SERMONS PREACHED ON Several Occasions SHEWING 1. The Saints Relief in time of EXIGENCY 2. The Admirableness of Divine Providence 3. A Prisoner at Liberty and his Judge in Bonds 4. The most Remarkable Man Upon Earth or The true Portraicture of a SAINT By SAMVEL BLACKERBY Minister of the Gospel at Stow Market LONDON Printed for Nevil Simmons at the Princes Arms in S. Paul's Church Yard 1674. To the Worshipful THOMAS BLACKERBY Esquire My honoured Patron and Kinsman with His honoured Consort Mrs KATHERINE BLACKERBY Much Honoured THose that know my Relation to you the Interest that you have in this place and those Obligations which your Kindnesses to my self and Family have laid upon me will not wonder at the Dedication of my first fruits of Printing to you You were the Instruments under God of my removal from a forraign County to this place where most of these Sermons which are now exposed to publick view were preached Under your Patronage and Wing have I now lived for the space of above ten years in many respects a comfortable and pleasurable life For here I have enjoyed a large opportunity of Preaching in season and out of season the glad tidings of Peace and the Gospel of Salvation For through Grace I can say it that I prize my Liberty in this respect above the Living and my Work though hard to flesh and bloud above any worldly advantage Here I have seen the goings of God yea power and glory in the Sanctuary Here some have been enlightned convinced and awakened out of a dead sleep and others strengthened to run the Christian Race that is set before them Here are broken Reeds and smoaking Flax yea here are some newly planted in the house of the Lord who I hope will flourish in the Courts of our God So that I make no question but many do at this day sound forth the praises of God for guiding and disposing of your Heart to take care of this great place You opened the door and the Lord hath made it effectual You sent an Earthen Vessel hither and the excellency of the power hath been of God let him have all the glory Not unto us not unto us But unto thy Name O Lord be the praise But O dear Sir Do you account it your Honour to be used still as an Instrument under God of doing good and of being made serviceable to his Church in your Stations that the Children unborn may bless the Lord for you This is the way to eternize your Name to draw down Heavens blessing upon your Person and Estate yea to attain the happiness and comfort of Soul-ravishing smiles from the well-pleased face of the great Majesty of Heaven Go on and prosper let your last works be as good if not better then your first and in all encourage your self in the Lord your God My first Subject now Printed tells you that when your Flesh and Heart fails you God will be your strength and I hope your own experience bears witness thereunto That trust that was committed to you when you was made High Sheriff of the County of Suffolk The great loss that you sustained by the Fire in the Metropolis of our Nation together with other remarkable losses and charges at the same time did require a more then ordinary influence for your support and relief But I am well assured that the chearfulness of your Countenance and wise conduct of your Affairs under those heavie pressures and burdens speak forth nothing less then a divine support and seasonable relief But to my Labours upon Psal 73.26 I have added that Sermon which I preached upon your request at the Assizes holden at Bury St. Edmunds March 27. 1669. And all I do now dedicate to you as a Testimony of my thankfulness for those many Kindnesses which you have conferr'd upon me However by this Inscription the Book is become yours with this humble and hearty desire that it may not only receive grace and favour from you but that by your diligent perusal thereof you may receive Grace from it So prayes Your most obliged Kinsman and Servant Samuel Blackerby Stow-Market Decemb 2. 1673. TO THE READER Courteous Reader I Would be sorry the luxuriancy of the Press should cloy thy Stomack to take off thy Eye from a through review of this profitable Treatise here commended to thee The Reverend Author whereof did not calculate the greatest part of it for any other Meridian then his own Pastoral charge and there it had lien without exposing it to the Censure of critical eyes had not the importunity of Friends prevailed so far with him as to afford it a Midwife to bring it into the world I had the happy advantage to be an Auditor of some of the Sermons wherein I observed such Spiritual Solidity that what I then wished I now obtain the publication of such elaborate exercises for the common good I am not ignorant of the blessing of a Pulpit Dispensation accompanied with the gusts and gales of Gods Spirit Yet it is pity such a Jewel should be a Pendant on the Ear without the priviledge of a Press to leave an impression upon the Heart Grapes that have past the Press cannot but have a most delicious relish Hereby this Reverend Author living near in the Hearts and Affections of his People who have given him no small encouragement by their proficiency under his Ministry may abide with them after his translation hence and the Name of Blackerby both in his worthy Father and Son may like a box of Spikenard perfume their memorial when this Servant of God is gone following his Father to receive a Crown the reward of his unwearied Work The Author of this Treatise hath like his Master been a man acquainted with infirmities exercised divers years under bodily pressures and thereby becomes the more fit by his own experience to commend to a gracious Soul Divine Relief in the deficiency of Animal Spirits and to teach a Soul how to lean upon her Beloved coming out of the Wilderness Cant. 8.5 I have seen him divers times in the Pulpit when he had more need to have been in his Bed seeming to me reduced almost into his Socket having spent his Lamp in giving light to others yet Divine Relief hath carried him through his Work with a revival of him and the Hearts of many under his Charge so as he may say with the Apostle When I am weak then am I strong 2 Cor. 12.9 The joy of the Lord being his strength Nehem. 8.10 For his way of Preaching I am well acquainted with it he is not ambitious of that which some call the Knack of Preaching to start some spruce Notion or crop the flowers of Elegancy This is not his vein or ought to be thy work But his dexterity lies in that which Luther terms the right Art of Preaching to hold forth Jesus Christ and free Grace in a searching way that his people may learn to swim to Heaven in a
God-praising heart are a greater blessing then fulness with an unthankful spirit and it is a greater mercy for God to give a thankful spirit in a low condition then to advance a man to the highest pinnacle of outward prosperity in the world This I say is a blessed relief that causeth the soul to bless God in the want of all outward comforts 3. When God is pleased to strip a Christian of all his outward comforts he gives in a greater measure of faith that he may depend upon God for a supply So that though he hath nothing to live upon yet he is sure he shall not want for true faith looks not at secondary causes so much as at the word of promise and therefore if all means fail yet as long as the promise fails not a believing soul knows that it shall have a supply although it cannot imagine how or which way she shall have it Now inward supports in time of want and secret intimations of a supply from God in his own way and time are a sweet relief to the soul in that condition So saith David I had fainted unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living Psal 27.13 True faith in God will keep the heart alive when a man hath nothing to live upon and 't is Gods way to fix a Christian most upon the objects of faith when the objects of sense are removed from him when a Christian lives least by fight then he lives most by faith Now as a Christian believes so comfort flows in to him Faith is to a Christian in stead of all things for it is the substance of things hoped for Heb. 11.1 What ever a man wants yet if he believes truly he hath the substance of that which he hopes for A Christian hopes for great things greater comforts more enlargments and heaven at last Why faith is the substance of all He that lives by faith hath the substance of heaven to live upon and that must needs be a sweet relief to the soul in a time of need It is the Christians comfort that he hath a durable and a lasting state that will never fail him and that he hath a God to go to that will not fail him but will give him such an allowance as shall maintain him till he comes to his journeys end where he shall be put into a full possession and fruition of it 4. Those small repasts which come from the hand of Divine Providence to uphold a Christian under his wants are filled so full of Divine Blessing and strength that he can truly say I have enough A man would think that pulse and water would afford but little nourishment I but Divine Blessing filled it full of strength that Daniel felt no want of better chear Let a Raven be the Prophets Caterer and if Divine Blessing attends the provision as it did he shall walk in the strength thereof forty days and not faint Though poor Christians in these days do not live upon Divine miracles yet they live upon Divine wonders that makes them sometime wonder how they live they cannot but see a Divine hand in giving what they have and then in blessing it beyond expectation for though they want much of that which others do enjoy yet they enjoy that which others want and this makes them healthful and chearful in their wants There is many a poor Christian that hath more joy in one day then thousands that enjoy the treasure of the earth and why It proceeds from this very ground the good mans little is given in love with a heart-chearing blessing while the wicked mans plentiful estate is given in wrath and with a curse upon it hence is that of Solomon Prov. 15.16 Better is a little with the fear of the Lord then great treasure and trouble therewith i. e. they that fear the Lord have not that trouble with their little which they that do not fear the Lord have with their great treasure and therefore the good mans little is better then the wicked mans great treasure The good mans little comes with a blessing for a blessing rests upon a good man and all that he hath be it little or much Now a Divine blessing ever gives strength and vertue to any means Let it be never so poor and weak of it self yet Divine Blessing makes it mighty and efficacious so that it is no matter what a Christian hath to live upon if the blessing of God goeth along with it 5. When God strips a good man of all he hath he then pours forth a mighty spirit of prayer for a fulness of grace to maintain the life of holiness in this estate He that hath nothing without to live upon and but a small stock of grace within will have much ado to rub through and a gratious soul is sensible hereof and therefore God is pleased to draw out the desires of his soul after a greater measure then yet he hath attained and indeed when outward wants meet with a soul that is full of grace they do not make such an impression upon it as when they meet with one that hath but little the empty vessel makes the greatest noise and empty Christians are fullest of complaints until a spirit of prayer is poured forth upon them whereby they attain an inward fulness and this keeps and maintains a spirit of holiness in them I confess he that prospers and thrives in the world stands in need of a large measure of grace to keep his heart holy in that estate and so he that is low in the world stands in need of a great measure of grace also or else he may miscarry There is one eminent rock upon which poor people are very apt to split and hazzard their immortal souls and that is the use of indirect and unlawful means for their relief and subsistence in the world Hence is that prayer of Agur Prov. 30.6 7 give me neither poverty nor riches feed me with food convenient for me least I be full and deny thee and say Who is the Lord Or least I be poor and steal and take the name of my God in vain Mark this least I be poor and steal Noting out that poverty hath this temptation attending it if grace prevents not poor men will be prompted to use some indirect course for their subsistence they 'l steal rather then want what they desire I but a good man dare not do thus This in him would be not only a breach of the eighth command but also of the third It is a taking the name of God in vain for this is a certain truth that whosoever takes upon him the profession of Christian Religion and yet departs not from iniquity he takes the name of God in vain now a true Christian in whom the fear of the Lord is planted dreads this and therefore crys mightily unto God to keep and preserve him that he may not do so unworthy an
is like a strong Fort or Garrison to a Christians Grace that keeps it safe It may be assaulted and beleaguered but shall never receive a mortal wound It is the great security of a Christian that God will not trust him with the root and principle of grace That shall never be in thine own keeping he trusts thee with the exercise of grace but not with the principle and root No he keeps that himself he is both the Garrison and the Commander in it and you may be sure that that is impregnable 2. God is the strength of a Christians heart when the infused habits of grace fail and sin grows strong and vigorous by healing and restoring him A Christian never fails in the exercise of grace but sin gives him a wound And therefore David prayed Lord heal my Soul for I have sinned Psal 41.4 And what David prayed for God promiseth to his people Hos 14.4 I will heal their back-slidings The weakness and decay of grace brings a Christian presently to the falling sickness and so it did David and Ephraim I but God will be a Physitian to the Soul in this case and will heal their diseases and so he did Davids falling-sickness for which he return'd the tribute of Praise Psal 103.3 My soul praise thou the Lord and all that is within me praise his holy name who healeth all thy diseases David had many diseases upon him once for one disease is the cause of another I but God healed all and raised him up again And herein the grace of God did shine forth with great lustre and glory that even ravished his soul in the sense thereof As it appears wonderful in preserving spiritual life and the root of grace so it is no less to be admired for its healing and restoring virtue that it puts forth upon the Soul when spiritual diseases have ceised upon it You have a notable place for this Cant. 8.5 I raised thee up under the apple-tree They are the words of Christ to his Spouse She had been feeding her self upon the forbidden fruit of earthly delights and sensual pleasures until she could stand upon her feet no longer and there she falls and lies I but then Christ comes to her seasonably takes her by the hand and raises her up Green fruit will cause distempers in the body natural and sensual delights and pleasures will cause diseases in the body spiritual none can cure them but Christ When thou art fallen under the Apple-tree he must raise thee up nay Christ will do it though he may suffer the poor Soul to fall yet he will not suffer it to lie and perish This is one main difference between the falls of a gracious man into sin and the fall of a wicked man God lets a wicked man fall and lie in his sin As he falls willingly and resolvedly so he lies wretchedly and desperately in his sin But as a godly man falls through a weakness of grace so God pities him and raises him up again Peter fell fouly when he denied his Master but he did not fall finally Christ raised him up and restored him to his former health and soundness So you may see Matth. 26.75 And Peter remembred the words of Jesus and he went out and wept bitterly The way that Christ takes to heal the backslidings of his people is to break their hearts and melt them into godly sorrow When poor Souls have been almost drown'd in the waies of sin he drowns their sin in the red sea of godly sorrow the Soul swims aloft but his sin sinks to the bottom that it may rise no more 3. God is the strength of a Christians heart when grace fails by working a new creation upon the heart The giving of grace at first is a creation and hence new Converts are called new creatures So the strengthening weak grace and reviving and renewing of grace is no less a creation it is the work of an Almighty power upon the Soul And therefore David prayed for it under this notion Create in me a clean heart O God and renew a right Spirit within me Psal 50.10 God puts forth the same power in strengthening the weakness of grace as he doth in giving the first act of grace as grace is not mans creature but Gods We are saith the Apostle Gods workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works Eph. 2.10 So the renewing and reviving grace is not mans work but Gods When he seeth a poor Christian lie languishing that he is scarce able to put forth one act of grace he can neither believe nor love nor obey that Satan makes a prey of him and is ready to carry him away captive as his prisoner God creates new strength and a new life and a new glory upon the Soul If a Christian hath his winter he shall have his spring also he shall not be alwaies without fruit Most full is that promise Hos 14.5 6. I will be as the dew unto Israel he shall grow as the lilly and cast forth his roots as Lebanon His branches shall spread and his beauty shall be as the olive tree and his smell as Lebanon Observe Gods method in working upon decaying Christians First he heals their backslidings so ver 4. I will heal their backslidings I but that is not all For without divine influence the Soul will be as apt to relapse as ever and therefore God promiseth as a further act of grace that he will be as the dew unto Israel Dew is of a fructifying and refreshing nature it calls forth the fruits of the earth when they lie hid in the roots of trees and herbs Even so is Divine Influence it is of a fructifying nature and calls forth the fruits of grace when they lie hid in the root thereof Let but God send forth his power and Grace will send forth new buds and blossoms of holiness that there shall be a new face upon a Christian He shall grow as the Lilliy cast forth his roots as Lebanon his branches shall spread and his beauty shall be as the Olive and his smell as Lebanon 4. God is the strength of a Christians heart by drawing forth much good out of this great evil It is a sore evil for a Christian to decay in grace and to fall into sin I but God works good out of this evil Four things God works by this and they are all good for him 1. Hereby God discovers that corruption that is in the heart As when the water ebbs and grows low then the earth appears then you may see what is at the bottom So when grace ebbs and grows low then the corruption of the heart appears then it is quickly known what foul dregs are at the bottom There is many a Christian that little thinks how full of sin his heart is until his grace grows languid and weak and then he comes to have a sad experience thereof Thus it was with David When grace became so weak in him as not to
and makes them instrumental to carry on a most glorious design How often doth God convince and affect the hearts of sinners by those Lectures which he reads to them out of the book of the creature Yea sometimes the wheelings and turnings about of States and Nations in the world sometimes the changes that come upon mens persons or estates are strangely improved for the change of their hearts Sometimes an evil feared or felt a good hoped for or enjoyed expectation frustrated or hope deferred comforts multiplied or turned into crosses prayers heard or denyed are sanctified and bless'd for spiritual and soul-advantage yea there are many men had not been happy if others had not been miserable the fall and ruine of some hath proved the rise of others Oh the wheel in the middle of a wheel Thus you have heard something of the motion of this divine wheel I but you do not see it For Thirdly This is a mystery a very great mystery for it is a wheel in the middle of a wheel a wheel that no mortal eye ever saw a wheel that the most sublime understanding cannot reach and as the wheel it self is a divine secret hid in the brightness of its own glory so is its motion And therefore saith the Psalmist Psal 77.19 Thy way O God is in the sea thy paths in the great waters and thy footsteps are not known And again Psal Thy way is in the Sanctuary I in that Sanctuary into which none can enter but the high Priest unless the Veil be rent Hence comes the prophetick Spirit to be of use in its time for had men been able to foresee the plotting and contrivances of divine providence or to trace it in its workings the Spirit of Prophecy had not been so necessary as it was And therefore God raiseth up an Ezekiel and by an immediate vision instructs him that he might let the people understand their future state and condition and indeed 't is in Gods light that we see light 'T is true external wheels are visible instruments and agents may be seen I but as the wheel within the wheel is invisible so are all its workings upon the wheels untill they are brought off And therefore is that counsel given Prov. 27.1 Beast not thy self of to morrow for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth Time travelleth with divine counsels and in its season brings them forth I but little do men know what is in the womb thereof untill she be delivered And therefore saith the Lord Es 55.9 As the heavens are above the earth so are my wayes above your wayes and my thoughts above your thoughts And indeed an infinite mind must needs have transcendent conceptions and thoughts such as are above the reach of a finite mind Now the wayes of God being correspondent to the thoughts of God they must needs be very dark and mysterious unto us And hence it is that men talk so much of dark and complexed providences Not that there is any daskness in them Non caeco impâ—tu volvuntur rotae the wheels are not carried on blindly No! but because their motion is above our apprehension And therefore 't is said ver 18. As for their Rings they were so light that they were dreadful Things that are above our reach are not only Soul-amazing but sometimes Soul-terrifying and do put us in a posture of fear and trembling When we know not what to think of things we are apt to dread them that which is an object of admiration is sometimes a cause of fear and dread Hence it is that sometimes those providential administrations that are big with Soul-merâ—iâ—s and refreshing comforts are by our dark understandings mis-represented and rendred as dreadful to us as if they were nothing else but signs of divinâ— wrath and vengeance Even as Christs walking upon the Sea towards his Disciples for their relief and comfort put them into a pannick fear because they thought that they had seen a Spirit However whether this be alwayes the effect or not yet this is certain that providential plots and works are very high very mysterious We may say more truly of God then we can of any man that he walks in the clouds that of the Psalmist Psal 18.9 if full for the purpose He bowed the heavens and came down and darkness was under his feet And again He made darkness his secret place For the truth is nothing of God or the counsels of God is further known then he is pleased to reveal And so the Apostle argues 1 Cor. 2.11 For what man knoweth the things of a man save the spirit of a man which is in him even so no man knoweth the things of God but the spirit of God Hence it is that four things fall out frequently 1. Carnal reason confuted 2. Carnal confidence and hope disappointed 3. Unbelief reproved 4. A well grounded faith honoured and confirmed First Carnal reason is often confuted by the mysteriousness of providential administration for they often tell the rational and wise men of the world that their apprehensions and assertions are a meer non sequitur And therefore Saint Paul 1 Cor. 1.20 Triumphs over them with four sarcasmal questions Where is the Wise Where is the Scribe Where is the Disputer of this world Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this-world Where are they alas they are forced to get into an hole and to hide their heads as men confounded and amazed one act of providence scatters them and makes them fly at least strikes them dead dumb They that were continually scribling cannot now write And they that thought themselves the only wise and knowing men now see that they know nothing And they that would never be quiet but would be ready to quarrel with every one they met with that were of a contrary opinion and spake wisdom among them that are perfect are now silent for that which they accounted reason and wisdom appears to be folly and that which they accounted folly appears to be reason and wisdom Oh what a change doth a divine providence work in some mens heads at least what a check doth it give to some mens apprehensions And hence is that counsel given by the Lord himself to all such men Zech. 2. ult Be silent O all flesh before the Lord for he is raised out of his holy habitation And oh that men were so wise as to take this counsel in due time Secondly Hence it is that carnal confidence and hope is often disappointed Men sow the wind and reap the whirl-wind expect good and meet with evil look for light and behold darkness So Mich. 1.12 The inhabitants of Maroth waited carefully for good but evil came down from the Lord. Thirdly Hence also it is that unbelief is often really reproved O fools and slow of heart to believe is a frequent message that an unbeliever meets with in the very acts of divine providence Men will not believe that such and such
therefore is that prayer of Peter 1 Pet. 5.10 Thirdly He is the preserver of your strength your life is laid up in God Col. 3.3 your strength is kept by the strength of God so Psal 91.1 God doth overshadow the strength of Saints that no breach can be made upon it Psal 63.7 In the shadow of thy wings will I trust Now for Demonstration I shall lay down six positions 1. All strength is in God originally and fully God is the first strength and the fountain of strength He is the root spring of strength He is all strength in himself He is wisdom it self and light it self and life it self and grace it self 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies sometimes the Original Fountain of things and God is called so because he is the beginning and efficient cause of all things out of himself thus Schindler The strength of a Saint is but a drop in the bucket a beam of the Sun a spark of fire in comparison of God He alone is all Whatever is in the creature is eminently in God 't is much more in him Hence is that Character which God gives of himself to Abraham Gen. 17.1 I am the Almighty God for this is peculiar unto him Many beings may be called strong or mighty but none may arrogate the title of Almighty but God 'T is God that is All-sufficient both for himself and for all beings below himself The stream is often low and yet the spring and fountain full and high The strength of the creature may fail but the strength of God never fails 'T is fully in God when 't is not in us Life may go out of the branch and yet remain in the root This is the happiness of Gods people that though they have little in themselves they have enough in God Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee Psal 84.5 For when communicated strength is spent yet there is an incommunicated fullness still in God They may say as the prodigal when he had spent his portion in my fathers house there is bread enough and to spare My light is gone and my life fails and my grace fails and I am reduced to a sad condition in my self I but there is enough in God there is light enough and life enough and grace enough God is All still even when I am nothing I may allude to the story of Hagar Gen. 21.15 to the 19. When the water was spent in her bottle God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water So when your bottles are all empty if God do but open your eyes so as to behold him you will see a well a fountain of all strength 1. The Israel of God Gods chosen and beloved ones in Christ have a peculiar interest in the strength of God the strength of God is their strength so the Prophet saith God is my strength As when Jehoshaphat made a Covenant with Ahab to go with him to Ramoth-Gilead he tells him that all he was and had was Ahabs 2 Chro. 18.3 I am as thou art and my people as thy people and my horses as thine i. e. he reserved nothing peculiar to himself but gave Ahab an interest in all so doth God he reserves nothing peculiar to himself but his honour and glory which he cannot give to another but gives his people an interest in all All the strength of God is made over to the people of God God hath nothing but what they have an interest in Whenever God speaks to a soul as he did to Abraham I will be thy God at that time God passeth and maketh over himself to it and now that soul hath a peculiar interest in God the strength the All-sufficiency of God is that mans the wisdom of God the holiness of God the mercy of God the will of God is his that heighth and depth that length and breadth of strength that is in God is a Saints When he reads the Scripture and there finds what riches of strength there is in God and through the Spirit of light is able to conceive very largely of God he may then say within himself All this is mine All that God is is mine When Saints go to God for strength either of nature or of grace they do not go as meer beggars but as children go to a father in whom they have an interest and in all that he hath and may with boldness plead their interest therein a most full place you have in Esay 63.15 16. Psal 119.94 And so when God gives forth himself to Saints he doth it not as some great man gives boons to all commers to express his bounty but as a father gives peculiar gifts to his children so Esay 43.1 2 3 4. 3. According to the Saints Communion with God and God's influence into them such is their strength Divine incomes give strength and maintain it When God takes up his dwelling in the heart it becomes strong and mighty never before We may say of men that are at a distance from God as the Prophet Hosea to Ephraim how weak is thine heart but of Saints as Paul of himself when I am weak then am I strong 2 Cor. 12.10 Paul had close Communion with God and Christ and now the power of Divine grace rested upon him and took up his residence in him to strength him The nearer the soul comes to God and the more it enjoys of God the stronger it is a man full of God is a man full of strength so you may see Micah 3.8 but truly I am full of power by the Spirit of God the Spirit of God was poured forth upon the Prophet and this filled him full of power The Disciples of Christ were weak and therefore Christ promiseth to baptize them with the Holy Ghost and with power now they are able and strong Even as when the Prophet Elias had been fed by the Raven he went in the strength thereof forty days 1 King 19.8 So when the soul hath fed it self upon Divine influence it walks in the strength thereof It is not here as with the lean kine of Pharaoh that devour all the fat and yet never the better for they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength Esay 40.31 God never lets that soul depart without this blessing that waits upon him I dare appeal to any experimental Christian for a witness hereunto Hear what Solomon saith Prov. 10.29 The way of the Lord is strength to the upright And also what David saith Psal 27.14 Wait on the Lord and he shall strengthen thy heart wait I say on the Lord. This is that which makes a disparity between one Christian and another yea between a Christian at one time and at another What makes one Christian stronger then another but the incomes of God one enjoys more of God then another one hath more Communion with God then another one receives more from God then another And hence it is that one can do that which another
can't and one can suffer that which another can't one goeth heavily and drooping under his burden when another sings and is merry with a burden that is far heavier One can slight a temptation and resist it allthough it be very great and another is overcome when it is small I 'le give you some Examples hereof First Compare the first Adam with the second the first was suddenly overcome with a temptation and fell from a state of happiness into a state of misery because he had not Divine influence to support him and keep him from falling his strength was placed in himself and not in God But the second Adam stands his ground and keeps the field against Satans strongest attempts and batteries yea beats him with his own weapon and forces him to retreat because the God-head dwelt bodily in him and in him dwelt all fulness Again Compare Lot and his wife with Abraham in point of trial when God would have Lot and his wife deny themselves and leave their pleasant habitation of which it is said that it was even as the garden of the Lord you shall find Gen. 19.16 that Lot and his wife were loth to obey God herein 't is said he lingred c. But now when God tried Abraham in a far greater matter see how willingly he obeyed God therein so you may see Gen. 22. Rom. 4.20 The strength of a Christian lies not so much in his inherent Principles as in his assisting influences a Christian is strong as they flow in As a child in his fathers hand may do that which one of larger growth cannot do of himself so a young Christian in the hand of Christ can do that which old Adam could not do in innocency when left to himself A weak bearer with strong supporters may hold a greater weight than a stronger bearer without supporters A weak Christian underpropt and upheld by Divine strength may undergo and bear more then one that hath a larger measure of inherent grace This is that which makes a Christian differ from himself at one time very weak and at another time very strong as buds open in the day and shut at night as a man fasting and full differs in strength We see David at one time is afraid of a little 1 Sam. 27.1 1 Sam. 30.6 and at another time fears nothing At one time he concludes that one day he shall perish by the hand of Saul and yet not near him at another time when his own people spake of stoning him he takes courage in the Lord his God An army of flies will terrifie a Christian at one time when as an army of Giants can't daunt him at another Sometimes he can do nothing at other times he can do all things Sometimes he doth but creep at another he runs towards heaven Full is that Ephes 1.19 we believe according to the working of his mighty power much or little a little power put forth will produce but a little faith a great power will produce a great faith So that this is clear that according to a Saints Communion with God and Gods influence into him such is his strength as a man receives from God such is his power and ability the whole strength of a Christians heart depends upon the enjoyment of God 4. According to the fulness and extent of grace promised in the Covenant of grace such is Gods influence into the hearts of his people for their strength The Covenant of grace is full and large proportioned to the eternal love of God and the weak state of fallen man So that there is no condition into which a Saint can fall but there is a proportionate and suitable good promised and Covenanted to it The Covenant is Gods dispensative wherein all receits for all Spiritual weaknesses is held forth there is not a heart failing but there is a receit for it some promise that is suitable thereunto Now Gods strength passeth from God through the word of promise As God speaks the word so Divine influence flows into the soul The words that I speak saith Christ are spirit and life Joh. 6.63 The Lord is therefore pleased to set forth the power and life of his promise by a lively similitude Esay 55.10 11 12 13. Even as the rain and snow gives strength to the earth to bring forth and to bud and makes it fruitful so doth the word of grace give strength to a weak heart to bring forth grace and comfort and makes it full of goodness David had experience of this and therefore saith In God I will praise his word Psal 56.4 10 i. e. This is my strength God speaks the word and it is done comfort and courage help and salvation flows in through the word of promise Alass I were not able to stand if I had not this supporter to bear me up So you may see Psal 21.13 I had fainted unless I had believed God doth not only strengthen his Saints according to his word but he strengthens them by his word This is the medium through which all Divine strength passeth into the hearts of Saints for the strength of God is in his word of promise as its proper life and virtue this makes it enlightening enlivening strengthening encouraging comforting and sanctifying Hence is that of the Apostle Peter 2 Pet. 1.3 4. He that takes hold on the Covenant and on the promises of grace therein takes hold of Divine strength and as it is said of Sarah shall receive strength to conceive and to bring forth the image and life of God in his soul and conversation When God seemeth to stand at a distance from the soul that she can't see him nor find him out yet if the word of promise be nigh her and in her she can't want strength for the strength of God is in it and have you not found it thus sometimes that upon the reading or hearing of a gratious promise of God held forth in the Scripture such a clear light hath shined into your souls and such a strength hath flowed in therewith as to raise you up and to work a mighty change in you 5. According to that mutual transact that is between God the Father and his Son Christ Jesus both on Gods part and on the believers part so doth the Covenant give forth its virtue and grace to the believer You heard before that the Covenant of grace is Gods means whereby he strengthens his people there is the strength of God laid out now this means works not but as it is moved it gives forth nothing but as it is set on work Though there were healing and strengthening virtues in the pool of Bethesda yet they could not put forth themselves until the Angel moved the waters so it is here the Covenant of grace is Gods strengthening pool I but the virtue thereof is not put forth without a motion these waters are set on work by a mutual transact between the Father and the Son First Therefore God
thy God until thou canst say thou art the inheritance of the Lord Thou art never sure of God as thy portion until God hath made sure of thee for his inheritance He must have some interest in thy heart or thou hast no fruition of him First Therefore Set thy heart upon God alone do not suffer it to be divided between many portions let not the earthly portion share one part and sin another and the Devil another and then what is left thou wilt be content that God should have it But know that God will be all or none the love of the world and the love of God is inconsistent 1 John 2.15 You know when the Merchant had found the pearl he sells all for it and so must thou thy heart must be taken off all for God and given up to him only God never matches with an adulteress with one that doth not love him intirely For then he would be but as a cloak for wickedness to hide it self under that it may be acted with greater security As men that marry whores they are but their wife's cloaks they commit whoredom with the greater boldness so would the heart of man if it could enjoy God with the love of the world it would sin the more securely and freely God should be but a cloak to its wickedness No thou must not think that God will be thy portion that thou mayst play the harlot the more securely Oh therefore set thine heart upon God alone let him have the whole of thine heart set thy heart wide open for God to come in and take possession of thy heart Psal 24.7 This is the voice of Christ open to me my sister my spouse Cant. 5.2 and Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man open I will come in Now love to God is the opening of the heart to God and lets him in entertains him and bids him welcome Thus God dwells in the heart and receives content and satisfaction from it Secondly If thou wouldst be Gods portion and Gods inheritance thou must receive Gods mark upon thee that thou mayst be distinguished from all others even as they that become the portion of Antichrist must receive his mark in their foreheads and in their hands Revel 13.16 So all they that do become Gods portion must receive Gods mark upon them they must be sealed with Gods own seal Ephes 1.13 and Revel 14.1 Even as Merchants set their mark or seal upon their goods so doth God set his seal and mark upon all his goods that they may be clearly known to him by their mark as well as in his own decree Now the distinguishing Character of a true Israelite from all others is Gospel sincerity truth in the inward parts Joh. 1.47 a true Israelite in whom is no guile Revel 14.15 in their mouth was found no guile Psal 32.2 Others may have gifts and grace in shew but Gods portion must have grace in truth Others may have a form but these have the power of godliness Others may have lamps but these have oyl in their lamps Others may have a name but these have the name of God written in their foreheads Alass God cares not for these hang-bies who call themselves by Gods name and cry up themselves as the only people of God and yet never received the name of God upon their foreheads but through a carnal liberty which they assume to themselves are on and off in and out when they please Sometimes they are for God and sometimes for the Devil No Beloved if you will be the Lords you must be in good earnest fully engaged mark'd out with this mark of holy sincerity so that God may have something in you whereby to own you When God shall look abroad and seek for his own and find them scattered up and down and mixed with the world God will take notice of none but such as have his mark upon them none but such as are sincere and upright 't is not a form of Anabaptism or Quaking or Seeking but sincerity that God will own Matth. 7.21 22 23. Use 3. For Direction and Counsel to all the Israel of God who have God for their portion I have four words of advice for you 1. Learn the distinction to the height God in himself or God in the creature and the creature without God There is a vast difference between the enjoyment of God in himself or in the creature and the enjoyment of the creature without the enjoyment of God Some enjoy God and not the creature Some enjoy the creature and not God Some enjoy both This is talked of amongst us and oftentimes little understood by us but the right and clear understanding hereof is of great concernment unto Christians 1. Some enjoy God and not the creature these are as I hinted before poor and rich 2. Some enjoy the creature and not God these are rich and yet poor as having all and yet having nothing 3. Some enjoy God and the creature or God in the creature These are rich in all respects they are worldly rich and heavenly rich they have a double portion But now here lieth a great task and difficulty it is hard for such a Christian so to distinguish between these two estates and portions as not to confound them As a man that drives two trades 't is very difficult for him to keep them distinct So 't is here when men have much of the world they drive a great trade therein 't is very difficult for them to distinguish between God and that i. e. so to use the world as not to make it his All hence is that counsel of the Apostle 1 Cor. 7.29 30 31 and so 1 Tim. 6.17 18. Oh Beloved for a Christian to be still in the enjoyment of all as if he had nothing this is right to live in a constant dependance upon God as his All and to make the creature but as the vessel or cistern through which God communicates himself this is a true life Such an one may say as Paul I am dead nevertheless I live I am dead to the world and the world is dead to me such an one lives upon God a true life of happiness and content But I say this is hard and difficult and our experience is a full demonstration thereof for according to creature enjoyments so we live for when the creature is full and all things flow in according to our desire then we are quiet merry and glad but when that is low and dry then we fail and flag Few Christians have and keep an even temper of spirit in fluctuating various conditions for few live so upon God as to make him their All and therefore when the creature ebbs and flows it carries them along in the stream either high or low but this is to make God our portion for Christians to make a real distinction between the enjoyment of God and the enjoyment of the creature so that when
if I had not been undone The issue is good although the means seem never so cross This is excellently set forth under a type Ezek. 1.16 And their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel i. e. very cross and intangled one in another one goes one way and another goes another way and yet all perform one and the same work Thus is the providence of God it is often very cross and complexed it works by cross and intangled means yet carries on one glorious design All these cross ways and means work together as the Apostle saith for the good of them that love God Rom. 8.28 2. When a Christian is most in the dark yet he shall not want a secret though insensible conduct of Gods Holy Spirit that shall secure him from ruine in his way It is a notable relief to a blind man to have a sure guide God is a sure guide to a good man when he is unable to direct himself Alass no man is able to guide himself without the assistance of Gods Holy Spirit So Jer. 10.23 O Lord I know that the way of man is not in himself it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps Why how then shall he escape ruine and destruction when so many snares and rocks are in his way See that Psal 37.23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord. God goeth along with a good man and orders him in every step he takes though we cannot see a step of our way yet if we take God with us he will direct us I will guide thee with mine eye Psal 32.8 His eye is open upon the righteous and he will guide them in the right way even then when they cannot see their way before them and therefore is that counsel of Solomon In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths Prov. 3.5 6. As God orders the steps of a good man so he orders the ways of a good man It may be thou art apt to walk in one way and God will put thee into another where thou shalt find the greatest comfort and peace we never walk so safely as when God takes the sole care of us When Abraham followed God in the darkness of sense and reason not knowing whither he went his course was never better steered and oftentimes we do best when we know not what to do when we are at the greatest stand our reason darkned and our spirits perplexed and all the ways we can imagine of true peace and comfort block'd up and we know not where to set one foot forward then God comes and takes us by the hand and leads us into such a way as we dream't not of where our desired peace and comfort is prepared for us There is an excellent promise for this purpose Esay 35.8 And an high way shall be there and a way and it shall be called the way of holiness the unclean shall not pass over it but it shall be for those the way faring men though fools shall not erre therein Observe first God makes out a way for good men to walk in an high way Via Regia the Kings way the way of God an holy way or the way of holiness sin and wickedness is not Gods way Secondly fools shall not erre therein i. e. the people of God sometimes are much in the dark and know not what to do in a particular case I but yet they shall be guided that they shall not loose their way but how shall they be guided Why God will be with them and so that passage may be read for he shall be with them In our translation it is rendered but it shall be for those but it may be read thus but he i. e. God shall be to them or with them to conduct and guide them in their way How many Christians have cause to bless God and say I could never have found the way to peace and comfort had not God been my guide This very experience brought the Prophet to that confidence for the future As you may see in the second verses before my Text Psa 73.24 Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel and afterward receive me to glory 3. When a Christian is in the dark God is so far the strength of his heart that he can wait for light When they know not what to do nor what to think yet they can wait for light they are expectants And now Lord what wait I for My hope is in thee saith David Psal 39.7 My soul waiteth for the Lord more then they that watch for the morning Psal 130 7. As a man that hath a long journey to go upon very great and important business how doth he watch for the morning because the darkness of the night suspends his motion I but David waited more for the Lord then a traveller watcheth for the morning or as the words may be read as they that watch unto the morning and so he makes a comparison between himself and watchmen i. e. There is no watchman doth more observe and wait for the breaking forth of the light of the day then I do wait for the Lord. And this is a blessed relief to the soul to be put into a waiting posture When the soul knows not what to do yet it can wait for light Not like Saul And why should I wait for the Lord any longer But as David I waited patiently for the Lord Psal 40.1 Though a good heart will not let God wait long No nor at all willingly for obedience yet he is willing to wait as long as God seeth good for light to guide him in his obedience loath is a gratious heart to miscarry in his work or to tread awry or step out of Gods way and therefore he will wait for light glad would he be of one beam of light to clear up his spiritual state to him I but he knows that Gods time is the best It is sad to him to be in the dark yet he knows that none can scatter the cloud that overspreads him but God and therefore he concludes with the Prophet It is good both to wait and to hope in the Lord. 4. Though a good man may be in the dark yet God will not always leave him in the dark Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness Psal 112.4 Oftentimes when they least expect it then it ariseth as the night is darkest a little before the day breaks so when the thickest cloud hath overspread the soul then God causeth light to spring forth Even as it was with Saint Paul in another case 2 Corinth 1.8 10. We were pressed out of measure above strength insomuch that we despaired of life but we had the sentence of death in our selves that we should not trust in our selves but in the living God who delivered us from so great a death When his condition was at the heighth when nothing could help or relieve
him but he was at the very point of death then God revived him Even so it is in this case when the darkness of the soul is at the heighth and the soul is at the greatest loss and plunge no way open for its comfort and relief then God gives in some beam of Divine light to guide and direct it unto peace and comfort for though it be the portion of good men and of children of light sometimes to walk in darkness yet they are never cast into utter darkness eternal darkness is not their portion they shall not lie down in darkness light is sown for the righteous and as God hath his seeds time so they shall have their harvest let the soul be never so full of fears and perplexity of spirit yet this cloud shall vanish these fears shall be scattered and the soul shall see and know that it is under the gratious dispensation of a most gratious God who hath ordered all things for her peace here and eternal well-fare hereafter This is clear in our Text the Prophet had been in darkness I but God had brought him forth into the light and now he is able to correct his mistakes 5. That experimental light and knowledge which a sanctified soul gains in the time of its darkness and from the flowing in of Divine Light to scatter that darkness affords the soul unspeakable joy and satisfaction that she accounts it a sufficient recompence for all her trouble and sorrow in the want thereof As there is knowledge of things by principles so there is a knowledge that ariseth from experience and it would be very strange if the soul should gain no experimental knowledge by the incomes of Divine Relief in the time darkness S. Paul saith Tribulation worketh patience and patience experience Hereby the soul knoweth more of God and attains clearer apprehensions of him then it had before when she is able to say 'T is true I was in darkness but then God carried on a glorious design of doing me good all though I could not see it I was blind and not able to guide my feet into the way of peace but I had the conduct of Gods Holy Spirit I was very much perplexed in my Spirit but Divine strength kept me up in a waiting frame Yea I found at last light breaking in upon me in the darkest night my dark night was turned into a bright shining day Now this experience must needs fill the soul full of ravishing joy and satisfaction that she may say as David Return unto thy rest O my soul for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee and this is one mair end of Gods drawing a cloud over the eye of a Christian that he may have some experience of Gods gratious dealing with him in this condition and thereby attain a fuller knowledge of the ways of God then he did before I confess it may seem strange but 't is true that a Christian gains light by the darkness of his spirit Did not the light of a Christian fail him he would never have such experience of Divine Relief as now he hath This makes his light double to what he had before he had the light of instruction before but now he hath the light of experience and hence it is that those Christians who have had the greatest clouds upon their spirits prove the most knowing Christians for experience is the mistress of truth and when the soul is taught by experience it knows the truth indeed Now the soul is put out of all doubt there is no room for queries about it she is fully satisfied in it Many times when God goeth about to teach a man by his word and reads him a Lecture of Divine Promises made to the Soul in such and such a condition he little minds it but when God teaches him by his works in fulfilling those promises then he cannot but sit down and admire at the riches of Gods grace that God should deal thus with so vile and wretched a creature as he is Thus you have seen how Divine Relief flows in to the Soul of a good man when his understanding fails him 2. A second particular case is in point of Election It cannot be denied that as the appetite of all men is carried out to that which is good so the appetite of a good man is fixed upon the highest good and the ultimate end But then it must be granted that there is sometimes a failing of the Will both in point of Liberty and also in point of Domination 1. In point of Liberty which consists chiefly in making choice of such means as are most proper for attaining that end 2. In point of Dominion which lies in imploying all inferiour faculties for execution of those means Now the failing of the Will in both these respects is when the Will falls into a kind of hesitancy or indifferency and begins to halt God hath appointed proper means for the attaining this end but the Soul may be at a stand at some time and not determined Every good man can't say at all times with the Prophet My Heart is fixed It may be fixed as to the end but not as to the means There may be at some time a wavering in the Will about it Christians find it so by experience 2. When the strength of Resolution is not so powerful as to stand out against all assaults and to bear down all opposition The Will may be fixt but not so firmly as it ought to be there may be a giving ground for a time to our spiritual adversary a small retreat in time of temptation A Christian never yields to a temptation of Satan but there is at least a weakness in his Resolution and some presumption in his Will against which David prayed Ps 19. 3. When the Will grows cold and dead there is not that vigour or activity as ought to be put forth in the use of means his heart fails him when as he grows like a silly Dove without heart he prayes and hears and confers but in all with a dead and lazy Spirit 4. When the Will is fickle and inconstant 't is in and out and keeps not in one tenor and frame but like a broken Bow that soon starts aside This this is the spiritual plague and distemper of a good heart Now let us see the remedy and relief that flows from God for the cure hereof First God is pleased to cure this sad distemper by discovering the evil that is in it The failing of the Will is a greater evil and is far worse than the failing of the Understanding The more there is of Will in the commission of Sin and the less there is of Will in the performance of Duty the greater is the Sin Other wants of the Soul will sooner be passed by in a duty then the want of Will and therefore when God sets upon the cure of this distemper he first opens the wound and shews the filth that is in
Mercy shall compass him about The mercy of God is a long arm and this doth incircle the soul and compass it about the soul can stir no way but mercy meets it to stay its flight Sometime God sends a friend to him who out of his own experience drops a seasonable word of comfort upon his soul and that is a mercy Job 33.23 Sometime God applies a word of Grace that enlivens his dead heart and that is a mercy Psal 119.50 Sometimes God brings to mind some former intimations of his love and grace to him Psal 42.6 And sometime and very often he stays the soul with this very thought that it is a great mercy of God to him that yet he is on this side hell Lam. 3.22 and though he can't see the face of God yet he is not put so far off but he may have the happiness to see it at the last 'T is mercy that he is not eternally banished from his presence And this stays the heart 3. Though God hides his face for a time yet he doth at one time or other unvail and discover it to the soul for its unspeakable joy and comfort If not in this life yet in the life to come a true Christian shall see the face of God again although it be hid for a time You have an excellent promise for this Esay 54.7 8. For a small moment have I forsaken thee but with great mercies 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 Gods departure from a good man is not an eternal departure His hiding his face is not for ever Though thou canst not see it now yet thou shalt see it Thou mayst say with David Why art thou cast down O my soul and why art thou so disquieted within me hope thou in God for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance Psal 42.5 3. In case that the Animal Spirits do fail a man through the sense of sin and Gods displeasure for it there is relief to be had from God when the poisoned arrows of Divine wrath stick fast in the soul and drinks up the Spirits there is relief for it And this I shall also make evident to you in three things There are three remedies that God makes use of to cure the wounds that sin and Gods wrath make in the Soul 1. The blood of Sprinkling 2. The precious Balm of Gospel promises 3. The sweet oyl of the Holy Spirit 1. The blood of sprinkling or the blood of Christ sprinkled upon the heart this washeth and cleanseth the wound So 1 John 1.7 And the blood of Christ cleanseth us from all sin And so Revel 5. Vnto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood For as a wound in the body natural will not heal unless the blood and corruption be washed out no more will the wounds of the soul ever be cured unless they be first washed with the blood of Christ And therefore this is Gods first work to apply the blood of Christ to the wound and it is very effectual for this purpose as you may see Heb. 9.13 14. For if the blood of bulls and of goats and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh How much more shall the blood of Christ purge your conscience It first stancheth the blood and then purifies the wound and makes it fit for a plaister The meaning hereof is this that the knowledge of our justification by the righteousness of Christ is a singular and choice remedy for the taking away the sense of sin and Gods displeasure for it It is not only requisite that Christ shed his blood for us and that God hath accepted it as a full satisfaction to His Divine Justice which was offended by our sin but this must be applyed to us As under the Law it was not enough to have the blood of bulls and of goats but it must be sprinkled or else there was no cleansing even so unless God applies the blood of Christ to thy conscience and give thee the knowledge thereof that it is shed for thee in particular thy Spiritual wounds that sin and Satan hath made in thee will never be cleansed Thou mayest be justified before God but still thine own heart may accuse and condemn thee Though God doth not charge thy sin upon thee yet thou wilt be continually charging it upon thy self and the burden will be intolerable thy wounds will still bleed every remembrance of sin will draw new blood from thy heart It is true the blessing lies in Gods free remission of our sin but the comfort lies in our knowledge thereof A traitour may be pardoned and that may save his life but if he knows it not he looseth the comfort thereof Even thus it is until we know that God hath freely justified us in the blood of Christ the sense of sin and Divine wrath will be heavy upon the spirit of an awakened sinner and therefore God's sprinkling the blood of Christ upon the conscience must needs be a sweet relief 2. Another remedy which God makes use of for the curing of this spiritual wound is the balm of Gospel promises there are two sorts of promises by which God speaks comfort to a disconsolate soul 1. Inviting promises 2. Assuring and sealing promises 1. Inviting promises and by these he encourages a poor distressed sinner to come to him Such is that Matth. 11.28 Come unto me all ye that are weary and heavy laden And that Esay 55.1 Ho every one that thirsteth come ye to the waters he that hath no money come ye buy and eat yea come buy wine and milk without money and without price And that Rev. 22.17 And the Spirit and the Bride say come and let him that heareth say come and let him that is a thirst come and whosoever will let him take the water of life freely Now when a soul that heareth these promises considers with it self thus Sure I am that I am weary and heavy laden with the burden of sin sin is an heavy load upon my soul the arrows of Gods indignation have set my soul on fire that I stand in need of these cooling and refreshing waters I am a poor ceature I have no money nothing to give for the incomes of Gods grace and love I am a meer beggar and therefore must needs be one that God invites And thus God draws the soul to him that he may apply 2. The assuring and sealing promises of comfort Such as these Heb. 10.16 17. This is the Covenant that I will make with them after those days saith the Lord I will put my laws into their hearts and in their minds will I write them and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more And that in Esay 57.15 16 17 18 19. For thus saith the
his hellish temptations God will bring him out with an holy triumph Hence is that of Psal 5.11 12. But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice let them ever shout for joy because thou defendest them let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee For thou Lord wilt bless the righteous with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield The Hebrew word signifies thou wilt crown him with a shield Some think that the Prophet alludes to a custome of the Athenians who were wont if a Soldier brought his Shield with him out of the battel safe and whole although he lost his Sword to lay his Shield upon his head and with that as with a Diadem to crown him He that holds fast the shield of Faith in an hour of temptation shall wear it on his head as his crown The trial of a Christians faith which is much more precious then of gold that perisheth though it be tried with fire shall be found unto praise honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ 1 Pet. 1.7 And hence is that of the Apostle I have fought the good fight I have kept the faith and from henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness 2 Tim. 4.7 8. Thus I have opened the Doctrine and shewed you what relief flows from God to his people both when their flesh fails and when their heart fails 1. When the natural faculties of the Soul fail 2. When the infused habits of the Soul fail and 3. When the animal Spirits fail Now I will give you the grounds and Reasons thereof Reas 1. Taken from that near relation that is between God and good men He is their Father and they his Children he is their Husband and they his Wife Now this double relation speaks forth that infinite love that God bears to them and special care that God hath of them God bears a love to his people not only like to the love of a Father but infinitely beyond the love of a Father the love of a Father to his Child is but a dark resemblance of the love of God to his Children and therefore as God out-loves all Parents so he out-does all Parents His love is the love of an infinite Father and therefore knows no bounds either of time or measure and his relief is proportionable to his love Relief wrought by an Almighty arm See this clearly held forth Jer. 31.9 I will cause them to walk by the rivers of water in straaight way wherein they shall not stumble And why for I am a father unto Israel and Ephraim is my first-born Divine Paternity is one main ground of a Saints relief This is the reason why he will cause them to walk by the rivers of water in a straight way wherein they shall not stumble because he is their Father You know what dear and tender affection a good Father beareth to his Children especially to his first-born All the Childs wants weakness and grief are a trouble and grief to the Father Much more is God affected with the faintings and failings of his Children So Es 63.8 9. He said surely they are my people so he was their Saviour In all their afflictions he was afflicted and the Angel of his presence saved them in his love and in his pity he redeemed them and he bare them and carried them all the dayes of old The Prophet alludes to the Song of Moses Deut. 32.11 As an Eagle stirreth up her nest fluttereth over her young spreadeth abroad her wings taketh them beareth them on her wings so the Lord alone did lead him How doth this silly creature bestir her self when her young ones are in danger She stirs up her nest she fluttereth over her young and spreadeth abroad her wings And if all this will not secure them she takes them up and bears them upon her wings But how much more will God who is the fountain of such a disposition in his creature bestir himself and put forth his Almighty arm for the relief of his dear ones He will bear them upon the wing of his providence and carry them out of all danger Satan shall not make a prey of them If any thing will draw forth the bowels of a creature the same will draw forth the bowels of God yea much more Luke 11.13 If ye being evil know how to give good gifts unto your children how much more shall your heavenly father give the Spirit Alas the love of the Creature is but a drop in comparison of the love of God and therefore there must needs be more life and vigour in the love of God then in the love of all creatures As there is more heat in the body of the Sun then in all its raies were they all contracted into one ray so it is here And therefore if an earthly creature be so apt to tender the good and welfare of those that belong to it what propensity is there in the heart of God to relieve his people when they are in any straights Many an Orphan sits down and weeps over himself in his calamity and thus bemoans his condition If my Father were alive he would not see me want he would pity and relieve me in my sad condition Why Beloved there is never a child of God that needs put finger in the eye in this respect for your Father is alive he lives for ever he is an everlasting Father and as our Text saith A portion for ever And as he is a tender Father so he is a kind Husband So Es 54.5 For thy maker is thine Husband Though he will not relieve and help men because he is their maker yet he will relieve and help all those to whom he is an Husband As long as marriage Covenant holds God will take the care of his Spouse in sickness as well as in health in poverty as in riches in weakness as in strength Nay as a good Husband is most tender over his Wife in the time of her weakness and sickness even so is God to his Spouse she shall want nothing that an Almighty hand can provide for her Reas 2. Taken from Gods design in all his peoples straights and necessities God lets them fall into straights that he may have the glory of their relief Whatever hand brings them in it is a divine hand that must bring them out We may say of all a Christians troubles and failings both of Flesh and Spirit as our Saviour said of Lazarus his death John 11.4 This sickness is not unto death but for the glory of God that the Son of God might be glorified thereby Lazarus must die yea and be buried also that Christ might have the glory of his resurrection and that after he had been dead four daies His sickness was unto death but not to death eternal for he had a speedy resurrection that made his death but a trance or a long sleep Happy Lazarus as one saith though sick and
eye as that which speaks him to be one of the remarkable men in the Text whilst living and dying for those that knew him better then my self cannot but say this of him that he was a Perfect and an Vpright man He had the external form of Godliness and a name to live for as he was a constant attendant upon publick Ordinances of Divine Worship where he could enjoy them and whilst in health and strength so his Gesture and Behaviour therein was reverent and decent suited to their nature and kind His Speech was seasoned with Salt that it might administer Grace to the Hearer Yea as I have been informed when he went forth to take an oversight of Servants and Day-Labourers or when he met with poor people in his way he would be speaking to them of the things of God and that which concerned their eternal peace A rare Practice in a Gentleman As to the Education of his Children and bringing them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord I hope that the sobriety temperance and gracefulness of yours Dear Sir and your Sisters Lives are the genuine fruits thereof and yet this is not all For to the outward form without question there was the inward power He was nobly descended being born again not of Bloud nor of the will of the Flesh nor of the will of Man but of God Yea stampt with the Divine Image made partaker of the Divine Nature and richly adorned and beautified with the gifts and graces of Gods holy Spirit So that he did not act meerly from external motives but from internal principles that could not be hid and hence it was that he was filled with the fruits of Righteousness and like a Tree planted by the Rivers of water bringing forth his fruit in due season Or rather a Tree planted in the House of the Lord and flourishing in the Courts of our God still bringing forth fruit in old age so that his Gray Hairs were a Crown of Glory to him being found in the way of Righteousness He lived about ninety six years a natural life began the very day of his Death in Sabbath-work and finished the work of his Natural Life with the ending of the day and so went to his eternal rest in the bosom of his dear Jesus he lay down and slept in the Lord. But as he did not live though he lived long undesired so he did not dye unlamented witness the Throng and Concourse of serious Christians that accompanied his Corps to the Church where his Body was interr'd and laid to rest and that in sharp weather in a bitter Evening with a silent and grave deportment as true Spiritual Mournerrs are wont to do at the Funeral of some eminent and remarkable man Leves loquuntur ingentes stupent Honoured My design is not to renew your grief on the one hand nor to flatter you on the other but to be your Remembrancer and to put you in mind of those things which you know and are well assured of being Eye and Ear-witnesses thereof that you may be stirred up to make a right use of his holy Example and Copy which he left behind him and with you in particular to imitate and write after So shall you approve your selves to be of the number of the remarkable ones on the Earth and your End shall be in Peace I have nothing more to add but that I am Your very humble Servant Samuel Blackerby Stow-Market Decemb 2. 1673. Psal 37.37 Mark the Perfect man and behold the Vpright for the end of that man is peace COsmographers divide the inhabitable world into sundry and many parts and tell us that of those many the fewest are those that own the Christian Religion or the name of a Christ but alass how few of these are the men we find in my Text perfect and upright men the heap of chaff is far greater than the wheat and the number of Bristol or pebbles stones far greater then of Pearls and Diamonds Christs flock is a very little little flock as the Greek expresseth it Luk. 12.32 Many are called but few are chosen Matth. 20.16 Cast out the grosly ignorant the practical Atheist the debauched and prophane such as have made a covenant with death and are at an agreement with hell that can drink and whore swear and blaspheme the Sacred Name of God prophane his Sabbaths contemn his Ordinances cast his Law behind their backs and hate to be accounted serious in Religion least they should bear the odious title of Phanaticks I say cast out all these walking dunghils and monstrous miscreants what a small number will be left behind that have any colour or appearance of reason to account themselves of the number of those that are deciphered and characterized in my Text I but then cast out all hypocrites such as have a name to live and yet are dead such as have the form of godliness and yet deny the power thereof such as have their lamps of profession but are destitute of the oyl of saving grace Why then perhaps you will be at a stand and ready to say we scarce know where to find these heaven may be full of such but the earth bears but a few of them if any Herb-a-grace is very scarce and 't is very true such as these are very rare there are but a very very few of perfect and upright ones but where ever they are they ought to be marked and observed for so saith the Psalmist in my Text Mark the perfect man and behold the upright for the end of that man is peace In which words we have two considerables 1. A double duty enjoyned Mark the perfect man and behold the upright 2. A reason or motive to enforce the double duty For the end of that man is peace First Here is a double duty enjoyned Wherein you have 1. The Subject Matter or Act. 2. The Object 1. The Subject Matter or Act Mark and behold 2. The Object The perfect man and the upright First Here is the Subject Matter or Act. 1. To Mark. 2. To Behold 1. To Mark The Hebrew word Shamar in its Primitive signification signifies to keep or preserve one from danger And therefore a Noun coming from this Verb signifies a watch-tower a place to descry a danger for prevention of it Now because it is the duty of a watch-man that is set in a watch-tower to observe all commers and goers enemies as well as friends I and to be very diligent and accurate in his observation of them Therefore I conceive the Holy Ghost is pleased to make use of this word here in our Text For such a kind of observation we ought to make of the perfect and upright man that a watchman should of all commers and goers near the watch-tower We should be very accute herein as of a matter of great concern a slight thought of him is not sufficient No! we should take special notice of him as a person most remarkable
high and lofty one that inhabiteth eternity whose name is holy I will dwell in the high and holy place with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite ones For I will not contend for ever neither will I be always wroth for the spirit should fail before me and the souls that I have made 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 I have seen his ways and will heal him I will lead him and restore comfort unto him I create the fruit of the lips peace peace to him that is far off and to him that is near saith the Lord and I will heal him Now as these promises are the matter of comfort so they are the means of comfort For when God applies them to a wounded soul there passeth a vertue and power through them to heal and cure it 3. To this he adds the oyl of his Holy Spirit and that he drops into the wound and this doth not only heal but takes away the very scar of the wound and renders the skin as fresh and beautiful as before Oyl in Scripture sets out joy and chearfulness and therefore it is called the oyl of joy And Esay 61.3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Sion to give unto them beauty for ashes and the oyl of joy for mourning This cures the mournful sad and perplexed spirit and makes the face to shine again with brightness and glory according to that Psal 104.15 And oyl to make the face to shine I do not say that God always raiseth the comfort of the soul thus high but sometimes he doth not only heal but anoint and make the soul fair and lovely in his eye For there is no such sight in Gods eye as a sanctified heart that is chearful and joyful before him such a soul is the joy and delight of his heart and especially where he hath made the deepest wound and filled the soul with the greatest horrour in the sense of his wrath and displeasure there when he comes to give peace and comfort he anoints the most the greater wound the greater measure of comfort and hence it is that many a soul blesseth God for its wounds because else it would never have attained to such joys and comforts as God gives in Thus I have shewn you what relief flows into the soul in this case 4. In case that the Animal Spirits fail through a sudden passion of fear There is relief for it And that four ways 1. Sometimes God preventeth the thing feared and never suffers it to come to pass 2. Sometimes God delivers the soul from its fears 3. Sometimes the thing feared is so ordered and disposed by the Lord that it is less then our fear not worth our fear 4. Sometimes God turns the fears of his servants into the right channel that instead of fearing evil they fear him more then ever they did First Sometime God prevents the thing feared and never suffers it to come to pass or at least not at that time we are afraid it will 't is true Job could say the thing which I feared is come upon me Job 3.25 I was not in safety neither had I rest nor was I quiet yet trouble came I but many a good man hath cause to say the thing which I greatly feared is not come upon me Though God did not deliver me from my distrustful fear yet he delivered me from that which I did fear As sometimes we groundlesly expect and hope for a thing that never comes so sometimes we groundlesly fear an evil that never comes As God denyes the desires of a groundless confidence in great mercy so he prevents our groundless fears in mercy For as wicked men are apt to fear evil less then they should so the godly are apt to fear evil more then they should But as that which wicked men fear not comes suddenly upon them so sometimes that which a godly man fears comes not at all This made David say Psa 34.4 I sought the Lord and he heard me and delivered me from all my fears i. e. He delivered me from the evils which I feared The effect is here put for the cause Secondly Sometimes the Lord delivers a good man from the fear of evil I mean from a distrustful distracting and tormenting fear which dispirits him and sinks his spirits As some fear where no fear is so sometimes God animates and lifts up the soul above fear where fear is True faith will strive with tormenting fears and when 't is made strong will cast them out There is an excellent promise for this Job 11.14.15 If iniquity be in thine hand put it far away and let not wickedness dwell in thy tabernacle For then thou shalt lift up thy face without spot yea thou shalt be stedfast and shalt not fear Noting out that when faith is so strong as to purifie the heart and life from sin then it sets the Soul free from the fear of those evils that come by sin Now this is a great relief to the Soul For to be freed from the fear of evil is better then to be freed from the evil The promise runs not thus Thou shalt be freed from evil but thou shalt be freed from the fear of evil Happiness consists more in removing inward then outward trouble He that is afraid of evil before it comes may be happy though it comes Thirdly The thing feared is so ordered and disposed by the Lord that it is a lesser evil then we feared and is not worth our fear Many are far more afraid then hurt or more hurt by their fears then by the evils they feared We are indeed very apt to greater evils and lesser mercies and that is the reason that we meet with evils with so much fear and mercies with so little faith The thoughts of one evil torments our Spirits more then the thoughts of many mercies cheers and comforts our Spirits I but Gods thoughts are above our thoughts and when we are afraid that the evil impending will be very great it proves very little 'T is with many Christians as with some inexperienced Patients they dread the taking of any Physick lest it should overpower nature but when they come to take it they find it works not half so much as they feared it would A wise Physitian tempers the potion according to the constitution of the body and the nature of the distemper and not according to the fears of the Patient Even thus doth God oftentimes deal with us he orders and corrects all our evils so that they prove less hurtful and more beneficial to us then we could think not one dram too much or too little He proportions not our purging Physick according to our fancies but to our necessity when a little will serve the turn he will