Sermon V (continued, part 10)
when he drew thee off' from the world into thy closet, and t treatecl with thee in secret, when he was working up thy heart tc terms of his covenant, and made thee willing to accept Christ i his own terms ; O then, how heartily didst thou submit to his y as most reasonable and easy, as at that time it seemed to thee ?
Call to mind these days, the secret places where Christ and made the bargain ; have not these words, or words to this sense, 1 whisperetl by thee into his ear with a dropping eye, and mel heart ?
' Lord Jesus, here am I, a poor guilty sinner, deeply laden ' sin ; fear and trouble upon one hand, and there is a just Go
' severe law, and everlasting burnings, on the other hand ; ' blessed be God, O blessed be God for Jesus the Mediator, wh
' terposeth betwixt me and it. Thou art the only door of hop * which I can escape, thy blood the only means of my pardon
' salvation. Thou hast said, " Come unto me all ye that lab
' and are heavy laden." Thou hast promised, that he that cor
' to thee, shall in no w ise be cast out.
' Blessed Jesus, thy poor creature cometh to thee upon thest
' couragements : I come, O but it is with many staggerings,
* many doubts and fears of the issue ; yet I am willing to come
'■ make a covenant with thee this day.
* I take thee this day to be my Lord, and submit heartily to al ' disposals ; do what thou wilt with me, or mine, let me be ric
' }XK)r, any thing or nothing in this world : I am willing to b ' tliou wouldst have me, and I do likewise give myself to thee ' day, to be thine ; all I am, all I have shall be thine, thine to s
' thee, and thine to be disposed of at thy pleasure. Thou :
' henceforth be my highest Lord, my chiefcst good, my last en(
Now, Christian, make good to Christ what thou so solemnly mised him : He, I say, he hath disposed of this thy dear rela
as pleased him, and is thereby trying thy uprii'htness in the (
636 A TOKEN FOR MOUUNEIIS.
this dear child ; I reserve this out of the bargain ? I shall dure that thou shouldst kill this comfort. If so, thou d this but prove thyself an hypocrite ; if thou wast since covenant, as Christ had no reserve on his part, so thou h on thine.
It was all without any exception thou then resignedst tc now wilt thou go back from thy word, as one that had out himself, and repents the bargain .? Or, at least, as onetha gotten these solemn transactions in the days of thy distress!
hath Christ failed in one tittle that he promised thee .'' Cli if thou canst, with the least unfaithfulness ; he hath been
a tittle on his part, O be thou so upon thine ; this day i the proof, remember what thou hast promised him.
Consider. 8. But if' thy covenant loith God will not quie methinks God's covenant with thee might be presumed to
Is thy family, which was lately hopeful, and flourishing ful tabernacle, now broken up and scattered ? Thy poste which thou raisedst up to thyself great expectations of < old age, cut off? So that thou art now like neither to hai or memorial left thee in the earth.
Dost thou sit alone, and mourn to think whitherto thy comforts are now come ?
Dost thou read over those words of Job, chap. xxix. ve
4, 5. and comment upon them with man}' tears ; " O that " in months past, as in the day when God preserved me ! " candle shined upon my head, and when by his light " through darkness ! as I was in the days of my youth, " secret of God was upon my tabernacle, when the Aim
" yet with me, when my children were about me."" Yet let the covenant God hath made with thee, comfo
this thy desolate condition.
You know what domestic troubles holy David met wit succession, not only from the death of children, but, which worse, from the wicked lives of his children. There w murder, and rebellion in his family ; a far sorer trial thai their infancy could have been ; And yet see how sweetly \
himself from the covenant of grace, in 2 Sam. xxiii. 5. "
" my house be not so with God, yet he hath made with m " lasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure, for thii " salvation and all my desire, although he make it not to
I know this place principally refers to Christ, who was
A TOKEN FOR MOURXERS.
those that were left were not such as he desired ; so it may ab
dantly comfort you also, whatever troubles, or deaths, are U]
vour families, who have an interest in the covenant. For,
First, If you are God's covenant people, though he may afil yet he will never forget you, Psalm iii. 5. he is ever mindful of covenant : You are as much upon his heart in your deepest afl tions, as in the greatest flourish of your prosperity.
You find it hard to forget your child, though it be now turnec a heap of corruption, and loathsome rottenness ; O how doth y mind run upon it night and day ! your thoughts tire not upon t object : Why surely it is much more easy for you to forget your d child, whilst living, and most endearing, (much more when d and undesirable) tlian it is for your God to forget you. Isa. x
15. " Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should " have compassion on the son of her womb .'' Yea, they may forj
•' yet will not I forget thee." Can a rcoman, the move aSeci\oxi:\Xe sqx^ forget hemiclcing ch
her own child, and not a nursing child .'' Her own child, whils hangs on the breast, and, together with the milk from the bre
draws love from its mother's heart ; can such a thing as this b nature ? possibly it may, for creature-love is fickle, and varial
But, I icill not forget thee ; it is an everlasting covenant.
Secondlij, As he will never forget you in your troubles, so he
order all your troubles for your good : It is a ■well-ordered covem or a covenant orderly disposed ; so that every thing shall work
gethcr for your good.
The covenant so orders all vour trials, ranks and disposes your v ous troubles so, as that they shall, in their orders and places, swe co-operate, and join their united influences to make you happy.
Possibly you cannot see how the present aflBiction should be your good ; vou are readv to say, with Jacob, Gen. xlii.
" Joseph is not, and Simeon is not ; and ve will take Benja
*' awav ; all these thino^s are against me."" But could vou once how sweetly, and orderly all these afflictions work under the I sing and influence of the covenant, to your eternal good, you w( not only be quiet, but thankful for that which now so much aflf and troubles you.
Thirdly, This covenant is not only well ordered in all things,
sxire : the mercies contained in it are called, "the sure mercie
" David,'' Isa. Iv. 3. Now how sweet, how seasonable a sup doth this cnnsiderntinn cnvo to God's nfflirtpd iindpr thp rod '
638 A TOXEX FOR MOURNERS.
Work of tlielr hands, but also, in enjoying the fruit of tl pains for him.
Probably such thoughts you have hsd, and raised ii selves great expectations of comfort in your old age fi now you see you built upon the sand, and where were you had not a firmer bottom to build upon ? But bless the covenant-mercies are more sure, and solid ! God, heaven, never start or fade, as these things do.
The sweetest creature-enjoyments you ever had or \ world, cannot say to you, as your God doth, " I will
*' thee, nor forsake thee." You must part with your dea how well soever you love them; you must bid adieu to
your bosom, how nearly soever your afl'ections be linked deUghted in her. Your children and you must be separa they are to you as your own soul.
But though these vanish away, blessed be God there i that abides. ' Though all flesh be as grass, and the goo
*' as the flower of the grass, though the grass witheret *' flower thereof fadeth, because the Spirit of the Lc
*' upon it ; yet the word of our God shall stand for ev( 6, 7, 8. There is so much of support contained in th sidcration, that could but your faith fix here, to realize it, I might lay down my pen at this period, and say,
done, there needs no more.
Consideration 9T^e hope of the resurrection should restrain all excesses of sorroxo in those that do profess it
Let them only mourn without measure, who mourn wi The husbandman doth not mourn when he casts his set
the earth, because he sows in hope ; commits it to the groi expectation to receive it again with improvement. Why the case here, and just so the apostle states it, 1 Tliess. " But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, *' them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not even as o " have no hope ; for if we believe that Jesus died, and *' even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring Q. d. Look not upon the dead as a lost generation ; th death hath annihilated, and utterly destroyed them : O i not dead, but only asleep ; and if they sleep, they shaU a You do not use to make outcries and lamentations for yo and friends, when you find them asleep upon their be death is but a longer sleep, out of which they shall as su
A TOKEN FOB MOUB.KERS.
** that reckoned I roust part with them; and I part with thei
*' one that makes account to have them."' He speak?, no doubt, of liiat enjoyment of them, which his plea contemplations of their virtuous actions could give him ; for he wliollv unacquainted with the comfortable, and heart-suppoi doctrine of the resurrection. Had he kno^vn the advantages w result thence, at what a rate may we think he would have spoki the dead, and of their state ; But this you profess to believe, an( sink at a strange rate. O suffer not Gentilism to outvie Christiai
let not Pagans challenge the greatest Believers, to out-do them quiet, and cheerful behaviour under afflictions.
I beseec"li thee, reader, if thy dec^sed friend have left thee solid ground of hope that he died interested in Christ, and the < nant ; that thou wilt distinctly ponder these admirable sup]
which the doctrine of the resurrection affords.
Firsty That the same body which was so pleasant a spectac thee shall be restored again ; yea, the same numeiicalhj. as w(
the same specifically ; so that it shall not only be -l^IuU it was, the zchii it was, " These eyes shall behold him, and not anotl Job xix. 27. The very same body you laid, or are now about t( in the grave, shall be restored again : Thou shalt find thine
husband, wife, or child, or friend again: I say the self-same, not another.
Secondly^ And farther, this is supporting, tliat as you shall the same person that was so dear to you ; so you shall know t to be the same that were once endeared to vou on earth in so a tie of relation.
Indeed you shall know them no more in any carnal relation, d dissolved that bond : But you shall know them to be such as > were your dear relations in this world, and be able to single t out among that great multitude, and say, this was my father, mol husband wife, or child ; this was the person for whom I wept made supplication, who was an instrument of good to me, c ■whose salvation God then made me instrumental.
For we may allow, in that state, ail that knowledge which is ct
lath'ea.ndi perfect'we, whatsoever may enlarge and heighten our fel
and satisfaction, as this must needs be allowed to do. Luther's ji meat in this point, * being asked by his friends at supper the e ing before he died, replies thus, What (saith he) befel Adam ? never saw Eve, but was in a deep sleep when God formed her; when he awaked and saw her, he asked not what she was, nor wh
640 A TOKEN FOR SIOURXERS.
tnanner we also shall be in the other life renewed by C
shall know our parents, our wives, and children.
And this among other things, was that with which -fcomforted the lady Italica, after the death of her dear hu ling her that she should know him in the world to come ; glorified saints. Yea, and a greater than either of these, I n comforted himself, that the Thessalonians, whom he had cc
Christ, should be " his joy and crown of rejoicing, in th " of the Lord Jesus Christ at his coming," 1 Thess. ii. 19; must needs imply his distinct knowledge of them in that < must be many hundred years after death hath separated each other. Whether this knowledge sliall be by the glc discerning any lineaments or property of individuation upon the glorified bodies of our relations; or whether it j immediate revelation, as Adam knew his wife, or as Pet and John knew Moses and Elias in the mount ; as it is determine, so it is needless to puzzle ourselves about it.
It is the concurrent judgment of sound divines, and it countenance from scripture and reason, that such a kn them shall be in heaven ; and then the sadness of this j: be abundantly recompensed by the joy of that meeting, considering.
Thirdhj, That at our next meeting, they shall be ui more desirable, sweet, and excellent, than ever they w world. They had a desirableness in them here, but the altogether lovely, and, in every respect, desirable ; the^ infirmities, both natural and moral ; but all these are i heaven, and for ever done away : No natural infirmities I glorified bodies, or sinful ones upon perfected spirits of tl what lovely creatures will they appear to you then, when is now sown in dishonour, shall be raised in honour ! 1 C And then, to crown all,
Foiirthly^ You sliall have an everlasting enjoyment c heaven, never to part again. The children of the resur die no more, Luke xx. 36. you shall kiss their pale lip cheeks no more ; you shall never fear another parting pi together with the Lord for ever, 1 Thes. iv. 14. An apostle thought an effectual cordial in this case when h the Thessalonians to " comfort one another with these w
Consid. 10. The present felicity into which all thai die in presently admitted^ should abundantly coin fort Christian
A TOKEN FOR M0UKNKR3.
and in the covenant. Yea, though they had died in silence,
their conversations would speak for them, and the tenor of lives leave no ground of doubting touching their death. Oi dying in their infancy and youth, though they carried not sue actual ho{)e with them, yet they have left good grounds of behind them.
Parents, now ponder these grounds ; you have prayed for tl you have many times wrestled with the Lord on their behalf;
liave taken hold of God's covenant for them, as well as for j selves, and dedicated them to the Lord ; and they have not, bv actions of theirs, destroyed those grounds of your hope, but that may, with much probability, conclude they are with God.
Why, if the case be so, what abundant reason have you 1 quiet, and well satisfied with what God liath done? Can the better than where they are ? Had you better provisions and e tainment f jr them here than their heavenly Father hath above
There is no Christian parent in the world, but would rejoice t
his child out-strip and get before him in grace, that he may be i eminent in parts and services than ever he was : And what re can be given, why we should not as much rejoice to see our chil get before us in glory, as in grace f They are gotten to heav few years before you, and is tliat matter of mourning? Wouli your child (if he were not ignorant of you) say, as Christ did t friends, a little before his death, when he saw them cast down a
thoughts of parting, John xiv. 28. " If ye loved me, ve wouh
" joice, because I go to the Father."" q. d. Do not value your sensible comfort, from my bodily presence with you, before my « and advancement in heaven. Is this love to me? Or is it not n self-love ?
So would your departed friend say to you : ' You have proft
' much love all along to me, my happiness seemed to be very de ' you. How comes it to pass, then, that vou mourn so exceedi * now ? This is rather the effect of a fond and fleshly, than
* rational and spiritual love; if vou loved me with a pure spir ' love ye would rejoice that I am gone to my Father. It is
• nitely better for me to be here, than with you on earth, unde
• and sorrow. Weep not for me, but for yourselves.' Alas ! though you want your friends company, he wants yours ; your care was to provide for this child, but Jesus C hath provided infinitely better for it than you could ; you inte an estate, but he a kingdom for it; you thought upon such or
I I •
642 A TOKEN roR MOURNERS.
in his own ; stript them out of those garments you provi cloathed them in white robes, washed in the blood of tF
Let not your hearts be troubled, rather rejoice exceedii God made you instruments to replenish heaven, and brin^ heir for the kingdom of God.
Your child is now glorifying God, in an higher way can, and what though you have lost its bodily presence fc yet, I hope you do not reckon that to be your loss, whicl
God's greater glory.
When Jacob heard his Joseph was lord of Egypt, he rath himself with Joseph, than his Joseph Avith him in wants ar
so should it be with you : You are yet rolling and tossir tempestuous sea, but your friend is gone into the quiet desire rather to be there than that he were at sea with yo
Consideration 1 1. Consider how vain a thing all your tn self-vexation is ; it no xcay betters your case^ nor eases yoi
As a bullock, by wrestling and sweating in the furrow, yoke to be more heavy, and galls his neck, and spends hi the sooner, and no ways helps himself by that : Why thus case with thee; if thou be as a bullock unaccustomed to
What Christ saith o£ caring-, we may say of grieving", ( 27.) " Which of you, by taking thought can add one ci " stature F
Cares may break our sleep, yea, break our hearts, but tl add to our stature, either in a natural, or in a civil notio sorrowing may sooner break our hearts, than the yoke Go( on you.
Alas ! -what is all this but as the fluttering of a bird i Avhich, instead of freeing, doth but the more entangle itse therefore a wise resolution of David in this very case, whc of God was signified in the death of his child, 2 Sam. xii.
" now he is dead, w herefore should I fast ? Can I bring
*' again ? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to m< Can I bring him back again ? No ; I can no more alte pose and work of God, than 1 can change the seasons ol or alter the course of the sun, moon and stars, or disturb of the day and night ; which are all unalterably establii firm constitution and ordinance of heaven.
As these seasons cannot be changed by man, so neithi course and way of his providences be changed. Job xxiii.
*' is of one mind, and who can turn him ? And what his sot
A TOKEX FOn MOUBNERS. (
SO, his tears and cries to God before had the nature and use of tr.e
to prevent the affliction : but when it was come, and could nol prevented, then they were of no use, to no purpose in the wor " Wherefore should I fast?" Q. d. To what end, use, or purj will it be now.
Well then, cast not away your strength and spirits to no ad^ tage; reserve them for future exercises and trials: Time mayco
that you may need all the strength you have, and much more support greater burdens than this.
Consideration 12. The Lord is able to restore all your lost comj
in relations double to you, if you meekly submit to him, and patie
wait upon him under the rod.
When Esau had lost his blessing, he said, " Hast thou but
" blessing, my father ?" Gen. xxvii. 38. But your Father \ more blessings for you than one : his name is the " Father of r
" cies," 2 Cor. xiii. 11. He can beget and create as many mei for you as he pleaseth ; relations, and the comforts of them, ar his command.
It is but a few months, or years past, and these comforts, wl loss vou now lament were not in being; nor did you know wh< they should arise to you, yet the Lord gave the word, and comman them for you ; and, if he please, he can make the death of these like a scythe to the meadow that is mown down, or a razor to head tlrat is shaved bare ; which, though it lay you under the pre:
trouble and reproach of barrenness, yet doth but make way fc double increase, a second spring with advantage.
So that even as it was with the captive church, in respect of special children, in the day of her captivity and reproach, the I made up all with advantage to her, even to her own astonishm
Isa. xlii. 20. " The children which thou shalt have, after thou
" lost the other, shall say again in thine ears, the place is too si
*' for me ; Give place to me that I may dwell.'' Thus may he deal with you, as to your natural children, and i tions ; so that what the man of God said to Amaziah, 1 Ch
XXV. 9. may be applied to the case in hand. " Amaziah said to " man of God, but what shall we do for the hundred talents.'' j " the man of God answered, the Lord is able to give thee m " more than this.''
O say not. What shall I do for friends and relations.'' Death 1 robbed me of all comfort in them. Why the Lord is able to : you much more. But then, as ever vou expect to see your fu
644! A TOKEN FOR MOUUNERS.
"whilst they were endearing each other by mutual express fection. This must be yielded to be an extraordinary tr meekly receives, and patiently bears it from the hand of;
You have heard of the patience of Job, (saith the apostl 11.) " and seen the end of the Lord." Not only the grs or intention of the Lord in all his afflictions, but the hapf issue the Lord gave to all his afflictions, of which you hi
count, Job xlii. 10. " The Lord gave Job twice as much " before."" The number of his children was not double 1 had, as all his other comforts were : But though the Loi stored the same number to him again that he took a^v is likely the comfort he had in these latter children was
what he had in the former. There is nothing lost by w
tiently, and submitting willingly to the Lord's dispose. It is as easy with the Lord to revive, as it is to remove forts in relations. There is a sweet expression to this p
Psal. Ixxxi, 28. " For thou, Lord, will light my candle,
*' my God will enlighten my darkness." Every comfortable enjoyment, whether it be in relatic health, or friends, is a candle lighted by providence for oi in this world, and they are but candles, which will not a] and those that last longest will be consumed and waste but oftentimes it falls out with them as with candles, the}) out before they are half consumed ; yea, almost as soon up, and then we are in darkness for the present.
It is a dark hour with us, when these comforts arc pu
David's faith did, and ours may comfort us with this, that h out the candle, can light up another : " Thou, Lord, sha
*' candle, the Lord my God shall enlighten my darkne is, the Lord will renew my comforts, alter the present f am in, and chase away that trouble and darkness which lies upon me : Only beware of offending him, at whose lights and comforts come and go. Michal displeased the therefore had no child unto the day of her death, 2 Sam
Hannah waited humbly upon the Lord for the blessi dren, and the Lord remembered her ; he enlightened he
with that comfort, when she was as a lamp despised. ^ comfort you have lost but God can restore it, yea, doubh if he sees it convenient for you. And if not, then,
Consideration 13. Consider^ though he should deny yo comforts of that l;ind, yet he hath far better to bestow such as these deserve not to he named with.
A TOKEX FOR MOUltXEBS.
Men's names are to be continued in their issue, in their mal^
especially, and consequently to fail in suoh as wan See English sue, Num. xvii. 4, and a numerous issue is deem Annotations small honour, Psal. cxxvii. 4, 5. God therefor
on the place, mised here to supply, and make good the want of
and whatsoever, either honour here, or memorial
after, might from it have accrued to them, by bestowing upon matter of far greater honour, and more durable ; a name bet« before the names of sons or daughters.
It is a greater honour to be the child of God, than to ha^ greatest honour, or comfort, that ever children afforded their p in this world.
Poor heart, thou art now dejected by this affliction that lies
thee, as if all jovand comfort were now cut off from thee in this ^
A cloud dwells upon all other comforts, this affliction hath > blttered thy soul, that thou tastest no more in any other earthlj forts, than in the white of an egg. O that thou didst but consid consolations that are with God for such as answer his ends in
tion, and patiently wait on him for their comfort ! he hath cci for you far transcending the joy of children.
This some hath found when their children have been cut off
them, and that in so eminent a degree, that they have little v their comfort in children, in comparison with this comfort.
I will therefore set down a pregnant instance of the point in as I find it record etl by the grave and worthy author of that esc
bock intitled, The J'tilfilUng of the scripture. Another notable instance of grace, with a very remarkable p£ in his condition, I shall here mention. * One Patrick MackcA
' who lived in the west parts of Scotland, whoi^e heart, in a rei * able way the Lord touched, and after his conversion (as he si * to many Christian f^iend^^) was in such a frame, so affected \ ' new world, wherein he was entered, the discoveries of God, j
' a life to come; that for some months together he did seldom ' but was still taken up in wondering. His life was very remar ' for tenderness, and near converse with God in his walk; and, ^
* was worthy to be noted, one day, after a sharp trial, having hi; ' son suddenly taken away by death, he retired alone for s( ' hours, and when he came forth did look so cheerfully, that to ' who asked him the reason thereof, and wondered at the sai
* such a time; he told them. He had got that in his reliremenl * the Lord, that to have it afterwards renewed, he would be cc
64i6 A TOllEM FOR MOUUXEllS.
Would it please the Lord to make this sun arise and si you, now when the stars that shined with a dim and borro are gone down, you would see such gain by the exchange quickly make you cast in your votes with him we now m and say, Lord, let every day be such as this funeral day ; hours be as this, so that I may see and taste what I now 6 gladly would I part with the dearest and nearest creature-c own in this world. The gracious and tender Lord hath ] cordials reserved on purpose for such sad hours ; these are j given before some sharp trial, to prepare for it, and sometii to support under it.
I have often heard it from the mouth, arid found it in th a sweet Christian now with God, that a little before the Lore her dear husband by death, there was such an abundant the love of God unto her soul for several days and nights that when the Lord took away her husband by death, thou a gracious and sweet tempered (and by her most tenderly husband, she was scarce sensible of the stroke, but carried qi
all earthly things, their comforts, and their troubles : so thi almost lost the thoughts of her dear husband in God. An( the Lord taken that course with her, she concluded that not been possible to be borne by her, she must have sun
such a })reparative.
A husband, a wife, a child, are great, very great things, as i by other creatures ; but surely they will seem little things, to nothing, when the Lord shall set himself by them befori
And how knovv^ you, but God hath bidden these earthly stand aside this day, to make way for heavenly ones ? I
God is coming to communicate himself more sweetly, mor than ever to your souls ; and these are the providences w
cast up, and prepare the way of the Lord. Possibly God' in their death is but this : child, stand aside, thou art ii:
and flllest my place in thy parent's heart. Consideration 14. Be careful you exceed not in your gr loss of earthly ihhigs, considering that Satan takes the i of all extremes.
You cannot touch any extreme, but you will be touch< enemy, whose greatest advantages lie in assaulting you h(
Satan is called. The rider of the darTiuess of this Tcorlc 12. i. e. his kingdom is sup])orted by darkness. Now, thei fold darkness, which gives Satan great advantage ; the d the mind. viz. iffnorance : and the darkness of the co7id
A TOKEX FOR MOURXF.RS.
sired that the hand of God should have been stretched out upon . person, estate, and children, but that he promised himself a no advantage therein, to poison his spirit with vile thoughts of
'• Do this (saith he) and he will curse thee to thy face.'' What the Psalmist observes of natural, is as true of metaphc darkness, Psal. civ. 20. " Thou makest darkness, and it is n ** wherein all the beasts of the forest do creep forth, the young
" roar after their prey.'^ When it is dark night with men, it is noon-day with Satan ; our suffering-time is his busiest working-time ; many a dismal gestion he then plants, and grafts upon your affliction, whicl much more dangerous to us than the affliction itself.
Sometimes he injects desponding thoughts into the afflicted i
** Then, said I, I am cut off from before thine eyes,"* Psal. xxxi and Lam. iii. 18, 19. " My hope is perished from the Lord, rei
" bering mv affliction, and my misery, the wormwood and the >
Sometimes he suggests hard thoughts of God, Ruth i. 20. " " Lord hath dealt very bitterly with me.'' Yea, that he hath more severely with us than any other. Lam. i. 12. " See am " hold, if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is " unto me, wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day o " fierce anger.'' And sometimes murmuring and repining thoughts agains Lord ; the soul is displeased at the hand of God upon it. Jonal
angry at the hand of God, and said, " I do well to be angry,
" unto death," Jon. iv. 9What dismal thoughts are these.'' how much more afflictive to a gracious soul, than the loss of outward enjovment in this world.
And sometimes very irreligious and atheistical thoughts, there were no privilege to be had by religion, and all our pains, and care about duty, were little better than lost labour, Psal. 1
13, 14. " Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washe< " hands in innocency ; for all the day long I have Ijeen plac " and chastened every morning."
By these things Satan gets no small advantage upon the affl Christian ; for albeit these thoughts are his burden, and Goc
not impute them to the condemnation of his people ; yet they ro soul of peace, and hinder it from duty, and make it act unco under affliction, to the stumbling and hardening of othei-s in sin : beware therefore, lest by your excess of sorrow ye give to the devil ; we are not ignorant of his devices.
648 A TOKEN FOR MOURNEng.
eyes are upon you. It is a true observation that a late author hath made upon this case : ' What will the Atheist, j
' will the profane scoffer say when they shall see this? ^ * and malicious they are, that if they do but see you in i ' they are straightway scornfully demanding, Wliere is yo
* But what would they say, if they should hear you yours ' believingly cry out, Where is our God ? Will they not ' to cry, this is the religion they make such boast of, whicl ' how little it does for them in a day of extremity : they tal ' mises, rich and precious promises; but where are they i * to what purpose do they serve ? They said they had a tr ' heaven ; what ails them to mourn so then if their riches ai
O beware what you do before the world ; they have ey what you can do, as well as ears to hear what you can say : an as your carriage under trouble is so much like their own, never think your principles are better than theirs. Carnal w will be drawn to think, that whatever fine talk you might ht God and heaven, your hearts were most upon the same th theirs Avere, since your grief for their removal is as great a
They know by experience what a stay it is to the heart, t( able, faithful friend to depend upon, or to have hopes ol estate shortly to fall to them ; and they will never be persu have any such ground of comfort if they see you as much < as they that pretend to no such matter.
Ey this means the precepts of Christ to constancy and con in all estates, will come to be looked upon (like those oft] only as magnifica verba, brave words ; but such as are ii to be practised ; and the whole of the gospel will be take airy notion, since they that profess greatest regard to it, an helped thereby.
O what a shame is it that religion should, in this case, more difference betwixt man and man ! wherefore shew to (whatever their common censures are) that it is not so m care to diifer from them in some opinions, and a little strii in humility, meekness, contempt of the world, and heavenly ness ; and now let these graces display themselves by your patient deportment under all your grievances.
Wherefore hath God planted those excellent graces in yc but that he might be glorified, and you benefited by the ex them in tribulation : should these be suppressed and hid, am but the pride, passion, and unmortified earthliness of your
A TOKEX FOR MOIRXEKS.
I beseech you, therefore, Ije lender of the name of God, ii will not be so of vour own peace and comfort.
Consider. 16. Be qidet^ and held yotir peace^ you little Tcnoz many mercies lie in the roomb of this affliction.
Great are the benefits of a sharp, rousing affliction to the peo God at sometimes, and all might have them at all times, were more careful to improve them. Holy David thankfully ac!
ledgeth, Psal. cxix. 71. " It is good for me that I have been affli
And surely there is as much good in them for 30U, as for him ; Lord sanctify tiiem to such ends and uses as his were sanctified
Such a smarting rod as this came not before there was need er of it, and possibly you saw the need of some awakening provi yourselves; but if not, the Lord did : he took not up the 1 smite you, till his faithfulness and tender love to your souls upon him to correct vou.
You now sit pensive under the rod, ^dly lamenting and dep the loss of some earthly comfort ; your heart is surcharged wit
row, vour eves run down upon everv' mention and remembrai your dear friend : whv, if there were no more, this alone may ver the need vou had of this rod ; for doth not all this sorr
parting plainly speak how much your heart was set upon, ho' your heart was glewed to this earthly comfort ?
Now vou see that vour affections were sunk many degrees d into the creature, than you are aware of: and what should G in this case by vou ? Should he suffer you to cleave to the cr< more and more ? Should he permit it to purloin, and exhaust love and delight, and steal away your heart from himself? Tl could not do, and love you. The more impatient you are this affliction, the more need you had of it.
And what if bv this stroke the Lord will awaken your drowsy and recover vou out of that pleasant, but dangerous spiritual sli you were fallen into, whilst you had pillowed your head upo pleasant, sensible creature-enjoyment ? Is not this really beti you than if he should say. Sleep on : he is joined to idols, le alone ; he is departing from me, the fountain, to a broken cis
let him go.
Yea, what if by this stroke upon one of the pleasantest thine had in this world, God will discover to you, more sensiblv and t ually than ever, the vanitv both of that and all earthly comfoi as that you shall from henceforth never let forth your heart,
hope, your love, and delight to any of them, as you did be
650 A TOKEN FOB MOUliNERS.
is rectified^ and your affections to all other enjoyments moderated : and is this nothing ? O doubtless it is a great to you, than to have your friend alive again.
And what if by this rod your wandering, gadding hearl whipped home to God ? your neglected duties revived ? cayed communion with God restored? a spiritual, heavei of heart recovered ? What will you say then ?
Surely you will bless that merciful hand which removei structions, and adore the Divine wisdom, and goodness, tha a device as this recovered you to himself. Now you can p constantly, more spiritually, more affectionately than be blessed rod, which buds and blossoms with such fruits as tl
this be written among your best mercies, for you shall havi adore and bless God eternally for this beneficial affliction.
Consider. 17. Suffer not yourselves to be transported by in and sicallowed up of gricj\ because God hath exercised yo\ smart rod ; Jbr, as smarting as it is, it is comparativeh stroke to what others, as good as yourselves, have felt.
Your dear relation is dead ; be it so, here is but a sin before you, but others have seen many deaths contrived upon their relations, to which yours is nothing.
Zedekiah saw his children murdered before his eyes, and
those eyes (alas two late) put out. The wort] The fulfilof that excellent book before-mentioned, tell
ling of' the choice and godly gentlewoman in the north o Scriptures, who when the rebellion broke out there,
three children, one of them upon the breast ; not gone far before they were stripped naked by the IrisV their admiration, spared their lives, (it is like, concluding and hunger would kill them) afterwards going on at the foot which runs to Lochneach, others met them, and would them into the river ; but this godly woman, not dismayet little liberty to pray, and as she lay naked on the frozen gi resolution not to go on her own feet, to so unjust a death, u] having called her, and she refusing, was dragged by the Y that rugged way, to be cast in with her little ones, and co
But she then turned, and on her knees says. You shoi sure, be Christians, and men I see you are ; in taking miserable lives, you do us a pleasure; but know, that as
wronged you nor yours, you must remember to die alsoy and one day give an account of this cruelty, to the judge ar\(\ pnrth TTpvpiinnn thpv rpsnlvpd not to murder them
A TOKEX FOB M01BVEX5.
goes by, unto whom she calls for God's sake to take tliem in, they being Irish, refused ; she desired a Httle bread, but they they had none ; then she begs a coal of fire, which she obtaii and thus, with some fallen chips, made a little fire, and thechil taking a piece of the hide laid it on the coals, and began to gnai leather ; but without an extraordinary Divine support, what c this do ?
Thus they lived ten davs, without any visible means of having no bread, but ice and snow, nor drink except water, two bovs being near starved, she pressed them to go out of her s not being able to see their death ; yet God delivered them as i culously at last, as he bad supported them all that while.
But judge whether a natural death, in an ordinary way be parable to such a trial as this ; and yet thus the Lord did bj
choice and eminently gracious woman!
And Mr. Wall, in his None-hut-Christ, relates as sad a passag poor family in Germany, who were driven unto that extremity i
famine, that at last the parents made a motion one to the oth sell one of the children for bread to sustain themselves, and the but when they came to consider which child it should be, their 1 so relented, and yearned upon every one, that they resolved r
all to die together. Yea, we read in Lam. iv. 10. " The ban
" the pitiful women have sodden their own child I'en.''
But why speak I of these extremities .'' How many parents, some godly ones too, have lived to see their children dying in phaneness, and some by the hand of justice, lamenting their rebe
with a rope about their necks.
Ah ! reader, little dost thou know what stings there are in t flictions of others ! surely you have no reason to think the Lord
dealt more bitterly with you than any. It is a gentle stroke, a ciful dispensation, if you compare it with what others have fel
Consideration 18. If God be your God, you have really h,
thingby the removal of any creature-comfort.
God is the fountain of all true comfort ; creatures, the ven and sweetest, are but cisterns to receive, and convey to us what fort God is pleased to communicate to them ; and if the ciste broken, or the pipe cut off, so that no more comfort can be con' to us that way, he hath other ways and mediums to do it by, ^ we think not of; and if he please he can convey his comforts people without any of them : And if he do it more immediatel shall be no losers by that ; for no comforts in the world are s
65S A TOKEN FOR MOURNERS.
Is the fulness of the fountain yours? and yet do yot yourselves, because the broken cistern is removed ; The be are no better, Jer. ii. 13. Cisterns have nothing but wl ceive, and broken ones cannot hold what is put into th then do you mourn, as if your life were bound up in th(
You have as free an access to the fountain as you had b( the advice of an Heathen, (and let them take the comfort pair, by a new earthly comfort, what we have lost in th(
" Thou hast carried forth him whom thou lovedst, (saitl
*' seek one whom thou mayest love in his stead : It is bett " than to bemoan thy loss."
But if God never repair your loss in things of the sam know he can abundantly repair it himself
Ah ! Christian, is not one kiss of his mouth, one glir countenance, one seal of his Sjiirit, a more sweet and subsl fort, than the sweetest relation in this world can afford y stream fail, repair to the fountain, there is enough still ; G he was, and what he was, though the creature be not.
Consideration ] 9. Though you may want a little comj life, yet surely it may be reco7npensed to you by a more
The removal of your friends before you may turn to advantage, when your hour is come that you must follov how have many good souls been clogged and ensnared in liour, by the loves, cares, and fears they have had about nuist leave behind them in a sinful, evil world !
Your love to them might have proved a snare to you, ; you to hang back, as loth to go hence ; for these are the make men loth to die. And thus it might have been wil cept God had removed them before-hand, or should give ^ day such sights of heaven, and tastes of divine love, as she and mortify all your earthly affections to these things.
I knew a gracious person, (now in heaven) who, for mar her last sickness, complained that she found it hard to f dear relation, and that there was nothing proved a grea her soul than this : It is much more easy to think of go friends, who are in heaven before us, than of parting with leaving our desirable and dear ones behind us.
And who knows what cares and distracting thoughts yoi
be pestered and distracted with upon their account .'' Whj come of these when I am gone.-^ I am now to leave t knows to what wants, miseries, temptations, and afflicti)
A TOKEN FOR MOURNEns.
And some have been enabled cheerfully to do so when they \
parting trom them. * Luther could say, " Lord, thou hast g " me a wife and children, I have little to leave them ; noui
" teach, and keep them ; O thou Father of the fatherless,
** Judge of the widow." But every Christian hath not a Lutl faith ; some find it a hard thing to disentangle their affections at i a time : But now, if God has sent all yours before you, you haA much the less to do ; death may be easier to you than others.
Consideration 20. But ij" nothing that hath been yet said uiU i "isith ymi^ then, lastly, remember that you are near that state, plaxe which admits no sorroics, nor sad rejlcctions, upon any accounts as these.
Yet a little while, and you shall not miss them, you shall need them, but you shall live as the angels of God : We now partly bv faith, partly by sense, partly upon God, and partly i tlie creature ; our state is mixed, therefore our comforts are so But when God shall be all in all, and we shall be as the ange] God in the way and manner of our living; how much will the be altered with us then, from what it is now ?
Angels neither marry, nor are given in marriage, neither shal children of the resuiTection ; when the days of our sinning are ed, the days of our mourning shall be so too. No graves were op till sin entered, and no more shall be opened when sin is exclu
Our glorified relations shall live with us for ever ; they shall i plain no more, die no more ; yea, this is the happiness of that to which you are passing on, that your souls being in the ne conjunction with God, the fountain of joy, vou shall have no cernment out of him. You shall not be put upon these exer of patience, nor subjected to such sorrows as you now feel, more. It is but a little while, and the end of all these things come. O therefore bear up, as persons that expect such a da jubilee at hand.
And thus I have finished the second general head of this disco which is a dissuasive from the sin of immoderate sorrow.
3. I now proceed to the third thing proposed, namely, to rei the pleas and excuses for this immoderate grief. It is natural to yea, to good men, to justify their excesses, or at least to extet them, by pleading for their passions, as if they wanted not cause reason enough to excuse them. If these be fully answered, an< soul once convinced, and left without apology for its sin, it is th a fair way for its cure, which is the last thins desicrned in this tre
654 A TOKEN roil MOURNERS.
Pica 1. You press me by many great considerations to and quiet submission under this heavy stroke of God ; bul know what stings my soul feels now in it.
The child was a child of many prayers, it was a Samuel the Lord, and I concluded when I had it, that it brought y returns and answers of many prayers. But now I see it \\t less ; God had no regard to my prayer about it, nor was il in that special way of mercy, as I imagined it to be : My c only dead, but my prayers in the same day shut out and
Answer 1. That you prayed for your children befort them was your duty ; and if you prayed not for them submis ferring it to the pleasure of God to give, or deny them, t( or remove them, as should seem good to him, that was your ought not to limit the Holy one of Israel, nor prescrib or capitulate with him, for what term you shall enjoy you comforts : If you did so, it was your evil, and God hath buked it by this stroke. If you did pray conditionally, ar
sively referring both the mercy asked and continuance ( will of God, as you ought to do ; then there is nothing in of your child that crosses the true scope and intent in yo
Ansiver 2. Your prayers may be answered, though the tl ed for be with-held, yea, or though it should be given i while, and snatched away from you again. There are foi
God's answering prayers, by giving the thing prayed for Dan. ix. J23. or by suspending the answer for a time, an( afterwards, Luke xviii. 7. or by with-holding from you 1 which you ask, and giving you a much better mercy in th it, Deut. iii. 24. compared with Deut. xxxiv. 4, 5. Or, giving you patience to bear the loss, or want of it, 2 Cor.
Now, if the Lord have taken away your child, or frici lieu thereof given you a meek, quiet, submissive heart 1 you need not say he hath shut out your cry.
Plea. 2 But I have lost a lovely, obliging, and most endea one that was beautiful and sweet ; it is a stony heart that dissolve into tears for the loss of one so desirable, so er this was : Ah ! it is no common loss.
Anszoer\. The more lovely and engaging your relatior more excellent will your patience and contentment with t God in its death be : the more loveliness, the more self-d more grace. Had it been a thousand times more endearir than it was, it was not too good to deny for God. If ther
A TOKEN FOR MOURNERS.
Answer SI. The loveliness and beauty of our children and relat though it must be acknowledged a good gift tVom the hand of ( yet it is but a common gift, and often times becomes a snare, ai in its own nature, but a transitory, vanishing thing, and thet no such great aggravation of the loss as is pretended.
I say, it is but a common gift ; Eliab, Adonijah, and Absalon as lovely presences as any in their generation. Yea, it is not common to the wicked, with the godly, but to the brute anima well as men, and to most that excel in it, it becomes a tempt a the souls of some had been more beautiful and lovely, if their c had been less so. Besides, it is but a flower which nourishes mouth, and then fades. This therefore should not be reflect
as so great a circumstance to aggravate your trouble.
Ansicer 3. But if your relation sleep in Jesus, he will appef thousand times more lovely in the morning of the resurrection, ever he was in the world. What is the exactest, purest beat mortals, to the incomparable beauty of the saints in the resurrec " Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdi
" their Father," JMatth. xiii. 43. In this hope you part with i therefore act suitably to your hopes.
Plea 3. Oh ! but my child was nipped off by death in tlie bud ; I did but see, and love, and part : Had I enjoyed it lo and had time to suck out the sweetness of such an enjoyme could have borne it easier ; but its months or years with me W( few, that they only served to raise an expectation which was qui and therefore the more sadly disappointed.
Answer 1. Did your friend die young, or was the bond ol other relation almost dissolved as soon as made ? Let not this
so intolerable a load to you ; for if you have ground to hope died in Christ, then they lived long enough in this world*. It is said, he hath sailed long enough that hath won the harboui hath fought long enough that hath obtained the victory ; he run long enough that hath touched the goal ; and he hath long enough upon earth that hath won heaven, be his days never so few.
Anszver 2. The sooner your relation died, the less sin hath committed, and the less sorrow felt : What can you see in this but sin or sorrow t A quick passage through it to glory is a s; privilege. Surely the world is not so desirable a place, that (
tians should desire an hour's time longer in it for themselv theirs, than serves to fit them for a better.
A„c-r,^^<i A ., J ,^u„-„„-, : ;„_ ii *: u i
C56 A TOKEN FOR MOURXER*.
drawn up by a single hand, but when it hath spread and root many years in the earth, it will require many a strong hard tug to root it up. Affections like those under-grou are fixed and strengthened by nothing more than consuc long-possession ; it is much easier parting now, than it hereafter, whatever you think. However, this should sa that God's time is the best time.
Plea 4. O but I have lost all in one, it is my only one, I left in its room to repair the breach, and make up the loss had given me other children to take comfort in, the loss been so great ; but to lose all at one stroke is insupportal
Anstoer 1. Religion allows not unto Christians a liberty sing the death of their dear relations by so hard a word as them is ; they are not lost but sent before you * : And it is ful thing for a Christian to be reproved for such an unc pression by a heathen ; it is enough to make us blush to
an heathen said in this case-f-, ' Never say thou hast lost * (saith Epictetus) but that it is returned. Is thy son de; * onlv restored. Is thy inheritance taken from thee? It
* turned.'' And a while after he adds, E/ rsro Seoi? ftXov r.
i. e. ' Let every thing be as the gods would have it.' Answer % It is no fit expression to say you have lost i except that one be Christ ; and he being once yours, car lost. Doubtless, your meaning is, you have lost all you; of that kind ; and what though you have .? Are there not r of comforts yet remaining, of a higher kind, and more pn durable nature ? If you have no more of that sort, yet you have better, what cause have you to rejoice !
Ansicer ii. You too much imitate the way of the woi complaint ; they know not how to repair the loss of one co by another of the same nature, which must be put in its r up the vacancy : But have you no other way to supply y Have you not a God to fill the place of any creature that le Surely this would better become a man whose portion is ii than one that professes God is his all in all.
Pica 5. O but my only one is not only taken away, but mains no expectation or probabiUty of any more : I must upon myself as a dry tree, never to take comfort in chi more, which is a cutting thought.
Answer 1. Suppose what you say, that you have no ho] pectation of another child remaining to you ; yet if you ha
A TOKEN FOK MODUKERS.
** in his walls, a place and a name better than of sons and daugh
*' even an eveilasting name that shall not be cut off."" Ther better mercies, and higher hopes than these ; though your hop
children, or from children, should be cut off, yet if your eternal I are secure, and such as shall not make you ashamed, you shoul( be so cast down.
Ansner 2. If God will not have your comforts to lie anv mc children, then resolve to place them in himself, and you shall i find cause to complain of loss by such an exchange : You will
that in God which is not to be had in the creature ; one hour's munion with him, shall give you that which the happiest p never yet had from his children ; you will exchange brass for ;
perishing vanity for solid and abiding excellency.
Pka 6. But the suddenness of the stroke is amazing, God little or no warning to prepare for this trial : Death execute commission as soon as it opened it. My dear husband, wife, or c was snatched unexpectedly out of my arms, by a surprizing str
and this makes my stroke heavier than mv complaint.
Ansicer 1. That the death of your relation was so sudden surprizing, was much your own fault, who ought to have liv( the daily sense of its vanity, and expectation of your separation it ; you knew it to be a dying comfort in its best estate, and it such wonderful thing to see that dead, which you knew before dying : Besides, you heard the changes ringing about you in i famihes; you frequently saw other parents, husbands, and v carrying forth their dead : and what were all these but wan given to you to prepare for the like trials .?
Surely, then, it was your own security and regardlessness made this affliction so surprizing to you ; and who is to be bli for that, you know.
Answer 2. There is much difference betwixt the sudden dea
infants, and that of grown persons ; the latter may have mucl) to do ; many sins actually to repent of, and many evidences of interest in Chiist to examine and dear, in order to their more fortable death ; and so sudden death may be deprecated by the
But the case of infants, who exercise not their reason, is fai ferent; they have no such work to do, but are purely passive: that is done in order to their salvation, is done by God immedi upon them ; so it comes all to one, whether their death be quick, or more slow.
AnsTcer 3. You complain of tlie suddenness of the stroke :
658 A TOKEN FOR MOUllNERS,
" soul ? Which long for death, but it cometh not, anc " more than for hid treasures; Which rejoice exceedin *' glad when they can find the grave." That which you reckon the sting of your affliction, c have reckoned a favour and privilege. How many ten and other relations, who loved their friends as dearly as have been forced to their knees, upon no other errand beg the Lord to hasten the separation, and put an end to
■which to them was much greater than the sorrow for th
Plea 7. You press me to moderation of sorrows, an ought to shew it ; but you do not know how the case star there is a sting in this affliction, that none feels but mys( how intolerable is it now ! I neglected proper means : preserve life, or miscarried in the use of means. I now neglect, or such a mistake about the means, as I canno greatly to contribute to that sad loss which I now, too 1
O my negligence, O my rashness, and inconsiderat doth my conscience now smite me for my folly ! and b^ vate my burden beyond what is usually felt by others. H ably applied myself to the use of proper means, and kej such courses and counsels as those that are able and si
have prescribed, I might now have had a living husba child : whereas I am now not only bereaved, but am ap have bereaved myself of them. Surely there is no sorrc
my sori'ow. Answer 1. Though it be an evil to neglect, and sligh ordained by God for recovery of health, yet it is no ascribe too much to them, or rely too much on them ? tlu
in the world are weak and ineffectual, without God's ass concurrence, and they never have that his assistance or c when his time is come ; and that it was fully come in y case, is manifested now by the event. So that if your had the most excellent helps the world affords, they ^ availed nothing. This consideration takes place only in who see what the will of God is by the issue, and may noi by any whilst it remains dubious and uncertain, as it gen( in time of sickness.
Ansxcer 2. Do you not unjustly charge, and blame yo that which is not really your fault, or neglect ! How i chargeable in this case, will best apjiear by comparing, stances you are now in, with those you were in when yc
A TOKEN FOR MOtJliXERS.
Or, if divers methods and courses were prescril)ed, and persu; to, and you now see your error, in preferring that which was i improper, and neglecting what was more safe, and prohable ; y long as it did not so appear to your understanding at that time, you followed the best light you had to guide you at that tim were most unjust to charge the fault upon yourselves, for choc that course that then seemed best to you, whether it were so in it
or not.
To be angry with yourselves for doing, or omitting wliat was done, or omitted, according to your best discretion, and judgm because you now see it by the light of the event, far otherwise 1 you did heiore ; it is to be troubled that you are but men, or that are not as God, who only can foresee issues and events ; and you acted as all rational creatures are bound to do, according tc light they have, at the time and season of action.
Answer S. To conclude, Times of great affliction are ordin£ times of great temptation, and it is usual with Satan then to ch; us with more sins than we are guilty of, and also make those th to be sins, which, upon impartial examination, will not be foun
be so.
Indeed, had vour neglect or miscarriage been known or volunt or had you really preferred a little money (being able to give before the life of your relation, and did deliberately choose to ha/ this, rather than part with that ; no doubt, then, but there had I much evil of sin mixed with your affliction ; and your consci( raay justly smite you for it, as your sin ; but in the other case, wl is more common, and I presume yours ; it is a false charge, and ought not to abet the design of Satan in it.
Judge by the sorrow you now feel by your friend, in what de| he was dear to you, and what you could now willingly give to i som his life, if it could be done with money. Judge, I say, by t how groundless the charge is that Satan now draws up against y and you are but too ready to yield to the truth of it.
Plea 8. But my troubles are upon a higher score, and accou ray child or friend is passed into eternity, and I know not how i with liis soul ; were I sure my relation were with Christ, I sho be quiet; but my fears of the contrary are everwhelming ; O i terrible to think of the damnation of one so dear to me.
Answer 1. Admit what the objection supposes, that you have i grounds to fear the eternal condition of your dear relation ; yet i utterly unbeseeming you, even in such a case as this, to dispute wi nr rpninp acpflinst thp T,nrd.
660 A TOKEN FOR MOURNERS.
First, His indisputable sovereignty over them, R " Who art thou^ O man, who disputest with God ?" 1 the matters of eternal election and reprobation. What
will not be gracious to those that are so dear to us ? ' wrong done to them or us thereby ? Aaron's two sons in the act of sin, by the Lord's immediate hand, and yet peace, Lev. x. 3. God told Abraham plainly, that t should not be established with Ishmael, for whom he prayed, 0 let Ishmael live hefore thee ! and he knew th no salvation out of the covenant, and yet he sits down the word of the Lord.
Secondly, But if this do not quiet you, yet methinks his ing love and mercy to you should do it. O what do God, that root and branch hath not been cast together i that the Lord hath given you good hope, through gract be well with you for ever. Let this stop your mouth your spirit, though you would have grounds for this fe;
Atuiver 2. But pray examine the grounds of your f( it may not proceed from the strength of your affections t
■welfare of your friend, or from the subtilty of Satan, de; by to overwhelm and swallow you up in supposed, as just grounds and causes ? In two cases it is very probal
may proceed only from your own affection, or Satan's t First, If your relation died young, before it did any stroy your hopes. Or,
Secondly^ If grown, and in some good degree hopei did not in life, or at death, manifest, and give eviden
with that clearness as you desired.
As to the case of infants in general, it is none of on judge their condition ; and as for those that sprang fron
parents it becomes us to exercise charity towards then ture speaks very favourably of them.
And as for the more adult, who have escaped the poll world, and made conscience of sin and duty, albeit thej fested what you could desire they had ; yet in them,
Abijah, " may be found some good things toward the ] you never took notice of. Reverence of your authority, and shame-facedness, reservedness of disposition, and things, may hide those small and weak beginnings of ^ in children, from the observations of the parents. G( that in them that you never saw ; he despiseth not the things.
A TOKEX FOR MOrRXEUS. (
much upon it, I even idolized it, that was my sin : and, saith anotl I wanted due affections, and did not love my relation, at least nol spiritually as I ought ; that was my sin. Now God is visiting me all the neglects and defects that hath been in me towards my relati