his providences intend our good then there are four duties that I desire to propound to you and I will but propound them for I cannot press them the time being gone 1. Believe this truth 2. Apply this truth 3. Act according to this truth 4. Draw out the sweetness of this truth First I would have you believe this truth that God in all his dispensations though they seem never so strange and harsh to you yet intends your spirituall good Believe it may some say what do you think we are atheists do you think we do not believe the Scripture when God saies all things work for good I it may be you believe it but it is one thing to believe with a notional faith and another thing to believe with a practicall faith You read of the work of faith with power 2 Thes 1.11 there are many it may be that believe this truth with a notional faith I but few that believe it with a practicall faith for example there are none of us but believe we are mortall that we are poor frail creatures that must die and drop down to the dust we know not how soon we believe this doctrine with a notionall faith I but how few believe it with a practical faith so as to prepare for their latter end to make their whole life a preparation for their dying day the devils they believe too they believe that God is a holy and a just God and will render to them according to their deserts at that great day when they must be judged before all the Angels and before all the Saints I but for all this they do not repent they have a notional faith I but they have not a practicall faith so it may be you believe this Doctrine but do you believe it practically so as to make use of it that you are able to say certainly this providence this affliction though sharp yet tendeth to my spirituall good But Secondly As I would have you to believe this truth so I would have you apply it unto your own souls that when afflictions come or troubles come or sickness comes when the loss of a dear husband or wife or the loss of a hopefull child or the loss of an estate comes when pangs and pains and fears and streights come upon you you may say to every one of them you are welcome you come with your commission do the work that God ets you about I know that though for the present you are very painfull yet at the laft you will be very beneficiall as I have heard the story of a boy in a Ship when there was such a storm that threatned the sinking of the Ship presently hesat still and was not at all troubled and being asked why he was not troubled when he saw they were in jeopardy of death every minute O saies he I know my Father sits at the stern I know my God hath the disposing of all and he will order all for good And O that we could do so this is to apply this Doctrine and not only to believe it Thirdly I would have you act according to your faith and therefore let the utmost endeavour of your souls be in this that you may find a spirituall advantage by every passage of providence and that every condition may draw you nearer to your God I confess this is a hard lesson to be learnt but yet there are these five means that may help you I will but name hem First If you would act so that every condition may drawy on nearer to God you must live not by sight and sense but by saith for if you look upon Afflictions with an eye of sence you will see no good in them at all but if you look upon them with an eye of faith then you will say sanctified Affliction is better than unsanctified prosperity sanctified sickness better than unsanctified health and sanctified poverty better than unsanctified riches For our light affliction saith the Apostle which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternall weight of Glory How did he know this he tels you in the next words While we look not at the things which are seen but at the things which are not seen c. 2 Cor. 4.17 18. as if he should say look not with as eye of flesh but with an eye of Faith And then secondly As a great deal of faith so a great deal of patience is required also you must not look that the good of affliction should come presently as I told you in one of the limitations No affliction for the present seemeth to be joyous but grievous nevertheless afterwards it yeeldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby Heb. 12.11 As you must exercise faith so you must be contented to wait also Thirdly There must be a great deal of self-denial too so that you can be content to be crost of your own wills that Gods will may be fulfilled Fourthly You must resolve you will not part with your integrity though to avoid any affliction you must not choose iniquity rather than affliction but you must choose the greatest affliction rather than you will commit the least sin If you keep your integrity than this is certain every affliction will work for your good and you shall find every providence will tend to your spirituall advantage in your worst condition but on the contrary if you part with your integrity you shall meet with a curse in the best of your outward conditions here below And then in the Fift and last place If you would have all thingswork for good you must be much in prayer Phil. 1.19 saies the Apostle speaking of afflictions I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ and this is the third Duty And then Fourthly And so I have done Do not onely believe and apply and act according to but labour to draw out the sweetness of this truth that you may be able to rejoyce in the time of temptation My brethren count it all joy when you fall into divers temptations Jam. 1.2 What to rejoyce in temptations may some say if the Apostle had said my brethren count it all sorrow when you fall into divers temptations he had said something but count it all joy when you fall into divers temptations yes and the Apostle knew very well what he said for he knew that they that sow most in tears shall reap most of all in joy and they that can bear afflictions and temptations with most quiet calm and serene spirits they shall have the blessed fruit of righteousness though for the present they are exercised thereby and God will do them a great deal of good and will at length bring them to heaven though by the gates of hell and 't is a great deal better to be brought to heaven by the gates of hell than to be brought to hell by the gates of heaven and it is better to have our hell here than to have our hell hereafter to have a hell of misery to all eternity the Lord write every one of these things in our hearts that we may be able to speak by experience that every one of these providences shall be for our good And so much shall suffice for this Text and for this time FINIS ERRATA PAge 10. line 15. r. deserts us p. 20. l. 18. r. hear p 25. l. 7. r. of whom p. 34. l. 12. r. others p. 41. l. 8. r. it self p. 50. l 9. in some Copies r. had Judah
he seems to cast them off God is not regardless of his people when he seems to be regardless of them To prove this Doctrine to you there are these two branches that I must make plain First That God doth sometimes seemingly cast off his people But then secondly That God doth not will not cannot really cast them off First I must prove that God doth sometimes seemingly cast off his people He sometimes seems to be so regardless of them and of their condition as if he had set them at a sad distance from his love Thus it was with these poor captives here in the Text that were carried away into Babylon with King Jeconiah and the Princes And thus you shall see the Church complains Psal 10.1 Why standest thou afar off O Lord why hidest thou thy self in times of trouble And thus David complains Psal 13.1 How long wilt thou forget me O Lord for ever how long wilt thou hide thy face from me And thus Job complains Job 13.24 Wherefore hidest thou thy face and holdest me for thy enemy And thus the Prophet Jeremiah complains Lam. 3. v. 8 and 44. Also when I cry and shout he shutteth out my prayer and thou hast covered thy self with a cloud that our prayer should not pass through But you may say Why doth God sometimes seem to cast off his own people I answer He doth it for these reasons First Reas 1 God would hereby teach us to live by faith and not by fight and sence onely if there were no tryals if there were no desertions nor temptations there would be no exercise of faith at all but now when a people can against hope believe in hope that is against hope of sence can believe in hope of the Promises and can depend upon God at that time when he seems to cast them off and can hang upon the Promises as the earth is said to hang upon nothing this is the life Job 26.7 this is the efficacie of faith indeed Secondly God doth it Reas 2 to teach his people to reflect upon and be sensible of their unkindness in turning their backs upon him and that therefore it were just with him to turn his back upon them for ever Thirdly Reas 3 God doth it for this end to teach his people how to prize his presence at a higher rate that he may indeer the mercy of his perpetual abode imprisonment makes liberty so much the sweeter and war we know makes peace so much the sweeter and health is most wellcome when it brings with it recommendation from sickness If it were with us as it is in Greenland or with those that live farre Northward that we should enjoy the light of the Sunne but onely for five or six moneths in the year how welcome would the Sunne be to us then so Gods hiding away his face sometimes makes his presence the sweeter and the more welcome to us And then fourthly Reas 4 God sometimes seems to desert his people that they may not desert him for should we alwayes enjoy the smiles of his face we should quickly grow proud and wanton and should cease to seek him so early as otherwise we would do and therefore God deals with us as the Nurse doth that hideth her self from her Childe to make the Childe cry after her so God sometimes leaves us that we may seek him the more earnestly and follow him the more closely Hos 5.15 I will goe and return to my place saies God till they acknowledge their offences and seek my face in their affliction they will seek me early 'T is true indeed our comfort consists in communion with God for if he hide his face from us the steps of our strength are streightned but yet this is as true that while we live here upon earth we can never enjoy a full and constant communion with our God because there is a mixture of corruption with grace We are in a mixt condition here below it is neither night nor day with us Zech. 14.6 but partly night and partly day and as long as we are in a mixt condition so long we have need of a mixt manifestation Fifthly and lastly Reas 5 God doth sometimes seemingly cast off his people and doth desert us that he may not desert us I mean God doth sometimes desert us in our temporal comforts that he may not desert us in our spiritual comforts and God sometimes deserts us in our spiritual comforts that he may not desert us in our spiritual graces and he deserts us sometimes in one grace that he may not desert us in another grace as for example God sometimes deserts us in prayer that he may strengthen the grace of humility in a word God deserts us for a while that he may not desert us for ever God deserts us in a little wrath that he may not desert us in everlasting wrath that wrath that burns in hell to all eternity Thus you have the first branch of the Doctrine opened to you That God doth sometimes seemingly cast off his people But now secondly God doth not will not really cast off his people though they may be sometimes cast down yet they are never cast off and though they may be dejected yet they shall never be rejected and though they may be left for a while yet they shall never be cast away Isa 41.8 9. But thou art Israel my servant Jacob whom I have chosen I have chosen thee and not cast thee away And Isa 44.21 Remember these O Jacob and Israel for thou art my servant I have formed thee thou art my servant O Israel thou shalt not be forgotten of me True indeed the righteous that is Gods own people may sometimes say the Lord hath forsaken me and my Lord hath forgotten me as it is Isa 49.14 But see what God answers v. 15 16. Can a woman forget her sucking Childe that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb yea they may forget yet will not I forget thee behold I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands thy walls are continually before me Take but one Scripture more and it is a full Scripture Jer. 31.36 37. If those ordinances of the Sun Moon and Stars can depart from before me saith the Lord then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever Thus saith the Lord if heaven above can be measured and the foundations of the earth be searched out beneath I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done saith the Lord But that can never be the ordinances can never be changed saith God therefore I will never cast off my People And would you know the reasons of this second branch of the doctrine I shall give you these four briefly The first is drawn from the immutability of Gods Councel Reas 1 the foundation of God standeth sure having this seal the Lord knoweth them that are his 2 Tim. 2.19
peoples good we may learn then these four lessons by way of Instruction First Learn to admire the infinite wisdome of God that same various 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 curious wisdome of God the Apostles speak of Ephe. 3.10 that can bring light out of darkness peace out of trouble good out of evil grace out of sin hope out of fear and heaven out of hell O! the unspeakable wisdome of God here is Samsons riddle now expounded out of the eater God can bring forth meat and out of the strong God can bring forth sweetness out of afflictions and the most bitter passages of providence God can certainly bring some good to his poor Children there is nothing so high but his providence is above it there is nothing so low but his providence is beneath it there is nothing of such an extent but his providence is able to bound it and there is nothing so confused but his providence can order it for his own glory and his peoples good O! admire fear love and trust this great God that can work all things for the good of his Children And secondly By way of instruction we may hence see the reason why God doth not prevent the afflictions of his people and why he doth not remove them so suddenly as we would have him it is not for want of love and affection to his people but because he knows how to bring good to them out of their afflictions The patient when he hath a smarting Plaister applyed to him cries to the Chyrurgion to take it off but he doth not take it off as soon as the patient would have him because he knows it works for his good Would God think you have suffered Joseph to have been sould into Egypt to have been made a bondslave and to have been imprisoned there but that he knew how by this abasement to work his advancement And do you think God would have suffered David after he had annointed him King to be yet pursued as a partridge upon the mountains and to be driven from one place to another and brought to such great streights but that he knew how to work good to him out of all these troubles But thirdly By way of instruction this may let us see what a vast difference there is between the godly and the wicked between the condition of the one and of the other to the godly all things yea the worst things even Gods severest providences work together for good but to the wicked all things even the best things work together for their hurt Spirituall good things and temporall good things work for their hurt First All Spirituall good things work for their hurt as for example the mercy of God which is one of the choicest Jewels he hath in his Cabanet this works for the hurt of ungodly men because it is an occasion of loosness and libertinisme to them the grace of God another choice Jewel works for their hurt for it is an occasion of wantoness they turne the grace of God into liciviousness the patience of God that is an occasion of their presumption the ordinances they are but poyson to them their baptisme will be but a witness of their perjury the Lords Supper will be but as a feal to their damnation the word of God which to others is a savour of life unto life Ro. 9.33 unto them it is a favour of death unto death nay Jesus Christ himself to a wicked man is but a stumbling stone and a rock of offence And as all spirituall good things so all temporall good things likewise work for hurt to wicked men as for example all providences though they seem never so smiling and successull do yet tend to the hurt of ungodly men The prosperitie of fools shall destroy them Pro. 1.32 so likwise their riches shall be their ruin their flourishing shall be their perishing their power their authority their greatness their attendance their freinds their full tables all these shall be but as a curse unto their souls Mal. 2.2 God curses his own blessings unto wicked men As God can turn curses into blessings where his Children please him so he can turn blessings into curses to wicked and ungodly men Had it not been better think you for Ahithophel to have been a very fool rather than such a great Politician as he was for his wisdome was his ruine Had it not been better for Absolom to have been a deformed creature than so beautifull as he was for his beauty was his ruine Had it not been far better for him to have been a kitchin boy than a King for his power and authoritie was his ruine Had it not been better for Haman to have been the foot-stool rather than such a great favorite in Ahasuerus his Court for his favour was his ruine God set him in a slipperie place to cast him down to destruction In a word all temptations shall be for their hurt 2 Chron. 28.22 all afflictious shall be for their hurt King Ahas in the time of his distresse did trespass yet more against the Lord. And all examples whether of the godly or wicked shall be for their hurt the examples of the godly shall make them but fret and rage at them so much the more the examples of other wicked men like themselves shall but infect and corrupt them so much the more death it self shall be for their hurt death shall be as a trap-door to let them down to the bottomless pit of hell whence they shall never never return Oh! who would be in a state of unregeneracy and unbelief in an unreformed and impenitent flate and sleep in it one houre Who would be in the state of the wicked when all things work for their hurt That is the third instruction The fourth instruction by way of information is this If God can make the severest of his providences to work for our good then we have no cause to be much troubled at crosses and afflictions at tryalls and temptations we have no cause to sink under the burden of them but rather to bear them patiently without fainting or fretting for though at present we do not know how they should be forour good yet God knows how to order them for ourspirituall advantage here and for our eternall advantage here after You will give a Watch-maker leave to take your watch in piecer because he knows how to put â—â— together again So you may give God leave to break you in your comsorts and in your own ends and designs because God knows how to set you together again Hosea 6.1 He hath broken us and he will heal us he hath smitten and he will bind us up When you come at the beginning of the year and see a house a building you see nothing but deformity here a piece of timber and there stones and in another place rubbish I but come at the end of the year and you shall see a beautifull fabr ick We have