Sermons Preached on Several Occasions Volume 2, Sermon 5
The Fifth Sermon.
GEN. XXII. 14.
—As it is said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen.
NOW follows the second thing in this Verse, The Proverbial Speech that was thereupon taken up, and long continued in the mouths of men; As it is said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen. To this day, that is, till the time when Moses wrote this Book; for he was the Penman of it. And this could not be much less than Three hundred years after that Abraham received this Command to sacrifice his Son: So long was this Proverbial Speech in use with the men of those times. The words in the Original, which our Translators have rendred, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen, may also be as well rendred, In the mount the Lord shall be seen. But which way soever we render it, whether we take the word Jehovah, or Lord, in the Nominative or in the Genitive Case, as 'tis alike capable of being taken either way, so the sense will be the same. If we render the words with our Translators, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen; the meaning is, It shall then and there be seen what God will do, and what provision he will make. And if we render the words, In the mount the Lord will be seen; the meaning is, That God will then and there appear to make such provision and afford such relief as to his Wisdom shall seem best. This Proverbial form of speech, as is conceived, they made use of when at any time they were in any extraordinary strait or perplexity; then they would in this form of speech, alluding to what God had done for Abraham in the Mount, comfort and encourage themselves, saying, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen; or, In the mount the Lord will be seen: In the mount, that is, when our extremities come to be at the highest, and our straits are greatest. Now this Proverbial Speech, though it alludes to God's dealing with Abraham in the Mount, and was upon that occasion first taken up, yet is it not wholly grounded thereon, but also on the ordinary course of God's Providence, which the men of that Generation had observed to be very agreeable to his dealings with Abraham. As he stepp'd in for Abraham's relief in the Mount, just as he was stretching out his hand to slay his Son, and took him off, substituting another Sacrifice in the room of Isaac; so ordinarily he deals with his people; he comes in to their succour in their greatest extremities. This, I say, they having observed to be the ordinary course of God's Providence, they took occasion to express what they had observed, in this form of words, alluding to what God had done for Abraham in the Mount; saying, In the mount the Lord will be seen. For unless they had observed this to have been the ordinary course of God's Providence, this single Instance of God's dealing with Abraham, had not been enough to ground such a Proverbial speech upon. The words being thus explained, afford us this Observation;
That God usually comes in to succour and relieve his people in their greatest extremities.
I shall give a few Instances hereof out of Scripture; then add some Reasons of this Dispensation; and lastly, Apply it.
There is indeed no more remarkable Instance than this of Abraham's being relieved in the Mount. Other Instances are, That of God's sending Moses and Aaron to bring the Israelites out of Egypt, when after many years hard Bondage under the Egyptian Yoak their Miseries, and the Oppression and Cruelty of their Enemies were now at the highest; when all their Male Children were commanded to be drowned; when unmerciful Taskmasters were set over them, who should exact from them the whole Tale of Brick which they had been wont to make, and cruelly beat them if it fell short, though Materials to make it were withdrawn from them, Exod. 15. God could have delivered them much sooner, and have prevented those extremities: but it seemed good to his Wisdom to respit their Deliverance till their Sufferings were at the highest, and then to come in to their Succour.
So again afterwards, when they had been dismissed out of Egypt, the Army of the Egyptians pursuing them, was close behind them, the Red Sea before them, and the Mountains on both sides of them, in this their great strait God appeared for them, miraculously dividing the Sea to make a passage for his people, and destroying their Enemies that followed them, by the return of the Waters upon them, Exod. 14. God could as easily have destroyed the Egyptians, and rescued his people before they had been brought into that strait. But the time of their utmost extremity was God's opportunity to shew Mercy, and therefore till that time he thought fit to respit his Succours.
Another Instance hereof we have in 1 Sam. 23.26, 27. where we read how great a strait David was in, and how seasonably God relieved him in that very Juncture of time, when, unless relief had come, he had certainly fallen into the hands of his blood-thirsty Enemies. Saul went on this side of the mountains, and David and his men on that side of the mountains; and David made haste to get away for fear of Saul; for Saul and his men compassed David and his men round about to take them. And there came a messenger unto Saul, saying, Haste thee, and come, for the Philistines have invaded the land: Wherefore Saul returned from pursuing after David, and went against the Philistines. God, who most wisely disposeth and ordereth the circumstances of all things, caused this Messenger to be sent to recal Saul from pursuing David, just as he was now ready to seize on him, and not till then, though the Philistines might have invaded the Land sooner, and this Messenger might have come to call back Saul before David had been in that strait. But that season of David's extremity, was the hour unto which God had reserved that relief which he intended he should have.
Another Instance may be that of the Widow of Zarophath, 1 Kings 17.10, 11, 12. who thus represents her sad condition, by means of the Famine that was then in the land. When the Prophet Elijah bids her fetch him a little Water, and bring him a Morsel of Bread in her hand, she replies, I have not a cake, but only an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oyl in a cruse, and behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it and dye. But in this her utmost extremity, when now she was dressing the last of that small Provision which she had to keep her self and her Son alive, the Prophet is sent to tell her from the Lord, That the barrel of meal should not waste, nor the cruse of oyl fail, until the day that the Lord would send rain upon the earth.
I shall add but one Instance more, and 'tis that which we have in the 12th. Chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, concerning Peter's deliverance. Herod the King having slain James with the Sword, and perceiving that the Jews were pleased with it, to gratify them further he apprehends Peter also, and casts him into Prison, where he was kept for some time. From the time of his Imprisonment, Prayer was made without ceasing of the Church unto God for him; but still he was kept in Prison, and nothing was done for him in answer to all those Prayers, till the very night before Herod intended to have brought him forth to the people, and to have put him to death. In that very night, and not till then, was he set at liberty, and released by an Angel, the miraculous circumstances of which his Deliverance, are at large described in that Chapter.
Thus you have had several Instances of God's coming in to succour and relieve his in their greatest extremities, being then especially a very present help to them in their trouble, as David speaks, Psalm 46.1.
Now in the second place, I proceed to give the Reasons of this Dispensation, at least to mention some of them. And I shall place them in two ranks; that I may avoid confusion; first shewing why God respits his relief so long, till a time of greatest extremity; and secondly, Why he then at length affords relief.
Concerning the former of these; God usually respits the relief of his people in their troubles so long,
1. That he may thereby exercise their Faith and Patience. There is but small Trial of Faith, little exercise therefore in those Afflictions that are quickly over, and never come to any extremity; and as little trial or exercise of Patience is there in such cases. A little Faith and a little Patience may hold out, where Trials are neither long continued, nor extreme. Wherefore God, who is infinitely wise, knowing how needful and beneficial it is unto us, that the Faith of his People should be exercised throughly, and their Patience have its perfect work, often draws out their Afflictions to a very great length, and lets them still go on, till they come to be so high that they can hardly go any higher; before he sends relief▪ That God by the Temptations and Trials of his people, intends the exercise and improvement of these two Graces, we may see, James 1.2, 3, 4. And he that understands the true value and worth of these Graces, will not think the increase and improvement of them to be dearly bought, though the Afflictions which in order thereunto he undergoes be long and sharp, and rise at last to that extremity, beyond which scarce any thing could have been.
2. Another reason why God respits the relief of his people so long, is, that he may carry them on in Prayer, that they may offer up many Prayers to him in order to their deliverance▪ that they may pray much before they obtain, relief, and more and more fervently and uncessantly still, as their Trials rise higher and higher: And all this, that after so many Prayers they may have more full and comfortable Returns at last, as it was in the case of those Christians that prayed so much and so long for Peter's relief▪ In answer to so many Prayers he had at length his release immediately from Heaven in an extraordinary and miraculous way.
3. God is pleased to respit the relief of his people so long, that they may in the mean time be more soundly humbled for their sins, and more throughly sensible of their utter unworthiness of that Mercy which they are waiting upon him for. To get the heart to be throughly humbled is no easy matter; this is a work that goes slowly on, as every man's own experience will tell him, when he sets about it; 'tis not the work of a day or two, it must be done by little and little, and therefore time is necessary for the carrying on and perfecting of it. And seeing easy and gentle applications make little or no impression upon our stony hearts, for the breaking and humbling of them, 'tis requisite that something of an extraordinary nature be made use of; for the most part till we are much straitned and sorely put to it, till we come to be urged with extremities, our hearts will not yield or relent.
4. Another reason why God respits the relief of his People so long, why he doth not come in sooner to their succour, and prevent their extremities, is, that he may take off their hearts from all their dependance on the Creature for help, and he may strip them of all their carnal confidences; that when things are come to that pass, and their extremities are such, that now they see there is none else in all the world that can relieve them but God, they may no longer look to the Mountains or the Hills for succour, but their expectation may be from God, and from him only, as the Psalmist speaks, Psal. 62.5. So carnal are we, that we rather chuse to rely on any thing else than God, as long as we have any thing else to rest on: But in our extremity all other props and supports being removed, we are necessitated to betake our selves to God, and expect relief from him, who alone is able to afford it us.
And so much concerning the Reasons why God respits the relief of his People so long, and doth not prevent their extremities by coming in sooner to their succour.
In the Second place, Why doth God then afford them relief? Why doth he do it in their greatest extremities?
A. He makes choice of that time to relieve them, no doubt, because 'tis the fittest season. And the fittest season 'tis in many respects, as may, in part, be gathered from what hath been spoken.
1. In their greatest extremities they are most humble. Their afflictions bring their sins to remembrance, and make them judge and loathe themselves for them; and this they do most effectually, most sincerely and heartily, when their straits are greatest. Now men are most fit for deliverance when they are most humble. Mercy never comes in more seasonable, it never finds men in a meeter posture to entertain it, than when they are putting their mouths in the dust, and abhorring themselves for all their evil ways. This frame of the heart God chiefly looks after, and hath respect unto when he comes to shew Mercy; He will save the humble person, Job 22.29. He hears the desire of the humble, Psal. 10.17. And forgetteth not the cry of the humble, Psal. 9.12. He that humbleth himself shall be exalted, Matth. 23.12. Humble your selves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up, James 4.10. And again, Humble your selves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time, of Pet. 5.6.
2. In their greatest extremities they Pray most fervently. In lesser afflictions they Pray, but in their extremities they Cry unto God for help, as the Israelite: did Exod. 14.10. when they were at the Red Sea, and the Egyptians were close behind them. Thus our Saviour in the extremity of the anguish of his Soul in his Agony, Offered up prayers and supplications to his Father with strong …ying and tears, Heb. 5.7. Extremity of affliction puts an accent upon the Prayers of God's People, and makes them not only cry, but … aloud for succour, as David in his straits was wont to do, Psal. 55.16, 17. Now though cold and drowsy Prayers do not speed so well, yet there is a wonderful efficacy in fervent Prayers to prevail with God for relief, James 5.16.
3. In their extremities their eyes are only upon God for succour, they despair of it any other way, and therefore all their dependance is on him, and all their expectation is from him. Now God is not wont to fail men, when renouncing and disclaiming all other succours, they rely on him alone, and roll themselves intirely on his Power, Goodness, and Faithfulness. Upon much experience of God's never failing such as thus depend on him, it is that the Psalmist saith, They that know thy name will put their trust in thee, for thou hast not forsaken them that seek thee, Psal. 9.10.
4. In the greatest extremities of God's People, his succours are most sweet and comfortable; and therefore to commend his Mercies to them, he takes that time to shew Mercy. God so much consults the comfort of his People, that he is graciously pleased to order the time and other circumstances of his Mercies, as they may best relish them, taste most sweetness in them, and take the greatest content and satisfaction in them.
5. God comes in to succour and relieve his People in their greatest extremities, because this is most suitable to his compassionate and merciful disposition. He is a Father to his, a Father not in name only, but in reality, as being affected with a most tender paternal Love to them; as a Father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him, Psalm 103.13. And hence it is that he pitieth them most, and is most ready to succour and relieve them in their greatest necessities and highest exigencies, provided that they carry and demean themselves in any measure suitable unto their relation to him, and as becomes his Children.
6. He makes choice of the season of their greatest extremities to relieve them, because then he hath the fittest opportunity of displaying the glory of his Power, Wisdom, Goodness, Truth, and Faithfulness in their relief. The greater their straits are, and the less visible ground of hope of relief there is from any Creature, the more will the glory of these his Attributes shine forth in his appearing for them, and helping them in such difficult and desperate circumstances, as in which it was apparent that relief, if ever they obtained it, must come immediately from himself.
7. God comes in to relieve his People in their greatest extremities, because then, if ever, his People will give the glory of what is done for them, intirely to himself. When their straits were so great, as that it was visible to every eye, that none but God could help them, there can be no pretence or colour for taking any part of the glory to themselves, or for conferring it upon any other Creature.
8. If the Enemies of God's Church have brought his People into that forlorn and desperate condition, desperate as to all human help, God comes in to the succour and relief of his People in their greatest extremities, and not till then, that the disappointment of their Enemies high and confident hopes and expectations may be so much the more shameful, and the utter defeating of their most politick and hopeful designs so much the more remarkable. If God should interpose in the behalf of his People earlier, and crush the cockatrice eggs as soon as his Churches Enemies begin to set abrood on them, their disappointment would not be so ignominious and confounding; but when he lets them alone till they are just ready to hatch what they have been long brooding on, and then steps in, crushing their designs, turning all their engines against themselves, and making them fall by their own counsels; when in the things in which they dealt proudly, he appears at last when they least fear'd it to have been above them (as Jethro speaks of God delivering his People out of the hand of the Egyptians, Exod. 18.10.) when he thus rescues his People from the very horns of the unicorn, as David speaks, whence none but himself could have rescued them; when he plucks away the Prey from between the very teeth of the Lion, this is a dispensation in which he gets him honour over his Enemies, as he gat him honour over Pharaoh in his overthrow, Exod. 14.17. and in which the shame and confusion of their disappointment is equal to the high confidence they had of their success.
9. God comes in to succour his People in their greatest extremities, that he might not cast a damp upon their Faith, and discourage their Prayers; and that he might not open the mouths of their Enemies against them, and give them an occasion of triumphing in their misery.
1. He relieves them in their greatest extremities, that he might not cast a damp upon their Faith, and discourage their Prayers. For if God should then fail them, they would say their Faith was vain, and that their Prayers were insignificant and fruitless. They would be tempted to conclude, That there is no advantage or benefit in seeking God, in looking up to him, and depending on him; they would be tempted to think it a very indifferent thing whether they Pray or no, and whether they have recourse to God in their distresses, or to the Creature; and that they might hope to speed as well in the total neglect of their Duty, as in the most Conscientious performance of it.
2. God comes in to succour and relieve his People in their greatest extremities, that he might not open the mouths of their Enemies, and give them an occasion of triumphing in their misery. If God should fail his People in their greatest extremities, then their Enemies would insult over them and reproach them, saying, Where is now your God? What is become now of all your Prayers, of all your confidence in God's help, of your reliance on him, and expectation of relief from him? This proud and reproachful insultation of the Enemies of God's Church, is that which God's People have ever deprecated, and prayed against, frequent instances whereof we have in the Book of Psalms. And God himself even when he is much provoked by the sins of his People, yet declares that he mercifully forbears to use that severity against them which their sins deserve, lest their and his Enemies should thence take an occasion of insulting; so Deut. 32.26, 27. I said, I would scatter them into corners, I would make the remembrance of them to cease from among men, were it not that I feared the wrath of the enemy, and lest their adversaries should behave themselves strangely, and say, Our hand is high, and the Lord hath not done all this. When he saith, Were it not that I feared the wrath of the Enemy, he speaks after the manner of men; but his meaning is, that though his People had given him sufficient cause to deal most severely with them, yet he was pleased to hold his hand, and to use much greater moderation in correcting them, than otherwise he would have done, to prevent the proud insultings of their Enemies.
And thus you have had the reasons, at least some of the reasons, why God usually comes in to succour and relieve his People in their greatest extremities, and not till then. Now followeth the Application.
Ʋse 1. Doth God come in to succour and relieve his People in their greatest extremities? Then we may hence be encouraged to trust in God to the uttermost, and not to cast away our confidence, or yield to despair in our sorest straits. Even when all human helps fail us, and things grow worse and worse every day, let us not say, There is no help for us in God; David's Enemies, indeed, said so of him, Psal. 3.2. but David never said so of himself, unless when for the present under the power of some grievous temptation; when he was greatly distressed in regard the people spake of stoning him, he encouraged himself in the Lord, 1 Sam. 30.6. And Job's resolution was, That though God should slay him, yet would he trust in him, Job 13.15. But you will say, in cases of such extremity, What grounds of Faith and Trust in God are there? What foundation hath a man to support his dependance on God for relief?
A. I Answer, he hath divers:
1. No extremity can be so great in which it is not most easy with God to afford relief. If a man could ever be at that loss, that it exceeded the Power of God to help him, then indeed his case were desperate: But whatever your condition be, Is there any thing too hard for the Lord? Gen 18.14. In his hand is there not power and might? as Jehoshaphat pleaded with him in Prayer, 2 Chron. 20.6. With God nothing is impossible, Luke 1.37. He can do for us exceeding abundantly above what we are able to ask or think, Ephes. 3.20.
2. As there is no such forlorn exigency in which he is not able to help us, so, as you have heard, he is wont to come in with relief when all human helps fail us. To help us at such a dead lift, is not beside the usual course of his most wise Providence; our own experience can bear witness how often he hath done for us beyond our Faith and Hope.
3. He often on purpose respites his succours till such a time of need, till we are brought into such a strait as there is no hope of relief from any other besides himself; as hath been said before, he takes that time to chuse; The Lord shall judge his people, and repent himself for his servants, when he seeth that their power is gone, and there is none shut up or left, Deut. 32.36. When he seeth that their power his gone, and there is none shut up or left; That's the time he waits for, that's the proper season and opportunity of shewing Mercy, which he expects; till that time be fully come, he stands aloof off, as one unconcerned with the condition of his People, and as if he either minded not, or regarded not what they suffer.
We read John 11. That when Christ was informed that Lazarus, whom he loved, was sick, he made no haste to go to him, but abode two days still in the same place where he was, v. 6. and afterwards when he knew him to be dead, he said to his Disciples, I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent that ye may believe, v. 15. neither after this did he hasten to the place where he died; for when at length he came to the Grave, Martha said unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh, for he hath been dead four days, v. 39. Thus we see, though Christ intended from the first to comfort and relieve Mary and Martha in their Affliction, yet he came not in to relieve them all the time of their Brother's Sickness, nor till four days after he had been Dead; when now they were utterly hopeless of any relief from him, he purposely kept off, and came not near them till they made account 'twas now too late; if he had come sooner, their brother had not died, say they, v. 21, 32. but now that he was dead, and had been so long dead as it might be supposed his Body must by that time stink, all hopes of his reviving were gone, and then he steps in, and magnifies his Power and Goodness towards his Servants.
4. Whatever our straits are, and how much soever it be beyond the reach of any Creature in the world to afford us relief, God, as he his most able to help us, and as 'tis not unusual with him then to do it, and as he often on purpose respits our relief till such a difficult season, so he will then most certainly relieve us, as far as shall be for his own Glory and our Good: Hereof sufficient assurance is given us by all those general Promises which God hath made to his People, of Relief and Deliverance in trouble, as also by many special Promises made in reference to extraordinary cases and great extremities. Such Promises or gracious Declarations which are virtually Promises, and afford us the same ground of Faith and Dependance on God, as formal and express Promises do; I say such are these that follow, The Lord will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble, Psal. 9.9. The needy shall not always be forgotten, the expectation of the poor shall not perish for ever, Psalm 9.18. The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open to their cry. The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles, Psalm 34.15, 17. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth him out of them all, Psal. 34.19. The salvation of the righteous is of the Lord, he is their strength in the time of trouble. And the Lord shall help them and deliver them; he shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them because they trust in him, Psalm 37.39, 40. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble, Psalm 46.1. Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me, Psalm 50.15. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome Pestilence: He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust; his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid of the terror by night, … of the arrow that flieth by day; nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness, nor for the destruction that wasteth at noon-day: A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand, but it shall not come nigh thee, Psalm 91.3, 4, 5, 6, 7. Because thou hast made the Lord which is my refuge, even the most high thine habitation; there shall no evil befal thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling, v. 9, 10. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, and will deliver him, v. 15. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: When thou walkest through the fire thou shalt not be burnt, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee, Isa. 43.2.
Now, I say, all these Promises, and many more to be found in Scripture, afford us sufficient ground of assurance, That whatever our dangers be, he will safeguard and protect us; whatever our straits be, he will relieve and succour us; whatever our afflictions and calamities be, he will rescue and deliver us, so far as it shall be for his glory and our good. And what can we desire more? Would we be gratified, though God's Honour should suffer, and we our selves be prejudiced thereby? If we have either any regard of his Honour, or any true love to our selves, we will neither wish nor accept of that which we call deliverance, upon such Terms. Thus we have seen the grounds we have of trusting in God to the uttermost, and of depending on him for relief in our greatest extremities: How desperate and forlorn soever our condition may be, he his able to relieve us; there is no restraint to his Almighty Power and Infinite Wisdom; neither is it unusual with him to succour his in their greatest distresses; he often doth it; yea, he often doth it then to chuse, and purposely respites and reserves his succours till our extremest necessities; and lastly, then he will most certainly come in to succour us, provided that it be consistent with his glory and our good.
Ʋse 2. Doth God come in to succour and relieve his people in their greatest extremities? And doth he often upon so many accounts, and for so many wise and gracious ends, respit the succours of his people in their distresses, till such a difficult and perilous season? Then let us be contented to wait till God's appointed time for relieving us in our respective troubles and afflictions be fully come. In our own Personal Concernments, and in those also of the Church and State, let us be willing to be at God's disposal for the time and season of deliverance: And though he make us expect long, yet let us not give way either to discouragement or impatience. Though instead of that desirable issue of our troubles which we earnestly long for, we should meet with new difficulties and perplexities every day, yet let not all this put us out of heart, or make us weary of waiting. The more dark and cloudy the face of things is, the sooner will they be at the worst; and when once they are at the worst, then mostly is God's opportunity to step in and relieve us.
Ʋse 3. Doth God come in to succour and relieve his people in their greatest extremities? O then be persuaded to make God your Friend; labour to get an interest in his favour, who can help you when none else in all the world can, and who will not fail to succour you, when your necessity shall be such as it most calls for his help. How would a man prize such a Friend! At what rate would he not purchase him!
Ʋse 4. Having gotten an interest in his favour, keep in with him; see there be no breaches between him and you; walk humbly with him, have respect to all his Commandments; allow not your self in any sin; do nothing that may provoke him to displeasure against you, nothing that may hide his face from you, or cause any distance or alienation between him and you. If you wilfully offend him, and walk contrary to him, how can you with any boldness go to him, or with any confidence expect relief from him in your troubles! He hath told us what we may expect at his hands, if we carry our selves undutifully towards him, and if our Conversation be not in some measure answerable unto our relation to him. If we walk contrary to him, he will also walk contrary to us, Levit. 26.23, 24. He will be with us while we are with him; if we seek him, he will be found with us; but if we forsake him, he will forsake us; as the Prophet Azariah told Asa and his people, 2 Chron. 15.2. If men care not how they carry themselves towards God, as they will thereby certainly bring troubles upon themselves, so when they cry unto him for help in their misery, he will not hear them; he will hide his face from them at that time, as they have behaved themselves ill in their doings, Micah 3.4. And thus I should have done with this Point, but that there are two or three Questions, unto which I shall speak briefly, before I go on to what follows in the Text.
Quest. 1. In perilous times, such as these are in which we live; in times when we are full of dangers and fears, as not knowing what Calamities may surprize us, what Miseries may be ready to overtake us, What is to be done by men that are under these fears and sad apprehensions of approaching evils, that they may warrantably expect God's appearance for them in their extremities?
Ans. I answer in the general, They must labour to be in a meet posture to receive so great a Mercy at the hands of God. More particularly,
1. They must humble themselves for their own particular sins, and the sins of those about them, and endeavour to reform what hath been amiss in themselves and theirs. Neither must they rest there, they must also take to heart and bewail the sins of the places where they live, and the sins of the whole Land. When the Lord had determined to let in a furious and merciless Enemy upon Jerusalem, for the most horrid sins thereof, who had a Commission to slay Old and Young, and shew no pity to any Age or Sex, he took order that a mark should be set upon the forehead of all those who did sigh and ery for all the abominations that were done in the midst thereof; and he gave a special charge that the Executioners of his Wrath should not come near any man on whom was the mark, Ezek. 9.4, 5, 6. By which we are given to understand, That in times of general Calamities and Publick Judgments, God hath a special care of those who have taken to heart and sincerely lamented and mourned over the sins of the Land of their Nativity, and the respective places where God hath appointed to them the bounds of their Habitations.
2. They must give themselves much unto Prayer. He that prays much (I speak now especially of secret Prayer) he that prays without ceasing, as the Apostle speaks, 1 Thess. 5.17. he needs not disquiet and distract himself with the anxious and solicitous thoughts of what may be coming on the Land. God who is rich in mercy to all those that call upon him, Rom. 10.12, 13. will some way or other provide a Sanctuary and an hiding-place for such a one, whatever storms may be coming upon us. The Lord will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble; and they that know thy name will put their trust in thee; for thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee. Psalm 9.9, 10. The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth; he will fulfil the desire of them that fear him; he will also hear their cry, and will save them, Psal. 145.18, 19.
3. They must commit themselves unto God, and resign themselves up to his disposal. This we are allowed and commanded to do in dangerous and calamitous times. Let them that suffer according to the will of God, commit the keeping of their souls to him, as unto a faithful creator, 1 Pet. 4.19. And so doing, we need not question but that he will undertake for us, and secure us in such ways, and so far as to his Wisdom shall seem best. That is supposed, and necessarily implied, when he bids them commit themselves unto him. For what man would say to his Friend or Neighbour, Commit your self to me, unless he meant to take care of him and of his Concernments? If he intended no such matter, to bid him commit himself to him, were but to betray him. Besides, the Apostle adds that by which he implies that God's Faithfulness is engaged to keep those who commit themselves unto him. Let them commit the keeping of their souls to God, as unto a faithful creator. Add hereunto those other express Promises; Cast your care upon the Lord, for he careth for you, 1 Pet. 5.7. Cast thy burthen upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee; he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved, Psalm 55.21. Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusted in thee. Trust in the Lord for ever; for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength, Isa. 26.3, 4.
4. They must diligently and conscientiously attend on the duties of that Place and Calling in which God hath set them. Commit the keeping of your souls to him in well-doing, saith St. Peter, in the place before-mentioned. So Psal. 37.3… Trust in the Lord, and do good, so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Whatever Calamities may be hanging over our heads, in what way of Providence soever God may be coming on towards us, 'tis good and safe to be found in God's way, and duly employed in that work which he hath assigned us. Blessed is the servant whom his master when he cometh shall find so doing. Luke 12.43. And this may suffice to have been said in answer to that Question.
Quest. 2. Having done their best endeavour to put themselves in this posture, How far may they warrantably expect God's appearing for them in their greatest extremities?
Ans. 'Tis impossible to define precisely, and punctually to set down how far they may. For God hath not so tied up himself by any Promise, or voluntary Engagement whatsoever, but that he is still at liberty in some cases to vary as he sees good, from the ordinary and more usual course of his Providence. 'Tis true, he hath promised in the place before-mentioned, to be with his people when they pass through the Waters, that they may not overflow them; and to be with them when they walk through the Fire, that the flame kindle not upon them: And yet many of his own people have been drowned, and many have been burnt to ashes. He hath commanded his people to call upon him in the day of trouble, promising to deliver them: And yet many of his have suffered the same evils which they prayed to be delivered from; and among them, even Christ himself drank of the Cup which he prayed might pass away from him. God hath declared that he is a present help in trouble; and yet many of his people have perished in their troubles, as to their outward man, and all their temporal concernments. We must not therefore deceive our selves, as to fancy that we have from these and the like Scriptures any sufficient ground of an absolute confidence that our fears shall not come upon us. Only thus far we may safely go,
1. In the general: The more careful we have been to order our Conversation aright, and to walk with God in the course of our lives, and the better posture we shall be found in when the evil day comes, and when our dangers are at the highest, the more signally gracious may we hope to find God's dealing with us when we shall most stand in need of his being to us a present help in trouble.
2. As to particulars: How, in what manner, and how far, as to outward things, we shall at such a time find favour in the eyes of God, is absolutely impossible for man to determine. God's ways of shewing Mercy are so various, his Providence so wonderful, his Wisdom so vast and incomprehensible, his Power so infinite and boundless, his Judgments so unsearchable, his Ways so past finding out; and lastly, our Capacity so weak, and our Understanding so narrow, that it were the greatest Rashness and the most intolerable Boldness in the world for any mortal man to take upon him to say how, by what means, in what particular circumstances, in what measure and manner God will be gracious to his people as to these temporal things.
3. But this however we are or may be sure of, That he will do for them what is every way best, and what is most suitable and agreeable to that infinite Wisdom and Goodness that sits at the Stern, and governs the World; and that he will most certainly cause all things to work together for good to them. And surely this, if firmly believed, and steadily adhered to, will satisfy and quiet us amidst all our fears; if it do not, I know not what will …or can do it. And so much by way of Answer to that Question.
Quest. 3. But why doth God sometimes leave his own people to miscarry together with the wicked in those common Calamities that befal the places where they live?
Ans. 1. They do never utterly miscarry. They do never miscarry as to their better part, their Souls. God ever secures their Souls into his own Barn, whatever Tempest it is that brings them thither.
2. As for their being sharers in the same outward sufferings with wicked men, possibly they came too near to them, and complied too much with them in sin, and so God thought fit they should partake with them in those Calamities which for sin he inflicts.
3. It may be that God will have some Instances of the sufferings of his people together with the wicked, and of their drinking of the same Cup, for the hardening of wicked men; and that seeing they would receive no benefit by the good Example of their holy Lives and unblameable Conversations, they may through the wickedness of their own hearts take much hurt by their sufferings.
4. God who is infinitely Wise, hath ways of bringing good out of evil, and of turning the greatest evils that befal his people here, to their advantage if they survive them! And if they do not survive those Calamities, perhaps they are taken away from the evil to come, from some greater evil that would have come upon them, if their timely death had not prevented it. However, they are by the kindness of a Storm driven into the Harbour, and safely landed in Heaven, where they are without the reach of all those Calamities which this life is subject to.
And so much concerning the Issue of Abraham's extraordinary Trial; which was the Third Thing in this short Account or History of his Trial.