Chron. 33.13 For God is neer unto all that call upon him in truth hee will fulfill the desire of them that feare him hee also will heare their cry and will save them Psal 145.18 19. Object Oh but my troubles are such as there is no possibility of being delivered out of them therefore I feare it will bee but lost labor for mee to pray unto the Lord. Answ Though it bee impossible in thine eyes should it therefore bee impossible in my sight saith the Lord of hosts Zach. 8.6 Is there any thing too hard for the Lord Jerem. 32.27 Is thy condition worse then Manasses was Is thy case more desperate then Jonahs was yet hee prayed out of the deepe and was helped Therefore be not dismayed but draw neere with a true heart in assurance of faith Hebr. 10.22 It is a hard taske I confesse to beleeve that God will deliver us out of al our troubles but as hard as it is faith makes it easie by apprehending Gods power and truth in all his promises Thy troubles thou sayest are great But faith tells thee that God is greater and mightier to helpe thee out of them then the devill and all his instruments are able to keepe thee in them Object But I have a long time prayed and hoped but cold comfort appeares for all my prayers Answ It may be there lieth some sinne secretly in thy bosom unrepented of and so long never look that God should heare thee in mercy Your iniquities have separated between you and your God and your sinnes have hid his face from you that hee will not hear Esay 59.2 Therefore Let every one that calleth upon the Name of the Lord depart from iniquitie 2. Tim. 2.19 For God heareth not sinnrrs John 9.31 It was a curse laid upon Moab That hee shall come into the Temple to pray but hee shall not prevail Hab. 16.12 It was a token of Gods heavie displeasure and judgement upon Saul That he sought unto the Lord but hee would no way answere him neither by dreames nor by Vrim nor yet by Prophets 1. Samv 28.6 Thus will the Lord deal with all ungodly persons When you shall stretch out your hands I will hide mine eyes from you and though you make many prayers I will not heare for your hands are full of blood Isay 1.5 Mine eye shall not spare them neither will I have pittie and though they cry in mine eares with a loud voice yet will I not heare them Eze 8.18 Object But I have searched my heart and sorrowed for my sinnes and yet God answeres not my prayers Answer It may bee thou art not instant and earnest enough in prayer thou must be fervent and wrestle with God in thy prayers if thou wouldest speed The prayer of a righteous man availeth much if it bee fervent Jam. 5.16 God is a living God and therefore will not be sought unto with dead and drowsie affections Thou must cry and be instant with the Lord if thou wouldst have him to heare thee Object I have been as instant and earnest in my prayers as I can but yet I have no answer from the Lord. Answ It may be so but it may be thou hast not prayed in faith which if thou dost not it is impossible that thou shouldest be able by any prayers to prevaile with God Hee that commeth to God must beleeve that God is and that hee is a rewarder of them that seek him Hebr. 11.6 True it is that the strength of our wrestling and prevailing with God lieth in our prayers but how not as they be a forme and sound of words but as they are the worke or fruit of faith Let our prayers be never so many never so loud never so long yet if faith be wanting they want their virtue they will be as weake as Sampson was when he wanted his haire The stronger thy faith is the freer is thy accesse with boldnesse and confidence to the throne of grace and the better successe shall thy prayers finde with God though he do not by and by answere thee for the Lord peradventure intendeth to exercise thy faith and make triall of thy patience to see whether thou wilt grow weary or no. For hee loveth to bee importuned as appeareth by that parable Luk. 11.8 Let us therefore use this excellent help of Prayer seeing it is so prevalent with the Lord as the Scripture doth plentifully witnesse unto us Prayer being a service so acceptable and well pleasing unto God hee cannot but heare the cries and satisfie the requests of his children if they faithfully holily and uncessantly do seek unto him Object But have all that do thus pray their requests granted unto them Answ Either they have their requests or that which the Lord sees better for them As the Lord doth sometimes deferre so hee doth sometimes transferre his benefits giving unto us in stead of that which wee aske something better for us As he answered not Paul in that particular he desired but in bestowing his Grace upon him which was sufficient for him 2. Cor. 12.9 Vse 6 Sixtly is it thus Here then is a ground of admirable comfort unto the children of God in the midst of all those afflictions which shall befall them This may strengthen the weak hands and comfort the feeble knees Esay 35.3 of all such as are by God afflicted when they consider that hee intendeth our great good in afflicting of us For our afflictions are as eye-salves ro cleer our dim sight that our sinnes may more evidently appeare they serve for sowre sawce to bring us out of love with our sweet sinnes and as sand to scoure off the drosse and corruption of our nature They are occasions of preventing many evills which if they were not wee should be ready to runne into They are as a School-master to teach and instruct us in the way of godlinesse They serve to manifest unto the world but especially unto our selves the truth and soundnesse of our faith obedience patience and the rest of Gods graces to the honor of him that hath bestowed them upon us and to the comfort of our own soules who have received them They are instruments of fitting us for that service wherein the Lord is pleased to use us They teach us how to prize the benefits of God and to make more account of them then formerly wee have done They are as wormewood to wean us from the love of this world Whose pleasing delights and bewitching pleasures wee should linger after and be ever and anon sucking of them if our mouthes were not imbittered and so distasted with some afflictions They are as cords to draw us unto the Lord in prayer and to seek him more often and more diligently at the Throne of grace then formerly wee have done They bring us into some conformity with Christ Wee cannot deny but that the crosse is somthing an uncomfortable companion to consort with flesh and blood But blessed bee that affliction
to be mistaken in this particular as though God did at any time afflict any without cause Although the Lord doth sometimes afflict and not for sinne yet never without sinne either inherent or imputed God is so farre from picking holes in our coat so far from afflicting any without just cause that hee may see enough in the best of us yea even in our best services performances to afflict us The best of us brought with us into the world so much corruption and do carry about us such bodies of sinne as may expose us to all the plagues of this and another life Every one of us hath in himselfe sufficient fewell for the fire of Gods wrath to work evermore upon him if the Lord in his justice would be pleased to kindle it Let no man therefore question Gods justice in afflicting the best of his children because as I have said he somtimes afflicteth us to prevent some evill to come which through our naturall propension through some violent occasion or through some strong temptation wee may be drawne into Ephraim was mad upon sinne therefore saith the Lord Hos 2.6 I will stop thy way with thornes and make an hedge that she may not find her paths Too much sun-shine will dazle our eyes Too much honey turnes to gall so too much prosperity and ease breeds security and makes us proud or wanton therefore lest our ranck blood should cause some inflamation it pleaseth God our wise and loving Physitian to open a veine to cool us and to keep us in good temper Horses that are full fed and pampered grow many times restif Vessels unused do quickly grow rusty even so our nature would soon contract some evill if the Lord should not now and then take us into affliction 's scouring house The Lord sees that prosperity and immunity from affliction blunts the edge of our devotion cools the fire of our zeal and dulleth our eager pursuit after Heaven and Heavenly things and therefore he afflicts us to prevent these evils as hee took away Jeroboams sonne by death lest if he had lived longer he might have trod in the steps of his wicked father and been tainted with his sinnes It may be the Lord seeth that wee would run into some danger if he should let us alone therefore as he snached Lot out of Sodom lest he should have perished in their flames so he catcheth hold of us by affliction thereby to deliver us from some sinne wee are falling into Therefore whatsoever triall and affliction doth befall thee lay thy hand upon thy mouth murmure not against the Lord but be thankfull unto him and say O Lord thou knowest the distemper of my soul thou knowest how prone I am to sinne and wickednesse and thou who seest things to come as if they were present seest I was inclining to some evill but in mercy hast by this affliction prevented mee keep mee therefore from falling into evill by what means thou pleasest suffer mee not to sin against thee Reason 4 Fourthly the Lord doth afflict us to teach us some good lesson which without affliction hee sees wee shall hardly learn Psal 119.71 It is good for me that I have been afflicted that I might learn thy statutes Corrections are instructions God will have none of his to perish for want of instruction he sendeth his word amongst us to teach us his wayes that so we may walk in his truth Psal 86.11 But outward prosperity so thickens our eare and so hardens our heart that we cannot wee will not heare to our profit Jerem. 22.21 I spake unto thee when thou wast in prosperitie but thou saidst I will not hear this hath been thy manner from thy youth that thou wouldest not obey my voice therefore the Lord openeth the ear of men even by their corrections Job 33.16 For such as will not hear the word shall hear the rod Mica 6.9 Manasses learned that lesson in the school of affliction which could never be taught him in the school of the Prophets 2 Chron. 33.12 In his tribulation he humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers He that was prowd and could set himselfe against the Lord and his truth and all that professed it all the while he was in prosperity and upon his throne when the Lord caused him to be cast in prison and put chaines of iron upon his leggs in stead of a chaine of Gold about his neck hee could then learn to be humble and obedient unto the Lord. Nabuchadnezzar being pulled out of his Babel driven from men to have his dwelling amongst the beasts could at length come to praise extoll magnifie the King of heaven whose works are all truth and able to abase those that walk in pride Dan. 4 34. Our hearts are very hard and sturdy so as the word will not break them untill the Lord by affliction subdues and humbles these hearts of ours making them soft and yeelding so as the word may take some impression in us Hence it is that Solomon tells us Prov. 15.32 Hee that obeyeth correction gets understanding Some say that many and I have found it true in some children after a sicknesse grow both in ripenesse of understanding and in stature of body so it is with the Lords children affliction bringeth them to a better understanding of heaven and heavenly things as Nebuchadnezzar confessed Dan. 4.33 Mine understanding was restored unto me and causeth the inner man to grow more then before It teacheth us to walk in the right way and to keep Gods Word as Psal 119.67 Before I was afflicted I went astray but now I keep thy word What havock did Paul before the Lord met with him make of Christs flock entring into every house hee drew out both men and women and put them into prison Acts. 8.3 And being armed with malice and authority he posteth to Damascus to put in execution his bloody commission but the Lord meets him by the way unhorseth this persecutor strikes him down to the ground and smites him with blindnesse and what followed Paul was now a new man Act. 9.6 He then both trembling and astonied said Lord what wil thou that I do What had become of Paul if affliction had not beene Which of Gods children cannot say as David said It is good for me that I have been afflicted Nay what affliction hath at any time befalne us which wee could have spared Nay let me go a little further is it not best with us when wee are under the rod Would it not be better with us thinke you if the Lord should afflict us more If thou beest the child of God I appeale to thy conscience whether thy case had not been farre worse then now it is if affliction had not been Many are like unto those kind of fishes which seldom or never without much difficulty and labour can be caught but when the water is troubled So before troubles do befall many they cannot be caught
rod or the stick hee cries out hee layes on tongue hee doth with all eagernesse and earnestnesse intreat for pardon or no moe stripes even so when wee feel the smart of Gods rod whipping of us there is an edge set upon our prayers wee pray not in that drowsie and sleepy manner wee did before This appears by that which David speakes Psal 88.9 Mine eye mourneth by reason of affliction Lord I have called upon thee I have stretched out my hands unto thee In their affliction they will seek me diligently saith the Lord. Hos 5.15 You may observe many a dog sleeping in the chimney corner which will not arise when he is spoken unto but if you spill but a drop or two of any scalding liquor upon him he is up and is gone he cries and laies on tongue Thus the Lord by affliction awakens his children so as they call upon him in a more lively manner then formerly they have done If you peruse the Psalmes of David you shall find that very many if not most of them were penned in the time of triall and affliction And the sharper his afflictions were the more fervent and earnest were his petitions unto the Lord Out of the depths have I cryed Psal 130.1 The lower hee was brought by affliction the higher was he in prayer crying out unto the Lord. Thus was it with his forefathers in the dayes of the Judges the greater their danger was the more instant and earnest were they in prayer unto the Lord. To give you one instance The children of Israel were sore troubled and vexed by the Ammonites whereupon they cryed unto the Lord for help but the Lord gave them a cold answere saying unto them Ye have forsaken me and served other Gods wherefore I will deliver you no more Goe and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen let them save you in the time of your tribulation Judges 10.13 14. Whereupon they confessed their sinnes made hast to put away their strange gods from among them then they will lay on tongue unto the Lord beseeching him that he would do unto them whatsoever he pleased Onely wee pray thee deliver us this day Judg. 10.15 Thus I have made it evident that afflictions are very needfull to drive us unto the Lord in prayer yea to make us amend our pace to double both our diligence and our fervency in prayer Therefore If any be afflicted let him pray Wee highly dishonor God and wrong our selves if wee seek not unto the Lord in our troubles Call upon me in the day of trouble so will I deliver thee and thou shalt glorifie me Psal 50.15 Wee must make our afflictions our arguments to move God to deliver us as David did Psal 25.16 Turn thy face unto mee and haue mercy upon me for I am desolate and poore Reas 11 Eleventhly the Lord doth thus afflict his deare children to make them conformable unto Christ who though he were without sinne yet was he not without affliction If then affliction be a meanes of purging out sinne and refining of us as formerly we have heard then it is needfull wee be afflicted that wee may be made more like unto Christ both in sufferings and in righteousnesse The life of the crosse is the life of light Christ was the light of the world and his life was in a sort a continuall crosse Was it thus in the green tree and shall it not be so in the dry was the head thus continually exercised and should the body go free especially when all the sufferings of Christ were for our sake either suffering for us or to teach us patience by his example or to sanctifie our afflictions unto us God will have all his elect to be made like to the image of his Sonne Rom. 8.29 Not onely in holinesse and obedience but also in sufferings Wee must know the fellowship of his afflictions and be made conformable unto his death Phil. 3.10 Not any that shall reigne with Christ can be exempted or priviledged from suffering with him If any man will follow me let him denie himselfe and take up his crosse daily and follow me Luke 9.23 Yea the dearer and nearer unto him wee be in love the more conformable must wee expect to be made unto him in-affliction For the bearing of the crosse is a part of our tenure or holding of Christ himselfe as may be gathered out of that place last quoted Luk. 9. Christ himselfe held by this tenure Luke 24.26 Ought not Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into his glory And as any of Gods children have obtained a more evident right and cleare title unto this inheritance or as any hereafter shall obtain therein a greater portion of glory then other by so much the more strictly are they tied and bound to observe the custom of the Mannor For God hath predestinated us as I said even now to bee made like to the image of his Sonne first in his sufferings then in his glory for we an heires annexed with Christ if so be that we suffer with him that we may be also glorified with him Rom. 8.17 The end of the Lord his hewing and squaring of us by affliction is to make us lively stones of that spirituall house 1. Pet. 2.5 so that we may be joyned with Christ the chiefe corner stone 1. Pet. 2.6 unto whom wee be made conformable by affliction And againe 2. Tim. 2.12 If we suffer wee shall also reign with him Hence it is that James saith chap. 1.12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation for when he is tryed he shall receive the crown of life which the Lord bath promised to them that love him Therefore such as go without correction whereof all the Lords people are partakers cannot be conformable unto Christ for hee was consecrated through afflictions Hebr. 2.10 Hee was a man full of sorrows and had experience of infirmities Esa 53.3 He was in all things tempted as we are that so hee might both have a feeling of our infirmities and also succour us in them for in that hee suffered and was tempted hee is able to succour them that are tempted Hebr. 2.18 Reas 12 Lastly not to keep you any longer in laying down of moe reasons the Lord doth afflict his children in this life that they may not perish in another life When wee are judged wee are chastened of the Lord because wee should not be condemned with the world 1. Corin. 11.32 Prosperity immunity and freedom from afflictions ease liberty and fulnes is the broad way which leadeth to death and condemnation Hence it is that our blessed Saviour hath pronounced woe to those that are rich woe to those that live in fulnesse woe to those that live merriy c. Luke 6.24 25. Now because Gods children doe naturaly linger after these earthly delights and comforts the Lord in great mercy doth hedge up our wayes with thornes Hos 2.6 Hee will have us to
and safety Who can say that Abrahams heart at the first smote him not for this evill Yet it is evident that hee fell into the same sinne againe Hee that peruseth the book of the Judges shall find Israel fallen into idolatry and upon correction humbled and penitent and yet afterwards againe and again fallen into the same wickednesse they had formerly repented of Was not Jonas thinke you thorrowly humbled for his sinne of stubbornnesse and disobedience when hee felt the smart of it in the Whales belly yet for all this when he saw the Lord so mercifull as to spare Ninivie upon her humiliation and repentance how angry was he with God justifying his former sinne which in effect and before God was all one to have committed the same sinne againe yet the Lord forgave these and received them againe to mercie Doth not the Lord enjoyne us to forgive our brother offending us daily even unto Seventy times seven times if hee repent Matth. 18.22 And will the Lord enjoyn us that act of mercie and compassion wherein himselfe will not be exemplar unto us Is there any drop of pittie or kindnesse in us which comes not out of that bottomlesse sea of love and mercie in the Lord if wee must forgive our brother so many times in the day no doubt but the Lord in whom is the fulnesse of goodnesse and compassion will receive humbled sinners as often as they returne unto him There is no sinne but blasphemie against the holy Ghost which upon repentance shall not be pardoned If residnation and relapsing into the same sinne may bee repented of questionlesse it may it shall be pardoned at Gods hand And whereas some may think that true grace will preserve any from falling into the same sinne againe whereof hee hath formerly repented it is a fond error for if the Lord leave any unto themselves they will be as ready nay more ready to fall into the old sin then into a new the disposition and naturall temper being more inclinable to that evill then any other and Satan knowing which way the poore sinner hath been most foiled will that way most strongly againe assault him It is therefore a binding of the Lords hands a confining and limiting of his boundlesse mercie and compassion yea an undervalewing of the all-sufficiencie of Christ his merit and passion to say that relapsing into former sinnes is a thing unpardonable or that a person so offending was never in the state of grace or can be a true member of the Lord Christ The covenant of grace excludes none but impenitent and unbeleeving persons Truth it is that the burnt child dreads the fire and it is not an ordinary thing for the childe of God in the state of grace to fall back againe to his old byas but that it is not possible for him it God leave him so to fall or that true grace will not admit of any such falls is more then can be warranted or proved by the Word of God I speak not this God knowes to countenance or bolster any in their sinne but partly to magnifie the boundlesse and unlimited patience and mercy of our good God and partly to underlay and comfort that poore afflicted soul wounded conscience who through his owne pride selfe confidence or securitie and Satans pollicie hath been againe intangled in that snare out of which by former repentance hee hath been delivered This is the childrens bread it belongs not unto dogs Impudent and impenitent sinners can claim no interest in this comfort it is baulme to heale onely wounded consciences whom I would not have to be so strongly deluded by satan as to be beat off from repentance and the throne of grace or to think that they never had any true grace or that their former repentance was ever sound because old sores are againe broke out in them they have relapsed into old sinnes The worke of grace doth not wholly take away all sinne nor free us from it but only weakens it and workes the heart to a hatred and detestation of it And know that if thy sinne when thou wert Gods enemie could not prevent his love much lesse shall it now thou art reconciled Object But by my relapsing I have made the Lord such a gracelesse requitall of his former love and kindnesse as I know not how to look him in the face againe yea I begin to feare I shall never againe recover that which I have so wretchedly lost Answ I pitie thee Doth thy heart faint hath thy faith lost its former feeling or working in thee dost thou now behold Gods angry countenance bent against thee hath the Lord as thou concievest set thee up as a spectacle for men and Angels to wonder at throw thy self prosttate at Gods feet let not thy soul leave cleaving to the dust never leave knocking at the dore of his goodnesse and compassion intreat him to look upon thee a poore confounded wretch beseech him to behold thee in the face of Christ tell him here lyes a miserable caitiffe a forlorn creature a wounded and forsaken sinner one that resolves to lye and dye at his feet one that will set down at the threshold of his tender mercyes and never depart without some almes some crums of mercy to revive and refresh thy languishing soul withall and my life for thine in due time the Lord will satiate thy heart with comfortable tydings from Heaven of his reconciliation and of the pardon and forgivenesse of all thy sinnes Object There were some hope if I had not gon on so long in my sinne as I have done there was a time I am perswaded when I was capable of mercy but that time I feare is gon and past Gods mercy is out of date with me and therefore I am undone for ever Answ No no the Lord waites that he may have mercy upon thee and therefore will he be exalted that he may have compassion upon you Isa 30.18 The Lord hath proclamed himself to be abundant in goodnesse reserving mercy for thousands Exod. 34.6 7. Hee hath mercy in store for thee as well as for others if thou canst truly repent thee of thy former wickednesse The Lord forgiveth iniquity transgression and sinne Ez. 34.7 It would highly derogate from the Lords power from his all-sufficiencie and boundlesse goodnesse and mercy it he should not forgive capitall and foul sinnes as well as petty and small sinnes Consider what the Lord hath promised Ezek. 18.21 22. None of all his transgressions shall be mentioned And againe verse 23. Hath the Lord any desire thou shouldest perish or shalt thou not live if thou returne from thine owne wayes It is not any sinne but the love of sinne and the going on in sinne that seperates betwixt God and a poore sinner Now then cheer up thy drooping spirits stand it out no longer against the Lord and his goodnesse lay downe not only thy weapons of disobedience but also all carnall reasonings captivate thy will
That the end of Gods afflicting of us is the bettering of us When as by affliction hee brings us to a thorow knowledge and understanding of our selves to judge aright of the nature of sinne and so to come to abhorre and detest it and last of all by affliction wee are brought to feare the Lord. Not that afflictions of themselves do work this good in any for they only make the wound they do not heal they only cast us down but cannot raise us up againe they are as a Schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ they bring not Christ into the heart of a sinner It prepares the heart and makes a way for good it is only the spirit of God working with the Word and helping us to apply the same aright unto our selves which is the efficient cause of all good that betideth us yet because the Lord doth work good by affliction that thing is figuratively applyed unto affliction which is the proper worke of Gods Spirit in the hearts of his children Vse Is it so that the chiefe end of the Lords afflicting of us is the bettering of us Then are the Romanists grosly mistaken who say that God hath another end in correcting of us and that is say the Papists for the punishment of our sinnes and the satisfying of Gods Justice All sinne doth deserve a double punishment both temporall and eternall This latter say they Christ hath undergone for all his members but the former the temporall punishment lyeth upon our necks and must be undergone by us as a satisfaction to be made of our parts to the Justice of God And for proofe hereof they alledge the example of David who howsoever hee was received into mercie upon his humiliation and contrition and so freed from eternall punishment yet was hee not quit of that satisfaction which he was in his own person to make unto God for his offences therefore did hee say they indure temporal punishments A foul and a grose error and that which doth not only derogate from the all-sufficiencie of Christ his merrit and satisfaction for with one offering hath hee consecrated for ever them that are sanctified Hebrewes 10.24 But it also takes much from the goodnesse of God his love and mercie is wonderfully clouded eclipsed by their doctrine For whereas the Lord telleth us that hee doth afflict us in great love for the bettering of us for the beating of sinne down in us and driving it away from us they say that God correcteth us for the punishment of sinne in us and the satisfying of his justice Away therefore with their blasphemous doctrine and beleeve wee the Word of truth and be wee assured that our afflictions are rather furtherances of sanctification then any helps or means of satisfaction administred unto us rather as medicines and preservatives to help us then as swordes to wound or hurt us For the Lord in afflicting of us seeks us not himselfe alone and rather the bettering of us then the satisfying of his own minde for hee goeth unwillingly to punish Lam. 3.33 And yet how ready are wee to turn the truth of God into a lie wee are ready to think that the Lord doth punish us to ease his mind of us and that wee suffer to satisfie Truth it is that the Lord doth punish the wicked his enemies to ease himselfe and to be avenged of them Esay 1.24 But hee hath other ends as we have heard in afflicting his children therefore wee may not say by our temporall punishments wee are any way able fully to satisfie the justice of God for one sinne If this debt had not been discharged by Christ our surety wee should be cast into prison wee should perish everlastingly Vse 2 Therefore hold wee this as an undoubted truth that God may forgive us our sins yet here punish our persons not to exact any satisfaction of us as if Christ his satisfaction were insufficient and wee reconciled unto God by halves but to make us better for time to come Secondly if the end of Gods correcting us bee the bettering of us wee may take notice of our perverse and crooked nature and temper with whom gentle and faire means that is the Word of God and benefits bestowed upon us cannot prevail but that the Lord must bee forced to take this tart and unpleasing course with us namely correcting us for our amendment The Lord as hee proclames himselfe is a father of mercies slow to anger and of great patience long in his long-suffering one that delights not in our griefes but is rather grieved for our miseries Judges 10.16 and his bowels are troubled for us Jeremie 31.20 Object If the Lord were so unwilling to punish his children and so grieved for their sorrow and miserie as the Scripture telleth us why doth hee not which if it please him he might spare himselfe that labor and us those paines hee putteth us unto Answ His love and your good constraineth him so to deal with you Suppose thou hadst a childe that had broken his leg what course wouldst thou take with him for the helping and healing of him wouldst thou not bind him hand and foot tye him down to some place or other c Thy childe it may be cries out good father let me alone you hurt me c. Wouldst thou give over because of his cry Dost thou not rather cry with him to consider what paine thou art constrained to put him unto Wouldest thou not tell him O childe I may not let thee alone for then thou wilt be lame for ever yet still thy childe renews his cries good father if you love me let me alone Wouldst thou not reply againe O childe because I love thee I cannot let shee alone for then thou wert spoil'd for ever Even thus dealeth the Lord with us it is for our good and in love that hee doth any way chasten us this course hee must take with us unlesse hee should suffer us to perish which thing his love will not give him leave to do He smites us with the rod that wee die not and that our soules may bee delivered from hell Proverbes 23.13.14 Oh the wickednesse of our hearts and the rebellion of our wils that wee must bee thus hampered and handled before we can be bettered We may see and confesse if wee were not blind and hardned that corruption is deeply setled in us in that such sharp physick such bitter and unpleasing potions must be administred and that again and again unto us before we can be cleansed from that filthinesse of the flesh and spirit which is innated and setled in us Vse 3 In the third place wee are to be admonished from hence to profit by those light and gentle afflictions wherewith it shall please the Lord to exercise us For if little ones will not serve the turn to reclaim us greater shall bruise if not breake us If we shal dare to walke stubbornly against the Lord Then will he
were increased I have done these things unto thee Thus visiting even the best of his children with the rods of men yea and sometimes scourging their transgressions with whips of scorpions which hath made them roar through anguish and to cry night and day through extremity of gtiefe For if a man will sinne God will yea must punish unlesse hee should let us perish for hee that spareth the rod hateth his sonne but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes Prov. 13.24 Bee not therefore ventrous in sinning Though Israel transgresse yet let not Judah sinne Hos 4.15 The Lord hateth sinne wheresoever hee sees it and will sooner punish it in his deare children then in the wicked although hee will not do it with that rigor wrath and severitie wherewith hee plagues the wicked They are the people by whom his name is called upon of his houshold his servants friends sonnes yea his beloved spouse and therefore do not only shame themselves by sinning but highly dishonour God their Lord their father The lewd prankes which rogues commit in streets or vagrant persons by high-way sides do not redound to the reproach of the housholder but if any of his family especially son or daughter do grow outragious hee thinkes his credit is neerly touched and it is a matter which much concerns him to look unto Even so the prophane and licentious lives of open and notorious sinners do not so much dishonor God therefore many times he lets them have their swinge and take their course but if such as make profession of piety and truth will be bold with sinne whereby the mouthes of the wicked are opened and the name of God blasphemed the Lord if he love such and purpose to save them will not suffer them to go unpunished For as the Lord is zealous of maintaining his own glory and will have it known to men and Angels that he is no patron of sinne or sinners but will punish the wicked sinning be they never so great neither will he give alowance unto iniquitie in the godly be they never so good so also is he tender of the good of his children and therefore must not suffer them to go on in sinne which they would do if the Lord should nor restrain them being so ready to cast themselves into perils if they be but a while exempted from affliction Therefore let none of Gods children say I am safe and farre enough from correction because sure of salvation If thou beest bold with sinne thou maiest fall into sore affliction in this life though thou beest in a state of happinesse for the life to come As appeareth by old Eli whose sonnes wickednesse which hee connived at when as he should have sharply punished it was in the eye and mouth of all Israel so that Gods glory should have been much wronged and his name as much blasphemed as his offerings were abhorred if they had escaped unpunished No doubt but Eli repented him of his sinne but this might not quit him from temporall judgement The chastisements of the Almightie are many times deadly though the sinne be remitted by which the Lord was provoked God had said that the wickednesse of Elies house should not be purged with sacrifice for ever 1. Sam. 3.14 Repentance doth not alwayes free us from outward afflictions Freedom from damnation doth not free a man from affliction What punishment unlesse it bee eternall torments in hell fire can any of Gods children think to escape unlesse he will forbeare such sinnes as provoke the Lord to wrath against him David was as far from damnation if wee consider Gods purpose and decree as the devill is from salvation yet you have heard how his afflictions made him roare and roare againe Obje If it be thus that upon every sinne the Lord is thus ready to afflict his children may bee demanded what priviledg the godly have more then the wicked or what difference there is betwixt them seeing the one must be corrected and punished as well if not before or more then the wicked if they do sinne Answer Surely the child of God hath no more rather lesse liberty and priviledge to sin then the wicked Yet there is a great deal of difference in their afflictions For though all things fall alike to both in respect of the evills themselves as the childe of God may perish through famine fall by the sword die of the pestilence c. Yet in respect of the effects and ends of these outward evills there is great difference betwixt them For their nature is much altered and there is as much difference betwixt the afflictions of the Godly and the wicked as is betwixt poison corrected and rectified by the arte and skill of the Physitian that so it may be medicinable and wholsome and that poison which remains in its naturall temper The Lord in afflicting his children doth it with a father-like heart and hand in mildnesse and mercy to amend and better them Whereas hee correcteth the wicked with the rod of his wtath in justice and severity to plague and torment them The wicked shall be cast away for bis malice but the righteous hath hope in his death Pro. 14.32 In respect of the wicked the Prophet Nahum 1.2 speaks thus God is jealous and the Lord revengeth even the Lord of anger the Lord will take vengeance on his adversaries and he reserveth wrath for his enemies Loe here is anger wrath and vengeance belonging to the wicked Whereas in respect of the godly Mica 7.18 19. speakes thus He taketh away iniquitie and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage Hee retaineth not his wrath for ever because mercy pleaseth him Hee will turn againe and have compassion upon us hee will subdue our iniquities and cast all our sinnes into the bottom of the sea By which places it appeares that afflictions are nothing but the messengers of Gods wrath the rods of his indignation the arrows of his vengeance to plague and punish the wicked for their sinnes and to give them an earnest and taste of those endlesse torments which they have purchased by their wickednes Whence ariseth in them feare and terror horror of conscience rage and desperation Whereas to his children afflictions are tokens of the tender and father-like care the Lord hath of them they are cords of his love to draw them neerer unto him Yea they be badges of their adoption For whom the Lord loveth hee chasteneth and scourgeth every sonne that hee receiveth Hebr. 12.6 And this bringeth forth the quiet fruit of righteousnesse to them that are thereby exercised Again the Lord takes pleasure in avenging the wickednesse of the wicked upon their own pates I will ease me of mine adversaries and avenge me of mine enemies Esay 1.24 And not only so but I will laugh at their destruction and mock when their fear commeth Prov. 1.26 Whereas it is a grief unto him to afflict his people His soul was grieved for the
thought of them Then feare not they shall not be layd to thy charge Assure thy selfe those sighes and groans which proceed from thy perplexed soul shall find so much grace and favor with God as they shall be able to prevaile with him for that blessing thou hast begd and standst in need of And although thou canst not pray as thou wouldst yet sigh and groane as thou shouldst and hee which knowes the secrets of all hearts will be able to understand the meaning of thy sighs and groans of the spirit within thee which doth plead and speak to God for thee Object But I feare the Lord doth abominate my sacrifice and service as loathsome hee may cast it as dung in my face and lay some judgement upon mee for offering up such a strange sacrifice unto him Answ If God hath given thee a heart to mourne for sinne he hath made thee able to offer him such a sacrifice as hee is well pleased with and therefore he can not but accept of thy person whatsoever thy failings have been Thy grieved soul and sorrowfull spirit is a sacrifice which casts a sweet savor in the Lords nostrills Psalm 51.17 And would God accept of thy sacrifice if hee had rejected thee No no assure thy selfe that God hath accepted of thy person if hee accepts of thy sacrifice The Lord had 〈…〉 and to his offering Gâ—â—e 4.4 The melting of thy soul and the kindly mourning over him whom thou hast pierced with thy sinne is a most infallible evidence of Gods love towards thee and of the saving presence of his holy Spirit abiding in thee Therefore let thy spirit rejoyce in that thou art able to mourne for sinne Those teares which proceed from a grieved soul and wounded spirit may be compared unto Aprill showers which bring on May-flowers although these showers wet where they fall Yet through the heat of the Sunne working with them they produce a great deale of sweetnesse in those plants and hearbs which they fall upon There is abundance of joy in all godly sorrow As the harvest is potentially in the seed so the harvest of true and sound joy growes out of this seed of sorrow Psalm 126.5 They that sow in teares shall reap in joy Why is thy soul then so troubled within thee why art thou still so sad so heavie and dejected Object Howsoever I grieve and mourn yet I can not beleeve that there is any truth of grace in mee in that I am not so fruitfull and profitable in my place and calling as I should and faine would bee I am a barren fruitlesse tree one that cumbers the earth fit for nothing but the fire Answ But is it not with thee as it fareth with some covetous earthly gripple-minded persons which spend their time in scraping and raking together these outward things pinch their bodies and are ever and anon whining and complaining that they have nothing when as their chests are full of good linnen their houses stored and stuffed full of utensills and their purse full of money but being blinded with the love of the world think they have nothing because they have not so much as their covetous eye would look over and therefore do neither thankfully acknowledge what they have received nor profitably improve any thing they do enjoy either to Gods glory their own comfort or others good Even so many afflicted souls being overladen with anguish of mind and deluded by Satan oft times complaine of the want of grace in the midst of plentie not seeing as the saying is wood for trees and thus do bely both God and themselves And it is just with the Lord somtimes to hold his children down with feares and doubtings because they have not been sufficiently thankfull to God for that rich grace they have received from him Our unthankfulnesse is not only as a great fogg and mist which doth exceedingly obscure and darken the grace of God in his children but is also as a worme or canker which eats into the sap and heart of grace so as it thrives not nor fructifies as otherwise it would do But such as are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God Psalm 92.13 Doth not the Prophet Jeremiah also tell us that those that trust in the Lord and whose hope the Lord is shall be as a tree planted by the water which spreadeth out her roots shall not care for the yeere of drought neither shall cease from yeelding fruit Jere. 17.8 Answ And is not this good fruit to bemoane thy barrennesse Admit that for the present thou dost not increase thy spirituall stock as thou desirest thou dost not perceive grace to thrive and grow in thee as thou dost behold it in others must it needs follow that thou are therefore utterly destitute and void of grace A man whiles hee is asleep makes no use of many good things hee hath a hand benummed with cold feels not that which it holds fast It may so fall out that grace may be somthing chilled in thee doth it therefore follow that it is quite killed in thee Thou must learn to put a difference betwixt no grace and grace some way infeebled for the present It fares with grace in the hearts of many of Gods children as it doth with the Moon somtimes in the full and somtimes in the wain or as with the Sea which somtimes flowes and sometimes ebbs even so through Satans malice and our own frailtie grace may seem somtime to ebbe in us and then no wonder if the heart be deaded and out inward peace disturbed through feares and doubtings Assure thy selfe this off and on this up and down this heat and cold ariseth from those principles of grace and corruption abiding in all the Lords people Corruption somtimes prevailes and this royles and troubles these living waters within us and makes them thick and muddy so as little good appeares in us but anon when the wind of the spirit blowes againe with its holy blast it cleanseth and refineth these troubled waters whose cleernesse may again be seen and whose goodnesse may be tasted Object But my case is worse then ordinary for I have returned with the dogge to lick up my old vomit after repenting and cleansing yea covenanting with God for ever to renounce and abandon my former sinnes I have with the swine wallowed in the old mire of filthinesse and therefore I cannot think that ever grace was in truth begun in mee Answ If it be so thy case is the more lamentable and fearefull but yet it is not desperate For divers of the Lords people many worthie ones have relapsed have fallen back unto old sinnes and yet by the goodnesse and mercie of God have recovered themselves againe and gained the love and favor of God Did not Abraham sinne the matter of Sarah his wife hazarding her chastitie by a poore plot yea a sinfull pollicie exposing his wife to adultrey for his own outward peace
unto Gods will and then whatsoever thy sinns have been whatsoever thy tentations distractions feares or doubtings be if thou wilt beleeve the Lord will graciously accept of thee for his sonns sake The Lord stands not upon thy sinns nor thy unworthynesse as I have formerly said he bids thee beleeve therefore tho thou beest unworthy of Gods favor and mercy yea beleeve because God commands thee and he is worthy to be obeyed By beleeving Christ and his righteousnesse become thine and having Christ neither sin nor the law shall be able to hurt thee for faith reprives us from the law and puts us under grace Therefore beleeve else never looke to have any sound joy or true peace to thy soul the heart is filled with joy and peace in beleeving Rom. 15.13 Where there is doubting of Gods love or our own salvation there can bee neither joy nor peace but anxiety trouble vexation and griefe Faith pacifies and quiets all For being justified by faith we have peace towards God through our Lord Jesus Christ and rejoyce under the bope of the glory of God neither do we so onely but also we rejoyce in tribulations Rom. 5.1 2 3. True faith tho never so little is able to keepe thy soul from sinking under any affliction be it never so great or grievous When Peter was strong in faith he could cast himself into the Sea but his heart and faith failing he began to sink little and weak faith will be able to keep us from drowning but not from beginning to sink When Peters faith was weakest Christ was nearest at hand to helpe him Christ who never did nor will reject the weakest beleever put forth his hand and saved Peter but yet withall reproved him for doubting O thou of little faith wherefore didst thou doubt Mat. 14.31 Doubt not therefore but beleeve And be perswaded that if the Lord intended not to shew mercy unto thee he would never haue given thee an eye to see thy sinnes a heart to grieve and mourn for them or a tongue to desire the pardon and forgivenesse of them Therefore assure thy selfe that a grieved spirit a sorrowfull heart a wounded conscience is no sure argument of a forlorn condition or of the want of the love of God Vse 2 Againe is it so is this the best way for us to bee patient and cheerfull in affliction to bee perswaded of Gods love Labor wee then to get our hearts setled in this perswasion and thou shalt finde the anguish of thy affliction much alaied thou shalt feel the smart of it much abated Holy Job was brought to a low and pittyfull condition when he desired to he let alone whiles he might swallow his spittle Job 7.19 Yet even then Job wondred at the goodnesse and favor of God that he would think him worthy the melting and trying What is man that thou dost magnifie him and that thou settest thine heart upon him And dost visit him every morning and triest him every moment Job 7.17 18. Being then undoubtedly perswaded that when God comes neer thee with affliction he is neer thee in affection that when he corrects thee he loves thee for until the heart of man be thorowly perswaded hereof hee shall never take comfort in nor pick any good out of his affliction Imagine with me a man who hath every day his full feed of the best and what outward comfort he will call for what true content can hee take in these things when hee knows that hee is under the displeasure of his Prince and so in danger every day of being cast into prison whereas if through the rage and malice of some of his enemies hee were cast into prison if he were perswaded of the Kings love hee would rest contented knowing and beleeving that the King will honor him for his reproach and ere it be long set him free againe Even so it is with every one that is perswaded of Gods love in his affliction Therefore as at all times so especially in the time of affliction Gods children should live by faith Affliction is like to do us little good if it be not tempered with faith As that meate which we take into our stomack concocteth not if the native heat be defective and wanting even so that affliction which is administred unto us will profit us little if faith be wanting unto us Faith stilleth the heart even in our sorest and greatest afflictions perswading us of Gods love in correcting us and that the Lord intendeth our great good by this affliction which lyeth upon us the love and care which parents have of their childrens good and wellfare doth not wholy consist in providing of meat drink and apparel for them but partly in correcting of them for their good and partly in providing of physick for them when they are any way distempered Even so almighty God our mercifull and loving father doth no lesse love us when he corrects afflicts us which as you have heard is the physicking of our soules then when he provideth outward necessaries for us and this faith doth perswade the heart of For faith judgeth not of things by sense or outward appearance but as the truth is in Jesus Christ justifying the Lord in all his waies alway magnifying the wise and holy proceedings of our good God as the only best and most profitable for us It is only the apprehension of some losse the feare of some evill or the sense of Gods wrath and displeasure in our affliction which makes the heart so sad and the spirits so lumpish in the time of affliction then set thy faith on work and it will blow over all these clouds it will answer all carnall doubts and reasonings and so settle the heart in a constant perswasion of Gods love that we shall rejoyce and be thankfull for our afflictions because we know and beleeve that God in afflicting of us loves us And to put the matter out of all doubting I will lay down a few but sure and certain evidences of Gods love in correcting of us Dost thou desire to know whether God in afflicting of thee loveth thee whether his stripes bee the blowes of an enemy or the chastisement of a loving father thou mayest know it by these tokens First when God gives thee a heart to be contented and a minde to be willing to beare whatsoever he shall lay upon thee and to want whatsoever thou seest the Lord is not willing thou shouldst injoy Hee that doth not rest content with the love and favor of God in the want of outward yea the best of outward things doth not rightly prize the love of God in that the want of other things doth more affect him and take up his minde then the consideration of Gods love and he more discontented in the missing of the one then contented with the possession of the other He that cannot be content to part with any earthly benefit when God shall call for it it is to
walk stubbornly againist us and he will also chastise us seven times more accordng to our sinnes Lev. 26.28 If lighter afflictions wil not serve the turn greater shall The Lord came to Ephraim first like a moth Hos 5.18 you know that a moth though it be a noxious and hurtfull creature yet if it bee looked unto betimes the harme is little which it doth and the breach or hole which it maketh may easily be darned up again Thus dealt the Lord at first with Ephraim hee did favorably and gently afflict them but this salve was not strong enough to take down their proud flesh yet would not Ephraim bee healed nor cured of her wound Therfore saies the Lord I will be unto Ephraim as a Lyon Hos 5.13 14 A Lyon we know rents teares where he comes so the Lord when gentle meanes will not serve the turne comes like a Lyon with tearing and devouring judgments God when he see good to exercise his power will make the proudest Pharoah the stoutest sinner to stoop and yeeld else he will not spare to follow them with one judgment upon the neck of another All these curses shall come upon thee and shall pursue thee and overtak◠thee till thou be destroied Deu. 28.45 Consider what is spoken by the Prophet Nahum 1.9 What do ye imagine against the Lord he will make an utter destruction affliction shall not rise up the second time The Lord tarrieth long before he comes to smite his enemies he forbeareth much but when his patience is abused then he oft times gives a deady blow The spirit of the Lord did a long time strive with man in the daies of Noah but when their sinnes began to bee multiplied against the patience and long suffering of the Lord When the Lord savv that the vvickednesse of man vvas great in the earth and that al the imaginatiō of the thoughts of his heart vvere onely evill continually Gens 6.5 Then the Lord could beare with them no longer then the Lord comes with his sweeping judgment destroying from the earth the man vvhom he had created from man to beast to the creeping thing and to the sowle of the heaven vers 7. The Lord suffered Sodom Gomorrah so long that the cry of their sins did ring up to heaven but at length the Lord was even with them and paied them home for all their wickednes destroying them with fire and brimston from heaven Many other such like examples might be brought to shew how the Lord comes out against sinners at last with sweeping and devouring judgements if they will not take warning by lesser ones The history of the Jevvs a people sometime as deare unto God as the apple of his eye and as neere unto him as the signet on his right hand doth plainly teach us how severely the Lord at last deales with stiffe obstinate and impenitent sinners The favors the benefits which God bestowed upon them the priviledges which they injoyed were above all the nations of the world yet for all this did they above all other people provoke the Lord to anger against them They mocked the messenger of God they despised his Word and misused his Prophets untill the vvrath of the Lord rose against them and there vvas no remedy 2. Chron. 16.26 They did not onely kill the Prophets and stone those that were sent unto them but they crucified the Lord of life Acts 3.15 Yea and preferred a murderer before him provoking the Lord so long as hee could endure them no more and therefore hee sends against them Titus the son of Vespatian the Roman Emperour who besiged and sacked the City of Jerusalem and made such havock of the people as is most lamentable to heare of It is reported that they were besiged so long as many thousands of them perished through the famine and many of them isuing forth in hope either to escape or to finde mercy with their enemies were most cruelly hanged upon crosses and gibbets set up before their walls 500. of them somtimes hanged in one day so long untill there was no more space left unto them for execution The number of dead carcases carried out of the Citie for want of buriall to be cast into the ditches if wee will credit histories was numberlesse for at one of their gates the keeper thereof took the the tale of one hundred and fifty thousand dead bodies Nay through the exttemity of famine they were driven to eate their old shooes the dung of their stables and the fruit of their own loynes And after all this thousands of them murdered by the sword and many moe thousands carried into captivity to be a spectacle to all succeeding ages of Gods indignation and wrath against them And these things are recorded for our good that wee may not dare to stand it our against the Lord but speedily to amend upon the first warning and blow given us else the Lord will not give over but come with seven times more and greater judgemenes against us If wee belong unto the Lord hee will never leave afflicting till wee cease provoking him If wee be beloved of God hee will still follow us with correction till wee fall to unfained and sound humiliation repentance For we shall never be able to overcome the Lord and make him give over by our stubbornnesse and resisting his blow but by falling down and yeelding unto him The sturdy oke is rent and torne in pieces by the tempest when poore and weak reeds stand still by yeelding and bowing There is no standing out against the Lord no resisting by force of armes what is a silly sheep to grapple with a Lion The sooner wee yeeld and turn from our evill wayes the readier will the Lord be to repent him of that evill which otherwise hee will surely bring upon us Thou that by the Word of God and by loving and gentle correction canst not be perswaded to leave thy sinne must know that if thou belongest to God hee will never leave following of thee with one affliction upon the neck of another untill hee hath his will of thee What may wee then think of those that are little or nothing at all amended and bettered by any judgements that have befallen them assuredly if they be such as belong to the Lord hee is preparing of sharper Physick for them if they be none of his it may be hee will give them over to their own hearts lust and reserue them unto those eternall and unavoydable torments of the second death Vse 4 Fourthly is it so doth God correct his children for their great good let us then beware of doing them hurt by persecuting those whom the Lord doth smite lest we adde afflict on unto the afflicted and this wee do when wee shall either uncharitably censure or deride and scoffe at those that are afflicted or else in our mindes contemn and scorne them because it pleaseth the Lord in love for their great good to humble