A Cordial for a Fainting Soul, Sermon 10
The Tenth SERMON.
LUKE 17. v. 5.
Lord, increaſe our faith.
I Am come now to a ſixth propoſition, which is this, A Chriſtian may rely and hang tremblingly upon the promiſes, and yet depend truly, a trembling faith is no contradiction; faith breeds joy; and hence is that of the Apoſtle, The rejoycing of your faith, but David hath bidden us, Rejoyce with trembling. I have read a ſpeech of S. Auſtine, that ſuch as was the degree of ſollicitous feare, ſuch was the degree of grounded aſsurance. It hath been obſerved, that ſuch men as have had the palſey in their heads, have lived to be aged men. A Chriſtian I am ſure, may be a true Chriſtian, though the trembling palſey of feare be in him. It is the Apoſtles counſell, Phil. 2. …2. Work out your ſalvation with feare and trembling: Sure I am, the work of faith muſt be done in working out our ſalvation, and this muſt be done with trembling. It is a falſe and preſumptuous tenet that is by ſome maintained in theſe times, that will baniſh all feare and trembling from faith, as utterly inconſiſtent with faith, and will deny any to have faith but ſuch as have got a confident preſumption, as if palſied hands were no hands; Chriſt was never ſo cruell to poor diſeaſed ſoules as theſe are; Ephraim exalted himſelfe by ſpeaking trembling, Hoſ. 13. 1. The woman feared and trembled, Mar. 5. 33. yet Chriſt told her that her faith had made her whole. Paul trembling ſaid, What wilt thou have me to doe? Acts 9. 6. And yet I think none in their right wits will deny that the ſeeds of faith were growing in Pauls heart, though the ſtalk ſhaked. The poor drowning man that catcheth hold of ſome twig to ſave his life, he knowes he is drowned unleſſe he doth it, he therefore hangs truly, and even caſts his whole weight upon it, and yet without queſtion his heart trembles for fear, though he cannot but think the bough will beare him; ſuch is the Beleever; the true Beleever is a poor wretch that ſeeing himſelfe undone, in a wofull condition, ſinking to hell, even juſt ſinking, onelyonly ſpies a branch of the root of Ieſſe, the Lord Jeſus Chriſt in a promiſe; upon this he claps hold; here, ſayes he, I will hang; if this promiſe will beare the weight of a broken undone ſoule, then I am ſaved; if not, I periſh; then the ſoule conſiders what burthen it hath to lay upon it, and remembers it is the heavy weight of all its originall and actuall ſins, this makes it tremble and fear; I doubt not but Eſther when ſhe went in to King Ahaſhueroſh had very good hopes that ſhe ſhould prevaile, and did depend upon that as the laſt twig of hope ſhe and her people had; yet ſhe went in trembling, and ſayd If I periſh, I periſh; Now there may be ſeverall cauſes alledged for this trembling.
Firſt, It may be the deep apprehenſion of miſery that did precede; poſſibly the poor ſoule was under a ſpirit of bondage a long time, and ſhaked in pieces almoſt with horrour and feare; at laſt God opens a key-hole of mercy, and bids the ſoule look through and ſee a Chriſt pardoning all its ſinnes, and waſhing it with his precious blood, and cancelling all its debts, and wiping away its teares; the ſoule at the juſt opening of this now ſtands and trembles, fearing leſt the newes ſhould not to be true, and terrified with thoſe late apprehenſions, not conceiving that hell can be ſo ſoon transformed into heaven. When Peter had been in the Gaole and the priſon, and without queſtion full of carnall feares, for the next day he was to have been brought out and have been ſlain, and the Lord juſt in the nick of time ſent his Angel and delivered him Act. 12. 9. Peter could not tell what to think of it, he wiſt not that was true that was done by the Angel, but thought that he had ſeen a viſion, he was fain to ſtay a while before he came to himſelfe,V. 11. and ſaid, Now I know of a ſurety, that God hath ſent his Angel to bring me out: So it is with many a poor Beleever, he is in Gaole too, God hath him in Gaole, and the ſpirit of bondage keeps him in fetters; and to his thinking there is ſcarce a minute ſometimes betwixt him and death: Alas! death were a mercy, but he thinks that there is not an haires breadth betwixt him and hell; when he lyes downe at night, he wonders that he doth not awake in hell in the morning; now when under the ſaddeſt and deepeſt apprehenſions the ſoule hath of eternall ſinking into hell, God beyond all his expectations ſends his Angel to knock off theſe fetters, and bring it into the glorious liberty of the Sonnes of God, when the ſoule, like Peter, is ſleeping betwixt two devils as it thinks, and is bound with two belliſh chaines of terror and feare, and the ſpirit of bondage keeps the priſon, and the Angel of the Lords conſolation comes upon the ſoule, and the light, the glimmering glorious light of mercy and conſolation ſhineth into this dark, belliſh priſon, and ſmites the ſoule, and raiſeth it up, and ſayes, Soule, ariſe, thou art delivered, and makes the chaines fall off from the Soule, and ſayes to the ſoule, Poor ſoul, gird up thy ſelf, bind on thy ſandalls, come ſtand up from the dead, Chriſt ſhall give thee light, Come, come out of this Hell, caſt thy garments about thee, &c. no wonder if the ſoule for a while, like Peter, wiſt not that this is true which is done, and no wonder if it ſtep a ſtep or two further before its trembling is over, eſpecially conſidering that theſe terrours ſeldome are at once, but by degrees abated from the ſoule; it paſſeth, like Peter, through the firſt and ſecond ward, through one iron gate of feares, and then another ſtreet of terrours; I ſay, conſidering this, it is no great wonder if it be ſome while before the ſoule ſayes, with Peter, Now I know of a ſurety, now I know of a ſurety, that the Lord hath ſent his Angel, and hath delivered me out of the hand of the Devill, and from all the expectations of Satan: It is an ordinary thing if a man hath been drowning, and almoſt drowned, pulld on to the land, he trembles and quakes at firſt, as if ſtill hee were in his drowning danger, though he be on the ſhore; the terrours had ſurprized him before, are not preſently ſhaken of.
A ſecond cauſe may be in regard of ſome holds that have already failed the ſoule; Faith is when the ſoule layes hold upon Jeſus Chriſt, as the twig of ſalvation, and hangs upon him for life, and heaven, and happineſſe; Now the ſoule hath had many twigs failed: It is the nature of man to be timerous, and as a drowning man will catch hold upon any thing which comes next hand to ſave his life on; if he catcheth hold on one, and that breaks, he claps hold on another; if that again breaks, he claps hold on a third; if that alſo breakes, he ſtill claps hold on a fourth, beleeving it will hold; otherwiſe he would never lay hold upon it; yet ſo many having failed, he cannot but feare leſt that ſhould faile him too: So it is with a poor ſoule, ſin hath almoſt drowned him in terrour: firſt he claps hold upon moralitie and civilitie, reſolving to live a ſober, and honeſt, and vertuous life, and thinks this will beare him; well, this twig breakes, and will not hold; when God hath a minde to work his work upon the the ſoule, he quickly ſhewes the ſoule that this is a bruiſed reed, and broken ſtaffe, the ſoule is plunged into a depth of horror and terror again; well, then hee claps hold of another twig, and that is his duties, he prayes and faſts, and here he hangs, this ſhall ſave me (ſaith he;) this twig alſo breaks, the Lord ſhews the poor wretch that all its righteouſneſſe is as a menſtruous cloth, and as filthy rags in his ſight, and here the ſoule is again plunged in feare; at laſt God ſhews the ſoule the bough of Jeſus Chriſts Righteouſneſſe; the drowning, ſinking, poor creature layes hold of this but with trembling leſt this ſhould alſo faile; at firſt it feares.
A third cauſe may be in regard of the promiſe; Faiths work is to lay hold upon the Lord Jeſus Chriſt, but now the ſoule doth not do this immediately; but mediately. Chriſt doth not appear and ſpeak out of heaven to the ſoule, and ſay, I am thy ſalvation, then the work of Faith would be more eaſie; but Chriſt hath given the ſoul many both ſweet and precious promiſes, and theſe are the cords that the Lord Ieſus Chriſt throwes out to the ſoule to pull it to the land with: Now the ſoule takes this but with trembling untill it hath tryed the ſtrength of them, in regard it conceives the promiſes are lyable to many ambiguities, bounded with many conditions and limitations, and the ſoule conceives it ſelfe either not within the bounds of the promiſe, or unable to fulfill the conditions of the promiſe, or that it may make a falſe application of the promiſe: And hence it is, that come to a poor drooping ſoule, that feares its condition, and hath a true, though a trembling hand of faith (for Faith may have the palſey) and urge the faithfulneſſe of God in promiſing, the ſureneſſe of the promiſe once made, the unchangeable nature of God; they will tell you, they do not a jot queſtion this, they know God is not man that he ſhould lye; nor yet as the ſon of man that he ſhould repent; they know that he is both faithfull and true; but the promiſes they feare are not made to them; they indeed reſt upon them, but whether rightly or no, God knowes; they conceive that either the promiſes were made to particular perſons, as to the Nation of the Jewes, or they are ſure to the particular number of Gods Elect, of which they are none, &c. they will tell you that indeed the promiſes are true, but they are conditionall, and they feare that the conditions of the promiſe are not fulfilled in their ſoules; ſo that the work lies another way, not ſo much to perſwade them of the truth of the promiſes in generall, the cauſe of their trembling lies not here for feare that the promiſe ſhould faile thoſe to whom it belongs, but for feare that they ſhould miſapply and miſunderſtand the faithfull and true promiſes of God: And now although we muſt ſay concerning this trembling, this is alſo our infirmity, yet none can deny that it is an hereditary diſeaſe to the nature of man, and will be in us more or leſſe, ſo long as any of us be in the fleſh, and ſo long as ſinne remaines in our fleſh, and will be eſpecially and moſt in thoſe that have lien under greateſt feares and terrours, and are newly got out of them, and begin to have a little of the light of comfort glimmer upon them; even as a man that ſhould come out of an horrid and dark dungeon where he hath been in darkneſſe, thick darkneſſe, into the glaring ſight of the Sun in the top of the Meridian, at the firſt will be dazeled, and rub his eyes, and apprehend himſelf in ſome darkneſſe, though he be in the light. He that had his eyes opened Ioh. 9. firſt thought he ſaw men like trees; and this trembling may conſiſt with true dependance. Iob. 13. 15. Though he kill me, yet I will trust in him▪ the laſt words yet I will truſt in him, argued faith, and a ſtrong faith; faith that he would truſt; a ſtrong faith, that yet hee would truſt; and yet whoſo conſidereth the firſt words that Iob apprehended himſelf in a danger of killing, will eaſily think that it was a trembling faith that Iob there acted. And as it is ordinary with poor Chriſtians through their infirmity to beleeve tremblingly in the beginning of their converſion; ſo there is alſo another time when trembling doth ordinarily accompany true faith in the people of God, and that is a time of deſertion. Secondly in time of deſertion I think none will deny but Gods children have, and act, and muſt act true faith in this ſaving and juſtifying act of reliance and dependency; but I am ſure this they cannot doe without trembling: Such was the condition of Iob in that place I before mentioned Iob 13. 15. David did rely, and ſtrongly rely in his time of deſertion, inſomuch that in his 6. Pſalm, v. 8. he ſpeakes confidently of a thing that he beleeved for as if it were already done, The Lord hath heard the voyce of my weeping; and yet whoſoever readeth but the former part of that Pſalm, will finde that he was in a trembling temper, His ſoule was ſore vexed, his bones were troubled, he was weary with his groaning, and he made his bed to ſwim with his teares, &c. Now the cauſe of this trembling ariſeth;
Firſt, from the ſenſe of the ſinne; The ſinner ſaith, Ah! the promiſes did belong to me; but I have been a backſlider, and now what have I to doe with the promiſes? What hath ſuch a wretch as I to doe with theſe filthy unclean hands of mine to lay hold upon a clean Chriſt? The ſenſe of ſin ſtrikes a deep impreſſion upon the ſoule, and puts a ſhaking into the heart of the ſoule; yet it layes hold; if Chriſt will not ſave me (ſaith the poor ſoule) ſure I am nothing elſe can; to him I will go, and me thinks it goes as the Meſſengers of Benhadad to Ahab 1 King. 20. Behadad there had wrong'd Ahab, and through the help of God his Army was routed, and Benhadad was glad to hide himſelfe in one of Ahabs Townes in an inner Chamber, and ſends to Ahab; his ſervants, v. 31. ſaid to him, We have heard that the Kings of the houſe of Iſrael are mercifull Kings, let us put ſackcloth on our loynes, and put ropes about our heads, and go out to the King of Iſrael; peradventure he will ſave thy life; ſo they did, and ſaid, Thy ſervant Benhadad ſayes, I pray thee let me live; And he ſaid, is he yet alive? he is my brother; the men catcht his words, and they ſaid, Thy brother Benhadad; and he ſaid, Go and bring him; and accordingly he came, and Ahab took him up into his Charriot: So it is with the poor ſoule, when the ſoule hath fought againſt God by ſin, the Lord overthrowes it by deſertion, yet it lives, but dare not be ſeen ſo openly, it is hidden under the dark cloud of deſertion, it ſquilks as in an inner chamber, it is ſenſible how it hath deſerved death, yea ten thouſand deaths; But the li…e of grace being yet in the ſoule, it ſayes within it ſelfe, I have heard that the King of Heaven, the Lord Ieſus Chriſt, is a mercifull Chriſt; come therefore, I will ſend my Meſſengers of Faith and Prayer, they ſhall put ſackcloth-upon their loynes, and ropes upon their heads, and go out to the Lord Ieſus Chriſt; peradventure he will ſave my ſoule, and I ſhall live. Without queſtion Benhadads ſervants went with trembling hearts, and yet relied upon this as the onelyonly meanes to ſave Benhadad their Maſter alive: So the ſoule ſends out at ſuch a time a trembling faith, and trembling prayers, and yet truly relies upon Chriſts mercy, and favour, and the ſoule ſayes to God; Lord! thy backſliding, revolting ſervant ſayes, Let me live, let my backſlidings be healed, let my renewed ſinnes be yet pardoned: Chriſt will ſay, Thou art my brother, and take thee into the Charret; but yet thy faith trembles, and thy prayer trembles: And indeed there is very great reaſon for it, if we ſecondly conſider, that the very eſſence of deſertions is Gods withdrawing of his manifeſtative love from the ſoul, that the ſoul, though it be loved with Gods elective love in and under deſertions, yet it wants the apprehenſions and manifeſtations of his love: Now, that which onelyonly can keep the ſoule from its naturall temper of trembling, is the apprehended manifeſtations of Chriſts love to it, which being withdrawn, the ſoule falls a trembling again, and yet the life of grace being not extinct, it ſtill truſts, yea though he kills the ſoule, yet it truſts in him. So I have done with the ſixth propoſition, That the ſoule may depend tremblingly upon the Lord Ieſus Chriſt, and yet depend truly.
I come now to the ſeventh and laſt Propoſition, to ſhew what weakneſſe and doubting may conſiſt with true faith in the ſoule: that I ſhall doe in a ſeventh propoſition thus, Thou mayest truly rely and depend upon the promiſes of God, and upon the Lord Ieſus Christ for everlasting ſalvation, and dwell upon them, and yet not be able fully and truly to appropriate and peculiarize all the promiſes to thy ſelfe, and act accordingly to them at all times. There are diſtinctions of promiſes and diſtinctions of times, from whence will ariſe diſtinctions of cauſes, which would be underſtood; To make out this certaine truth.
1. You muſt know that there is a diſtinction of promiſes; the promiſes are many wayes diſtinguiſhed; there are generall and particular promiſes, abſolute and conditiall promiſes, Promiſes that concerne ſome particular people, as the people of the Iews, and particular perſons, as to David and Herekiah, and other of the people of God, which if we ſhould apply, we ſhould miſapply to our ſelves: I ſhall not meddle with all the diſtinctions of theſe promiſes, but onelyonly with what ſhall conduce now to my purpoſe to make out this truth I have laid down in my propoſition, and ſo I ſhall diſtinguiſh of two promiſes, two wayes:
Firſt, They are temporall or ſpirituall.
Secondly, They are abſolute or conditionall.
Firſt, there are temporall promiſes, which are or may be called temporall, either in reſpect of the matter of the promiſe, or circumstance of time limited in the promiſe. There are ſome promiſes that were made for a certaine time, and at the time expired were paid, and now the bonds are cancell'd, theſe were particular: Such were many promiſes made to the people of the Iewes, and to particular perſons amongſt them; Now theſe wee must not look to peculiarize, and appropriate to our ſelves, they are done with.
Secondly, There are temporall promiſes ſo called in reſpect of the things promiſed, being things temporall for the body or eſtate, for protection of our ſelves, wives, eſtates, families: Now for theſe promiſes, thou mayſt not peculiarize them, and yet have true faith for ſalvation; ſalvation and heaven being not the thing promiſed in them; and beſides, there may be cauſe why thou mayeſt not have ſo good ground to rely, and confidently reſt upon God for the fulfilling of theſe promiſes, as I ſhall ſhew you more when I come to handle the diſtinction of times, and as I ſhewed you the laſt time, in the caſe of David 2 Sam. 12. But ſecondly there is a ſecond diſtinction of promiſes, I meane of ſpirituall promiſes, which it is our duty at all times to apply and reſt upon; yet theſe are either abſolute or conditionall: It is a note that I have before ſomewhere noted, that the promiſes of Gods firſt mercies in a way of ſaving grace to the ſoule are ordinarily abſolute; I will give, and I will give, without any praevious conditions to be found in the ſoule, as his promiſes of inlightning grace, Jer. 24. v. 7. I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the Lord, and they ſhall be people, and I will be their God: And for the grace of humiliation, Ezek. 36. 26. A new heart alſo will I give you, and a new ſpirit will I put upon you; and I will take away the ſtony heart out of your fleſh, and will give you an heart of fleſh; and ſo for his grace by which he convinceth, Ioh. 16. 8. The ſpirit ſhould convince the world of ſinne, of righteouſneſse, and of judgement: Now theſe promiſes are altogether abſolute, being the free promiſes for diſpenſations of the firſt graces in order to a poor ſoules ſalvation: Now there are other promiſes of God for ſpirituall mercies in order to the ſoules ſalvations, which are ſecond diſpenſations, and theſe are propounded with conditions, as the promiſes of heaven for power to rely on Jeſus Chriſt, peace, aſſurance, &c. Iſa. 55. 1. Mat. 11. 29. and again, to him that overcometh will I give to drink of the water of life freely, with many ſuch more; not as if man could fulfill theſe conditions in the ſoule, and prepare his owne heart; No, we abhorre that Popiſh doctrine, though ſome falſly charge us with it: But becauſe Chriſt wil fulfill them, before he beſtowes thoſe higher degrees of mercy and favour upon them; he will make the ſoul hunger and thirſt before hee will let it know it ſhall live,Iſ. 55▪ 1. and give it power to come unto him;Mat. 11. 9. hee will make the ſoule weary and heavie laden with ſin, before he will give the ſoule power to rely upon him comfortably for ſalvation:…zek. 11. 19. He will take away the heart of ſtone out of the ſoule, and give it an heart of fleſh, before he will give it power to walk in his ſtatutes, and keep his ordinances, and do them, before he will let it know that he is its God, and that it is Gods choſen veſſell. And thus I have ſhewed you the diſtinction of promiſes; and what we ſhall conclude from hence for our purpoſe, I will ſhew you by and by when I have done with the diſtinction of times, which I come to.
The Soule hath its winter and ſummer, 2 Diſtinction.its cloudy and black dayes, and its lightſome and glaring dayes.
Firſt, it hath its lightſome, ſummer Sun ſhine dayes, when it is not conſcious▪
1. Of any great ſinne committed against knowledge, ſuch as Tertullian calls Peccata devorantia ſalutem; Sinnes that ſwallow up heaven and ſalvation in the ſoule.
2. When it hath no naturall diſtempers of body, no cloudy, melancholy vapours; for the ſoule being to act through the body, doth ſomething ſuffer by it: and as it is with a man that looks at the reflection of his face in a glaſſe, if there be a wetneſſe or duſt upon the glaſſe, he cannot ſee clearly: So the ſoule if there be a miſt or duſt of melancholy oppreſſes the body, the ſoule cannot ſee and act clearly.
Or 3. When the body is not under ſome harſh affliction; for the ſoule ſympathi…eth with the body, and in its acting through the organs of it, ſhewes the affection that it hath with the bodies ſufferings; and ſo alſo there are black and dark dayes; for as it is ſummer time with the ſoule and day-light when it is not ſad and darkned with deſertion, and when the body is not oppreſſed with melancholly, or affliction, or perſecution; So on the contrary it is winter, and a dark time with the ſoule, when the ſoule hath ſinned ſome great ſinne, for which the ſoule looks up trembling to God, and looks upon him as an angry revengefull God, or when the body is heavy and oppreſſed with melancholy vapours ſtopping the paſſages of the ſoule, or under heavy and grievous affliction that it is born down even to a back-breaking under them; even as it is with a fountaine that runs through Conduit-pipes of lead, &c. or wood, into any houſe, if the fountaine be dirty, and muddy in it ſelf, dirty water comes into the houſe; or if the Conduit-pipes through which it paſſeth be dirty and tainted, the water bringeth the pollution and tang of bitterneſſe, &c. that was in the pipe, into the houſe; otherwiſe, if both the fountaine be cleare and ſweet, and the Conduit-pipes be not ſtopped, nor tainted, nor dirty, then … water runs ſweetly into the place to which the Pipes lead it: So it is with the ſoule that is the fountaine that runs into acts, but through the Conduit-pipes of the body; if the pipes be ſtopt, or oppreſſed, or muddy, or cleare, ſuch is the actings of the ſoule. And thus I have ſhewed you the diſtinctions both of times and promiſes; now I ſhall conclude the truth of this propoſition in ſome four or five Concluſions.
Firſt of all, Particular promiſes muſt not be expected to be peculiarized; we may not expect that thoſe promiſes which were made to the people of the Jewes in particular, ſhould be made good to us, becauſe they had promiſes to be delivered out of Babylon and Egypt at ſuch a prefixt time; it were madneſſe in us to beleeve that the Church of God ſhould be now delivered juſt after 70. years, or 400. years; and ſo likewiſe what promiſes were made to any particular perſons amongſt the Jewes, as for any now to apply that promiſe made to Hezekiah, I will adde to thy life 15. years: I think we have a rule here in Land That if an inheritance be intailed by name, it cannot be tranſlated to any other; theſe promiſes were entail'd by name; theſe thou canſt not, nay oughtſt not to apply, they are not a portion by thy father deſign'd for thee.
Secondly, It may poſsibly be that in ſome times thou mayeſt not be able to appropriate the temporall promiſes that God hath made to his children, amongst which thou art included.
1. In the darke time of want and penury to beleeve for bread to eate when I ſee none like to come; O it is hard feeding upon Scripture leaves: I ſhewed you this the laſt day, 'tis nothing to doe it, or at leaſt to think we doe it in times of proſperity. Habakuks faith, Hab. 3. 17. was an hard faith, though it were a ſtrong and precious one.
2. In the dark time of deſertions, It is hard, as I ſhall ſhew you by and by, to apply thoſe promiſes that are of neereſt concernment to our ſalvation, much more thoſe which are at ſo remote a diſtance.
3. In a time when melancholy, dark, cloudy vapours of the body caſt a wiſt before the ſoules eye, and will not give it leave to act clearly.
4. In a time when the ſoule hath ſinned, thou mayeſt not fully rely and be ſo confident, as before.
To peculiarize theſe promiſes, I ſhewed you the ground of this before, becauſe though God hath promiſed that his Saints ſhall never eternally fall out of his favour, yet he hath and will puniſh his Saints for ſinne, with the ſubſtraction of temporall favors, as I ſhewed you before in the caſe of David; and I take that to be an old Antinomian errour, inſtead of a new truth, That God doth not with temporall afflictions correctively puniſh his beſt ſervants for ſin.
Laſtly, It doth not argue a nullity of faith, and true ſaving faith, at any time not to be able to appropriate outward temporall promiſes; for although it is our duty to rely and depend upon all the promiſes; yet if wee through infirmity be not able to rely upon theſe, I conceive it doth not null the verity of our faith, ſalvation being not the thing promiſed in theſe.
Thirdly, For thoſe that are conditionall promiſes in dark times, the ſoule may not be able clearly and fully to apply them, reſt upon them, and particularly apply them, and yet at the ſame time truly dwell and reſt upon them. What ſpirituall promiſes are made conditionally in Scripture, I have ſhewed you before; now it may poſſibly be, that even theſe, though of great concernment to the ſoule, yet at all times the ſoule may not be able to ſay, this promiſe of Heaven and glory and happineſſe belongs to me.Pſal. 77. 7, 8, 9. Holy Aſaph in a dark day with his ſoule, may ſay, Will the Lord caſt off for ever? and will he be favourable no more? Is his mercy cleane gone for ever? Doth his promiſe faile for evermore? Hath God forgotten to be gracious? Hath he in anger ſhut up his tender mercies? The reaſon lies not, that the ſoule doubts of the truth of God in his promiſes at all; no, it verily thinketh, that if it had fulfilled the conditions of the promiſes, the promiſes would remaine to its ſoule as ſtedfaſt as Mount Sion; but it cannot ſee that: It looks upon its ſinnes in a multiplying glaſſe, and upon its repentance in a diminiſhing glaſſe. Every mountaine of good in its ſelfe now ſeemes a Mole-hill, and every Mole-hill of ſinnes ſeemeth a Mountaine unto it: Thence it is that in the ſoules dark day of afflictions in the ſoule, or in a dark day of afflictions to the body, the ſoules faith is weakned, it is ready to look upon its great affliction as an evidence that it wanteth that intereſt in God which it ſhould have to apply promiſes: It ſayes with Gideon, Iudg. 6. 13. when the promiſe ſaith like the Angel, The Lord is with thee; it anſwers, O my Lord! if the Lord be with me, why then is all this be…alne me? and where be all his mercies? no, the Lord hath forſaken me, and delivered me to the hand of Satan; now the ſoule muſt not take a judgement of its faith from hence, but appeale abanima perturbata ad animam quietam to a calm day in the ſoule again.
Laſtly, In dark times the truly beleeving ſoule (though it can give no reaſon for it) may not be able to reſt, and apply the moſt abſolute peculiar promiſes as its peculiar portion; this I ſhall fully make out by conſidering what is requiſite to be in the ſoule that ſhall appropriate any promiſe to it ſelfe as its portion, upon which it will live, in which, and upon which it will dwell.