sense of sin I would not so treat on this doctrine as many Libertines doe to lay aside all manner of humiliation for sin because some men are cast down too much they will not be cast-down at all for sin Use 1 Not to prosecute such a principle it is the way for to run into all manner of Licencious libertie and to be all upon the extremes Secondly labour to order the affections and passions of thy mind so that when soever you are humbled and in sorrow for sin you take heed that you doe not cast off sorrow for sin be sure that you have such a degree of humiliation for sin that it may make thee to lie at Christs feet and no lower Christ would have you to be so humble as to lie at his feet in the sight and sense of sin but the Divel would have you to be so low in your humiliations for sin as to lie in hell Jesus Christ would have thee to be sorrowful for sin that thou mightest recover out of sin but the Divel would have thee to lie so low in thy humiliations for sin that thou mightest never recover O take heed of such a sinful sorrow for sin doe not be humbled so much as the Divel and thy own evil heart would have thee and thus much for the third Question SERMON III. Psal 42. 11. Why art thou cast down O my soul and why art thou disquieted within me hope thou in God for I shall yet praise him The health of my Countenance and my God Question 4 THe fourth Question in order to be considered is this That seeing that Gods people may be cast down too much for sin and too much humbled under the sight and sense of corruptions Then what may be the reason that wicked and ungodly men are not cast down at all for sin and seeing that Godly men may be cast down for sin here too much and not cast off for sin hereafter and wicked men that shall be cast into hell for sin when they dye yet are not all cast down for sin while they live What reasons may be given for this Answer 1 Now for the resolution of this Question I shall lay down these Six particulars by way of answer The first Reason why wicked men though they shall be cast off yet they are not at all cast down for sin It ariseth from their ignorance of the dangerous and damnable Nature of sin they have a blind mind and a dumb conscience they see not such evil in sin as godly men doe Althouch wicked men know what sin is in general yet it is but a general notion of sin in the head and they have no particular and experimental and distinct notion of the evil and dangerous nature of sin upon their hearts and consciences and therefore it comes to passe that they are not cast down for sin But this general notion of sin casts them off and doth not cast them down and this is the reason that they doe not see sin to become exceeding sinful and they doe not take notice of the evil of sin the damning nature of sin according to that expression in Jer. 2. 23. How canst thou say I am not polluted I have not gone after Baalim see thy way in the valley know what thou hast done thou art a swift dromedary traversing her waies Here the Jews they were great in sin and did abound in wickednesse yet they were ready to say that they were not sinful at least they did not know that they were so it is for want of the knowledge of their waies the sinfulnesse of their doings that they are not cast down for sin Should a man meet a Lyon in the Wildernesse he would be afraid of that and the reason is because he knows that the Lyon is hurtful but if a man sees a Lyon painted on the wall he is not afraid of that because he knows that cannot hurt him So when men shall look upon sin but not look upon it as a Lyon in the wildernesse that will certainly destroy him if he avoid it not but to look upon sin as a Lyon painted on the wall that hath no power to doe them hurt they see sin but it is generally and notionally and not particularly and experimentally The second Reason is this it ariseth from a principle of presumption of pardoning grace and mercy when wicked men hear the thunderings and curses of the Law denounced against sin and sinners delivered by the Ministers of the Gospel to awaken them from the sleep of sin and security when they hear of the severity of Gods justice and that he is a sin-revenging God and that he will by no means clear the guilty but will render to every one according to his waies and works Now what doth a wicked man doe in this case doth this awaken his conscience to see the evil of sin no but he doth the quite contrary he then from a principle of presumption of pardoning grace and mercy in God blesseth himself in his own waies and he saith I shall have peace though I walk after the imaginations of my own evil heart as if they should say Let sin trouble them that will let it cast down them that will be cast down it shall never cast down me it shall never trouble me What shall sin trouble my conscience ' or disquiet my peace for or why shall I mourn and trouble my self about that which I need not that which others seem to break their hearts for it shall never break my sleep for I hope that it shall never damn my soul btt I hope though I do commit sin yet I hope God will pardon sin and though I am sinful yet I know God is merciful and thus they doe from a principle of presumption goe on in a way of sin without any trouble for it or casting down under the sight and sense of sin at all But then Thirdly The third Reason why wicked men are not cast down for sin at all it ariseth from that obdurateness from that hardnesse that is in their hearts and from that searedness in their consciences there are a generation of men that it may be said of them as concerning sin they are past feeling according to that expression of the Apostle Eph. 4. 19. Who being past feeling having given themselves over unto lasciviousness to work all uncleanness with greediness And as St. Paul said 1 Timothy 4 2. They have their consciences seared with a hot Iron When men have so accustomed themselves to sin that sin shall harden the heart and seare the conscience and then no marvel if they are not at all cast down for sin Then Fourthly Wicked men they are not cast down for sin at all it ariseth from this because that they do stifle the rebukes of conscience when it doth rebuke them and check their sin and cast them down for sin when men shall resolve that though
down his life for me voluntarily and meritoriously and laid himself down very low to be my Saviour therefore why O my soul shouldst thou be cast down excessively for sin It is true O my soul if thou hadst been to die and to have purchased thy own redemption to have been thy own Saviour and if the waight and the extreme burden of thy sins had been to be laid upon thy own shoulders and if thou hadst been to have made perfect satisfaction to divine justice in thy own person if thou hadst been obliged to have kept the whole Law perfectly and if thou hadst been for to make a full recompence for the wrong and evil that thou hast done and thou wast to offer the fruit of thy body for the sin of thy soul yet this would not doe nor procure the least satifaction nor make the least compensation and recompence for the evil thou hast done Now if this were thy case to be thy own mediator and thy own intercessor and to have thy blood spilt for thy sins if this was thy case thou hadst cause to be excessively cast down for sin A finite creature can never make satisfaction to infinite justice Could I give a thousand Rams ten thousand Rivers of Oyl yet I could not make an attonement or give a sufficient ransome for my redemption But it is far otherwise the quite contrary is thy portion not thy case Here O my soul is thy case which may abundantly administer thee comfort the blood the precious blood of Jesus Christ is laid down for sin that thou maist not excessively be cast down for sin and thou maist draw abundance of comfort satisfaction from this consideration First Consider with thy self O my soul Jesus Christ did not shed his precious blood for himself but for me he did like a good shepherd lay down his life for his sheep Joh. 10. 15. Secondly Consider that God the Father did accept of the laying down of his life in this behalf Joh. 10 17. The Father loves him because he laid down his life Thirdly Consider and reason with thy self O my soul What though there are great arguments to greaten sin and to heighten sin so there are many great arguments to greaten the mercy of God in Christ Are thy sins great the mercies of God are greater Doe thy sins deserve great punishments even eternal death the death of Jesus Christ and the merit of Christ are of infinite value to merit life even eternal life Are thy sins the sins of a man I but the satisfactions of Jesus Christ are the satisfactions of a God do thy sins merit the frowns of God O but Christs death doth merit and purchase the favour of God In a word as Christs Person doth excell thy person so doth his obedience infinitely exceed thy disobedience therefore said the Apostle Paul Rom. 5. 16. c. But the free gift is of many offences unto justification Here the Apostle intimates that though there is great guilt in sin yet there is greater mercy and merits in Christ for as by Adam there came sin and death so by Jesus Christ there came righteousness and life for as the wages of sin is death so the gift of God is eternall life through Jesus Christ our Lord Rom. 6. 23. There is not so much guilt in sin as there is merit in Christ there is not so much guilt in sin to condemn as there is merit in Jesus Christ to save Therefore why shouldest thou be cast down O my soul Jesus Christ hath laid down his life for me and in laying down his life he hath made full satisfaction for sin unto his Father and though there are required more tears for sin by way of humiliation yet there wanteth no more blood for sin by way of satisfaction therefore be not thou excessively cast down for sin Thirdly Reason thus with thy own soul that thou maist not be too excessively cast down for sin O my soul consider excessive casting down may hinder thy soul from holy endeavours in suppressing and mortifying of sin It is the policy and subtilty of the Devil to draw men to run into extreams sometimes the Devil draweth men to possess them so with the reigning power of sin as that they shall never so much as think of the guilt of sin and sometimes to possess them so with the power of sin as not to be able so much as to look at the pardon of sin I may say to thee as God to Joshua chap. 7. 10. Get thee up why liest thou on thy face it was fit Joshua should be cast down at the disaster but not be taken off from pursuing the enemy Therefore reason and say O my soul it doth not become thee to be cast down excessively under the guilt of sin but to lift up thy self against it by resting upon God Fourthly Reason thus with thy soul O my soul consider are not these dejections of minde are not these excessive castings down for sin exceeding great disparagement to Gods free grace and mercy and to Christs merits if a man that is a thirsty shall come to the Sea the mighty Ocean to seek water and when he comes there to be cast down with the thoughts that all the water in the Sea cannot quench his thirst this would render the Sea to be but an empty thing so thou to be troubled and to be exceedingly and excessively cast down for sin and to think that the mercy in God and the merits of Christ cannot comfort and bear up thy dejected soul this doth exceedingly disparage the mighty Ocean of Gods mercies and Christs merits for thee to think that thy sins do out-vye mercy and out-strip free grace In the time of the Law the Mercy-seat did wholly cover the Ark where the Law was kept to shew that if a man doth violate not only one command but every command of the Law yet all that might be covered over with mercy and notwithstanding the violation of the Law they had a Mercy-Seat to go to though we do violate all the Law all the commands of God yet this Law is covered all over with mercy the mercy of God is far above thy dejections The red Sea did dround Pharaoh and all his Host with as much ease as it could dround one man so can the red Sea of Christs blood drown every sin though they were mountains of transgressions as well as the least sin In Psal 25. 11. For thy Name sake O Lord pardon my iniquity for it is great it is a word in the Hebrew emphaticall we reade it for it is great but it may be rèad though it be great for the sake of thy Name O Lord pardon thou my iniquities because they or although they are multiplied or therefore thou wilt pardon them because they are great Fifthly Reason thus with thy soul why wilt thou cast thy self down O my soul especially considering that the casting down of the soul doth cast down
not walk in the way of this people They speak peace when indeed they were in trouble Jer. 23. 13 14. verses And I have seen folly in the Prophets of Samaria they prophesied in Baal and caused my people to err I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing they have committed adultery and walk in lyes they strengthen also the hands of evil doers that none doth return from his wickedness they are all of them unto me as Sodom and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorah The ninth General cause They have a fulnesse of outward prosperity and blessing in the world it may be refer'd to soul trouble as well as to bodily trouble that prosperity in the world doth mightily keep off a man from having his soul trouble him under the guilt of sin Hos 12. 8. And Ephraim said Yet I am become rich I have found me put substance in all my labours they shall find none iniquity in me that were sin They were a wicked people and yet their prosperity in an evil way did harden their hearts in a way of sin The instance of Pharaoh there was nothing in the world did more harden his heart then his prosperity God lifting him up to be a King did harden his heart when men are glutted with prosperity that they have not an open ear to the screaks of conscience 2 Chron. 33. 10. And the Lord spake to Manasseh and to his people but they would not hearken In prosperity he would not hearken to the checks of conscience till God laid him in fetters then he hearkened Lastly Men are not disquieted in soul for sin Why so Because of an inconsideratenesse of the omnipotency and all-seeing eye of God though men be not doctrinal Atheists to hold this opinion that God doth not see all things yet men are practical Atheists to live and continue so in an evil way as if God did not see them we read in Job 28. 13 14. And thou sayst How can the Lord know can he judge through the dark clouds Thick clouds are a covering to him that he seeth not and he walketh in the circuit of Heaven The Lord doth not see nor doth the holy one regard is there not a cloud between him and us the Psalmist hath a passage the wicked doth make a tush of sin tush say they The Lord regards it not What is the reason men make but a tush of sin why they do not think that God regards sin sin doth not trouble them and doth not disquiet them Because they think God doth not behold them they are inconsiderate of the omnipotency of God I shall now only give you a short use of what you have heard touching godly mens disquiet under the guilt of sin only this use Use It shall be by way of trial or examination you have heard much concerning that trouble and disquiet of soul that may be found in reprobates Now the Use shall be to put you upon trial how you may be satisfied in conscience that that disquiet of soul that is in you under the guilt of sin is an evangelical and a gracious trouble for sin and not such a trouble that doth arise from a natural conscience in wicked men and to satisfie you herein I shall name six particulars First Dost thou find this within thee that thy trouble of soul is more for the evil of the fact thou hast done then for the danger thou mayst incur My meaning is this when thou art troubled more for the sin then thou art troubled for the penalty of that sin thou hast incurr'd by the commission of it when thou art troubled for sin more because it robs God of his glory then because it will keep thee from glory this is an evangelical grace Secondly When thou art more troubled for the sin of nature then for the sins that break out in thy life when the sin of nature doth disquiet thee as well as the sins of thy practise We never find in all the Scripture that a wicked man hath any remorse of spirit at all for the sin of nature thou that canst say sins of nature trouble thee as well as sins of practise this is an argument of evangelical trouble of soul for sin David discovered grace herein when he made that penitential Psalm 51. for the sin of adultery with Bathsheba David doth not only bewail the unclean act but he bewails also the unclean nature Thirdly Thou mayst be satisfied if thou art as much disquieted in soul in the sight and apprehension of the power of sin as of the guilt of sin I am troubled not only that sin is so dangerous but also that sin is so strong within me Fourthly The disquiet for sin is evangelical when the measure and degree of thy trouble of mind for sin is subservient to and promoting of the end of trouble of mind the end of trouble of mind I told you was to imbitter sin and indeer Christ when thou hast so much of the measure and degree of trouble of mind as to imbitter sin to thee and to indeer Jesus Christ to thee this is the true evangelical humiliation that the Gospel calls for Fifthly Thou mayst be sure that it is an evangelical trouble of mind when thou art troubled for sin as well because it is against a good God as well as because it is against a just God a wicked man may be troubled for sin against a just God because justice will be avenged on sin and on the sinner but now a godly man saith God loads me with mercies thou that canst grieve and be troubled for sin this is evangelical they shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter days Hos 3. 5. I may apply that Fable that Plutarch hath in his Morals of the Sun and the mind contending which should make a Traveller put off his Cloak O Beloved storms and blustering tempests of God's wrath may make a wicked man leave sin and be troubled for sin but when the Son of God's love shall melt the heart and sweetly insinuate into thy soul and that make thee uncloath thy self of the rags of sin that is an argument of evangelical trouble Lastly It is an evangelical sorrow and trouble of soul for sin when thou canst be as truly troubled for sin committed when thou knowest it is pardoned as if thou hadst not known thy sin to be pardoned to be a troubled and a pardoned Christian it is evangelical trouble a pardoned sin shall fill thy heart with trouble when thou art of this temper that thou wilt bathe that sin in thy tears in a way of contrition which thou knowest to be bathed in Christ's blood in a way of remission thou hast a gracious temper of heart engraven upon thee SERMON XVI Psal 42. 11. Why art thou cast down O my soul and why art thou disquieted within me hope thou in God for I shall yet praise him The health of my Countenance and my God I
grievously vext and disquieted under the guilt of sin I beseech you follow me a while There are six Consolatory rules to be laid down for to comfort a godly man that is disquieted in soul under the guilt of sin First Take this Rule for to comfort thee if the power of thy sin do not prevail over thee thou maiest be sure the guilt of thy sin shall never damn thee why then think if sin hath not a domineering power in the filth of it shall never have a damning power in the guilt of it O thou mortified Christian it may be thou art troubled at what thou hast doâ—e when thou wast a child but hast thou mortified those sins then my soul for thine those sins thou hast destroyed shall never damn thee it may be thou art troubled about the guilt when thou hast destroyed the power O lift up thy head the guilt shall never damn thee when the power doth not prevail over thee Secondly It is better for a Christian to have a soul troubled too much for sin then too little or nothing at all for sin It is better to have a troubled and a terrified conscience then to have a stupified conscience better to have a sore then a seared conscience better to have the conscience raw and gauled then to have it benumbed and no way sensible of the evil of sin Why beloved there is more hope of a soul in a spiritual Feaver that is in disquiet that is raging by reason of the accusation of conscience that is lying under trouble and disquietness of his own apprehension then of him that lies under a spiritual Lethargy sleeping and snorting in his sins which doth never trouble him a wound that hath raw and quick flesh in it it will easier be heal'd then a wound that hath proud and dead flesh in it if thy Conscience be dead flesh thou art not so neer healing as when thy Conscience is raw and gauled flesh it was one mark of Leprosie that was unclean if there was dead flesh in the sore noting a benumbed and a stupified Conscience argues an unclean Leper one in a state of nature It is better to have God's Officer conscience to be over busie to be too much checking and curbing thee then to have no office of Conscience stirring in thee This is another consideration for the comforting of an afflicted soul Thirdly Observe this Rule for the comforting of thy soul under trouble of mind consider that God's mercy and Christ's merits in the pardoning the guilt of thy sin thou hast committed is far greater then the greatnesse of thine own guilt Rom. 5. 15. But not as the offence so is the free gift for if through the offence of one many be dead much more the grace of God and the gift by grace by one man Jesus Christ hath abounded to many The meaning is That that gift Jesus Christ the value and worth of man did far exceed the guilt and evil of sin it is expressed in Psal 32. he that trusteth on the Lord mercy shall compasse him round about My own fault is very great but God's grace and mercy is far greater God when he is said to pardon sin in Micah 7. 18. Who is a God like unto thee that pardoneth iniquity and passeth by the transgressions of his people he retaineth not anger because be delighteth in mercy He is said to throw them into the bottom of the Sea the red Sea could as easily drown Pharaoh and his host as well as one single man Beloved the red Sea of Christ's blood can as well cover an Army an Host of sins as well as one single sin the Sea can as well cover the Whale as lesser fishes the Sea of Christ's blood can cover great sins as well as small David makes it an argument Psal 25. 11. For thy name sake O Lord pardon mine iniquity for it is great Pardon my sin for it is great That is although it is great and so you have often the particle used in Scripture the Lord would not punish man for the imaginations of his heart is evil that is though his heart be evil It is observed that the Ark wherein the moral Law was kept the mercy seat covered the whole Ark wherein the Law was kept to note Beloved that Jesus Christ the mercy of God and merits of Christ it provides a propitiation a covering of all the breach of the Law the mercy seat is broad and large enough to cover all therefore let this be of great comfort Fourthly Observe this That the more trouble of mind thou dost lie under for the present in the sense of sin the lesse trouble thou shalt have in the future God doth with his People as Land-Lords do with their Tenants if a Land-Lord take a great Fine at the first coming into the house he doth take the less yearly rent for the future God takes of you a great Fine at the first he maketh sin cost thee many a tear many a nights trouble many a days disquiet the greater Fine God taketh of thee the less yearly rent he expects of thee the more thou art troubled for the present the less fear and torment shall be thy portion hereafter am I troubled now it is that I might have more peace when I come to die that in the residue of my days I might have joy and peace in believing O think then if God upon thy first coming into Christ maketh thee pay dear for thy sin and maketh thee smart for it why there is less sorrow and trouble for thee in the time to come Fifthly Art thou troubled in soul for sin take this comfort that the more thou art troubled for sin why thou art the neerer getting out from the Divel when the Divel maketh Conscience howl it is an argument the Divel is thrown out sin is thrown out When the Divel had a long continuance in the Child the Divel did not trouble the Child so much Marke 9. 26. And the spirit cryed and rent him sore and came out of him and he was as one dead insomuch that many said He is dead It is said that when the Divel came out of the Child then the Divel rent him sore and laid him down for dead O Beloved when the Divel is in a man when the strong man hath a full possession of a man the Divel doth not trouble him then As Stella saith The Divel would not have him suffer one touch of Conscience then but when the Divel is going out and sin is thrown out then the Divel rends a man and lays a man for dead this is the property of the Divel Gregory in his Comment upon the Book of Job hath a notable saying saith he Therefore the Divel doth more vehemently stir up fears and doubts in the heart because sin is thrown out of the heart O let this comfort thee Doth the Divel trouble thee more then ordinarily doth thy Conscience terrifie thee that thou
an act of his power there is no such trouble nor cause of being cast down but you may take comfort under that state for that God may sometimes withdraw and suspend his love and favour meerly upon an act of his power In peace-offerings there was oyle mixt not so in sin offerings because there is no peace nor comfort in suffering for our faults as God to shew the goodnesse of his Will sometimes gives assurance so to shew the absolutenesse and liberty of his Will he sometimes withdraws it You read of the desertion of the Church in Cant. 5. 5 6. I rose up to open to my beloved but my beloved was gone he had withdrawn himself my soul failed when he spake I sought him but I could not find him I called him but he gave me no answer Now this was an act of Justice in Christ to withdraw himself Jesus Christ he knocked until his head was filled with the dew and his locks with the drops of the night and yet she would not open to him therefore Christ as an act of Justice might withdraw himself to punish them for sin because the Spouse would not let Christ come in when he knocked and then you read of the desertion of the Church not as an act of Justice for the punishment of sin but as an act of his meer power Cant. 3. 1. By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loved I sought him but I could not find him Now if thy conscience can tell thee that thou art careful in thy duties towards God and thy heart is upright and to labour to walk exactly and yet thou canst not see thy comforts appearing now thou mayest say peradventure yea thou mayest say without all peradventure it is not an act of Justice but an act of power that he withdraweth his favour and the light of his countenance from thy soul 2. God may withdraw his love and favour from the soul not for any displeasure that he hath to them but out of an act of love to try his own peoples love to him as a mother a tender-hearted mother many times runs behind the door from her child in a corner and hides her self but it is not because she is angry with her child but to try the strength of her childs love in seeking after the mother so God he may withdraw his love from the souls of his people but it is not from any anger but from love to his people for to try the strength of his peoples graces and to try their love in seeking of him God tryes your graces strength in going after Christ and your graces love in looking after Jesus Christ it was so in Joseph unto which I may allude Gen. 42. 7. it is said that Joseph he spake roughly to them or hard things with them that is to his brethren and he cast them into prison for three dayes ver 17. Now all this his dealing with his brethren was not for want of love to them but it was to try the affections of his brethren and to cause them to call to mind their former unkindnesse Thus God deals many times with his own people he doth withdraw his love and suspend his favour and with-hold the light of his countenance to try the strength of his peoples graces and the strength of his peoples love to him see Luke 24. 28. when the two Disciples were going to a Village and Christ came and walked with them and when they came nigh unto the Village whether they were going Christ seemed as though he would have gone further but this action of Christ it was to try the love of his two Disciples whether they would presse him to make him stay with them so God may withdraw the beams of his love he may suspend his divine favour to this end to try the love of his people how they will long after him and much desire his love to their souls 3. God may suspend his favour because there may be more of Gods fatherly love in withdrawing his love then in manifesting his love in some cases unto the souls of his people and that in these two particulars 1. When a man doth injoy the sense of Gods love and that injoyment makes him to be spiritually proud then it is in mercy to with-hold his love and favour when he cannot injoy the sense of Gods love without the sense of spiritual pride it is in this case great love Job 33. 17. That he may withdraw man from his purpose and hide pride from man it is in the Hebrew That he removeth his works from man c. lest men should be proud of Gods grace and proud of comforts God will keep him from the comforts of his grace and in this case it is great mercy to have the love of God withdrawn when to have it continued Gods people would grow proud a little Boat cannot bear a great Sail without sinking nor a weak vessel strong liquor without breaking some of Gods people are like to little vessels you know that little boats are like to weak vessels Weak Christians they are not able to bear strong comforts to put strong liquor in weak bottles is the way to break them so to put strong manifestations strong comforts into weak souls would soon break them God sees that sometimes his people are not able to bear nor able to use comforts and divine manifestations well and in this case it is great mercy when you cannot bear them then to be without them for then the want of comfort doth make you more eager after Jesus Christ then when you do injoy it many times the injoyment of comfort makes you to grow secure and to grow carelesse whereas the want of comfort maketh you the more eager for to look after it Non-deserit ut deseratur deserit potius ne deseratur ideo videtur deserere quia non vult deseri God doth sometimes forsake that so he might not be forsaken and he doth seemingly forsake that his people might not forsake him As it is credulis misericordia cruel mercy for a wicked man to have hopes and presumption of heaven and yet go to hell so 't is misericors crudelitas merciful cruelty that a godly man should lie under fear of Hell and yet go to heaven 2. The suspension of Gods love and favour is in love when it doth make thee to prize Jesus Christ more in the want of him then thou didst in the enjoyment of him the Lord doth many times bring his own people into great wants and expose them to great exigencies and streights that they might the more prize mercy and be the more eager in the pursute after it and not to grow proud when they have it you read Deut. 32. 13. He made them to ride on the high places of the earth that he might eat the fruits of the field and he made him to suck honey out of the rocks and oyle out of the flinty rock
God did not give them water but God gave them honey it had been a mercy had God given them water to drink when they were ready to die for thirst but when Moses comes to speak of this he makes mention that God gave them honey to suck because they saw the want of a lesser mercy God gave them a greater mercy so it is in spiritual things when we in our straights see the want of mercy a spiritual want of mercy to the soul O then the soul would be glad of a little mercy the least crumb of comfort then would refresh the soul The want of spiritual mercies makes us for to see the spiritual worth of mercies the want of Gods favour the want of the light of Gods countenance makes the soul to prize the enjoyment of it the want of the love of Jesus Christ shining on the soul makes the soul to see and feel and know that the love of God in Christ is exceeding precious Now when the withdrawments of the light of Gods countenance from the soulworks these gratious effects it is in great love and mercy to the soul 4. That you may not be too much cast down consider That the people of God they have alwayes ground of comfort in their souls though they have not alwayes the sense of comfort though the souls of the children of God may be sometimes without the present sense of comfort yet the people of God are never without the cause of comfort in their souls as a man hath right to an inheritance though he cannot read the evidences for it so they have a real right to an inheritance with them that are sanctified by faith in Jesus Christ though you may not sensibly enjoy your inheritance as it was with Hagar so it is with many doubting Christians about Gen. 21. She flying into the wilderness of Bersheba her water was spent in the bottle she casts her child under one of the shrubs and sate down over against it and wept and there was a Well of water by her the Well was there before and she knew it not but when God opened her eyes then she saw the Will of water that was by her So it may be with many a poor soul salvation may be neer thee very nigh thy soul and yet the soul may not have a sensible knowledge of it but may be ready to think that he shall perish for want of salvation and for want of comfort and consolation from God in Christ it is very observable what is spoken concerning Josephs brethren they had so much love from their brother that they had a testimony of his love along with them they had the money in their sacks and yet they never knew it nor never knew him to be their Brother So a poor soul may have the testimony of Gods love in the soul and the sure pledge of Gods everlasting and eternal love to the soul and yet thou mayst not know this testimony and thou mayest not know and sensibly feel the loving kindnesse of thy God to thy soul 5. Remember this for thy support that none of Gods people do retain alwayes the like sense and manifestation of Gods love to their souls but it fares with the souls of Gods people in reference to comfort as it is with the Sea sometimes ebbing and sometimes flowing and as with the air sometimes cloudy and sometimes clear and so like the season of the year sometimes winter and sometimes summer as it is in nature so it is in grace nothing in nature doth alwayes retain and keep the same likenesse at all times to keep the like perfection so it is in grace no child of God under heaven doth alwayes at all times retain and keep the same measure of comforts in his own spirit As Sampson had not the same strength at all times so a Christian hath not alwayes the same comforts 6. If at any time God doth suspend his love and favour the light of his countenance yet consider that God never doth this but he seeth great reason need for it you read 1 Pet. 1. 6. Wherein you greatly rejoice though now for a season if need be ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations there it referreth to the sufferings for the Gospel so I may say to you If need be you shall be in heavinesse for want of the enjoyment of Gods love in Christ if you need heavinesse you shall have heavinesse if no need of sorrow you shall have no sorrow Philosophers say there is great need of wind and thunder as well as of shining of the Sun for thereby the air is kept clear so when God doth thunder into thy soul and sometimes bluster like wind into thy soul God doth see some need of that dealing with thee to sweep thy soul from sin and the love of the world and to quell thy pride and to subdue thy lusts and to purge away that slightnesse of spirit wherein thou art apt to slight others God many times doth suspend the light of his countenance and hold from thy soul the comforts of thy graces for this end that thou mightest not be proud of thy measure of grace and sometimes God may do it to stir up in thee a compassionate spirit towards others in affliction and that thou mightest exercise thy grace and God may let thee want the comforting work of the spirit that thou mightest have more of the sanctifying work of the spirit therefore comfort thy self for if God did not see need of this afflicting of thee he would never let thee lie under this sad condition 7. Consider this for thy comfort That Jesus Christ himself was under spiritual desertion as well as thou Christ himself cried My God my God why hast thou for saken me Mat. 27. 46. Here was substractio visionis though not unionis and thou dost no more but cry my God my God under the absence of the favour of God Jesus Christ did it to sanctifie thy death was buried to make thy grave a bed of roses to thee and was tempted to sanctifie thy temptations and deserted to sanctifie thy desertions he drank deep of the cup thou dost but sip of it Now he himself was under troubles and desertions and temptations that he might be able to succour them that are tempted he was able to succour them before I but now he is made experimentally able to succour his people in the like case 8. Consider this That the seeming loss of Gods favour it is not simply prejudicial to the state of grace for it doth not hinder thy having accesse to and having successe at the throne of grace neither can it hinder thee of glory thou mayest trust and wait upon God in the way of thy duties and though thou dost not enjoy the light of his countenance yet this will not hinder thee of successe at the throne of grace It is the want of Christ not of comfort that makes the throne of grace a throne