defending and delivering of us and so I shall come to take notice first of the Time when it is that his Goodness doth most appear and that is in the Time of Trouble and then to whom it doth appear and that is to such as know him or rather are known of him such as not barely know him but trust in him Now the Doctrines that I shall lay down from the Words are these Doct. 1. That God's People here in this World meet with days of Trouble Doct. 2. That they never find times so bad but still they find God to be good Doct. 3. That in times of Danger God then more especially will be a strong hold too Doct. 4. God knows such as trust in him in a more special manner to save On the first namely That God's People here in this World meet with days of Trouble Now we may take notice of this in all the faithful Servants of God God had one Son without Sin but he never had any without Sorrow his own Son that was the head of the Church was a Man of Sorrows and the first Man that died he died for Religion and so the Father of the Faithful who ever had greater or hotter Trials And so Jacob in whose Posterity the Church was settled How doth he complain that few and evil were the days of his Pilgrimage yet they were full of Trouble and the time of Trouble is called the day of Jacob 's Trouble and so Job Who more troubled and afflicted than he And so David that was a Man after God's own Heart yet how doth he cry out Lord Remember David and all his Troubles Psal 132. 1. Quest But how comes it about that such as are so Godly are so sorely afflicted Answ First This comes from God himself 2dly From Satan the God of this World 3dly From Satan's Instruments the Men of the World Lastly From themselves or their near Relations First This comes from God himself For Afflictions rise not out of the Dust but God sends them first to punish Sin past 2dly To purge Sin present 3dly To prevent Sin for the time to come First to punish Sin past I know indeed that the Antinomians will not allow of such an Expression to be used in respect of God's own People and Children They say God only punishes from Sin and not for Sin in them But doubtless we may speak as the Word of God speaks without offence now says the Church Lam. 3. 39. Wherefore doth the living Man complain is it not for the Punishment of his Sin And so Amos 3. 2. You only have I known of all the Families of the Earth therefore I will punish you for all your Iniquities One would have thought it should rather have run thus You only have I known of all the Families upon earth therefore I will spare you for your Iniquities No but therefore I will punish you for your Iniquities you of all others shall be sure to smart soonnest and sorest here in this World I confess that in a strict Sense they cannot so properly be called Punishments as Chastisements because Christ hath born the Punishments of Believers Sins in his own Body upon the Tree and when his Soul likewise was made a Sacrifice to satisfy the Justice of God for their Sin 2dly God sends Afflictions on his own People to purge Sin present There are the Remnants of Sin and Corruption in the best of God's Children and Princes Children if they be sick they must be Physickt as well as others By this therefore as it is Isa 27. 9. shall the Iniquity of Jacob be purged and now there is a great difference between Physitians purging and God's purging of his People and Children When Physitians purge their Patients they many times purge out the good Humours as well as the bad but God when he purges his Children he only purges out the bad Humours as in the place we named before and this is all the fruit to take away his Sin not to take the Sinner but to take away his Sin 3dly God sends Troubles and Afflictions on his own People and Children to prevent Sin in them for the time to come and to keep them within compass You know what David said of himself Psal 119. Before I was afflicted I went wrong but now have I kept thy word and kept in the right way And therefore God threatens his Apostatical Church Hosea 2. 6. Therefore behold I will hedge up thy way with Thornes She was apt to break out into the Pastures of forbidden Pleasures therefore God would set Thornes in her paths if she would break over she should prick and wound her self and if that would not do God would make a Wall that she shall not find her paths Hedges may be easily troden down but Walls are not so easily climbed over Thus God threatens to do to his when he intends to do them good and Afflictions are not so properly said to be threatned as promised to God's own People and Children as you may see Psal 89 30 31 32. therefore it is added the 33d Verse Neither will I suffer my Faithfulness to fail that is in regard of fulfilling what before he had promised 4thly Again God orders it so that they shall have their days of Trouble here that they may not set up their rest in this World as the other two Tribes and an half did on this side Jordan as People are too apt to do when all things go well with them and are apt to flow in upon them then they are ready to talk of building Tabernacles here and never think of going hence But now that God may knock off their fingers from things below and make them know that this is not their Rest God lets them meet with many Calamities and sore Troubles that so they may know that this is not their Rest as God says to his own People Mich. 2. 10. Arise and depart this is not your Rest it is polluted it is defiled with Sin and can give you no more Rest than a Bed of Thorns can do to a sick Person O! it is polluted and therefore it must not be your Rest Sin hath polluted all things here in this World therefore get you hence tho' they should combine altogether to do you good yet they cannot give you perfect Rest When God made all things at first he made them very good and there was that in them then that might give Satisfaction to the Heart of Man but now Sin hath polluted the Creature and filled it with nothing but Dirt and Filthiness Sin hath not only put our Mouths out of taste that we can take no Contentment or find any Satisfaction in the Creature but it hath emptied it of all that was truly good in it So that now we have Carbones pro Thesauro Coals instead of golden Mines so that God doth this 5thly That they may be weaned from the World and from all wordly things For the World
into the Mouth of the Eater But who can overthrow such a Strong-hold as God is that is Almighty Wo be to him that strives with his Maker Use I. If God be such an excellent Strong-hold then see what a bosom you have here to flee unto that whatsoever evil days come yet if you have recourse to him for your Strong-hold you may be sure to be safe and take heed I beseech you that you do not set up your Rest in any thing on this side God When it is a day of Trouble as we are threatned with such a day at this time Counsel and Strength of Men and Horses and Ships cannot be a Strong-hold for us without God See what the Prophet says in the second Chapter of Isaiah Cease from Man whose Breath is in his Nostrils and if Man must be ceased from much rather must the things that Man hath made be ceased from as Ships and pleasant Pictures as the Prophet instances in that Chapter Now there be these three things that may rap off your Fingers from the Creature or making any thing your Strong-hold on this side God Now for this consider 1. The Inutility or Unprofitableness of all Creature-help in the day of Distress in the day of God's Anger for Riches profit nothing in the day of God's Wrath saith Solomon Prov. 11. 4. But they many times make the Owner the more in danger as the Gold Ring hath made some to loose the Finger And what shall it profit a Man says our Saviour to gain the whole World and to loose his own Soul That were a Loss above all other Losses thou hast better lose thy Wife thy Children thy House thy Lands nay thy Life it self than loose thy Soul and yet thus many do to gain the World But what Profit when they come to take away thy Soul The things of this World have not so much Worth in them as to deliver your Souls from Death or Hell or Damnation so that it cost more to redeem one Soul than all the World comes to They have not so much worth in them as to satisfy one of your Debts for no Man knows Love or Hatred by all that is before him they have no power to pacify Conscience in its Distress The things of this World prove many times lothing Torments to dying Christians and they are many times dying Comforts to living Christians 2. The Mutability of the Creature There is a great deal of Mutability in the Creature you cannot say the Moon will shine two days together with the same face so the things of the World are likened to the Moon Rev. 12. 1. The Woman that is the Church is said to have the Moon under her Feet i. e. All worldly things Again They are sometimes likened to the Wind Dan. 7. 2. says the Prophet there I saw the four Winds striving upon the Sea And what were those four Winds but the four Monarchies striving upon the Sea of this World which should be uppermost And so as the Moon doth not shine two days together with the same face no more are you sure the Wind will blow two hours together in the same Quarter The gratest Monarchies and Kingdoms are but so many stormy and violent Winds and will you make that your Strong-hold that is so subject to Alteration and Change In a stormy day will you go to a Shadow for your Refuge or Shelter 3. Besides all this there is a Corruptibility in all these things so the Apostle speaks to this purpose 1 Pet. 1. 19. He calls there Silver and Gold corruptible things which we are apt to account most durable How may all the Glory of the World which we are apt to account most shining and excellent be wink 't into Blackness and Darkness All the Glory of Man is but as the Flower of Grass All Solomon's Glory was but that of the Lilly of very short Continuance the Flower may fade whilst the Stalk yet standeth and yet that within a short while will be cast into the Oven The Flower may be nipt in the Bub but if it be let alone it will fall of it self such are Creature Excellencies and therefore I beseech you do not set up your Cities of Refuge on this side God And for your further comfort consider how God knows such as are in Trouble and trust in him and have Dependance upon him for Safety and Deliverance if God's People could be in Adversity and God not know it then their case would be sad indeed but God knows what all your Ailes and Troubles are and will certainly deliver you out of them all if you depend upon him and trust in him Quest But are there not many that are Believers that are cut off in their Troubles and Straits as good Josiah and others Answ There are seldom any that in the height of their Dependance upon God that have acted Faith and fully relied upon him for Deliverance that have been cut off For you must know that it is one thing to have Faith and another thing to act Faith as it is one thing to have a Sword and another thing to use it Many a one may be cut off for not using of his Sword whereas if he had used it very like he might have escap'd and it is a Saying of the Psalmist concerning the goldly Man Psal 112. 7. He shall not be afraid of any evil tydings Why His Heart is fixed trusting in the Lord. All the while he acts his Faith on God he hath no cause to fear So that this further informs us that the Wicked shall never beat Believers out of heart for in the worst times they have a Strong-hold a good God to run unto and so shall they be saved from all their Enemies When they are in the greatest danger still they have a God that takes Cognizance of them when it may be their Friends and neer Relations will take no notice of them Thou hast known my Soul in Adversities saith David Psal 31. 7. If they could be in Adversities and God not know it it would then be a sad thing indeed but God knows whatsoever Adversities you are in and will doubtless deliver his I but are not many of them cut off by Death I answer God will be so good to them as to deliver them from Death or by Death and therefore the day of Death is better to them than the day of their Birth for when they are born then they come into Trouble but when they die then they come out of Trouble and it is better to come out of Trouble than to come into Trouble This is the Comfort that they have that trust in God God knows them and knows how to deliver them when they do not know how to deliver themselves We know not what to do says Jehoshaphat 2 Chron. 20. 12. I but God knows what to do and how to deliver his and to reserve the Wicked for the day of Wrath For this Knowledg of God
in him Would it not be an unnatural thing for a Child that hath had Experience of his Father's Kindness to him and ready to relieve any that hath come to him when they have been in distress now for this Child to doubt of his Help and to say If I were in want would my Father relieve If I were pursued by an Enemy to my Father's Door would he receive me Were I in the Water ready to be drowned would he help me out Or were I fallen in the Fire would my Father pluck me out Surely if thou canst find upon good grounds that God is thy God and thy Father in Christ and taken possession of thy Soul would it be a seemly thing for thee to reason thus If I were poor or despised in the World would God own me or know me Yes if you own and acknowledg him to be your God Doth not the Text say that he knows them that trust in him be they never so poor or mean in the World We read of Believers in Heb. 11. 37. how they wandred about in sheeps-skins and goat-skins being destitute afflicted tormented and yet it is said in the same Chapter at ver 16. God is not ashamed to be called their God For they are the Poor chiefly that put their Trust in God that have nothing else to trust too so Zeph. 3. 12. I will leave in the midst of thee a poor People and they shall trust in the name of the Lord. And the Widow being desolate saith the Apostle 1 Tim. 5. 5. trusteth in God Before whilst she had a Husband she relyed on him but being desolate and having none to regard her or to provide for her she trusts in God and God knows all them that trust in him be they never so poor it is not Poverty shall part God and a Believer As it is storied of Mr. Fox that wrote the Book of Martyrs being asked Whether he did not know such as were but poor in Estate and mean in Person but godly in their Lives and Conversations O! says he I forgot Lords and Ladies to remember such So God though he be High yet hath he respect to the Lowly the most High hath most respect to the most Low and overlooks the Proud and Stately and though he sits upon a most high Throne yet doth he look with a Look of Favour and Love to him that is poor and of a contrite Spirit and that trembles at and trusts in his Word and therefore away these Doubts If I be poor will God own me Or if I be in streights will he relieve me Or if I be in danger will he be a Strong-hold or a Place of Refuge to me Away with all these If 's and Doubts set thy Faith on work and fall flatly to believing Thus did the Father of the Faithful setting Faith on work without Fear and staying himself on God as making a Promise and afterwards as breaking a Promise who first upon a Promise gave him a Son and afterwards bids him go and offer up thy Son Gen. 22. kill him slay him with thine own hands Now if you look into Gen. 17. there is made out to Abraham the Interest that he had in God and God tells him there I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward Well now when God had made out to Abraham his Interest he puts him upon Streights and great Trials and this hottest Trial of all the offering up of his only Son by Sarah his dearly beloved Wife Well thought Abraham if I must do it surely God will do me good by it as his Grandson Jacob said in another case What did Abraham when his Interest that he had in God was made out to him but falls to flat believing Says the Apostle Rom. 4. 20. He staggered not For he that was able to raise his Son from the dead as well as he could make the barren Womb of Sarah for to bear and to bring him forth O! is a Consideration of great worth If you can once find upon Scripture-grounds that God is your God but take heed I pray you of false and deceitful grounds you may be sure God will stay up your Hearts in any distress If you are his and rely wholly upon him you have both God's hand and seal to do you good Consider David how in his Troubles he fell to believing and you know what great Troubles he passed through greater than ever Saul had when he had his Interest cleared up in God And whatsoever his Troubles were he set Faith on work he bids Faith fall on and fear not Though Troubles were on this side and on that side nay round about yet see how bluntly he falls on Psal 25. 2. O my God I trust in thee I trust in thee I know I have many and mighty Adversaries but I rely only upon thee do thou consider which way thou wilt rid me of them and bring me out of my Trouble He did not say Will the Lord or will God help me and will the Lord be found of me He did not stagger thus but he bids Faith fall on O my God I trust in thee I will not fear what Man can do unto me Beloved it is an excellent thing not when Troubles come to stand as a People amazed but let Faith lay hold on God as a God Al-sufficient Tell God with Reverence you will commit all to him As a Duke being about to make War with a Bishop before he engaged in the War he sends out a Spy to take notice what the Bishop said and how he behaved himself Who returning the Duke askt him What the Bishop was doing and how he behaved himself Says he the Bishop seems to be very careless he says He will preach the Word and seed his Flock and totius belli molem deo Ommittet I says the Duke says he so Tunc ei bellum inferat Diabolus non Ego Then let the Devil make War with him for me Thus Faith will direct all your Affairs to God and having so done hence will arise abundance of sweet Peace and Quiet in your Minds The reason of all the Disquiet that is at any time on the Spirits of God's People especially in days of Trouble is because they cannot trust God and stay their Minds on him They cannot believe and that makes the poor Soul to toss and tumble up and down they are afflicted with this fear and that fear What says the Prophet Isa 7. 9. If you will not believe surely you shall not be established God will be found to be faithful if you would trust in him and rely upon him Faith it will set you upon the Rock that is higher than your selves higher than any nay than all your Adversaries so that when the Winds blow and the Storms beat and the Waves roar and rage against a Rock that stands firm and stedfast in the midst of the Sea against which as Adversaries the Waves foam and spit and split themselves with