You must not believe every spirit but try the spirits whether they be of God When either Doctrine or Worship is corrupted in a Church the way to reform both is not to fly to humane Authority or Antiquity but to the golden Rule of the Word this is the only safe Rule Other rules may erre but this is infallible Vse 2. The second Use is of Reproof To reprove forgetful hearers such as seem very eager in hearing and receiving Divine Truths attending on Gospel-Ordinances but are not careful to remember what and how they have received and heard such who return not on the things they have heard but leave all behind them Such as a Divine expresseth it who come from Duties as from a Grave where they leave their dearest Friends behind them not as from a Dole from whence they carry somewhat with them Of such hearers as these the Apostle James speaks Jam. 1.22 23 24. Yet I speak not here of that forgetfulness which proceeds meerly from weakness which is bewailed and is the burden of their souls This is indeed an infirmity to be bewailed yet deserves rather pity and compassion from men than reproof but the forgetfulness this Doctrine reproves is that which proceeds from carelesness when men do not make conscience of the duty pressed in the Text namely remembring how they have received and heard Vse 3. But the third and last Use of this Doctrine which I shall further make and insist on is a Use of Exhortation To exhort all of you to the practice of the Duty in the Text. Oh labour to remember what and how you have received and heard I am like no more to speak to you publickly in the Name of the Lord. Let me therefore leave this Counsel and Exhortation with you as that which may be of great use to you in hours of temptation that may come upon you I beseech you Beloved by the mercies of God in the bowels of Christ and out of the respect you bear to your own precious and immortal souls that you would labour and endeavour to remember those soul-saving Truths and precious Ordinances you have received heard and enjoyed and those impressions you have felt upon your hearts from them Oh be not forgetful hearers let not the Truths of God slip out of your minds Beloved I may say to you there is scarce any Truth necessary to salvation but you have heard of it once and again from some or other of Gods Messengers that have been sent unto you though not without the mixtures of sin and weaknesse as to the instruments which God in mercy pardon You have heard what God is and how he will be worshiped even in spirit and in truth and not according to the inventions and traditions of men you have heard the Doctrine of God's Decrees and of his works of Creation and Providence opened and applied You have heard of the sinful and miserable condition of a man in a natural condition You have heard the Doctrine of the Covenant of Grace and of the means of our recovery by Christ alone You have had Christ set before you in his Person Natures Offices Obedience Sufferings You have heard many other both Theoretical and Practical Truths set before you in Preaching Expounding Catechising and by these you have been antidoted against Popish Socinian and Arminian errors and many others Oh labour to remember these keep them by you as a choise treasure lay them up in your heads and hearts that you may be able to bring out of your treasury things both new and old O! let not any of the Truths of God slip out of your minds or be as water spilt upon the ground Ministers must dye but let not the Truths of God dye in your hearts Ministers may be forcibly parted from you and have their mouths stopt as ours and many others are and are like to be yet let not the Word of Truth depart out of your minds when we are gone Let the Word of God even that Word of his we have spoken to you in his Name abide with you for ever Let it live with you and let it dye with you also Oh let truths be written on your hearts as with the point of a Diamond never to be razed out A stony heart is a grievous plague but an iron memory is a great mercy Oh therefore remember what you have heard in point of Doctrine and remember also the counsels and directtions you have had given to you as to the performance of publick family secret relative Duties Remember the warnings you have had against sin Sinners you have been warned against your sins Thou Drunkard Swearer Sabbath-breaker Vnclean person thou enemy to Godliness thou scoffer at and persecuter of Religion yea you Formalists Hypocrites that rest in civility morality or outside-performances you have been warned of the danger of your condition of the wrath of God hanging over your heads for these sins of the necessity of repentance for and from your sins and of faith in Christ if ever you be saved Remember the fore-warnings you have had of God's Judgments of the things you now fear yea feel Have you not been told many a time Christians what wantonnesses in opinion and practice the deadnesses worldlinesses decaies carnal policy divisions of Professors would bring upon them And you that are Saints remember what soul-refreshing comforts you have had in and from the Word of God Remember how plainly purely powerfully plentifully the Word of God hath been preached and Ordinances dispensed among you And remember also with what seriousness of spirit high estimation holy affection readiness of mind strong resolution powerful impressions you have heard and received the Word and Ordinances of God and what Gracious effects you have found of them Now to press this Exhortation as a lesson I would leave with you I shall first lay down some Motives 2ly Some Directions 3ly Helps to inable to performance of this duty The Motives shall be what I might have laid down as Reasons of the Doctrine Mot. 1. The first Motive to stir you up to this Duty of remembering how you have received and heard is this That the Truths you have heard and Ordinances you have partaken of they were not of use only for the time past or present while you were or are hearing or receiving of them but they are of use a great while after The Sermons you have long since heard and Sacraments you have received may do your souls good the longest day you live The vertue and use of the Word and Ordinances may and doth often put forth it self long after the participation of them and therefore you should remember them that you may bring them forth for use in the time to come which you cannot do if you let them slip out of your heads and hearts The Truths of God are as Treasuries and storehouses which are not onely for present use but for time to come for men to live on
when the whole harvest was gathered in Oh let God have the first and last of every day How shall your Families be distinguished from your Stables if you do not sanctifie them by Prayer The Creatures which God hath given us for our use they eat drink work and sleep now if we call not upon God daily what difference would there be betwixt our houses and our stables And so enter into your Closets Mat. 6.6 and pray unto your Father which seeth in secret Have you no secret sin to bewail no secret request to put up no particular Mercy to praise God for which you would not have others to know of Is it not a rare Priviledge that we may have liberty to prefer our private Petitions to the King of Heaven every day that we may confess our faults beg pardon ease our heavy hearts by laying them open before that God who will neither upbraid us for our weaknesses wants nor sins Brethren be constant spiritual and fervent in Prayer and it will prove like Sauls Sword and Jonathans Bow which never returned empty Do not hearken to the excuses of flesh and blood which are many but attend to God's Command the Example of Christ and his followers which will oblige you in point of duty and to the Sweetness and Benefit of it which may encourage and allure you 11. Think much of and live in preparation for death walk now and then amongst the Tombs live every day as dying men Get into such a Condition as would fit us for Death every hour Dye daily Deut. 32.29 Oh that you were so wise as to consider your latter â—â—d Dying thoughts would not be a little advantageous they would keep from sin What sin this hour when thou mayest die next they would keep us from doting upon the world from pride of life Why art thou proud of hair and beauty when both shall be turned into dust ere long Shall you and I idolize a coloured piece of clay who though now it proudly and haughtily treads upon the Earth within a few dayes shall it self be trodden upon as mire and dirt O get to be in the number of those servants whom Christ when he comes shall find so being and so doing The Prophet said to Hezekiah Set thy house in order I say to you Set your souls in order against the hour of dying The want of this is of ill consequence for hence it is that men go on securely in sin live as Atheists without God idolize the World and never look to the state of their souls 12. Prepare for Judgement make your Answer ready Put the case before-hand to your selves say with thy self I must ere long appear before the Tribunal of God what can I answer what can I say for my self at that day Who is it that will be Advocate or have I an Advocate that will speak for me how shall I come off shall I stand or shall I fall what will be my sentence Brethren be like him who thought he heard this voice alwayes sounding in his ears Arise ye Dead and come to Judgment The Apostle Paul thought seriously of it and lived as one to be judged 2 Cor. 5.10 For we must all appear before the Judgment-Seat of Christ to give an account of the things done in the body whether they be good or evil 13. Be often thinking of Eternal Death Walk now and then upon the brinks of Hell get your hearts affected with the reality and greatness of Hells torments Meditate with thy self what Hell is say with thy self Can I endure to lose the smiles of God how shall I endure the frowns of an infinite Majesty If God's terrors have distracted his Friends on Earth what will they do with me if I go to Hell Think what a torment it wil be to be shut out of the company of Saints to see Abraham Isaac Jacob Peter Paul and the rest of the Disciples and Servants of God in all ages in the Kingdom of Heaven and you your selves shut out and what a vexation it will be to be amongst none but damned wretches How canst thou endure to hear the Saints singing praises in Heaven and thou thy self roaring in the infernal Pit Often think of the Worm of Conscience How shall we endure to have Conscience alwayes setting our sins before our eyes It 's a burden now to lie under the gallings of an accusing Conscience O consider that Conscience will continually gnaw and fret in Hell It will be alwayes telling thee of thy sins the place where the time when the persons with whom and all the circumstances that aggravate thy sin Such a time remember thou wast overcharged with Drunkenness such a time thou blasphemedst the holy Name of God with Oaths and Curses Such a time in such a chamber with such a person thou wast wanton and impure Remember what means of Grace thou hast enjoyed what and how many Sermons thou didst or mightst have heard how many able Ministers lived and dyed in thy time Remember will Conscience say what Instruction Reproof and Corrections thou hadst from thy Parents Tutors and Covernours yea remember thou wast not far from the Kingdom of Heaven thou didst fully expect to have gone thither and now thou must be tormented in this flame Again think what a misery it will be to be there where is no mercy where there will be pain without ease sorrow without any joy despair without any hope eternity without end O Eternity Eternity Eternity Often to think of eternal death is the way to escape it If you would not descend into Hell really descend into it mentally If you would not be in Hell by possession be much in it now by meditation This would make us jealous and put us upon trying the state of our souls lest it should unexpectedly be our portion to be amongst the Devil and his Angels for ever 14. Begin betime to be Religious Put not off Holiness Righteousness and Sobriety till old age 1 Kings 18.12 It 's written in commendation of Obadiah that he feared the Lord from his youth It 's King Josiah's honour that while he was yet young he began to seek the Lord God of his fathers 2 Chron. 34.2 3. It 's Mnasons honour that he was an old Disciple Acts 21.16 he began betime and continued till old age Timothy knew the Scriptures from his youth Consider we know not whether old age will be granted us to be religious in be religious whilst ye may The sooner we set upon Piety the sooner we shall honour God and the better God will take it He will remember the kindness of religious youth And by minding Religion soon we may be secured from many sins which others run into and so be secured from the smart and torment of Conscience which old sinners find at Conversion 1. The longer we continue in sin and profaness the more sorrow contrition and humiliation we are like to meet with if ever we be changed Old Oaks must
Calls his Sheep hear his Voice and know not the voice of strangers give him your eye look unto him and be saved give him your hand and feet to do what he commandeth and come when he calleth give him your knee to bow to him not meerly in a complement but to submit to his Laws and obey him as King and Lord especially give him your hearts let him be enthroned there Lift the everlasting Doors that the King of Glory may enter With the tongue you must confess and with the heart believe that you may be saved And take him for yours for ever abide for him for many dayes Beware of Apostacy by which Judas lost the Blessing and went to his own place You see Brethren al blessings are to be expected only through Christ I beseech you go home and work these things on your hearts by meditation wrestle for a Blessing say Lord Jesus who blessedst thy Disciples bless me even me also I will not let thee go unless thou bless me cry to him as the blind lame and diseased cryed when he was on earth Jesus have Mercy on us and believe that he is able willing and ready to bless you As for me God forbid I should cease to pray for you that the Lord would put his Blessing on you One thing further let me mind you of That you be much in blessing God for his Love and Faithfulness in giving his Son and ascribing Blessing and Praise to the Lord Jesus for all spiritual Blessings and for going to Heaven blessing his People Especially I charge you be careful to spend the Lords Day which is precious time which he hath sequestred and set apart for himself in a thankful Commemoration of Jesus Christ his Grace and Compassion to poor sinners and not in sports and past-times study what you shall render to him in lieu of such superlative and incomparable Love and in a due Sanctification of the Lord's Day endeavour that the Name of Christ may be remembred through out all Ages The third and last Use is Consolation for I would not leave you comfortless 1. Here is abundant Encouragement to poor sinners to come to Christ you that have trembling hearts and dare scarce look up to Christ by reason of your sins lest he call you Dogs and cast you out who are ready to say There is indeed Consolation in Christ and he hath Blessings enough to bestow but they are not for me let me tell you it is good to be humble and sensible of your own vileness but not to be faithless and unbelieving for unbelief is highly derogatory dishonourable to Jesus Christ and wrong to your own souls a rejecting of your own mercy I could also tell you it is the most unreasonable thing for you to question Christ's pitty and tenderness towards poor heavy laden sinners after that he hath from Eternity had his delights with the sons of men Prov. 8.31 And in Noahs time he was preaching to save souls would they have believed and obeyed He sent all his Prophets of old to testifie remission of sins to all that believe in Him Acts 10.43 The Prophets testifie his tenderness Consult Isa 55. the seven first verses Ho every one that thirsteth He will abundantly pardon Isa 40.11 He shall gather the Lambs and carry them in his bosome Isa 42.3 A bruised Reed shall he not break Isa 61.1 2 3. He hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted Ezek. 18.23 Have I any pleasure that the wicked should dye Psal 72.12 13 14. He shall save the souls of the needy You have his own Testimony John 6.37 Them that come to me I will in no wise cast out You have the Experiences of the Saints recorded for your encouragement The Apostle Paul who was a Persecutor and confesseth himself the chief of sinners yet he obtained Mercy The thief upon the Cross though before he reviled Christ yet praying obtained a very gracious Answer Nay consider what Christ hath done to shew himself in good earnest to save souls He knew what a bitter Cup he must drink yet Loe I come he became our Surety and longed to have our debt paid and his People redeemed Luke 12.50 He was wondrously straitned till his Baptism of Blood was accomplished He hath sent his Apostles after such signal Manifestations of Grace to testifie it And in his Name my Beloved I am this day declaring to you That he is very willing and ready to receive any that will come to him and would gather you as a Hen doth her Chickens under her wings never did any find him backward nay He is more willing to bless you than you are to receive his Blessings It 's some satisfaction when men will come that he may see the travel of his soul Isa 53.11 He taketh it ill that we are so backward in coming He loved the young-man that came running kneeling enquiring Good Master what shall I do c. and had the young-man liked the terms the match had been made the breach was not on Christ's part Nay Luke 15. he sheweth there is joy in Heaven over one repenting sinner in three Parables Draw near then thou drooping dejected soul come and see not only the Hands and Feet of thy Saviour put not only thy hands into his pierced Side But behold the heart of thy Redeemer behold thy Lord lifting up his Hands and Blessing and see if there be not ground to cry out My Lord and my God Had you seen Him after sweating drops of Blood for you ascending with such Expressions of hearty Love could you have doubted Had you seen his Hands lifted up in blessing his People on Earth at his last farewel could you doubt of his willingness to bless you 2. Here is Comfort for the People of God amidst all the Curses and Persecutions of the world Be not afraid no matter who curse so Christ bless Psal 109. Let them curse but bless thou Christ's Blessing is your Pavilion from the strife of tongues For first Christ blesseth effectually Psal 37.22 when Christ will bless men cannot let Secondly Irrevocably When Christ blesseth men cannot reverse it Balaam could not curse Israel when God had blessed The Blessings of Christ are without Repentance Men now cry Hosanna anon crucifie but they whom Christ blesseth shall be blessed everlastingly Thirdly he blesseth such as bless his Servants and curseth them that curse them Gen. 12.3 Fourthly He blesseth his People for mens cursing 2 Sam. 16.12 Fifthly He turneth the Curse into a Blessing Deut. 23.5 Sixthly He hath variety of Blessings Blessings of the Dew of Heaven and of the Deep Esau cryed Hast thou but one Blessing bless me also O my Father But Christ's Blessings are an Ocean never exhausted He is a Sun full of Light after so many thousand years emanation of Blessings and irradiation of the World therewith he is as full as ever He is a Fountain always flowing and ever full He hath national Blessings pardon of sin
Tokens into the midst of Egypt upon Pharoah and upon all his Servants Why did he smite great Nations and slay mighty Kings Sion King of the Amorites and Og King of Bashan and all the Kings of Canaan Psal 135.8 9 10 11. Was it not because he had chosen Jacob unto himself and Israel for his peculiar treasure ver 4. And again I gave Egypt for thy ransom Ethiopia and Sheba for thee Since thou hast been precious in my sight thou hast been honourable and I have loved thee therefore I will give men for thee and people for thy life Isa 43.3 4. God in his Love thinks nothing too good nothing too great to be done for his Church and People He not only gives famous Kings and potent Nations up to ruine for his Peoples temporal deliverance but in the stupendiousness of his Love hath given his Son for their eternal Salvation John 3.16 God so loved the world that he gave his onely begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life and in and by him hath made a full compleat and abundant provision all things needful for your Salvation He that spared not his own Son but delivered him up for us all how shall he not with him also freely give us all things Rom. 8.32 The faithful apprehension and application of this Love will steel you against all sufferings and make you Reproach-proof and Persecution-proof that you shall not be ashamed of a despised Gospel a reproached Religion and a persecuted Christ and Hope maketh not ashamed because the Love of God is shed abroad in our hearts Rom. 5.5 This Love will comfort you against all temptations concerning sin in doubtings concerning Gods presence perseverance in Faith and assurance of Salvation I am perswaded saith the Apostle that neither Death nor Life nor Angels nor Principalities nor Powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the Love of God which is in Christ Jâ—sus our Lord Rom. 8.38 39. To these add the dearness strength constancy and inviolableness of God's Lewe unto his Children dearer than a mothers to her swâ—â—etest babe Isa 49.15 stronger than the mountains Isa 54.19 more constant than the courses of Heaven Jâ—r 31.35 36. 33.20 21. it is as sure as God him self is sure Psal 89.34 35. And for a People to be committed to such a Love is ground of security and comfort When Ministers are taken from you this will â—bide with you 2. To commit you to God is to commit you to the tenderest mercy Mercy is the best refuge to the miserable Whither shall the malefactor flee for pardon but to the mercy of his Prince whither shall the captive go for safety but to the mercy of his Conqueror The pity of an armed Conqueror is better safety than the flinty-heartednes of a naked captive Compassion unarms the Armed blunts sharpened swords enfeebles the strong and sinewy arms when an astorgy arms the unarmed sharpens the sword addes strength to weak arms and blocks up all wayes and means of securiâ—y and comfort A man's pity subdues him when the valour policy strength and weapons of his enemies cannot conquer him and makes him a security to his adversary This encouraged Benhadad to humble himself to Ahab whom and his Kingdom he had twice before attempted to destroy by two formidable Armies Behold we have heard that the Kings of Israel are merciful Kings let us we pray thee put sackcloth on our loins and ropes on our heads and go out to the King of Israel peradventure he will save thy life and it was so 1 Kings 20.31 c. And shall the Kings of Israel have mercy to save their enemies and shall not the KING of the Kings of Israel have mercy on his Children Mercy makes the tender heart partaker of the misery of him that is distressed Misericordia quasi miseria cordi it translates the misery of another into the heart of the merciful and enclines them to relieve and succour them It is pity that makes you to bind up the wounds of the wounded to wash Lazarus his sores to cloath the naked to feed the hungry to refresh the thirsty Now the God to whom I leave you is the God of pity and Father of mercies 2 Cor. 1.3 all the pity and compassion in the creatures is derived from him and were it all contracted into one yet it were but a drop to his Ocean and as the mercifulness of tender Parents causeth them to pitty their sick Children so God like a tender Father pitties them that fear him Psal 103.10 yea he sympathizeth with them in all their sufferings accounting their sufferings his Are they reproached so is he are they persecuted so is he are they imprisoned banished tormented put to cruel deaths he accounts it as done to himself and whatsoever Satan doth to you in tempting you to sin to dispair in buffeting you filling your hearts with heaviness your mouths with sighs and complaints your eyes with showers of tears he takes it as done to himself In all their afflictions he was afflicted Isa 63.9 And as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we from our own suffering learn more to pitty others in the like distresse so Christ's experiences of the worlds hatred and persecution of Satans rage and temptation doth cause Christ to pitty his suffering Members more We have not an high Priest that cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities but was in all things tempted as we are yet without sin and in that himself suffered being tempted he is able to succour them that are tempted Heb. 4.15 chap. 2.18 Here is a rise of Compassion according to the degree of suffering How do the screechings of a sick Child the deep sighs and groans of a sick tormented Child make the bowels of the Parents roul within them and melt their affections into tears The Harlot whose the living Child was could not endure to suffer and see her Babe to be cut asunder but denied and acquitted her interest in him because her bowels yearned towards him 1 Kings 3.26 God's Pitty to his People is the most intensive when their Afflictions are the most increased His soul was grieved for the Misery of his People Israel Judg. 10.16 It grieves God to see his lie laden with Iron-fetters to lye in long and loathsome Imprisonments under cruel Tortures and Tormenting Deaths When you are buffeted with Satan bewailing your sins and miseries God's Bowels of Compassion are moved towards you Jer. 31.18 19 20. Surely I have heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus Thou hast chastised me and I was chastised c. After I was instructed I smote upon my thigh I was ashamed yea even confounded because I did bear the reproach of my youth Thus Ephraim bemoaned himself and God heard him and marked his expressions weighed the sorrow and burden of his spirit and pittieth him Is Ephraim my dear
Son Is he a pleasant Child Since I spake against him I do earnestly remember him still therefore my Bowels are troubled for him and I will surely have mercy on him saith the Lord. And this tender compassion is not a bare pitty but an helping relieving succouring Pitty Many have compassion but want ability to help and succour others have ability to help but want compassion but God hath both Mercy to pitty and Ability to help and save his People and therefore we have frequently an Act of Deliverance joyned with an Act of Mercy When Hazael King of Syria oppressed Israel all the dayes of Jehoahaz the Lord was gracious unto them and had compassion on them and would not destroy them 2 Kings 13.22 23. And the reason why God did not destroy the Jews in the Wilderness was because of his Mercy But he being full of Compassion for gave their Iniquity destroyed them not Psal 78.38 Mercy steps in and pleades prevailingly against Justice for the preservation of a People And this Compassion of God God's People have pleaded with him for deliverance Look down from Heaven and behold from the Habitation of thy Holiness and of thy Glory Where is thy Zeal and thy Strength the sounding of thy Bowels and Mercies towards me are they restrained O Lord thou art our Father and our Redeemer Isa 63.15 16. This Mercy is a sin-pardoning-Mercy And this will be a refuge to fly unto when ye are pursued by an accusing condemning Conscience for sin committed this is a Cordial of greater comfort than sin a cause of sorrow a Plaister of a larger proportion than the wounds of sin upon your Conscience it as far excells thy Scarlet-dyed sins as the distance is betwixt East and West As far as the East is from the West so far hath he removed our transgressions from us Psal 103.12 compared to the height of heaven above the earth As the Heaven is high above the Earth so great is Mercy to them that fear Him Psal 103.11 And again My thoughts are not your thoughts nor my wayes as your wayes for as the Heaven is higher than the Earth so are my Wayes higher than your wayes and my Thoughts than your thoughts and therefore he will abundantly pardon Isa 55.7 8 9. Compared to a Sea that can swallow and cover Mountains as well as mole-hills Mic. 7.19 This Sea of Mercy covered Noahs Drunkenness Lots Incest Davids Adultery and Murder Mary Magdalens Whoredom Peters Denial of Christ and Pauls Persecution and covers the mountains and multitudes of sins of all God's People in all ages of the world and will be a Refuge for your security against the guilt of sin if you flee unto it this is a Refuge to secure you against the violence of the proud Psal 86.14 15 16. This is a Mercy so lasting that is everlasting 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 Isa 54.7 8 9 10. Christ is so merciful a Shepherd as in the dayes of his flesh he had compassion on the multitude because they were sheep without a Shepherd and now he sits upon the Throne of Glory he hath not laid this tenderness to his Church aside but will either provide fresh supplies or support and preserve his People under want of ordinary means by an extraordinary manner And to this Mercy I commend you that as a shield will defend you from the Curses Divinations Inchantments Anathema's of your enemies that will destroy your Persecutors pitty you under all your pressures redeem you from your miseries â—ecure you against the guilt of sin committed and provide for your want and relieve you by some ordinary or extraordinary way 3. This is to commit you to the greatest fidelity They that will defend and secure others must be faithful as well as merciful Faithless defenders are worse than open pursuers they rob us of the safety we expected and expose us to the danger we least feared Jaels peace was Sisera's death And how often did faithless Dalilah attempt to betray Sampson to the Philistines Judg. 16. And David must not lodge in Keilah because the Inhabitants would deliver him up 1. Sam. 23.11 12. Ahabs Children lost their heads by the unfaithfulness of their Guardians 2 King 10. How many famous and strong Castles well-fenced Towns and formidable Armies have been destroyed by the treachery of faithless Guards Commanders Open fields have more security with Faithfulness than the strongest walls with Treachery Nothing safe committed to the custody of faithless persons Orphans wronged and defrauded your Estates imbezeled your Persons betrayed your Lives exceedingly endangered and what comfort or security can there be in such Guardians or Protectors But to be committed to such Keepers whom Favour cannot win nor Preferments corrupt nor Rewards bribe nor Fear nor Threatening nor Dangers discourage but remain resolute and faithful against all is great Security and Comfort And such an one is God He is the faithful God faithful to make good his Promises faithful to preserve whatsoever is committed to him The Apostle would not have committed the Ministers the Affairs and Concernment of the Church of Ephesus to God if he had not been a faithful God Christ when he dyed said Father into thy hands I commend my Spirit And Peter exhorts the afflicted Christians in his dayes to commit their souls unto God as unto a faithful Creator 1 Pet. 4.19 And how many Martyrs when they have become whole offerings to God have given their souls in charge to God Father into thy Hands I commit my spirit whatsoever is laid up in the hands of God is safe and secure He cannot be bribed by Promises Rewards or any other way to surrender any thing that is committed to his custody He is faithful to the least Beast of our Herds to the least hair on your heads Luke 21.18 And if he be faithful in the least he will not be unfaithful in the greatest He is faithful to keep your persons in dangers not to give you up to the rage and ruine of your enemies The Lord will preserve him and keep him alive and he shall be blessed upon the Earth and thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his Enemies Psal 41.2 And David prayes that God would secure him against false Accusers Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies for false witnesses are risen up against me Psal 27.12 He is faithful to preserve you from Temptation He binds up Satan that he cannot tempt you when he would and when he gives Satan leave to tempt yet God will be your refuge in the temptation God is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above what you are able to bear but with the temptation will find out a way for your deliverance 1 Cor. 10.13 Thus he prayed that Peters faith failed not Luke 22.31 his Grace was sufficient for Paul 2 Cor. 12.7 he is
little before his death made his last Will and Testament and amongst other things he solemnly commended the tuition of his Seep to his Fathers care intreating him by all the dearness betwixt them that he would preserve them from the Devil and all his evil designs against them John 17.11 15. he had received them from the Father upon his commendation ver 6. Thine they were and thou gavest them me and he had kept them safe while he was with them Those that thou gavest me I have kept and none of them lost but the Son of Perdition ver 12. And being now to go out of the world intreats the Father that as he had kept them upon his commendation so he would upon his recommendation undertake the protection and tuition of them I Pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil ver 15. and again Holy Father keep through thine own Name those thou hast given me that they may be one as we are one ver 11. And now at my departure according to these great Patterns worthy of imitation I commend you to God When without my seeking for I had the unanimous Invitation and general cheerful Reception of the whole Parish I looked upon it as a demonstration that God intended to intrust me with your souls And according to that small Talent the Lord hath lent me I have been willing and ready to spend and be spent in the service of your souls and by soundness of Doctrine unblamableness of Conversation to win you to Christ and though I had no wheaten bread yet rather than your souls should starve according to the pattern of my great Lord and Master I gave you barley bread the nourishment and strength of which I leave to your experiences I did what I could while I was with you to keep you to fore-warn and fore-arm you and now having no more time to be with you I commend you and yours to the protection of the God of Grace and Peace Whatsoever there is in an infinite God that may make for your security and comfort I commend you unto it to his Mercy to pity and pardon all your sins to his Righteousness to plead for you to his Power to defend you to his Al-sufficiency to supply you to all the virtue of his Arm to all the affection of his Bowels to all the depths of his Wisdom and to whatever else in an infinite God that can make for your defence I commit you to it From Him I received you with him with his Love his Mercy his Faithfulness c. I leave you To Him 1. Because he is able to comfort you in all your sorrows who can and will shine upon you in the darkest nights and turn them into a bright day He is the Father of Mercies and God of all Comfort And as the Sufferings of Christ abound in you so your Consolation shall abound by Christ 2 Cor. 1.3 5. he will give you an assured and impregnable Peace within when you have Troubles and War without This was Christ's Legacy for his People Peace I leave with you my Peace I give unto you not as the world gives give I unto you Let not your heart be troubled let it not be afraid John 14.27 Your heart shall rejoyce and your joy no man taketh from you John 16.22 This peace shall so keep and defend your hearts that all the beleaguering sufferings and afflictions shall not take nor vanquish them Phil. 4.7 And the Peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 shall keep your hearts as in a strong well-fortified impregnable Garison 2. To Him I commend you who is able to support under your greatest burdens Satan that great Leviathan would alwayes have more liberty to lay load upon load upon your backs he would load you with temptations and persecutions without he would have loads of corruptions and dissertions within to be heaped upon you he desires to winnow you and try your strength he would break you backs dash your hopes your comforts your joy and peace by accumulated miseries But this God can and will make his Grace sufficient for you and glorifie his Power in your weakness 2 Cor. 12. When you are weakest in your selves the Lord will shew himself strongest to you and for you and make those burdens easie which before appeared formidable and insupportable to you Rom. 8.26 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God will take up one end of the staff and the heaviest part of the burden upon himself 3. To him I commend you who is able to establish you in the most shaking times Christians must not be as reeds bow with every wind of Doctrine nor moved away with every storm of Persecution but they must be like those two brazen Pillars in Solomons Temple called Jachin and Boas Stability and Strength You must be strong stedfast in the purity of the Doctrine in the simplicity of the Worship of the Gospel of Christ Now you are not able to stand by your own strength against storms and winds but God will stablish and strengthen you and make you like an house built upon the Rock that all the waves and floods of Persecution shall not be able to move you The God of all Grace after that you have suffered a while will make you perfect and strengthen and settle you 1 Pet. 5.10 You that are Christians indeed are built upon such a foundation Jesus Christ as conveyes life strength and stability to the superstructure As broken bones once knit are the stronger as trees shaken by the winds take deeper root So God by all shakings and stormy winds will make you more stable and setled It is your Security and my Comfort and stand not by your own strength but by the Power of God 4. To Him I commend you because he is able to provide strong and suitable supplies for you Should I commit you to men they would seek their own profits but never bestow their pains they would feed upon you but not feed you reap the fruit but never watch nor water nor manure the Vineyard But this God is the great the good and faithfyl Shepherd who when he removes one Instrument can raise another When he takes away one Minister he can provide you another that can send you an Elisha after Elijah one to whom he hath given a double portion of his Spirit 2 Kings 2.9 a man of greater parts learning and abilities of greater experiences and skill in the great things of Christ in the great concernments of your souls both a Boanarges and a Barnabas 5. To Him I commend you who is able to bless the smallest means and make them equally profitable and beneficial as the best Though in regard of men you may doubt of the former yet in God you may be confident of the latter All means are in God's hand Paul may plant and Apollos water but it is
our Mercies Bona a tergo formosissima Virtutem incolumen odimus sublatam exocculis quaerimus invidi Give me leave to strike your Hearts as Moses the Rock with a few quickening Questions Quest 1. Did they mourn and should not we What were their Assemblies to ours Answ Surely the Spirituality Power and Blessing of our Assemblies far exceed theirs Though the Jew was the elder Brother it is the Châ—â—â—â—an that hath the Fatted-Calfe The double Portion â—ow far do Ezekiels measures exceed Solomons or Zâ—â—ubbabels work the Temple of the Christian Church â—â—rely he aimes at We may say of Gospel Ordinâ—â—â—es as Jacob of himself Gen. 49.26 The blessings of them have prevailed above the blessings of their Progenitors Theirs were but carnal ordinances comparatively Heb. 9.10 and the least Christian Assembly as Christ said of John the Baptist is greater than they Quest 2. Did they mourn that knew the set-time for the return of their Mercies and shall not we that are uncertain what God will do Have we any to tell us how long Answ There are many but too bold in their calculations it s well if they be any better than those in Jer. 27.16 that set a short period to the Captivity of the Sanctuary-Vessels but they lied and were good for nothing but to feed presumption it is said The time was long and they lamented after the Lord 1 Sam. 7.2 Mercies long ere they are attained little improved when they are compassed it may well be as one said of faithful Friends uncertain when they will return Quest 3. Is it likely they should return back any other way than by streams of Tears sent after them Answ Did not this Peoples Mercies come back swiming in their Tears Reade Jer. 31.8 9. and 50.4 They shall come with weeping and they shall come going and weeping There Tears of sorrow for their sins and calamities helped them now to weep Tears of ingenuity and so when the Tide is at highest they go forth towards their old enjoyments again The higher the Waters of sorrow do Rise the nearer Mercy is to Landing Psal 102.13 14. The set time is come How doth that appeare see ver 14. for thy Servants take pleasure in her stones and favour the dust thereof When God's People can most tenderly weep over the Churches Ruines Râ—pairation is near Quest 4. Should they return and not find us in Tears for their absence would they not be joyless and comfortless Mercies Can the Harvest be joyful to any but them that have sown in Tears Answ God calls the Mourners of This People to rejoyce with her Isa 66.10 Rejoyce ye with Jerusalem and be glad with her but who all ye that love her and rejoyce for joy with her all ye that mourn for her God tells this People Zech. 8.19 that their several Fasts shall be turned into joyful Feasts the Women that are called to the Travel are bidden to the Up-sitting and to the Feast and indeed proportionably to the sorrow at parting wil be the joy at meeting again the Tide will be according to the Ebb. The tidings that Joseph was not was so lamentable that the news of Josephs being alive was abundantly more reviving No Mercy comes to us with such advantage as that of which we may say as the Father of the Prodigal This Ordinance was dead and is alive this Mercy was lost and is found The City Shushans perplexity made their Good Day a great deal better Quest 5. What are all our joyes that we seemed to have in them when we had them if we sorrow not at the loss of them Surely they were but seeming joyes Surely we did but seem to welcome the light surely our joy was but that or the stony ground or like that of John Baptists hearers Can we take the loss of things so upon which our hearts really are how should one measure the truth and degree of our affections but by the strength of our afflictions in the removal of a thing When I see a careless Soul or People under such a bitter dispensation methinks I have occasion to say to them as the Apostle to the Galatians chap. 4.15 Where is the blessedness you spake of you have sometimes seemed as if you could have plucked out your eyes and have given them to your Ministers and have you no Tears in your eyes when they are removing from you that have been as your eyes Where is the blessedness you spake of Quest 6. Are you fit for the improvement of them if God should gather you before you have got a sense of the want of them could it be in mercy Mercy is lost upon unhumbled hearts Could we be thankful could we be fruitful The returned Ark was a gladsome sight to the men of Bethshemesh 2 Sam. 6.13 19. but they not knowing how to use it it was almost as ill a neighbour to them as to the Philistines Probably they had the People after the Lord is not mentioned till the next chapter 1 Sam. 7.2 The Word to unhumbled hearts is as the Seed to unbroken ground it is thrown away and not sowed Winter time soaks and steeps the earth and so makes it fruitful in Summer Ground under water and much floated in Winter is most rich many times If ever our Winter be past they will make the best use of Summer that have bin under water No feet so fit to stand in Jerusalems Courts as theirs that in their wanderings have been putting Tears into God's Bottle as David did Psal 56.8 Tender-ey'd Leah was fruitful Truly tender-hearted blear-ey'd Christians are most like to be fruitful If ever God delight in us and our poor Assemblies be married again if ever Hephzibah and Beulah be writ upon us instead of Forsaken as I may allude to Isa 62.4 Quest 7. Are there not many things that may shame us for and O that they might shame us out of our senslesness upon this account As first Are there not those that mourn for want of their Idolatries Can we not find Women weeping for Tammuz Ezek. 8.14 Can we not reade of Micah taking on for the loss of his gods and his priest Judg. 18.23 24. and what no Tears for our present loss of Worship and God Will not a Fathers seeming to bid some of our places farewel make us mourn Do we not reade of those that have committed Fornication and lived Deliciously with Babylon that they shall lament and bewail her Rev. 18.9 and shall not we that have tasted of the fatness of God's House bemoan our loss 2 dly Are there not those to be found that have mourned for want of their wicked meetings what a prison is many a Drunkards house to him what lowings of heart after them under any restraints It is said in Isa 24.11 There is a cry for wine in the streets all joy is darkned the mirth of the Land is gone or as some translate is gone into Captivity Mirth is gone with the liquor And what shall