nothing is good in Religion which does not catch and overmaster rational Affections reduce the will of Man into an Harmony with the Will of God and better the Life Oh be not in love with a notional Religion Let the Holy Spirit that illustrious Ray of Divine Love reflected upon and from the Son of Righteousness descend into thy bowels dwell and act in thy very inmost heart by his Light to create Life Be in love with no knowledge but that which is of a transforming power and tendency that by its vertue thou may'st be intirely renewed after the Imagine of God That Knowledge which will introduce Faith that Faith which will work by Love that Love which to the rest will add as 2 Pet. 1.5 6 7. Vertue Temperance Patience Godliness Brotherly-kindness and in summ all the Elements of a holy conversation that and that only will be introductive of solid Peace and Consolation But this hath all been spoke only upon supposition of a dfferent yet very proper Translation of the Words in V. 10. and. 12. Which are rendred chastize Now must we Procecd upon this authorized Version and 't is certain the Words will allow it as among other Places is demonstrable from 1 Kin. 12.11 14. My Father chastised you with whips c. Psal 118.18 Chastening the Lord hath chastened me but hath not given me over to death Here the word cannot signify to teach or instruct in a proper Sence Yet in the place I discourse upon there 's nothing to enforce this Sence but rather the other as the English Annotator observes Only the Syriack Version the Chaldee Paraphrast Piscator Vatablus Ainsworth c. render it here as we do chasten And if it receive the former Sence may it not seem restrain'd to such Instructions as in a peculiar manner qualifie Men patiently to bear and improve Afflictions This Sence will be favoured by that clause in the following Verse which is declarative of the end and use of these Teachings finding rest in the day of adversity Paraphrase the whole thus Oh the blessednesses of the mighty man Psal 33.16 whom thou so instructest inwardly by thy Spirit and teachest Outwardly by thy Law in the Ministry of the Word and other Ordinances * So Calvin as to engage and enable him with an even composed Spirit resting in the good pleasure of thy Goodness and with patience to indure Adversity Thus I make account 't is a parallel to Jam. 1.12 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 happy Blessed is the Man that not suffereth meerly but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 patiently endureth Temptation For the Substantive derived from it viz. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is rend red Patience V 34. and ch 5.11 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we count happy or bless the patiently indureing or biding under ye have heard of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Patience of Job or Trial 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for being 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 approved he shall receive the Crown of Life c. It seems to be an allusion to the Isthmick or Olympick Games in Greece where if any doubt did arise about the Victory the Agonists or Contenders did appeal to the Judges and he who by their Suffrage or Judgment was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 approv'd did receive the Garland or Crown Thus here Blessed is the man whom thou so disciplinest and learnest as to give rest or quiet sedateness or settlement of mind or appeasement Prov. 15.18 the same word of all turbulent motions in the working raging sea of his Passions and Affections which otherwise cannot be quiet composed and rest Isai 57.20 the same word again till or while the Pit be digged for the wicked For as Dr. Hammond well observes if it be understood of external rest or freedom from the days of Evil the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is not properly translated until For that supposes the rest in being before the removal and in the very time of disrest or oppression or adversity by the wicked and the rest to terminate or end when the Wicked are destroyed But 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is translated While Job 1.16 17 18. While he was yet speaking c. and yet more accommodately to this place When Jonah 4.2 Was not this my saying when I was yet in my own Country c. Thus here when the pit of corruption as the word signifies shall be digged for the Wicked the Lord 's blessed ones shall rest from the days of Adversity Then is the season for it This literal proper Sence seems more suitable than Calvin's figurative For Moral Rest answers not the Letter of the Text as well as civil 'T is rest from not in the days of evil as it should if the moral sence for quiet of mind obtain yet I think there may be a commodious Sence given of the Words retaining the until which is the only Basis of the moral sence and still interpret the words concerning Political Rest For until does not alway signifie the cessation of the preceding State upon the introduction of that which it relates to Hereof there are multitudes of Instances Rom. 5.13 Vntil the Law Sin was in the World but it did not cease to be when the Law came Rev. 2.25 Hold fast till I come Must they let go their hold then But to confine my self to the Hebr. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Isai 22.14 This Iniquity shall not be purged from you till you die If not 'till then 't will never Not to wander out of this Book of Psalms Psal 112.8 He shall not be affraid until he see his desire upon his enemies and sure his fearlesness will not determin then Psal 110.1 Sit thou on my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool Must Christ forsake God's right hand when that is accomplished I 'll add no more It cannot then by necessary consequence be concluded from the until here that the Rest or Quiet of the Blessed shall expire when the Wicked perish it rather infers a more eminent degree of it So also it does in the cited places denote and import an answerable amplification in the succeeding state of what was in the foregoing if it be capable of gradation as sure David's fearlesness would be greater after his desire was accomplished upon his Enemies than before Let that interpret this He shall be fearless before even when his enemies hope to have their desire of him much more when he has his of them Thus God will give those whom he graciously instructs and teaches real quiet and rest both when the wicked Reigns and when he is Ruin'd So that I make it a privilege and part of Blessedness granted by special indulgence to these to be secured from trouble in troublous Times to have a good day when others not so taught of God meet with an evil day to be hid in the day of God's Anger to be preserved from the Malice and persecution of the Wicked This sometimes the Lord vouchsafes to his Children such like Mercy was
uphold thee with the right hand of my Righteousness 13. I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand saying unto thee Fear not I will help thee c. Deut. 33.26 There is none like unto the God of Jesurun who rideth upon the Heaven in thy help and in his Excellency on the Sky The Eternal God is thy Refuge and underneath are the Everlasting Arms. He is a mighty Man indeed who thus under chastening is supported by the Almighty Power of God 4. 'T is Jehovah the Performer of Promises that chastizes and therefore his chastening it self is not the Execution of the Old-Covenant Threatning to a Child of God but a fulfilling of a New-Covenant Promise Psal 89. If the Children of him whom God makes his First-born Ver. 27. and his Throne as the days of Heaven Ver. 29. do forsake my Law c. Ver. 30. Then will I visit their Transgression with the Rod and their Iniquity with Stripes I call this a Promise not a Threat nor a bare Asseveration because inserted as Matter of Privilege amidst a Cluster of Promises true in a sence of David but redounding to Christ and his Children and Seed Heb. 2.13 Is 53.10 But as to Israel in Aegypt so to all his spiritual Israel when in their most grievous Agonies and Oppressions he reveals himself by his Name Jehovah in a peculiar manner For to no Condition are more Promises made to none more fulfill'd 'T is a blessed thing indeed under all the most doleful Circumstances of Providence to inherit in Jehovah all the Promises In this art thou richer under the very depth of Poverty and Distress than in the Gain of infinite Worlds 5. God's Corrections are Instructions the Word signifies both and however to the Children of God they are inseparable If God thus teach with a strong Hand he will also teach out of his Law Job 34.31 32. Elihu there accounts it a very proper Petition Surely it is meet to be said to God I have born Chastisement I will not offend any more what I see not teach thou me If I have done Iniquity I will do no more Therefore David Psal 119.71 professes It is good for me that I have been afflicted that I might learn thy Statutes Our blessed Redeemer was in this an excellent Pattern Heb. 5.8 Though he were a Son yet learned he Obedience by the things which he suffered And God Almighty declares his consident expectation of this from his People Zeph. 3.7 I said surely thou wilt fear me thou wilt receive Instruction which supposes some to give it so their dwelling should not be cut off howsoever I punished them Indeed if then our Ears be not opened to Discipline and our Instruction sealed when God sets on his teachings with Blows we are very bad Scholars But Mic. 6.9 The Lords Voice the voice of his Rod cryeth unto the City and Wisdom shall see thy Name hear ye the Rod the Lord's voice in it and him that hath appointed it 6. God chastens in order to Rest Rest from Adversity and the Days of Adversity Rest not merited but given and given by Jehovah that can command it who is a self-mover and free in his Communications and when in thee there 's nothing to be a motive to his Bounty can and does take Arguments from himself Thy Miseries shall have an end and a happy end They shall issue in that which is an earnest and pledge of the highest Happiness Rest Everlasting Rest Thy Week-day Labours and Sorrows and Sufferings shall terminate in a blessed Sabbatism even in this Life if God see it good however in the Life to come God will give it and then who can withhold it 7. All the while thou art in Misery thou livest under distinguishing Mercy Thou art not ranked with the Wicked nor reserv'd for their Woes In chastening thee God differences thee from them who though they live in a Paradise of Prosperity yet even there as Adam are digging their own Graves and burying all their good Fortunes Whilst the Lord chastens thee out of thy Sins they are sinning themselves into Plagues beyond the dimension of Chastenings Thou art only carryed through a blessed Purgatory they into and left in the Pit of Perdition which their own Sins and God's Justice are preparing for them and thy Sufferings shall last no longer than till their Iniquities be full and the Pit made ready to receive them in which work both their own Wickedness and Divine Vengeance make hast Their Foot shall slide in due time for the day of their Calamity is at hand and the things that shall come upon them make hast For the Lord shall judge his People and repent himself for his Servants when he seeth that their Power is gone and there is none shut up or left Deut. 32.35 36. Rejoyce Ob ye Nations therefore with his People Ver. 43. Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Hosts Ob my People that dwellest in Zion be not afraid of the Assyrian He shall smite thee with a Rod and shall lift up his Staff against thee after the manner of Aegypt For yet a very little while and the Indignation shall cease and mine Anger in their Destruction Isa 10.24 25. 8. Thy Affliction is not unto Rejection and Desertion as in the Wicked The Lord will not cast off and forsake though he chasten ver 14. no but own and return unto his Servants Although he may sometimes seem to depart yet 't is with yerning Bowels and a returning Heart and the reason of this is that 9. He owns his Propriety even when he corrects They are his People his Inheritance an Inheritance that cannot that shall not be alienated The Devil and Wicked Men may by God's Permission usurp and make a forcible Intrusion and Entry but the legal Right abides with God and he will infallibly recover it in his own way and time Joh. 10.27 28 29. My Sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me and I give unto them Eternal Life and they shall never perish neither shall any pluck them out of my hand My Father which gave them me is greater than all and no Man is able to pluck them out of my Fathers hand 10. The Lord will be thy Patron and Advocate to plead thy Righteous cause that although Judgment be departed from Righteousness i. e. Unrighteous Judgment be past against thee yet God will turn the Scales and cause Judgment at length to weigh thee in a right Balance and sentence shall be given on thy side 11. Thy Affliction shall issue in Honour and Advancement When God exalts Righteousness thou shalt be with it follow after it have like fare with it whether it be done in this World or the future If in this Life you continue under these Depressions yet the honour of a glorious Kingdom is reserved for you at that day when Judgment shall infallibly return to Righteousness Lastly Hence it highly concerns you to consider and search into
Paradise who by thine experimental knowledge of this evil of suffering will create in thee a saving knowledge of good and through these Fruits of the Tree of the Cross lead thee to the Tree of Life CHAP. IX The Subject of Comfort Eyes God in all things 7. THis Man of God enjoy'd and liv'd under much experience of divine Goodness and gracious Providence Under all that happen'd he ey'd and own'd the Hand of God 1. In Affliction Ver. 17. Vnless the Lord had been my help my Soul had almost dwelt in silence Ver. 22. The Lord is my defence and my God is the Rock of my Refuge 2. In Temptation When I said my foot slippeth thy Mercy O Lord held me up ver 18. 3. In both ver 19. the Text In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy Comforts delight my Soul A Man of common Principles would have look'd no farther than second Causes and the activity of Instruments and Means in his deliverance from Death ver 17. Than his own Prudence Caution Foresight Care and Endeavour in preservation from falling v. 18. Than his own reasonings and wise conduct of his Affections in the calm and serenity of his Mind v. 19. But this Holy Soul ascribes all to Divine Goodness And indeed to such a Man nothing is accidental he is never at a loss for the cause of any occurrent when he has not the least prospect of the agency of any thing on Earth he can find out a supreme mover in Heaven to whom nothing falls out by chance without either the foresight of his Intelligence or the conduct of his Wisdom or the determination of his Will or the interposal of his Power or the liberty of his Permission which though no cause at all properly but only that called sine quâ non which is but Fatua yet is governed by his Providence and all the possibilities thereof visible to his Prescience God is more concern'd in the World than the Artificer in a Clock who when 't is set together set up and agoing forsakes it He is sure little conversant in Scripture that imagines the Deity only a general cause who having constituted things with such and such particular Natures Propensions Biasses leaves them to run out their course without further Concurrence and Solicitude than to preserve them in the being constitution and activity he first gave them There 's nothing so mean so fortuitous but the Scripture intitles God to it either in way of Efficiency Direction Ordination or Permission If it be Good Natural or Moral he is the doer so if evil Natural if evil Moral though he abhor it cannot effect it or concur to it as such yet can he does he direct and order it to such ends as are consistent with his Wisdom Justice Holiness and Goodness which he well foreknows how to do therefore hinders not its existence as he easily could do without any violence to Nature blemish to his Government or infringement of the Liberty of his Creatures For to me 't is no little Mystery that although God be able to form a Rational Nature with liberty of Will and Prudence so to manage it that it shall at no time be compell'd to offer violence to its own freedom but in every act proceed with an even gentle sweet Spontaneity according to the dictates of its own finite Understanding yet that the infinite Intelligence and Prudence of the Divine Nature must be thought unable and insufficient by the reasonable Understanding and Will to elicite manage and guide these very humane Actions so as to preserve the same Liberty inviolable Let something be allow'd to Infiniteness sure it can do whatever Finiteness can if it be not to its disparagement If I can bring about my own resolute and fixed Purposes without prejudice to my own or others Liberty sure boundless Wisdom and Power can tell how to bring about its determinations by the liberty of the Creature A Reverend Judicious Divine my Relation told me that for experiment sake to try the power of an over-mastering Imagination he had oft requested such things of some Persons in whom he had no Interest at all which he knew they had an aversation to using no Reasons Arguments Motives Importunities at all further than the bare proposal only engaging himself strongly to fansie that he should obtain his desire and he seldom fail'd to prevail I never had the curiosity to make a tryal but am apt to think there may be something in 't upon consideration of the strange effects of the Mothers imagination upon her enwombed Infant as to both Impressions on its Body and Antipathies in its Mind the transpiring animal Spirits modify'd and mov'd strongly by a material Faculty may intermingle with those of a differing Body and over-rule their weaker Modifications and Motions and thereby the material Faculty that acted them as in Sympathetick Cures and the votatil Particles of Vitriol c. Crude or calcin'd do mix with the extravasated vital Spirits and return with them to their Fountain I confess these act only as Physical Causes and cannot vary in their effects of themselves though other external Causes may thwart them And what if a Man allow some such like thing to Spiritual Natures By what impressions they can communicate their Minds to one another by what impulses they bow one anothers Wills we know not but only the Effects God never fails to obtain the free voluntary Obedience of Angels And the more determin'd their Wills are the more free The Devil acts with less Liberty than a Glorified Saint and a Holy Angel with more than a self-determining Man who has both liberty of Contrariety and Contradiction can do both Good and Evil Act and not Act. Well if my Imagination further if my short defective Understanding can the one make such impresses the other produce such weighty momentous Reasons as shall sway my own and others Wills to an inhesitant and free compliance shall I not give that deference to the unfathomable Intellect and Reason of God as to suppose it endued with Ability to suggest such things as shall bow mine own or others Wills to a ready spontaneous ingenuous Concurrence than any thing can that is deduced merely out of the promptuary of mine own Mind I find my freedom in acting is gradually more or less intense according to the satisfaction of my Reason And if the Reason of God which is boundless cannot induce a more ample satisfaction than the Reason of a Creature which is but lame and imperfect and if he cannot with as much Facility without all impeach to our Liberty lead our Minds to the Contemplation thereof as in the use of the empire our selves have over them we can do if he cannot also more throughly excite acuminate quicken and enlarge our considering Powers freely to engage I have done 'T is not strange therefore that the Scripture ascribes all to God as the Origin of every individual Motion I find holy Men in
every though never so fortuitous an effect of a spontaneous Agent to look at God I 'll not instance in other than David And 1. for evil Events As he intimates a possibility of Saul's being excited against him by God 1 Sam. 26.19 and was foretold that the Lord would raise up evil against him out of his own House and take his Wives and give them to Absalom under the notion of his Neighbour 2 Sam. 12.11 So even when he was cursed by Shimei he owns it as from God 2 Sam. 16.10 Not that he supposed God had a hand in the sin of the Act but order'd it as a part of the punishment threatned for his own Sin 2. Good Events of all kinds he more frequently ascribes to God Does he conquer his Enemies 'T is the Lord that lets him see his desire upon them Psal 59.10 and subdueth the People under him Psal 18.47 48. See the whole Psalm and smites his Enemies in their hinder parts Psal 78.66 Do his Friends own and anoint and crown him King He entitles God to it Psal 21.3 When his Father and Mother forsake him the Lord takes him up Psal 27.10 Is he secur'd in a strong City 'T is the Lord's marvellous kindness Psal 31.21 What do I enumerating Particulars every Psalm is an Instance And indeed were it not so Prayer would be mere Mockery and Praise Hypocrisie Epist 31. and that of Seneca would be better Divinity than we are taught by the Scriptures which yet to suppose is most horridly Blasphemous Per maxima acto viro turpe est etiamnum Deos fagitare Quid votis opus est Facte ipse foelicem Let those English it that allow it Now when a Man does thus in all Events take notice of the Finger of God and thereby give him the glory of his Efficiency he is in a disposition for renewed Experiments of the Divine Power and Goodness in Peace and Joy Where the Glory will be given to God he will grant the fullest and sweetest tasts of his Graciousness But who will lose a Benefit 'T is lost where no likelyhood of any grateful Acknowledgement Unthankfulness is the most hateful of Sins Ingratum si dixeris omnia dixeris If God must not reap Praises he will not sow Mercies Not that he needs our Gratitude but that we must own our Benefactor and testifie our advances in Love when by new Instances he testifies his Love to us Nevertheless this Love of ours is not profitable to God but highly as all other Graces to our selves Our own Advantage and Interest is alway at the bottom of our Duty which indeed can add nothing to God Job 34. is nothing to him as neither can our Iniquity detract from him or hurt him His good will towards us moves him to take care that it may be well with us therefore doth he follow us with his tender Mercies and richest Blessings that we may proceed upon ingenuous Motives in our observance of him and obedience to him and may not be obnoxious to the check of Satan or our own Consciences for servility of Spirit in that work wherein consists our Liberty Honour and Happiness Indeed we are not really good if we be not ingenuously good nor act at all for God if we act not from a filial disposition Love is every Grace and Virtue that Spirit of Life which as an universal Cause diffuses its benign animating Influences through all the Regions of true Goodness and Honesty All in us that lives to God every holy Disposition every gracious Habit is only a distinct particular modification of Love Even as the varieties of Nature in those innumerable differences of Plants sensitive Creatures and Men in their Bodies are but Earthly Particles diversly modified formed fashioned and qualified Hence Love is said to be the fulfilling of the Law Rom. 13.10 But without Love to be Good is impossible 1 Cor. 13. Where this Grace dwells God dwells also and the Soul inspirited by it dwells in God 1 Joh. 4.8 16. The more of Love therefore the more of God He will never be out of our Eye if he be thus in our Hearts Love there will command our Looks 'T was the dominion of this Grace in his Soul that mov'd the Psalmist to make such honourable mention here of the Love and Graciousness of God in his aid and sustentation 't was this that in his distress inclin'd him to take Sanctuary in God and own all the Spiritual Refreshments that solaced his Heart as derivations from God and engaged him to devolve all the Glory thereof upon God And how should that Soul do other that has all in God Hast thou then Oh my Soul evermore and in every occurrent an Eye toward Heaven and by thy acknowledgement of the Finger of God in every thing that befalls thee Dost thou honour his Providence indeavour to relish his Goodness and make some progress in thine affectionate pantings after him complacency in him resolution for him and dutifulness to him O let every thing remind thee of his everlasting Commiseration that in thy lost Estate remembred thee gave Blood for thy Ransom the Blood of God Acts 20.28 The time of thy lothing was the time of his Love Eze. 16.5 8. He loved thee out of the Pit of Corruption Isa 38.17 He hath prevented thee with the Blessings of Goodness Psal 21.3 He redeemeth thy Life from Destruction and crowneth thee with loving Kindness and tender Mercies Psal 103.4 He hath not dealt with thee after thy Sins nor rewarded thee according to thy Iniquities ver 10. Therefore ver 1 2. Bless the Lord O my Soul and all that is within me Bless his Holy Name Bless the Lord Oh my Soul and forget not all his Benefits Hallelujah CHAP. X. The Subject of Comfort Seeks it solely in God THus much of the Character deduced from the Context there only remains one thing out of the Text it self Viz. The Psalmist was a Man who discern'd such an emptiness and insufficiency in all inferiour Contentments as to seek no relief from them nor take up with any in them as his rest in Trouble but in deepest anxiety and distress did look for and find all his comfort solely in and from God This is the very substance and marrow of the Verse Indeed the whole Psalm is a Testimony of his ceasing from the Creature from Man in a believing and affectionate recourse to God Where-ever he cast his Eye upon Earth the Inscription was Vanity and Vexation A deluge of Sin and Misery covered the World that like Noah's Dove he could find no rest for the sole of his Foot below therefore does he direct his course toward Heaven Thus Psal 55.6 Oh that I had wings like a Dove for then I would flee away and be at rest But Rest is not a Denizen of this World Nothing but the Heaven of Heavens is at rest and here does he fix only There was a Windy Storm and Tempest without as Psal 55.8
Christ whose I am by Right of Redemption and not mine own if He re-invest me in a Liberty to enjoy my self in Him which I could not do under so bad a Master so cruel a Tyrant as the Devil this is a piece of the choicest Happiness which I can enjoy on this side Heaven Liberty to sin is the most uncomfortable Bondage Necessity to serve God the most solacing Liberty The most of this do we enjoy when we live most in and are swallowed up of the Love of God Corruption is a Dungeon a Prison a Pit God loves us out of it Isa 38.17 into the glorious Liberty of the Sons of God Rom. 8.21 Love is the Wealth of Heaven and the World a Treasure invaluable in Comparison whereof every thing all the Riches Honours Pleasures all the Substance and Glory of the World is contemptible Cant. 8.7 Every Comfort is comprehended in it 't is the Life and Soul of all they are but Carrion-Contents that are possest without it Oh Incomparable incomprehensible Love How hast thou even out-done thy self in thy Provisions for the Consolation of inconsiderable Man What infinite Desires could ever have wish'd what infinite Goodness could ever have bestowed a Gift greater than Infinite God's Love gives no less and sure it can no greaten Love is all Comfort and Holiness in God is not a Barren Womb but Pregnant also with the sweetest Consolations From this Topic the Psalmist derived Refreshment to his thoughtful mind Ver. 20. Shall the Throne of Iniquity have Fellowship with thee The Quaere carries in its bowels a Negative Resolution No it shall not It s Iniquity and thy Sanctity are altogether Incompatible Though it attempt yet cannot it prevail to overturn thy Throne 't will therefore assuredly be overturned by it Ver. 15. Judgment shall return to Righteousness 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and after it all the Vpright in Heart I take 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there to be significative of Time as well as Place The Expression is allusive supposing Judgment and Righteousness were parted to a great Distance and that Righteousness was in a settled fix'd Habitation from which Judgment as a thing in motion was departed And 't is true Righteousness is of a stable Sunt certi denique fines quos ultrà citraque nequit consistere rectum firm invariable nature Judgment or Proceedures in Law are changeable sometimes wrong sometimes right now on this side then on the other depending upon the mutable Constitution of the Judges Whence 't is that Judgment is here represented as a Traveller from home but upon the Return in which motion it should never rest till it which had been so long absent got to the abode of Righteousness again Unrighteous Judgment did then prevail but begun to be weary of it self and at length must down and Righteous Judgment be set up and established which when once accomplished the upright in heart would certainly be advanced Let but true Justice obtain and immediately after that Upright Men will return out of the Retirements into which Unrighteousness had driven them and be in repute again Goodness cannot be supprest by Justice but only by Injury and when it is turned out of doors cannot be introduced except by the Soveraign Goodness of God to which its Restitution is here ascribed Ver. 14. as a Fruit of his Abode with and constant Adherence to his People The whole Process then of the Prophet's Reasoning is this Although God's People be now oppress'd and ruin'd by the violent Perversion of Judgment Yet God will not alway permit it to be so but will establish Righteous Judgment first and then relieve his People by it Divine Purity then will not long permit the Dominion of Unrighteousness God's Holiness will e're long harass all Unholiness out of the World and confine it forever unto Hell There shall be none in thy sight abroad there shall be none in thy heart within That which is thy greatest Discomfort on Earth which muddies thy Thoughts disquiets thy mind racks and tortures thy Conscience discomposes thy Affections blasts thy Hopes sowres thy Joys burthens thy whole Soul makes Heaven and Earth groan and sigh in Pain shall finally give place to the Divine Nature which the Promises bring thee in part 2 Pet. 1.4 and Heaven will perfect Oh blessed solacing Hope a secure Anchor in the deepest Sea of Sorrows Art thou at present in Affliction for thy unholiness Know that this very trouble is a dispensation of boundless Love and Sanctity directed by unfathomable Wisdom and of most illustrious Wisdom acted by unconceivable Love and Holiness for thy highest advantage to embitter thy Corruptions separate them from thy Soul and prepare thee for the embraces of the tenderest Affections of Heaven and its everlasting Joys and Rest Neither can there any other Temptation or Affliction befall thee without God's leave and his Goodness can no more be excluded out of his designments than his knowledge even his Permissions are subservient to the purposes of his Love nor can any thing betide us which will yeild an Argument to prove that he is not Good any more than that he is not God Whatever Perplexities sink thy Heart if they have a tendency to defile thee they are Enemies to Divine Purity and it will overcome them cannot be vanquish'd by them if they tend to disquiet thee the unboundable Love that embraces thee will not cannot leave thee to succumb and finally to despond under them if Spiritual this infinitely gracious Spirit is an Adversary to them and will master them if Temporal there is a Remedy against them in the Goodness of God which is Eternal Divine Goodness answers all things not as Money limitedly and with restriction but universally and infinitely In it is the substance of all real Good in it Compensation for all Evil else could it not be what it cannot but be infinite A Feast is made for Laughter Eccl. 10.19 and Wine maketh glad the * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Lives or Living Life Oft in Scripture do we find comforting the Heart attributed to our Natural Repast by Meat and Drink Gen. 18.5 Judg. 19.5 8 c. Or Truly Meat truly Drink Poor Comforts in comparison of Jesus whose Body is Meat indeed whose Blood is Drink indeed Joh. 6.48 to the 59th Wine makes glad the Heart of God and Man Judg. 9.13 Psal 104.15 But the Love of Christ is better Cant. 1.2 And more to be remembred Ver. 4. The Bread of Life and the Waters of Life are the very Life of all Comforts the Sweetness of all Comforts and Joys Any Mercy enoy'd with the Love of God is sweet indeed Whence in the Return of the Ransomed of the Lord with Songs and everlasting Joy upon their heads Isa 51.11 12. Jer. 31.11 12. 'T is Prophesied That They shall flow together to the Goodness of the Lord for Wheat and for Wine and for Oyl and for the Young of the Flock
deal fraudulently that is unrighteously If thou be good and holy 't is only because God is Just and Righteous He cannot pass away a Right by Deed Hand and Seal and afterward resume it If we have thus made a Mercy thine he will not defraud thee of it Lastly and under all Power actually confers upon thee all that goodness that adorns thy Conscience Oh sweet Combination and Harmony of Love in all concurring to create thy Peace Oh how valuable is it that Love must unite so many Perfections in so strong an Engagement to qualifie thee for it and then enrich thee with it and the sense of it Here 's the Glory and Crown of free Grace Grace is free thus 1. As nothing but God's free Will and Goodness mov'd him to design so great unmerited Mercies upon so mean and inconsiderable terms 2. As nothing but his free Grace without all desert in us prevails with him to work the Conditions themselves and terms in us But now when free Grace has proceeded thus far then Pardon and Holyness and Peace are not any longer free in this sense viz. reserved wholly still in his Power to withold but by the Motion and under the Conduct of free Grace as its Ministers Fidelity and Justice take up the Administration where free Grace left it so that God cannot deny these Mercies his Word being past because he cannot deny himself and cease to be faithful and just that is to be God Thus what is free Grace in the Original Rise and whole process mediately is in the closing and compleating Acts thereof immediately Justice and Righteousness Thou Repentance and Faith be not claimable upon any account but mere free Love yet when this admirable Goodness has conferr'd Repentance and Faith it makes Pardon Peace Comfort and Heaven challengable even in Justice though not as merited yet as Conditionate Mercies Whence the Apostle speaks roundly Heb. 6.10 God is not UNRIGHTEOUS to forget your work and labour of Love In some the Gift of the Conditions Qualifications Dispositions for Blessings is only from free Mercy and Grace in God whence those Conditions in us are called Graces the name of the Cause Metonymically given to the effect Grace within us from Grace without us in God But the gift of the Blessings and Privileges themselves upon performance of the Condition is really Justice Our absolute positive State is from Grace our relative from Righteousness yet such Justice is also Originally free Grace because 't is not a natural Act of Justice but Voluntary I mean such Justice is not a thing which God of himself by necessity of Nature was ty'd to antecedently to the free Engagement of his own Will but his free Mercy without any other Motive than its own Generosity and Nobleness of Disposition and Ingenuous Freedom did pitch upon such a Series of Dispensations in boundless Wisdom and Goodness that these Acts of Liberty interposing Justice must needs be obliged to prosecute the beginnings of Love and do such things in order to our Happiness as before those Acts of Grace it was not ty'd to at all and this is chiefly done by the Interposition of Faithfulness An instance will render all more plain it shall be that which we Discourse of Comfort Justice of its own Nature is not at all obliged to comfort a Sinner though Penitent but contrarily the natural state of Justice engages it to punish Sin not only with the Pains of Penitence but Wrath and Vengeance although a threatning should never intervene For I suppose the threats to be in this different from Promises that the former declare the natural both right of the Law-giver and dueness of the Penalty and desert of the Crime which the reason and nature of the thing had fixed before only since the Right was invested in the Law-giver it was in his Power upon just and valuable Considerations to make a Relaxation or Commutation But Promises do not declare but give a Right not to the Promiser but him to whom the promise is made either absolutely or upon Condition whereby things are put out of his own Power either absolutely or conditionally Now therefore God by his Son has freely made this Declaration Matth. 5.4 Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted God cannot utter Falshood nor break Promise nor withhold Right hence 't is that the Administration here falls into the hands of Justice upon the Interposal of this free act of Mercy in making the Promise Threats proceed according to the natural right of the case in the substance of it though they may vary from it in Circumstances in which the Punishment may be alleviated or heightened at the Discretion of the Judge or Solemnity Pomp Grandeur of the Matter and Process So Promises proceed according to the will of the Promiser as to the matter or thing promised which he may pitch upon and chuse at his own Arbitrement But when the Bond is once out of his hands it may be Sued at the Bar of Justice only he retains a liberty to Circumstantiate his own grants when he cannot recede from them in substance the Right to which is not invested now in him but the Persons to whom the Promise is made Comfort then he must in Justice give 't is the Mourners Right if they be right Mourners Mercy and Fidelity gave the Right and Justice cannot disannul it although it be not a natural but adventitious Right and although this Justice be not the Original necessity of his Nature but the free Dispensation of his Grace For Gon. 18.25 shall not the Judge of all the Earth do right His Love has made this Just and his Justice will give its due to his Love That Eternal invariable Righteousness which is a steady fixed Propension to render and distribute Right in all possible Cases and give all imaginable dues is no changling in this Case where the right and due is not any natural Resultancy from the condition of the Creature but a mere Condescention of undeserved Grace Justice may suspend but cannot overthrow the Right of Mercy but is obliged to own and observe it upon account of the Sacrifice and Merit of Our Lord Jesus Christ Indeed this is all the Foundation of a Believers hope in Judgment For Judgment is a Work of Justice which distributes Dues and particularly Rewards and Punishments according to Works Therefore the Reward of Believers is attributed to the same Justice that punishes Unbelievers 2 Thes 1.4 5 6 7. We our selves glory in the Churches of God for your Patience and Faith in all your Persccutions and Tribulations which ye endure a manifest token of the Righteous Judgment of God that ye may be counted worthy of the Kingdom of God for which ye also suffer Seeing 't is a Righteous thing with God to recompence 1. Tribulation to them that trouble you 2. and rest with us to you who are troubled c. This as well as the other is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
know to be true and sound I can have no Evidence that God or any Covenant Mercy is mine For I can have no demonstration hereof but only by the Effects And if I be not sure that these are genuine the true Productions of God's Relation-Love the Legitimate issue of the Marriage Union betwixt Christ and my Soul I cheat my self under the disguise of a fallacious Peace into real Wretchedness and Woe The Assurance therefore of the Truth and Sincerity of my Grace is to me the very bottom Stone in the Foundation of my Comfort and an experimental sense of the vital Influence Presence and Power of that indwelling Grace is the basis of this Assurance This the Psalmist here does make the nearest ground of his assuming to himself Comfort in God ver 17 18. Vnless the Lord had been my help my Soul had almost or quickly dwelt in silence This was an Experience in a Temporal Case and plainly implies that in his extreme peril when there was no help or hope visible in and from the World yet God did interpose in a peculiar remarkable manner so that it could not but be apparent that his Deliverance was a special work of Providence So ver 18. When I said my Foot slippeth thy Mercy O Lord held me up I was in such eminent danger so near falling that I could not see any possibility of recovering my self but Betwixt the Stirrup and the Ground Mercy I crav'd and Mercy found A visible palpable observable special Intervention of Mercy sustain'd me when otherwise I was irrecoverably gone These were possibly some uncommon undertakings of Grace and Providence for him 1 Sam. 23.6 27. and chap. 25. like that in diverting Saul from the pursuit when he had hunted him to a view and the other in preventing his revenge upon Nabal or such as Hozekiah beg'd Isa 38.14 I know Experiences are things of late more derided than understood by some Admirers of a Rational Religion but whose pretended Reason is indeed too hard for their Religion overturning its Basis that Lowliness which would instruct them to think there are other Men and Christians beside that understand themselves though not understood by these and no more dote on an Animal Religion than their Accusers who are prejudic'd and prepossest against them by other things than either Religion or Reason or common Sence But these I refer to the after-thoughts of one of the great Propugnators of that way the Author of Anti-Sadducism Page 39 40 in 4º in one point of the highest Experience and sometimes most of all scoft at viz. Communion with God His Reason at length was reconciled to the Thing yet so will not his Charity to the Persons of those that alway own'd it they must be still Melancholists and any thing ill enough which a stout Reasoner ex Particulari can make them But possibly their Reason as in that so in other particulars that have undergone the same fate may in like manner approve it self when it has the happiness to be thus an Aborigin in the Rational World for 't is below the grandeur thereof to receive it from the poor despised Animal Well blessed be God that Heaven is an Experimental as well as Rational State although I doubt the Religion thereof will on that account proceed and commence animal in the Schools of Reasons Idolizers 'T is no matter I shall still commend three things as necessary Antecedents to Sincerity in the practice of true Religiousness 1st Reason the lowest the Handmaid which must submit and veil to the 2d Faith the Chamberlain of which is begotten the 3d. Experience the Treasurer the Heir of Faith which hath the honour to abide live and inherit when Faith ceases and dies yet it is not posthumous but brought up under it till it arrive at maturity in Paradise When I speak of Faith I am not so fond as to postpone a credence to Divine Revelations in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments I build all Christian Faith upon that bottom solely and exclusively to all Unwritten Traditions or pretended Revelations which can never found a Divine Faith of which alone I discourse Neither am I so stark drunk as to think that those Scripture Revelations are not most highly rational in the matter of them as well as the motives to believe them nor yet so frantick as to advance any Experiences unconform to Scripture Let the Antinomians and Papists see to the first the promoters of Reason in contradistinction not to say contradiction to Scripture look to the second and Enthusiasts to the last Experience with me is nothing but a sensible yet rational feeling of the performance of Promises to a Man's self in particular When my inward sense assures me that the spiritual Covenant Mercies are really bestow'd upon me and my outward Circumstances demonstrate that God owns me with the Temporal I do not place these in Opposition but Conjunction for without the inward Experiments the outward signifie nothing They may be and are Providential but not Federal Both are call'd Tasts of God's Goodness and Graciousness or of his Word Psal 34.8 1 Pet. 2.3 Psal 119.103 c. Now when an Experience of the performance of any Promise superadds as it were a Seal to that Faith which receiv'd it as true it gives a more full confirmation to a Man's title to the Covenant and all the Blessings and Comforts of it and a further ground of quieting the Heart and therefore is completive of Comfort as Faith is inchoative For if I do but weakly and doubtingly apprehend and apply the Comforts that are in God yet when he bestows upon me some special token of his Favour 't is an emboldning encouraging pledge of his willingness to grant more and a testimony of his owning my right to all As in case of litigious Titles when all stands upon the same bottom if the Occupant freely yield up part to the Claimer 't is a vertual acknowledgement of his right to all and therefore exceedingly animates him in his future proceedings for its recovery Oh Divine Experience the blessed earnest of everlasting Consolation how sweet how satisfying art thou When a disconsolate Heart is sick of its own wants and woes weary of it self and the World as insufficient to yield the least drachm of solid Contentation 't is necessitated at last to send out Faith as a Harbinger to seek for Peace and Rest which it can no where find but in God and no way deduce from God but through those free Engagements which his boundless Goodness has exhibited in the Covenant of Grace These Blessings are as a Honey-comb in the promise but Heaven in the performance Indeed Heaven is no more nor less than the full and universal accomplishment of Promises and that partial incompleat fulfilling them in this Life wherein consists the happiness of Experience is no other than an Antepast or foretast of those eternal Felicities which constitute that immortal state And now am I
love thee into Heaven when thou debasest and hatest and would sin him if it were possible into Hell And yet does not thy Heart relent and smite and gall thee Oh is this thy kindness to thy Friend to thy Redeemer to thy self Oh! What do'st thou deserve for these foul Villanies committed against a Person of thee the best deserving in the World How many Hells How many tormenting Devils are thy just reward for so horrible Affronts Despites Scorns put upon the Majesty and Mercy of Heaven Oh! What canst thou do or think or hope in this lamentable case Wherewithal wilt thou come before the Lord What hast thou to tender as a just Reparation Or canst thou bear up against the fiery tempest of his devouring Indignation Oh woe unto thee that ever thou wast brought out of the Womb of Nothing to behold thy self in Circumstances so deplorable and so little affected afflicted This this is the most miserable scene of all thy Miseries To be ready to be spew'd out of the Mouth of Jesus into the very jaws of the roaring Lion to be tumbled down out of the bosom of God into the everlasting Burnings of the bottomless Pit and yet be senseless secure fearless careless remorseless Oh astonishment Oh horror Awake awake Oh my sense Oh my stupid benummed brawny Heart and melt in the fiery Oven of Wrath or the warm refreshing Sun-shine of Love Oh Grief and Anguish Where do ye inhabit Whither are ye retired Oh come and dwell in a sinful Soul and pour it out in a penitential Deluge Oh Almighty Love shed abroad thy heart-dissolving Influences and make the Floods overflow Oh in what bitterness of woe am I that I have undervalued and trod thee under my profane Feet that I have kick'd at those Bowels and even torn out that Heart that hath yearned over me in the most affectionate degree of Pity and Clemency My Bowels my Bowels I am pained at my very heart for the sordid disingenuousness as well as the bloody barbarousness of my Deportment toward thee Oh beloved and blessed Son of God whom with accursed cruel wicked hands I have crucified and slain Whoever were the Instruments yet 't was I as a principal meritorious Cause by my Sin that was the Judas the betrayer the Jew the Murtherer I drive the Nails I push'd forward the Spear I tore open thy very Heart to let out that blessed Spring of Water and Blood 'T was my guilt that first made my own then thy unpolluted Body passible and mortal 'T was I that armed the more formidable vengeance of thy Father against thy innocent Soul I that set open the flood-gates of Divine Wrath and let in that terrible Inundation of Miseries upon it which overwhelmed it destroyed kill'd it as far as was possible for that which was Immortal and thy Body in its Ruins Oh 't was sinful I that poured out all those scalding Hells into that blessed Soul of the Holy One of God which melted his Body into a showre of Blood that I became as far as possible the Author of the Death of God Bleed Oh my Soul bleed a deluge over those bleeding Wounds that dying Heart that cruciated Soul of the Crucified Son of God Oh grieve and mourn bitterly for thy vexing rebelling against and grieving the Spirit of Grace whom thou hast so often thrust away by quenching his Motions strangling his Convictions resisting his Operations as if 't was thy design to frustrate all the methods of infinite Love for thy Salvation Oh hateful to God and Man Wilt thou not be stung to the Heart with all wherewith thou hast despited all the kindness and goodness and tenderness of Heaven Oh my vileness Oh my baseness 't is unutterable 't is unsufferable where can a Parallel be found throughout the whole Creation Oh what am I What have I made my self An abhorrence to all Flesh to all Spirits and shall I not be so to my self Is there a poisonful Serpent on Earth a squalid Fury in Hell more virulent and abominable The Heart of God Christ the Spirit Angels Blessed Saints rise against me as the viperous-Brood the filthy Vomit of Satan spit out of his Mouth as like him in form or deformity rather and ugliness as Hell to Hell And what now is thy Portion Oh miserable Soul What thy doom See it dread it yet expect it for how canst thou avoid it Ah! the bottom of the bottomless abyss of Woe the hottest Mansion in the raging Furnace of Divine Wrath how canst thou abide it I am tottering upon the very brinks of Hell Down I fall I sink I perish What can save me Who can redeem my Soul from Destruction everlasting I my self cannot no nor all the created Powers of Heaven and Earth And have I not abundant reason to fear that the blessed Trinunity will not Oh woful Soul Whither hast thou suffer'd thy Wickedness to hurry thee What wilt thou do in the day of God's fierce Anger which in a moment may arrest thee and swallow thee up And what Remedy Where wilt thou seek where canst thou find security against that Omnipotent Vengeance that is ready to Arraign thee Oh! What wilt thou do to be saved Is there any possibility Is there no Balm in Gilead Is there no Physician there Oh there there alone is thy Succour wilt thou reject it In this Perplexity wilt thou despise it Wilt thou defer and delay applying thy self to a serious Care to make use of it Oh! Be willing be forward be eager to do nay to suffer any thing but the loss of Holiness and God that thou maist be healed I come Lord now I come a poor Prodigal returning to my wits my self that I may return to thee and with a groaning oppressed pained Heart weary of Sin the Cause sick of self dead to all mine own Righteousness and every thing I thus under the Influence and Conduct of thy Holy Spirit present my self at the lowest step of thy Throne as unfit unworthy to lift up mine Eyes to look thee in the face and being in a grievous Agony of Woe because I have offended thee so hainously so frequently so perseveringly by a Deportment so dishonest vile sordid I loath my self and all my fore-past evil ways of Spiritual and Carnal Wickedness Omissions Commissions Sins of Nature Heart and Life in Word or Deed or Thought they wound me to the very Soul I faint under them I cannot with patience reflect upon my unuttereble Folly in living unto and under them I abhor my self in dust and ashes I utterly and eternally abandon them resolve against promise vow covenant to be an utter and implacable Enemy to them Down all ye Idols of my Heart Lusts of the Eyes Lusts of the Flesh Pride of Life Filthiness of Spirit as well as Flesh In good earnest I now purpose through thy Aid and Grace never to return to any of these Follies more never never more and under the Assistance of thy Power I
Memory which are but dead things mere Carcasses of Devotion not to be insisted on in Competiton with an enlarged Heart Take with thee Words and turn unto the Lord. Lord at thy bidding I will take thy Words which thy self here prescribes Hosea 14.2 3. They shall be my stinted Liturgy none can tell which will be acceptable to thee better than thy self What are they Take away Iniquity and receive us graciously so will we render the Calves of our Lips What 's that The substance is Praise But some Antients thus descant upon it Calves not of our Stall Mal. 4.2 but Lips When a Calf or other Beast was to be Sacrificed to which this is an allusion God required the Blood the Fat and sometimes the Flesh but never the Skin and Hair these were to be carried away and burnt in another place The Blood of these Calves of the Lips is Faith in the Blood of Christ which is the Life of Prayer and Praise The Fat pure and holy Affection and Grace Sorrow Desire Love Delight Hope c. The Flesh is the matter or thing pray'd for Wisdom Righteousness Sanctification Redemption c. The Skin and Hairs the Words and Expressions with the Method Mode Order which if alone and not spirited with the former are of no value with God who looks at Things not Words and Phrases They must indeed be brought to God in vocal Prayer which is never a Duty except when we joyn with others and they with us and we must see that all accord with or do not disagree from the general Rules of the Scripture But 't is a folly to think that we for these are more acceptable in Person or that our Prayers the Flesh the Fat the Blood are more well-pleasing to God We must not lay any stress upon put any confidence in that which God will not vouchsafe his Altar to Sanctifie Offer then even this vocal Prayer God expects in some cases this in Conjunction but take heed O my Soul of relying upon it as such viz. the Skin without the other in Separation Whether form or no form what matters it 't is but Skin and Hair Why so much adoe about it Give the main to God or thou givest nothing God will take off the Skin and burn it burn not thy Fingers about it 't is not for the Altar Oh bring that chiefly which must be presented there God is a Spirit what are Words to him Oh let thy Prayers be all Spirit Words are but the vehicle sometimes only Aereal mere Wind seldom Aethereal defecate and pure Quintescence without Froth and Vanity c. However O see thou that there be an Angel within if there be not an Intelligence to turn about this Orb of Devotion if a Soul do not animate this Body of Duty away with it to the dunghil with it 't is but mere Carrion Bring the Male in thy Flock not this corrupt thing Thou canst never derive Comfort from Heaven if thou lay nothing upon God's Altar but Froth and Wind. Substantial Prayers and all substance is an invisible inward thing and these alone introduce solid and substantial Consolations 2 Thes 2.16 Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God even our Father which hath loved us and given us everlasting Consolation through Grace 17. Comfort your Hearts and stablish you in every good Word and Work 1 Thes 5.23 And the very God of Peace sanctifie you wholly and I pray God your whole Spirit and Soul and Body be preserved blameless unto the Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ Heb. 19.20 Now the God of Peace who hath raised from the Dead our Lord Jesus Christ that great Shepherd of the Sheep through the Blood of the everlasting Covenant 21. Make you perfect in every good Work to do his Will working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ to whom be Glory for ever and ever Amen FINIS THE CONTENTS Chap. I. THE Introduction with the Explication of the Terms and their Sense Critical and Moral and Doctrine page 1. Chap. II. The Doctrine explained in a Resolution of three Queries a three-fold Essay p. 9. 1. The Character of the Psalmist not so much Personal as Moral which determines the Subject universally p. 10. 1. He was a Man that lived under a due and deep sense of God ibid. Chap. III. 2. He was a Man of Prayer p. 18. Chap. IV. 3. That lived by Faith not by Sight p. 25. Chap. V. 4. That did not live under the reproach of his own conscience p. 31. 1. He was very sensible of the odiousness of Sin to God ibid. Chap. VI. 2. Consciencious in the observance of his Duty to Man p. 45. Chap. VII 5. Of a Publick Spirit p. 73. Chap. VIII 6. Honours God 's Discipline Instructive Corrective p. 121. Chap. IX 7. A Man of Experience Eyes God in all things p. 133. Chap. X. 8. Seeks Comfort solely in and from God p. 140. Chap. XI 2. The Nature and Quality of the Psalmists Thoughts p. 151. 1. Fearing Thoughts p. 156. 2. Grieving Thoughts p. 164. 3. Despairing Thoughts page 174. Chap. XII 3. What Comforts these are in general p. 175. Chap. XIII 1. Comforts in God which God is derived from p. 182. 1. His Existence ibid. 2. His Names and Titles p. 183. 3. His Attributes p. 184. § 1. His Wisdom and Omniscience p. 185. 2. His Goodness p. 189. 3. His Justice p. 207. 4. His Omnipotence p. 224. 5. His Fidelity and Vnchangableness p. 234. 6. His Presence p. 241. 7. His Eternity p. 258. Chap. XIV 2. Comforts from God which God gives in p. 265. 1. Providence p. 266. 2. Privileges p. 269. 1. Sanctification ibid. 2. Propriety in God and assurance of it p. 276. 3. Experiences p. 286. Chap. XV. Inferences 1. Doctrinal 1. 't is lamentable to be left to our own Thoughts p. 296. 2. The best may be in perplexities inextricable by Nature p. 298. 3. The infinite Condescention of God in the Provision he hath made for us p. 302. Chap. XVI 2. Elenctical 1. Convictive 1. Theoretical confutes the Doctrine of Incertitude p. 305. 2. Practical establishing the conscience in the right method of discriminating true and false Comforts which differ p. 309. 1. In their Origin p. 310. 2. Their Attendants p. 317. 3. Their tendency and effects p. 330. 2. Reprehensive for neglect of preparing for and possessing our selves of Divine Comforts p. 337. Chap. XVII 3. Paideutical or Instructive how to attain solid Comforts p. 352. 1. Be Men of Thoughts p. 353. 2. Indeavour to attain Ability to give Law to Thoughts p. 361. 3. Get a clear notion of God and Goodness p. 366. 4. Lay the Foundation of Peace in Repentance and Holiness p. 375 376. 5. Be fervent and constant in Prayer p. 401. ADVERTISEMENT These BOOKS are Published by the Reverend Mr. Oliver Heywood M. A. Minister of the Gospel and Sold by Thomas Parkhurst at the Bible and Three Crowns in Cheapside viz. 1. BAptismal Bonds Renewed being some Meditations on Psal 50.5 2. Closet Prayer a Christians Duty 3. Sure Mercies of David 4. Israels Lamentation after the Lord. 5. The Holy Life and Happy Death of Mr. John Angier Minister formerly at Denton near Manchester 6. Advice to an only Child or excellent Counsel to all young Persons 7. Best Intail a Discourse on 2 Sam. 23.5 8. Family Altar a Discourse on Gen. 35.2 3. for to promote the Worship of God in private Families 9. Meetness for Heaven on Colos 1.12 designed for a Funeral Legacy 10. The New Creature on Gal. 6.15 lately Published 11. The General Assembly or a Discourse of the gathering of all Saints to Christ BOOKS Written by the Reverend Mr. J. How OF Thoughtfulness for the Morrow With an Appendix concerning the immoderate Desire of Foreknowing Things to come Of Charity in reference to other Mens Sins A Sermon at the Funeral of Mr. Richard Adams M. A. sometime Fellow of Brazen-Nose College in Oxford The Redeemer's Tears wept over lost Souls In a Treatise on Luke 19.41 42. With an Appendix wherein somewhat is occasionally discoursed concerning the Sin against the Holy Ghost and how God is said to will the Salvation of them that perish A Sermon directing what we are to do after a strict enquiry Whether or no we truly love God A Funeral Sermon for Mrs. Esther Sampson the late Wife of Henry Sampson Doctor of Physick The Carnality of Religious Contention In Two Sermons preach'd at the Merchants Lecture in Broad-street A Sermon for Reformation of Manners A Sermon preach'd on the Day of Thanksgiving December 2. 1697. to which is prefix'd Dr. Bates's Congratulatory Speech to the King A Calm and Sober Enquiry concerning the Possibility of a Trinity in the God-head A Letter to a Friend concerning a Postscript to the Defence of Dr. Sherlock's Notion of the Trinity in Unity relating to the Calm and Sober Enquiry upon the same Subject A View of that part of the late Considerations to H. H. about the Trinity Which concerns the Sober Enquiry on that Subject The Redeemer's Dominion over the Invisible World A Funeral Sermon for Mrs. Hammond A Funeral Sermon for Dr. Will. Bates A Funeral Sermon for Mr. Mat. Mead. This Written by Mr. Flavel THE Fountain of Life open'd or a Display of Christ in his Essential and Mediatorial Glory containing Forty two Sermons on various Texts Wherein the Impetration of our Redemption by Jesus Christ is orderly unfolded as it was begun carried on and finished by his Covenant Transaction Mysterious Incarnation solemn Call and Dedication blessed Offices deep Abasement and Supereminent Advancement