Part 2
So Hannah, I Sam. ii. 1. when the received the mercy ofa son, " My soul (faith she) rejoiceth in the Lord ;" not in the mercy, but in the God of the mercy. AndfoMary, Luke i. 46. "My " foul doth magnify the Lord, my spirit rejoiceth in God my " Saviour." The word signifies to make more room for God; their hearts were not contracted,but the moreenlargedto God.
(4.) The mercies of God have been mighty restraints to keep others from fin. SoEzraix. 13. " Seeing thou, our God, haft given us such a deliverance as this, should we again break " thy commandments ?" Ingenuous fouls have felt the force of the obligations of love and mercy upon them. (5.) 'To conclude, The mercies of God to others have been as oil to the wheels of their obedience, and make them fitter for services, 2Chron. xvii. 5. Now if mercies work contrarilyuponmyheart,what cause have I to be afraid that they come not to me in love? I tell you,this is enough to damp the spirit of any faint, to fee what sweet effects they have had on others, and what fad effects on him.
How to keep the Heart from defponding, &c. 29
2. Season. Thesecondspecialseason in the life ofa christian requiring more than a common diligence to keep his heart, is the time of adversity : When providence frowns upon you, and blasts your outward comforts, then look to your hearts, keep them with all diligence from repining against God, or fainting under his hand; for troubles, though sanctified, are troubles still ; even sweet-briar, and boly thistle, have their prickles. Jonah was a good man, and yet how pettish was his heart under affliction ? Job was the mirror of patience, • yethowwas his heartdiscomposedby trouble ?You will find it as hard to get a composed spirit under great afflictions, as it is to fix quick-silver. O the hurries and tumults which they occasion even in the best hearts ! Well, then, the second cafewill be this :' : Case 2. How a Christian under great afflictions may keep hisbeartfrom repining, or desponding under the hand of God ? Now there are nine special helps, I shall here offer, to keep thy heart in this condition ; and the first shall be this, to work upon your hearts this great truth,
1. That by these cross providences, God is faithfully pursuing the great design of electing love upon thefouls of his people, and orders all these afflictions as means fanclified to that end. : Afflictions fall not out by casualty, but by counsel, Jobv. 6. Eph. i. 11 by this counsel of God they are ordained as means of much spiritual good to saints, Ifa. xxvii. 9. " By " this shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged," &c. Heb. xii .
10. " But he for our profit," &c. Rom. viii. 28. " All things " work together for good." They are God's workmen upon our hearts, to pulldownthe pride and carnal security of them; and being fo, their nature is changed , they are turned into blessings and benefits, Psalm cxix. 71. " It is good for me that " I have been afflicted." And sure, then, thou hast no reason to quarrel with,but rather to admire that God should concern himselfsomuch in thy good, to use any means for the accomplishing of it. Philip. iii. 11. " Paulcouldbless God, if by any " means he might attain the resurrection of the dead. My " brethren, (faith James) count it alljoywhen you fall into " divers temptations," Jam. i. 2, 3. My father is about a design of love upon my soul, and do I well to be angry with him? All that he doth isinpursuance of, and in reference to some eternal glorious ends upon my soul. O it is my ignorance of God's design, that makes me quarrel with him! he faith to thee in this case, as to Peter, "What I do thou krow- " eftnotnow,but hereafter thou shalt know it."
30 How to keep the Heartfromdesponding Help. 2. Though God hath refervedto himself a liberty ofafflicting his people,yet he hath tied up his own hands by promise, never to take away his loving-kindness from them. Can I look that scripture in the face with a repining,discontented spirit,
2 Sam. vii. 14. " I shall be his father,and he will be myfon ; " if he commit iniquity,I will chaftenhim with the rod of " men, and with the stripes of the children of men : Never- " the less, my mercy shall not depart away from him." Omy heart ! my haughty heart! dost thou well to be discontented, when God hath given thee the whole tree, with all the clusters ofcomfortgrowing on it, because he suffers the wind to blowdownafew leaves ? Christians have two forts of goods, the goods of the throne, and the goods of the footstool ; moveables, and inmoveables : If God have fecuredthese, never let my heart be troubled at the loss of those ; indeed, if he had cut off his love, or discovenanted my soul, I had reason to be cast down ; but this he hath not,nor can he do it. Help 3. It is ofmarvellous efficacy to keep the heart from sinking under affliction, to call to mind, that thine own father hath the ordering of them: Not a creature moves hand or tongue against thee,but by his permission. Suppose the cup be a bitter cup, yet it is the cup which thy father hath given thee to drink; and canst thou suspectpoifon to be in that cup which he delivers thee ? Foolish man, put home the case tothineown heart,consult with thine own bowels ; canst thou find in thy heart togivethy child that which would hurt, or undo him ? No, thou wouldsst as soon hurt thyself as him ; " If thou then " being evil knowest how to give good gifts to thy children,'* how much more doth God ? Matth vii, 11. The very consideration of his nature, a God of love, pity, and tender mercies, or of his relation to thee as a Father, Husband, Friend, mightbesecurity enough, if he had not spoken a word, to'quiet thee in this case; andyetyouhavehis word too, Jer. xxv. 6. I will do you no hurt. You lie too near his heart to hurt you ; nothing grieves him more thanyourgroundless and unworthysuse picions of his designs do ; would it not grieve a faithfultenderheartedphysician when he hath studied the case of his patient, prepared the most excellent receipts to save his life, to hear him cry out,O he hath undone me! he hath poisoned me ; because it gripes and painshimin the operation ? O when will you be ingenuous !
Help 4. God respects you as much in a low, as in a high condition; and therefore it need not so much trouble you to be made low : nay, to speak home,he manifests more of his love, grace, and tenderness, in the time of affliction, thanprofperity. As
in Times of Adversity. 31 Goddidnot at first chuseyou because you were high, so he will not forsake you because you are low : Menmaylookthy upon you, and alter their respects, as your condition is alter.
ed : When providence hath blasted your estates, your summer friends may grow strange, as fearing you may be troublesome to them ; but will God do so ? No, no, " I will never leave " thee, nor forsake thee," Heb. xiii. 5. Indeed if adversity andpovertycouldbaryou from access to God, it were a fad condition ; but you may go to God as freely as ever. "My "God (faith the church) will hear me," Mic. vii. 7. Poor David, when stripped of all earthly comforts, could yet encourage himself in the Lord his God ; andwhycannot you ? Suppose your husband or child had lost all at sea, and should come to you in rags ; could you deny the relation, or refuse to entertain him ? If you would not, much less will God : Why then areye so troubled ? Though your condition be changed, your father's love and respects are not changed.
Help 5. And what if by the loss of outward comforts, God willpreferveyour fouls from the ruining power of temptation ?
Sure then, you have little cause tofinkyour hearts byfuchfad thoughts about them. Are not these earthly enjoyments the things that make men shrink and warp in times of trial ? For the love of these many have forsaken Christ in such an hour,
Matth. xix. 22. " He went away sorrowful, for he had great "possessions." And if this be God'sdesign, what have I done in quarreling with him about it ? We see mariners in a storm can throw over-board rich bales offilk, and precious things, to preserve the vessel and their lives with it, and everyone faith they act prudently ; we know it is usual for soldiers ina city besieged, to batter down, or burn the fairest buildings without the walls, in which the enemy may shelter in the siege ; and no mandoubtsbut it is wifely done : Such as havegangrenedlegs or arms, can willingly stretch them out to be cut off, and not only thank, but pay the chirurgeon for his pains : And must Godonlybe repinedat, for casting overwhatwill fink you in a storm ? For pulling down that which would advantage your enemy in the siege of temptation ? For cutting off what would endanger your everlasting life ? O inconsiderate, in grateful man! are not these things, for which thou grievest, the very things that have ruined thousands offouls ? Well, what Christ doth in this, thouknowest not now, but hereafter thou mayest, Help 6. It would much stay the heart under adversity, to confider, That God, by such humbling providences, may be accomplishing that for which you have long prayed and waited :
32 How to keep the Heart from desponding
Andthouldyoube troubled at that ? Say, Christian, haft thou not many prayers depending before God upon such accounts as these; that he would keep thee from fin, discover to thee the emptiness and infufficiency of the creature; that he would kill andmortify thy lusts, that thy heart may never find rest in any enjoyment but Christ ? Why now, by such humbling and impoverishing strokes,God may be fulfilling thy desire : Woudlft thou be kept from fin ? Lo, he hath hedgedup thy way with thorns. Wouldst thou see the creatures vanity ? Thy affliction is a fair glass to discover it ; for the vanity of the creature is never fo effectually and fenfiblydiscovered, as in our own experience of it. Wouldst thou have thy corruptions mortified ? This is the way ; now God takes away the food and fewel thatmaintainedthem; for as prosperity beg at and fed them, fo adversity, when sanctified, is a means to kill them. Wouldst thouhavethyheart to reftno where but in the bosom of God? What better way canftthou imagine providence should take to accomplish thy desire, than by pulling from under thy head, that soft pillow of creature-delights on which thou restedstbefore? And yet you fretat this, peevish child,how dost thou exercise thy Father's patience ? If he delay to answer thy prayers, thou art ready to say he regards thee not; if he do that which really answers the scope and main endofthem, but not in the way thou expectedst, thou quarrellest with him for that ; as if instead of answering, he were crossing all thy hopes and aims ; is this ingenuous ? Is it not enough that God is so gracious todowhatthou defireft, but thou must be so impudent to expect he should do it in the way which thou prescribest.
Help 7. Again, It may stay thy heart, if thou confider, That in these troubles, God is about that work, which if thou didst See the design of, thy foul would rejoice. We, poor creatures, are bemisted with much ignorance, and are not able to discern how particular providences work towards God's end; and therefore, like Israel in the wilderness, are often murmuring, Because Providence leads us about inahowhngdefart, where we are exposed to straits ; though yet, then he led them, and is now leading us, by the right way, to a city of habitations. If you could but fee how God,in his secret counsel,hath exactly laid the whole plot and design ofthyfalvation, even to the fmallestmeans and circumstances; this way, and by these means such a one shall be saved, and by no other; such a number of afflictions I appoint for this man, at this time, and in this order; they shall befal him thus, and thus they shall work for hiu : Could you, I say, butdifcern the admirable harmony of
The Heart kept from desponding in Times of Adversity. 33 divinedispensations, their mutual relations to each other, togetherwiththegeneralrefpect and influence they all have unto the last end; of all the conditions in the world, you would chuse that you are now in, had you liberty to make your own choice. Providence is like a curious piece of arras, made up of athoufand threds, which single we know not what to make of, but put together, and stitched up orderly, they represent abeautifulhistory to the eye. As God works all things according to the counsel of his own will, so that the counsel of God hath ordained this as the best way to bring about thy salvation : Such aonehath a proud heart, so many humbling providences I appoint for him ; such a one an earthly heart, so many impoveriching providences for him : Did you but see this, I needfay no more to support the most dejected heart. : Help 8. Farther, It would much conduce to the settlement of your hearts, to consider, That by fretting and discontent, you do yourselves more injury than all the afflictions you lie under could do; your own discontent is that which arms your troubles with a sting ; it is you that make your burden heavy, by struggling under it. Could you but lie quiet under the hand of God, your condition would be much easier and sweeter than it is ; Impatiens aegrotus crudelem facit medicum. This makes God lay on more strokes , as a father will upon a
stubborn child that receives not correction .
it unfits the soul to pray over its troubles, or take in the sense of that good which God intends by them : Afflic tion is a pill, which being wraptup in patience and quiet submission, may be easily swallowed; but discontent chews the pill, and so imbitters the soul: God throws away some comfort which he saw would hurt you, and you will throw away your peace after it; he shoots an arrow which sticks in your cloaths, and was never intended to hurt, but only to fright you from fin; and you will thrust it onward to the piercing of your very hearts, bydespondencyanddiscontent.
Help 9. Lastly, If all this will not do, but thy heart, like Rachel, still refuses to be comforted, or quieted, then confiderone thing more, which, if seriously pondered, will doubtless do the work ; and that is this, Compare the condition thou art now in, and art so much dissatisfied with, with that condition others are, and thyself deferveft to be in: Others are roaring in flames, howhng under the scourge of vengeance,and amongst them I deserve to be. O my soul! is this hell ? Is my coudition as bad as the damned ? Owhat would thousands now in
VOL . VII. E
34 The Heart kept fromdesponding in Times of Adversity. hell give, to change conditions with me ! It is a famous in stance which * Dr Taylor gives us of the duke of Conde; I • have read (faith he) that when the duke of Conde had enter- ⚫ed voluntarily into the in commodities of a religious poverty,
one day espied and pitied by a lord of Italy, who out ✔of tenderness, wished him to be more careful and nutritive of
his person. The good duke answered, Sir, be not troubled, • and think not that I am ill provided of conveniencies, for I • send an harbinger before me, who makes ready my lodgings, •and takes care that I be royally entertained. The lord asked •him, who was his harbinger ? he answered, The knowledge of •myself, and the consideration of what I deserve for my fins, • which is eternal torments ; and when with this knowledge I • arrive at my lodging, how unprovided soever I find it, me- ⚫thinks it is ever better than I deserve. Whydoththe living man complain ? And thus the heart may bekeptfromdesponding, or repining under adversity.
Season 3. • The third season calling for more than ordinary •diligence to keep the heart, is the time of Zion's troubles : • When the church, like the ship in which Christ and his disciples were, is oppressed, and ready to perish, in the waves of •persecution ; then good fouls are ready to fink, and be ship- •wrecked too, upon thebillows of their own fears. I confess •most inenrather need the spur, than the reins in this case, and yet some fit down as over-weighed with the sense of the • church's troubles. The loss of the Ark cost old Eli his life ; • the sad posture Jerusalem lay in, made good Nehemiah's •countenance change in the midst of all the pleasures and ac- ⚫commodations of the court, Neh. ii. 2. Ah ! this goes close • to honest hearts .' • But though God allow, yea, command the most awakened • apprehenfionsof these calamities, and in" such a day calls to mourning, weeping, andgirding with sackcloth," Ifa. xxii. 12. and severely threatens the insensible, Amos vi. 1. yet it will not please him to fee you sit like pensive Elijah under the <juniper-tree. 1 Kings xix. 4. " Ah Lord God! it is enough, " take away my life also." No, mourners in Zion you may, ⚫and ought to be ; but self-tormentors you must not be ; •complain to God you may, but to complain of God, though •but by an unsuitable carriage, and the language of your ac- • tions, you must not.' Case 3. The third cafethat comes next to be spoken to, is this; How public and tenderbearts may be relieved, andfup
* Great Exemp. p. 310.
How to Jupportthe HeartunderZion's Troubles. 35 ported, when they are even over-weighed with the burdensome , sense of Zion's troubles? ' I grant, it is hard for him that pre- • ferreth Zion to his chief joy, to keep his heart that it fink not •below the due sense of its troubles ; and yet this ought, and •maybe done by the use of such heart-establishing directions • as these.' Direction 1. Settle this great truth in your hearts, that no trouble befals Zion, but by the permission of Zion'sGod; and he permits nothing out of which he will not bring muchgoodat last to his people.
There is truly a principle of quietness in the permitting, as in the commanding will of God. See it in David, 2 Sam. xvi.
10. " Let him alone, it maybe Godhathbiddenhim :" And in Christ, Joha xix. 11. " Thou couldest have no power against " me, except it weregiventhee from above;" it should much calm our spirits that it is the will of God to suffer it; and had he not suffered it, itcouldnever have been as it is.
This very consideration quieted Job, Eli, David, and Hezekiah; that the Lord did it, was enough to them, and why should it not be so to us ? If the Lord will have Zion plowed as a field, and her goodly stones lie in the dust; if it be his pleasure that Antichrist shall rage yet longer, and wear out the faints of the Most High ; if it be his will that adayoftrouble, and of treading down, and of perplexity by the Lord God of hosts shall be upon the valley of vision, that the wicked shall devour the man that is more righteous than he, what are we that we should contest with God ? Fit it is that we should be refignedupto thatwillwhencewe proceeded, and that he that made us should dispose of us as he pleaseth : he may do what feemeth him good without our consent: doth poor man stand upon equal ground, that he should capitulate with his Creator, or that God should renderhiman accountofanyof his matters ?
It iseveryway as reasonablewebecontent,however God dispose of us, as that we be obedient to whatever he commands us.
But then, if we pursue this argument further by considering that God's permissions do all meet at last in the real good of his people, this will much more quiet our spirits. Do the enemies carryawaythegood figs, even the best among the people, into captivity ? This looks like a sad providence, but yet God sends them thither for their good, Jer. xxiv. 5. Doth God take the Assyrian as a staff in his hand, to beat his people with ? Those blows are smart, and make them cry ; but the end of his fo doing is, "That he may accomplish his whole work upon E2
36 HowtofupporttheHeartunder Zion's Troubles. " mount Zion," Ifa. x. 12. IfGodcan bring much good ou of the worst, and greatest evil of fin, much more out of temporal afflictions ; and it is as evident that he will, as that he can do fo. For it is inconsistent with the wisdom of a common agent topermitany thing, which he might prevent if he pleased, to cross his great design and end ; and can it be imagined that the most wife God should do so ?
Well then, as Luther told Melandthon, Definat Philippus efferectormundi;so say I to you ; Let infinite wisdom, power, and love, alone ; forby these all creatures are swayed, and actions guided, in reference to the church: it is none of our work to rule the world, but to submit to him that doth; Non caeco impetuvolvuntur rotar, the motions of providence are all judicious, the wheels are full of eyes; it is enough that the affairs of Zion are in a good hand.
Direction 2. Ponder this heart-supporting truth, in reference to Zion's trouble: That how many troubles soever are upon her, yet her King is in her. What ! hath the Lord forsaken his churches ? Hath he fold them into the enemy's hand ? doth he not regard what evil befals them? that our hearts fink at this rate ? Is it not too snameful an undervaluing of the great God, and too much magnifying of poor, impotent men, to fear and tremble at creatures, whilst God is in the midst of us ? The church's enemies are many and mighty; let that be granted, yet that argument with which Caleb and Joshua strove to raise their own hearts, is of as much force now, as it was then : " The Lord is with us, " fear them not," Num.xiv. 9. The historian tells us that when Antigonus over heard his soldiers reckoning how many their enemies were, and so discouraging one another ; he suddenly steps in among them with this question, 'And how many • (laid he) do you reckon me for ?" Discouraged fouls, how manydoyou reckon the Lord for ? Is he not an over-match for all his enemies ? Is not one Almighty more than many mighties? Doth his presence stand for nothing with us ? " If God " be for us, who can be against us ?" Rom.viii. 31. Wha think you, was the reason of that great exploration Gideon made in Judges vi.? He questions, ver. 12, 13. he desires a sign, ver 17. and after that another, ver. 36. and what was the end of all this, but that he might be sure the Lord was with him, and that he might but write this mottoupon his ensign ? " The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon." So then, if you can be well assured the Lord is with his people, you will get thereby above all your difcouragements and that he is fo,
How to support the HeartunderZion's Troubles. 37 you need not, with him, desire a sign from heaven; lo, you have a sign before you, even their marvellous preservation a midst all their enemies. IfGodbenotwith his people, how is it they are not swallowed up quick? Do their enemies want malice, power, or opportunity ? No, but there is an invisible handuponthem. Well then, as it is, Exod. xxxiii. 14. let his prefencegive us rest; and though the mountains be hurled into the sea, though heaven and earth mingle together, fear not, God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved.
Direction 3. Ponder the great advantages attending the people of God in an afflicted condition. If a low and an afflicted state in the world be really best for the church, then yourdejections are not only irrational, but ungrateful ; indeed, if you estimate the happiness of the church by its worldly ease, splendor, and prosperity, then such times will feembad for it; but if you reckon its glory to consist in its humility, faith, patience, and heavenly-mindedness, no condition in the world abounds with advantages for these, as an afflictedconditiondoth.
It was notpersecutions and prisons, bue worldlinefs and wan tonness, that was the poifonof the church: neither was it the earthly glory of its professors, but the blood of its martyrs, that was the feed of the church. The power of godliness did never thrive better than in affliction, and never ran lower than in times of greatest prosperity : when " we are leftapoorand " an afflicted people, then we learn to trust in the name of the " Lord," Zeph. iii. 12. What fayye, firs ? Is it indeed for the saints advantage to be weaned from the love of, and delight in, ensnaringworldly vanities ? To be quickened, and prick ed forward with more haste to heaven, to have clearer diícove ries of their own hearts, to be taught to pray more fervently, frequently, spiritually; to look and long for the rest to come, more ardently ? If these be for their advantage, experience teaches us, that no condition is ordinarily blessed with such fruits as these, like an afflicted condition.
And isitwelldone, then, to repine and droop,because your fatherconfults more the advantage of your souls, than the plea sing of your humours ? Because he will bring you a nearer way to heaven than you are willing togo? Is this a due requital of his love, who is pleased so muchtoconcernhimself in your welfare which is morethanhe will do for thousands in the world, upon whom he will not lay a rod, or spend an affliction for their good, Hos. iv. 17. Matth. xv. 14. But alas ! we judge by sense, and reckon things good or evil, according to what we, for the present, cantasteand feel in them,
38 Howtofupport the HeartunderZion'sTroubles. Direction 4. Take heed that you overlosk not themanyprecious mercies which the people of God enjoy amidst all their troubles.
It is a pity that our tears, upon the account of our troubles, should toblear and blind our eyes, that we should not fee our mercies and grounds of comfort. I will not insist upon the mercy of having your lives given you for a prey, nor yet upon the many outward comforts, temporal conveniencies and accommodations, which you enjoy even above what Christ and his precious servants, of whom the world was not worthy, ever had.
But what say you to pardon of fin? interest in Christ ? the covenant of promise ? and an eternity of happiness, in the prefenceof God after a few days are over ? O that ever a people entitled to such mercies as these, shoulddroop under any temporal affliction, or be so much concerned for the frowns of men, and loss of trifles ! you have not the smiles of great men, but you have the favour of the great God; you are, it maybe, cast back in your estates, but thereby furthered in
You cannot live so bravely, plentifully, and easily, as before; but still you may live as holy and heavenly as ever : will you then grieve so much for these circumstantials, as to forget your substantials ? Shall light troubles make you forget weighty mercies ? Remember the church's true riches are laid out of the reach of all its enemies: theymaymake you poor, but not miserable. What though God do not diftinguith, in his outwarddispensations,betwixt his own and others ? Yea, what though his judgments single out the best, and spare the worst ? What though an Abel be killed in love, and aCain survive in hatred ; a bloody Dionyfius die in his bed, and a good Jofiah fail in battle ? What though the belly of the wicked be filled with hidden treasures, and the teeth of the saints broken with gravel-stones; yet still here is much matter of praise; for electing love has distinguished, though common providence did not; and whilst prosperity and impunity lay the wicked, even slaying and adversity shall benefit and save the righteous.
Direction 5. Believe, that how low soever the church be plunged under the waters of adversity, it shall assuredly rife again. Fear not, for as sure as Christ arose the third day, notwithstanding the seal and watch that was upon him ; so sure the church shall arise out of all her troubles, and lift up its victorious head over all its enemies : there is no fear of ruining that people who thrive by their losses, and multiply by being,
HowtofupporttheHeartunder Zion'sTroubles. 39 diminished. Obe not too quick to bury the church before the is dead! stay till Christ hath tried his skill, before you give it up for loft . The bush may be all in a flame, but shall never beconsuned, and that because of the good will of him that dwelleth in it.
Direction 6. Record the famous instances of God's care and tenderness over bis people in former straits. Christ hath not suffered it to be devoured yet; for above these 1700 years the Christian church hath lived in affliction, and yet it is not consumed: manyawave of persecution hathgoneover it, and yet itisnotdrowned: many designs to ruin it, and hitherto none hath prospered; this is not the first time that Hamans and Achithophelshave plotted its ruin ; that an Herodhath stretched out his hand to vex it: still ithathbeen preserved from, supported under, or delivered out of all its troubles; and is it not as dear to God as ever ? Is he not as able to save it now, as formerly? Though we know notwhencedeliverance shouldarife, " Yet the Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations," 2 Pet. ii . 9. Direction 7. If you can fetch no comfort from any of the former arguments, then, in the last place, Try whether you cannot draw some comfort out of your very troubles. Surely this trouble of yours is a good argument of your integrity ; union is the ground of sympathy ; if you had not some rich adventure in that ship, you would not tremble as you do, when itisindanger : besides, this frame of spirit may afford you this argument, that if you are sensible of the church'stroubles, JefusChrift is much more sensible of, andsollicitous about it, than youcanbe; and he will have an eye of favour uponthemthat mourn for it, Isa. lvii. 18. 3 Season4. The fourth special seasonofexpressing our utmost 'diligence in keeping our hearts, is the time of danger, and public distraction ; in such times the best hearts are but too apt to be fur prized by slavish fear; it is not eafytosecure the * heart against distractions in times of common distraction. If • Syriabe confederate with Ephraim, how do the hearts of the *house of Davidshake, even as the trees of the wood, which are thaken with the wind ? Ifa. vii. 2. When there are ominous signs in the heaven; on the earth distress of nations, 'with perplexity; the sea and waves roaring, then the hearts ' of men fail for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth, Luke xxi . 25, 26. Even aPaul *himself may "sometimes complain offightings within, when *" there are fears without," 2 Cor. vii. 5.
48 How to keep the Heart from Fears.
But, my brethren, these things ought not to be so, faints should be of a more raised spirit : So was David, when his heart was kept in a good frame, Psal. xxvii. 1. " The Lord is " my light, and my salvation; whom shall I fear ? The Lord " is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid ?" Let none but the servants of finbe the slaves of fear, let them that have delighted in evil, fear evil; impius tantum metuit, quantum nocuit. O let not that which God hath threatened as a Judgmentuponthe wicked, ever seize upon the breasts of the righteous. I will fend (faith God) faintness into their hearts " in the land of their enemies, and the found of a shaking leaf " shallchacethem," Lev. xxvi. 36.Owhat poor-spirited men are these, to fly at a shaking leaf! which makes a pleasant, and not a terrible noise; and is in itself a kind of natural music : But to a guilty conscience the whisthng leaves are drums and trumpets. " But God hath notgivenusthe spirit of fear, bot " of love, and of a found mind," 2 Tim. i. 7. A found mind as it stands there in opposition to the spirit of fear, is anunwounded conscience, pot infirmed by guilt: And this should make a man as bold as a lion. I know it cannot be said of a faint, what God spake of Leviathan, that he is made without fear: There is a natural fear in everyman, and it as impossible to bewhollyput off, as the body itself is: It is a perturbation of the mind, arising from the apprehension of approaching danger; and as long as dangers can approach us, we shall find some perturbations within us. It is not my purpose to commend to you a stoical apathy, nor yet to take you off from such a degree of cautional preventive fear as may fit you for trouble, and be serviceable to your souls; there isa provident fear that opens our eyes to foresee danger, and quickens toa prudentandlawfuluse of means to prevent it: Such was Jacob's fear, Gen. xxxii. 7, 9, 10. &c. But it is the fear of diffidence Iperfuade you to keep your hearts from, that tyrannical passion which invades the heart in times of danger, distracts, weakens, and unfits the heart for duty ; drivesmenuponunlawful means, and brings a snare with it. Well, then, the fourth cafewill bè this : Case 4. How a Christian may keep his heart from distracting and tormenting fears, in times of great and threatening dangers. Now there are fourteen excellent rules, or helps, for the keepingtheheart from sinful fear, whenimminentdangers threaten us: And the first is this,
How to keep the Heart from Fears. 41 Rule 1. Look upon all the creatures as in the hand of God,who manages them in all their motions, limiting, restraining, and determining them all at his pleasure.
Get this truth well settled by faith in your hearts, it will marvelloufly guard them against slavish fears. The first chapter of Ezekiel contains an admirable scheme, or draught of providence; there you may fee the living creatures who move the wheels, viz. the great affairs and turnings of things here below, coming unto Christ, who fits upon the throne, to receive new orders and instructions from him, ver. 24, 25, 26. And in Rev. vi . you read of white, black, and red horses, which are nothing else but the instruments which God employs in executing his judgments in the world, as wars, pestilence, and death: But when these horses are prancing, and trampling up and down the world, here is that may quiet our hearts, that God hath the reins in his hand. Wicked men are sometimes Jike mad horles, they would stamp the people of God under their feet, but that the bridle of providence is in their lips, Job i. 11, 12. A lion at liberty is terrible to meet, but who is afraid of the lion in the keeper's hand ? Rule 2. Remember that this God, in whose hand all the creatures are, is your Father, and is much more tender over you, than you are, or can be, over yourselves : " He that " toucheth you, toucheth the apple of mine eye," Zech. ii. 8. Let me ask the most timorous woman, whether there be not a vast difference between the fight of a drawn sword in the hand of a bloody ruffian, and thesamesword in the hand of her own tender husband ? As great a difference there is in looking upon creatures by an eye of sense, and looking on them as in the hand of your God by an eye of faith ; that is a sweet scripture to this purpose, Ifa. liv. 5. " Thy Maker is thy Husband, the " Lord of Hosts is his name:" he is Lord of all the hosts of creatures in the world : Who would be afraid to pass through an army, though all the soldiers should turn their swords and guns towards him, if the general of that armywerehis friend, or father ? I have met with an excellent story of a religious youngman, who being at sea, with many other passengers, in a great storm, andtheybeinghalf dead with fear, he only was observed to be very cheerful, as if he had been but little concernedinthatdanger: One of them demanding the reason of his chearfulness, O, (said he) it is because the pilot of the • ship is my father.' Confider Christ, first as the King, and supreme Lord over the providential kingdom, and then as your VOL. VII. F
42 How to keep the Heart from Fears. Head, Husband, and Friend, and thou wilt quickly say, " Return unto thy rest, O my soul." This truth will make you cease trembling, and cause you to sing in the midst of dangers. Psalm xlvii. 7. The Lord is King of all the earth, sing ye 66 praise with understanding ;" (or, as the Hebrew word is,) " Everyone that hath understanding," viz. of this heart-reviving and establishing doctrine of the dominion of our Father over all the creatures.
Rule 3. Urge uponyourhearts the express prohibitions of Christ in this case : and let your hearts stand in awe of the violations of them. He hath charged you not to fear, Luke xxi. 9. "Whenye " shall hear of wars and commotions, see that ye be not terri-
" fied." And Phil. i. 28. " In nothingbeterrified by your ad- " versaries," Yea, in Matth. x. 26, 28, 31. and within the compass of fix verses, our Saviour commands us thrice, not to fearman. Doth every big word of proud dust and ashes make thee afraid ? Doth the voice of am an make thee tremble ? and shall not the voice of God ? If thou art of such a fearful and timorous spirit, how is it that thou fearest not to disobey the flat commands of Jesus Christ ? Methinks the command of Christ should have as much power to calm, as the voice of a poor worm to terrify thy heart. Ifa. li. 12, 13. " I, even I, am he " that comforteth you : Who art thou, that thou shouldestbe " afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man that
" shall be made as the grass,andforgettest the Lord thy Maker ? " We cannot fear creatures sinfully, till we have forgotten God ; did we remember what he is, and what he hath said, we should not be of such feeble spirits : Bring thy heart, then, to this dilemma in times of danger ; if I let into my heart the slavish fear of man, I must let out the reverentialawe and fear of God; and dare I cast off the fear of the Almighty for the frowns of a man ? Shall I lift up proud dust above the great God ? Shall I run upon a certain fin, to shunaprobable danger ? Okeep thy heart by this consideration !
Rule 4. Remember how much needless trouble your vain fears have brought upon you formerly, and how you have disquieted yourselves to no purpose.
Ifa. li. 13. "And haft feared continually because of the op- " preffor, as if he were ready to devour ; and where is the fu- " ry of the oppressor ?" He seemedreadytodevour, but yet you are not devoured : I have not brought upon you the thing that ye feared ; you have wasted your spirits, disordered your souls, and weakened your hands, and all this to no purpose :
Howtokeep the Heart from Fears. 43
Youmighthaveallthis while enjoyedyourpeace, and possessed your souls in patience. And here I cannot but observe a very deep policy of Satan, managing a design against the soul by these vain fears : I call them vain, in regard of the frustration of them by Providence ; but certainly they are not in vain, as to the end Satan aims at in raising them ; for herein he acts as soldiers use to do in the siege of agarrifon, who on purpose to wear out the besieged by constant watchings, and thereby unfit them to make resistance when they storin it in car nest, do every night give them false alarms, which though they come to nothing, yet doth notably serve this furtherde-
O when will you beware of Satan's devices ?
Rule 5. Confider solemnly, That though the things you fear Shouldreallyfall out, yet there is more evil in yourownfear, than in the thing feared.
And that not only as the least evil of sin is worse than the greatest evil of suffering; but as this sinful fear hath really more torment and trouble in it, than is in that condition you are so much afraid of; fear is both a multiplying, and a tormenting passion; it represents troubles much greater than they are, and so tortures and wrecks the soul much worse than when the suffering itself comes. So it was with Israel at the Red-
they cried out, and were fore afraid, till they put foot into the water, and then a passage was opened through those waters, which they thought wouldhavedrowned them. Thus it is with us; we looking through the glass of carnal fear, upon the waters of trouble, the swellings of Jordan, cry out, O they are unfordable ! we must needs perish in them : But when we come into the midst of those floods, indeed, we find the promisemadegood; "God will make awaytoescape," 1 Cor. x. 13. Thus it was with blessed Biiney,when he would make atrial, by putting his finger to the candle, and not able to endure that, he cried out, •What, cannot I bear the burning of
6 a finger ? how then shall I be able to bear the burning of my • whole body to-morrow ?" And yet when that morrow came, he could go chearfully into the flames, with that scripture in his mouth, Ifa. xliii. 1, 2, 3. " Fear not, for I have redeem-
" ed thee : I have called thee by thy name, thou art mine; " when thou passest through the waters, I will be with
" thee ; when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not " be burnt."
Rule 6. Consult the many precious promises which are written for your support and comfort in all dangers. F2
44 How to keep the Heart from Fears. These are your refuges, to which you may Ayandbe safe; " When the arrows of danger flyby night, and destruction " wasteth at noon-day." There are particular promises suited to particular cases and exigencies; and there are general promises, reaching all cases and conditions: Such are these, Rom. viii. 28. " All things shall work together for good," &c. And Ecclef. viii. 12. "Though a finnerdo evil an hundred times, and his
" days be prolonged, yet it shall be well with them that fear " the Lord," &c. " Could you but believe the promises, " your hearts should be established," 2 Chron. xx. 29. Could you but plead them with God, as Jacobdid. Gen. xxxii. 12. " Thou faidst, I will surely do thee good," &c. they would relieve you in every distress.
Objection. But that promise was madeperfonally, and by name to him, fo are not these tome.
Answer. If Jacob'sGodbe your God, you have as good an interest in them as he had. The church, a thousand years after that transaction betwixt God and Jacob, applied that which God spake to him, as if it had been spoken to them-
Hos. xii. 4. " He found him in Bethel, and there he " spake with us."
Rule 7. Quiet your trembling hearts by recording and consulting your past experiences of the care and faithfulness of God in former distresses.
experiences are food for your faith inawildernesscondition, Psal. lxxiv. 14. By this David kept his heart in time of danger, 1 Sam. xvii. 37. and Paul his, 2 Cor. i. 10. was sweetly answered by Silentiarius, whenone told him that his enemies way-laid him to take away his life, Si Deusmei curam non habet, quid vivo ? IfGodtake no care of me, how have I escaped hitherto ? You may plead with God old expe.
riences to procure new ones; for it is in pleading with God for new deliverances, as it is in pleading for new pardons. Now mark how Moses pleads on that account with God, Num. xiv.
19. " Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people, as " thou hast forgiven them from Egypt until now." He doth not say as men do, Lord, this is the first fault, thou hast not been troubled before to sign their pardon : But, Lord, because thou hast pardoned them so often, I beseech thee pardon them once again. So in new straits, Lord, thou hast often heard, helped, and saved in former fears ; therefore now help again, for with thee there is plenteous redemption, and thine arm is not shortened.
How to keep the Heart from Fears. 45 Rule 8. Bewellfatisfiedthat you are in the way of your duty , and that will be get holy courage in times of danger.
66 " Who will harm you, it you be followers of that which is "good ?" 1 Pet. iii . 13. Or, if any dare attempt it, you " may boldly commit yourselves to God in well-doing," I Pet. iv. 19. It was this consideration that raised Luther's spirit above all fear : • In the cause of God (said he) I ever am, and ever shall be stout;' herein I assume this title, Gedo nulli, a good cause will bear up a man's spirit bravely. Hear the saying of a heathen, to the shame of cowardly Christians : When the emperor Vespasianhadcommanded Fluid i us Priscas 'not to come to the senate; or if he did, to speak nothing but ' what he would have him ; the senatorreturnedthis noble an- ' swer, That as he was a senator, it was fit he should be at ' the senate ; and if being there he were required to give his 'advice, he would speak freely that which his conscience com-
' mandedhim ; the emperor threatening, that then he should ' die; he answered, Did I ever tell you that I was immortal ? 'Do you what you will, and I will do what I ought ; it is in ' your power to put me to death unjustly, and in me to die ' constantly.'
is a breast plate, the cause of God will pay all your expences ; let them tremblewhomdanger findsoutofthe wayofduty.
Rule 9. Get your consciences sprinkled with the blood of Christ from all guilt, and that willfet your hearts aboveallfear.
It is guilt upon the conscience that softens and cowardizes our spirits : "The righteous are bold as a lion," Prov. xxviii.
I. It was guilt in Cain's conscience that made him cry, "Everyone that meets me shall lay me," Gen. iv. 14. A guilty conscience is more terrified with conceited dangers, than a pure conscience is with real ones. A guilty sinner carries a witness against himself in his ownbofom. It was guilty Herod cried out, " John Baptist is risen from the dead." Such a conscience is the devil's anvil, on which he fabricates all those
and spears, with which the guilty sinner pierces and wounds himself; guilt is to danger, what fire is to gun-powder ; am an need not fear to walk among many barrels of powder, if he have no fire about him .
Rule 10. Exercise holytruft in times of great distress. Make it your business to trust God with your lives and comforts, and then your hearts will be at rest about them. So did
* Char. of Wisdom, p. 358.
46 Howtokeep the Heart from Fears. David, Psal.lvii. 3. " At what time I am afraid, I will trust in
" thee;" q d. Lord, if at any time a storm rise, I will make bold to shelter me from it under the covert of thy wings . Go to God by acts of faith and trust, and never doubt but he will
you. Ifa. lxii. 3. " Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in " thee." God takes it well when thou comest to him thus ; Father, my life, my liberty, or estate, are hunted after, and I cannot secure them ; O let me leave them in thy hand : "The poorleavethhimself with thee;" and doth his God fail him ? No, " thou art the helper of the fatherless," Plal. x. 14. that is, thou art the helper of the destitute one, that hath none to gotobut God. And that is a sweet scripture, Psal. cxii. 7. "He shall not be afraid of evil tidings, his heart is fixed, " trusting in the Lord;" he doth not say, his ear shall be privileged from the report of evil tidings he may hear as fad tidings as other men, but his heart shall be privileged from the terror of those tidings, " his heart is fixed."
Rule 11. Consult thehonour of religion more, and your perfonalfafetyless.
Is it for the honour of religion, think you, that Christians should be as timorous as hares, to start at every found ? Will not this tempt the world to think, that whatever you talk, yet your principles are no better than other mens ? Owhat mischief may the discoveries of your fears before them do! It was a noble saying of Nehemiah, chap. vi. 11. "Should such am an " as I flee? And who, being as I am, would fee ?" Were it not better you should die, than that the world should be prejudiced against Christ by your example ? For, alas! how apt is the world, who judge more by what they fee in your practices, than by what they understand of your principles, to conclude from your timorousness, that how much soever you commend faith, and talk of assurance, yet you dare trust to these things no more than they, when it comes to the trial. O let not your fears lay such a stumbling-block before the blind world.
Rule 12. He that will secure his heart from fear, must first fecurethe eternal interest of his foul in the hands of Jesus Christ.
When this is done, then you may say, Now world, do thy qworst. You will not be very follicitous about a vile body, when you are once assured it shall be well to all eternity with your precious souls. " Fear not them (faith Christ) that can " kill the body, and after that, have no more that theycando."
The assured Christian may smile with contempt upon all his
How to keep the Heart from Fears. 47 enemies, and say, Is this the worst that you can do? What say you, Christians ? Are you assured that your souls are safe, that within a few moments of your dissolution they shall be received by Christ into an everlasting habitation ? Well, if you be sure of that, never trouble yourselves about the instrumeats and means of yourdiffolution.
Objection . O, but a violent death is terrible to nature! Answer. But what matter is it, when thy soul is in heaven, whether it were let out at thy mouth, or at thy throat ? Whether thy familiar friends, or barbarous enemies, standaboutthy deadbody, and close thine eyes ? Alas ! it is not worth the making so much ado about ; Nihil corpus fentit in nervo cum animafit in coelo, thy soul shall not be sensible in heaven how thybody is used on earth; no, it shall be swallowed up in life.
Rule 13. Learn to quench allflavish creature-fears, in the reverentialfear of God.
This is a cure by diversion : It is a rare piece of Christian wisdom to turn those passions of the soul which most predominate into spiritual channels ; to turn natural anger into spiritual zeal, natural mirth into holy cheerfulness, and natural fear into an holy dread and awe of God. This method of cure Christ prescribes in that forementioned place, Matth. x. like to which is that in Isa. viii. 12, 13. fear not their fear ; but how shall we help it ? Why, " sanctify the Lord of Hosts himself, and let " him be your fear, and yourdread." Natural fear maybeallayed for the present by natural reason, or the removal of the occasion, but then it is but like a candle blown out with a puff of breath, which is easily blown in again ; but if the fear of God extinguish it, then it is like a candle quenched in water, which cannot easily be rekindled.
Rule 14. Lastly, Pour out those fears to God in prayer, which the devil and your own unbelief pour in upon you in times of danger.
Prayer is the best out-let to fear; where is the Christian that cannotfet hisprobatum eft to this direction ? Iwillgiveyou the greatest example in the world toencourageyou in the use of it, even the example of Jesus Christ, Markxiv. 32. When the hourofhisdanger anddeathdrewnigh, he gets into the garden, separates from the disciples, and there wrestles mightily with God in prayer, even unto an agony: in reference to which the apottle faith, Heb. v. 7. Who in in the days of his flesh, when "he had offered up prayers and supplications, with strong cries "and tears, to him that was able to save him from death, and **was heard in that he feared." He was heard as to strength
48 HowtokeeptheHeartfromFears. and support to carry him through it, though not as to deliver ance, or exemption from it.
Now, O that these things might abide with you, and be reduced to practice in these evil days, that many trembling fouls may be established by them.
Season 5. The fifth season to excite this diligence inkeepingtheheart, is a time of straits and outward pinching wants; although at such times we should complain to God, and not ' of God, (the throne ofgracebeing erected for atimeofneed,
Heb. iv. 16.) yet when the waters of relief run low, and want •begins to pinch hard,howprone are the best hearts to distrust the fountain! when the meal in the barrel, and the oil in the * cruise are almost spent, our faith and patience are almost spent * too. Now it is difficult tokeepdown the proud and unbeliev ingheart in an holy quietude and sweet submission at the foot • of God. It is an eaty thing to talk of trusting God for daily bread, while we have a full barn or purse; but to say, as the prophet, Hab. iii. 17. " Though the fig tree should not blof- " som, neither fruit be in the vine, &c. yet will I rejoice in *" the Lord:" surely this is not easy.' The fifth case there fore shall be this :
Case 5. How a Christian may keep his heart from distrusting God, or repining against him, when outward wants are either feltorfeared.
This case deserves to be seriously pondered, and especially to be studied now, since it seems to be the design of providence to empty the people of God of their creature-fulness, and acquaint themwiththose straits which hitherto they have been altogether trangers to. Now, to secure the heart from the afore-mentioned dangers attending this condition, these following considerations, through the blessings of the Spirit, may prove effectual. And the first is this :
Consideration 1. That if God reduce you to traits andneceffities, yethedeals no otherwise therein with you, thanhebathdone with some of the choicest and holiest men that ever lived.
Your condition is not singular; though you have hitherto been strangers to wants, other saints have daily conversed, and been familiarly acquainted with them. Hear what blessed Paul speaks, not of himself only, but in the name of other saints reduced to like exigencies, 1Cor. iv. 11. " Even to this present " hour we both hunger and thirst, and are naked and buffeted, " and have no certain dwelling-place." To see such a man as Paulgoingup and down the world with a naked back, and
How to keep the Heart from repining, &c. 49 empty belly, and not a house to put his head in, one that was fo far above thee in grace and holiness, one that did more service for God in a day, than perhaps thou haft done in all thy days, and yet you repine as if hardly dealt with ! Have you forgot what necessities and straits even aDavid hath suffered? How great were his straits and necessities ? I Sam. xxv. 8. "Give, I pray thee (faith he to Nabal) whatsoever cometh to
" thy hand, to thy servants, and to thy son David." RenownedMusculus was forced to dig in the town-ditch for a maintenance. FamousAintworth (as I have been credibly informed) was forced to fell the bed he lay on to buy bread. But what speak I of, these ? Behold a greater thananyof them, even the SonofGod, "who is the heir of all things, and by whom the
"worlds were made;" yet sometimes would have been glad of any thing, having nothing to eat, Mark xi. 12, 13."And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry; and seeing a fig tree afar off, having leaves, he came, "ifhaply he might find [any thing) thereon."
Well then, hereby God hath set no mark of hatred upon you, neither can you infer the want of love from the want of bread. When thy repiningheart puts the question, Was there everanyforrow like unto mine? Ask these worthies, and they will tell thee, though they did not complain and fret as thou dost, yet they were driven to as great straits as thou art.
Confid. 2. If God leave you not in this necessitous condition without a promise, you have no reason to repineordefpondunder it.
Thatisafadcondition indeed, to which no promise belongs. I remember Mr Calvin, upon these words, Ifa. ix. 1. " Never the- " less thedimness thall not be such as was in her vexation," . folvesthedoubt, in what sense the darkness of the captivity was not so great, as the lesser incursions made by Tiglath Pelefer. In the captivity the city was destroyed, and the temple burnt with fire, there was no comparison in the affliction; but yet the darkness should not be such, and the reason (faith he) is this, Huic certam promiffionem esse add it am, cum in prioribus nulle effet; (i. e.) therewasacertain promise made to this, but none to the other.
It is better be as low as hell withapromife, than in paradise without one. Even the darkness of hell itself would be comparatively no darkness at all, were there but a promise to enlighten it. Now God hath left many fsweet promises for the faith of his poor people to feed on in this condition : such are these
50 How to keep the Heart from repining, &c.
Psal.xxxiv. y, ro. " O fear the Lord, ye his saints, for there " is no want to them that fear him ; the lions do lack and sos- " fer hunger, but they that fear the Lord shall want nothing " that is good." Psal. xxxiii. 18, 19. " The eye of the Lord " is upon the righteous, to keep them alive in famine." Psal. Ixxxiv. 11. "No good thing will he with-hold from them that
" walkuprightly." Rom. viii. 32. "He that spared not his own 166
Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with " him also freely give us all things ?" Ha. xli . 17. "When the poor and the 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." Here you fee, first, their extreme wants, water being put even for the necessaries of life. ( 2. ) Their certain relief, I the Lord will hear them ; in which it is supposed that they cry unto him in their straits; and he hears their cry,
Having therefore these promises, why should not your distrustful hearts conclude like David's, Psal. xxiii. 1. "The Lord
" is my Shepherd, I shall not want."
Objection. But these promises imply conditions ; if they were absolute, they would afford more satisfaction.
Solution. What are those tacit conditions you speak of, but these: ( 1.) That either he will supply or sanctify your wants : (2.) That you shall have so much as God fees fit for you. And doth this trouble you ? Would you have the mercy whether sanctified or no ? Whether God fees it fit for you or no ? Methinks the appetites of saints after earthly things mould not be
to seize greedilyuponanyenjoyment, not caring how they have it.
But oh, whenwantspinch, and we fee not whence supplies fhouldcome, then our faith in the promise shakes, and we, like murmuring Israel, cry, " He gave bread, can he give water al- " fo?" O unbelieving hearts ! When did his promise fail ? Who ever trusted them, and was ashamed ? May not God upbraid thee with thine unreasonable infidelity ; as Jer. ii. 31 . "Have I been a wilderness unto you ?" &c. Or as Christ said to the disciples, " Since I was with you, lacked ye any thing ?" Yea, may you not upbraid yourselves, may you not say with good old Polycarp, These many years I have served Christ, and toundhim a good master. Indeed he may deny what your wantonness, but not what your real wants call for. He will not regard the cry ofyourlufts, nor yet despise the cry of your faith; though he will not indulge andhumour your wanton appetites, yethewillnot violate his own faithful promises. These promises
How to keep the Heart from repining, &c. 51 are your best security for eternal life ; and it is strange if they should not fatisfyyoufor daily bread : remember ye the words of the Lord, and solace your hearts with them amidst all your wants. It is said of Epicurus, that in the dreadful fits of the cholic, he often refreshed himself, Ob memoriam inventorum, bycallingtomind his inventions in philosophy : and of Poffidonius the philosopher, that in a great fit of the sione he solacedhimself with difcourses of moral virtue : and when the pain twinged him, he would say, Nihil agis, dolor; quamvisfismoleftus, nunquamconfitebor te effemalum : O pain, thoudostnothing ; though thou art a little troublesome, I will never confess theetobeevil. If upon such grounds as these they could support themselves under such grinding and racking pains, and even delude their diseases by them, how much rather should the precious promises of God, and the sweet experiences which have gone along step by step with them, make you to forget all your wants, and comfort you in every strait. Confid. 3. If it be bad now, it might have been worse ; hath God denied theethecomforts of this life? He might have denied thee Christ, peace, andpardonalfo, and then thy case had been woful indeed. You know God hath done to to millions in the world : how many such wretched objects may your eyes behold every day, that have no comfort in hand, nor yet in hope, are miserable here, and will be so to eternity; that have a bitter cup, and nothing to sweeten it; no, not so much as any hope that it will be better. But it is not so with you, though you be poor in this world, " yet rich in faith, and heirs of the king. " domwhich God hath promised," Jam. ii. 5. O learn to set spiritual riches over against temporal poverty. Balance all your present troubles with your spiritual privileges. Indeed if God had denied your souls the robes of righteousness tocloath them, the hidden manna to feed them, the heavenly mansions to receive them ; if your souls were left destitute as well as your bodies, you might well be pensive; but this consideration hath enough to bring the considering soul to rest under any outward strait. It was bravely said by Luther, when want began to pinch him, Let us be contented with our hard fare (said he), fordonotwe feast with angels upon Christ, the bread of life?"
God(faith Paul) who hath abounded to us in " all spiritual blessings," Eph. i. 3 .
Confid. 4. This affliction, though great, is not such an efflic-. tion, but God hath far greater, with which he chastises the dearly beloved of his foul in this world; and should he remove this, G2
52 How to keep the Heart from repining, &e, and inflict those, you would account your present state avery comfortable state, andblessGod to be as now you are.
What think ye, firs ? Should God remove your present troubles, supply all your outward wants, give you the desire of your hearts in creature-comforts, but hide his face from you,
his arrows into your souls, and cause the venom of them to drink up your spirits ? Should he leave you but afewdays to the buffeting of Satan, and his blasphemous injection; shouldhehold your eyes but a few nights walking with horrors of conscience, tossing to and fro till the dawning of the day:
lead you through the chambers of death, thew you the visions of darkness ; and make his terrors set themselves in array against you: Then tell me if you would not count ita choice mercytobeback again in your former necessitous condi tion, with peace of conscience; and count bread and water, with God's favour, a happy state ? O then, take heed of repining. SaynotGoddeals hardly with you, lest you provoke him to convince you, by your own sense and feeling, that he hath worse rods than these for unsubmissiveand froward children.
Consid. 5. If it be bad now, it will be better shortly.
Okeep thy heart by that consideration : the meal in the bar rel is almost spent; well, be it so, why should that trouble me, if I am almost beyond the need and use of all these things. The traveller hath spent almost all his money, butathilling of two left : well, faith he, though my money be almost spent, yet my journey is almost finished too ; I am near home, and then I shall be fully supplied. If there be no candles in the house, yet it is a comfort to think that it is almost day, and then there will be no need of candles. I am afraid, Christian, thou misreckonest thyself, when thou thinkest thy provision is almost spent, and you have agreatway to travel ; many years to live, and nothing to live upon ; it maybe not half so many as thou suppoteft; in this be confident, if thy provision be spent, either fresh supplies are coming, though thon seest not from whence, or thou art nearer thy journey's end than thou reckonest thyself to be. Desponding soul, doth it become am an or woman travelling upon the road to that heavenly city, and almost arrived there, within afewdays journey of his Father's house, where all his wants shall be supplied, to take on thus about a little meat, drink, or cloaths, which he fears he hall want by the way? It was a noble saying of the forty Manters, famous in the Ecclesiastical tory,when turned out naked in, a frosty night to be starvedtodeath, with these words they comforted one another, δριμμυς ο χειμων, &c. The winter indeed is sharp and
How to keep the Heartfromrepining, &c. 53 cold, but heaven is warm and comfortable ; here we shiver for cold, but Abraham's bosom will make amends for all.
Objection 1. But I may die for want. Solution. ( 1.) Whoever did so ? When were the righteous forsaken? (2.) If so, yourjourneyisended,and you fully supplied.
Object . 2. But I am not sure of that; were Ifure of heaven, it were another matter.
Sal. Are you not sure of that? Then you have other matters to trouble yourselves about than these: methinks these should be the least of all your cares : I do not find that souls perplexed and troubled about the want of Christ, pardon of fin, &c. are usually very anxious, or follicitous about these things. He that seriously puts such questions as these, What
I do to be saved ? How shall I know my fin is pardoned ? doth notusuallytrouble himself with, " What shall I eat, what " shall I drink, or wherewith shall I be cloathed ?"
Confid. 6. Doth it become the children of such a Father todiftruft his all-fufficiency, orrepine at any ofbis difpenfations?
Do you well to question his care and love upon every new exigence ? Say, have you not beenashamedof this formerly ? Hath not your Father's seasonable provisions for you in former
put you to the blush, and made you resolve never ta question his love and care any more? and yet will you renew your unworthy suspicions of him again? Disingenuous child! reason thus with thyself; If I perish for want of what is good andneedful for me, it must either be because my Father knows not my wants, or hath not wherewith to supply them: or clse regards not what becomes of me. Which of these shall I charge upon him? Not the first; for, Mark vi. 32. My Father " knows what I have need of;" my condition is not hid from him: nor the second, " For the earth is the Lord's, and the " fulness of it, Psal. xxiv. 1. His name is God all-sufficient, Gen. xvii 1. Not the last, for, asa father pitieth his chil- " drea, so the Lord pities them that fear him," Psal: ciii. 13. " The Lord is exceeding pitiful, and of tender mercy," Jam.v. II. " He hears the young ravenswhenthey cry," Job xxxviii. 41. and will he not hear me ? " Confider (faith Christ) the " fowls of the air," Matth . vi. 26. Not the fowls at the door, that are everyday fed by hand, but the fowls of the air, that have none to provide for them. Doth he feed and cloath his enemies, and will he forget his children? He heard the very cry of Whmael in distress, Gen. xxi. 17. O my unbelieving heart ! dost thou yet doubt ? RememberHagar and the child.
Confid. 7. Your poverty is notyourfin, but your affliction on-
54 How to keep the Heart from repining, &c. ly! if by sinful means you have not brought it uponyourselves? and if it be but an affliction, it may be borne the easier for that.
It is hard indeed to bear an affliction coming upon us as the fruit and punishment of fin; when men are under trouble upon that account, they use to say, O ! if it were but a single afflictioncomingfrom the hand of God by way of trial, I could bear it, but I have brought it upon myself by fin, it comes as the pu nishment of fin; the marks of God's displeasure are upon it; it is the guilt within that troubles and galls more, than the want without.
But it is not so here, and therefore you have no reason to be cast down under it.
Objection. But though there be no fling of guilt, yet this condition wants not other stings : As first, the discredit of religion ;
I cannot comply with mine engagements in the world, and thereby religion is hke to suffer.
Solution. It is well you have an heart to discharge every duty, yet if God disable you by providence, it is no discredit to your profession, because you do not that which you cannot do, so long as it is your desire and endeavour to do what you can and ought to do ; and in this case God's will is, that lenity and forbearance be exercised towards you, Deut. xxiv. 12, 13 .
Object. 2. But it grieves me to behold the necessities of others whom I was wont to relieve and refresh, but now cannot.
Sol. If you cannot, it ceases to be your duty, and God accepts the drawing out of your soul to the hungry in compassion and desire to help them, though you cannot draw forth a full purse to relieve and supply them .
Object. 3. But Ifindfuch a condition full of temptations, a foreclog in the way to heaven.
Sol. Every condition in the world hath itsclogs and attending temptations ; and were you in a prosperous condition, you might there meet with more temptations and fewer,advantages than now you have: For though I confess poverty hath its temptations as well as prosperity, yetI am confident prosperity hath not those excellent advantages that poverty hath: For here you have an opportunity to discover the sincerity of your love to God, when you can live upon him, and find enough in him, and constantly follow hin, even when all external inducements and motives fail. And thus I have shewed you how to keep your hearts from the temptations and dangers attending a poor and low condition in the world, when want pinches, and the heart begins to fink, then improve andblessGod for these helps to keep it.
How to keep the Heart from wandering in Duty 55 Season 6. The sixth season of expressing this diligence in keeping the hourt, is the season of duty ; when we draw nigh : to God in public, private, or secret duties, then it is time to look to the heart ; for the vanityoftheheartseldomdiscovers •itself more than at such times. How oftdoth the poor soul ary out, O Lord! how fain would I serve thee, but vain ⚫thoughts will not let me; I came toopenmyheart to thee, to 'delight my foul in communion with thee, but my corruptions
6 have set upon me: Lord, call off these vain thoughts, and • suffer them not to prostitute the foul which isespouledtothee, ' before thy face.' The sixth case then is this, Case6. How the heart maybe kept from distractions by vain thoughts, in the time of duty.
There isa twofolddistraction or wandering of the heart in duty : (r.) Voluntary and habitual, Pfilm lxxviii. 8. " They " set not their hearts aright, and their spirit was not stedfait
" with God." Tais is the case of formalifts, and it proceeds from the want of an holy bent and inclination of the heart to God; their hearts are under the power of their lust, and therefore it is no wonder they go after their lust, even when they are about holy things, Ezek. xxxiii. 31. (2.) Involuntary and la mented distractions, Rom. vii. 21-24 . " I find then a law, " that when I woulddogood, evil is present with me ;Owretch- " ed man that I am," &c. This proceeds not from the wans of aholybent and aim, but from the weakness and imperfection of grace. And in this case the soul may make the like com-, plaintagainst its own corruptions that Abijah did against Jeroboam, 2 Chron. xiii. 6, 7. " Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat " is risen up against his lord, when Rehoboam was young and " tender-hearted, and could not withstand him, and there are " gathered unto him vain men, the children of Belial." Grace hath dominion, but lusts are mutinous and seditious, during the infancy thereof. But it is not my business to thew you how these distractions come into the heart, but rather how to getandkeep them out of the heart : in order whereunto take thesetenfollowinghelps.
Help 1. Sequester yourselves from all earthly employments, and set apart some time for solemn preparation to meet God in duty: You cannot come reeking hot out of the world into God's