back and that they had cast away the Law There is no fear Isai 5. 24. Psal 36. 1. of God before their eyes Like the unjust Judge who neither feared God nor regarded man We may have cause to Luk. 18. 2. fear such as Abraham said of the Philistins at Gerar Because I thought that Gen. 20 11. 1 Sam. 21. 10 23. 26. the fear of God is not in this place and they will slay me for my wifes sake So David fled for fear of Saul There are many acceptations of fear in Scripture 1. It is taken for natural fear which is a certain natural affection whereby men are stricken by reason of some natural or hurtful evil either true or imagined So Jacob said of his brother Gen. 32. 11. Esau I fear him lest he will come and smite me and the mothers with the children So the City of Jericho feared because of Israel So Peter being on the Josh 2. 9 11. Mat. 14. 30. 28. 4. Sea when he saw the wind boysterous was afraid and cryed out c. This natural fear is in it self neither good nor evil It was in Christ Himself as He was man It becomes evil and sinful Heb. 5. 7. Mark 14. 33. when distrust is mixed with it 2. There is a free voluntary fear and reverence which inferiours shew to their superiours making them careful to obey and loth to offend and that for the Lord's sake Let the wise see Eph. 5. 33. that she reverence her husband but the word in the Original is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that she fear her husband So render to all their due fear to whom fear Rom. 13. ◠belongeth 3. Fear sometimes in Scripture is taken for the thing or danger feared the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me said Job and that which I was Job 3. 25. Prov. 1. 27. afraid of is come unto me When their fear cometh as desolation c. that is when that which they feared cometh c. 4. For the person which is feared In this sence God is called the fear of Isaac So Jacob sware by the fear of his father Isaac that is by God whom Isaac Gen. 31. 42 53. feared a Metonymie 5. Fear in Scripture sometime is taken for an holy affection of the heart awing us and making us loth to displease God by sin in respect of His great goodness and mercies and for a love we bear to righteousness There is mercy Psal 130. 4. with Thee that Thou mayest be feared This is a filial or child-like fear spoken of before The Godly are commanded Job 1. 2. Acts 10. 2. thus to fear and are commended for it so is Job and so Cornelius that they feared God 6. For a terrour in the heart of wicked men fearing God as a Judge being loth to offend Him by sin in regard of His punishments and not from any hatred of wickedness Thus Felix trembled Acts 24. 25. and feared This is servile and slavish fear spoken of also before 7. Fear is taken for the whole worship of God Thou shalt fear the Lord. In every nation he that feareth God and Deut. 6. 13. Acts 10. 35. Prov. 1. 7. Psal 112. 1. 128. 1. worketh righteousness is accepted of Him Blessed is every one that feareth the Lord where is a Synechdoche of the part for the whole For where the fear of God is truly planted there will follow the whole worship of God 8. To think upon dangerous things which breed fear So thine heart shall Isai 33. 18. meditate fear 9. For a great terrour and fear from God which was sent on the hearts of the men of those Cities of the Canaanites that they pursued not after the sons of Gen. 35. 5. Jacob to slay them And the fear of 2 Chr. 17. 10. God was upon those cities round about them c. Thus we see the several significations and acceptations of fear in Scripture and also what the true fear of God is which is whereby we so fear and reverence His holy Majesty and His Word that we take heed by all means of offending so gracious a Father not so much for fear of punishment as out of true love to God Several encouragements out of Scripture to fear God 1. God wisheth it Oh that they would fear Me that it may be Deut. 5. 29. well with them and with their children and for their good alwayes 6. 24. 2. The secret of the Lord is with them Psal 25. 14. that fear Him and He will shew them His Covenant He will teach them 119. 102. 3. There is no want to them that fear Him The young lyons shall lack and Psal 34. 9 10. suffer hunger but they that fear the Lord shall lack no good thing 33. 18 19. Prov. 22. 4. By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches honour and life There is Psal 11 1. 5. 112. 1 2. Prov. 15. 16. Psal 61. 5. a special heritage belongs to those that fear God therefore David said Thou hast given me the heritage of those that fear Thy name That is as these present so also eternal good things which properly belong to God's Children wherein they of the world have no part at all 4. The Lord is nigh them that fear Psal 85. 9. Him And blessed are they to whom the Lord is nigh to hear and help Moses described the happiness of Israel herein and said What nation is there so great Deut. 4. 7. who hath the Lord so nigh unto them as the Lord our God is to us in all things that we call upon Him for Surely His salvation is nigh them that Psal 85. 9. fear Him c. In the fear of the Lord is strong considence Prov. 14. 26. and his children shall have a place of resuge The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting Psal 103. 11 to everlasting on them that fear Him c. He will fulsil the desire of them that 145. 19. fear Him He also will hear their cry and save them For the Lord taketh pleasure in them 147. 11. that fear Him in those that hope in His mercy The fear of the Lord prolongeth days Prov. 10. 27. The fear of the Lord is a fountain of 14. 27. life to depart from the snares of death The fear of the Lord tendeth to life 19. 23. and he that hath it shall be satisfied To you that fear My name shall the Mal. 4. 2. Sun of righteousness arise with healing in His wings c. His mercy is on them that fear him Luk. 1. 50. from generation to generation Who is among you that feareth the Isai 50. 10. Lord that obeyeth the voice of His servant that walketh in darkness and hath no light let him trust in the name of the Lord and stay upon His God
Therefore Christ said Mat. 9. 12. the whole have no need of a Physitian c. As long as men think themselves well they will not seek out to a Physitian though then they may have need enough but when they are stricken with sickness The poor sin-sick Soul grieved and weary with the burden of sin comes to Christ the great Physitian Fear God are the words first read Q. But we read that the fearful c. Rev. 21. 8. Shall be cast into the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone which is the second death A. That is spoken of those that faint in their spiritual combates who through carnal fear shall not dare to make profession of the truth or shall deny it Q. What is that fear of God which is here commanded A. 1. To reverence the Majesty and Power of God so as the chief reason of our fear is not any evil that may come to us but the excellent perfection of God 2. When we do most especially fear the offending of God and displeasing Him 3. When we are affected with fear and trembling by beholding the tokens of God's displeasure So Moses said Psal 90. 11. who knoweth the power of Thy wrath according to Thy fear so is Thy wrath Q. What are the special and principal marks of the true fear of God A. 1. Seriously to flee from all those things which are evil in the eyes of God A wise man feareth and departeth from Prov. 14 16. 14. 6. evil By the fear of the Lord men depart from evil 2. If out of Conscience towards God we abstain from those sins which are hidden from the eyes of men and safe enough in regard of man Thou shalt not curse the deaf nor put a stumbling-block Levit. 19. 14. before the blind but shalt fear thy God I am the Lord Now the deaf cannot hear and the blind cannot see any injury when it is done unto them but the fear of God should deter from it So Joseph though he had the importunities Gen. 39. 9. of his Mistress and the opportunity of secrecy yet the fear of God kept him from committing Adultery 3. If we do not only abstain from sins but also hate them and that because God hates them The fear of the Lord Prov. 8. 13. is to hate evil 4. If we are very careful about this thing that we depart not away from Psal 18. 21. God As David said I have kept the laws of the Lord and have not wickedly departed from my God 5. If we strive not only to abstain from evil but also to do good Eschew 1 Pet. 3. 11. evil and do good seek peace and ensue it Hold fast that which is good abstain 1 Thess 5. 21 22. from all appearance of evil 6. If we fear not men or any other creature so as to deter us from doing our duty Job when he would make a protestation of his uprightness said Did I fear a great multitude or did the Job 31. 34. contempt of families terrifie me that I kept silence c But and if ye suffer for righteousness sake happy are ye and 1 Pet. 3. 14 15. be not afraid of their terrour neither be ye troubled but sanctifie the Lord God in your hearts c. 7. If we use the Name of God and all His holy attributes not lightly but with great reverence These things shew that we truly fear God Thou shalt always fear this glorious and fearful Deut. 28. 58. name The Lord thy God Q. What are the arguments to induce us to the fear of God A. 1. His Almightiness Fear ye not Jer. 5. 22. Me saith the Lord will ye not tremble at My presence which have placed the sand for the bound of thi sea c. Touching Job 37. 23 24. the Almighty we cannot find Him out He is excellent in power and in judgment and in plenty of justice c. Men do therefore fear Him c. 2. Because of His Kingdom The Lord reigneth let the earth tremble Who Psal 99. 1. Jer. 10. 7. would not fear Thee O King of Nations for to Thee only doth it appertain c. I make a decree that men tremble and fear before God for he is the living God and his Kingdom that which shall not be destroyed and his dominion is to the ends Dan. 6. 26. of the earth 3. Because of his powerful governing of all things Isai 25. 1. to 6. 4. Because of His particular and severe judgments against sins My flesh trembleth Psal 119. 120. for fear of thee and I am afraid at Thy judgments The just Lord is in the Habb 3. 1â— middest thereof every morning doth he Zeph. 3. 5. bring his judgments to light he faileth not c. When I heard my belly trembled c. 5. Because of the great and general judgment at the last day If ye call on Eccles 12. 13 14. the Father who without respect of persons judgeth according to every mans work pass the time of your sojourning here 1 Pet. 1. 7. in fear 6. Because of His threatnings and the punishments attending thereupon So God said to good King Josiah because thy heart was tender and thou hast humbled thy self before the Lord when 2 Chron. 34. 27. thou heardest what I spake against this place and against the Inhabitants thereof c. and hast rent thy clothes and wept before Me I have heard thee saith the Lord. So the repentant thief on the Cross said to the other thief Doest not thou Luk. 23. 40. fear God seeing thou art in the same condemnation 7. Because of the benefits and mercies of God there is mercy with thee that Psal 130. 4. 72. 5. thou mayest be feared They shall fear thee as long as the Sun and Moon endure Wicked men say not in their heart Let us now fear the Lord our God that giveth Jer. 5. 24. rain in his season he reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest 8. We should fear the Lord because 2 Pet. 1. 3. of all those great and precious promises He hath made to all those that fear Him But of those we have given plentiful instances before Some Sentences more about the fear of God 1. When a good thing is done out of the fear of punishment and not out of the true fear of God it is not well done 2. Why do we fear man when we are placed in the heart and bosom of God and are sure we can never fall away there-hence 3. The fear of God is an especial antidote and preservative against the fear of man 4. Our present fear of God now will bring us everlasting peace rest and security 5. To fear God truly is to omit or neglect nothing willingly which He commandeth 6. In the wayes of the Lord begin with fear and then we shall come to confidence strength and courage 7. He is a
God hath sifted us fully if we will meekly and patiently depend upon Him and holily and humbly wait till He send deliverance There is a work of patience it must not be an idle patience but a patience working in the use of all lawful means And there is also a perfect work to bear a very heavy burden and a long time and that with patience this doth shew that patience hath had its perfect work Be we patient stablish our hearts for the coming of the Lord draweth Jam. 5. 8. nigh that is not in the general judgment at the last day but in this or that particular mercy or deliverance out of such a streight tryal or affliction Shall not God avenge His own elect which cry day and night unto Him though He bear long with them I tell you saith our Saviour He will avenge Luk. 18. 7 8. them and that speedily that is when God's good time is come Nevertheless when the Son of man shall come shall He find faith on the Earth the meaning is that God oftentimes deferreth such or such a mercy or deliverance until we are even weary of waiting our hope lost our faith even spent and so our extremity God takes for His opportunity then is Gods time to work then mercies will be most sweet then most refreshing Every thing is beautiful in Eccles 3. 11. its time 3. Wait diligently Stir up thy self to take hold on God waiting is no idle posture or sitting still Engage thy Isai 64. 7. Jer. 30. 21. heart to approach unto God Consider that the blessing doth not consist in the removal of an affliction but in the sanctified use of it And therefore blessed is the man whom thou chastenest Psal 94. 12. O Lord and teachest him in thy Law When instruction and correction go together that is a blessed and happy correction Labour therefore for a sanctified use of every affliction to be purged and purified thereby Give aâ— â— Pet. 1. 10. diligence to make thy calling and election sure Keep thy heart with all diligence Prov. 4. 23. Heb. 6. 12. And shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end Looking Heb. 12. 15. diligently lest we fail of the Grace of God So let us be diligent in our waiting that we may be found of God in peace 2 Pet. 3. 14. without spot and blameless I wait for the Lord my Soul doth Psal 130. 5. wait and in His word do I hope God will have us to wait until He come and rain righteousness upon us Oh how Hos 10. 12. doth our blessed Saviour wait upon us standing at the door of our hearts and knocking saying Open to Me My Sister Rev. 3. 20. My love My dove My undefiled Cant. 5. 2. and so woes us for to let Him come into our hearts and we wickedly shut the door of our hearts against Him and refuse His offers of Grace and Mercy and put Him off with delays yet He stands still and knocks and waits till His head is filled with dew and His locks with the drops of the night And He hath sent forth His Ministers also to wooe for Him and to pray us in 2 Cor. 5. 20. Christs stead that we would be reconciled unto God We know not how long God may wait for us Now is the acceptable 2 Cor. 6. 2. Heb. 3. 7. time now is the day of salvation Hear while it is called to day Lay hold on Grace while it is offered And strike while the iron is hot Remember Jerusalems case how our Saviour wept over it spake and wept wept and spake O Jerusalem Jerusalem how often would Luke 19. 41. to 44. I have gathered thy children together as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings I would but thou wouldst not therefore desolation misery and confusion followed God waited 120 years for the repentance and conversion of the old world 40 days for Nineveh God waiteth for Gen. 6. 3. Jonah 3. 4. Ezek. 18. 21. 2 Pet. 3. 9. Rom. 2. 4. poor sinners not willing that any should perish but that all should repent and live Yet they despise the riches of His goodness forbearance and long-suffering not knowing that the forbearance of God should move them to repentance If we hear not while it is called to day but Heb. 3. 8. Prov. 14. 9. Prov. 23. 32. harden our hearts through unbelief and like fools make a mock of sin at length it will sting like a serpent and bite like an adder God hath His appointed time when he will wait no longer As Solomon spake of temporal things so do I of spirituals and things of everlasting concernment Man most men know not Eccles 9. 12. 8. 6 7. their appointed time therefore the misery of man is great upon earth Laesa patientia fit furor Patience abused turns into fury Now mercy is offered mercy sits at the helm Justice will have its course and that upon all those who come not in nor accept of this golden Scepter of Grace and Mercy now Rev. 6. held forth They shall have a cup of the pure wrath of the Almighty a cup of pure wrath without mixture no drop of mercy or pity more ever to be expected or hoped for Oh who knows the Psal 90. 11. Rev. 14. 10. power of God's wrath They shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God which is poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation and shall be tormented with fire and brimstone c. and the smoak of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever and they have no rest day nor night c. But I have expatiated too far upon God's waiting for poor Sinners For God will have His glory magnified if His Mercy and Grace be not so in the Conversion and Salvation of poor Sinners His justice will be for ever magnified and glorified in their everlasting confusion and condemnation So God will be no loser at all But now according to the words at first read come we to man's waiting upon God My soul wait thou upon God The Lord waits that He may be gracious Isaâ— 30. 18. to us as we have seen and He will be exalted that He may have mercy upon us for the Lord is a God of judgment Blessed are all they that wait for him Jacob in the middest of blessing his Children as in an holy rapture breaks out in this pathetical expression I have waited for Thy Salvation O Lord. Gen. 49. 8. Likewise the Church O Lord be gracious unto us we have waited upon Thee Be Thou our arm every morning our Salvation Isai 33. 2. also in the time of trouble Let these examples of Saints formerly stir up and encourage us still to wait upon God yea though He seem to hide His face from us as the Church complains Verily Thou art a God that hidest Thy self Isai 45.
degrees of it are four Labour to dye well two things requisite thereunto 1. Preparation before death 2. A right behaviour in death What is preparation before death Preparation twofold 1. General 2 Particular and that 1. In reference to God 2. Our selves 3. Our Neighbour 2. A right behaviour in death and that in three particulars 2. Of Judgment What it is and that in six particulars When it shall be Four Reasons why the time is concealed Judgment is twofold 1. Particular presently after death 2. General at the last day Difference between the resurrection of the Elect and Reprobates in four things What is meant by the books shall be opened and what by the book of life The act of judgment performed two ways 1. By Examination 2. By pronouncing sentence Two differences between the examination of the Elect and the Reprobates and other things about the administration of it Four Reasons why this last judgment must be Who the Judg is 3. Of Hell Seven Epithites of the place of the damned in Scripture Five acceptations of hell Adireful representation of hell Three Reasons for it Of the punishment of loss and the punishment of sence An exhortation to labour to avoid it 4. Of Heaven What that eternal blessed life is The variety of heavenly joys in four things The three Scriptural Heavens described What is meant by Abraham's bosome The sum of the last Article of our faith in three things Whether we shall know each other in Heaven Proved affirmatively by six Arguments An exhortation to live the life of Grace here that we may live the life of Glory hereafter Books very lately Printed for Edw. Brewster at the sign of the Crane in Paul's Church-yard 1676. 1. THe Apostolical History containing the Acts Labours Travels Sermons Discourses Miracles Successes and Sufferings of the Holy Apostles from Christ's Ascension to the Destruction of Jerusalem by Titus c. By Samuel Cradock B. D. fol. 2. Mr. Henry Smith's Sermons 4to 3. Cases of Conscience Practically Resolved By the Reverend and Learned J. Norman late Minister of Bridgwater in Sommerset 8vo 4. Christian Advice both to Young and Old Rich and Poor which may serve as a Directory at hand ready to direct all persons almost in every estate and condition under 17 general useful Heads By Thomas Mocket M. A. 5. Moses Revivâ—d A Treatise proving that it is not lawful and therefore sinful for any man or woman to eat blood viz. the life-blood of any Creature 8vo 6. Basilius Valentinus his last Will and Testament which was found hid under a Table of Marble behind the high Altar in the Cathedral Church of the Imperial City of Erford leaving it there to be found by him whom God's Providence should make worthy of it 8vo 7. The Royal Pay and Pay-Master A Sermon preached before the Military Company By William Sâ—later D. D. Minister of St. James Clarkenwell 4to 8. Exodus Or the decease of Holy men and Ministers considered in the Nature Certainty Causes and Improvement thereof A Sermon preached the 12th Sept. 1675. at the Funeral of the much lamented Death of the Learned and Reverend Minister of Christ Dr. Lazarus Sâ—aman late Pastor of Alhallows Breadstreâ—t London By William Jenkyn late Minister of Christ-Church London 4to 9. Lydea's Heart opened or Divine Mercy magnified in the Conversion of a Sinner by the Gospel By William Strong M. A. c. 8vo EXERCITATION THE FIRST Ezek. 16. 8. I entered into a Covenant with thee saith the Lord God and thou becamest mine GOd in this Chapter by Ezekiel a Priest and a Prophet declares His great mercies to the people of Israel and their horrid and vile ingratitude Among all His mercies this was none of the least that God entred into a Covenant with them There are three things among men that do induce a publick obligation and yet do differ in themselves As 1. a Law 2. A Covenant 3. A Testament A Law and a Testament are absolute and do not imply any consent of the party under them For a Law requires subjection not expecting the consent of inferiours So a Testament or a Will of a Man is to bequeath such Goods and Legacies not expecting the consent of others But a Covenant requires consent and agreement between two parties The Covenant of God with man is twofold 1. That of Works which was made before the fall with Adam in his innocency 2. The Covenant of Grace which was made since the fall The Covenant of Works with Adam before the fall is laid down more obscurely than the Covenant of Grace was Gen. 2. 16 17. after the fall And the Lord God commanded the man saying of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat but of the tree of Knowledg of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it for in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely dye Do this and thou shalt live â— if thou do it not thou shalt dye And so God enabled Adam to do that which was good for the which he was the more obliged unto God Or thus The Covenant of Works God made with Adam promising him therein an everlasting continuance of felicity and happiness under condition of his obedience unto God but threatning death to him if he were disobedient This Covenant of Works was confirmed by a double Sacrament 1. The tree of life 2. The tree of knowledg of good and evil both seated in the midst of Paradise The use of these was double 1. That by the use of the one and by abstaining from the other man's obedience might be tryed 2. That the tree of life might Seal to man being obedient his perpetuity of happiness and that the tree of knowledg of good and evil might signifie unto man if he were disobedient the loss of the greatest good and the purchasing and procuring of the greatest evil The tree of life was not so called from any inward implanted faculty of quickning in it but a Sacramental signification So also the tree of knowledg of good and evil had this name from the signification of the greatest evil or good with the event and consequences thereof Here in this Covenant needed no Mediator for it was before sin was in the world and Adam then was in perfect familiarity and communion with God It was Sin that brought in enmity fear and shame as well as punishment and death For presently after the fall Adam hid himself from the presence of the Lord and feared c. because of the guilt of Sin and breach of Gods Commandment So he confessed I was afraid Gen. 3. 10. because I was naked and hid my self These are the grounds and reasons to prove that God dealt with Adam in these Commandments by way of Covenant 1. From the evil threatned and good promised 2. Because his posterity became guilty of his Sin and obnoxious and liable to his punishment 3. Because the Apostle Paul in Rom. 5. 12 15 18. makes all
he that hath it It is better felt than expressed 3. We may know if we be in Covenant with God by our own knowledg After God had rehearsed the Covenant Jer. 31. 34. there He adds And they shall all know Me from the least to the greatest c. True knowledg of God in Christ first makes us to put off the old man with his deeds and to be renewed in the Spirit of our mind and to put on the Newman Eph. 4. 22 23 24. which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness and which is renewed in knowledg after the image of Him that created Him And 2. It worketh in us a readiness and Col. 3. 10. willingness to obey God and to serve Him when we are brought out of the slavery of Satan and from the bondage of sin and corruption that sin doth not reign over us then will we run the Rom. 6. 12. ways of God's Commandments and that with alacrity and chearfulness not thinking it a burden run and not be Psal 119. 32. Isai 40. 31. weary walk and not faint They who are thus in Covenant with God have a special interest in Him and have access with boldness to the throne of Grace through our great High-Priest Jesus the Son of God that they may obtain mercy and find Grace to help in time Heb. 4. 14 16. of need Therefore Abraham after God had so entred into Covenant with him refused the King of sodom and his gifts wholly relying on God's Covenant for His blessing and said I have lifted up my hand Gen. 14. 22 23. unto the Lord the most high God the possessor of heaven and earth that I will not take from a thred even to a shoo-latchet and that I will take any thing that is the King of Sodoms lest thou shouldst say I have made Abraham rich This also upheld David when he had 1 Sam. 30. 6. lost wives and children and goods the City burnt all lost and the people spake of stoning him then he encouraged himself in the Lord HIS God He glories in his Covenant-interest with God that God yet had made an everlasting Covenant with him ordered in all things and sure For this said he 2 Sam. 23. 5. is all my salvation and all my desire c. God saith to His Covenant-people The mountains shall depart and the hills Isai 54. 10. be removed but My kindness shall not depart from thee neither the Cavenant of My peace be removed saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee Read all the Chapter For the Lord hath avouched thee to Deut. 26. 16 17 18. be His peculiar servant that thou mayst be holy to the Lord thy God and thou hast avouched the Lord to be thy God to walk in His ways and to keep His Statutes Numb 14. 24. and His Commandments and His Judgments and to hearken to His voice And thou hast chosen thee the Lord to Josh 24. 22. serve Him O my soul thou hast said to the Lord thou art My Lord thou hast chosen and appropriated the Lord Jehovah Psal 16. 2. 140. 6. to be thy Lord. Let not therefore other Lords have â—saâ— 26. 13. dominion over thee as Satan sin thy foolish noysom lusts the profits or pleasures or vanities of this world ever bewitch thee or steal away thy heart from following this thy Lord and that fully As thou hast yielded thy members servants Numb 14. 24 to uncleanness and to iniquity unto Rom. 6. 19. iniquity Even so now yield thy members servants to righteousness unto holiness Let holiness to the Lord be written Zecâ— 14. 20. on thy heart and forehead on all the inward faculties of thy Soul and on all the members of thy body and on all thy whole conversation and commerce with men That all may take notice of Acts 4. 13. thee that thou hast been with Jesus that thou walkest the way to Zion with thy face thitherward and that thou hast joyned thy self to the Lord in a perpetual Jer. 50. 5. Covenant which shall not be forgotten that thy light may so shine before men that seeing thy good works they may glorifie thy Father which is Matt. 5. 16. in Heaven That thou mayest declare plainly that thou dost seek a countrey and Heb. 11. 14 16. that thou desirest a better countrey that is an heavenly that God may not be ashamed to be called thy God for He hath prepared for thee a City Even a City wherein is no Temple For in the Temple were the outward signs of God's presence but God in this heavenly City shall manifest Himself face to face to His elect in Christ And this City hath no need of the Sun Rev. 21. 22 23. neither of the Moon to shine in it for the glory of God doth lighten it and the Lamb is the light thereof In that heavenly glory my husband Jesus Christ shall be the only means of of all the communication that I and all the Elect shall have in the glory and light of God in whose presence is fulness Psal 16. 11. of joy and at Whose right hand there are pleasures for evermore This God is my God and in Covenant Isai 25. 1. with me I will praise Him and bless His Name for ever and ever As the Lord hath entred into Covenant with me and married me unto Himself so He gives me always to be arrayed in sine linnen clean and white which Rev. 19. 8. sine linnen is the righteousness of the Saints that I may watch and keep my garments lest I walk naked and men see Rev. 16. 15. my shame That I hating even the garment Jude 23. Rev. 3. 4. spotted by the flesh may walk with God in white and may be esteemed worthy through the worthiness and righteousness of Christ imputed unto me In whom alone I desire to be found not Phil. 3. 9. having on mine own righteousness which is as menstruous rags but that Isai 30. 22. which is of God by faith I can never sufficiently magnifie and admire the eternal love of God to me in Christ that He hath chosen me in Him before the foundation of the world that I should be holy and unblameable before Him in love having predestinated me Eph. 1. 4 5. unto the adoption of a Child by Jesus Christ unto Himself according to the good pleasure of His will and hath entered into Covenant with me and so Ezek. 16. 8. hath made me to become His own And that not for any foreseen faith or works in me but according to the election of Grace He loved me because he loved Rom. 11. 5. me and He had compassion upon me because He had compassion upon me Oh Rom. 9. 15. the good Will of Him that dwelt in the Deut. 33. 16. Bush There is a mutual promise and obligation between God and me and all
stranger to the grace of liberty whom the service of fear meerly bindeth and obligeth 8. Know thy self that thou mayest fear God know God that thou mayest love Him For the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the end of the Commandment is charity Even as out of knowledg of thy self the fear of God comes into thy heart so if thou knowest God as thou oughtest thou wilt be sure to love Him 9. He will easily swerve from the way of righteousness who fears men more than God For the fear of man brings a snare 10. If the love of God cannot keep thee from sin let the dread of Him who is a sin-revenging Judge terrifie thee the fear of hell the snares of death that burning fire the ever-gnawing worm those pains of hell stinking brimstone black flames of fire the blackness of darkness for ever and all those miseries accompanying it which are insupportable to be born impossible to express passing all understanding to conceive at least terrifie thee from sin 11. The fear of man brings distrust but the fear of the Lord brings strong confidence â—rov 14. 26. 12. He that truly fears God loves God and he that truly loves Him fears Him For these in our worshipping of God are conjoyned and cannot be separated 13. When thou hearest that God is merciful see that thou love Him when thou hearest that God is just see that thou fear Him that being stirred up both by the love and fear of God thou mayst be careful to strive to keep His Commandments Pray therefore with David O let me Psal 119. 1â— 1. not wâ—nder from Thy Commandments And O that my ways were directed to keep Thy Statutes Always remembring that frequently iterated precept of our blessed Saviour If ye love Me keep My Commandments EXERCITATION THE FIFTH Psal 62. 5. My Soul wait thou only upon God for my expectation is from Him OH how good is it to wait upon God! they alone who have found the benefit of it know how good it is There be three especial ingredients to make up this duty of waiting upon God 1. Faith 2. Patience 3. Diligence 1. Faith which is the substance of Heb. 11. 1 things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen Faith is the bottom of our waiting upon God Faith discovers to us on what grounds we may stand as namely upon God's faithfulness and all-sufficiency c. and therefore David still encourageth himself as twice in this Psalm to wait upon God 2. Patience waiting implies delay and delay without patience is insupportable Hope deferred makes the heart Prov. 13. 12. sick Delay is a sore sickness and Patience is the only cure of it without which that sickness will prove death 3. Diligence and activity he that waiteth for a mercy must serve God's Providence in the use of all the means which God hath ordained and appointed for the accomplishment thereof It is Diligence as well as Faith and Patience that must inherit the promises We desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end that ye be not Heb. 6. 11 12. slothful but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises Waiting without diligence is nothing but slothfulness and security Waiting signifies a patient abiding and expectation of help from God I waited Psal 40. 1 2 3. patiently upon the Lord and He inclined His ear unto me and heard my cry He brought me also up out of an horrible pit out of the miry clay and set my feet upon a rock and established my goings And He hath put a new song in my mouth even praise unto our God I will wait upon the Lord I will not go back from Him I will try or use no unlawful means but will wait in His Isai 26. 8. way and expect His help and aid and the fulfilling of His promises depending wholly upon Him and His Word Faith apprehends the promise and thereby brings forth Hope and Faith by means of Hope makes them that believe to wait God is not like to man but in whatever He promiseth He approveth Himself most faithful both in His ability and performances I will therefore trust in the Name of the Lord and stay Isai 50. 10. my self upon Him my God This waiting upon God is a virtue Definition whereby we are inclined to the expectation of those things which God hath promised to us If we hope for that we Rom. 8. 25. see not then do we with patience wait for it This waiting this expectation 1. It hath God for its principal object that our faith and hope might be in 1 Pet. 1. 21. God and the less principal objects are all those things whereby as by means and steps we come to God 2. It hath respect to God as the Author and Giver of every good thing which it expects Every good gift and Jam. 1. 17. every perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the Father of lights with whom is no variableness neither shadow of turning Commit thy way to Psal 37. 5. the Lord rest also on Him and He shall bring it to pass Every-where in the Old Testament where the Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is wont to be rendered Hope it signifies properly expectation And the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Greek signifies more than bare expectation it signifies patient expectation and that unweariedly from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 maneo I tarry so 2 Thess 3. 5. it is rendered into the patient waiting for Christ namely by which expectation we expect till Christ shall come to judge both the quick and dead there it is taken passively for the expectation in or by which Christ is expected by us The Septuagint render these words thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 My Soul subject thy self to God for my expectation or my abiding continuance patience perseverance is from Him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 subjectio simply signifies sub alio jacere to lye under another but properly it signifies more as namely to be subordinate or to subject our selves in an orderly way So it denotes an orderly subjection and implyes the reverence of the heart respectful speech and gesture obedience without resisting a willing subjection and in due manner as is required So be subject is a general word comprehending all other duties and services to be obedient in all things The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies tolero sustineo remaneo persevero A man must 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 stay abide and stand under his weight and burden until God â—ase him Magis significat expectationem longanimitatem quà m adversitatum tolerantiam sic alii Propriè est ipsa laudabilis sub cruce permansio constans in virtute cum crucis tolerantià vel contemptu perseverantia Properly it signifies that laudable constant abiding under affliction and a perseverance in
it or as in the Septuagint 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quid deprecabor why shall I pray against it any longer Remember the case of Israel when they were even at their Journeys end near upon the borders of the promised land because of their murmuring and impatiency hear their terrible doom from the Lord As truly as I live saith the Lord as ye have spoken in mine ears Numb 14. 28 to 36. so will I do to you your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness and all that were numbered of you from twenty years old and upward which have murmured against me doubtless ye shall not come into the land concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein save Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshuah the son of Nun. But your little ones which ye said should be a prey them will I bring but as for you your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness and your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years and bear your whoredomes until your carcasses be wasted in the wilderness After the number of the days in which ye searched the land even forty days each day for a year shall ye bear your iniquities even forty years and ye shall know my breach of promise I the Lord have spoken it I will surely do it c. in this wilderness they shall be consumed and there they shall dye Take heed of fretting against the Lord and of impatiency of spirit lest the same or the like judgment befall thee But say with David as here My soul wait thou only upon God for my expectation is from Him EXERCITATION THE SIXTH Mark 1. 15. Repent ye and believe the Gospel HEre our Saviour sets down the way that lost man must take to come to God whom doth our blessed Lord invite to come unto Him those that labour and are heavy-laden Repentance Mat. 11. 28. and Faith are the way whereby we come unto God Christ is primarily the way for no man cometh to the Father but by Joh. 14. 6. Him He is the immediate way but these are the ways in and through Him which He hath prescribed 1. To speak of Repentance We must know our sins feel the weight of them be truly sensible of them and that we are no way able to help our selves else we will never come to Christ and never seek out for a Saviour for the whole have no need of a Mat. 9. 11. Physician but they that be sick while we think our selves whole and healthy we are well enough but it is the sin-sick Soul that sees his want and need of this great Physician the Lord Jesus So Desinition then Repentance is a hearty grief for my sins even because thereby I have broken God's holy Laws and offended such a gracious Father which works in me a hatred and loathing of sin and of my self for sin with a resolution to lead a new life Now there is a legal Division repentance which is a grief of mind through the sence of God's wrath threatned against sin without any true hatred of sin There is also secondly an Evangelical repentance which is a through change of a sinner in mind will and actions from evil to good The former of these was in Ahab who put on sack-cloth and went softly c. 1. Kings 21. 26. when he heard the evil threatned against him and his house and this may be in wicked men through fear of punishment and of hell not for their sins against God so upon the next temptation they run into sin again But Evangelical repentance which is because we have broken God's Laws and offended so gracious a Majesty this it makes us more watchful over our ways more desirous and careful to please God more Eph. 5. 15. Gen. 17. 1. Psal 16. 8. 2 Cor. 7. 10 11. fearful to offend Him more circumspect in our walking before Him setting Him before our eyes Godly sorrow worketh repentance unto life not to be repented of whereas legal repentance which is common to wicked men worketh death or is the fore-runner of death whose grief is from an apprehension of their miseries or some wounding of their Consciences for their sins without faith or amendment or conversion unto God whereby all their repentance is in them an entrance or a way to a death But behold the good effects of a serious Evangelical repentance The self-same thing that ye sorrowed after a Godly sort what sorrow it wrought in you yea what clearing of your selves yea what indignation yea what fear yea what vehement desire yea what zeal yea what revenge I know that some do take the former part of this sentence meerly in a literal sence Wordly sorrow causeth death that is sorrow or grief for outward crosses and losses causeth such anguish of mind so affecting the body that brings sicknesses diseases and death at last We see then that true repentance is an inward and hearty sorrow for sin especially that we have offended so gracious a God and so loving a Father together with a setled purpose of heart and a careful endeavour to leave and Psal 119. 112. forsake all our sins and to live a Christian life according to all Gods Commandments So the parts of repentance are 1. A The parts of true repentance are â—our confession of sin 2. a Bewailing what we have confessed 3. Lifting our selves up with confidence in Gods mercies and Christs merits 4. With a firm purpose of abstaining from sin and obeying Gods Commandments Let us a little farther consider these 1. An humble Confession I acknowledged my sins unto thée and mine iniquities Psal 32. 5 have I not hidden I said I will confess mine iniquities unto the Lord. 2. A bewailing Dan. 9. 6. 8. Ezra 9. 6. of what we have confessed We are ashamed and blush to lift up our faâ—es to thee O our God for our iniquities are increased over our heads c. Psal 38. 18. I will be sorry for my sins 3. A lifting up of our selves in confidence of Gods mercies through Christs merits There Psal 130. 3. is mercy with thee that thou mayest be feared In the multitude of thy mercies I come unto thee with the Lord there Psal 5. â— Psal 130. 7. is mercy and with Him there is plenteous redemption And through Christs merits Christ dyed for the ungodly To Rom. 5 6. this end Christ both dyed and rose Rom. 14. 9. and revived that He might be Lord both of dead and living Christ dyed for our 1 Cor. 15. 3. 1 John 2 2. Heb. 7. 25. sins according to the Scriptures He is the Propitiation for our sins And He is able to save to the utmost all that come unto God by Him seeing he ever lives to make intercession for them Fourth part of repentance is a stedfast resolution of forsaking sin and of obeying Gods holy Commandments I hate every false way whoso confesseth Psal 101. 3. Prov.
consciences It is a very hard thing to have riches but they will steal away our hearts to love them which is the 1 Joh. 2. 15. root of all evil and we are bid not to love the world nor the things which are in the world for if we love the world the love of the Father is not in us Rest upon the Providence of God He will with-hold no good thing from Psal 84. 11. thee that is no thing which He knows to be good or convenient for thee or suitable to thy condition and welfare Why should we desire a great estate or great matters here If we have enough for our Pilgrimage here upon earth and sufficient till we come to our Gen. 33. 11. Father's house in peace we have enough yea we have all as Jacob said to his Brother Esau God hath setled a high inheritance above upon us which is 1 Pet. 1. 4. incorruptible undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved in heaven for us Oh Psal 31. 19. how great is His goodness which He hath laid up for those that fear Him which He hath wrought for them that trust in Him before the sons of men Now a word of the Providence of God and I have done I intend not to speak of His Eternal Providence described Providence the good-will and council of God as Acts 4. 28. Eph. 1. 9. But of His actual Providence which is nothing else than the execution of the Decrees of God Or the Actual Providence of God is whereby God doth not only preserve sustaine and uphold His creatures but according to His immense Wisdom Goodness Power Justice and Mercy He governeth them all Whoever deny this Providence of God deny God Himself This Providence is far different from the Fate of the Stoicks Now I mention the Stoicks I shall speak but a word of the Opinions of the Heathens hereabouts There were 3. Opinions of the Philosophers about the Providence of God 1. The Epicureans they deny'd any Providence at all over any of these things here below in the world 2. The Stoicks have devised in stead of Providence an absolute necessity of all things and motions existing in the very nature of things themselves to which not only all other things but also God Himself is subject which necessity they call Fate 3. The Peripateticks they say that God beholdeth and understandeth all things He doth moderate and rule all but that He only ordereth the heavenly motions and by these motions of the heavens He puts a power of acting into the inferior or lower parts of Nature meaning those things here below c. But I shall insist no farther on these desiring to be understood of the meanest capacity and that to edifie These great learned Heathen Philosophers became vain in their imaginations Rom. 1. 22. and professing themselves to be wise they became fools So we see the Stoical Fate bindeth God to the connexion of second causes But the Christian Fate if I may call it so doth make second causes subordinate to the most free-will of God The parts of Providence are Two 1. Conservation 2. Gubernation but I must not expatiate upon these now Let us learn to depend on this Providence of God foâ— both all our beings and all our comforts are from Him Submit we therefore as our persons and conditions so also all our thoughts and affections unto God in His particular disposing of our persons and conditions As if God deny me this or that comfort inflict such or such a cross take away such a Relation or such like lay down all at the feet of God quietly depend upon Him commit all to Him and submit all to His Holy Will Whoever did depend upon God but sped well Consider ancient and former effects of Providence and providences which are fitted to thy present condition That which I desire is not therefore good unto me because I desire it but that which God brings upon me is therefore good because He hath done it Wait Gods time for such or such a mercy for times and seasons do belong unto Gods Providence as well as issues and events God will send such a merâ—y or such a deliverance in its time God Isa 60. 2â— will hasten it in its time There is the time and the season of the time in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 tempus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 tempus certum divinitùs praestitutâ—â— vel opportunum which is a certain â—â— and determined time by God the timâ— which He sees sit the time of Godâ— Providence is always the best time Therefore wait patiently upon thâ— Lord the vision is yet for an appointâ—â— Psal 62. 5. Hâ—b 2. 3. time but at the end it shall speak anâ— not lye though it tarry wait for it because it will surely come it will noâ— tarry Providence many times doublâ—â— the mercy by delaying it Let us applâ— our selves to the ways of Gods Providence study them more learn them better use means but take heed let it be lawful means for unwarrantable and unlawful means are compassed about with curses Preservation which is one part oâ— act of Providence is either 1st for the safety of our persons or 2dly for the susteining of our persons by food and rayment No better way to secure our persons and for our sustentation also by food and rayment than by faith to commit all unto God and he is sure to be fed who is able to believe Believe and ye shall be established If thou wouldest 2 Chr. 20. 20. Psal 23. 1. get a blessing get Faith Observe David's faith The Lord is my Shepherd therefore I shall not want When he had evidenced to his soul his interest in God that God was his thence he draws this inference therefore I shall not want ver 2. In which Psalm we have David's experience of Gods meries to him He maketh me to lye down in green pastures He leadeth me besides the still waters He makes me lye down that is quietly thankfully cheerfully to feed on these pastures and drink of these waters God hath given me a good estate and a heart sit for enjoyment of it He restoreth ver 3. my soul when my soul hath been languishing under temptations or oppressed with griefs that it did even faint then God came in revived and cherished my languishing soul Thus we might take a view of that whole Psalm which is of David's great experiences of Gods providence and goodness and his professed faith in God with a sweet conclusion Surely goodness ver 6. and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life implicitly by goodness and mercy spiritual mercies may be here thought on but primarily and explicitly the continuation of Gods goodness and mercies in temporals as to me it clearly seems is here meant and than last of all David's engaging his soul in perpetual thankfulness I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever where every
word hath a weight of matter but we must not dwell upon that now Also we must be diligent in our Callings for an idle soul shall suffer hunger Prov. 19 15. As we do see the constancy of Providence even so we shall find the power of Providence by bridleing the power of enemies confounding their power as he did Senacherib's Hoast prospering under their power as the more they are afflicted the more they prosper Rom. 8 37. and at lost conquering them nay in all these things we are more than conquerours through Him that loved us I could enlarge upon each of these but I study brevity 1. Oh the tenderness of God's Providence Isa 63. 9. over His poor servants in all our afflictions He is afflicted c. He Deut. 32. 10. keeps us as the apple of His eye now the apple of the eye is the tenderest part in all the body 2. Consider also as the tenderness so the sidelity of God's Providence He is faithful who hath promised Heb. 10. 23. 3. The Wisdom of God's Providence and that in the several branches thereof 1. God discerns what is good for us 2. God foresees all the evils which may befal us 3. God sometimes prevents and disappoints them 4. Gods ordering them for our good if they do befal us 5. Finding out means and ways for our safety 6. In seasonable supplies of strength under them or deliverance from them Trust in the Lord Psal 37 3. and do good so shalt thou dwell in the land and verily thou shalt be fed If we can find an hand to labour and take pains and faith to believe and trust God will find meat to feed us and rayment wherewith to cloath us For He careth for us The good old Prophet Elisha when he had received so many kindnesses from the woman of Shunem he said 2 Kin. 4 13. unto her behold thou hast been careful for us with all this care what is to be done unto thee for it But God hath cared for us with great care in our mothers womb fearfully Psal 139. 14 15 16. and wonderfully were we made and curiously wrought in the lower parts of the earth in his book all our members were written He took us out of our mothers Psal 22. 9. womb We have been cast upon God from our birth He hath fed us all our Gen. 48. 15. life long even to this day His Providence and mercies have been always upon us for we cannot subsist a moment without Him Yet we take not so much notice of it as we should nor say in our hearts what shall we give unto Thee for all this thy great care over us Or what shall we render to the Lord Psal 116. 12. for all His benefits towards us Let us give up our selves wholly unto God and present our bodies a living Rom. 12. 1 2. sacrifice holy acceptable unto God which is our reasonable service and not to be conformed to this world but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds that we may prove what is that good that acceptable and perfect will of God and that to follow and to avoid whatsoever is contrary thereunto Learn to depend upon God to live by Faith he that believeth makes not Isa 28. 16. haste to use diligence in our places and then Cast we all our care upon God for He careth for us St. Paul plainly condemns the desire Addition of riches that is of things more than necessary affirming that such as desire to be rich fall into the snares of the Devil 1 Tim. 6. 9. Some have observed Twelve wonders in the Manna of the Israelites 1. They were fed with it 40 Years 2. To the Godly it tasted according to every ones desire 3. To the ungodly it was loathsome 4. A Gomar of it sufficed all stomachs 5. Whether men gathered more or less they had full measure neither more or less that is a Gomar full 6. Two Gomars full before the Sabbath or other days but one Gomar full 7. It fell every day but on the Sabbath day 8. It melted in the Sun and was hardened in the fire 9. It was kept many years in the Ark unputrifi'd 10. Being preserved till the morrow it putrifi'd except on the Sabbath 11. He that gathered least had his Gomar full 12. He that gathered most had but his Gomar Now by the most of these wonders we are taught and especially in that Manna laid up till the next day putrifi'd and that every Israelite had his competent measure were his labour more or less It shews that the seeking of abundance pleaseth not God An Omer or Gomar was a measure of dry things also a Sheaf of Corn or handful 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because usually that Ruth 2. 7. which was beaten out of a Sheaf might fill a Gomar God knoweth what is fittest for us Nature is content with little Grace with less To speak a little more of the Providence of God The Providence of God is His eternal Another Description of Proviaâ—nce most free immutable most wise and most just Councel according to which He worketh all good things in His creatures permitteth evil things to be done and directeth all things both good and evil to His own glory and the good of His Elect. I could prove out of Scripture every word of this Definition but I study brevity All things come to pass by the Providence of God both things past present and future So God said by the Prophet Remember the former things Isa 46. 9 10. of old for I am God and there is none else I am God and there is none like Me Declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times the things that are not yet done sayiny my Councel shall stand and I will do all my pleasure Consider the degrees of Providence God careth for and Governeth all His creatures but especially mankind as the chief among the works of Creation and made in the image of God and in mankind especially the Elect and chosen to life Eternal whom He maketh one everlasting Church with the blessed Angels that He might dwell in them as in His Temple and Habitation Therefore doth He so lead them and govern them through the whole course of their life that all things may serve and â—end to their everlasting Salvation Gods Providence is over us in the whole course of our lives So He said Gen. 28. 19. to Jacob Lo I am with thee and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest c. For I will not leave thee until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of So Laban would have injured and deceived Jacob but God suffered Gen. 31. 7 8 9. him not to hurt him yea God blessed Jacob the more for Labans deceits and wrongs intended towards him So God said to Paul Fear not for I am with thee Acts 18. 9. and no