way eat thy Bread with joy and drink thy Wine with a merry heart for God now accepteth thee Though thou walkest through the shadow of Death thou may'st now sit thee down under the shadow of thy Lord with great delight and with great security whose Fruit shall be ever sweet to thy Tast Though thou dwellest in Mesech and hast thy Habitation among the Tents of Kedar yet thou may'st lay thee down in peace and take thy rest for the Lord doth the Lord will make thee to dwell in safety 2. To the Godly Happy Souls The God of Peace is with you all things shall work for good to you onely that he may continue with you continue you with him in the obedience of that Gospel to which you have deliver'd up your selves My Exhortation to you shall be 1. General Respecting the whole course of your Lives 2. Particular Respecting your daily Walk My general Exhortation shall be bottom'd on that of the Apostle Phil. 1. 27 28. Let your Conversation be as it becometh the Gospell of Christ that whether I come and see you or else be absent I may hear of your Affairs that you stand fast in one Spirit with one Mind striving together for the Faith of the Gospel In nothing terrified by your Adversaries which is to them an evident tâ—ken of Perdition but to you of Salvation and that of God Let your Conversation be as it becometh the Gospel Walk worthy of the Gospel let your lives be suitable and answerable to the Holy Gospel which you profess 1. Let your lives answer the ends of the Gospel the exâ—ltation of the Name and glorious Grace of God in Christ live an humble self-denying self-abasing this is a Christ exalting life 2. Let your Lives answer the Dignities and Honours the Gospel invests you with You are the children of God the Heirs of Glory the Spouse of Christ the Bride the Lambs Wife You are a Royall Priesthood an holy Nation a peculiar people know your priviledges and do not live below your selves defile not your glory by stooping to a Carnal and Earthly Life a Jewel is not more unbecoming a Swines snout than fleshly Husks a Saints Palate 'T is below you who are a peculiar people to your God to live in common with the men of this World humble your selves into the least of Saints but do not humble your selves into Bruits Live in the Spirit converse with God be dealing for Glory Honour and Immortality 3. Let your Lives answer the Names which the Gospel puts upon you Doves Lambs Lillies be harmless peaceable gentle beautiful fragrant sending forth a precious savour in the World 4. Let your Lives answer the Riches the Reward the Crown the Kingdom which the Gospel sets before you Live a contented life be satisfied be well pleased with what you have here be it little or much disgrace not your portion the Gospel allots you as if it were a poor insufficient portion Let your Souls say How small an handful soever you have of this Earth it is enough Christ is mine A discontented Christian says Christ is not enough Heaven is not enough Let the Contentation of thy Spirit declare before the World that the Lines are fallen to thee in a pleasant place and that thou hast a goodly Heritage Do not put this Scorn upon God and Glory that thou must be beholding to the Devil to mend thy portion Christian Either thou art within the Promise or a stranger from it Either thou hast the God of Peace with thee or not If not me thinks thou should'st find other matter to take up thy Thoughts and not have leisure to perplex thy self with every â—â—ivial want that thy meat or thy drink or thine house or the carriage of thy Friends towards thee are not according to thy mind thy Soul thy Soul man thy life is in danger Oh what an Eternity art thou like to have of it Canst thou want a God a Christ an Heaven and thine Heart never stir at it And is the dissatisfaction of thy vain mind or appetite such a Burthen Is the Devil in thine heart and it never moves thee and shall an ill Neighbour be a vexation to thee Canst thou feel a Feather when thou hast a Talent upon thee The Curse the Curse of God is upon thee I cannot wonder thou should'st be discontent but me thinks these small matters by a man in thy case should not be minded If Christ and the Promise be thine is not that enough Are not all things enough God is all things He that hath the Son hath not onely with him but in him all things Are all things nothing with thee What would'st thou have more than all The Heathens acknowledged That Vertue is sufficient It was a Maxime among the Antient Philosophers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vertue is self-sufficient A vertuous man hath no need to be beholding either to Friends or Fortune He hath enough in himself The Apostle tells us That Godliness 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with its self sufficiency is great Gain 1 Tim. 6. 6. Solomon tells us Prov. 14. 14. A good man is satisfied from himself He hath that within him out of which his satisfaction grows A Christian hath the whole Gospel within him He hath Christ the Promise the Everlasting God Heaven Glory within him As rich as he is he may truly say Omnia mea mecum porto He carries his All in his Heart and can thence get out a Living a Sufficiency for all Times Cases and Wants Cast him out naked out of his Habitation out of his Countrey yet he carries all with him he leaves not an Hoof behind him Christians leave it to the Poor of the Earth to carnal men the richest of them is poor enough leave it to them to be discontent A carnal man hath so many to be beholding to to patch up his contentment that 't is no wonder he falls short of it the Sun the Clouds his Fields his Folds his Friends his Enemies his Honours his pleasures his meat his drink his house his mony yea the Devil all his Lusts every Creature must come in with their part to contribute to his contentment if but one thing fails him there 's something wanting to make it up Nay if none fail but they all do their best to please him yet all will not do in the fulness of his sufficiency he is in straits When he hath all he can have his still hungring Heart cries out of what it hath Vanity of Vanities all is Vanity Leave it to these Christians who have nothing but emptiness to fill their Souls withal leave it to them to be discontented Will you lay the same imputation upon the God of Glory The Discontent of a Christian is a kind of Blasphemy it proclaims concerning God also and all the Glory of the Gospel This also is Vanity Vanity of Vanities all is vanity Christians study your Riches more count over your Treasures dwell more in
of Saints Yet besides that this is not the subject matter that the Apostle is here treating of let those that bring sin within the compass of this promise and make this to run into the sence of it that even all the sins of the Saints shall work for their good let such tell us how or in what way it 's imaginable that the sinful decayes of such who backslide from God and never recover to their former life and vigour but live and die in a languishing state of Soul let them tell us how such sins can be imagined to work for their good till then we must enter our dissent from this Interpretation This then is not the sence of the promise that all sins shall work together for good And yet if it were it would be but a poor argument to take the more liberty to sin because God will turn it to good this would be even as rational as for a man to tear his flesh break his bones pluck out his eyes burn his house c. because God will turn all his suffering to good he is little better than mad that would not conclude such a man out of his Wits Others restrain it to the evill things that befall the Saints not the turpia but the tristia their sufferings and afflications to that vanity and those vexations they are in bondage under and under which with the whole Creation they groan and travail in pain waiting for their redemption of which the Apostle had been treating in the former part of the Chapter And yet while they pitch the sence especially on such things as these they grant it may be extended to all other things sin only excepted ad omnes res creaturas eventus tum secundos tum adversos To all things and events whether prosperous or afflicting So Paraeus with others And these I take to have hit the right All heavy things all the sufferings and afflictions of the Saints and not only these but all things else whatsoever that in the whole course of Providence be their lot or portion all the dealings of God with them all the dispensations of Providence towards them shall all work for their good 2. What is that good which these things work to the Saints or in what sence all things may be said to work good to them The sence in generall is this They shall all work to their welfare they shall all happen to them for the better there shall nothing befall them but one time or other they shall have reason to say 'T was well for me that it was thus with me The wisdom and goodness of God did cut out suce portions continually for me did lead me thorow such a series and succession of cases and events which though I could not understand yet now I see that every condition every contingency and occurrence of my life through which Providence led me was useful and could not well have been wanted but it would have been the worse for me Thus in the generall Particularly for the fuller understanding what good it is that all things to consider That there is a Twofold good of the Saints Such as they obtain and enjoy whilest they are in via in their way or Course or such as they shall obtain when they are in termino when they are gotten to the end of their way when they are come to their place Or thus There is a Three-fold good of the Saints Temporall Spirituall Eternall 1. Temporall good or our bona corporis the outward good things of this life which may serve and please and delight us in these dayes of our pilgrimage which may abide with us and attend us to our graves but there will take their leave of us 2. Spirituall good or our bona animae and those are either 1. External as the Ordinances of God the Light Liberties and priviledges of the Gospel the Society and Communion of Saints and our peaceful and plentiful enjoying of them 2. Internal as spiritual Grace Faith Love Hope Patience c. 3. Eternal good or that glory and joy that everlasting rest and peace the possession of that Inheritance incorruptible and undefiled that is reserved in Heaven for us Now here note these things 1. That our bona corporis our outward good things are only good for us as they are conducible ad bonum spirituale to the good of our Souls The bona viae are only good in the event when they tend to the bonum Patriae This World is but a Nursery for Eternity we are planted in this in order to our transplanting into the other World and whatever we have here is either good or evill according to the respect that it bears to hereafter As far forth as our immortal part is improved by these perishing things so far forth onely are they good for us He that hath this Worlds goods and is not hereby made more rich towards God he who prospers in this World and yet his Soul doth not prosper much more he whose worldly fulness becomes the emptiness and leanness of his Soul Are these good things good for him Is he in prosperity upon a true account whose Soul prospers not It is not ever good to prosper in the World it cannot be universally said It 's good to be rich it 's good to be in health it 's good to be in honour it 's good to be at liberty the contrary may sometimes be true it 's good to be poor to be sick to be in disgrace to be in bonds the necessity of our Souls doth not seldom require it Then alone is it good to be full and to abound when our outward abundance farthers our spiritual welfare Christians could we receive this truth That our outward good things are only good for us as far forth as they conduce to our spiritual good could we receive this truth and live under the power of it what a different judgment should we then have of all these worldly matters from what we have and how strangely would the course of this world be then changed Would there then be such violent and eager pursuing these carnal things Would there then be such whining and complaining and murmuring at every cross providence We would then say This may be good for me good for my Soul how sad soever it looks 2. That external spiritual good things the Ministry and Ordinances of the Gospel c. are so far good to us as they conduce to our internal spiritual good and they being ordinarily so it must be concluded That ordinarily it is good for us that we enjoy them and be not deprived of them God may see the cutting Christians short of those priviledges and Liberties to be sometimes needful for them and then even this also makes for their good Whereof more anon 3. That our inward spiritual good is good for us so far forth as it tends to our eternal good and therefore grace is ever good for us It 's ever
true It 's good to be holy good to be humble to be in the fear of God and to flourish in his grace We may have too much Money too much Credit but we can never have too much grace Our greatest flourishing and fruitfulness in grace will certainly abound to our more full reward 4. Note That this is the plain sence and meaning of the promise All things shall work for good that is Whatsoever befalls shall certainly promote our internal and eternal welfare And as far forth as the outward Priviledges of the Gospel yea and the good things of this life conduce towards this all shall work for these also If it be good for us to rich if it be good for us to be in honour good for us to be at liberty good for our Souls good in reference to our eternal state if it be good for us that we enjoy the Ministry of the Gospel there shall nothing befall us that shall hinder there shall be nothing wanting to us that might further this our good The Summe is That all providential dispensations shall be so ordered that we shall want nothing but what it 's better want than have We shall uffer nothing but what we cannot well be without but what the good of our Souls requires and that which we do possess and that which we do suffer shall not fail of bringing about its end the advancing our eternal good And if this be the meaning what a glorious Promise is this What can any rational man desire more nothing shall befall him but shall be for his good He shall be deprived or kept short of nothing but what he had better be without than have He that is unsatisfied with this Promise it is either from Lust or Unbelief Either he doth not believe that God is true and will perform this Word or else 't is because his Lust must be satisfied though with the denyal of his Reason and Interest he that desires an Estate in the World Ease Pleasure Liberty or any thing else upon any other terms but as they may be for his reall good hath as much lost his Wits as his Faith and he that will take upon him to know what 's good for him better than God may as well take upon him to govern the World You may with as good reason desire a Feaver or a Dropsie that you may have the pleasure of your drink as for the pleasures that carnal things would bring you in to desire them when they would be a snare to your Souls 3. To whom these things shall work for good To them that love God to them that are called according to his purpose To the people of God who you see are here described by their Election and Vocation the called according to his purpose and their Sanctification they that love God Love is as I told you before the fulfilling of the Law Love God and you will live in the obedience of his whole Will These are the people to whom this Promise is made prove your Calling and Election prove your Sanctification and you may write your names in this glorious Promise All things shall work for your good To those that are Rebels and Reprobates from God all things shall work together for evil Whil'st things hurtful work together for good to the Saints all good things work together for the hurt of Sinners their Peace hurts them their plenty hurts them their pleasure hurts them yea both their prosperity and adversity their plenty and their poverty their pleasure and their trouble their honour and disgrace every thing that befalls them turns to their prejudice Their prosperity destroyâ— them their Table is their snare their pleasures are their plagues and their very punishments are turned into sin every thing that befalls them heightens and hardens them in their wickedness and ripens them for vengeance God is not with them and therefore nothing prospers with them God is with his Saints and therefore nothing comes amiss to them but all for their greater advantage Christians this is your portion and your peculiar wherein the men of this World shall neither partake with you nor be ever able to deprive you of it 4. How all things shall work for their good in special how shall the evill things the Sufferings of this life be for their good How can this be Must we disbelieve our Senses lay down our Reasons ere we can believe the Scriptures Must we call evil good and good evil Must we count darkness light and light darkness Is pleasure pain and pain pleasure Is loss gain and gain loss Is ease torment and torment ease Doth Religion make things cease to be what they are and to be what they are not or at least Must we believe that darkness is the Mother of light that good is the daughter of evil Can we gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles Can darkness give light or death it self bring forth life Must we say that contraries no longer destroy but produce each other and that the womb brings forth its own destruction How can these things be But must God give a Reason of his actions or else they are not though evil cannot bring forth good darkness cannot bring forth light yet Cannot God bring forth good out of evill light out of darkness Though darkness cannot bring forth light evil cannot bring forth good by a natural causation yet Cannot God make evil an occasion of good Though it do not work efficiently yet can it not work objectively neither to it Though the torment the Medicine puts men to be not ease yet May it not work towards ease May not the storm though it help not yet hasten the Labourer on his work the Traveller on his way May not the darkness of the night make more diligent in the day May not sickness teach men more temperance and poverty more frugality But to proceed more distinctly How can the Saints evil things work to their good That they do so cannot be denyed unless we will deny not only Scripture but common Sense and Experience but how comes it to pass I answer in 4. Particulars 1. The Afflictions and Tribulations of the Saints are the way that leads them on to the possession of that good which God hath intended to them afflictions are the way of the Kingdom the Cross is the way to the Crown Acts 14. 22. Through many Tribulations we must enter into the Kingdom of God Psal 66. 11 12. Thou broughtest us into the net thou hast laid affliction upon our loyns thou hast caused men to ride over our heads we went through fire and water thou broughtest us into a wealthy place Observe it Their Troubles are their way to their Triumph their very falling into the net their way to escape Their Enemies boast Escape Arise yes let them free themselves with such hopes while they will we have them sure enough we have them under foot we have them in the net If this
doubtless he will not be wanting in what 's absolutely necessary Psal 23. 1 2 3. The Lord is my Shâ—pheard I shall not want and so on throughout the Psalm Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the dayes of my life and I shall dwell in the House of the Lord for ever Here we have the Psalmists conclusion and it's foundation or his confidence and it's ground his foundation or ground is the Lord is my Shepheard his conclusion and confidence is I shall not want that is neither for Body nor Soul as appears by the following part of the Psalm If Davids Logick and his Faith too does not fail him the conclusion is firm let the Lord be his Shepheard and he shall not know Famine or want Gods relation to his people is their security for a sufficient provision in all times If the Lord be their Shepheard he must see them fed he must either find them those that shall or do it himself He must either find them Pastors or be their Pastor He must either provide them or be their Pasture If ordinary means fail he must find extraordinary if both fail he must be instead of means to them Here two things 1. That God stands engaged as the Shepheard of his people where ordinary means fail either to provide them extraordinary or to feed them more immediately from himself 2. That extraordinary means or no means when God brings his People to it will be better than their ordinary means 1. That God stands engaged as the Shepheard of his People where ordinary means fail either to provide them extraordinary or to feed them more immediately from himself Feed them he must or he cannot be faithful and if means fail he must supply that want one way or other Now God is faithful and will not see his Sheep to starve Isa 41. 17 18. When the poor and needy seek water and there is none and their Tongue faileth for thirst I the Lord will hear them I the God of Israel will not forsake them I will open Rivers in high places and Fountains in the midst of the Vallies I will make the Wilderness a Poor of Water and the dry Land Springs of Water Oh what a good World is here for the poor Saints to live upon in hard times It is interpreted to have an immediate reference to the outward and yet a special respect also to the spiritual wants and distresses And it will appear if we compare it with the like expressions Chap. 44. 3. I will poure water upon him that is thirsty and floods upon the dry ground I will poure my Spirit on thy Seed and my Blessing upon thine off-spring From the former Scriptures note 1. That the poor People of God may sometimes be as to the visible Soul-provisions but in a poor case Needy and hungry and thirsty their hearts fainting their tongues failing for thirst and their waters dryed up If they seek water and there be none 2. All the wants and straits of the Saints are before the Lord. I the Lord will hear Christians though those that should will not yet he that can will hear the cryes of your Souls all your faintings and pantings and longings for the water of life are before your eâ—es and come up into the eares of the Loâ—d of Sabbath 3. God hath more wayes than one to relieve the wants and refresh the bowels of his hungry ones He hath extraordinary means for extraordinaâ—y caâ—es If they can find no common Rivers he will open or make new Rivers 〈◊〉 high places the dry places the very Rock wilâ— yield a River when God commands it 4. Gods extraordinary Provisions shall not be scantâ— and penurious but rich and plentifull 'T is not some drops or now and then a draught a little to stay the longing or barely enough to keep them alive he prepares them Rivers Fountains Pools Springs of water I will open Rivers in the high places Fountains in the Vallies c. Whereever they be cast in the high places in the Vallies in the Wilderness in the dry Lands whereever they be cast I will cause Provision enough to meet them though they have neither Bag nor Bottle nor any thing to carry with them they shall not want the River shall meet them Springs shall arise and break forth to them 5. They are not the wanting but the thirsting the seeking Souls whom God will supply When the poor and needy seek water and there is none Oh Christians how many poor are there that sit down by their poverty who if they starve yet will not beg their emptiness hath taken away their Appetites These are sad Souls 't is a sad sight to behold a company of hunger-bitten Souls sit weeping and sighing seeking after the Bread and Water of life and finding none but to see empty and yet not hungry fainting and yet not panting Souls to see Souls even dying away for want and yet not desiring or craving a supply this is a much soreâ— spectacle A starveling thirstless Soul is next to a Ghost Well if ever such Souls find who never seek water 't is more than God hath promised them 'T is they that seek water to whom God will open a River 6. What ever difficulty there be to furnish the hungry Sainâ—s with a sufficiency of Provision yet one way or other it shall be done I the Lord will hear I the God of Israel will not forsaken them Upon me be all their wants I am God and can I am their God the God of Israel and will provide for them They must and shall be provided for whatever course I be put to take I must not see them starve The Lord will not be wanting to them if his Word be not heard his Works shall speak if Preachers cannot Providence shall preach to them if their fâ—iends cannot their enemies their stripes their wounds their rods shall instruct them Thy Rod and thy Staffe comfort me If they have no other the Sun Moon and Stars the Fouls of the Air the Beasts of the Field shall be their Prophets and Apostles If all should fail yet the Spirit of the Lord shall not fail to be their Teacher and Comforter 2. Extraordinary means have more in them than ordinary and no means more than means 1. Extraordinary meâ—ns when ordinary cannot be had are sweeter and better feeding for the Saints then ordinary would be The lâ—ss of the Creature the more of God the less of common Providence the more of special Grace Water out of the Rock was more pretious than out of the River the Manna of the Wilderness was to them that understood it better than the Milk of Canaan Elijah never made better meals than what he got out of the Ravens mouth I have heard of Woman in great distress of Soul who received comfort when the Word was brought her by the mouth of a child which she had failed of receiving from the mouths of many excellent Ministers 2. No
from Hell the Prince of darkness hath held you under your blindness and this darkness leads to hell to the blackness of darkness for ever You are lost you are lost Souls lost for evâ—r if the Gospel leave you in this state of blindness in which you have so securely continued to this day Isa 27. 11. It is a people of no understanding therefore he that made them will not have mercy on them he that formed them will shew them no favour 2. Those upon whom the Gospel hath seemed to have done its work but it is its strange work There are two works which the Gospel doth some it enlightens others it smites with blindness some it softens others it seals up under hardness some it gains over to Christ others it gives up to the unbelief and impenitence of their hearts Isa 6. 10. Make the heart of this people fat and make their ears heavy and shut their eyes lest they see with their eyes c. Go and preach to this people but preach them into hardness and blindness because they refused to see or hear let the light put out their eyes let the joyful sound strike them deaf and stop their ears never leave hammering them till thou hast hammered them into rocks or anvills Some there are that have so trifled with Convictions baffled Conscience and suffer'd their lusts so to resist and bear down their light that have had so many heats and colds so many thawings and freezings that have taken up so many purposes and made so many promises and yet all comes to nothing that the Gospel hath received a Charge from the Lord to make an end of its work Go sayes God and make an end with these men I 'le be mocked by them no more I 'le be trifled and dallied with by them no longer wound them no more fright them no more perswade them no longer make their hearts fat their ears heavy and shut their eyes and give them up to their hearts lusts that they may walk in their own counsells and fill up the measure of their iniquities you that after all the warnings you have received from the Lord and after some workings of them sometimes upon your Consciences are yet going after your Lusts prostituting your selves to your belluine and sensual pleasures filling up daily the measure of your iniquities Oh tremble and consider sadly whether this be not likely to be your case that the Gospel hath even done with you and given you over unto an impenitent heart and reprobate mind In hope that how near soever you are to this dreadful state you may be yet one step at least short of it I shall this once more adventure a few words upon you together with them that I have already mentioned And first let me reason a little with you 1. Art thou one of them that obey the Gospel or not Art thou one of them that love God one of the called according to his purpose or not Art thou not an Alien an Adversary against God and a Rebel against his Word Let thy Conscience speak let thy ways speak let thine Oaths and thy Drunkenness and thine Adulteries thy scoffing at God and his holy ways thy hating his Instructions and kicking at his Reproofs thy hardnings against his Calls thy treacherous dealings in his Covenant and the Vows of God that are upon thee let these speak what thou art Is this that which God hath chosen and called thee to Are these the Things thou hast learned and received and heard of him Did he ever say These things do and the God of Peace shall be with you Thou needest no other Conviction than that of Israels Jer. 2. 23. How canst thou say I am not polluted See tâ—y way in the Valley and know what thou hast done How canst thou say that thou art not a Wretch With what Face canst thou deny but thou art an Enemy of God and of all Righteousness See thy way in the Valley trace the Footsteps of tby Life behold thy practices and thy course Sure thou art very blind if thou behold thy self in this Glass and doest not see thy Face as the Face of a Devil There are some whom it may be harder work to convince who have the Face of a Christian the Tongue of a Saint but within the Heart of a Beast Hypocrites are as hard to be convinced as Hypocrisie is hard to be detected But thou who carryest thy wicked Heart in thy Forehead upon thy Tongue upon the Palms of thine Hands and in the very prints of thy Feet whose Malice against God and his Holiness may be read in every look in every word in every Line of thy Life needest thou any further proof that thou art not of God Thou mayst as well put me to prove that Hell is not Heaven that the Devil is no Saint as that thou att no Christian Dost thou love God art thou under the hope of the Promise Ask thy Wayes man and let these tell thee 2. Doest thou mean to keep at this distance from God to the Death Doest thou in earnest Is there nothing in those rich Promises that have been laid before thee which thou canst wish 't were thine Is there no such word in thine heart Oh that my Lot were here Art thou content thy name should be left out for ever Is there so little in the peace of God that thou canst sell it for the pleasures of sin Art thou content that nothing should prosper with thee but that every thing should be a Gin and a Snare and a Curse to thee Art thou content that the Pit should be thy place Eternal Wrath thy portion and that every Creature every Comfort every Cross that comes should give thee a pluck down from Heaven and a kick towards Hell Canst thou think they mean thee any thing else when all does but harden thee in thy sin and make thee kick against thy God Art thou so unwilling to leave thy sins for the hope of the Promise of God that thou art content to give up thy hopes for the love of thy sins Darest thou say Let me have my part in the pleasures and contentments of this life and I am cnntent to relinquish my part in Christ Let God let me alone in my sins and let him damn my Soul Let me live at my ease and my liberty and let my name be blotted out of the Book of Life I am content to take my ylace and my lot among the damned in another World so I may have my pleasure with them in this World And doest thou say less or other than this whilest thou refusest or resolvest against following thy God He that refuses to accept of the Redemption of Christ upon the holy Terms upon which 't is offer'd says in effect I am lost I am sold for a Captive to the Devil my first Father sold me for an Apple Christ would now buy me back again to my self but for my part I am
is as when we have him alone what grace is what a good Conscience is as when we have nothing else left us Our Religion never shews so much what is in it as when it 's most put to it When the Adversary hath gotten the greatest advantage of us of the Sun of the Wind of the Ground when he presseth with most violence with most fury upon us then we best know what the weapons of our Warfare are The comforts and supports of Religion are not known either of what strength or of what sweetness they are till they are thus proved Hezekiah had never such a taste of his integrity as when he received the Message of death Stephen had never such a sight of Heaven as through a storm of stones Christ is never so sweet in a Prison When God meets his Saints in a Wilderness then he speaks comfortably to them A patient Christian hath more or less experience of all this and hence is he supported keps quiet under all his sufferings and carried with courage on his way Be patient therefore Brethren unto the coming of the Lord. You have need of patience and no excuse for your impatience The sufferings of the Gospel call for patience and the supports of the Gospel will condemn your impatience If you will be godly count upon it that you have a great fight of afflictions to endure Venture not into the fight without your armour An impatient Creature is a naked Souldier How easily will Sathan destroy whom he hath once disarmed The more you can the less you shall suffer Secure your spirit and you save your self from harm There 's no Dart shall hurt you that does not hit your heart Keep your heart whole and the Devil loses all his shot Be patient and you possess your Souls keep your Souls and the Enemy loses the day Christians 't is of great consequence to you to be of a patient spirit and 't is a great Duty there 's much more in it than every eye observes When I perswade you to Patience know that 't is no smal thing that I am perswading you to 'T is no less than 1. To the whole of Christianity 2. To the height of Christianity 1. To the whole of Christianity To be truly Patient hath as much in it as to be a Christian To be hoâ—y humble meek mortified self-denying crucified to the World heavenly minded all this you must be or you cannot be patient Patient and proud patient and peevish patient and unmortified earthly-minded a self-seeker This is as great a contradiction as to be proud and humble fleshly and spiritual earthly and heavenly a Christian and no Christian If ever you will be possessours of this grace you must be partakers of all grace Get a believing broken self-denying heart get your spirits furnished with the love of Christ the hope of the Gospel the contempt of the World live above in the other World Let Christ Glory Honour Immortality be the portion of your Souls and the pleasure of your lives if ever you would be truly patient 2. To Christianity in the height of it In pressing you to Patience I am herein pressing you to get Assurance Without assurance though patience be possible yet you 'l find it both difficult and very impeâ—fect What Patience when I question whether my sins be forgiven whether God be reconciled and be not dealing with me as an enemy What Patience when I doubt whether my afflictions be not the pension of a bastard rather than the portion of a son when I am not sure but my present sufferings are sent to carry me down to eternal sufferings I am in misery and perpetual torments never a day without its evils I can see no end of it nor it may be never shall this or worse may last for ever Oh if I were sure it would be well at last I could be quiet but for ought I know the Furnace I am in may be the very mouth of Hell The diseases the wounds I am under may be sent to let out my Soul into everlâ—sting burnings how can I be patient under such doubts and fears Make God sure Christian make Heaven sure once and then thou may'st set thine Heart at rest then thou may'st almost as easily exercise as thine Enemies find thee Exercise of thy patience Christians if you will be patient you must be painful give diligence be diligent in making your Calling and Election sure be diligent in duty be vigilant against iniquity If you will be patient be impatient of sin and you will be patient of sorrow make sin sure get it slain by the cross and buried in the grave of your Lord sealing the stone and setting a watch have nothing to conflict with in the day of your affliction but your affliction beware of carrying guilt with you up upon the Cross Let not the gall of guilt be mingled with the vinegar of affliction A mortified spirit will deaden all our pain and a pure Conscience will bear all our burthens Till this be done I must tell you you will find suffering to be hard service 'T is an easie matter to talk of the sufferings of the Gospel and to boast great things afore-hand as you know who did once and what came of it Though I die with thee I will never deny thee But when it comes to the pinch when Troubles come upon us when the hand of the Lord touches us and touches where it 's most tender brings those calamities on us which are most contrary to us strips us of those comforts which are most dear to us takes away all from us and leaves us naked when we feel the smart of the rod when every stroke fetches blood when the feet are hurt in the Stocks and the Iron enters into the Soul when the vinegar and the gall comes when the thorns and the nails of the Cross are struck in when shame and reproach when scorn and contempt when hunger and thirst when cold and nakedness when bodily torment and pain are all measured to you for your portion and mingled in your cup If ever God should call you out to take your part with that Cloud of Witnesses Heb. 11. who were tortured had trialls of cruell mockings and scourgings of bonds and imprisonment who were stoned were sawn asunder were tempted were slain with the Sword wandring about in Sheep-skins and Goat-skins being destiture afflicted and tormented wandring in deserts and mountains in dens and caves of the earth If ever this should be your case then you will know how much there is in Christian Patience and how necessary self-denyall mortification living in the faith and fellowship of God and the power of his spirit and assurance of his love are to your patient possessing of your Souls Believe iâ— Christians the Gospel hath not furnished us with such large provision of Graces Comforts Promises Hopes for nothing you will find need enough of them all Such amazing astonishing trialls you
upon thee whereby he marks thee out for one of his own Men had need of other marks to prove them Christians than what the Rod hath made on their backs 't is our quiet submitting to it and that upon Gospel grounds as hath been before shewed that must do it and this will be evidence enough None but a Son will thus submit 2. The suffering state of Christians is ordinarily attended with other evidences Sufferings will set patience on work and patience will set every other grace on work Whatsoever it be that findes work for patience will therein find work for faith and love and hope and self-denyal Christians never appear so much believers so humble so mortified as under the Cross If there be any faith or love or hope in the heart 't will appear in the day of adversity If there be any fire under the ashes throw on water and then you shall hear it when it may be before you could see none there As Solomon sayes folly so we may say wisdom grace is bound up in the heart of a child but the rod of correction will fetch it out We seldom know either how bad or how good our hearts are till they are thus proved This I did to prove thee and to know what was in thine heart Besides this is the season when ordinarily there are most plentiful illapses and incoms from above God seldom sends such Tokens of his love as to his Children in prison The light of his Countenance he often reserves for their darkest estate he sets to his Seal when the Wax is on fire There have been Christians that would never believe that they were such till God hath told it them at the stake the highest joyes the fullest sence of everlasting kindness have been most ordinarily the portion of Gods Martyrs When Hell is let loose upon them then Heaven is most open Many Christians have met with such refreshings in their bonds that their enlargement hath been their Prison If this be so Christians who would fear sufferings who would not be patient would it comfort you to know that God is your Father Be patient and you shall know it What would you not bear so you might be sure you are the Lords It may be you have been held under doubt and fears and sad uncertainties hitherto all your dayes you have gone about from duty to duty from Ordinance to Ordinance from Christian to Christian enquiring and mourning and complaining and crying out Oh if I were sure that Christ were mine that my faith and my love and my hope and my obedience were sound and sincere such as would prove my adoption then I could be quiet Why if ever GOD calls thee to Sufferings follow him chearfully He calls thee out to prove to thee that thou lov'st him Fear not to go up with him on the Cross Assuâ—ance is a Fruit that most ordinarily grows on that Tree Let hypocrites only fear sufferings 't will be sad indeed to them there 's many a self-deceiving Professor that never suspected himself to be an hypocrite till persecution made him an Apostate that 's a woful case to have Sufferings come upon him for the Gospel's sake only to tell him That he hath no part in Christ nor his Gospel Let hypocrites be afraid and unquiet but let Saints be patient The same trialls which will prove them bastards will prove you sons 3. Your patient suffering is the cure of your Corruption Sufferings are our medicine for corruption and patience our cure To what degree of patience a Christian hath attain'd that degree of power hath he gotten over iniquity Till lust be conquered there 's no patience If there be but one unmortified corruption remaining and an affliction comes and grates upon that this will provoke there 's no bearing it Whence is impatience but from this for the most part that we cannot bear any violence that 's offered to lust What is Patience but this that we can bear that pain that Lust when pinch'd will put us to quietly to suffer our pride our envy our passion our sensual appetities to be cut short of what would gratifie them and freely to leave them under that which comes to kill and crucifie them to be able to want that fuell that feeds and endure that water that doth quench these fires This is Patience When our Pride is strip'd of its ornaments our appetites depriv'd of their delicates our covetousness of its substance our flesh of its â—ase and we either feel no smart or can bear the smart of it then we are Patient And when we can thus leave our Corruptions to whatever sufferings come upon them without taking part with them in their sufferings then lust is conquered Lust no longer lives nor maintains its power and interest in us than whilest in all its afflictions we are afflicted when we feel its sufferings as our sufferings its disappointments and dissatisfactions as our own and fly out against whatsoever falls upon it as if it fell upon our Souls When we can say 't is my passion that suffers but not I 't is my Covetousness that suffers my Pride that suffers but not I and let them suffer for me let them be pinch'd and pain'd and starved and die none of all this shall move me nay herein I do and I will rejoyce There 's patience Patience is Lust conquered Christians you complain of Corruption you tell one another sad stories what a Burden what a bondage 't is you are under whilest Lust hath such power in you what Briars and Thornes what plagues and stings they are in your hearts You pray and you mourn and groan and sigh in your selves waiting for your redemption from this bondage and misery Oh for an humble heart oh for a broken mortified spirit oh this earthliness this envy this peevishness this slothfulnessâ— I am weary of my life because of these daughters of Heth. Wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from this body of death Why would you be delivered Be patient under Afflictions they are the Executioners sent from God to slay your Enemies the Mâ—dicines sent from youâ— Physician to cure your Diseases Never quarrel with Affliction unless you Resolve to be friend Corruption Wâ—at will you be so foolish as not to be patient of your Disease nor your Remedy either bear the Cross or else never make your selves believe but you can bear your sins well enough Whatever your Complaints are 't is a sign they come not very deep 'T is an Argument that sinne sits light where the cross lies so unsupportably heavy 4. Your patient suffering will be your Triumph over Temptation A patient Christian is a Conquerour over all the World By this alone naked Job overcame the Devil When Sathan and his Instruments have persecuted you into patience they have therein brought their Neckâ— under youâ— Feet This Brazen Wall will make their short recoil on their own heads and hearts Your Patience will be
Patience of the Saints By this time you see Christians that a suffering state is not so formidable nor patience under it so impossible nor your impatience so excusable as your hearts are apt to tell you Suffering you cannot avoid but you may abide them your carnal hearts will cry out I can't endure and therefore whatever shift I make I must avoid them The Gosâ—el tells you You may endure but if you will be Christians you can't avoid them All that will live godly in Christ Jesus must suffer persecution Well since it 's thus Gird up the loins of your Minds and follow your Lord. Consider him that endured such contradictions of Sinners and be not weary nor faint in your Minds The Captain of your Salvation was made perfect through sufferings and if ye will be patient so shall you his followers Turn to your strong hold ye Prisoners of hope Prove to the World that your Faith is no fancy nor your Rock a refuge of lies that your profession oâ— holiness is not a meer talk or vapour Fear not to bear yours and thankfully accept your Lords Testimony when the Lord hath fulfilled his sad Predictions let your faith and patience seal to the fulfilling his Promises Whenâ—ver the hand of the Lord touches to the quick and you feel in earnest that 't is hot service to be a Christian when your flesh begins to fly in your face and cryes out against your Soul either as Zipporah against Moses â— bloody Husband hast thou been to me or as Job's Wife to him Curse God and die chide it into silence Thou speakest as one of the foolish Women speaketh If it will still kick and fling and groan out to thee doest thou still retain thy integrity hearken not to it leave it to groan alone as thy flesh hath left thy Soul to groan alone under sin so let thy Soul leave thy flesh to groan alone under affliction While thy Soul is quiet there 's the glory of patience though extremity of torment make thy flesh to roar nay the more the flesh roars and the Soul yet keeps silence the more patience If your fears affright you and prophecy to you before hand oh I shall never be patient if the foresight be so dreadful what will the encounter be yet be not discouraged You say you could be content to suffer if you were sure you could be patient that is you would venture into the water if you had first learn'd to swim why when you are in then you will learn and not before Tribulation worketh patience where it findeth none when you are in the fight you 'l find your Weapons your very sufferings will learn you to bear 'T is the flesh that flings and frets but by that it hath been tamed in the house of affliction it will be quieter Be jealous of your selves while you will let not fore-hand presumption hinder fore-hand prepâ—ration But whilest you suspect your selves distruct not your God follow the Cloud of Witnesses and lean on the Rock of Ages and when you are put hardest to it let your Soul take Sanctuary here When my flesh and my heart faileth me God is the strength of mine heart and my portion for ever Lastly As that wherein I shall take in most of these former particulars Let your lives answer that Spirit of holiness which the Gospel hath powred forth upon you Let your lives be gracious and holy lives Particularly 1. Let the grace of the Gospel be visible and conspicuous in your lives shew forth the vertues of him that hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light Let your lives be the Image of that holy Doctrine or the holding forth of that word of life which you have received Admire that grace of God which hath appeared to you and let his Grace appear and be admired in you let Grace appear in you in its Purity Power 1. In its Purity represent your God and your Christ and your Religion in its holiness to the World Teach the World to love or at least to reverence holiness by letting them see it before their eyes Holiness hath such a glory in it that it will command respect and reverence when it is clearly seen Let your paths be pure as God hath separated you so separate your selves from the lusts of men to the Law of your God Keep your selves upright in thee sight of God keep your selves unspotted of the World if they will be spotting of you let it be onely with your beauty spots your Wisdom Truth Holiness Mercy Meekness Patience the Excellencies and Vertues of your god appearing upon you Let this that you are too pure too precise too tender too watchful too fearful of sin too zealous against sin be all they have to charge you with Keep thee from thine own Iniquities say not so much as this I am my beloveds and my beloved must be mine Kick out thy Dalilahs Thou must part with thy darling or thy God Let there be no secret league let there be no peace betwixt thy Soul and any Iniquity to which thou mayst either steal out to delight thee or turn in to hide thee let no iniquity be thy leisure or protection if when thou art pursued by a persecuter any sin as Jacl to Sisera should call to thee turn in hither and thou mayst escape remember the nail and the hammer let no iniquity find a corner in thee to lodge in quiet that thou mayst not think to find a corner with it where thou mayst lodg in safety say to all thy sinful delights and sinful hopes get you gone I will neither love you nor trust you however thy sin may please thee whatever it may promise thee be sure thou wilt find it a sting in thy Soul and a stain upon thy glory Keep your selves from the sins of others beware of the Leaven of the proud Pharisee of the formal and vain-glorious Scribe of the extorting Publican of the debauched Prodigal the ambitious Diotreâ—hes the virâ—lent Tertullus the backsliding Demas beware of all Epidemical Leaven the sickness of the Times you may live in Take heed lest you be dtawn away with the Errours of the Wicked and so swimming down the Stream you fall from your own stedfastness Let sinners come up to you go not you down to them Let them never say of any of you The Man is become as one of us our spot is become the spot of his Children Let your Lives be a rebuke to the ungodly World whil'st you live as the Children of GOD without rebuke in the midst of the World 2. In its Power Let the power of Grace be seen in its preserving its self in its Being and vigorous Exercise against all the Powers of Hell The stâ—ength of a Man is seen in this that he can bear Wind and Weather can live any where without impairing his Healâ—h The strength and mettal of a Sword is seen in this that Iron will not turn its edge True
or a quickning Word let them have or lift up a prayer and drop down a blessing upon them Something or oâ—her of the Dew of Heaven let them feel flowing from our Lips Let your Lips drop as the Honey Comb and your Hands drop sweet smelling Myrrhe Let your Holy Practices your Holy Examples second and set on your wholesom Counsels and Instructions Let your words be savoury and your works be gracious Let Lip and Life speak the same things and lead on the same way Christians By your nursing up the Souls and Fruits of others you will ripen and increase your own If you should look on all the Fruit as little which your selves have brought forth to God you will have this to comfort you That you have born more upon your Brethren's knees The Fruits of those Fields which you have planted or water'd will abound to your account Bring forth much Fruit unto God and be much in immediate converse with God Phil. 3. 20. Our Conversation is in Heaven Be more elevated and raised in your Spirits daily above Things Sensual and Carnal Above Carnal Delights Above Carnal Discouragements 1. Above Carnal Delights Live more purely in the Spirit let your Hearts be wrought up to such a Spiritual Frame That all the Joys Pleasures and Comforts of your Lives may be Spiritual Let the Lord be all your delight Psal 37. 5. Let it be with you as much as may be as it is with the Saints already in Glory to whom God is all who being changed into his Image and dwelling in his presence are satisfied in him Let God alone be as much to you as God and all the World Let the Fashions and Pleasures and Delights of this World be so much beneath your Spirits that it may neither be an abatement of your Joy to want nor an Addition to your Content to possess them Let the Light of all these lower Sparks be swallow'd up in God when the Sun shines all the Stars disappear and are not needed Lift up thine Eyes Christian and see what pleasures there are within the Veil Come drink thy fill of this new Wine let thy Faith draw the Curtains of Eternity and take a view of those heights depths â—nd lengths and breadths of that Glory and Joy which there it may discover Look on him that sits on the Throne and those everlasting Treasures of Light Holiness Goodness and Mercy which are â—treaming from his Face on those overflowing Bowels of Kindness and Compassion on those Rivers of pure and Eteâ—nal Pleasures Rest and Peace that rise from that Glorious Throne and run through the City of God Behold the Tree of Life and feed thy Soul on its pretious Fruit whose very Leaves are for the healing of Nations Hearken to and fill thine Ears and Heart with those Triumphs and Exultations those Reptures and Extasies of unspeakable and glorious Joys those Blessings and Praisings those Hallelujahs that are tuned upon the Hearts and Tongues of the Heavenly Chore the glorious Angels and the Spirits of just men made perfect by the vision and fruition of thy God the God of Glory Look on and possess this Joy and Glory Say to thy Soul as God 〈◊〉 Abraham Gen. 13. 14. Lift up thine Eyes and look from the place where thou art Northward and Southward and Eastward and Westward though all the Coasts and all the Dimensions of the Blested Land of Promise and Holy City and then say Come Soul take up thy rest here all this is thine Look and love love and long long and hope hope and rejoyce in hope of this glory of God Look on thy God and never leave looking till thou art changed into his Image and satisfied with his Image And here let thy delight and thy dwelling be 2. Above all carnal discouragements from any adversaries or dangers wherewith you are baited and affrighted as you walk in the Lord let the joy of the Lord be your strength let your Sun be your shield let your hope be your confidence and fear not your duâ—y nor danger Look to your hope and you will laugh at fear Dwell in your Reward and you will not be afraid to dwell in your Duty But of this a word more by and by Thus much for general Directions 2. I shall next give you some special Directions for your daily walk Generalls necessarily depend on and subsist in Particulars As there can be no Religion in a Kingdome unless it be first in particular Families nor none in Families unless it be in particular persons so a general course of Christianity there cannot be unless it be supported in our particular daily walk The Advice I am giving you I have in part borrowed for your use which some of you may possibly have received elsewhere Before I give you the particular Directions I shall first premise these things 1. Count upon this That the Directions I am now giving you if you ever mean to bring it to any thing will cost you pains and labour and how can you count your selves Christians if you refuse to be at the necessary cost of Christianity If you think to be Christians without labour or if you wilâ— stand out from Christianity to save your labour you are alike wise in both Either come to a Resolution to fall upon an industrious painful life or 't will be in vain to give you counsel 2. Practice the Directions I shall give you in pursuance of your Covenant with God wherein you have engaged to take the strictest severest Laws of Christ for the Rule of your Life What I am pressing on you for the matter of it is no more than you have bound your selves to as Christians Remember your Bonds and let this holy practice be followed on by you as the paying your Vows Remember daily the Vows of God are upon you and there is not any material thing here prescribed to you which falls not under your vows Your Covenant if your eye be much upon it will be a cord to hold you to your work 3. Press hard for sensible Communion with God in all your Duties 4. Keep up a spiritual and holy Frame from Duty to Duty Remember what I have elsewhere spoken to you more at large on these two Particulars See that there be Religion in your Duties and confine not your Religion to your Duties 5. Be Watchful The Life of all Religion lies much here whatever you resolve upon will come to nothing without it Watchfulness is the Executioner of your Will Let your eye be upon your Rule and your Work Especially watch against your prevailing sins There 's no Christian that observes himself but may find some one sin or more that in regard of their power over him are taller by the head and shoulders than all the rest In some Pride in others Worldliness in others Passion in others Slothfulness It may be if thou searchest some one of these four or possibly some other may be it that by a Specialty
once hear lest if ye now refuse ye no â—ore be perswaded with oh that they would but be 〈◊〉 ever confounded with oh that they had Lest all our wishes and wooings of you be turned into weepings and mournings over you this once hear oh that you would I heartily thank you for your good wishes and good will towards me for your willing and chearful entertainment of my person and attendance on my Ministry And particularly for your passionate desire of my longer stay among you Which desire if God had not my Soul could not have denyed you Though the Almighty to whose pleasure it 's meet that we all submit hath said Nay to that wish of yours yet let your Souls say Amen to this last of mine that the Lord God would dwell among you and in you both now and for ever And having thus finished my Labours among you I shall now close up with this double account 1. Of my discharge of my Ministry in this place 2. Of my deprivall And shall so commit you to God and to the word of his Grace which is able to build you up and to give you an Inheritance amongst all them that are sanctified 1. Of my discharge of my Ministry what my Doctrine and manner of life hath been is known to you and what my aim and intent hath been is known to God The searcher of hearts knowes that 't is the salvation of Souls that hath been the mark at which I have levelled My way hath been to use all plainness that I might be made manifest in your Consciences Weaknesses and infirmities both natural and sinful the Lord pardon it I have had many I am sensible that much more might have been done both in publick and in private had it not been for a weakly body and a sloathful heart I repent that I have had no more zeal for God no more compassion to Souls I repent that I have been no more constant and importunate with you about the matters of Eternity Oh Eternity Eternity that thou wert no more in the heart and Lips of the Preacher in the hearts and eares of the hearers But while I thus judge my self for my failings Blessed be God for any sincerity to his name and good will to your Souls that he hath seen in me Blessed be God I have a witness in my Conscience and I hope in yours also that I have not shunned to declare to you the whole Counsel of God Brethren I call Heaven and Earth to witness this day that I have set before you life and death good and evil and have not ceased from day to day to warn you to choose life and that good way that leads to it and to escape for your lives from the way of sin and death Oh remember the many instructions I have given you the many Arguments whereby I have striven with you the many Prayers that have been offered up for the guiding and gaining your Souls into the path of life and the turning your feet out of the way of destruction Oh might I be able to give this Testimony concerning you all at my departure they have troden in the right path they have chosen the good part that shall not be taken from them Brethren Beloved with whom I have travelled in birth that Christ might be formed in you I must shortly give up my account in a more solemn Assembly will you help me to give it up with joy by shewing your Souls before the Lord as the Seal of my Ministrie Every sincere Convert among you will be a Crown of rejoycing to me in that day So let me rejoyce and let my joy be the joy of you all What shall I say more If there be any consolation in Christ if any comfort of love any bowels and mercies if the Glorie of the Eternal God the Honour of the everlasting Gospel the safety of your immortal Souls the incorruptible Crown the exceeding eternal weight of glory weigh any thing with you then once more let me beâ—eech you by all this to hearken to that word of the Gospel which God hath spoken to you by me 2. Of my deprivall The most glorious morning hath its Evening the hour is come wherein the Sun is setting upon not a few of the Prophets the shadows of the Evening are stretched forth upon us our day drawes our work seems to be at an end Our Pulpits and our places must know us no more This is the Lords doing let all the Earth keep silence before him It is not a light thing for me Brethren to be laid aside from the work and cast out of the Vineyard of the Lord and it must be something of weight that must support under so severe a doom I know there are not a few that will add to the affliction of the afflicted by telling the World 't is their own fault they might prevent it if they would whether this be so or no God knoweth and let the Lord be Judge Blessed be God whatever be this is not laid to our charge as the reason of our seclusion either insufficiency or scandall You are not ignorant what things there are imposed on us as the condition of our continuing our Ministration which how lawful and expedient soever they seem in the Judgment of many yet have the most specious Arguments that plead for them left me utterly dissatisfied in my Conscience about them I must profess before God Angels and men that my non-submission is not from any disloyalty to Authority nor from pride humour or any factious disposition or design but because I dare not contradict my light nor do any thing concerning which my heart tells me the Lord sayes do it not After all my most impartial Enquiries after all my seeking counsel from the Lord after all my considering and consulting with men of all perswasions about these Matters I find my self so far short of satisfaction that I am plainly put to this choice to part with my Ministry or my Conscience I dare not lie before God and the World nor come and tell you I approve I allow I heartily consent to what I neither do nor can but must choose rather that my Ministry be seal'd up by my Sufferings than lengthned out by a Lie Through the Grace of God though men do yet my heart shall not reproach me while I live If our heart condemn us God is greater than our hearts and knoweth all things But however though I must now no longer act as a Minister I shall through the Grace of God endeavour peaceably and patiently to suffer as a Christian I should to testifie my Obedience to Authority have become all Things to all Men to the uttermost that I could with any clearness of heart But since Matters stand so that I must lose my place or my peace I chearfully suffer my self to be thrust off the Stage And now welcome the Cross of Christ welcome Reproach welcome Poverty Scorn and Contempt or whatever else may befall me on this account This Morning I had a Flock and you had a Pastour but now behold a Pastour without a Flock a Flock without a Shepheard This Morning I had an House but now I have none Thiâ— morning I had an Living but now I have none The Lord hath given and the Lord hath takes away Blessed be the Name of the Lord. Beloved I am sensible of many Weaknesses and Disadvantages I am under which may rendeâ— a suffering state the harder to be born help me by your Prayers and not me onely but all my Brethren also with whom my Lot must fall Pray for us for we trust that we have a good Conscience in all things willing to live honestly Pray 1. That God would make our Silence speak and preach the same Holy Doctrine that we have preached with our Lips 2. That he would give Supports answerable to our Sufferings that he who comforteth those that are cast down will also comfort his Servants that are cast out 3. That according to our earnest expectation and our hope as always so now also Christ may be magnified in us whether it be by Life or by Death And thus Brethren I bid you all farewel in the words of the Apostle 2 Cor. 13. 11. Finally Brethren farewel be perfect be of good comfort be of one mind live in peace and the God of Peace and Love shall be with you And that God of Peace that brought again from the Dead our Lord Jesus that great Shepheard of the Sheep through the Bloud of the Everlasting Covenant make you perfect in every good Work to do his Will working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ To whom be Glory for ever and ever AMEN FINIS