Trouble of the Mind and the Disease of Melancholy, Discourse · Part 1 · Chapter 6
CHAP. VI.
Of the duty of ſuch as never have been under a ſenſe of God's Wrath and Terrors; and what is the doleful condition of a Soul that apprehends it ſelf to be under his hot diſpleaſure.
1. SEeing God is often angry with his own Servants, what cauſe have thoſe of you that fear him, to bleſs him that he is not angry with you, and that you do not feel his diſpleaſure! He ſets up others as his mark againſt which he ſhoots his Arrows; you hear others groaning for his departure, and yet your hearts are not ſadned as theirs are; your eyes can look up towards Heaven with hope, whilſt theirs are clouded with a vail of ſorrow: He ſpeaks roughly to them, but comfortable words to you; he ſeems to ſet himſelf againſt them as his enemies, whilſt he deals with you as a loving Friend; you ſee a reviving-ſmile in his Face, and they can diſcern nothing there, but one continued and dreadful Frown. Oh admire and for ever wonder at the Soveraign diſtinguiſhing Grace of God; are you that are at eaſe better, than many of his people that are now thrown into a fiery Furnace? Have you leſs droſs than they? Have they ſinned, think you, at an higher rate than you have ever done? He is angry with them for their luke-warmneſs, for their backſliding; and have your hearts always burn'd with Love? have your feet always kept his way, and not declined? have you never wandred? have you never turned aſide to the right hand or to the left? ſurely you have; and therefore what a mercy is it, that he is not angry with you, as well as them! You ſee many whoſe Conſciences for their ſins are turned all into flame and horror and perplexity, full of accuſations, full of guilty fears for their ſinning, their ſinning againſt Light, Knowledge, Mercy, and Love; and have you never ſo ſinned? Have not your Conſciences alſo been defil'd? Have you never done what was evil, when you knew it to be ſo? Have you not been often kindly entertain'd of God, after you have run away from him? Have you not after great Tranſgreſſions met with joy and pleaſure in the ſenſe of his pardoning healing Grace, whilſt others that have been, it may be, more dutiful, did not fare ſo well, nor have ever had ſuch a fatted calf killed for them, nor ſuch feaſts to refreſh their Souls, as there have been prepared for you? You can never ſufficiently bleſs God for his mercy; every day you deſerve his Anger, and yet you have not been under the terrible apprehenſions of it for a moment. Why are you ſitting at his Table, and honoured with his Preſence in all your Duties, in all your Sufferings, whilſt he is a ſtranger to them, and as a wayfaring Man that tarries but for a night? What is it that makes him to bleſs ſome Children of the Family with greater peace and comfort than he does the reſt? Nothing but his own Grace and Mercy. Some are drawn with Cords of Love, and ſome have their Iniquities conſtantly viſited with Stripes. Some are glad with the hopes of Heaven, and ſome are afraid they ſhall never go thither; and know not by experience what Joy and Pleaſure means. Some have their ſpirits overwhelm'd, their whole Souls covered with thick darkneſs, and their Bones broken, whilſt others are at eaſe, and ſee the light of his Countenance, and have an unchanged Health. Some travel with weary ſteps, and make their pilgrimage with their own ſorrows to be a vale of tears, whilſt others run the way of his Commandments with inlarged hearts. Some Families are filled with Lamentations, and ſome with ſongs of Praiſe: And all this gives us ſtill greater occaſions to magnify his Grace and Love, that we have a moments eaſe; that we can obſerve one Sabbath, or make one Prayer with hope, deſerves our higheſt thanks and admiration.
Secondly, Do not preſume for all this; for tho' he is not angry yet with you, he may be ſo. This was the fault of David, Pſal. 30.6. In my proſperity, I ſaid, I ſhall never be moved; but it immediately follows, verſ. 7. Thom didſt hide thy face, and I was troubled. The Sun ſhines now upon you, the Candle of the Lord does refreſh your Tabernacle; but you may meet with many Storms, and Clouds, and Darkneſs, before you come to your journies end. The Diſciples were once greatly pleaſed with the glory of the Transfiguration; and during the delightful interview between Chriſt, and Moſes, and Elias, they thought themſelves as in Heaven; but a cloud came and obſcured the preceding glory, and then the poor Men were afraid. 'Tis true, the Anger of God endureth but a moment; but even that moment is very ſad, and terrible beyond expreſſion. Weeping endures but for a night; but it may be a very bitter and a doleful night for all that. It is a night like that of the Egyptians, when they aroſe, they ſaw all their firſt-born ſlain, and there was an hideous univerſal cry and mourning throughout all the Land: So this night of the Anger of the Lord may deſtroy all our Comforts, and make the firſt-born of our ſtrength, the confidence and the pleaſure of our hopes, to give up the Ghoſt. Pſal. 77.2, 3, 4. My Sore ran in the night, and ceaſed not; my ſoul refuſed to be comforted. I complained, and my ſpirit was overwhelm'd. Thou holdeſt mine eyes waking. I am ſo troubled that I cannot ſpeak. Tho you are at eaſe to day, and feel no trouble, no diſquiet, Are you ſure that it ſhall be ſo to morrow? Are you ſure that you ſhall never ſee any frowns in the face of God? Preſume not upon the ſtrength of your grace, nor the brightneſs of your evidence for Salvation; for that may languiſh, and this may be obſcured; and thoſe of you that now think your ſelves at the door of Heaven, may be brought, for ought you know, to the contrary, to the very Gates of Hell. Tho' God is pleaſed at the preſent to deal gently with you, yet your ſins may cauſe him to ſend his dreadful rebukes upon you; your Souls lye open and naked to him, Heb. 4.13. and he can make what impreſſions either of his goodneſs or his ſeverity he pleaſes there. Be not ſecure; for it is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Who can ſtand when he is angry? Who can bear his blows? or what hand can ſtrike ſo hard a ſtroak as his? There are theſe things in the ſenſe of his Anger, that may prevent your ſecurity; and I will tell you not only what I have ſeen and heard, but what I have experienced and felt in my own Soul.
1. If you have once a ſerious and a fixed apprehenſion of the diſpleaſure of God, no creature can yield you the leaſt comfort; if you be never ſo rich, all your Gold cannot purchaſe one hours Peace and Joy. You may complain indeed to your Friends, and you cannot but complain; but alas! they can give you no relief: Their Language is, Ʋnleſs the Lord help, we cannot help. You may go to your Miniſters, they may ſpeak kindly to you, but they cannot make their own words to take effect. If the Heavens above you be as Braſs, they cannot give you Rain, nor make the Dew of God to fall upon your Branches as it uſed to do; they can mourn with you, but they cannot wipe your tears away. If you once apprehend that God is angry with you, in vain ſhall you ſeek for reſt in pleaſures, or diverſions, or change of Company; for ſuch a ſtinging thought as this will always pierce you to the quick. God is mine enemy, and what will theſe avail? The ſenſe of his Anger will put even your natural ſpirits into a ſtrange unquiet agitation, and after this you will not find your very bodies at eaſe, as they uſed to be. Pſal. 38.2. Thine arrows ſtick faſt in me, and thy hand preſſeth me ſore; there is no ſoundneſs in my fleſh becauſe of thine anger, neither is there any reſt in my bones becauſe of my ſin. When I ſay, My bed ſhall comfort we, my couch ſhall eaſe my complaint, then thou ſcareſt me with dreams, and terrifieſt me through viſions, Job 7.13, 14. All the Fountains on Earth will never quench your thirſt, if the Fountain of Living Waters be ſhut up. Your Bed will not then be a place of reſt, nor your Meat delightful to your taſte; your ſorrows will keep you waking all the night, and your fears will haunt and purſue you in rhe day. My ſighing cometh before I eat; and my roarings are poured out like Waters, Job 3.24. Your Soul will then abhor all dainty Meat, and your Life will draw nigh unto the Grave; and when you have tired your ſelves in ſeeking reſt among the creatures, and have found none, you muſt then ſit down, and ſay by a ſad experience, Miſerable Comforters are you all; for tho' you run to never ſo many crowds of quiet people, you can meet with no quietneſs; as the wounded Hart, tho ſhe run into the common herd, yet by that means does not loſe her pain, but carries her wound with her where ever ſhe goes.
2. Whileſt you are under the ſenſe of God's diſpleaſure, you will find no comfort in his Ordinances; every part of his bleſſed Word, will be as a Sword cutting to your very Soul: You will find every Threat to be as a dart thrown at you; and ſee every promiſe that is full of Conſolation to others, yet to be as dry to you: That Scripture which was once your delight, will fill you with Gall and Wormwood: That which you once reckoned to be the book of Life, will then ſeem to be the book of Death; and you will be afraid to read there, for fear of reading your own Condemnation: So great a change does the ſenſe of God's diſpleaſure make: Thoſe-Aſſemblies that were once your joy, will then be terrible to you. I go not (ſays the troubled Soul) there to meet a friend as I uſed to do, but to ſee an Enemy: To ſee others joyfully ſerving God and ſinging of his Praiſe, whilſt I am ſilent with deep Affliction, and can only Mourn whileſt they Rejoyce. What pleaſure is it to ſee others feaſting at his Table, whilſt my Sins have deſtroyed my appetite, and there is not one crumb of the bread of Life that belongs to me? I pray, and he ſhuts out my cry, regards not my entreaties, does not eaſe my diſtreſs, nor ſeems to relent with all my Groans, I have Sinned againſt him, and I dare not ſay, My God, and my Father, any more: I have loſt all my Fervor, and all my Confidence, and all my hope in Prayer. I go round the ſtreets to ſeek him that was once my beloved: Help me all ye Servants of the Lord to find my God again; but for my former undervaluing of his Preſence, he is now departed, and I find him not. Woe! Woe is me! what have I done? Woe is me, that I have loſt him, whom to loſe is Hell.
3. All this will be attended with great anguiſh of Spirit, and with great Tribulation. Job 16.12, 13, I was at eaſe, but he hath broken me aſunder: he hath alſo taken me by my neck, and ſhaken me to pieces, and ſet me up for his mark, &c. Then all our Sins are brought freſh into our minds, with a new and a cutting remembrance, as if they had all been committed but as Yeſterday: They rank themſelves in order; every one of them being ſet before us, give us a new ſtab and a wound, to encreaſe the ſore and the pain of our former wounds: They preſent themſelves with all their hideous Aggravations, againſt what Mercy, what Goodneſs, what checks of Conſcience, and what Warnings, and what motions of the Bleſſed Spirit they were committed: And who can bear ſo terrible a fight as this? Job 13.26. Thou writeſt bitter things againſt me; and makeſt me to poſſeſs the iniquities of my youth. i.e.: 1. Always to think upon them. 2. To feel pain and ſmart in that Remembrance. 3. To be aſtoniſht with my guilt and fears. Then all our thoughts of God himſelf are uneaſy: We can think of nothing but his Greatneſs, his Majeſty, his Juſtice and Holineſs. How does it overwhelm us to think what a powerful God we have againſt us. It troubles us to think that he is diſpleaſed, and yet we know that he is juſtly ſo. If God were for me, ſays the troubled ſoul, I would bear any pains, and wait, and hope; but He who only can help me, is gone away. He who alone could ſpeak peace, ſeems to take no notice of the ſadneſs of my caſe: My Sins have taken my God away, and what have I more? And when we are ſet on fire with the ſenſe of his Wrath, the more we think, the more we are diſtreſſed; every thought returns with ſad tidings, and pours oyl into the flame. And what that anguiſh is which we feel when we continually think of a diſpleaſed God; There is nothing on Earth that does reſemble, neither are any words capable of expreſſing it. We do then ſmell the Fire and Brimſtone of the Infernal pit; then a man may ſay with David, The ſorrows of death compaſs me, and the paint of hell gat hold upon me: Pſal. 116.3. And I think that theſe Spiritual terrours are of the ſame kind with thoſe which they feel who arc now in Hell; only they differ in the degree and in the duration. For a Sinner under the ſenſe of God's diſpleaſure and, in terror for his Sin, is, as if he were in a burning Oven, or in ſcalding Oyl; he is every way beſet, and every way tormented. Trouble of Conſcience indeed is a ſlighter thing; but the ſenſe of wrath kindled there, is vaſtly terrible; 'tis the ſuburbs of deſtruction, 'tis the noiſom ſmell of the bottomleſs Pit. Job 6.4. The Arrows of the Almighty are within me, the poiſon whereof drinketh up my ſpirit. The Terrors of God do ſet themſelves againſt me; whatſoever he thought of, which way ſoever he turned himſelf, he ſaw nothing but what filled him with amazement, Pſ. 88.16. Thy fierce wrath goeth over me: thy terrors have cut me off.
4. That which theſe troubled Souls are afflicted with, is the fear they have thut this diſpleaſure will be Eternal: this is implied in that, Is his mercy clean gone, will he be favourable no more? Pſ. 77.7. So the Church Lam. 3.18. My ſtrength and my hope it periſht from the Lord. So Pſal. 88.5. I am free among the dead, like the ſlain that lie in the Grave, whom thou remembreſt no more, And that ſickneſs is grievous to us when we have no hope of being better: That wrath is not to be born, which we think to be forerunner of eternal wrath; and thus does the troubled ſoul argue: God has withdrawn himſelf, and it may be will never return again; I have loſt him for the preſent and Oh! What will become of me, ſhould I loſe ſuch a God for ever? I have now no beams of light, and what if I go hence into outer darkneſs? What if my lot and portion ſhould fall among thoſe that are abhorred of the Lord? Have I once taſted how good he was? and muſt loſe henceforth all the pleaſant ſenſe of his Mercy? Muſt not Chriſt be my Saviour, nor Heaven my home after all this? Oh! what ſhall do! where ſhall I appear, ſhould he ſay at laſt, Depart from me, for I know thee not? Shall I be placed at the left hand of Chriſt? ſhall I after all that I have read and heard, after all my profeſſion, ſtrivings, and my prayers, be ſhut out of that Kingdom, when others ſhall enter in? How ſhall I bear ſo great a diſappointment? How ſhall I dwell with everlaſting burnings?
III. If you have not yet been under the apprehenſion of Gods diſpleaſure, take warning by thoſe that are ſo; dare not to venture upon any ſin, when you behold their grief and their ſorrows for their Iniquities. You ſee their tears; you hear their lamentable groans; you ſee that nothing in this world is refreſhing or comfortable to them: and made you …hug the Serpent that has ſtung them, and made them to cry out in the bitterneſs of their Souls? Oh ſtop where you are, go no further, leſt you fall into the depths, leſt the Fire that ſcorches them, begin to ſeize on you, leſt the God whom they account their Enemy, begin alſo to frown on you; learn obedience by their Stroaks, leſt you alſo be made to feel the ſmarting Rod. You ſee how thoſe that once were as chearful, as pleaſant, and as little afraid as you, are now caſt down, and troubled, and perplexed, and cannot be merry as they uſed to be: The ſenſe of God's diſpleaſure has untuned their Harps, that they cannot ſing the Songs of Zion. You ſee how their Pleaſure and their Hope is ſhipwrackt; beware leſt you run upon the ſame Rock; for the doing ſo, after the ſight of their example, will make you to be guilty of a double Crime; firſt of doing ill, and then in doing it after ſuch a warning as their ſorrows gave you. Job ſays he was ſet up as a mark, ch. 7.20. And ſo are others in the like caſe: They now receive the ſhots of that Juſtice which they have provoked; but if their puniſhment do not make us to humble our ſelves, and to repent, we may be ſet in their place, and it will render the Wounds we ſhall then receive, more poiſonous and malignant, for not having taken and improved the warning that was given us by them before. Be you drawn by his Goodneſs and his gentle Methods, that you may never know what his ſevere diſpleaſure is: For God has further ends in long and terrible afflictions, than the Correction, or the Good of the Perſon ſo afflicted: They are a part of his Government of the World, and he has a regard to the Welfare of the Publick, in that which ſeems to relate only to us. Deut. 17.13. All the people ſhall hear and fear, and do no more preſumptuouſly.
IV. Beware of provoking God; dread the beginnings of his Wrath; if his wrath be kindled but a little, bleſſed are all they that truſt in him, Pſal. 2.12. Whoſo provoketh him to anger, ſinneth againſt his own ſoul, Prov. 20.2. And in ſuch a caſe, the evil ſpirits have a power given them to moleſt and trouble us with their impure ſuggeſtions, and with ſtrange and unaccountable fears, Pſal. 78.49. He caſt upon them the fierceneſs of his anger, wrath, and indignation, and trouble, by ſending evil angels among them. And in that unhappy moment, when our ſin has ſtirred up his Wrath, there is nothing in Heaven or in Earth but what will range it ſelf on the part of God againſt us; and the Devil himſelf will then take the ſame part, not out of Love to God, but out of Revenge to us, to execute the Deſigns of his Juſtice; and all the world will be ſo far from yielding us the leaſt ſhelter from his Wrath, that it trembles at it. Pſal. 18.13, 14, 15. Pſ. 104.32. He▪ looketh on the earth, and it trembleth; he toucheth the hills, and they ſmoke: all the proud helpers ſtoop under him. What Miniſter can ſpeak Peace to ſuch a Soul, when the God of Peace will not? His Ambaſſadors cannot go upon a reviving Meſſage, unleſs they be charged with it by their Lord and Maſter: If he make the Heavens to be as Braſs, all the Fountains of Waters will be dried up: The ſpirit of a man will indeed bear his infirmities, i. e. his bodily weakneſs and his pain, for a little while; but if he be followed with Breach upon Breach, and more heavy Croſſes preſs upon the former lighter Evils, then his Spirit and his Courage will begin to fail; but no briskneſs of Temper, no ſtrength of Nature, no livelineſs of Spirits can ſtand before one ſpark of the Wrath of God; they cannot ſhut their eyes that they ſhould not ſee it; they cannot ſleep, that they may forget it; they cannot loſe the ſting that afflicts them, with all the diverſions and the pleaſures in the world; the ſenſe of Guilt will haunt and purſue them where-ever they go.
V. Strive to be ſafe from the Eternal wrath of God; from that wrath which will not be for a moment, but for ever. If his wrath here make his Servants a Terror to themſelves and to others, what terror will the damned have, when they are compaſt about with pure and unmingled wrath, that is more hot and ſcorching than all the Eruptions of it here on Earth? Whilſt you ſee but a ſmall Cloud, the leaſt intimations of his Diſpleaſure, ſeek to make your peace with God, through Jeſus Chriſt, leſt on a ſudden, Ruin and Deſolation fall upon your heads; left if you ſtay a little longer, you have no time, no ſpace wherein to repent. Oh how can you fold your arms, and be at eaſe, if the Great God of all the world be your Enemy! and you know not but the next day, the next hour, or the next minute, his Arrows may be ſhot againſt you. Job 36.18. Becauſe there is wrath, beware leſt he take thee away with his ſtroke; then a great ranſome cannot deliver thee. The withdrawing of the Favour and the Love of God, the leaſt Eclipſes of his ſhining Light, are very terrible; but Oh how much more dreadful would it be, ſhould you fall into the terrors of an Eternal Night! You can no way eſcape his Juſtice, Pſal. 139.8. Betake your ſelves to God, whilſt he is treating with you for your good; and tho his Juſtice fright you for your guilt, yet upon your humble Submiſſions, his Mercy will relieve you. It is he alone through Chriſt, with whom you have chiefly to do. His Anger will purſue you whereever you go, unleſs you meet him with humble and repenting Tears, and plead the Blood of Jeſus; and this will quench that Fire that has already begun to flame; your Salvation is concerned, your ſouls are in danger, therefore make the moſt earneſt applications to God, that he may be merciful to you, ere it be too late. If I could tell you, that there is a perſon that deſigns to fire the Houſe in which you live, and gave you clear information of the Time, I need not after this perſuade you to be watchful; the love that you have to your own ſafety, would oblige you to prevent his purpoſe. This is what I cannot acquaint you with; but I can tell you of that which is more formidable; The Devil is laying a Train to deſtroy your Peace, your Comfort, and your Hope: Seek you to countermine his malicious Deſign, leſt he betray you to danger, whilſt you think there is none at all.
VI. Speak kindly and compaſſionately to thoſe whom you perceive to be under the ſenſe of God's Anger. Job complains, ch. 19.2. How long will ye vex my ſoul, and break me in pieces? And as men that have been long uſed to pore upon their troubles, he tells them how often they had vext him, v. 3. Theſe ten times have ye reproached me; ye are not aſhamed that ye make your ſelves ſtrange to me. 'Tis very likely they did not deſignedly vex him with their words; for being good men, they could not be ſo extremely barbarous; they made good Sermons, but a very ſorry and miſtaken Application. It is eaſie to trample upon thoſe with ſharp and cutting Speeches, whom God and their Sorrows have already thrown into the mire: It is eaſie for thoſe that are in no trouble, to ſilence and upbraid thoſe that are: As Job fays to Eliphaz, Shall vain words have an end? I alſo could ſpeak as you do, if your ſoul were in my ſouls ſtead; I could heap up words againſt you, and ſhake mine head at you. But I would ſtrengthen you with my mouth, and the moving of my Lips ſhould aſſwage your grief. When any of your Friends are under ſpiritual trouble, you muſt carefully abſtain from any paſſionate or ſowre word or action that may increaſe their grief; it will be ſome ſmall help to them to ſee that you pity them, tho' you cannot give them relief. Uſe all the compaſſionate and the kind words to them that you can, and ſeek to bind up their ſores with a gentle hand; beware of uſing the leaſt ſavour of ſharpneſs and reproach and ſcorn, for theſe will, as they did to Job, vex their Souls more, and they will be evil in you, as well as unpleaſant to them. Hence is that complaint, Reproach hath broken my heart, and I am full of heavineſs; and I looked for ſome to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none: they gave me alſo gall for my meat, and in my thirſt they gave me vinegar to drink, Pſal. 69.20. Our ſoul is exceedingly filled with the ſcorning of thoſe that are at eaſe, and with the contempt of the proud, Pſ. 123.4. But above all, abhor the thought of the leaſt inward delight from their miſeries. Obad. 12. Thou ſhouldeſt not have looked on the day of thy brother, in the day that he became a ſtranger; neither ſhould'ſt thou have rejoyced over the children of Judah in the day of their deſtruction; neither ſhouldſt thou have ſpoken proudly in the day of diſtreſs. Job 19.28. Ye ſhould ſay, why perſecute we him, ſeeing the root of the matter is in him? Roughneſs and ſeverity is not the way to help ſuch as are troubled and caſt down; and he had need be learned that ſpeaks a word in ſeaſon to the weary, Iſa. 50.4. The rarity of ſuch a one is expreſſed, Job 33.23. If there be an Interpreter, one among a thouſand, to ſhew unto man his uprightneſs. Thoſe that under the Characters of Ambaſſadors of the Goſpel of Peace, do nothing but thunder out the Law to a wounded and a troubled Soul, ſhew they are unlike to the Jeſus whom they would ſeem to repreſent; and they ſhew that they have in ſuch matters very little skill, and no experience at all; neither do ſuch do as they would be done by in the like caſe. There is a ſort of balſome in compaſſionate and gentle words; tho' they do not fully perform a Cure upon our wounds, yet they make the pain and the ſmart leſs; whereas a rough and ſour carriage does exaſperate and heighten, them, and is but the pouring of oyl into the flame.