Part 8
it not: It isone of the great feverities in religion : It is no easy thingtobring am an and his own heart together. Itisinthis case, as inthestudyof geography ; we are more inquisitive to know, anddelightedwhenwe discover, the rarities of foreign countries, and strange things in the remote parts of the world, than those of our own native country. I fear there bemanyprofeffors of religion that can spenddayafter day in hearing, and love to be disputing fruitless controverfies, that never spentoneday in searching what influence all those sermons they have heard have had upon their hearts, orinrightlyftating anddeterminingthatgreat controversy, in whose right and possession their foulsare, andwhichwaythey
goas soon as death hathdividedthem from those mortal bodies ; yea, I doubt, many sinful hours are spent in prying into, reporting andcensuring the failings of others, and not one hour faithfully employedinjudging their own hearts before the Lord: Oh ! men had rather be about anyotherwork than this , there is no pleasure in it to the flesh.
And yet how difficult soever it be to bring our hearts to the work, it is certainly much moredifficultto manage it successfully, and bring the great question of our sincerity to a clear result and issue. O how many upright hearts have fat close tothisworkmanyayear, and lifted up many a cry to heaven, andshedmanyfecret undissembledtears about it; and yet sti'l are in the dark, and their minds greatly perplexed, and filled with fear about it! What would they not do ? What would ‡ See before, my Saint Indeed, .
208 Aferious Exhortation to Self-examination. they not suffer?What pleasant enjoymentwouldtheynotgladly part with, to arrive at the desire of their souls, thefullafsurance of their sincerity? It was the saying ofa pious woman, I have born faidshe, seven children,and they have cost me as dear as ever children cost a mother, yet I would be content to endure all that sorrow over again, to be assured of the love of God to my foul.
Motive 2. Secondly, And as the work is fullofdifficulty, fo the discovery of your sincerity will be full of sweetness and joy unspeakable: Itwillneverrepentyou, that you have prayedandmourned, that you have trembled and feared, that you have searched and tried :1: Nay, it will never repent you, that God hath tried you by thousands of sharp afflictions and deep
if, after all, your finceritymaybe fully cleared up to the satisfaction of your souls ; for in the same day your sincerity shall be cleared, your title to Christ will be made as clear to your souls as your sincerity is; you may then go to the promises boldly, and take your own Christ into the arms of your faith, and say, " My Beloved is mine, and I am his!" Yea, you may be confident, it shall be well with you in the judgment of thegreatday, for"God will not cast away the "uprightman," Job viii. 20. If the word clear you now, it cannot condemn youthen. Owhat an ease is it to the soul, when the fears and doubts that hang about it are gone !When a man sees what he is, and whathehath in Christ and the promises, and what he hath to do; even to spend the time betwixt this and heaven, in admiring the grace of God that hath delivered him from the ruining mistakes and miscarriages by which so great a part of theprofeffing world to all eternity.
Motive 3. Thirdly, The deep concernment of your souls in themattertobe tried, should awaken you to the utmost diligence about it. The trials of men for their life, at human bars, is but a trifle to this : It is your eternal happiness that stands or falls with your sincerity.
It is said in the trial of opinions, that if am an superstruct hay or stubble upon the foundation, he shall suffer loss ; yet hehimselfmaybe saved, 1 Cor. iii. 12. But if hypocrisy be in the foundation, there is no such relief,there is no possibility of salvation in that case.
Ah,reader, thou must be cast for ever according to the integrityorhypocrify of thy heart with God. Summon in then all the powers of thy foul: bringthythoughts as close as it is poffibletobringthemtothis matter: If there be anyfubject of con
Aferious Exhortation to Self-examination. 209 fideration abletodrinkupthefpirits of am an,here it is : Never was time put to an higher improvement; never were thoughts
than this is : Happy is the man that rescues the years, months, days, yea, the very moments of his life from otheremployments toconfecratethem unto this solemn, awful, and most important business !
Motive 4. Fourthly, How evidential will it be of your fin cerity, when you are willing to come to the trial of your own hearts?
doubtsandfears should infomedegree remain with you , yet in this you may take some comfort, that ifhypocrifybe in your heart, it is not thereby consent: You are not loth torife and come to trial, because, like Rachel, you fit upon your idols: Certainly it is a good sign thy heart is right,when it is filled with fomuch fear lest it should be false. You know all the disciples said, " Master, is it I ?" before Judas,who was the traitor, spake a word. " Last of all(faith the **text) Judas said, Is it I ?" Our willingness to be tried, is a good sign that the desire of our soul is to be right with God.
Motive 5. Fifthly, Conclude it to be your great advantage to be thoroughly tried, whatever you be found to be in the trial: If you be found sincere, you are richly rewarded for all your pains and labour: Neverdidthat man repentofdigging and toiling,thatafterallhit upontherichvein that hedigged for: What is avein of gold to a veinoffincerity!
If upon fearchyou find the contrary, afalfe,hypocritical, unfoundheart, yet in that very fad discovery you meet with the greatest advantage that ever you had in your lives for salvation. This discovery is your great advantge: For now your vain confidence being over-turned, and your ungrounded hopes destroyed ; you lie open to the stroke of a deep and effectual conviction of your fin and misery,which istheintroductive mercy to all other mercies to your souls; and surely till you come to that, to give up your false hopes, and quit your vain pretensions, there is no hope of you. Chrifttold the Pharifees, Matth. xxi. 31. Publicans and harlots enter intothekingdom of heaven before you : Publicans were the worst sortofmen, and harlotsthe worst fort of women, and yet they stood in a fairer way for heaven than the hypocritical Pharifees, because conviction had easier access to their confeiences :They had not thosedefences andpleas of duty and strictness towardoffthe word, that the self-cozening Pharifees had.
of your vain and groundless hopes, as Christ, in VOL. VII. Dd
210 Rules to be observed in the Trials of Grace, another sense, said to the officers that came to seize him in the garden, If you seek me, let thesego their way. So it is here, if you expect Christ, and salvation by him, let your vain confi. dences go their way; away with your masques and vizards, if ever you expect to see Christ. O it is your happiness to have all these things stript off, and your nakedness and poverty discovered, that you may be rich, as the text speaks.
Motive 6. Sixthly, Confider how near the day of death and judgment approach you. O these are searching days wherein you cannot be hid: Will your consciences, think you, be put off in a dying day as easily as they are now ? No, no, you know they will not.
I have heard of a good man that consumed notonlythegreatest part of the day, but a very considerable part of the night also in prayer, to the great weakening of his body; and being asked by a relation whyhedid so, and prayed to favour himself, he returned this answer, O I must die, I must die ; plainly intimating, that so great is the concernment of dying in a clear assured condition, that it is richly worth the expence of all our time and strength to secure it.
You know also that after death the judgment, Heb. ix. 27. you are hastening to the judgment of the great and terrible God, Death will put you into his balance to be weighed exactly ; and what gives the soul a louder call to search itself with all diligence, whilst it stands at the door of eternity, and its turn is not yet come to go before that awful tribunal : O that these considerations might have place upon our hearts !
CHAP. XII .
Containing divers helps for the clearing offincerity, and discovery of hypocrisy. Y
SECT . I. OU fee of what importance the duty of self-examination is, and how many things put a necessity and a solemnity upon that work. Now, in the close of all, I would offer you some helps for the due management thereof, that is as far as I can carry it; the Lord persuade your hearts to the diligent and faithful application and use of them. The general rules to clear sincerity are these that follow : Rule 1. We may not presently conclude we are in the state of
Rules to be observed in the Trials of Grace. 211 hypocrisy, because wefindsome workings of it, and tendencies to 't in ourfpirits : The best gold hath some dross and alloy in it.' Hypocrifyis a weed naturally springing in all ground, the best heart is not perfectly clear or free of it: It may be we are stumbled, when we feel some workings or grudgings of this disease in ourselves, and looking into such scriptures as these, John i. 47. " Behold an Ifraelite indeed, in whom there is no " guile:" and Psal. xxxii. 1. " Blessed is the man unto whom " the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile." «
This I saymaystumblesome upright foul,not understanding in what an allayed and qualified sense those scriptures are to be understood : For by afpirit without guile, is not understood aperfon absolutely free from all deceitfulness, and falfeness of heart ; this was the sole prerogative of the Lord Jesus, who was separated from sinners, in whose mouth was no guile found: In whom the prince of this world, in all his trials and attempts upon him, found nothing: But we must understand it of reigning and allowed hypocrisy; there is nosuchguile in any of the saints : distinguish the presence from the predominance ofhypocrify,and the doubt is resolved.
Rule2. Every true ground ofhumiliationforfin, is not afufficient groundfordoubting and questioning our estate and condition.
There be manymorethings to humble us upon the account of our infirmity, than there are to stumble us upon the account of our integrity: It is the fin and affliction offomegood fouls tocalltheircondition in question, upon every flip and failing in the course of their obedience. This is the waytodebarourselves from all the peace and comfort of the Christian life : We find that Joseph was once minded to put away Mary his espousedwife, not knowing that the holy thing which was conceivedinherwasby the holy Ghost. It is the fin of hypocrites to takebrafs for gold, and the folly of faints to call their. gold brass: Be as severe to yourselves as you will, always provided you be just: " There is that maketh himself rich, and " yet hath nothing; and there is that maketh himself poor, " and yet hath great riches," Prov. xiii. 7. Hiram called the cities Solomon gave him, Cabul, Dirty, for they pleased him not, I King six. 13. It is but an ill requital, an ungrateful return to God for the best of mercies, to undervalue them in our hearts, and be ready upon alloccafions to put them away as worth nothing Dd2
212 Rules to be observed in the Trials of Grace. Rule 3. Aftronger propenfion in our nature, and more fre quent incidence in our practice to onefin than another, doth not presently infer ourhypocrify, and the unfoundness of our hearts in religion. It is true,every hypocrite hathsomewayofwickedness: Somepeccatum in deliciis, iniquity that he delights in and rolls as a sweet morsel under his tongue, some luftthathe is not willing to part with, nor can endure that the knife of mortification should touch it; and this undoubtedly argues the infincerityand rottenness of his heart : And it is true, also,that the nature and constitution of the most sanctified man inclines him rather to one fin, than to another, though he allow himself in none; yea, though he set himself more watchfully against that sin than another, yet he may still have more trouble and vexation, more temptation and defilement from it,thananyother. As every man hath his proper gift, one after this manner, and another after that, as the apostle speaks, 1 Cor. vii. 7. so everymanhath his proper fin also,one after this manner, and another after that ? For it is with original fin, as it is with the juice or sap of the earth, which though it be the common matter of all kinds of fruits, yet it is specificated according to the different forts of plants and feeds which it nourishes ; in one it becomes an apple, in another a cherry, &c. Just so it is in original corruption, which is turned into this or that tempt at i on, or fin, according to this or that constitution, or employment it finds us in; in one it is passion, in another lust, ina third covetousness, in a fourth levity, and so on. Now I fay the frequent assaults of this fin, provided we indulge it not, but, by setting double guards, labour to keep ourselves from our own iniquity, as as Daviddid, Psalm xviii. 23. will not infer the he hypocrily of our hearts, Rule4.A greater backwardness and indisposedness to onedu ty rather than another, dath not conchide the heart to be unsound, and false with God, provided we do not inwardly dislike and disapprove any duty of religion, or except against it in our agreement with Christ, but that it riseth merely from the present weakness anddistemper we labour under.
There are some duties in religion, as suffering for Christ, bearing sharp reproofs for fin, &c. that even an upright heart underapresent distemper, may find a great deal ofbackwardness and lothness to ; yet still he consents to the law, that it is good, is troubled that he cannot comply more chearfullywith his duty, anddefûres to stand complete in all the will of God: Perfection is his aim,and imperfections are his sorrows.
Rules to be observed in the Trials of Grace. 213 Some Christians have much ado to bring their hearts to fixed, solemn meditation ; their hearts fly off from it, but this is their burden, that it should be so with them. True, it is a very dangerous sign of hypocrisy, when a man's zeal runs out inonechannel of obedience only, and he hathnotrefpect to all
God's commandments ; as physicians observes, the sweating of one part of the body, when all the rest is cold, is symptomatical, and argues an ill habit : But whilst the soul heartily approves all the will of God, and sincerelydefires to come up to it, and mourns for its backwardness, anddeadness, to this or that duty, and this is not fixed, but occasional, under some present indisposition, out of which the soul riseth by the same degrees as fanctification riseth in him, and the Lord comes in with renewed strength upon him ; this, I say, may consist, and is very ordinarily found to be the case of upright-hearted ones.
Rule 5. The glances of the eye at self-ends in duties, whilst self is not the weight that moves the wheels, theprincipalendand design we drive at, and whilst thase glances are corrected, and mourned for, do not conclude the heart to be unsound, and bypecritical in religion : For even among the most deeply sanctified, few can keep their eye so steady and fixed, with pure, and unmixed respects, to the glory of God, but that there will be (alas! too frequently) some bye-ends, insinuating and creeping intotheheart.
like the fowls, seize upon the sacrifice, let the soul take what pains it can to drive them away : It is well that our High-priest bears the iniquities of ourholythings for us. Peter had too much regard to the pleasing of men, and did not walk with that uprightness towards the Gentile Christians, and the believing Jews, in the matter of liberty, as became him, Gal. ii. 13, 14. for which, as Paul faith, he ought to be blamed, and he did blame him: But yetfuchafailing as that in the end of his duty, did not condemn him. In public perform an ees there may be too much vanity, in works of charity too much oftentation; these are all workings of hypocrisy in us, and matters of humiliation to us; but whilst they aredisallowed, corrected, and mourned over, are confiftentwithintegrity.
Rule 6. The doubts and fears that hang upon, and perplex our spirits about the hypocrisy of our hearts, do not conclude that therefore we are what we fear ourselves to be. God will not condemn everyone for a hypocrite that suspects, yea, or charges himself with hypocrisy. Holy David thoughthisheartwas not right with God, after that great flip of his in the matter of Uriah; and therefore begs of God to renewaright spirit in
214 Heart-founding Questions. him, Psal. li. 10, 11, 12. his integrity was indeed wounded, and he thought destroyed by that fall.
Holy Mr. Bradford fo vehemently doubted the sincerity of his heart, that he subscribed some of his letters, as Mr. Fox tells us, John Bradfordthehypocrite ; a very paintedfepulchre: And yet in so saying, he utterly misjudged the state and temper of his own soul. W
SECT. II. TELL ELL then, let not the upright be unjust to them-
incenfuring their own hearts; they are bad enough, but let us notmakethem worse than they are, but thankfully own, and acknowledge the least degrees of grace and integrity in them; and possibly our uprightness might be sooner discovered to us, if, in a due composure of spirit, we would fit down, and attend the true answers of our own hearts to such questions as these are.
Quest. 1. Do I make the approbation of God, or the applause of men, the very end and main design of my religious performances, according to Theff. ii. 4. Col. iii. 23. will the acceptationof my duties with men fatisfyme, whether God accept my duties and períon, or not ?
Quest. 2. Is it the reproach and shamethatattends fin at present, and the danger and misery that will follow it hereafter, that restrains me from the commission of it ? Or is it the fear of God in my foul, and the hatred I bear to fin as it is fin ? ac cording to Psal. xix. 12. and Psal. cxix. 113.
Quest. 3. Can I truly and heartily rejoice to see God's work carried on in the world, and his glory promoted by other hands, though I have no share in the credit and honour of it, as Paul did? Phil. i. 18 .
Quest. 4. Is there no duty in religion so full of difficulty and self-denial, but Idefire to comply with it ? And is all the holy and goodwill of God acceptable to my soul, though I cannot rise up with like readiness to the performance of all duties; according to that pattern ? Psal. cxix . 6.
Quest. 5. Am I fincerelyrefolvedto follow Christandholiness at all seasons, however the aspects of the times maybeuponreligion ? Or do I carry myself so warily and covertly as to shun all hazards for religion ; having a secret reserve in my heart to launch out no farther than I may return with safety; contrary to the practice and resolution of upright fouls ? Psalm cxvi. 3. Psal. xliv. 18, 19. Rev. xxii. 11.
Rules to be observed in the Trials of Grace. 215
Quest. 6. Do I make no conscience of committing secret fins, or neglecting secret duties ? Or am I conscientious both in the one and other, according to the rules and patterns of integrity ? Matth. vi. 5, 6. Píal. xix. 12. Afewsuchquestions solemnlypropounded to our own hearts, in a calm and serious hour, would found them, and discover much of their sincerity towards the Lord.
SECT. III . ND as upright hearts are too apt to apply to themselves the threats and miseries of hypocrites, so hypocrites, on the contrary, are as apttocatch hold of the promises and privileges pertaining to believers. To detect therefore the soul-damning mistakes of such deceived fouls, O that these following rules might be studied, and faithfully applied to their conviction and recovery.
Rule 1. It is not enough to clear a man from hypocrisy, that he knows not himself to be an hypocrite. All hypocrites are not designing hypocrites; they deceive themselves as well as others : 66 Many will tay tome in that day, Lord, have we not prop he- " fied in thy name," &c. Matth. vii. 22. Hell will be a mere furprizal to multitudes of professors : am an may live and die in a blind, ungrounded confidence of his safe condition, and not fear his ruin, till he begins to feel it.
Rule 2. Zeal and forwardness in the cause of God, and for the reformation of his worship, will not clear a man from the danger of hypocrisy. Jehu was a zealous reformer, and yet but a painted sepulchre. In the year 1549, reformation grew fo much in reputation, even among the nobles and gentry in Ger. many, that many of them caused these five letters, V. D. M. I. Ae. being the initial letters of these words, Verbum Do mini manet in aeternum : i. e The word of the Lord abideth for ever, to be wrought, or embroidered, or set in plates, some upon their clokes, and others upon the sleeves of their garments ; tothew to all the world, faith * my author, that forsaking all Popish traditions, they would now cleave to the pure doctrine and discipline of the eternal Word.
And no doubt they would have been as good as their word, if what was embroideredontheirclokes,had beenengraven on their hearts ; but, Come, see my zeal, mars all.
Rule 3. It is nofufficient evidence ofa man'sown integrity, that * JohnWolfe, Left. Memor. Tom. 2. ad An no 1549.
216 Heart-founding Questions. he hates hypocrifyinanother : for, as oneproudmanmayhatea not her, and he that is covetoushimself, will be apt tocenfure another for being so; lusts maybe contrary to one another, as well as all of them contrarytograce; so may an hypocrite loath that in another, which yet he alloweth in himself : Nay, it is the policy of some todeclaim against the hypocrifyof others, thereby tohidetheirown. Hypocrites are none of the most modest cenfurers of others, Psal. xxxv. 16. Afalt jest seasoned their meat.
Rule 4. Themereperformance ofprivatedutieswillnot clear a man from hypocrisy. The influence of education, or support of reputation, or the impulse ofaconvincedconfciencemayinduce am an to it; and yet all this while his heart may not be carried thither with hungry and thirstydefires after God : it is not the matter of any duty that distinguishes the found and unsound professors; but the motives, designs, and ends of the soul in them.
Rule 5. Thevogueand opinionsyouhavegotamong Christians, ofyourfincerity, will not be sufficient to clearyoufrom the danger of hypocrisy. Christ tells the angel of Sardis, Rev. iii. r. "Thou hast a name that thou livest, andartdead." The fall of Hymeneus and Philetus,couldneverhave fhakenthe faith of the faints as it did,had they not had great credit in the church, and beenmen of renown for piety among them.
Rule 6. Your respects and love to them that are the sincere anduprightfervants of God, will not clear you from the danger of being hypocritesyourselves : for thebareloving ofa Christian is not characteristicalandevidential of am an'sown Christianity, except he love him, qua talis, as he is a Christian, or ashe belongs to Christ ; and so his finceritybecomes the attractive of thy affection. There are a thousand by-considerations, and respects, that may kindle a man's love to the saints, besides their integrity. SECT. IV. WELL, then, if thou wouldst indeedseetheunfoundness of thy own heart, propound such heart-founding questions as these, tothytelf.
Quest. 1. Do I engage my heart toapproachunto God in the course of my duties ? Or do I go in the round of duties, taking no heed to my heart in them ? If fo, compare this symptom of thy hypocrisy with that in 2 Kings x. 3. and that in Ezek. xxxiii. 31, 32.
1 Quest. 2. Am I not swayed and moved by self-interest and Carnal respects in the ways of religion, the accommodation of somewordly interest, or getting a name and reputation of godliness ? If so, how apparently do the same symptoms of hypocrisy appear upon my soul, which did upon Judas, John xii. 6. and on Jehu, 2Kings ix. 13, 14. Quest. 3. Have I not some secret reserves in my heart, notwithstanding that face and appearance of zeal which I put on ? Certainly if there be any sin that I cannot part with, any suffering for Christ which I resolve against in my heart; I am none of his disciples, my heart is not right with God, the searcher of hearts himself being Judge, Luke xiv. 26, 27.
Quest. 4. What conscience do I make of secret fins ? Do I mourn for a vain heart, wandering thoughts, spiritual deadness ? And do I conscientiously abstain from the practice of secret fins, when there is no danger of discovery, no fear of forfeiting my reputation by it ? Is it God's eye, or man's, that awes me from commission of fin ? Certainly, if I allow myself in secret fins, I am not of the number of God's upright people, whose spirits are of a contrary temper to mine, Psal. cxix. 113. and Plal. xii. 12.
SECT. V.
I Will shutupallwith five or fix concluding counsels, (which the Lord impress upontheheartofhim that writes, and those that shall read them) to preserve and antidote the soul against the dangerous insinuation and leavenof hypocrisy.
1. Intreat the Lordnightandday, for a renewed and right spirit. All the helps and directions in the world will not antidote and preserve you from hypocrisy, nothing will be found able tokeepyou right, till fanctification hath first set you right. Ezek. xxxvi. 27. " I will put my Spirit within you ; and cause " you to walk in my statutes." A bowl may keep bya strait line, so long as the impressed force of thehandthatdelivered it remains strong upon it; but as that wears off, so its motions fail, and its own biass sways and turns it. A fright of conscience, a pang of warm affection, or the influence of some great example, or a good education, may influence anunrenewed foul, and push it on in the way of religion for a season ; but the heart so influenced, must, and will return to its own natural course again. And I think there wants nothing but time, or a suitable temptation, todifcaverthetrue temper of many a professor's spirit : pray, therefore,
VOL. VII. Ec
218 Necessary Counsels to all Professors. asthatholyman did, Psal. cxix. 80. " Let my heart be found " in thy statutes, that I be not ashamed."
2. Always suspect and examine your ends inwhatyou do. Sincerity and hypocrisy lie much in your ends and designs ; as they are, so are you. The intentions of the heart lie deep; amanmaydothe same action to an holy end, and his person and service be accepted with God; which another doing for a corrupt end, it maybe reckoned his fin, and both his person and service beabhorredbythe Lord. We find twomenriding in one chariot, and both of them concerned in the fame expedition, Jehu, the son of Nimshi, and Jonadab, the son of Rechab, 2 Kings x. 15, 23. But though the work they engaged in was one, and the fame, yet the different ends they aimed at, made the fame action an excellent duty in Jonadab, and an act of vile hypocrisy in Jehu: Idem quodduo faciunt, non eft idem : It was the saying of agoodfoul, commended for a good action : the work indeed is good, but I fear the ends of it. Self ends are creeping, andinfinuatingthings into the belt actions.
3. Scare yourselves with the daily fears of the fin that is in, and the misery that will follow hypocrisy. Look up. on it as the most odious fin in the eyes of God and men : to want holiness, is bad enough, but to diffimulate and pretend it, when we have it not, is double impiety: to make religion, the most gloriousthing in the world, a mere stirrup to preferment, and a covert to wickedness : O how vile a thing is it! God made Christ a sacrifice for fin, and the hypocrite will make him a cloak for fin.
And as to the punishments that follow it, they are suitable to the nature of the fin; for as hypocrisy is out of measure sinful, so the rewardandpunishment of it will be out of measure dreadful. Matth. xxiv. 51. " He shall cut him asunder, and appoint " him his portion with hypocrites; there fhallbeweeping and gnashing of teeth." Counsel 4. Be daily at work in the mortification of those lusts that breed bypocrify. It is plain, without much sifting, that pride, vain-glory, self-love, and awordly heart, are the feeds out of which this cursed plant springs up in the souls of men. Dig but to the root, and you shall certainly find these things there; and till the Lord help you to kill and mortify these, hypocrisy will spring up in all your duties to God, and in all your converfes withmen. 1 Counsel 5. Attend the native voice of your own consciences in the day offickness, fear or trouble, and take special notice of its
Necessary Counsels to all Professors. 21.9 -checks, or upbraidings, which, like a Aitch in yourfide, will gird you at such times : Commonly in that lies your greatest danger : Beware of that evil which conscience brands and marks at such times, whether it be your living in the practice of some secret fin, or in the neglects of some known duty : These frights of conscience mark out the corruption, wherein your danger mostly lies.
6. Let us all that profess religion he uniform andfleadyin the profession and practice of it, without politic reserves, and bye-ends. O take heed of this Laodicean neutrality and indifferency which Christ hates: Be sure your ground be good, and then be sure you stand your ground. The religion of time-servers isbuthypocrify: They have sluices in their consciences which theycanopenor shut as occasion requires : Every fox will have at least two holes to his den, that if one be stopt, he may e-
the other. The hypocrite poseth himself so evenly in a mediocrity, that, as it is said of Baldwin, Let Anthony win, let Augustus win, all is one : So let Christ win, or let Antichrist win, he hopes to make every wind that can blow serviceable towaft him to the port of his own interest.
Thehypocritehath always more of themoonthanofthe sun; little light, many spots, and frequent changes: It is easier to him to bow to the cross, than to bear the cross , to fin, than to suffer.
Our own ftorytells us of a poor simple woman that lived both in the reigns of queen Mary and queen Elizabeth, and would constantly lay her prayers both in Latin and English, that the might be sure to please one side or other ; and let God, said she, take which likes him best. What is noted as an act of ridiculous simplicity in her, the time-serving hypocrite accounts a point of deep policy in himself.
1 The times under Dioclesian were Pagan; under Constantine, Christian; under Conftantius, Arian; under Julian, Apostate ; and under Jovian, Christian again : And all this within the space of seventy years, the age of one man. O what shifting and huffling was there among the men of that generation ! The changes of weather shew the unfoundness of men's bodies, and the changes of times, the unfoundness of their souls, Christian, if ever thou wilt manifest and maintain thine integrity, beam an but of one design, and be sure that be anhoneft and good design, to secure heaven, whatever becomes of Ee2
220 Necessary Counsels to all Professors. earth: To hold fast integrity, whatever thou art forced to let gofor its sake.
Take heed of pious frauds: Certainly it was the devil that first married these two words together, for they never did, nor can agree betwixt themselves, nor was ever such amarriagemade in heaven.
Never study to model religion, and the exercises thereof, in a consistency with, or subserviency to your fleshly interests : If your religion be but a mock religion, your reward shall be but amockheaven, that is a real hell. Othevanityand inutilityoftheseprojects and designs ! Men strive to cast themselves into such modes, and stint themselves to such measures of religion, as they think will best promote, or secure their earthly interests : but itoftenfalls out, contrary to their expectation, that their deep policies are ridiculous follies ; they become the grief and shame of their friends, and the scorn and song of their enemies. And often it fares with them, as with him that placed himself in the middle of the table, where he could neither reach the dish above him, nor thatbelowhim, Efuriunt medii, &c. and, which is the very best of it, if earthly interest be accommodatedby sinful neutrality, and a Laodicean indifferency in religion, yet no good man should once feel a temptation to embrace it, except he think what is wanting in the fsweetness of his sleep, may be fullyrecompenfed to him by the stateliness of his bed, and richer furniture of his chamber ; I mean, that a fuller and higher condition in the world, can make him amends for the loss of his inward peace, and the quiet repose of a good conscience: These bye-ends and self-interests are the little passages through which hypocrisy creeps in upon the professors of religion.
"Oletthisbe be your rejoicing, which was Paul's, " The testimony of yourconfcience, that in all fincerityand godly fim- " plicity, not in fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, you " have had your conversations in this world," 2 Cor. i. 12.
Let that be your daily prayer and crytoheaven, which was David's, Psal . xxv. 21. " Let integrity and uprightness preserve " me, for I wait on thee."
7. Keep your hearts day and night under the awe of God's all-feeingeye : Remember he beholds all your ways, and ponders all your thoughts; how covertly soever hypocrifymay be carried for a time, all must and will out at last, Luke xii. 3. Secrefy is the maininducement to hypocrisy, but it will fall out with the hypocrite, as it did with Ottocarthe king of Bohemia, who refused to do homage to Rodolphus the emperor, till at last
A Token for Mourners. 221 chastisedwith war, he was content to do him homage privately in a tent : But the tent was so contrived by the emperor's servants, that, by drawing one cord, it was taken all away; and fo Ottocar presented on his knees doing homage in view of three armies.
Reader, Awe thy heart with God's eye, know that he will bring every secret thing into judgment. Thus did Job, and it preserved him, Job xxxi. 1, 4. Thus did David, and itpreservedhim, Psal. xviii. 21, 22, 23. Thusdothou also, and it will preserve thee blameless, and without guile to the day of Christ.
A TOKEN
FOR MOURNERS.
OR, The Advice of CHRIST to a distressed Mother, bewailing the Death of her dear and only Son: Wherein the Boundaries of Sorrow are duly fixed, Excesses restrained, the common Pleas answered, and divers Rules for the support of God's afflicted Ones prescribed.
The EPISTLE DEDICATOR Y.
To his dearly beloved brother and sister, Mr. J. C. and Mrs. E. C. the Authorwishethgrace, mercy, and peace. DEAR FRIENDS, THE double tye of nature and grace, beside the many endearing passages that for so many years have linked and glewed our affections so intimately, cannot but beget a tender
in me with you, under all your troubles, and make
222 The Epistle Dedicatory... me say of every affliction which befals you, Half'smine..I find it is with our affections, as with the strings of musical instru ments exactly set at the fame height, if one be touched, the other trembles, though it be at some distance. Our affections are one, and so in a great measure have been our afflictions also. You cannot forget that in the years lately past, the Almighty visited my tabernaclewith the rod, and in one year, cut off from it the root, and the branch, the tender mother, and the only son. What the effects of those strokes, or rather of my own unmortified passions were, I have felt, and you and others have heard. Surely I was as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke. Yea, I may say with them, Lam. iii. 19, 20. " Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the worm. " wood and the gall, my soul hath them till in remembrance, " and is humbled in me."
I dare not say that ever I felt my heartdiscontentedly rising and swelling against God ; no, I could still justify him, when I most sensibly smarted by his hand: If he had plunged me into a sea of sorrow, yetI could say, in all that sea of sorrow, there is not a drop of injustice: But it was the over-heating, and over-acting of my fondandunmortified affections and passions that made so sad impressions upon mybody, andcaftme under thosedistempers which soon embittered all my remaining comforts to me.
It was my earnest desire, so soon as I had strength and opportunity for so great a journey, tovisityou, that so, if the Lord. had pleased, I might both refresh, and be refreshed by you, after all my fadand disconsolate days. And you cannot imaginewhatcontent and pleasure I projected in that visit; but it proved to us, as all other comforts of the same kind ordinarily do,more in expectation than in fruition: For how soon after our joyful meeting and embraces did the Lord overcast and darken our day, by sending death into your tabernacle, to take away thedefireof your eyes with a stroke! To crop off that sweet and only bud from which we promised ourselves so much comfort. But no more of that, I fear I am gone too far already. It is not my design to exasperate your troubles, but to heal them; and for that purpose have I sent you these papers, which I hope may be of use both to you and many others in your condition, since they are the after-fruits of my own troubles ; things that I have not commended to you from another hand, but which I have, in some measure, proved and tasted in my own trials.
The Epistle Dedicatory. 223 But I will not hold you longer here, I have onlyafewthings to desire for, and from you, and I have done.
The things 1desire, are, First, That you will not be too hasty to get off the yoke which God hath put upon your neck. Remember when your child was in the womb, neither of you desired it should be delivered thence till God's appointed time was fully come; and nowthatyou travail again with sorrow for its death : O desire not to be delivered from your sorrows one moment before God'stime for your deliverance be fully come also. Let patience have its perfect work ; that comfort which comes in God'sway and season, will stick by you, and do you good indeed.
Secondly, I desire, that though you and your afflictionshad afad meeting, yet you and they may have a comfortable parting. If they effect that uponyourhearts which God fentthem for, I doubt not butyouwillgive them a fair testimony when theygooff.
If they obtain God's blessinguponthem in their operation, surely they will have your blessing too at their valediction. And what you entertained with fear, you will dismits with praise. How sweet is it to hear the afflicted foul say, when God is loofinghishands, " It is good for me that I have been afflicted."
Thirdly, I heartily with that these searching afflictions may make the more satisfying discoveries; that you may now fee more of the evil of fin, the vanity of the creature, and the fulness of Christ, than ever you yet saw. Afflictions are searchers, and put the soul upon searching and trying its ways, Lam. iii.
14. When our fin find us out by affliction, happy are we, if, by the light of affliction, we find out fin. Blessed is the man whom Godchasteneth, and teacheth out of his law, Psal. xciv. 12. There are unseen causes, many times, of our troubles; you have an advantage now to fist out the feeds, and principle from which they spring.
Fourthly, I wish that all the love and delight you bestowed on your little one, maynowbe placed, to your greater advantage, upon Jesus Christ ; and that the stream of your affection to him maybe so much the stronger, as there are now fewer channels for it to be divided into. If God will not have any part of your happiness to lie in children, then let it wholly lie in himself.
If the jealousy of the Lord hath removed that which drew away too much of your heart from him, and hath spoken by this rod, saying, Stand aside, child, thou art in my way, and filleftmore room in thy parents hearts than belongs to the
224 The Epistle Dedicatory.
O then deliver up all to him, and say, Lord, takethewhole heart entirely, and undividedly, to thyself. Henceforth let therebenoparting, sharing, or dividing of the affections betwixt God and the creature, let all the streams meet, and centre in thee, only.
Fifthly, That you may be strengthened with all might in the inner man; to all patience, that the peace of God may keep your hearts and minds. Labour to bring your hearts to a meek submission to the rod of your Father. We had fathers of the flesh, who corrected us, and we gave them reverence; shall we not much more be insubjection to the Father of spirits, and live ? Is it comely for children to contest, and strive with their father ? Or is it the way to be freed from the yoke, by struggling under it ? O that your hearts might be in a like frame with his that said, Lord, thou shalt beat, and I will bear. It was agoodobservation that one made, Animafedendo etquiescendofitfapiens : The soul grows wise by fitting still and quiet under the rod. And the apostle calls those excellent fruits which the saints gather from their sanctified afflictions, " The peace- " able fruits of righteousness," Heb. xii. 11.
Lastly, My heart's desire, and prayer to God for you, is, that you may die daily to all visible enjoyments, and by these frequent converses with death in your family, you maybe prepared for your own change and dissolution, when it shall come.
Ofriends ! how many graves have you and I seen opened for our dear relations ? How oft hath death come up intoyourwindows, and summoned the delight of your eyes ? It is but a little while, and we shall go to them; we and they are diftinguishedbutby short intervals.
Tranfiverepatres, fimulhinc tranfibimus omnes. Our dear parents are gone, our lovely and desirable childrenaregone, ourbosom relations, that were as our own souls, are gone ; and do not all these warning-knocks at our doors acquaint us, that we must prepare to follow shortly after them?
Othat by these things our own death might be both more easy, and familiar to us ; the oftner it visits us, the better we
be acquainted with it; and the more of our beloved relations it removes before us, the less of either snare or intanglement remains for us when our turn comes.
My dear friends, my flesh, and my blood, Ibeseechyou, for religion's fake, for your own sake, and for my fake, whofecom
A Token for Mourners
fort is, in great part, bound up in your prosperity, and welfare, that you read frequently, ponder seriously, and apply believingly these scripture confolations and directions, which, in some haste, I have gathered for your use; and the God of all consolation be with you.
I am,
Your most endeared brother,
JOHN FLAVEL.
A TOKEN
FOR MOURN ERS.
LUKEVii 13. And when the Lord saw her, he hadcompaffion on her, andfaidto her, Weep not. TO be above the stroke of passion, is a condition equal to angels: to be in a state of sorrow, without the sense of sorrow, is a disposition beneath beasts : but duly to regulate our sorrows, and bound our passions under the rod, is the wisdom, duty, and excellency of a Christian. He that is without natural affections, is deservedly ranked amongst the worst of heathens;and he that is able rightly to manage them, deserves to be numbered with the best of Christians. Though, when we are sanctified we put on the divine nature, yet, till we are glorified, we put not off the infirmities of our human nature.
Whilst we are within the reach of troubles, we cannot be without the danger, nor ought not to be without the fear of fin; and it is as hard for us to escape sin, being in adversity, as becalming in prosperity. VOL . VII. Ff
226 A Token for Mourners. Howapt are we totransgress the bounds, both of reason and religion, under a sharp affliction, appears, as inmost mens experience, so in this woman's example, to whose excessive sorrow Christ puts a stop in the text: " He saw her, and had " compassion on her, and said to her, Weep not."
The lamentations andwailings of this distressed mother, moved the tender compaffions of the Lord in beholding them, and stirred up more pityinhisheartforher, than could be in her heart for her dear, and only son.
In the words we are to confider, both the condition of the woman, and the counsel of Christ, with respect unto it.
First, The condition of this woman, which appears to be very dolorous and distressed; her groans and tears moved and melted the very heart of Christ to hear and behold them: " When he saw her,he had compassion on her."
How fad an hour it was with her when Christ met her, ap pearsbywhat is so distinctly remarked by the evangelist, in ver. 12. where it isfaid, "Now, whentheycame nigh to the " gate of the city, behold, there was adeadman carried out, " the only fonofhis mother, and the was a widow, and much " people of the city was with her."
In this one verse, divers heart piercing circumstances of this affliction are noted.
First, It was the death of afon *. To bury a child, any 'child, must needs rendthe heart ofa tender parent; for what are children but the parent multiplied ? A child is a part of the parent made up in another skin: Dutto lay a son in the grave, a fonwho continues the name, and supports the fami ly; this was ever accountedavery great affliction.
Secondly, This fonwas not carried from the craddle to the coilin, nor stripped out of its swathing, to be wrapped in its winding-cloth. Had he died in his infancy,before he had engaged affection, or raised expectation, the affliction had not been so pungent, and cutting as now it was death smore the foninthe flower, and prime of his time. He was a man, (faith the evangelist) ver. 12. a young man, (as Christ calls him) ver. 14. he was now arrived + at that agewhichmadehim ca-
Φιλίας μεγίσος δισμος ει τεκνων γονal. i. e. To be parents to children, is the firmes tye of affection, Graec.Com.
He died in his youth, and was therefore the more to be lamented, because he was cut off in the flower of his age, unto which he was conducted from a child, by the great care and labour of his Darents. Dion. Cat, on the place.
A Token for Mourners. 227 pable of yielding his mother all that comfort which had been the expectation, and hope ofmanyyears, and the reward and fruit of many cares, and labours : yet then, when the endearmentsweregreatest, and her hopes highest, even in the flower of his age, he is cutoff.
Thus Basil bewailed the death of his son : * I once had a son, who was a young man, myonlyfuccessor, the solace of • my age, the glory of his kind, the prop of my family, arrived to the endearing age ; then was he snatched away from • me by death, whose lovely voice but a little before 1I heard, •who lately was a pleasant spectacle to his parent.' Reader, if this hath been thine own condition, as it hath been his that writes it, I need say no more toconvincethee that it was a sorrowful state indeed, Christ met this tender mother in.
Thirdly, And which isyetmore, he was not only a son, but an only son : so you find, inver. 12. " He was the only son " of his mother †;" one in whom all her hopes and comforts, of that kind, were bound up. For, Omnis in Ascanioftat chari cura parent is, Virgil. All her affections were contracted into this one object. If we have never fo many children, we know not which of them to spare; if they stand, like olive-plants, about our tables, it would grieve us to fee the least twig amongst them broken down. But surely the death of one out of many, is much more tolerable than all in one †.
Hence it is notedinscripture as the greatest of earthly sorrows, Jer. vi. 26. " O daughter of my people, gird thee with " sackcloth, and wallow thyself in ashes. Make thee mourn- " in gas for anonlyfon, most bitter lamentation." Yea, fo deep and penetrating is this grief, that the Holy Ghoftborrows it to express the deepest spiritual troubles by it, Zech.
Ff2
Filius mihi erat, adolefcens, folus vitaefuccessor, folatium Senectae,gloria generis, flos aequalium,fulcrumdomus, aetatem gratiofiffimam age bat ; hicraptus per i it, qui paulo antejucundam vocem edebat, et jucundiffimum spectaculum parent is oculis crat.
Shewouldhaveborne his death more patiently, had he no been anonlyfon; or if the had had but another left behind him to mitigate her sorrow. Ambrose.
As there is nothing dearer than an only son, fo that grief upon the accountofhisdeath, must be the greatest of all. Carth. on the place,
228 A Token for Mourners. xii. 10. " They shall mourn for him, (namely Christ, whom " they pierced) as one mourneth for an only son."
Fourthly, And yet, to heighten the affliction, it is superaded, ver. 12. "And she was a widow." So that the staff of her age, on which she leaned, was broken * : she had now none left to comfort or assist her, in her helpless, comfortless
ofwidowhood; which is a condition not only void of comfort, but exposed to oppression, and contempt.
Yea, and being a widow, the whole burthen lay upon her alone; the had notanhusbandto comfort her, as Elkanah did Hannah, in 1 Sam. i. 8. "Why weepest thou, and why is " thy heart grieved ? Am not I better totheethanten sons?" ' This would have been a great relief; but her husband was dead, as well as her son, both gone, and the onlyfurviving, to lament the loss of those comforts that once she had. Her calamities came not single,but one after another, and this reviving, and aggravating the former. This was her case, and condition, when the Lord met her.
Secondly,Let us confiderthe counsel which Christ gives her, with respect to this her fad, and sorrowful case : " And when " the Lordfawher, he had compassion on her, and said unto " her, Weep not." Relieving and supporting words ; wherein we shall confider,
1. The occasion. 2. The motive. 3. The counsel itself. 1. The occasion of it, and that was his seeing of her. This meeting at the gate of the city,how accidental, and occasional soever it seems, yet, without doubt, it was providentially suited to the work intended to be wrought: The eye of his omniscience foresaw her, and this meetingwasbyhimdesigned as an occasion of that famous miracle which he wrought upon theyoungman. Christ hath a quick eye todifcern poor, mourning, anddisconsolate creatures:And though he be now in heaven, and stands out of our fight, so that we see him not; yet he fees us, and his eye (which is upon all our troubles)
still affects his heart, and moves his bowels for us.
2. The motive stirring him up to give this relieving, and comfortablecounseltoher, was his own compassion : She nei-
He was most dear to her on atwofold account, both because he was her only son, and that he was the comfort and support of her widowhood. Pifcator on the place.
ther expected, nordefired it from him ; but fo full of tender pity was the Lord towards her, that he prevents her with unexpected consolation : Her heart was nothing fo full of compassion for her son, as Christ was for her; he bore our infirmities,even natural, as well as moral ones, in the days of his flesh ; and though hebe now exalted to the highest glory, yet still he continues as merciful as ever, and as apt to be touched with thesenseofour iniferies, Heb. iv. 15.
Lastly, The counsel itself, Weep not ; herein fulfilling the office of a comforter to them that mourn, whereunto he was anointed, Ifa. xvi. 1, 2, 3. Yet the words are not an absolute prohibition of tears, and sorrow; he doth not condemn all mourning as inful, or all expressions of grief for dead relations, asuncomely; no,Christ would not have his people stus pid, andinsensate ; he only prohibits the excesses, and extravagancies of our sorrows for the dead, that it should not be such a mourning for the dead as is found among the heathen, who sorrow without measure, because without hope, beingignorantofthat grand relief by the resurrection, which the gospel reveals.
The resurrection of her son from the dead, is the ground upon which Christ builds her consolation, and relief; well might he say,Weep not, when he intended quickly to remove the cause of her tears, by restoring him again to life.
Now,though there be somewhat in this case extraordinary, and peculiar, for few or none that carry their dead children to the grave, may expect to receive them again from the dead immediately, by a special resurrection, as the did: I say, this is not to be expected by any that now lose their relations; the occasion and reason of such miraculous, special refurrections, being removed, by a sufficient and full evidence, and confirmation of Christ'sdivine power and Godhead ; yet those that now bury their relations, if they be such as die in Christ, have as good and sufficient reason to moderate their passions, as thismournerhad, and do as truly come within the reach and compass of this Christ's comfortable, and supporting counsel, Weep not, as she did : For do but confider, what offupport or comfort can a particular and present resurrection from the deadgiveus,more than that it is,and as it is,a specimen,hand-
or pledge of the general resurrection ? It is not the returning of the foul to its body, to live an animal life again, in this world of finand sorrow, and shortly after to undergo the agonies, and pains of death again, that is in itselfanysuchprivilege as may afford much comfort to the person raised, or his
230 A Token for Mourners. relations: It is no privilege to the person raised, for it returns him from rest to trouble, from the harbour back again into the ocean. It is matter of trouble to many dying saints, to hear of the likelihood of their returning again,when they are gotfo nigh to heaven.
It was once thecaseofagodly minister of this nation,who was much troubled at his return, and said, I am like a sheep driven out of the storm almost to the fold, and then driven back into the storm again ; or a weary traveller that is come hear his home, and then mustgo back to fetch somewhat he had forgotten ; or an apprentice,whose time is almost expired, and then mustbegina new term .
But to die, and then return again from the dead, hath less of privilege, than to return only from the brinkofthegrave; for the fickhath not yet felt the agonies and last struggles, or pangs of death;but such have felt them once, and must feel them again ; they must die twice, before they can be happy once;and, besides,during the little time they spend on earth betwixt,the first and second dissolution, there is a perfect
αμησια, forgetfulness, and insensibleness, ofallthatwhich they saw, or enjoyed, in their estate of separation : It being necessary, both for them and others, that it should be. For them selves it is necessary, that they maybe content to live, and endure the time of separation from that blessed and ineffable
quietly and patiently * ; and for others, that they may live by faith, and not by sense; and build upon divine, and not human authority and report.
So that here you fee, their agonies,andpangs are doubled, and yet their lives not sweetened by any sense of their happiness, which returns and remains with them; and therefore it can be no such privilege to them.
And for their relations : Though it be some comfort to receive them again from the dead; yet the consideration that they are returnedtothem into the stormy sea,to partake of new sorrows and troubles, from whichtheywere lately free: And ina short time they must part with them again, and feel the double sorrows ofa parting pull,which others feel but once; furelyfuch a particular resurrection, considered in itself, is no fuchgroundofcomfort as at first we might imagine it to be.
It remains, then, that the ground of allfolidcomfort and *Victurosque diicelant, ut viveredurent. Howlongorshortmen live is kept a mystery, To make us both live well and less afraid to die. ;
A Token for Mourners. 231 relief, against the death of our relations, lies in the general and last resurrection, and what is ina particular one, is but, as it were, a specimen * and evidence of the general ; and there the apostle places our relief, I Thef. iv. 17. that we shall fee, and enjoy them again, at the Lord's coming. And furelythis is more than if(with this mother in the text) we should presently receive them from the dead, as shedidher son: And if we judge not fo, it is because our hearts are carnal, and measure things ratherbytime and sense, than by faithandetenity. Th Thus you see the counsel,with its ground, which, for the most part, is common to other Chriftianmourners with her'; the difference being but in considerable, and of little advantage.
Here, then, you find many aggravations of for row meeting together ; a son, an only son, is carrying to the grave; yet Christ commands the pensive mother, not to mourn. 2 Hence we note, Doct. That Christians ought to moderate theirforrowsfor theirdeadrelations, how many afflicting circumstances,and aggravationsfoever meet together in their death. Itisascommonwithmen,yea, with good men,to exceed in their sorrows for dead relations †, as it is to exceed in their love and delights to living relations; and both of the one, and the other, we may say, as they say of waters,It ishardtoconfinethemwithintheir bounds. It is therefore grave advice which the apostle delivers in this case, 1 Cor. vii. 29, 30.
" But this I fay,brethren,the time is short; itremaineth that "boththeythathavewives, be as though theyhadnone; and " theythatweep, as though they wept not ; and those that re- "joice, asthoughthey rejoiced not." As if he had said, the floating world is near its port ; God hath contracted the fails of man's life; it is but a point of time we have to live, and shortly it will not be a point to chuse whether we had wives or not, children or not. All these are time-eaten things, and before the expectedfruitofthesecomfortsbe ripe,we ourselves maybe rotten. It is therefore an high point of wisdom to look upon things which shortly will not be, as if already they were not, and to behave ourselves,in the loss of these carnal
Therein we have a noble specimen of the future resurrection. Calvin on the place.
† Whatever we love ardentlywhile we have it, we lament bitterly when we lose it. Greg mor. + Καιρος συνεςαλέθνος, 1. c. the time is contracted.
232 A Token for Mourners. enjoyments, as the natural man hehaves himself intheuseof fpiritualordinances ; he hears as ifheheardnot,and we should weep as if we wept not; their affections are a little moved, sometimes by spiritual things, but they never lay them soto heart, as to be broken-hearted for the fintheyhearof, or deeply affected with the glory revealed. We also ought to be sensible of the ftrokeof God upon our dear relations; but yet still we must weep, as if we wept not ; this is, we must keep due bounds, and moderation in our sorrows, and not to be too deeply concerned for these dying, short-lived things.
To this purpose the apostle exhorts,Heb. xii. 5. " My son, "despise not the chaftening of the Lord, neither faint when " thou art rebuked of him." These are two extremes, despising, and fainting : when God is correcting, to say, I do not regard it, let God take all, if he will; if my estate must go, let it go , if my children die, let them die: this is to despise the Lord's chastening; and Godcannotbear it, that we should bear it thus lightly.
There is alsoanotherextreme, and that is fainting: if, when goods are taken away, the heart be taken away, and when children die, then the fpiritofthe parent dies also ; this is faintingunderthe rod. Thou lamentest, saith Seneca, thy deceafedfriend; but I would not have thee grieve beyond what is meet: that thou shouldst not grieve at all, I dare not require thee; tears may be excused, if they do not exceed. Let thine eyes, therefore, be neither wholly dry, nor let them overflow : weep thou mayest, but wal thou must not.
Happyman, that still keeps the golden bridle of moderation upon his passions, and affections, and still keeps the possession of himself, whatsoever he lose the possession of.
Now the method in which I propose to proceed, shall be,
1. To discover the signs. 2. To dissuade from the fin.. 3. To remove the pleas. 4. To propose the cure ofimmoderate sorrow. First, I shall give you the signs ofimmoderate sorrow, and shew you when it exceeds its bounds, and becomes sinful, even a for row to be forrowed for ; and, for clearness sake, I will first allow what maybe allowed to the Christian mourner, and then youwillthebetter difcernwherein the excess and finfulness of your for row lies.
And, First, How much soever we censure, and condemn immoderate sorrow; yet the afflicted must be allowed an awa kened, and tender sense of the Lord's afflicting hand upon them.
A Token for Mourners. 233 It is no virtue to bear what we do not feel; yea, it is a most unbecoming temper, not to tremble when God is smiting.The Lord faith to Moses, in the case of Miriam, Numb. xii. 24. " If her father had spit in her face, should she not be " ashamed seven days ?" The face is the table, and feat of beauty andhonour; but when it is spit upon, it is made the fink of shame. Had her own father spit upon her face when thehaddifpleased him, would the not have gone aside, as one ashamed by such a rebuke, and not have shewed her face to him again,in seven days ? How much more should the take it to heart, and be sensible of this rebuke of mine, who have filled her face with leprous spots, the signs of my displeasure against her? SurelyGodwillbe ashamedofthosethat are not ashamed when he rebukes them.
It is notmagnanimity,but stupidity, to make light of God's corrections ; and for this the afflicted are smartly taxed, Jer. v. 3. " I have smitten them, but they have not grieved." When God smote Job in his person, children, and estate,he arose,and rent his mantle, and put dust upon his head, to shew he was not senseless, and unaffected, and yet blessed the afflicting God; which,as plainlyfhewed,he was not contumacious, andunfubmiflive.
Secondly, We must allow the mourning, afflicted foul, a due, and comely expression of his grief,and sorrow, in his complaints, both to God and men.
It ismuchmorebecoming a Christian, ingenuoufly to open his troubles,than fullenly to smother them. There is no fin in complaining to God, but much wickedness in complaining of him. Griefs are eased by groans, and heart-pressures relieved by utterance. This was David's course, and constant way, who was a man of afflictions, Psalm cxlii. 2, 3. " I " poured out my complaint before him, I shewed before him " my trouble; when my spirit was overwhelmed within me, " then thou knowest my path," To whom should children go, but to their father, to make.. theirmoan ? Whence may they expect relief, and comfort, but from him ? The 102d Psalm is intituled, " APfalm for " the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed, andpoureth out his " complaint before the Lord."
And happy were it, if every afflicted foulwouldchusethis waytoexpresshis sorrows. Did we complain more to God, hewouldcomplain less of us, and quickly abate the matters of VOL. VII. Gg
234 A Token for Mourners. our complaint. Oyou cannot think how moving, howmeite ing, how prevailing it is with God, when his poor, burdened, and afflicted people, in a dayofdistress,anddespondency,when deep calleth unto deep, and one wave drives on another, then for the opprefied foul, with humility, filial confidence, and faith, to turn itself to the Lord, andthusbetpeakhim : Father,what shall I do ? My soul is greatly boweddown by trouble; I am full to the brim, myvainhearthath looked *for reliefthisway, and that way,but none comes; every door of comfort is shut up against me: Thou hast multiplied my sorrows, and renewed my witnesses against me : Comfort is * removed from my outward,and peace from my inner man; •sharp afflictions without, and bitter reflections within. O Lord, I am opprefied, undertake for me. Fathers of the • flesh pity their distressed children, when they complain to them; and wilt not thou,O Lord, whose compaffions as far exceed creature-compaffions, as the sea exceeds a drop, O my Father! pity me, support me, deliver me. " Ohow acceptable is this to God! how advantageons to the soul!
We mayalfo make our complaint to men. So did Job, chap. xix. ver. 21. " Have pity, have pity on me, Oye my " friends, for the hand of God hath touched me." And it is amercyifwehave any friends that are wife, faithful, and experienced; they are born for such a time as this, Prov. xvii. 17 but be they what they will, they cannot pity as God, relieve, and fuccone as he; and oftentimes we may say, with Job, chap. xxi. ver. 4- "As for me,, is my complaint to men? " And if it were,why should not myfpirit be troubled?" q.d. What great advantage can I get by these complaints ? I may burden the heart of my friend,but how little doth that ease my own? Yet the very opening of the heart to an experienced, tender Christian, is some relief, and the engaging his prayers is more. Thus far you moan safely; in all this there is no danger.
Thirdly, The afflictedperfon may (ordinarily) accuse, judge, and condemn himself,for being the cause, andprocurer of his own troubles. He may lawfully be discontented, and vexed with himself for his own folly, when the iniquity of his heels com passeth him about. And truly it is butfeldom that any great affliction befals agraciousperson, but he fawthe needoffuch a rod,before he felt it.
Hath God smitten thy child, or friend, and didstthou not foresce some harp trial coming? Did not thy fond, fecurs
A Token for Mourners. carnal temper, need such a scourge, to awaken, quicken, and purge thee ? Or, if you did not foresee it, it is now your duty to search, and examine yourselves. So the church, in her affliction, resolved, Lam. iii. 40. " Let us search and try our " ways." When God issmiting, we should be a searching : Surely our iniquities will enquire after us, if we will not enquire after them : Yea, in the day of affliction, a gracious foul is inquisitive about nothing more than the procuring, and provoking cause of his troubles. Job x. 2. " Shew mewhere- " forethou contendest with me ;" q. d. Lord, what special corruption is it that this rod is sent to rebuke? What sinful neglect doth it come to humble me for ? O discover it now to me, and recover me now from it. And having found the root, and cause of their troubles, ingenuous foulswill shame themselves for it, and give glory to God, by an humble submission, and vindication of the equity of his proceedings. Job vii. 20. " I have finned, what shall I " do unto thee, thou preserver of men?" He thinks it no shame freely to discover unto God,and deeply to abasehimself -before him for this folly.
Irememberachoice note that * Mr. Brightmanhath,in his commentary upon the Canticles.
Holymen, faith he, after their hearts are renewed by repentance, are not ashamed to remember, and confess their flips, and shameful falls to the glory of God, for they account that glory which such confessions takefromthem, is not loft, whilst it goes to the glory of God. If his glory may rife out of our shame,how willing should we be to take such shame to us? Holy David was not ashamed to acknowledge, Psal. xxxviii. 5. "My wounds stink, and are corrupted, because of my foolishness." He is the wisest man that thus befools Mimselfbefore God.
It is true, God may afflict from prerogative, or for trial; but we may always fee cause enough in ourselves, and it is safest to charge it upon our own folly.
Lastly, The afflicted Christian may, in an humble, submissive manner, plead with God, and be earnest for the removal of the affliction.
enim pudet fanctos viros,postquam renovata cordafuerint perrefipifcentiam, lapsusfui &dedecoris ad Deigloriam meminisse.
Nihilnobis decedit, quod cedit in ill i us bonorem. Brightmanin Cant, c. 1. V. 4. P. 11. Gg2
236 A Token for Mourners. When affliction presseth us above strength, when it disables us for duty, or when it gives advantage to temptation ; then we may fay, with David,"Remove thy stroke from me, I am "confumedby the blow of thine hand," Psal. xxxix. 10. Even our Lord Jesus Christ, in thedayofhis troubles, poured out his foul with strong cries,andmanytears,saying, " Father, " if thou be willing, let this cup pass from me," Luke xxii. 42. Oppressednaturedefires ease,andevenourrenewed.nature desires freedom from those clogs, and temptations, which hinder us in duty, or expose us to snares.
Thus far we may safely go. But sorrow then becomes sinful,and excessive,when, First, It caufethus to flight, and despise all our other mercies, andenjoyments, assmallthings, in comparison of what we have lost.
It often falls out, that the setting of one comfort,clouds, ⚫and be nights all the rest. Our tears for our loft enjoyments, fo blind our eyes, that we cannot fee the many other mercies which yet remain: We take so much noticeofwhat is gone,. that we take little or no notice of what is left. But this is very sinful, for it involves in it both ignorance, ingratitude, and great provocation.
It is a fin springing from ignorance. Didweknow thedefertofour fins, we should rather wonder to fee one mercy left, than that twenty are cut off. They that know they have forefeitedevery mercy, should be thankful that they enjoy any, andpatientwhen they lose any of their comforts.
DidweknowGod, even that sovereign Lordatwhosedispose our comforts come and go, who can the next moment blast all that remain, and turn you into hell afterwards, you would prizethemercies he yet indulges to you, at an higher value.
Did you understand the fickle, vanithing, nature of the creature, what a flower, what a bubble it is; O how thankful would you be, to find so many yet lest in your possession!
Did you know the case of thousands, as good, yea, better than you, whosewholeharvestofcomfortinthis world is but a handful, to the gleanings of the comforts you still enjoy,whe in all their lives never were owners of such comfortable enjoy- : ments as you now overlook; furelyyou would not act as you
what vile ingratitude is in this? What, are all your remaining mercies worth nothing ? You have buried a child, a friend; well, but still you have a husband,a wife,
A Token for Mourners. . 337 other children; or, if not,you have comfortable accommodations for yourselves, with health to enjoy them ; or, if not, yet have you the ordinances of God, it may be, an interest in Chriftand in the covenant, pardon of fin, and hopes of glory. What,andyetfink at this rate, as if all your mercies, comforts, and hopes, even in both worlds, were buried in one grave.
written upon your best mercies, because mortality is written upon one ? Fy, fy, what shameful ingratitude is here?
And really, friend,such a carriage as this under the rod, is no small provocation to the Lord togo on in judgment, and make a full end of all that remains, so that affliction shall not rifeup the second time.
What if God, taking notice how little thou regardest the manyundeserved favours thou yet poslessest, should say, well, if thou thinkest them not worth the owning, neither do I think themworththe continuing ? Go, death, there is a husband,a wife, other children yet left, smitethem all. Go, sickness, and remove the health of his body yet left ; go, losses, and impoverish his estate yet left ; go, reproach, and blast his reputation,which is yet sweet ; what would you think of this ? And yet, if thou be out of Christ,you are in danger of a far sadder stroke than any, or all yet mentioned ; what if God should say, Prizest thou not my mercy? Hast thou no value for my goodness, and forbearance towards thee ? Is it nothing that I have spared thee thus long in thy fins, and rebellions ? Well, then, I will stretch out myhanduponthy life, cut off that threadwhichhath kept thee so many years from dropping into hell.
O think, then, whatyouhave done,by provoking the Lord, through your vile ingratitude! It is a dangerous thing to provoke God, when he is already in away of judgment. And if you be his own people,and so out of the danger of this last and worst stroke ; yet know, you have better mercies to lose than any you have yet loft. Should God cloud your souls with doubts, let loose Satan to buffet you, remove joy and peace from your innerman,how soon would you be convinced that the funeral of your dearest friend is but a trifle to this?
Well then,whatever God takes, be still thankful for what he leaves. It was the great fin of Ifraelinthe wilderness, that though God had delivered them from their cruel servitude in Egypt, miraculously fed them in the desart, and was leading them ontoaland flowing with milk and honey; yet as foor
238 A Token for Mourners . as any wantdidbut begin to pinch them,presently all these mercies were forgotten and flighted,Numb. xiv. 12. "Would " to God(faythey) we had died in Egypt." And,Numb. xi. 6. " There is nothing at all beside this manna." Beware of this,O ye mourning and afflicted ones. You fee both the fin that is in it, and the danger that attends it.
Secondly, And no less sinful are our sorrows,When theyfo wholly ingulphour hearts, that weeithermindnot at all, or are little or nothingsensibleofthe public evils and calamities, which lie upon the churchandpeople of God.
Some Christians have such public spirits,that the church's troubles swallow up their personal troubles. Melancthon seemed to take little notice of the death of his child which he dearly loved,being almost overwhelmed with the miseries lying on the church.
And it was a good evidence ofthegraciousness andpublicness of Eli's spirit,who sitting in the gate, anxiously waiting for tidings from the army,when the tidings came that Israel fled before the Philistines, that his two sons Hophui and Phinehas were dead, and that the ark of God was taken,just at the mention of that word, * The ark of God, before he heard out the whole narration, his mind quickly presaged the ifssue, he funkdown and died, 1 Sam. iv, 17. 18, O that was the finking, the killing word; had the messenger stopt at the death of his two sons, like enough he had supported that burden; but the loss of the ark was more to him than sons of daughters.
But how few such public spirits appear even among professors in this selfish generation ? May we not with the apostle complain, Phil. ii. 21. "Allfeektheirown,and not the things " that are of Christ:" Fewmen have any great cares orde signs, lying beyond the bounds oftheirownprivate interest. And what we say of cares,is as true offorrows: Ifa child die, we are ready to die too, but public calamities pierce us not.
How few suffer either their domestic comforts to be swallowed up in the church's troubles, or their domestic trou bles to be swallowed up by the church's mercies ! Now when it is thus with us,when we littleregardwhat mercies or miseries
Cumque ille nominasset arcam Dei. q. d. nondum integram, fed inchoatam audiens narrationem, mentepraevolanset exitum praefagiens ruebat. Merecz. inloc.
fieupon others, but are wholly intent upon our own afflictions, this isa sinful sorrow, and ought to be forrowed for.
Thirdly, Our sorrows then become sinful and exorbitant, When they divert us from, or distract us in, our duties, fo that our intercourse with heaven isftopt and interrupted by them.
How longcanwe fit alone musing uponadead creature? Here our thoughts easily flow; but how hard to fix them up. on the living God! when our hearts should be in heaven with our Christ, they are in the grave with our dead. May not many afflicted foulsjustly complain, that their troubles had taken away their Christ from them, (I mean as to sweet sensible communion) and laid the dead child in his room ?
Poor creature, cease to weep any longer for thy dead relation, and weep rather for thy dead heart. Is this thy compliance with God's design in afflicting thee? What, to grow