poâ—â—â— of evil Do not others still trust in their humane Allies and Assistances That they have such Friends and Conâ—ederate â—o many stout and valiant Men ready to form Armies to stand by them If the shadow of such be your truâ—t the end of that trust will be your confusion An Hâ—rse is a vain thing for safety Isâ— 30.2 3. psal 33.17 Nahum 3.13 And the stâ—utest Souldiers are but like an Army of Women without God Do not others truâ—t in Church priviledges crying out the Temple of the Lord the Temple of the Lord the Temple of the Lord are we Such trust but in lying words No wonder that you have God for your foe Jer. 7.4 and that you are under his curse What saith the Prophet yea what saith the Lord by the Prophet Cursed be the Man that truâ—â—eth in 〈◊〉 an and maketh flesh his Arme. Jer. 17.5 No wonder that God is writing sentences of death upon all the means of your salvation God doth sometimes severely chastise his own Children even to prevent their trusting in themselves O! 2 Cor. 1.9 how carefully should you take heed of this sin seeing it is such a provocation unto God it being an undeifying of God and a deifying of some Creature seeing also it is a 〈◊〉 that may be often committed in a day yea in an hour and seeing it is a sin that you are very proae unto It is very much in the nature of Man fallen as one well â—â—serve to affect an absoluteness
prevent this let us all be stiâ—â—'d up to conform more and more to Jesus Christ who grew in wisdome 〈…〉 as well as in stature Let us write after Paul's copy Phil 3 12 13 14 Not as though I had already attained or were already perfect but I follow after if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus Brethren I count not my self to have apprehended but this one thing I do forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth to those things that are before I press toward the mark c. Would you have God take away all your talents Take heed then of neglecting to increase them Then shall yee know if yee follow on to know the Lord. The path of the just is as the shining Light Hos 6.3 Prov. 4.18 that shineth more and more till it be perfect Day He saith one that hath the least saving acquaintance with God hath enough to make him thankful but he that hath the most hath not enough to make him idle 7. Neglecting to make use of Knowledge Against not making use of knowledge Hath not this been your sin Hath not the habit of knowledge layn dead in your Souls Hath it not been an useless and an unprofitable thing both as to your selves and others O that it may be your sin no more Be not satisfied with having Lights or Lamps Luc. 12.35 but Let your Lights be burning or shining Make use of your knowledge for the heating of your affections for the stirring up desires after God love to God delight in God hatred of sin fear of offending God c. As the Spouse He is altogether lovely Cant. 5.16 This is my Beloved Let the knowledge of wisdome be unto your Souls as Honey that is good and the Honey-comb Prov. 24.13 14 which is sweet unto the tast Make use of your knowledge for the guiding of your thoughts words and actions Let wisdome guide you in every step you take Prov. 6 3â— Ask of your knowledge continually what saith the Rule what doth the Word of God require Make use of your knowledge in bearing witness to truth for which you came into this World John 18.36 When you come to appear for an opposed truth let not your knowledge be to seek Make use of your knowledge for the preserving of your Souls from theoretical and practical miscariages Seeing yee know c. beware lest yee also be led away with the errour of the wicked If you will make use of your knowledge 2 Pet. 3.16 Prov. 2.11 12 16. you have Gods promise for preservation from snares in judgment and defilements in practice The Devil shall not undermine you by policy noâ— overcome you by power Make use of your knowledge for the good of others One great end of knowledge is to communicate knowledge And indeed as one well observes to know for our own and others good is the only good knowledge To reject the directions of knowledge as well as the means of knowledge is to reject knowledge Bur. on Hof 4.6 And hath not God therefore rejected you Is not God reckoning with his wicked because slothful servants for letting their Talents lie un-improved Yea is not this a greater judgment than any outward judgments you are under Is it not an evidence of a Souls being under a spirit of slumber to have no more use of its knowledge Isa â—9 10 then one asleep hath Not to use is all one as not to have knowledge He that hath not i.e. that doth not make use of what he hath shall have what he hath or seems to have taken away from him Chap. II. The miscarriages opposite to Believing God The Assenting Act of Faith 1. Against credulity Prov. 14.15 VAin Credulity Hath not this been your sin Have not you been so simple as to believe every word pretending to come from God Have not you been ready to be â—â—ken to false Teachers Mar. 4.24 mat 7.15 Jer. 23.16 mar 8.15 Though God hath said Take heed what you hear Beware of false Prophets Hearken not unto the words of the Prophets that prophesie unto you they make you vain they speak 〈◊〉 Vision of their own heart Take heed beware of the leaven of the 〈◊〉 harisees and of the leaven of Herod yet how fool hardy and venturous have you been O the sad consequences of this fool-hardiness Eve lost all by hearing one Sermon from the mouth of the Serpent Julian the Emperor sipt in his Apostasie by hearing Libanius the Sophister Let others yea your own harms make you to beware Faelix quem faciunt aliena pericula c. Prov. 9.18 â— Thes 5.21 O! come not any more neer the doâ—r of their house Knowest thou not that the dead are there and that their guests are in the depth of Hell Say not you must try all things Christians ought indeed to prove all things in the Apostles sense the Doctrines that Christs own Ministers teach them they must bring to the touch-stone of the Word But he that will adventure to tast of every box and glass in an Apothecaries shop may sooner meet with poyson than with nutriment Have not you been ready to receive and reject Doctrines before you have brought them to the touch-stone and ballance of the Sanctuary to be tryed Before you receive or reject a piece of gold you will go to the touch-stone to try whether it be good mettal or no and to the ballance to try whether it be weight or no But have you not dealt otherwise with the Doctrines you have heard Câ—ril on Job 12 11 Hath your ear tryed the words that have sounded therein The Original word for an ear as an excellent Expositor observes being of the dual Number signifieth a pair of ballances to note that we should not only hear but weigh But have not you received Doctrines upon trust Have not some given an absolute credence to the Church to a Synod to a Councel Have not others to this and the other singular person if a learned Man or a pious Man if a Pastor or a Teacher especially if pretending the spirit of Revelation But what faith the Apostle We beseech you brethren 2 Thess 2.2 that yee be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled neither by spirit nor by word nor by letter as from us not by spirit those that pretend prâ—phetical revelations nor word those that plead traditions nor letter those that urge forged records It was the Bereans commendation Acts 17.11 that they would not trust Paul upon his word but tryed his Doctrine by the Scriptures Have not you also rejected Doctrines upon trust It is as dangerous saith one to refuse as to receive what we have not examined 2 Chroâ— 12.8 Shephard's wholesome caveat for a time of liberty p. 3 Ash on 2 Chrâ— 30.8 1 Cor. 7 23. mat 23.10 No wonder that we that have been so ready
He that is not with me saith Christ is against me He that doth not accept of God doth refuse him That Chapman that will not take your Wares at your price in so doing he doth refuse them That Woman that dissents that will not consent that such a man should be her Husband refuseth to marry with him Are not you still unperswaded to have God himself for your Portion Lam. 3.24 Portio cujusque dicitur in quo felicitatem suam quisque collocat Calv. to place your happiness in him and absolute Soveraign to come under his government Is not this evident in the remaining deafness of the ears of your Souls Not to give ear to or not to obey the Word of the Lord is to reject it and to reject the Word of God is to reject God himself Psa 81.11 My people would not hearken to my voice and Israel would none of me Were you ever yet effectually called Did God ever yet speak in such a voice as could not but be heard as could not be withstood If yet your ears are deaf unto the calls of God if yet you are able to withstand the voice of God certainly you do still refuse him Do not your hearts remain obdurate Do the offers of God make any impression on them Is any savour of God to be found in them Alas Gods offers do not move or stirr them cordially to defire the enjoyment of him and subjection to him Do not our worthless thoughts of God still continue Do not we still think that God is not worth so much pains so many prayers so much hearing so much time so many sighs and tears c. Alas which of us accounts Gods offers the best bargains That which a man counts to be his best bargain O. Sedg c. p. 301 302. he will saith the same Author 1. Make all things to give way to that 2. Make that to fill up his desire 3. It will draw forth his choicest diligence and pains 4. He will be at some loss to gain it 5. He is peremptory and unmoveably earnest for the enjoyment of it 6. The fruition of it presents unto him the sweetest joy Do we thus account closing with God best Best of all Where then are our present cares to get God himself Where are our strong fears lest we miss of God Where are our full desires and peremptory and stedfast resolutions to be the Lords as well as to have God to be ours 〈◊〉 will we part with for God Whence comes in our sweetest joy To them that believe i. e. receive Christ or rather God in Christ He is precious Christ is precious and God in and through Christ is precious But where is the precious thought Who are restless without God To whom are Goods not good without God Peace not rest without God Life not a beeing without God all nothing without God Give me children or else I dye said Rachel Dost thou say Lord give me thy self or else I dye O that this may be your sin no more Yet consider and be wise O! Do not still stand out against him Though you refuse his Ministers yet do not any more refuse their Master Though you like not the messengers yet do not any more dislike the offers What shall I say to perswade you or rather whereby God himself may perswade you If you will continue still resolute that God shall not be a God to and over you verily God will resolve that you shall not be a people but he will make an utter end of you Jer. 3.1 5. Thou hast played the haâ—lot with many lovers yet return unto me saith the Lord. Will he reserve his anger for ever Acts 3.19 Hebr. 10.26 yet in the midst of judgement he remembers so much mercy as once more to offer himself unto you notwithstanding all your former refusals of him and if now you will but accept of him all that is past shall be forgiven you and God will receive you into his grace and favour and never any more upbraid you with your often refusals of him Repent ye therefore and be converted that your sins your refusals of God in Christ of such sins the Apostle speaks in that place may be blotted out But if you will not how can you read without trembling that Word of the Lord If we sin wilfully after wâ— have received the knowledge of the truth there remains no more sacrifice for sins but a certain fearful looking for of judgement and fiery indignation Against closing with God hypocritically which shall devour the Adversaries 2. Closing with God hypocritically Beware lest your willingness to have God for your God still prove a consent not suited to the object of Faith in its absolute necessary respects and nature It is essential to God as the object of mans Faith saith a Worthy to be his supreme Lord and Rector Baxter's Apology p. 62 63. and his ultimate end and chiefest good and so must be apprehended and willed by all that indeed take him for their God As also to be perfect in Beeing Wisdome Goodness and Power and of perfect Veracity yea it is essential to the object of our Faith as such to be considered comparatively As that God be taken not only as our Good but our chief good to be preferâ—'d before every creature that he be taken not only as our Lord but as Soveraign Lord to be obeyed before all other Where these essentials are not in the apprehension of the object there is not truly Consent or Faith Consent hath relation to the Offer and if it be not the offered thing that is consented to but somewhat else under that name then it is not indeed Consent for there is no Relate without its Correlate The Civil Law saith Ignorantis non est consensus A God that is inferiour to Creatures in Râ—le or Goodness and Desireableness is not God indeed And therefore he that takes God in this sense for his God takes but the Name of God an Idol of his own brain and not God himself Hath not this been your sin Is it not still your sin Do not you seem to consent when you do not indeed and in truth consent You pretend you are heartily willing that God should be your God and that you do consent to have him But First Are not you still ignorant of the true God Ignorantly whom you say you consent to take for your God Ignorant Professours can only seem to be Consenters And are not you still ignorant Professours See Chap. 1. Secondly Are not you for having of God Without rejecting other Gods without rejecting of other gods Indeed had our hearts been alwayes chast and faithful we should not have needed to break we should only have tyed a knot Teates Scripture-Map of the wilderness of sin and way to Canaan p. 338. but because of our former wanton dalliance with and engagements unto other lovers we must solemnly renounce and
disclaim them or God will not be ours Hearken O Daughter and consider forget also thine own people and thy fathers house so shall the King greatly desire thy beauty But Do not you still refuse to renounce the World for your chief good Do not you still say in your hearts and desires Who will shew us Psa 45.10 11 Other chief goods Psa 4.6 who will give us to enjoy any good the good of the creature an earthly happiness Do not you still say in your hearts Take God for a portion who will so we may have our portion in this life Was not he guilty of blasphemy that said He would not part with his part in Paris for a part in Paradise And are not your hearts guilty of the same Do not you still place your happiness either in riches or honours or pleasures Haec tria pro trino numine mundus habet Do not some cry out Let us enjoy our pleasures and we matter not God and Heaven yea we matter not wealth or honour Do not others cry out Let us get riches and we matter not grace and glory yea we matter not honour or pleasure Pâ—pulus mihi sibilat mihi plaudâ— Do not your earnest desires of having carking cares and anxious endeavours for the procuring inordinate delight in the enjoyment distrustful fears of losing and repining sorrows for parting with this Worlds good things speak out plainly that you still place your happiness in the creature Do not you still refuse to renounce all other Lords Other Lords Are not some still resolved to be ruled by the Devil to be what he would have them be and to do what he would have them do Eph. 2.3 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Are none of you Children of disobedience The original word imports Children unperswadable Are not some still unperswadable by any Arguments to reject Satans injections and counsels Are not others still resolved to be ruled by the world the things of the World the men of the World The World shall cut out their work and choose their Imployments yea their very Religion and set limits to it Mens opinions precepts practises shall be their rule and standard Are not others still resolved to be ruled by themselves to continue their own Lords consulting only with flesh and blood doing only what is good in their own eyes Jer. 44.17 18. as that People who cryed out We will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth of our own mouth for then we had plenty of viciual and were well and saw no evil but since we left off we have wanted all things and have been consumed by the sword But what saith Christ Mat. 6.24 No man can serve two masters for either he will hate the one and love the other or else he will hold to the one and despise the other Yee cannot serve God and mammon Verily you cannot be ruled by the flesh or the World or the Devil and by God too Thirdly Without yielding up self unto God Are not you still for having God to be yours without an hearty willingness to be the Lords Verily you will finde it that it is not enough to think or say I am none of Satans I am not for the World I will not be for the Flesh thou must come to say heartily Hos 2.7 I am Gods I am and through grace will continue Gods and none but Gods We must not only leave our former lovers Yeare c. p. 339. but we must return to our first husband What is this saith one but the marriage-match and in the truest sense the true lovers-knot But alas can each of us say I am thine save me Psal 119.94 I am not mine own not the Worlds not Satans but thine thine really thine totally thine solely thine everlastingly save me Are not you still unwilling that all you are Roberts of the Covenant fol. 94 95. all that you have all that you can do and all that you can endure should be the Lords Are not you still unwilling that your minds should be his to apprehend and believe him Your consciences his to accuse or excuse you according to his pleasure your memories his to retain him your wills his to yield and submit to him your hearts and affections his to be employed about him and his concernments your eyes his to behold his works your ears his to hear his word All your senses his to be casements and inlets to his goodness your members his to be weapons oâ— righteousness your being his to be only for him Are not you still unwilling that all your credit pleasures riches time parts gifts priviledges relations c. Should be Homagers unto God Are not you still unwilling that all you can do should be either for publishing and maintaining his truth or promoting his worship or protecting his Church or advancing his Kingdome or fulfilling his will Are not you still unwilling to bear Christs reproach Heb. 13 13 36 37 38 to undergo tryals of cruel mockings and scourgings bonds and imprisonments if need be to be stoned sawn asunder tempted slain with the sword to wander about in sheep skins and goat-skins in Deserts and in Mountains and in Dens and in Caves of the Earth being deaitute afflicted tormented for his sake To resist even unto blood fighting against sin Hebr 12 4â— Is not this still the language of your hearts Let us break his bands asunder and caâ— away his cords from us Psal 2.3 Which of us doth yet yield himselâ— unto the Lord The genuine constitution of the Hebrew phrase is Give yee the hand unto Jehovah Ash on 2 Chron. 30.8 Job 11 13 Isa 1 15 1 Chro. 29.14 Ezek 17 18 Prov. 22 26 Are not you still unwilling to stretch out your hands to God to be take your selves to God in prayer Are not you still unwilling to yield chediential subjection to Gods government as they submitted themselves or gave the hand unto Solomon the King Are not you still unwilling to enter into Covenant with God to be his which in Scripture is called giving the hand and striking hands according to the Directions in the late famous Vindication of Piety Fourthly Is not your willingness to have God forced and not free Fâ—reedly and not freely Properly indeed every consent is voluntary but yet that may be called an involuntary consent when the will might it use its own liberty with safety would not consent though at present it doth Such a consent doth a Marriner give to cast his goods over-board in a Storm God wooes and wins hearts Teate c page 337. he doth not ravish them Indeed at first they are not only coy but crooked He comes to his own in this sense even his own intended and elect Lady and Spouse but she receives him not What gracious heart is there but with bitterness remembers how often it refused God before he brought it to a yea
and a self-sufficiency Reynold on Hos â—4 3 sâ—l 803 804 80â— to seek the good he desireth within himself and to derive from himself the strength whereby he would repel any evil which he feareth Heâ—eby â—aâ—an prevailed to draw Man from God at first 〈…〉 next unto God every reasonable created Feâ—ing is 〈◊〉 unto its self we cannot conceive how it should turn from God 〈◊〉 not in the next step turn unto it self and by consequeâ—â—â— whatsoever it was in a regular dependance to have dâ—â—ived from God being â—dien from him it doth by an irregulâ—â— depend 〈◊〉 â—â—â—k from it self It iâ— natural for a sinful Creature whâ—â— seâ—â—â—th only himself and maketh himself the last end to seek only unto himself and make himself the first cause and mover towards that end Yea so desperate is the aversion of sinful man from God that when he is convinced of his impotency and driven off from self-dependance yet when he hath no horses of his own to ride on yet still he will betake himself unto creatures like himself Hos 5.13 If Ephraim see his sickness and Judah his wound Ephraim will to the Assyrian and King Jareb for help Yea when he hath nothing in the world to turn to but he is necessitated to implore help from God he will invent wayes of his own to do it If Horses fail and Ashur fail and Israel must gâ—e to God whether he will or no it shall not be to God that made him but to a God of his own making Once more consider you never repent for or from any sin unless you repent for and from this sin True Repentance and Conversion takes off the heart from all carnal Confidence Hos 14.3 either in Domestical preparations of our own We will not ride upon Horses or in Foreign aid from any Confederates Ashur shall not save us Or in any superstitious and corrupt worshp which sends us to God the wrong way We will not say any more to the work of our hands ye are our gods 4. Vain Confidence Vain not only in regard of the object trusting in somewhat beside God Against Hypâ—critical trusting in God but vain in respect of its form seeing though it hath in some sense God for its object yet it wants the essential properties of right trusting in God I mean Job 8.14 the trust of the Hypocrite which in Job is compared to the Spiders web It 's Mr. Caril's note upon the words That an Hypocrite hath a trust like himself He hath grace proper to his state false grace for his false heart And hath not your trusting in God been such as belongeth only to Hypocrites Is yet your trusting in God fixed and resolved Is there yet any strength in it Trust saith the same excellent Expositor where it is true hath a double effect the want of which discovers the falseness of it in the Hypocrite It confirms and strengthens the heart against all opposition And it encourageth the heart against all dangers Doth not our trust fail in both these Are not we still for going on boldly till we meet with opposition and dangers threaten us Will our trust though curiously wrought bear any force of battery or stress of weather any more than a Spiders web Are not we still guilty of not trusting in God at all times and for all things As true Obedience respects all the Commandements Caril on Job 13.15 so true Trust respects all the Dispensations of God A true believer saith one depends as much in proportion upon God for a piece of bread as for Heaven He trusts God in the least as well as in the greatest matters But though we pretend to trust in God for pardon and glory yet do not we think it needless to trust in him for food and rayment either supposing that we can help our selves or suspecting that God will not stoop so low as to help us When we have a great business to set about we stirr up our selves to trust in God and so we ought but the spiritualness of trust is seen in depending on God for managing the least business performing the least duty resisting the least corruption and bearing the least burden As it is the same love of God that saveth us eternally and preserveth us temporally so it is the same power of God that doth great and small things for us Can we yet trust in God in all weathers Some only trust in God in fair weather when they are full they can trust in God for bread and when they are safe they can trust in God for protection And others only trust in him in foul weather their trusting in God is not of choice but forced and of necessity they never trust in him but when they have nothing else to help them Are we yet able to say Though he slay me yet I will trust in him Or though he make me alive I will trust in him It is a glorious tryal of trust saith the same Worthy to say Should God make me not worth a groat yet I will trust him but it is a greater glory of this trust to say Though God make me worth thousands yet I will trust in him When we to sense have the least need of Gods help then to trust in him and depend upon him shews that we are most sensible that we need his help for by this we in one act give testimony to the All-sufficiency of God and to the emptiness of the creature by this we make God all and the creature nothing at all Faith gives a more spiritual discovery of it self when it convinceth us that we are poor in the midst of our abundance without God than when it convinceth us that we have abundance in God though we are poor Verily to trust in God in all estates and turns is proper to godliness Our trusting in creatures so much doth also evidence that we do but seem to trust in God and that in deed and in truth we do not trust in him at all He that trusts not in God alone doth not trust in him at all Every thing we joyn with God dis-joyneth us from God We can never take hold of God unless we let goe our hold of other things Which of us leans upon whole God only and that with the whole Soul Well seeing your trust hâ—râ—â—een the trust of the Hypocrite Job 8.14 Isa 14.23 it is no wonder that it hath been as a Spiders web No wonder that Gods besome of purgation to true believers hath been his besome of destruction unto your Trust and Confidence When the house is swept the cobwebs are swept awâ—y No wonder that such sinners as you Isa 33 14. in Zion be afraid No wonder that fearfulness surprizeth the Hypocrite O! as ever you would stand before devouring Fire take heed that your truâ—t be not as the Spiders web Chap. V. The Miscarriages opposite to Assurance the reflex Act of Faith 1. REgardlesness of