and he will not suffer us to be tempted above the strength of our Faith but will with the temptation also make a way to escape that we may be able to bear it i Psal 37. 244 Though we fall we shall not be utterly cast down For our Lord Christ holdeth us with his hand and he will raise us up again by true repentance as he did Peter If the floud-gates of sorrows are set open upon us if the fear of troubles or the fear of death doth surprize us Christ will stop those sloud-gates and will comfort us at the hour of death or else he will give us an eye of Faith not to look upon them with a sad and heavie heart but to look up above them to that coelestial happiness which he hath prepared for us which no eye hath seen no tongue can express and no heart can conceive and to wait patientlie for it until Christ our ever blessed Redeemer shall reveal it to us which will be but in part in this life by Faith but fullie and perfectlie in the life to come according to everie mans capacitie Also if the Devil doth aggravate our sins and sers them before us in a multiplying Glass to the breaking of our hearts with godlie sorrow and to the anguish of our Souls which will make us shed many bitter tears for them as Peter did then Christ will look graciouslie upon us and will give us a double measure of true consolation by the assurance of the pardon and forgiveness of them We may further learn Instructions by Peters fall that if we give way to any sin the Devil will easily draw us unto higher degrees of sinning as he did Peter For at the first he did but simply deny Christ then he denied him with an oath k Mat. 26. 74. And at last he began to curse and to swear that he knew not the man and therefore we must be very careful to nip sin in the bud lest it lay us open to the Devils tyranny or stop the current of grace to our hearts whereby we shall not be able to recover our selves but rather we shall fall away more and more from God Sin is a spiritual gangrene to the soul which will eate into all the faculties of it if it be not in time cut off and killed by faith in the death of Christ and by true Repentance There is so much of the unregenerate part in the best of Gods servants as that they sin daily and the Devil is ready to take advantage upon every sin but he cannot easily fasten his sting upon their sins because they are not glued so fast to their hearts but that they may easily remove them wheras his sting will soon take hold of any sin that is rooted in us either by custome or by delight to wound our souls even to the death If we sleight the least sin it will bring us on to greater and if we be careless of small sins they will bring us to a custom of sinning which will quickly beget an habit of sin in us which is a fit ground for the Devil to work upon to keep us from returning unto God and to plunge us deep into the gulf of sin unless Christ in his abundant mercy doth touch our hearts with his Spirit to let us see from whence we are fallen and doth also give us grace to repent and return to the Lord and then we shall keep a more diligent watch over our selves for the time to come If we look upon our selves in Peter we shall see that we also are subject to the like delusions of the Devil we are as ready to deny Christ and to fall away from God as he was and the fear of trouble persecution or danger for Christ will prevail as much with us as it did with him to make us renounce our Profession and the Truth of the Gospel and to bring us to the brink of perdition but Christ will not suffer us to fall into that bottomless pit but will look upon us in mercy as he did upon Peter The Devil did delude Peter with vain hope that by this means he should escape the trouble and danger that might come upon him if it were known that he was a Disciple of Christ for thus he brought him into the ready way to lose the grace and favour of his Lord and Master Jesus Christ and into the way that leadeth to eternal destruction Thus also doth the Devil delude us if we trust him for he will promise all worldly wealth and earthly pleasures and will give to some a large portion of them in part of payment but in the end he will pay them with wormwood and gall which will be more bitter to them than Peters tears were unto him When we think our selves most strong then we are soonest overcome and when we presume most upon our own strength then we give the Devil the greatest advantage against us In prosperity we think our selves so strong that we cannot be shaken we are then secure and able to stand unmoveable against any opposition l 1 Cor. 10 22. but let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall For alas we know not the wiles of Satan we cannot conceive how many wayes he hath to deceive us What way shall we then take to escape these wiles and deceits whereof the world is full by his means There is a deceitful tongue against which David thus prayeth m Psal 120. 1. Deliver my soul O Lord from lying lips and from a deceitful tongue There is also a bag of deceitful weights which is alwayes seconded with a false tongue as the Lord speaketh by his Prophet n Mic. 6. 11 12. Shall I account them pure with the wicked ballances and with the bag of deceitful weights For the rich men thereof are full of violence and the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies and their tonguâ— is deceitful in their mouth The wise man telleth us o Prov. 14. 36. of a deceitful Witness p Prov. 23. 6. and that the dainties at a rich mans table are deceitful meat because they will easily intice us to gluttony Also q Prov. 27. 6. that the kisses of an enemy are dâ—ceiâ—ful for they proceed from a false heart Who can discover the deceitfulness of his own heart or the delusions of his own fancy Every sinful lust and evil concupiscence doth delude us the world is full of deceit to beguile us wicked men have their wiles to vex the godly and such as are simple in heart r Num 25. 18. as the Midianites vexed the Children of Israel with their wiles whâ—rewith they beguilâ—d them in the matter of Peor and in the matter of Câ—zby If we will be well fenced from these delusions which come from the Devil Å¿ Eph. 6 11. we must put on the whole Armour of God â—nd then we shall be able to stand against them all This holy Armour will
now broken down which was between the Jew and the Gentile and that Christ was as freely given to the one as the other and the merit of his blood was as effectuall for the salvation of the Gentile as it was for the Jew if he were truly received by faith The vail being now rent the Gentile hath free accesse to the Mercy-seat which did typifie the Throne of grace by Christ Long before this God did choose some to be the first fruits of the Gentiles as namely Eliezâ—r of Damascus in Abrahams family Rahab of Jericho Ruth the Moabitesse and Naaman the Syrian with many more Secondly God did hereby shew that now there was an end put to the sacrifices of the Ceremoniall Law because the true Paschall Lambe was slain of whom these sacrifices were but types and shadows and that the Ceremoniall Law was now abrogated c Joh. 4. 22 23. and the true worship and service of God was not confined to Jerusalem or to the Temple but now God might be worshipped in any other place so that it be in spirit and in truth Thirdly we may see the free mercy and goodnesse of God to the Jew and also to the Gentile d Acts 15. 10. for by the death of his Son he hath cased the Jew of the great burden of Ceremonies which neither they nor their fathers were able to bear by putting an end to the Ceremoniall Law and he hath brought the Gentile within the Covenant of grace and hath admitted him into the most holy place for the vail of the Temple which before kept him out is now rent asunder God hath also sanctified every place where he is truly worshipped and served with a pure and upright heart and hath given us as great Priviledges in Christ as he gave to his ancient people the Jews Fourthly by these miraculous signes and wonders God did convince his people of the hardnesse of their hearts and of their wilfull blindnesse who would not see the fulfilling of their ancient Prophesies in Christ nor believe that he was that Messiah which was promised though they could object nothing against it Wherefore their hearts did not relent for their great impiety but the earth and the stony rocks were more sensible than they If we are thus hardned in our sins and thus blinded in our understandings it is a fearfull sign that we are given up to a reprobate minde Fifthly we may hereby see how God made the senselesse creatures to honour his Son at his death though both Jew and Gentile did most spitefully dishonour him in his life Christ honoured his Father while he was living and his Father honoureth him now he is dead by these great wonders and by the Testimony of the Centurion and others who seeing what came to passe said e Mat. 27. 54. Truly this was the Son of God Thus will God honour those that honour him by a vertuous and godly life or by their sufferings in his cause for he will make their innocency to appear and will manifest the truth of their Profession to the honour of his own Name and he will give them immortall glory in the life to come Wherefore if thou art in place of authority honour God by executing judgement and justice without exception of persons if thou art rich honour him in the right use of them and with works of mercy to the poor and needy if thou art poor be content with thy condition If thou hast children honour God in their good education teach them the fear of the Lord and let thy verteous life and good conversation be an example of piety to them Also if thou hast a family command thy children and servants to keep the way of the Lord to walk in his Statutes and to do righteously that the Lord may bring a blessing upon thee and upon thy house If thou art under the crosse honour God with thy patience hope and confidence in him whatsoever thy condition be honour him with thy thankfulnesse Sixthly God doth give us to understand by the trembling of the earth and by the renting of the rocks how powerfully the holy Ghost doth sometimes work upon our hearts at our first conversion to bring us to repentance f Acts 9. as he did at the conversion of Paul g Acts 16. and at the conversion of the Jailor and of diverse others for though our hearts be naturally as stupid and dull to any thing that is spirituall and heavenly as a lump of earth yet when the holy Ghost works upon them with his Almighty power he will make them quake and tremble and he will put a new Principle of grace into them whereby they shall be changed into a gracious condition and their natural dull and stupid properties shall be made active and ready for every holy duty And though our hearts are by nature as hard as any stone and no way capable of any gracious and heavenly impression yet the Spitit of God will break them in pieces and will mollifie and soften every piece to make it tender and flexible to the will and pleasure of God Wherefore if thou dost find this dulnesse in thine understanding this earthly mindednesse and this stupidity in thine affections that thou hast no will to serve thy God also if there be such obduracy in thy heart that thou canst not lament and mourn for thy sins and thy heart cannot melt into sighing and tears for thy transgressions and if there be such unbelief in thee that thou canst not apply any promise of mercy to thy self and canst have no hope nor assurance of the pardon and forgivenesse of thy sins upon thy repentance and turning unto God then make thy condition known to thy Saviour Christ in all meeknesse of spirit and he will put an holy light into thy understanding by his Spirit he will sanctifie thine affections and season them with grace he will take away thy hard heart of unbelief and will make it more sensible of thy miserable condition and will fit and prepare it for a deeper impression of grace Lastly God doth shew by the opening of the graves that there shall be a generall resurrection of every mans body at the last day when they must appear before the judgement seat of God to give an account of whatsoever they have done in the flesh Though our bodies are lockt up in the grave for thousands of years and though their dust and ashes are scattered abroad with the winde to the utmost parts of the earth yet at the last every grave shall be opened and shall deliver up her dead and every grain of dust shall be gathered together that every man may have his own body to deliver up his account before the great and dreadfull Judge of heaven and earth to receive the just reward of their works the wicked to be thrust down with the devils into everlasting burnings for their evill deeds and for their unbelief but such as belong unto
and sought opportunitie to betray him unto them Then he stirred up the chief Preists and Elders against him who out of malice and envie did persecute him and falslie accuse him before Herod and Pilate because the people did so much resort unto him Pilate condemned him out of fear and flattery to keep his grace and favour with Caesar and to please the people for he thought he did it for Caesars honour The Souldiers crucified him for a reward and to make a spoil of his garments Thus they are all the devils instruments to put the immaculate Lamb of God to a most shameful and cruel death for their own wicked ends But God did over-rule them all by his gracious and wise providence and made all their purposes and actions to serve for the furthering of his most loving and merciful end which was decreed from eternitie From hence we may draw sweet meditations for our comfort upon the power and goodness of God who can and will over-rule the power of the devil and of all wicked men and will so dispose of all their plots and devices which they intend for the hurt of his servants that they shall all serve for his own glorie and for their good he can frustrate their wicked intentions and can bring about his own end to effect his own work by them God hath this provident care of his people that whatsoever their enemies do maliciously intend or devise against them shall be brought to nought or else he will make it serve for their advantage and gain Though our enemies be as strong as c 1 Sam. â—â— Goliah was and though we are as unfit to encounter with them as David was to fight with that great Gyant yet if we put our confidence in God as David did and keep close unto him by faith in Christ he will direct a stone to beat out their brains And though they be as cunning and as subtile d 2 Sam 17 as Achitophel was yet God can confound them in their own craft and policy Mark now and consider it well how God in justice did revenge the treachery and cruelty that was used in betraying and in murthering of his dear and onely Son and how he brought their wickednesse upon their own heads for Judas was given up to a reprobate minde e Mat. 27 5 and immediatly after he hanged himself God did severely punish the whole nation of the Jews for this most horrible fact and laid the innocent blood of his Son upon them and upon their posterity which doth stil rest upon them because they did wilfully without cause and out of malice shed it Pilate also was soon after cast out of Caesar's favour and banished into France and the Devil was hereby quite vanquished and overcome so that now he hath no power to hurt the meanest of Gods Saints Thus will the Lord deal with all those that have their hands stained with the blood of his Anointed ones and with all such as are Actors in any wicked Design They may hide their counsels in the dark yet nothing can be hidden from God for he hath an All-seeing eye to discover what they go about and he will bring the evill of their doings upon themselves or upon their children Wherefore have thou no hand in the blood of Gods servants and partake not with the wicked in their evill designes for the guilt of their sins will cleave to thee and God will not suffer it to go unpunished for if thou art partaker of other mens sins thou shalt also partake with them in their punishment Therefore f Eph. 5. 6 7. Paul adviseth the Ephesians not to be partakers with wicked men because the wrath of God cometh upon the children of disobedience for their sins God calleth his people out of Babylon saying g 1 Rev. 18. 4 Come out of her my people that ye be not partakers of her sins and that ye receive not of her plagues But it is a blessed thing to partake with the children of God in his holy Ordinances in all holy duties h 2 Cor. 1. 5 7. and in the sufferings of Christ Because we shall also partake with them in the consolation that is by Christ Thus the servants of God should mutually joyn together in the worship and service of God that they may also mutually have the benefit and comfort of those services here and also partake together with them of the glory that afterwards shall be revealed Of the penitent Thief NOw we come to consider that Christ was crucified between two thieves according to this of the Prophet a Isa 53. 12 He was numbered with the transgressors one of them had no remorse of conscience nor grief of heart for his offences but began to rail upon Christ to revile him and blasphemously to taunt him saying b Luk. 23. 39. If thou art Christ save thy self and us But the other was touched by the holy Ghost with a godly sorrow and a relenting heart for his sins and did freely confesse that they two did justly and deservedly suffer death for their offences but he did justifie our beloved Saviour for his blameless innocency and he rebuked his fellow saying Fearest thou not God seeing thou art in the same condemnation Then he turned to Christ to implore his mercy and made this short and sweet Prayer to him Lord remember me when thou shalt come into thy Kingdom To whom Christ immediatly gave this gracious Answer Verily I say unto thee This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise Surely these gracious words of Christ did much mitigate and asswage the sorrowes of his perplexed minde and much eased the bitternesse of his torments and this blessed Promise gave him good assurance that after his present sufferings and pains he should injoy rhe blessed society of Christ in the heavenly paradise For as Faith wrought in his heart a true contrition to Repentance and opened his mouth to make a good confession of his sins and to vindicate the innocency of Christ from the aspersions of his fellow Malefactour and also to present his humble request unto Christ his Lord for some gracious rememberance of him so no doubt it sealed such an holy assurance of future happinesse to his sorrowfull soul and wounded conscience that he did stedfastly believe the promise and faithfully lookt for the performance of it whereby his fainting Spirits were much comforted and the cruell torturings of his body which he suffered were sanctified and sweetned to him Here set the Meditations of thy heart upon the free love and mercy of Christ to poor sinners he choseth whom he will and whom he will he refuseth his gifts of grace are free his love and favour is not necessitated to any c Gen. 25. 2â— There were twinnes in Rebâ—ccas wombe d Rom. 9. 13. God loved the one and he hated the other Two men may be in one bed God may take the one and he may leave the
the power of sin will be killed in us that by the sanctifying Grace of the holy Ghost we may be raised up to newnesse of life If we did seriously consider these things we should not keep at so farre a distance from Piety and vertue and we should not be such strangers to a Christian life and conversation but we would use all means to get into nearer society with Christ by true saving faith and by heavenly contemplation that the spirituall dew of his heavenly graces may distill into our hearts to sanctifie us throughout both in soul and in body that in Christ we may be made new creatures To this end we must endeavour to keep our faith still in action and continually to use it upon all occasions and in every condition of life for thereby we shall draw strength and power from Christ to carry us on through all temptations and tryalls and to support and comfort us in all sorrows and tribulations it will purifie our hearts from dead works and suffer no sin to continue with us without repentance to hinder the salvation of our souls This rare example of the goodnesse and mercy of Christ to this believing Thief may keep us from despair because g Ezech. 18 21 22. there is mercy for a sinfull soul if at any time he doth truly repent and turn to the Lord with a full intent and purpose of will to reform his evill it doth also teach us not to be secure or carelesse of our salvation for it is extreamly dangerous to loose any opportutunity of grace that God shall give us or to take so much liberty to sin as to forget to make our Peace with God in time for we must give an account at the last day of all that we have done in the flesh and our condition then wil be most miserable if our reckoning be not made perfect in the righteousnesse of Christ by faith while we live here upon earth and therefore it is the greatest punishment in this life to have no sense of our spirituall misery and not to fear or remember the dreadfull day of judgement Also this consideration should keep us from rash judgement and censuring of any mans condition though he be a notorious sinner for God can give him grace to repent when he pleaseth As this one example of the mercy of Christ to this penitent sinner may keep us from despair from security and from rash judging of others so let it keep us from presuming upon sin in hope of pardon we do wilfully delay our repentance from day unto day and so continue impenitent to the last part of our life because this man had all his sins forgiven even in a moment and was received to mercy at the last hour for God may justly deny us mercy if we refuse grace when the means is offered to us So likewise let it keep us from presuming upon repentance because it is not in our power to repent when we will This heavenly grace is the gift of God and it is the first fruits of faith which the holy Ghost will work in us if we are ready to yield obedience to his holy inspirations or to make the right use of such meanes as he is pleased to use to make us willing to seek unto him for it for if the Spirit of God doth not work it in us we can have no hope ever to obtain it Now consider the strength of faith that was in this poor sinner he gave the highest title of honour to Christ when he we was scornfully mocked and in a most contemptible condition to the eye of all men he did imbrace him and vindicate his honour when he was upon the crosse he did believe that heaven was his Kingdom though he were now reviled and despised of all men and that he had the disposing of all honours and preferments in that Kingdom which made him pray unto him Lord remember me when thou comest into thy Kingdome also his heart was touched with a sensible feeling of his sins he made a pious confession of them and therefore he did pray for mercy out of a true sense of his misery If we can shew the faith of this penitent Thief though our life hath been as vicious as his was and though we turn to Christ late as he did yet we may have good hope of the pardon of our sins and we may comfortably expect his felicity for Christ will return the like gracious answer to our Prayers and the like promise of future happinesse But what faith can we shew if we still dishonour Christ with our words and works how can we trust in him if we do not believe that all regall power both in heaven and in earth is given unto him And how can we hope for future blessednesse from him if we are not confident that he is the disposer of all the glorious mansions that are in heaven what godly sorrow have we for our sins if we still go on in a presumptuous way of sinning And what hope is there of true repentance if we still cherish foster our sins in our bosome if our faith and repentance be no better then thus Christ will not hear our Prayers nor grant our requests Wherefore let not the devill delude thee with security or presumption lest he brings thee to perdition for many have perished with the shadow of this deceitful hope Look well to the truth of thy faith that it be well grounded upon the true knowledge of Christ and of those excellencies that are in him that thou maist firmly rest upon him in all troublesome and dangerous times but chiefly for the redemption of thy soul Neglect not the means of grace and defer not thy repentance for God hateth such as upon confidence of repentance in their old age do presume to sin the moâ—e freely as if God did not know the deceit and hypocrisie that is in their hearts h Deut. 29. 19 20 If thou dost flatter thy self in thy wickednesse and doest blesse thy self in thy heart saying I shal have peace though I walk in the imagination of my heart to ad drankenes to thirst then know that the Lord will not spare thee but then the anger of the Lord and his jealousie shall smoke against thee and all the curses that are written in his book shal lye upon thee and the Lord shall blot out thy Name from under heaven Consider further how much this penitent sinner was humbled in the sense of his sins and of his unworthinesse and also how bountifull and good Christ was to him for he durst not presume to beg any inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ but onely some remembrance of him when he came into his Kingdome but Christ did grant him a present possession of his Kingdome Verily I say unto thee To day thou shalt be with me in Paradise This Paradise was the place of blessednesse where all the Saints of God shall be untill the generall
THE COMFORT OF THE SOUL Laid down by way of Meditation upon some heads of Christian Religion very profitable for every true Christian Composed and writen by Iohn Anthony of London Doctor of Physick Psal 19. ver 14. Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be alwayes acceptable in thy sight O Lord my strength and my Redeemer LONDON Printed for G. Dawson and are to be sold by John Mountague at the Sign of the White-Dragon in Duck-Lane 1654. I have perused these Divine Meditations Intituled the Comfort of the Soul and do find them to be so Orthodox and solide pious and profitable that I do approve them well worthy to be Printed and Published JOHN DOVVNAME To the Right Honourable Dame Elizabeth Dygby Baronesse of Geshal in the Kingdom of Ireland Grace Mercy and Peace from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ HAving nothing of mine own that is worthy your Acceptance to express my Cordiall respects and thankfulnesse for those many favours which I have received from you I have taken some spirituall Receipts out of Gods sacred Dispensatory which I am bold to present or Dedicate to your Honour because they are speciall Cordialls for the spirits and precious Antidotes against the evill of sad times Wherein also you will finde some Balm of Gilead for the cure of all spirituall diseases if it be applyed close to the part that is ill affected with the hand of Faith If these things do relish well with your spirituall Palate then I am confident you will take sometime to ruminate hereupon for I know it hath been your constant course to Meditate something dayly of Divine and heavenly things which did strongly induce me to present these unripe fruits of my labours to you which I gathered in mine old age for mine own use according to my first Intention Though I have thus laboured out of my Calling as I am a Physician yet I am not out of my profession as I am a Christian Now seing this Work is come to Publick view I do humbly desire your favourable construction of the frailties that are in it and that you will be pleased to vindicate it from carping spirits for I did not write it to please their curiosity but to refresh and comfort those that do any way stand in need of spirituall consolation If any thing herein can give you any reasonable satisfaction let God have the honour and glory of his own Work and I shall greatly rejoice therein and shall still remain your much obliged Servant JOHN ANTHONY To the READER COurteous Reader if thou dost live under the Crosse and art sensible of these sad times or if Gods visitation be upon thee which makes thee to sigh and groan under the burden and pressure of thy sorrowes so that thy soul desireth comfort and thy spirits want spirituall refreshing and heavenly consolation then I have written this Treatise for thee which I present to thy view wherein thou shalt finde the true way how to demean thy self under Gods visitation how to bear thy crosse with a contented patience how to make the burden of thy sorrowes more easie or how to be delivered out of them if God seeth it to be most for his glory and best for thy good also how to refresh thy spirits and comfort thy soul in what kinde soever it is afflicted Here also thou shalt finde that many of Gods dear servants have suffered as great afflictions as thou canst and yet God did send them comfort and deliverance but specially what Christ thy Saviour hath suffered for thee and what benefit and comfort thou maist have by it if thou canst draw it to thy self and make a particular application of it to thine own sorrowful condition without which it will yeeld thee but small consolation in thy miseries If thou dost meet with any thing here that will fit thy present condition either for edification or for comfort thou must ruminate well upon it to suck out the spirituall juiâ—e to imprint it in thy minde and to bring it close home to thy heart that it may comfort thy soul and cure thy wounded Spirit David found great comfort when he did Meditate on the Word of God My soul saith he shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatnesse and my mouth shall praise thee with joyfull Psal 63. 5 6 lips when I remember thee upon my bed and meditate on thee in the night watches And it must needs be so for this is a duty which God requireth and he takes speciall notice of those that do practice it to pour down his blessings upon them as he did upon Isaack who went out dayly into the field to Meditate Gen. 24. 63 64. upon the wonderfull Works of God and then at that very time God sent him a vertuous Wife If the Spirit of God goeth along with thee in thy holy Meditations they cannot but be comfortable to thy soul thou wilt then conceive aright of the secret and hidden things of God and thou wilt see the infinite wisdom ond power of God in all the Creatures his goodnesse and bounty to thee in them and a glympse of the Majesty and glory of the great Creator God Almighty His holy Spirit will also open thy heart to let in whatsoever spirituall good thou reapest by thy pious Meditations For if thou lookest upon the creature and doest not Meditate something of God in it thou dost look upon it in vain and if thou readest or hearest his Word Preached and dost not settle it upon thy affections by ruminating upon it thou canst not edifie thy heart nor comfort thy soul thereby So likewise if thou doest read any thing in this Treatise that is comfortable to poor dejected Spirits it will not comfort thee if it be not well digested in thy heart and applyed to thine own soul If thou art not acquainted with this holy Duty I have given thee some directions how to perform it and if thou doest first practise it upon thy self to meditate upon thine own condition what thou art by nature and what by grace and considerest seriously in thy thoughts what way thou walkest what steps thou treadest and to what end thy wayes do tend thou wilt not onely come to the knowledge of thy self but thou wilt also learn how to Meditate profitably and comfortably upon God thy Creator upon Jesus Christ thy Redeemer and upon the Holy Ghost thy Sanctifier and Comforter I conclude with this saying of an ancient Father Nothing is found more sweet in this life nothing is conceived more comfortable nothing doth so separate the affections from the love of this world nothing doth so fortifie the minde against temptations nothing doth so stir up man and further him to every good work and duty as the grace and benefit of Divine Meditation and heavenly contemplation Thine in the Lord Christ JOHN ANTHONY A Table of these severall Heads contained in this Book MEditation is a Duty
10. then they were sore afraid and cryed out to the Lord. And Moses said unto the people Fear ye not stand still and see the salvation of the Lord which he will shew to you to day Then the Lord made a way for them through the sea and saved them from their enemies but the sea drowned all the host of the Egyptians that pursued after them The Prophet Gad came to David and told him the Word of the Lord b Shall seven years of famine come unto thee in thy land or wilt thou flee three moneths before thine enemies while they pursue thee or that there be three dayes pestilence in thy land This put David into a great strait but he cast himself upon the mercies of God and did choose to fall into the hand of the Lord and not into the hand of man for he knew that his mercies were great c â—hil 1. 23 24. Paul was in the like strait for he knew not whether to choose to live which was more needfull to the Philippians or to dye which was far better for himself Sometimes God suffers the devill and wicked men to lay their traps to ensnare his own servants if he seeth them secure and carelesse of their wayes and though they do maliciously intend and purpose their hurt and d 1 Cor. 10. 10 13. destruction yet God by his wise providence will make a way for them to escape the danger of them all that he may magnifie his own glory thereby Sometimes also God doth suffer his servants to be pinched with want and scarcity to be long under afflictions and under the crosse and for some ends best known to his Divine wisdome he doth long defer to manifest his Providence to them for their succour and comfort which is a very great tryall of their faith hope and dependence upon God and many of Gods dear children have complained that he did not help and relieve them and that he suffered his enemies so long to triumph over them Thus saith the Psalmist e Psal 94. 3 Lord how long shall the wicked how long shall the wicked triumph Thus David complaineth f Psal 42. 9 I will say unto God my rock Why hast thou forsaken me Why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy Also thus Asaph complained when he was in great distresse g Psal 77. 7 7 8 9 10. Will the Lord cast off for ever And will he be favourable no more Is his mercy clean gone for ever ever doth his promise fail for evermore hath God forgotten to be gracious hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies And then he doth confesse that it was his infirmity to question the good Providence of God But some do repine and murmur against God and against his wise Providence through unbelief if they have not their wants necessities supplied at their pleasure and if they have not deliverance out of their troubles and tribulations when they expect it These are ready to say with Jehoram that wicked king h 2 Kin. 6. 33. Behold this evill is of the Lord what should I wait on him any longer Holy David doth expresse in diverse of his Psalmes how he waited for the Lord from day to day how he rested on the Lord and how patiently his soul waited for him If we thus wait upon God i Isa 30. 18 then the Lord will wait that he may be gracious unto us and therefore we ought to wait for him But if our Faith in God can reach no further than humane sense or reason can carry it we dishonour God by our unbelief though we have formerly had great experience of his good Providence to us and we shall provoke him to wrath as the Israelites did in the wildernesse when they said k Psal 78. 19 20. Can God furnish a Table in the wildernesse Behold he smote the rock that the waters gushed out and the streams over flowed can he give bread also can he provide flesh for his people Thus they believed not in God and rested not upon his Providence though they had seen so many of his great wonders which he had wrought for them Wherefore now let this be the desire of our hearts and souls l Eph. 3. 17 that our faith may be rooted and grounded in the love of God to us in Christ who with him hath given us all things The glorious creatures in heaven are comfortable to us by our interest in Christ and all creatures here below are for our use and at our command and service because we have right to them by faith in Christ without which we can have no comfort in them and no assurance that they belong unto us If our faith be well rooted it will then be fruitfull in all good works and it will never decay because it doth spring from a Divine Principle and is continually watered with a spirituall dew from heaven Also there is great need that it be well grounded and built upon a sure rock because we shall meet with strong assaults and temptations which like boysterous windes and billowes will seek to overturn it and we cannot comfortably injoy the good creatures of God if we do not injoy them in Christ our Saviour which must be onely by faith in him God himself will sometimes try our faith to the utmost by afflictions and crosses by suffering our enemies and wicked men to vex our very souls or by withdrawing his assisting grace from us by clouding the light of his countenance or by deferring the manifestation of his Divine Providence when we are in any strait or in any necessity which we could not shun and cannot tell which way to turn our selves because we have no means of help comfort and salvation but onely to cast our selves upon the Providence of God which we cannot comfortably do if our faith be not well grounded in Christ the rock of our salvation For if it be grounded upon any sandy foundation as upon our naturall endowments upon common grace or upon any earthly thing it will fall at every gust of temptation at every wave of affliction and it will not endure the fiery tryall it doth rest more upon the arm of flesh than it doth upon God and it seeks rather to secondary means for help and succour than it doth unto God and in the end it will deceive us In the last place God is wonderfull in his works of justice and in his Works of mercy both to the just and and to the unjust but in a farre differing manner to them both and to a farre-differing end For God will not suffer sin to be unpunished wheresoever he findeth it If his own children offend he will chastise them with a fatherly correction in much love and tender compassion and to bring them to better obedience but his loving kindnesse he will not take from them according as he said to David m 2 Sam. 7. 14 15. If thy
outward ministration of it to make it profitable and comfortable to our souls Examine now thy self what impression the doctrine of Christ hath made in thy heart which thou hast often heard sincerely preached and how thou hast been profited by it what knowledge thou hast gained in heavenly things how thou art confirmed in the truth of Gods Word how thy faith in Christ is established what hope thou hast of eternal salvation and how firmly thy faith is grounded upon the promises of God Also how thou art humbled for thy sins and what reformation of life it hath wrought in thee what patience and meekness of Spirit thou hast in thy sufferings what zeal for the glory of God what constancy in thy tryals and what love thou bearest to thy neighbour these and the like benefits thou maist have by the Word of God if thou art a profitable hearer of it If upon due examination of thy self thou doest find any of these operations of the Spirit of God in thee it is a sure evidence that he hath made thee a profitable hearer of his Word Many did hear Christs doctrine from his own mouth and yet they received no good by it so thou maist hear his holy Word and be no whit the better for it if it be not preached as wel to thy heart by the Holy Ghost as it is to thine ear by his Ministers Oh consider how many worthy sermons thou hast heard without profit what thou hast been taught and yet not edified nor reformed because thou didst hear them with uncircumcised ears and with a poluted and unbelieving heart for thy heart is naturally unfit to receive the heavenly doctrine of Christ until rhe holy Ghost doth prepare it and season it with grace that it may bring forth fruit unto newness of life o Hos 10. 12 There is so much fallow ground in us which is barren and unfruitful that the good seed of the Word of God cannot be sown to us in righteousness to reap the fruits of it in mercy untâ—l the holy Ghost breaks up this fallow ground with the power of his sanctifying grace neither can we seek the Lord that he may come and rain righteousness upon us Wherfore p Ier. 4. 4. we must be circumcised to the Lord and the foreskins of our hearts must be taken away and the vail that is upon our understandings must be removed and we must be purified by faith before we can be made fruitful in an holy and vertuous conversation by the Ministry of the word Wherefore imbrace the holy doctrine of Christ with pure affections lay it up in a clean heart and ruminate upon it in thy serious meditations that it may abide with thee to make thee grow dayly in grace vertue and godliness until thou comest to a full stature in Christ Consider therefore and observe how thou art inwardly affected when thou hearest it what delight thou hast in it and what impression of grace it makes in thy heart for if thou delightest in the Lords Sabbath and rejoicest when his Word soundeth in thine ears q Luc. 5. 41 as the babe did leap for joy in Elizabeths wombe when she heard the salutation of the Virgin Mary because Christ was then in the Virgins wombe thou art then in a blessed and comfortable condition r Isa 58. 13 14. and thy soul shall delight in the Lord who shall feed thee with the heritage of Jacob. Christ doth also teach us what we ought to do by his works that we dayly see both of justice and of mercy which are his silent Preachers and therefore they ought to be carefully regarded for there is no act of his but is intended for our instruction Noah was many years in building the Ark which was a long sermon to teach the world of the ungodly what God intended to do God Å¿ 1 Pet. 3. 20 waited then for their repentance and conversion an hundred and twenty years while the Ark was a preparing t 2 Pet. 2. 5 Noah also was a Preacher of righteousness to them all that time and did warn them of the wrath of God which did hang over their heads for their sins Thus doth God also deal with us for he doth visit us with sickness he doth teach us thereby to prepare our selves for the hour of dissolution and to perfect our account which we must make to the great Judge of heaven and earth at the last day that so we may willingly resign up our selves unto God when death shall part them from our bodies When God suffereth us to fall into temptations then he calls us to pray for his assisting grace for strength of faith and for constancy to stand out against the devil to the end that he may give us the crown of victory If he doth visit us with losses troubles or afflictions it is to teach us patience and meekness and to humble our selves under the hand of God until he doth deliver us If he doth chastise us for our sins it is to bring us to repentance When God bestoweth his blessing upon us or removeth the cross from us u Ps 50. 15 then he calls for a thankful remembrance of his mercy and goodness to us howsoever God dealeth with us either in judgement or in mercy it should teach us to glorifie him as well in our sufferings as for his blessings Thus God doth teach and instruct us what we should do and how to obey his will both by his Word and by his Works and as our ear must be open to his Word that it may be conveyed to our hearts by the holy Ghost so we should dayly observe the Works of God and how he dealeth with us that our hearts may receive instruction and our tongues may blesse his great and glorious name Wherefore we ought to listen to Gods voice in them that our hearts may return an answer of obedience agreeable to his will Of Christs Priestly Office GOd did also ordain Christ to be a Priest accord-to this of David a Ps 110. 4. The Lord sware â—nd will not repent Thou art a Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedeck He was anointed to his office not with the material oyl of the sanctuary but with the spiritual unction of the holy Ghost when he was baptized and he did execute it partly by his prayers which he did frequently offer up to God his father for all his elect in the dayes of his flesh and partly by that sacrifice which he offered up upon the cross at his death b Heb 7. 24 25. Christs priesthood is unchangeable and eternal for he is still our High-priest and ever liveth to make intercession for us and therefore he is able also to save us to the uttermost that come unto God by him c Heb. 8. We have such a High-priest who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heaven d Heb. 7. 26 27. For
more For the guilt of our sinnes brought all this evil upon him our sins brought the eternal Son of God from his glorious palace in heaven to be of the lowest degree and condition among men here upon earth and to be exposed to all the ignominy reproach and cruelty that the devil and wicked men could put upon him otherwise we had been still aliens and strangers unto God we had been still under the curse of the Law and under the dominion and power of sinne and Satan Wherefore we have great cause to admire the riches of his mercy of his goodness and love to us nothing could move him to do this for us but his tender mercy and his free grace for he saw nothing in us to move him to pitty but our misery and wretched condition this was the time of his love then did he cast his skirt over us to hide our shame and then did he undertake this great work of our râ—demption Now let the consideration of what Christ hath suffered for us and of the great benefits which we received thereby bind us in a firm bond of love and thankfulness to him and how to express it by our due respect to all his Commandements The incarnation of Christ without his Passion could profit us nothing the purity of his doctrine could not edifie our hearts if he had not shed his blood to clense us from our sins his prayers to God could not avail us nor procure mercy for us if he had not offered a sacrifice and shed his blood to satisfie the justice of God for all our transgressions also the perfect pattern of his holy life could not bring us to the integrity of conversation if he had not died that sinne might be mortified and killed in us and if he had not also rose again to quicken us up to newness of life It is therefore the Passion of Christ that reconcileth us to God that takes away the guilt of our sinnes that gives us power to mortifie and subdue them that pulleth out the sting of death that bringeth heavenly joy and comfort to our dejected spirits and at length will bring salvation to our souls But an unregenerate man is not sensible of the bitter passion of Christ he can feel no sweetness in it because he hath no spiritual tast he knows not the power of it and he can have no benefit by it so long as he is in that condition because he hath no spiritual relation to Christ He lives in health wealth and pleasure he feels no misery he is not afflicted with crosses troubles and sorrowes like other men his mind is not troubled and his thoughts are not disquieted for his sinnes they come not neer his heart and therefore he regardeth not the afflictions of Ioseph he looks not after the Passion of Christ nor after the salvation of his own soul thereby but he blesseth himself in this his condition though there be no true comfort in it Thus the devil deludes him and leads him on in blindness of understanding in hardness of heart and in gross security to the great danger and hazzard of his soul unless God in much mercy doth annoint his eies with his spiritual eye salve to let him see his own sad condition and to bring him unto Christ by faith Let no man therefore measure his spiritual condition by those outward blessings that he enjoyeth for a poor man may be rich in grace and godliness and a rich man may be empty and void of all piety and goodness God doth commonly give more wealth to the wicked than he doth to his own servants c Eccl. 5 3 and their large portion of earthly blessings may be for their hurt Consider now O vain man who blesseth thy self in thy plenty that thy misery is so much the greater by how much thou art less sensible of thy sinne and the closer thou art joined to the world the farther thou art from Christ and the more thou delightest in earthly pleasures the less comfort canst thou have in the passion of Christ Though thy riches and honours do dayly increase yet thy sinnes will make them bitter to thee for the least of all thy sinnes though conceived but in thought onely and never acted will bring thee under the curse of the Law and will make thee lyable to the eternal wrath of God and it will so pollute and defile thy soul and so poison the whole man that God will abhorre thee for thy filthiness and whatsoever floweth from that corrupted fountain is unclean Thy riches and pleasures will keep thee from mount Calvary where Christ was crucified so long as thou delightest in them more than in the meditation on the Passion of Christ The blessings which thou injoyest are curses unto thee so long as thou art without Christ and him crucified and continuest in thy sinnes without repentance There is a sting in every thing that thou possessest which sting is the evil of sinne and it will wound thy soul to the death if it be not cured by the blood of Christ which he shed in his passion and it must be truly applied to thy heart by faith Do not think that the mercy of God will save thee for if thou hast no interest in Christ crucified and neglectest the means of grace when it is offered the guilt of thy sinnes cleaveth still to thy soul and thou canst lay no claim to the mercies of God but art under the severity of his justice Where is now the civil honest mans comfort that thinks to gain heaven by his outward form of godliness without the blood of Christ What is the condition of the great men and mighty hunters of this world who think they are highly in the favour of God because they abound in all earthly pomp and pleasure if they have no interest in the passion of Christ Surely their condition is no better than that of the Lacdiccans d Rev. 3. 27. who thought themselves rich and increased with goods and had need of nothing and knew not that they were spiritually wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked If any cloud of afflictions and crosses doth but shadow their earthly felicity it takes away all their joy and it is ready to break their hearts for they think that to be their greatest misery because they do not see how poor and naked they are of grace nor the evil of their sins how they are holden in subjection to every carnal and base lust and to every evill concupiscence which will bring all misery whatsoever upon their souls But let my heart still ruminate and meditate upon the Passion of my dear Saviour e 1 Cor. 2. 2 and let it be the desire of my soul to know Iesus Christ and him crucified who is my wisdome righteousness sanctification and redemption For f Heb. 9. 14. it is onely the blood of Christ who through the eternall Spirit offered himself without spot to
suppresse the violence of our passions though we be naturally inclined thereunto Lastly Faith will strengthen us against all doubtings and distrust when Gods corrections are upon us b Heb. 12. 6 7. for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth and he scourgeth every son whom he receiveth If we endure chastening God dealeth with us as with sons Thus saith Eliphaz to Job c Job 5. 17. Behold happy is the man whom God correcteth therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty Why then should we mistrust the love and favour of God when we are under his visitation Why do we not put more confidence in his power to defend us more trust in his care to preserve us and more hope in his promises to save and deliver us from our enemies and out of troubles and dangers Wherefore if we do piously meditate upon these things it will be a great strengthening to our Faith and exceeding comfortable to our souls in all our temptations sorrows and sufferings Consider in the next place that as Christ appointed the crowing of the Cock to be Peters remembrancer of his sin so likewise God in much mercy hath many waies to put us also in minde of our sins and to call us to speedy repentance for them which we ought with all care and diligence to mark and observe If God doth forbear and suffer us to go long unpunished for our offences d Rom. 2. 4. his goodnesse herein should lead us to repentance But if he doth give us any check of conscience or layeth any affliction upon us they are as so many warnings to make us remember our sins with grief of heart and to bring us to repent of them that we may escape the evill which otherwise our sins would bring upon us But when the holy Ghost doth touch our hearts as he did Peters he will work with unresistible power to make us think upon our sins with godly sorrow with true contrition and compunction of spirit with hatred and detestation of them he will make us confesse and acknowledge them before God and earnestly to crave the forgivenesse of them by Faith in Christ and to have an holy assurance of it by our true and sound repentance But if we remember our former sins with delight and approbation we sin them over again and this remembrance is sinfull and it proceedeth from our corrupted nature and not from grace which will never bring us to forsake them or to repent of them When Peter came to himself and remembred his unthankfulnesse to his Lord and Master and did see from whence he was fallen he was wounded to the very soul and presently went out to seek a place where he might ease the grief of his heart with his bitter teares Consider now with all pious devotion how dangerous it is and what advantage we give the divell if we reiterate any sins as namely swearing lying uncleanness drunkennesse Sabbath-breaking or the like for it will fasten the guilt of that sin closer to our souls which will not be removed without bitter teares but will press us down to the pit of destruction Consider also that great and crying sins require loud cryes deep sighs and grones and many teares which we cannot pour forth untill we do abandone all our wicked and lewd companions and all former occasions that did intise or provoke us thereunto and untill Christ doth look upon us and touch our hearts with his Spirit to let us know that he doth take notice of them e 1 Cor. 16. 13. We should therefore watch and stand fast in the faith that we depart not from Christ but support our faith with stedfast hope and assurance that he will stablish us with his free Spirit never to fall away from him totally and finally But thou wilt say as sometimes Peter did that though thou shouldst dye with Christ yet thou wilt never deny him nor forsake him but do not trust too much to thine own strength though thou art in the State of grace for if Christ doth not uphold thy faith the power of Satans temptations will prevail against thee thine own heart will deceive thee and the devill will be too cunning for thee f Ezech. 33. 31. Thou maist honour Christ with thy lips and yet in heart thou maist deny him for if the power of a Christian life goeth not along with thy outward profession thou dost then dishonour his holy Name dost forsake Him in thy heart If there be such unfaithfulnesse in thee to Christ thy Saviour and if there be such hypocrisie hidden under a fair profession then every rumour of trouble or danger for Christ every alluring vanity and every delightfull sin will make thee turn aside from him g Psal 78. 57. like a deceitfull bow because thy heart is not well seasoned with grace to make thee stand firm and stedfast unto Christ and to his truth against all opposition If this be thy fidelity to thy Saviour and if thou dost repose so little confidence in him then surely he will not regard thee though thou dost howle and call unto him day and night when thou art in any distresse or misery The Lord complaineth of his own people h Hos 7. 14 that they had not cryed unto him with their heart when they howled upon their beds for they did still rebell against him Wherefore let there be truth and sincerity in thy heart that thy heart and thy tongue may go together in thy Prayers in thy vowes and in all thy services to God and man let thy heart and thy hand go together in thy almes to the poor and in all thy works of charity for if thy heart be not faithfull to God thy best services and duties cannot be accepted Also keep thy heart closely knit to Christ by faith and then he will cast an eye of mercy upon thee as he did upon Peter if at any time through humane weaknesse or upon the violence of any passion or strong temptation thou shalt fall away from him Thy heart is that which Christ requireth for thus he saith by Solomon My son give me thy heart i Prov. 23. 26. give not thy heart therefore to the pleasures and vanities of the world nor to carnall lusts and delights but onely unto God Now Meditate seriously upon all the circumstances of Peters fall and thou wilt find thy self likewise subject to the like provocations and to the like frailties and failings and learn instruction thereby not to be secure because dangers and temptations do every where attend thee and not to presume upon thine own strength for that will not preserve thee but labour to be well rooted in the truth and well grounded in the faith and love of Christ and then no spirituall enemy shall prevail against thee and the cunning stratagems of the divell shall not hurt thee no fear of perills and dangers shall make thy faith in Christ to fail and no afflictions or troubles shall
hearts Then much more should we be compassionately affected when we remember what great things Christ hath suffered for us and yet the remembrance of them should be delightfull to us because it was the Work of our redemption and the price which he paid for our ransome out of that spirituall bondage wherein we were holden by sin and Satan Wherefore if thy Saviours sufferings have made any impression in thy heart shew some fruits of thy thankfulnesse to him by thy bowels of tender compassion and of pity to his poor Saints that are in want and misery for thou mayest shew thy love to him in them Christ looked with the eye of mercy upon thee and did commiserate thy wofull and distressed condition he poured out the streams of his most precious blood from all parts of his body to wash away the filth and the staines of all thine iniquities and hast thou no sparks of Charity for his poor distressed members Canst thou think upon his poverty d Mat. 8. 20 who had not whereon to lay his head and not restrain thy thoughts from pride and ambition Canst thou see thy self in prosperity and not pity and relieve the servants of God that are in misery Think upon his nakednesse when he was upon the crosse for thee to asswage thy vainity in apparell and to induce thee to cloath his servants in their naked condition remember his hunger and thirst to make thee sober and temperate in thy diet and to refresh his hungry Members with something that comes from thy table that Psal 69. 22. thy table become not a snare before thee If thou injoyest thy liberty think upon thy Saviours bonds and cast an eye of compassion upon his poor servants in the dungeon If thou canst make this good use of thy Meditations upon the passion and sufferings of Christ it is a comfortable evidence and a good assurance that Christ suffered for thee and that thou art of the number of those whom he hath bought with his own blood and whom he hath redeemed out of the prison of eternall death CHRISTS sufferings under the Crosse VVE come now to consider yet further how cruelly the stony-hearted Jewes and the barbarous people dealt with our beloved Saviour for they laid the heavy crosse upon him to bear it to Mount Calvary whereon he was to be crucified though he was much weakened by his bitter Agony but a little before and for want of rest all that night and though his back was rent and torn with the whip his body fore with cruell blowes and faint with fasting and with the losse of blâ—â—â— But because they feared he would faint by the way or not come soon enough to the place where he was to dye that they might have their fill of cruelty against him and because the day was now farre spent a Luk. 23. 16. Mat. 27. 32. they compelled Simon a Cyrenian to bear his crosse after him Now we may inlarge our Meditations upon the sorrows of our sweet Saviour which do every hour increase upon him and his deadly foes do still add grief to his misery by laying his crosse upon his tender back yet he did patiently bear it though he was very sensible of the weight and burden of it which was too heavy for his humane strength considering how much he was weakened This wooden Crosse was but the shadow of that which did most presse him for it was the wrath of God which was now poured out upon him that was such an unsupportable burden that his humane nature could not bear it without the power of his Deity to support and assist him in it Simon could help him bear this crosse but no creature either man or Angel could help him bear the burden of Gods wrath for the guilt of our sins that was now charged upon him which was so great and so heavy that it made his knees to bow his heart to faint and his very soul to tremble for he stood now before the Tribunal of Gods justice as guilty of all manner of sin Original and actual of Omission and of Comission for the guilt of the foulest sins of all the elect of God was imputed to him and he was to satisfie the justice of God for every sin great and smal before he could be eased of his sorrowes paines and torturings and before he could finish the work of our redemption which God sent him to do In Christ was verified this of the Prophet b Isa 63. 3 5 I have trodden the wine-presse alone and of the people there was none with me and I looked and there was none to help and I wondered that there was none to uphold therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me and it upheld me This is he whom John saw sitting upon a c Rev. 19 11 13. white horse who was cloathed with a vesture dipt in blood and his name is called the Word of God Christ was that d Isa 63. 1. mighty warrier who came from Edom who had many strong enemies to encounter with that did sorely wound him but at length he got the victory over them all by the greatnesse of his strength and by the righteousnesse of his Words and therefore he was glorious in his red apparell and mighty to save all such as belong unto him and do put their trust in him This crosse is a fit resemblance of all the troubles and sorrowes that we shall meet with in this life for it was heavy and troublesome to bear First because Christ himself did bear it he found the weight and trouble of it and he was a man of sorrowes he was acquainted with grief and he did feel the burden of our afflictions and tribulations to make them easie to us and according to our strength Secondly because it was so heavy unto Christ that he was ready to faint under it whereby he did expresse in himself the weaknesse and frailty of our nature for if crosses and tribulations presse hard upon us we are ready naturally to repine to cast off all hope and to sink under the burden of them and therefore Christ knowing by his own experience the weight of them and our inabilâ—ty to bear them with a contented patience will comfort support and strengthen us under them Thirdly that was a wooden crosse which was not for perpetuity but continued onely for a time to shew that our crosses and sorrowes continue not for ever for God doth afflict us but for a short time but his loving kindnesse and tender mercies to us continue for ever Thus saith holy David e Psal 30. 5. His anger endureth but a moment in his favour is life weeping may endure for a night but joy cometh in the morning Christ will not suffer us to faint under our troubles and miseries but will ease and refresh us as Simon eased him when he was under the like condition But if it be the will and pleasure of God that the crosse
to mortifie and kill the power of sin in us and the vertue of his resurrection will quicken us up to newnesse of life and his righteousnesse will restore us to an higher degree of purity and holinesse than we had in our first creation f Gal. 3. 27. for by faith we are baptized into Christ and have put on Christ g Eph. 5. 30. and we are now members of his body of his flesh and of his bones and we are confirmed in this blessed condition by his free Spirit so that we shall never depart from him If Christ had not been crucified and his bloud poured out upon the crosse and if he had not been made a curse for us by that kinde of death then Gods decree had not been fulfilled the work of our redemption had not been finished we had been still under the curse of the Law the guilt of sin had still rested upon our souls and all the Prophesies of him had not been fulfilled also we could not have had all those great benefits by his death and by the merit of his blood h Phil. 2. 8. But Christ did humble himself to the cursed death of the crosse and there his heart blood was poured out which made his sacrifice compleat and perfect This made the faith of the penitent thief so famous because he did imbrace Christ for his Saviour when he was upon the crosse i 1 Cor. 2 2 4. This made Paul to prefer the knowledge of Jesus Christ and him crucified before all humane wisedome because thereby the Spirit of God did make his preaching powerfull and effectuall k Gal. 6. 14 and this made him glory so much in the Crosse of Christ Wherefore we need not be ashamed of Christ because he was crucified and we need not refuse to bear his Crosse after him because it is the greatest honour of a true Christian and that which bringeth the greatest comfort to our souls to be made conformable to Christ in his sufferings Now we come to consider what admirable gentlenesse what great mercy and goodnesse Christ did shew to his persecutors and tormenters he did practise the same Doctrine which he taught his Disciples in the Mount l Mat. 5. 44. Love your enemies blesse them that curse you do good to them that hate you and pray for them that despitefully use you and persecute you For he gave them not a bitter word but did patiently and meekly suffer all their barbarous usage and cruelty against him and when their hearts were inflamed with malice and their hands laboured to crucifie him and when the pangs of death were upon him his tender heart was moved with compassion toward them and the fountain of his mercy was opened that the sweet streams of his blessing might flow upon them for even then he did pray his heavenly Father to remit and and forgive their great sin m Luk. 23. 34. Father saith he forgive them for they know not what they do For they were spiritually blinde and could not see who he was and their hearts were hardened that they could not understand nor believe from whence he came and wherefore he suffered them to put him to such a shameful and cruel death If our dear Saviour was so mercifull to those that brewed their hands in his blood what heart can then conceive the riches of his mercy and love to his own servants that love serve and obey him in truth and with upright hearts For mercy and tender love are essentially and naturally inherent in him and there is no end of his goodnesse to all those that be long unto him his mercy to them goeth along in all his works for if he doth correct them it is in mercy for their good he will not let the rod go out of his own hand to some he doth but shake the rod others feel but few stripes and though some have many stripes n Jer. 10. 2. yet it shall be with judgment not in his anger he wil not deal with them according to their sins nor reward them according to their iniquities but his mercy will prevail though his justice be provoked Wherefore let no poor afflicted soul that is under his rod forbear coming unto Christ for he can take off his visitation when he pleaseth and he will pity him as a Father pitieth his childe Also let no poor sinner that is truly humbled for his sins be afraid to have recourse unto his Redeemer for he prayed for such to procure their pardon and to bring salvation to their souls All the riches honours and pleasures that the world affords can give a sinfull soul no true consolation if he be troubled and perplexed for his sins they are all miserable comforters when the guilt of sin lieth upon the conscience true comfort and fulnesse of joy is to be found onely in Christ and in him crucified for he will take away the guilt of his sins that they shall not molest or trouble his conscience he will help him bear his sorrowes with a contented patience he will stand by him and intercede for him that in his temptations and trials his faith may not fail him Rev. 7. 17 Isa 25. 8. and at last he will wipe away all teares from his eyes All this and much more Christ will do for us for he will also stand for us against all the accusations of the devil be they true or false if they be true he will present his own merits to his Father in satisfaction for us if they be false he will give the devil a shameful repulse and will curb him that he shall not hurt us p 1 John 2. 12. for Christ Jesus the righteous is our Advocate with the Father and the propitiation for our sins and for the sins of the whole world Consider in the next place that Christ did now put an end to the Ceremonial Law for the types and shadows did cease when he was slain because he was the substance of all those ceremonies and sacrifices This was the last ceremonie which was to be fulfilled q Heb. 13. 11 12. that the bodies of those beasts whose blood was to be brought into the Sanctuary by the High Priest for sin were burnt without the Camp This Ceremony Christ fulfilled when he shed his bloud without the gate that he might sanctifie the people with his own blood For both Jews and Gentiles were now gathered together at Mount Calvary where Christ died that the people of all Nations might be sanctified with his bloud if they come unto him by faith to be cleansed from the guilt of their sinnes and purified from their pollutions with his sanctifying grace Wherefore now though we are aliens and strangers to the house of Israel yet nothing hindereth but that we may go forth boldly unto him who finished our redemption by his death without the gate that thereby he might sanctifie the Gentiles with his blood as he did the
should he have learned by his own experience what we suffer when we are under the crosse that he might pity us This may teach us to bear patiently whatsoever God doth lay upon us though the instruments that he useth be our deadly foes because it is his will and pleasure to have it so b 2 Sam. 16. 1â— Thus did David meekly bear the cursing of Shimâ—i and would not suffer Abishai to kill him because it was the Lords will it should be so This Meditation will greatly comfort our fainting spirits when we are under any strong temptation or worldly misery that no enemy be he never so powerfull or his heart never so malicious can imagine more against us in his wicked thoughts or act more with his cruell hands than Divine Providence hath appointed Also no calamity pain or sicknesse can afflict us without his will no perill or danger can come near us without his permission and we shall suffer no more under any crosse than God in his wisdom knoweth to to be profitable for us If we are thus perswaded it will greatly comfort us in all our sufferings and keep us from murmuring and repining when GODS visitation is upon us Wherefore let no fear of danger cast down our hope let no storme of persecution shake the foundation of our faith and let no waves of affliction quench the flame of our love or abate the zeal of our affections to our dear Saviour who spared not his own life for us but poured out his very heart bloud for our justification and salvation If the strength of grace that is in us be not answerable to what we suffer or to the power of our corruptions Christ will either take off some part of our burden or give us more strength to bear it and he will also make us able by degrees to overcome our corruptions that we may live a sanctified life to the Lord and then let death come how or when it will we shall dye in the Lord which will be great gain and advantage to us Now let the Meditations of thy heart be fixed upon the death of thy precious Saviour that from thence thou maist draw vertue and power by faith to mortifie and kill the body of sin that by nature is in thee also to have a firm assurance that he hath reconciled thee to God by the merit of his blood Why then dost thou cherish any sin to crucifie thy Redeemer afresh What is this that thou doest when thou delightest in swearing in uncleannesse in drunkennesse and the like Why dost thou delay thy turning unto God Why dost thou thus indanger the salvation of thy soul Oh think upon the iniquity of thy sin with hatred and detestation which hath put to death thy gracious Redeemer think upon thy sin with godly sorrow and true compunction of heart which did so separate thee from thy God that nothing could restore thee into his grace and favour but the death of his eternall Son Wherefore seek earnestly by faithfull Prayer to thy sweet Saviour that thou mayest finde the vertue and power of his death in the crucifying of all the severall members of this body of sin that by nature is inherent in thee that so thy corruptions may be weakened and thou mayest be dayly renewed by the strength of that sanctifying grace which the Holy Ghost hath wrought in thee Consider now in the last place how rigorously God did deal with his onely Son throughout his whole passion he gave him no intermission in his suffering but as soon as one sorrow was past another presently came in the place when one pain was over a greater was ready to supply the room c Psal 102. 4. his heart was smitten and withered like grasse so that he forgat to eat his bread his torturings came so fast upon him that he had no time to refresh himself with bread or water but above all Gods fury was upon him in all his sufferings which made his passion beyond the strength of nature God never dealt thus with any of his servants but still they had some intermission in their afflictions some comfort in their sorrowes and some heavenly consolation to uphold their spirits or else a joyfull deliverance out of them Joseph had his afflictions and yet at length God advanced him to great honour Jobs afflictions came upon him as fast as one messenger could follow another at last misery seized upon his own body but in the end God gave him double as much as he took from him So likewise David and many more have suffered very great afflictions and torments but none like unto Christ whose passion continued to his heath d 2 Cor. 11. Paul was above measure afflicted persecuted and tormented for the Name of Christ and at last he dyed by the sword but all this while he had Christ to support him with many spiritual consolations Wherefore howsoever God is pleased to deal with us in this life it will be in mercy and in judgement for our good and not in fury or in the rigour of his justice for our confusion and he will bountifully reward us in the life to come if we hold out constant to the end What happened at CHRISTS Death VVHen the soul of our blessed Redeemer was dissolved and separated from his breathlesse body a Mat. 27. 51. The vail of the Temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottome the earth did quake the rocks rent the graves were opened and many bodies of the Saints which slept arose and came out of their graves after his resurrection God did shew these strange signs and wonders at the death of his Son as fore-runners of the fearfull judgements that soon after should come upon that renowned City and upon the whole nation of the Jews and so strike terrour into their hearts for their odious and detestable sin in crucifying the Lord of glory if by any means they could be made sensible of their sins that they might repent and turn to the Lord that so God might turn away his judgements and have mercy on them This hath been Gods usuall course to give warning before he strikes to threaten before the judgement comes and nothing but repentance can stay Gods hand b 1 Kin. 21. 29. Ahabs outward form of humiliation kept off the judgement from himself that God hath denounced against his house by his Prophet The Ninivites repenâ—ed at the Preaching of Jouah and therefore God brought not the evill upon them which he threatned against that great City But the house of Juda would not repent though God sent his Prophets to them early and late and therefore they were carried away captives into Babylon Thus doth God in great mercy give warning before he doth visite a nation or a people in his wrath that they should prevent the judgement by their repentance First God did shew by the renting of the vail of the Temple that the partition wall was
the sanctifying graces of his holy Spirit may season our hearts and affections to walk before him in holinesse and purenesse of living all our dayes Wherefore now our afflictions and troubles which are part of this curse are sanctified to us and made salubrious and wholesome for our good and the evill of punishment which we suffer is taken away by the merit of his sufferings and the nature of them is changed into fatherly chastisements to correct us for our sins that we may walk more obediently before God or else they are to try the truth of our graces for the honour of God that gave them Fourthly this is another great Advantage and Gain that we have by Christ which unregenerate men cannot finde that he hath also freed us from the dominion of sin for though sin will dwell with us so long as we live in the flesh yet the strength and power of sin is weakened and killed by the vertue and power of that grace which Christ hath given us by his death The best of Gods servants do often complain how the unregenerate part in them doth sometimes prevail against the Spirit which makes them groan under the burden of their corruptions as holy David and others have done Paul also found this to be true for thus he saith e Rom. 7. 18 19. I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing for to will is present with me but how to perform that which is good I finde not for the good that I would I do not but the evill which I would not that I do And he had no power but onely from Christ to be freed from this dominion of sin and therefore he cryeth out saying f Rom 7. 24 25. O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord for he found this Benefit and Gain by Christ for saith he g Phil. 1. 21. To me to live is Christ and to dye is gain or else we may read it thus For Christ is to me both in life and in death advantage This is not the gain which natural men look for they seek after the gain of riches the gain of honours and the gain of worldly preferments they look not after spiritual gain they do not esteem of vertue and godliness piety towards God is out of request with them though it be the true gain and most to be desired Fifthly that we may get this spirituall gain of Godlinesse which is the advantage onely of a true Believer Christ doth wash us in the Laver of his righteousnesse and therefore he bestowes all sanctifying and saving graces upon us to purifie us from the silth and pollutions of our sins For Christ doth unite us unto himself by Faith whereby we are cloathed with his righteousnesse and have all the benefits that come by the merite of his blood then faith drawes in with it all other sanctifying graces to make us compleat and perfect in Christ to beautifie and adorn our souls that we may lead a vertuous and pious life in the right way of true holiness h 1 Pet. 2. 2 Christ doth also give us an holy desire to the sincere milk of the word that thereby we may grow in i 2 Pet. 3. 18. grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ by whom we are brought into the favour of God k Rom. 3. 24 by whose grace love we are freely justified through the Redemption that is in Jesus Christ l Eph. 2. 8. by whose free grace also we are saved through faith in Christ Saving grace was one of the special gifts that Christ gave after his Ascension according to this of Paul m Eph. 4. 7. But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ n Heb. 13 9. Wherefore if our hearts are stablished w th grace we shal not be carried about with diverse and strange doctrines but we shall stand firm in the Faith and in the truth of our Profession and our hearts will be purged from dead works Sixthly we have this great Advantage by Christ above all other men o Gal. 4. 5 6 7. that by him we receive the adoption of sons and thereby we injoy all the Priviledges that belong to sons for God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts crying Abba Father and we are made heirs of God through Christ Wherefore p Heb. 4. 16. in him we may come boldly unto the throne of grace by Prayer that we may obtain mercy and finde grace to help in time of need For God will have a fatherly care of us to protect us in all dangers to provide whatsoever is good for us and to comfort us in all our sorrowes and distresses q Psal 9. 9. Isa 25. 4. Thus was God a refuge and a shield of defence to David and to other holy men in their troubles and afflictions If his rod of correction be upon us it will be in love r Heb. 12. 6. as a father chasteneth his son that he may receive us as his sons and though we feel his visitation sharp Å¿ Lam. 3. 31 yet he will not cast us off for ever for t Eph. 4 30. we are sealed unto the day of Redemption u Heb. 6. 12. that we may through faith and patience inherit the promises u 1 Pet. 1 4. as heirs to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved in heaven for us Lastly Christ hath sealed the Covenant of grace to us with his own blood whereby we are freed from the strict keeping of the legal Covenant of Works and Christ will perfect with his own righteousnesse whatsoever is wanting in us to the fulfilling of the Law if we endeavour the best we can with an upright heart to do the will of God and then God in mercy will accept of our imperfect obedience for his sake This new Covenant which Christ hath procured for us will admit of the obedience of Christ for us and also of our true repentance for our sins which the legal Covenant would not because it required perfect and personal obedience to every tittle of the Law both in thought in word and in deed By vertue of this new Covenant x Jer. 31. 33 34. God is our God and he will forgive all our iniquities and will remember our sins no more upon condition that we believe in Christ y Heb. 12. 24. who is the Mediator of this Covenant and that with our faith we joyn piety and new obedience Christ hath also given us his Sacraments whereby this Covenant is sealed to us if we do worthily partake of them but of this Covenant and also of the Sacraments I have written more fully in another Treatise Now Meditate with an holy devotion upon all these Advantages which every
with Christ and hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus that he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindnesse toward us through Christ Jesus b Eph. 4. 23 This renovation in the spirit of our minde is wrought in us by the holy Ghost through Christ for he was anointed with the holy Ghost for this end and purpose that by him we might be raised up from the death of sin to a spirituall life of grace according to the signification of his Name for as he is Christ he is Anointed of God and as he is Jesus he is the Saviour of the world to save us from our sins and to work salvation for us whereof we are not capable untill we have a spiritual life wrought in us Thus saith the Spouse of Christ c Cant. 1. 3. Thy Name is as oyntment poâ—red forth A precious Oyntment hath many excellent vertues d Psal 104. 15. for it maketh a chearful countenance it comforteth and strengtheneth all the parts of the body it healeth all diseases and it sendeth forth a sweet savour when it is poured out which refresheth and comforteth all the senses Thus is Christ to every true believers soul he is the Anointed of God as saith the Psalmist of him e Psal 45. 7. Thou lovest righteousnesse and hatest wickednesse therefore God thy God hath anointed thee with the oyl of gladnesse above thy fellowes f Act. 10. 38 for he was anointed with the holy Ghost and with power First by the power of his holy unction Christ doth put a spiritual light into our understanding by his Spirit that we may see how to walk in the paths of godlinesse and truth according to this of old Simeon g Lu. 2. 31 32. that God had prepared him to be a light to lighten the Gentiles and to be the glory of his people Israel h Psal 97. 11 Light is sown for the righteous and the comfort and gladnesse of it for the upright in heart This Prophesie was fulfilled in Christ i Isa 2. 9. The people that walked in darknesse have seen a great light they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death upon them hath the light shined k Eph. 5. 14 Wherefore awake thou that sleepest in fin and arise from the dead and Christ shall give thee light If we want this heavenly light we must needs wander and go astray from God and we have no means to obtain such a light but by Christ It is sin that hath brought this darknesse and this spiritual death upon our souls and none but Christ can take it away This is the beginning of our spiritual life when we have some light to discern the spirituall things of God for the good of our souls Secondly Christ is the food and nourishment of our souls to preserve this spirituall life in us whose flesh we must spiritually eat and whose blood we must spiritually drink by faith in the hearing of his Word preached and Sacramentally when we come to his holy Table or else we have not this spirituall life in us l John 6. 48 53. I am that bread of life saith Christ which came down from heaven who so eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternall life and I will raise him up at the last day for my flesh is meat indeed and my blood is drink indeed Wherefore if our souls do hunger and thirst after this heavenly food and do earnestly desire to be refreshed and fully satisfied therewith it is an evident sign that there is a spiritual life in us for Christ doth freely offer himself to every empty soul that can feed upon him by Faith in his Word or in his Sacraments But if our desires and the affections of our hearts are taken up with the love of this world and of earthly vanities it s no marvell if we have no hunger nor thirst after Christ and that we feel so little want and need of him Thirdly the blood of Christ is the true balm to heal and cure all the diseases and wounds that sin hath made in our souls it is like m Lu 10. 34 the good Samaritans wine and oyl for it hath a cleansing and an healing vertue There can be no wound so deep in the soul and no ulcer so festered but this precious Oyntment will cleanse and heal it if it be rightly applyed by faith and true repentance for repentance layeth open the wound by true confession and faith applyeth the remedy to it and then repentance giveth us an holy assurance that we shall be cured This is the way and the means of recovery when our souls are sick of any spirituall disease and also to preserve that spirituall life which is in us Lastly when the heavenly graces that flow from Christ are poured out upon our soules they will greatly refresh and comfort our spirits in all sadnesse of heart and they will so persume all our actions and services which we perform unto God that their sweet savour shall ascend up unto him that he may smell it and graciously accept of us and of our offerings n Gen. 8. 21. When Noah offered burnt offerings to the Lord after the floud the Lord smelled a sweet savour and accepted his sacrifice and blessed him exceedingly Wherefore if our souls are perfumed with grace they will so perfume all our holy oblations which we offer up to God that he will in mercie accept them for his Sonnes sake o I rev 5. 8. But the sacrifices of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord and they stink in his nostrils because they proceed from a corrupt and unclean heart which is not perfumed with grace how much â— Eccl. 10. 1 more when he bringeth them with a wicked mind â—o 21. 27 Sin is like dead flies in the ointment of the Apothecary which causeth it to stink for sin maketh us odious in the sight of God Wherefore take heed with what heart thou comest into the presence of God and that thou bringest no oblation to him with a wicked mind but first purifie thy heart from sinne by faith in the bloud of Christ and see that thy soul be perfumed with sanctifying grace and then come and offer thy gift and God will accept it But if there be any sin in thy bosome unrepented of or any iniquity in thy heart which thou seekest to hide from God then he cannot smell a sweet savour of thy prayers of thy praises and thanksgivings or of any duty which thou performest to him to make it accepted because thy heart is not upright before God Now we must examine our selves what spiritual life we have by Christ and we must know how he is our spiritual life if we will have any comfort thereby First q 1 Joh. 2. 20 If we have this holy unction from Christ which was poured upon him above measure that
iniquity of our sinnes unto Christ our Saviour and of his free grace to account us just by the imputation of his righteousnesse to us through faith So likewise hereby we have the adoption of sonnes and all the priviledges that do belong unto sonnes These are such benefits and such comforts as none can conceive but such as doe injoy them and none can injoy them but by Christ and there is no way to have them by Christ but onely by a true and a lively faith in him Secondly by faith we are invested into the Covenant of grace and all the gracious promises that are contained in it doe belong unto us also by faith we have great comfort and hope in all other the promises of God whether they concern this life or the life to come for we believe the truth of his word and his ready will to perform what he hath promised and though his promises are sometimes impossible to nature and above humane reason yet faith gives us ability to rest upon them because we believe that he is faithful that hath promised and able to perform his word Thus saith Solomon Blessed â— 1 Kings â— 50. be the Lord that hath given rest unto his people Israel according to all that he hath promised there hath not failed one word of all his good promises which he promised by the hand of Moses his Servant The promises of God are limited to the condition of faith and obedience and though they are above our capacity yet we may confide in them for he will perform them in his due time b Rom. 4 18 19 20. God made a promise to Abraham that his seed should be as numerous as the starres in the firmament when he was about an hundred yeares old and yet betâ—g not weak in faith he staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief but against hope he believed in hope that he might become the father of many Nations and he was fully perswaded that what God had promised he was able also to perform c Heb. 11. 11 Sarah through faith received strength to conceive seed though she were barren and past age and she was delivered of a child because she judged him faithful who had promised If we do thus rest upon the promises God in all conditions of life and in all the chances and changes that can happen to us it will fit and prepare us to receive them contentedly at Gods hands But the special servants of God may be so over-pressed with the extremity of afflictions that they are ready to distrust the truth of Gods Word and to waver in their assiance and confidence in him if he delayeth to perform his promise and to help them This was Asaphs case who thus complained d Psal 74. 8 10. Is his mercy clean gone for ever doth his promise fail for evermore But he doth presently check himself and acknowledge that it was his infirmity thus to distrust the goodnesse of God Thus saith Peter e 2 Pet. 3. 9. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise for he will remember to perform it when his time is come that it will make most for his glory and for our good Wherefore f Heb. 6. 12. we must wait patiently upon God and then we shall inherit the promises g Eph. 1. 13. for by faith we are sealed with that holy Spirit of promise that we may confidently rest upon God and upon the truth of his Word Wherefore if we are well acquainted with the Scriptures we shall find many promises of grace to strengthen our faith when we are under any temptation to comfort our soules when we are in any anguish of spirit or under the pressure of any crosse or calamity And when we have found a promise that will suit with our present condition then to make use of our faith to lay hold upon it to apply it to our selves and to rest firmly upon it though it be above hope for God can and will assuredly perform it to our great consolation If God doth deferre the performance of it longer than we expect yet we must patiently wait upon him for when he hath wrought his own work in us for his own glory and our good he will not then delay to perform it a moment longer Thirdly by faith we shall receive much profit and comfort by Gods holy Ordinances without which our services to God cannot be performed according to his will The preparation of the heart to the profitable â—earing of the sacred Word of God is by faith h Act. 15. 9. because hereby our hearts are purified and cleansed from all sin in the bloud of Christ that no guilt of sin may cleave to our soules and consciences to stop the current of grace to our hearts and to hinder the free working of the Spirit of God upon our affections by the ministry of his word that it cannot take root in us for our edification and instruction to convince us of our errours to reprove us for our sinnes and to comfort us in all sorrows and sadnesse of heart It is faith that makes our hearts good ground fit to receive the seed of Gods Word that it may take deep root in us to fructifie and bring forth much fruit to the glory of God What comfort can we have by the Word of God if we doe not hear it with hearts purified from our corruptions by faith how can it profit us if there be not an holy preparation to receive it that the holy Ghost may imprint it in our hearts to be a word of power in us unto salvation and to be the Savour of life unto eternal life and how can it be fruitful in us to the reformation of our lives if our hearts are not seasoned with faith i Rom. 10. 17. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God and then it is a special meanes which the spirit of God useth to convey spiritual knowledge to the understanding holy desires to the will to study and endeavour to a godly life and also true consolation to the soul So likewise our hearts are prepared by faith to the worthy receiving of the Lords Supper for as we doe refresh our bodies with the Bread and Wine so our soules are refreshed and comforted by our spiritual feeding on the body and blood of Christ by faith Also faith will put an holy zeal into our prayers to make them fervent and effectual to prevail with God to send us a gracious answer in his good time Thus saith our Saviour Christ k Mar. 11. 24. What things soever yee desire when yee pray believe that ye receive them and yee shall have them O what comfort might we find in our prayers when we are in want sorrow or in any necessity if we did pray with zealous affections and did faithfully believe that our petitions are granted before we receive them then we would wait upon God until he is
sicknesse under the crosse or under the buffetings of Satan this will much increase our Faith and confirm our hope and confidence in God g 1 Sam. 17. 37. This consideration made David bold to encounter with Goliah that great Gyant because God had formerly delivered him from the paw of the Lyon and from the paw of the Bear and therefore he would now deliver him from that uncircumcised Philistine We should make the same use of the former experience that we have any way had of the goodnesse and mercy of God to us to strengthen our faith and affiance in God when we are in any distresse and can see no means to give us any hope of safety or of deliverance Sixthly if we be of low esteem in our own eyes and poor in spirit to walk humbly before God in a true sight and sense of our unworthinesse and of our emptinesse of grace and goodness then God will give us more grace more holy zeal and he will make us rich in faith h 1 Pet. 5. 5. for God resisteth the proud and giveth grace to the humble Thus we may have more strength of Faith from God because he will deal like a tender father with these that know their own weaknesse to supply their wants with a gracious increase of their Faith i Isa 42. 3. for he will not break the bruised reed nor quench the smoaking flax neither will he require of the weak so much as of these that are strong in Faith and whatsoever he requireth of them he will give such abilities of grace as shall make them able to perform it Lastly if we desire to have our Faith increased we must take heed that we give no liberty to sin for that will weaken our Faith it will stop the influence of grace to our hearts and hinder the free operations of the holy Ghost in us How can we confide and trust in Gods mercy and goodnesse when we have deserved his wrath and displeasure for some sin that doth over power us without repentance How can grace be strong in us if sin doth still reign in our mortall bodies There can be no increase of Faith if sin be strong in us If God is pleased to try our faith or any other grace that is in us as he did Abrahaâ—s Faith Josephs chastity and Jobs patience we shall be found very weak if our conscience can accuse us of any sin that is not mortified and subdued in us Wherefore now if thou art conscious of the weakness of thy Faith by thine inability to resist any temptation or provocation unto sin by thy wavering and doubting in the true performance of Gods Promises if they are above thy capacity and by thy perplexed fears when troubles or dangers are ready to seize upon thee thou must not look upon thine own deservings except iâ— be for thy humiliation for thou must know that God did not make his gracious promises for thy sake though they were made for thy good but God made them to thee for the sake of Christ in whom was the perfection of all merit k 2 Cor 1. 20 and in whom all the Promises of God are yea and Amen so that if thou art in Christ thou hast no cause to question the performance of any of Gods promises Also for the increase of thy Faith meditate piously upon those former directions and then have recourse by Prayer to thy blessed Saviour and he will uphold thy Faith against all adversary power that shall oppose it But if thou art not in Christ no promise of grace belongs unto thee and thou canst finde no comfort therein How to esteem of Faith THough it be sufficient highly to prize and esteem of true justifying Faith if we do duly weigh and consider those excellent benefits and comforts of Faith formerly set down to make us happy here in this life and eternally blessed in the life to come yet the great worth and esteem of it will further appear by these following considerations which the holy Ghost hath set down in the sacred Scriptures First the holy Ghost hath set severall high commendations on it as a thing of great price a 2 Pet. 1. 20 for by Peter he calls it precious Faith because it is grounded upon the righteousnesse of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ and because we do injoy Christ himself by it We must needs therefore esteem it as a most precious Jewell because God will bestow it upon none but such as are his dear children and elected unto salvation Holy David was a great King renowned for his honour riches and valour he was victorious in all his battels and he prospered in all his enterprises yet his faith and hope was in none of these b Psal 7. 1. but his trust was in the Lord. He did slight all his earthly greatnesse and did count himself happy onely by his faith in God for thus he saith c Psal 40. 4 Blâ—ssed is that man that maketh the Lord his trust But some have no regard to fix their faith on God for they put their confidence in the arm of flesh in the multitude of their Host and in the strength of their Chariots and Horsemen these have no ground for their faith to rest upon but what this world can afford them which they will finde to be vain and like a broken reed no way able to save them Hadadezer trusted in his Chariots and Horsemen d 2 Sam. 8. 4 but David smote him with a very great slaughter and took from him a thousand chariots because he trusted in the Lord. e 2 Chro. 14. 9. Zerah the Ethiopian put his trust in his numerous Army which was a thousand thousand but the Lord overthrew them before King Asa The faith that worldly men have in their riches and in their greatnesse is not this faith which is so precious and so much to be esteemed for their faith is grounded upon worldly strength and it reacheth no further than humane reason can carry it no marvell then if it do deceive them in the end But the Faith of a true Christian is fixed upon Christ and upon no other object who is a sure rock to rest upon and it reacheth up to heaven even to God himself and it will fetch down help and succour comfort and consolation from him upon all occasions when we need it Jude calls it f Jude 2â— most holy faith because it maketh us holy in the sight of God by putting upon us the righteousnesse of Christ and because by it as it hath relation unto Christ our Prayers and all other our services to God are holy and acceptable to him Wherefore seeing Faith is so precious that God will bestow it upon none but upon his own children and so holy that it maketh all our services to God to be holy we ought to esteem it as a pearl of great price and to keep it as a most precious Jewell Secondly we
The Lord knoweth them that are his The second reason is drawn from the vertue and strength of the Covenant of Grace A Covenant between man and man is an ingagement of great force and the servants of God did alwayes exactly keep it how strong then is that Covenant which God himself hath made with us which his own dear Son hath sealed with his bloud and which God hath made of his own free grace and favour to us poor miserable sinners which Christ hath procured for us h Gâ—â— 9. God made a Covenant with Noah and he hath kept it to this day Also God made diverse Covenants with Abraham and he performed them all i Gen. 21 Abraham made a Covenant with Abimelech and did precisely keep it This new Covenant is for ever and it is so strongly confirmed that we cannot question the performance of it on Gods part whom in his own Esence is immutable and unchangeable and though we cannot perform our conditions to God yet Christ hath performed them for us and will also stablish us in the fear of God that we shall never depart from him Thus saith the Lord by his Prophet k Jer. 33 34. I will put my Law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts and will be their God and they shall be my people and they shall teach no more every man his neighbour and every man his brother saying know the Lord for they shall all know me from the least of them even unto the greatest of them saith the Lord for I wil forgive their iniquity and will remember their sin no more And again thus saith the Lord l Jer. 32. 40 And I will make an everlasting Covenant with them that I will not turn away from them to do them good but I will put my fear in their hearts that they shall not depart from me Wherefore seeing we have this Covenant of grace from God and thus confirmed with the seal of Christs bloud we may rest confident that if we are ingrafted into Christ by a true and lively Faith we are then invested into this New Covenant and every condition and Promise therein contained shall be performed to the uttermost which doth give us an holy assurance that we shall never totally and finally fall away from God The third Reason for the stability of the Faithfull is grounded upon the power of God for as Peter saith m 1 Pet. 1. 5. We are kept by the power of God through Faith unto salvation The Lord Jehovah is our keeper the Lord is our defence all power is from him and no created power can take us out of his hand Christ is also our good Shepherd and we are his sheep though we go astray and wander out of the way in the Wildernesse of this world yet Christ will not loose us but will seeâ— us up and bring us again unto his fold n John 10. 28 29. Christ knoweth his sheep and will give unto them eternall life and they shall never perish neither shall any man pluck thâ—m out of his hand My father saith he which gave them me is greater then all and no man is able to pluck them out of my Fathers hand Wherefore if there be any confidence to be put in the Almighty power of God if any trust in the care of Christ over his flock or any truth in his promises to his sheep we need not doubt of our perseveâ—ance in grace and in the truth we need not fear the malice the cunning or the power of the Devil that he can overthrow our Faith or destroy the habit of it that is planted in our hearts by the holy Ghost Fourthly the stability of our Faith is firmly grounded upon the faithfulnesse of God according to this of Paul o 1 Thess 5. 23 24. And the very God of peace sanctifie you wholly and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ Faithfull is he that calleth you who also will do it Also thus he saith p 1 Cor. 1. 8 9. God shall also confirm you unto the end that ye may he blamelesse in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ God is faithfull by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Thus saith Moses to the children of Israel q Deut 7. 9. Know therefore that the Lord thy God he is God the faithfull God which keepeth Covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his Commandements to a thousand generations Holy David had great experience of Gods faithfulnesse to him and therefore he saith r Psal 36 5. that the faithfulnesse of God reacheth to the clouds And again he saith Å¿ Psal 119. 90. Thy faithfulnesse is unto all generations thou hast established the earth and it abideth We may therefore rest upon the faithfulnesse of God as well as upon his power for the keeping of his Covenant for the performing of his Promises for his aid and assisting grace in all our temptations t 1 Cor. 10. 13. for God is faithfull who will not suffer us to be tempted above that we are able but will with the temptation also make away to escape that we may be able to bear it Also in all our afflictions miseries and calamities that we suffer in a good Cause God will keep and preserve our souls from hurt and therefore thus saith Peter u 1 Pet 4. 19 Let thâ—m that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well-doing as unto a faithfull Creatour Thus saith the Lord unto his People u Hos 2. 19 20. I will betroth thee unto me forever yea I will betroth thee unto me in righteousnesse and in judgement and in loving kindnesse and in mercies I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulnâ—sse and thou shalt know the Lord. If we are thus betrothed unto God in faithfulnesse in judgement and in righteousnesse then we cannot be quite separated from him and our Faith in Christ which is the instrument of our betrothing cannot be quite lost The fifth reason why the Faithfull cannot finally fall away from God is taken from the love of God x John 13. â— for those whom he loveth God loveth to the end Love is essentiall in God and he can as well deny his own Being as deny his love to those that are united unto Christ by Faith and his love to them endureth for ever y Rom. 8 39 For noâ—hing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Thus saith John the beloved Disciple of Christ z 1 John 4. 10 16. Herein is love not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins Again he saith thus And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us God is love and he