under a pretence of acting for God Wicked men will do so but you must go beyond them You must do more then they can do 3. In living by faith upon God 2 Cor. 5.7 We live by faith and not by sight A Christian ought not to hang by the eye-lids eying and looking at external wheels and second causes only but to exercise faith upon the wheel within the wheel This is that which must actuate and inliven all second causes or else they cannot work What is it that thou dost desire this must bring it to pass Not by might nor by power but by my Spirit Zech. 4.6 Would'st thou have thy corruption mortified thy temptation conquered thy graces strengthened thy comforts enlarged thy fears prevented thy prayers heard rest not upon the external wheels but upon the wheel within the wheel Means must be used but not trusted in God alone is the object of a Christians faith Say therefore In vain is salvation hoped for from the multitude of hills and mountains but in the Lord our God is salvation Jer. 3.23 And let it be said of you as it is of Abraham Ro. 4.18 19. Who against hope believed in hope When all instruments are dead Ordinances dead Comforts dead Graces dead heart even dead yet give glory to God by believing in him who never dies And for this end follow the example of the Prophet Psal 77.10 11 12. I will remember the years of the right hand of the most high I will remember the works of the Lord surely I will remember thy wonders of old I will meditate also of all thy work and talk of thy doings Yea wouldst thou set this internal wheel on work wouldst thou move that Why then set faith on work this is that whereby divine providence suffers it self to be moved How came Abraham to be the Father of many Nations but by the movings of this internal wheel and what set that a going but the faith of Abraham And therefore it is said that he believed in hope that he might become the Father of many Nations Beloved if ever you would set any instrument or inferiour wheel on work you must move the greater wheel So it is here 't is God that must move and you must set God on work by faith An active faith will not let God alone it gives him no rest untill he hath set all second causes on work and accomplished the desired mercy Now in this you go beyond all moral men they may make use of means I but they can't believe they can't set the great wheel on work 4. In fixing your hearts upon things that are above Let the constant openings of your Souls be for the entertainment of Heavenly enjoyments And this is a wonder Rev. 12.1 A Christians heart should be in Heaven and the world under his feet The Earth is Gods and a good mans foot-stool thou mayest walk upon it but not be buried in it Most excellent is the Apostles Rule 1 Cor. 7.29 30 31. But this I say Brethren the time is short It remaineth that both they that have wives be as though they had none and they that weep as though they wept not and they that rejoice as though they rejoiced not and they that buy as though they possessed not and they that use this world as not abusing it for the fashion of this world passeth away And this was the Apostles glory that the world was crucified unto him and he unto the world Gal. 6.14 He looks upon all as so many dead corps and carkases Fourth and last Inference If this divine wheel be so admirable and glorious then this teacheth you to maintain a constant communion with it For you are little wheels I but what will you do if this divine wheel be not as a wheel in the middle of a wheel what shall act and move you in order to your comfortable winding up Sure I am you will be like Sampson when his Lock was cut off Your strength is departed from you and you like Instruments laid aside and of no use I but if God be in you and with you then you shall go forth in the strength of an omnipotent power and be admirable in working yea you shall have cause to admire the wheel within the wheel and sing with Moses Who is a God like our God glorious in holiness fearful in praises doing wonders Yea with the heavenly Quire saying Amen blessing and glory wisdom and thanksgiving and honour and power and might be unto our God for ever and ever Amen FINIS A Divine Paradox OR A PRISONER at LIBERTY AND HIS JUDGE IN BONDS Being a Subject Treated of before the Right Honourable the Lord Chief Justice Hales at an Assize holden at Saint Edmunds Bury In the County of Suffolk March 27. 1669. By Samuel Blackerby Minister of the Gospel at Stow Market LONDON Printed for Nevil Simons at the Princes Arms in S. Paul's Church Yard 1674. Acts 24.25 And as he reasoned of righteousness temperance and judgement to come Felix trembled THat I may observe the watch-word given and confine my discourse to the time alotted for it I shall at present wave my usual course and lay aside the threds by which I was resolved to have steer'd my passage to the Text And yet before I can attempt to anatomize and breath any vein of truth therein I must crave leave to strip it of a double paradox which at first view it secmeth to be drest up in For 1. Here is a Prisoner in liberty 2. A Judge in bonds Saint Paul the Prisoner and Felix the Judge the one we meet with in the entrance into the Text the other in the close and both afford us matter of admiration First The liberty of St. Paul the Prisoner for here we find him at liberty to preach and preaching with liberty 1. At liberty to preach That an Apostle should be a Prisoner is much but that he who was imprisoned upon the account of preaching should have liberty whilst a Prisoner to preach and that before his Judge this is more Not many daies before he was accused by a famous Oratour and libell'd against with a deep charge of high misdemeanours and capital crimes and that with so much artifice and subtilty that it is a wonder that a sentence of death had not passed upon him according to the malevolent expectation of his malicious enemies and he for ever deprived of his liberty to preach any more and yet to speak in the Ciceronian Dialect Vivit imo vivit in Senatum venit He lives yea he lives to preach And that 2. With liberty I 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with much liberty and boldness For neither the grandeur of the Auditor nor the experience that he had of a former durance no nor his fear of future had any such influence upon him as to seal up his lips or tempt him to play the Sycophant or flattering Courtier that thereby he might have gained an enlargement
the Father takes the poor sinner and puts him into the hands of Christ and saith thus to him Son take this poor wretched sinner into thine own hands for I cannot look upon him in himself I can do nothing for him as he stands upon his own carnal bottome he is undone weak and wretched and so he must abide without any help unless thou dost bottome him upon thy self and hide him under the robe of thy righteousness I can't hear his prayers nor own his desires nor pitty his groans unless they be all persumed with the odour of thine incense and presented to me by thy hand The Covenant of grace and the promises of grace are all made in thee and must be performed in thee and therefore he can have no benefit by them until thou hast an actual possession of him he must be thine or else they can't be his Then the Lord Jesus takes the poor sinner and having sprinkled him with his blood and washed him from all his guilt hides him in his own robes and presents him to the Father as an object of pitty and mercy And after this manner mediates and interceeds with his Father on the sinners behalf Heavenly Father here is one whom thou hast given me for whom I have shed my heart blood that I might make satisfaction to Divine Justice for all offences committed by him against thee and purchase all that grace that is in the Covenant for him he stands not upon his own account but upon mine I am touched with the feeling of his infirmities his weakness and griefs are mine his troubles and pains are mine his faintings and failings are mine his tears and cries are mine his prayers and desires are mine here I tender them to thee in mine own name and beg thine audience and acceptance of them my sufferings and my blood shed for him cries to thee yea thine own Covenant ratified and confirmed with thine own oath cries to thee for mercy and grace to help and strengthen him Now hereupon the bowels of grace and mercy earns and melts over a poor distressed sinner and like the great wheel in the Clock sets all the lesser wheels a going by its motion So the grace of God sets the Covenant of grace on work that it may give forth its virtue and strength to the soul This glorious mystery will be best understood and cleared to you by several steps 1. That God the Father is the first mover in this great business He first loves and then gives souls to Christ 1 John 4.19 Heb. 2.13 There is a two fold giving of souls to Christ 1. By way of Covenant designation or decree made in heaven between the Father and the Son in which God made over all his elect to Christ and Christ undertook to bear their names So Joh. 10.29 In this place he doth not only speak of those that did at the present believe but of all others that should believe So vers 16. 2. By way of actual possession and so God gives souls to Christ as his mansion to dwell in This is the Fathers work Joh. 6.44 No man can come to me except the Father draw him When God doth draw a man to Christ then he gives him to Christ for his actual possession 2. Gods design in giving souls to Christ is that they may be put into a capacity for relief for of themselves they are not Out of Christ they cannot come to God there is no immediate access to God His first giving them to Christ by way of designation was for satisfaction but this latter giving them to Christ is for application that they may reap and enjoy the benefit of his satisfaction that through Christ they might have access to God and an entrance into the grace of the Covenant and therefore did Paul so earnestly desire that he might be found in Christ 3. The whole Covenant of grace with all the promises therein are founded in Christ and performed unto none but the chosen of God in Christ and such as are given to Christ Hence is that of the Apostle 2 Corinth 1.20 Acts 2.39 4. The Lord Jesus owns every sinner that is given to him by the Father as his peculiar trust He becomes their shepheard and takes the care of them and never leaves them until he hath brought them into actual possession and fruition of all Covenanting grace You have this fully set forth Heb. 2.11 12 17 18 with 4.15 5. Having taken this trust upon him and made it his business he mediates with the Father for them that the Covenant of grace with all the promises may be performed to them Heb. 7.25 6. The Covenant being pleaded by Christ with the Father must be performed to the sinner God can't in justice deny it this treasury and store-house of grace is presently opened for the soul to come and receive grace and strength most full is that John 14.12 13 14. John 16.24 6. According to the Spirits Revelation of this grace in the heart such is our sense and feeling thereof and according to our sense thereof such is our comfort Divine Revelation gives us the sense of Spiritual incomes and influences and a true sense thereof gives us comfort the larger the discovery is the larger is our sense and comfort There is many a gratious soul that wants the strength of comfort and yet doth not want the strength of grace and holiness and the reason is because he hath not the sense and feeling of his grace This therefore is the office of the Spirit to reveal and make known those incomes and Divine influences which the soul enjoys of and from God for his strength and support As you may see 1 Cor. 2.10 12. The spirit reveals all spiritual gifts to the souls of his Saints that they may know them and have the sense and feeling of them in their hearts And hence he is called the comforter because he reveals that to the soul which is matter of comfort For it is the knowledge and sense of things that administers comfort To be without a good and not to know it is all one in point of comfort As what comfort doth any estate afford a man when he is ignorant of his interest in it and enjoyment of it If a man have a rich Mine of Gold and Silver in any part of his lands and yet knows not of it it is nothing to him So if a man have never such a measure of gifts and graces from God yet if he be still in the dark and know it not he can take no comfort therein So long as a soul questions and is in doubt about his spiritual estate he can't have comfort and therefore the holy Spirit comes and makes it known to the people of God that they may have true comfort Use If God be the rock of a Christians heart strength Then this may serve for counsel and instruction to all true Israelites 1. To account God your strength 2. To give
God-praising heart are a greater blessing then fulness with an unthankful spirit and it is a greater mercy for God to give a thankful spirit in a low condition then to advance a man to the highest pinnacle of outward prosperity in the world This I say is a blessed relief that causeth the soul to bless God in the want of all outward comforts 3. When God is pleased to strip a Christian of all his outward comforts he gives in a greater measure of faith that he may depend upon God for a supply So that though he hath nothing to live upon yet he is sure he shall not want for true faith looks not at secondary causes so much as at the word of promise and therefore if all means fail yet as long as the promise fails not a believing soul knows that it shall have a supply although it cannot imagine how or which way she shall have it Now inward supports in time of want and secret intimations of a supply from God in his own way and time are a sweet relief to the soul in that condition So saith David I had fainted unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living Psal 27.13 True faith in God will keep the heart alive when a man hath nothing to live upon and 't is Gods way to fix a Christian most upon the objects of faith when the objects of sense are removed from him when a Christian lives least by fight then he lives most by faith Now as a Christian believes so comfort flows in to him Faith is to a Christian in stead of all things for it is the substance of things hoped for Heb. 11.1 What ever a man wants yet if he believes truly he hath the substance of that which he hopes for A Christian hopes for great things greater comforts more enlargments and heaven at last Why faith is the substance of all He that lives by faith hath the substance of heaven to live upon and that must needs be a sweet relief to the soul in a time of need It is the Christians comfort that he hath a durable and a lasting state that will never fail him and that he hath a God to go to that will not fail him but will give him such an allowance as shall maintain him till he comes to his journeys end where he shall be put into a full possession and fruition of it 4. Those small repasts which come from the hand of Divine Providence to uphold a Christian under his wants are filled so full of Divine Blessing and strength that he can truly say I have enough A man would think that pulse and water would afford but little nourishment I but Divine Blessing filled it full of strength that Daniel felt no want of better chear Let a Raven be the Prophets Caterer and if Divine Blessing attends the provision as it did he shall walk in the strength thereof forty days and not faint Though poor Christians in these days do not live upon Divine miracles yet they live upon Divine wonders that makes them sometime wonder how they live they cannot but see a Divine hand in giving what they have and then in blessing it beyond expectation for though they want much of that which others do enjoy yet they enjoy that which others want and this makes them healthful and chearful in their wants There is many a poor Christian that hath more joy in one day then thousands that enjoy the treasure of the earth and why It proceeds from this very ground the good mans little is given in love with a heart-chearing blessing while the wicked mans plentiful estate is given in wrath and with a curse upon it hence is that of Solomon Prov. 15.16 Better is a little with the fear of the Lord then great treasure and trouble therewith i. e. they that fear the Lord have not that trouble with their little which they that do not fear the Lord have with their great treasure and therefore the good mans little is better then the wicked mans great treasure The good mans little comes with a blessing for a blessing rests upon a good man and all that he hath be it little or much Now a Divine blessing ever gives strength and vertue to any means Let it be never so poor and weak of it self yet Divine Blessing makes it mighty and efficacious so that it is no matter what a Christian hath to live upon if the blessing of God goeth along with it 5. When God strips a good man of all he hath he then pours forth a mighty spirit of prayer for a fulness of grace to maintain the life of holiness in this estate He that hath nothing without to live upon and but a small stock of grace within will have much ado to rub through and a gratious soul is sensible hereof and therefore God is pleased to draw out the desires of his soul after a greater measure then yet he hath attained and indeed when outward wants meet with a soul that is full of grace they do not make such an impression upon it as when they meet with one that hath but little the empty vessel makes the greatest noise and empty Christians are fullest of complaints until a spirit of prayer is poured forth upon them whereby they attain an inward fulness and this keeps and maintains a spirit of holiness in them I confess he that prospers and thrives in the world stands in need of a large measure of grace to keep his heart holy in that estate and so he that is low in the world stands in need of a great measure of grace also or else he may miscarry There is one eminent rock upon which poor people are very apt to split and hazzard their immortal souls and that is the use of indirect and unlawful means for their relief and subsistence in the world Hence is that prayer of Agur Prov. 30.6 7 give me neither poverty nor riches feed me with food convenient for me least I be full and deny thee and say Who is the Lord Or least I be poor and steal and take the name of my God in vain Mark this least I be poor and steal Noting out that poverty hath this temptation attending it if grace prevents not poor men will be prompted to use some indirect course for their subsistence they 'l steal rather then want what they desire I but a good man dare not do thus This in him would be not only a breach of the eighth command but also of the third It is a taking the name of God in vain for this is a certain truth that whosoever takes upon him the profession of Christian Religion and yet departs not from iniquity he takes the name of God in vain now a true Christian in whom the fear of the Lord is planted dreads this and therefore crys mightily unto God to keep and preserve him that he may not do so unworthy an
act as to relieve himself by an indirect course for he would not take the name of God upon him in vain he had rather die then do it Now when God hath thus drawn out the desires of the soul after grace then he gives in such a measure as shall preserve it and keep it from yielding to the temptation and Beloved it is a gratious relief to be kept in an holy and gratious frame of heart under a strong and powerful temptation 't is worthy of a Christians taking notice thereof So doth the Prophet this poor man cried and the Lord heard him Psal 34.6 Beloved if you be never so poor yet if God draws out your hearts after him in prayer you shall be kept that you shall not take any indirect course to help your selves but be able to say as David of himself this poor man cried and the Lord heard him As prayer is the desire of the soul formed into requests and petitions so crying is the importunity of the soul in prayer Petitions and requests presented to God with an humble and reverential boldness it is a wrestling with God for a blessing a perseverance in prayer with an holy resolution not to be put off Now 't is the poor that thus crys sense of want that pinches the soul joyned with some hopes of obtaining makes the soul to cry and he that crys shall be heard Divine relief shall come in to help it in this time of need Thus you see how relief comes in to a good man in the want of all outward comforts Secondly When the strength of the outward man fails And this is properly the failing of the flesh when a man is in a consumptive condition God smites the body and then the flesh wasts the beauty thereof fades and the senses grow dull and heavy The Prophet David had great experience hereof and therefore often mentions it in his Psalms Psal 38.10 my strength faileth and Psal 109.24 my flesh faileth of fatness and Psal 69.3 mine eyes fail He was brought low even to the mouth of the grave but Divine relief came in As you may see Psal 116.6 I was brought low and he helped me God sometimes raises a man from the very gates of death and gives him a new life restores him to his former health and strength But if God doth not thus by a gratious man yet he shall have cause to say the Lord is the strength of my heart in this weak and low estate and condition Divine relief shall be given to him 1. To support and strengthen him to bear his affliction with patience the power and grace of God is wonderfully seen in bearing up the spirits when the body sinks and in giving grace to exercise patience under the pains and sorrows of death you have heard saith Saint James of the patience of Job Jam. 5.11 As you heard of his corporal affliction how soarly he was handled so you have heard of his patience how gratiously he was he was supported that he could bear his affliction without murmuring or repining 't is true it made him groan I but the stroke was heavier then his groaning As he saith Job 23.2 Even to day is my complaint bitter my stroke is heavier then my groaning The spirit of a man will sustain corporal infirmities when God sustains the spirit Now patience under afflictions is equivalent to a deliverance from them to be able to bear an affliction is as great a mercy as to be freed from it if God rebukes the feavour of impatiency and thereby cures that it is as much as to rebuke a bodily distemper and thereby to cure it So you may see 1 Cor. 10.13 There hath no temptation taken you but that which is common to man but God is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able but will with the temptation also make a way to â—scape that ye may be able to bear it i. e. I can assure you that thus far you shall be set free from your temptations afflictions that you shal be able to bear them This is a gratious relief for there is no affliction but impatiency makes a greater affliction many afflict themselves when God doth not and many afflict themselves more then God doth their impatiency first makes their groaning heavier then their stroke and then their stroke heavier then it is in it self 2. Divine relief and strength comes into the heart of a good man in this consumptive condition to renew the inward man as the outward man decays So saith the Apostle 2 Cor. 4.16 Though our outward man perish yet our inward man is renewed day by day As God pulls down the old house the house of clay he frames and erects a new building that shall abide for ever So that a Christian may say as Peter Martyr said when he was dying My body is weak my mind is well well for the present and it will be better for the future The flesh and spirit of a good man are like two buckets when the flesh goeth down the spirit gets up he is ever best within when he is worst without when the body is going down to the earth from whence it came the soul is ascending to heaven from whence it came And you have a gratious promise for it Psal 92.13 14. Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God They shall still bring forth fruit in their old age they shall be fat and flourishing Old age shall have green fruit upon it When â—he flesh proves the most barren the spirit is most fruitful a true Christian never flourisheth so much as when old age hath nipt the flesh and it is a lovely sight to see gray hairs a consumptive body and a withered face fat and flourishing in Holiness and Righteousness to see Summer-fruit upon an old tree in Winter-time and yet thus it is with good Christians their Winter of old age is their most flourishing time When nature is most spent grace comes to its greatest strength and perfection Faith strongest love to God and Christ most enflamed hope most lively and holiness most beautiful and sparkling the greatest beauty in the soul when the body is turning to rottenness and putrifaction When the natural breath smells of the earth the spiritual breath savours most of heaven the eye of the soul most clear in discerning spiritual and heavenly things when the eye of the body grows dim and dark the hand of faith most steady to take hold on Divine promises when the corporal hand shakes with the palsie and the feet of the soul run fastest towards the mark for the price of the high calling in Christ when the bodily feet cannot move So true it is that a Christian may say as S. Paul said When I am weak then am I strong weak in my outward man but strong in the inward 3. Divine relief comes in to the heart of a
it i. e. he convinceth a Christian of the greatness and heinousness of the sin It is possible for a Christian that is sound and upright in the main to have so great a failing in his Will that for a time he may but jog on in the way of God that other Christians outstrip him far that set out long after him and yet he may be very insensible thereof until God is pleased to strike a dart of spiritual conviction through his very heart and this wakens and rouzes him up and makes him bestir himself and consider where he is and what he hath been doing all this while A clear place for this you have Cant. 5.2 I sleep but my heart waketh it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh saying open to me my sister This is the ingenuous confession of the Church wherein she acknowledgeth that carnal deadness and security that had overtaken her I sleep or I have been asleep Now a Christian never sleeps spiritually or in a spiritual sense but when his Will flags and fails when that falls to a kind of indifferency or is not strongly bent and inclined but grows cold and dead which is the symptome of a sleepy man I but did Christ suffer his Spouse to lie in this sleepy state No! See how he awakens and rouzes her up he calls to her and bids her open to him whereby he let in a beam of divine light and convinc'd her of her sin and this was the first step to her cure this made her open her eyes as when a man awakes out of sleep he first opens his eyes and then he rises So 't is with a sleepy and dull Christian God's first work upon him is to open his eyes that he may see his sin and be affected with it and this will make him stir O beloved it may be you do not know the evil that is in a sleepy estate the sin that is inindifferency and halting in the waies of God and in the weakness of your Resolution to walk therein you take little notice it may be of the coldness and deadness of your hearts unto holy duties or of the fickleness and inconstancy of your Spirits in them but at one time or other you must expect a Soul-awakening voice that will make you open your eyes and then you will see how great a sin it is What though thou dost not cast off the waies of God yet this heartlessness in them is sin enough if God should charge thee with it to sink thy Soul as low as Hell Secondly God cures this sleeping evil by reviving and renewing the inscription and impression of Divine Law upon the heart A good man never grows dull and dead but when Divine Law is not in its full strength and power upon the heart As this is a means of divine life so it is a restorer and renewer of life When the heart is exceeding dead and indisposed to any thing that is good this can quicken it and hence is that of David Psal 119.93 It is a blessed thing for a dead and dull heart to be quickned unto and in the way of God But this will not be unless the word of God come with life and power upon the heart And this effect is worth remembring and a good man will say with David I will never forget thy Precepts for with them thou hast quickned me It may be thou goest to read or hear the word with a dead and dull Spirit and by that God quickens thee Oh remember it and never forget it It was a great and wonderful mercy to thee that God did write his Law upon thy heart when he first brought thee under the bond of his everlasting Covenant and then bowed and inclined thy heart to a ready and free obedience thereunto It was a day of power when he made thee willing to take his yoak upon thee And it is a great mercy that he is pleased to revive and renew the characters of this divine and heavenly Law upon thy Spirit when they seemed to be obliterated and blotted out when thou hadst almost lost the power and life thereof upon thy Spirit that there was little stirring or moving in thy Will towards Heaven God deals with a Christian as a man deals with his Watch when it goeth dull and begins to beat slowly he gets the Spring which is the principle of its motion mended and renewed So when the heart of man grows dull and heavie his motions very cold and dead unto any good God mends and renews the Will which is the spring and principle of motion in the heart and for that end he sets Divine Law and will to work upon it When God's Will moves upon our Will then 't is quick and liuely in its motions towards God not else if that be dead towards him the man is dead to any thing that is good I know the Law as it is a Covenant of Works is a killing Instrument it slew Saint Paul and laid him a bleeding before God but as it is a Covenant of Grace so it is a quickning Instrument and sets the Soul a going after God in the use of those means which he hath appointed 3. Sometimes God cures this sad distemper by shedding his love abroad upon the heart Divine Love is both a heart-quickner and a heart-in-flamer We saith the Apostle love him because he loved us first 1 Jo. 4.19 Our love is but the reflex of his Gods love to us is founded in it self He loves because he will love but our love to God is founded on his love Nothing in us moved him to love us but God's love to us moves us to love him and therefore it is that as God manifests his love to us so we are able to love him The love of Christ constraineth us 1 Cor. 5.17 As when the Sun shineth then Flowers open so when the love of God shines upon the Soul it opens to God then the Heart is enlarged for God the Will is carried out with high resolutions to follow him fully in all the waies of his commands As the hiding of Gods face is a great damp upon the Spirit that makes it drive on very heavily in the way of God so the shining of his face is a notable quickner of the Spirit it is like oil to the wheel that helps on the motion with greater ease When once a Soul hath tasted the love of God and got some sense thereof the pulse of holy desires will begin to beat strong after the enjoyment of him it is impossible for a Christian to remain dead under the warm beams of this most glorious Sun It is very observable that no sooner did God call to Israel to return with a gracious promise of healing their backslidings and of pardoning their iniquities But they answer Behold we come unto thee for thou art the Lord our God Though their Hearts were turned even quite away from God and their Wills exceeding averse from
returning yet that expression of Love and Grace to them presently turned the bent and frame of their Spirits and quickned them to a speedy return Behold we come unto thee for thou art the Lord our God as you may see Jer. 3.22 And therefore it is that a gracious Soul longs for the sense and manifestations of Gods love not only for the peace and comfort that it brings along with it but because he knows that it a is quickner of his Heart and Will to a cheerful performance of obedience unto God 'T is that which begets a free Spirit in the Soul renders it ready and prompt unto all holy service And now set God call him to what he pleaseth and he stands ready prest to do it God hath now as it were a string upon his heart he may lead him about whither he will 4. Sometimes God cures the failing of the Will by removing those impediments that stopt its motion You know if a wheel be scotcht there is no stirring of it until that be removed even thus 't is here Sometimes the Will of man which is the wheel of Motion is scotcht so that it cannot move forward until that be removed Hence that of the Psalmist I will run the way of thy commandments when thou shalt enlarge my heart Psal 119.32 The word enlarge doth not only signifie to widen and extend a thing but also to set at liberty and to free it from impediments and incumbrances and so it is used Psal 4.1 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress or Thou hast set me at liberty And as it is applicable to the outward state and condition of a man so the Prophet makes use of the same word in reference to tie the inward state I will run the wayes of thy commands 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 when thou shalt set my heart at liberty i. e. There is that in my heart that cloggs me and hinders me that I cannot run the way of thy commands until thou dost remove it Sometime the mind is clogg'd with strong temptations Sometimes with sore pressures of grief and horror Sometimes with impetuous lusts and passions And untill the Soul be set free she cannot move in the waies of God And therefore divine relief comes into the Soul in this case to remove those obstructions and to take away those clogs And many a gracious Soul hath cause to say Lord thou hast enlarged my Heart My Heart was scotcht but thou hast set me at liberty I was pesterd with such a temptation and with such a pressure of grief and horrour or with such a passion and lust but thou hast removed it and set me at liberty I know the perfect and full enlargement of the soul is not wrought until she comes in heaven but God begins the work here and oftentimes when she is in the greatest streight and so stopt in her motion that she is like an instrument quite out of tune and ready to be hung up or laid by then God steps in and affords this gratious relief to it 5. Sometimes when God finds the soul in this dead and drowzie case that it hath little mind or spirit unto duty he makes use of the rod of correction and then when the soul feels it smart she rouseth up her self and sets to work Even as when Absalon sent for Joab to come to him once and again and saw he would not stir he commanded his servants to set Joabs field on fire and then Joab makes all the hast he could to Absalon 2 Sam. 14.29 30.31 even thus it is here God sends for us first one messenger comes and then another to tell us that God would have us come to him As you have it Cant. 2.14 Let me hear thy voice let me see thy face I but we stir not come not at God either to pray to him or praise him that at last God is forced to fire us out and then we come You have a notable place for this Hos 5.15 I will go and return to my place till they acknowledge their offence and seek my face in their affliction they will seek me early They that lay snorting in their bed of security in the time of prosperity will be better husbands in time of adversity they 'l get up early the word signifies they shall morning me i.e. they shall come in the morning of their time and seek me And so Esay 26.16 They poured out a prayer unto thee when thy chastning was upon them and in their affliction they visited thee Mark it when the rod was upon their back then they cry and then they beg I they poured out a prayer It was not as one observes upon the place a dropping now and then but it was violent and continual the spirit was stirred and now it cannot lie still Afflictions commonly move and stir the heart one way or other sometimes they stir the evil and cross humours that are in the heart of man and then he rages and fumes against God and his ways but where grace is there they stir up a lazy and a dull spirit to meet God in his way with mournings and supplications The finger may be in the eye because grief is in the heart but this sorrow will have a vent else the heart will not be at rest God and the soul must be friends or she can have no satisfaction When God corrects the soul in good earnest then she seeks him in good earnest and will not be quiet until she finds him So Esay 26.8 9. In the way of thy judgments O Lord have we waited for thee the desire of our soul is to thy name and to the remembrance of thee With my soul have I desired thee in the night with my spirit within me will I seek thee early Here is seeking indeed the whole soul and spirit put forth and that diligently and constantly and then with waiting until she find We have waited for thee 'T is true affections do not always work thus in the heart of a good man at first God whips and whips again before the soul stirs I but God will not give over whipping until she stirs Dull and heavy spirited Christians seldom go long without a rod at their backs and 't is a great mercy when the rod of correction is any ways efficacious to rouse them up out of their drouzie and sleepy state 3. A third particular case of the failing of the natural faculties of the soul is in point of retention the memory may fail As a man may have a good head and a naughty heart so a man may have a good heart and a naughty head a head that will hold little or nothing that tends to the support and comfort of his soul when his flesh fails him A good Christian may be like a leaking vessel that retains no liquor long he may let slip the word of Gods grace and the external works of Gods grace and not
desired mercy when they are past all hope of it When the soul is at the very brink of despair then the mercy is given in to revive it and that is implied in those words of Solomon Prov. 13.12 Hope deferred maketh the heart sick but when the desire cometh it is a tree of life i. e. God may defer the mercy so long as to make the heart sick even unto death and then bestow iâ— upon the soul now when it cometh it is a tree of life an allusion to that tree that God planted in Paradise Gen. 2.9 A tree that was a symbole or sign of life as the Sacraments are of grace Now as the faith hope and comfort of a true Christian is fed nourished and revived by these external symbols signs so it is revived by the income of a desired mercy When the soul hath been languishing at the door of hope until it grows out of hope and is ready to perish then God throws in the mercy to revive and comfort it Nay further 3. God sometimes gives in the mercy in a way that is beyond all hope in a way that seems the most cross to the hopes of a Christian Sometimes God shuts up all the doors of hope and makes that to be the way of conveying mercy to us So God promised to his people of old Hos 2.15 The valley of Achor for a door of hope i. e. when they should be destitute of those means as might encourage them to hope and meet with the greatest difficulties and troubles that they could meet with then the desired mercy should be given Great crosses oftentimes make way for and usher in great mercies Now when mercy comes in unexpectedly and in a cross way it comes with the greater force and power upon the Soul to revive and comfort it Mercies that are common to the Soul do not make such a strong impression upon it as those that are either more special or come to the Soul in a singular and unexpected way Such mercies are very sweet and precious to the Soul 2. As there is relief for a good man in this case so when the heart fails through the hiding of Gods face And that I shall shew you briefly in three things 1. When a good man cannot see Gods face God speaks to him and gives him strength to seek his face When the Soul can't hear God yet sometimes she hears the voice of God So it was with David Psal 27.8 6. When thou saidst Seek my face my heart said unto thee Thy face Lord will I seeek Hide not thy face from me put not thy servant away in anger God hid his face from David I but he did not shut up his lips David had the happiness to hear his voice though it was but from behind a curtain And this encouraged and drew forth his Soul to seek Gods face So when Christ withdrew himself from his Spouse that she knew not what was become of him she sought him but could not find him I but she heard his voice Cant. 5.6 And it is a great comfort to a good man to hear the voice of God when he cannot see the face of God Sometimes God speaks to the Soul by his word and sometimes by his works and thereby draws it forth to seek his face This is a notable sign that God is not wholly and eternally departed from us When God leaves a wicked man he doth not so much as speak to him he shall not hear from God unless it be by way of denouncing judgement against him But when he withdraws and hides his face from a good man he shall hear the voice of God though he cannot see his well pleased face God is desirous to see their face although he hides his own and therefore calls to them to come and seek his face Thou saidst Seek my face and this voice of God caused an eccho in David's Soul And I said Thy face Lord will I seek And this is one end of God in hiding his face from the Soul that hereby he may draw forth the desires of it after him As a mother sometimes turns her back upon the child to see wehther it will cry after her Even thus doth God and it is wonderful delightful to him to hear a Soul cry after him when he hath withdrawn himself and his face from it 2. Sometimes when a good man can't see the well-pleased face of God he feels the hand of God not the weight thereof to crush him down but the power and strength thereof to sustain and uphold him That which the Church had experience of in another case when she was sick of love Cant. 2.6 she did promise to her self in this case Cant. 8.3 His left hand should be under her head and his right hand should embrace her Christ puts forth both hands one for the head and another for the heart to keep the soul from death in this case 1. The left hand of Christ is put under the head to keep up and maintain a good opinion of him When the soul is full of inward trouble it is full of thoughts So Psal 94.19 In the multitude of my thoughts within me Nay it is apt to have hard thoughts of God such as are unbecoming the dear children of so gratious a father We are apt to think that when God hides his face from us he hath forgotten to be gratious and in anger shut up his tender mercies from us that his mercy is clean for ever and that his promise fails for evermore that the Lord hath cast us off for ever and will be favourable no more To these and the like thoughts is a troubled soul very prone when God withdraws Now Christ to prevent these or to moderate them puts his hand under our head As the putting of ones hand under the head of a sick person is a great stay to it and affords it some ease that he may compose to rest so doth Christ deal with a soul that is sick and ready to die in the sense of Gods hiding his face from it He puts under his hand to keep the judgement right that it may maintain a good opinion of God and keep up good thoughts of him and this is a great ease to a good man for there is nothing afflicts the soul more then such hard thoughts of God they are a great torture and perplexity to the soul and when they are removed the mind finds great refreshment thereby 2. The right hand of Christ is put forth to embrace the soul As his left hand is under the head so his right hand doth embrace a good man and with this he stays the heart and keeps it from dying when the soul is going forth he stays it and keeps it in So saith David Psal 18.18 But the Lord was my stay The right hand of Divine Grace and strength doth compass the soul about and thereby keeps it from going forth and that is promised Psal 32.10
Mercy shall compass him about The mercy of God is a long arm and this doth incircle the soul and compass it about the soul can stir no way but mercy meets it to stay its flight Sometime God sends a friend to him who out of his own experience drops a seasonable word of comfort upon his soul and that is a mercy Job 33.23 Sometime God applies a word of Grace that enlivens his dead heart and that is a mercy Psal 119.50 Sometimes God brings to mind some former intimations of his love and grace to him Psal 42.6 And sometime and very often he stays the soul with this very thought that it is a great mercy of God to him that yet he is on this side hell Lam. 3.22 and though he can't see the face of God yet he is not put so far off but he may have the happiness to see it at the last 'T is mercy that he is not eternally banished from his presence And this stays the heart 3. Though God hides his face for a time yet he doth at one time or other unvail and discover it to the soul for its unspeakable joy and comfort If not in this life yet in the life to come a true Christian shall see the face of God again although it be hid for a time You have an excellent promise for this Esay 54.7 8. For a small moment have I forsaken thee but with great mercies will I gather thee in a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee saith the Lord thy redeemer Gods departure from a good man is not an eternal departure His hiding his face is not for ever Though thou canst not see it now yet thou shalt see it Thou mayst say with David Why art thou cast down O my soul and why art thou so disquieted within me hope thou in God for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance Psal 42.5 3. In case that the Animal Spirits do fail a man through the sense of sin and Gods displeasure for it there is relief to be had from God when the poisoned arrows of Divine wrath stick fast in the soul and drinks up the Spirits there is relief for it And this I shall also make evident to you in three things There are three remedies that God makes use of to cure the wounds that sin and Gods wrath make in the Soul 1. The blood of Sprinkling 2. The precious Balm of Gospel promises 3. The sweet oyl of the Holy Spirit 1. The blood of sprinkling or the blood of Christ sprinkled upon the heart this washeth and cleanseth the wound So 1 John 1.7 And the blood of Christ cleanseth us from all sin And so Revel 5. Vnto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood For as a wound in the body natural will not heal unless the blood and corruption be washed out no more will the wounds of the soul ever be cured unless they be first washed with the blood of Christ And therefore this is Gods first work to apply the blood of Christ to the wound and it is very effectual for this purpose as you may see Heb. 9.13 14. For if the blood of bulls and of goats and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh How much more shall the blood of Christ purge your conscience It first stancheth the blood and then purifies the wound and makes it fit for a plaister The meaning hereof is this that the knowledge of our justification by the righteousness of Christ is a singular and choice remedy for the taking away the sense of sin and Gods displeasure for it It is not only requisite that Christ shed his blood for us and that God hath accepted it as a full satisfaction to His Divine Justice which was offended by our sin but this must be applyed to us As under the Law it was not enough to have the blood of bulls and of goats but it must be sprinkled or else there was no cleansing even so unless God applies the blood of Christ to thy conscience and give thee the knowledge thereof that it is shed for thee in particular thy Spiritual wounds that sin and Satan hath made in thee will never be cleansed Thou mayest be justified before God but still thine own heart may accuse and condemn thee Though God doth not charge thy sin upon thee yet thou wilt be continually charging it upon thy self and the burden will be intolerable thy wounds will still bleed every remembrance of sin will draw new blood from thy heart It is true the blessing lies in Gods free remission of our sin but the comfort lies in our knowledge thereof A traitour may be pardoned and that may save his life but if he knows it not he looseth the comfort thereof Even thus it is until we know that God hath freely justified us in the blood of Christ the sense of sin and Divine wrath will be heavy upon the spirit of an awakened sinner and therefore God's sprinkling the blood of Christ upon the conscience must needs be a sweet relief 2. Another remedy which God makes use of for the curing of this spiritual wound is the balm of Gospel promises there are two sorts of promises by which God speaks comfort to a disconsolate soul 1. Inviting promises 2. Assuring and sealing promises 1. Inviting promises and by these he encourages a poor distressed sinner to come to him Such is that Matth. 11.28 Come unto me all ye that are weary and heavy laden And that Esay 55.1 Ho every one that thirsteth come ye to the waters he that hath no money come ye buy and eat yea come buy wine and milk without money and without price And that Rev. 22.17 And the Spirit and the Bride say come and let him that heareth say come and let him that is a thirst come and whosoever will let him take the water of life freely Now when a soul that heareth these promises considers with it self thus Sure I am that I am weary and heavy laden with the burden of sin sin is an heavy load upon my soul the arrows of Gods indignation have set my soul on fire that I stand in need of these cooling and refreshing waters I am a poor ceature I have no money nothing to give for the incomes of Gods grace and love I am a meer beggar and therefore must needs be one that God invites And thus God draws the soul to him that he may apply 2. The assuring and sealing promises of comfort Such as these Heb. 10.16 17. This is the Covenant that I will make with them after those days saith the Lord I will put my laws into their hearts and in their minds will I write them and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more And that in Esay 57.15 16 17 18 19. For thus saith the
high and lofty one that inhabiteth eternity whose name is holy I will dwell in the high and holy place with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite ones For I will not contend for ever neither will I be always wroth for the spirit should fail before me and the souls that I have made For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth and smote him I hid me and was wroth and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart I have seen his ways and will heal him I will lead him and restore comfort unto him I create the fruit of the lips peace peace to him that is far off and to him that is near saith the Lord and I will heal him Now as these promises are the matter of comfort so they are the means of comfort For when God applies them to a wounded soul there passeth a vertue and power through them to heal and cure it 3. To this he adds the oyl of his Holy Spirit and that he drops into the wound and this doth not only heal but takes away the very scar of the wound and renders the skin as fresh and beautiful as before Oyl in Scripture sets out joy and chearfulness and therefore it is called the oyl of joy And Esay 61.3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Sion to give unto them beauty for ashes and the oyl of joy for mourning This cures the mournful sad and perplexed spirit and makes the face to shine again with brightness and glory according to that Psal 104.15 And oyl to make the face to shine I do not say that God always raiseth the comfort of the soul thus high but sometimes he doth not only heal but anoint and make the soul fair and lovely in his eye For there is no such sight in Gods eye as a sanctified heart that is chearful and joyful before him such a soul is the joy and delight of his heart and especially where he hath made the deepest wound and filled the soul with the greatest horrour in the sense of his wrath and displeasure there when he comes to give peace and comfort he anoints the most the greater wound the greater measure of comfort and hence it is that many a soul blesseth God for its wounds because else it would never have attained to such joys and comforts as God gives in Thus I have shewn you what relief flows into the soul in this case 4. In case that the Animal Spirits fail through a sudden passion of fear There is relief for it And that four ways 1. Sometimes God preventeth the thing feared and never suffers it to come to pass 2. Sometimes God delivers the soul from its fears 3. Sometimes the thing feared is so ordered and disposed by the Lord that it is less then our fear not worth our fear 4. Sometimes God turns the fears of his servants into the right channel that instead of fearing evil they fear him more then ever they did First Sometime God prevents the thing feared and never suffers it to come to pass or at least not at that time we are afraid it will 't is true Job could say the thing which I feared is come upon me Job 3.25 I was not in safety neither had I rest nor was I quiet yet trouble came I but many a good man hath cause to say the thing which I greatly feared is not come upon me Though God did not deliver me from my distrustful fear yet he delivered me from that which I did fear As sometimes we groundlesly expect and hope for a thing that never comes so sometimes we groundlesly fear an evil that never comes As God denyes the desires of a groundless confidence in great mercy so he prevents our groundless fears in mercy For as wicked men are apt to fear evil less then they should so the godly are apt to fear evil more then they should But as that which wicked men fear not comes suddenly upon them so sometimes that which a godly man fears comes not at all This made David say Psa 34.4 I sought the Lord and he heard me and delivered me from all my fears i. e. He delivered me from the evils which I feared The effect is here put for the cause Secondly Sometimes the Lord delivers a good man from the fear of evil I mean from a distrustful distracting and tormenting fear which dispirits him and sinks his spirits As some fear where no fear is so sometimes God animates and lifts up the soul above fear where fear is True faith will strive with tormenting fears and when 't is made strong will cast them out There is an excellent promise for this Job 11.14.15 If iniquity be in thine hand put it far away and let not wickedness dwell in thy tabernacle For then thou shalt lift up thy face without spot yea thou shalt be stedfast and shalt not fear Noting out that when faith is so strong as to purifie the heart and life from sin then it sets the Soul free from the fear of those evils that come by sin Now this is a great relief to the Soul For to be freed from the fear of evil is better then to be freed from the evil The promise runs not thus Thou shalt be freed from evil but thou shalt be freed from the fear of evil Happiness consists more in removing inward then outward trouble He that is afraid of evil before it comes may be happy though it comes Thirdly The thing feared is so ordered and disposed by the Lord that it is a lesser evil then we feared and is not worth our fear Many are far more afraid then hurt or more hurt by their fears then by the evils they feared We are indeed very apt to greater evils and lesser mercies and that is the reason that we meet with evils with so much fear and mercies with so little faith The thoughts of one evil torments our Spirits more then the thoughts of many mercies cheers and comforts our Spirits I but Gods thoughts are above our thoughts and when we are afraid that the evil impending will be very great it proves very little 'T is with many Christians as with some inexperienced Patients they dread the taking of any Physick lest it should overpower nature but when they come to take it they find it works not half so much as they feared it would A wise Physitian tempers the potion according to the constitution of the body and the nature of the distemper and not according to the fears of the Patient Even thus doth God oftentimes deal with us he orders and corrects all our evils so that they prove less hurtful and more beneficial to us then we could think not one dram too much or too little He proportions not our purging Physick according to our fancies but to our necessity when a little will serve the turn he will
dead to be an instrument of glory to be given to God Thus it is with Saints in their spiritual sicknesses they are not unto death but for the glory of God that Christ may be glorified in their relief Otherwise God is able to prevent them but might nature alwaies have its course there would be no room for wonders Nature must sometimes have a stop that the glory of God may appear Saints comforts and strengths must lie a bleeding and die that the glory of God may appear in their resurrection And wherein doth the glory of God appear more then in such a work as this This is a glorious work a work that outshines all common and ordinary works of God For God to breath upon dead and dry bones that they shall live again For God to bring a Jonas out of the Whales belly where he was buried alive three dayes For God to set Job upon his leggs again and to put him into stock both within doors and without when he had stript him of all and to make his last daies better then his first this was a glorious work a work wherein God is much glorified As the beams of the Sun reflected and sent back renders the Sun very glorious So 't is here Reas 3. Taken from the beautifulness of Relief in time of necessity Every thing is beautiful in its season Eccl. 3.11 And relief is very beautiful in time of necessity because it is seasonable True necessity puts a decorum upon every act that is requisite to be put forth therein It would be very absurd to do that at one time which may and ought to be done at another Should those things be done for a person in health that are done in the time of his sickness they would be very ridiculous but done in season and with due order they are very comely God therefore times his works well and that puts a beauty upon them Mans necessity is therefore Gods opportunity to express the riches of his mercy He calls not the righteous but sinners to repentance Physick is not for those that are in health but for the sick So Divine Relief is for those whose flesh fails and whose heart fails Divine strength is for them that have no might And this beautifies Divine dispensations For as God loves to beautifie the the house of his glory so he loves to beautifie the works of his glory These are the Reasons of the Doctrine Now before I come to the Application I must speak something to the doubts and scruples of weak Christians Case Perhaps some will be apt to say If it be true that Divine Relief flows from God to his people according to necessity then I am afraid that I do not belong to God because I have no experience hereof My flesh hath falled and my heart fails I but I do not find relief coming in Resolution Now to such I have three words by way of Answer 1. I beseech you take heed of charging God foolishly for for ought thou understandest yet this may prove a vain and foolish denying that grace of God which thou hast not received in vain Thou mayest have received relief from God in many of these cases and yet be insensible thereof It may be with thee as it was with Jacob God hath been with thee supported and relieved thee and yet thou not know it God conveys Divine Relief insensibly sometimes as well as seasonably When a man is in a swoon many things may be given him to fetch him again and to recover his Spirits and yet the man insensible thereof it may be so with thee Thou hast been in a spiritual swoon and God hath administred many heart-reviving Cordials that hath brought thee to some life again and yet thou maist be insensible thereof It is good therefore to take a more strict survey of thy spiritual state and perhaps upon examination thou wilt find some prints of Divine Relief upon thy Soul For as wicked men do not find their state so bad as it is because they overlook it so sometimes good men do not find their spiritual state so good as it is because they overlook it The piece of Silver that the woman thought she had lost was in the house although she knew not where it was until she did light a candle sweep the house and seek diligently for it as you may see Luke 15.8 God may have sent thee a token of his love and thou mayst have it in thy heart and yet not know it Thou hadst best set up a candle even the word of God in thine heart and by that light search thy heart and that diligently and then thou mayst find it 'T is true some particular acts of relieving grace are so full and strong upon the heart of a Christian that he cannot be insensible thereof but there are others that are conveyed to the Soul in a more secret and insensible way God writes a Letter of consolation to the Soul sometimes in so small a character that she hath much ado to read it it is hard for her to spell out the mind of God therein God deals with Christians as some wise Physitians do with some of their Patients they give them Physick and they never know of it something must be put into their Beer or something into their broth Even so God gives much relief to Christians in their spiritual weakness that the Soul knows not of Little did Jacobs brethren know that they had their money in their Sacks when they came homewards out of the land of Egypt No when they came to bait and opened their Sacks they found it Even thus it may be with many a child of God thy money thy relief may be in thy heart and yet thou ignorant of it Perhaps when thou comest to refresh and lookest within to see what thou hast thou mayst find that which thou dreamedst not of There are three things that sometimes hide relief from the eye of the Soul and are an occasion of the Souls mistake 1. God works gradually herein The cure is not perfected the first day that God takes thee in hand and some diseases are long before they will be cured Now here may be a great mistake If thou thinkest that God hath made no application to thee because thou art not perfectly cured of thy distemper thou dost wrong God exceedingly Thou mayst be in a tendency to a cure God may have done much for thee and yet thy sore may run and thy wound be very wide still Look again therefore and see if there be never a Plaister upon the sore thou mayst be in a way of cure though not cured Strength may be given in although thou art not strengthened with all might Here may be rather matter of thankfulness then of complaint and thou shouldst rather give God the glory of what he hath done for thee be it never so little then sit down dejected because all is not yet done that is requisite to a