Part II (continued, part 2)
point of it; but I will somewhat more largely open and explain it, only as it is a direction, and means of support and comfort in this distress, and so take it as it riseth out of the text. Thus That to one who resolves to fear God and obey him, the name of God is an all-sufficient prop and stay for his faith to rest on, when he sees nothing in himself, or in any promise in the world belonging unto him.
The name of God alone is here opposed to all other means and props which faith hath to rest on. It is opposed to all comfortable sense of God s love, to all sight of any grace in a man s self to which any promise is made. So that when the soul shall look into itself with one eye, and glance over all the word of God with another ; and yet shall see not any one grace in the one, nor promise in the other made to any grace within itself which it may rest upon ; yet the soul then looking upon God, and considering what a God he is, and what he says of himself, of his mercy and kindness, and free grace towards sinful men, even the sole consideration of what merely it knows to be in God, as he is revealed in the covenant of grace, may support him. This it is to stay upon his name.
Now, to explain this further to you. By the name of God two things are meant : First, Those glorious attributes, especially of grace and mercy, whereby God hath expressed himself, and made himself known to us.
Secondly, Jesus Christ, as he is made and set forth to be righteousness to the sons of men.
For the first, in Exod. xxxiv. 4-7, the Lord proclaimed his name, The Lord God, merciful, gracious, long-suffering, abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin, and will by no means clear the impenitent.
For the second, I refer to that place, Jer. xxiii. 6, speaking of Christ, 1 This is the name wherewith he shall be called, or made known to us, THE
326 A CHILD OF LIGHT WALKING IX DARKNESS. [PART II.
LORD OUE RIGHTEOUSNESS ; that is, that Jesus Christ, who is God, hath righteousness in him for us, which may be made ours.
So that when a poor soul in distress is not able to say, I see such or such signs, or any evidence in myself, whereby I can say God is my God, or that Christ is mine ; yet because I see free grace enough in God, and righteousness in Christ, which I, being a sinful man, and not a devil, may therefore be capable of, and may come to have an interest in them, though I know no thing in myself whereby I can challenge any present interest ; and because Grace and Mercy is his name, and Our Righteousness his Son s name, there fore I do cast myself upon both for pardon and favour, and thereupon my soul leans, stays, and abides, and from these it will not be driven. So that these two apprehensions meeting in the heart in truth, help to make up this resting upon his name here spoken of : namely, first, that there is such free grace, good-will, and mercy, c., in God, and that Jesus Christ is appointed and made to be our righteousness ; and, secondly, that I am capable of, and may come to have an interest in both these, and that though there be no thing in me which may challenge an interest in them, yet there is nothing that excludes me ; whereupon I cast myself upon God for both, and there rest ; yea, though I cannot yet say that ever I shall obtain them. And this, where it is truth, and accompanied with that firm resolution of turning to God in all things before-mentioned, is as good faith as any of you have in your hearts.
And so I come to the proof of this : namely, that when the name of God and Christ are thus simply and alone apprehended, they may be sufficient ground for faith to rest upon ; than which nothing can be more comfortable to a poor distressed believer. JSTum. xiv., when God s wrath waxed hot against his people, as sometimes in like manner it doth against a poor soul, that God began to say, How long shall they provoke me ?
J ver. 1 1, and speaks of destroying them, and of making Moses a great nation ; what hath Moses s faith recourse unto, but to that proclamation of his name you heard of before ? and urgeth that, ver. 17, 18, Let the power of my Lord be great, according as thou hast spoken. The Lord is long-suffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin. And he desires him to shew his power in pardoning, because as much power is seen in overcoming his wrath as in making a world. Let thy power be great ; it was his name, you see, that was alleged by Moses, and prevailed with God for mercy. So also for his Son s sake, The Lord our righteousness: Elihu says, Job xxxiii., when a man s soul is in deepest distress, as in ver. 19-22 he describes
If there be a messenger to shew a man his upright it, yet says he, ver. 23, ness, that is, that righteousness that is laid up for men in the Lord Jesus, then God is gracious to him, and says, Deliver him ; and, he resting thereupon, his flesh returns to him again, becoming a means to stay him and restore him. I mention these places of the Old Testament rather than of the New ; out of which you see God s name and his Son s name are allsufficient to uphold and support a soul. So the penman of that psalm, whe ther David or whoever, Ps. cxxx., when he was in his depths, as ver. 1, 2, plunged over head and ears in sorrow and discomfiture, what hath his faith recourse unto ? ver. 4, to God s name, to nothing that was in himself, but simply to what his faith apprehended to be in God. Mercy is with thee ; he says no more : in him, and with him, it is to be had. And he confirms his faith in that by this argument, because else none would fear him ; and, if thou wert extreme to mark what were amiss, no man could stand, or would be saved. Therefore, surely, says he, mercy is with thee, and,
DIRECT. VII.] A CHILD OF LIGHT WALKING TN DARKNESS. 327 therefore let Israel hope in the Lord, ver. 7. And why 1 What ! because
Israel sees he hath grace in himself? No, but because mercy is with him and plenteous redemption/ ver. 7 ; which word redemption hath relation to his Son s name. There is enough in him, else he will have none ; and Israel is mentioned in his will as capable of it ; and therefore, says he, I will wait and hope in the Lord, ver. 5. And though he could not say that God had forgiven him, yet forgiveness was with him, and there he pitcheth and resteth his soul ; as a beggar at a great man s door, when there is none else in the country able or willing to relieve him, there he lies, though he knows not whether he shall have anything or no. In my father s house there is bread enough, says the prodigal ; there it is to be had, and nowhere else ; .and there is enough. And crumbs will serve me, says the woman of Canaan. Thou art the Mediator, thought she, and it is thy business to save ; and though I am a dog, yet I am capable of having crumbs. Woman, says
Christ, great is thy faith ; not such faith among all my disciples. These trusted in his name, and nothing in themselves. So Ps. Ixii, David says, at ver. 5, he trusted in God for salvation and mercy, and exhorts throughout the whole, trust in God fully, and at all times, and in no creature/ ver.
S, 9. And what was it he rested upon ? Simply two attributes of his, viz., mercy and power : God hath spoken once/ (that is, irrevocably ; as Ps.
Ixxxviii. 35, Once have I sworn/ c.,) and twice I have heard this/ that is, often met with it in the word, and thought of it, says he, that with God is power/ ver. 11, so as he is able to save in the greatest distress ; and I have heard that to him belongeth mercy also/ ver. 1 2, and therefore he may be willing to help ; and because these are in him, though I have nothing in myself, yet these I rest upon, and these alone. Many such instances more might be brought.
The reasons why the name of God, and what is in God, is prop sufficient for faith to rest upon, are Reason 1. Because the name of God, that is, God s attributes, and Christ s righteousness, do sufficiently, and adequately, and fully answer all wants and doubts, all objections and distresses we can have, or can be in. Whatsoever our want or temptations be, he hath a name to make supply. Tor example, to take that his name in pieces, mentioned Exod. xxxiv. 5, 0, consider every letter in that his name, and every letter answers to some temptation may be made by us.
Art thou in misery and great distress ? He is merciful ; The Lord mer ciful. The Lord, therefore able to help thee ; and merciful, therefore ivilling. Yea, but thou wilt say, I am unworthy ; I have nothing in me to move him to it. Well, therefore, he is gracious ; now grace is to shew mercy freely. Yea, but I have sinned against him long, for many years ; if I had come in when I was young, mercy might have been shewn me. To this he says, I am long-suffering Yea, but my sins every way abound in number, and it is impossible to reckon them up, and they abound in heinousness ; I have committed the same sins again and again ; I have been false to him, broke promise with him again and again. His name also answers this objec tion, he is abundant in goodness ; he abounds more in grace than thou in sinning. And though thou hast been false again and again to him, and broke all covenants, yet he is abundant in truth ; also better than his word, for he cannot to our capacities express all that mercy that is in him for us.
Yea, but I have committed great sins, aggravated with many and great cir cumstances, against knowledge, wilfully, &c. He forgives iniquity, trans gression, and sin; sins of all sorts. Yea, but there is mercy thus in him but
328 A CHILD OF LIGHT WALKING IN DARKNESS. [PART II. for a few, and I may be none of the number. Yes, there is mercy for thou sands. And he keeps it ; treasures of it lie by him, and are kept, if men would come and take them.
Object what thou canst, his name will answer thee. Needest thou com fort as well as pardon ? He is both Father of mercies and God of all comforts : ; that is his name, 2 Cor. i. 3. Needest thou peace of conscience, being filled with terrors ? He is the God of peace, 1 Thess. v. 23. Yea, but I have a heart empty of grace and holiness, and fall of corruptions. He is the God of all grace to heal thee, as well as of peace to pardon thee. Needest thou wisdom and direction ? He is the Father of lights, as the Apostle says. Is thy heart inconstant and full of double-mindedness ? He is unchangeable also, as he speaks there, James i. Thus all objections that can be made may be answered out of his name. Therefore it is all-suffi cient for faith to rest upon.
The like may be fully shewed in his Son s name ; in whom God hath made himself strong to shew mercy and bestow all good things. Whose name is adequate to God s name ; that is, is of as large extent in worth and merit, as God s heart is in his purposes of shewing and bestowing mercies, to purchase all that God meant to bestow. Whose name hath likewise an all-sufficiency in it to supply all our wants and desires, and satisfy all scruples. For example, that his name mentioned by the prophet, Isa. ix. 6, which he here directs to, compared with 1 Cor. i. 30. For, would we have peace of conscience, and the guilt of sins removed ? Pie is the Prince of Peace, and is made righteousness to us. Are we in depths of distress, terrors within, terrors without, out of which we see no redemption 1 He is the mighty God; able to save to the utmost, being made redemption to us. Want we grace and his image to be renewed and increased in us ? He is the everlasting Father ; &feither to beget his likeness in us, and everlast ing to maintain it ever, when it is begun once : he is made sanctification to us. Want we wisdom to guide us ? He is the Counsellor, and is made ivisdom to us. All we want he hath ; even as all he hath we want. And further, although we not only want all these, but never so much of all these, his name is also Wonderful. For such he is in all these ; able to do be yond all our expectations, to wonderment.
Or if the soul desires more distinct and particular satisfaction in point of justification, which consists in the pardon of sins and acceptation to the favour of God, it being the point which in this state of desertion is ques tioned, and wherein the soul desires satisfaction ; that other name of his, The Lord our righteousness,* Jer. xxiii. G, will answer all objections and doubts that our hearts can make, if we had but skill to spell all the letters in it. For if that righteousness of his satisfied God, who, in condemning us, is greater than our hearts, 1 John iii. 20, then it may satisfy our hearts much more. The righteousness of his life and death is not only wri\vrov, an adequate sufficient ransom, 1 Tim. ii. 6, but there is plenteous redemption in it, Ps. cxxx., yea, to superfluity, as the Apostle s phrase implies : vxeesvteovace, 1 Tim. i. 14, that is, over-full, more than would serve the turn, and that to pardon his sins, who, ver. 15, was the chief of sinners. He else where challengeth all the wit and powers of sin and hell and darkness to appear in this dispute, and undertakes to answer them all out of this one position, which he lays as a bottom truth, Christ hath died, Rom. viii. 34, which is in effect the same with this, The Lord our righteousness ; Who therefore, says he, shall condemn V What can be alleged, either in the heinousness of sin in general, or in any of thy sins in particular, unto which
DIRECT. VII.] A CHILD OF LIGHT WALKING TN DARKNESS
an answer may not hence be fetched from the righteousness of his death and life? Is it that sin is an offence against the great God Against thee, against thee/ &c., as David speaks ? And is not this his righteousness, the righteousness of Jehovah Jehovah our righteousness, who is the mighty God ? Is the glory of this great God, and all his excellencies, debased by us in sinning 1 And will not the emptying of his glory, Phil. ii. 7, whose name is the brightness of his Father s glory/ Heb. i. 3, in performing this righteous ness for us, satisfy and make amends ? Are our sins the transgression of the holy and righteous law in every part of it 1 And did not Jehovah, who gave and made that law, to make himself our righteousness, * make himself under the law, Gal. iv. 4, and, to make up a full righteousness, fulfil every part of it 1 Rom. viii. 3, 4. Is it thy continuance in sin, and the number and the iteration of them, that amazeth thee ?
All fulness dwells in him who is our righteousness, Col. I 19, and hath dwelt in him longer than sin in thee ; and the righteousness of our Messiah is * everlasting righteousness/ Dan. ix. 24 ; the merit of which an eternity of sinning could not expend or make void. And is all this righteousness laid up for himself only, or for any other sort of creatures, so as thou mightest never come to have an interest in it ? No; the top of our comfort is, that our righteousness is one letter of his name, and that our names are put into his. For us it is, and ours it is or dained to be : as much ours, to save us, trusting upon it, as his own to glorify him. Ours, not for himself; he had no need of it, being God blessed for ever. Ours, not the angels ; neither the good, for they are justified by their own; nor the bad, they are put out of God s will for ever. But ours, who are the sons of men ; and among them, theirs especially who are broken, lost, whose souls draw near to the grave, and their lives to the destroyers/ and that come and pray unto God, and stay themselves upon it : unto them God cannot deny it, for it is theirs. For he will render to man his righte ousness/ Job xxxiii. 22, 26. So as his Son s name also is all-sufficient to answer all objections for faith to rest upon : So as they that know his name will trust in him/ Ps. ix. 10.
Reason 2. A second reason why his name is sufficient, though you have and see nothing in you, nor any promise made to any grace in you to rest upon, is, because even all those promises made to conditions in us, which we ordinarily look unto, are yea and amen only in this his name and his Son s name. That is the original of them all, the root, the seed of them all ; his name is the materia prima, the first matter of all those secondary pro mises, ex quo fiunt, et in quod resolvuntur ; his name gives being to them all. If it were not for the mercy, grace, truth, kindness in him, and the righteousness which is in his Son, all the promises which are made, what were they worth ? As the worth of bonds depends upon the sufficiency of the man who makes them, so all these promises upon his name. Therefore now, when you rely upon his name, having as yet no promise made to any thing in you to rely upon, you then rely upon that which is the foundation of all those promises ; you then have recourse to the original, which is more authentical than extract copies ; you rely on that which all those other are resolved into, and therefore is sufficient, though all the rest fail you in your, apprehension.
Reason 3. Thirdly, his mere name is support enough for faith, and may be so ; because it is for his name s sake, and Ms Son s name s sake, he doth all he doth ; and for nothing in us, but merely for what is in himself. So Isa. xlviii. 9, 10, For my name s sake/ &c.; so also Ezek. xxxvi. 22, 32, For my name s sake, and not your sake; and Isa. xliii. 2o, I am he that blot-
350 A CHILD OF LIGHT WALKING IN DAEKNESS. [PAET II. teth out tliy transgression for my own sake, and will not remember thy sins. For it lie blotteth out transgression, and pardoneth. And if it be for his name s sake he doth all he doth, and fullilleth all promises made to us, and to what is in us, then when thou seest nothing in thyself to which any promise is made, nothing which may appear to be any argument or motive that he will pardon thee, then trust thou in that his name ; that because he is God, and hath mercy in him, that therefore he will do it. For that thing which is the only or main motive to God himself to do any thing for us, must needs be, when apprehended and believed, the strongest and surest ground for our faith also, to persuade the heart that he will do it. As it is in knowledge, the knowledge of the cause of things causeth the surest knowledge; so in faith, the knowledge of the main motive to God the cause of all, causeth the greatest certainty of persuasion.
This then may direct poor souls in distress what to venture all upon ; upon what ground to hazard souls, labours, endeavours, faith, repentance, obe dience, and all, upon his name, when they see nothing in themselves to which, any promise belongs. As David says, Ps. Ixxiii. 26, My heart may fail, and my flesh may fail, but God will never fail : so I may say, your comforts in prayers, in hearing, your joys, your earnest-pennies you have laid up, may be all spent in a dearth, your own graces, and all promises made to them ; your own hearts may fail, and being creatures they use to fail again and again; but God s name and his Son s name, rested on, will never fail you. Lean on these, not by halves, in distress, but trust perfectly, as the Apostle says, on that mercy you hear is in God, upon that grace re vealed, 1 Pet. i. 13, that is, throw and cast your whole souls, your whole weight upon it. He only hath perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee, Isa. xxvi. 3. Have not half thy soul on that rock which is higher than thou, Ps. Ixi. 2, but creep up and get all upon it ; and when all fail, renew thy faith on his name. Thereon rest, there die. To this purpose may that of Solomon serve, Prov. xviii. 10: His name, says he, is a strong tower, and the righteous fly to it, and are safe. Now what end is there and use of a tower in a city, but when all outworks are taken, the walls scaled, all fortifications forsaken, houses left ? then a tower holds out last, and is a refuge to flee to. So also when the devil and God s wrath beleaguers thee round, and enconipasseth thy soul, and the comfort of every grace in thee is taken from thee, and thou art driven from, and art forced to forsake all other thy holds and grounds of comfort, then fly to the name of the Lord as thy city of refuge ; as, Heb. vi. 18, it is compared. Say, There is mercy in thee, Lord, and that is thy name ; and there is righteousness in thy Son, and that is his name : and I am directed to trust in thy name in time of need. And here rest, and catch hold as on the horns of the altar; and if thou diest, die there.
DIRECTION VIII.
The eighth direction is, to wait upon God, thus trusting in his name, in the constant use of all ordinances and means of comfort. Waiting is indeed but an act of faith further stretched out. As an allegory is but a continued metaphor, so waiting is but a continuing to believe on God, and to look for help from him with submission, though he stays long ere he comes. Wait ing is an act of faith resting on God ; and an act of hope expecting help from him ; an act of patience, the mind quietly contenting itself till God doth come; and of submission if he should not come. Therefore, says the church, being in this very case, Lam. iii. 26, It is good to hope, and quietly to wait
DIRECT. VIIL] A CHILD or LIGHT WALKING IN DAEKNESS. 331 for the salvation of the Lord. It is good indeed to do so : for God will afflict you less, ease you the sooner, comfort you the more when he doth come ; and in the meanwhile it makes you to possess your souls, and to be yourselves, and upholds them. And to do otherwise, to be impatient, and to give over looking for the Lord, as Ahaz did, is the greatest folly that can be; for, as Job says, chap. xii. 14, If he shut up, there is no opening ; all the world cannot let you out ; he keeps the keys of the dungeon, and you must stay his leisure. And he stays but for a fit time to let you out, Isa. xxx.
18, He will wait to be gracious to you, for he is a God of judgment, a wise and judicious God, and knows the fittest times and seasons. And that he stays so long is not out of want of mercy, for he waits and longs to be gracious, but he doth it out of judgment, and his wisdom sees not a fit time ; he is grieved as well as you that you are not yet fit for mercy, that his mercy should not yet be exalted, if he would shew it, till you further see your misery ; and therefore, says he, Blessed are all they that wait for him. And as he now waiteth but to be the more gracious to thee, so he did heretofore a long while wait for thee, that thou shouldest begin to turn to him and say, When will it once be ? Jer. xiii. 27. Thou madest him stay thy leisure in turning from thy sin; why may he not make thee stay his for the pardon of it ? And indeed the escaping hell in the end is so great a mercy, that it is worth the waiting for all thy days, though thou endure a hell here, and gettest not a good look till the very last gasp and moment of living ; there fore put thy mouth in the dust, and wait quietly, if there may be hope at last, Lam. iii. 20. And waiting thus, go on to use all the means of grace more diligently, more constantly, though thou findest a long while no good by them. Omit no ordinance God hath appointed for thy comfort and recovery. As in a long sickness, you still use means though many have failed ; as the woman who had the bloody issue spent all upon physicians, in the use of means for her re covery. That trouble of mind doth only hurt you that drives you from the means. Therefore the devil endeavours nothing more than to keep such souls from the word, from good company, from the sacraments, from prayer, by objecting their unprofitableness unto them, and that all is in vain, and that you do but increase your condemnation.
But, first, if thou learnest no other lesson in the use of the means but that thou art of thyself most unprofitable, and that unless God teacheth thee to profit no good is done, and so learnest to depend upon God in the ordinance ; this is a great degree of profiting. And, secondly, as when men are sick and eat, and cast up again, you use to say, yet take something down, for some strength is gotten, something remains in the stomach which keeps life and soul together: so I say here, though thou shouldest forget in a manner all thou hearest, seemest to reap no benefit by it, yet hear, for some secret strength is gotten by it. And as for increasing thy condemnation, know that utterly to neglect and despise the means is greater condemnation ; and that to use the means would lessen thy condemnation. Therefore read, pray, meditate, hear, confer, receive the sacraments, forbear not these your appointed meals. Indeed when the body is sick ye use to forbear your appointed food, but when the soul is sick there is more need of them than ever. All these are both meat and medicine, food, physic, cordials, and all. Use reading the word ; the Scriptures were written for our consolation, therefore read them much ; attend on preaching, for God creates the fruit of the lips, Peace, Isa. Ivii. 19. So receive the sacrament often. those days are sealing days ; go thou and confess thy sins,
A CHILD OF LIGHT WALKING IN DARKNESS. [?AET II. write over thy pardon, put in all thou knowest by thyself, bring it to Christ to set his seal to it.
Only take this caution, that thou trust not to the use of the means, but unto God in the means. To think, Oh, I shall have comfort by such a man, or at such a time, in such an ordinance ; this often dasheth all. So believe in God as if you used no means, and yet as diligently use the means, even as if your confidence were to be in them.
DIRECTION IX. To pray; pleas to be used to God in prayer for recovery out of this condition.
And, ninthly, above all things pray; and get others also to pray for thee, for God often restores comfort unto such at the request of mourners for them, Isa. Ivii. 18. But yet especially be earnest and fervent in pouring forth thy complaint thyself; for though the speaking of friends may some what further thy suit, yet, as between two wooers, so it must be wrought out between God and thee alone in private ; and his good-will must be ob tained by wooing him in secret. This counsel the Apostle gives you, James v. 13, Is any man afflicted? let him pray. And because of all afflictions else, this of darkness in a man s spirit needeth prayer the most ; therefore David pens a psalm on purpose, not for his own private use only, but for the benefit and use of all other in the like distress, as, by the title of it, doth appear, Ps. cii. : A prayer for the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed, and poureth out his complaint before the Lord. And this, says David, is my constant practice, when my soul is overwhelmed, I pour out niy prayer unto thee, Ps. Ixi. 2. And it was Christ s also, for in his agony he prayed yet more earnestly, Luke xxii. 44.
When at any time, therefore, thy sins and God s wrath, meeting in thy conscience, make thee deadly sick, as Isaiah speaks, then pour forth thy soul, lay open and confess thy sin and as it will ease thee, as vomiting useth to do, so also it will move God to pity, and to give thee cordials and comforts to restore thee again. Thus David, Ps. xxxviii. 18, (being in great distress, ver. 2-5,) I will declare mine iniquity, and be sorry for my sin; and he makes it an argument to God to pardon him, when his bones were broken, Ps. li., Cleanse me from my sin, ver. 2, for I acknowledge my trans gressions, ver. 3 ; and when he had confessed, ver. 4-6, then he cries, Make me to hear of joy and gladness, ver. 8; and i restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, ver. 12. And what was the chief ingredient, the main and principal motive, which wrought most kindly with him to confess and mourn, and brought up all? Against thee, thee only : he puts in twice as much of the consideration thereof as of any other ingredient, to make his heart mourn; that chiefly, if not only, melted, dissolved him. And in these thy confessions, let the same also mainly work with thee. Against thee, thee, have I sinned, thus oft, thus grievously, thus presumptuously ; against thee, a God so great, and yet withal so good, so kind, so willing to receive and pardon, if my heart (say) were but as willing to turn unto thee. And when thy case is as Job s was, chap. x. 15-17, that thou art full of confusion, as he speaks there ; so full as thou thinkest thy heart could hold no more ; and yet it increaseth, as it is there, and he fills thee fuller yet ; then do thou pour out thy complaints to him, as he pours in confusion into thee \ and when he hunts thee, as Job there complains, like a fierce lion, fall thou down and humble thyself like a poor and silly lamb; if thou diest, die at
DIRECT. IX.] A CHILD OF LIGHT WALKING IN DARKNESS. 333 his feet, mourning, bleeding out tliy soul in tears. And when he hunts thee up and down, and pursues thee with blow after blow, follow thou hard after him* wherever he goes, Ps. Ixiii. 8, with complaint after complaint. And when yet he leaves thee not, but again and again returns, as some read it, after some intermission, and shews himself terrible to thee day after day, night after night, yet do thou look in like manner again and again towards his holy temple, as Jonah did, chap. ii. 4. And when he begins to bring in new sins, new indictments against thee, as it is in the 17th verse, Thou renewest thy witnesses; and when thou thoughtest he had done with thee, he fetcheth new rods forth, and enters into new quarrels and reckonings long since past and forgotten, as it is in the same verse, changes and war against me, vicissitudes and armies of disquietments; and when one army is overcome, new appear in the field ; then fall thou down upon thy knees, and say as Job at last doth, cjiap. vii. 20, I have sinned, 1 1 have sinned, what shall I do unto thee? what shall I do unto thee? thou preserver and not the destroyer of men : these and these abominations I have done, and I cannot now undo them ; and what shall I do to obtain thy favour ? Alas ! nothing that can satisfy him ; only confess thy sins, accept thy punishment, Lev. xxvi. 41. Go and strip thyself therefore, and with all submission present a naked
back to him; and though every stroke fetcheth not blood only, but well-nigh thy soul away, yet complain thou not one whit of him; put thy mouth in the dust, Lam. iii. 29, 30. Be still, not a word; but only such as whereby thou utterest thy complaints, and dost acknowledge thine own cleservedness of ten thousand times more ; and say, as Mic. vii. 9, I will bear thine indignation patiently, for I have sinned against thee. Bear wit ness still to every stroke, that it is not only just, but also less than thou hast deserved, Ezra ix. 13; and that it is his mercy thou art not consumed and cut off by every blow; and the heavier he lays on, struggle thou not, he will let thee down the sooner. The higher he lifts up his hand to strike, the lower let thy soul fall down : humble yourselves under his mighty hand; and still kiss the rod when he hath done.
And then take up words of pleading for thyself, it is for thy life, desiring him to remember what he hath been ever thinking of, even from ever lasting, thoughts of peace and mercy to us-ward, and the number of them cannot be told, as David says, Ps. xl. 5 ; which he hath been ever thinking of, and with the greatest of delights, as one that was in his bosom, and was his counsellor, (his Son,) tells us, Prov. viii. 31. And plead thou as David and other saints of God have done. What are now become of all these thy thoughts of mercy? Are they restrained? Isa. Ixiii. 16. What! are all now on the sudden forgotten, Ps. Ixxvii. 9, laid aside, which thou hast been thinking on so long ? Hast thou forgotten thine old and ancient delights ? Ask him if he hath forgotten his own name, to be gracious and abundant in kindness, it is his name. Say, Did the very intent of shewing mercy so infinitely beforehand possess thee with delights, and now, when thou shouldst come to put it in execution, and hast so fair an opportunity of doing it, to a soul as full of misery, the object of mercy, as ever, hast thou now no heart, no mind to it ? And withal, say that thou hast notice given thee of an infinite and all-sufficient righteousness in his Son, laid up in him, and that by his own procurement, whereof his Son never had, nor can have any need himself, being God blessed for ever ; and for whom was it then ap pointed but for the sons of man, those who are weary, wounded, sick, broken, lost? These his Son hath put into his will, Heb. ix 16, who still lives to be his own executor. And say further also to him that it is come to thine
334 A CHILD OF LIGHT WALKING IN DARKNESS. [PAET II. ears that his Spirit is the Comforter/ a God of comforts; and that his Son hath bought them all, his whole shop, and all his cordials, and all his skill, and is anointed with this Spirit, Isa. Ixi. 1-3, on purpose to pour Mm forth into the hearts of those that are wounded and sick and broken ; and the whole they have no need of them.
If it be said unto thee, Yea, but thou art most unworthy ; answer, But he professeth to love freely/ Hos. xiv. 4. If the greatness of thy sins be objected against thee, plead thou again that plenteous redemption is with him/ Psalm cxxx. 7 ; and if thou hast not enough to pardon me, say, I am con tent to go without. If thou art ungodly, say that thou believest on him that justifieth the ungodly/ Eom. iv. 5. If he puts thee off, as Christ a while did the woman of Canaan, and says he hath no need of thee ; say, that thou hast need of him, and canst no longer live without him ; for in his favour is thy life/ and that without it thou art undone. If he seems to rebuke thee, that how darest thou press thus to him who is the liigh and lofty One/ a sinful man to him whose name is Holy/ say, thou hast heard himself say, Thus saith that high and lofty One, whose name is Holy, that he dwells with Mm that is of a contrite spirit, to revive the heart of the humble/ Isa.
Ivii. 15. And be further bold to tell him that there are but a few in the world that do seek him, and if he should turn any away that do, he would have fewer ; for who would fear him, if there were not mercy in him and plenteous redemption V Psalm cxxx. 7.
If still he doth pursue thee, and Ms wrath lies heavy on thee, ask him what it is he aims at ? Is it to have the victory, and overcome when he judgeth? as Ptom. iii. 4 : which David also knew when he humbled him self, Psalm li. 4. Freely tell him that thou art willing to give it him, to yield to him, to stand out with him in nothing ; but art content to submit to Ms commanding will in all things, and to his condemning will also, if so he pleaseth: and that it shall be just, as David there acknowledged, if he doth condemn thee ; and justify thou Mm, whilst he is condemning thee ; and say that at the latter day he shall need no other judge against thee than thyself. Only beseech him to consider what honour it will be to him to pursue dry stubble/ and to break a poor dried leaf/ Job xiii. 25, that crumbleth under his fingers, if he doth but touch it, as Job pleads ; to break a reed that is broken already, Matt. xii. 20. Say, thou art not a fit match for Mm ; and he hath said, He will not contend for ever/ Isa, Ivii. 1 6, especially when he sees any to lay down the weapons, as thou art content to do.
Or is it, ask him, that he aims to have glory out of thy eternal con demnation in hell 1 Tell him it is true, he may ; and that this is some com fort to thee, that he may have glory out of thy death and destruction, who never yet had it out of thy life : but yet desire him to consider this before he thrusts his sword into thee, that he did first sheathe it in Ms Son s bowels, and that he may shew as much power in overcoming his wrath as in venting of it ; yea, and have also greater glory thereby. For, plead that thou art never able to satisfy him, though he should throw thee down to hell. He may cast thee into prison, but thou canst never pay the debt : and 1 what profit therefore will be in my blood V Psalm xxx. 9 ; and therefore, if satisfaction to his justice be his end, he might better accept that which his Son made him, and so he shall be sure to be no loser by thee : and thereby not only receive the glory of his justice, but shew the riches of his grace and mercy also, and so double the revenue of his glory in thee.
Or is it, Lord, that thou aimest to have more obedience from me than
DIRECT. IX.] A CHILD OP LIGHT WALKING IN DAEKNESS. 335 heretofore thou hast had ? Plead, that this is the way at present to disable thee for service, for that, while thou sufferest his terrors, tliou art as one among the dead, listless not to his business only, but to all things else ; 1 distracted with terrors, as Heman pleads, Psalm Ixxxviii. 15, so as the powers and forces of thy soul are scattered and dissolved, and cannot intend and attend upon their duty. And besides this distraction in thy spirit, plead, that it consumes thy strength also, dries up thy bones and mois ture, as David also often complaineth, and makes an argument of it, as Psalm xxxix. 10-13, Kemove thy stroke away from me: I am consumed by the blow of thy hand. When thou rebukest man for sin, thou makest his beauty to consume away as a moth : O therefore spare me, that I may recover strength, before I go hence, and be no more seen. And withal put him in mind, that if he should go on thus to deal with thee, as thou shoulclest not be able to do him much service, so nor to do it long. For it will cut short my days, say. This David pleadeth, Psalm Ixxxix. 46, 47, compared with the 39th Psalm, ver. 12, * How long, Lord? wilt thou hide thyself for ever 1 Shall thy wrath burn like fire 1 Remember how short my time is. As if he should have said, I have but a little time here allotted me in the world, though none of it be shortened. And further tell him, that for that little time thou hast to live, the more joy thou hast, the more service thou shalt be able for to do him ; and to go about his work more lively, and more e the joy of the Lord is our strength, Neh. viii. 10, and more strongly, for acceptably also, for thou lovest a cheerful giver, 2 Cor. ix. 7. And there fore entreat him to restore thee to the joy of his salvation, so shalt thou be able to do him more service in a week than in a year now ; long trouble of mind being as long sicknesses, which make all thy performances weak ; and it is for his disadvantage to have his servants lie long sick upon his hands.
And if it be objected against thee, that if thou shouldest be trusted with much assurance thou wouldst abuse it, and turn it into wantonness ; reply, that if he pleaseth he can prevent it, by preparing thy heart aforehand for these cordials, so as they shall work most kindly on thee; by writing a law of love towards him in thy heart, which when his love shed abroad shall join with, will work most strongly; and one grain of it hath moreforce to purge out sin, to constrain and strengthen to obedience, than a pound of terrors. And say, that though thou hast indeed a stubborn and self-loving heart, yet he can make his loving-kindness overcome it, for it is stronger than death, Cant. viii. 6. Say thou hast love in thee, (which runs out enough to other things,) if he would be pleased to win it to himself.
Suggest how that that soul mentioned Isa. Ivii. had as stout and stubborn
went on frowardly, notwithstanding all thy terrors : and yet (0 Lord !) thou tookest another course with him, and didst a heart as thou, and l heal him again, and that by comforts, ( I will heal him, says God there, and restore comforts unto him, ver. 18,) and that so, if he please, he may deal with thee.
And if light and mercy yet comes not, but still God seems as it were to cast thee off; then call to mind if ever thou hast had any true communion with him, and thereupon begin to challenge him. So doth the church, Isa.
Ixiii. 16, when in thy case; when his mercies were restrained to her, she says, yet doubtless thou art my father ; she saw God was angry, her heart hard, ver. 17, yet she thought she should know him : doubtless he is my father; and where is thy zeal, the sounding of thy bowels? So challenge him thou, upon that old acquaintance thou hast had and held with him in ( doubtless thou art my father and my husband, how former times. Say,
336 A CHILD OF LIGHT WALKING IN DAKKNESS. [PART II. strange soever thou earnest thyself now towards me
for dost tliou not re member what hath been between me and thee in prayer, in such a chamber, at such a time ? Hast thou never a piece of a broken ring between him and thee, no love-passage, no love-token, that could not pass between him and any whom he had not betrothed himself unto in kindness? Hosea ii. 19. Produce it at such a time as this. And if thou shouldest discern no grace in thee thyself, yet desire him to look into thy heart ; and be bold to inquire of him if he can see nothing there which himself wrote/never to be blotted out ; if there be not some spark of love to him and his fear which himself put there ; and ask him if he knows his own hand. And for thy comfort know, that when thou canst not read it, thy graces being much blurred, yet he can read his own hand at any time, and will not deny it. Thou mayest be yet bolder. Yea, desire him to look into his own heart, and therein to view the idea he had of thee, and those secret ancient thoughts he bore towards thee, from all eternity. And if at first he seems yet silent at it, then desire him to look upon thee again, and ask him if he doth not know thee, and if he hath not known and taken thee for his from everlast ing, and engraven thee on the palms of his hands and table of his heart, with such deep and lasting letters of loving-kindness as are not as yet, yea, which will not for ever be blotted out. Tell him thou darest refer thyself wholly to what passed between him and his Son concerning thee, and let his own heart cast it. Appeal to Christ as thy surety, and a witness thereof for thee, who was privy to all his counsel, whether thou art not one of those he gave unto him, with a charge to redeem and save. And desire him to look into Christ s heart also, if thy name be not written there with his own hand ; and if that Christ did not bear thy name written upon his heart, as the high priest did the names of all the tribes, when he hung upon the cross, and when he ascended into the holy of holies. Thus Habakkuk, putting up a prayer in the name of the church, hath taught us to plead, chap. i. 12, Lord, art not thou from everlasting my God, and mine Holy One ? It was a bold question ; yet God dislikes it not, but approves it, and presently assents to it in a gracious answer to their hearts ere they went any further ; for their next words, and those abruptly spoken, by reason of a sudden an swer, are an assurance of this, We shall not die/ God being put thus to it, and his own thoughts being spoken, could not deny it ; he acknowledged it wastrue. And thus whilst thou mayest be a-speaking blindfold, as it were, casting anchor in the dark, yet speaking his very heart, he haply may own thee, and fall upon thy neck and kiss thee.
And if yet, after continual praying thus, thou findest still no comfort, no answer from him, but he seems rather even to shut thy very prayers out, as Ps. xxii. 2, 3, then expostulate, as David doth, Ps. Ixxx. 4, Why shuttest thou out our prayers, and wilt not hear us pray V For, alas ! thought he, we have nothing else to help us in the time of need but prayer ; and if prayer will do no good, I am undone, say. And if through all these discouragements thy condition prove worse and worse, so as thou canst not pray, but art struck dumb when thou comest into his presence, as David, Ps. Ixxvii. 4, I am so troubled I cannot speak, then fall a-making signs when thou canst not speak ; groan, sigh, sob, chatter, as Hezekiah did ; bemoan thyself for thine own unworthiness, and desire Christ to speak thy requests for thee, and God to hear him for thee. Christ he is an advocate with the Father, 1 John ii. 2, and pleads no bad case, nor was ever cast in any suit he pleaded. And if still, haply, after many years, he owns thee not, but it grows darker
DIRECT. X.] A CHILD OF LIGHT WALKING IN DARKNESS. 337 and darker, suppose even till thy death approacheth, or to such extremities that he seems to thce to cast thee off for ever, so as thy distress boils up to such thoughts as these, that there is no other remedy but thou and he must part ; then in the midst and depths of such sad fears and apprehensions, down upon thy knees once more ; and notwithstanding fall thou a-blessing him for all those glorious excellencies of holiness, kindness, grace, wisdom, &c., which are in him, the beauty of which first took thy heart and made thee enamoured with him, though thou shouldst be never like to be the better for them.
Bless him for all the mercy he shews to others, by which they have occasion to magnify him, though thou shouldst be found unworthy. Bless him and those who shall for ever live with him, who do stand about him, and see his face, and enjoy him ever. What sins thou thinkest thou shalt be condemned for by him, condemn thyself for first, and still ask forgiveness of them. What service thou hast any way done him, which he had any glory by, get thy heart to say thou repentest not of it, but art glad of all done for him, arid wishest it had been better. What mercies thou hast tasted of from him, con fess thyself unworthy of, and thank him though thou shouldst never partake of any more. Such dispositions as these, in such extremities, do often ap pear in the hearts of God s children. And desire him that he would but preserve good thoughts of him in thee, that thou mayest not blaspheme him. And when thou art a-going, a-sinking into hell in thine own apprehensions, see if he calls thee not back again.
See what himself saith, Jer. xxxi. 18-20, Ephraim is my son, my dear son, my pleasant son, as he says there, and yet he began to speak against him as bitter sharp words as ever he hath done against thee, and took him up severely, and looked sternly on him, as if he had meant never to have had mercy on him : upon which Ephraim falls a-crying, being thus snibbed, and a-bemoaning himself/ as I have taught thee to do ; and being yoked as thou art, to tame him, he acknowledgeth it was justly done, having been a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke ; and Ephraim began to be ashamed, confounded, not able to look up, for sinning against him, and seeks after repentance, and that from him without whose help he was not able to turn to him, Turn thou me, and I shall be turned; and to challenge him and his eternal love, Thou art the Lord my God. Well, says God, though it be long since I spake against him, and I have suffered him long to lie thus plunged in misery, yet I remember him still; his tears, his sighs, will never out of my mind; and though he thinks that I had forgotten him, yet I remember him, and 1 my bowels are troubled for him, as much and more than he is for himself ; and I can forbear no longer, * I will surely have mercy on him. And should he have damned him, his bowels would have been troubled for him indeed, all his days.
DIRECTION X
The tenth and last direction is, that having done all this, you would not : not in ease of conscience, but in healing of con rest in ease, but healing science. This I ground upon Isa. Ivii. 17, 18. What was the true issue of that his trouble there, whom God contended with 1 ? It was healing and : I will guide him, and I will heal him. You that are troubled in mind, think not your estates to be good simply because you begin to cease to be troubled, but only then when the issue of guiding your trouble is healing your spirits, by some sound ground of comfort ; and when guidance in God s ways, and more close walking with God, is the issue of it. For God may slack the cords and take you off the rack when yet he
VOL. III. Y
338 A CHILD OF LIGHT WALKING IN DARKNESS. [PART II. hath not pardoned you. A traitor who was cast into the dungeon, and had many irons on him, may be let out of the dungeon, and have his irons taken off, and have the liberty of the Tower, and walk abroad again, with his keeper with him, and yet not have his pardon: nay, usually before exe cution they use to take the irons off, and let them have more freedom. Thus it is with many. I thank God, says one, I have had much trouble of mind, distress of conscience, such and such sins terrified me, and I could not sleep for them : but now I am well again, and now they do not trouble me. Yea, but is this all ? Thou hast cause to fear that thy irons are but taken off against execution. It is with men in point of trouble of mind in the guilt of sin, as in the power of it ; in justification as in sanctification. A man who hath had a strong lust stirring in him, if he hath gone a year or two, and findeth it not to stir, he therefore thinks he is utterly freed from it, which yet may be but a restraint of it, not killing of it ; a cessation, not mortifica tion. So it is often in this trouble of mind, which ariseth from the guilt of sin : because a man finds not those doubts, and fears, and terrors in his heart which he had wont, therefore presently he thinks all is well, whenas it may be but merely a truce, not a peace ; a laying down of arms only for a while, to make greater preparation against the soul afterwards j a reprieval and a little enlargement in prison, not a pardon, if this be all the issue of it.
That you may further conceive the meaning of this : in one that is God s child, and in a wicked man, though both may be and are troubled in mind and conscience, yet there is a main difference, both in the main cause of their trouble, and also in the issue and removal of their trouble. A wicked man s trouble is for the anguish and present smart he feels in sin, and in God s wrath lashing his conscience, and out of fears that his sin will not be par doned, but that he shall endure these tortures for ever in hell. So it was in Judas, Cain, and many others. But a godly man s trouble, though it hath often all this in it, yet the chiefest of his trouble is a further thing : it is not only the smart, the sting of sin, but also the filth, the foulness, the offence of it done to God, that wounds him ; for he hath a heart after God s heart, and therefore looks on sin with the same kind of eye that God doth ; and as God accounts the offence done to him the greatest evil in sin, so doth a godly heart also. It is not the sting of this serpent only, but the poison of it that disquiets him ; neither is it only the want of pardon of sin, and the fear of God s everlasting wrath, which mainly troubleth him, but the want of God s favour, the parting with him whom he sees so excellent and glorious, the want of seeing his face. His desire is to live in his sight, and to have God to be his God. Now such as the wound is, such also is the remedy. Therefore the one being but troubled with the sting, the smart of sin, puli but that sting out, take that load off, and he is well enough, as jocund, as pleasant as ever ; it being present ease that he seeks, and to that end confesseth his sin, and doth anything for the present to come out of it ; as : or at the utmost, his aim
Pharaoh, Exod. x. 17, Take away this death only is but pardon of sin and peace with God, that he may be free from the fears of undergoing that for ever, the earnest whereof he feels in his con science now. And hence therefore the remedies they often have recourse unto are suitable ; they are but like rattles to still children with : they run to merry company and to music, &<?., as Cain fell a-building cities, and so they put off the terrors of their consciences. It is ease they seek, and no more. Or they run to a formal performance of duties ; even as poor souls under Popery, when they were stung by the friars sermons, they set them penances and good deeds to be done, which stilled them a while; and for
DlEECT. X.] A CHILD OF LIGHT WALKING IX DARKNESS. 339 them they thought they should have pardon. So men run now to holy duties, but with, the same opinion that they did then, as bribes for a pardon 1 What shall I give/ says he in Micali, for the sin of my soul 1 chap. vi. 7*. But now the wound of God s child being deeper, not the sting of sin only, but the poison of it ; not the smart, but the offence done to God ; nor the fear of his wrath, but want of his favour, therefore accordingly ease from those terrors pacifies not him. No; not simply peace with God will content him, or a pardon. He says not only, Oh, miserable man that I am who shall deliver me from this death only? but who shall deliver me from this body of death ? If news were brought him that God would pardon him, and not call him to reckoning for any sin, and no more were spoken to his conscience, he would still be troubled till he had assurance of his good-will also. If it were said, God will indeed pardon thee, but he will never love thee as he did, he will not look on thee, thou must not come into his sight ; this would grieve the soul more than the other would content it, and he would be everlastingly troubled. I may allude to that which Absalom said in compliment of his father, when he was banished from him, to express the true desire and greatest trouble of a soul in this case, as you have it, 2 Sam. xiv. 32.
Absalom was pardoned the fault, but it contented him not : Let me see his face, or let him kill me. So it is with a poor soul. Ease, par don, knocking off his bolts, content him not till he enjoys communion with God, till he sees his face in his ordinances. Ps. xxiv. 6, This is the gene ration of them that seek him, that seek thy face that is, this is the mark, the genius, the disposition of that generation. This you may see in David when his conscience was wounded for that great sin. What was it troubled him ? Not the want of pardon of sins, for the prophet told him God had pardoned him ; not the mere stings of conscience and ache of his broken bones but that against thee, thee, have I sinned, so as ease could not satisfy him. But further, ver. 10, Create in me a clean spirit, which he speaks because, having chewed the cud of that unclean act, he had left a soil in his fancy, and renew a right spirit within me : Oh, give me grace and truth of heart to thee; and, oh, let me live in thy presence, and see thee, and have acquaintance with thee, ver. 11. The want of this was it that troubled him, which till he had obtained, he could never be at quiet ; for he sought not ease or pardon only, but healing of his conscience by the favour of God, and his love shed abroad. So as take heed of resting in ease; as, if your hearts be right, you will not, you will wait till the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings, Mai. iv. 2. Are you now in darkness, full of terrors and God s wrath 1 You will not rest till that darkness be expelled by the arising of the light of the Sun of righteousness on you, and revealing God s face in the face of Jesus Christ, till his righteousness be conveyed to your hearts by some of his wings, by some promise, by some ordinance of his. For the wound being the unrighteousness of sin, nothing but Christ s righteousness will heal it : the wound being the want of God s favour, and of the evidence of his being your God, the want of his face and good-will, nothing but the revealing and arising of this in your hearts will heal you. For look what the wound is, such is the plaster. And, indeed, this only heals ; for though by other means the sore may be skinned over, and ease gotten, yet it will break forth again. So Isa. Ivii. 17, 18, I will heal him. And how? By restoring comforts to him. Restore to me the joy of thy salvation, says David, that the bones that thou hast broken may rejoice. And how heals he him ? I create the fruit of the lips, Peace. He doth it by some promise or other. If the want of the sense of communion with God,
340 A CHILD OF LIGHT WALKING IN DARKNESS. [PART II. and absence from him, disquiets a man, then the heart rests not till it hath found its well-beloved, Cant. iii. 1-5. If you have doubts that no grace is in thy heart, then the heart rests not till some grace in truth be evidenced, and some such promise made to some grace brought home. Still look what the trouble is, such also must the plaster be, and then it is healing. Wert ever in the dungeon ? What was it freed thee ? Was it Christ s righteous ness laid hold on, God s face revealed, thine own grace with some promise brought home to thy heart, that came with a commission to deliver thee ? Then it is right; otherwise thy bolts may be knocked off, and this but against thy execution.
SECT. II.] A CHILD OF LIGHT WALKING IN DABKNE3S. 341
SECTION II.
Who is among you that fearcth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of hu servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no liyht ? Let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God, &c. ISA. L. 10.
SOME gleanings there yet remain of this text, which I thought good to bind up into one sheaf, and thresh out at this time.
The second* doctrine is : That though it may befall one that fears God to walk in darkness, yet but to a few. He says, Who is among you? he singleth such out of a crowd. If simply he had spoken of those that fear God and obey him, without this limitation added, and walk in darkness, he might well have spoken thus sparingly, Who is among you V For to the wicked he says, All you that kindle a fire, &c. ; for there are but a few that fear God in comparison of them. If he had spoken of those that fear God, and have been in darkness for some little while, haply some few days among many, there are yet fewer; for there are that walk in the light of God s countenance to their death, and never knew what terror of con science means. But when he shall speak of those that fear God and walk in darkness, and suffer terrors from their youth, as Heman did, such a one is one of a thousand. Of such a one he says, Who is among you ? Few have experience of such a condition. Job had friends who certainly were godly, for Job was to pray for them, and God said he would hear Job for them, and they, as is likely, knew many godly men besides Job, yet when this condition of darkness befell Job, it was so strange a trial to them, that they thought him therefore a hypocrite, as never having themselves felt or heard of the like in others. When Christ was to go into his agony, he would not have many of his apostles so much as be by him to be witnesses of it, much less to feel the like; he takes but two or three. The reasons are: Reason 1. Because, though all God s people MQ fighting men and men of valour, yet he hath but a few champions, as David, though he had many soldiers, yet but few worthies, and therefore calls but a few out to fight single combats with Satan and his wrath ; though he exerciseth them all in lighter skirmishes, yet not to fight such bloody battles. Seest thou not my servant Job ? there is none like him. Him God will venture into the field; but others his friends he will not.
Reason 2. As he hath few champions able and fit for such an encounter, so he hath variety of other temptations to exercise his withal. He hath poverty and ill report, imprisonment and cruel mockings, loss of goods, crosses in friends ; and some have enough to struggle under one of these ; and there is no temptation but must befall some, and seldom all befall one.
The first being that stated in p. 237, and discussed hi the former Part. ED.
342 A CHILD OF LIGHT -WALKING IN DASKNESS. [PART II.
Some spirits are so weak, as they would faint and not be able to sustain themselves; and God never suffers any to be tempted above what they are able/ 1 Cor. x. 13. Some men s bodies are weak, and if God should rebuke them long for sin, they would be brought to nothing; and he remembers: Oh, suffer me they are flesh, and stirs not up all his wrath, as David says
! Some men God hath present use of in their callings and employments, which if they were distracted, as Heman was, with terrors to recover strength continually, they were unfit for.
Reason 3. God afflicts in this kind but in case of extremity usually; when he meets with a very froward heart, and stout, proud spirit, a knotty piece, Isa. Ivii. 17. If lesser crosses would do it, he would not fetch out the great rod. If a rod will thresh out the cummin, he useth not to turn the wheel over it, nor take a flail to do it, Isa. xxviii. 27. Now lesser afflic tions work with the most of his, through his blessing; mercies work, dis grace works, poverty works, and he doth not willingly afflict/ Lam. iii. 33, and therefore not unnecessarily; he puts not men into the dungeon for every