A Spiritual Antidote Against Sinful Contagion, Treatise 1 · Duty 6 – Duty 10
DUTY VI.
STudy much the Word of God, which must now Studying the Scripture.support you in a time of great discomfort. Fetch your comforts from thence; study Gods Word of Precept, to direct you in your duty. Gods Word of Promise to encourage you to, and in your duty. Gods Word of Threatning to aw your heart, that you may not deviate from his ways. Especially, have often recourse to the Promises in the Gospel. These will be a Cordial to you in your sickness; and be life unto your Soul in the time of Death. Oh how valuable is a Promise from a Faithful God! How sweet! how comforting! and reviving! It will not comfort you, when you are sick to view your Writings for your Lands and Houses; but it will delight you to view the Writings of the Word of God, if you can finde a Promise of Life and Happiness, and say, This belongs to me; this I have to shew for the Eternal happiness of my Immortal Soul: Especially, if you consider, That the Promises of the Gospel, are,
First, Exceeding precious Promises; made to a Six Excellencies of the Promise. 1. Precious. 2. Great.precious people, concerning precious things, through a Precious Christ, and received by a precious Faith.
Secondly, Exceeding great; made by a Great God, concerning great things, producing great effects of peace and joy in the hearts of Believers. Great and precious, do exceedingly raise the valuation of the Promises. Things may be great, and not precious; some precious, and not great: But both together, should move us to take them for our treasure.
Thirdly, Exceeding many; and this addeth to 3. Many.the rest. If they had been precious, and not great; or great, and precious, and but few, should we not highly esteem them? One promise from a Glorious God, is above thousands of Gold and Silver: But when they be many great, and many precious Promises, we should look upon them as our chiefest riches. Is it nothing to a dying Man, to have Heaven in a Promise; to have the promise of a pardon. You complain of variety of wants, and there is as great a variety of Promises for the Thirteen special Promises for thirteen special Casessupply of these wants.
1. Do you complain of the hardness of your heart, turn to the Promise, and improve it, Ezek. 36. 26. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
2. Do you complain of your unworthiness, that you have no portion to carry with you unto Christ? read Isai. 55. 1. Ho! every one that thirsteth, come ye to the Waters, and hc that hath no Money: Come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy Wine and Milk without Money, and without price. Vers. 2. Wherefore do ye spend Money for that which is not Bread? and your labor, for that which satisfieth not? Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your Soul delight it self in fatness.
3. Do you complain you cannot pray, God hath promised his Spirit to help you, Rom. 8. 26. Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: For we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit it self maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Zach. 12. 10. And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the Inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of Grace and of Supplications, and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his onelyonly son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his first-born.
4. Do you fear you shall fall away? hath not God undertaken you shall never depart from him? Jer. 32. 38. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. Verse 39. And I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them. And Verse 40. And I will make an everlasting Covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good, but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.
5. Doth Satan buffet you by frequent temptations? God hath promised you sufficiency of Grace, 2 Cor. 12. 9. And he said unto me, My Grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. And Victory, Rom. 16. 20. And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you, Amen.
6. Do you lie under a wounded Conscience? do you want peace? It is promised, Psal. 85. 8. I will hear what the Lord will speak: for he will speak peace unto his people, and to his Saints: but let them not turn again to folly.
7. Are you filled with fears of outward wants, that you are, or may be reduced to straits and poverty? read Psal. 34. 9. O fear the Lord ye his Saints: for there is no want to them that fear him. Verse 10. The young Lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing. Heb. 11. 5. By faith Enoch was translated, that he should not see death, and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. Matth. 6. 26. ad finem, Behold the fowls of the air: For they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into Barns, yet your heavenly Father feedeth them: Are ye not much better then they? Vers. 27. Which of you by taking thought, can add one cubit unto his stature? Vers. 28. And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the Lilies of the Field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin. Vers. 29. And yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory, was not arayed like one of these. Vers. 30. Wherefore, if God so cloath the Grass of the Field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the Oven: Shall be not much more cloath you, O ye of little faith? Vers. 31. Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, what shall we drink? or, wherewithal shall we be cloathed? Vers. 32. (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. Vers. 33. But seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. Vers. 34. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: For the morrow shall take thought for the things of it self: Sufficient unto the day, is the evil thereof.
8. Are you under tryals and sufferings? he hath promised to be with you in the fire, and in the water, Isai. 43. 1. But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: For I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name, thou art mine. Vers. 2. 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.
9. Doth it grieve you to finde a weariness in holy duty, and want of strength to do it? Read Isai. 40. 31. But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength: They shall mount up with Wings as Eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
10. Doth it trouble you, you cannot profit by Gods Ordinances? He hath said, he will teach you to profit. You think you pray, but are not the better; and you hear, and are not the better. Pray over that promise, Isai. 48. 17. Thus saith the Lord thy Redeemer, the holy One of Israel, I am the Lord thy God, which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go. Isai. 61. 3. To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes; the oyl of joy, for mourning; the garment of praise, for the spirit of heaviness, that they might be called Trees of Righteousness; the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorisied. Vers. 11. For as the Earth bringeth forth her bud; and as the Garden causeth the things that are sown in it, to spring forth; so the Lord God will cause Righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the Nations.
11. Are you grieved, because of the strength and power of your pride, passion, worldliness, &c? Read Rom. 6. 14. For sin shall not have dominion over you: For ye are not under the Law, but under Grace.
12. Are you reproached for holiness, and close walking with God? You may be supported from, 1 Pet. 1. 7. That the tryal of your Faith being much more precious then of Gold that perisheth, though it be tryed with fire, might be found unto praise, and honor, and glory, at the appearing of Jesus Christ. 1 Pet. 4. 13. But rejoyce, in as much as ye are partakers of Christs sufferings; that when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. Vers. 14. If ye be reproached for the Name of Christ, happy are ye; for the Spirit of Glory and of God, resteth upon you: On their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.
13. Are you afraid of Death, especially by the Dreadful Plague? are you full of Fears, when you walk about your calling and employment, least any contagion should seise upon you? You have a Promise, because you have set your love upon God, that he will keep you, and charge his Angels over you. Read the 91 Psalm throughout. Which Promise you must understand as others about things Temporally, viz. Conditionally: If your preservation be for his glory, and your good; if not, it will be better to be removed by it.
Fourthly, Exceeding free. The Promise is 4. Free.free, and the Performance is free: God hath freely said it, and will freely do it.
Fifthly, Exceeding sure. If they had been 5. Sure.great, and precious, and many, and free, and had not been sure, our comfort in affliction, and sickness, and death, would not have been certain. Oh do not doubt of the Promise; it is true, if you consider,Proved by five Arguments.
1. The Nature of that God that made them, immutable, faithful; that wants neither Will nor Power to make them good.
2. You have them inspired by the Holy Ghost upon Record.
3. You have them confirmed by Gods oath; and shall the oath of Man be for confirmation, and not the oath of God?
4. They are made in Christ; in him, they are Yea and Amen.
5. They are confirmed by Gods Broad-Seal, viz. His Sacraments.
Sixthly, Exceeding suitable: If you should be 6. Suitable.sick to death, and a man promise you honors and riches, this is not suitable. If you be full of Spiritual trouble, and a man promise you outward kindness, this is not suitable: But if a malefactor be promised a pardon; a thirsty man drink; and so a poor lost sinner a Saviour; this is suitable. Oh do not neglect the study of Gods promises! Davids heart had sunk in affliction, had it not been for the Word of Promise, on which God had caused him to hope. If you should be shut up, look upon it as an exceeding priviledge that you have a Bible to read, and a God to go unto.
DUTY VII.
BE sensible of Gods Judgments. When the Sense of Gods Judgments, particularly the Plague.Rod is in the Fathers hand, shall not the Children tremble? Especially when so many fall daily by such a sore hand of God? This is one of Gods secret Judgments, Ezek. 14. 21. Gods hand is lifted up, and shall we not see it. Isai. 26. 11. Then the judgment is judicial onelyonly; then it is not to cure, but to kill: When Gods hand is lifted up, then we should lie down at his feet; when God lifteth up his hand, then for any man to lift up heart in pride and obstinacy, is daring-provocation unto God. This prsent judgment is, first, A Speaking judgment. The word that signifies the Plague, comes from a word that signifies to speak. God in lesser judgments whispereth to a sinner, but in a Plague, he speaketh out. Secondly, A Plague is a wasting and consuming Judgment; it is a sweeping Judgment. Thirdly, It is a Judgment that may be brought upon persons by their nearest friends, and that secretly and invisibly conveyed from one unto another. Fourthly, It is a very uncomfortable Judgment when we are sick of other diseases, it is comfort to see our Neighbors at our Bed-side, and our Relations looking on our dying bodies; to have them speak to us, pray by us, and for us. But this Judgment makes a Friend to be afraid of his Friend. Oh take heed of security and stupidity under this afflicting Hand of God.
DUTY VIII.
VVEigh Gods Mercies towards you: To Sense of Gods Mercies.your Soul, to your Body, to your Friends. Hath God visited your Family, and hath he not spared you? Hath the destroying Angel been at your door, and you yet alive? Oh what a lasting engagement is this to you! That you have not been one of those many thousands that have taken up their Lodgings in the Chambers of Death. Your Neighbor dead, and not you! your Relations or Acquaintance dead, and not you! Study this, but especially weigh Gods distinguishing Mercy to your Soul, and that,
1. In his electing love, when God was determining Eight Discoveries of the Love of God to our Souls.the eternal state of mens immortal souls, who should be left to themselves, and so perish, and be damned; and who he would chuse to be Vessels of Mercy, and Heirs of Salvation; that you should be one of these; and that when God foresaw nothing in you antecedently to his decree, that should be a Motive or Reason of his choice, when you were in the same condition with those that perish. Did God pass by your Neighbor, and chuse you? Did God pass by some of your Relations, and chuse you? Oh surely some serious thoughts spent upon Gods distinguishing, electing Mercy, would warm your heart!
2. In his giving his own Son, to purchase Heaven for you, and to redeem you from misery, to this unspeakable happiness. Could you be willing that your own onelyonly Son, should die for your enemy? And yet God hath given his own, and onelyonly begotten Son to die for you: And that while you were a professed enemy unto him; and yet you dwell no more in your admiring thoughts upon such love?
3. In his effectual application of the Blood of Christ unto your Soul, in enlightning of your minde, and in the insuperable workings thereof; in the bowing of your will to take this Christ for your Lord and Saviour, and uniting you unto him in your effectual calling.
4. In the imputation of the Righteousness of Christ to your Soul, and thereby justifying you who had no righteousness of your own.
5. In the free, full, and Everlasting pardon of your sin.
6. In taking of you into the number of his Children by his Adoption.
7. In his being reconciled to your Soul, and that he sought this first, though he was the offended party.
8. In his filling you oftentimes with joys and comforts of the Holy Ghost.
DUTY IX:
STudy much the evil of sin, be grieved for other Sense of Sin.mens, and repent for your own. Do you not see the deserts of it daily, how provoking it is to God? Oh that whilst others weep because Of other Mens.of the Plague, you might mourn because of sin; while others are sinning, be you mourning. It is the property of an Hypocrite, to have his eye upon the infirmities of others, and to over-look his own: But it is the practice and duty of the truly religious, to observe the sins of others, and to mourn for them, as well as his own. As the 119 Psal. 53, 136, 158, verses. Ezra …. 2, 3. 2 Pet. 2. 7, 8 Can you see God dishonored, and not mourn? Can you think that sin is a grief to God, Psal. 78. 40. To Christ, Matth 3. 5. To the Holy Ghost, Ephes. 4. 30. And shall it not be so to you? Can you think of the worth and excellency of the Souls of Men that are capable of having communion with God, should be destroyed and damned for sin, and not mourn? Can you think that the Devil should have more followers to Hell, then Christ to Heaven, and not be grieved? Can you see the danger that sinners are in of eternal torments, and not pitty them? Can you see the judgments of God slaughtering, and not lay it to heart? Oh let your sorrow and grief, be real sorrow and real grief. The sins of men, though they have no real entity, yet they are real iniquities, and do make God really angry, and make them really guilty, and bring down real judgments, and procure real damnation. Therefore let your sorrow be real and unfeigned. Men sin constantly, do you grieve constantly. Mens sins are great, let your grief and sorrow in some measure be proportionable: Especially study the aggravations of your own Of our own.sin, that might have an hand in procuring this Judgment that is upon the Nation.
DUTY X.
IMprove Afflictions. If God put you into the Improvement of Afflictions.Furnace, let it be for the Brightning of your Graces, and for the purging away of your sin, that you might be more humble, holy, heavenly; not so passionate as before; not so unprofitable under; not so unthankful for the means of Grace as before.
The great improvement of Affliction, will be in getting a sanctified use thereof; be not so desirous to have them removed, as to have them sanctified. A carnal heart would have them removed, but a gracious Soul would have them sanctified: Wicked men would have the Rod removed, but godly men would desire first to learn the Lesson God is teaching them thereby. And Afflictions are sanctified, and so improved, when
1. You are by them more weaned from the Eight Signs of Sanctified Affliction.World, and more mortified thereto; when you are not so much taken with the pleasures and profits thereof.
2. When you are more diligent to finde what is amiss in your Soul, and are more sensible of your sin, and more humbled for it.
3. When you learn obedience by the things you suffer, and walk more close with God. That though before you went astray, yet since you have learned to keep Gods commands. When you say to God, shew me wherein I have done foolishly, I firmly resolve to do so no more.
4. When Heaven is more in your eye, and aim, and you make God more the ultimate end in all your actions, and do more resolvedly seek his glory, and more cordially chuse him for your treasure, and esteem him as your chiefest joy.
5. When God by them makes you more willing to die; not so much to be freed from the Affliction it self, the fruit of sin; but from sin, the cause of your Affliction.
6. When God by them hath taught you more patiently to bear greater afflictions now, then you could lesser convictions formerly; and willingly wait Gods time of deliverance, and not dare to use any indirect and unlawful means to get from under Gods afflicting hand.
7. When God hath taught you by your Affliction, to set an higher price upon the Mercy, that by your Affliction you are deprived of; and more thankfully to enjoy it, and more carefully improve it for God then before you did, if he give it to you again. If God visit you with sickness, he teacheth you to see what a mercy Health is; and that when you are restored, you spend your strength in filling up the duties of your place, more then you did before.
8. When God teacheth you by your Afflictions, to serve God more chearfully, and more willingly then you could before in your Prosperity; and do God more service with a little health, then before you did with more. And if God make you meaner in the World, you honor him more with your little, then you did when you had a full and a plentiful estate.