be feared that man never felt the sweetnes of Gods love in the assurance of the pardon and forgivenesse of his sinnes Skin for skin and all that ever a man hath will he give for his life Job 2.4 Then much more will hee part with all that hee hath so be it he may have his part in Gods love for thy loving kindnesse is better then life Psal 63.3 for what is life but death if it be not upheld by the love of God Art thou then heartily content with the Lords handling of thee Dost thou with all cheerefulnesse take up thy crosse and beare thine affliction Canst thou truely say Behold here am I let him do to mee as seemeth good in his eyes 2. Sam. 15.26 I dare be bold to say thou art an happy man God in afflicting thee loveth thee Secondly if God loves thee hee will fetch thee neerer unto him by thy affliction See what the Church professed Esay 26.8 9. Also wee O Lord have waited for thee in the way of thy judgements the desire of our soul is to thy name and to the remembrance of thee With my soul have I desired thee in the night and with my spirit within me will I seek thee in the morning By which words it appeares that Gods people those that are beloved of him are so farre from being driven from God by affliction that they are brought thereby neerer unto him Afflictions are so farre from extinguishing grace in Gods people that they increase it rather as water cast upon the smiths fire doth not put it out but increaseth the flame thereof Afflictions drive us unto the Lord in prayer Esay 26.16 In trouble have they visited thee they powred out a prayer when thy chastning was upon them Affliction will send us to the Sanctuary and make us more diligent in hearing the Word more conscionable in the practise of good dueties So that as judgements lighting upon the wicked do come from Gods avenging wrath and justice and so are as pikes and clubs to beat them further off from God even so those afflictions which befall his people proceeding from his love are as cords to draw them neerer unto him Thirdly thou mayest assure thy selfe of Gods love in afflicting of thee if thine afflictions do raise up godly sorrow in thy heart causing thee to grieve and be disquieted that thou shouldest by thy wickednesse thus provoke the Lord and put him as it were out of his course forcing him to do that which he goeth unwillingly about for Hee doth not punish willingly nor afflict the children of men Lam. 3.33 This was that which did break the heart of David to consider how hee had offended the Lord who had been so gracious and bountifull unto him Against thee against thee only have I sinned and done evill in thy sight that thou mayest be just when thou speakest and pure when thou judgest Psalme 51.4 A good heart grieves more that by his sinnes hee hath grieved God then that God hath grieved him by some affliction And therefore had rather the Lord would take away his sinne then his affliction And therefore when the Lord had so severely threatned David by the mouth of his Prophet Nathan David cries not out through feare of Gods judgements as some would have done upon so hard tydings Alas I am undone how shall I ever be able to hold up my head if Gods judgements come so thick upon mee c. No no the sword which pierced Davids heart was his sinne against God and therefore hee praies Wash mee throughly from mine iniquitie and cleanse me from my sinne Psal 51.2 Hee that in the time of affliction can find his sinne the greatest cause of his humiliation may assure himselfe of a sanctified use of his affliction and of Gods love in so dealing with him Wee shall find little fruit and lesse comfort to grow out of our griefe sorrow and humiliation if it be for outward things and not for sinne Grieve wee never so much never so long for our outward afflictions and crosses our griefes can neither abate them nor remove them whereas godly sorrow sorrow for sinne if it doth not batter our crosse it weakens it and in the meane time procureth much ease to the minde and peace to the conscience Assure thy selfe that sorrow is no where so well bestowed as upon sinne Godly sorrow is the salve appointed to heale and cure sinne now to apply this salve to a wrong sore to affliction is lost labor Learn therefore to turn thy sorrow against thy sinne and then thou wilt say as David speakes Psalm 119.75 I know O Lord that thy judgements are right and that thou hast afflicted me justly as the old translation hath it And so saying thou mayst boldly proceed with David and pray Let thy mercy comfort mee according to thy promise unto thy servant Let thy tender mercies come unto me that I may live vers 76.77 Therefore whensoever the Lord entereth into judgment with thee fall thou to judging of thy selfe Accuse thy selfe that God may be justified And let thine own heart speak unto thee in the words of the Prophet Hast thou not procured this unto thy selfe because thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God Jere. 2.17 This is a good signe that God will do thee good by thine affliction which hee would not if hee did not love thee Fourthly and lastly thou maiest bee assured that God afflicteth thee in love if hee gives thee a heart to be thankfull to him for thine affliction Canst thou blesse God taking from thee as well as giving unto thee I dare then confidently avouch that thine afflictions are sanctified unto thee and that in love he hath afflicted thee Thus did Job The Lord hath given and the Lord hath taken it blessed be the name of the Lord. Job 1.21 For prosperitie and good things many wicked men will in their manner be thankfull to God but for adversitie and such things as are in appearance evill to be thankfull this is the property onely of good men Wee can easily bee brought to praise the Lord when hee pleaseth us but when hee crosseth us when he cuts us short and keeps us to hard meat then to blesse and praise his name this is clean against our nature it is onely the worke of grace in us for grace will make those things easie which are very hard and difficult unto nature And therefore there cannot be a better evidence of a gracious and sanctified heart then to praise and glorifie God for afflictions For in so doing a man doth justifie the Lord in his dealing yea by our thankfulnesse for afflictions we magnifie the glorious attributes of God wee acknowledge his justice Psal 119.75 I know O Lord that thy judgements are right and that thou hast afflicted me justly Wee acknowledge his truth Psalm 19.9 The judgements of the Lord are true and righteous altogether Wee acknowledge his mercie Psalm 25.10 All the pathes of the Lord
with the net of the Gospel all the cost that is bestowed upon them all the pains that are taken with them do them little or no good All the good that the most of us learn is in the school of affliction So that affliction may say concerning the good wee have as Laban in another case said to Jacob Gen. 31.43 All that thou seest is mine So in some sence may affliction say Thy humility thy faith thy charity thy obedience c. all mine from whence hadst thou them of whom didst thou learn them but of me and therefore mayest thank me for them Blessed is the man saies David to the Lord Psal 94.12 whom thou chastisest and teachest him thy Law If we can pick no good out of our afflictions learn nothing from them woe will be unto us that ever we were corrected The judgements which are upon others should better us according to that of Esay 26. 9. Seeing thy judgements are in the earth the inhabitants of the world shall learn righteousnesse If God will have us to profit by the calamities and miseries which do befall others how much more by those afflictions which touch our own skin or come into our own bowels But alas such blocks such non-proficients wee are that the Lord may justly complain of us as he did of Israel in the dayes of Amos I have thus and thus corrected you Yet have you not returned unto mee saith the Lord. Amos. 4.8 9 10. Reason 5 Fiftly the Lord doth sometime afflict his children to try the truth of grace in them 1. Pet. 1.6 7. Ye are in heavinesse through manifold tentations that the triall of your Faith being much more precious then gold that perisheth might be found unto your praise Apoc. 2.10 Some of you shall be cast into prison that you may be tried The Lord thy God led thee saies Moses to Israel Deut. 8.2 this forty yeere in the wildernesse for to humble thee and to prove thee to know what was in thine heart Why doth not God know the secrets of al hearts doth not he understand our thoughts afarre off Psal 139 1. Why then should hee afflict his children to prove what is in their hearts That we being afflicted may know our own hearts the better and that others also may discern the truth of grace in us Every one almost will bee good whiles all things goe according to their hearts desire as the old saying is The devill is good while hee is pleased Even the wicked whiles there is nothing to thwart and crosse them will carry themselves temperatly and smoothly But let the Lord set fire upon their hedge of prosperity let the Lord but a little lay his hand upon them and you shall see that verified in them which Satan maliciously and falsly layd unto Jobs charge They will curse God to his face they will in a blasphemous manner spit out their venome and poison against the Lord. There is a bottomlesse gulfe of self-deceit in the hearts even of Gods children whence it comes to passe that they can hardly be brought to beleeve there is so much corruption in them as indeed there is but affliction yea sometime the fear of danger doth discover it unto us as appeares in Peter who hearing Christ say that all his Apostles should be offended that night and flie from him Matt. 26.31 utterly disclaimes such unfaithfulnesse and therefore telleth Christ that whatsoever became of the rest he would not forsake him whereas the very fear of some danger or trouble made him denie and forsware his master as if he knew him not Little do wee beleeve what filthy stuffe lurketh in these wicked hearts of ours untill such time as the Lord stirreth and provoketh us by afflictions A mans strength is never known untill such time as it be tried and he have some enemie to resist him Afflictions are tentations to try both the truth and the strength of grace in us our faith our patience our humilitie our obedience our love our courage and heavenly mindednesse then appeareth when affliction which is so contrary unto our nature doth encounter us For that corruption which dwelleth in us being exasperated and provoked by affliction will then or never shew it self in its proper colours Our frowardnesse impatience and infidelity will then appeare when wee are pained or pinched by affliction for then the flesh begins to kick and winch because Heb. 12.11 No chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous but grievous though afterward it bringeth the quiet fruit of righteousnesse unto them which are thereby exercised So that by affliction every one comes to have an experimentall knowledge of the truth and measure of any grace in him Whence hee may say of himselfe and others may beleeve and report of him as the Lord said to Abraham when hee saw how ready and willing he was to offer up his onely son Isaac whom hee so dearely loved Genes 22.12 Now I know that thou fearest God Whiles the Gospel doth go with a fair and calme gale whiles ease liberty and prosperity doth attend upon the profession thereof every one will be a Gospeler as Ester 8.17 Many of the people of the land became Jews when the fear of the Jews fell upon them But trouble and persecution tries the sound-hearted from false and hypocritical professors So that as Paul speaketh of heresies 1. Cor. 11.19 There must be heresies among you that they which are approved among you may be known So I may say of affliction there must bee afflictions among you that the truth of grace may be known in you Affliction saith Paul brings forth patience Rom. 5.31 which words to a carnall ear may sound like Samsons riddle Judges 14.14 Out of the eater came meat Patience to come out of affliction it may seem a paradox but it is a most divine truth not that afflictions do beget patience in the heart of a man but by them this gift and grace of patience is exercised and manifested in us and in our afflictions wee come to make experience of our patience Hence it is that our Saviour Christ is said Heb. 5.8 To have learned obedience by the things which he suffered Not that Christ was then to learn obedience but that in the time of his passions himself and others mighr see and discerne his obedience who preferred the will of his Father in drinking of that cup which was given him though it were never so bitter and unpleasing unto him Wee are all of us too prone to think better of our selves then there is just cause wee can promise our selves great things and build castles in the ayre all the while wee stretch our selves upon our beds and drink wine in bowles live at ease and in fulnesse but these paper buildings these clay walls of ours are quickly shaken and beaten downe if the Lord do but shoot one arrow of affliction out of his quiver against us Therefore the Lord in love and wisedome exerciseth
3.3 No man should bee moved with afflictions for ye your selves know that wee are appointed thereunto Vse 1 Is it so that all our afflictions come from God Away then with that heathenish conceit or dreame of Fortune Luck or Chance words too frequent in the mouths of Christians If any thing befall our neighbor better then ordinary and beyond our expectation wee are ready to congratulate his good fortune If any thing succeeed evill contrary to his desire or if any affliction doth befall him wee are ready to bemone or condole his ill luck and his bad chance Would you know from whence Fortune did first spring One tells us from nature I rather think from ignorance of nature Nature is nothing else but that order and course which the Lord hath set and established in all his creatures Why doth bread strengthen us rather then stones You will say it is the nature of bread to nourish and strengthen us and why so even because God hath said it and appointed it to be so This order and course of nature the Heathen being ignorant of as also of the Divine Providence guiding and disposing of all particulars they ascribed the event of things to a power of their own devising which they called Fortune Now for Christians who have the light of truth so clearely shining amongst us that wee should take up the language and termes of blind Pagans what a shame is it to our profession and reproach to our God Object But doth not the Scripture speake of chance Luk. 10.31 By chance there came down a certaine Priest that same way Answer In regard of God there is no chance although things may be said to bee casuall in respect of our ignorance who know not the causes of many things which fall out many times suddenly and beyond our expectation but all things past present and future are present with the Lord. And that all things in appearance casuall are ordered and governed by God may be gathered by that Vision of Ezechiel 1.18 Who beheld all things in the World in appearance to runne upon wheeles the ring of which wheeles hee observed to bee full of eyes implying hereby the universall and intentive Providence of the Lord overseeing all things Neither may wee ascribe any thing to that unluckie and as many call it unfortunate or fortunate Planet under which any may be said to be borne as the starre-gazer doth fondly hold and maintaine or that some dayes be good and some bad is a heathenish conceit For the Lord God Almightie that Most High and Incomprehensible JEHOVAH that Everlasting Alpha and Omega He that was that is and is to come He is the former framer and governor of all things Who made Arcturus Orion and Pleiades those famous starres and placed them in the firmament of heaven Who limited the North and South climats Hath not the Lord formed them and doth not He governe them Hath not He appointed them their severall spheares and motions Have they not their influences from him and doth not He withdraw from them at His pleasure Do they not remaine and continue as servants for the behoof of man as other creatures do and are not as gods or governors of mans nature neither can they dispose of our inclinations constitutions and affections or make us happy or unhappy at their pleasure but are ruled and commanded by God to stand or move at His will and pleasure Did not the Sunne stand still in Gibeon and the Moone in the valley of Ajalou a whole day Josh 10.12 By which and many other places it is evident that Sun and Moon and so all other creatures are subject to the will of the superior Governor who needeth not the helpe of such weake instruments to draw out or to shorten the life and wellfare the happinesse or the miserie of man to make our portion the more fat or lean to further or hinder us either in our spirituall or bodily welfare Thinke not therefore that either thy good or bad successe in thy proceedings the prosperous or adverse issues of thine indeavors thy riches or thy povertie proceedeth from the influence domination or power of the creatures but that all are ordered and disposed of by a higher cause the wise and righteous Providence of Almighty God Let us not therefore so much as name Fortune seeing all things in the World though many of them seem casuall and contingent to our weake and shallow apprehension are notwithstanding regulated by Divine Providence Some will say that Jonah being cast into the sea had good fortune that a fish should be ready at hand to swallow him up and so carry him a shore againe but this fortune was no other then Gods providence For the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah 1.17 The selling of Joseph unto the Ishmaelitish Merchants in appearance seemeth to be no other then the cruell act of his unnaturall brethren disputing and debating with themselves what they were best to do with him Yet Joseph telleth his brethren You sent me not hither but God Gene. 45.8 Can any thing appeare more casuall then the drawing of a lot yet it is the Lord that directeth my hand to this lot rather then unto another The lot is cast into the lap but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord Prov. 16.33 Gods Providence extendeth it selfe even to the smallest things the falling of every sparrow on the ground Matt. 10.29 The numbring of the haires of oun heads the feeding of the birds of the ayre and what not Hold wee it therefore as an undoubted truth that there is no fortune and that nothing comes to passe without the decree of God no not any of our afflictions nor any judgements which at any time befall any wicked person When the Drunkard hath besotted himselfe with excessive drinking and even transformed himselfe into a swine he takes his horse homeward goes the beast but the man more sencelesse then the beast is carried he knowes not whither down at last hee tumbles from his horse and breaks his neck or being on foot falls into the ditch and there is drowned you will say This man hath hard fortune And so when two roaring ruffians shall fall to word it upon some indignitie or wrong received or conceived and from words proceed either to blows or stabbing each other their companions will say the wounded party had a hard mischance befalne him verie ill lucke No no these had the just and righteous hand of God against them the Lord in justice and wrath appointing these heavie judgments unto them Hence it is that Jude speaketh of some which were before of old ordained to this condemnation Jude 4. The word ordained is very emphatical in the originall and signifies as much as if they were inrolled or set down upon record or registred and set down by the hand-writing of God to this condemnation Fortune befits the mouth of a heathen but Gods Providence the
because our safety and security lieth in it As God loveth a cheerfull doer so hee loveth a cheerfull sufferer A childe that is willing to kisse the rod wherewith it was beaten gives great content unto the parent which corrected it and makes halfe amends for the fault it hath committed Christ will have every one of his to take up his Crosse daily Luk. 9.23 the taking up of our crosse implyeth willingnesse and cheerfulnesse in the bearing of it Many a childe of God is content to beare his crosse when the Lord hath laied it upon his shoulders as the Prophet Jeremiah speakeath Woe is me for my destruction and my grievous plague But I thought yet it is my sorrow and I will beare it Jerem. 10.19 Hee dares not mutter or repine at the Lords doing but here was no rejoycing in tribulation Whereas James tells us that wee must count it exceeding joy when wee fall into divers afflictions Jam. 1.2 When the Lord commeth as it were in open hostilitie against us mustering his forces towards us when one affliction comes upon the neck of another when wee fall into divers afflictions even then we have cause of rejoycing For our afflictions comming from the hand of our loving Father cannot be hurtfull but profitable unto us Hee chasteneth us for our profit that wee might he partakers of his holinesse Hebr 12.10 Indeed if our afflictions brought God out of love with us or us more in love with sinne which God hates and is hurtfull unto us if our afflictions were sent unto us as curses wee had cause to mourn in them But when the Word of truth so often pronounceth us blessed in them as Psalme 94.12 Blessed is the man whom thou chastisest O Lord. Have wee not then great cause of rejoycing in them especially seeing our Heavenly Father hath the ordering and disposing of all our afflictions both in respect of their kinde and nature and also in respect of their measure either of quantity or continuance First in regard of their kind If you would know why this affliction befalls thee rather then another it is because the Lord the only wise and soveraign Physitian knows how to strike thee in the right veine hee knowes thy heart and the nature of thy corruption and therefore applieth such medecines unto thee as will bee most available for thy cure Which thing Job teacheth us Behold hee will break down and it cannot be built he shutteth a man up and hee cannot be loosed Behold hee withholdeth the waters and they drie up but when he sendeth them out they destroy the earth with him is strength and wisedom Job 12.14 15 16. Yea hee is mighty in strength and wisedom Job 36.5 Which he could not be said to be if any other course were better for us then that which he taketh with us The Lord is perfect wisedom and therefore will not cannot but go the best the safest and wisest way to worke for the good of his children Some peradventure may think that some other kind of affliction might have been better for them then the present some other they thinke would have done them more good then this can do But they speak they know not what And I may say unto them as Christ to his Disciples Luk. 9.55 Yee know not of what spirit yee are The choosing of the rod belongeth unto him that is to give the correction not to him that taketh it Indeed the Lord did once put David to his choice 2. Sam. 24.12 I offer unto thee three things chuse thee which of them I shall do unto thee But this was an extraordinary favor shewed unto David first to make triall of his Faith whether he had rather fall into the hand of the Lord then into the hand of man and secondly to let him know that the Lord would correct him in mercy in that hee gave him libertie to make choise of the punishment The Lord knew that either of those rods would bee sufficient to scourge David withall And none knows so well as the Lord how to meet with our corruptions or what afflictions are meet for us If thou canst not profit by that affliction which the Lord appointeth unto thee thou wilt profit by none To say some other kind were better for thee were to controll the judgement of the wise God as if hee knew not better then our selves to order and dispose of us Is it fit the patient should prescribe his Physitian what course to take with him wilt thou teach him what he shall administer unto thee this were to dishonor the Physitian therefore thou submittest to his judgement and takest what hee prescribeth thee resting upon his skill And wilt thou dare so highly to dishonor God as to question his wisedome and knowledge as if some other affliction were better for thee then this which hee is pleased to administer unto thee No no say as Ely did 1. Sam. 3.18 It is the Lord let him do what seemeth him good Secondly the Lord hath the disposing of our afflictions for quantitie for hee doth order all things in their measure number and weight but especially the afflictions of his children Jerem. 30.11 I will not utterly destroy thee but correct thee in judgement or in measure as the new translation hath it God therefore metes out unto his children not according to their merit but in mercy according to their strength looking more what they are able to undergoe then what they do deserve to be laid upon them Hee correcteth in judgement that is wisely proportioning our affliction to our strength and not in anger least he bring us to nothing Jere. 10.24 Feare not therefore O Jacob my servant saith the Lord for I am with thee I will not utterly destroy thee but correct thee by judgement and not utterly cut thee off Jerem. 46.28 Comfort thy selfe therefore in this that God is faithfull who will not suffer thee to be tempted above that thou art able to beare but will with the tentation make a way to escape that thou maist be able to beare it as was formerly spoken Thirdly and lastly the Lord disposeth of all our afflictions in respect of their time and continuance which he hath promised shall be but short For the rod of the wicked shall not rest on the lot of the righteous Psal 105.3 Hee indureth but a while in his anger Weeping may abide at the evening but joy commeth in the morning Psal 30.5 Who is a God like unto thee saith Micah that taketh away iniquitie and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage He retaineth not his wrath for ever because mercy pleaseth him Mic. 7.18 Therefore wait patiently upon the Lord for issue out of thine affliction which in due time thou shalt bee sure of For the Lord deals not with his children as the Devill doth with his servants bringing them into the briars and there leave them to scratch and rent and teare themselves but the
4.31 At the end of those dayes I Nebuchadnezzar lift up mine eyes unto heaven and mine understanding was restored unto mee being a blinde beast before afflictions came Object But what if neither my conscience telleth me of any great sinnes committed by me nor the Lord revealeth unto me any sinne which hath provoked him to punish mee Answ Then thou must know and beleeve that thy affliction and crosse is for tryall for example for prevention and not for punishment The Lord will have the truth and strength of thy grace tryed God will have thee to bee a pattern unto others of obedience and patience or else by this affliction as hath been said he intendeth to prevent some sinne which if thou wert let alone thou wouldest fall into Reason 3 Thirdly it must needs bee that God by afflicting of us intendeth the bettering of us because by afflictions hee workes our hearts to a holy feare of his Majestie The judgements of the Lord make the very wicked oft to tremble as it is evident in divers places of the Scripture Egypt shall be like unto a woman for it shall be afraid and feare because of the moving hand of the Lord of hosts which hee shaketh over it Esay 19.16 The shaking of Gods rod makes many oft to tremble That all Israel may heare and feare and do no more any such wickednesse among you Deutr. 13.11 God whips his own to keep them in awe that the feare of God may ever be in our hearts not such a feare as is in the wicked who dread him only because of his power and will to punish them for sin and is therefore called a servile or slavish feare because it hath not the love of God or the hatred of sinne annexed unto it but a holy and a pious feare of God such a feare as is joyned with the hatred of evill Prov. 8.13 and so causeth an eschewing of evill as it is said of Job hee was one that feared God and eschewed evill Job 1.1 This is that feare the Lord wisheth might take up the hearts of his people Deut. 5.29 Oh that there were such an heart in them to feare mee and to keep all commandments alway Which feare the Lord increaseth in the hearts of his children by afflicting them 1. Sam. 12.18 The Lord sent the Israelites thunder and rain in harvest and the people feared the Lord. Prosperity and immunity from affliction makes many people secure careles fearelesse Because they have no changes therefore they feare not God Psal 55.19 Implying by these words that the want of the feare of God groweth from the want of affliction So Psal 73. the prosperity of the wicked is made the ground of their iniquitie There are no bands in their death they are lusty and strong They are not in trouble as other men neither plagued with other men Therfore pride is as a chain unto them They are licentious they speak wickedly they talke presumptuously c. These are the wicked who although they be long spared shall in the end be destroyed perish and horribly consumed because they did not chuse the feare of the Lord. Prov. 1.29 If then affliction is the means of working this feare in us it must needs be that God in-intendeth our great good by afflicting of us for no good thing shall be wanting to those that feare him Psal 34.9 The feare of God may bee compared unto the needle which makes way for the thred and drawes it after it even so the feare of the Lord makes way for much good and as it were draws it along withall First it is a means of our humiliation it will take downe our high thoughts and abate and abase our lofty spirits Jacobs feare of Esau made him to bow seven times unto his brother Esau High-mindednesse and feare are opposite one to the other hence Paul exhorteth us Rom. 11.20 Be not high-minded but feare Secondly the feare of God is as a bridle unto our unruly wills and as a curbe unto our disordered affections to represse sinne This kept the mid-wives from murdering the infants of the Hebrew women Exod. 1.21 This kept Joseph from yeelding to the lust of his adulterous Mistris How can I do this great wickednesse and so sinne against God Genes 39.9 Thirdly the feare of the Lord will make us couragious in Gods cause so as wee shall not feare the face of man Say not a confederacy neither feare you their feare nor be afraid of them sanctifie the Lord of hosts and let him be your feare and your dread Esa 8.12 13. There be amongst us too many face-fearers who had rather sinne against the Lord then displease sinfull men these I may compare unto little children which are afraid oft times to touch toyes and bables yet will be bold to put their finger into the fire But those that feare man more or before the Lord 〈◊〉 look to meet with the Judgement of God Jere. 1.17 Therefore let us feare the Lord and this will swallow up all needlesse feare of men as Aarons rod devoured the rod of the inchanters for the feare of the Lord procureth a good conscience and where a good conscience is there is holy courage and boldnesse the righteous are bold as a Lyon Prov. 28.1 Fourthly the feare of God keeps the heart and conscience waking and watchfull it leaves no place for security Hence the Apostle exhorts the Philipians to work out their salvation with feare and trembling Phil. 2.12 Serve the Lord in feare and rejoyce in trembllng Psal 2.11 Hee that feareth the Lord considereth that Gods eyes do alwayes behold him that whatsoever hee goes about though in secret or in darknesse yet all things are open and manifest unto the Lord Yea that he understands the thoughts and secrets of every heart Psal 139.2 and that nothing is hid from him The consideration whereof will make us to watch over our very thoughts seeing wee are lyable to Gods Judgements for evill thoughts as well as for evill words and workes Rom. 2.16 Fiftly and lastly the feare of God will make us happy for wonderfull are the benefits both temporall and spirituall which the feare of God procureth to us and ours Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord his generation shall be blessed riches and treasure shall be in his house Psalm 112.1 2 3. Such as feare the Lord have a promise of great prosperity Deut. 5.29 How great is thy goodnesse which thou hast laid up for them that feare thee Psalm 31.19 Not onely temporall good things but spirituall also for the secrets of the Lord are with them that feare him Psalm 25.14 Yea the Angels of the Lord do pitch and tent about those that feare him Psal 34.7 Great are the priviledges of such as feare God which in this life they partake of but the priviledges and mercies of another life are so great as wee are no way able to conceive of them May wee not then safely conclude