wheat 'T is well our Lord prayes for them that their faith may not fail in the hour of temptation 2. Satan is likely to get advantage by making the Temporaries fall away He knowâ— that the Sun of persecution shining â—ot will scorch the Seed that 's sown and springs up in stony ground Mat. 13. 21. Temporary believers are quickly offended at Christ and become unbelievers again Iâ— a storm arises they will leave the Ship where Christ is and loving carnal case and an whole skin will put in to the next harbour Let Christ be alone if he will in a tempest they will not then accompany him And when many of these unsound Disciples do forsake the Lord carnal hearts are more confirmed and hardned against him as if 't were unsafe and consequently a very unwise part to be of the number of his followers The going away of temporary believers is very likely to hinder others from engaging to such a Master who is so much deserted 3. Satan is likely to get advantage in the times of suffering by staving off them that are without from coming in and closing with Christ Jesus When any begin to bethink themselves to consider their wayes and to mind salvation the Devil especially in the day of calamity fills their minds with such suggestions as these That the Cross of Christ is heavy that 't is dreadful to be hated of all men that tribulation will pinch their flesh that name relations credit estate nay and perhaps life may be called for as soon as ever Christ is closed with And hereby he strangely and strongly prevails upon timerous and corrupted nature You had better sayes Satan understand when you are well and keep your selves so you had better live in peace and plenty as the most of those about you do than be singular in your way and by that singularity make so many enemies and pull down upon your heads so many troubles And truly the flesh hath an open ear to such counsel though it be very unreasonable and pernicious 4. Satan is likely to get advantage in the time of sufferings By lessening the Saints number He cares not how many of these are cut off he delights in the high and crying sin of those who be the Saints Destroyers and he knows that when believers are cut off though he cannot trouble them they cannot trouble him any longer by undermining of his Kingdom as before they did Saints whose faith and love and hope set them above the fear of sufferings are persons whom the Devil fears as well as hates therefore he wishes he were well rid of them these will hearten and strengthen their brethren to stand fast in the Lord these consequently are the marks at which he aims and would fain quite run them down to the very grave by tribulation 5. Satan is likely to get advantage in the time of suffering by hindring the preaching and progress of the Gospel Where persecution is vehement Vision grows rare in those places where the joyful sound the glad tydings of peace used to be heard there is a sad silence The Prophets are driven into corners and not suffered to cry aloud to sinners to awaken them and turn them from darknesse to light and from the power of Satan unto God And when faithful Labourers are thrown aside Satan expects a plentiful harvest Thus the Devil aims at the promoting of his Kingdom by striking at the Saints But the Lord commonly at last out-shoots him in his own bow and makes these sufferings tend to the sufferers good and the Gospels glory and encrease God can a complish his ends by means that seem contrary he can make Satan and persecutors serve his Son by enlarging of his Borders which they thought and hoped to have narrowed He can thrust forth so the word in the original 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies Labourers into his Harvest again And though men and Devils stand to hinder their entrance and working if the Lord thrust them in in they shall go and work with more power and success then ever 2. The Saints sufferings arise as from the god of this world so from the world it self What Christ said concerning the Jewes who went about to kill him may be applied to those who are the troublers of his Members They are of their father the Devil and the lusts of their father they will do John 8. 44. He is a Lyar and a Murtherer and so are they They first raise lyes of Believers confidently affirming them to be rebellious seditious enemies to Kingdomes though indeed the Pillars of the Nations where they live and having lyed against them they endeavour their ruine having misrepresented them they fall upon them They lye in saying the Saints are not fit to live and then they strive to root them out of the Land of the living Thus they make nothing of transgressing at once both the sixth and the ninth Commandment Now the reason which moves the men of this world to trouble the Saints of God is fourâ—old 1. The Saints are not of the world Our Lord speaks thus to his Disciples Joh. 15. 19. If ye were of the world the world would love his own but because ye are not of the world but I have chosen you out of the world therefore the world hateth you Again he speaks to the same purpose John 17. 14. I have given them thy word and the world hath hated them the reason is because they are not of the world even as I am not of the world Believers are unlike the men of the world and this unlikeness is the ground of dislike They dare not be careless of their souls fearless of God prodigal of the day of Grace as the world are They are not conformed to this world but transformed by the renewing of their minds and they prove what is the good the acceptable and perfect will of God Rom. 12. 2. And truly the world is a great enemy to all them that are Non-Conformists to its manners although its manners are so exceeding vain and sinful 2. The Saints are of God And the men of the world who are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is no wonder if they hate the Saints likewise Visam for a saevit in umbram Some Beasts have such an antipathy to man that they will run at his Picture where they see it In like manner the world cannot endure those who have the image of God resplendent and shining in them Abel was â—oted because his works were righteous 1 John 3. 12. Prodigiously strange that believers should be abhorr'd because beautified with grace and be hated because lovely 3. The Saints are a conviction to the consciences of the ungodly 'T is said that Hâ—rod feared John the Baptist because he was a just man and holy Herods conscience was struck with an aw by the majesty and beauty that appeared in the conversation of that burning and shining light The holiness of John made Herods wickedness the more
you to have taken it upon you I have Preached much to your incouragement Now I am taken off a sad silence is imposed on me Only my mouth is still open to the Lord for you that you may stand perfect and compleat in all the will of God I could not have satisfied either you or my self unless in this my restraint and retirement I had written somthing that might be a furtherance to your faith joy in this hour of temptation The blessing of the Father of Spirits go along with this Book Oh that believers may be strengthened and refreshed by it And if enemies read it with an ill mind the Author wisheth that by reading it their minds may be changed and for their own sakes as well as his made better Nathanael Vincent ERRATA Before you read I pray correct these faults else the sense will be quite spoyled in some places PAge 37. Line 12. for confess read profess Page 43. line 14. for preservation read preservative Page 47. line 18. for doth uphold read do uphold Page 53. line 15. for offences read offenders Line 16. of the same page for heartily read presently Line 17. for very read many Line 18. for even read seven Page 77. line 10. for Goal house read Gatehouse Page 88. line 9. for ever read even Page 100. line 21. for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Page 104. line 23. for religious enemies read enemies of Religion Page 107. line 3. for expressive read express Page 108. 116. for shal read should Page 109. line 1. for their read this Page 113. line 3. for loved read bestomed Page 119. line 12. blot out upon you Page 120. line 5. for but read best Page 121. line 27. for fear of God is seen read face of God is seen Page 123. line 27. for communion read coniunction Page 124 line 6. for fall read fâ—l Line 16. of the same Page for filled read killed Page 125. line 8. for unspeakable read uncapable Line 22. of the same Page for attended read attained Line 24. for mouths are songs read mouths are full of songs A COVERT FROM THE STORM Rev. 2. 10. Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer Behold the Devil shall cast some of you into prison that ye may be tryed and ye shall have tribulation ten dayes be thou faithful unto death and I will give thee a Crown of life A Light is hung up at the porch of this Book which is so very mysterious the three first Chapters are more easy to be understood than those that follow Here the waters of the Sanctuary are but up to the head but presently they grow so deep as that the tallest must be fain to swim I am perswaded that one reason why the Holy Ghost speakes so sublimely is that man when he reads may sometimes lay aside the book and cry 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 O the depth and being the more humbly sensible of his own ignorance and weaknesses may pray with the greater earnestness that the Spirit who was the Inspirer would also be the Interpreter of the Revelation Seven Epistles or Letters dated from Heaven indited by the Son of God are sent to the seven Churches of Asia He who knew their works owns what is right taxes what was a miss and calls to repentance and amendmenâ— and charges them to hold fast those good things which they had received as being a treasure highly worth the keeping The Captain of their salvation encourages to quit themselves like men that overcoming they might in the end be crown'd The Text I have chosen lyes in the Epistle sent to the Church in Smyrna Poor they were in the World and yet rich towards God and it is not unlikely that for the securing of their spiritual riches as to worldly things they had been impoverished Christ knew their works and as their works so likewise their tribulation he knew also how to support them under the heaviest and most pressing burthens nay to render all their troubles advantagious by conducing to their more perfect purity and peace and therefore bids them in no wise to be afraid Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer c. Our Lord came to deliver not only from the sting of Death and from the curse of the Cross and affliction but from the fear of both The words may be analysed or resolved into three parts First Here 's a general encouragment against all kinds of suffering Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer Secondly Among other sufferings imprisonment is specified and foretold where take notice 1. who is the procuring cause of imprisonment and he is the Devil 2. The persons imprisoned Some of you All the Saints shall not be in bonds together 3. The end of their imprisonment which their God aims at in permitting it 't is that they may be tryed 4. Although they have tribulation it shall not be long-liv'd it shall last but ten dayes that is a very short season Thirdly We have a strict charge given Be thou faithful and that even to the death Perseverance must run parallel with our lives Fourthly A sure and glorious promise perswading to this faithfulness and enduring to the end I will give thee a Crown of life Here 's a Crown a word that carries great dignity and advancement This Crown is a Crown of life or a living Crown The Garland that 's put upon the heads of triumphant Saints will never wither their Crown will never fade there will be no death to throw it off again when once they have received it This Crown shall be given to shew that what they do or can do bears no proportion to such a reward Neither their active nor passive obedience is meritorious Grace Grace must be written round the Crown of glory because freely bestowed I will give this Crown sayes Christ I who have purchased it by my death who have it in my keeping who am the Lord of glory and alive for evermore The text is very fruitful and affords several very excellent and useful points of Doctrine I shall raise these nine which flow naturally from the words and insist upon them all The first Doctrine is this He that will be a Saint shall be a sufferer The second this No sufferings should cause the Saints to be afraid The third this Among other troubles sâ—me Believers endure bonds and imprisonment The Fourth this The Devil is the imprisoner of Believers The Fifth this That Saints are imprisoned that they may be tryed The Sixth this The Tribulation of Believers will not last alwayes after ten dayes that is a short time a period will be put to it The Seventh Doctrine is this Whatsoever sufferings a Christian is exposed to he must be faithful The Eighth this A Christians faithfulness must run parallel with his life to the very death he must be stedfast The Ninth and last is this Vpon those who continue faithful to the death Christ
will certainly bestow a Crown of life and immortality The First Doctrine He that will be a Saint shall be a sufferer The Spirit speaks hardly any thing more expressely then he doth this truth The Apostle tells what afflictions and persecutions he met with and peremptorilvaffirms that none shall escape Perse-secution they shall meet with if not in one kind in another Drops shall fall upon every Saint though some may be wet with greater showers 2 Tim. 3. 10 11 12. But thou hast fully known my Doctrine manner of life purpose faith long-suffering charity patience persecutions afflictions which came unto me at Antioch at Janium at Lystra what persecutions I endured there But out of them all the Lord delivered me yea and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution Consult also Act. 14. 22. Confirming the souls of the Disciples and exhorting them to continue in the faith and we must through much tribulation enter into the Kingdom of God The journies end is glorious but the way is â—ough that leads to it it lies through many tribulations Self-denial and the Cross are doctrines which Christ preached to all his followers Luk. 9. 23. And he said unto them all if any man will come after me let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me Two things are here to be inquired in to One is whence the sufferings of the Saints arise The other What is the reason of this dispensation Or Why the Lord suffers those he loves to be thus exercised First Whence the sufferings of the Saints arise They are both from the god of thâ—â— world and from the world it self Earth and Hell do both combine to trouble the heirs of Heaven as they are going to their inheritance 1. The Saints sufferings arise from the god of this world So Satan in Scripture is called He commands the generality of the world who are at his service and are lead by him at his pleasure and those whom he cannot rule he is resolved what he can to molest and disquiet The Devil began betimes righteous Abel did feel the effects of his enmity and hatred and he continues this persecuting Trade unto this very hour And till the whole Body of Christ be taken up where the Head is Satan will be as a thorn to pierce and trouble them It will not be amiss to examine the matter further and to search into the cause why Satan thus endeavours to load the Saints with sufferings 1. The Devil bears an implacable hatred to the Saints Head the Lord Jesus He would fain have killed Christ from the birth and incited Hered to make such weeping and lamentation in Rama because of the children that were so inhumanly butchered Mat. 2. Our Lord was tempted by the Devil Mat. 4. who would gladly have foiled the Second as he had done the First Adam but he could not prevail The Devil is said to have put it into the heart of Judas to betray Christ All which plainly shews his hatred of the Son of God The works of Christ and of Satan are quite contrary Satans work is to murther and destroy therefore he hath his name Apollyon Rev. 9. 11. But Christs work is to save The Son of God was manifested to this very end that he might destroy the works of this Destroyer and the Son of God hath got the Victory He hath spoyled Principalities and Powers and made a shew of them openly triumphing over them in his Cross Col. 2. 15. He is now ascended on high and is at his Fathers right hand And the old Dragon being full of wrath to see him so exalted spiâ—s his venom at the Members which are in his reach for the Heads sake And surely our Lord will look upon himself as the more obliged to stand by his suffering servants since 't is for his sake partly that this adversary is so liberal of his arrowes and shoots so many at them 2. The Devil is full of envy at Believers themselves Aâ—â—oon as ever he had sinned presently the chains of darkness were clapt upon him he was immediately cast down to hell no patience being shewn no pity extended no means of recovery offer'd 2 Pet. 2. God spared not the Angels that sinned but cast them down to Hell and delivered them into chains and darkness to be reserved unto judgment But believers though by nature the children of wrath and disobedience are pitied pardoned adopted saved A Remedy is provided and that Remedy made effectual through the application of it to their recovery and the recovery of their lost blessedness Now this fills Satan with envy which is both his sin and torture and envy stirs him up to do what mischief he is able 3. The Devil dislikes holiness where-ever he finds it He hates indeed all the children of men but those that are sanctified and renewed in a special manner As he is utterly destitute of so he utterly derests and abhors the image of God which shews the fearful depravation of his nature 'T is no wonder he runs to the utmost length of his chain to harm the Saints who have put off the old and put on the new man which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness Eph. 4. 24. Sin is arrived at its full growth 't is come to its perfection in the Devil Holiness he strikes at and endeavours to discourage and hinder where-ever he finds it Those who resemble Satan in this the measure of their iniquity is fuller than they are aware of 4. The Devil designs by the persecuting of the Saints to promote his interest and Kingdom This Prince of darkness is a very proud spirit he would by his good will have the whole world his slaves and vassals How does he rage when any of them whom he lead captive are rescued from him He is sedulous to establish his Throne and Principality Oh that Saints were as zealous and diligent to advance the honour and interest of the King of Saints The Devil hopes to promote his Kingdom not only by flattering sinners into his subjection but also by affrighting them from the service of another Lord. There are these five wayes whereby Satan is like to be advantaged in times of suffering 1. He is likely to get advantage by discouraging the weak in faith He hopes that they who have but weak hands and feeble knees will not easily get over those slumbling blocks which in times of trouble are cast in their way And if their hearts do faint and fail not only they themselves but Religion looses ground and what ground is lost the Devil gaine He set upon Peter when he was weak and how far did he prevail Peter falls most shamefully and his fall cost him dear and how was the prejudice against Christ in the High-Priests Hall encreased when one of his followers thus with cursing and swearing did so utterly deny him Satan desires to have weak Saints especially that he may sift them as