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  A LIFTING UP FOR THE DOWNCAST
  by William Bridge
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Bridge's collection of sermons on Psalm 42 addressing the discouraged and
downcast believer, offering comfort and direction for those whose souls are cast
down within them. Originally preached during a time of religious controversy,
these messages establish believers in biblical truth and point them to God as
their living hope.

  Chapters: 15

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  TABLE OF CONTENTS
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    1. A Lifting Up for the Downcast
    2. TO THE READER.
    3. SERMON I. - THE GOOD MAN'S PEACE.
    4. SERMON II. -TRUE PEACE MAY BE INTERRUPTED.
    5. SERMON III. - SAINTS SHOULD NOT BE DISCOURAGED WHATEVER THEIR CONDITION BE.
    6. SERMON IV - A LIFTING UP IN CASE OF GREAT SINS.
    7. SERMON V. - A LIFTING UP IN CASE OF WEAK GRACE.
    8. SERMON VI. - A LIFTING UP IN CASE OF MISCARRIAGE OF DUTIES.
    9. SERMON VII. - A LIFTING UP IN THE WANT OF ASSURANCE.
   10. SERMON VIII. - A LIFTING UP IN CASE OF TEMPTATION.
   11. SERMON IX. - A LIFTING UP IN CASE OF DESERTION.
   12. SERMON X. - A LIFTING UP IN CASE OF AFFLICTION.
   13. SERMON XI. - A LIFTING UP IN CASE OF UNSERVICEABLENESS.
   14. SERMON XII. - A LIFTING UP IN CASE OF DISCOURAGEMENTS DRAWN FROM THE CONDITION ITSELF.
   15. SERMON XIII. - THE CURE OF DISCOURAGEMENTS BY FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST.

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  CHAPTER 1: A LIFTING UP FOR THE DOWNCAST
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A Lifting Up for the Downcast by William Bridge IN CASE OF 1.—GREAT SINS.
2.—WEAKNESS OF GRACE. 3.—MISCARRIAGE OF DUTIES. 4.—WANT OF ASSURANCE.
5.—AFFLICTION. 6.—TEMPTATION. 7—DESERTION. 8.—UNSERVICE* ABLENESS.
9.—DISCOURAGEMENTS FROM THE CONDITION ITSELF. IN THIRTEEN SERMONS, PREACHED AT
STEPNEY, A.D. 1648. The text of this module was taken from a PDF created by
Monergism © For more free books like this, and other theological literature,
please visit www.monergism.com


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  CHAPTER 2: TO THE READER.
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TO THE READER. Good Reader, The following Sermons on Psalms 42 : I have perused,
and find that they are the same which I preached divers years since, being then
taken by a good pen as they fell in preaching. They have been long buried in
silence, and should have rested in their grave, had not the importunity of some,
who heard them preached, raised them from that death. Mine own notes were not
legible enough for the press: in answer therefore to their desires, I have
corrected these: some things I have altered, some things added, and some
repetitions (fit enough for the pulpit) I have filed off; what is wanting let
thy goodness supply. I have also joined with them, some other Sermons, of more
doctrinal concernment, these being mostly practical, that so thy mind and heart
may be at once exercised: wherein I have rather applied myself to the
instructive part of preaching, than to scholastical disputation. For I know the
Universities have able and faithful men, more fit for that work. Neither have I
undertaken any English adversary; and if I have trodden upon any man's toes, I
hope he will excuse me, for I can say truly, Sir, I saw you not. And if any man
shall say to me, as David's brother Eliab spake to him, 1 Samuel 17:29, "I know
thy pride, and malice of thine heart, that thou art come down to see the battle
might answer, as David did, "Is there not a cause?" When strange opinions and
errors are daily published, is there not a cause, that every man, who loves the
truth, should bear his testimony for it? In performance therefore of mine own
duty, and for thine establishment, I have spoken something to many truths, which
are now questioned. Hold fast what thou hast, lest another take thy crown. "And
the Lord Jesus Christ and our God, even the Father, which hath loved us, and
hath given us everlasting consolation, and good hope through grace, comfort
thine heart, and stablish thee in every word, and good work." Thine in the
service of the gospel, William Bridge


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  CHAPTER 3: SERMON I. - THE GOOD MAN'S PEACE.
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SERMON I. - THE GOOD MAN'S PEACE. "Why art thou cast down, O my soul, and why
art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God, for I will yet praise him who
is the health of my countenance and my God."—Psalms 42:11. In these words ye
read of the sad discouragements of a gracious spirit, with those remedies that
be applied and used against them. The discouragements are expressed in two
words, under two similitudes: cast-down, disquieted. As a man is bowed or cast
down under the weight of some heavy burden, so art thou cast down, O my soul,
says David: and as the sea in the time of a storm is much disquieted, so art
thou also disquieted within me, O my soul. The remedies that he useth against
these discouragements are two: self-reprehension and self-admonition. First, He
doth chide himself for his diffidence and distrust in God: "Why art thou cast
down, O my soul; and why art thou disquieted within me?" He chides and rebukes
himself for it. Secondly, He doth admonish and call upon himself for to wait
upon and hope in God: "Hope thou in God." Why? I. Because I shall yet be
delivered: "For I shall yet praise him." II. Because salvation belongs unto him
alone: "He is the health of my countenance," or, "the salvation of my
countenance." III. Because he is in covenant with me, and I with him; he is my
God: "The health of my countenance, and my God." ' I begin with the former part
of this verse, wherein you may observe these three things: First, that there is
an inward peace and quietude of soul, which the saints and people of God
ordinarily are endued with. This is implied. Secondly, it is possible that this
peace may be interrupted so far as Gods people may be much discouraged, cast
down and disquieted. Thirdly, that the saints and people of God have no reason
for their discouragements whatever their condition be. Why art thou cast down,
and why art thou thus disquieted within me? Thou hast no reason for it. The
latter of these being the main, is that indeed which I specially aim at; but
because the. two former will give the better rise unto this last, and they are
also profitable for us to consider, I shall take them in their order, and speak
only unto the first at this time, which is this: There is an inward peace and
quietude of soul which the saints and people of God ordinarily are endued with.
Therefore David says here, "Why art thou cast down, and why art thou disquieted
within me?" It seems, then, that this was not his ordinary temper, his pulse did
not always beat thus high in this way of discouragement; but ordinarily he had
peace and quiet within. So that I say, there is an inward peace and quietness of
soul, which the saints and people of God ordinarily are endued withal.
Ordinarily they are arrayed in white, so they are brought in Revelation 7:13-14.
What are these which are arrayed in white robes? At the 13th verse, * They are
such as have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb,"
verse 14. This book of the Revelation doth attend much unto the Jewish customs,
and among the Jews they had their mourning and their rejoicing garment. The
mourning garment was a black garment and therefore when a man is brought in, in
a mourning way, he is brought in in a black garment, as ye find in the next
Psalm, the 43rd, and the 2nd verse, "Why go ye in mourning? The word קרר
signifies black. "Why go ye in black, because of the oppression of the enemy" So
that the mourning garment was a black garment; the black garment was the
mourning garment. And the white garment was the rejoicing garment; therefore,
Ecclesiastes 9:8, it is said, "Let thy garments be always white, and let thy
head lack no ointment." Upon which account the nobles amongst the Hebrews were
called הורימ, because they were clothed with white raiment. Ecclesiastes 10:17,
"Blessed art thou, O land, when thy king is the son of nobles;" Hebrew, בן-הורימ
the son of princes, or of those that are in white. I confess this phrase doth
sometimes note the purity and holiness of the person, so Revelation 3:4, "Thou
hast a few names even in Sardis, which have not defiled their garments, and they
shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy." But ordinarily it notes the
joyfulness and comfortableness of our state; so in Revelation 7, the saints are
brought in, in white, not only because of their purity and cleanness, but
because of their rejoicing. I say then ordinarily the saints and people of God
go in white, they have a peace and a rest within. "Great peace have they that
love thy law (says the Psalmist), and nothing shall offend them." Romans 2:10,
"But glory, honour and peace to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first,
and also to the gentile." Let him be what he will be, if he be godly, if he work
that which is good, glory, honour and peace shall be upon him; not only an
outward, but an inward peace he shall have .And, indeed, how can it be
otherwise? For the saints and people of God do walk with God, they converse with
God, they do acquaint themselves with God. Now if ye look into Job 22:21, ye
shall find that this acquaintance bringeth rest and peace: "Acquaint now thyself
with him, and be at peace." The saints and people of God are, as I may so speak,
of God*s special acquaintance, and so they have peace, for they do walk with
God, and have communion with him. They have communion with the Father, and he is
the God of all consolation; they have communion and fellowship with the Son, and
he is the Prince of Peace; they have communion and fellowship with the Spirit,
and he is the Comforter: they have communion with the Father, and the Son, and
the Spirit, in and by the gospel; and that is the word of peace, the gospel of
peace. How can it therefore be, but that the saints and people of God ordinarily
should have peace within? But to make out this more fully unto you. Consider, I
pray, how the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, with whom the saints and
people of God have communion and fellowship, are engaged for their peace. 1. The
Father is engaged to give peace unto them. He is engaged by his prerogative, by
his commandment, by his promise, by Christ's purchase and by the saints*
chastisements. He is engaged by his prerogative. Kings and princes will stand,
ye know, for their prerogatives. And this is the great prerogative of God the
Father, to give peace, inward peace. "I create the fruits of the lips, peace,
peace," Isaiah 57:19. And he is called, the God of peace; the God of
consolation: not the God of indignation, not the God of war, but the God of
peace. This is the great prerogative of God the Father, to give peace unto his
people He is engaged also, by virtue of his commandment. And therefore if ye
look into Isaiah 40:1-2, ye shall find, that he commands the prophets and
ministers, to preach comfort, "Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God
(verse 1); Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare
is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned, for she hath received of the
Lord's hand double for all her sins." Suppose a man's affliction, or temptation,
be very great or much: he hath commanded us to comfort, and comfort twice;
"Comfort ye, comfort ye" not once, but twice, "Comfort ye, comfort ye my people,
saith the Lord." But there are divers comforters, that are indeed like Job's
comforters, like Job's friends, they speak hard words unto poor distressed
souls. Well, says he, therefore, in verse 2, Speak ye comfortably, so ye read
it; but in the Hebrew, speak ye to the heart, על-לב speak soft and sweet words,
speak to the heart of Jerusalem. Oh, but my temptation is so great, that I am
not able to hear those that come to comfort me. Mark what follows: speak ye to
the heart of Jerusalem, and cry unto her, lift up thy voice and cry, if a poor
soul be distressed, tempted and cannot hear easily; you that are ministers, lift
up your voice and cry: not only speak to the heart, but cry; lift up your voice
and cry unto her. Well, but what are they to speak and cry? There are three
things which will comfort a poor distressed soul, and they are to be spoken.
Say, first, "that her warfare is accomplished;" affliction and temptation is at
an end, it shall be no more. Secondly, "That her iniquity is pardoned." Her sin
is forgiven fully and freely. Thirdly, t£ That she hath received at the Lord's
hands double for all her sins," God hath no more against her, no quarrel, no
controversy, no further punishment to inflict upon her, she hath sufficiently
born the punishment of her iniquity: thus the Lord hath commanded ministers for
to preach peace, and to preach comfort; and what God hath commanded us to speak,
he hath engaged himself to work. Thus, I say, the Father is engaged by virtue of
his commandment He is engaged also, by virtue of his promise. And therefore, if
ye look into Psalms 29, ye shall see what the Lord hath promised: verse 11, "The
Lord will give strength unto his people; the Lord will bless his people with
peace." Here is the promise, "The Lord will bless his people with peace." Yea,
if ye look into Isaiah 26, ye shall find there, that the Lord hath promised to
keep the peace of his people for them, verse 3: "Thou wilt keep him in perfect
peace, whose mind is stayed on thee." So ye read the words, but according to the
Hebrew, they ought to be read thus; שלים שלום חץר : Thou wilt keep peace, peace:
twice peace. Thou wilt keep peace, peace, for him whose mind is stayed on thee.
So that the Lord is not only engaged to give peace unto his people, but he is by
promise also engaged to keep their peace for them. Yea, the Lord is engaged by
purchase. Christ hath purchased peace for his people; and what Christ hath
purchased for them, God the Father is engaged to give unto them. Read the
purchase in Ephesians 2:13-14, "But now in Christ Jesus, ye who were sometimes
afar off, are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath
made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us.
Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments, for to
make in himself of twain, one new man, so making peace." Verse 16, "And that he
might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity
thereby; and came and preached peace unto you that were afar off, and to them
that were nigh." So that thus ye see it is the purchase of Jesus Christ: this
inward peace and quietness of soul, it is Christ's purchase; and what Christ the
Son hath purchased, God the Father is engaged to give. Yea, the Father is
engaged to give peace unto his people, by all those chastisements that they do
meet withal. And therefore in Isaiah 40, which I named before, the Lord commands
us to comfort and speak comfortably unto his people, upon this account, "For she
hath received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins." Even because a
fulness of chastisement had been upon them. Thus, I say, God the Father, by
virtue of his prerogative, by virtue of his commandment, by virtue of his
promise, by virtue of Christ's purchase, by virtue of chastisements that are
laid upon his people, is engaged to give peace unto his children. 2. But now
proceed a little, and ye shall see, that as the Father is engaged, so the Son
also is engaged to give peace,' inward peace, and quietude of soul unto his
servants. He is engaged by those qualifications and endowments that he received
from God his Father, for this end and purpose. Isaiah 61, "The Spirit of the
Lord is upon me (says he) and he hath anointed me," why? u that I might comfort
those that mourn." That is one end. But I pray look into Isaiah 1., and consider
the 4th verse, "The Lord God hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I
should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth
morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned." They are
plainly the words of Christ, as will appear to you, if you read but the
following words: "The Lord God hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious,
neither turned I away the back; I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to
them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting." So
that these are the words of Christ. Well, what doth Christ say here? He tells
us, that he hath received the tongue of the learned, to comfort those that are
distressed and troubled in conscience, for to help poor wearied souls. Why doth
he say, the tongue of the learned? "The Lord God hath given me the tongue of the
learned." All men desire to hear the learned: and it is the greatest piece of
learning in the world, to speak a word in due season by way of comfort to those
that are weary; this is the greatest piece of ministerial learning, and saith
Christ, "He hath given me the tongue of the learned." Well, but all learned men
have not wisdom to speak in season. Mark what follows. "He hath given me the
tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him
that is weary." But hath Jesus Christ such skill at this work, in comforting
those that are troubled? Yes, "He wakeneth morning by morning." As a master is
early up in the morning to teach his scholars, so hath God the Father been
teaching of Christ from all eternity this great skill: "Morning by morning he
wakeneth, morning by morning he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned." This
is the piece of learnings says Christ, which I have been learning morning by
morning of my Father from eternity, and this is that great learning which he had
attained unto. So that in regard of this endowment which he hath received from
the Father, he is engaged to give peace unto his people; for he hath received
the tongue of the learned for this end and purpose, that he might speak a word
in season to them that are weary. He is engaged also, by his own disposition;
his sweet, loving, and tender disposition. He is a lion, indeed, of the tribe of
Judah, but not that roaring lion seeking to devour. He is a king, indeed, but he
comes meekly, riding upon an ass*s colt. "He doth not lift up his voice in the
streets." When our Lord and Saviour Christ left the world, he said unto his
disciples, "My peace I give unto you; my peace I leave with you: not as the
world gives peace, but my peace I give unto you," John 14:27. And as soon as
ever Christ rose from the dead again, and met with his disciples, what doth he
say unto them? When they were all met together, "Peace be unto you," John 20:19.
As it was his last words when he left them, so it is the first word that now he
useth when he seeth them again. But, O Lord, we have sinned greatly since we saw
thee. Be it so, yet "peace be unto you." But, O Lord, here is Peter among us,
that hath denied thee since thou sawest us. Be it so, I know it very well, yet
"Peace be unto." Peace when he went away, and peace when he came again: this is
his language and this is his disposition still. Thus he is engaged. Yea, he is
engaged by office to give peace unto his people. Ye know the apostle calls him
our great High Priest. It was the work of the high priest in the Old Testament,
to bless the people; and when he did bless the people, what did he say, but,
"The Lord bless ye, and give ye peace?" Now then, if Jesus Christ be our great
High Priest, and it be the office of the high priest to bless, and to give
peace, then Christ, by virtue of his office also, is engaged to give peace unto
his people. Take all these three together; Christ the second Person is engaged:
by his endowments he received from the Father; by his own disposition; by his
office; and it appears plainly, that there is a great engagement upon Jesus
Christ to give peace unto his servants. 3. As the Father and the Son are engaged
to give peace and quietude unto the saints and people of God, so also the
Spirit, the Holy Ghost is engaged to give peace unto them. For, as I may so
speak with reverence, he is, as it were, the great executor of Jesus Christ.
When Christ died, he made his will, and gave a legacy to his disciples, "My
peace I give unto you and then he sent the Comforter, the Spirit from heaven on
purpose to beget peace within their souls. Yea, the Holy Ghost is not only this
executor, to see this will of Christ fulfilled, but he is, as it were, our
advocate. Indeed we have but one advocate, that is Christ: but I say, we have,
as it were, two advocates; one in heaven above, and one in our bosom. When a man
sins, a godly man sins, Satan accuses him in heaven: and therefore says John,
"If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the
righteous," 1 John 1:2. But if a godly man sin, Satan doth also accuse him to
himself. And therefore says the apostle, "We have the Spirit within us, making
intercession." And says our Saviour Christ, "I will send another Comforter,"
John 14:16; so ye read it; but it is the same word that is translated Advocate;
" I will send you another Advocate."* Yea, the Spirit of the Lord is our witness
also; " For the Spirit shall bear witness with our spirits, that we are the
children of God." Now when the Spirit bears witness with a man's spirit, that he
is a child of God, then he hath peace and quiet. So that, if you consider all
these engagements, the Father engaged, the Son engaged, the Holy Ghost engaged,
for the peace and quiet of God's children, must you not needs conclude this
point and doctrine, and say, Surely, there is an inward peace and quietness of
soul, which ordinarily God's people are endued withal? But our experience seems
to speak the contrary; for there are many of God's own people, that have not
peace and quiet within them; but are full of doubts and fears about their
everlasting condition. The second doctrine therefore speaks to that, is it
possible this peace may be interrupted. But some have never had peace all their
days. Oh, says one, I have been a long while afflicted, troubled: two, four, six
years, and never yet had peace and quiet within me. Either therefore this
doctrine is not true, or else I am not godly. All that may be which you speak
of, and yet this doctrine may be true. General rules have always some
exceptions. Though the garment that the saints do ordinarily wear, be white, yet
here and there some do go in black, and go so a great while. But that there may
be no stumbling concerning this matter, I shall desire you to consider with me,
some few distinctions. 1. Ye must know, that there is a fundamental peace, which
the saints and people of God have; and there is an additional peace. A
fundamental peace, which does naturally arise and flow from their justification:
"Being justified by faith, we have peace with God," Romans 5 : And then there is
an additional peace, which arises from the sense of their justification.
Possibly a child of God may for a long time lose the latter, but the former he
shall never lose. As a woman that hath a great jointure, goes abroad some
journey, and meets with thieves, and they take away all the money that she hath
about her; but yet, says she, though they have taken away my spending money,
they cannot take away my jointure, I have not lost my jointure. So now the
saints sometimes, may lose their spending money, they may lose the peace that
arises from the sense of their justification; but as for the peace that arises
and issues from their justification itself, the first peace, that they shall
never lose. Peace is the churches jointure, and that peace they shall never
lose. 2. Ye must know, that there is a great difference between peace, comfort
and joy. A man may have peace that hath no comfort; a man may have comfort that
hath no joy: one is beyond the other, one a degree above the other. As now, it
may be day-light, and yet the sun may not shine forth; the sun may shine forth,
and yet not noon-day. Possibly a man may have peace, and yet not much comfort,
only stayed upon God; possibly a man may have comfort, and yet not much joy. But
now, many a poor soul thinks, because he hath no joy, therefore he hath no
comfort; and because he hath not much comfort, therefore no peace. Labour to
know the difference between these. 3. Ye must know, that there is a peace which
lies in opposition to what one hath been; and a peace, that is in opposition to
what one would be. A godly man, a weak Christian, when he considers what he
would Be, and what he would have, he hath no rest nor quiet: but now, come unto
the same man, and say thus, you remember what a wicked life once you led; ye
were a drunkard, or ye were a wanton: what say ye would ye be in that condition
again? Oh no, saith he then, I would not be in that condition for all the world.
Here now the soul hath peace in opposition to what it hath been, though it hath
not peace and quiet in opposition to what it would be. 4. Ye must know, that
there is a secret, dormant peace; and there is an awakened and apparent peace:
peace in the seed, and peace in the flower. As it is with many a wicked man, for
the present he hath great comfort; but when affliction comes, and the day of
death comes, then he hath trouble; trouble in regard of sin; why? the sin and
guilt was in his heart before, only it lay sleeping there, but now it is risen.
So with a godly man in regard of his peace: possibly for the present, he may be
full of trouble; but when affliction comes, and the hour of death comes, then he
hath peace and comfort: why, it was there before, it was at the bottom, only he
was not aware of it, he did not know of it. For now, ask such a weak Christian
who is thus full of fear for the present, Ye see there is a drunkard, a swearer,
a wanton, would you be in his condition? would you be contented to be in that
man's condition? Oh, no, says he; I would not be in such a condition for all the
world. And why doth he say so, but because there is a peace and quietude at the
bottom, although he be not aware of it? It is true the saints grieve, but then
dolent et de dolore gaudent; they rejoice that they can grieve: they are
troubled for sin; and they have rest and quiet in this, that they can be
troubled for their sin: they have no peace in their sin; but they have peace in
this, that they can have no peace in their sin. For say now unto them, are ye
troubled that ye are troubled; you are in some measure grieved for sin; and are
ye troubled that ye are grieved? No, will they say, I am glad that I am grieved
for sin; and the Lord knows, it is my trouble that I can be grieved no more; I
have quiet and peace in that I am troubled. Some have peace in the direct act,
and some have peace in the reflex act, some have it more at the first hand, and
some have it more at the second hand. But consider all these distinctions, and
you will find, that there is no godly man, but more or less in some of these
respects, he may be said to have peace within. But suppose it be so, what is the
issue of this doctrine? what doth it tend and lead unto? The issue is thus much.
Then, behold, what a blessed condition the saints and people of God are in! Is
it not a blessed thing to have peace within; to have quiet, peace and rest
within? If ye have peace within, though ye want peace without, you will be able
to bear all your burdens, "The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmities,"
Proverbs 18:14. But a wounded spirit who can bear? Some bear agues and fevers;
some bear stones and collicks, rackings and tormentings; but a wounded spirit
who can bear? Oh, but "the spirit of a man will sustain his infirmities," if he
have peace within; if he be heart-whole, as they say, if he have peace within,
then will he be able to bear all his burdens. Ye see into what times we are now
fallen; we cannot promise ourselves peace for a day together; suddenly a cloud
may arise, in a night, and all our comforts laid in the dark; how good a thing
is it then to have peace within, to have rest and quiet within! If I have peace
within, I can relieve myself here against all calamity. What though I have
trouble from my friends? yet I have peace within: what though I am thus
reproached? yet I have peace within; I am wet indeed, my garment is wet; but I
am not wet to the skin, I am dry within, I have peace within. "Blessed (says our
Saviour) are those that mourn, for they shall be comforted," Matthew 5 : 4. Are
those blessed for the present that shall be comforted? How blessed are those
then that are comforted, and that have peace and quiet already. This doctrine
looks wishly, both upon the ungodly, and upon the godly. It looked once so
wishly upon a great man in Germany, that it was the beginning of his conversion
and turning to God: I mean Galeacius Carracciolus. He was a papist, a profane
person; and coming occasionally to hear Peter Martyr preach, he heard this
expression or similitude, when ye see men at a distance skipping, leaping and
dancing, ye think the men are mad; but when ye draw near to them, hear what
music they have, then ye do not wonder; but ye rather wonder at yourselves that
ye should wonder at them. So, said Peter Martyr, when ye look upon the godly at
a distance, and see them running after ordinances, and frequenting the means and
rejoicing in the ways of God, you think the people are mad, and ye say they are
mad; but if you draw near to a godly course, and perceive what music these
people have within, you say not they are mad, but you rather wonder at
yourselves, that you should wonder at them. Hereupon the Marquess hearing this
similitude, was so stricken withal, that he began to look into his condition,
and it was the first occasion of his conversion. I say no more. You that are
ungodly, ye hear what music the saints have within, peace and quiet within,
ordinarily, though here and there, there may be some exception; yet ordinarily,
what music they have within! Oh, who would not be godly! But this doctrine also,
looks wishly upon you that are godly. And it calls for your thankfulness, that
you should praise the Lord for the peace and quiet that you have. You will
praise God for your outward peace, especially if it be a peace after war,
especially if the war were a civil war, and ye have felt the smart of it, then
ye will praise God for peace. You that are godly, and have peace, have had a war
within, a civil war within your own bosoms, and ye have felt the smart of
trouble of conscience, and now ye have peace; and will ye not be thankful? will
ye not praise the Lord, that hath given you this peace and rest? I confess
indeed, it is the duty of all those that have rest, and peace and quiet within,
to be very thankful; but there is one thing that hinders my thankfulness, that I
cannot praise the Lord for the peace and quiet that I have, and that is, I fear
my peace is not right; for there are many that have a counterfeit and a false
peace, and I fear that my peace is such, and therefore I cannot praise the Lord,
or be thankful for it. I grant ye, there is a false and counterfeit peace, that
wicked men have, even an inward peace. And if ye look into Deuteronomy 29:19, ye
may read as much: "And it come to pass when he heareth the words of this curse,
that he blesseth himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk
in the imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst." So that a man
may be in a most cursed way, adding drunkenness to thirst, and yet he may have
peace, and say in his heart, it shall go well with me. Questionless, there is a
peace of security; there is a peace and a rest of sleep, as well as of health. A
man that is wounded and full of aches and pains, feels them not when he is
asleep; but the reason why he doth not feel them, is not because of his health,
but because he is asleep. So a man may be freed from the trouble of aches and
pains within, because he is asleep, as well as because he is in health. But
there is also a peace that is the fruit of the Holy Ghost; as ye read in
Galatians 5; "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace." Questionless, there
is a false and a true peace. But shall I say, that all my money is counterfeit,
because there is counterfeit gold abroad? But to help a little in this; I will
speak something of the difference of true and false peace; and yet very briefly,
thus: True saving peace is the child of grace, and the mother of grace. There is
a peace that arises from the apprehension of God's common goodness; which is
common peace. And there is a special peace, that arises from the apprehension of
God's special favour and free grace; true peace is the daughter of that grace,
yet it is the parent of inherent grace, or of gracious actions, I should rather
say the nurse, for says the apostle, "The peace of God that passes all
understanding, keep (or guard) your minds and hearts," Php_4:7; This saving
peace, is a guard unto all our graces. As false peace is a guard to our sins, so
true peace is a guard unto all our graces. True saving peace, is such a peace as
is wrought by faith. "Being justified by faith, we have peace," Romans 15 : "The
Lord give you peace in believing," says the apostle." It comes in a way of
faith: true saving peace is wrought by faith. False peace, is such as is either
born with us and was never interrupted, being the offspring of nature only; or
the emanation of a natural conscience, or such as is wrought out by-time, time
working out one's trouble. True saving peace, will live in the sight of sin.
False peace doth not endure the sight of sin; a godly man, the more he doth see
his sin, unless he be under temptation, the more peace he hath: a wicked man,
the more he doth see his sin, the less peace he hath; and all his peace arises
from a not sight of his sin. True saving peace loves to be examined, is willing
to be examined, it loves to be tried. But false peace, cannot endure
examination, it flies from the light, it doth not love to be tried. True saving
peace is spoken by God. "I will hear what the Lord will say, for he will speak
peace," says the Psalmist, Psalms 85:8. When God speaks peace, he speaks it to a
soul under or after temptation. When God speaks peace, he speaks it with a
strong hand: giving such peace [as no creature in the world is able to give.
When God speaks peace, it is a peace beyond all expression; the peace of God
that passeth all understanding, it cannot be uttered. Now though a wicked man
have peace, and much peace and quiet within, yet God doth not speak it; for it
was not spoken to him in or after temptation, it was not spoken by a strong and
unresistible hand ; it is such a peace, as may be wrought by time, time working
off the trouble; or the pleasures and contentments of the world may beget the
like; it is not a peace that is beyond all expression, a peace beyond all
understanding, but a low peace, which you may easily express. But now as for you
that are godly, that make this objection, and have this fear and scruple in your
hearts, I will here appeal unto your own souls; you know and remember your
former trouble; now ye have peace, and ye have rest within; I appeal to you, I
say, whether yea or no, when ye were in that trouble, suppose I, or another
minister, or ten other of your own choosing, suppose a hundred should have come
to you with one promise after another, had we been able to have spoken comfort
to you? Oh, no; if the Lord had not spoken comfort to me, it had not been in the
power of all the ministers in the world, to have spoken comfort unto my soul,
but the Lord certainly hath done it. Yet I appeal to you; are you not willing to
have your peace examined? are you not willing to have your peace, your inward
peace tried? yes, with all my soul I would have my peace tried: and truly, I
could not hope that my peace were right, if I were not willing to have it
examined. Well, yet I appeal to you further; and do not you find that you have
peace, even then when you do see your sins? and the more you see your sins upon
the back of Christ, the more peace you have? yes ; and do not you find this,
that your peace came in, in a way of believing? from the sight of Christ, laying
hold on the promise? by the prospect of free grace? yes, I must needs say so,
had I not had a promise to stay my soul upon; had I not had a view of free
grace; had I not seen the Lord Jesus, I had never had any peace in my poor soul:
but the Lord knows, that thus I attained my peace. Well, then, be of good
comfort, man or woman, I tell thee from the Lord, thy peace and quiet is right.
I know what the danger is of sewing pillows under men's elbows, and speaking
peace, where none ought to be spoken: but, I say, if it be thus with thy soul,
notwithstanding all thy sins and fears, from the Lord, I say unto thee, thy
peace is right; go in peace, and the God of peace tread down Satan under thy
feet. But I fear that my peace, my inward peace is not right because it doth not
last and continue. The second doctrine answers to that objection: for the second
doctrine saith, that a godly man's peace may be interrupted. But one thing yet
troubles me, and makes me fear that my peace and quiet is not good, and that is,
because I came so lightly and slightly by it. I see how it hath been and is with
others of the people of God; some that have been long afflicted and wounded and
have lien troubled a great while, and so they have had peace: but as for me, it
is not so with me, I came lightly and slightly by my peace and quiet, and
therefore I do even fear that the Lord never spake peace yet unto my soul. Dost
thou say lightly? how lightly? hast thou stolen thy peace? or have others bought
their peace? for you say, others have been much afflicted and troubled, and had
a great deal of heart-smart. But I pray tell me, did those who have had all this
trouble, did they purchase, or buy their peace at the hand of Christ with all
this trouble? or did Christ give them that peace and comfort freely? Buy it! no,
surely; they did never purchase it, never buy it, but Christ gave it them
freely. Why, if Christ gave it them freely after all their trouble, why may he
not give it thee after less trouble? I have read, and so have you, in the
gospel, a parable of two that came into the vineyard to work; the one in the
beginning of the day, who bare the heat of the day, and the other at the latter
end of the day; and both had a penny. When they were both paid, he that was
there at the beginning of the day, murmurs, saying, I have been here all this
day, and I have borne the heat of the day, and I have but a penny; and the other
that came in at the latter end of the day, hath a penny as well as I: the man
that had been there working at the beginning and heat of the day, he murmurs;
but he that came at the latter end, he did not murmur, nor say, Surely, my penny
is naught, because I have a penny given me, as well as he that hath borne the
heat of the day. If any should complain, those that have borne the heat of the
day, that have been so much troubled, should in reason be the persons, but hath
the Lord taken you, and given you a penny, the same peace with him who bare the
heat of the day; and will you complain, and say, Surely, my penny is false coin,
and my peace naught, because I have not borne nor endured so much trouble as
another hath? You know, some children are born into the world with more pain
than others, some with less pain: should the child that is born with less pain,
say, I am a bastard, because I was not born with so much pain as the other was?
When Christ is formed in the souls of men and women, some are regenerate and
born again with more pain, some are regenerate and born again with less pain:
should he that is born with less pain, say, I am a bastard, and not a true son,
because there was not so much pain at my first regeneration as such an one had?
You know how it was with Zaccheus; Christ comes unto his house, and the same day
that he came, he said to Zaccheus, "This day is salvation come to thy house?' He
had assurance the first day. But Paul is converted; and he lies troubled, and is
three days blind. Should Zaccheus now say, Surely, I am not converted, for I
never lay three days blind, nor was so much troubled as Paul was? No surely, no
more may you say, that your peace, is false because you have not such abundance
of trouble as others have; you are not to make another's measure your rule: God
goes several ways with his people, as well in regard of peace, as in regard of
grace. This therefore I say unto you, look unto your peace itself; have you
peace and quietness of soul? Then bless and praise the Lord for that peace of
yours: yea, do not only praise the Lord for your peace and quiet, but praise the
Lord that ye came so sweetly by it, in a way of free grace; and if for anything
you are to be troubled, it is for this, that you should nick-name the grace of
God, and call it little or false. Christ calls it free, and you call it false.
Oh, be humbled for this, and praise the Lord for any measure of quiet and peace
that he hath given unto thee. But, will another say, all this doth not come up
to my case; for I have no peace nor quiet in my soul to be thankful for: some
there are that have peace and quiet indeed, and they, no question, ought to be
very thankful for it; but my poor soul hath been long afflicted, troubled, and I
never yet had assurance of God's love in Christ; I have not this peace and quiet
within : what shall I do, that I may attain unto it? or what should a poor soul
do, to get and attain this peace and quiet within? Ye know what the Psalmist
says, "I will hear what the Lord will say, for he will speak peace unto his
people," Psalms 85:8. It is not in my power, or in the power of any poor
creature, to speak peace unto you; but it is the Lord only that must speak peace
unto thy soul; and the Lord speaks peace in the way of an ordinance. But what
does the Lord say? what does the Lord speak from his word in the way of an
ordinance, that I who was never yet settled, may attain unto this inward peace
and quietude of soul? 1. He wills you to study and consult much the death,
sufferings and fulness of the satisfaction made by Jesus Christ; go down into
the grave of Christ; Christ's blood is the object of faith, and faith brings
peace: unbelief is a painful sin, and faith is an easing and quieting grace.
"Being justified by faith, we have peace," &c., Horn. 5:1. The more you see the
free and infinite love of God, the more will your heart be at rest and quiet
within you. And where shall you see the love of God, but in the death of Christ?
By seeing Christ on the cross, you see divine love in triumph. All true peace
within, arises from sight of peace made without: where shall you read of that,
but in Christ's death? And therefore says the prophet, "the chastisement of our
peace was upon him." In Psalms 41 : ye have a promise made of a great blessing
unto him that considereth the poor, "Blessed is he that considereth the poor."
Who is this poor? Tarnovius tells us, from the 10th verse, that it is Christ in
his sufferings: for, as he observes, this psalm is a psalm of Christ, verse 9th,
"Yea, mine own familiar friend in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread,
hath lift up his heel against me." They are the words of Christ, and Christ
speaks this psalm; and this poor to be considered, is Christ in his sufferings:
says he, I will not here debate the truth of this interpretation; but if true,
the Lord promised here a blessing to him that doth wisely consider the death and
sufferings of Christ: and wherein doth that blessing lie and consist?* "The Lord
will deliver him in the time of trouble, ביוכ׆ ךצח: in the evil day, or in the
day of evil, saith the Chaldee paraphrase: in the day of vexation, saith
Symmachus. Now the day of temptation, doubts and great fears, is an evil day,
and a day of vexation: this day will God deliver him from, who doth wisely
ponder on the death of Christ: could we see the heart of Christ, we should doubt
no more, and in his death you may see his heart, in his blood you may see his
heart. Ye know what the prophet Isaiah says, "Lord, wilt thou not ordain peace,
who hast wrought all our works for us?" And where shall ye find that God hath
wrought all our works for us, but in Christ's grave and death? 2. Ye must not
only go unto the. grave of Christ, and study his death, but you must go unto
Christ himself for peace, he is the great peace-maker, hath a commission to take
up all differences without us, and within us. Ye know his words, "The Lord God
hath given me the tongue of the learned (says he), that I may speak a word in
due season to him that is weary." Go then to Christ, and press this engagement,
and say, Lord, thou hast therefore received the tongue of the learned, that thou
mayest speak a word in due season to him that is weary. And, O Lord, I am one of
those wearied souls; wearied with my temptations, wearied with inward trouble;
now, Lord, speak a word in due season to this poor, wounded, and wearied soul.
Thus go to Christ. Only in your addresses to Christ, be sure that ye go in
uprightness. Take heed that you do not desire peace merely for the comfort of
it, but as an help unto your grace: "He will give grace and glory, and no good
thing will he withhold from him that walks uprightly." Good men seek peace for
grace sake; but wicked men and hypocrites, seek grace for peace sake. When you
do make your addresses for peace, be sure you come to Christ in uprightness; and
take heed that you do not desire peace only for the comfort of it, but as an
help unto your grace. And when you go unto Christ for peace, carry the promise
with you, go in the way of a promise. Go and wait long on Christ, wait upon him
only, and keep his way. Some say they do wait on God, but they do not keep his
way, they throw up their duty if they have not comfort presently: but in your
addresses to Christ, go and wait long on him; and in case that peace and comfort
doth not come presently, lay by that great question a little, whether you be in
Christ or no, whether you be the child of God or no. The great trouble is this,
oh, I am afraid I am not the child of God, if I did but know that I am the child
of God, I should have peace. If peace and comfort therefore do not come
presently, lay that question aside a little, and in due time, Christ will answer
that question too, only now for the present wait on him, and keep his way. But,
because it will be said, should not we be humbled for sin committed? and is net
humiliation a good means to get peace within? Therefore, in all your
humiliation, carry Christ along with you. When you go to mourn for sin, begin
aloft with Christ: and do not always think to begin below with sin, and so to
come up to Christ; but begin aloft with Christ, and so by your humiliation, fall
down upon sin. You say, oh, but I would be first humbled before I do go to
Christ, but I pray tell me, can ye be humbled and not see your sin? and where
can ye have such a prospect of sin, as in the death of Christ? is there anything
in the world, that can shew you the misery, ugliness, and damning nature of sin,
as the death of Christ? If you begin with Christ, then you will certainly come
down to your sin and be humbled for it: but if you begin with sin, you will not
certainly come up to Christ. There is many a poor soul that hath said, I will be
first humbled for my sin, and then I will go to Christ; but he hath stuck so
long in the legal work, that he hath never come at Christ. And if you be humbled
before you do come to Christ, you will have no great peace and comfort in your
humiliation : but if you first come to Christ, and then carry Christ along with
you to your humiliation, then you will have much comfort and peace therein,
would you therefore be so humbled as you may have peace thereby; be sure of
this, that you carry Christ with you unto that work, do not begin always with
sin to go up to Christ, but rather begin at Christ, and so fall down upon sin.
Labour to mortify your affections, and to get your will melted into the will of
God: as the winds are to the sea, so are the affections to the soul of man: so
long as the sea is hurried with the wind, it hath no rest or quiet; and what is
the reason that our hearts are no more calmed and quieted, but because we have
not yet resigned up our wills to the will of God? It is our own will that
troubles our peace; get but your will mortified into the will of God, and you
will say, Lord, I would fain have peace; yet not my will, but thy will be done:
I would have peace presently, yet I have no will but thine; therefore, Lord,
when thou wilt, and as thou wilt, not my will, but thine own will be done. Thus
do, and you are at rest presently. Dost thou want peace and comfort and quietude
of soul? Take heed how you walk with doubting company; take heed how you walk
with those that are full of fears and doubtings. As one drunkard doth make
another, and one swearer doth beget another, and one opposer of godliness doth
draw on another, and one adulterer doth make another; so one doubting Christian
doth make another. You that arc weak, and full of doubtings, should go and lean
upon those that are strong and have full assurance; and you that have assurance,
should give the shoulder to those that are weak, and say, Come, and lean upon
me, and I will be an help unto you. You know how it is with the ivy and the
vine; the ivy leans upon the oak, and the vine upon the posts or the house-side;
the ivy and the vine do not lean one upon another; if the ivy and the vine
should come and lean upon one another, what twisting would there be; and both
would fall to the ground: but the ivy leans upon the oak, and the vine upon the
posts or the house-side. So a weak Christian should go and lean upon a strong
Christian: but if one doubter leans upon another doubter, both will fall to the
ground. I have read of a woman that was under great temptations, and meeting
with another in the same condition, said to her, I am afraid I shall be damned;
So am I to, said the other; Oh, but said she again, I do not only fear, but I am
sure of it; certainly I shall be damned: Aye, but said the other, yet my
condition is worse, for I am damned already. Here was damned and damned: Oh,
said one, I shall certainly be damned; Ob, said the other, I am damned already.
Oh, what communion is here! is this to build up one another? Do you therefore
want comfort and peace? You that arc weak, go and lean upon those that are
strong, and have full assurance; and you that have assurance, be not unwilling
to give forth your shoulder unto those that are weak, and are full of doubtings.
And to end all. Dost thou want peace and inward quietude of soul? Whensoever the
Lord then doth but begin to speak the least peace unto thine heart, take heed
that you do not refuse it, but rather improve it, and stir up yourselves then in
a way of believing; praise God for every smile, and rejoice in the least: if a
bowed sixpence, as it were, be sent you from heaven, lay it up, even every
love-token. Peace is a tender thing. Doth the Lord begin to speak peace to any
of your souls? now stir up yourselves in a way of believing, and then Christ
will give you more. Ye know how it was with Nathaniel: when Nathaniel believed
upon what Christ had spoken, says Christ unto him, "Believest thou, because I
said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree? I will shew thee greater things;
thou shalt see the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man."
So will the Lord Christ say to a poor soul, I have spoken a word unto thee, and
I gave thee a little peace, and dost thou believe because of the word I have
spoken unto thee? thou shalt see greater things, and I will give thee abundance
of peace. Look into Isaiah 48:18, and there you shall find the Lord speaking
thus: "Oh that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments; then had thy peace been
as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea." When the Lord
speaks, and calls upon people to believe, if then they do hearken to him, then
shall their peace be like a river. And when does the Lord call in a special
manner upon people to believe? When he gives out a word, and when he gives them
a little peace, then he is calling upon them to believe; now return, and now
believe, says the Lord. Ye know how it was with Elijah : when they wanted rain,
and had wanted rain for a long time, Elijah sends his servant towards the sea,
to see if he could perceive any rain coming, and Elijah falls down upon his face
in prayer; his servant goes, but no sign of rain: he goes again, and no sign of
rain ; and the seventh time Elijah's servant perceives a cloud, of the bigness
of an hand, and he comes down unto his master, and tells him he had seen a
cloud, the bigness of a man's hand : whereupon Elijah concludes and says, "Come,
let us up, I hear the noise of many waters." So say I, you have been upon your
face, and have been much discouraged, yet if you have been at prayer, and a
little refreshment comes, though it be but the bigness of an hand, yet conclude
and say, Surely, there is more rain a coming; Come, O my soul, why art thou cast
down? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God, and wait on him, I
hear abundance of rain coming. When our Saviour Christ sometimes speaks peace,
he doth at the first speak by a small word, and if that be improved, then he
speaks more. Ye know how it was with Mary; she was at the sepulchre, and had
been inquiring after her Lord, and says she to the angels, they have taken away
my Lord; and the angels talked to her, but could not comfort her. But at last
comes our Saviour Christ, and he speaks to her, and then she was comforted. But
what does he say to her? Only one word; Mary: so when a man is in trouble, the
Lord comes sometimes and speaks but a word, he takes a promise it may be, and
sets on a word thereof upon the soul, and the heart answers, Rabboni, my Lord.
Doth the Lord therefore speak but one word unto thee, yet stir up thyself in
believing, and hearken unto him, for he will speak yet more fully and plainly;
only when he speaks, listen: hearken diligently unto him and improve what he
saith, so shall your peace be as a river, and your righteousness as the ocean.
And thus I have done with the first argument.


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  CHAPTER 4: SERMON II. -TRUE PEACE MAY BE INTERRUPTED.
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SERMON II. -TRUE PEACE MAY BE INTERRUPTED. "Why art thou cast down, O my soul?
and why art thou disquieted within me, &; c"—Psalms 42:11. It is possible that
the saints and people of God, may be much discouraged, and cast down: though
there be an inward peace and quietness of soul, which they are ordinarily endued
with, yet possibly this peace may be interrupted, and themselves much
discouraged and cast down. Here are two words in the text speak as much;
cast-down, disquieted. And three times in this Psalm, the Psalmist saith, his
soul was cast down within him; yet this David was a man of great peace and
comfort ordinarily. And as with David, so it was, is, and will be with other
saints. This is so ordinary a case, that the Holy Ghost hath provided a standing
psalm, or prayer, on purpose for such as are in this condition: Psalms 102 :,
the title, "A prayer, or psalm, of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed, and
poureth out his complaint before the Lord." In Psalms 119:25, he saith, "My
belly cleaves to the dust and that is low indeed. And verse 28, "My soul melteth
for heaviness I am not only sad and heavy, but my soul melteth for heaviness.
Song of Solomon 5, the Spouse saith, "Her heart was gone;" or, "My soul failed
within me." And if we look into Psalms 143 : we find, at the 4th verse, that the
Psalmist saith, "My spirit is overwhelmed, and my heart within me is desolate."
What do all these expressions high, great and many, speak, but this truth that
is now before us? For the more full clearing and opening of it, I shall labour
to show-- First, how far it is possible for a good man to be discouraged, or
cast down. Secondly, how it doth come to pass that he is so discouraged.
Thirdly, how those discouragements can stand with his grace and goodness.
Fourthly, how they may be healed and cured. And first. If you ask, how far the
discouragements of saints may reach? For, will some say, I know it is possible
that the most gracious, holy man, may be much discouraged, but not with such
discouragements as mine are. 1. I answer. What are yours? Are you so far
disquieted, discouraged, cast down, as to refuse the word, promise, or
consolation that is brought unto you? So far may the discouragements of the
saints extend: Psalms 77:3, "I remembered God, and was troubled." He doth not
say, I remembered my sin, and was troubled, but God; Yea, I was not only
troubled, but "I did complain, and my spirit was overwhelmed within me." But
when the promise came, and mercy came, and comfort came, did he refuse that too?
Yes: verse 2, "My soul refuseth to be comforted." 2. Are you so far discouraged,
disquieted, cast down, that your very body feeleth the smart of your
discouragements? that you do not only refuse the promise, and all comfort for
your soul, but even for your body? Then look into Psalms 102 :, and see if your
case may not be paralleled, verse 4, " My heart is smitten and withered like
grass, so that I forget to eat my bread: verse 5, " By reason of the voice of my
groaning, my bones cleave to my skin:" verse 6, "I am like a pelican of the
wilderness, and I am like an owl of the desert:" verse 9, "I have eaten ashes
like bread, and mingled my drink with weeping:" verse 10, "Because of thine
indignation and thy wrath; for thou hast lifted me up and cast me down:" verse
11, "My days are like a shadow that declineth; and I am withered like grass."
Oh, but I am not only so far discouraged, as to refuse comfort for soul and
body, but my soul refuseth duty, and casts off duty too for the present. 3.
Therefore, it is possible, that a good and gracious man's discouragements may
extend thus far too. You will think it strange that I find an instance for this
in that holy man Jeremiah; yet if you look into Jeremiah 20:7—9} you find it
made good. Indeed, saith he, "The word was as fire in my bones, and I could not
forbear." But for the time he did resolve to forbear preaching in the name of
God, which was his duty, which he had commission to do: for, says he, "I will
not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name." This holy, gracious
man, was under temptation, he was much discouraged, and thereupon he said so.
Yet, verse 13, he saith, "Sing to the Lord, praise the Lord; for he hath
delivered the soul of the poor from the hand of evil doers." But then mark the
next words; "Cursed be the day wherein I was born; let not the day wherein my
mother bare me be blessed." "Cursed be the man who brought tidings to my father,
saying, A man child is born to thee." What a sudden change was here, even in the
best of the saints, from encouragements to discouragements. Oh, but I have not
only cursed the day of my birth, as Jeremiah, and wished that I had never been
born; but I am weary of my life, and have sought after mine own death: and was
there ever any godly, gracious man, that was thus discouraged, and cast down?
Yes. What think you of Job? "I was weary of my life," 10:1. And in the third
chapter, Job, pouring out his complaint in regard of himself, he saith, verse
20, "Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery, and life to the bitter
in soul?" verse 21, "Which long for death, but it cometh not, and dig for it
more than for hid treasures." Now ye know, that those which dig for gold and
silver, dig industriously and earnestly. Thus it is with me, says Job, I am so
afflicted, and distressed; and in such bitterness of soul, that I long for
death, and dig for it as for hid treasures. Oh, what a mighty deep of
discouragements, may the saints and people of God fall into, and yet be godly,
gracious! Secondly, but why doth God suffer his own people and dearest children
to be thus discouraged, and their peace to be interrupted? I know, will some
say, that all our present joy and comfort, is but a creature, and so may be
eclipsed; and that Satan is near unto the best of God's children, thrusting and
pushing them forward into these discouragements, that they may be like unto
himself who is a discouraged spirit: but why will God suffer it to be so? In
general, it is for their good, for their good they have, and for their good they
do want their peace and comfort. The star which led the wise men to Christ, did
not always go before them, but sometimes it appeared, sometimes it was hidden
from them: but both appearance and hiding was for their benefit; its first
appearance invited them to Christ, and its withdrawance made them more diligent
in seeking after him. So when Christ hid himself from his mother Mary, she
sought him the more, and when she found him, she rejoiced the more: but both his
absence and his presence, her fear and her comfort, was for her good; for his
absence did increase and draw out her desires, and his presence did increase and
draw out her joys. When God is absent from us, then we have testimonies of our
love to God, by our desires after him; and when he is present, then we have
testimonies of his love to us, by the shines of his countenance; so that whether
God shines or not, whether we have comfort or not, both is for our good. Thus in
the general, but yet more particularly. 1. Ye know it is God's way and manner to
deal with the children, of men, according to their own dispositions, to stoop
and condescend unto their infirmities: therefore says the prophet Hosea, "He
draws us with the cords of a man." Hosea 11:4. Now it is man's disposition to
come to God at the second hand: so long as man can find a fulness in any
creature, he comes not to God $ but first he sees an emptiness in the creature,
duty and ordinance, and then he says, oh what a fulness is in God himself, in
Christ himself! "The widow that is desolate, trusteth in God," 1 Timothy 5:5;
though a widow, yet if not desolate, sometimes, she would not trust; and
therefore God suffers a desolation to come upon her widowhood. When David's men
took up stones to have stoned him, then, says the text, "He encouraged himself
in the Lord his God," 1 Samuel 30:6. So long as man hath encouragement
elsewhere, he doth not encourage himself in the Lord his God. This being man's
nature, and God having a design of love upon his own children, he suffers a damp
and discouragement to pass upon all their comforts: their peace to be
interrupted, their hearts disquieted, and their souls discouraged, that so they
may encourage themselves in God alone. 2. This inward peace and quietness of
soul, is so great a commodity, that God would have the price to be enhanced and
raised. Common and ordinary blessings once lost, and found again, are
extraordinary: it is a common and ordinary mercy that a man sits in his shop,
and walks up and down in his trade; but if he be sick awhile, lose his health,
and not able for five or six weeks to look into his shop; if then he can get
down but one day, Oh, says he, what an extraordinary mercy and blessing is it,
that I should go down again: thus the interruption of an ordinary blessing does
raise it to an extraordinary. So long as a man hath his health and strength,
though he be able to travel forty, fifty, three-score miles a day, he is not
much affected therewith; but if he be sick a little, and at death's door, and
then begins to recover, though he can but put forth his hand, or stir his leg,
he blesses God, and says, oh, friends, I can stir myself in my bed, I can move
my hand, or my leg; what an extraordinary mercy and blessing is this! So in this
case, so long as a man hath inward peace and quietness of soul, without
interruption, he looks upon it as a common mercy and blessing; but if his peace
be a little interrupted, and his soul buffeted by Satan, and then he recovers
his peace, Oh, says he, what an extraordinary blessing and mercy is this! Now
God will sometimes raise the price of this commodity from an ordinary to an
extraordinary blessing, and therefore he doth suffer his own children and
dearest servants to be thus discouraged, and their peace to be interrupted. 3.
God is a tender Father, and he would have all the love of his children; he would
not have his children to love their nurse more than himself: our joy and peace
and comfort, is but the nurse of our graces; now when God sees that his children
fall in love more with the nurse than with himself, then he removes the nurse,
and causes their peace to be suspended and interrupted: he will not have the
nurse to be loved more than himself. . 4. Sometimes God doth suffer this cloud
to arise upon the peace and comforts of his people, that he may train them up
unto more perfection; comfort is the children's milk: ye may observe, therefore,
that the weaker Christian hath sometimes more lively, sensible comforts, than
the stronger Christian hath; why? but because this inward joy and peace and
comfort, is that milk and sweet honey, whereby they are drawn off from the
pleasures and sweetness of the world; and as these comforts do wean us from, the
worlds comforts, so we have need to be weaned again from these weaners, which
God doth sometimes by restraining of them, and so we grow up unto more
perfection. 5. Sometimes, again, God sees his children do grow vain and light
and frothy and wanton and secure under their peace and comfort, and then he
withdraws himself, hides his face, and so they do lose their comfort. This was
the case in Song of Solomon 5, where the spouse saith, "My soul faileth within
me" at verse 6. But why" "I opened to my Beloved, but my Beloved had withdrawn
himself and why had he withdrawn himself:" He comes and makes a tender of love
and mercy, verse 2, and she would none, verse 3, "I have put off my coat, how
shall I put it on? I have washed my feet, how shall I defile them?" that is, I
am now laid to sleep; they are words that import security, and upon her security
he withdraws himself, and being withdrawn, her soul fails within her. And thus
it is many times with the children of God in their particulars; the Lord sees
that they grow secure, vain, frothy and wanton under their peace and comfort,
then he withdraws himself, and their peace faileth. 6. Our Lord and Saviour
Christ is a tender chirurgion, who hath set all our bones which we ourselves
have broken by our sins. You know that a wise and an honest chirurgion, though
he desire his patient may be quickly cured, yet if he sees the plaister doth not
lie right, he takes it off again, for it is not laid right, saith he: so doth
Christ do, he sees that the comforts of his people sometimes are not right laid,
and therefore, saith he, though I desire this poor wounded soul may be quickly
cured, yet because this comfort, this promise, this experience doth not lie
right, it must be taken off again. Now the comforts of the saints are so laid
sometimes, as the very laying of them doth breed discomfort. As in the sowing of
seed; it is not enough that the seed be good, but it must be well sown, else the
very sowing thereof may cause weeds: so though light be sown for the righteous,
yet sometimes it so is sown, as that the very sowing thereof doth breed these
weeds of fears and discouragements, that you may say, and that without prophecy,
Here is a poor soul that ere long will be much discouraged, though for the
present full of comfort. But this is hard to say: can ye foretell a man's
discouragements, even in the time of his comfort? Who is there among all the
saints so comforted, concerning whom you may say, Surely this man will be much
discouraged again? When a man, a good man, doth lay his spiritual comfort upon
outward blessings, you may say beforehand, this man's comfort will never hold,
but ere long he will be much disquieted; and this was the reason why the saints
in the time of the Old Testament, laboured under so many discouragements, even
because they measured the love of God so much by these outward blessings. Psalms
143:4, "Therefore my spirit is overwhelmed within me." Why so? Verse 3, "Because
the enemy prevailed he measured God's love too much by these outward things, and
therefore when the enemy broke in upon him, he thought God did not love him, and
so he was overwhelmed; thus in regard of all outward blessings. Seest thou
therefore a man who raiseth his persuasion of God's love from the smiles of any
creature, say of such a man beforehand, oh, this poor soul ere long, will be in
the dark, and under some discouragements. When a man is unthankful for true
peace, and unhumbled for false peace, he cannot hold his peace long. Before a
man is converted, he hath peace within; "For when the strong man keeps the
house, all is at peace" but it is false peace: after a man is converted, he hath
peace within, and it is true peace; God expecteth that a man should be humbled
for his former false peace, and thankful for his present true peace. Now when
God sees one both unhumbled for false peace, and unthankful for his present true
peace, the Spirit of the Lord is grieved, so it withdraweth, and the soul is
comfortless. When a man doth raise his comfort only from somewhat that he doth
find within himself; from grace that he doth find within, and not from grace
without; from Christ within, and not from Christ without; then his comfort will
not hold; perpetuum est quod habet causam perpetuantem, that is perpetual, which
hath a perpetuating cause : grace without is perpetual, Christ's own personal
obedience in the merit of it, is perpetual; but the actings of grace within us,
are not perpetual, or not perpetually obvious to sight, and therefore cannot
perpetually comfort. Indeed, our grace within, and obedience, is in some
respects a cause of our peace. 1st, A causa sine qua non, a cause without which
we can have no comfort; for a godly man can have no comfort, if he have no
obedience. 2ndly, A cause which doth, removere prohibens, remove what hinders
our comfort, namely, our sin. 3rdly A cause witnessing: for there are three that
bear witness, the Spirit, water and blood; water, which is our sanctification,
is one. 4thly, A cause confirming; for by our obedience and sanctification, our
justification is confirmed, and the sense thereof; so that obedience is one
cause, but not the only cause of our peace, nor the principal: when therefore
you see the streams of a man's comfort run in this channel, raising all his
comfort only, or principally from his obedience, or acting of grace within, then
you may say, though the stream be now full, stay but a little, and ere long you
will see it dried, and this man will be much discouraged. When a man, a good man
doth lay his comfort, rather upon the impression, or comings in of the word,
than upon the word itself. For example, suppose a man take the Bible, and upon
the opening thereof doth pitch on some promise: for the present he is much
refreshed and comforted: or suppose that he doth not open the Bible, nor read
the Scripture, but sitting down in a dark condition, some promise doth come to
him which before he thought not of; now at the coming of this promise, his heart
is much raised, warmed and comforted, insomuch that he concludeth, saying, Now I
am a child of God, now I know that God loves me, that I have a share in Christ:
either this man raiseth his comfort from the word itself, or from the comings in
of the word; if from the word itself, how can his comfort die? if upon the bare
coming in of the word, how can his comfort live? For when a word comes not, then
his comforts fail. We read in Psalms 16 : that "he shall multiply sorrows that
hasteneth after another:" your translation reads it thus, "Their sorrows shall
be multiplied that hasten after another God;" but the word God, ירבו עצבוהכ׆ אחר
מחרו ,is not in the Hebrew. The whole verse are the words of Christ; what saith
he at verse 2? "Oh my soul, thou hast said unto the Lord, thou art my Lord, my
goodness, holiness, or righteousness is not for thee, but for the saints that
are in the earth, and for the excellent in whom is all my delight." But O Lord,
our Saviour, what if we do not go to thy goodness, holiness and righteousness,
resting upon that alone? He answereth, "Their sorrows shall be multiplied who
hasten after another." And is not this to hasten after another, when men rest
upon the bare coming in of the word, or the impressions on the heart that are
made thereby? Where do we read in all the Scripture, turn from one end of the
Bible to the other, where do we read that Christ hath appointed any such way of
comfort as this, that a man should raise his comforts from pitching, or by an
opening of the book? If I pitch upon a promise today, and so have comfort, may I
not pitch upon a threatening to morrow, and so have no comfort again? Where hath
Christ appointed any such way as this, that I should measure God's love, or cast
my everlasting condition by the coming in of a particular word? Indeed, God doth
sometimes by his providence, upon the opening of the Bible, cause our eye to
fall upon some promise, which is a providential comfort; he doth sometimes send
a particular word to stay and bear up ones soul in a particular distress or
affliction, but not that I should measure his everlasting love, or cast my
condition by the coming in of every word. This therefore is to hasten after
another; and how many sorrows are multiplied upon the hearts of God's people
hereby? How many poor souls are there that walk in this way! God our Father sees
it, that the plaister is not right laid, and so he is fain to take it off, but
all from a design of love, to lay it right; and for these reasons God suffers
his own people to be much discouraged. Thirdly, but how can all this stand with
grace? Can a man be thus comforted and discouraged, discouraged and then
comforted again? thus to and fro in his comfort, yet in Christ, yet gracious,
yet holy? Yes: for though there be much evil in this traversing up and down, yet
in the saints there is still a mixture of some grace withal, some grace mixed
with their discouragements.* Take the saints and people of God, and though they
be much discouraged and cast down, yet still they mourn after God; and though
they cannot wait so patiently as they would, yet they say in truth, if they did
but know that God would come at last, they would wait all their lives; here is
grace; and though they cannot mourn for sins past, for which they are most
disquieted, yet they dare not put forth their hand willingly unto any sin
present. I have read of one that was so troubled and cast down, that he said and
thought, I find so little comfort in my soul, that I would willingly suffer my
body to live in burning fire until Christ's coming, so that I might but have the
assurance of God's love and favour; and though I am persuaded I shall go to
hell, yet my hope is, that my pains here will be mitigated there, in all which
trouble, saith my author, nothing in the world could persuade him to do anything
willingly that was displeasing to God; this man was at the last comforted, and
then he would often say, The devil took advantage of my sorrow for evil things,
to make me unthankful for good things. But I speak this to shew, that the saints
are never so discouraged, but still there is a grace that is mixed withal, they
dare not sin. Yea, and though by their very discouragements, they do sin against
the gospel in unbelief, yet by the same discouragements they are kept from their
sins against the law, these discouragements being as the lees that do keep the
wines. Yea, and though they do rest too much upon their righteousness, whereby
their feet sink into divers sloughs, yet it is because they would be the more
obedient to God their Father, and in the midst of all their discouragement
profess in truth, I would give all the world for the presence of God; here is
grace, a mixture of grace withal; no marvel therefore, that these
discouragements may be in a godly gracious man. But is there no evil in this, to
be thus fluctuating to and fro, comforted and then discouraged? is there no evil
in these discouragements? Much, very much; I shall not enter into the
particulars. But how can they improve Christ as they should in this condition?
So long as a man's title for his land is in question, he cannot sow bis ground,
nor build houses; and if you ask him, why do not you sow your ground, and repair
your houses? his answer is ready, I dare not lay out much cost, because my title
is in question: so here, so long as a man's title to Christ is in question, he
cannot improve Christ as he should. If a man be going a journey, and know not
his way, he loseth much of his way and of the comfort of it in inquiring after
the way, and thinking whether he be right or wrong ; when he comes at three or
four turnings, there he stands while he might ride a mile, and when he comes
above in the field, and sees a shepherd at a distance from him, he rides up to
him to inquire whether he be in his way or not; yea, and all the day long he is
thinking of his way, whether he be right; whereas, if he knew his way, he might
have many precious thoughts of God and of the word. So in this case, while a man
is doubting and fearing, and knows not whether he be in the way to heaven or no,
how much precious time is lost! thoughts of Christ lost! thankfulness for mercy
lost! Of all hearts, the Scripture saith, an unbelieving heart is an evil heart;
and when men's hearts are discouraged and cast down, arc they not unbelieving?
Who would not therefore take heed of these discouragements, and of the
interruption of their peace? Fourthly, but suppose now that I have lost my
comforts? Times were heretofore, when my soul was full of joy, but now I am
quite discouraged; what should a poor soul do to recover his peace and comfort
again, that uninterrupted peace may be restored? Some things by way of question;
some things by way of doctrine. 1. Hast thou forgot the years of the right hand
of the Most High? hast thou lost all thy experience too? I know that usually
when our comforts fail, our former experiences fail, yet not always; for the
Psalmist saith here, "My soul is cast down," yet at the same time, verse 6, he
saith, "Therefore I will remember thee from the land of Jordan and of the
Hermonites, from the hill Mizar." So Psalms 77 : The Psalmist having said at the
7th verse, "Will the the Lord cast off for ever; and will he be favourable no
more; is his mercy clean gone forever; and doth his promise fail for evermore?
hath God forgotten to be gracious?" he addeth in the same breath, "But I will
remember the years of the right hand of the Most High." Ye know what the
disciples said, "Did not our hearts glow within us while he opened the
scriptures to us?" Luke 24:32. Beloved! you have no comfort now, well, but you
remember at such a time, when you were all alone in your chamber, and no soul
was near you, how the Lord came and opened the scriptures, the promise to your
soul, wherewith your heart did glow within you. Have you quite forgotten the
openings of those scriptures to you; (I speak not of the glowing's, for I
suppose they are now gone) but are the scriptures gone that were then opened to
you; did not you say in your last trouble and down-cast condition, if ever the
Lord appear to me again, I will never doubt of his mercy more ; and did he not
appear unto you and open the promise unto your heart; and have you now forgotten
these things? this is your infirmity, why should you not remember the days and
times and works and experiences of the right hand of the Most High? 2. Do you
not use the means for the restoring of your comforts in such a manner, as
thereby you do lose them more? A man may have great desire after some preferment
and place, which many ride for, but one is so hasty that he rides over hedge and
ditch, and thereby falls and hurts himself, so others get before him, and by his
too much haste, he doth lose his place. Thus it is sometimes with good people,
they make so much haste to their comfort, that they lose it by their haste; they
would have it sooner if they went on in an ordinary way of waiting on God
without such posting haste; but they must have it to-day; oh let me know my
interest in Christ to-day, saith one, or else I am undone forever. Thus, by
stinting and limiting God to a time, they tempt the Holy One, and so are more
distant from their comfort; the more the child cries, and is froward under the
rod, the longer is the rod continued. Some seek comfort in a way of reason, and
think to reason out their temptation, and to reason in their comfort, but as one
saith well, Dispute not with God lest you be confounded, dispute not with Satan
lest you be deceived. Some again tire themselves in duty, neglecting of their
calling ; the truth is, prayer is a friend to comfort, and more than ordinary
time is to be used in prayer for those that are troubled in conscience, but when
men under temptations, and without comforts throw up their callings, thinking
that nothing is to be done but prayer, by throwing aside their calling, they lay
themselves open to more temptations of Satan, they do so tire out their natural
spirits in duty, that they are flat and dead in duty, so their temptations are
the more increased, and their comforts more distanced. Wherefore consider, if
you would have comfort restored again, whether you do not use the means of
comfort in such a manner, as to set you at a further distance from it. 3.
Whether have you not strained, and reached for some outward comfort so far, as
to lose your inward comfort? I read of Francis Spira, that when he was in horror
of conscience, he could not with peace and quietness behold his wife and
children, for, to get an estate for them he denied the truth, and therefore when
they came before him in his trouble, he cried out in much horror, how terrible
is the sight of these to me' They had been comforts to him before, yet now he
could not away with the sight of them. Oh, thought he, for your sakes, and for
your provision, I have denied the truth and yielded to these superstitions; and
therefore says he, How terrible is the sight of these unto me! What peace or
comfort had Judas in the sight of his thirty pence? Look what outward comfort a
man strains his conscience for, that will be death unto him to behold. We read
of David, that when his men had ventured for the waters of Bethlehem, he would
not drink of it, but poured it out before the Lord, for, saith he, "Why should I
drink the blood of these men?" He did not sin in desiring of it, nor did he
command his men for to venture through the enemies quarters, for those Hebrew
words, מי יחו , quis dabit, who will give me? are but words of wishing, who will
give me to drink of the waters of Bethlehem; that is, Oh, that I had the waters
of Bethlehem: according to the Hebrew language, but though he sinned not in his
desires, yet when he had the waters, he poured them forth before the Lord, and
said, " God forbid that I should drink the blood of these men and will you drink
the blood of your own conscience? Time was heretofore when you had peace and
comfort, and by straining and stretching your conscience for your outward
comfort, now you have lost your inward, will you not then take that outward
comfort, and pour it forth before the Lord, and say, God forbid that I should
drink the blood of mine own peace and comfort? How can any of you have peace,
while those stolen and unrestored goods lie by you? But alas! all my comforts do
lie prostrate at the feet of my fears, that now I have no peace at all: what
shall I do that my peace and comfort may be restored? By way of direction, three
things. 1. Look what you would do if you were to be justified, and do the same
now: if I were to be justified, having a sight of my own sin and nature, I
would, through grace, come to the righteousness of Jesus Christ, and leave the
weight of my poor, guilty soul upon it; which act of faith would justify me, and
give me peace; for "being justified by faith (saith the apostle), we have peace
with God." And as faith doth justify and give peace at the first, so the
renewing of this act of faith doth renew our peace; and what is my justifying
faith, but in time of temptation to leave myself and condition upon Christ
alone, saying, whether godly or ungodly, whether in Christ or not in Christ, now
I do not dispute, but leave myself upon Christ alone: this do again, and this
will bring peace again. 2. You have now lost your comforts and the shinings of
God s face: either God has withdrawn himself for your sin, or not; if not for
your sin, he will return again, and that quickly too; if for your sin, labour
more and more for to find it out, and to be humbled for it. I know you will say,
oh, but now in this condition I cannot be humbled. But withal remember, that in
this condition, that goes for humbling which doth not before, and God will take
that for humiliation now, which he would not take before. Psalms 32, saith
David, "I said I will confess my transgression unto the Lord, and thou forgavest
the iniquity of my sin." Dixit non fecit, saith Austin, he said he would do it,
but did not do it fully, yet thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. God took his
humiliation although it was very low. Why? Verse 3, 4, we find him under
temptation and in much discouragement, for saith he, "My bones waxed old with my
roaring all the day long, day and night thy hand was heavy upon me; my moisture
is turned into the drought of summer," yet how ready was God to receive an
acknowledgment, and a little humiliation from him at this time. Oh, but what is
all this to us? this was David's case. Nay, saith David, this is not my case
alone, for verse 6, "For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee, in a
time when thou mayest be found." God will receive a little when you are much
discouraged. Either therefore God hath withdrawn for your sin, or not; if not,
wait but a little, he will return again; if for your sin, labour more and more
to be humbled for it, for he will receive that measure of humiliation now,
w7hich he will not do at any other time. 3. Are all your comforts gone, and
would you have them fain restored? Then read and read the Scripture much; if you
cannot read yourself, get some others for to read them to you. When a man's mind
is empty, as in temptation and want of comfort, it is empty of Christ, and full
of fear, then it doth grind itself, as a quern or mill when empty of corn, one
stone grinds another: the more full a man's mind is, the more free from
temptations and fears. Now Scripture matter is the most filling matter, the more
ye see Christ walking in the sweet shades of divine love toward poor sinners,
the sooner will your faith revive, and your comforts be restored; and where can
you see Jesus Christ walking, and taking his turns with poor sinners under the
shades of divine love, but in the Scriptures? stand there awhile, and you shall
see him, and your heart will say, And why not one turn of love with me, oh my
Saviour? Study, read, and read much the scriptures. But if I do read the
scriptures, and read them much, I shall then meet with some promise, possibly
many, and now I cannot apply them being thus discouraged as I am, I shall see
the promises indeed, and say, There is such and such an old friend of mine, but
it is now mine enemy, the promise will not own me, and I cannot apply it, and so
it will do me no good. Ye cannot tell what the promise will do till you come to
apply it; the promise never gives down its power and strength till it be
applied, it doth then work when it is put to work, and not before. When Moses
saw his rod turned into a serpent, he was afraid of it, and fled from it, but
when he put forth his hand and took it by the tail, it was a rod in his hand
again, as it was before; it may be you look upon such and such a promise at a
distance, and you say, Ob, there is my enemy, now it will not help me, it will
sting me, it will undo me, but put forth your hand again to it, and it will
become a promise, a rod in your hand, as comfortable as ever it was before. And
doth not the promise come to you? go you to it. Sometimes the promise doth come
to us, sometimes we go to it; when the promise doth come to you, you have joy,
when you go to it, you have peace, and this peace may last longer than the other
joy; but remember this as an everlasting rule, that you're very relying upon the
promise doth make it yours. But if I do read the scriptures much in this
condition of my discouragement, I shall not only meet with the promise, but with
a threatening, and that will discourage me more. Not so, for if a threatening
make way to the promise, and doth therefore come forth to meet you, that it mav
lead you to the promise, have you any hurt thereby? Now as the law was a
schoolmaster to bring to Christ, so sometimes the threatening is a schoolmaster
to bring you to the promise. Yea, and God doth therefore sometimes send the
threatening that it may lead you to the promise. You know how God appeared to
Elijah, first in a wind that did shake the mountains and rocks, but God was not
there; then in an earthquake, but God was not there; then in a fire, but God was
not there ; then in a still voice, and there was God. So when God appears to a
soul, sometimes he doth first send a threatening, and shakes the rocks and
mountains, and hard hearts, and his converting grace may not be there, but there
is a still voice behind, the voice of the promise, God is there, and all this
shaking of the threatening, is but to make way unto the still voice of the
promise that is behind. Oh, but if I should read the scriptures much in this
condition, I should meet with many other things which concern not me, there are
many histories in the Scripture which suit not with my condition, and so I
should get no good or comfort. Say not so; Christ cures, per modurn
divertentice, by way of divertency, as you do those that are grieved. If a
friend have lost a husband, or wife, or child, you do not speak of the lost
person and say, Oh, what a sweet friend, or husband, or wife, or child you have
lost; but you speak of something else, and then afterwards you are able to speak
of the person lost, but first you divert his mind from the matter of his grief,
and so you do cure his grief. Thus doth Christ also when he cures a poor,
wounded, grieved soul, he doth not always speak to the subject matter of grief
in hand, but leads the heart sometimes into the consideration of other truths,
and then afterwards doth speak unto the matter that is now concerning; he cures
by way of divertency. Study therefore, oh, study the Scriptures much, for thus
the Lord will pour wine and oil into your bleeding wounds, and in due time you
will say, as David did, "In the multitude of my thoughts, O Lord, thy comforts
have comforted my soul' Psalms 94:19. But suppose the Lord do restore to me the
joy of my salvation, that the bones which I have broken may rejoice; suppose
there be a return of peace and joy, what shall I do then? I shall not need to
tell you what then, you will tell me what then, for you will say, oh, now I must
be thankful, now I must believe, now I will never doubt of mercy and of grace
again. Only take these few words of advice. Be sure that you understand your
comforts rightly; be not mistaken in them: labour to distil and refine your
comforts. As there was a mixed company came out of Egypt, which set the
Israelites a murmuring; so there is a mixed company that comes with your
comforts. Every creature is born into the world with some filth; when you have
comfort, labour to find out and separate the dross and filth, put away that
mixed company. Rose leaves keep not long in the leaf: distilled comforts keep
the longest. If you would be rid of Satan from coming into your quarters, fall
you upon his; the way to keep the enemy out of our country, is to fall into his.
So deal with Satan, do him all the mischief you can; be not barely offensive, up
and be doing against him. If you would keep your comforts, put them all into the
hand of Christ to be kept for you. A child that knows not how to keep his money,
if he get a penny from any friend, he brings it to his father or mother, and
saith, Mother, pray keep this penny for me. You have experience that you cannot
keep your own comforts, you will lose and spend them quickly. As Jesus Christ is
the Lord Treasurer of all our graces, so he is the Lord Keeper of all our
comforts; and therefore, when God is pleased to give in any comfort to you, go
to Jesus Christ, and say, Lord, keep my comforts for me, keep my evidences for
me, keep my assurance for me: ye must not only depend upon Christ for graces,
but for comforts; and as well for the keeping, as for the getting of them. As
you have any spiritual comfort from Christ, spend all for Christ: for though in
temporal things, the way to have little, is to spend much; yet in spiritual
things, the more you spend, the more you have. And therefore, whatsoever comfort
you have, spend it with the saints. Do as Moses did: when Moses was in Pharaoh's
court, and in great preferment, standing in the presence of the king, he went
out to visit his brethren, and to comfort them under their burdens: "I will see
(saith he) how it fares with my brethren, under their burdens." So do you also.
Hath the Lord spoken peace and comfort to your soul, and do you now stand in the
presence of the King of kings, having his face shining on you, with your
comforts all restored unto you? Now then go out unto your brethren, and inquire
who they are that labour under any burden, and with the same comfort wherewith
you have been comforted yourselves, comfort others, knowing this for certain,
that the more you spend, the more you shall have, and the longer you shall keep
your comforts: yea, and this Christ expects, that what comforts we have from
him, we should spend for him. And thus I have also done with this second
argument.


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  CHAPTER 5: SERMON III. - SAINTS SHOULD NOT BE DISCOURAGED WHATEVER THEIR CONDITION BE.
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SERMON III. - SAINTS SHOULD NOT BE DISCOURAGED WHATEVER THEIR CONDITION BE. "Why
art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me, &c"—Psalms
42:11. Having spoken of the two first doctrines, the third followeth, which is
this: The saints and people of God have no true reason for their
discouragements, whatever their condition be. David had as much cause and reason
for his discouragements here as any other, for he did want ordinances, yea, he
was kept from the ordinances; therefore, saith he, verses 1, 2, "As the hart
panteth after the water-brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul
thirsteth for God, for the living God, when shall I come and appear before God?"
Yea, after he had known the sweetness of them he was deprived of them, verse 4,
"For I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God." And
in this condition he had many enemies, he was in the state of affliction and
persecution, his enemies reproached him, they reproached him in the matter of
his God, and that daily, verses 3 and 10, "While they continually say unto me,
Where is thy God? As a sword in my bones mine enemies reproach me, while they
say daily unto me, where is thy God?" And he was now under great desertions:
though the enemies did reproach him in the matter of his God, yet if God had
been present with him, he had been well enough; but they said, "Where is now thy
God?" and his own heart said so too, that God had left and forsaken him, which
was his failing, verse 9, "I will say unto God, my rock, why hast thou forsaken
me?" yet for all this he saith, "Why art thou cast down, O my soul?" As if he
should say, thine enemies do not only reproach thee in the matter of thy God,
but thine own heart; thou art now kept from those precious ordinances which once
thou didst enjoy; yet why shouldst thou be disquieted or cast down? there is no
reason for it. So that the words speak plainly this truth, A godly, gracious man
hath no true scripture reason for his discouragements whatever his condition be.
It was a sad condition that the prophet Habakkuk did present unto himself, yet,
saith he, chap. 3, "I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my
salvation," verse 18. But oh, thou servant of God, thou art now under a
threatening, and not under a promise, which makes thy very belly to tremble, and
wilt thou, canst thou now rejoice? Yes, saith he, verse 16, "When I heard, my
belly trembled, my lips quivered at the voice, rottenness entered into my bones;
yet will I rejoice in the Lord," &c. But it may be thou thinkest this
threatening will never be fulfilled. Yes, saith he, verse 17, "Although the
figtree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of
the olive shall fail, and the field shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut
off from the fold, and there shall be no meat in the stalls: yet will I rejoice
in the Lord," &c. But a man may rejoice, though he have no wine to drink or
olive to eat, because these are but creatures which are for our refreshment: but
wilt thou rejoice, O prophet, if thou wantest thy daily bread, and such
creatures as are for our daily nourishment? Yes, saith he, "Although the field
shall yield no meat, and the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there be
no herd in the stall, yet will I rejoice in the Lord." So that whatever a godly
man's condition be, he may rejoice, and there is no true reason for his
discouragement. Indeed, there is no sin so unreasonable, but the sinner thinks
he hath reason for it; and so the saints and people of God may thinks that they
have reason for their discouragements: hence it is that they have so many whys
and wherefores, " Why hast thou forsaken me?" "Why go I mourning?" Yea, they may
not only seem to have some reason, but, in a way of nature, they have reason for
their discouragements; and therefore saith David, "When I saw the prosperity of
the wicked, I said, I have cleansed my hands in vain, until I went into the
house of the Lord," Psalms 73 : So that, so long as he was in the house of
nature, and natural reason, he did see reason for his discouragement. Yea, not
only so, but take things asunder, and consider things by pieces, one from
another, abstracting the means from the end, and so the saints may have a true
and real reason for their discouragements, for every affliction is grievous. If
the husbandman look only upon the breaking up of his ground, without respect to
the harvest, he may well be discouraged, but take both together, and so he will
not: thus if the saints consider their breakings apart from their harvest, they
may see cause for their discouragements; but if they do consider their breaking
up and their harvest together, the means and the end together; I say, take all
together, and then, whatever their condition be, they have no reason to be cast
down or be disquieted. What is there in or for the saints that may be a
sufficient bulwark against all discouragements? I answer, A godly, gracious man
hath propriety and interest in God himself. Some special men and women there are
in the world, whom the great God of heaven and earth doth make over himself
unto, and they that have him for their God and portion, have no reason to be
disquieted whatever their condition be: thus it is with the saints, and
therefore the Psalmist doth not barely say, that he would rejoice, but that God
was " his exceeding joy," Psalms 43 : Satan may darken this light and joy for a
time, but he can never put it out: all the saints and people of God are
possessed of this. It is written of Antoninus the Emperor, one of the
persecutors in the primitive times, that being environed and compassed about by
his enemies, whereby he and all his army in the field were like to be lost for
water, he commanded the Christians of his army to pray for rain 5 whereby
present relief came to him, his army was preserved, and his enemies destroyed ;
whereupon he wrote a letter to the Roman senate in favour of the Christians, and
gave this commendation of them in it, That they were a people which were, Deo
contenti, content with God, guem circumferunt secum in pectore, whom they did
always carry about with them in their bosom : yea, saith he, in that same
letter, it is very credible, that although we think them wicked men, Deum pro
munimento habere in conscientia, that they have God in their conscience for
their bulwark. Thus a heathen, thus an enemy, thus he who was once a persecutor
confessed, and shall not we say as much? Oh but, say some, toile meum et toile
Deum, take away that word my, and take away the comfort of that word God; no God
to me unless he be my God, and there are many of God's people that cannot say,
God is my God, for they do want assurance; and therefore bow can they have
comfort in this? Yes, if my very resting on God doth make him mine, I may have
comfort in him too; now the saints and people of God may always, and do rest on
God, and though Satan saith by way of temptation, you have not believed, you
have not rested on God; yet they may say, oh, but now I do rest on God, and so
may always have comfort in their propriety and interest in God. God doth always
know them and their conditions. "I know thy works, and thy tribulation, and thy
poverty," saith Christ to the church of Smyrna, Revelation 2:9-10 : and this
Christ speaks as a relieving comfort to that church in a sad condition; for
saith Christ, "Satan shall cast some of you into prison ten days." Yet be of
good comfort, Smyrna; I know thee and thy tribulation and poverty; whatever thy
condition be, I do know thee in it: and it seems this is a general cordial, for
it is given unto all the churches; I know thy works O Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos,
Thyatira, Sardis, and Philadelphia: it is spoken as a terror, indeed, to
Laodicea, for that which is most comfortable to the good is most terrible to the
wicked, as the presence of God, the omniscience of God, &c. But to the godly
this is a great comfort; whatever my condition be, yet God my Father knows it,
and doth know me in it. God would not have his people be discouraged, and if God
their Father and Jesus Christ their Saviour would not have them discouraged,
then there is no true reason for their discouragements: now God and Christ would
not have his people to be cast down or disquieted whatever their condition be.
"Let not your heart be troubled/-* saith our Saviour to his disciples, John
14:1. As if he should say, I am now to die, to leave you all, to go to my
Father; and when I am gone, you will meet with many troubles, but I would not
have you discouraged, let not your heart be troubled. But now if thou diest, we
shall then lose thy presence, and what greater trouble or affliction can there
be than the loss of thy presence? Well, saith Christ, yet I would not have you
troubled at heart; let not your heart be troubled. But if we lose thee, O Lord,
we shall lose all the ordinances, and those many sweet opportunities of
receiving good for our souls which we have enjoyed by thy presence. Be it so,
saith our Saviour, yet I would not have you troubled at the heart; let not your
heart be troubled. But, Lord, if we lose thee we shall be as sheep scattered,
some will deny thee, all will forsake thee; and when the Shepherd is smitten,
we, as sheep, shall be all dispersed, and fall into sad temptations, afflictions
and desertions. Well, saith he, however it be, yet I would not have you troubled
at the heart, let not your heart be troubled however, this is Christs mind, will
and pleasure concerning his disciples. And if you say, how may it appear that
God the Father would have his people to be of the same mind and disposition
never to be discouraged? It appears plainly, because God hath provided promises
of comfort, succour and relief, suitable to all conditions: I dare boldly
challenge all men, to shew me any one condition, which God hath not provided a
promise of comfort, mercy and succour suitable unto it. Yea, and if you look
upon the promises, and mark them well, you shall find they are so laid, worded
and moulded, as that all discouraging objections may be fully answered, and
taken off as they rise. For example, suppose the Church of God be under
persecution of enemies, Isaiah 54:17, "No weapon that is formed against thee
shall prosper." But you will say, our enemies, O Lord, are many, they rise up
against us, and gather into bodies, and confederate against thy servants; verse
15, he takes off that thus, Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not
by me, whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake."
But, O Lord, they have gotten instruments of death, and the whole power of the
militia and ammunition into their hands. Be it so, saith the Lord, verse 16,
"Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that
bringeth forth an instrument for his work, and I have created the waster to
destroy: no weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper." But, O Lord, they
have got authority on their side, and they rise against us in judgment: mark
then what follows, verse 17, "And every tongue that shall rise against thee in
judgment, thou shalt condemn." But this is a promise made unto the Jewish Church
only, and not to us. Not so, "this is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,"
verse 17. So that if you be the servants of the Lord, this promise tells you
that it is made to you. But we are in an unbelieving condition, and are not able
to lay hold on this promise. Well, but saith this promise, "this is the heritage
of the servants of the Lord:" children shall have their inheritance, though for
the present they are not able to sue for it, it falls upon them in course. Oh,
but we may sin against the Lord, and cut ourselves off from this promise and
this inheritance: mark then what follows, "And their righteousness is of me,
saith the Lord," not only this promise is of me, but the righteousness, whereby
they shall believe, and lay hold on it, and walk under it, is of me, saith the
Lord. Oh, how graciously is this promise laid, whereby all unbelieving
objections may be taken off! so it is in all the promises; do but observe and
mark them, they are so moulded, ordered, worded, as that every word of the
promise doth hold forth a distinct answer unto your objections. Now if God have
so laid his promises, that all unbelieving objections may be taken off as they
rise, what doth this argue, but that God our Father would not have his people
discouraged, whatever their condition be? therefore they have no reason for it.
There is no matter of discouragement, which the saints do, or can meet withal,
but there is a greater encouragement bound up therewith, or comes along with it:
God doth never more graciously appear to his people, than when there is the
greatest matter for their discouragement. John lay some years in the bosom of
Jesus Christ, whilst Christ lived, but, then he had not the revelation given
him; Christ dies, John is afflicted, persecuted, driven into the isle of Patmos,
there an exile, and there Christ appears to him, and gives him that blessed book
of comfort, the book of the revelation. We read of Jacob, that at one time
especially he did so see the Lord, that he called the name of the place, Peniel,
"for I have seen the Lord," Genesis 32:30, saith he, and when was that, but when
churlish Laban was on one side of him, and his rough brother Esau coming out
against him in an hostile way on the other side? Once he had a vision of a
ladder, the top whereof was in heaven, and the foot on earth, angels ascending
and descending upon it; which in John 1 : Christ interprets to be himself. "You
shall see the angels ascending and descending upon the Son of Man but when had
he this vision? not all the while he was in his fathers house, but when he was
fain to fly from the anger of his brother, lay in the open field in the night,
and had no pillow but an hard stone to lie upon, then doth Christ thus appear to
him, and make such a discovery and manifestation of himself, as he never had
before. And when was it that Mr. Robert Glover was so filled with heavenly joys,
that he cried out, He is come, he is come? Ye read of him in the Book of
Martyrs, that for five years together, he was worn out and consumed with fears
and troubles; he could neither eat nor sleep, he was so afflicted in his soul
upon the apprehension of some backsliding, he thought he must needs be thrown
down to bell when he died, yea, he thought, saith the story of him, that he
could not more despair in hell, yet after this long time of wrestling with this
temptation, it pleased God to come in with comforts : but I say, when was this?
why, then especially, when he came within sight of the stake, then he cried out
with clapping of his hands, He is come, he is come. Thus doth God, with whom are
reserves of mercies, reserve his sweetest consolations, for the time of our
sourest afflictions, and doth temper the one with the other in most fit
proportion. Yea, the Lord doth not only give forth encouragement in time of
discouragement, and proportion his encouragements unto our discouragements, but
he doth make your discouragements, occasional rises and bottoms, unto your
encouragements and comforts. The Lord caused a deep sleep to come upon Adam, and
then he took a rib from his side, wherewith he made a help for him; so doth God
cause a deep sleep to come upon you in your discouragements, out of which he
takes a rib, and builds up a help for you, making the discouragements of the
saints, to contribute to their very encouragements. "Behold, saith the Lord, I
will allure her (that is the church, his people) and bring her into the
wilderness, and speak comfortably to her, and I will give her, her vineyards
from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope," Hosea 2:14. But a
wildernessed condition is a lost condition, and what comfort can one have in a
lost condition? True, saith God, ye cannot, in and by yourselves, but there I
will speak friendly and comfortably to her, and of all the times that I choose
to preach gospel to a poor soul, I choose to do it in a wildernessed and lost
condition. But though the Lord do speak comfortably to us, if we be in a
wilderness, a dry and barren place where no food, nor comfort is, how can we be
but discouraged? Nay, saith the Lord, but "I will give her, her vineyards from
thence:" but if we sin and murmur in the wilderness, as the Israelites did, the
Lord will cut us off as he did them, and a wilderness is a place of trouble,
wherein we are apt to murmur, and be discouraged : nay, saith the Lord, " But I
will give her, her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of
hope " The valley of Achor, was the valley of perturbation, trouble, and of
great discouragement, when the men of Israel fled, and fell before the men of
Ai, for the sin of Achan, Joshua 7:26; yet it was an inlet to the land of
Canaan, to the land of rest. Now, saith the Lord, look as it was with them
though the valley of Achor was a valley of trouble and perturbation, yet it was
the door by which the Israelites came into the land of rest: so shall it be with
you, I will make vour troubles and discouragements, the very door of your hope;
the valley of your discouragements shall be the door, and an inlet unto all your
rest and comfort. God takes the same way with the members, as he went with the
head; Christ's cross was an inlet of glory, his suffering time was the valley of
Achor to his disciples, and was it not a door of hope unto them, and unto all
the saints? This is God's way; discouragements bring encouragements; and the
more discouragements the saints have, the more encouragements they shall have;
yea, their discouragements shall contribute to their encouragements, and be a
door of hope to them. Now if the valley of Achor shall by promise be a door of
hope, why should we be discouraged whatsoever the valley of Achor be, whatever
our condition be? A praying man can never be very miserable, whatever his
condition be, for he hath the ear of God; the Spirit within to indite, a friend
in heaven to present, and God himself to receive his desires as a Father; it is
a mercy to pray, though I never have the mercy prayed for; thereby God doth come
down to us, and we go up to God. It is the soul's converse with God on earth,
and a great ease to a burdened, troubled spirit; for thereby he may go and empty
all his heart into the bosom of his best friend. Now every godly gracious man,
is a praying man, more or less he prayeth; it is spoken as an argument of Paul's
conversion, "Behold he prayeth;" as speech is common unto all men, so prayer
unto all Christians; God hath none of his children born dumb; as soon as one of
your children is born, it cries, and it sucks, and it sleeps: so with every man
that is born of God, as soon as he is born, he cries unto God in prayer, he
sucks the breast of the promise, and he sleeps in the bosom of God by divine
contentment, being dead unto all the world; it may be he cannot pray as he
would, but though he cannot pray as he would, nor hear as he would, nor perform
any duty as he would, yet he prayeth. It may be said of him, "Behold he prayeth
turn him where you will, and behold he prayeth: sick, yet behold he prayeth;
tempted, yet behold he prayeth; at home or abroad, yet behold he prayeth; and
can he be miserable while he prayeth? Surely no, why then should he be
discouraged, whatever his condition be? If the matter of the saints
discouragements, be but a cloud that will blow over and melt away, then no
reason for their discouragements, whatsoever their condition be. Now thus it is
with the people of God, though they be in a dark, and very dark condition, yet
their darkness is but the dark ness of a cloud, and as he said, Nubecula est,
cito transibit; it is but a cloud, it will soon over. So may they say concerning
every matter of their discouragement; It is dark indeed, but this darkness will
over; there is a storm comes down upon us, but we shall see land again, the
shore again; it is but a cloud, but a cloud. And upon this account David
comforted his own heart here, and checked his soul for his immoderate dejection:
"Why art thou cast down," &c. "Hope in God, for I shall yet praise him." I shall
be delivered, this cloud will over, it will not last, it is but the darkness of
a cloud. But how shall it appear that it is but a cloud, and the darkness of a
cloud? I think it is night, and dark night with my soul, yea, such a night as
shall never know morning. Indeed if I did know that the matter of my
discouragement were hut a cloudy darkness, then I would conclude and say, There
is no reason for this discouragement: but how shall I know whether this darkness
be the darkness of a cloud, or of the night? If the darkness be such as comes
immediately after the rising and shining forth of the promise, then it is but
the darkness of a cloud, not of the night: the sun doth not rise to set
immediately; and therefore if darkness comes immediately after sun-rising, it is
certainly the darkness of an eclipse, or of a cloud, not of the night. There was
a fair promise rose and shined upon Joseph, when the Lord said, "that his sheaf
should be higher than all the sheaves of his brethren:" yet presently after that
there arose a darkness upon him, but it was the darkness of a cloud, and not of
the night; why so? because he had a promise first, which did shine upon him. So
David had a fair promise of the kingdom, when he was anointed by Samuel; yet a
darkness presently rose upon him, but it was the darkness of a cloud only, and
not of the night; why? because it was such a darkness as arose immediately after
the shinings forth of a promise. And I pray you shew me any Scripture, where you
find that ever any darkness arose presently after the breaking, shining forth of
a promise, which was more than the darkness of a cloud, which vanished away? Or
where do you find in all the Scripture, that ever any poor soul came into the
dark, immediately after the giving out of a promise, but that soul did come to
the light again? Now as for the darkness that covers the saints, it is usually a
darkness that comes after the giving and shining out of a promise; and therefore
that darkness is but the darkness of a cloud, and they may say, a cloud, a
cloud, and it will pass away. If a man be so in the dark, as yet he can see to
work, and dig up pits, it argues that the darkness is but the darkness of a
cloud. A man cannot see to work artificially in the night, but though there be
much darkness by reason of a cloud, yet he may see to work, and to dig up pits,
because it is day. Now in Psalms 84 : the Psalmist saith, at verse 5, "Blessed
is the man whose strength is in thee, and in whose heart are the ways of them ;
who passing through the valley of Baca, dig up pits, the rain also filleth the
pits, they go from strength to strength, till they appear before God in Zion."
It is an allusion to the practice of the Jews: when some of them went up to
Jerusalem, their way lay through the valley of Baca, which was a very dry
valley, where no houses were, where no water was for their relief and.
refreshment; whereupon they digged up pits, and so the rain fell, and they were
refreshed, got strength, and went on to Jerusalem, where they saw the Lord in
his ordinances. So saith the Psalmist, "Blessed are they in whose heart the law
of God is." There are a generation of men in the world, that have the law of God
in their hearts, though they cannot act and work towards God as they would :
these sometimes are in a dry and barren condition, where no water or comfort is;
yet if in this condition they dig up pits, go to prayer, wait upon God in duty,
though they find no comfort springing up in their duty for the present, yet in
due time the rain of God's blessing will fill those dry pits and empty duties,
whereby their life shall be like unto a pool of water, and they shall go from
strength of grace to strength of grace, until they see the Lord. Know ye,
therefore, any man that is in this valley of Baca, where no water is, yet if he
can find in his heart to dig up pits, to pray, read, hear, meditate, confer, and
perform duties; though those duties be empty of comfort for the present, yet the
rain of grace and mercy shall fall upon those pits, and he shall go from
strength to strength, until he appear before the Lord in glory. Now thus it is
with the saints, though darkness, and a great darkness be upon them, yet in that
dark condition they are still digging up pits, and therefore this darkness is
not the darkness of the night, but the darkness of a cloud, and they may say,
this is a cloudy darkness, and it will over ere long. If the darkness which a
man is under be such, as there are some openings of light withal, then it is the
darkness of a cloud, and not of the night; though the cloud may cause much
darkness, yet ever and anon it opens, and there are some interims of light
withal; but the night opens not, there are no interims of light then. Now
interims and intermissions of light, are sure and certain pledges of a greater
light which is yet to come. You know that when David fled from Absalom, he was
in a dark condition, for the text saith, "He went, and he wept," and he went
barefoot; his own son persecutes him, drives him from his throne, a great
confederacy was raised against him by wicked men, with the child of his own
bowels; here was darkness upon darkness, matter of great discouragement, but it
was a cloud, and no more. You will say, how should David have known that it was
but the darkness of a cloud? David prayed, the Lord turn the counsels of
Ahithophel into folly; and before David had overcome Absalom, and was restored
to his kingdom, Ahithophel did hang himself: David singled out Ahithophel to
pray against, and the Lord heard his prayer: that judgment of Ahithophel was the
return of David's prayer; here the cloud opened, and this answer of his prayer
in the interim, was a seal to David of the full deliverance that came
afterwards, for God seals divers matters with the same seal. So when a man is in
the dark by reason of some temptation, affliction, or desertion, which he cannot
see the end of: if in this interim, before the full deliverance comes, he hath
some lesser deliverance, that lesser deliverance in the interim, is a seal unto
him of the future deliverance, and he may say, here is a pledge of my full
deliverance, for here is the opening of the cloud. Now thus it is always with
the people of God; they never are in any affliction, temptation, or desertion,
but before their great deliverance comes, they have some special providence,
some reviving in the midst of their trouble, some interim, of light, some
openings of the cloud; and therefore in the midst of all they may say, surely
this my darkness, is not the darkness of a night, but of cloud ; I say, there is
no discouragement doth befal the saints, but the matter thereof is a cloud, and
they may say, it is but a cloud, it will pass over, and therefore why should
they be discouraged? Surely there is no reason for their discouragements
whatever their conditions be. If these things be so, how heavily doth this
doctrine fall in reproof upon some, I wish I might not say, some of the servants
and people of God! A godly man hath no true reason for his discouragements,
whatever his condition is, although it be never so sad; and some are always
discouraged, whatever their condition be, although it be never so good 5
whatever falls out, the saints should not be discouraged, no, not at anything,
and yet many are discouraged at everything and upon every occasion. Oh, what
unworthy walking is this 1 how contrary do you walk to God! And do you know what
it is to walk contrary to him? Hath he not said, "If you walk contrary to me, I
will walk contrary to you?" But I have reason to be discouraged, for I have no
sense and feeling of God's love. We do not live by feeling, but by faith: it is
the duty of a Christian to begin with faith, and so to rise up to feeling: you
would begin with feeling, and so come down to faith; but you must begin with
faith, and so rise up to feeling. And I pray tell me, is it not sufficient to be
as our Master was? Did not Christ want the sense of God's love, when he said,
"My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Yea, had not Christ the sense of
God's anger upon him when he did perform the greatest act of obedience that ever
the sun saw: yet did he then say, I am not the child of God, because I want the
sense of God's love, because I am under the sense of God's anger? No, but with
the same breath that he said he was forsaken, he said, "My God, my God;" and at
the same time he called God Father, "Father, forgive them," &c. So may you do;
though God hath forsaken you, though you want the sense of his love, yea, and
are under the sense of God s anger; yet at the same time you may say, The Lord
is my Father, and you may go to him as your Father: and if you can say, God is
my Father, have you any reason for your discouragements? Yet how often are God's
own people discouraged and cast down? Oh, you that are the disciples of Christ,
labour more and more to follow your Master; and as David here, so do you often
say, "Why art thou cast down, O my soul?" What a mighty, vast difference, is
there between a godly man and a wicked upon this account: a godly, gracious man,
hath no reason for his discouragements, whatever his condition be; a wicked man
hath no reason for his encouragement, whatever his condition be. A gracious man
is apt to be much discouraged, but he hath no true reason for it: a wicked man
is apt to be much encouraged, but he hath no true reason for it. It is said of
the wicked, Psalms 7 :, "God is angry with the wicked every day :" whatever the
day be, God is angry with them; though it be a day of fasting and prayer, yet
then is God angry with them; though it be a day of praises and of thanksgiving,
then is God angry with them; when he sins most, and when he sins least, God is
angry with him; not one day goes over his head, but God is angry with him, and
one blow or another God's anger reacheth forth to him every day; he doth not
always feel those blows, but God is smiting of him, and is angry with him every
day; and therefore, whatever his condition be, there is no reason for his
encouragement. Suppose a man were in prison, committed for some great offence,
and condemned to die under the displeasure of his prince or state; and his
servant should come unto him, saying, Sir, be of good comfort, your wife is well
at home, you have very sweet children, an excellent crop of corn, your
neighbours love you dearly, your sheep and cattle thrive, and all your houses
are in good repair and order: would he not answer that servant, and say, What is
all this, so long as I am condemned to die? Thus it is with every wicked man, he
is under the displeasure of the great God-, a condemned man, and God is angry
with him every day; and if his heart were open to be sensible of it, he would
say, You tell me of my friends and goods and name and trade; but what is all
this, so long as I am a condemned person, and God is angry with me every day I
rise? but for the present he feeleth not his displeasure, is not sensible of it;
yet let him know that there is a day corning, when he will find the truth of
this matter no reason for his encouragement, whatever his condition be. And as
Saul once cried out, saying, "God hath forsaken me, and the Philistines are upon
me;" so shall he cry out and say, God hath forsaken my soul, temptations are now
upon me, my sins and guilt are upon me, God hath forsaken me, and the devils are
now upon me. But now, as for a godly, gracious man, though his condition be
never so sad, and his soul never so much cast down, yet he hath no reason to be
discouraged, I say, whatever his condition be. What a glorious condition are the
saints in, who would not be in love with this condition; who would not be in
Christ; who would not leave the ways of the wicked; who would not be godly? Oh,
you that are ungodly, labour to become godly. The exhortation is specially
directed to the saints, and with you I must leave a word of exhortation. Take
heed and beware of discouragements, of being cast down, you have no reason for
it, much reason against it. Thereby you rejoice the heart of Satan, he claps his
hands and laughs to see you cast down, now, oh now, saith he, this man is like
to me, I am a despairing spirit, and so is he; I am discouraged and cast down,
and so is he; he stands triumphing over you, to see you under these
discouragements: when you are sad, he is glad. And as you rejoice the heart of
Satan, so you grieve the heart of God; one friend is grieved at the grief,
sorrow and discouragement of another, and the more real friendship, the greater
is the affliction and trouble of the one, if the other be grieved. Now God is
the friend of the faithful, Abraham, the friend of God, actively, passively: God
was a friend to him, and he a friend to God; so with all believers; Christ is
their friend, "Henceforth call I you no more servants, but friends/' saith
Christ; and the Holy Ghost is their friend, for it is the Spirit that comes and
dwells in them, and manifests himself to them: and we are said to grieve the
Spirit. As God is the worst enemy, so he is the best friend, the truest friend,
the most real friend in all the world, therefore when you are cast down and
discouraged, you grieve him, you grieve the Father, you grieve the Son, you
grieve the Spirit; and do you know what you do when you grieve the Lord? Is it
nothing to grieve such a friend? Thereby you do in some measure, yea, in a great
measure, make void and frustrate the end of Christ's coming, who came not only
to free us from hell, but from our present fears, eIsaiah 26 :, we are commanded
to trust in the Lord, "For in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength," or "the
Rock of Ages." And, saith the Psalmist, "My flesh faileth, and my heart faileth,
but God is the Rock of my heart forever," so the Hebrew. Lay your comforts upon
your own condition, and you do but build on the sand, which will be carried away
with every wind, and storm, and tempest; but if upon Christ himself, upon God
himself, ye build upon the Rock, and though the floods, and storms, and winds do
rise and beat upon you, yet you shall not lose your comforts, because they are
built upon a rock. 2. Be sure that you think of Christ in a right way and
manner, as he suiteth with your condition, and as he is. held forth in the
gospel. We are very apt to have mis-thoughts of Christ; as Satan doth transform
himself into an angel of light, so he would transform Christ before you into an
angel of darkness: but the Scriptures hold him forth under such relations as do
make him very amiable unto poor sinners. Are you accused by Satan, world, or
your own conscience? he is called your Advocate. Are you ignorant? he is called
the Prophet. Are you guilty of sin? he is called a Priest, and High Priest. Are
you afflicted with many enemies, inward and outward? he is called a King, and
King of kings. Are you in straits? he is called your way. Are you hungry or
thirsty? he is called Bread and Water of Life. Are you afraid you shall fall
away, and be condemned at the last? He is our second Adam, a public person, in
whose death we died, and in whose satisfaction we satisfied; as there is no
temptation or affliction, but some promise or other doth especially suit
therewithal: so there is no condition, but some name, some title, some attribute
of Christ doth especially suit with it: and as you do not look on Christ, but in
reference to your condition, so you are not to look upon your condition alone,
but with Christ's attribute suitable thereunto ; if you look upon Christ's
attribute of love without your condition, you may presume; if on your condition
without Christ's attribute of love, you may despair: think on both together and
you will not be discouraged. 3. If your discouragements begin to arise and press
in upon you, check yourself, and say, why should I multiply thoughts without
knowledge; why should I tire out my soul with these thoughts; am I able to add
one cubit to my spiritual state; am I, by all my thoughtfulness, able to alter
my condition; yea, doth not my thoughtfulness set me at a farther distance from
the mercy desired? The truth is, the only way to lose the comfort desired, is to
be solicitous about it; as the only way to have an outward blessing is to be
content to go without it: so the only way to have a spiritual or outward
affliction removed, is to be contented that it should be continued, if God and
Christ will have it so. But you will have your affliction presently removed, and
you must presently know that you are in the state of grace, and the child of
God, or else you will be discouraged, and as the bird in the net, the more it
strives, the more it is entangled; so with you also. Wherefore do temptations,
afflictions, desertions come, and Satan join with them, and say unto thy soul,
This will ever be? answer, Well, but I therefore believe the contrary, because
thou sayest so, Satan, who art a liar; yet if God will have it so, I am
contented, I leave it to him : whether I shall ever be in this condition or not,
is not my question, but now, O Lord, let me serve thee, that is all my desire,
let me see thee as thou pleasest, when thou pleasest. I have done, Lord, I have
done; I have been questioning and questioning my condition these many years, I
see there is no end of that, yea, the more I do, the more I may, I get nothing
by it; why, therefore, oh, my soul, should I tear out myself with this kind of
thoughtfulness? thus check yourselves. 4. Whenever you think of anything which
is in itself terrible, or matter of discouragement, be sure that you mingle the
consideration thereof, with those sweet things which God hath given and
prescribed to you. There is nothing terrible, but God hath joined some
comfortable thing with it: the name of God is terrible, he is called the great
and dreadful God; but to sweeten this, he is called the God of all consolations:
death is terrible, it is called the king of terrors; but to sweeten this, it is
called a sleep: the day of judgment is terrible; but to sweeten that, our
present Advocate shall be our future Judge; yea, our best Friend, and our dear
Husband. Now if you abstract the terror of any object from the sweetness of it,
no wonder if you be much discouraged. It is our duty to behold things as God
presents them, and to take things as God doth give them. What God hath joined
together, no man may put asunder. If you consider the sweetness of an object or
condition, without the sourness of it, then you may grow too wanton: if you
consider the terror of an object or condition, without the sweetness of it, then
you may be too fearful: but if you think on both together, then you will fear
and believe; and believe and fear, and so be kept from discouragement. 5. If you
would not be discouraged whatever your condition be, labour more and more to get
your self-love mortified, even religious self-love: all your discouragements are
from self-love, not from the venom of your condition, but from the poison of
self-love. Oh but I am discouraged, because I have no assurance. Well, but
suppose you had assurance, what then? then I should have comfort: and is not
here self? Oh but I am discouraged about my everlasting condition. And is not
that self? doth not that word condition sound ones self? I dare boldly say,
there is no tumult or immoderate discouragement in the soul, but hath self at
the bottom. Could I leave myself, and my condition with God and Christ, and mind
his service, glory and honour more, God would take care of my comfort: but when
I mind myself, and my condition so much, and his service, glory and honour so
little, no wonder that I am so much discouraged. Therefore, labour more and more
to mortify self-love, and so shall you never be discouraged, whatever your
condition be. 6. In case that temptation press in upon you, and urge you to sad
discouragements, speak to this purpose unto your own soul. Why should I buy my
repentance at so dear a rate? There is none of all these doubtings, unbelieving
fears and discouragements, but you will be ashamed and repent of afterwards. You
know how it is with the traveller, he thinks the sun is not yet up, and so he
loiters and sits down; but the sun creeping up behind the cloud, at last breaks
out upon his face, and is got before him, and then he says, O what a fool was I,
to think the sun was not up, because I saw it not, what an unwise man was I thus
to loiter and sit down! So it will be with you : you now lie down upon the
earth, and your belly cleaves to the dust by reason of your discouragements ;
but the grace of God and the love of Christ, is creeping up behind the dark
cloud, and it will break out at the last upon you, and shine into your face with
the golden beams of mercy; it will prevent you, and be before you ; and then you
will say, Oh, what a fool was I to be thus discouraged, what an unworthy
creature I, to doubt thus of God's love; I have sinned, I have sinned by all my
unbelief: now the Lord pardon me all my doubtings, I am, O Lord, ashamed of
these my doubtings and questionings of thy love, pardon them, O Lord, unto my
soul. This is that which you must come to, you must at last be ashamed and
repent of these your unbeliefs, doubtings and fears, and therefore whenever they
press in upon thee, say at the first unto thyself, why should I buy my
repentance at so dear a rate, by yielding unto these discouragements? And for
this very reason, because that discouragements are to be repented of, therefore
the saints and people of God have no reason to be discouraged, whatever their
condition be. And thus have I spoken to this truth under a more general
consideration; through grace I shall labour to clear it further to you by
particulars.


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  CHAPTER 6: SERMON IV - A LIFTING UP IN CASE OF GREAT SINS.
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SERMON IV - A LIFTING UP IN CASE OF GREAT SINS. "Why art thou cast down, O my
soul? and why art thou disquieted within me, &c". Psalms 42:11. The doctrine or
observation that now we are pressing from these words, is this: That the saints
and people of God, have no reason for their discouragements, whatever their
condition be; no just, true, scripture reason, for their discouragements,
whatever their condition be. It is clear by the words, and proved the last day
by some general considerations. Now more particularly, to make it out by divers
instances. Nine things there are, which usually are the grounds and occasions of
the discouragements of God's people. 1. Sometimes their discouragements are
drawn from their greater and grosser sins. 2. Sometimes they do arise from the
weakness of grace. 3. Sometimes they are taken from their failing in and
non-acceptance of duty. 4. Sometimes they are drawn from their want of evidence
for heaven, and non-assurance of the love of God. 5. Sometimes they do come from
their temptations. 6. Sometimes from their desertions. 7. Sometimes from their
afflictions. 8. Sometimes from their unserviceableness. 9. Sometimes from their
condition itself. Now if in all these respects, the saints and people of God
have no reason to be discouraged, then we may safely conclude, that a godly man
should not be discouraged whatever his condition be. I shall labour, therefore,
through the grace of Christ, to make out this great truth unto you in all these
respects, and begin with the first at this time. 1. Sometimes the
discouragements of the saints and people of God, are drawn from their sins,
their greater and grosser sins: the peace and quiet of the saints and people of
God is many times interrupted by their sins. Oh, says one, I am a man or woman
of a rebellious heart, I have so slight a spirit, so unholy and uneven a
conversation, that when I reflect upon my heart and life, I cannot but be
discouraged. I know; indeed, it is a great evil for a man to labour under a sore
temptation, or a sad desertion; but were my heart good, my life good, my
conversation good, I should not be discouraged; but as for me, I have committed
and do commit such and such great sins, have I not reason, and just reason now
to be discouraged? No, for discouragement itself is a sin, another sin, a gospel
sin; now my sin against the law, is no just cause why I should sin against the
gospel. I confess, indeed, there is much evil in every sin, the least sin is
worse than the greatest affliction; afflictions, judgments and punishments are
but the claws of this lion; it is more contrary to God than the misery of hell:
Chrysostom had so great a sense of the evil of it, that when the empress sent
him a threatening message, Go, tell her, said he, Nil nisi peccatum metuo: I
fear nothing but sin. And, in some respects, the sins of the godly are worse
than the sins of others, for they grieve the Spirit more, they dishonour Christ
more, they grieve the saints more, they wound the name of God more, they are
more against the love, and grace, and favour of God than other men's sins are.
And the Lord doth see the sins of his own people; yea, so far he sees sin in
them, that he doth chastise and afflict them for it; not only /rom their sin,
but for their sin; and therefore, saith the apostle, in 1 Corinthians 11:30,
speaking of the unworthy receiving of the Lord's supper, "For this cause many
are sick and weak among you." And he doth not speak only of saints in
appearance, and in church estate, but of such also as were saints indeed, and
therefore he saith, "We are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should
not be condemned with the world." He puts himself in; We are judged that we may
not be condemned with the world. Our Saviour Christ saith, Revelation 3:19, "As
many as I love, I rebuke and chasten, be zealous therefore and repent." It
seems, then, it was for sin committed, else why should he say, Repent; and,
repent therefore? Repentance is for sin committed already, and these were such
as he loved too, whom he threatens thus to rebuke and chastise; and doth any
father rebuke, chastise, or correct his child only from, sin, and not for sin?
Was not Moses a gracious and a holy man? and yet for his unbelief and sin he
lost the land of Canaan. Was not Samson a good man? and yet by his sin he lost
his eyes and his life too. Was not David a gracious and a holy man? and yet for
his sin the Lord said, "The sword should never depart from his house f and yet
Christ had made satisfaction for his sin too, as well then, as for the saints
now. But now, though there be never so much evil in the sins of God's people,
yet they have no reason, no just cause or scripture reason to be cast down, and
to be discouraged in that respect. But how may this appear; that notwithstanding
the sins of God's own people do grieve the Spirit of God, are a dishonour to
Jesus Christ, and do wound the name of God, and the profession of Christ so
much; that yet the saints have no reason to be discouraged or cast down? 1. They
know, or they may know, that they shall never be condemned for their sin,
whatever it be. "There is no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus,"
saith the apostle. Christ was made sin for them; and if Christ be made sin for
me, then my sin shall never hurt me. Luther is bold here, for saith he, Christ
is made sin-damning, our sin is sin-damned: I confess, indeed, said he, that I
have sinned, but sin-damning is stronger than sin-damned, and Christ was made
sin-damning for me. The thing is true, though the expression be strange; Christ
was made sin for saints, therefore their sin shall not hurt them. It stands not
with the justice of God to exact the payment of one debt twice. Now the Lord
Jesus Christ hath not only been arrested, but in gaol for the debt of the saints
and people of God, and he hath paid it to the utmost farthing; he hath paid it
better than they could have paid it themselves, if they had gone to hell: for if
a godly man had gone to hell, and been damned forever, he would have been always
paying, but the debt would never have been paid: Christ paid it all down for the
present. And if you look into Scripture, you will find, that the Lord doth not
condemn a man, no not a wicked man, barely for the act of his former sin, but
because he will not turn from it. Psalms 7:11, "The Lord is angry with the
wicked every day verse 12, "If he turn not, he will whet his sword; he hath bent
his bow, and made it ready; he hath prepared for him the instruments of death,
he ordaineth his arrows against the persecutor." The Lord hath prepared
instruments of death against every wicked man; but yet, notwithstanding, though
a man be never so wicked, if he turn unto the Lord, God will not discharge those
instruments of death upon him, yea, though his sins have been never so great;
but, saith the text, "If he turn not," (not because he hath sinned before, only,
but because he turns not from his sin,) "he will whet his sword; he hath bent
his bow, and made it ready." Now there is, always, in the saints and people of
God, a turning disposition, although they do sin against God; there is always, I
say, a turning disposition in them, and therefore the Lord will not discharge
the instruments of death upon them: surely, then, they have no reason to be
quite discouraged in this respect. 2. As godly men shall never be condemned for
their sins, so their sins shall never part God and them. What is the seeming
reason why some are so discouraged about their sins? but because they think they
shall not only lose the face and presence of God by their sins, but that they
shall lose God himself. But now, I say, the sins of the godly shall never part
God and them; their sins may hide God's face: but as their sins did not hinder
God and their coming together at first, so their sins shall never part God and
them: their sins may cause a strangeness between God and them, but shall never
cause an enmity; their sins may hide God's face from them, but shall never turn
God's back upon them: those whom God loves, he loves unto the end: " I am the
Lord that changeth not," saith he. And as the prophet Isaiah speaks: "As the
covenant that the Lord made with Noah, such is the covenant that he makes with
his people." Now look into Genesis, chapter 8, and you shall see what the
covenant is that the Lord made there with Noah, and with the world by Noah. When
Noah came out of the ark, he built an altar, and sacrificed; verse 21, "And the
Lord smelled a sweet savour, and the Lord said in his heart, I will the
imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth." You would think this were a
reason why God should curse the ground again; for the imagination of man's heart
is evil from his youth; man is wicked, therefore, surely God will curse the
ground again: nay, saith the Lord, but though you that are poor creatures think
so, yet I, that am the God of all grace, I make this covenant with the world by
Noah, that I will not curse the ground any more for man's sake; because the
imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth continually. I confess,
indeed, the Hebrew רי signifies quamvis, although; as well as quortiam, because:
and it may be so translated; "Although the imagination of man's heart is evil,"
&c. Yet the Chaldee paraphrase, Septuagint, Hierom and Montanus render it,
because. But though it be so translated, yet that is enough to make good the
truth and doctrine which I urge from this scripture. The covenant that the Lord
makes with his people, is such a covenant as the Lord made with Noah; so saith
the prophet Isaiah. What then? Therefore if God be in covenant with a man, he
shall never lie under wrath again; for though the world sin, the world shall
never be drowned again; and so, though he do sin, he shall never lie under wrath
again. Now as for the people of God, they are all in covenant with God, they are
under this gracious covenant, and therefore, though the mountains may be
removed, God's mercy shall never be removed from them; and though the great
hills may be thrown into the sea, the people of God, once in covenant with God,
shall never be thrown into hell: and tell me then, have you, that are the people
of God, any just cause or reason to be east down, or to be discouraged? 3. If
the very sins of God's people, through the overruling hand of grace, shall be an
occasion of more grace and comfort to them than ever they had in all their lives
before; then surely they have no reason to be discouraged in this respect. Now
mark it, and you shall find, that God doth never suffer his people to fall into
any sin, but he intends to make that sin an inlet unto further grace and comfort
to them. This ye see in the first great sin that ever was committed by the
children of men, the fall of Adam, the Lord himself came and preached the
gospel, preached Christ unto fallen man; and surely when God himself preached
the gospel, we are to think the man was converted. Now the greatest blessing
that ever the world saw, was the righteousness of Jesus Christ; but how came
that about? God suffers man to fall, and man's unrighteousness must usher in
Christ's righteousness. The Scripture tells us that the Lord suffered Hezekiah
to fall, that Hezekiah might know all that was in his heart; he did not know his
own heart before, and therefore the Lord let him fall that he might know bis own
heart. But if you look into the Romans, chapter 11, you shall find in so many
words what I am now speaking; verse 32, cc For God hath concluded them all in
unbelief." Why? "That he might have mercy upon all." Oh, what a blessed design
upon unbelief is here 1 Therefore God concludes all under unbelief, that he
might have mercy upon all: sin gets not, but is a loser by every fall of the
godly. And if ye look into the Scripture, ye shall observe, that when the people
of God fall, usually they fail in that grace wherein they do most excel; and
wherein they did most excel, therein they did most miscarry. Abraham did most
excel in faith, and therein he did most miscarry: Moses did most excel in
meekness, and therein he did most miscarry; we read of no other sin concerning
Moses but his anger: Job did most excel in patience, and therein he did most
miscarry: Peter did most excel in zeal and resolution for Christ—"Though all the
world forsake thee, yet will not I "—and therein he did most miscarry, denying
Christ at the voice of a damsel. I say, ye shall observe this, that the saints
fell and failed in that grace wherein they did most excel; and they did most
excel wherein they did most miscarry: what is the reason of this? but because
the Lord, by the over-ruling hand of his grace, did make their very
miscarriages, inlets and occasions to their further grace and holiness. God hath
a great revenue from the very infirmities of his people. He doth never suffer
any of his people to fall into any sin, but he hath a design by that fall, to
break the back of that sin they do fall into. Now, then, have the saints and
people of God any reason to be discouraged in this respect? By their sin they
may be, and are oftentimes suspended from their comforts and use of their
privileges; but by their sin they do not lose their right thereunto. Ye know how
it was with the leper in the times of the Old Testament, among the Jews; when he
was carried out of the city or town, from his own house, by reason of his
uncleanness : or now, if a man that hath the plague, and be carried from his own
house by reason thereof; the leper then, and the man that hath the plague or the
pest now, may say, Though I be removed from mine own house, and have not the use
of my house, yet I have a right to my house still; and though I cannot come to
the use of my land, yet I have a right to my land still. So a godly man may say
as concerning his sin, This sin of mine, indeed, it is a pest, and the plague of
my soul, and a leprosy; but though, by this leprosy of mine, I am now suspended
from the use of my comforts, yea, from the full use of my interest in Jesus
Christ; yet, notwithstanding, I have an interest in Christ still, I have not
lost my interest, still I have right to Christ; although I cannot come to the
use of him as I did before, yet I have right unto Jesus Christ now, as I had
before: and if all these things be so, why should a godly man be cast down or
discouraged in this respect? Surely he ought not to be so. But suppose a man's
sins be such as never were pardoned before; and truly that is my case, for I
have sinned a great sin, and I do not read in all the word of God, any example
that ever such a sin as mine was pardoned; have I not reason now to be quite
discouraged and cast down? I answer, No; for, I pray, what do you think of Adam?
Adam sinned a great sin in our first fall: the Lord himself came and preached
the gospel to him, "The seed of the woman shall break the serpent's head."
Should Adam have said, oh, but there is no hope for me, for I have no example or
precedent of pardon? Adam could have no example of any that was pardoned before
him, because he was the first man, and the first that sinned. Should he have sat
down and been discouraged, because he could not find any example for the pardon
of the like sin that he had committed? You know what our Saviour Christ said,
"every sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven, unless it be the sin against the
Holy Ghost;" every sin, though it be boiled up to blasphemy. You say, you have
no example for the pardon of such a sin as your's is; but doth not your sin come
within the compass of these words, "every sin and blasphemy?" Surely it doth.
Have ye any reason then to be discouraged under the power of this objection? But
suppose that a man have sinned greatly against his conscience, or against his
light, against his knowledge, hath he not just cause or reason then to be cast
down, and to be quite discouraged? No; for if there be a sacrifice for such a
sin as this is, then a man hath no reason to be quite discouraged; cause to be
humbled, as you shall hear afterward, but no reason to be discouraged. Now in
the times of the Old Testament, in times of the law among the Jews, there was a
sacrifice, not only for sin committed ignorantly, but also for sin committed
against light and against conscience: and I appeal to you, whoever you are that
make this objection, do you not think that Peter, when he denied his Lord and
Master, sinned against his conscience, against his light, and against his
knowledge? Surely then there is no reason that a man should be quite
discouraged, no not in this respect. But suppose that a man's sins be exceeding
great, gross, and heinous; for I do confess that possibly a godly man may sin
some sin against his light, and against his conscience sometimes; but as for me,
my sin is exceeding great, gross and heinous, and have I not just cause and
reason now to be discouraged? No, not yet, for though your sin be great, is not
God's mercy great, exceeding great? is not the satisfaction of Christ great? are
the merits of Christ's blood small? Is not God, the great God of heaven and
earth, able to do great things? You grant that God is almighty in providing for
you; and is he not almighty also in pardoning: will ye spoil God of his
almightiness in pardoning? You say your sin is great, but is it infinite; is
there any more infinites than one, and that is God? Is your sin as big as God,
as big as Christ; is Jesus Christ only a Mediator for small sins; will you bring
down the satisfaction of Christ, and the mercy of God, to your own model? Hath
not the Lord said concerning pardoning mercy, that his "thoughts are not as our
thoughts, but as the heavens are greater than the earth, so arc his thoughts (in
this respect) beyond our thoughts." Hath not the Lord said, in Isaiah xliii,
unto the people of the Jews, at verse 22, "But thou hast not called upon me, O
Jacob; but thou hast been weary of me, O Israel." Verse 23, "Thou hast not
brought me the small cattle of thy burnt offering, neither hast thou honoured me
with thy sacrifices." Verse 24, "Thou hast bought me no sweet cane with money,
neither hast thou filled me with the fat of thy sacrifice; but thou hast made me
to serve with thy sins, thou hast wearied me with thy iniquity." Yet, verse 25,
"I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgression for my own sake, and will
not remember thy sins." Here are sins, and great sins; and if the Lord will
therefore pardon sin because it is great, unto his people; then surely they have
no reason to be quite discouraged in this respect. Now look what David saith in
Psalms 25:11, "For thy name sake, O Lord, pardon mine iniquity for it is great."
Mark his argument, "Pardon mine iniquity, for it is great:" if David use this
reason, then may you also; and if this be a reason why God should pardon sin,
because it is great; then this cannot be a reason, a just reason, why you should
be discouraged. But suppose that a man's sin be the sin of revolting, declining;
for this is my case, will some say: I have striven, and striven against my sin a
long while, and I return unto it again. Times were heretofore, that I have been
exceeding forward and ready unto what is good; but now I am much declined,
abated, and even gone backward with revolting, and deep revolting, and I have
lain long so, even for many years. Have I not reason, and just reason now to be
discouraged and cast down within myself? I answer, No, not yet; for though this
be a sufficient cause of great humiliation (for backsliding in scripture phrase
is called rebellion, and rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft), yet a good man
hath no reason to be discouraged in this regard; for thus saith the Lord,
Jeremiah 3:1, "they say, if a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and
become another man's, shall he return unto her again? shall not that land be
greatly polluted? But thou hast played the harlot with many lovers, yet return
again unto me, saith the Lord." And, verse 12, "Return thou backsliding Israel,
saith the Lord, and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you; for I am
merciful, saith the Lord, and I will not keep anger forever." And again, verse
14, "Turn O backsliding children, for I am married unto you." And if ever the
Lord Jesus Christ did betroth himself unto any soul, he will never put that soul
away again: "I hate putting away," saith God. Men put away their wives among the
Jews, but saith the Lord, "I hate putting away." And Isaiah 1:1, "Thus saith the
Lord, where is the bill of your mother's divorcement, whom I have put away, or
which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you?" Among the Jews, the
husband did put away his wife upon small occasions. As for adultery, you know
that was death; he did not put away his wife upon adultery, she was to die for
it: but the husbands put away their wives upon other occasions, and when they
put away their wives, they gave the wife a bill of divorce, that so upon all
occasions the woman might shew thereby that she was free from such a man. Now,
saith the Lord, you that charge me, and complain that I have put you away, come
and shew me the bill of divorce: " Thus saith the Lord, where is the bill," &c.
Poor soul, thou complainest that I have put thee away, come then and shew me the
bill of divorce: let anyone who complains that I have put him away and cast him
off, come and bring out his bill of divorce; this ye cannot do: men indeed put
away, but if ever the Lord Christ doth match himself unto thee, he will never
put thee away again. And whereas you say, that you are declined, and have much,
revolted, and so have continued even many years, consider whether you be not
mistaken; every abatement in affection is not a declining in grace: possibly we
may not grieve for sin afterward so much as at our first conversion, yet we may
hate it more: at first you may pray more against it, yet afterward watch more
against it. We never see the face of sin so ugly, as in the glass of God's free
love, and do you not see the free love of God more? Possibly your affections
might be higher at the first, but is not conviction more clear and full? As
affections dry up, so we grow more settled in our judgment; and if your judgment
be more settled, you are not declined, though your affections be somewhat
abated. And whereas you say. that you have returned to your sin again and again,
and have continued under your revolt for many years; I shall only tell you what
Mr. Bilney, a blessed martyr once said. Hearing a minister preach very terribly
against sin, and saying thus, Behold, thou old sinner, thou hast lain rotting in
the grave of thy sin these threescore years, and dost thou now think to go to
heaven in one year? dost thou think to go forward to heaven more in one year,
than thou hast gone backward to hell these threescore years? Ah, said Mr.
Bilney, here is goodly preaching of repentance in the name of Christ! had I
heard such doctrine preached heretofore, my poor soul had despaired forever;
but, saith he, the Lord Christ died for sinners, young sinners and old sinners,
for one as well as the other; such as have lain long in sin, as well as those
that have lain but a little while in sin, if they will come home unto Christ.
And you know what our Saviour saith, "If thy brother transgress against thee,
forgive him." But, Lord, he hath transgressed against me once, and I have
forgiven him: yet, saith our Saviour, forgive him again. Oh but, Lord, I have
forgiven him again and again, and yet he returns to his fault again: then
forgive him again, saith Christ. But, Lord, how often shall I forgive my
brother? Saith our Saviour, if he sin against thee seventy-seven times, and says
that he doth repent, do thou forgive so oft. And now shall the Lord Jesus Christ
enjoin us to forgive our brother, if he sin against us seventy-seven times; and
will not the Lord Christ forgive much more, if a poor soul do turn unto him and
say, Lord, I repent me that I have sinned against thee. Will the Lord Christ
command me a poor sinner to forgive so many times; how often will the great God
forgive? what, seventy-seven times! nay, seven hundred times seven hundred. And
have ye any reason then to be discouraged in this respect? surely you have not.
But suppose that a man hath sinned foully, greatly, and lie cannot repent, or be
humbled enough: for that is my case; I have sinned, I have sinned greatly, and
now after all, my heart is hard, and I cannot be humbled enough, oh, I cannot
repent enough: hath he not just cause and reason for his discouragement now, yea
now to be quite discouraged? No, not yet, for what if the Lord will have your
humiliation from you by degrees? Should you be so, or so much humbled for the
present, it maybe it would be with you as it hath been with others, you would
never think of your sins afterward; but may be the Lord will have this work of
humiliation to stay long upon thy soul, and he will not give it you all at once.
Some there are, that when they come into a house, they pay a great income and
little rent, others pay a little income and a great rent: so it is with souls
that come to Christ; some at the first lay down a great humiliation, and they
have lesser of it afterward ; some have less at the first, and have more
afterwards by continuance in it: and what now if the Lord will lead thy soul in
this latter way? this latter way may be the better way if the Lord think fit.
Again: it may be, that if you had so much, or so much humiliation now at the
first, you would think, that in, and by, and for your humiliation you should
have acceptance with God, and the remission of your sin; if you be kept off from
this rock and danger, by your want of that decree of humiliation, which you
would have, and so be trained up to prize the Lord's free grace in giving you
humiliation, have you any cause to complain?* Again: if you had so much, or so
much humiliation for the present, it may be then, you would have the less
humility; a little humility, is as good as a great deal of humiliation, as good
being humble, as being humbled. Now because thou art not humbled, therefore thy
soul is kept humble; hadst thou many tears, and abundance of tears, may be then
thou wouldest be proud, but the Lord doth deny thee tears, and thou art not
humbled to the degrees of thy own desires, and so the Lord keeps thee humble by
the want of thy humiliation. Again: it may be, that if you were humbled so, or
so much at the present, or at the first, you would have the less fear of your
own heart. The more humbled, it may be, the less after-fear, and the less
humbled, the more after-fear, the less humbled, sometimes, the more a man fears
his own heart and his own condition. Gracious fear is as good as humiliation,
and if that which you want in humiliation you have it made up in fear, have you
any reason to be discouraged? I know it is usual with Satan, to say unto the
people of God at their first coming on to Christ, that they are not humbled
enough, and so keeps them off from mercy and grace. But, I pray, tell me, can ye
ever be humbled enough? Can there be any proportion between your sins and your
humiliation? The truth is, we should labour that our humiliation be answerable
to our sin; but God is not pleased with grief for grief, God is not pleased with
sorrow for sorrow; the end of all our sorrow and grief is, to embitter our sin
to us, to make us to prize Jesus Christ, to wean us from the delights and
pleasures of the creature, to discover the deceitfulness and naughtiness of our
own hearts. In scripture phrase, and language of the New Testament, repentance
is called an after-wisdom, an after-mind, μετανοϊα, a bethinking of ones self,
it is called a conviction; now though you be not humbled unto the degree which
you do desire, yet notwithstanding, do you not bethink yourself, are you not
convinced of the evil of your former way? hath not the Lord now given you an
after-wisdom? and do not you say concerning your sin, Oh, if it were to do
again, I would not do it for all the world? Thus it is with the servants and
people of God, though they cannot be humbled so much as they would be, yet
notwithstanding, they are thus far humbled, thus far grieved, that their sins
are embittered, and themselves thereby weaned from the delights and pleasures of
the world, convinced of the evil of their sin, and what they want in humiliation
they have it in humility, the less humbled, the more they are kept humble, and
what they do want at the first, they have it afterwards by degrees, soaking into
their souls. Have they then any reason to be discouraged in these respects?
surely, no. But should not a godly, gracious man be fully grieved and humbled
for his sin? Grieved, humbled for his sin? yes, surely: though the Lord, through
the over-ruling hand of his grace, do work never so much good out of my sin unto
me, yet I am to be humbled for it, and the rather to be humbled for it, because
he works good out of it. I have read indeed of the mother of those three learned
men, Lombard, Gratian, and Comaestor, the three great pillars of the Roman
Church, for Lombard wrote the Sentences, and Gratian the Popish Decretals, and
Comaestor, Historiam Scholasticam, that when she lay on her death-bed, and the
priest came unto her, and called upon her for repentance of her whoredoms, for
these three, Lombard, Gratian and Comaestor, were her bastards, as the very
popish writers do record it, and he, telling her that she must be greatly
afflicted, grieved and humbled for her uncleanness, or else she could not be
saved, why, said she, I confess, indeed, that whoredom and uncleanness is a
great sin, but considering what a great deal of good hath come to the church of
God by my sin, that three such great lights have been brought forth into the
world by my sin, non valeo panitentiam agere, I cannot, I will not repent. And
thus it is with many poor ignorant souls, when they see, how the Lord by his
over-ruling hand doth work good unto them out of their sin, as some outward
blessings and mercies, they do not repent of their sin, but rather justify
themselves in their sins: but now take a godly man, a gracious soul, and the
more that he sees the Lord working good out of his sin, the more he is humbled
for it; and upon that very ground, because God works good of it therefore he is
humbled the more. Yet further; it is observed, that though the Lord did
ordinarily call David his servant, yet when David had sinned that great sin, he
sent the prophet to him, saying, Go, say to David; he had lost the title of
servant, now' bare David, now' single David, now David without the title my
servant. And so, though God ordinarily called the people of Israel his people,
yet when they had committed that great sin of idolatry, in the matter of the
golden calf, the Lord doth not call them his people, but he saith to Moses, The
people, not My people, but The people, and Thy people, Moses; now they had lost
their old title. Thus, I say, the sins of God's own people do deprive them, and
divest them of their spiritual privileges, and can a gracious heart look upon
this, and consider how he is divested and disrobed of his spiritual privileges,
and not mourn under it? Can one friend grieve another friend, and not be grieved
himself? The saints by their sins, they grieve God, who is their best friend,
and therefore certainly they must needs be grieved, they must needs be humbled,
or there is no grace; not grieved, not humbled, not gracious. But now because
they are grieved, and humbled for sin committed, therefore they are not
discouraged; I say, because they are grieved, and because they are humbled for
sin committed, therefore they are not discouraged, for discouragement is a
hindrance to humiliation, and the more truly a man is humbled for sin committed,
the less he is discouraged, and the more a man is discouraged, the less he is
truly humbled. You will say, then, but what is the difference between these? a
man is to be humbled, and not discouraged, not discouraged and yet to be
humbled, what is the difference between these two, being humbled and being
discouraged? It is a profitable question, and worth our time: by way of answer,
therefore, thus, When a man is humbled, truly humbled, the object of his grief,
sorrow or trouble, is sin itself, as a dishonour done unto God: the object of
discouragement is a man's own condition, or sin in order to his own condition,
the ultimate object of discouragement being a man's own condition. When a man is
discouraged, you shall find still, that his trouble runs all out upon his own
condition. Oh, saith a discouraged person, I have sinned; I have thus sinned,
and therefore my condition is naught, and if my condition be naught now, it will
never be better; Lord, what will become of my soul? Still his trouble is about
his own condition. But when a man is grieved and truly humbled for sin, his
trouble is about sin itself, as a dishonour done unto God. To clear this by
Scripture: you know Cain was discouraged, but Cain was not humbled; how may that
appear? Cain was troubled about his condition. Ah, saith he, my punishment is
greater than I can bear. On the other side, the poor prodigal was humbled, but
not discouraged: how may that appear? his trouble was about his sin, and not
about his condition: "I will return unto my Father (saith he), and I will say
unto him, I have sinned against heaven and before thee, and I am no more worthy
to be called thy son, make me as one of thy hired servants." David was sometimes
both discouraged and humbled, and then you find his repentance and humiliation
to be very brackish; but if you look into the list Psalm, you shall find David
humbled but not discouraged, for it is a penitential Psalm, therefore humbled
but not discouraged, for still he did keep his assurance; verse 14, "Deliver me
from blood-guiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation." But what was his
repentance, his trouble about? It was about his sin, and not about his
condition, read verse 23, and so on: "Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and
cleanse me from my sin, for I acknowledge my transgression, and my sin is ever
before me; against thee, thee only have I sinned, and done this evil in thy
sight: behold I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me."
Still, ye see, his eye is upon his sin, and not upon his condition only. So that
I say, when a man is truly humbled and grieved for sin, the object of his grief
is sin, as a dishonour done unto God: when a man is discouraged and not humbled,
then his trouble is all about his condition, and what will become of him. True
humiliation, it is no enemy, but a real friend unto spiritual joy, to our
rejoicing in God. The more a man is humbled for sin committed, the more he will
rejoice in God, and rejoice that he can grieve for sin. He grieves, and
rejoiceth that he can grieve for sin, therefore humiliation, by our Saviour
Christ, is made an effect of the Comforter: "I will send the Comforter, and he
shall convince the world of sin." Because there is comfort always goes along
with true humiliation, it is not an enemy but a friend to our spiritual
rejoicing; but discouragement is an enemy to spiritual joy. A man that is
discouraged is grieved, and he is sad upon his grief, and if ye tell him that he
must rejoice in God, and call upon him to rejoice in God, oh no, saith he, it is
not for me to rejoice, I am a man of another disposition, joy doth not belong to
me, or to one in my condition: but now, when a man is truly humbled, the more he
is humbled for sin, the more he can rejoice in God, but the more a man is
discouraged, the less he rejoiceth in God. The more a man is humbled, truly
humbled for sin, the more he is found in duty; the more a man is discouraged,
the more his hands are weakened to duty: as it is with the water, if the water
do continue in its true stream, it doth not overflow the banks, it doth not
break down the dam : sometimes you have a great fall of water, a great and
mighty flood, and then the river overflows the banks, and the water bears down
the dam. So here, duty is the bank of sorrow, grief and humiliation for sin; I
say, your duties are the banks of all your godly sorrow, and when a man's sorrow
or grief doth arise to such an height, that it swells over duty, and a man
saith, I will pray no more, it is to no purpose; and I will hear no more, for
there is no hope for my soul; and I will examine my own heart no more : when
thus sorrow swells over duty, and breaks down the dam of duty, then it is
discouragement, it is not humiliation : be not mistaken, this is not
'humiliation, this is a plain discouragement. There is a great difference then,
between discouragement and humiliation. Many people indeed do call their
discouragements, humiliation; but the Lord knows, there is not a drop of
humiliation in a flood of discouragement: would you therefore be humbled? Oh,
then, be not discouraged; for the more you are discouraged, the less you will be
humbled; and the more humbled you are, the less discouraged you will be. But if
there be such a great difference between these, and if it be our duty, to be
humbled for sin, but not to be discouraged; what should a man do to bear up his
heart to the work of humiliation, and yet bear up against all discouragement?
How shall I be so humbled, as I may not be discouraged? or what shall a man do
that he may be humbled, and yet not be discouraged in his humiliation? Let
Christians carry this rule always up and down with them, namely, that a man is
to be humbled for his sin, although it be never so small, but he is not to be
discouraged for his sin, though it be never so great. Both these parts are true;
a man is not to be discouraged under his sin, although it be never so great;
because discouragement itself is a sin, and that cannot help against sin, sin
cannot help against sin. A man is to be humbled for his sin, although it be
never so small, for it is a dishonour to God, and little sins make way to great
sins. So, then, if thou wouldest be humbled, and not discouraged, carry this
rule up and down with you, and always remember it upon all occasions: It is my
duty, and I have reason to be humbled for my sin, although it be never so small;
but I have no reason to be discouraged under my sin, though it be never so
great. In all your humiliation, be sure that you never part or separate those
things that God hath joined together: God hath joined commandment and promise
together, the promise and the commandment are born twins; there is never a
commandment that you read of, but hath a promise annexed to it, a promise of
assistance, a promise of acceptance, and a promise of reward. If you look upon
the commandment itself without the promise, then you will despair; if you look
upon the promise without the commandment, then you will presume: but look upon
promise and commandment, commandment and promise together, then ye will be
humbled, in case ye have sinned, but ye will not be discouraged. The Lord, you
know, hath given two eyes to man, and if a man should put out one, and say, I
can see well enough with the other, what need I have two? he should sin greatly.
So for the soul, the Lord hath given two eyes, as I may so speak; the eye of
conscience, which is to look upon God's commandment; and the eye of faith, which
is to look upon God's promise : and if any man will say, I will put out the eye
of faith, I can see well enough with the eye of conscience upon God's
commandment, he shall do ill, and very ill: and if a man shall say, I will put
out the eye of conscience, for I can see well enough with the eye of faith, he
shall do very ill. But whenever you find you have sinned against any
commandment, presently say, where is the promise? I may not look upon the
commandment without the promise, nor the promise without the commandment. Thus,
join both together, and you shall not be discouraged, yet be humbled. In all
your humiliation, take heed that you do not mourn for your sin only in order to
your condition, but rather mourn over your condition in order to your sin.
Humiliation, you have heard, is objectated upon sin itself, as a dishonour to
God; the object of our humiliation is sin itself, as a dishonour done unto God:
but now the object of our discouragement, you have heard, is our condition, only
our condition. Well, then, would you be humbled so as you may not be
discouraged? take heed that you do not stand poring only upon your condition,
but rather say thus unto thine own soul; Oh, my soul, thou hast been much
mistaken, the Lord pardon it, for all this questioning hath been about thy
condition, and what will become of thee; and if at any time thou hast grieved
for sin, it hath been in order to thy condition, because thy condition is
naught, and because thou didst not know what should become of thee: but now, if
thou wouldst be truly humbled, and not be discouraged, then lay aside a little
the thoughts of your own condition, and pitch upon sin as a breach of God's law,
a transgression of the law of God, a dishonour done to God, and as a breach of
the law of love between Christ and you. Thus, I say, if you would be humbled,
and not discouraged, rather mourn over your condition in order to your sin, than
for your sin in order to your condition. In your humiliation, take heed that you
do not meddle too much with God's prerogative and with God's peculiar. In
humiliation, a man is to meddle with that which belongs to man: some things
there are that are peculiar to God and are his prerogative. You see how it is
with the birds of the air; so long as the birds fly up and down here in the air,
they do live comfortably; but if the birds do fly up to the element of fire, it
will burn their wings, and they will fall down headlong. So here, so long as a
man in his humiliation keeps within his own compass and element, he may walk
comfortably there; but if a man in humiliation, will soar up unto God's
prerogative, certainly his soul will fall down upon the earth and be much
discouraged. Now, I pray, what is more the prerogative and peculiar of God than
this, to know who is a reprobate and who is not? When a man is humbled and
grieved about his sin, and he finds that he hath sinned much against God, and
thereupon he concludes himself to be a reprobate, is not this to come upon God's
prerogative? The Scripture tells a man, indeed, what he is for the present: That
a man for the present is a drunkard, or a swearer, or a sabbath-breaker, or an
adulterer; and therefore the Scripture tells him for the present, that he is in
the state of nature, and under the wrath of God: but doth the Scripture tell him
that he is a reprobate, that he can never be converted and turned to God? Surely
this is God's great prerogative to know, his secret which he reserves to
himself; and therefore when a man goes to be humbled before God, and concludes,
Oh, I am a reprobate, and there is no hope for me, and I shall never be
converted; this is to soar too high into God's prerogative, and he will burn his
wings, and he will fall down into great discouragement. Therefore, in all your
humiliation, take heed that you do not fall upon any thing that is the peculiar
and prerogative of God, for then you will not be humbled but discouraged. The
more you are humbled and grieved by the sight of God's free love and grace, the
more you will be humbled and the less discouraged. When you come to humiliation,
you are humbled, because you have sinned against God; but how do you present
this God to your own soul: do you present him as a Judge only, or as a Father
also: do you present the Lord unto your soul only under the notion or attribute
of his greatness, or under the notion and attribute of his goodness also? Luther
said thus: When my heart is brisk and jolly, I present God unto myself under the
notion of his greatness; but when my heart is low and fearing, then I present
God to me under the notion of his goodness: one while I consider Christ as my
example, another while as my gift: when my heart is too high, then I consider
Christ as my example; when my spirit is too low, I consider Christ as my gift.
So do you also. I know you will say, I cannot sometimes present the Lord unto my
soul under the notion of a Father, because I have no assurance of his love. Yet
you may consider the Lord as gracious in himself, as good in himself, and loving
in himself, and say, I have thus and thus sinned against a gracious God, and
although thou hast not assurance of God's love to thee in particular, yet if you
can present God to your soul, under the notion of his general goodness, as good
in himself, you will never be discouraged, but be humbled. If you would be truly
humbled, and not be discouraged; not discouraged, and yet humbled; then beat and
drive up all your sins to your unbelief, and lay the stress and weight of all
your sorrow upon that sin. As in matter of thankfulness, if a man do run up
every mercy, unto the fountain mercy, the blood of Jesus Christ, he will be most
thankful: so in the matter of humiliation, if a man do run up every sin unto the
fountain, the head sin, he will be most humbled. Now what is the great sin, the
fountain sin, the head sin of all your sins, but unbelief; and believe it, he is
never far from faith, that is humbled for his unbelief, and he will never be
discouraged that is not far from faith. Now therefore, if at any time you find
your soul in any sin, then say, this hath my unbelief done, I did not think that
I had had such an unbelieving heart; oh, what an unbelieving heart have I! This,
even all this sin hath my unbelief brought forth. Now the Lord heal my
unbelieving heart. A soul grieved for unbelief will never be discouraged too
much, nor be humbled too little: he will be humbled in truth for sin, because he
is humbled for his unbelief, which is the mother sin; yet he will not be
discouraged, because he is humbled for that which doth cause all
discouragements. Lay therefore the weight of your sorrow upon this sin, and you
shall be truly humbled without unjust discouragement. And thus I have despatched
the first particular: by all which you see, that a gracious, godly man, though
he hath just cause for humiliation, yet he hath no just and scripture reason to
be discouraged for his sin; though he have sinned, and sinned greatly, yet no
discouragement is to grow upon this condition. And thus I have done with the
first instance.


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  CHAPTER 7: SERMON V. - A LIFTING UP IN CASE OF WEAK GRACE.
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SERMON V. - A LIFTING UP IN CASE OF WEAK GRACE. "Why art thou cast down, O my
soul? and why art thou disquieted within me, &C."—Psalms 42:11. II. Sometimes
the discouragements of the saints do arise from the weakness of their graces.
Oh, says one, I am a poor, feeble, and a weak creature: some are strong in the
Lord, and in the power of his might, who do a great deal of service for God in
their day; but as for me, I am a poor babe in Christ, if a babe, and so am able
to do little or nothing for God. Therefore I am thus discouraged and cast down 5
have I not just cause and reason for it? No, for "God is able to make all grace
to abound towards you, that ye always having all sufficiency in all things, may
abound to every good work," 2 Corinthians 9:8. And if God have recompensed your
weakness with wisdom, then surely you have no cause to complain of your
weakness. Sometimes weakness is recompensed with Wisdom 5 for, says Solomon,
Proverbs 30:24, "There be four things that are little upon the earth, but they
are exceeding wise:" the ants, the conies, the locusts, and the spider. Wherein
doth the wisdom of the ants consist? He tells you in verse 25, "The ants are a
people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in summer." In time of plenty
they do lay up for the time of want. Wherein doth the wisdom of the conies
consist? He tells you in verse 26, "The conies are a feeble folk, yet make they
their houses in the rocks:" though they be weak in themselves, yet they dwell in
strong places. Wherein doth the wisdom of the locusts appear? He tells you in
verse 27, "The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands:"
though they be weak alone, yet they do join together, and so are strong. But
wherein doth the wisdom of the spider consist? He tells you in verse 28, "The
spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings' chambers:" though the
chamber of a king is most swept and cleansed, yet by the industry of her hands
she doth take hold on the beams thereof, and dwells on high, out of danger. So
that, although these creatures are weak and feeble in themselves, yet by their
wisdom, their weakness is recompensed, and they save themselves from injury and
wrong, as well as if they were stronger. Now shall the ant, cony, locust and
spider, be wise in their kind, and shall not a Christian be so? True, saving
grace is the best wisdom; every godly man is a wise man, and though he be but
weak in grace, yet he hath true wisdom: the wisdom of the ants, to provide in
summer against a rainy day; the wisdom of the conies, to build in the rock
Christ; the wisdom of the locusts, to join with others; and the wisdom of the
spider, to take hold on those beams of the promises, which are in the chamber of
our King, Christ. And if God have thus recompensed your weakness with this
wisdom, why should you then complain? But is it then no disadvantage for a man
to be weak in grace? Yes, much, very much; there are many disadvantages which a
weak Christian lies under, that a strong Christian doth not. Ye see how the weak
fire lies sobbing under the disadvantage of green wood, which the strong fire
doth not; so doth Christ as smoking flax lie under many disadvantages, which the
strong Christian doth not. As, Though a man have truth of grace, yet if he be
but weak in grace, he is more apt and ready to stumble and fall, and to be
turned out of the way. "Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the
feeble knees," saith the apostle, Hebrews 12:12, "Lest that which is lame be
turned out of the way." A weak man is more apt to fall than a strong; and if he
do fall, he is more unable to rise again. A strong man fallen, is quickly up
again; but the weak falls, and is ready to fall again when he rises: so it is
with a weak Christian, he stumbles often and is apt to fall; and if he have
fallen, he is even ready to fall again when he goes about to rise. He is more
easily quenched, in regard of his comforts, than the strong Christian is. A
strong Christian will improve that for himself which seems to be against him;
but the weak Christian will improve that against himself which is in truth for
him. When our Saviour Christ said to the woman of Canaan, "It is not lawful to
cast childrens bread before dogs;" she made an advantage of those words, and
thereby did gather in upon Christ, saying, "True, Lord, but the dogs eat the
crumbs that fall from the table." Thus she improved that for herself, which
seemed to be against her: why? because she was strong in faith; "O woman," saith
our Saviour, "great is thy faith." But when the angel of the Lord appeared to
Manoah, Judges 13, he said to his wife, "We shall surely die, because we have
seen the Lord." Thus he improved that against him, which did make for him, as
his wife truly interpreted the thing, verse 23: why so, but because he was weak
in faith. The strong fire burns the more by the very water that is cast upon it,
but the weak fire is quenched by the very fuel, wood, or coal that is cast on
it, so a weak Christian also is apt to be quenched, even by those very truths
and dispensations whereby he should burn and blaze out the more. He cannot
glorify God as the strong Christian may and doth. One sun doth glorify the
Creator more than an hundred other stars, because there is much light met in one
body; and one strong Christian doth glorify God more, than an hundred lesser,
weak saints, because there is much light and grace met in one person. "He that
offereth praise, glorifieth me," saith God, Psalms 1:23. It is an hard thing for
the weak Christian to praise God, for he often doubteth of God's love, and
therefore cannot praise him as he should; but the strong Christian may, he can
say, Blessed be the Lord for this or that mercy, for it comes from love to me.
The more a man doth believe above hope and under hope, and the less he doth live
by sense, the more he glorifies God. Now the strong Christian is able to
exercise his faith in this kind, for says the apostle Paul, "Abraham considered
not his own body, but being strong in faith, was persuaded that God was able,
and so did give glory unto God," Romans 4 : A weak faith cannot do so, for saith
the apostle, verse 13, "And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own
body now dead, he staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was
strong in faith, giving glory to God." It seems then that it is the strong, and
not the weak faith which doth give glory to God. And would ye know wherein this
strong faith differs from the weak faith, in regard of its operation? why, says
the apostle, the weak faith staggers at the promise, which the strong faith doth
not; the wreak faith doth attend too much unto second causes, which the strong
faith doth not; the Weak faith judges by what it sees and feels within, but the
strong doth not, but by the word without; and therefore it is strong faith which
doth give glory unto God especially. A strong Christian will do great things for
God, a weak Christian can do but small things, for his strength is but small,
and his soul little. Now the greater things we do for God, the more we glorify
him. A strong Christian can mind and tend the public, but a weak Christian
cannot. I have enough to do at home, saith he, oh, that my own everlasting
condition were but settled, and then would I mind the public too. A strong
Christian is able to wait long on God; he that waiteth long with quietness,
honours God: but as your weaker children cannot stay long for what they would
have, but must be served presently; so the weak Christian also cannot wait long
on God for what he would have: but the strong Christian doth. A strong Christian
is helpful unto others. "We that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the
weak," Romans 15 : And again, "Him that is weak in the faith receive you," 14:1.
Children and babes are fit to be carried in others arms, but are not able to
carry others. The weak Christian is apt to be offended with others, to censure
and judge others, and so to make burdens for others to bear, Romans 14:1-2. But
the strong Christian is a bearing Christian, a carrying Christian, one that can
displease himself that he may help another. Now the more serviceable and helpful
a man is to others, the more he glorifies God; thus the strong Christian is, but
the weak cannot in all these things give glory to God as the strong Christian
may. Surely therefore there are many disadvantages which a weak Christian lies
under, that the strong Christian doth not. Yet there is no reason why he should
be discouraged. For weakness doth not exclude from mercy, but inclines God unto
mercy, rather. Psalms 6:2, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am weak." It is
spoken of an outward weakness; and if that which is less doth incline God to
mercy, then much more that which is greater. And if he have as great an interest
in Christ, as many promises to run unto, and as many embraces of love from God
the Father, as the strong Christian hath; then there is no just cause why he
should be cast down in regard of his weakness. Now so it is, though your grace
be never so weak, yet if ye have truth of grace, you have as great a share and
interest in the righteousness of Christ for your justification, as the strong
Christian hath. You have as much of Christ imputed to you, as any other. It may
be you have gathered less of this manna, for your spending sanctification; but
if you be an Israelite indeed, you have so much of this manna, as that you have
no lack: for it is said of the Israelites, They gathered some more, some less;
yet he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no
lack; all which figured that equal proportion, saith Mr. Ainsworth, which all
believers have in Christ, the spiritual manna. And if ye look into Scripture,
where do God's promises fall more thick, than upon those that are weak in grace?
Christ begins his preaching with the promises, Matthew 5; and I pray, what are
those persons whom the promises are especially made unto, but such as are weak
in grace? "Blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are those that hunger and
thirst after righteousness. Blessed are those that mourn." He doth not say,
blessed are those that are strong in grace; or blessed are those that rejoice in
God; or those that have full assurance of their everlasting estate and
condition: no, but as if his great work and business were to comfort, uphold,
and strengthen the weak, these he begins withal, and many gracious, rich and
blessed promises he doth make to them. Yea, the promises are so made to them,
as, attended to, will give a full answer unto all their fears: as, for example,
the Lord promises, Matthew 12, "That he will not break the bruised reed," &c.
Will the weak Christian say, oh, but I am exceeding weak, and very feeble: then
our Saviour says, "He will not break the bruised reed." And what more weak and
feeble than a bruised reed? an whole reed is not very strong at the best, but
bruised it is weak indeed. Will the weak Christian say, oh, but my weakness is
mingled with many sins; so the fire in the smoking flax is mingled with smoke,
yet says Christ, u I will not quench the smoking flax." ill the weak Christian
say, Oh, but, though God do not quench me, yet I shall be quenched; Nay, saith
Christ, but I will bring forth judgment unto victory;" it lies on my hand to do
it and I will do it. Will the weak Christian say, oh, but, I have much
opposition in my way, how can judgment come to victory? then Christ says, he"
will bring forth, εως αν εκβαλλη, thrust forth with violence; it is the same
word that is used in other scriptures, noting a force; as if Christ should say,
I will force this victory through all opposition, that it shall meet withal. So
that the Lord doth not only give several promises to those that are weak in
grace, but he doth so lay them, as he doth help to apply them. And if ye look
into your experience, who have more kisses, and embraces of love from God our
Father, than the weak Christian hath? The parent kisseth the babe and little
child, when the elder child is not kissed; for, says he, this is but a little
child. And so, when the prodigal comes home, then the father falls upon his neck
and kisses him, why? but because upon his first return, he is a babe in Christ;
this is my little child, saith the father, and therefore I will kiss him with
the kisses of my mouth. And though it be a great affliction to be weak in grace,
yet if Christ will condescend unto mine infirmities, why should I be discouraged
in regard thereof? Condescending mercy is great and sweet mercy: now though God
doth shew mercy unto all his people, yet he will do it by Christ as an high
priest; and what is the work and office of the high priest? but to sympathise
and bear with the infirmities of those that are weak, "We have not such an high
priest (saith the apostle) as cannot be touched with our infirmities," Hebrews
4:15. Three things there are, which do speak out the condescending love of God
to those that are weak in grace ; 1. He accepts their duties, though mingled
with many weaknesses; and their services, though they grow upon a weak stock,*
Revelation 3:8., "I know thy works, (saith Christ to the Church of Philadelphia)
for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my
name." 2. The Lord doth not over-drive those that are weak, but is contented to
go their pace with them, Isaiah 40:11, "He shall gather the lambs in his arms,
and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young."
3. He doth sometimes, yea, oftentimes, yield unto their desires, going, as it
were, after them, Matthew 9:18, There came a certain ruler, and worshipped him,
saying, my daughter is now dead, but come and lay thine hand on her; and Jesus
arose and followed him." The man had faith, for he said, "Only lay thine hand on
her, and she shall live yet his faith was weak, for he limited and stinted
Christ, both to time and means; *Come down, and lay thine hand on her." In the
8th chapter, a centurion comes to him, for the cure of his servant, and he was
strong in faith; for saith Christ, "I have not found so great faith, no, not in
Israel." Christ doth prevent, and goes before him; for when he saith, verse 6,
"My servant lies sick, Jesus said to him, I will come and heal him here Christ
offered to go; No, Lord, saith the centurion, "Speak the word only." But the
ruler desires Christ to go with him, and he followed him; Christ prevents the
strong, and he followeth the weak; he commends the strong centurion, and he
condescendeth to the weak ruler. What then, though the weak ruler be not
commended as the strong centurion was, should he be discouraged? No, because
Christ's condescending love was as fit for him, as his commending favour was for
the centurion: strong grace shall be more commended, but weak grace shall be
much encouraged by the condescending love of Christ. If Christ have put a Why
and Wherefore upon the discouragements of the weak, then they have no true
reason to be discouraged, in regard of their weakness. Now if ye look into
Matthew 8:26, ye shall find, that our Saviour says to his disciples, "Why are ye
doubtful, O ye of little faith?" Ye read in verse 24, that there arose a great
tempest, insomuch that the ship was covered with water; was not here cause of
fear? yet says Christ, why are ye fearful? Yea, it is said that their Help was
asleep; Christ was their only help in the storm, and verse 24, "He was asleep;"
had they not then cause to fear? yet says Christ, "Why are ye fearful, O ye of
little faith" The like ye have in Matthew 16:8, Jesus said, "O ye of little
faith why reason ye amongst yourselves, because ye have brought no bread?" Here
is another Why put upon their discouragements. So again, Matthew 14:31, when
Peter began to sink, he cried out, and Christ said unto him, "O thou of little
faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?" Here is another Why or Wherefore jut upon
the discouragement of a weak faith. Now why loth our Saviour speak after this
manner to them? Why lo ye doubt? and Why are ye fearful? Not only to reprove
their doubting and discouragement, but to shew that there was no reason for it:
though their outward discouragements were great and their faith was but small,
yet he tells them, that they had no reason for to be discouraged, "Why are ye
fearful, O ye of little faith? It seems then, by these Why's and Wherefore's,
that though a man's faith be small, and his outward discouragements great, yet
he hath no just and true reason for to be discouraged. And if a Christian would
be discouraged, if he did not sometimes find a weakness and smallness of grace
within him, then he hath no reason to be discouraged, because he doth find this
weakness. Now ye know, that the kingdom of heaven, both without us, in the
gospel, and within us, in regard of the saving effect of the gospel, is compared
to a grain of mustard-seed, which, saith our Saviour, is the least of all seeds;
but grows up in time, to that stature, height, and bigness, as the fowls of the
air come and make their nests in it. So is the gospel, both in the preaching and
the effect of it: it begins low, and is very little at the first; and therefore,
if a man should not find his grace to be small at the first, he would doubt
whether ever the kingdom of heaven were in him or no, saying, The kingdom of
heaven is like unto a grain of mustard-seed, the least of all seeds; but I have
not found it so *n my soul, I have not found this littleness and smallness of
grace, and therefore I do fear that the kingdom of heaven was never in my soul
in truth. Thus men would doubt, and be discouraged, if they should not sometimes
find their grace to be small. And if so, then why should a man be discouraged,
because he doth find it thus? Surely he hath no just cause or reason for it. Oh,
but yet, it is an uncomfortable thing to be weak; strong Christians are full of
comfort: they have assurance of God's love, and are full of joy; but the weak
are full of fears and doubts. This is my condition; I am most uncomfortable,
therefore I am thus discouraged; have I not cause and reason for it? No: for
though the weakness of grace is usually accompanied with doubts and fears, and
the strength of grace, with assurance, joy and comfort; yet it is possible, that
a man may have a great deal of grace, yet may have no assurance; and a man may
have assurance, not doubting of God's love, and yet may have but little grace.
Ye must know, that there is a difference between uncomfortableness and less
comfort. If a man be possessed of a great estate in the world, he hath more
comfort than another, who hath but the pledge and earnest of it; but though I am
not possessed of it, yet if I have the earnest and pledge of it, I may have much
comfort in it. Now the least grace, is a pledge and earnest of more, yea, of the
greatest measure; and is it not a comfortable thing, for a man to have the
pledge and earnest of glory? Such have all those that are weak, though they be
but weak in grace. But how shall I know that my little, is a pledge and earnest
of more? The Spirit of adoption, is a pledge and earnest of the whole
inheritance: and though you cannot do so much service for your heavenly Father,
as your elder and stronger brother doth, yet if you do not only obey God because
you see a reason in his commandments, but because there is a child-like
disposition in you, then have you the Spirit of adoption, and so your little, is
a certain pledge of more. And if you mourn over your little, and wait on God for
more, then is your little an earnest of much: Romans 8:23, "And not only they,
but ourselves also (saith the apostle) which have the first-fruits of the
Spirit, even we ourselves, groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to
wit, the redemption of our body." He proves, that the Romans had the
first-fruits, the pledge and earnest of more in the Spirit, by their groaning
and waiting: do I therefore groan under the present burden of my own weakness,
waiting upon God for more, then have I the first fruits of the Spirit; and so
that little which I have, is a pledge and earnest of more: and upon this
account, though your grace be weak, and small in itself, yet considered as an
earnest, it is much: and is it not a comfortable thing, to have the pledge and
earnest of glory? Such is the comfort of all those that are weak in grace, and
therefore why should they be discouraged in regard of their weakness? Oh! but, I
am not discouraged at my weakness, in regard of the uncomfortableness of it, but
in regard of the unserviceableness of it: for if I were strong in grace, I
should be able to do more service for God; then I should be able to resist my
temptations, and to overcome the evil one: for the apostle John saith, "I write
to you young men, because ye are strong, and have overcome the evil one." But I
have great temptations, and but small strength to resist them: I have a great
deal of work to do for God, and have no strength to do it with; therefore I am
thus discouraged, have I not cause and reason now? No: for the spiritual battle
is not always to the strong: our victory lies not in ourselves and our own
habitual strength, but in Christ's fresh assistance. How often have the strong
fallen, and the weak stood? We read of that young King, Edward the Sixth, that
when the Emperor sent to him, desiring that his sister Mary, afterwards Queen of
England, might have liberty for the mass in her house, this young prince did
stand out against that temptation, when all his Council was for it ; yea, when
that good man, bishop Cranmer, and that other holy man, bishop Ridley, did yield
thereunto, and pressed the King to it, insomuch as the King did break forth into
tears, desiring them to be contented; whereupon, the archbishop Cranmer took his
schoolmaster, Mr. Cheke, by the hand, and said, Ah, Mr. Cheke! you have such a
scholar that hath more divinity in his little finger, than all we have in our
whole bodies. Here the weak stood, and the strong did fall; the weak did resist
temptation, when the strong did yield; for our strength lies in Christ without
us, not in ourselves within us. And if ye look into the 2nd and 3rd chapters of
the Revelation, ye shall find, that whereas all the churches are charged with
some sin or other, only the Church of Philadelphia is charged with no sin at
all, but commended for keeping the word of Christ's patience; and yet this
church, and no other, is said to have a little strength. And ye know what Paul
saith, "When I am weak, then am I strong; most gladly therefore will I rejoice
in mine infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest on me," 2 Corinthians
12:9-10. Though your grace be weak, yet you may do much for God in your day:
"The tongue (says James) is a little member, and boasteth great things; b hold
how great a matter a little fire kindleth," chapter 3:5. "Behold also the ships,
(saith he, verse 4) which though they be so great, yet are they turned about
with a very small helm." And shall not a little grace do as much as a little
tongue, or as a little fire, or as a little helm? Surely, though grace be
little, yet it may be an helm unto all your life, a rudder unto all your
practices. Ye see how fruitful weak things are in nature; the strongest persons
have not always most children, but the weaker. The herring is a weak fish in
comparison of the whale, and what abundance are there? The dove is a feeble bird
in regard of the eagle, and yet how fruitful is it? The vine is a weak tree in
regard of the oak, and yet it is more fruitful. So in grace; you may be weak in
grace, yet you may be very fruitful. The jailor was but weak in grace as soon as
he was converted, nor Zaccheus, nor the thief on the cross; yet what clusters of
divine grapes did presently grow upon these branches? And if you may be very
fruitful in good, though weak, why should you be discouraged in regard of your
weakness? Oh, but I am not discouraged at my weakness, in regard of my
unserviceableness, or unfruitfulness only, but in regard of my own guiltiness;
for I have made myself weak in grace by mine own sins; I have fallen into sin,
and so have weakened myself and grace: my grace is not only weak, but it is
weakened, and weakened by sin; therefore I am thus discouraged, have I not cause
and reason now? No: for possibly you may be mistaken: some do abate in their
natural parts, and they think they decay in their graces: as some grow in parts
and gifts, and they think they grow in their graces. But if you have not fallen
into any great and gross sin, then no such spiritual disease or fever hath
seized on you, whereby your grace should be weakened. But suppose the thing be
true, which you do object, that you have sinned, and by your own sin your grace
is now weakened; then have you cause indeed to be much humbled before the Lord,
yet not to be discouraged. For, if nothing have befallen you, but what may
possibly befall a true believer, then you have no reason to be cast down as
without hope. Now ye know how it was with Samson; he was strong, and of great
strength inward and out ward; yet his strength was taken away, and he became as
one of us. How so? why, he had laid his head n Dalilah's lap, and so he lost his
strength, and was weakened by it; but it cost him dear, both his eyes, and his
life too: and if you have so laid your head in Dalilah's lap, that your strength
is abated, it may, and it is likely it will cost you dear: yet this case is no
other than what may befall one recorded for a true believer. And though your
strength be abated, and your grace weakened, through your own sin; yet being
true saving grace, it shall never he annihilated, for it is the new creation;
and nothing created by God, can be annihilated by us. Man is created by God; he
may be killed by man, but he cannot be annihilated, and brought to nothing: the
tree and wood may be burnt to ashes, but it cannot be annihilated and brought to
nothing, for it is part of the creation. Now your grace was created by God also,
if true, though small; and therefore, though it may be weakened by your sin, yet
it cannot be annihilated and brought to nothing. And if yet the promise do
belong to you, and to your condition, then you have no reason to be discouraged
or cast down, in respect of this. Now if ye look into Revelation 3 : ye shall
find, that as there are many promises made to the several churches, so there are
promises also made to the church of Sardis ; yet this church had fallen and
weakened herself; for says Christ to her, verse 13, "Strengthen the things that
remain and are ready to die; I have not found thy works perfect so that though
your grace be weakened, and that by your own sin, insomuch as all seems to be
ready to die, yet there is a promise belonging to such a condition, and
therefore no just cause or reason for discouragement, though much cause of
humiliation. But I am not discouraged at the weakness of my grace, because of
mine own guiltiness only, but because of its likeness and similitude unto common
grace; I know that it is a contradiction to say, that a little grace is no grace
at all; but my little is so little, that I even fear it is none in truth. If the
piece of coin that I have be little, yet if it be gold, it is well; but if it be
little, and a counter too, then what am I the better? Now so it is, that I fear
my little is but a counter, and not true grace indeed; therefore I am thus
discouraged, have I not cause and reason now? No: for though your grace be never
so small, yet if it be good coin, and not a counter, then you have no reason to
be discouraged in this regard. Now to satisfy you in this scruple, I will tell
you what small, weak, little grace will do, and not do, in opposition to common
grace. It will not oppose much grace; the least spark of fire will not oppose
the flame, or resist the flame; water will, because fire and water are contrary:
and so, false grace will oppose the highest degree of grace, saying, what need
you be so strict and precise? You may go to heaven with less ado: but the least
degree of true grace will not oppose the highest. It loves examination, it loves
to examine, and to be examined; for it is sincere, and sincerity is much in
examination: it is called ειλιχρινια, for it holds up all its actions to the sun
and light; it doth love the work of examination: false, counterfeit, common
grace doth not so. It is very inquisitive after the ways of God, and after
further truths : as the man that climbs up into the tree, first gets hold on the
lower boughs, then on the higher, and so winds himself into the body of the
tree, till he comes to the top, so doth a Christian do; he begins with the
lower, then unto the higher, and so to higher discoveries: at the first,
therefore, he is most inquisitive, " What shall I do to be saved?" says he; and
again, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" False and common grace is not so.
It is much in the work of humiliation; it grows in a waterish place. Now suppose
that two herbs be much alike, the one sovereign, and the other naught, and it be
told you, that the sovereign, good herb, grows in a waterish place, and the
other on a rock, will you not easily discern those by the places where they
grow? Thus it is here: the weak grace of the saints, grows in a waterish place,
it is much in humiliation; but the common, false grace of hypocrites, grows on a
rock. As a weak Christian is very apt to rest upon his own doings, so he is much
in doing, and in the work of humiliation most. It works according to the
proportion of its own weakness ; it staggers at the promise, yet it goes to the
promise ; it doubts of Christ's love, yet it doth run to Christ; it stumbles,
yet it doth keep its way; it is ignorant of Christ, and not so forward in the
knowledge of Christ as it should be, yet it is laying of the foundation, Hebrews
6:1. It is the fault of a weak Christian, that he is always laying the
foundation, yet he is laying of the foundation; though it works weakly, yet it
works according to the proportion of its weakness; but the common, false grace
doth not so. It is willing to learn of others; for, says a weak Christian, I am
but a babe in Christ, and therefore why should not I be willing to be carried in
others arms? The less I can do, the more I will receive: as the strong Christian
is much in doing, so must I be much in receiving: it is not thus with that false
and common, counterfeit grace. But as the naturalists do report and write of the
lion, that he will not eat of any prey, but what he hath hunted down himself;
other beasts will, they will prey upon what is killed by others; but the lion,
king of the beasts, is so proud, that he will not eat of that which is killed by
another. So, men that are strong in parts and gifts, and have no grace withal,
will not eat of that which they do not hunt down themselves; if they hunt it
down, then they will close therewith, else not. A strong- graced Christian will,
and a weak-faithed Christian will, but he that hath parts and gifts alone,
cannot relish that so well, which is brought to hand by another. It is very
sensible of its own weakness: a weak Christian is weak, and he doth feel his
weakness, and is very sensible of it; not a man in all the world, saith he, that
is more weak than I. Now ye know, that if a lady or queen come to an house, she
hath a great train attending upon her, and though ye see her not, yet if you see
her train, you say, she is there still. Such a great queen is grace; though a
man have never so little of it, yet it brings a great train with it; and though
ye see it not, yet if you see the train, will ye not say, surely the grace of
God is here? Thus now it is with you that are weak in grace; these seven things,
and a far greater train than these, you may see in your lives, and therefore
certainly, you have no just cause and reason for your discouragements in this
respect. Oh, but yet, this is not the thing that doth pinch with me : I hope,
through mercy, the root of the matter is in my soul, that this great queen of
grace hath taken up her lodging in my heart; but yet I am exceeding weak in
grace, and very feeble still: some are weak in grace because they are but new
plants, new converts, lately brought home to Christ, and are yet babes in
Christ, and so they have excuse for their weakness; but I profess that I have
been converted a great while, yet I am weak; I am an old man or woman, yet I am
weak in grace; I am an old professor, and yet am weak in grace: therefore I am
thus disquieted, have I not just cause and reason now? No; for though it is a
shame for an old man to go in coats, or to be carried in the arms like a babe,
as every weak Christian is; and though Christ will upbraid men of their slowness
and dullness, that have long sat under the means, yet you have no just cause and
reason for discouragement; for though you may be weak in regard of others, yet
you may be strong in regard of your former self, and be more strong in the Lord,
and in the power of his might, than you have been heretofore. And to clear that,
consider— The more extensive a man's obedience is unto God's commandments, the
more he is grown in grace. Weak Christians are much in some duties, and therein
they are most intense: but little or nothing in others: and as they grow in
grace, so their hearts are dilated, and extended unto other duties. The more
exact and accurate a man is in duty, the more he doth grow in grace; and the
more he grows in grace, the more exact and accurate he doth grow in his duty. He
that writes better than he did before, doth not write more paper, or make more
letters, only he doth write more exactly and accurately: so, the grown Christian
doth not perform more duties than he did before, but the same more exactly. The
more a man sees and understands his Christian liberty, and yet doth walk more
strictly, the more he doth grow in grace : some think they grow in grace,
because they have more understanding in their Christian liberty, though they do
walk more loosely; these are deceived in their spiritual growth ; but if I know
my Christian liberty more fully, and now do walk more strictly in my life, then
do I grow in grace indeed. Now is it not thus with you? Yes ! through grace I am
able to say, that 1 see my Christian liberty more than I did heretofore ; and
yet I am more strict in my life: though I cannot yet pray as I would, and hear
as I would, and perform duty as I would, yet I do perform my duties with more
exactness than formerly; and though I have not so much affection as I had in
this or that work of God, yet now I find, that I am more dilated, and my
obedience is more extended and extensive unto God's ways and commandments than
before. Then though you are still weak in regard of others, yet you are grown
stronger in regard of your former self, and therefore certainly, you have no
just cause or reason to be discouraged in this regard. But suppose that I am yet
but weak in grace, and temptations or discouragements press in upon me, in
regard of the weakness of my grace; what shall I do that I may be able to bear
up my heart against those discouragements? Then consider what a great charge God
the Father hath given to Christ of those that are weak, Isaiah 42:1, "Behold my
servant whom I uphold, mine elect in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my
spirit upon him." &c.: but why? verse 3, "A bruised reed shall he not break, and
the smoking flax shall he not quench." This is my charge, saith the Father,
which 1 give to my Son: and upon this account he came into the world, that those
who have life might have it in abundance: and for this cause he did die for us,
Romans 5:6, "For when we were yet without strength, in due time (or according to
the time, that is, the time appointed by the Father), Christ died for the
ungodly." Consider also, what charge our Saviour Christ did give unto his
apostles, and in them, to all the ministers of the gospel, concerning those that
are weak in grace. c: Peter, Peter, (said our Saviour) lovest thou me? (then)
feed my sheep." And again, "Lovest thou me? (then) feed my lambs." And again,
thirdly, "Lovest thou me? feed my lambs." Have a care of those that are weak in
grace. All the time that Christ lived upon earth, he went about doing good,
healing all sicknesses and diseases, and condescending to the weaknesses of men.
One comes to him, and thought to have stolen her cure, yet Christ did bear with
her. Another comes, and puts an i/upon his will, "Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst
make me clean;" and he did bear with him. Another comes, and puts an if upon his
power, "Lord, if thou canst do anything," &c. Vet Christ did yield to him. And
when he left the world, then he charges his apostles with the weak saints, "Feed
my lambs;" and again, "Feed my lambs." Consider also, what a great mercy it is
to have a little grace, though it be but a little; for though you have never so
little grace, yet if you have grace in truth, you have union with Christ, you
have communion with the Father, you have your own nature taken away, and are
partakers of the divine nature; you have a right and title unto all the
promises; yea, unto all the ordinances; yea, unto all the creatures. Your
afflictions are not curses, the curse is taken out of every cross, you have an
interest in all that Christ hath done and suffered, you are made partakers of
the inheritance of the saints in light, an inheritance uncorruptible, undefiled,
that fadeth not away: you have God for your portion, Christ for your Saviour,
the Spirit for your Comforter, heaven for your inheritance, the angels for your
guard, and all the creatures in the earth under your feet; this, and all this
you have, though you have never so little grace; and can you read over all this
inventory of mercies, and sit discouraged in the midst of them? Yet if all this
will not prevail in the time of your temptation, think with yourself, and
consider seriously, how much you shall weaken yourself, yet more and more, by
your discouragements in this kind. All discouragements weaken; humiliation
weakens not, the greatest humiliation doth not weaken, but the least
discouragement doth, upon what account soever. Now if all discouragements do
weaken, then what an unreasonable thing is it for me to be discouraged at the
sight of my weakness? But so it is, that discouragements, even from the sight of
our own weakness, do yet more and more weaken; surely, therefore, it is an
unreasonable thing for a man to be discouraged at the sight of his own weakness:
wherefore, lift up your hands, oh ye saints, and be ye lift up, oh ye drooping
souls. We are commanded, ye may read our commission, Isaiah 35:3, "to strengthen
the weak hands, and to confirm the feeble knees, and to say to them that are of
a fearful spirit, Be strong, fear not." And if it be our duty to say and speak
thus, then it is your duty to encourage yourself in the Lord, and to say to
yourself, Be strong, oh my soul, and fear not. Be thankful for your little, and
in due time you shall have much: labour also for much, yet be content with
little, even with little grace, if God will have it so. And thus I have done
with the second instance.


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  CHAPTER 8: SERMON VI. - A LIFTING UP IN CASE OF MISCARRIAGE OF DUTIES.
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SERMON VI. - A LIFTING UP IN CASE OF MISCARRIAGE OF DUTIES. "Why art thou cast
down, 0 my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me, &c."—Psalms 42:11. III.
Sometimes the discouragements of the saints and people of God, are drawn from
their duties, the failings and successlessness of their duties. For they reason
thus: through the Lord's grace and mercy, I have been kept from great and gross
sins, yet if the Lord loved me indeed, he would draw my heart near unto himself;
but when I come to prayer, or duty, I find so much deadness, dullness and
awkness of heart and spirit, that I fear the Lord will never accept such an one
as I am, nor such duties as mine are: when I go to prayer, either praver is
altogether absent from me, or I have no life therein; if I go to hear the word,
I am not attentive, but filled with distractions ; and whatever duty I perform,
I want life and love in it. Oh, my heart is like a rock or stone, and therefore
I fear the Lord will not accept my duty, and the rather, because I find, that I
have been long at prayer, and I am never the better, the Lord hears me not, the
Lord regards me not; and have I not just reason and cause to be discouraged now?
No: here is reason, indeed, why you should be afflicted, but no reason yet, why
you should be discouraged. I confess, indeed, here is cause and reason of grief
and of affliction; for take prayer, to instance only in that, and it is that act
and work of the soul, whereby a man doth converse with God; God conversing with
man, and man with God. And is it not a sore affliction, for a poor creature to
be shut out of God's door, such a friend as God is? Oh, saith Chrysostom, it is
more bitter than death, to be spoiled of prayer: and hereupon, as he observes,
Daniel chose rather to run the hazard of his life, than to lose his prayer.
Prayer is the soul's weapon, and is it not a grief to want a weapon in our
spiritual warfare? Prayer is the soul's ornament, the excellent garment of a
Christian; and is it not an affliction, to be without this garment, and to be
found naked? Prayer is the Christian's element; and as the fish lives in the
water as in its element, and dies when it is out, so a Christian lives in prayer
as in his element, and his heart dies when he is out of it. Prayer is the soul's
provisioner, fetcheth in provision for the soul and for all its graces: the old
bird, the dam, goes abroad and fetcheth in meat for the young ones, and they lie
in the nest gaping, to receive the meat upon its return; and if the old one be
killed abroad, the young ones will die presently at home. So here, prayer goes
abroad, and fetcheth in provision for all our graces, and they all lie gaping,
to receive this provision from the mouth of prayer; if this be killed, how can
those other graces live? The truth is, the more sweetness a Christian finds in
any work, the greater is his affliction, if he want that work; now what
abundance of sweetness, doth a gracious soul find in prayer? therefore when a
man is narrowed, or shut up in prayer, it cannot but be a great affliction to
him. But though it be a matter of great affliction, yet a good man hath no
reason to be quite discouraged, yea, though he meet with many failings therein,
and cannot pray as he would, nor perform duty as he should. How may that appear?
Thus, every godly, gracious man, is in covenant with God by Jesus Christ; and
that covenant is a covenant of grace, which is the great charter, the
magna-charta of all his spiritual privileges and immunities. Now in this great
charter, the Lord doth proclaim this, that sincerity shall go for perfection;
that a little done for God, in the time of temptation, shall be counted much. In
this great charter, the Lord doth proclaim unto all his people, that he doth
rather regard the bent of the heart, than the enlargement of the heart; that he
doth rather regard the will to do, than the doing. In this great charter, the
covenant of free grace, the Lord proclaims unto all his people, that if they do
fail in prayer, and other duties, for I speak not of prayer only, though I
instance in that, he will not cast them off, but he will rather be moved to pity
them; for the covenant that the Lord makes with his people, is as the covenant
that a man makes with his wife, I will betroth thee unto me forever," Hosea 2,
saith the Lord. Now a man will not put away his wife for every failing, neither
will the Lord put away his people, nor cast them off, because he is betrothed to
them, though they do fail in duties. Again: in this great charter and covenant
of grace, the Lord doth proclaim unto all his children, that what they want in
performance, he will make up in indulgence. He proclaims this unto them, that he
will require no more than he gives; he will give what he requires, and he will
accept what he gives. Now, therefore, am I in that covenant of grace? and are
there many failings in all my duties? yet if this be true, that the Lord is more
moved by my failings to pity me, than to cast me off, then I have no reason for
to be discouraged. And thus it is with every child of God; he is in this
covenant of grace, and so the privileges, and immunities of all this great
charter, belong unto him. Though there be many failings in a godly man's duty,
yet so long as it is a duty, there is somewhat of Christ therein, there is
somewhat of God therein. Now God will not cast away his own, because it is mixt
with ours, but he will rather pardon ours, and accept ours, because it is mixt
with his. The husbandman doth not cast away his wheat, because it is mixt with
chaff; he brings it into his barn, and there is a time, when he will separate
the chaff from the wheat; but he doth not cast away the com because it is mixt
with chaff, yet this grain of wheat hath nothing of the image of the husbandman
upon it: but there is never a duty of a godly man, but hath somewhat of the
image of Christ upon it, and therefore, I say, he will not cast away his,
because it is mixt with ours, but he will rather pardon and accept of ours,
because it is mixt with his. If our acceptance of duty do not come by the door
of performance, but by another door, and that door is Christ, then a godly man
hath no reason to be discouraged, though there be many failings in his
performance. Now, all our acceptance of duty comes in by Christ, because our
sacrifices are mingled with Christ's perfumes, Revelation 8:4, "And the smoke of
the incense which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God
out of the angel's hand." Our prayers go unto God the Father, through the hand
of Christ; did our prayers go immediately out of our own hands into the Father's
hand, we might have cause to fear, but it goes by the hand of Christ; Christ
takes it, and hath it into the presence of God the Father. As it is with your
soul, or your body when you die; though your body be crooked or deformed, and
your soul defiled, yet when you die, Christ meets your soul, and invests it with
glory, and so brings it into the presence of God the Father; so it is with your
duty, your duty, it may be, deformed, defiled, or a crooked duty, but Christ
meets your duty, and he clothes it with his glory, and so hath it into the
presence of God the Father. And thus it is with all the saints and people of
God; surely, then, though they have cause to be afflicted, by reason of their
failing in duty, yet they have no reason at all why they should be discouraged.
But I have no parts or gifts in duties, therefore I am thus discouraged: some
there are, that have great abilities in duty, they pray, and can pray with great
abilities, they go to a sermon, and can bring away every word, and have a great
gift in conference; but as for me, I am a poor creature, who want all these
gifts, I have no utterance in conference, I have no abilities in prayer, I have
no memory for a sermon, my memory is even as a sieve, good things run out
presently; I have no gifts at all, a poor seaman, tradesman I am, that have no
parts, no gifts in duty; and have not I just cause and reason now to be
discouraged? No: for whosoever you are that make this objection, do ye not know,
that the glory of the second temple was greater than the first? Solomon, you
know, built a great house, and it was a glorious building, much gold and silver
in it: the second temple was not so full of gold and silver, and yet it is said
of the second temple, that the glory of it was beyond the glory of the first:
why? this reason is given, because "The desire of all nations should come into
it." That is, Christ, who is indeed "the desire of all nations," de facto, gold
and silver is the desire of all nations; but, de jure, and by right, the Lord
Jesus Christ is "the desire of all nations;" and because that Christ, "is the
desire of all nations," should come into the second temple, therefore the glory
of it was beyond the glory of the first. Now thy soul is the temple of the Holy
Ghost; it may be, thou hast not so much gold and silver, not such golden parts
and golden gifts as another hath, but if "the desire of all nations," the Lord
Jesus Christ, be come into thy soul, hast thou any reason to complain? Thus it
is with every child of God, though he hath not those parts and gifts that
another hath, yet the Lord Jesus, "the desire of all nations," is come into his
temple, into his soul; and therefore, he hath no reason to be discouraged. If
the want of parts and gifts be better for you, then you have no reason to be
discouraged for the want of them. Now, you know, that it is better for a man
that hath but a little stock, to have a little farm, than to have a great farm
and a little stock; a man that hath but a little stock, and a great farm, may
for the present brave it out, and converse with company that are in estate
beyond him, but at last he will decay and break: better that a man, who hath but
a little stock, should have a little farm suitable to his stock. Now God our
Father sees, that thou hast a little good, there are some good things found in
thee; but these good things, this little stock, is not big enough for a great
farm of parts and gifts, and because the Lord sees that thy stock of grace is
not great enough for such a great farm of parts, therefore, in design of mercy,
he hath thus ordered it, that thou shouldest have a less farm of gifts. If our
parts and gifts do not commend our services and duties unto God, then have you
no reason to be discouraged for the want of them. Now, so it is, that they do
not commend us, nor our services unto God. When you have good meat in a dish,
possibly you will lay flowers upon it, cut oranges and lemons, and lay upon the
side of the dish; but a wise man knows, that the meat is never the better for
those flowers, or for the sugar that lies on the side of the platter; a wise man
knows, that if those were wanting, the meat were never the worse. Beloved, God
our Father is of infinite wisdom, these parts and gifts are flowers indeed, and
they help to cook out a duty, and to make it more acceptable to men, but the
Lord, who is wisdom, knows, that the duty is never the better; and he knows,
that when these flowers are wanting, the duty is never the worse. "All flesh is
grass, and the flower thereof, and it fades away." Parts and gifts are but
flesh, and our wise God knows the meat is never the worse, when these flowers
are wanting. Yea,' if I had all parts and all gifts, that I were able to preach
and speak like an angel, and that I were able to cast out devils, yet
notwithstanding, if I have not Christ and grace within, my parts and gifts will
but sink me deeper into hell. Two men, suppose, do fall into the river, one man
hath bags of gold about him, and the other none; he that hath none, makes a
shift to swim, and get away; but he that hath the bags of gold about him, sinks
by his gold, and he cries out as he sinks, Oh, take away these bags of gold,
this gold undoeth me, this gold sinks me 1 So these golden parts and golden
gifts, if a man hath not grace withal, hath not Christ within, shall but sink
him deeper into hell. These commend us not, I say, nor our service unto God, nor
doth the want thereof discommend us unto him. You say and complain, that you
have no parts or gifts; but I pray, hath not the Lord recompensed the want of
them some other way unto you? Philosophy saith of nature, Ubi deficit in uno,
abundat in altero; Where nature is deficient in one thing, it is abundant in
another thing. If a man wants his eyes, he hears the better: and the less he
sees, the more he remembers: where nature is wanting in one thing, it is
exceeding in another. And as nature, so the God of nature and the God of grace
too: it may be you do want a head memory, but hath not the Lord given you a
heart-memory, to remember the sermon as you have occasion to use it? Some have
parts and gifts, and they want plainness and openness of heart for God; some
again have a plain heart, and they want gifts and parts. It is said of Jacob,
that "he prevailed with God in prayer, and he was a plain man." Mark how the
Holy Ghost doth put these two together, that that man should be the prevailing
man with God in prayer who was the plain man: and that man that was the plain
man, should he the prevailing man in prayer; a plain man, but prevailing with
God. Well, then, though thou art but a plain person, and hast no parts or gifts
as others have, yet thou mayest prevail with God, and thy name may be called
Israel, prevailing with the. Lord. When God denies one, he gives another mercy.
Thus it is with all the saints and people of God, and a godly, gracious man may
say thus, Well, though I have not great parts and gifts, yet, blessed be the
Lord, I have a plain and an open heart for God: and if the Lord hath done thus
much for you, and recompensed you in another way, have you any reason then to be
discouraged for want of parts and gifts in duties? Certainly you have not. Oh,
but yet, this is not the matter of my discouragement, I am not discouraged for
want of parts or gifts in duty, but I want the grace and the holiness of duty, I
want the grace and the holiness of prayer: I go to prayer and duty, but the Lord
knows, with a dull, dead and a straitened heart; I think, verily, that there is
not a more rocky, stony, flinty heart in the world than mine; I offer myself to
God sometimes in prayer, but when I come at it, I am not able to speak a word,
my heart is so shut up and straitened; and have I not cause and reason now to be
discouraged? Is not this matter of just discouragement? No: for pearls sometimes
grow upon rocks; and possibly there may be some pearl of grace growing upon that
rocky heart of thine. Yet further— You say, that you are straitened in duty; but
are you satisfied and contented with that condition? or if you had enlargement
in duty, would you be satisfied therein? No, I am not satisfied with my
straitened condition; and the truth is, though I had never so much enlargement,
enlargement alone would never satisfy my soul; but if I had more affection, I
would give it up to God, yea, if I had a sea of affection, I would pour it out
before the Lord, and if I had prayers, and tears, and enlargements, like the
sands upon the seashore, I would offer them all up to God. Well, and is not this
to be enlarged towards God? A poor man that hath never a penny in his purse,
sees another, or many others in want, but he hath nothing to relieve them with;
yet, saith he, if I had wherewithal, I would relieve all these men, I would
clothe them all, I would feed them all: is not this man's heart enlarged now
towards the poor, though he hath not a penny to help them with? So in your case;
for the present, thy affection is poor, and thou art straitened, but thou
sayest, if I had a sea of affection, I would give it all to God; and if I had
prayers like the sand upon the sea-shore, I would give them all to God; is not
this to be enlarged towards God? God doth give by denying sometimes, and thus he
hath dealt by you. If your condition herein be no other than the conditions of
the saints and people of God, then you have no just cause and reason to be
discouraged in this respect. Now in Psalms 77:3-4, the Psalmist saith there, "I
remembered God, and was troubled; I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed:
Lord, (saith he at the 4th verse,) thou holdest mine eyes watching, I am so
troubled that I cannot speak." I cannot pray I am so troubled that I cannot
speak. A mother hears her child cry, and saith she, now doth this child cry for
the breast, yet the child speaks not a word, but the mother knows the meaning of
the child's crying, and the language of it: and doth a mother know the language
of her child's crying, and doth not God our Father know the language of his
child's cry, that cannot speak unto him? The beggar that follows you for alms,
is a beggar, though he be dumb and cannot speak; and you say, Send him away with
some gift, for he follows us. So here, though your heart be shut up in duty, yet
if you can follow God, he looks upon you as a beggar at the throne of grace, and
in due time he will serve you, and send you away with comfort. You would fain
have enlargements, and workings of the heart in prayer: but what would you do
with those enlargements? Would you shew your enlargements, your excellencies,
your graces to God, when you come to duty? A beggar you know, if he have any
excellent thing, as gold, or silver, he hides that, and he shews his wounds, he
shews his sores: if you mean to give him a penny, and ask him if he have any
money, I have twopence, or threepence Sir, saith he, or a penny; but he hides
his excellency, and he lays open his wounds; and if he can but open his sores
before you, he thinks he doth beg effectually. Beloved, we all go to God in
prayer, in forma pauperis, every man sues in this court in the form of a beggar.
If thy heart then be straightened, if thy heart be hard, and if thy spirit be
dull in duty, you may go to God and open your sores, and wounds before him; you
may go and say, Lord, what a hard heart have I, and what a dull and straitened
spirit have I! This rather becomes a beggar, and you must come as a beggar, when
you come before him; yet you must know that neither your poverty, nor your
riches; neither your straitening's in duty, nor your enlargements, do make any
alteration in the mind and will of God. Indeed, God seems to deal by us
sometimes as a father doth by his little child; he holds a piece of gold or
silver in his hand, and saith the father, if you can get this out of my hand you
shall have it; so the child strives and pulls, and works, and then the father
opens his hand by degrees, first one finger, then another, and then another, and
at last his whole hand; and the child thinks he hath got the money by his own
strength and labour, whereas the father intended to give it him, but in that
way. So here, God intends to give us a mercy in the way of prayer, and he sets
us a praying for it, and we think we obtain it by the strength of our own
prayer, as if we did move, and change the will of God by our duty; but all the
enlargements in the world, make no alteration in the will of God; he is
unmoveable, unchangeable, and the same forever; but he will give out his
blessings in a way of prayer, therefore it is our duty to pray, yet we must not
be discouraged though we cannot pray as we would. It is usual with the Lord to
restrain prayer, before he doth give enlargement, and to make a man speechless
before he openeth his mouth: Luke 1 : we read so of Zacharias, a gracious and
holy man, at the 67th verse, it is said of him, that "he was filled with the
Holy Ghost and he prophesied Yet if you look into the former part of the
chapter, you shall find, that before he was thus filled with the Holy Ghost, and
prophesied, he was dumb, and stricken with dumbness, verse 20th, saith the angel
to him, " And behold thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak so he continued
dumb, before he was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied. It may be, here
is a further mystery in this, for Zacharias was a Levitical and a legal priest;
and our Lord and Saviour Christ being to come into the world immediately, who
knows but that Zacharias was thus stricken with dumbness, to shew, that the Lord
will silence all our legal performances, before he will enlarge us with the
enlargements of Christ, and of the gospel? This is God's usual way with his
people. It may be thou hast gone on in duty in a legal manner, and now thou art
stricken with dumbness; yet if God have a design to discover more of Christ to
thy soul: and to enlarge thee with the enlargements of the Holy Ghost, have you
any cause to complain? As for the dullness of your heart in duty and prayer,
though dullness be an ill sin, yet the sense thereof is a good sign : as the
thistle is a good sign of a fat ground, though it be an ill weed: so the sense
of your dullness is a good sign, though it be an ill weed: for it argues that
you are used to private duties: for dullness in private, and pride in public
duties is the temptation. Only here remember three things. 1. That you do not
measure or judge of your everlasting condition, by your present affection. 2.
That you do not forbear duty, because of your dullness in It; because duty is a
great remedy against it, and whither should a dead soul go, but to the living
God?3. That one great cause of your dullness, is your doubting, and
discouragement; and therefore, no reason that you should be discouraged because
of it, lest you augment the same. What is prayer, and the nature of it? Prayer
is the pouring out of the soul to God; not the pouring out of words, nor the
pouring out of expressions; but the pouring out of the soul to God. Words, many
times, and expressions, are a great way off from the soul; but sighs and groans
are next the soul, and have more of the soul in them, than words and expressions
many times have: now thou complainest, that thy heart is straitened and dead and
dull; but when you are so straitened in prayer, do ye not at that time pour out
sighs and groans after prayer, saying, oh, what freedom once I had, O Lord, that
I might have the like freedom again? And whereas you say now, that your heart is
hardened in duty, consider whether there be not a great mistake about hardness
and softness of heart; Durum est quod tactui non ced'd molle ced'd; A hard thing
doth not yield to the touch, but a soft thing doth. Wax yields when it is
touched, because it is soft; and wool yields when it is touched, because it is
soft, but an hard thing yields not. And upon this account, it is said of
Pharoah, that his heart Was hard, why? because he did not yield to God, he had
not a yielding disposition. Now there is many a poor soul complains that his
heart is hard, and yet, notwithstanding, he hath a yielding disposition to every
truth, a yielding disposition to every affliction and dispensation of God.
Wherefore dost thou complain, and say, Oh, my heart is very hard? yet if at this
time thou hast a yielding disposition to yield to every truth of God, and to
yield to every touch of the Lord's hand, know from the Lord, that here is a soft
heart; be not mistaken; but many are mistaken, and because they are mistaken
herein, and it is but a mistake, therefore they have no reason for to be
discouraged. But I do not only want enlargement and softenings of heart in duty,
but I am oppressed and filled with distractions, my heart is not only dull and
dead and straitened, but I feel many positive evil; as the leaves of a tree are
eaten up with caterpillars, so I may say, my duties are eaten up with
distractions, I never go to duty, but, the Lord knows, a world of distractions
comes in upon me, and have I not just cause and reason to be discouraged now?
Surely this is a great evil, for as one saith well, Tantvm temporis oras quantum
attendis; so much time you pray, as you do attend in prayer; and upon this
account, if the Lord should abstract all the outgoings of our souls in duty, and
all our distractions from our prayers, oh, how little of prayer would be left
many times. It were an incivility, you will say, when a petitioner hath gotten
the king's ear, tor the poor petitioner then to turn his back upon the king: and
what an evil must it needs be, when a poor soul hath gotten the ear of God, then
to turn the back by way of distractions upon the Lord, who comes down to hear
his prayer. We used to say, When the candle burns, the mouse bites not, or the
mouse nibbles not; when the candle doth not burn, then the mouse eats the
candle; but when the candle burns, the mouse doth not bite the same. And so long
as a man's heart is warm and inflamed in prayer, he is freed from distractions;
but when a man's heart is cold in prayer, then come these ill distractions. So
that certainly, there is a great deal of evil indeed in these distractions. Yet
there is no reason for discouragement. For— What rock is there so firm or fast,
but hath some seams of dirt upon it? And what soul is there so firm and fast and
immoveable in duty, but hath some seams of dirt or distractions growing upon it?
Abraham, the father of the faithful, had birds coming down upon his sacrifice;
and what child of Abraham is there, but hath these foul birds, unclean birds of
distraction, one time or other coming down upon his sacrifice? If that these
distractions shall not hurt the servants of God, nor their sacrifices, neither
them nor their duties, then they have no reason to be discouraged under them,
though to be humbled for them. Now it is a true rule, non nocet, quod non
placet; that which doth not please doth not hurt. These distractions in duty do
not please the saints, they lie under them as a heavy burden, they do not please
them, therefore they shall not hurt them. You know what the Psalmist saith, "If
I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear my prayer," Psalms 66:18.
Distraction in prayer is a great iniquity;' if I regard this iniquity in my
prayer, the Lord will not hear my prayer. But when may a man be said to regard
iniquity? You know, that if you regard a man that comes to your house, you run
and meet him at the door, you bid him welcome, have him in, and set a stool for
him, and you give him entertainment: but if you bid the man begone, saying, I
will have nothing to do with you, you are my burden, I pray begone; then you do
not regard this man. Thus it is with the saints and people of the Lord,
distractions press in upon their prayer and duty; but dost thou fetch a stool,
dost thou give entertainment, and dost thou bid welcome to these distractions?
No; the Lord knows, I bid them begone; the Lord knows, they are my burden; then
certainly, as that is true, "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not
hear my prayer;" so on the contrary, if I do not regard iniquity in my heart,
the Lord will hear my prayer. A man doth sometimes open a door for one of worth,
and others press and crowd in with him, and if the master say to his servant,
why did you let all these men in? he answers, Sir, I did not open the door for
these, but for another, and these did press and crowd in upon me, and I could
not hinder; then is the master satisfied, and the servant excused. So in this
case it is, and that often, with the people of God; Christ stands at their door
and knocks, they run to meet with him in prayer, and by prayer they open the
door of their heart to him; but then distractions press and crowd in upon them,
yet they can say in truth, Lord, I never opened my door for these, but do desire
that these, and all these, may be put out again. What, then, do you not think
that God will be satisfied with this answer of uprightness? Surely he will, and
therefore, though these distractions do crowd in upon you, here is matter of
affliction, but not of discouragement. If these distractions in duties do move
the Lord to pity, then thou hast no reason to be quite discouraged, though
humbled under these distractions. Ye know how it is with a loving father; a
father hath a son, whom he loves dearly, this child of his is crazy-brained, but
he hath his Lucida intervalla, and he will speak very good reason sometimes; his
father loves to hear this child speak, when he speaks reason; but all on a
sudden the child is out; what then? doth his father hate him for that? No; but
the bowels of the man yearns, Oh, now my child is out; then the father s heart
doth ache over this child whom he takes pleasure in. Thus it is between God and
a poor soul, God loves his children dearly, he loves to hear them pray; "Let me
hear thy voice, and see thy face (saith Christ), for thy voice is sweet, and thy
countenance is comely," Son_2:14. God loves to hear his children pray, but every
foot they are out; in, and then out again; out, and then in again. But what
then? Is the Lord moved hereby to destroy his children? No; but now the heart of
your Father aches, and now his bowels yearn: shall there be bowels in the heart
of an earthly father this way? and shall there not be bowels in the heart of God
our heavenly Father this way? Surely there is. Well, therefore, though in regard
of thy distractions, thou hast cause for ever to be humbled, yet certainly thou
hast no cause to be quite discouraged. Oh, but this is not my case; for though I
am troubled with many distractions, for which I have cause to be humbled, and
though my heart be dead and dull and hard in duty, and though I have no parts
and gifts in duty, yet this is not the matter of my discouragement especially;
but that which discourageth me concerning duty is this : I pray, and pray, and
am never the nearer; I have been praying thus long, thus many years, and am
never the nearer: I have an undutiful, disobedient child, and I have been
praying thus long, and he is never the better; I have been praying for the sense
of God's love thus long, and am never the nearer; I have been praying for such
and such a spiritual mercy, thus and thus long, and am never the holier: God
regards me not, for he answers me not, and have I not just cause and reason for
my discouragements now? No: for though God doth not answer you presently, yet he
doth hear you presently: he heard Moses when he prayed, though he did not grant
his prayer; and it is a great mercy that God will receive my prayer, though I
never do receive the thing that I pray for, and I may yet say, "Father, I thank
thee, that thou hearest me always?" It is usual with God's own people and
dearest children to say and think sometimes, that the Lord doth not answer their
prayer, when the Lord doth. There is a two-fold return or answer of prayer;
there is a visible return of prayer, and there is an invisible return of prayer.
As it is with the vapours that are drawn upward by the heat of the sun; some
there are, that do fall again in great rain and hail, and ye hear and see the
returns of those vapours in the day; but sometimes the vapours fall in a dew in
the night, and you do not see the return thereof, but you go abroad in the
morning, and you find the dew upon the ground, although you did not see when the
dew fell. So here, your prayers are drawn up by the heat of God's love in
Christ; some return upon you again in the day, visibly; some return in the night
invisibly, when you see them not: there is a visible, and there is an invisible
return of prayer. What more usual with God's people, than to say, and think,
that the Lord doth not hear their prayer, nor make return to them, when indeed
he doth, and that visibly unto others also? Luke 1 : you read of Zacharias and
Elizabeth, that they were very righteous; verse 6, "They were both righteous
before God." And Zacharias and Elizabeth had no children; but Zacharias prayed
for children, for at verse 13, the angel said unto him, "Fear not Zacharias, for
thy prayer is heard, and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear a son, and thou shalt
call his name John." The Lord heard his prayer, and sent an angel to tell him
his prayer was heard, but Zacharias doubted thereof, verse 18, "Zacharias said
unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well
stricken in years." Here he doubts, and it was his sin thus to doubt, as you may
see by verse 20, "Behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the
day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words."
Here plainly now, was a return of prayer, yea, here was a visible return of
prayer; and yet Zacharias, though a godly and a holy man, doubted whether the
Lord had heard his prayer or no. So that I say, this is no new thing with God's
own people and dearest children, to say, and think sometimes, that the Lord doth
not answer their prayer, when the Lord indeed doth answer, and that visibly too.
But— If the Lord's not hearing, granting and answering your prayers presently,
be sometimes matter of great encouragement, then it is not always a matter of
discouragement. Now the Lord's not hearing and granting your prayer presently,
is sometimes matter of great encouragement. You have divers children at your
table, some younger and some elder, some babes and little ones, some grown; when
you come to carve out your meat unto them, you carve first to the little ones,
and you do not carve first to the greater, for say you, these little ones will
cry, and they have no patience to stay, and therefore they shall be first
served; but those greater have more wit and more patience, and they will stay.
Beloved, thus now it is between God and us: the Lord hath two sorts of children
that come to him in prayer, and he intends to serve them both; but he looks upon
those that are weak, and serves them first; as for those that are stronger and
have more faith and patience, saith the Lord, you are able to stay, I see your
faith and patience, and therefore I will serve the little ones first, but as for
you, I will serve you last. Thus it was with Abraham, after the Lord had made
Abraham a promise of a seed, he made him stay a great while, why? because he saw
he had faith to stay. So now, thou hast not presently a return or answer to thy
prayer, why? because the Lord, it may be, sees thou hast strength, faith and
patience to stay. And is not this rather matter of encouragement than
discouragement? Who ever stayed and waited long upon God, but he had more than
he prayed for? Either God answers your prayers presently, or if he do not, he
will not only pay you the principal, but he will pay you forbearance money, and
you shall have good security, and a pledge for the principal too. The desire is
a pledge of the thing desired; prayer is a pledge of the thing prayed for; a
waiting heart is a pledge of the thing waited for: and the longer you stay, the
more your hearts shall be weaned from the thing prayed for, and the more you
shall be taught to wait upon God; and sometimes a waiting frame of heart is a
greater mercy than the thing waited for. By this means also, you shall be weaned
from your prayer, so as not to rest on it. A child may so love the nurse, as to
forget the mother; and one may possibly so love duty, as to forget Christ; but
by God's delaying to answer, you are weaned from this nurse, and kept from
resting on it. Or, it may be, you came to duty with too high esteem of your own
performance, and too low esteem of the duty itself: hereby God teacheth you to
come to the duty with high esteem of it, and with low esteem of your own doing
it. Yea, the longer you stay, the more you shall be humbled, and your
self-despising thoughts, because you cannot pray, may please God more than your
best prayer. You see, that when a man angles, he throws his line into the water,
and there is the hook and the bait, those are heavy; then there is the cork, and
that is light; and when the fisher, or angler, sees that the light cork is drawn
under water, now the fish bites, saith he, now' there is hope, now there is
something coming. So, you go to prayer, and there is somewhat heavy and weighty
in your spirit; but there is something that is of a corky and light nature in
your spirit; the lunger you stay, the more your cork shall be drawn under water,
that lightness of spirit shall be drawn under water, and so the more you shall
be humble and humbled. Thereby you are taught to fan your prayers. There is much
chaff amongst the good wheat of our duties, and God's delaying time is our
fanning time: when the fish doth not bite, the fisher mends his bait; it may be,
saith he, my hook is not well baited. So should you do, when you take nothing by
prayer, God's delay calls for your amending. Yea, by this means you may remember
how' you delayed the Lord; he spake often to you, and it was long ere you heard
him, shall we think it long ere he hears us, when it was so long ere we heard
him? It may be you have forgotten your delays of God, but by this forbearance he
doth graciously mind you thereof. Yea, by God's forbearance to answer you, the
Lord teacheth you to forbear; God's forbearance doth teach us forbearance; and
is that nothing? Let all this be considered, and you will say indeed, here is
more matter of encouragement than discouragement. If you would be discouraged,
in case God should always answer your prayer presently, then you have no reason
to be discouraged, because he doth not answer you presently. But now, if the
Lord should always answer thy duty and prayer presently, you would be
discouraged; why? because you would say thus, I looked into the scripture, and
there I find, that God doth not always answer his children presently ; his
children have prayed, and then they have waited, and this hath been the way that
God hath taken with his children; now God doth not take this way with me, and
therefore, I fear I am none of God's children, and so you would be discouraged.
Now' I say, if you would be discouraged, in case the Lord should always answer
your prayer presently, then you have no reason to be discouraged, because he
doth not hear you presently: but you would be discouraged in case the Lord
should always hear you presently; you would say then, God doth go not the same
way with me, that he goes and hath gone with his children. Surely, therefore,
you that are the saints and people of God, have no reason for your
discouragement in this respect. Oh, but I fear that God doth not only delay his
answer, but that he denies my prayer. It may be so, for God doth sometimes deny
his own people the thing they pray for, "Ye ask and have not (saith James),
because ye ask amiss." Yet they were the people of God. Abulensis observes, that
God doth sometimes grant a wicked man his petition, and deny a godly man his
petition, that he may encourage wicked men to pray, and teach good men not to
rest on their prayers. Yet if the thing you ask of God be pleasing to him, and
he doth still bear up your heart in praying, and depending on him, it argues
rather that he delays than denies; for, Psalms 10:17, the preparing of your
heart, and the inclining of his ear, go together, and, 1 John 3:22, the apostle
saith, "And whatever we ask we receive of him, because (as a sign thereof) we
keep his commandments, and do the things that are pleasing in his sight." Be it
so, and did Jonah keep his commandments, when he ran to Tarshish? and was not
God angry with him when he threw him into the sea? yet even then he prayed, and
the Lord heard his prayer. And did not Christ seem to be displeased and angry
with the poor Canaanitish woman, when he said unto her, "It is not meet, to take
the children's bread and cast it before dogs?" Oh, but she did believe; but I
fear God will never hear my prayer at all, because there is so much unbelief in
my prayer, as there was not in hers. But was it not so with David? "I said in my
haste, I am cast out of thy sight, nevertheless the Lord heard my prayer,"
Psalms 31 : What unbelief was here. "I said in my haste, I am cast out of thy
sight;" nevertheless, the Lord heard his prayer. Oh, but I am afraid yet, that
the Lord will never hear my prayer, or regard my duty, because I am so selfish
in it; I come unto God in mine affliction, and my affliction makes me go to
prayer, my affliction doth make me pray, I cry by reason of my affliction, and
this is selfish. And did not those seek themselves at first, who came unto
Christ for cure? All true love begins in self-love. The sweetest flower grows on
a dirty stalk. And I pray, what think you yet of Jonah? The Lord heard me, saith
he, out of hell, and yet I cried, saith he, by reason of mine affliction. Oh,
but I fear the Lord will never hear my prayer, because I was no better prepared,
yea, not at all prepared thereunto. Do you not know how the Lord dealt by
Hezekiah? Hezekiah prayed, "The Lord shew mercy to every one that is not
prepared, according to the preparation of the sanctuary (and, saith the text),
the Lord hearkened and healed the people," 2 Chronicles 30:18—20. Yea, God can
rain without clouds, without preparations. Oh, but yet, I am afraid the Lord
will not hear my prayer, or regard my duty, for I am a man or a woman of great
distempers, many passions, and frowardnesses in my life and conversation. But
what think ye of Elijah? Elijah prayed that there might be no rain, and there
was no rain for three years and a half; and he prayed for rain, and there was
rain: and yet, saith the apostle, "He was a man of like passions as we are,"
James 5:17 - Oh, but I fear, I am afraid the Lord will not regard my prayer, or
duty, for I am such a one, or such a one, or such a one. What an one? what an
one art thou? Art thou such a one as beginnest to look towards Christ but yet
not fully come off? you know what was said concerning Cornelius, Acts 10:31,
"Cornelius, thy prayer is come up before me." Yet he did not begin to look
towards Christ. Art thou such a one as the publican was? the publican stood and
smote himself upon the breast, and he said, "O Lord, be merciful unto me a
sinner." And our Saviour saith, "He went away justified, rather than his
fellow." Luke 18:13-14. Or art thou such a one as the poor prodigal? he said to
his father, "I am not worthy to be called thy son, make me as one of thine hired
servants?" and the father heard him and overgranted his petition. And if all
these things be true, what is there that can justly discourage any poor
drooping, doubting soul, in regard of duty; shall his want of parts and gifts,
or his abundance of distractions? &c. No :for though a godly man have but weak
parts or gifts ; though his spirit and his heart be dull, dead and straitened;
though he labour under many distractions in duty; though the Lord hide his face,
and defer an answer to his prayer; though the Lord seem to be angry; though
there be much unbelief in his duty; though there be a great deal of selfishness;
though his heart be not prepared, according to the preparation of the sanctuary;
though he be a man of many passions, and great distempers : yet notwithstanding
all this he hath no just cause or warrant to be discouraged : cause there is to
be humbled under all these things, but no just cause to be discouraged and cast
down. And if so, then by way of application. What mighty encouragement is here,
to every poor drooping heart, to come unto God in duty! though dead, though
dull, though straitened, yet to come unto God in duty. And what a mighty
difference is here between a godly, and a wicked man ! a wicked man goes to
prayer, and " his prayer is an abomination to the Lord." And if you look into
the 8th of Hosea you shall find at the 13th verse, that the Lord threatens
wicked men thus, that when they do come to prayer and to offer a sacrifice to
him, that then he will remember their iniquity. At verse 12, "I have written to
you the great things of my law, but they are accounted as a strange thing, they
sacrifice flesh for the sacrifices of my offering, but the Lord accepteth them
not; now will I remember their iniquity." Mark the word, Now, now, when? Now
when they do come to prayer; now will I remember your iniquity, saith the Lord.
I know, saith the Lord, all your carriage in such and such a place, I know your
uneleanness, and your adulteries when you were in the dark, when the curtains
were drawn about you, and the candle out: I know your carriage at such a tavern,
and upon such an ale-bench, how you sat there, and scorned and reviled my
children ; 1 know your opposing, scoffing and jeering at those that are godly; I
know all this, and now thou comest to prayer, now swearer, now adulterer, now
drunkard, now thou comest to duty, now will I remember thine iniquity. Is it not
a sad thing, that the Lord should remember a man's sin at the time when he comes
to prayer? yet thus the Lord deals with the wicked. But as for the godly and
gracious man it is not so with him; when he comes to prayer, though he have many
failings in duty, yet the Lord remembers his mercy, then the Lord remembers his
loving-kindness, then the Lord remembers his covenant, "for he is ever mindful
of his covenant." Oh, what encouragement is here then for every man to become
godly, to get into Christ! and what encouragement is here, for the saints and
people of God to come to duty! Oh, you that have but a little faith, have you
any reason to be discouraged? will you not at last say to your soul, why art
thou cast down, O my soul, and why art thou thus discouraged? But, suppose that
I have done foolishly, and have sinned in being discouraged upon all occasions;
suppose I have many failings in duty, and (he Lord doth not answer my prayer
presently: what shall I do, that I may bear up my heart against this
discouragement, either in regard of my own failing in duty, or in regard of
God's not answering? Take heed, that you do not lay the stress and weight of all
your comfort upon duty: either the gift of duty, or the grace of duty, or the
present answer of it. So much as ye lay the stress, and weight of your comfort
upon duty, so much will you be discouraged in case you do either want duty, or
an answer to it. When Paul was tempted and buffeted, he prayed thrice: "For
this, (saith he,) I besought the Lord thrice," 2 Corinthians 12:8, that is
often, and the Lord gave him no other answer than this, "Paul, my grace is
sufficient for thee, for my strength shall be made perfect in thy weakness."
Where upon Paul saith, "Now therefore will I glory in mine infirmities, that the
power of the Lord may rest upon me." Hast thou therefore been at prayer? and
hast thou prayed thrice or often? and hast thou no answer but this, "My grace is
sufficient for thee?" know that thou hast a Paul's answer, and therefore rather
glory in this, that the Lord should find thee faithful for to wait upon him,
than be discouraged knowing, that the Lord's strength shall be perfected in thy
weakness. Consider seriously and frequently of this rule—That difficulty doth
commend duty: the more difficulties your duties do press through to God, the
more acceptable they are to him. The less there is to sweeten your duty to you,
the more sweet is your duty to God. It is in our performing of duty, as in the
offering of the Jewish sacrifice, in the offering of their sacrifice there were
two things, the sacrifice, and the obedience in offering the sacrifice; and the
more difficult it was for any poor Jew, by reason of poverty, or the like, to
offer this sacrifice, the more and greater was his obedience in offering it; the
more difficult in offering, the greater the obedience offered. So also it is in
our gospel sacrifices, and in all our duties, there are two things in them;
there is the sacrifice, the duty, and there is the obedience in bringing the
duty: and the more difficulty in performing the duty, the greater is the
obedience to God in the performing of it. Now is it not an hard thing, and very
difficult, for a man to pray, and continue praying, when his heart is hardened
and his spirit straitened? especially if he be sensible thereof? then he is
ready to despond, and say, I can pray no more: and is it not a very hard thing
for a man to pray, and persevere in prayer, when he thinks that God doth not
regard his prayer? then he is apt to say, Why should I pray any longer, for God
regards me not: yet, now, if you do pray and perform your duty, your obedience
is the more obediential, and the more acceptable; and if you would but think of
this rule— Difficulty doth commend duty, and the less you have to sweeten your
action the more sweet it is to God ; I say, if you would but remember this, it
would both encourage you to duty, and keep you from discouragement in it. And we
must all learn to leave the event and success of our spiritual things unto God
himself; so shall we never be discouraged in any duty. For the word of the Lord
is sure, and God hath spoken it: "Cast thy gift upon the Lord, and he will
sustain thee; he will not suffer the righteous to be moved forever," Psalms 55 :
You read it thus : "Cast thy burden upon the Lord:" but in the Hebrew, it is,
thy gift; "Cast thy gift upon the Lord." That is, saith Schindler, Quicquid tibi
dari donative expelis: Whatsoever thou dost desire that God should give thee,
cast that upon the Lord: thou comest to prayer, and thou prayest for such a
mercy, or such a gift, cast that on God, and leave it wholly to him. Oh, but the
mercy I pray for is a necessary mercy I Be it so, yet it is to be cast on God.
But it is a spiritual gift! I pray for pardon of sin, the sense of God's love,
growth in grace, consolation to my poor drooping soul. Be it so, yet thou must
cast this on God. Many there are, that can leave the event and the success of
their outward things unto God, but to leave the event and success of prayer, and
their spiritual things unto God, this they cannot understand, and this they are
utterly unacquainted with: but whatever thy gift be, cast it upon the Lord,
leave the success and the event of all your spiritual things upon God: what
then? "and he will sustain thee, and thou shalt not be moved forever." Thou art
moved for the present, and thy heart is moved, and thou art much discouraged,
yet do but try this way, leave the event to God. Go to prayer, go and perform
thy duty leaving the event of that unto God, and the Lord that hath promised
will certainly fulfil it, thou shalt be sustained, and though thou art moved for
the present, thou shalt not be moved forever. And thus I have done with the
third instance.


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  CHAPTER 9: SERMON VII. - A LIFTING UP IN THE WANT OF ASSURANCE.
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SERMON VII. - A LIFTING UP IN THE WANT OF ASSURANCE. "Why art thou cast down, O
my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me,."—Psalms 42:11. IV. Sometimes
the discouragements of God's people are drawn from the want of their evidence
for heaven. And thus they reason or argue: I am a poor creature, who doth want
assurance of the love of God, and of mine own salvation; therefore I am thus
discouraged. Indeed, if I had any evidence of an interest in Christ, I should
never be discouraged whatever my condition were: but, alas! I want the assurance
of God's love, and of eternal life. Should I now die, I do not know whether I
should go to heaven or hell, and what would become of my soul to all eternity.
Oh I want assurance of my salvation, and therefore 1 am thus discouraged. Have I
not just cause and reason for my discouragements now? No, no reason yet. It is
indeed a great evil and a sore affliction, to want the assurance of God's love
and of one's own salvation; yet, notwithstanding, the want of this assurance is
no sufficient ground or bottom for your discouragement. I confess it is a great
evil and a sore affliction for a man to want assurance; for sin and affliction
are twisted together in the want of assurance. As of all blessings those are the
greatest, where grace and comfort are joined together; so where sin and
affliction are twisted together, of all afflictions they are the most
afflictive. And thus it is in the want of assurance: for as in assurance there
is something of grace, and something of comfort or reward; so in the want of
assurance there is somewhat of sin or unbelief, and somewhat of affliction too.
Sin and affliction, affliction and sin, are both twisted together in the want of
assurance. The truth is, a man that wants the assurance of God's love, and of
his interest in Christ, is neither fit to receive mercy from God, nor to make
return of love and praise to God as he should. Not fit to receive mercy as he
should, for though he would have Christ come in, yet by unbelief he shuts the
door against him, and he makes an evil interpretation of mercies offered unto
him. If a mercy or blessing be tendered unto him, he saith, this comes in
judgment to me; it is a blessing indeed in itself, but I fear it is a judgment
to me. Thus he makes an ill interpretation of blessings, and so is unfit to
receive. And he is not fit to make returns of love to God again: assurance
returns praise. And therefore saith the text here, O my soul, wait on God, hope
in God, "for I shall yet praise him/' why? "for he is my God." Praise grows upon
assurance. And upon this account, I say, he is neither fit to receive mercy, nor
to make return of praise as he should. Yea further, he that wants assurance of
God's love, converseth too much with Satan. As he that hath the assurance of
God's love, doth converse with Christ, "the Spirit bearing witness to him that
he is the child of God so he that doth want assurance, converseth with Satan,
and Satan, though falsely, is still bearing witness to his spirit that he is not
the child of God. And is it not a misery to be in these converses with Satan, to
be under his hellish droppings? David felt one pang of unbelief, and he cried
out, and said, "It is too painful for me." Oh, what a pain is it then, to lie
bed-rid of an unbelieving heart. You know a chaste and a loving wife, counts it
an affliction to her, to be followed with the solicitations of an unworthy
person, to suspect and be jealous of her husband's love; for, saith she, he doth
therefore follow me with these solicitations, making me to suspect my husband's
love, that so he may attain his own filthy desires. So saith a gracious soul,
the devil is always following and tempting me to suspect the love of Christ, and
he doth therefore do it, that he may attain his mind upon me; for the devil
knows well enough, that the more I suspect Christ's love, the more I shall
embrace Satan's love. The truth is, beloved, this want of assurance of God s
love, or interest in Christ, is an inlet to many sins and miseries; for first a
man doubts of his own salvation, and after he hath continued doubting, then he
riseth up unto a full conclusion, saying, Now know I that Christ doth not love
me, I did but doubt before, but now I know he doth not love me. And after he is
risen to this conclusion, then shortly he riseth higher, and he goes further,
thus : If Christ doth not love me now, he will never love me, and if I have not
interest in Christ now, after all the preaching I have heard, and ordinances
enjoyed, if 1 have not an interest in Christ now, I shall never have it; and so
the longer I live, the more I aggravate my condemnation ; therefore as good in
hell at first as at the last, and therefore now I will even make away with
myself. Oh, what a black chain is here, and the first link is the want of
assurance. If you should see a child, a pretty child, lie in the open streets,
and none own it, would it not make your bowels yearn within you? Come to the
little one, and say, Child, where is thy father? I know not, saith the child.
Where is thy mother, child? I know not. Who is thy father? what is thy father's
name, child? I know not. Would it not make your heart ache to see such a little
one in the streets? But for a poor soul to lie in the streets, as it were, and
not know his father, whether God be his Father, or the devil be his father; for
a soul to say, I do not know my father, whether God in Christ be my Father, yea
or no; this is pitiful indeed. The word father is a sweet word, for it sweetens
all our duties; take the word Father out of prayer, and how sour is it? Surely,
therefore, it is a sad and sore affliction, to want the assurance of God's love
in Christ. But now, although it be a great evil, and a sore affliction for to
want this assurance, yet I say, the saints and people of God have no reason to
be cast down or discouraged, although they do want the same. How may that
appear? Thus: if the want of assurance be not the damning unbelief, then a man
hath no reason to be quite discouraged, although he do want assurance. Now,
though there may be much unbelief bound up in the want of assurance, vet I say,
the bare want of assurance, is not that unbelief that shall damn ones soul to
all eternity, not that unbelief which Christ threatens with damnation. For if
you look into John 3:18, you shall find our Saviour speaking thus: "He that
believeth on him is not condemned; but he that believeth not is condemned
already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of
God." But now, lest any poor soul that would believe and cannot, should be
afflicted and troubled at these words, therefore saith our Saviour Christ, in
the following words, I will tell you wherein lies the damnableness of unbelief,
verse 19, "This is the condemnation (he speaks in relation to the words before),
and this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men love
darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil; for every one that
doeth evil hateth the light; neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should
be reproved or discovered this light is Christ. Now therefore, doest thou hate
the light, Christ? and therefore keepest from it, lest thy deeds should be
discovered? Or rather on the contrary, doest thou not know there are evil deeds
in thy life, and much evil in thy heart? and doest thou not therefore desire to
come to Christ, who is the true light that thy deeds may be discovered, and thy
sin amended? Then, thou canst not believe as thou wouldest, and though thou
doest want assurance, and though thou hast much unbelief in thee, the Lord Jesus
Christ hath spoken it, thou shalt never be condemned to all eternity for this
want, but the Lord Christ will pardon this unto thee: and therefore certainly
upon this account, God's people have no reason for their discouragement. If
there be such an overruling hand of grace, and mercy upon the want of the
saint's assurance, as that it shall work to their and to others good; then they
have no reason to be quite discouraged, although they do want assurance. As for
their own good: thereby they do gain experience; thereby they come to see the
emptiness and nothingness of all their own righteousness. David saith, ye know
the scripture, Psalms 116 : "I said in my haste, all men are liars." The words
in the Hebrew may be read, "I said in my shaking," I said in my shaking, all men
are liars." David was shaken by men, and then he saw that men were liars. So,
when a man is shaken in his own righteousness, then he sees the emptiness and
the lying disposition of it; and, I pray, when is a man's own righteousness more
shaken, than when he doth want assurance of God's love? Thereby also, a man
comes to get more and stronger assurance of God's love; Certissimum est, quod
certum est post incert itudinern; that is most certain that is certain after
uncertainty : the shaken tree grows the strongest. It is observed of Thomas,
that of all the apostles, he cried out, and said, "My Lord and my God." Two
My's, not one My: My Lord, or My God: but two My's, "My Lord, and My God." Two
My's, why? Because he had two No's before, "Unless I may put my finger into his
side, I will not believe." So you read it; but in the original there were two
No's, I will not, not believe; a double Not. And as there were two No's of
unbelief, so there are two My's of faith. So far as a good man is sunk in
unbelief, so far he will rise in faith; so much as a man is shaken by unbelief,
and in the want of assurance, so much he will rise unto assurance and be
confirmed and steeled in it. And as for others: a man is never more fit to
comfort, to relieve, to satisfy others in their fears, than when he hath been in
fears, and doubting himself. It is a good speech that Maldonat hath out of
Bernard: Citius quidem ego qui infirmus sum; I would rather believe poor
doubting Thomas, than confident Peter: I would rather believe poor doubting
Thomas than Peter that never doubted. Thomas having once doubted, knew how to
deal with a poor doubting soul. Thus, I say, God doth order the want of
assurance to his servants unto their own, and others good: and therefore no
reason, that they should be cast down, and quite discouraged, although they do
want assurance for the present. If a man, a gracious man, may have comfort; yea,
and live comfortably, although he do want assurance, then he hath no reason to
be quite discouraged, in case he want it. Now, though it may seem a paradox to
you, yet you shall find a truth in it; I say a man that hath no assurance for
the present, may have comfort; yea, he may live comfortably, if things be
rightly ordered. For he that hath no assurance, may have hope, and hope is
comfortable. He that hath no assurance, may yet rely upon Jesus Christ; and stay
his soul upon Christ; and in all reliance there is some comfort. He that hath no
assurance, may be justified, and being justified by faith, we have peace with
God. He that hath no assurance, may submit unto God's commandments; and saith
the Psalmist, "the entrance into thy commandments, giveth light:" and so
comfort. "In keeping thy commandments, there is great reward:" and so comfort.
"It is a comfortable thing, (saith Solomon) to behold the light:" and in ail
light there is some comfort. Now God is light, and the free grace and love of
God is light, which a man may behold, that hath no assurance. You do sometimes
take a great deal of contentment in the reading of a story: I do not mean a
scripture story, but in other books, I say, a man sometimes takes a great deal
of contentment in reading of a story, although it doth not concern him; for,
saith he, although this story doth not concern me, yet I take complacency, and
contentment in reading of it, because here I read of the valour of such a man;
and of the faithfulness of such a man to his friend; and of the excellent
carriages and virtues of men. Now, my beloved, is there no excellency in God
himself to content the soul? Is there no faithfulness in God? Is there no love
and mercy in God himself? Is not the Lord the God of all consolation, and God of
mercy, without relation to my condition? Is there not an ocean of excellent love
and grace in God himself? How many sweet stories of love and grace, may you read
in this little book of the bible? Besides, a man that hath no assurance, now,
and then may have some promise thrown into his soul, to uphold him with. When
Elijah was by the brook, and could not enjoy the ordinary meat of the land, a
raven brought him meat: and whenever was any godly man in such a condition, but
he had one raven or other to bring him comfort? Sometimes a temptation is a
raven; God makes it so; sometimes a desertion is a raven; sometimes affliction;
sometimes a particular word and promise is thrown into his soul; and is there no
comfort there? I say, though a man do want assurance for the present, he may
live comfortably. Surely therefore a godly man hath no reason for his
discouragement, though for the present he doth want assurance? But I do not only
want this settled assurance of God's love, and so the ordinary food of the land;
but I have no raven to bring me any comfort; I mean, I have no promise, no
particular word to bring in comfort unto my soul, and to uphold me in my dark
condition : though I do want a settled assurance, yet if I had a particular word
and promise, to uphold my soul, until I had this assurance, I should not be
discouraged : but I want this settled assurance, and I have no particular word
or promise to uphold my soul with, until it come; and therefore I am thus
discouraged: have I not reason now? I answer, No. For, Christian, what
particular word or promise wouldst thou have? Have ye not the whole gospel
before you, a bag of golden promises? A father hath two children; and he comes
unto one, and gives unto that child a piece of gold, there child, saith he,
supply thy want "with that; but unto the other child, he saith, here child, I
know that thou art in want, and there are bags of silver and gold in my study;
take the key of my study, and go in, and take what thou wilt: is not this latter
in as good a condition as the former or rather better? Thus it is with the
saints; the Lord is pleased to give now and then, a particular word to some of
his children; but unto others, he saith rather, here take the key of faith, for
faith is the key, and bath a power to unlock all the promises, I give thee
faith, and by this faith, I give thee a power to go unto all my promises: is not
this latter in as good a condition as the other? Thus it is, I say, with all the
servants of God, "Having therefore these promises," saith the apostle, &c. 2
Corinthians 7:1. If the promise of grace do belong to you, then you cannot say,
I have no word, no promise to uphold me with: now, that the promise of grace
doth belong to you, is cleared thus :1. Your very resting on the promise, makes
it to belong to you, and it becomes yours, by your resting on it; but you do or
have rested on the promise. 2. If the command doth belong to you, then why not
the promise? Doth not the word of commandment belong to you, namely, "Thou shall
not kill, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not commit adultery?" Doth this word
of command belong to you? Yea, surely; for the commandment saith, Thou, and
thou, and thou shalt not, &c.; and that word Thou doth include Me; the word of
promise hath its Thou and Thee and Thy also. Psalms 37 :, "Trust in the Lord and
do good, so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed," verse 3
: "Delight thyself in the Lord, and he shall give thee the desire of thy heart,"
verse 5. And if you put yourself within the compass of the commandment's Thou,
God will put you within the compass of the promise's Thou. 3. If you may, and it
be your duty to rest on the promise, then it belongs to you: now, you may rest
on the promise of grace and holiness for sanctification, and it is your duty so
to do, else i/- were no sin not to rest on the promise: but unbelief, and not
resting on the promise, sin; only ye must know, that there is a great difference
between the promise of consolation and the promise of sanctification. To apply
the promise of comfort, without endeavour after holiness, is presumption; but to
apply the promise of sanctification, that I may be more holy, is no presumption,
but my duty; and if it be your duty to apply and rest on this promise, then it
belongs to you. Oh, but yet, when I go unto the word, or the Scripture, I find,
that God's promise still runs upon some condition, and I cannot perform that
condition, I do not find that condition in myself; and therefore, 1 fear, that I
may not go unto these promises, and that I have no right to them. But what if a
good and gracious man may apply a conditional promise, although he hath not
performed the condition? Pray look into Nehemiah, chapter 1: and there you will
find, that the Jews being in captivity, Nehemiah goes unto God in prayer, and
doth press the promise which God made unto the Jews by his servant Moses, verse
8: "Remember, I beseech thee, thy word that thou commandest thy servant Moses,
saying, If ye transgress, I will scatter ye abroad among the nations; but if ye
turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them, though there were of you
cast unto the uttermost parts of the earth, yet will I gather them from thence,
and I will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there.
Now these are thy servants and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed by thy great
power" The Jews in Babylon were scattered according to the word, but alas, they
did not return unto the Lord, and leave their sins, according to the conditions
of the promise; yet, notwithstanding, Nehemiah goes unto the Lord, and presseth
this promise, and the Lord heard him, and he had acceptance, as ye find in the
following chapter. What if the condition of one promise, be the thing promised
in another promise; will ye then fear, that the promise doth not belong to you,
because you have not performed the condition of the promise? Now so it is, that
the condition of one, is the thing promised in another promise. For example: in
one promise, repentance is the condition of the promise, 2 Chronicles 6:37-38;
Joel 2:15—19. But in another promise, repentance is the thing promised, Ezekiel
36:26, "I will take away the heart of stone, and give you an heart of flesh." In
one promise, faith and coming to Christ is the condition; "Come unto me, all ye
that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest," Matthew 11:28. But in
another promise it is the thing promised, John 6:47, "All that the Father giveth
me shall come unto me." In one promise, obedience is the condition of it, Isaiah
1:19, "If ye consent and obey, ye shall eat the good of the land." In another
promise, it is the thing promised, Ezekiel 36:27, "I will put my Spirit into
you, and cause ye to walk in my ways." In one promise, perseverance is the
condition, Matthew , 24 :, "He that continueth to the end shall be saved." But
in another promise, it is the thing promised. Psalms 1:3 : "His leaf shall not
wither" Ezekiel 36 :, "I will put my fear into your hearts, and ye shall not
depart from me." In one scripture of the Old Testament, the coming of the
Deliverer is promised to the Jews, upon condition that they turn from
ungodliness; Isaiah 59:24, "The Redeemer shall come out of Zion, and unto them
that turn from ungodliness in Jacob." But in another scripture in the New
Testament, turning Jacob from ungodliness is the thing promised; Romans 2:26,
"There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and turn ungodliness from Jacob?"
Now if the condition in one promise, be the thing promised in another promise,
will ye fear that the promise doth not belong to you, because ye have not
performed the condition? And, again, what if the condition of the promise be
performed for you, better than you could perform it? In the beginning the Lord
made a covenant with man, a covenant of works, "Do this and live and Adam, the
first man, stood as a common person for us all, to perform the condition of
doing: and if Adam had performed the condition, we all had performed the
condition. Now the Lord makes a new covenant of grace with man, and the Lord
Jesus Christ is a second Adam, and he stands as a common person, and if he
perform the condition, then all his seed do perform the condition. Now the Lord
Jesus Christ hath performed the condition for all his seed: although the first
Adam did not perform the condition for his seed, yet the second Adam hath
performed the condition of the promise and of the covenant for his seed to the
full. Now if all these three things be true, namely, that a man may go to the
promise, the conditional promise with acceptance, although he hath not performed
the condition; that the condition of one promise is the thing promised in
another promise; that the Lord Jesus Christ hath performed the condition of the
promise for you, better than you can perform it: have ye, then, any reason to be
discouraged and to keep off from the promise, because you have not performed the
condition? But so it is, that a child of God may go to a conditional promise
with acceptance, although he hath not performed the condition; and the condition
of one promise is the thing promised in another; and the Lord Jesus, our second
Adam, hath performed the condition of all the promises for all his seed: surely,
therefore, you have no reason to be discouraged in this respect. But this is not
my case, for I do not only want assurance of God's love, and have no particular
promise; but, instead of the promise, I have a threatening set upon my soul: oh,
the bitter words of the threatening have soaked into my heart. Time was,
heretofore, indeed, that I had a promise; j I could say, I had a promise, and I
rejoiced in it: but now I have lost my promise, and instead of the promise a
threatening is come. Oh, I feel the smart and the anger of the threatening, and
have I not just cause and reason to be discouraged now? No: for if you be drawn
to Christ, is it material whether I it be done with a cord of flax or a cord of
silk? God hath I two arms whereby he draws us unto himself; the arm of his I
love, and the arm of his anger and justice: the arm of his love is put forth in
the promise, the arm of his anger and I justice is put forth in the threatening;
and with' both these he doth lift up the fallen sinner. What if God lift you up
I with his left arm, so you be lifted up! Sometimes he lifts I up with the arm
of his threatening, that he may carry us in the arm of his promise; for as the
law was a schoolmaster to bring to Christ, so the threatening is a schoolmaster
to bring us unto the promise: is the threatening therefore come? then is the
promise a coming; for the threatening is given forth in order to that. And if
this, which you complain of, may be the condition of the saints, then you have
no reason to be discouraged. Now, for the loss of the promise, you know how it
was with Joshua : the Lord gave Joshua a gracious promise; " I will never leave
thee, nor forsake thee: be strong, be not dismayed, be not afraid, be of good
courage, for I will not leave thee, nor forsake thee," Joshua 1:6. But the
children of Israel were a little discomfited by the men of Ai, and see how
Joshua lost the sight of the promise; in Joshua 7:6-7, "Joshua rent his clothes,
and fell to the earth upon his face, before the ark of the Lord, he and the
elders of Israel, and put dust upon their heads, and said, Alas, O Lord God,
wherefore hast thou at all brought this people over Jordan, to deliver us into
the hands of the Amorites, to destroy us? Would to God we had been content to
dwell on the other side Jordan." Oh, what unbelief is here! what discouragement
is here! how had he lost the promise! O Lord, saith he, what shall I say, when
Israel turn their backs before their enemies: and oh, what shall we say, when
Joshua turned his back upon the promise' But so it was with Joshua here, he had
lost the sight of the promise which once he had. And as for the threatening, you
know how it was with David; having sinned greatly in the matter of Uriah, the
Lord threatens him, "that the sword should never depart from his house;" and the
threatening did take hold upon him, and David was under the stroke of the
threatening. But was not Joshua godly; and was not David godly? So, then, a
godly man may possibly lose the sight of the promise, and have a threatening set
on his soul too. But if a promise, given out by the Lord, shall never be
reversed, and a threatening may be repealed; then you have no cause to fear in
this respect. Now a threatening is therefore given, that it may not be
fulfilled. Jonah knew this so well, that he prufesseth to the Lord, that
therefore he fled to Tarshish, because, saith he, "O Lord, I knew that thou art
a merciful God." As if he should say, I knew, O Lord, thou art so merciful a
God, that though thou hast threatened Nineveh, yet thou wilt reverse thy
threatening. But a promise once given unto a soul, shall never be reversed or
repealed. It may rise up to an oath, as sometimes it doth, for when God gives a
promise to a soul, and opposition ariseth. if then God gives out the same
promise again, it amounts to an oath; "As I live (saith the Lord) I will never
reverse this promise that I have made to thee." But a promise once given, shall
never be reversed or repealed: Galatians 3 : you have the case that is now
before you. Saith Paul, at verse 15, "I speak after the manner of men; though it
be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulled or addeth
thereunto. Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made." And therefore,
saith the apostle, the promise shall not be disannulled, although the law came
after the promise. But if the promise that the Lord gave to Abraham, was not
disannulled by the law, that came four hundred and thirty years after; (verse
17) "wherefore then serves the law?" he tells you, verse 19; "It was added
because of transgression." So now, say you, if that the promise that God hath
given heretofore, be not disannulled, and made void, by the threatening that
follows after, wherefore then was the law or the threatening given unto my soul?
It was added because of transgression: God had some transgression of yours to
discover unto you, that you did not think of, and therefore the threatening and
the law came after. But the promise is quite out of sight, and I have lost it.
And did not the Jews also lose the sight of the promise which was given to
Abraham? When the Lord gave the law, and they stood trembling and quaking before
Mount Sinai, did not they then lose the sight of the promise that was given to
Abraham? So, say I, although thou hast lost the sight of the promise that once
thou hadst, and a threatening be come in the room of it, the promise that was
once given thee, it may be four hundred and thirty days ago, or many years ago,
shall never be disannulled or reversed. And the reason is this: Because God doth
not repent in the matter of the gospel. Ye read in Scripture, that God is said
sometimes to repent, "It repented the Lord that he made man;" sometimes it is
said that the Lord doth not repent, "I am not a man that I should repent how are
these two reconciled; God doth repent, and God doth not repent? Thus to our
present purpose: God repents as to the matter of the threatening, but God never
repents as to the matter of the promise: God repents as to the matter of the
threatening, and therefore saith the Lord to Jeremiah, "I am weary of my
repenting." I have threatened, and threatened, and I am weary of threatening.
Here God repented as to the matter of the threatening; but God never repents as
to the matter of the promise. And therefore saith the apostle, Romans 11:29,
"The gifts and calling of God are without repentance." And the promise is a
great gift. So then, as to the matter of the promise, God doth never repent.
Wherefore, poor soul, hast thou a promise given thee, may be five years ago, may
be ten years ago, may be twenty years ago, and hast thou lost the sight of the
promise; and instead of the promise is there a threatening come upon thy soul,
that makes thy heart quake and tremble? I here tell thee, from the Lord, the
promise that was once given unto thee, though now thou hast lost the sight of
it, shall never be repealed or recalled. Oh, what matter of encouragement is
here! Is here matter of discouragement? nay, rather, here is matter of great
encouragement. Oh, but yet this is not my case: I do not only want assurance of
God's love, but I have assurance of God's displeasure; I do not only want
assurance of my salvation, but I have assurance of my damnation: I do not only
want the testimony of the Spirit, bearing witness with my spirit that I am the
child of God; but I have another testimony within my soul, bearing witness to me
that I am a reprobate. And have I not cause to be discouraged? No, not yet; for
it may be you look upon the back-side of God's dispensation. If we look upon the
face of God's dispensation, we see his love and good pleasure; but if we look on
the back-side thereof, we conclude nothing but anger and displeasure. It may be
it is so with you in this case. But, if you find no such testimony of
reprobation as you speak of, in all the Scripture; then you have no reason to
fear or to be discouraged in this respect. Now search the Scripture, and you
shall not find in all the word, any ground for such a testimony of reprobation.
We read, indeed, of Francis Spira, notorious for his despair; when his friends
came to comfort him, having spake comfortable words unto him, that he said, Why
go ye about to comfort me? comfort belongs not to me, for I am a reprobate. Oh,
said one of his friends, do not say so, for none are able to say so. Yes, said
he, as the elect of God have a Spirit within them, bearing witness that they are
the children of God; so reprobates have another spirit, bearing witness with
their spirits that they are not the children of God, but the children of Satan:
and such a spirit of reprobation have I. But, my beloved, if there be such a
spirit or a testimony of reprobation as this is, either it must be from the
Spirit of God, or from the spirit of Satan: if from the spirit of Satan, then he
is a liar, not to be believed; if it be from the Spirit of God, how doth it suit
with the word? for the Spirit of God is called the Comforter; can such a spirit
of reprobation come from the Comforter? And if you have such a testimony as this
is, either you must have it from the word, or from the Spirit of God alone
without the word: if from the word, then from the threatening; for it is not
from the promise, nor from the command: if from the threatening, a threatening
may be repealed, a threatening may be reversed, as you have heard. And if you
have it from the Spirit of the Lord, how can it be that the Spirit should be
called a Comforter? Surely therefore, if you have such a spirit of reprobation
in your bosom, it is from Satan, and he is a liar. But, my beloved, I will in
this appeal to you, whether do you not think that there is many a soul now in
heaven, that whilst he lived said, I am sure to go to hell? You know that
ordinary story of the woman that took a glass in her hand, and throwing it on
the ground, said, as sure as this glass breaks, I shall be damned; and the glass
broke not. Well then, thy condition is not alone, others of God's people may be
and have been led in this way of temptation; and therefore no reason why thou
shouldest be cast down or discouraged. But yet this doth not reach my case or
condition, for I do not only want the assurance of God's love, and of mine own
salvation; but I have wanted assurance this two, this four, this six, this
eight, this ten years: and I have continued so long doubting in unbelief, and my
heart is so hardened with it, that I am afraid I shall never be healed or saved.
Oh, I have sat under such and such precious gospel means, and if ever I should
have had assurance of God's love, I should have had it before this. I have sat
under many a comfortable sermon, and under the gospel preached many years, and
yet have no assurance of my salvation; surely if the Lord would ever have
bestowed assurance upon me, I should have had it ere this: but still
unbelieving, and still do I want assurance, and my heart hardened under
unbelief, and therefore I am thus discouraged. Have I not cause and reason now?
No, not yet, for our evidence for heaven is in God's keeping, our comforts as
well as our graces; and our evidence for heaven, as well as our heaven and
salvation; and he will bring it forth when we have most need, in a due time,
though not in our time. And if you look into Isaiah xlvi, you shall see what a
gracious promise the Lord makes unto hardhearted sinners; an invitation and
promise together: verses 12 and 13, "Hearken unto me, ye stout-hearted, that are
far from righteousness, I bring near my righteousness, it shall not be far off,
and my salvation, it shall not tarry." Oh, but I have no righteousness to lay my
assurance upon. Well, yet saith the Lord, never speak of thy righteousness, man,
"I will bring near my righteousness." Oh, but my heart is dead and hard and
stout. "Then hearken unto me, ye stout-hearted, saith God." Oh, but I am far off
from righteousness. Be it so, "Yet hearken unto me, ye stouthearted, that are
far from righteousness, I will bring near my righteousness, it shall not be far
off, and my salvation it shall not tarry." But that you may have more full
satisfaction in this, 1 shall desire you to consider three or four propositions.
Though it be possible for a man to attain to full assurance of God's love, yet
he may have saving faith that hath no assurance. Faith and assurance differ; and
therefore saith the apostle, "Draw near with full assurance of faith." Assurance
of faith comforts, but the reliance of faith saves. It is possible that a man or
woman may have such an assurance, as that they never doubted of God's love; but
ordinarily, a man never had assurance of his salvation, that never doubted of
his salvation. The first step to salvation, is to see that there is no
salvation; we must go to heaven by hell gates; and he that is not troubled
sometimes with Satan, is possessed by him. I say, ordinarily a man never had
assurance of his salvation, that never doubted of his salvation. A man may have
true saving faith, that yet hath no assurance of his salvation. This is the
first. As a man may have true saving faith, and yet no assurance, so a man may
have strong faith and assurance, yet many doubts, fears, and mistrustings may be
left in his soul. It is observed to my hand, that of all the churches, the
church of the Thessalonians are most commended for their faith and their graces,
"So that they were examples to all that believed," 1 Thessalonians 1:7, Yet in
chap, iii, verse 10, the apostle saith, there was something lacking in their
faith: "Night and day praying exceedingly, that we might see your face, and
might perfect that which is lacking in your faith." Something was lacking in
their faith, yet they were examples of faith unto all the churches. As a man may
have strong faith with assurance, and yet some doubts and fears may be left in
the soul still; so a man may have strong faith and assurance, yet for a long
time may be deprived of the feeling of it. And therefore whereas the spouse in
the Canticles in one place saith, a I am my Beloved's, and my Beloved is mine;"
in another place she saith, "I sought him whom my soul loveth, and I found him
not: I opened to my Beloved, and he was gone, and my heart failed; I called and
he answered not? As a man may have strong faith, and yet for a great time may be
deprived of the feeling of it; so it is possible a man may be a godly, gracious
man, yet may continue and go on doubting for a long time, yea possibly, he may
die doubting also. The godly and the wicked are contrary. Now for the wicked,
you shall find that a wicked man may think his condition good, yet it may be
very naught; he may have hope and persuasion that he shall go to heaven, and he
may die in these persuasions, yet he may go to hell. Revelation 3 : ye read thus
of the churches of Laodicea, at verse 16, "So then, because thou art lukewarm,
and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth: I would thou wert
cold or hot," verse 15. These were very wicked; had these people any thoughts of
mercy, or did they think their spiritual condition was good? Read verse 17.
"Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of
nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and
blind and naked?5 So that I say, a wicked man may think his condition good, and
yet it may be very naught. Yea, daily experience tells us, besides the parable
of the foolish virgins, that he may die in these persuasions. So on the
contrary, a man may think his condition naught, and go fearing and trembling a
long while, yea, even die under these fears, yet his condition may be very good.
Consider it rightly, I know indeed, ordinarily, God doth come in with some
comfort or other unto a child of God before he dies; but I would be loth to say,
and you will be loth to think, that certainly that man goes to hell that
doubteth of his salvation, or that dies doubting of his salvation. No, possibly
a man may doubt and fear, and doubt long, even die doubting, without a settled
assurance of God5s love, yet he mav go to heaven and be saved for ever. What
then, though thou hast stayed long, and hast long wanted assurance, yet God hath
not led thee so far as he hath led some, and thy condition is no other than that
which may befal the dear servants and children of God. But, though for the
present, you do want assurance of God s love, and of your own salvation: yet if
you may conclude by scripture arguments, that you shall have it before you die,
then have you no reason to be discouraged: now, though this or that particular
Christian, in a case not ordinary, do die under a cloud, and with much fear and
doubting about his everlasting condition : yet there are arguments in scripture,
whereby a man may ordinarily know, and conclude, that he shall have peace and
assurance before he dies. For example, He that is content to stay, and go
without a mercy, if God will have it so, shall not want it forever: "For the
patient abiding of the meek, shall not be forgotten forever. Psalms 9 : As the
way to have affliction continued, is to be discontented under it, so the way to
have it removed, is to be contented with it. There is a faith of expectance, a
faith of reliance, and the faith of assurance. The faith of expectance, will
rise up into a faith of reliance, and the faith of reliance, to the faith of
assurance, there is seldom a maybe faith, but hath a shall-be, and it is at the
bottom, if God would make it float. If the Lord hath wrought wonders for thy
soul when thou wert in the wilderness, and in a desert; then certainly, he will
bring thee into the land of rest. So he dealt by David, so he dealt by Israel,
so he will deal by thee. If thy heart be upright in the matter of thine
assurance, God will certainly give assurance unto thee: for ye know what the
Psalmist saith, "The Lord will give grace and glory: and no good thing will he
withhold from them that walk uprightly," Psalms 64:21. If therefore, I say, thy
heart hath been upright in the matter of thine assurance, the Lord will give
thee assurance, though for the present thou wantest it. Now I pray, when is a
man's heart upright in the matter of his assurance, but when he doth desire
assurance of God's love, and of his own salvation rather that he may praise and
serve God the more, than for his own comfort? For this look in Psalms 9 : and
see how David reasons to this purpose, verse 13, 14, "Have mercy upon me, O
Lord, consider my trouble which I suffer of them that hate me, thou that liftest
me up from the gates of death: that I may shew forth all thy praises in the
gates of the daughters of Zion: I will rejoice in thy salvation." Here are three
things observable, first, he was in a very low condition, at the gates of death:
from the gates of death, saith he, gates of death, that is, the power of death:
"The gates of hell shall not prevail," that is, the powers of hell shall not
prevail; so here, the gates of death, that is, the powers of death. David was
under the power of death, at the gates of death, and now in this condition he
prays unto the Lord for mercy, that the Lord would lift him up, but why doth he
pray so? mark his end. At verse 14. "Have mercy upon me, O Lord, consider my
trouble." Why? "That I may shew forth thy praise in the gates of the daughter of
Zion." O Lord, bring me from the gates of death, that I may praise thee in the
gates of the daughter of Zion, not for my own comfort, Lord, but that I may
praise thee. Well, but what inference doth he make of this? see what follows in
the latter end of verse 14. "I will, or shall rejoice in thy salvation;" O Lord,
my heart hath been upright in this petition, and now I know that thou wilt grant
my prayer, I will, I shall rejoice in thy salvation. When a man can praise God
for what he hath, although his condition be very sad; God will give him more,
and give him a better condition. If God shew mercy, saith one, or give a
blessing, and I praise God, I pay my debt; but if my case be low and sad, and I
praise God, then God is pleased to be called my debtor, and he will certainly
pay his debt. If the Lord be the health of your countenance, you shall have the
assurance of your salvation in due time, though now you want it. Thus the
Psalmist reasons in the text, "Wait on God, or hope in God, for I shall yet
praise him," why? "for he is the health or my countenance." But when is God said
to be the health of our countenance? when his smiles make us look cheerly, and
his frowns make us look sadly; if I look well when God smiles, though all
relations frown; and do look ill, when God frowns, though all my relations
smile; then is God the health of my countenance. Now I appeal to you, beloved,
you that do want assurance, hath it not been thus with you? Do ye not earnestly
desire assurance, yet are content to stay, wait, and go without it, if God will
have it so? Hath not the Lord shewn wonders for thy soul, when thou hast been in
a wildered condition, in preserving and keeping thee from doing evil to thyself;
and have not you been upright in the matter of your assurance, saying thus; O
Lord, give me assurance of thy love, not that I may have comfort only, but that
I may be more fit to serve thee: and have ye not praised the Lord, in your sad
condition, for what you have: and hath not the Lord been the health of your
countenance, so that when the Lord hath smiled upon you, then you have looked
well; and when the Lord hath frowned upon you, then you have looked ill? surely
you cannot but say, I must not deny these things; I cannot be faithful to mine
own soul if I should deny them; yea, Lord, thou knowest, and my soul knows it,
that thou hast done wonders for me, when I have been in a low, desert, and
bewildered condition. And, O Lord, thou knowest I desire assurance of thy love,
not for my own comfort only, but that I may be more fit to praise and serve
thee. And, Lord, thou knowest I have praised thee, in some measure, for what I
have. Yea, Lord, thou art the health of my countenance: when thou smilest upon
me, then I look well; and when thou frownest upon me, then I look ill: I may say
in truth, The Lord is the health of my countenance. Well, then, I say unto thee
from the Lord, go in peace, and be of good comfort, though thou doest for the
present want comfort and assurance of thy salvation, thou shalt have it in due
time. And if all these things be true, oh, you that are the people or the Lord,
have you any reason to be discouraged? certainly you have not: therefore why
should you not check yourselves, as David here, and say, "Why art thou cast
down, oh my soul; and why art thou disquieted within me? Only, by the way, let
no man misapply this doctrine, saying, if we should not be discouraged, although
we do want assurance, then I will neglect the getting of my assurance. Beloved,
ye see into what times we are now fallen, times of war, and rumours of war;
times of blood; these are dying times: and is this a time for any of you to want
assurance of God's love? When your hay lies abroad in the summer, and you see a
shower coming, you say, Cock up, cock up! and I would to God you might not see
showers a coming, and yet your evidences for heaven lie at random; wherefore, in
the name of the Lord, cock up, cock up : and you that have false assurance—for
you have heard that a man may think his condition is good, when it is naught,
yea, that he may die so too—look you well into your condition, and consider your
condition duly; this is no time to have false assurance : labour, then, to get
true assurance; and you that have assurance, labour to grow up more and more
into it, and the riches thereof. But suppose, for the present, I do want
assurance; I confess, indeed, I ought not to be discouraged, although I do want
assurance, as I have heard; but it is an hard thing to bear up one's heart
against all discouragements, in the want of the assurance of God's love: but
suppose I do want it for the present, what shall I now do, that I may bear up
against discouragements in this condition? Some few things by way of direction
here, and so I conclude this argument. Doest thou want assurance of God's love
and of thine own salvation? labour more and more for to put to sea, I mean to
the sea and ocean of God's love, and the deeps of Christ's merit and
satisfaction. When you are at sea in a storm, or stress of weather, you desire
sea room, and if ye have sea room enough, ye think all is well: it may be there
are some passengers in the vessel or ship, and they say, For the love of God set
us ashore, we are not able to ride out this storm; oh, set us upon some land or
other : but the skillful mariner saith, Nay, but still keep to sea; if ye come
to the shore we are undone, we are all lost creatures. So in this case, the time
of the want of your assurance is a storm time, it is a time of great stress upon
your soul; and if ye skill not the methods of Christ, you will say, Oh, now set
me upon some duty, upon the coast of mine own righteousness, or mine own
holiness: but if you have a skill in the way of the gospel, you will rather cry
out, and say, O Lord, keep my soul in the ocean of thy free love; sea room, sea
room, and all is well enough. Now there is sea room enough in the ocean of God's
free love, and of Christ's merits and satisfaction; but if you touch upon your
own righteousness, you do but endanger your soul, and sink your own heart into
more despairing doubts and fears; stand off, therefore, now', from your own
shore, and keep to sea, even that great sea of God's love and Christ's merits.
If you do want assurance, take heed that you do nut hearken unto anything out of
an ordinance, contrary unto the comfort which the Lord speaks to you in the time
of an ordinance. Ye come to an ordinance, and there the Lord begins to comfort
you, so you go away, und ye are satisfied, and your souls are refreshed; but
then afterwards, you sit down and parley with Satan, and with your own souls;
and ye lose all again, and doubt again, turning God's wine into your own
vinegar, and are unsatisfied again. But suppose that a father should give an
estate of land unto his child, and make it over to him with the best conveyance
that the law can provide 5 and then this son having laid down his conveyance
some where negligently, a cunning lawyer, (that he may get money from him,)
should come and write on the back-side of this conveyance, for such and such
reasons, this conveyance is naught: should the son do well thereupon to say, my
father hath done nothing for me, I have been deceived all this while, my father
hath given me nothing; were this fair dealing with his father? and if he should
run this course, should he ever have any assurance of his land firm in his own
thoughts? Now, so it is with you that are the people of God; the Lord hath given
to you a fair inheritance; heaven is your inheritance, the fairest and best
inheritance : the Lord hath given it you under hand and seal, and sometimes you
think your evidence is clear, and you lay it by, and Satan comes and scribbles
on the back of it, and he saith, it is naught; and you believe it, and then you
doubt again, and you are unsatisfied again : is this fair dealing with God?
Surely no. Wherefore then dost thou want assurance? The way to get it, and the
way not to be discouraged in the want of it, is this: take heed that ye never
hearken to any thing, out of an ordinance, contrary to the comfort which you
have received in an ordinance. Take heed that you be not discontented with your
condition: discontentment breeds discouragement: but dost thou want the
assurance of God's love? Say thus with thine own soul; however it be, yet will I
wait on God, when the Lord pleaseth he will give me assurance; I will only
labour to be contented with my condition. But if ye be discontented, ye will
certainly be discouraged. If you do want assurance of God's love, and of your
own salvation, take heed that you do not say, I shall never be assured; take
heed you do not say, I shall never have a promise; take heed you do not say, I
shall never be comforted ; take heed you do not say, I shall never have the
testimony of the Spirit, bearing witness with my spirit, that I am the child of
God ; do not say thus, I shall never be helped, I am in a sad condition, and I
shall never be better; I am in an uncomfortable condition, and I shall never be
comforted ; I want assurance, and I shall never have assurance. Beloved, this ye
cannot say, for who knows what God will do, whose ways are in the deep, and
whose foot-steps are not known? You know how it is with a sick person; if the
physician come, and tell him, there is hope of life, then his heart dies not;
but if the physician saith to him, Sir, you are in a great and dangerous fever,
and I would wish you to settle your estate, and look out for comfort for your
soul, for the truth is, you will never be recovered; then his heart dies. So
here, take a poor soul that wants assurance, if he saith, there is hope that I
may be assured, he is not discouraged: but if he saith, I have no assurance, and
I shall never have it, then he is quite discouraged; it is this word never, that
doth discourage: oh, I shall never be encouraged, and I shall never have
assurance, and I shall never have the testimony of God's Spirit. Take heed that
you do not say, I shall never be assured, that is a temptation; take heed of the
word never, in this case. Carry this for a rule with you, and remember it much;
that the less assurance you have, the more precious your obedience may be, and
the more kindly God may take it at your hands. It is no great matter for a man
to write, and to work by the day light, or candle light; but for a man to write,
or to work in the dark, is hard. So here, it is no great matter comparatively,
for a man to pray, and to work spiritually, while he is in the light; but for a
poor soul to pray, and to work towards God, and to be obedient, when he is in
the dark, and hath no assurance of the love of God, is something: I confess
indeed that the more assurance you have, the more full your obedience will be,
but the less assurance you have, the more ingenuous may be your obedience ; I
say, the more full your assurance is, the more full and large your obedience
will be; but the less assurance you have, the more ingenuous your obedience may
be. Every child will serve his father for his portion, and for his inheritance;
but when a child shall doubt of his fathers love, yea, when a child shall
conclude and say, I know that my father will disinherit me, I know that my
father will bestow nothing upon me, yet I will serve him because he is my
father; will not all men say, Here is ingenuousness indeed in this child? So
between God and you; it is good for a Christian to be obedient at all times, and
the more assurance you have, the more you arc bound to obey; but doth thy soul
fear that God will disinherit thee? and yet dost thou 'say, However it be, I
will obey God, for he is my Father; though I cannot see him, yet will I serve
him; and though I have no comfort from God, yet will I be obedient to him, for
it is my duty, he is my Father? The Lord will take this kindly at thine hands,
and what thou wantest in the largeness, shall be made up in the ingenuousness of
thine obedience. Wherefore, then, dost thou want assurance of the love of God?
Comfort thyself with this, and say within thine own soul, Well, though I do want
assurance, I hope, through grace, I am in some measure obedient, and the less
assurance I have, the more kindly God takes my obedience at my hand: and
therefore why should 1 be discouraged or cast down? Think, and think often of
this rule; and it will help you to be obedient, and bear up your hearts also in
the want of assurance. And thus I have done with the fourth instance.


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  CHAPTER 10: SERMON VIII. - A LIFTING UP IN CASE OF TEMPTATION.
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SERMON VIII. - A LIFTING UP IN CASE OF TEMPTATION. "Why art thou cast down, O my
soul? and why art thou disquieted within me," —Psalms 42:11. V. Sometimes the
discouragements of the saints are drawn from their temptations. And thus they
argue with themselves: I am a poor creature, that hath laboured under many
temptations, never any so tempted as I have been: these two, three, four, five,
six, or many years, that I have lien under these temptations, and no relief
comes, no help comes; have I not reason then to be discouraged and cast down?
No; no reason yet: I grant that the least temptations are great afflictions; for
the more a man is unfitted by affliction for God's service, either in doing good
or receiving good, the worser and more heavy is that affliction to a gracious
spirit. Now, though God doth so overrule the temptations of his people, that
they receive good thereby, as appeareth afterward, yet the temptation in itself
doth indispose a man unto what is good. The more a man is tempted unto what is
evil, the more a man is hindered from what is good. It is an affliction to a
gracious heart to be conflicting, fighting and combatting with a man: but in
temptations, we do combat and conflict immediately with Satan, who is the prince
of the air; with principalities and powers; with that evil one, who for his
devouring nature is called a lion, for his cruelty is called a dragon, and for
his subtlety an old serpent: and in every temptation, a poor soul goes into the
field with Satan, and fights a duel with him. "Satan hath (saith Christ to
Peter) desired you;" in which duel and combat a man doth not miscarry for this
present life barely, but, if he miscarry, he miscarries to all eternity; he
dies, is killed and slain to all eternity: oh what a mighty hazard doth a poor
soul run in every temptation! The chaste and good woman counts it an affliction
to her, so long as she lives, if she be but once violated; if a filthv person
meet her in the field, and violate her, though she do not consent unto him; she
wrings her hands, and saith, I am undone for ever. No, these temptations are the
solicitations of an unclean spirit, and what though a man do not consent unto
them, yet thereby his soul suffers violence. Oh, saith a gracious soul, what
though I do not consent, yet what an infinite misery is it to be thus abused,
defiled, and violenced by these temptations! The more any affliction doth seize
on soul and body, the greater it is: it is comfort in a family that the wife is
well, when the husband is sick; or that the husband is well, when the wife is
down: where both are down at once, it is a sad family indeed. So though the soul
be afflicted, yet if the body be well; although the body be afflicted, yet if
the spirit be well, it is some comfort: but where both are down, the condition
is sad: and seldom doth any great temptation befall a man, but soul and body are
both down at once; though at first it falls upon the spirit, yet it descends
into and fires the body. And therefore saith Paul, "I received a messenger of
Satan, a thorn in my flesh, buffetting of me." As in the comforts of the Holy
Ghost, though the comforts be poured out upon the soul and spirit, yet they run
down upon the body: so in the troubles of temptation, though they seize first
upon the inward man, yet they run upon the skirts of the outward man also. And
thus you will find it with Job (chap. 7:1). God had put Job into Satan's hand,
only with this reserve, "See that thou spare his life." The devil having the
power, first he loads him with outward afflictions, and then with inward
temptations : while he was under his outward afflictions, how sweetly did he
carry it, blessing the Lord, saying, " The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away,
blessed be his name but when the volley of temptations came, then see what a sad
condition the good man was in, how he was all on fire, as if Job could not be
found in Job: while he was under these afflictions, he rebuked his wife, for
saying, " Curse God, and die;" but now, being under temptations himself, he
wisheth to die, and curseth the day of his birth : "My soul chooseth strangling
and death rather than my life," Job 7:15. But had this temptation any influence
upon his body too? it seems his heart, and soul, and spirit was much disquieted,
for be saith, " Why hast thou set me as a mark against thee?" verse 20. But was
his body fired with it too? Yes: "When I said, my bed shall comfort me, my couch
shall ease my complaint; then thou scarest me with dreams, and terrifiest me
with visions." verse 13, 14. As now we find by experience, many poor souls
cannot sleep while they are under their temptations; and if you will see the sum
and upshot of all, read what he says at verse 20: "I am a burden to myself." And
so many now; Why should I live any longer? I am a burden to my family, I am a
burden to mine acquaintance, a burden to all my friends, I am a burden to
myself; who knows the burden of a poor tempted soul but he that bears it?
Hebrews 11:37. Temptations are ranked among the greatest afflictions: "They were
stoned, sawn asunder, were tempted:" and, in Hebrews 2 : it is said of our
Saviour, that "himself suffered being tempted," yet he sinned not under his
temptation. So that there is somewhat of a suffering in every temptation,
although one be free from sin. And in Revelation 12:12, it is said, "Woe to the
inhabitants of the earth and of the sea, for the devil is come down unto you,
having great wrath." And wherein is his wrath more seen than in his temptations.
Oh, what a sad and woeful condition is it then to lie under temptations! Yet,
let me tell you, though there be some suffering in every temptation, and the
least temptation is a great affliction, yet the saints and people of God have no
reason to be discouraged or cast down, whatever their temptations be. How may
that appear? Four demonstrations of it. If Satan do therefore tempt the people
of God, that he may discourage them; then have they no reason to be discouraged
because they are tempted by Satan. I say, if Satan's great design, end and aim,
in all the temptations of the saints, be to discourage them; then they have no
reason to be discouraged because they are tempted, for then they should gratify
Satan, and give him his end. Now Satan doth tempt that he may tempt; he tempts
unto one sin, that he may tempt unto another; he tempteth a man to sin against
the law, that he may make him sin against the gospel; and what greater sin
against the gospel, than unbelieving discouragements? He knows or thinks, such
and such a person is gone from his kingdom, and he saith, Though I cannot hinder
his salvation, but he will be saved do what I can; yet I will hinder his
comfort, and make him draw heavily, and if I can but discourage him in his duty,
1 shall in time make him to cast it off. His great design is to discourage; and
therefore whenever any godly man is tempted, he should say, Well, through the
grace- of Christ, seeing Satan's design is to discourage, my design shall be to
bear up my heart and spirit against all discouragements. If God our Father doth
pity his children under their temptations, and the more they are tempted by
Satan, the more they are pitied by God; then have they no reason to be
discouraged, whatever their temptations be. How is it with your own bowels? If
you had two children, one that is in your house with you at home, and another
that is in Spain or Italy, abroad, exposed to great temptations; is not your
pity most towards that child that is abroad, and exposed to most temptations?
Your love may be expressed to him that is at home as much another way, but your
pitying love is most to him that is abroad. As in the time of a storm, great
rain or hail, if you have one child lie in your bosom, or sitting upon your
knee, and another that is abroad in the open fields; though your love in one
kind may run out to him that is upon your knee, yet, doth not your pitying love
run out more to him that is abroad in the open fields? Thus it is with God, he
hath two sorts of children; some that are exposed to more temptations, and some
that are exposed to less; though his grace and love may run out more in one kind
to them that are less tempted, yet his pitying love runs out most unto those
that are most tempted. And upon this account you will find in Scripture, that
when God saw any of his children were to go into any sad temptation, he did
either immediately before, in or after, more than ordinarily reveal himself unto
them. The more you are tempted by Satan, the more you are pitied by God. It
matters not whether your temptation be great or small: if less, you have the
less pity; if more, you have the more pity. Why then should you be discouraged,
although your temptations be never so great? If all the temptations of God's
people be overcome and broken, before they do fall on them; then have they no
reason to be discouraged or cast down, because they are tempted. Now so it is,
Christ was a common person, not only in his death, but in his life; he did act
and work and bear as a common person, as our second Adam all along: Christus non
meruit sibi. Christ did not die for himself, nor obey for himself; but he did
die for us, and obey for us, and all his seed were in him, as in a common
person. Look whatever evils Christ did bear, those he did bear for us, and we
did bear in him, as in our second Adam; and therefore when he was tempted, he
stood as a common person in his temptations, and in him all the saints and
people of God, who are his seed, were tempted; and in his overcoming they did
overcome. For as when the first Adam was tempted, he being a common person, we
all were tempted in him ; and when he yielded to Satan, we did all yield in him
; when he was overcome, we were overcome in him; and when he did eat the
forbidden fruit, all his seed did eat in him; and every child of Adam may now
say, 1 did then eat the forbidden fruit: so when Christ was tempted, all his
seed were tempted in him; and when he overcame, all his seed overcame in him.
And therefore when you read the story of Christ's temptations, ye are not barely
to say, Thus and thus Christ resisted for my example: but, in his resisting, I
did resist; in his overcoming, I did overcome. For, as I did eat in the first
Adam's eating, and yield in the first Adam's yielding; so I did refuse, and
resist, and overcome in Christ, the second Adam's refusing, resisting, and
overcoming. Thus with all the saints and people of God, who are the seed of the
second Adam, Christ hath not only overcome their temptations for them, but in
Christ their second Adam they have overcome Satan, and made a spoil of
principalities and powers. And therefore why should they be discouraged,
whatever their temptations be? If God hath such an overruling hand of grace upon
all the temptations of the saints, as that they shall turn to their good ; then
they have no reason to be cast down, or to be discouraged, because of them. Now
God would never suffer his people to be tempted, but that he intendeth to
destroy their temptations by their temptations. Look what is the end and issue
of an evil, that was God's design in suffering that evil to come to pass. And
this is the end and issue of all the saints' temptations, that thereby they are
more enlightened. Tentatio dat intellecturn. Temptation gives understanding;
tempting times are teaching times. Thereby they are more humbled; "For this
cause (saith Paul) I received a messenger of Satan (he speaks it twice) that I
might not be exalted." Thereby they are the more occasioned to live in God and
depend on him. "Watch and pray (saith our Saviour) lest ye fall into
temptation." Watching doth note our diligence, praying doth note our dependence.
And why watch and pray? but, lest ye enter into temptation. Thereby the grace
and power and might of God in Christ is the more discovered, and revealed to
them. "My grace is sufficient for thee," saith God to Paul in the time of his
temptation; a word which he had not heard before. Thereby their graces are more
increased, as the Israelites were multiplied by being oppressed. Unus
Christianus ten- tatus mille Christiani. One tempted Christian is worth a
thousand, saith Luther; for as the wind and breath of the bellows, though
contrary to the fire, blows up the fire, and increaseth the flame thereof; so,
though the breath of temptation be contrary to grace, yet thereby grace is more
increased, and raised to a higher flame. When Satan curs- eth, God blesseth; and
when God blesseth, he saith, "Increase and multiply." Thereby all the saints are
made to triumph over Satan. It is a Christian's duty, not only to triumph over
the world, but over Satan; therefore saith the apostle, "The God of Peace tread
down Satan under your feet." Those are words of triumph, and Paul in the name of
other Christians, triumphs over principalities and powers. How' shall a man
triumph, if he never have victory; and how shall he have the victory, if he
never fights? Therefore God leads his people into the field, that they may
fight; but in all this fight, God stands by, Christ stands by, love stands by;
and God hath no design but of love upon his children in their temptations. Yea,
upon this account our Saviour saith, that he doth "appoint unto his disciples a
kingdom, because they continued with him in his temptations," Luke 22 : And
shall his disciples then be down, and be discouraged or complain, because they
are with him in his temptations? Surely they have no cause, they have no reason
for their discouragements, whatever their temptations be. But I have been
tempted long, and long, and long assaulted, yet I have no deliverance. How long?
As long as Christ himself? " He was in all points tempted as we are, sin
excepted," Hebrews 4 : Indeed Satan found nothing in him, no tinder to receive
the sparks of his temptations; but do but abate the sin of his temptations, and
then in all points he was tempted as we are, even as much and as long: for if
you look into Luke 4:2, you shall find that he was at one time tempted forty
days; and then when Satan left him, the text tells us, " He left him for a
season," tor he was daily tempting of him. And though you have been long
assaulted, hath not Satan left you for a season, have you not had some
intermissions, some revives, some breathing times? Job complained that he was
not suffered to swallow his spittle, he had no breathing time, as he thought.
But though your temptations have been long, and very long; yet you have had
revives, Satan hath left you for a season. And if that be true, That God hath
such an overruling hand of grace upon your temptations, that your very
temptations shall turn to your good; that thereby you are more enlightened,
humbled, and your grace increased; then the longer you are in this school, the
better scholar you shall be, the more enlightened, and the more humbled, and the
more gracious: why should you then be discouraged, though your temptations be
very long? But I am tempted many times to doubt of mv child-ship, Whether I be
the child of God or no? And was not Christ our Saviour tempted so? There are but
three particular temptations mentioned, in all the forty days of Christ as
temptation, and two of them run so: ft If thou be the Son of God?" Wherein Satan
labours to draw a cloud upon Christ as assurance, and to write an upon his
child-ship or sonship. Do you think to march through your enemys country to
heaven, and never be at a stand about your condition? Suppose a man should
travel through a strange country which was very long, wherein he never vas
before, and wherein are many cross ways; would you not wonder that he should
travel all the way, and never be at a stand about his way, never question his
way, whether right or wrong? If you be the child of God, you are now from home,
and travelling home, warring in a strange country; and do you think it is
possible, and would it not be a wonder, that meeting with so many cross ways,
you should never be at a stand about your condition, or question your way,
whether you be right or no? Give me leave to propound you a parable. Suppose two
men: one goes very brave, fares deliciously, is very merry, and full of money,
yet hath no lands, no calling, nothing left him, no friends to maintain him, nor
any honest way known to bring him in money, and yet he is full of it; the other
works hard, fares meanly, goes plainly, and he is oft complaining, I fear I
shall want and miscarry, yet he hath a calling, some land, good friends, and
some money? Which of these two, think you, doth come must honestly by his money?
Will you not all say, the latter? For though he hath but a little, yet he works,
hath a lawful calling, ways known for to bring it in. But as for the other,
though fine, brave, and looks high, yet he hath nothing to bring it in; I fear
he comes not well by it. So spiritually: there are two sorts of people in the
world: one that is very confident of his salvation, and full of comfort, yet he
prayeth not in private, reads not, meditates not, examineth not his own heart,
takes no pains about his soul, but is often spending, keeping ill company, will
be sometimes drunk, swear, and be unclean, yet he is very confident he shall go
to heaven ; the other prays, hears, reads, meditates, walketh with all
strictness in his life and conversation, yet he is always doubting and fearing,
but through grace he hath some comfort: which of these two, think you, is in the
best condition, and comes most honestly by his comfort? Will you not say,
surely, the latter? for though he fears, yet he is always doing, working
heaven-ward. The other, though confident and full of comforts, hath no good way
for to bring them in, and therefore surely his evidence for heaven is stolen,
his comforts are all stolen; but as for the other, though he hath but little
comfort, yet he comes truly by it. Thus it may be with you; whilst others
swaggering it, and braving it out with their comfort, and false confidence, go
to hell, and perish everlastingly. It is a sure rule, that God's promise of
mercy doth suppose our misery; if he promise health, he supposeth our sickness;
if he promise grace, it supposeth our sin. Now, though in the times of the Old
Testament, God promised much outward blessing; yet in the times of the New
Testament, the mercy promised is, to send the Comforter; the Spirit who shall
bear witness unto our spirits that we are the children of God. Often our Saviour
saith, "I will send the Comforter:" why? but to show that in the times of the
gospel, the people of God shall labour under doubtings, and be full of fears
about their spiritual estate; and therefore, though you do doubt of your
childship, which is your evil, yet your state herein, is no other than what may
be the state and condition of God's own people in these gospel times; why
therefore should you be discouraged in this respect? But I do not only doubt of
my child-ship, I am not only tempted to doubt whether I be the child of God or
no; but I labour under sad and fearful temptations, I am tempted to strange and
horrid things, such as I fear to name; I am even tempted to make away myself;
tempted with blasphemous thoughts, to doubt whether there be a God or no;
whether the Scripture be true; and to say that I have sinned against the Holy
Ghost: such and such things I am tempted to, as my very soul and flesh doth
tremble at; and have I not just cause and reason now to be discouraged and cast
down? I confess this is sad indeed: I do not read in Scripture, though I read of
many sins of the godly, that ever any godly man did make away himself. It is a
good speech of Austin: Sibi auferendo presentem vitam, abnegant futuram; Men by
taking away their present life, deny themselves their future life. But because,
saith Mr. Perkins, some have done this, whose lives have been counted honest and
good formerly; therefore my sentence is thus: I dare not say they are damned,
because of their former life; and I dare not say they are saved, because of
their sinful death; yet for the temptation itself, I say, if it do not come to
act; as there is no duty which a godly man doth perform, but a wicked man may do
the same, yet remain wicked; so there is no temptation which a wicked man may
yield unto, but a godly man may be tempted unto, yet remain godly: was not
Christ himself tempted by Satan to throw himself down from the pinnacle of the
temple r yet lie did it not: only my counsel and advice from the Lord is, if any
be troubled with such a temptation, be sure you reveal it, and discover it
presently; and as for those horrid, blasphemous suggestions which lie so heavy
upon your souls, which make your heart and flesh to tremble at the rising of
them. Ye have read how it was with the king of Moab, when he could not break
through the host of Israel, nor make them cease from following the victory; he
presented unto their view a horrid spectacle, sacrificing on the walls his own
dear son, and heir to the crown, that so the Israelites, being not able to
endure the view of that inhuman sight, might give over the victory. Thus doth
Satan do; when he cannot drive a gracious soul out of the field any other way,
then he presenteth such horrid, inhuman suggestions to him, that he may scare
him from the good ways of God: it is not in our power to hinder Satan from
presenting these things to our thoughts. When you come into wicked, ungodly, and
profane company, if they will swear, and curse, and blaspheme, you cannot hinder
them from speaking, nor yourself from hearing; you may sit down and mourn,
saying, Oh, what blasphemy is here! what cursing is here! but do what you can,
they will fill your ears with these things. Now Satan, being a spirit, he is
able to present these blasphemies to your spirits, and you cannot hinder it: you
may cry out and say, Oh, w7hat blasphemy is here! oh what a burden is this to my
soul 1 but he can present them to you whether you will or not; and did he not
present these things unto Christ himself? "All these things will I give thee
(saith he) if thou wilt fall down and worship mt." What greater blasphemy can be
imagined, than that the God of heaven and earth, as Christ was, should worship
Satan; yet hereunto he did tempt our Lord and Saviour. And if our God doth so
order the temptations of his children, as that thereby they are kept from sin,
have they any reason to be discouraged now by these horrid temptations? Many a
man is kept from other sins. Jerome, Luther, Magdeburgensis and others, relate a
story of a certain martyr, that when the enemies could not threaten him out of
his religion, they sent a very handsome, fair, and beautiful woman to entice him
to folly; and he finding himself to be moved, and his lust begin to work, did
bite off his tongue, and spit it in her face, thinking that the pain thereof
would keep him from that fleshly lust, counting it more ease to combat with pain
than with lust, as Austin speaks,* and hereby he was preserved. I do not speak
of this fact to commend it, but only to shew that God doth sometimes keep his
children from lust by pain. Now in these blasphemous suggestions you find a
great deal of pain, and if you were not in these pains, you would be lusting
after other evils. God seeth what filthy, vile, lusting hearts you have, and
therefore suffers these pains for to come upon you, and so you are kept from
lust. Did you never know a man kept from lust by these temptations? yea, did you
never know a man converted to God by occasion of these temptations? I have, and
I think many, many poor souls that have lived in an ignorant condition a long
time, then it pleased God to suffer Satan to throw in these temptations, these
horrid temptations, whereby they are so amazed and startled, that thereupon,
they looking into their own condition, were converted unto Jesus Christ. The
more delights and complacencies a man takes in sin, the more sinful is the sin:
the more a man's flesh trembleth, and his soul is burdened under temptation, the
less sinful. Now, cannot you say, in truth, Lord, though these be my greatest
burdens, yet they are my least delights? Yes. Well, then, be of good comfort,
the Lord doth but hereby keep you from other sins, and therefore why should you
be discouraged whatever these temptations be? As for the sin against the Holy
Ghost; he never sins against the Holy Ghost, that fears he hath sinned against
the Holy Ghost. But these are not my temptations; I praise God I am free from
such: but I have other great and strong temptations, and have no strength to
resist them. I am a poor, weak person, a weak young man, or a weak young woman,
and I fear I shall yield unto my temptations; and therefore I am thus
discouraged, have I not just cause and reason now? No; for out of weakness we
are made strong, and when we are weak, then are we strong in the Lord, saith the
apostle Paul. Possibly a man may be weak in regard of years, and yet may be
strong in regard of grace, and overcome his temptations. In 1 John 2:12, "I
write unto you little children," saith the apostle John. Children he doth call
them all, for he was their father in Christ. And at verse 13, " I write unto
you, fathers (saith he), because ye have known him that is from the beginning: I
write unto you, young men, because you have overcome the wicked one: I write
unto you, little children (saith he), because you have known the Father which,
because it is matter of concernment, he repeats again at verse 14: " I have
written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning:
I have written unto you, young men, because you are strong, and you have
overcome the wicked one." There are three sorts of people in the world; some
that are old and aged, some that are children, some that are middle aged, and
are called young men, or young women. The aged think that they have no need to
learn, they know as much as the minister can tell them; therefore saith the
apostle here, "I write unto you, fathers." Children think that they are not yet
to learn, and they have time enough before them; therefore saith he, "I write
unto you, children." Young persons think they should mind their business, trades
and callings; therefore saith he, "I write unto you, young men." And I pray mark
what he speaks, words suitable to all these conditions: old men love
antiquities, and therefore, saith he, "I write unto you, fathers, because you
have known him that is from the beginning." Children love to have the father's
and mother's name in their mouth; and therefore saith he, "I write unto you,
children, because ye have known the Father." Young men are strong, and are fit
for fighting, and therefore saith he, "I write unto you, young men, because you
have overcome the evil one." What evil one is that but Satan the tempter? and,
of all others, young men are here said to overcome the evil one; of all men and
women, young persons do overcome. This time of young men is the overcoming time.
And I pray tell me, was David an old man when he slew Goliah? Nay, not thirty
years old. Was Joseph an old man when he refused and overcame the temptation of
his mistress? Was Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego old persons when they resisted
and overcame the temptation of the king, choosing rather to go into the fiery
furnace than to yield? Nay, but they are called the three children; and hath not
God said, the "young child shall play upon the hole of the asp r" What is the
hole of the asp, if temptation be not? And if you consider that story of the
Israelites' victory, which God gave them against the Amalekites, ye shall find
that they never had a more glorious victory; so great, that they set up an
altar, and called the name of it, "Jehovah Nissi," the Lord my shield. Yet if
you look into Deuteronomy you will find that the Amalekites fell upon them when
they were weak and weary at Rephidim, and in this weak and weary time they had
this glorious victory. What therefore though you be weak and weary, and now are
in the valley of Rephidim; yet thou mayest overcome, and have so glorious a
victory, that thou shalt set up an altar, and call the name of it, "Jehovah
Nissi," the Lord my shield. Oh, but I have yielded, and been overcome already in
my temptation. Well, but know you not that it is one thing to be overcome in
pralio, in the skirmish; and another thing to be overcome in bello, in the
battle ; those who are overcome in the skirmish, may overcome in the battle: and
let me tell you this, that you are never quite overcome, so long as you keep
your weapon in your hand: when a man lieth down before his enemy, and gives up
his weapon, then he is overcome indeed ; and when you lie down, and are
discouraged, and give all up, saying, I will pray no more, and hear no more, and
read no more, all is to no purpose; then are you overcome: but till that be,
though you be overcome in the skirmish, you may overcome in the main battle;
will you then lie down and be discouraged? or is there any reason why a godly
man should be discouraged? No. Surely if this be true, that a man is never quite
overcome till he lie down; then, through grace, every godly man should say, I
will never give up my weapon: "Why art thou cast down, oh my soul? Still wait on
God." But yet all this reacheth not my case or condition ; for I fear that my
temptations are not such temptations as are incident unto God's people; as my
sin and spot is not the spot of God's people; so that my temptations are not,
that they are not such as God's own people do meet withal; and I rather fear it,
because that since the time that I have set my face towards heaven, I have met
with such temptations as I did never feel before : surely therefore all is not
right with me; have I not cause then to be discouraged and cast down? No; for, I
pray, what are the temptations of God's people, and how do they take them? 1.
When a godly man is tempted to any sin; if he fall into it, then he is tempted
again with unbelief, to think that all is naught, even all that ever he had done
before, tempted to aggravate his sin, and to despair. When a wicked man is
tempted to what is evil, if he fall into it, then he is tempted to presume,
tempted to excuse his sin, and to think, and say, This is but a slip, or
youthful carriage, God is merciful, and the like; and so he is tempted to
presume. This usually is the way and manner of Satan with the godly and ungodly.
2. When a godly man is tempted to what is evil; if he fall into it, the devil
then tempteth him to think it was no temptation, and to lay all upon himself,
saying, I have done foolishly, I will go out and weep bitterly; the devil had no
hand here in it, it was all mine own. When a wicked man is tempted to what is
evil, if he fall into it, he is then tempted afresh to think it is but a
temptation, and I was drawn into it by others, it was not myself, Satan tempted
me, or such an one tempted me, the woman that thou gavest me, or the friend that
was with me; and so he doth lay it on others. This is usually the way and manner
of Satan with the godly and ungodly. 3. When a godly man is tempted to what is
evil, he rather startles at the sin than at the burden of it. When a wicked man
is tempted to what is evil, he rather startles at the burden and at the
punishment than at the evil and sin of it. And this we see clearly in the 26th
of Matthew; our Saviour tells the disciples, at the 21st verse, that one of them
should betray him; whereupon they were all of them astonished, and said every
one, one by one, fc Lord, is it I These were good disciples. Judas yet stirs
not: but at verse 25, it is said, "Then Judas, which betrayed him, answered, and
said, Master, is it I?" Then; When? Look to verse 24, and you shall read that
our Saviour speaks of the burden and punishment of his sin: "The Son of Man
goes, as it is written of him; but woe unto that man by whom the Son of Man is
betrayed; it had been good for that man if he had not been born." Then Judas
answered, Is it I, Lord? Then he startled. The true and gracious disciples of
Christ startled at the sin, when Christ did but name the sin; but then not a
word from Judas: but when Christ speaks of the punishment and burden of his sin,
then Judas startled, and not a word from them. So that, plainly, a gracious soul
startleth at the evil of a temptation more than the burden of it, a wicked man
more at the burden than at the evil of it. This is the way of the godly and
ungodly in their temptations. And as for you, poor, tempted, doubting souls,
that labour under sad temptations, and think it hath not been with you as with
others; have you not even found it thus? Can you not say of a truth, Lord, my
soul hath found it thus? For after I have sinned, I have been tempted again, to
doubt of my child-ship, and to sad despair; when I have been tempted to sin, and
have fallen into it, I have laid all upon myself, and said, it is no temptation,
but this is my own corruption ; yea, Lord, thou knowest my soul hath been more
startled at the evil of the temptation, than at the burden ; as for the burden
of my temptation, I leave that to thee, take it off when thou wilt; but oh that
my soul were freed from the evil of it. Then be of good comfort, it is no
otherwise with you than what may be with God's dear children; your spot is no
other than what may be the spot of God's own people. And whereas you say, I fear
that all is not right, because I find such temptations now, since I have looked
towards heaven, which I did never feel before: Do you think that Peter ever did
deny Christ before he was converted to Jesus Christ? Did David ever number the
people whilst he was in the state of nature? Do you read that the children of
Israel wanted water and bread while they were in Egypt, or that they met with so
many temptations there as they did after God had appeared mightily to them? Was
not Christ tempted after baptized, and heard a voice from heaven, saying, "This
is my well-beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased did he ever meet with such
temptations, before he was so declared to be the beloved Son of God from heaven?
And if God do not measure a godly man by any one action, under any present
temptation, nor cast his everlasting condition thereby; then what reason is
there why he should be discouraged in this respect? Look into the Scripture, and
you shall find, that though God doth chastise his people for their miscarriage,
and change of their behaviour under their temptation; yet he doth never measure
a godly man, or cast his everlasting condition by that. You will not measure
milk when it seeths and wallops, but when it is cool: and God will not measure
his children by what they are when they wallop in some temptation, but by what
they are when they are cool and most themselves. So he did deal with Job,
Jeremiah, and Moses, and all his children: indeed he doth not deal so by the
wicked, he measures them sometimes by one carriage, and they are cast thereby,
that even everlastingly they are cast thereby. Ananias and Sapphira lied but
once to the Holy Ghost, that we read of, and Satan had a hand therein; for saith
the apostle, "Why hath Satan filled your heart, that you should lie unto the
Holy Ghost?" yet they were cast thereby. It was but one act that Saul did when
he spared Agag and the fatlings, yet he was cast thereby. It was but one act
that Adam did, and Eve did, when they did eat the forbidden fruit, and Satan
tempted them to it, yet they were cast thereby, and all mankind lost thereby.
Why? Because they were upon a covenant of works. So when men are under a
covenant of works, if they miscarry but in one action, though tempted thereto by
Satan, yet God may cast them thereby. Now all the wicked, still, are under the
covenant of works; and therefore though it he but one act wherein they miscarry,
and they be drawn thereunto by Satan, yet, God sometimes doth, and justly may
cast them thereby unto all eternity. But as for the saints and people of God,
they are not under a covenant of works, but of grace, all of them are so; and
therefore God deals graciously with them, not measuring them by any one
carriage, under one temptation. No, saith the Lord, it is but the time of their
temptation, I will not measure this man or woman by what they are now, but as
they are when they are cool, most themselves, and out of temptation. Oh what a
gracious privilege is this! Who would not labour to get into Christ, to become
godly, to be in this covenant of grace! And as for you that are godly, tell me,
upon all this account, have you any just cause and reason for your
discouragements under your temptations Surely no; whatever your temptations be,
yet you have no reason for discouragement. But what then? What shall I do that I
may bear up my heart against all discouragements in this kind, that I may not be
cast down or discouraged by reason of my temptations? I confess, indeed, that
there is no reason why a godly man should be discouraged in this respect; but
yet it is a hard thing to bear up against all discouragements in time of
temptation: what shall I do in this case, that I may not be discouraged whatever
my temptations be? I will say nothing to your natural temper: if temptations
arise from natural causes, then natural means, as physic, are to be used and
applied, and people should do well to be persuaded thereunto. But somewhat by
way of direction spiritually. If you would not be discouraged under your
temptations, take heed that when you are in temptation, you do not expect too
much from any one means of help; over expectation breeds discouragement;
disappointment doth breed discouragement: it is not the sadness of your
condition, but disappointment that doth cause discouragement. If a man be in
debt, and under an arrest; so long as he thinks he hath friends to bail him, or
some goods and commodities to make sale of, he is not discouraged; but if he
expect much from his friends, and all fail him, and his goods be seized, that he
cannot have help come in at that door, nor from any other means, which he
expected from, then he is quite discouraged. If a man be in the water, wherein
there is danger of drowning; so long as he can get hold of something that will
bear him up, he is not discouraged; but if he lay hold of seme tuft of grass on
the bank side, and that breaks, he falls back again, and is more plunged in the
water; and if he be not scared out of all thoughts, he is more discouraged than
ever. So here, in temptation, we are as in the water, and in fear of drowning,
crying out, we sink, we sink; then we fly to some tuft of grass, some means or
other, and if that break or fail, then we are quite discouraged. Would you not,
therefore, be dejected or cast down in time of temptation; take heed that you do
not lay all your strength upon one tuft of grass; this or that man's counsel;
this or that particular means; but say rather, I am now indeed in the deep, and
in fear of drowning, and see no means of deliverance; but God*s ways are in the
deep, and he is infinite, he hath ways and means that I know not of; therefore
though I use the means, yet I will not rest on them, and though all tufts of
grass break, and anchors come home; yet I will wait on God. If you would not be
discouraged in time of temptation, take heed that you do not say of your
temptation, this is no temptation. Satan tempts, first unto what is evil, and
then he tempts God's people to think that their temptation is no temptation : as
long as man thinks it but a temptation, he thinks, it will not last long, it is
but a temptation, it will not hold always, and so his heart is in some measure
upheld with hope : but when Satan can persuade, that the temptation is no
temptation, but a worse matter, then the heart sinks and dies: take heed
therefore that you do not say that your temptation is no temptation. Consider
what infinite engagements are upon Jesus Christ, to succour and relieve poor
tempted souls; you can never be discouraged under temptation, so long as you
think, how mightily Christ is engaged to help those that are tempted; and
engaged he is many ways; engaged by his own temptations; for he was therefore
tempted, that he might be able experimentally to succour those that are tempted
: engaged he is by promise; for he hath said he will not quench the smoking
flax, yea, though it hath more smoke than fire: engaged he is by his interest in
you, and his name upon • you: engaged he is by his own gracious disposition ;
when he was upon earth, he cured those that were vexed by Satan: art thou now
tempted? thou art now vexed by Satan; Christ is as gracious in heaven as he was
on earth : engaged he is by office; tor saith the apostle, "We have not such an
High-Priest, as cannot be touched with our infirmities, but was in all points
tempted as we are, that he might succour those that are tempted; " he is our
great High- Priest. When the man-slayer was pursued by the avenger of blood, if
the man-slayer fled unto a city of refuge, he was safe there: where he was to
stay till the death of the high-priest; and when the high-priest died, then he
was set at liberty. The Lord Jesus Christ is our High-Priest; by whose death we
are set at liberty; and by whose life we are all preserved: it is his office to
succour poor tempted souls, pursued by avengers of blood: and if a good man be
faithful in his office, much more will Christ, by whom all other men are
faithful. Yea, God our Father hath erected an office for the succouring of poor
tempted souls, and Jesus Christ hath this office; whenever therefore you are
tempted, and fear you shall miscarry under your temptation, then remember
Christ, and say, Oh ! but the Lord Jesus is in office; he is bound to succour
poor tempted souls, and such a one am I; he is engaged by his own temptation; he
is engaged by promise; he is engaged by his interest in me, and his name upon
me; he is engaged by his own disposition; he is engaged by his office, and
therefore though I be tempted unto what is evil, yet, avoid, Satan, for I shall
be delivered; I am tempted, but I shall be delivered, for the Lord Jesus Christ
is engaged for my deliverance. Do but think of Christ's engagement, and you will
never be discouraged, whatever your temptations be. Think not to comfort or
relieve yourself in temptation, with mere philosophical or moral reasons, for
the disease of temptation is stronger than that physic; temptations answered by
reason will return again, but temptations dipt in the blood of Christ will
return no more, or not with such violence and success. Ye see how it is with a
candle that is blown out, it is easily lighted again, but if you put it into
water, then it is more hard to light. So, temptations blown out with resolutions
and moral reasons do easily return, but quenched in Christ's blood do not so.
Christ is an universal good, reason can hold forth but a particular good; now
there is that in an universal good which will answer unto all your ills; but as
for moral reasons, the tempter will say to them, Christ we know, and the promise
we know, but who are ye? It is God himself, saith the apostle, 2 Corinthians 1.
"Who comforteth us in all our tribulations." Are we in the dark? Christ only can
light the candle. Be not unwilling to advise with those that have trodden the
way of temptation, though they be weaker than yourself. Christ was stronger than
any angel, yet in the time of his agony, the angels came and comforted him.
Possibly a stronger may be comforted and strengthened by a weak hand in the time
of an agony; and temptation-time is agony time. Are you therefore tempted and in
the dark? Speak with those children of light that have gone through this dark
entry of temptation. Who knows, but that God may speak that comfort to you by a
weaker hand, which you could never obtain by a stronger. But especially speak
and converse with the promise; hear what the promise speaketh; the Lord by it
saith, that no temptation shall overtake you, " but what is common to men." 1
Corinthians 10:13. Oh ! say you, never any one was troubled with such
temptations as I am, but saith the apostle, say not so, "for no temptation hath
overtaken you, but what is common to men." You think that your temptation is
extraordinary, and the truth is, that is a second temptation at the back of the
first; it is a temptation to think that my temptation is extraordinary, yet say
you, Oh! my condition is extraordinary, my affliction extraordinary, and my
temptation extraordinary: but, says the apostle, "no temptation hath overtaken
you, but what is common to men." You think that you shall never be able to bear
your temptation. Oh! say you, I am a poor weak creature, my temptation is strong
and great, therefore I shall never be able to bear it. But says the apostle,
"God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able."
Again, you think that you shall never be rid of this temptation, Oh, say you, I
have been tempted thus and thus long, and no deliverance comes, nor any
likelihood of deliverance, surely therefore I shall never be delivered: but the
apostle saith, "God is faithful who will with the temptation, make a way for
escape. He will give an outlet, open a door and window, that this smoke may go
out. It may be that you see not this door, it may be out of sight; so the door
of the ark was in the time of the flood, but when the ark was built, the door
was built. So when Satan built this temptation, God did build a door in the
sides thereof, and in due time you shall see it. But may I be sure of that, you
will say? Yes, as sure as God is faithful, for he hath pawned his faithfulness
for the truth of this promise. "But God is faithful," says the apostle, "who
will with the temptation, make a way for escape." Oh, that that men would mind
the promise more and all the words thereof. They are so hurried sometimes with
the temptation, that they cannot hear the promise. But is all this true? Oh,
then attend the promise, hear what the promise speaketh. Consider also what
comforts lie behind your temptations; as temptations sometimes lie in ambush
behind your performances, so comforts lie in ambush behind your temptations, and
as the greatest temptations do sometimes follow the highest manifestations of
God's love (witness the 3rd and 4th chapters of St. Matthew), so the greatest
consolations do sometimes follow the worst temptations. When did the angels
minister unto Christ, but when he had made a good dispatch of temptations? So it
shall be with you also; for Christ was tempted, that by his example and issue of
temptation, he might succour you under your temptation. Ye have heard of the
patience of Job, and what end the Lord made with him, he had twice as much after
the temptation was over as he had before; and if you ride out this storm,
assuredly the good angels will come and minister to you, and your consolations
shall be doubled unto what ye had before. Wherefore, my brethren, take unto you
the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in this evil day, and
having done all to stand; and so much for the fifth instance.


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  CHAPTER 11: SERMON IX. - A LIFTING UP IN CASE OF DESERTION.
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SERMON IX. - A LIFTING UP IN CASE OF DESERTION. "Why art thou cast down, O my
soul? and why art thou disquieted within me," &; c.—Psalms 42:11. VI. Sometimes
the discouragements of the saints are taken from their desertions, spiritual
desertions. And this was David as case here, for, saith he, verse 10, "As a
sword in my bones, mine enemies reproached me, while they say unto me, where is
thy God? " And verse 9, "I will say unto God, my Rock, why hast thou forgotten
me 1" And this is the ordinary case of God's children: Oh, saith one, the Lord
hath forgotten me, hid his face from me, and hath forsaken my soul, and
therefore I am thus discouraged. I do not complain for want or loss of outward
mercies and blessings; yea, though all the world should forsake me, I should not
be much afflicted, if God and Christ were present with me: but times were, when
the candle of the Lord shined upon me, when I walked, as I thought, in the light
of his countenance; but now the Lord hath hid his face from me, and hath left
and forsaken my soul. Have I not just cause and reason to be cast down now, and
to be much disquieted? No. I grant, and it must needs be granted, that it is a
most sad thing for a gracious heart to want the face and presence of God and
Christ, to be deserted and forsaken by Christ; yea, I do not know any thing, or
any affliction, that is so afflictive to a gracious heart, as this: for, take
any other affliction, and though it be great, yet it is but a particular
affliction, the loss of some particular good, and the putting out of some one
candle, or the hiding of some one star; but if Christ hide his face, and God
withdraw or hide himself, it is the darkening of the sun, which brings an
universal darkness upon the soul; and it embitters all other afflictions, for as
the presence of Christ sweetens all other comforts, so the absence, or
forsakings of Christ, do embitter all other sufferings, and cut off all our
relief and remedy against them. So long as the face of God shines upon a poor
soul, he may run to Christ, and relieve and help himself against his affliction.
True, my friends forsake me, my relations forsake me, but Christ hath not
forsaken me: but if God and Christ forsake, where shall a man relieve or refresh
himself in this stormy day? And as those sins are greatest, that cut off our
relief against other sins; so those afflictions are greatest, that cut off our
relief against other afflictions. Such is this: of all afflictions, it looks the
most like a judgment to a gracious soul. "O Lord (saith David), correct me not
in thine anger, nor chasten me in thy hot displeasure," Psalms 6:1. When God
hides his face, and forsakes the soul, he seems to correct in anger and in hot
displeasure. Herein a Christian doth, as it were, combat with God himself: he
fights with men sometimes, and then he is more than a conqueror, because Christ
fighteth with him and in him; he fights with Satan, principalities and powers,
and then he doth overcome, because Christ is with him: but oh, saith the soul in
this desertion, God is mine enemy here I must fight it out hand to hand with
divine anger, and what shall I do now, how is it possible that I should now
escape? The truth is, this affliction above all others seems to draw a curtain
over all our comforts, and to put an end unto all our spiritual joy. What birds
sing in the winter time? Some may, but ordinarily they do not. If you walk
abroad in the winter time, and hear no birds sing, and one say to you, What is
the reason of this deep silence? two or three months ago, when we walked in the
fields, every wood had its several music; how sweetly did the birds sing then,
but now they are all silent: what is the reason? you will easily answer, Aye,
then indeed it was summer time, then the sun shone upon them, and so they sang;
but now the warming and enlivening beams of the sun are gone, they sing no more.
Beloved, the light of God's countenance is our spring, desertion is our winter.
Show me that saint that is able to sing m this winter time. I confess it is
possible for a man to do it, and some there are. Habakkuk was one that learned
this song of faith; but how few are able to sing and rejoice when God hides
himself. No, saith the soul, two or three months ago the Lord shined upon me,
and then I could sing indeed; but now God and Christ is gone, and so all my
songs are gone, and joys are gone, and I fear I shall never see them again, or
rejoice in Christ again. It is said of Mary, that when she went to Christ's
sepulchre, she wept; and though the angel came to her and said, "Why weepest
thou?" yet she continued weeping, the presence of an angel could not comfort
her. Why? Oh, saith she, "they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where
they have laid him." Would it not grieve a prince to be dispossessed of and to
lose his crown; to be made like an ordinary man? This presence of Christ is the
crown of a Christian; and therefore when God had forsaken the church, as we read
in Lamentations 5 : she complained, verse 16, "The crown is fallen from my
head." Why? verse 20, "Wherefore dost thou forget us for ever, and forsake us so
long a time?" Verse 22. "Thou hast utterly rejected us, thou art very wroth
against us." Take away the presence of Christ, and ye set a Christian among the
ordinary rank of men: and must he not needs be troubled when his crown is thus
taken from his head? I have read of a religious woman, that having borne nine
children, professed that she had rather endure all the pains of those nine
travails at once, than endure the misery of the loss of God's presence. And
indeed this affliction of God's forsaking a man, is so great, that if a man feel
it not, I even fear it is because he is forsaken indeed. But now, though there
be never so much gall and wormwood in this cup, yet the children of God have no
reason to faint at the drinking of it; no just cause or reason yet to faint, or
be discouraged, or cast down. How may that appear? 1. For the clearing of this
truth to you, ye must know, that God, or Christ is said to forsake a man, either
in regard of his power, grace or strength, or in regard of the comfortable
feelings of his love, either in regard of union or in regard of vision. 1. In
regard of union he never forsakes his own people. 2. In regard of his power,
grace and strength, he never forsakes them totally. And, 3. in regard of vision,
or comfortable feelings, though he do forsake for a time, yet he will return
again. And if all these be true, have they any reason to be much discouraged?
For the first, ye know what is said, John 13:1, "Those whom he loves, he loves
unto the end." As for the second, ye know what he saith also, Hebrews 13:5, "I
will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." "We are kept by the power of God unto
salvation," 1 Peter 1:5. And as for the third, hath not the Lord promised,
Isaiah 54 : that he will return again with advantage? Verse 7, "For a small
moment have I forsaken thee, but with great mercy will I gather thee: in a
little wrath I hid my face from thee, for a moment; but with everlasting
kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer," verse 8. Now
ye know that friends are not much troubled at such a parting, which is but for a
time. It is said of the church of Ephesus, that when Paul took leave of them
they wept, "because he said they should see his face no more." The saints cannot
say so in regard of Christ; though they see not his face for the present, yet
they cannot say, I shall see his face no more, for he will return again, yea,
and return with advantage; for though he forsakes for a moment, yet with great
mercy, and with everlasting kindness, will the Lord have mercy on them. What
then, though you be forsaken for a moment, have you any just cause and reason
for your discouragement? 2. If Christ do therefore forsake his people, that he
may not forsake them, and hath a design of love, and nothing but of love upon
them in his forsaking; then have they no just cause for their discouragements.
Now I pray, what is the reason why God doth forsake his people for a time, or a
moment, hath he any design but love upon them? Doth he not therefore withdraw
himself from them, that he might draw them to himself? Doth he not therefore
hide his face for a moment, that he may not turn his back upon them forever?
Doth he not therefore forsake them for a moment, that they might die unto all
the world, and long after heaven, where there is no forsaking? Doth he not
therefore forsake them for a moment, that they might die unto the way of sense,
and learn to live by faith, which is the proper work of this life? Doth he not
therefore forsake them for a moment, that in this winter of their desertion, the
weeds and vermin of their sins may be killed and mortified? Doth he not
therefore forsake them for a moment, that he may see their love to him? In time
of his presence we have the sense of his love to us; but in the time of his
absence, then he seeth, and we ourselves have the sense of our love to him. Doth
he not therefore forsake them for a moment, that their very joys and comforts
may be more fervent, exalted and enlarged? It is our nature to rejoice most in a
comfort, when it is redeemed from the hand of death, and recovered from loss.
The wise men, when they saw the lost star again, then they rejoiced with
exceeding great joy. Did they not rejoice in the star before? Surely they did,
but they rejoiced more, even with exceeding great joy, when they had found the
lost star. And this is our nature, we rejoice most in the finding of lost
mercies. Now the Lord Christ knows our nature, and therefore that he may raise
our joy, our praise, our thankfulness, for his presence, face, and manifestation
of his love, he doth sometimes withdraw them. So that in all his withdrawings,
he hath a design of love upon our souls: have we any reason then to be much
discouraged, though deserted? 3. Though it pleaseth God, to hide his face from
his people sometimes, insomuch, as they are in the dark, and in a very dark
condition; yet they are never so much in the dark, but that they have light
enough to work by: for what day is there in all the year, that is so short,
dark, and gloomy, but a man may see to work by? Indeed, sometimes the sun is in
the eclipse, sometimes behind a cloud; sometimes it breaks not forth with his
golden beams, as at other times: but if the sun be up, and it be day, a man hath
always light enough to work by. Now the sun is always up with the saints, it is
always day with them; though the beams of the Sun of Righteousness do not shine,
yet it is always day; they are not children of darkness; they may have a dark
day of it, but though it be never so dark, they may find light enough to do the
great work which they came into the world for; which is to believe, and trust,
and stay themselves on God; this a man may do in the darkest time, when he hath
no light: and therefore saith the prophet, " Let him that walks in darkness, and
seeth no light, stay himself upon the name of the Lord?' What then, though you
have not so much light as you would have, to refresh yourselves by: yet if you
have light enough to do your Father's work by, and the greatest work of this
life is to trust in God, and believe, have you then any reason for your
discouragements? Thus it is with all the saints; though they may be in the dark,
and the sun shines not out upon them, yet it is always day with them, and they
have light enough, when it is darkest, to do their Father's work and business
by; and therefore certainly, the saints have no reason to be cast down, and
discouraged, although they be much forsaken, deserted, and in the dark. But
Jesus Christ hath not only deserted, forsaken, and withdrawn himself from me, in
regard of vision; but I fear also in regard of union : not in regard of
comfortable feelings only; but in regard of strength and power : and therefore I
am afraid, and discouraged, and have I not cause for it? No. For a man that is
in the dark, is not able to judge of his own grace, or Christ's strength in him:
now you are in desertion, therefore in the dark, therefore you are not able to
judge of your own grace, and Christ's strength in you; yet if you can judge in
this condition, and will deal faithfully with your own souls; is there not as
much of Christ's strength, and grace in your lives and conversations, as when ye
had that presence which ye mourn after, excepting your enlargement in duties? I
confess indeed, that a gracious man in time of desertion, hath not those
enlargements, as he had when God's face shined upon him; but setting aside your
enlargements, what is there in your conversations wanting now, which you had
then? and is the very want of enlargement a sufficient reason to say that Christ
is gone, and hath forsaken me, not only in regard of vision, but in regard of
union, strength, and grace? We read in Son_5:5, that when Christ withdraws from
the spouse, there is some myrrh left upon the ringles of the door; the spouse
ariseth, follows after him, and enquireth for him, saying, « Did you see my
Beloved?" She met with the watchmen, they smote her, and she was willing to bear
their smiting, that she might hear of Christ; she stands and admireth at the
beauty and excellency of her beloved; "White and ruddy, the fairest of ten
thousand Now in this desertion of yours, is there not some myrrh upon the
ringles of your heart? Do you not still stand admiring Christ, and his
excellencies? Do you not enquire after your Beloved? going to one and to
another, saying, "Did you see him whom my soul loveth?" Are you not willing that
the watchmen should smite you, so ye may but meet with Christ again? And will ye
say then, he is only gone in regard of vision, but in regard of union, power,
strength and grace too? Surely you have no reason for it. But I am not only
forsaken and deserted, and want the comfortable feelings, and manifestations of
love which I once had, and do now desire to have; but I do find the contrary
tokens of God's displeasure, manifestations of his anger: were it only in the
withdrawings of love I might bear it; but Christ is angry, God is angry, appears
to be mine enemy and have I not reason now to be much discouraged? No: for if
this hath been the condition of the saints before you, why should you fear your
state in this respect? Now look into Isaiah lvii, and you shall find that God
saith, I was wroth and smote him he did not only hide his face, but he was
wroth; yea, he is not only wroth, but he smote his people too, and yet the
promise is, "I will restore comfort to him, and to his mourners:" did not Job
think, and say that God was angry with him, and become his enemy? and did not
Job's friends think that God loved them and was their friend, and his enemy? yet
if you look into Job 42 : you find that God was more pleased with Job, for he
was fain to pray for them before they could be accepted; and know ye not that it
is Christ's usual manner to personate an enemy when he intends the most
friendship, to seem a stranger when he intends the most communion. It is said
that God was angry with Moses, Exodus 4 : yet even then he gave him such a
promise of mercy as he had not before, ver. 14, 15, and 16. Ye know what David's
choice was, "Lord, let me fall into thy hands, and not into the hands of men,
for with thee is mercy." It is sometimes a mercy to be immediately chastised by
the hand of God our Father. God might turn us over to the hands of men, but if
God I will take us into his own hand, and chastise with his own, hand
immediately, there is love in it. If a prince should I say to his officers, "my
whole kingdom is before you, do right, and execute justice and judgment; but as
for such and such a family, if they shall commit any fault, I will | chastise
them immediately with my own hand, you shall not I meddle with them, I will do
it myself," would not this argue love? Thus it is with the saints in the time of
desertion, then God takes the soul into his own hand, all creatures and officers
of his anger stand and meddle not; in other afflictions God turns us over to his
officers, but in desertion, there he doth correct immediately; and therefore
though he strikes, yet there is love at the bottom, and the more Christ doth
sympathize with you in any affliction, the less cause you have to be
discouraged. Christ is our sympathizing High- Priest in all our afflictions, but
the more we are like to him in any affliction, the more he doth sympathize, and
his heart let out the more unto us. Jesus Christ was in desertion himself, and
not only forsaken, but, for our sakes, under the wrath and displeasure of God
his Father; and therefore when he sees a soul, not only deserted, but under
anger and displeasure of God, then he saith, Oh! there is a soul that is in my
case, and so he does most commisserate and compassionate that person. Have you
then any reason to be discouraged in this respect? But this is not my case; for
I am not only deserted, forsaken, under manifestations of Christ's displeasure;
but I have sinned and drawn down this desertion upon my own soul; and therefore
now it is that I am thus discouraged, and have I not reason for it? No, for God
doth not always desert and forsake his people for their sins; sometimes he doth,
and sometimes he doth not. As appears by comparing the 3rd and 5th chapters of
the Canticles. And it may be he doth now withdraw from you, not for your sin;
and if there be but a may be of it, there is no reason for discouragement. But
suppose it be so, look I pray into Isaiah 57 : again, and see what the Lord hath
promised to a poor soul in this condition: verse 17? "For the iniquity of his
covetousness was I wroth, and smote him; I hid me, and was wroth, and he went on
frowardly in the way of his heart." Will ye say, the Lord doth not only hide his
face from you, but he hath smitten you? So here. Will ye say, oh, but I have
sinned, and drawn this desertion upon myself? So here: "For the iniquity of his
covetousness I was wroth, and smote him." Will ye say, oh, but I have sinned on
both sides of this desertion: I have sinned before the desertion came, which sin
was the cause of it; and I have sinned since: I have been deserted by my
frowardness and peevish carriage? So here: "For the iniquity of his covetousness
was I wroth, and hid me;" there is sin on the one side: - "and he went on
frowardly in the way of his heart;" there is sin on the other side of desertion:
here is sin on both sides; what then, is there any hope, or comfort, or mercy
for a heart in this condition? Yes, saith the Lord, "I will restore comfort unto
him, and to his mourners." Oh, but it is not comfort that my soul desires; but I
have a foul, filthy, unclean, wicked heart of mine own; oh, that my heart were
healed: is there any hope of healing mercy in this condition? Yes, saith the
Lord, in the text; "I have seen his ways, and will heal him." Oh, but though I
be healed, I shall sin again, and wander from God again: nay, saith the Lord,
"But I have seen his ways, and will heal him, and will lead him also." But I see
no means or likelihood of all this; how can it be? Yes, very well; for saith the
Lord, verse 19th "I create the fruit of the lips; peace, peace, peace, to him
that is afar off; and I will heal him again:" Oh what comfort is here? what an
upholding promise is here? Can you read it or think of it, and your heart sink
before it? This is but part of my condition, for 1 have sinned, Christ hath
forsaken me; I have sinned, Christ hath smote me, and he goes on smiting, goes
on angry, goes on displeased; I have been deserted a long while, in the dark a
long while; and I am so far from the light, that it doth even grow darker and
darker; my condition being more sad every day than other; every day I am more
deserted and my condition worser ; have I not reason to be cast down and
discouraged now? No: for when was it worst with the Israelites? They had an ill
time of it all the time they were in the land of Egypt, a dark time; but was it
not worst with them immediately before their deliverance? Did not the
taskmasters then beat them? When was it worst with David? Ill at all times in
the wilderness; but was it not worst with him at Ziklag, when he had lost his
wives, and his own men took up stones against him? Psalms 10, we read that David
saith, "Why standest thou afar off, O Lord, and hidest thyself in time of
trouble?" hiding is more and worse than standing afar off. When the sun is going
down, then it seems to be far off; but when it is hidden, then it is set, and is
further off: so saith David, Lord thou art not only afar off, but even out of
sight, quite out of sight and art hidden from me; his desertion grew higher and
higher : and if you look into Psalms 13, you find that he speaks to the like
purpose; "how long wilt thou hide thy face from me? how long wilt thou forget
me, O Lord, forever?" As hiding is more than standing afar off; so it is worse
than forgetting: for, as Musculus observes well, forgetting is but remisso
amoris', a man that loves another may forget him, yet he may love him well; but
hiding the face is, Ira; testimonium the testimony of anger; and it is as if
David should have said: Lord, thou doest not only restrain thy love towards me,
but thou doest shew tokens of thy displeasure, and anger, and thy displeasure
riseth. So Psalms 22, ver. 1, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me, I cry
in the day time, but thou hearest not," ver. 2. How can this be, saith
Augustine, that God should forsake Christ in his sufferings, for these words are
spoken of Christ, when God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself?
Yes, very well, saith he, for Christ was a common person, stood in our stead,
and place, and so personating of us, he saith, "Why hast thou forsaken me!" Yea,
and Lord, thou hast not only forsaken me, but my desertion riseth yet higher;
for, "I cry in the day-time and thou hearest not." But you may see this
abundantly made out in Job 30:20, "I cry unto thee, and thou dost not hear me; I
stand up, and thou regardest me not, thou art become cruel to me; with thy
strong hand thou opposest thyself against me." Ver. 27, "My bowels boiled, and
rest not, the days of affliction prevented me: I went mourning without the sun;
I am a brother to dragons, and a companion to owls." And ver. 26, "When I looked
for good, then evil came to me; and when I waited for light, there came
darkness." Thus you see that it may be the condition of God's own people, to be
worser and worser; and their condition more and more dark in their own
apprehensions; and therefore no reason why you should be discouraged in this
respect. But my desertions have been so long, that I fear it will never be
otherwise with me; God is now gone, Christ is now gone, comfort gone, and I fear
now that Christ will never return again; and, this is that which even sinks my
soul: I confess the least desertion and forsaking is a great evil: but though I
were under the greatest cloud in the world, I should bear it, if I did but think
that Christ would return again : but I find in scripture, that there is a final
rejection mentioned, as well as a present desertion: the saints and people of
God, are it may be deserted for a time; but they are never rejected: David was
deserted, but he was not rejected; Saul was rejected, finally rejected; and I
fear that I am not only deserted for the present, but finally rejected, that God
hath even cast me off; and therefore I am thus discouraged, have 1 not cause and
reason for it now? No, not yet; for first, it is usual with saints in
affliction, to think that God is gone, and will return no more: there is no
affliction which the people of God meet withal, and they meet with many, wherein
they are so apt, and prone, and ready to write a /lever upon their condition, as
in this case of spiritual desertion. If a godly, gracious man fall sick, he doth
not say presently, or conclude, I shall never recover again; if he be persecuted
by enemies, he doth not conclude presently that he shall never be delivered: but
if God hide his face at any time, then comes out this never, I shall never be
delivered, I shall never be restored to comfort again. So Psalms 13 "How long
wilt thou hide thy face? what, forever!" So Psalms 77? "Will the Lord cast off
forever?" ver. 7? Will he be favourable no more? is his mercy clean gone
forever? and doth his promise fail for evermore? This is the proper place and
ground, where this unbelieving conclusion grows; when they are in this
condition, they rise to a never; oh, it will never be otherwise with me; Christ
is gone, mercy is gone, and I shall never see the face of God again. This is
usual, and most usual with the saints in this condition. Therefore you shall
observe, that when God doth give out a promise to his children m this condition;
the promise is so cast and laid, as may most obviate, and face this objection,
and take off our never. Psalms 9:18. "The needy shall not always be forgotten,
the expectation of the poor shall not fail forever." So Psalms 103 : "The Lord
is merciful and gracious, (verse 8.) slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy: he
will not always chide, neither will he keep his anger forever." So Isaiah 57:16,
ff For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth." God seeth
that in this condition, his people are apt to write a never upon their
condition; and therefore that he may condescend unto their infirmities, when he
comes to give out a promise, he doth not barely promise mercy; but he puts in
the ever into his promise, that he may take off our unbelieving never. If it be
made out unto you by Scripture, that God or Christ is not so gone, but that he
will return again; then will you not say, surely I have no reason for my
discouragements? Now for the clearing of that, give me leave to propound several
questions to you. 1. Did ye ever read in all the word of God, that a man was
finally rejected and forsaken, but an evil spirit from the Lord did seize upon
him presently? Saul was finally rejected, and the text saith, that an evil
spirit from the Lord seized upon him; and what is the evil spirit, but an
envious spirit? The envious man in the gospel, is the evil man; and this evil
spirit seized on Saul as soon as God did forsake him; for an envious, malicious,
persecuting spirit came upon him against David, and the saints with him. So when
God forsakes a man finally, a persecuting spirit enters him. When God forsakes
his own children, Satan, that evil spirit comes to them; for when God goes,
Satan comes: but there is much difference between a tempting Satan, and a
persecuting Satan: tempting Satan comes to the saints, when they are deserted;
but a persecuting Satan doth not enter into them. But did ye ever know, or read
of any finally rejected, but an evil, persecuting spirit seized on them from the
Lord? 2. Do you read of any in all the word whom God did finally forsake, that
could not find in their hearts to forsake God and his ways? God doth not forsake
us, unless we forsake him; "Ye have rejected me, saith the Lord, and therefore I
have rejected you." Possibly a good man may want this sense of God's love; but
then he hath the sense of his own sins: possibly he may want the feeling of his
own perfection, which is divine love; but then he hath the feeling of his own
imperfection. But I say, did you ever read in all the word, of any man finally
forsaken, that could not find in his heart to forsake God, and the good ways of
God? 3. Did ye ever read in all the word, that God did ever forsake a man, who
was sensible of his forsaking, and complained thereof, simply for itself. We
read of Saul indeed, that when he was forsaken, he cried out, and said, God hath
forsaken me, the Philistines are upon me, God hath forsaken me, but it is in
order to an outward evil; the Philistines are upon me. But the saints when they
are forsaken, are sensible of this evil, simply for itself, and think the time
long and tedious, when they are so forsaken: "O Lord, (saith David,) how long
wilt thou hide thy face from me: what, forever?" But I say, was ever man
forsaken, was ever man quite forsaken of God, that was sensible of this evil,
only and simply for itself? 4. Did you ever read in all the word of God, that
ever a man was finally forsaken, who was tender in the point of sin, who sat
mourning after God? We read in the Romans, that when God gave up the Gentiles to
their sins, they gave up themselves unto all uncleanness, and were past feeling.
The saints and people of God on the contrary, in the time of their desertion,
are tender in the point of sin, and they mourn after God: when was a man ever
forsaken, whose heart was in this frame? 5. Did you ever read that Christ did
finally forsake a man in whose heart and soul, still he did leave his goods,
furniture, and spiritual household-stuff? A man sometimes goes from home and
sometimes he doth quite leave his house. There is much difference between those
two: if a man leave his house; and comes no more, then he carries away all his
goods; and when ye see them carried away, ye say, This man will come no more.
But though a man ride a great journey, yet he may come again; and ye say, Surely
he will come again; why? Because still his goods, wife, and children are in his
house. So if Christ reject a man and go away finally, he carries away all his
goods, spiritual gifts, graces, and principles: but though he be long absent,
yet if his household stuff abide in the heart; if there be the same desires
after him, and delight in him, and admiring of him, and mourning for want of
him; ye may say, surely he will come again? Why? Because his household-stuff is
here still. When did Christ ever forsake a man in whose heart he left his
spiritual furniture? 6. Did ye ever know a man finally forsaken of Christ, who
did long after the presence of Christ, as the greatest good; and looked upon his
absence as the greatest evil and affliction in all the world; being willing to
kiss the feet of Jesus Christ, and to serve him in the lowest and meanest
condition, so he might but enjoy him? We find that the saints desire, above all
things, to be kissed with the kisses of Christ's mouth: and therefore the book
of the Canticles doth so begin, chapter 2:1. "Let him kiss me with the kisses of
his mouth even because that is the first and the chiefest of the saints desires
in this life: but if Christ will not kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, saith
a gracious soul, yet I am willing to kiss his feet, as Mary did. There is a time
coming, when he will kiss me with the kisses of his mouth forever; but for the
present, if I can but kiss his feet here, I have hope to be kissed by him in
heaven. Now, I say, did Christ ever forsake a man finally, who did thus long
after Christ himself? Can those that are forsaken, mourn after his presence as
the best thing, and for his absence as the greatest evil in all the world? I
appeal to your own souls, and bosoms herein, whoever you are that labour under
this fear, that Christ is gone, and he will return no more; suppose that God
hath hid his face from you, seems to forget you, and to be angry with you; yet
in the midst of all these darknesses, do you find an evil spirit, an envious,
malicious spirit from the Lord, seizing upon you? Do you find, that you can find
in your heart to forsake God, and the good ways of God? Yea, rather, do you not
find the contrary, though you want the sense of God's love? Have you not the
sense of your own sin j and when you want the sense of your own perfection, have
you not some sense of your own imperfection? Do you not look upon this
desertion, as the greatest affliction in all the world? Can you not mourn after
God, and his presence? Doth not Christ every foot, send in one token of his love
or another to visit your souls? And are you not willing to kiss the feet of
Jesus Christ? Oh yes, I must needs say, though I have fears that Christ is gone,
and will return no more, yet, I praise the Lord, I do not find an envious,
malicious persecuting spirit in my soul unto the saints and people of God. I do
not find that my heart is willing to forsake Christ, and the good ways of
Christ: but I find that I can mourn for the absence of Christ simply for itself,
and look upon it as the greatest affliction in the world: that I am ever willing
to kiss the feet of Jesus Christ: and to be in the lowest and meanest condition,
so he would but return unto my soul again. Yea, and I must needs say, that every
foot I receive one token or other, one promise or another to visit me in my
condition. Then, be of good comfort; though Christ be absent, yet he will return
again; and with great mercy, and with everlasting kindness will he gather your
souls unto himself again: and thus I say it shall be with all the saints. Surely
therefore they have no reason for their discouragements, whatever their
desertions be. Why therefore should not everyone say, "Why art thou cast down, O
my soul; and why art thou so disquieted within me?" Upon all this account I see,
I have not so much reason for my discouragement: but it is an hard thing to bear
up ones heart from sinking in the time of desertion, when God hides his face:
what shall I do then, and this may be the condition of us all, that I may bear
up my heart against this discouragement, even when I am most in the dark, and
Christ hides his face from me, or forsakes me? Take heed that ye do not measure
God's eternal affection, by some present dispensation. There is an eternal
displeasure against a man; and there is a present displeasure with a man.
Eternal displeasure, or hatred, cannot stand with eternal love; but eternal
love, and present displeasure, may stand together. A father may be displeased
with the child for the present, and yet may love him with paternal love. So God
may, and doth love, though for the present displeased: but when men measure
eternal affection, by present dispensation, then they are quite discouraged; and
you will find all discouragements in this case do arise from hence. Some there
are, that do walk by particular providences, experiences, words, manifestations,
and incomes of love; and when they have them, then they are much refreshed; and
if they want them, then they are much discouraged, and say, ah, Christ loves me
not, and God is gone, will return no more. Why? Because they measure God's
eternal love, by some present dispensation: but if God's present dispensations
may seem to run cross to his eternal purpose, why then should they be
discouraged, and say, He is gone forever? Now so it is, he* may hide his face,
he may withdraw', and deny particular comforts, and manifestations, yet love me
eternally. Oh, that people would not measure God's eternal affection, by some
present dispensation, so should they never be much discouraged. If you would not
be discouraged in this condition, take heed of letting fall any despairing,
despondent, unbelieving speeches; for the more busy Satan is about you, in the
time of desertion, the more tedious will that time be, and more full of
discouragements. Now' look, as it is with some dog; if you let fall a bone, or
bread, or meat, the dog stays and waits still; but when he finds none, he goes
his ways. So it is with Satan, when a man is in a desertion, he comes, and saith
he, this is a time for me to work, who am the firstborn child of darkness; and
this soul being in the dark, it is a fit time for me to work upon him; there he
stands, and if any despairing, despondent speeches do fall from you, Satan stays
the longer; but if none fall he goes away the sooner. Have you therefore been,
or are you under any desertion, and let fall any bones for Satan? look back, and
gather them all up again, gather up these crumbs again, and mourn over them, and
take heed for the time to come; for the more of these fall, the longer Satan
stays, and the more you will be discouraged. Be sure that you hear things
indifferently on both sides. There are two parties pleading in your souls in the
time of desertion. One that doth plead for Christ, to maintain and bear up the
love of Christ in your heart, saying, He is gone indeed, and he doth hide his
face; but he will come again, and shine upon you again. There is another party,
that doth plead the cause of Satan, against Christ, saying, He is now gone, and
will return no more, you shall never see his face again. In this case be sure
that you do hear things indifferently, and let not your ear be open to one, and
shut to the other. He can never judge rightly, that doth not hear both parties.
Though it be no time to judge when you are under temptation, and in the dark;
yet how frequently do poor souls judge themselves in this condition, and even
judge themselves to be under judgment, why? but because they hearken more to one
side than to the other. If Satan come, and tell them a story of God's
displeasure, they will be sure to hear that at large; but if Christ come and
tell them a story of God's love to sinners, that they hear not; or if they do,
yet as a man that reads a book to confute it, is disputing against what he reads
all along, so are they also disputing against the words of the gospel all along
as they hear them ; saying in their hearts, Oh ! but this is not made for me; it
is a good promise, but it belongs not to me, this is not my condition ; and a
hundred such oh buts! But is this equal? How is it possible, but that a man
should misjudge, and be much discouraged, when he hears thus? Wherefore, my
exhortation from the Lord is, which I beseech you in his name to receive; never
receive any relation from the law, but be assured your ears be as open for to
hear the gospel: never receive any relation, or story from Satan; but let your
ear be as open to hear what Christ saith. And why should not this exhortation be
received? Had I intreated some great thing for Christ, would you not have done
it? But now that I only intreat you to carry things indifferently, to have an
ear open, as well to Christ, as to Satan; will ye not yield to it? Oh, methinks
every gracious soul should say, well, through grace, I will hearken more to
Christ: I confess indeed, I have heard what Satan hath said; hut when comfort
hath come, I have turned away mine ear, and have not heard; or if I have heard,
I have been disputing against what I have heard, and making objections all
along: now the Lord pardon this evil to me; through grace, mine ear shall be
more open to Christ, and less open to Satan. So do, and you will never be much
discouraged, whatever your desertion be. Labour more and more for to live by
faith: when God seems to be mine enemy, saith Luther, and to stand with a drawn
sword against me, then do I cast, and throw myself into his arms: and what
better way than to venture upon God in this case? and to' say, whether saved, or
not saved; whether damned, or not damned; whether hypocrite, or not hypocrite; I
do cast myself upon God at a venture. It is the love, and favour of Christ, that
you mourn after, and are discouraged for the want of; you cannot get a more
ready, and compendious way to get this love, than, when you are in the dark, to
throw yourselves into Christ's arms at a venture ; this takes, and wins the
heart of Christ over to you: What! will this poor soul throw himself into my
arms (saith Christ) now I do seem his enemy? well, then I will shew myself to be
his friend; and this is the proper work of this life: as for those sights and
visions of God, they are the work of heaven ; and though God give them
sometimes, yet it argues more strength of grace for to be able to live without
them. Suppose two men in your work; one that must have his pay presently, his
wages presently, yea before he hath done his work: the other will not have his
wages till his work be all done, and if ye offer him money, no, saith he, I will
stay till all be done, and receive it in a lump together: which of these two, is
the ablest man, or which the poorest man? Will you not say, Surely, he that
cannot stay, is the poorest? and he that can stay longest for his wages, is the
ablest man? So it is here; God hath two sorts of servants: one that doth go by
visions and manifestations of love, and are not able to live at all by faith,
but must have sights, and visions, and manifestations every day, or else they
die, and murmur or complain. And others say, Oh! but these sights and visions
are for heaven; if God will have it so, I am contented to stay till all my work
be done: which of these two is the poorest or the strongest? Will not ye say,
surely, he that is able to stay, is strongest; and he the poorest, and weakest,
that is not able to stay, or to live by faith; Oh I therefore labor more and
more to live by faith; and when you are in desertion, say, w ether saved, or not
saved; whether hypocrite, or not hyprocrite, I will stay, I will wait on God,
and let him come when he pleaseth. If you lay yourself at Christ's feet, he will
take you into his arms. But what need I say more? Is there not enough in the
compass of your own experience, to answer unto all your fears in this respect?
When you have been in desertion, have you not said that Christ is gone and that
he will never come again: and yet hath not Christ come again? Yea, and have you
not said in the day of your desertion, If ever Christ do return again, I will
never make such unbelieving conclusions as I have done: and hath not Christ
returned after this? Now, then, when Satan comes, and suggests jealousies of
Christ's love unto you, why are you not more peremptory? Why do you not say to
him? this I have heard before, Satan ; thou toldest me this before, that Christ
was gone, and would never return again; but I have found it false, he did
return, and therefore through grace, I will never believe these false reports of
Christ; Christ is faithful, I have always found him so; those whom he loves, he
loves to the end; and I know he loves me, Satan, for I love him ; for my love is
but the reflection of his love; I could not love him, if he did not love me
first, and through grace, I love him ; I know he loves me, because he hath
changed me, and is every foot sending me some tokens of love; one promise, or
another to uphold my heart; yea, I know, Satan, that Christ doth love me,
because thou tellest me that he hates me ; and if he hath loved once he will
love me to the end; and therefore though for the present he hides his face from
me; yet I shall see his face again. Thus gather in your experiences, and plead
with Satan, or your own unbelieving hearts, according unto all these
experiences; so shall you be able to live in the time of this desertion, and
never be discouraged, whatever your desertions be. And so much for the sixth
instance.


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  CHAPTER 12: SERMON X. - A LIFTING UP IN CASE OF AFFLICTION.
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SERMON X. - A LIFTING UP IN CASE OF AFFLICTION. "Why art thou cast down, O my
soul? and why art thou disquieted within me," &c.—Psalms 42:11. VII. Sometimes
the discouragements of the saints, are from their outward afflictions, and
relations. So it was here with David; for, saith he, verse 3, "My tears have
been my meat day and night." Whereupon, verse 5, 6, "My soul is cast down within
me, then verse 8, "All thy billows are gone over me, verse 10, " As a sword in
my bones, whilst they reproach me daily then verse 11, " Why art thou cast down,
O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me?" To the like purpose he
speaketh in the next Psalm, verse 2, "Why go I mourning because of the
oppression of the enemy?" then, verse 5, 6, "Why art thou cast down?" So that
his inward discouragements did arise very much from his outward afflictions. And
thus it is ordinarily with the people of God; for, saith one, Never was any soul
afflicted as I have been, and am: I confess indeed that national calamities are
very great j but besides national miseries, I have many, and many personal
afflictions; and therefore now it is that I am thus discouraged, have I not
reason for it? No. I grant, and confess it no new thing for God's own children
to be much afflicted: " these are they that came out of great tribulations,"
Revelation 7 : And When God*s people are so afflicted, they are, and will be
very sensible of their affliction; in some respects more sensible than wicked
men; for the more apprehensive a man is of God*s displeasure under affliction,
the more sensible he must needs be of the burden of it. Now the saints and
people of God, in the day of their affliction, are more apprehensive of God*s
displeasure than wicked men are, and so in some respect s are more sensible of
their afflictions. Yea, As they are, and will be very sensible of their
afflictions, so they are very apt to be much discouraged, by reason of them. And
therefore said the Psalmist, Psalms 143 : Therefore my soul is overwhelmed
within me, and my heart is desolate, why? Read verse 3, and ye shall find the
reason, "Because the enemy oppressed me." And was not Joshua thus exceedingly
cast down, when a party of his men fell before the men of Ai? See how he lies on
the ground, chapter 7, and what language he speaks; even the same for substance,
that murmuring Israel had spoken: for they said, "Would God we had stayed in
Egypt and saith he, "Would God we had stayed on the other side Jordan yet
Joshua, a most gracious, holy, blessed servant of God. So that God's own people
are apt to be much discouraged, by reason of their afflictions, and outward
sufferings. But now I say, let a man's afflictions be never so great, yet if he
be in Christ, and have made his peace with God, he hath no reason to be cast
down or discouraged, whatever his afflictions be; for, saith our Saviour, "In
the world you have trouble; but be of good comfort I have overcome the world.
And the more a man is discouraged under his afflictions, the less able he is to
bear it. So long as a man's hand hath skin upon it, he is able to put it into
the sharpest vinegar, without smarting; but if the skin be off, it doth smart
exceedingly, and he can hardly bear it. So long as a man's bones are knit
together, and in joint, he may stand under a great burden, but if the shoulder
bone be out of joint, who can bear a burden? And what do all our
discouragements, but disjoint the soul, and put the spirit on the rack?
Discouragements make afflictions to stay the longer: an impatient patient makes
a cruel physician: and the more the child cries under the rod, the longer the
rod is continued; what reason therefore, for our discouragements under
afflictions? But this truth will appear if you consider, 1. What the afflictions
and sufferings of the saints are. 2. Whence they proceed. 3. What accompanies
them. 4. What follows them, and what is wrought by them. First: As for the
afflictions themselves. 1. They are part of Christ's purchase for you. Look upon
Paul's inventory, 1 Corinthians 3:21. "All things are yours; whether Paul, or
Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or
things to come." So that death itself, the king of terrors and afflictions, is
here reckoned amongst the goods and chattels which Christ hath purchased for
you, and left unto you; and if death be yours, then all afflictions are yours;
and who will be afraid of that which is his own? 2. They are the gift of God;
"To you it is given, not only to believe, but to suffer," saith the apostle. It
was the speech of a good man, now in heaven, being once under great afflictions;
O Lord, these afflictions are thy pearls, and I will wear them for thy sake. .3.
They are but seeming evils; they are real trials and seeming evils. Therefore
the apostle saith, "Every affliction seems grievous;" but considering
altogether, it is rather a seeming than a real grief. And therefore saith he, 2
Corinthians 6:9-10, "We are as unknown and yet well known: as dying and behold
we live: as chastened, but not killed: as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing: as
poor, yet making many rich: as having nothing, and yet possessing all things."
In which words as Austin observes, he puts a tanquaia, sicut AS upon his
afflictions; as if his sufferings where but as afflictions, and not afflictions.
When a man takes any physic, he is sick withal, yet because it is but
physic-sickness, you do not call it a sickness; it is as a sickness, but not a
sickness. Now all the afflictions of the saints, are but their physic,
prescribed and given them by the hand of their Father: and therefore, though
they be sick therewith, yet it is but as a sickness, not so indeed all things
rightly weighed. When an unskilful eye looks upon the threshing of the corn, he
saith, why do they spoil the corn? But those that know better, say, the flail
doth not hurt the corn j if the cart-wheel should pass upon it, there would be
spoil indeed, but the flail hurts not. Now there is no affliction, or suffering
that a godly man meets with, but is GodJs flail. And if you look into Isaiah,
xxviii, ye shall find the Lord promiseth, under a similitude, that his
cart-wheel shall not pass upon those that are weak, ver. 27, For the fitches are
not threshed with a threshing instrument, neither is a cart-wheel turned about
upon the cummin, the fitches are beaten out with a staff, and the cummin with
the rod." God will always proportion his rod to our strength. But though mine
affliction be not greater than I can bear, yet if it lie too long upon me (say
some) I shall never be able to bear it. Nay, saith the Lord, ver. 28,
"Bread-corn is bruised, because he will not ever be threshing it." But what is
this to us? Yes, it is a parable, for ver. 26, "His God (speaking of the
ploughman) doth instruct him to discretion, and doth teach him?' And if the
ploughman have this discretion, much more shall the Lord himself; for, ver. 29,
"This also cometh forth from the Lord of Hosts, who is wonderful in counsel and
excellent in working." I am God's corn, said the martyr, I most therefore pass
under the flail, through the fan, under the millstone, into the oven before I
can be bread for him. And if our chaff be severed from our graces by this flail,
have we any reason to be discouraged because we are thus afflicted? The truth
is, the day of affliction and tribulation, is a godly man's day of judgment, it
is all his judgment day, he shall never be judged again, so as to be condemned
at the day of judgment; "Ye are judged with the world (saith the apostle) that
ye may not be condemned with the world." And when the godly man's affliction day
is, he may say, Now is my judgment day, and I shall never be judged again; why
therefore should he be discouraged, whatever his afflictions be? And in the.
second place. This will appear also, if you consider, whence their afflictions
come. If all the sufferings of God's people do come from divine love, the love
of God in Christ to them, then have they no reason to be discouraged though they
be much afflicted. Every rod is a rod of rosemary to them, fruits of their
Father's love. And if you look into Heb. xii, ye shall find both the thing
proved, and the inference. The thing is proved at ver. 6, "For whom the Lord
loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth." Which he
illustrates by a similitude. Suppose a man have two sons, one a bastard and the
other legitimate; he will rather give education and correction to the legitimate
son, and neglect the bastard: and saith the apostle, ver. 8, "If ye be without
chastisement, then are you bastards, and not sons." What then? Ver. 12,
"Wherefore, lift up the hands which hang down and the feeble knees." As if the
apostle should say, if all the sufferings and afflictions and chastisements of
the saints, do proceed from love, then have they no reason to hang down their
hands or heads. But so it is, that all their sufferings come from love, and
therefore no reason for their discouragements. ' Thirdly. This will appear also,
if you consider, what comes with the afflictions of the saints. There comes much
supporting grace, much light, much of God's presence, fellowship and communion
with Christ in all his sufferings. Much supporting grace: "Thy rod, and thy
staff comfort me." God never lays a rod upon his children's back, but he first
puts a staff into their hand to bear it; and the staff is as big as the rod. It
matters not what your afflictions be, great, or small, it is all one, you shall
be upheld; and upholding mercy is sometimes better than a mercy that you are
afflicted fur the want of. But the Lord doth not only uphold his people under
sufferings, but he gives forth much light therewithal. The school of the cross,
is the school of light. Affliction is our free-school, where God teacheth his
children, and learns them how to write, both their sins and their graces. Their
sins: so long as leaves are on the trees and bushes, ye cannot see the birds'
nests: but in the winter when all the leaves are off, then ye see them plainly.
And so long as men are in prosperity, and have their leaves on, they do not see
what nests of sins and lusts are in their hearts and lives; but when all their
leaves are off, in the day of their afflictions, then they see them and say, I
did not think I had such nests of sins and lusts, in my soul and life. Job 36:6.
"He withdraweth nut his eye from the righteous:" verse 8, "And if he be bound in
fetters, and be holden in cords of affliction, then he shews them their works
and their transgressions, that they have exceeded." Yea, afflictions do not only
discover their sins unto them; but it is God's plaster, thereby he doth heal the
same: "Before I was afflicted, I went astray," saith David. And Job 36:10, "He
openeth also their ear to discipline, and commandeth that they return from
iniquity." Yea, these afflictions and sufferings of the saints do not only
discover and heal their sins; but do put them upon the exercise of grace: "In
their afflictions (saith God) they will seek me early." Yea, they do not only
draw out their graces but discover their graces too, which possibly they did
never take notice of before. I have read of some foolish youths, that sitting on
the water side, upon the bank, and mingling their legs togegether in the water,
they did not know their own legs; but one standing by, and smiting them on the
knees with a staff, every one then knew his own legs, and pulled them up. And so
it is many times; there is such a likeness between hypocrites common graces, and
the graces of God's children, that the saints do not know their own graces; Oh,
saith one, it is no more than a hypocrite may have; but then God smites them
with some affliction, and so they feel, and see, and know their own graces: and
good reason for it; for when God comes, he discovers all: and when is God more
present with his people, than when they are most afflicted? God useth to be at
the back of affliction. There heaven opened to Stephen. Afflictions are the
rusty lock oftentimes, which opens the door into the presence chamber. When was
Christ with the three children but in the very fiery furnace? And ye have a
standing promise for it, "I will be with thee in the fire, and in the water,"
saith the Lord. And saith the apostle, "Then doth the Spirit of the Lord and of
glory, rest upon his children." Yea, and as they have most of God, when they are
most afflicted, so in time of their sufferings, they have most communion, and
fellowship with Jesus Christ in his sufferings. Therefore saith the apostle
Peter, chap. 4: ver. 13, "But rejoice in as much as ye are partakers of Christ's
sufferings." The word partaker is the same that is used in John; Truly our
fellowship is with the Father." And the same that is used in the Corinthians,
concerning the Lord's supper, "The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the
communion of the body of Christ?" You will all grant that you have communion
with Christ at the Lord's supper; but the same word being used here shows that
you have communion with Christ in his sufferings also; especially when you do
suffer for him. And the greater your sufferings are, the more fellowship and
communion you have with Christ in his sufferings. Now then, if all this be true,
that a Christian hath experience of supporting and upholding grace; much light;
his sin discovered and healed; his grace exercised and manifested; God's
presence enjoyed; and made partaker of the sufferings of Christ, in and by his
afflictions; what reason hath he to be discouraged, although he be much
afflicted? But so it is that a Christian hath never more experience of God's
upholding, sustaining grace; his sin is never more discovered, and healed; his
grace is never more exercised and manifested ; God is never more present with
him, than when he is most afflicted: and he is never more partaker of Christ's
sufferings than m and by his sufferings. Surely therefore, he hath no reason for
his discouragements, whatever his afflictions be. Fourthly. This will appear if
you consider the fruit, benefit, end, and issue of your afflictions, and what
they bring forth. "They bring forth the quiet fruits of righteousness," and
triumph over Satan; for now poor Job may say, Satan, thou saidst I did not serve
God for nought; but now the contrary appears. Yea "they work out an exceeding,
eternal weight of glory." And if you look into Philippians , 2 : where we are
commanded "to work out our salvation with fear and trembling:" you shall find it
is the same word that is used here concerning afflictions; that they work out an
exceeding, eternal weight of glory. Now if all my afflictions do bring me in the
quiet fruit of righteousness; make me to triumph over Satan; and work out an
exceeding weight of glory; have I any reason to be discouraged, although I be
much afflicted? Thus it is with all the saints and people of God; though their
sufferings may seem to be grievous for the present, yet they bring forth the
quiet fruits of righteousness; thereby the saints triumph over Satan; and these
sufferings work out an exceeding and eternal weight of glory. Surely therefore,
a godly, gracious man hath no reason to be discouraged, whatever his affliction
be. But my affliction is not an ordinary affliction; my sufferings are not
ordinary sufferings; for I have lost all my comforts and am stript naked of all
my former blessings and relations: I have been long afflicted, and many
afflictions crowd and press in upon me, like so many waves of the sea: only
there is this difference; the waves come and go, but my afflictions come and
stay; they come and go not; they all stay upon me at once and I see no end of my
afflictions: the floods are risen, O God, the water-floods are risen and do
cover my soul; yea and these waters of affliction are so deep, that I can feel
no bottom, see no end of them: have I not just cause and reason then to be much
discouraged? No: for what if you have been, or would be drunk with the comforts
of your own relations? Noah was drunk with his own wine; and how many are there
in the world, that have been drunk, even with the comforts of their own
relations? And if God your Father sec, that you have been or would be drunk with
your own comforts, have you any hurt, that he hath taken them from you for a
time? When a wise father sees that his child falls in love with his maid, one
that is much beneath him; doth his father do him any wrong, that he removes her
from him, or him out of her sight? It may be the present affection of the child
saith, my father deals hardly by me: but will the child's reason say so
afterwards? No, but he will rather say, at such a time I fell in love with my
father's servant, and if my father had not removed her out of my sight, I had
been lost and undone for ever. Now all the creatures are servants to the
children of God, and it may be, God your Father seeth that you are fallen in
love with them that are much beneath you. Or, suppose that a child be to travel
some long journey, and his father gives him a staff in his hand; when he is
abroad in the fields, some enemy meets him, and takes away his staff, and beats
the child therewithal; but a friend comes in, and takes away this staff from
both, both from the child and from the enemy; doth he do the child any wrong, in
taking away this staff out of the hand of the enemy? May be the child will say,
I pray Sir, give me the staff again, for it is mine; True, saith the friend,
child, this staff is yours, but you have not strength enough to use it, and
manage it against your enemy, he would wrest it out of your hand again, and beat
you with it, and therefore I will keep it from you both: doth he therefore do
the child any wrong? Thus it is here: the Lord gives a creature-comfort into the
hands of his child, and God intends it for u staff (for bread is the staff of
life): but Satan comes, and wresteth his staff out of his hand, and beats him
therewithal: then comes Jesus Christ, and takes it out of the hands of both; Oh,
saith the child of God, but I pray thee, Lord, give me this creature-comfort,
for it is my staff. True child, saith Christ, it is thy staff, but thou hast not
strength to wield it against Satan, he will abuse thee with it; therefore I will
keep it from thee, and in due time thou shalt have it again: doth Christ our
Lord and best friend, do him any wrong in keeping it from him? Oh, but my
afflictions are not ordinary and usual, but new and strange. You think so, but
the Apostle saith, "Think it not strange concerning the fiery trial, as if some
new thing had befallen you." And what if God will carry you to heaven by some
back way, and let you in at some back door; hath not he promised to lead us in a
way that we have not known? Oh, but I do not only want one mercy, but I do want
another and another; afflictions come thick, and I see no end, I feel no bottom.
And was it not so with David, the type of Christ? Psalms 40:1-2, "I waited
patiently for the Lord, and he inclined his car unto me, and heard my cry: he
brought me out also of an horrible pit; (or as some read it, out of an
unbottomed pit) out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and
established my goings." Three things here that are most observable. 1. David was
in such an affliction, wherein he did feel no bottom at the first, saw no end.
2. Though he felt no bottom at the first, yet at the last he did, and a rock
which God set his feet upon and established his goings. 3. Till he did find this
rock, he prayed, and waited patiently, and he was not discouraged. What
therefore though our afflictions be as thick as any mire, that therein you do
stick so fast, as you cannot get out, that you feel no bottom, see no end; yet
if in this case you pray and cry and wait patiently on the Lord, as David did;
you shall be set upon a rock in due time, and your goings shall be also
established. And whereas you say, that your afflictions are thick and long and
hard; how long man? What! is your bush consumed? Do they not make you long more
for heaven? When the apprenticeship is hard and tedious, the young man longs for
the day of his freedom. Oh, saith he, that I were in my father's house. Oh, that
the time of my freedom were come. So here, long and hard afflictions, make us
long more for heaven. Now will ye count that too long, which makes you long more
for heaven? And as for your relational comforts; did God ever take away the
comfort of an outward relation, and not make it up in the sweetness of spiritual
relations? But this is not all my case; for I do not only want such and such
comforts, I do not barely want the comforts, and the love of my relations; but I
feel the anger, and the smart of them; for my own familiar friends, and
acquaintance are become mine enemies; they reproach me, curse me, speak all
manner of evil of me without cause; and this they do since I set my face towards
heaven : time was heretofore, when they did love me dearly; but now they hate
me, they persecute me, and do all manner of evil to me ; and is this nothing? Is
not this a just cause, and reason for my discouragement? No. For if our worst
enemies be sometimes our best friends, then what reason is there that we should
be discouraged, although we be much opposed? Now so it is many times; as our
best friends are our worst enemies by flattering us, so our worst enemies are
our best friends by making us more watchful. So many enemies, so many
schoolmasters, saith one. Hath not our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ said, "Our
enemies are those of our own house, they shall ever revile you and persecute
you; but blessed are you, when they do all this for my name's sake." And I pray
tell me whether it is worser to be persecuted or to be a persecutor? Your
friends persecute you, speak all manner of evil and do all manner of evil to
you, even since you have looked towards Christ; and for his sake they do it, for
his sake ye are persecuted, opposed, maligned. But you might have been the
persecutor, and they the persecuted. Which is worst? Will you not say, oh, it is
infinitely better to be opposed for the way of God than to oppose; and to be
persecuted than to persecute? I would chuse rather to be persecuted than to be a
persecutor. God might have left you to be a persecutor, and your persecuting
friends might have been persecuted by you; but now that God hath so ordered it
by his providence and grace that you are persecuted and they persecutors, have
you any reason to complain or to be discouraged? "Know ye not that the world
hateth his own?" So long as the pot stands empty and there is no honey in it,
the bees and stinging wasps do not gather about it, but if once there be honey
in it, then they flock about it. And so long as you were empty of what is good
and walked on with an empty heart, no opposition was made unto you. But now
these stinging bees and wasps flock about you, what doth this argue but that you
have gotten some honey, somewhat that savoreth of good and of Christ, which you
had not before? Why should you not therefore rather praise God for what you
have, than be discouraged under your opposition. This is not my case. For I
praise God I do not meet with any opposition or persecution from my friends, nor
do I need; for my very affliction is an opposition unto what is good, my
affliction doth indispose me unto what is good, and expose me unto what is evil,
to temptations and many sins; it keeps me from duty, from ordinances and
opportunities of doing and receiving good; and therefore I am thus discouraged
under my affliction, have I not cause and reason now? No. For it may be that you
are mistaken here and think that you are hindered from the work of God, when
indeed you are not. We read of Paul that he was whipped up and down the streets
like a rogue, that he was oft imprisoned; and who would not think but that his
reproaches and imprisonments should hinder him in the work of his ministry? But
he saith that his "sufferings turned to the furtherance of the gospel." When God
leads a man into an affliction, then God doth call him to another work. So long
as a man is well and in health, he is bound to go abroad and to hear the word;
but when he is sick, then his work is not to hear, but to be patient and quiet
under the hand of God; then he is called to that other work which his affliction
doth lead him to. It may be, your affliction may hinder you from your former
work which God hath called you from, but it doth not hinder you from that work
whereunto you are now called by your affliction. And what though my affliction
doth hinder me from my former work; yet if God will not fault me for the neglect
of that, have I any reason to be discouraged because I do not do it? This is
certain, that if God call me to a new work, he will never blame me if I lay by
the former. You will not blame your servants if they lay by their former work,
when you call them to a new. And when God leads into a new affliction, then he
doth call to a new work. And as for matter of temptation and sin, this is
certain, that, that affliction doth never expose a man to a new sin, which doth
make him sensible of his former sin. Now, as you have heard, the afflictions of
the saints do both discover and heal their ««s, making them sensible of them
which they were not before. And if you look into Psalms 125:3, you will find a
promise to this purpose: "The rod of the wicked shall not rest on the lot of the
righteous, lest the righteous put forth their hands to iniquity.5* As it is with
a master that sets his servant to beat the dust out of his garment, though he
cause the rod or stick to pass upon the garment, yet he will not suffer it to
rest so long upon the garment, as it shall be torn thereby. Your affliction is
God's rod and he suffers it to pass upon your garment. Why? That he may fetch
out your dust therewith; but he will not suffer this rod to rest so long upon
you as to tear your garment. "Lest the righteous put forth their hand unto
iniquity," saith the text. And if this fear of yours be a good sign of your
grace, then why should you be discouraged in this respect? Now what better sign
of truth and uprightness of heart have you than this: that you are therefore
troubled at your affliction, because it doth expose to temptation and sin, and
because it doth hinder you from what is good; do you not say so? Lord, thou
knowest I am therefore afflicted under this affliction, not because of the
burden of it so much, but because thereby I am hindered from doing and receiving
good, and exposed to such temptations; as for the affliction itself, though it
be great, yet Lord, thou knowest I should submit to it and be quiet under it,
were I not thereby exposed unto what is evil. Here now is sincerity, here is
uprightness, and will you then be discouraged; nay, rather have you not cause
and reason to be much encouraged? This is not my fear, or cause of my
discouragement, but I am under a great and sore affliction, so and so afflicted,
and I fear I have brought myself into this affliction by my sin: had not my sin
been the cause of my affliction, I should not be troubled; but oh, ray
affliction is great and long, and I am persuaded that my own sin is the cause
thereof. Yea, and that which aggravateth the matter is, I cannot find out what
the sin is; if God would but discover it to me, I should be more at quiet. But
my sin is the cause of my affliction, and I know not what the particular sin is
that hath brought me into this affliction. And have I not just cause and reason
for any discouragement now? No; for did not Jonah bring himself into his
affliction by his sin, and yet when did God more fully appear to him, than when
he was in the whales belly? Did not David bring himself into his affliction by
his sin: he sinned in the matter of Uriah, and the Lord said, "The sword shall
never depart from thy house and what was the sword of Absolom, but an affliction
which dropped out of that threatening, brought upon him by his sin: and yet when
was David as heart in a better frame? "If (saith he) the Lord have any pleasure
in me, he will bring me back to the ark again; if not, let him do with me what
seemeth good in his eyes. 5 And when did God more fully appear to David than
under this affliction? for he prayed, "The Lord turn the counsel of Ahithophel
into folly," and God Heard him presently. And if ye look into Deuteronomy 4 :,
you shall find a standing promise made for your comfort in this matter: verse
25, " If you shall corrupt yourselves, and make a graven image, or the likeness
of any thing, and shall do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to
anger; I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that you shall
soon utterly perish from the land; ye shall not prolong your days; the Lord will
scatter you among the nations, and you shall be left few in number among the
heathen, and there you shall serve gods, the work of men's hands. But if from
thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him
with all thine heart and all thy soul." Here was a great affliction, to be
driven out into another country. This affliction was caused by their great sins.
Yet the promise is, that if from thence, from this valley and bottom, they did
seek the Lord, he would shew mercy to them. And all this in the times of the
law: and is not God as gracious now in the times of the gospel, as then in the
times of the law? And what though you cannot find out what the particular sin
is, it is good to search, but sometimes it is better for a poor soul that it is
not discovered; for if I be under an affliction for some particular sin, and
find it out, then I am once humbled for it, and go no further: but if I find it
not out, I search and search, and so am humbled continually for many sins. And
therefore I say, it is sometimes better that the particular sin is not
discovered. Why then should a godly, gracious soul be discouraged in this
respect? Surely he hath no reason for it. Yet there is one thing sticks with me
in regard of personal afflictions, I fear that they do not come from God's love;
were I certain that this affliction did proceed from God's love, then I should
never be troubled; but I even see the visible characters of God's displeasure
and anger, engraven upon my afflictions, and therefore I am thus discouraged:
have I not cause and reason now? No; for if affliction do rather argue God's
love, than hatred, then have you no reason to be discouraged. Now though
affliction do not argue God's love; yet, I say, it doth rather argue love than
hatred. A man may be no father to a child, yet he may correct him: but if two
children commit a fault, and a man take the one and correct him, and let the
other go, it argues rather that he is his father than not. So, though
chastisements do not always argue God to be our Father, yet it doth rather argue
his fatherly love than not. And is there any thing in God, that is not a friend
to all the saints? When a man is a friend to another, not only his purse is his
friend, his estate is his friend, his staff is his friend; but his sword is his
friend. So, if God be a friend to a man, then not only his love is his friend,
and his mercy his friend, but his sword is his friend, his anger is his friend.
Now God is a friend to all the saints, and therefore his very anger and justice
is a friend too. But, What are those visible characters of love, which are
engraven upon an affliction? If affliction be a blessing to one, then it doth
come from love; and if a man can bless God under affliction, then it is a
blessing to him. Job's affliction was a blessing to him: why? because he blessed
God under it: "The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away, blessed be his name,"
&c. If an affliction do end in our love to God, then it comes from God's love to
us; for our love is but a reflection of God's love, and it doth flow from his:
and if I can say, I love God never the worser for this affliction, then I may
say, God loves me never the lesser, notwithstanding this affliction. If an
affliction teacheth the mind of God, then it doth come from love: "As many as he
loveth, he chastiseth;" and, "Blessed is the man whom thou chastiseth, and
teachest out of thy law." So that if affliction be a teaching affliction, then
it doth come from love. If it be laid on in measure, and imposed in due and
seasonable time, so as a man may grow thereby, then it doth come from love. When
a man intendeth to kill and destroy a tree, or to bring it unto the fire, he
cuts it at any time, so as it shall grow no more; but if he cut it in a due
time, it argueth that he intendeth it for growth. So when God pruneth and cuts
by afflictions, in such a time as men may grow in grace, it argues his love.
When God is especially present in affliction, and more present in an affliction
than at another time, it argues that the affliction doth come from love. Now
whoever you are that make this objection, and fear the affliction doth not come
from love, are you not able to say, Thus I find it indeed, though I have been
much afflicted, yet through grace I have been able to bless the Lord under my
affliction, and to say, "The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away," &c. I love
the Lord never the lesser for mine affliction, and the Lord hath taught me much
in this mine affliction ; I have gained more by my sickness, than by many a
sermon; yea, and he hath cut me in due time, for if I had not met with such an
affliction at such a time, I did not know what evil 1 should have fallen into.
And this I must needs say, I have had more of God's presence in my affliction,
than ever I had before. Well then, be of good comfort, though your affliction be
very grievous, yet it doth come from love. And thus it is with all the saints
and people of God, and therefore why should they be discouraged, whatever their
affliction be? But though a Christian have no reason to be discouraged in regard
of his own private affliction, yet hath he not reason to be discouraged, when it
goes ill with the public? And thus it is now with us; we see how it is with this
poor nation, troubles and calamities from every part, therefore I am thus
discouraged; and have I not cause to be cast down, and to be much disquieted
now? Indeed, this is a sad thing; and oh, that we could weep day and night, and
pray too, for this poor, bleeding nation! If ever God's people, here in England,
had cause to be afflicted, troubled and humbled, under the hand of the Lord, and
to run together in prayer, surely they have reason now; yet, saith the
Scripture, "Say to the righteous, in evil times, It shall go well with him." Did
ever any calamity come down like a storm upon a kingdom, but God did provide
some hiding for his own children? Did he not provide an ark for Noah in the time
of the flood, and a mountain for Lot in the time of the fire of Sodom? The worst
that man can do, is but to kill his neighbour: death is the worst that can fall;
and what is death, but an inlet to eternal life unto the people of God? When the
saints in the primitive times came to bear witness by their deaths unto the
truth of Christ, then they said, Now we begin to be Christians indeed; now we
begin to be like to Christ. There is a three-fold death: spiritual death in sin,
eternal death for sin, and temporal death which came in by sin. If God spare me
from the two former deaths—the spiritual death and eternal death—and only
inflict the temporal death, have I any cause to complain? Thus it is with the
saints: though they die temporally, yet they are free from the spiritual and
eternal death; and what godly man may not say, I could not live long in nature,
and shall I now bear witness unto the truth with this little spot of time that
remains! Christ died for us, the just for the unjust, and shall not I that am
unjust be willing to die for the just! The worst of all is death; the worst of
death is gain. When my body is broken, may I not say, if godly, now a poor
pitcher is broken, and shall go no more to the well: now a poor prisoner, my
soul, is delivered, and I go home unto my Father. But if you look into the 7th
of Revelation, you shall find what a glorious issue God doth give unto all his
people in the times of public troubles: verse 9, "After this I beheld, and lo a
great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, kindreds and people
stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and
palms in their hands." A robe is a garment of majesty, palms are an ensign of
victory; and saith he, I saw them with robes and palms. The world looks upon my
servants as poor and of low spirits, but, saith Christ, I look upon them as
under a royal, princely garment, in robes and of a princely spirit. And though
the world looks upon them as discomforted, yet, saith Christ here, they shall
overcome, for they have palms in their hands. But who are these; This scripture
tells, verse 14, "These are they which come out of great tribulations, and have
washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." But why are
they in white robes, and their robes washed? Because by their tribulations they
are washed from filth. Affliction is God's soap: before a godly man goes into
afflictions, his very graces are mixed with sin ; his faith is mixed and dirtied
with unbelief and doubtings, his humility with pride, his zeal with
lukewarmness: but now, by his tribulation, his garments and robes are made
white, and washed, and he shall be of a more royal spirit, and be clothed with
robes. But though the Lord make use of my tribulations thus to wash, yet I fear
that by these public calamities, I shall be driven from ordinances, the temple
and worship of God. Nay, saith he, therefore, at verse 15, "They are before the
throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple." But what though we
have the ordinances, if Christ be not present with them? He adds, therefore,
"And he that sits on the throne shall dwell amongst us." But though we have the
presence of Jesus Christ, yet we may suffer much with want. True, yet verse 16,
"They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more, neither shall the sun light
on them, nor any heat; for the Lamb which is the midst of the throne shall feed
them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of water." Oh, but yet we may be
brought in the meanwhile into grievous straits, and be in a sad and mournful
condition. True, but there is a time a coming when all tears shall be wiped away
from our eyes; and therefore he adds this, at the 17th verse, "And God shall
wipe away all tears from their eyes." How should tears be wiped away hereafter,
if they were not shed for the present? Though then you do fear it now, and shed
many tears, yet all shall be wiped away and not one left. Oh, what gracious
dealing is here! Thus will Christ deal with his people in troublous times; and
therefore though our condition, in regard of the public, be exceeding sad, and
very grievous, insomuch as we have all cause to mourn and weep; yet if you be in
Christ, and have made your peace with God, you have no reason to be cast down.
And thus it is with every godly man: surely, therefore, a godly, gracious man,
hath no reason for his discouragements, whatever his affliction be. But what
shall we do, then, that we may not be discouraged, whatever our affliction be,
whether public or private, national or personal? A good man, indeed, hath no
reason to be discouraged under his affliction, but it is a hard thing to bear up
against all discouragements under great affliction: what shall we do in this
case? Either you have assurance of God's love in Christ or not; if not, this
affliction shall be a messenger to bring it to you. So look upon your
affliction; and if you have assurance, then actuate your assurance, reflect much
on your interest in, and your peace with God through Christ; put yourselves
often upon this disjunction—either there is enough in God alone, or not; if
there be not enough in God alone, how can the saints and angels live in heaven,
who have no meat, drink, nor clothes there, but God alone? And if there be
enough in God alone, why should I not be contented with my condition, and
comforted under it, whatever it be? What though men hate me, if Christ loves me?
Oh, labour more and more to see your interest in Christ, and ever hold it to
your eye! If you would not be discouraged under your afflictions, remember much
your fellowship with Christ in his sufferings; thus: Now by these my sufferings
have I fellowship with Christ in all his sufferings; and therefore as Christ
died, and did rise again, so though my name dieth, estate dieth, body dieth, and
all my comforts die, yet they shall rise again. The apostle argueth, and proves,
that the Romans should die no more in their sins, because Christ being risen
from the dead, died no more; and therefore, saith he, though you fall into sins,
yet you shall die no more, because you are risen with Christ. So say I, though
your afflictions be great, and seem to swallow up all your comforts, yet your
comforts shall not be buried in them; for, if godly, you are risen with Christ,
and have fellowship with him, and so die no more. When therefore affliction
comes, rejoice in that you are made partakers of his sufferings, and say,
"Rejoice not over me, O mine enemy, for though I fall, yet shall I rise again
for by my sufferings I have fellowship with Christ in his sufferings, and so in
his resurrection, comforts and glories. If you would not be discouraged under
your afflictions, labour more and more to be strangers to the world, and to be
acquainted with the ways of God under affliction. The dog doth not bite, or
tear, or hurt those that dwell in the house; if a stranger comes, he flies upon
him, and tears him, because he is not acquainted with him. And what reason is
there that men's afflictions fly upon them and tear them so much as they do, but
because they are strangers to, and know not the way of God under them; labour
therefore to live by faith above the world, to be a stranger to the world, and
be more acquainted with the way of affliction. Consider what Christ hath borne
and left you to bear. There are but two things to bear; sin and sufferings.
Christ hath borne all your sins, will not ye bear his sufferings? He hath borne
and carried the heavy end of the staff: you have not one sin to bear, and will
you not then bear the sufferings? Consider also, and that frequently and
seriously, what abundance of good you and others get, or may get by your
afflictions. God by afflictions lets out nothing but corrupt blood. Be of good
comfort, man, (said one now in heaven, to another complaining under his
afflictions,) Christ will do thee no hurt in the latter end. God never whips his
children but for their good, and doth teach both them and others by them. I was
converted (said one, telling the story of his conversion) by seeing a man
executed; for, thought I, if a man be thus punished with death for breaking one
of the laws of men; what do I then deserve, who have broken all the laws of God?
Affliction sometimes teacheth the bystander much, but especially it is teaching
to yourself; thereby you see and read the fulness of God, the emptiness' of the
creature, and the vileness of sin. It recals sin past, and prevents sin to come;
it quickens prayer, and enlarges thankfulness. And it may be thou mayest owe thy
conversion to some affliction, as a means thereof; and if so much good do come
by it, will you be discouraged under it? Think, and think much of the good
thereof. Whenever any affliction comes, do not stand poring on the evil of it,
but be sure that you look as well and as much upon what is with you, as upon
what is against you: there is no mercy which you can lose, but hath some burden
with it: there is no misery that can befal you, but hath some mercy with it.
When men lose a mercy, they only consider the sweetness of a mercy lost, and not
the burden that they do lose withal. Oh, saith a poor woman, I have lost my
husband, so loving, so gracious, so helpful; but not a word of the burden that
is gone withal, and so there is much discouragement. When affliction comes men
only consider the evil, and not the mercy that doth come withal, and so they are
much dejected. Suppose that a loving father in some high room, throw down a bag
of gold to his child, and it lights on the child's head, insomuch as it breaketh
his head and causeth the blood to come; whilst the child feels the smart
thereof, he is impatient and forward; while he looks only upon the leathern bag
he is not thankful ; but when he looks into the bag, and sees what a great deal
of gold his father hath given him, then he speaks well of his father,
notwithstanding all the smart of his head. There is never an affliction, but is
a bag of gold given unto the people of God; though it seem a leathern bag
without, yet there is gold within; so long as they stand poring upon the
leathern bag, or attend unto the smart of their affliction, they are not
thankful, they do not praise the Lord, but are much discouraged; but if they
would look into the bag, and tell their gold, then they would have comfort, and
not be discouraged. I tell you from the Lord, there is gold within; look in this
bag, the bag of affliction, tell over all your gold which the Lord hath given
you in this affliction, and then you will be quiet. If a mercy be taken from
you, consider the burden that is taken away too. If a misery come, consider the
mercy that doth come withal; labour ever, labour to see both together, as well
what is for you as what is against you, then will you never be much discouraged,
although your affliction be never so great. And thus I have done with the
seventh instance.


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  CHAPTER 13: SERMON XI. - A LIFTING UP IN CASE OF UNSERVICEABLENESS.
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SERMON XI. - A LIFTING UP IN CASE OF UNSERVICEABLENESS. If art thou cast down, O
my soul; and why art thou disquieted within me?" .—Psalms 42:11, VIII. Sometimes
the discouragements of the saints do arise from their employments, work and
service. Either they are not called forth to work for God, as they do desire, or
they do want abilities and skill to work, or they have no success in their work.
Oh, says one, I am a poor, unuseful, and unserviceable creature; God hath done
much for me, but I do nothing for God: others are used and employed for God, but
as for me, I am cast by as an useless vessel, in whom God hath no pleasure: and
therefore I am thus discouraged, have I not just cause and reason now? No, for
is family work and service nothing, is relation work nothing? There is a
three-fold sweat, says Luther; political sweat, ecclesiastical sweat, and
domestical sweat. A man may sweat at family work; and it is a great betrustment
to be trusted with the work of a family: and this work you are betrusted with.
Is it nothing for a man to be trusted with the work of his Christian station?
The whole body of Christ is divided into many members; every member in the body
hath a work suitable unto it: the eye doth not hear, as the ear doth; nor the
ear see, as the eye doth; but every member worketh according to that station
which it hath in the body. So, "ye being one body, are many members," saith the
apostle, and all members have not the same office. Look therefore, as the
station is which ye have in the body of Christ, such is the work that ye are
betrusted with. And is it nothing for a man to be employed in comforting,
relieving, and supporting others! This is so great a service, that the very
angels arc employed therein, as in a work most suitable to them. For when the
Lord would stir up and provoke the children of Israel to repent, he sent a
prophet to them. Judges 6:7-8. But when he would comfort, strengthen, and
encourage Gideon, he doth not employ the prophet therein, but he sends an angel
to him, saying, verse 12, "The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valour."
And if ye look into the story of the New Testament, ye shall find, that when
Christ was on Mount Tabor, in his transfiguration, then the angels are not said
to attend upon him; but when he was sweating in the garden, then the angels came
and comforted and ministered to him. Why? Because this is angelical work, to
comfort, relieve, and support others in the time of distress. Now are you not
trusted with this work? How many poor, drooping, tempted, and deserted souls are
there whom you may go and administer to ' And is this no work at all? But there
is a generation work, a work of special employment, which God doth trust others
with; as for me I have none of this work to do, I am a poor, useless, and
unserviceable person, one that God doth not use at all, and therefore I am thus
discouraged. For is it not a very great mercy to be used and employed for God in
the world? Yes, it is a very great mercy and blessing, I confess, to be used in
any work or service of God. This was Moses' commendation, that he was the
servant of God; Moses, "the servant of the Lord, is dead." And in this title
David gloried more than that he was king of Israel, Psalms 18, "A Psalm of
David, the servant of the Lord." He doth not say, A Psalm of David, the king of
Israel. Thus Paul, Peter, James, and Jude do entitle their epistles: Paul, a
servant of Christ; and Peter, a servant of Christ; and James, a servant of
Christ; and Jude, a servant of Christ. Yea, and Christ himself doth glory in
this title of God's servant; and the Father glories in Christ on this account:
"Behold my servant, whom I have chosen. My servant the Branch." So that a great
privilege it is to be God's servant, used and employed for him. The more
serviceable a man is to God the more he doth honor God, and the more he honors
God, the more he honors himself. Honor est in honorante. Those that stand
before, and wait on kings and princes, honor themselves in honoring their
masters. So in honoring God, a man honors himself; yea, and thereby God doth put
honor on him: for what is honor but Testimonium de alicvjus excellentla,
testifying of another's excellency; and the more I testify of any excellency in
a man, the more I honor him. Now', when God doth betrust a man with his work, he
testifies of an excellency in him: "The Lord hath counted me faithful, and put
me into his work," saith Paul. Yea, the greatest greatness in this world is to
wait upon the great God. Therefore, saith our Saviour of John the Baptist,
"Amongst them that are born of women, there hath not risen a greater than he."
Matthew 11:11. And if ye look into Genesis 1 : ye shall find that the moon is
called one of the two great lights, ver. 16, "And God made two great lights, the
greater to rule the day, and the lesser to rule the night." But though the moon
is said to be lesser than the sun, yet it is said to be one of the two great
lights. And why so? are there not other stars greater than the moon? Yes; but
because the moon is the most influential and serviceable to the world, therefore
it is said to be greater than others. So that in God's account, the more service
we do in the world the greater we are, and the more honorable in God's eyes.
Thereby also we are kept from the dint of temptations; idleness breeds
temptation. Our vacation is the Devil's term; when we are least at work for God,
then is Satan most at work about us. By doing nothing men learn to do evil. Yea,
idleness is the burying of a living man. Great and good employment is the mercy
promised. That can hardly be a small mercy, which the great God doth promise;
promised mercies are the sweetest mercies. Now the Lord promiseth, Isaiah 58:18,
"That if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, &c. the Lord shall guide thee
continually; and they that shall be of thee, shall build the old waste places:
thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations, and thou shalt be
called the repairer of the breaches, the restorer of paths to dwell in. " Here
is employment and betrustment promised. The more useful and serviceable a man is
to God, the more apt and ready God will be to pardon his failings; not only the
failings of his present employment, but of the other part of his life also. What
a great failing was that in Rahab, to say the spies were gone, when she had hid
them in the top of her house. Yet the Lord pardoned this failing to her. Why?
Because she believed, and was useful, and serviceable unto God's great design in
that her day. And if ye look into Numb. 12: ye shall find, that though Aaron and
Miriam were both engaged in the same sin and evil, of envying and murmuring
against Moses, yet the Lord spared Aaron when he struck Miriam with a leprosy.
But why (saith Abulensis) was not Aaron smitten with the leprosy as well as
Miriam? what, because he was not so deeply in the transgression as she was? No;
for verse 1, it is said, "then spake Aaron and Miriam;" not as if she were put
on by him; or because that Aaron confessed his sin as she did not? No, for so
did Miriam also, for she was a good woman. Or because that God owed Aaron a
punishment till afterwards? * No, for that appears not by the text; but he was
the high priest, and if he had been smitten with leprosy, it would have brought
his ministry under some contempt, the work of the Lord would have ceased for a
time also, and though he failed in this thing, yet he was otherwise a very
useful and serviceable man; and God would shew his aptness and readiness to
pardon such, rather than others. If a man be employed for God in any special
service and work, the Lord will not only pardon his failings, but if he be
faithful in his work, God will bless him, and set a character of love and favor
upon him. What a character of love did the Lord set on Caleb and Joshua. Of all
men in scripture, it is said of Caleb, that he followed the Lord fully; and this
character God himself did set upon him, Numb. 15:24, "But my servant Caleb,
because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, &c." But why
did God own and dignify Caleb thus? Even because he was faithful in that work,
service, and employment which God did call him to. Yea, the serviceable man is
the only man who doth live and speak when he is dead; I mean for God. Some are
very active and serviceable for the Devil; whilst they live, they write and
print wanton, filthy books; and they speak while they are dead, but it is still
for Satan. Others are very active and serviceable for God; while they live, they
write and print works of faith and holiness; and they also speak when they are
dead. As it is said of Abel, "who being dead, yet speaketh;" but how doth he
speak now? The apostle tells us, Hebrews 11 : by faith, by which δι αυΊης, it
relates unto πισις faith. Well, but what act of faith did he do? He offered a
more excellent sacrifice than his elder brother, which was the work and service
of his day. So that the serviceable man is the only man who doth speak when he
is dead. Surely therefore, it is a very great privilege and mercy, to be used
and employed for God in his work and service. Yet if God will not use me, why
should I be discouraged, or complain? Is not God free; and may not he employ
whom he pleaseth? Shall the poor potsherd say unto him, why dost thou lay me by?
What if God will cross Lands, and lay his right hand on another's head, and his
left hand on mine; shall I think to direct and order the hands of God's
providence, as Joseph would have altered Jacob's? Is not his work his own; and
may not he put it out unto whom he please; and if I complain thereof, is not
this my pride? Proud men scorn their own employment, and envy at others. It is a
mercy indeed to be employed for God; yet if God will not trust me with his
service, as I desire, why should I be discouraged? Yet I may be God's servant.
For, 1. The service of God is twofold. Sometimes it is taken for some special
employment, which a man is called forth unto. And sometimes it is taken for our
ordinary obedience unto God's commandments. In the first sense it is used often
in Numb. 4: and frequently in the Old Testament called, the service of the
tabernacle of the congregation. So in the new' testament also, Romans 15:31,
"That my service may be accepted." In the second sense it is used, Rom. xil.1,
"Which is your reasonable service." So also, Revelation 2:19, "I know thy work,
charity and service." This latter service, is the saving service, that service
whereby, in a special manner, we are called God's servants. And in that respect
we may be serviceable to God, though not in the former. 2. As for the service of
special employment, that is also various. Sometimes God doth call a man to one
kind of service, sometimes to another. He hath several ways of employment; he
employed Moses one way, in giving out the law; and he employed Ezra another way,
in restoring of the law. Both were employed, but their employments were very
different. In 1 Samuel 30 : we read, that when David fought against the
Amalekites, to recover his wives and substance, some of his men stayed and
tarried by the stuff, to preserve that; and saith David, verse 24, £C As his
part is, that goeth down to the battle; so shall his part be, that tarrieth by
the stuff, they shall part alike " Now it may be you are one of those that stay
by Christ's stuff, being employed in some lower and meaner service; Christ hath
a care of you, and though you stay at home, yet you, even you shall have part in
the spoil, as well as those whose work and employment is more honourable. 3.
Yea, though God do lay me by for the present, yet he may use me afterward. God
did make use of Joseph, but he first laid him by; God did make use of Moses but
he first laid him by; God did make use of David, but did he not first lay him
by? And if Barnabas, the companion of Paul, were the same person with Barsabas
(as some do verily believe, though the Syriac translation is plainly against it,
because the name of both was Joses or Joseph, as appears by comparing /lets
1:23, with Acts 4:36. And because this Joses was not called Barnabas from the
beginning, but named Barnabas by the apostles, Acts 4:46): if, I say, Barnabas
were the same with Barsabas, then it appears plainly, that God doth not always
lay a man by, to use him no more, for what abundance of service Barnabas did,
the book of the Acts doth declare; yet he was first laid by, in the choice that
was between him and Matthew, for the lot fell on Matthew; yet Barnabas is sent
out afterwards by the church, Acts 11:22, and by God himself, Acts 13:2, and
much service he did do for God : so that though God do lay me by for the
present, yet he may use me afterwards. 4. And if a man may be employed for God
in some special service, yet may go to hell when all is done; and a man may not
be employed, and yet go to heaven afterward: then why should you be discouraged,
because you are not so employed? Now what think ye of those which ye read of in
Matthew 7, they say at the last day, "Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy
name, cast out devils in thy name and done many wonderful works in thy name?"
Works and great works, and many, and wonderful, they did and all in the name of
Christ; yet he will say to them, "Depart from me, for I never knew you; or I
know you not." Yea, did not our Saviour Christ say concerning Judas, "I have
chosen twelve, and one of you is a devil?" A devil, yet an apostle; what greater
work, service, or employment, than the work of an apostle? yet possibly a man
may be an apostle in regard of employment, and a very devil in regard of life.
On the other side, how many good and gracious men are there in the world, who
were never used, or called forth unto any special service, such as are now in
heaven, and shall be so unto all eternity? What then, though you be not
employed, or used as others are; yet surely you have no just cause or reason to
be discouraged in this respect. 5. And if it be the property of a good man to
rejoice in the service of others; then why should you be discouraged, because
others are employed, and you not? A godly man doth mourn for another's sin, as
well as for his own, because he mourns for sin as sin, and as a dishonor unto
God: so he rejoices in the service of another, as well as in his own, because he
rejoices in the work itself, and because God is honoured. You would have God's
cart to be driven through your gate. Why? is it not because you may have some
toll thereby? Paul said, "However, Christ is preached, and therefore I rejoice
and if Christ's work be done, whose hands soever the work comes through, why
should you not rejoice? And if it be your duty to rejoice, then surely you have
no scripture ground and reason for your discouragement in this regard. But I am
not discouraged, because I do want employment, or service; I have more work lies
upon my shop-board, than I can turn my hand unto: but I have a great deal of
work to do, and I have no skill to do it: oh, I want abilities, I want
sufficiencies, I do want endowments; therefore I am thus discouraged, and have I
not cause and reason now? No: for God's greatest works, are not always done by
the greatest parts and most choice abilities. Gideon did a great work for God in
his generation, yet saith he, Judges 6:15, "Oh, my Lord wherewith shall I save
Israel? behold my family is poor in Manasseth," and I am least in my father's
house as if he should say, If this great work be done, it must be done by some
strong and potent family or person ; but as for me, I am the least in my
father's house, and mv father's house is the least in Manasseth; yet, saith the
Lord to him, I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite Midian as one man." I
have read in scripture, that the people have been too many, and the means too
strong for God to work by; but I never read that it was too small, or weak for
God to work by. God saith, "Who hath despised the day of small things? And if he
will not have us to despise the day of his small things, surely he will not
despise the day of our small things. Did not the weakness of the apostles
overcome the strength of all the world? Who doth not see what weighty buildings
God hath sometimes laid upon our laths? He is able to make as great a hole with
his needle, as with our bodkin. Our best abilities for God's work, are from the
breathings of the Spirit of God. Water is weak in itself, but when the wind
blows upon it, how strong is it. So, if the Spirit of God breathe upon us, we
are strong, though in ourselves as weak as water: "Not by might, nor by
strength, but by the Spirit of the Lord," saith Zechariah. And if ye look upon
that great service of the re-building of the temple, when they came out of
Babylon, ye shall find, that so long as they went forth in the strength of
outward powers, the command of Cyrus, and the like, they were much hindered, and
the enemies then caused the work of the Lord to cease; but when the Lord stirred
up the spirit of Haggai, Zechariah, Zerrubbabel, and others to build, then they
went on and prospered; Why? Because they went forth in the strength of the
Spirit of the Lord; not in the strength of man's command, or of their own
abilities. Though the work of the Lord be carried on, not by might nor by
strength, but by the Spirit; yet this Spirit doth not always breathe and work
alike: Christ sent out his disciples for to preach, to cast out devils, and by
the Spirit of the Lord, they did preach, and cast out devils; yet they had not
then received so great a measure of the Spirit as afterwards, when he breathed
on them, saying, "Receive ye the Holy Ghost;" yea, and though he did thus
breathe upon them when he left them, yet they did not then receive in so great a
measure of the Spirit as afterwards; for they were still to wait for the
promise, that is, the Spirit, Acts 1 :; so that though G c d will carry on his
own work, by his own strength and by his own Spirit, yet the assistance thereof,
is not always alike; sometimes it is more and sometimes it is less; even where
it falls in truth and power. But though the Spirit doth not always work alike,
yet if God call you to any work or service, you shall have so much assistance as
is needful for you; only you must know, that Dabitur in hora, it shall be given
in that hour, it shall not lie cold and stale by you; but when you come to use
it, then it shall be given out unto you, more or less, but sufficient. Before
Moses came to his work, he complained of want of abilities, his stammering
tongue, and want of eloquence, &c., but when he was warm at his work, and was
engaged in it, then we read of no such complaints : God's call, is our wall and
strength, " Go in this thy might," saith God to Gideon; and what might was that?
the verse tells you, it was the might of his call; for says the Lord in the next
words, " Have not 1 sent thee?" Judges 6:14. Our might then, is in God's call,
not in our own abilities: and a little warm assistance, is better than much cold
and stale ability. But I fear the Lord hath not called me to this work, but that
I am an intruder into the work of the Lord, because I do want abilities. Nay,
but if the Lord do sometimes call a man first, and doth furnish him with
abilities afterward, then you have no reason to make such conclusions. Now ye
know how it was with Saul; God did first call him, and then he gave him another
spirit; he had not that other ruling spirit, before he was called to rule, but
after. So the apostles were first called to their office, and then Christ did
furnish them with abilities, "Who hath made us able, or meet ministers, not of
the letter," &c. When were they made meet, or able? what, before they were
called! No, but afterwards. God's call is not like to man's, man's call doth
always pre-suppose abilities, God's call doth sometimes bring them. And if God's
porters, whom he hath set to keep the door of opportunity, do judge you able,
then you are to rest in their judgment; "A. large, and effectual door is
opened," says Paul. God hath a door, which when he calls a man to work, he doth
then open to him: this door is kept by certain porters, whom God hath appointed
to keep the same, and if they judge that you have abilities, then are you to
rest and acquiesce therein; for though I am to judge of mine own grace, and not
another; yet others are to judge of my gifts, and abilities, and not myself.
Some will judge of their own gifts and of others" graces; this is evil, but in
reference to work and external service, others are to judge of mine abilities
and not myself; as I am to judge of mine internal grace, and not another.
Accordingly, Luther counselled Spalatinus, who having many sad thoughts of
leaving his ministry: This is, saith Luther to him, a diabolical temptation, and
you know not now, why you are afflicted with it; we which are spectators, know
it better, therefore you ought rather to trust us than yourself, who in the
Lord, before the Lord, yea, the Lord by us, doth exhort you to go on in your
work, unto which he hath called you. So say I now to you, you doubt of your call
because you do want abilities; but do those porters judge you able, who are set
to judge? then are you in this case, rather to rest in their judgment, than in
your own. Now God's porters have judged you meet for his work, and have opened
the door of opportunity to you; and therefore you have no reason to be
discouraged in this respect; only remember this: That the weaker your legs are,
the faster you must hold on the hand of free grace. Oh, but I fear that I am not
called to this work, but that I am an intruder, because I meet with so many
difficulties in my way. Do you meet with difficulties in your way; what virtue
or virtuous action is there but hath some stone upon it? Nulla virtus sine
lapide; there is no virtue but hath some stone or other that is rolled upon it.
As Christ himself had a stone rolled on him, so every work of Christ, and truth
of Christ, and way of Christ, hath one stone or other that is rolled upon it.
Yet ye must know that there is a pearl lying under that stone, and the heavier
the stone is, the more precious is the pearl; the harder the nut and shell is to
crack, the sweeter is the kernel; and in due time Christ will send his angel to
roll away the stone from your work and his service, and that before you are
aware.* When the women said, as being at a stand, and not knowing what to do,
Who shall roll away the stone? then did the angel come, and rolled it away for
them before they were aware of it. Peter had the brazen gates opened for him
when he came to them; they did not stand open before, but when he came at them,
then did they open to him. And if you go on in your way and work which God doth
lead you to, the brazen gates which are now shut against you shall then open to
you; if, I say, you go on in your work in way of faith, as following the conduct
of the Lord. And if God's clearest call to a work hath always been followed with
the greatest difficulty, then have you no reason to question your call in regard
of difficulties. Now I pray tell me, when Moses went to bring the children of
Israel out of Egypt, had not he a clear call for that: yet what abundance of
difficulties did he meet with in his way to it? And when the Jews came out of
Babylon, did they not meet with many difficulties: some at their coming out,
some in their way, some at the building of the temple; yet had they not a call,
and a clear call thereunto? Without all doubt they had. Surely, then, you may
have a call, and a clear call to your work and service, yet you may meet with
many difficulties in your way, and therefore have no reason to be discouraged in
this respect. But I am not troubled, afflicted, or discouraged in regard of my
call; for I am persuaded that God hath called me to his work and service: but I
am most unserviceable; I do not do that work and service which I am called unto;
I lie like a dry log or chip in the family and place where I live. Oh! I am most
unserviceable, and therefore I am thus discouraged. That is ill indeed; for
every good and gracious man is a serviceable man, more or less he is serviceable
in his place and condition. Onesimus, before converted, was unprofitable; but
being converted, now profitable, says the apostle. A good man, in scripture, is
compared to those things that are most profitable. Is the wicked compared to the
green bay tree, which doth bring forth no fruit: the godly is compared to the
olive tree, which is all profitable; the fruit profitable, the leaves, bark and
the tree profitable. Is a wicked man compared to the goat: a good man is
compared to the sheep; and what is in a sheep not profitable? its flesh is
profitable, its wool profitable, its skin is profitable, yea its very dung is
profitable: and such a sheep was Paul; nothing in Paul not profitable and
serviceable: will ye instance in his Jewish and natural privileges? he makes use
of them, Philippians 3, to advance the righteousness and knowledge of Christ;
yea, "all these (says he) I count as dung and dross in regard of Christ." Will
ye instance in his conversion to Christ? he doth make use of that to convert
others, and to establish others, by frequently telling the story of it to
others. Will ye instance in his parts, gifts and learning? he makes use of his
Hebrew sometimes, sometimes of his knowledge in the heathen poets, sometimes of
his knowledge in the Roman customs. Will ye instance in his friendship,
acquaintance, and interest in men? that he makes use of with Philemon, from
Christ, in the case of Onesimus. Will ye instance in his afflictions? he doth
make use of them to persuade his people to their duty: "I Paul, a prisoner of
Christ, do beseech you," &c. Will ye instance in his temptations? he doth make
use of them, and tells the Corinthians how he was buffeted by Satan. Will ye
instance in his sins? he doth improve them also for the advancement of God's
grace: Jeremiah 6:29, "The bellows are burnt, the lead is consumed of the fire,
the founder melteth in vain; for the wicked are not plucked away: reprobate
silver shall men call them." Yea, doth not Christ himself say, Isaiah 49 : "I
have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought and do you think to
fare better in this case than Noah, Jeremiah, Christ himself? I confess the want
of success in our work, is a great temptation, even one of the greatest
temptations; yet if God will have me lay out my strength in vain, why should I
be discouraged! The good physician doth not lose his fee, though the patient
die; nor shall you lose your reward though ye have no success. Yet this is not
the thing which doth trouble me; for I acknowledge that I have been entrusted
with many services, and God hath called me to them; I have been willing
thereunto, and have had some good success, but when I look into the Scripture, I
find that some have been employed in way of judgment, as Nebuchadnezzar; others
in way of mercy, as Nehemiah, &c. Some, again, have been employed in way of
mercy to others, as Cyrus, and Judas, but not in love and mercy to themselves;
others have been employed in way of mercy to themselves and others too, as Paul,
and Peter, &c. Now I fear that either I have been employed in a way of judgment,
or that I have not been employed in a way of love and mercy to myself, but for
others; and therefore 1 am thus discouraged and cast down, have I not just cause
and reason now? No: for if God have employed you, and trusted you in his service
in a way of love and mercy to yourself, as well as to others, then you have no
reason to be discouraged in this respect. Now, when doth God employ a man in a
way of love and mercy to himself, as well as for others' good? When a man's
heart is thereby drawn out with love to God. That which ends in love, comes from
love; that which ends in your love to God, came from God's love to you. So in
outward blessings, if they end in your love to God, then they came from God's
love to you. So in the matter of afflictions, if I do love God the more by them,
then did they come from God's love to me. So also in the matter of employments,
if you do love God by them, and they do end in your love to God, then they came
from God's love to you. When God doth employ a man in his service, in a way of
love and mercy to him, then he doth more or less acquaint him with his design
therein; and if God do acquaint me with his design in his work, then he doth
employ me in a way of love to me. He employed the Assyrian as a rod in his hand,
to scourge the people of Israel; but they knew not God's design, they went on
upon their own design. Therefore saith the prophet Isaiah, in the name of the
Lord, chapter 10:6, "I will send him against an hypocritical nation, howbeit he
meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so; but it is in his heart to
destroy nations, not a few." The Lord employed Peter to open a door to the
Gentiles in the conversion of Cornelius, and though he knew not God's design at
the first, yet he did fully know it afterwards; fur says he, and the rest, "Now
hath God also to the Gentiles, granted repentance unto life." When a man is
employed in a way of special love to his own soul, he hath high thoughts of his
employment, but low thoughts of his own actings under it; therefore said John
the Baptist, "I indeed baptize you with water, but there is one comes after me,
he shall baptize with the Holy Ghost and with fire, whose shoe-latchet I am
unworthy to unloose." But though the employment of Korah, Dathan and Abiram, was
good and honourable, yet they had low thoughts thereof, and high thoughts of
their own actings, Numb. 16:3; for said they to Moses and Aaron, "Ye take too
much upon you, seeing all the congregation arc holy as if they should say, We
are as good as you. Why so? Even because they were not employed in mercy to
their own souls, but for others' good. He that is employed and used in a way of
love and mercy, is very tender of the name of God, and doth so act and work as
the name of God may not suffer, or be defiled by him. Thus it was with Ezra,
though the enemy lay in his way to Judea, yet he would not ask a convoy of the
king; for says he, "I was ashamed to require of the king a band of soldiers and
horsemen, to help us against the enemy in the way, because we had spoken to the
king, saying, the hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek him, and
his wrath is against all them that forsake him." Now Ezra was a good man, a man
that God did call forth to this employment, not only out of love to others, but
to himself 5 and thus did he act for God, being more careful of God's name in
the work, than of their own safety. When a man is employed in a way of love and
mercy to his own soul also, then he doth grow in grace while he is exercising of
his gift. A man that exerciseth a gift for the good of others only, grows in
parts, and in pride also; but a good man grows in experience, and so he doth
grow in faith: he meets with difficulties and deliverances, so he doth grow in
faith j God discovers himself to him in the way, so he still grows in faith,
love and holiness. God gives him a promise when he sends him forth, as he did
give to Joshua, chap. 1: this he looks much upon, and goes forth in the strength
of, and so as he uses his gift in his work, he doth grow in grace thereby, but
the other doth not. He makes no great outward bargain of God's service, neither
doth he labour to pocket up much for himself. God employed Moses in a great
work, but where do you read of any great estate that he got for himself? We read
of Joshua, that when he had brought the children of Israel into Canaan, and
divided the land by lot to them, then when he had served others, in the last
place he did serve himself, and that in no great matter. What did Nehemiah get
by his service? Not as the former governors did. Why? Because he feared the
Lord. So then, if a man be employed in way of love and mercy to himself, he doth
not make his employment a shoeing-horn to his own preferment. It is enough for
me my Master's work is done, saith he; neither doth God use to pay them all
their wages here, whom he employs in mercy to themselves. But as a merchant, if
he have to deal with a stranger for a less commodity, he pays him down
presently; but if with a friend for some great priced commodity, he takes time,
and doth not pay down his money presently. So, if God have to do with a
stranger, as Nebuchadnezzar, he will pay him wages presently; but if God deals
with a friend, whom he employs in mercy to himself, then he doth put off his
full payment till afterwards. He doth God's work without any great noise or
notice of himself, like Christ, "He lifts not up his voice in the street/' and
as the angels in Ezekiel 1 : his hands are under his wings; he hath four hands
to work with, but they are not seen, they are under his wings. Let your light so
shine before men, (says Christ,) that they may see your good works, (not
yourselves,) and glorify your Father," not yourselves. As it is with the fisher,
so with him; he shews the bait, but hides himself; he holds forth the word of
truth, but not himself; though he have four hands to work with, yet they are all
under his wings, hidden; but says Jehu, "Come and see my zeal for the Lord of
Hosts." This is another difference. If God do use and employ a man in a way of
love and mercy to himself, he is willing to be used, and contented to be laid by
and to be used no more. Another man is not so, if he have been used in one
thing, he thinks he must be used in other things, and when he hath done, he
cannot bear that God should lay him by and use another. Thus it was with Saul,
he could not be contented that God should use David. But when God told Eli, that
he would lay him and his house by, he answered, "Good is the word of the Lord
for he was a good man, and one whom God had used in love and mercy to himself,
and so when God had done with him, he was content therewith. He that is used and
employed in a way of love and mercy to himself will do the work of the Lord
fully, though he do his own works by halves. Caleb did his own works by halves,
and the work of God fully; for he was used in mercy to himself and others. Jehu
di 1 the work of the Lord by halves, and his own work fully; for though he was
used in mercy to some, and judgment to others, yet not in love to himself. When
God doth use a man in a way of judgment, he hath ordinarily more skill at
pulling down, and destroying what is man's, than in setting up and building what
is God's. But when God doth use him in a way of love and mercy to his own soul,
he hath a dexterity in, and a heart to the setting up of what is God's; witness
Jehu on the one hand, and' Nehemiah on the other hand. How is it therefore with
thee? Hast thou a skill at pulling down what is man's, and no skill nor heart to
set up what is God's? Hast thou been employed and used in God's service, and
have you done your own work fully, and God's work by halves? Art thou not
contented to be laid by, and that God should use another? Dost thou make a noise
in the work, and thy hands not under thy wings? Hast thou made a goodly outward
bargain of the Lord's work, and his service as a shoeing-horn to thine own ends?
Hast thou not grown in experience, faith and holiness, by this work, but in
pride rather? Hast thou not been very tender of the name of God in thy service;
nor been acquainted with God's design; nor thine heart drawn out the more to
love the Lord? Then surely God hath not used or employed thee in love and mercy
to thine own soul. But if thine heart have been drawn out with love to God by
thy very service and employments, and thou hast been in some measure acquainted
with God's design in that service, and hast been very tender of the name of God,
and more .willing to hazard thyself than to defile his name, and hast grown in
grace by the exercise of thy gifts, and hast made no bargain of the Lord's
service, but hast had thy hands under thy wings, and hast not done God's work by
halves, and now after all, art contented that God shall lay thee by, and make
use of others; then surely the Lord hath used and employed thee in a way of love
and mercy to thine own soul; and therefore why shouldest thou be discouraged in
this respect? Certainly you have no just cause or true reason for it. But
suppose that the Lord either shall not use me in his service, or if he do, that
difficulties and oppositions press in upon me, or that I meet with no success in
my work according to my desire, what shall I do, that I may be able to bear up
my heart against all discouragements in this kind? In case that God do not call
you forth to any work or special employment. Then, Consider that you have now
the more time to mind your own soul, and to attend to your own condition. Some
are so employed, that they have not time enough to pray, read, meditate, examine
their own hearts, and to look into their own condition. Yea, though a man's work
do lie in the ministry, it is possible that he may so mind his public work, as
to neglect his private. But now, if thou hast no public employment or service,
then you have the more time for to spend upon your own soul, the more time to
converse with the Lord in private, and to look into your own condition. And if
you be not called forth to work, and yet arc willing to work, you shall be paid
for that work and service which you never did. As some men shall be punished for
those sins which they did never commit in the gross act, because they were
willing and had a desire to commit the same. So some shall be paid for that work
and service for God, which they never did perform, because they were willing to
have done the same. Now, is it not a great mercy to be paid for that work which
I never did? Such is the privilege of all those that are not called to service,
and yet are willing to it. In case that you are employed in God's work and
service, and difficulties press in upon you; then, Consider that the greater the
difficulty is, the greater shall your obedience be in carrying on the work; and
the more you do follow after duty, and redeem it from the hand of difficulty,
the greater shall your comfort and reward be when all is done. And the more that
any service, work, or duty, is oppressed with difficulty, the more assistance
may you expect from God; his assistance, help, and income, is given out much
according to the difficulties which we do meet withal. If the difficulties be
small, then his assistance is less; if the difficulties be great, than is his
assistance greater. Now what matter what the difficulties are, so long as my
assistance is suitable? This is God's way with his, he doth proportion his
assistance unto our impediments. And therefore if your difficulties be great,
and more than ordinary, then may you look for great and more than ordinary
assistance. Oh, what a comfort is this! In case that you work, and serve, and
toil, and do take nothing, having no success, or not so comfortable as you
desire; then, Consider this, that the less success you have, the more are you
free from envy. It is a hard thing for a man that works not, not to envy him
that works; and for him that hath no success, not to envy him that hath great
success. Of all men in the world, the successful man is the most envied. The
heathens had this notion amongst them, which they applied to their gods; and
therefore when Polycrates, king, or rather tyrant of Samos, prospered so
abundantly in all that he undertook, Amasis, the king of Egypt, his friend and
confederate, wrote thus to him: "That thou doest well and prosper, is no small
joy to me; but I must tell thee plainly, that these great and overflowing
successes do not please me, who know full well the nature of the gods, how
envious they are. It is my wish concerning myself, and the like I wish for all
my friends, sometimes to prosper and sometimes to miscarry; and in this
vicissitude rather to pass my life, than without any alteration to prosper; for
I never yet could hear of any who having thus prospered long, did not at the
last, end in universal destruction." Which he imputed to the envy of their gods;
for their gods were devils; and indeed, what is the reason that the successful
men in any kind are the most envied by the world, but because the Devil (who is
the envious one) doth provoke thereunto? Yea, always so it is, that success doth
raise envy, if hast thou therefore been at work and hast had no success, then
shall you be the more free from envy. Hereby also you are kept from that great
temptation of resting on your own labours. As we are very apt to rest on our
duties, sufferings and enjoyments; so we are very apt to rest on our own labours
and employments. That we may not rest on our duties, God doth sometimes suspend
our duty, or our heart in it. That we may not rest on our spiritual enjoyment,
God doth sometimes suspend that also. So here. What is the reason that God doth
put the sentence of death upon our employments, or doth suspend their success,
but that we may be kept from resting on our labours? Were our labours more
successful, we should rest more upon them, but by want of success we are weaned
from them. This is comfort even in the want of comfort. But in this case, why
should not that comfort and support us, which did comfort and support Christ
himself? Isaiah 49:2, ye read of his call to bis work: "The Lord hath called me
from the womb, from the bowels of my mother he hath made mention of my name."
Here is his clear call to work, verse 2, ye have his divine assistance, "And he
hath made my mouth like a sharp sword, in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me,
and made me a polished shaft in his quiver?' Then verse 4, ye have his want of
success expressed in many words: "Then said I, I have laboured in vain." Is that
all? No: "I have spent my strength for nought." But is that all? No: "and in
vain" again. Then at verse 6, God the Father comforts him against this
discouragement: "And he said, it is a light thing that thou shouldst be my
servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob: I have given thee for a light to the
Gentiles." Though thou hast little success in this work amongst the Jews, thou
shalt have great success in a greater. But wherein doth Christ comfort himself
in this case of no success in his work amongst the Jews? That we have in verse
4: "Surely my judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God." Whatever
judgment men do make, it matters not much, for "my judgment is with the Lord,
and my work with my God." I have done the work which God gave me to do, and
therein I have approved myself unto God; and therefore though I have laboured in
vain and spent my strength for nought, yet I have comfort in my work, for my
judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God; I have not lost my labour,
for my work is with God. And thus may you also comfort yourself in the want of
success; true, I have laboured in vain as to others, but not in vain to myself;
I have lost my labour as to others, but not as to my God; for my reward is with
God, and though I have spent my strength for nought in regard of men, yet my
work is with my God; and in all this work I have approved myself unto him; and
therefore whatever the success be, yet will not I be discouraged ; for my
judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God. And thus I have done with
this eighth instance, whereby it doth appear that a good man hath no reason or
cause to be discouraged in regard of his work or service, however it may fare
with him therein.


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  CHAPTER 14: SERMON XII. - A LIFTING UP IN CASE OF DISCOURAGEMENTS DRAWN FROM THE CONDITION ITSELF.
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SERMON XII. - A LIFTING UP IN CASE OF DISCOURAGEMENTS DRAWN FROM THE CONDITION
ITSELF. "Why art thou cast down, 0 my soul; and why art thou disquieted within
me?". —Psalms 42:11. IX. Sometimes the discouragements of God's people are drawn
from their condition, the condition itself. Oh, saith one, my condition is
exceeding sad, both for soul and body; there is no condition that is like to
mine: my affliction and my condition are twisted and woven in together; my
affliction, misery, and my calamity are seated in my very condition: they do not
only grow upon my condition, but are in the condition itself, and therefore I am
thus discouraged; have I not cause and reason for it? No: I will grant and must
confess, it is possible that a godly man's condition in regard of outwards, may
be very bad, Cum bene sit mails, et male bonis; when it goes well with those
that are bad, and ill with those that are good, I am strongly solicited to
believe there is no God, said the heathen: but we have learned better divinity
than this. A man's condition may be very bad, and yet the man himself may be
very good, and God may be good to him. Yea, It is possible that a godly man's
condition in regard of the world, may be worser than the condition of a wicked
man ; for what else is the meaning of the parable of Dives and Lazarus? Jacob
was driven out of his father's house and lodged in the open fields, in the
night, whilst wicked Esau, profane Esau, stayed at home, and lay in his warm
bed: ye do not read that ever Esau did serve so hard a service in Laban's house
as Jacob did, nor are ye able to parallel Esau's misery with Jacob's; yet saith
the Lord, (C Jacob have I loved and Esau have I hated." So that it is possible
for a good and godly man's condition, in regard of the world, to be worser than
the condition of the wicked. Yea, It is possible that a godly man's condition
may be worser in regard of outwards, after his conversion, worser I say, than
before his conversion. Grace is fain sometimes to wear sin's clothes; and a
gracious man, sometimes, doth wear the punishment of that sin which he hath
committed before his conversion. What think you of Paul? Do you read that ever
Paul before his conversion was put into the stocks; that he was whipped up and
down the streets like a rogue; that he was imprisoned; that he was stoned by his
countrymen? But after his conversion he was so used. In the beginning of that
xixth chapter of the Acts, he breathed out threatenings against the saints, and
goes out to kill the people of God; but no sooner is Paul converted, but the
Jews sought to kill him: so that I say, possibly a gracious man's condition, in
regard of outwards may be worser, at least for a time, than it was before he was
converted and drawn to God. ' But now, take a godly man's condition, and though
it be never so sad, yet there is no reason why he should be discouraged or cast
down because of his condition, in itself considered. For, 1. By way of
demonstration. If his condition be carved out unto him by the hand of his
Father, who is of infinite wisdom and love; then he hath no reason to complain,
or to be disquieted. Now look into Psalms 16, see what David saith of Christ,
and Christ of the saints, at verse 6, "My lines are fallen unto me in a pleasant
place; yea, I have a fair heritage," or a goodly heritage; Why? (verse 5.) "The
Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup." Three things are most
considerable here. First, these words are plainly spoken of our Lord and Saviour
Christ, and of his great sufferings, as appears by verse 10. "For thou wilt not
leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see
corruption." "Men and brethren, (saith the apostle in Acts 2:29.) let me speak
unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his
sepulchre is with us unto this day; therefore being a prophet and God had sworn
unto him, that of the fruit of his loins according to the flesh, he would raise
up Christ to sit on his throne;" he seeing this before, spake of the
resurrection of Christ. At the 27th verse of the 2nd chapter ye have the same
words that you have here in Psalms 16, "Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell;
neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption." So that plainly the
words of the Psalm are spoken of Christ, and of his great sufferings. But now in
the second place; though his sufferings were very great and many, yet saith he,
"My lines are fallen unto me in a pleasant place, and I have a goodly heritage;"
but why so? The reason is, in the third place, in verse 5, "The Lord is the
portion of my inheritance and of my cup;" the Lord, my Father, saith he, hath
drawn out my lines for me, he hath measured out my condition and the Lord
himself is my portion and the portion of mine inheritance. Thus now, may every
godly man say; my lines are fallen unto me in a pleasant place, yea, I have a
goodly heritage. Why? for the Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my
cup: surely, therefore, he hath no reason to be discouraged, whatever his
condition be. Again. 2. If a man do not live upon his condition itself, but upon
his call into his condition; then he hath no reason to be discouraged in regard
of his condition itself. Now as our Lord and Saviour Christ said, "Man lives not
by bread but by every word of God;" so say I, man lives not upon his condition,
but upon God's call into his condition; and if God call a man into a condition,
he will maintain him in it: therefore you find these two go together, in Psalms
16, "Thou maintainest my lot;" at the latter end of verse 5, "And my lines are
fallen to me in a pleasant place." And thus it was with the children of Israel,
when they went through the Red Sea; it is said, "The waters stood like a wall on
each side of them ye never read before of a wall of water, and yet then the
waters were as a wall unto them ; a strange kind of wall, made of waters: but
saith the text, " the waters were as a wall," stood as a wall on each side of
them. Beloved, God's call is our wall, which will bear off, and bear up one's
heart under troubles and discouragements. Oh, saith a gracious soul, what
abundance of opposition do I meet withal in my condition; but yet the Lord hath
called me into this condition, and therefore I am quiet, I am contented, I am
satisfied; I confess I did not think to have met with so much affliction in my
condition as now I do; but God hath called me into it, and therefore I have
comfort. Thus it is with all the saints, they are led by God's call into their
condition, and they can shew their patent, they can say, Here is my call. Now,
if a man do not live upon the condition itself, but upon God's call into his
condition; and God doth call his people into whatsoever condition they are; then
they have no reason to be discouraged by reason of their condition. Again, 3. If
there be no condition that a godly man can fall into, but there is some mercy
that is mixed with it, and Jesus Christ hath paid for that too, then a man hath
no reason to be discouraged, whatever his condition be. Now you know what
Solomon saith: "Shall a living man complain? is not a living dog better than a
dead lion?" Some mercy still that is mixed with misery, and Jesus Christ hath
paid the reckoning; godly men have nothing to pay, not anything to pay. Suppose
you were invited to a great feast, and some of the dishes were not so well
dressed or cooked up as you desire, would you find fault; would you complain?
No; why? Because this feast doth cost me nothing. The master of the feast may
find fault, but I am a guest and it cost me nothing, and therefore I have no
reason to complain. Beloved, the Lord Jesus Christ is the great master of the
feast, and of all the comforts which you have, and he hath paid all your
reckoning, there is nothing for you to pay; and if you bring in your prayers,
your tears, your obedience, as matter of payment, they will not be taken; no,
saith Christ, I have paid all myself, witness these empty purses, these empty
veins of mine; as for you, O my friends, ye are welcome, but you have nothing to
pay, not a penny, not a farthing. I say there is no condition that a godly man
can fall into, but there is some mercy that is mixed withal, and Christ hath
paid the reckoning for the mercy too; surely then, the people of God have no
reason to be discouraged by reason of their condition. But (will some say) I am
in a poor, low, mean, base and despised condition, and therefore I am thus
disquieted; as for those that are in a prosperous estate and condition, they may
well bear up their heads and be of good comfort. Rich men indeed and those that
are in a prosperous condition, have many opportunities of serving God, publicly
and privately, which a poor man hath not; they have time to frequent the
ordinances in the week, to converse much with God in private, whilst the poor
man is fain to be at work for his living, and glad he can get his living too;
there is no man knows the misery of a poor condition but those that are in it.
And such is my condition, and therefore I am thus discouraged; have I not cause
and reason for it? No. For whosoever you are that speak or think thus, do you
know what the burden of prosperity is? You see a town sometimes upon the side of
a hill, and you say, what a fine town is there, what pleasant meadows are about
it, what excellent woods, what clean ways unto it. Thus you speak at a distance.
But when you draw near unto this town, and go through some of the lanes, you
find them very dirty, and then you say, I did not think at a distance, that
there had been such a dirty lane about this town; I saw nothing but fine and
clean meadows when I was at a distance, I did not think there had been such
dirty passages to it. So, when you look upon prosperity at a distance, you think
there is no dirty lanes, no foul passages to it and from it; but when you come
near unto it, then you find many a dirty passage, and you say, oh, what dirty
sloughs are here! The truth is, the more prosperous (I speak now of outward
prosperity) a man's condition is, the more opportunities he hath of doing and
receiving good. But if you look into Numbers 4 : you shall find that every
opportunity of service carries a burden with it; and therefore the service of
the Levites, is often, and in many verses of the chapter called a burden; I will
name but one, which is the last: "According to the commandment of the Lord, they
were numbered by the hand of Moses, every one according to his service, and
according to his burden." Service and burden do here go together; burden and
service, service and burden. And now poor soul, is it a burden to you, that you
are freed from a burden; hath not our Lord and Saviour Christ said, and do you
not find it in experience, "That the poor receive the gospel?" Is not a living
sprig of a tree better than a dead arm? The poor hen, you know, so long as she
lives is upon the dunghill, and there she is scraping, and picking up her
living; but when she is dead, then she is brought unto the masters table. The
hawk on the contrary, while he is living, is carried upon the fist, and upon the
arm, and hath good flesh and provision made for him, and a house to sit in; but
when the hawk dieth, then he is thrown out unto the dunghill. So in this case;
so long as a poor, godly man is living here, it may be he is upon the dunghill
and picking up his living, a little and a little; but when he dieth, then he is
brought into his masters presence. But the rich, ungodly man when he dieth,
though while he lived he had great provision, yet then he is thrown out unto the
dunghill, and comes no more into his master's presence. Oh, you that are godly,
though in a low condition, would you then change your condition with the wicked?
The lower your coudition is, the higher is your obedience; if you submit unto
the work of your condition, this is angelical obedience; for the angels, though
in order of nature they are above men, yet at the command of God, they are
ministering spirits unto men, attend and look to men that are much below them in
nature. And the lower the work is that they do in tending men, the higher is
their obedience to God. So say I; the lower the work of your condition is, the
higher and more angelical is your obedience in submitting unto your condition,
and to the work thereof. Luther said: A poor woman knitting of a pair of
stockings in a way of faith, doth a greater work than Alexander did in
conquering the world. It was the speech of a good man that is now in heaven: The
more riches the more debts. For if a man be not in Christ, all his present
riches will be future debts; he will wish: Oh, that I had less of them, oh, that
I had never a penny. And I pray tell me, who have most promises in scripture?
The poor or the rich? The oppressed or the oppressor? The high or the low? He
that is most exercised hath the most promises; and a low condition is an
excellent commentary upon those promises. When the sun shines, ye see not the
stars; but in the night the stars appear. So, whilst prosperity shines upon us,
we do not see the premises; but when the night comes, adversity comes, a dark
and low condition comes, then we see those promises which we saw not before. But
suppose that a father hath two children, and to one he gives a brave garment,
saying unto him: Child, take and wear this garment; but there is all thy
portion, I shall give thee no more. The other he gives a mean garment to, but
saith he: Child, be contented, it is not thy portion; thy brother's garment is
his portion, but though the garment be mean it is not thy portion, I have a good
inheritance for thee. Will not this latter child be contented; will he be
discouraged think you, because he hath not so brave a garment as the other hath?
Why, take a wicked man, and though he have a braver garment, yet it is all his
portion, his portion is in this life, there is all thou shalt have, saith God,
there is thy portion. But now, as for a godly man, though he have a mean
garment, yet it is not his portion. Oh, you that are godly, will you then be
discouraged because you have not so brave and fine a garment as another hath?
Consider that the Lord himself is your portion. Oh, but, I praise the Lord, I am
not in a poor and low and base condition, my condition is full enough; but I am
in an unsettled condition, I am never settled in my condition, sometimes in one
condition, and sometimes in another; could I be but settled, though I had the
lesser, I should be contented; but my condition is never settled, and therefore
I am thus disquieted and discouraged; have I not some reason now? No: for I
pray, what settlement would you have here in this world? The best estate of men
is altogether vanity; is there any settlement in vanity? "Verily (saith the
Psalmist) the best estate of every man, (or every man in his best estate) is
altogether vanity;" so you read it: but in the Hebrew it is, every man standing,
Omnis homo stans, as Monta- nus gives it, every man in his most settled estate,
so the word signifies; " Verily every man in his most settled estate is
altogether vanity."* But suppose that your condition be more unsettled than any
others; if God hath no design but love upon you in your unsettlement, then
surely you have no reason to be disquieted because of this. Now, I pray, why
doth the Lord suffer the condition of his people to be so unsettled in the
world, but that they may settle upon himself? Oh, saith a gracious heart, I see
there is no abiding place here, therefore I look for one that is to come, that
hath a foundation: had I been settled in the world, I should never have been
fixed upon God himself; but being unsettled in the world, I learn to settle upon
God himself: God doth therefore carry his children from vessel to vessel, from
condition to condition, that their filthy scent may not remain. Beloved, there
is no condition here below, that is able to grasp, or hold the love of God to
his children; every condition is too narrow" a vessel to hold the love of God
in, and therefore God doth lead his people into several conditions, that so he
may have the fuller vent for his love : so long as you are in one condition, you
do not see or observe your own self and carriage therein, and therefore God
leads you into a new condition, that you may see what you did in your former
condition. For example : when a man is in health, he doth not then observe his
own carriage in the days of health ; therefore God leads him into sickness, and
when he is sick then he doth observe what his carriage was while he was in
health; then, saith he, how wanton was I, how worldly was I, how vain was I,
when I was in health : but when a man is sick, then he doth not observe his
carriage in that condition; therefore God leads him into health again, and when
he is in health then he seeth what bis carriage was while he was sick; and then,
saith he, how froward was I, how impatient was I, when I was sick. I say, a man
doth not observe the present carriage of his soul in his present condition, and
therefore God leads him into a new condition, and then he sees what his carriage
was in the old condition. Philosophy tells us, that if a sensible object be laid
close to the organ of sense, there will be no sensation; as if a book be held
close unto your eye, you will not be able to read a letter; but hold it at a
convenient distance, and then you may read it all. So here; so long as a man is
in a condition, and that is held close unto him, he doth not see his own
carriage therein, but at a distance he doth; wherefore the Lord doth remove him
to some distance from his former condition and so he sees and observeth what he
was, and did therein. It is an easy thing for a man to sing when the Psalm is
set, a child can do it; but it requires some skill to begin, it requires some
singing skill to turn readily from one tune to another; but when the Psalm is
begun, every one can go on then. A poor weak horse can go on in the road, so
long as he keeps the same way; but when he comes to turn out of that way into
another, then he stumbles; it requires some strength in a horse to go readily
over the cart wracks, to go from one way into another, this requires strength.
So every poor weak man, may go on in the same way, and in the same condition,
this requires no great store of strength; but to carry the sameness of heart
towards God in variety of conditions, this argues strength, this requires skill:
what therefore if the Lord will lead you from one condition to another, and so
draw out your skill and strength, and hath no design but of love upon you, will
you then be discouraged? Thus it is with all the saints; surely therefore they
have no reason to be cast down in this respect. Oh, but I am not so much
troubled about my outward condition, as about the condition of my soul, the Lord
knows my soul's condition is very sad; for sometimes I am under the ordinances,
and sometimes not; sometimes I can stir out to an ordinance, but sometimes
oppositions keep me at home; I am not under a settled ordinance; and when I am
under the ordinance, 1 get little good thereby; I hear and I do not remember, my
heart is hard and dead and dull, and it is little that I profit, and therefore I
am thus discouraged : have I not cause and reason now? No, not yet. For as for
your want of ordinances, if God lead you to the want of an ordinance, he will
make the very want of an ordinance, to be an ordinance to you. When the children
of Israel came into the land of Canaan, where there was ordinary food, then
manna ceased; but when ordinary food could not be had, as in the wilderness,
then they had manna, bread that was baked in the clouds; then they had angel's
food immediately from God; and immediate mercies that come immediately out of
the hand of God, are the sweetest mercies. God doth always give some
opportunities of good unto his people; either of doing good, or receiving good;
and the less opportunity they have of receiving good, usually the more
opportunity they have of doing good: what though your hand be empty of receiving
opportunities, yet if your hand be full of doing opportunities, have you any
cause to be discouraged? God knows how to give the comfort of an ordinance in
the want of an ordinance. When Jonah was in the whale's belly, he prayed, and in
his prayer, he looked towards the temple, though he was absent from it, I and
the Lord heard his prayer. And beloved, if the Lord do remember your carriage,
labour of love, longings, groanings, mournings after the ordinances, as much
when you want them, as he remembers your enlargements under them; then you have
no reason to be discouraged in this respect. Now look into Psalms 132 : and you
shall see how David presseth the Lord to remember him, verse 1, "Lord remember
David and all his afflictions;" he was in great afflictions, and he desired the
Lord to remember him; but under what notion would he have the Lord remember him?
why saith he, remember him? How he sware unto the Lord (verse 2,) and vowed unto
the mighty God of Jacob; surely I will not come into the tabernacle of my house,
nor go up into my bed ; I will not give sleep to mine eyes, or slumber to mine
eye-lids, until I have found out a place for the Lord, an habitation for the
mighty God of Jacob." lie wanted the ordinance, and his heart was restless after
it; and now he desires the Lord to remember him for this. So that I say, God
will in a special manner remember your carriage, labour of love, longings and
groanings after ordinances when you want them. Oh, but though the Lord do
remember us in due time; yet what shall we do in the mean time? Mark what
follows at verse 6, "Lo, we beard of it at Ephrata, we found it in the fields of
the woods." What is that? "Lo we heard of it at Ephrata;" we heard of it, that
is, we heard of the ark (which he had spoken of before) and the habitation of
the mighty God of Jacob. We heard of it at Ephrata; as if he should say, it was
commonly reported and thought that the Lord, would settle his ark, and his house
and habitation at Ephrata, at Bethlehem, a plentiful place; but now we have
found it in the fields of the wood. Now we find that the Lord would settle his
house, and his ark at Jerusalem, which is compassed about with hills full of
woods; in the fields of the forest have we found it. Beloved, our eye is all
upon Ephrata, upon Bethlehem, upon the plentiful place; but the Lord doth so
order things in his goodness, that when he brings his people into the woods, the
fields, the forest, there they find his ark, his presence, and his habitation in
the midst of it. And what godly man is there, whom God hath called at any time
from the ordinance, but he may say thus; lo, we heard of it at Ephrata, but we
have found it in the fields of the woods; and if you do not find the presence of
God and the ark of God and his habitation at Ephrata; yet if ye find him in the
fields of the woods, in the barren forests; have you any cause to complain? No,
surely you have not. Oh, but I am in a plentiful place for the present, I am at
Ephrata; I am not in the barren fields, I am under plentiful and precious
ordinances; but I do not remember, I hear, and I remember not. Therefore ye must
know, that as for your want of memory, there is an head-memory, and there is an
heart-memory: some have an head-memory, whereby they are able to give an account
presently of all they have heard, in their due order; but they want an
heart-memory to suggest the things to them when they should use the same. Some
again have an heart-memory, so as they can remember the things when they should
use them; but they have no head-memory. Now if you can remember the things as
you are use to them, though you forget the words and method, have you any cause
to complain? Though the words heard, do depart from you, yet your heart may be
kept sweet by the hearing of them. Water is often poured into a vessel, and runs
out presently, yet it keeps the vessel sweet. So now, though you hear, and hear,
and hear again, and you cannot remember, and the things heard do not stay by you
as you desire, yet your soul may be kept sweet thereby. As for your deadness; it
is some life to feel one's own deadness; for there is a death, and a deadness,
as I may so speak. There is a life, and a liveliness; a man may be alive and yet
not lively, as a sick person. So a man may be under some deadness, and j et not
be dead unto death. There is a deadness that is opposite to liveliness; and
there is a I deadness that is opposite to life. Now you complain, Oh, my heart
is dead, my heart is dead; this argues that it is but a deadness that is
opposite to liveliness, else you could not feel your own deadness. A man that is
stark dead, cannot feel that he is dead; I say therefore, in that you feel your
own deadness, it argues, that it is but a deadness that is opposite to
liveliness, and not that deadness that is opposite to life itself; and if you be
alive in opposition to death, though you have a deadness in you that is opposite
unto liveliness, have you any reason to be quite discouraged, and cast down? The
tradesman complains that his trade is dead, and you complain that your heart is
dead; this argues that your trade is there, and that your trade is in the matter
of your heart. As if your unprofitableness, and unfruitfulness under the means
and ordinances, ye know that there is a difference between unfruitfulness and
less fruitfulness; the good ground brings forth fruit, in some thirty, in some
sixty, in some an hundred fold; thirty is less than sixty, yet this is not
unfruitfulness; sixty is less fruit than an hundred fold, yet this is not
barrenness. A good man may be less fruitful than another, □r than he was
formerly, yet he may be fruitful; and it may j be thus with you. But suppose you
cannot profit under she means, and be indeed unfruitful; yet there is a great
deal of difference between the unfruitfulness of the good tree, and the
barrennesss of the barren fig-tree. Though a good man be unfruitful, yet he is
very sensible of his unfruitfulness. Oh, saith he, there is not a more barren,
vile, wretched, unprofitable heart in all the world than mine: it is not so with
the barren soul. Though a good man may be too unfruitful, yet be doth not cumber
the ground; the barren fig-tree doth, Luke 13 :, that is, he doth eat out the
heart of the soil from others and doth hinder others ; he is a cumberer to the
place and family where he grows and lives: the good man is not so, but though he
is unprofitable in his own eyes, yet 1n truth he is profitable to the souls of
others. Though a good man doth not profit so much as he should and would, yet he
is willing that any means should be used with him for his profit and growth,
even to be digged about and dunged: "And I will dig about it and dung it." Luke
13 : Upon which words, saith Bernard: Non refugit faditutem med'ii, qui expectat
ffxcundltatem anima: dung is a means unsavory, and he that desires the growth of
his grace, will not refuse the foulness of the means, that means which to flesh
and blood is unsavory, though a good man may be very unfruitful, yet God will
not cut him down, he will prune him and cut him in such a time as he may grow
thereby, but he will not cut him down. But the barren fig-tree, he will cut it
down; cut it down, saith the owner, why should it cumber the ground any longer?
But however it be, art thou unfruitful, unprofitable under the means? then have
you cause to be humbled: humble yourself therefore before the Lord your God, yet
be you not discouraged. Oh, but yet this is not my case only; for I do not
barely complain of my unprofitableness under the means and ordinances (though
that is much) but I fear that my spiritual condition is not right; and if my
spiritual condition be not good and right, after I have lived thus long under
such searching means and ministry, I fear it will never be right. I do not read
in all the scripture that ever an hypocrite was converted; publicans and sinners
I read of, but I do not read of an hypocrite converted; and having lived under
the means of grace thus long, if now my condition be unsound, then 1 am a
hypocrite, and indeed this I fear, and therefore I am thus discouraged; have I
not cause and reason for it? No. For though you have lien long under the means
of grace, and are not converted, yet there is hope, there is hope concerning
this. When our Lord and Saviour Christ rose from the dead, the stone was rolled
and removed away. And when the Lord Christ doth raise up a poor soul, he will
roll away the stone, though it be as heavy as death, though it be as heavy as
hypocrisy, though the stone be as heavy as hell itself; yea, Christ will roll
away the stone though it hath lien long upon you. And I pray, what think you of
Paul? was not Paul a hypocrite before his conversion? "Woe to you scribes and
pharisees, hypocrites," saith our Saviour; and saith Paul concerning himself,
concerning the law, " I was a pharisee." Our Saviour saith that the scribes and
pharisees were hypocrites; and Paul saith concerning himself, he was a pharisee
and yet he was converted. There is one hypocrite then converted, and you may
read of others. But is not this usual with God's own children; do they not speak
it sometimes out, that they are but hypocrites? I am but an hypocrite. Ye read
of that blessed martyr, Mr. John Bradford, that being in prison, and writing to
a friend, he subscribes his letter thus; Your's in Christ, a most unprofitable,
hard-hearted, miserable sinner. And another letter he subscribes thus; Your's in
Christ, a very painted hypocrite, John Bradford. Some there are, that think
their souls are sincere, and yet they are most unsound. Some again think they
are unsound, and yet they are most sincere. But to come a little nearer, and yet
I must but touch upon it; did ever hypocrite long and mourn after the presence
of God in Christ, as the best thing in all the world; did ever hypocrite dwell,
and abide in the work of private examination of his own soul; did ever hypocrite
love grace better or more than gifts; or that most, which is the most spiritual,
most savory; did ever hypocrite desire peace, and comfort for grace sake, and
not rather grace for peace sake ; do hypocrites ordinarily think they are
hypocrites; where do you find that in the scripture, that hypocrites ordinarily
think they are hypocrites? If hypocrisy be a man's burden, it is not his
condition. Did ever any hypocrite walk contrary to himself, to his former self?
When men were truly converted they did. So you read of Zaccheus, before he was
converted, he was a great oppressor and a covetous man; but being once
converted, saith he, "Lord, behold, the half of my goods I give unto the poor;
and if I have wronged any man, I will restore four-fold;" here he walks contrary
to himself. So the jailor, before he was converted, he imprisoned the apostles,
and whipped them till the blood ran down upon their backs; but being converted,
he hath them into nis house, sets meat before them, and washeth their wounds; he
walks contrary to his own former self. So Paul, before he was converted, he
persecuted the saints and the gospel; after converted, then he did preach the
gospel, which before he persecuted: thus he walked contrary to his former self.
I have read, or heard of a young man that was given much to jeering and
scoffing; and his mother being godly he would frequently jeer and scoff at his
own mother; it pleased God at the last to work savingly upon him, and then he
would never come into the presence of his mother, but he would fall down upon
his knees, not in the morning and evening for a blessing, but whenever he came
into the presence of his mother, he would fall down in a reverential way upon
his knees, till she bid him stand up. I do not commend the action, but I speak
this to shew, that when a man is converted, and turned to God, then he will walk
contrary to himself. Now, whoever you be, that make this objection, have you not
found it thus in your own souls? I appeal unto you, cannot you say thus? Indeed
it is little I enjoy of God here; but the Lord knows, I do long and mourn for
the presence of God in Christ, as the best thing in all the world; and I am much
in the examination of mine own heart in private, when no eye doth see me; and I
do desire those things most that are the most spiritual, and the most savory,
those my soul closeth most with; and I do not desire grace for comfort, but I
desire comfort for grace: and ah, Lord thou knowest I have gone up and down
fearing for many years together, that I have been an hypocrite; I have sat down
weeping and said, Oh, I am an hypocrite, I am an hypocrite, hypocrisy hath been
my burden indeed. And Lord, thou knowest, I do now walk contrary to my former
self; before the Lord was pleased to work upon me, so and so I lived; but now
through grace, I do walk contrary to my former self: then, soul, be of good
comfort; for though there may be many failings, for which you should be humbled,
yet do not say that thou art an hypocrite; thy condition is, or may be very
good: wherefore go in peace and the Lord comfort thee. Oh, but will some say,
this is not my case yet; for I do not only fear that my condition is unsound,
but I am afraid that I am concluded under it, and it will never be otherwise;
for there are but some few elect and chosen ones that shall be saved to all
eternity, it may be one of a hundred, or one of a thousand; and things are now
cast in time according to God's decree before time. Indeed, if this were true,
That Christ died for all, for all particular men, and that Christ intendeth to
save every particular man, as the doctrine of some is, then I should have hope;
but I have heard that this doctrine is not true, and that Christ did not die for
all men, with intention to save every particular man, and therefore seeing that
few are under election, one of a hundred, or two of a thousand, I fear that I am
none of them; and therefore I am thus discouraged, have I not cause and reason
now? No: for though this doctrine be true, that there is a certain number of
elect persons, who are but few comparatively, and that there is no such thing as
general redemption; yet this is in no way prejudicial to there is or growth of
your comfort. As for election; it is true indeed that there is a certain number
of elect persons, whom God hath chosen to grace and eternal glory, before the
foundation of the world was laid; for the apostle Paul saith expressly,
Ephesians 1:3, " That we are chosen in Christ before the foundation of the
world;" he doth not say, blessed be God who hath decreed to choose us, but " who
hath chosen us;" nor doth he say, who hath chosen all, but us; where some are
chosen, others are left; nor doth he say, who hath chosen us upon foresight of
our faith or holiness, but, " that we may be holy," holiness being the fruit of
Election ; and if ye look into Matthew 25 : ye shall find that those who stand
at Christ's right hand at the day of judgment, unto whom he saith, " Come ye
blessed, inherit the kingdom," are such for whom the kingdom was prepared before
the foundation of the world. Now this number of elect persons is certain and
unalterable; for the foundation of God standeth sure. And as the schoolmen
observe, if a man that is predestinated to life, could be damned, then the will
of God might be altered; for when he doth predestinate a man to life, he wills
his salvation; and when he damns a man, he wills his damnation; and therefore if
those that are predestinated to life can be damned, then the will of God may be
altered, which is impossible; for his will is like himself, unchangeable. As the
number of elect persons is certain, and cannot be diminished, nor augmented; so
the Lord doth certainly know all those persons, for their names are written in
the book of life, and the Lord knows who are his, that is, saith Mr. Bayne, God
only knows his collectively; no man or creature doth in this sense know who are
God's. But though God only knows by himself, who those are that are approved for
his, yet a man may know that he is one of those elect; for if I see myself set
apart from the world in time, then may I know that God hath separated me from
others before time; and if I have chosen God for my portion, then may I know
that God hath chosen me, for we choose him because he hath chosen us first: and
if I love God in time and believe on Christ, then I may know that he hath loved
me, and given himself for me: for all our grace is but a reflection of his
grace. If you see the prints and characters of the seal upon the wax, you know
the seal hath been set upon it, though you did not see when it was done. Of this
mind was that blessed martyr, Mr. John Bradford, with whom Mr. Fox doth join, in
his annotations upon Mr. Bradford's faith. Thus do I wade, saith he, in
predestination, in such sort as God hath opened; I begin with creation, from
thence I come to redemption, so to justification, and so to election: we must
judge of election, by that which cometh after, that is by our faith, and belief
in Christ; not that faith is the efficient cause of our election, but the effect
rather, and the cause certificatory, or the cause of our certification, whereby
we are brought to the knowledge of our election; and to this purpose doth the
apostle exhort us to make our calling and election sure; "Give all diligence
(saith he) to make your calling and election sure" it seems then that there are
some who are elected. That a man may know, and be assured of his own election.
That the way to know this, is not to begin aloft, but to begin below with our
vocation; and therefore the apostle puts election last, saying, not make your
election and your vocation sure; but "make your calling and your election sure."
As for universal redemption, ye must know that Christ did indeed die for all
men; but it is nowhere said, that he died for all the particular men of the
world with intention to save them, which is the thing in question: but that he
died for all, that is, both Jew and gentile, is very true; and if ye look into
Scripture, and observe how, when, and upon what occasion this speech came in,
you will easily see this is the meaning of it. In the times of the Old
Testament, Christ is not said to die for all, but he bare the sins of many,"
Isaiah 53 : not of all, but of many. And so whilst Christ lived, preaching only
to the Jews, and commanding his disciples not to go into the way of the
gentiles, it is said, "He gave himself a ransom for many;" not for all, but for
many: but when the apostles preached to the gentiles, then it is said indeed and
not before, that Christ died for all. Why? Because they held forth Christ to the
gentile as well as to the Jew. And therefore if ye look into 1 Timothy 2 :, you
shall find, that whereas the apostle had said, verse 4, " Who would have all men
to be saved;" and verse 5, 6, " For there is one Mediator, who gave himself a
ransom for all:" he explains this in regard of the gentiles, verse 7, "Whereunto
I am ordained a preacher and an apostle;" a teacher of the gentiles: and thus it
is a reason why they should pray for all, even for the heathen magistrates,,
verse 1. And to the same purpose doth the apostle John speak, in his first
epistle, 2:2 : "And he (speaking of Christ) is the propitiation for our sins;
and not for ours only, but for the whole world;" not for the sins of the whole
world, as our translation gives it, but, as the Greek and the ancient Syriac
renders it, for the whole world. But why, and how is Christ the propitiation for
the whole world? What, is Christ the propitiation for every particular man in
the world? No, but," the whole world," is opposed to the Jews, unto whom he
wrote; for to the believing scattered Jews did he now write, as appears by the
title of this epistle, called an epistle general; which title, only those
epistles of James, Jude and Peter have, which were written to the scattered
Jews, 1 Peter 1:1; James 1:1. So that in this sense, it is true, Christ died for
all, that is, for the Jew and gentile; but that he died for every particular man
in the world, with intention to save him, is nowhere to be found in the
Scripture. As for the comfortableness of that doctrine of universal redemption;
whereas it is said, that it is conducible to the comfort of such as are
afflicted and troubled in spirit. If this doctrine of universal redemption be
indeed an enemy to the comfort of a poor, doubting, afflicted soul, then you
have no reason to be discouraged in regard of this objection, or of your own
condition in this respect. Now to clear that, take these four or five arguments:
That doctrine which doth enervate or make void the satisfaction of Christ for
actual sins cannot be a friend, but a great enemy to the faith and comfort of a
poor, doubting, and afflicted soul; for he is especially troubled for his actual
sins; and the great comfort that he hath, lieth in this, that Christ hath
satisfied for them. Now what saith the doctrine of universal redemption, to the
satisfaction of Christ for actual sins? It plainly tells us that a man may be,
and thousands are damned for those very sins which Christ hath satisfied for,
and it must needs say so ; for if Christ died for all the particular men in the
world, then all the particular men in the world may be saved: and if they may be
saved, then Christ did bear their actual sins on the cross, or else a man's sins
may be pardoned, which Christ did not bear on the cross; and if Christ did bear
the actual sins of all the particular men in the world, then those that are
damned, must be damned for those very sins which Christ did bear and satisfy
for, or else they are not damned for them. But men are not only damned for their
final unbelief, but for sins against the law; for the law is made for the
ungodly. And Romans 2:12 : "As many as have sinned without law, shall also
perish without law?' "And because of these things" (saith the apostle, speaking
of actual sins against the law) "the wrath of God cometh upon the children of
disobedience." Now if men be damned for their actual sins against the law, and
Christ have borne them on the cross and satisfied for them, then men are damned
for those very sins which Christ hath satisfied for; and if so, then what is
this but to enervate, and make void the satisfaction of Christ? If you pay a
debt, and afterwards be thrown into prison for the same debt, doth not the
imprisonment make void the satisfaction of your payment. Yet thus now it is
according to the principles of this doctrine of universal redemption: surely
therefore that doctrine is no friend, but a great enemy to the faith and comfort
of a poor, doubting and afflicted soul. The intercession of Christ, in
conjunction with the death oi Christ, is a great pillar of our Christian
consolation, Romans 8:33, "Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect?"
Verse 34, "Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that
is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh
intercession for us: who shall separate us from the love of God? &c." So that
our comfort is not only laid on the death of Christ, nor on the intercession of
Christ alone, but upon the connection of these two together. And indeed, what
comfort would the Jews have in the bare sacrifice, if the high priest did not
take the blood thereof and carry it into the holy place, sprinkling the
mercy-seat for them, whom the sacrifice was offered for? But according to this
doctrine of universal redemption, the intercession of Christ is parted from his
death; for though it tells you that Christ died for all, yet it tells you, that
he doth not intercede for all; and it must needs say so, for Christ said, "
Father, I thank thee that thou hearest me always ; " therefore if Christ should
pray for the conversion of all the particular men in the world, then all the
particular men in the world should be converted and so saved; but all are not
saved or converted, therefore this doctrine must needs divide between the
intercession and the death of Christ, and so pull down that great pillar of our
Christian comfort, which stands in the conjunction of Christ's death and
intercession. That doctrine which is contrary or repugnant to the free grace of
God, cannot be a true friend to the comfort of a poor, doubting soul; for what
is our great comfort on this side heaven, but the free grace of God? Now, what
is free grace, but the special favour of God shewn to some more than to others?
And therefore if you look into Romans 9 : ye shall find, that when the apostle
would set out the free grace, of God, saying, " Whom he will, he shews mercy to;
and whom he will, he hardens ; " he first shews that Jacob and Esau were alike,
alike in regard of their parentage, for both were of Isaac and Rebecca; alike in
regard of their work, " For the children being not yet born, and having done
neither good or evil, &c.," yet God did love the one and hate the other, shewing
mercy to the one and not to the other. Why? Because "God will have mercy on whom
he will have mercy, and will have compassion on whom he will have compassion."
ver. 15. So that it is the work of free grace to shew mercy to some and not to
others, who are alike unworthy. So again, Ephes, 2: the apostle proving that by
grace we are saved; first he shews that the Ephesians by nature were as unworthy
as any other, being all by nature the children of wrath, ver. 1, 2, yet those
Ephesians did obtain mercy and not others. Why? Because by grace they were
saved. So that free grace is that distinguishing mercy of God, whereby he doth
shew mercy to some and not to others, who are alike miserable and unworthy. But
now this doctrine of universal redemption tells us, that as Christ died for all,
so he doth give a sufficiency of grace unto all, and therefore that which
distinguisheth one man from another, must be the free will of man and not the
free grace of God; for commune qua tenus, commune non distinguit; that which is
common, as common, cannot distinguish. As suppose now that a father doth bestow
an equal sum of money upon two children, to purchase house or land with; one
doth purchase and the other not; the reason why the one purchases and the other
not, is, because the one wills it and the other not. Indeed he that purchaseth
doth it by his father's help, assistance and money; but what reason is there why
he doth make a purchase and the other not, but because he wills it and the other
not? So, if God give a sufficiency of grace unto all; that one man doth believe,
you will say, is by the grace of God; but the reason why one believes and the
other not, is only the will of man, that this man wills it and the other not.
Now where free-will hath the casting vote, there the free grace of God doth not
reign. But according to the doctrine of universal redemption, free-will is that
which doth make the difference between man and man, it is that which hath the
casting voice; surely therefore, it is no friend, but a real enemy to the free
grace of God, and so an enemy to the comfort of a poor, doubting soul. That
doctrine which is opposite to the assurance of my salvation, cannot be a friend
to my comfort in time of temptation. For what comfort can I have in my soul, so
long as I doubt of my eternal welfare? Now this doctrine of universal
redemption, doth destroy the assurance of our salvation; for who doth not know
that according to that doctrine, a man may fall from grace as long as he lives?
Else (it will tell you) that he should not act freely, but be under a necessity,
and necessity and freedom cannot stand together. But if a man may fall from
grace as long as he lives, then he can have no assurance of his salvation till
he be dead. And if a godly man cannot have assurance of his perseverance in
grace, then he cannot have assurance of his salvation. But according to that
doctrine a godly man cannot have assurance of his perseverance in grace; for I
can have no assurance of any mercy without God's promise. But this doctrine will
tell you that God hath nowhere promised to any man, that he shall certainly
persevere in grace. Surely therefore it is no friend to our assurance of
salvation, and therefore is a real enemy to the faith and comfort of a poor,
doubting soul. The more any doctrine doth hang the mercy of God upon conditions
to be performed by us, the less comfortable it is and the more it leaves a poor
doubting soul in his fears. Now according to this doctrine of universal
redemption, the whole mercy of God is made to depend and hang upon performance
of our conditions, yea, upon the performance of the condition of nature. For,
say we, if Christ died for all particular men, and so God doth will the
salvation of all the particular men in the world, then he doth will this, either
absolutely or conditionally; if absolutely, then it must needs come to pass;
conditionally therefore, saith this doctrine, God doth will the salvation of all
men, upon condition that they repent, believe, and obey; if so, say we, then
either God doth will this condition, viz. that all particular men should repent
and believe or not; if not, then God doth not will the salvation of all; for he
that doth not will the means, doth not will the end; Qui vult finem, vult media
ad finem. If God do will this condition, viz. the faith and repentance of all
the men in the world; then, say we, he doth will this either absolutely or
conditionally; if absolutely, then it must needs come to pass that all men
should repent and believe, which they do not. Conditionally therefore, say the
maintainers of this doctrine, and what condition is their precedent to faith and
repentance, but nature and the work thereof? Yea, what grace or mercy is there
in the gospel, but they do tie it up unto our conditions? Will ye instance in
the purchase and benefits of the death of Christ? These, say they, are to be
given out upon condition. Will ye instance in the grace of the new covenant? All
that, say they, is to be given out and is promised upon condition. There is no
absolute promise of grace, say they, in all the scripture. Now look what that
doctrine is which doth make all grace conditional, that must needs be very
obstructive to the hope and comfort of a poor, doubting soul. Such is this
doctrine of universal redemption; surely therefore it can be no true friend, but
is a real enemy to the consolation of a poor, doubting and afflicted soul. But
if Christ did not die for all and every particular man, how can I conclude that
he did die for me; can I raise a conclusion of faith unless the proposition be
universal? Although I need not answer this objection because those that make it
do themselves answer it, from their own principles and experience, saying, that
faith is an assent to the truth of the gospel; and that they were converted unto
God and did believe before they held this doctrine of universal redemption. Yet
for further answer you must know, There is a faith of reliance, and there is a
faith of assurance. As the faith of assurance hath a shall be of mercy for its
bottom; so a may be of mercy is a sufficient ground and bottom for the faith of
reliance. Jonathan and his armour-bearer had but a may be of mercy, when they
went against their enemies; "It may be the Lord will work for us" 1 Samuel 14 :
yet they relied on God. Now, though Christ did not die for all particular men,
yet if he died for sinners indefinitely, there is a may be of mercy for me. But
so it is, that Christ did die for sinners indefinitely, though not for sinners
universally; and therefore there is a sufficient ground for me to believe, and
rely on him. Ye know, or may know, that the act of reliance, is before the act
of assurance. I must indeed be assured that Christ is able to save me, before I
rely on him, but I must first rely on him, before I can be assured that he will
save me; and by this act of reliance, we grow up into assurance; I know that he
will shew mercy to me, by my coming to him, and relying on him; for he hath
said, "Whoever comes unto me, I will in nowise cast out." Now if my assurance be
raised from the act of reliance, then the first ground and bottom of the
conclusion of my faith, is not this general proposition; Christ died for all;
but this indefinite proposition, Christ died for sinners. And if the conclusion
of faith must arise from a general proposition, then take it thus; Whoever comes
to Christ, and relieth on him, shall be saved: or thus; Christ died for all
those that do come to him, and rely on him. But I come to him, and rely on him,
therefore Christ died for me, and I shall be saved by him. So that thus now, ye
see the want of that general proposition, Christ died for all men, is no
hindrance to the conclusion, or assurance of our faith; and therefore you have
no reason to be discouraged in reference to this objection. Yet there is one
thing more that sticks with me, even that old objection which I cannot be rid
of: when I look into my condition, the condition of my soul or body, I find my
condition is such as never anyone's condition was; I have conversed with many a
godly man and woman, but I do not find that ever he or she was in such a
condition as I am ; and I have read the Scripture, but I do not find there that
ever any godly man was in such a condition as I am : could I be but persuaded
that ever any gracious man was in the like condition, I should have hope and
comfort; but I am persuaded that never any godly soul was in such a condition as
I am; therefore I am thus discouraged, have I not cause and reason now? No: for
if it be usual with the saints and people of God to think thus, then you have no
reason to be discouraged in this respect. Now I pray look what the church saith
in Lamentations 1:1-2 : Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? behold, and
see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow if there be any condition like
unto my condition : and it seems that such were the thoughts of God's people
whom Peter did write unto in his first epistle, 4:12 : " Beloved (saith he)
think it not strange concerning the fiery trial, which is to try you, as though
some strange thing happened unto you, you will think that no body's condition is
like unto your's, some strange thing is happened unto you. And so in 1 Peter
5:9, "Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are
accomplished in your brethren that are in the world you think that you meet with
such afflictions as never were in the world before; be not deceived, saith he.
But suppose that your condition be as never any body's was, hath not the Lord
said, "Behold I work a new thing?" Is not the name of Christ, <e Wonderful," and
are wonders wrought ordinarily? If your condition be as never any body's
condition was, then have you an opportunity of glorifying God more than ever any
man or woman had; then you have an opportunity of glorifying God, either in
doing or in suffering, more than ever any man or woman had. And then, oh, what
grace is here, what mercy is here, what love is here to overcome thy soul
withal, that thou shouldest have such an opportunity as never man or woman had
before! And therefore, what I said unto you often, I must now conclude with:
God's people have no reason for their discouragements whatever their condition
be. Thus now I have done with this last instance, and with all the instances.
Give me leave to speak something by way of application, in reference to the
whole, and so I will shut up this exercise. If all these things be so, if this
be true, that the children of God have no reason for their discouragements,
whatever their condition be: then what a mighty necessity is there upon us all,
to look into our conditions, and to consider whether we be in Christ or no;
whether we be godly, yea, or nay; whether we have made our peace with God, aye,
or not: and whether we have faith, aye, or no? All men have not faith, saith the
apostle. Indeed all men say they have faith; and should I go from seat to seat,
and from bosom to bosom, and knock at every breast in the congregation, asking,
whether doth faith dwell here or no? unless it were some few troubled ones,
afflicted in conscience, every one of you would say, I do believe, I praise God
I do believe, I have faith here within : but all men have not faith, and few
there be that do believe. Children, young men and women, faith is not a thing
that is born with you; it is a harder thing to believe than to keep the ten
commandments. When once you come to know what it is to believe, you will say,
oh, it is a harder thing to believe than to do anything; I do not know anything
in all the world that is so hard as to believe. But if you do believe, be in
Christ, are godly, and have made your peace with God, blessed are you of the
Lord, nothing shall offend you, nothing shall discourage you. But if not godly,
if not in Christ, if not believing, everything shall offend thee and discourage
thee, and thou hast no reason to be encouraged, whatever thy condition be. Shall
we not then, my beloved, all of us, as in the presence of the Lord, seriously
look into our condition and consider whether we be in Christ, aye, or not? But
suppose I be in Christ, or I be not in Christ; believe, or not believe; what
then? If yet you do not believe, if yet you be not in Christ, if yet you be not
godly; this doctrine doth here from the Lord hold forth an invitation to you to
come unto Jesus Christ: for if a man be in Christ, and be godly, then he hath no
reason to be discouraged, whatever his condition be. If a man be not godly, he
hath no reason to be encouraged, whatever his condition be. On the one hand
there lies all encouragements, on the other hand there lies all discouragements.
Now, therefore, in the name of the Lord, do I here, this morning, lay before
this congregation life and death; encouragement on the one hand, and
discouragement on the other hand: and if there be an adulterer, a swearer, a
lying child, or a stealing servant 5 if there be ever a poor wanton, a sabbath
breaker, an opposer of God here ; I beseech you, in the Lord, come unto Jesus
Christ; by all these encouragements that I have been speaking of, by all the
mercies of the new covenant, and by the salvation of thine own soul, man, or
woman, I beseech you come unto Jesus Christ. Oh, that men and women would give
no rest unto themselves, till they have made their peace with God, and till they
have gotten into Jesus Christ. And in case that you be in Christ, and that you
do believe, that you be godly, and have made your peace with God; then see that
ye walk up unto all these encouragements, see that you walk in the comforts of
the Holy Ghost. Oh, you that are godly, (if these things be as ye have heard,)
why hang you down your heads; why are you cast down and disquieted; why do you
not walk in the comforts of this truth declared, and in the strength of these
encouragements? You see what a venture we have run to speak comfort to you that
want comfort. You have heard in several exercises, that a godly man hath no
reason for his discouragements, whatever his condition be: not in regard of sin;
not in regard of failings and successlessness in duties; not in regard of want
of assurance; not in regard of temptation; not in regard of affliction; not in
regard of desertion; and now, not in regard of his condition, in itself
considered. Now, after all this, I appeal to you, you that are without comfort,
do you not think that there are some wicked men in this congregation, that have
presumed, when they have heard these things preached, and have said, these
things belong to me; and so have endangered their own souls by presumption,
comforting themselves when they should not be comforted? I appeal to you,
whether you do not think that there are some wicked men in the congregation,
that have thus endangered their souls by misapplication of these consolations:
and if so, that there hath been this hazard run, and all to comfort you; then
will you now refuse this comfort? Oh, you that have refused comfort all this
while, receive it in the Lord; and you that were never comforted before, now
comfort yourselves, and walk in the comforts of the Holy Ghost. And you that
have gone up and down fearing, trembling, doubting, and much discouraged; yet
now at the last say, "Why art thou cast down, O my soul; and why art thou
disquieted within me? hope in God, wait on God, trust in God; for I shall yet
praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God." How you should so
hope, and wait, and trust in God, as to bear up your hearts against all
discouragements, I shall yet speak to in the next exercise. So much for the
ninth and last instance.


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  CHAPTER 15: SERMON XIII. - THE CURE OF DISCOURAGEMENTS BY FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST.
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SERMON XIII. - THE CURE OF DISCOURAGEMENTS BY FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST.
"Why art thou cast down, O my soul; and why art thou disquieted within me? Hope in God;" or, wait thou, or, trust thou in God. —Psalms 42:11.
You have heard of the saints' discouragements, and the unreasonableness of them; there is no just cause or reason for their discouragements. Would you now hear of some means against them? The Psalmist saith in these words, "Hope thou in God," or trust thou in God, or wait thou on God. And so the doctrine plainly is this:
Faith is the help against all discouragements.
Hoping, trusting, waiting on God, is the special, if not the only means appointed against all discouragements. I had verily fainted, unless I had believed, (saith David,) to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living." I had fainted, unless I had believed. Faith bears up the heart against all discouragements.
For your more clear understanding of this truth, and our better proceeding, I shall labour,
First, to shew you what it is to hope, trust in God, or to wait on him.
Secondly, that faith doth quiet one's heart in the times of discouragements.
Thirdly, that it is the duty of all the saints and people of God, when discouragements do arise, then, and then especially to trust in God and to exercise their faith.
Fourthly, what there is in faith that can bear up the heart against all discouragements, and how faith doth it.
First, if ye ask, what it is to hope in God, to trust in God, and to wait on him?
I answer, that to hope in God, is to expect help from God; to trust in God, is to rely or rest upon God for help; and to wait on him, is to continue and abide in this expectation or reliance. Properly, according to scripture phrase, trusting in God is the recumbency or the reliance of the soul upon God in Christ, for some good thing that lies out
of sight. I say, first, it is the recumbency or reliance of the soul upon God, the staying of the soul upon God: so you read in Isaiah 26:3, "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee? So the spouse in the Canticles, is found leaning upon her Beloved; and so we are commanded to trust: not εν τω Χςιστω only, but επι τον εγειϛανΊα ιησουν, on him that raiseth Christ from the dead: which notes a fiducial repose; so that trusting in God, is to stay upon him. Romans 4:11. And then I say, it is the reliance or the stayance of the soul upon God in Christ; and so I take it to be meant here, for the word here translated, God, hope or trust in God, is in the plural number, Elohim,; and so when the prophet, in Isaiah 26 :, doth exhort unto trusting in the Lord, he gives this reason, at verse 4, " For in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength;" so you read it, but according to the Hebrew thus: " Trust in the Lord for ever, for in Jehovah Jah is everlasting strength." " For in Jehovah Jah :" Jah is an abridgment or an abreviation of Jehovah, noting the Son of God; and so when Jesus Christ comes in the end of the world, to sit upon his glorious throne, the converting Jew shall praise him under that name, singing, as you read in Revelation 19 :, " Hallelujah," praise the Jah: which if you compare with Psalms 68 :, you shall find is to be understood of Christ, at verse 4: " Sing unto God, sing praises to his name; extol him that rides upon the heavens, by his name Jah; rejoice before him, extol him that rideth upon the heavens by his name Jah;" and they shall sing, Hallelujah. Now if you look into Psalms 68:18, you shall find the reason why this Jah is to be praised: for, saith the Psalm, "Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive, thou hast received gifts for men." Which words, Ephesians 4 :, are applied to Christ: " But unto every one of us, is given according to the measure of the gift of Christ." Verse 8, "Wherefore he saith, when he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men." So that when the prophet doth exhort us to trust in Jehovah Jah, he exhorteth us to trust in the Lord, in Christ; and therefore I say, both according to the Old and New Testament, faith is the repose or recumbency of the soul upon God in Christ.
But yet that is not all. A man that doth repose upon God in Christ, trusting in him, doth trust unto him for some good thing that lies out of sight, and therefore the apostle saith, that "faith is the evidence of things not seen," Hebrews 11 :; where he gives divers instances of Abraham. Sarah, Moses, and others, who all did repose upon God for somewhat that lay out of view; and this indeed is only worthy of the name of faith. I will trust a man that is most unworthy, I will trust a thief, I will trust a liar, so far as I can see him. But as Parisicnsis saith wrell, this is fides Deo digna, faith worthy of God, to repose on God for somewhat that lies out of sight, and out of view; and when a man doth thus stay himself upon God in Christ, for somewhat that lies out of sight, then he is said to trust in God; and when a man doth continue thus, then he is said for to wait on God. This is the first. But then,
Secondly, how may it appear that faith, and the exercise thereof, will quiet the soul, suppress or allay discouragements?
You know how it was with Hannah, when she had received a word from God, "She went away (saith the text) and looked no more sorrowful," her heart was quieted; why? she had a word from God; and though before she was a woman of a sorrowful spirit, yet having received a word from God, and believing that word, her heart was quiet. Proverbs 16:3 : "Commit thy works unto the Lord," there is faith; "and thy thoughts shall be established," there is quietude. And if you look again into Isaiah 26 : you shall find that the Scripture is most express for this, verse 3. "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee." Mark the words. First, the Lord doth here engage himself to give peace unto those that do stay upon him, that have this faith of reliance, though they have not yet attained to the faith of assurance, to be able to say, I know my sin is pardoned, and that Christ is mine, yet, if they can but stay themselves upon God, the Lord doth hereby engage himself to give peace unto them; yea, he doth not only engage himself to give peace unto such a soul as stays himself upon God, but double peace: you read it in your English, perfect peace; thou wilt keep him in perfect peace: but in the Hebrew it is, peace, peace; thou wilt keep him in double peace, he shall have peace, and peace; not peace and doubting; not peace, and no peace : but if he stay himself upon the Lord, he shall have peace, peace; he shall have double peace. Yea, the Lord doth not only engage to give peace unto such a soul, but to keep him in peace; h Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace," or in peace, peace; and all upon this account, because he trusteth in thee; not because he prayed, not because he humbled himself, (though that is his duty; and he doth thereby placere Deo, though not placare Deum but because he trusteth in thee, because he stayeth himself upon thee. And ye know, that if ye have a business depending at law, though for the present you be much troubled about it; yet, if you have a friend, a lawyer, that is able, faithful and willing to look to it; if you can but leave your business with him, it doth very much quiet your heart; the very leaving your business with him, doth quiet your mind. So here. If a man can but leave his business, and his cause, and his things with God; then he is at rest, and he may say, "Return unto thy rest, O my soul," as David did ; which is done by faith. And to clear this a little, three or four things there are that do ordinarily cause disquietude or discouragement. First, the darkness that is in the understanding; for when a man is in the dark, especially if he be alone, he is very apt to be scared, and to be disquieted. Secondly, inordinate and unruly affections, and passions, especially that of fear, whereby the soul is benighted. Thirdly, guilt of conscience. Though there be much water that doth beat upon the ship at sea, yet it sinketh not; but when there is a leak, a hole in the ship, then the ship sinketh, and the water doth become its grave. So, though there be many troubles that beat upon a man, yet his heart doth not sink; but when there is a leak in his conscience, when there is a hole there, when a man hath a guilty conscience, then he sinketh, and his heart fails him. And fourthly, the apprehension of God's greatness, with our distance from him. Now faith cures all this; for in opposition to the first, of darkness, faith brings light into the soul, and shews a man his way, and his warrant for what he doth. Secondly, it doth pare and take off those inordinate and unruly affections and passions that are in the soul; and therefore in Psalms 37 : at verses 1 and 7? you shall find that fretting and trusting are set in opposition. "Fret not thyself because of the evil doer, verse 3, bet trust in the Lord." And again verse 7: "Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him; fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way." Thirdly, it doth heal the conscience, and purify that; therefore saith the apostle, "Let us draw near with assurance of faith, having our consciences sprinkled," &c Hebrews 10 : Fourthly, it does also bring the soul near to God; the great work of faith is to bring God and the soul together. So you have it in Ephesians 3:12. "In whom we have boldness, and access with confidence, by the faith of him." Faith gives a man access unto God, and brings him near unto God. But a man may come near unto God, and yet he may fear, and tremble, as the Jews did at Mount Sinai; true, but saith the apostle, "By this faith we have boldness and access." The word is, a freedom of speech; a man by faith may come into the presence of God with open mouth and speak all his mind unto God. Yea, faith doth not only thus bring a man into the presence of God with open mouth, freedom of speech and boldness; but it brings him into the presence of God with open face and uncovered. "We all with open face," saith the apostle, speaking to believers in the times of the gospel; "We all with open face behold, as in a glass, the mirror of the Lord;" with open and uncovered face. There are three vails, or coverings that we read of in the Old Testament, that were throw'n upon faces. 1. There is the vail of obscurity, and that was upon the face of Moses. 2. The vail and the covering of guilt, and so Haman's face was covered, a cloth thrown over his face, and his face w*as covered. 3. And there is the vail of abashment, or shame; and so it is said of the angels, that they cover their faces in the presence of God. Now to shew with what boldness a Christian, and a believer, comes into the presence of God by Christ through faith, as if all vails were taken off; saith the apostle, " We come with open face;" and " we all with open face behold, as in a glass, the mirror of the Lord." And upon this account, a believer may now come with more boldness into the presence of God, than Adam in the state of innocency; for though Adam in the state of innocency had no vail, or covering of guilt thrown over his face, yet there was a great distance between God and him. But now, since the fall, since Christ's time, God is come into our nature, manifested in the flesh; and so God is come near to us, and by faith we do draw near to God. No wonder, therefore, that the apostle saith, that "by faith we have boldness, and access with confidence." Faith tells a man, that God is come near to him, and he is come near to God; and therefore faith certainly is the great remedy and means against all discouragements that can arise.
Thirdly, how may it appear, that when discouragements do arise, it is the duty of every Christian to exercise faith, and then especially?
You know what David said, "At what time I am afraid, I trust in thee." And the Scripture is most express for this: Isaiah 1:10, "Who is amongst you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his Servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God." First, It is possible for one that is the servant of God to be in darkness, and in such a dark condition, where no light nor no comfort is. Secondly, when he is in this dark condition, and discouragements do arise, (the commandment is most express,) then he is to trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God. So also our Saviour Christ commands his disciples, John 14:1, "Let not your hearts be troubled, you believe in God, believe also in me." There was a great cloud arising upon Christ's disciples, Christ to be taken from them by death; the Shepherd to be stricken, and the sheep scattered. Now the only means against trouble that Christ prescribes,is this: "Ye believe in God, believe also in me;" and he gives many arguments to press thereunto, in this 14th chapter. This time was the time of Christ's own trouble; Christ was now to die, and to bear the sin of many, and to lie under the sense of his Father's wrath and displeasure; whereupon he saith, that his heart was heavy unto death: but though it was the time of his own trouble, yet he addresseth himself to comfort his disciples against their trouble, and the only means and remedy that he doth prescribe is this, "Ye believe in God, believe also in me." So that I say, when discouragements do arise, it is the duty of all Christ's disciples then, and then especially, for to trust in God by Christ; for I pray, what is faith made for, but for such a time as this is? every grace is to be exercised in its season. If a man have sinned, then he is to repent; that is the season for his repentance. If a man have received any mercy from God, then he is to be thankful; that is the season of thankfulness. If another poor Christian be in want, then he is to exercise his charity; that is the season of that grace of charity. If God's face do shine upon a man, then he is to rejoice; that is the season of spiritual joy. If a man be given to wantonness, and have a beautiful object laid before him, then he is to exercise chastity; and that is a season for it. So, when discouragements do arise, then he is to exercise faith; and that is the season, the proper time and season for it. For it is not only our duty to bring forth fruit, but we must bring forth fruit in its season. Psalms 1:2. Now this is the proper, season for faith to work in, when all a man's comforts are out of sight; and therefore when discouragements do arise, then, and then especially, the saints and the people of God are to exercise their faith.
Fourthly, but what power hath faith to suppress and allay discouragements; and what is there in faith that can bear up a man's heart against all discouragements, and how doth faith do it?
Faith doth give a man the true prospect of things, past, present and to come, and of things as they are. Whence are all our fears and discouragements, but from hence, that men do not see things as they are: if evil be stirring, they think it is greater than it is; if good be stirring, they think it is lesser than it is. If a man be in temptation, then he loseth sight of his former experiences, and so he is much discouraged. If a man be under a desertion, he loseth the sight of what is present, what God is to him, and what he is to God; and so he is discouraged. If a man be under an affliction, he loseth the sight of what is to come; the end, and the issue of the affliction, and so he is disquieted. But now when faith comes, it opens a man's eyes to see things that are invisible; it is the evidence of things not seen: "By faith, Moses saw him that was invisible." And therefore when the apostle Peter doth direct his people for to see things past, present and to come, he exhorts them to a work of faith, Epist. 1.9. * He that lacks these things, is blind;" one of those things is faith, as you read in verse 5, "Give all diligence, add to your faith," &c., then, "He that lacketh these things is blind," at verse 9. But suppose a man do want faith; wherein is he blind? Why, saith the apostle,
He cannot see things afar off," he cannot see into the other world, he cannot see unto the end of a temptation, or affliction, or to the end of a desertion. Well, but though he cannot see things that are to come, yet he may see things that are past: nay, saith he, if a man wants the assurance of God's love, and that is an act of faith, "he hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins: Wherefore the rather (saith he at verso 10) brethren, give all diligence to make your calling and election sure." If you would see things past, present and to come, then grow in faith, and assurance of God's love, and so, saith he, shall you be able to see things afar off. Could a man but see what would be the end, and issue of his affliction, he would be quiet under it. It is in regard of our affliction, as it is in regard of your salt, or sea water: take the water as it is in the sea, and so it is salt and brackish; but drawn up by the sun into the clouds, it becomes sweet, and falls down into sweet rain. So take an affliction in itself, and it is salt and brackish; but drawn up by divine love, then it is sweet; and if a soul can but taste the love of God in it, and see what a loving end the Lord will make; he will then find it is very sweet, and say, I could not have been without this affliction; I do not know how any one twig of this rod could have been spared. Now, it is only faith that shews a man the end and the issue of all his troubles. It stands upon the high tower of the threatening and promise, seeing over all mountains and difficulties; it seeth into the other world; it sees through death and beyond death; it sees through affliction and beyond affliction; it seeth through temptation and beyond temptation; it seeth through desertion and beyond desertion; it seeth through God's anger and beyond his anger: I say, it seeth things past, present and to come. Now, if a man had such a power as he were able to fetch in all his former experiences, to see things present as they are, and to see all the events, and issues of things to come, would he not be quiet notwithstanding all that might arise for the present? Thus faith is able to shew a man things past, present and to come; and to shew him greater matter of comfort, than the matter of his troubles is; and in so doing it must needs quiet the soul.
Faith, true saving faith, doth see that in God and in Christ, which answers unto all our fears, wants and miseries; for faith closeth with the name of God; "Let him stay himself upon the name of God," Isaiah 1. Now there is that in God's name that doth answer unto all our fears and wants. For example, Exodus 34 : the Lord descended in the clouds at verse 5, and stood with Moses there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord, ver. 6. the Lord, the Lord: Jehovah, Jehovah: that is, one that gives a being unto things that are not. Will you say, oh, that it were thus, or thus with me? but as Rachel mourned for her children and could not be comforted, because they were not: so do I mourn after my prayers, because they are not; and after duties because they are not; and after humiliations, because they are not. Well, saith the Lord, be of good comfort, for my name is Jehovah, who do give a being to things that are not; and this he repeateth, the Lord, the Lord; or Jehovah, Jehovah. Well, but though the Lord do give a being to things that are not, this doth not comfort me; for though, I praise the Lord, I can say, my prayers are, and my duties are; yet the Lord knows they are very weak, and my temptations are very strong, and my lusts mighty and therefore I am thus discouraged. Yet, be of good comfort; for, saith the Lord, my name is EL; that is, the strong, or the mighty God; and therefore though thou beest never so weak, and thy duties weak, yet 1 will carry on the work of my grace in thee; and though thy temptations be never so strong, and thy lusts strong, yet I am stronger, for my name is EL, the mighty God. Oh, but though God be strong, and able to help me ; yet I fear that God is not willing to help me; I know God is able, and that God is strong enough, but I fear the Lord is not willing, and therefore I am thus discouraged: yet, be of good comfort, saith the Lord, for my name is Merciful, that is the next word; the Lord, the Lord ; the Mighty God : and as my name is the Mighty God, and therefore I am able to help thee; so my name is Merciful, and therefore I am willing to help thee. But though the Lord be willing to help me, yet I am a poor unworthy creature, and have nothing at all to move God to help me; yet be of good comfort; for saith the Lord then, my name is Gracious; I do not shew mercy because you are good, but because I am good; nor do I stand upon your desert, but
I shew mercy out of free love; my name is Gracious. Oh, but I have been sinning, I have been sinning a long time, ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty years: had I come in at first, I might have had mercy; but I have been sinning long, and therefore I fear there is no mercy for me. Yet, saith the Lord, be of good comfort for my name is Long- suffering, that is the next, Gracious and Long-suffering; slow to anger, or long-suffering. Oh, but I have sinned exceedingly, I have sinned abundantly; so many sins as I am never able to reckon up, and to humble myself for; I have broken all my promises with God, and all the vows that I have made unto him; and therefore I am thus discouraged. Yet saith he, be of good comfort, for "I am abundant in goodness and truth:" art thou abundant in sin? I am abundant in goodness: and hast thou broken faith with me? yet I am abundant in goodness and in truth also. Oh, but though the Lord be thus unto his own chosen ones, such as David, Abraham, or Moses, yet I fear the Lord will not be so to me. Yes, saith the Lord at verse 7., "Keeping mercy for thousands:" I have not spent all my mercy upon David or upon Abraham, or upon Paul, or upon Peter; but I keep mercy for thousands. Oh, but yet my sins do recoil, I am the greatest sinner in the world, for I have sinned all kinds of sin, I have sinned all sorts of sins, and therefore I fear there is no hope for me. Yet, saith the Lord, be not discouraged, for I keep mercy for thousands, he forgiving iniquity, transgression and sin" even all sorts and all kinds of sins; the sin of nature and the sin of life; the sin of weakness and the sin of presumption; the sin of ignorance and the sin against knowledge: these, saith the Lord, I forgive, even all sorts and all kinds of sins, and this is my name for ever. Oh, but I am afraid to lay hold upon this promise, for I think this is a doctrine of liberty. Say not so, saith the Lord, at the next verse, " I will by no means clear the guilty:" but if there be ever a poor, drooping, fearing, trembling soul, that desires to know my name, lo, saith the Lord, here is my name, whereby I will be known for ever: " The Lord, Jehovah, that gives a being to things that are not; the mighty God ; the merciful God: the gracious God; abundant in goodness and in truth; reserving mercy for thousands ; forgiving iniquity, transgression and sin ; and this is my name forever." Now faith comes, and closeth with this name of God, leading the soul into this rich wardrobe, and so doth quiet the heart against all discouragements.
Faith doth put the soul under God's commandment, and leaveth God to answer unto all such objections and inconveniences as may come thereby; which if a man can do he may be very quiet. Now true saving faith will enable him to do this. For ye know how it was with the three children, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; they put themselves under God's commandment. The Lord commanded and said, "Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven image." Well, but the king commands them to fall down before his image. No, say they, we will not stir, we will not bow. But, saith the king, I will make you bow or I will heat the furnace seven times hotter for you. Well, be it so, say they; as for that we are not solicitous, we will do the work that God hath set us to do; we will put ourselves under God's command; we know that our God is able to deliver us; and whether he will deliver us or no, we will leave that to him, let him answer to the inconveniences and mischiefs that follow upon his work; for saith the text: "They trusted in the Lord." And so you know it was with Noah; Noah was commanded to build an ark, for, saith the Lord, yet an hundred and twenty years and the whole world shall be destroyed, and therefore Noah, "build thou an ark for thyself and thy family;" which Noah did and put himself under this command. But now the world, the old world might speak thus (as certainly the language of their conversation was): Noah, dost thou think that thou art the only man in all the world that God loves? Dost thou think, Noah, that God loves thee, one man, more than all the men in the world; and thy one family, more than all the families in the world beside? And if thou dost believe what thou preachest, that the world shall be destroyed by water in an hundred and twenty years, why dost thou marry and beget children, as thou hast done since thou hast preached this doctrine? And Noah, if thou dost make an ark or a ship, who shall be the pilot; who shall be the mariner, the sailor? As for thyself, thou hast been a preacher, and dost thou think that thou and thy few sons are able to guide and govern so great a vessel? If it be as thou preachest, that the beasts, the wild beasts of the field shall come unto this ark; the lion, and the bear, and the tiger, will they not tear thee to pieces? And if all the beasts of the field, two by two, shall come into the ark, Noah, will there not be such a stench in the ark with their dung as will poison thee; shalt thou be ever able to live, thinkest thou? Well, for all this Noah goes on, and he built the ark and leaves God that set him on work to answer to all these objections, and to all those inconveniences that might come by the doing the thing which God commands. And so doth faith always; faith puts a man under the commandment of God, and leaves God to answer to those objections and inconveniences that may come thereby. Now when a man can do thus, must he not needs be quiet?
It is (to speak more briefly) the proper work of faith to resign and give up our wills unto God; for by the resignation of the will unto God, we do trust God with ourselves and conditions.
It is the proper work of faith to fall with a suitable promise and to apply the same. If that plaister of the promise be not laid on the soul with a warm hand it will not stick. And what is the reason that the promise sticks not upon many souls, but because it is laid on with the cold and chill hand of unbelief. Now the hand of faith is a warm hand.
It is the proper work of faith to trade with the call of God; for true saving faith is a venturing grace, but without a call it will not venture.
It is the proper work of faith to see the hand of God in every dispensation; "The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away," saith faith. "I was dumb and opened not my mouth, for thou Lord hast done it," saith faith.
It is the proper work of faith to look on both sides of God's dispensation and of our own condition. There is a dark side of a dispensation and there is a light side thereof. Sense and reason look on the dark side alone, faith seeth both sides. Come, my beloved brethren (said Latimer to his fellow prisoners when he went to the stake), though we pass through the fire to-day, yet we shall light such a candle in England, as shall never be put out again. He saw both sides of the dispensation, why? but because he believed.
It is the proper work of faith to see one contrary in another; for it speaks and concludes as the word of faith doth. Now the word of faith speaketh on this wise: "I will give you a door of hope in the valley Achor. And the Lord shall judge his people, and repent towards his servants, when he seeth that their power is gone, and none shut up or left." Deuteronomy 32:36.
It is the proper work of faith to engage God to succour, Psalms 37:40 : "For the Lord will save them, because they trust in him." So Isaiah 26:3 : "Thou wilt keep them in perfect peace, because they trust in thee." Now when a man can do all these things, will he not be quiet and free from discouragements? Surely he will. Faith can and will do these and all these things. Certainly therefore, faith and faith alone is that grace which will bear up the heart against all discouragements.
Now if faith be such a help against all discouragements, then in case that discouragements do arise, you see what to do: exercise your faith; trust in the Lord, trust in the Lord forever; for in Jehovah Jah is everlasting strength; he is the Rock of Ages, trust in him. Oh, ye people of the Lord, trust in the Lord forever, pour out your hearts before him; wait, hope, trust in the Lord.
But will every faith quiet a man's heart against discouragements; suppress and allay our discouragements?
No. There is a feigned and there is an unfeigned faith. There is an effectual and there is an ineffectual faith. There is an operative, working faith and there is a workless faith. Saith the apostle: "Thou sayest thou hast faith, shew' me thy faith by thy works." The more precious a thing is, the more counterfeits there are of it. And what is more precious than faith? Therefore there is a counterfeit faith, and a counterfeit faith will not quiet one's heart, suppress and allay one's fears. Yea, true saving faith will not do it neither in the habit; it is only that faith can do it which God rewardeth. God doth not reward the habit of grace, but the act of grace; he rewardeth men according to their works and not according to their habits. Yea, strong and grown faith will not do it always. A man may have assurance of God's love and yet he may be discouraged. You say indeed, if I had but the assurance of God's love in Christ, and did know that God were mine, and that I had an interest in Jesus Christ, I would never be discouraged. But be not deceived. When David spake the words of the text lie had assurance, for he saith: "I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God,33 and yet he was discouraged; for he saith : "Why art thou cast down, O my soul; and why art thou disquieted within me?" So then it is not every faith, nor always true faith, nor always grown faith can do it.
But how then should a man so exercise his faith as he may bear up his heart against all discouragements, in case that discouragements do arise?
You must be humbled for your unbelief. A man can never believe as he should that is not humbled for his unbelief; and he is not far from faith and the workings thereof, that is humbled for unbelief and the workings thereof. You shall see therefore in Lamentations 3 : that as soon as the church had reproved herself for her unbelief, how presently she gathereth hope; saith she at verse 17: "Thou hast removed my soul far from peace, I forgot prosperity, and I said, my strength and my hope is perished from the Lord." Now she humbles herself for it: "Remembering mine affliction and my misery; the wormwood and the gall; my soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me: this I recall to mind, therefore have I hope."—I humbled myself for my former unbelief and despairing thoughts and words; and therefore have I hope. Some think they do well to doubt. Oh, says one, if I should not thus fear and doubt I should grow secure. But a man may be tutus though he be not securus. Safety speaks opposition to danger, security to watchfulness; yea, there is a holy security which we are to labour after, and the more we are freed from these doubting fears, the more we attain unto that security. Would you therefore, so exercise your faith as that you may not labour under sad discouragements? Take heed that you do not please yourself in your doubting, but be humbled for your unbelief.
Be sure that you do not go to God immediately without Christ, but with Christ in your arms; "Ye believe in God, believe also in me," saith our Saviour. God out of Christ is a consuming fire, and there is no coming at him; so he is a dreadful God and we tremble at his presence, not rely on him. Now we are very apt to go unto him alone, and to trust in a naked God; for there is much of old Adam in us still: the vessel keeps that savor long wherewith it was first seasoned. And at the first, Adam went unto God immediately, and trusted unto him immediately. But now, says Luther, give me a God clothed with flesh; God manifested in the flesh, is the object of our faith. Take heed of a natural faith, for that will end in discouragement.
If you would so exercise your faith as that you may not be discouraged whatever your condition be; then trust in the Lord himself and not in your own duties, your own enlargements, humiliation, or holiness. I know men say that they do not trust in any of these things, but in God alone. But suppose now that a man should come to borrow a sum of money of you, it may be an hundred pounds, and you will not 4end him this sum of money unless he gives you a pawn, or unless such and such men be bound with him; will you say that you trust this man alone? Surely no. So, when a poor soul will not trust the Lord unless he have a pawn from God; unless this or that duty, or enlargement shall become bound for God; do you trust God alone? David saith in the 62: Psalm, at the 5th verse: "My soul, wait thou only upon God, for my expectation is from him:" and then see what the issue is at verse 6: "He only is my rock and my salvation, he is my defence, I shall not be moved." He had said at verse 2, thus: "He only is my rock and my salvation; he is my defence, I shall not be (greatly) moved." But when he had digested this matter a little further and more fully, he leaves out the word greatly and saith, "I shall not be moved." Wherefore, would you so trust in the Lord as you may not be moved, trust in the Lord alone; although you have nothing to be bound with or for the Lord.
If you would trust in the Lord so as you may not be discouraged: then trust in the Lord before you do act, or move, or work in your business. Some there are that will trust in God when they can go no further; they will act, and work, and do what they can; and when they can go no further, then they say, I will trust in the Lord for the rest. But saith the Psalmist, Psalms 37:3 : "Trust in the Lord and do good;" he doth not say, do good and go as far as you can, and when you can go no further, then trust in the Lord. No, but saith he, "Trust in the Lord and do good." But if you think to do good and to go as far as you can, and then to trust; such a trust as this will end in discouragement, and therefore I say, trust in the Lord first before you do work at all.
If you would trust in the Lord, so as you may not be discouraged whatever your condition be, then trust in the Lord Jesus Christ in the first place, before you trust in the promise. Christ's blood is the great and first object of our faith. In times of the Old Testament, they came to Christ by the promise, because Christ was not then come, but promised: now Christ is come, we come to the promises by Christ. Yet mistake not; there is a promise of Christ, and a soul must come to Christ in that promise. But I speak of particular words and promises. Some will not trust in Christ, unless they have this or that particular word set upon their hearts and spirits; and so, indeed, do rather rest on the bare letter of the word, or the sense and impression that is made upon the soul by the setting on of the promise. But all the promises are yea and amen in Christ. Christ therefore is first, and if a man doth trust in the promise first, and so go unto Christ afterwards; then when he wants a particular word or a promise, he will not trust in Christ, but be quite discouraged. But when a man doth trust in the Lord Christ first, and in particular promises afterwards; then, though a particular promise doth not shine forth, yet his faith lives, and he is not discouraged; wherefore, venture upon Jesus Christ first, and then upon the promise as given unto thee by the hand of Christ.
If you would so trust in the Lord, as you may not be discouraged whatever your condition be 5 then, if ever it pleaseth the Lord to give out a promise to you, never let it go, but hold it fast, although you see nothing but the contrary unto the thing promised. This was Abraham's case: the Lord gave Abraham a promise, but Abraham saw the contrary to the thing promised; yet Abraham did not dispute the promise, he did not stagger at the promise, and say, Surely the Lord hath not given me this promise, it was but a delusion, and I was deceived. No; but Abraham still bears up to the promise, and doth not dispute or stagger at the same. So must you do likewise; if ever the Lord give out a promise to you, hold it, keep it, never let it go, although you do see the contrary.
Oh, but this is hard work indeed; and if I should do so,
I fear that I should presume, and that I should tempt the Lord. What, trust in the Lord when there is no means in view? Yea, when I see the contrary unto the thing promised? I would do it, but I fear I should presume, and tempt the Lord.
Tempt the Lord, say ye? Dost thou know what it is for to tempt the Lord? It is said of the children of Israel that they tempted the Lord, and said, Is God amongst us? And when thou sayest, after all the experience of God's presence with thee, Is God with me? is not this rather for to tempt the Lord? It is said of the children of Israel, that they "tempted the Lord, and limited the Holy One of Israel:" and when you limit God, and say, I shall never receive this mercy for now I do see the contrary; is not this rather for to tempt the Lord? Properly, and according to scripture phrase, to tempt the Lord, is to put God upon a trial for the satisfying of one's lust; and therefore if you look into Psalms 78 : you shall find that these two go together, at verse 18, "They tempted God in their heart, by asking meat for their lust." To put God upon a work for the satisfying of one's lust, is indeed to tempt the Lord. Every putting God upon a trial, is not a tempting God: but to put God upon a trial for the satisfying of one's lust, this is to tempt the Lord: and therefore it is said, the wicked Jews came to our Saviour Christ tempting him, and saying, "Show us a sign." Gideon desired a sign, and yet he did not tempt the Lord. Why? Because he did not desire a sign to satisfy his lust, but to strengthen his faith. But now these Jews came, and desired a sign to satisfy their lust; and therefore saith our Saviour Christ unto them, "Ye wicked and adulterous generation." How comes the word, adulterous, in there? Why, look, as it is with a woman that is naught, filthy, and unworthy; her husband sending a message to her, and warning her to take heed of such company; when the messenger comes, I doubt, saith she, whether you come from my husband, or no; and what sign have you, that ye come from my husband? she knows that he comes from her husband, but because she may go on in her sin, she asketh a sign: How may I know that you come from my husband? So it was with these wicked Jews, they asked a sign that so they might go on in their sins; where upon our Saviour saith, "Ye wicked and adulterous generation." But now, when a poor, doubting, fearing, trembling soul shall desire to believe, and would fain have some token from the Lord to strengthen his faith, he is not adulterous then, nor doth he tempt the Lord, nor presume: for is it presumption for a man to keep the Sabbath day? No. Why? Because it is commanded. Is it presumption for a child to obey his parents? No. Why? Because it is commanded. So it is commanded for a soul to believe, when all comforts are out of sight, and when he sees nothing but what is contrary I to the thing promised. Presumption, properly, is the taking of a thing before it is given or offered. But in this case, the promise is given, and therefore no presumption for to hold it fast. There is a two-fold presumption which you read of in Scripture: one whereby men do rest upon their own works for salvation without Christ: so the Jews did, and therein they presumed of mercy before it was given unto them. Another, whereby men do as they think, or in their way, rest on Christ for salvation, and yet live without works and obedience: and therein they presume also because they take mercy when it is not given them. But if I rest on the promise, or on Christ, that I may be made the more holy, doing what I can to be fruitful in every good work, yet resting upon Christ for all; this is no presumption ; why? because I do not take mercy before it is offered : and though I hold the promise fast, when I see nothing but what is contrary to the thing promised, yet this is no presumption; why? because I do what is commanded: for, says the apostle, " Let 1 them that suffer according to the will of God, commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator." Now creation work, is out of nothing, it is light out of darkness. Yet thus are we commanded to ' commit our souls unto God; and therefore though all fail, and we see nothing of the mercy promised, it is no presumption then, to hold and keep fast the promise.
But suppose the Lord hath given me a promise and now' after the promise given, I see nothing of the mercy promised and that all my comforts are out of sight; how shall I be able to bear up my heart against all discouragements, notwithstanding I see nothing but what is contrary to the thing promised, and to the mercy desired?
Either thou hast assurance of God's love, or else thou hast not. If thou hast assurance of the love of God, then put thyself often to this disjunction. O my soul, either it is thy duty to believe, or it is not: if it be not thy duty to believe, why dost thou believe at all? If it be not thy duty to believe and rest on Christ, why dost thou rest upon Christ at all? And if it be thy duty to rest on Christ and believe, why then shouldest thou not believe at all times, and trust perfectly unto the Lord? And if you have assurance, then actuate your assurance, mind yourself of your privileges, and your interest in Christ; then you will say unto yourself: What though I have nothing but bad tidings from this world, yet notwithstanding, I have nothing but good tidings from the other world, and from my Father above: and if Christ be mine, then all s mine, life is mine, and death is mine; and what though all my comforts be dead and are gone, and are all out of sight, yet Christ is a living Christ, Christ is a living Saviour; and therefore be of good comfort, O my soul.
But if you do want the assurance of the love of God, then yet you must and may look on Christ, who is the brazen serpent, the only brazen serpent, and your very looking upon him in the time of your discouragement, shall go for faith: "Look unto me (saith he) from all the ends of the earth, and be saved."
Again; If you want assurance, you may and must turn your eye, and your thoughts, from those objections that do invade your faith. It is said of Abraham, "That he considered not the weakness of his own body and this was imputed unto him for believing, that he considered not what might invade his faith: and so this shall be imputed unto you for faith, if, when these objections shall come in upon you, you turn your eye from them, unto Jesus Christ, and do not consider them.
And if you do want assurance, then set yourselves to believe that you do believe. "Faith is the evidence of things not seen;" and therefore if your faith be not seen, you must believe that you do believe; thou must believe sometimes that thou hast faith. As there is a feeling in prayer, so faith hath its feeling too; and therefore if you cannot see your faith, you must believe that you do believe. And whether you have assurance, or have not assurance, consider these few things as some helps to your faith in this case:
1. That God doth never lead his people unto any great mercy, but first he doth put the sentence of death upon all means that do tend unto it. Thus it was with Abraham, so with Joseph, so with David, and many others.
2. That it is a great sin to limit God's mercy, as well as to limit his power: you say it is a great sin to limit the power of God; the children of Israel are condemned for this; they limited the Holy One of Israel; they tempted the Lord and limited the Holy One of Israel. Now, doth not a man limit God when he limits his mercy, as well as when he limits his power? And when you say, you shall never have such a mercy granted, because I now see the contrary; is not this to limit his mercy?
3. That when the Lord hath given out a promise to his people, he doth then sometimes try whether they will trust to his naked word, or no. Christ hath his times to try men; and when he gives out a promise, and bringeth the soul into a quite contrary condition, this is his trying time: and therefore hath the Lord now given out a promise unto you; and do you see nothing but what is contrary to the thing promised? Say unto thine own soul, O my soul, it may be Christ is now trying of me, it may be this is my trying time, and therefore now will I wait on God.
4. That God doth oftentimes fulfil one promise by denying another. Hath the Lord therefore given thee a promise, and doest thou see nothing but what is contrary to the thing promised. Now know, and remember, that we have by not having; God doth give by denying, and fulfils some promises by not fulfilling others.
5. That when we see nothing but what is contrary unto our help then is Christ's time to help. I read, as I remember, but twice in the New Testament, that mention is, made of Christ's hour: once in John 13 : "And he knowing that his hour was coming," and that was the hour of darkness : once in John 2:4, when his mother came unto him for wine, he said, " Woman, mine hour is not yet come :" but afterwards, when their own wine was done, and their pots were filled with water; then he turns their water into wine, then Christ's hour was come. So now, when all our bottles are dry, when there is no wine of comfort in our own bottles, then is Christ's hour; and when the hour of darkness is upon our condition, then is Christ's hour: and if thou wouldst but say unto thine own soul: Soul, Christ's time and hour is an hour of darkness ; Christ's time is a time when there is no wine in our own bottles. Now thus it is with me; I have no wine left in my own bottles, my bottles are all dry and empty, and there is an hour of darkness upon my condition, therefore this time is the time for Christ to help me. This would cause you to wait on God, and exercise faith in the lowest condition, even when you see nothing but the contrary unto your desires, and the Lord's promises.
6. That either you are under an extraordinary affliction or an ordinary. Either you are under an ordinary temptation or an extraordinary. Either you are under an extraordinary desertion or an ordinary. Either thy strait or stress and trouble is ordinary, or else it is extraordinary. If it be an ordinary trouble, why then are you troubled more than ordinary; why are you discouraged extraordinarily? If your affliction or misery be extraordinary, then either God hath brought you into this condition, and hath led you heretofore in a way of extraordinary deliverance or of ordinary deliverance. If God have led you heretofore in a way of ordinary deliverance what mean those wonderful incomes of love and supporting grace that you have had, when your soul hath been ready to sink and to die within you? And if the Lord hath heretofore led you in a way of extraordinary deliverance, and hath now brought you into this extraordinary condition; then know from the Lord, that it is as great a sin for you now not to trust in God for extraordinary mercy, as it would have been for you not to have trusted in the Lord for ordinary deliverance in an ordinary case. You know how it was with the children of Israel, they sinned greatly in the wilderness, so much that the Lord kept them out of the land of Canaan, and many of their carcases fell in the wilderness; what was the reason? The text tells us they did not believe. Wherein was their unbelief? They did not trust God for meat in the wilderness. Why, but that had been a miracle to have meat in the wilderness; true, yet this was their unbelief, that they did not trust God for meat in the wilderness. Again, they sinned and did not trust God for water. Why, but it was a miracle for them to have water in that place, where no water was naturally; true, yet because the Lord had led them in a way of miracles before, they sinned now in that they did not trust God for miracles; and it was as great a sin that they did not trust God for miracles, being led in a way of miracles, as that they did not trust God for ordinary mercies, when the Lord led them in ways of ordinary mercies. So I say to you; if God lead you in a way of ordinaries, then must you trust God for ordinaries; but if ordinary means cannot be had, and God have led you in a way of extraordinaries, it is then a sin in you to tie God to ordinaries. Are you therefore in an extraordinary case and strait? Know that it is no sin now to trust God for extraordinary mercy, help and relief.
7. And if after all these things your hearts fail you and you would so trust in God, as that you may not be discouraged whatever your condition be; then ask thine own soul these questions. —First: Whether there be any gain by doubting; whether there is any spiritual gain to be made by doubting? Faith purifies the heart but doth doubting purify the heart? Secondly: Whether there is anything in all the world more pleasing to God, than to trust the Lord, in and by Jesus Christ, when all comforts are out of view, and when you see nothing but what is contrary to the thing promised? Thirdly: Whether you must not venture upon Christ at the last; and if you must venture upon Christ at the last, why not now as well as at the last? When a man comes to go over a river, though he ride once and again into the water, and comes out saying, I fear it is too deep for me; yet considering that there is no other way for him he resolves to venture; for, saith he, the longer I stay the higher the waters wil lrise, and there is no other way for me, and I must through at last, as good at the first as at the last; and so he doth venture through and is safe. Thus it is here. You must venture upon Christ at the last, there is no other way but venturing upon Jesus Christ, thou must do it at the last; and were it not as good for you to do it at the first as at the last? Surely, the longer you stay the harder you will find it to venture, and the more difficulties will arise upon the work of believing. You say now, oh, but my heart is not humbled; Oh, but I am a great sinner, and should I venture upon Jesus Christ? But will thy heart be more humbled by keeping from Christ; and shalt thou be a less sinner by keeping from him? No, certainly; but the longer you stay from Christ, the harder work it will be to venture upon Christ at the last. Wherefore, if there be ever a poor, drooping, doubting, fearing, trembling heart in all this congregation, know, that I do here in the name of the Lord, call out to you, and say, O soul, man or woman, venture, venture, venture upon Christ now; for you must come to this venturing work at the last, and if ever, it is true here, better at the first than at the last. Must you not venture upon Christ at the last; and if at last why not now? Thus ply and follow your own souls with these three questions. And,
8. If you would so trust m God as that you may not be discouraged whatever your condition be; then consider frequently and seriously, what a blessed thing it is for to wait on God and for God. Yea, what a reasonable thing it is that you should wait for him and on him. For,
He hath waited on you and for your repentance, lie waited in the days of Noah for the repentance of the old world, and he waited long, 1 Peter 3:20, a long while also hath he waited for your repentance; and if he had not waited long, what had become of you? Yea, and he hath not only waited, but he doth still, and will wait to shew mercy, Isaiah 30:18, he waiteth to shew mercy on them that wait for his mercy. Now shall God wait for us and for our repentance; and shall not we wait for him and his grace?
Ye have waited on others and do still wait on others; who is there in all the world that you deal with, but you do wait upon; will ye instance in great men; must you not wait long to speak with them; yea, though it be for their own good? It is recorded of Henry, the emperor of Germany, that when he came to speak with the Pope, the Pope made him and his wife and eldest son, stand waiting three days in the cold winter season at his palace gates, before he would speak with the emperor. Will ye instance in your inferiors and such as are beneath you; must you not wait even for them that do wait on you? Your servants, if you bid them do a thing, you must wait till it be done; and if you bid them come, you must wait till they come. Or will ye instance in other creatures? I)o you not wait on the sun for light; on the water for coolness; on the fire for heat? Now if we wait on the creatures, all the creatures, is it not reason- i able that we wait on the Creator? Yet further, do ye not sometimes wait on the lusts of men? yea, ye have sometimes waited on your own lusts, "The adulterer waiteth for the twilight," saith Job. And how often have you waited for an opportunity of sinning? Now will ye wait on men, your inferiors, other creatures, yea, on the wills and lusts of men; and will you not wait on the grace of God?
Look when you give over waiting then may deliverance come; and if it come then how will you be filled with shame and confusion? 2 Kings 6:33, the king said, "It is a vain thing to wait on God any longer." And if ye look into the | next chapter, at verse 1, ye shall find that deliverance came in the next words. No sooner had the King said, "It is a vain thing to wait on God any longer," but the prophet m the next words saith: "Tomorrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel in the gates of Samaria." chap. 7:1. So that deliverance doth sometimes come when men give over waiting. And if deliverance do thus come to you, what shame and grief will this be to you; how will you befool yourself and say, oh, what a fool was I that I could not wait a little longer? I have given over waiting, and lo, now deliverance is come and I have no comfort in it.
When you give over waiting, then you lose all your former labours; though you have performed many duties, yet if you do not wait upon God therein, you do lose all your prayers. It is said of Saul, 1 Samuel 28:6 : "That he inquired of the Lord, who answered him not;" and so he sought unto a woman that had a familiar spirit, ver. 7, Yet 1 Chronicles 10:14, it is said that "he inquired not of the Lord." He inquired and he inquired not; how doth this agree? Well, for though he did inquire of the Lord, yet because he did not wait upon God therein, but gave over waiting, his inquiring in scripture phrase is said to be no inquiring; prayer without waiting, in scripture phrase, is no prayer. Look when a man doth give over waiting, then doth he lose all his labour; his former prayer is nothing, his former duty nothing; it shall not once be remembered or imputed to him.
On the other side: if you wait on God he will not always forget your work of faith; though he may seem to forget you, yet "the patient abiding of the meek, shall not be forgotten forever?' Psal. 9: I5. God will come and visit you in due time, "He that doth come, will come, and will not tarry;" yea, and your very waiting (that I may speak with reverence) will make him come the sooner. It is not so with men; if you expect a friend, you do go forth to meet him; but it is not your expecting, waiting, that will make him come. But so it is with God; your very expecting of him and waiting for him will make him come; and therefore the holy men in scripture use this argument with God for mercy: "Let me not be ashamed, for I have waited on thee; " yea, and if God do come, he will come with a recompence, and . pay you all your forbearance money, Is. 35:; yea and when he doth come, you shall be able to triumph in his appearing, and say, " Lo this is our God, we have waited for him : " if you have not waited, you cannot triumph in his appearance; but if you wait, you shall say when he comes, Lo this is my God and I have waited for him; yea? the Lord will not only come, but he will come with a blessing, for " Blessed are all those that wait on him ; " yea, he will not only bless you upon your waiting, but he will strengthen you therein, Isaiah 40 :: "Those that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength." Oh, what a blessed thing is it then for to wait on God; who would not hope, trust, wait on the Lord? Is there anything to be gotten by your sad discouragements, "O ye of little faith?" Are you able to alter one hair of your condition by all your thoughtfulness? Is it not much better now, for to wait on God? Why then do you not call your own heart aside, and say, Come O my soul, why hast thou limited the Holy One of Israel thus long; why hast thou dishonoured Christ thus long by thy vain fears? "Why art thou cast down, O my soul; and why art thou disquieted within me? Hope, trust, wait on God; for he is the health of my countenance and my God."
And thus now I have done with this great argument: ye have had the patience to hear it, the Lord give you grace to practise it. I conclude all with the words of my commission: "Ye that are of a fearful spirit, be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come, even God with a recompence, he will come and save you." - Is. 25:3.
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Source: https://sermonindex.net/books/a-lifting-up-for-the-downcast/
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