Trouble of the Mind and the Disease of Melancholy, Discourse · Part 2 · Chapter 2
CHAP. II.
Of Heaven and Hell, and of that ſpiritual death which hath ſeized the greateſt part of the World. As alſo the Reaſon why Good people are many times very willing to dye; and of the inexcuſableneſs and miſery of thoſe who are without Gods favour: And whence it is that ſome grow in Grace more than others, and are more earneſt for a ſhare in the Love of God.
WHat a bleſſed and glorious place is Heaven, Inf. 1.that is full of God's favour! The City bad no need of the ſun, neither of the moon to ſhine in it; for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof, Rev. 21.23. Rev. 22.2, 3, 4, 5. It is the Land of the Living, and 'tis no wonder that death ſhall never enter thither; here indeed he is a God that hides himſelf, he is hid under the veil of the Creatures, and under abundance of myſterious Providences; for tho' his Throne be eſtabliſhed in Righteouſneſs, yet Clouds and Darkneſs are round about it, Pſal. 97.7. Beams of his Glory do every where break forth through every Creature, Providence, Law, and Ordinance of his; yet much of his Glory that ſhines in the Creation, is hid by a train of ſecond Cauſes, through which few look to the firſt; his work in the World is carried on in a myſtery; his Intereſt lives, but is depreſt; they who are devoted to him, are ſupported, indeed, by his inviſible hand; but are in the mean time low for the moſt part, and afflicted: But in that Eternal ſtate,Mr. How, of delighting in God. p. 353. the Veil ſhall be rent, and he will in a brighter manner ſhew himſelf; his Glory will ſhine out with direct and pleaſant Beams to all the beholding and admiring eyes; he will there give forth the full and ſatisfying Communications of his Love, that will chear, and ſatisfy, and refreſh a vaſt multitude of grateful and adoring ſpirits. Here the Souls of good Men are depreſt by the miſrepreſentations of Satan, and by the frequent jealouſies and ſuſpitions of their own guilty ſouls; but there they ſhall ſee him as he is; and which will encreaſe their joy, ſee him to be their own God for ever. No ſtorms ſhall there moleſt their Peace, nothing ſhall interrupt their Eternal Calm: Not a vain, tumultuous, repining or uneaſie thought ſhall aſſault their peaceful and quiet hearts for ever; No more ſhall they cry out, Is his Mercy clean gone? Has he forgotten to be gracious? for they ſhall be with him in his own preſence. Here his Family is compoſed of ſeveral diſtreſſed, mourning, Children, and when ſome praiſe him, their praiſes are diſturb'd by the groans of others, or their own ſins; but there, they ſhall all be clothed with praiſe, and none ſhall be ſick or dye. If we did but know that there were a place in the World, where the people never dye, the love that all have of Life would put them upon many inquiries, how they might get thither. This Countrey is Heaven; thence death, and fear, and conſternation is baniſhed for ever; and thither ſhould we lift up our eyes, thither ſhould we direct our hearts; in Heaven the favour of God ſhines with an unclouded brightneſs; they that are Inhabitants of that holy place, are employed in an honourable attendance on their mighty King; they need not, they deſire not any of thoſe enjoyments which are here below, no more than favourites of their Prince deſire a meaner ſtation, or a poor Cottage, or ſome obſcure and forlorn retreat. And alas! what are all our pleaſures, and our moſt ſplendid entertainments, to that Bread, and to thoſe ſpiritual and intellectual Joys which Angels and glorified ſouls feed on! The firſt hour, the firſt day of joy there, is better than an Age of joys here below; if one day ſpent in his Courts, in his Love and Praiſes here, be better than a thouſand elſewhere, What will one day in Heaven be! There we ſhall not live upon things meaner than our ſelves; we ſhall there have no mean complacencies, nor diſhonourable cares; in the favour and the ſight of God we ſhall have a taſte of all excellencies and delights, without the leaſt mixture of evil; and what tranſports ſhall we have, when we come to the full view of him, the ſight of whom, even at this diſtance, was ſo ſweet and comfortable to us! When after all our doubtings, our fears, and our ſad thoughts, we find that we have, through many dangers, gain'd our Port.
Inf. 2. If the favour of God be life, O! what a doleful place is hell, where this favour never comes! Job 10. laſt verſ. How black is their darkneſs, and how long and tedious is their night that ſhall never have the dawn of day! Oh! how terrible and how frightful is the ſecond death! A death that torments the ſeparated ſoul! A death that baniſhes it from the preſence of the Lord! A death that excludes it from all comfortable ſight of God! There the Damned ſee him as a Judge, feel his amazing terrors; but they would gladly, if they could, wrap themſelves in darkneſs, and never ſee ſuch a frowning and a dreadful God; there is anguiſh, and wo, and tribulation; and the continual groan and cry of that place, God is gone away from us for ever. His Face and his Light chears his Saints; but it ſcorches us, and puts us all into a flame. This is the language of their miſery, That God will ſhew them no pity; That he is deaf to their cries, and has ſhut up his bowels that once earned over them, in Eternal wrath: That he once indeed would have been reconciled, and they would not; and now they ſhall never have an offer of his favour any more. Oh! poor forſaken ſouls! what ſhall they do that have no God to give them help, no Mediator to plead their Cauſe, no Phyſician to bind up their wounds, no kind hand to give them the leaſt comfort! nothing but wrath, and no love; nothing but vengeance and deſtruction, and no mercy with it! The Servants of God never taſte ſo much of Hell, as when his face is hid; it brings upon them deſolation, terror, and the very pangs of death; but they have now and then ſome ſupport, ſome little beams of light; but in that doleful place there is nothing elſe but ſorrow and deſpair. Here, in all the temptations of his Servants, Chriſt is concerned, ſympathizes with them, and in his due time ſends them relief: But he will never concern himſelf with the Damned, nor caſt one gracious eye upon them; they are fallen, and he will not raiſe them up; they are periſh'd, and they muſt periſh; they thirſt indeed, but ſhall never have a drop of water to cool their tongues. What will the poor creatures do, when they are overwhelm'd with the wrath of one that is Almighty! Oh! how loud will be their Cries! and how dreadful their complaints, when after millions of years are paſt, they have ſtill as many more to come! When they have been long toſt upon the lake of fire, they will never be nearer to the ſhore; never hear one comfortable word from the mouth of God! Oh! how glad would they be to have one ſmile of his face, one days refreſhment! but it muſt not be; the gulph is fix'd, and the ſentence is irrevocable. Iſa. 27.11. He that made them, will not have mercy on them; and he that formed them, will ſhew them no favour. Oh! what can be thought more deſolate than to be forſaken of God! to be forſaken of God, in whom alone is Life, and to be caſt into outer darkneſs! And what will be the conſternation of the great day, when he ſhall ſay to the wicked, Depart from me! &c. To hear that voice, and that word, Depart from me, will be their Hell: They ſhall not be able to turn their thoughts from the contemplation of their own miſeries, nor their eyes from the ſight of thoſe objects that will fill them with grief and horror, and be themſelves abominable; for what a deſpicable deformed …ing, even now, is an Apoſtate Angel, that is ſtript of the Life of God!
Inf. 3. If Life be in the favour of God, then the greateſt part of the World is dead; for the moſt are alienated from him by their evil works; the moſt are ſtupid and inſenſible, in a dead ſlumber, and are his enemies. She that liveth in pleaſure, is dead while ſhe lives, 1 Tim. 5.6. And if this be a ſymptom and a mark of death, How many dead have we among us! How many that find time enough for their Games, their Sports, and their Recreations, and find no time wherein to call upon the Lord, and to ſeek his favour! How many eat and drink, and are merry, even when their Souls are in the greateſt danger, and their Maker is their enemy! 'Tis a ſign, that when they are ſo little ſenſible of their greateſt intereſt, and have ſo little taſte and liking of Divine Joys, that they are ſpiritually dead. How much greater is the number of the dead than of the living! How many Families are there, that are without Prayer, without any ſenſe of God at all, and in which all the whole Family is dead! And in thoſe, where there are ſome alive, How many are there yet not quickned! How many good Parents are mourning over their dying Children whom they cannot bring to life! They ſee them ſtepping into the Grave, and all their intreaties, all their Tears, all their Prayers cannot bring them thence! And in our Congregations, how many are there that have indeed a name to live, but are dead! Rev. 3.1.that have never yet been in earneſt for their Salvation! that ſuffer days and years unconcernedly to rowl over their heads, and are never the nearer Heaven at the concluſion of the year, than they were at the beginning of it! They have, indeed, it may be, riſen early, and ſate up late; but all their cares have been as much for the Body, as if they had no Soul: They are grown crooked with looking downward, and are as earthly and as ſenſual, as if they had no Heaven to mind. And what an heartleſs thing is it to the Miniſters to find that they ſpend their labour in ſpeaking to the dead, and who in a great meaſure remain dead ſtill! Tho' they do it not without hope, that at ſome time or another, their Maſter will ſay to them as to the Prophet, Ezek. 37.2, 3. 4, &c. Oh! what a Plague is among us, and we feel it not! Gray hairs are here and there upon us, and we diſcern it not! How many Captives has the Prince of darkneſs, that are no way grieved at their own Captivity! How many are ſtrangers to the favour of God, that never ſaw his reconciled face, never felt the quickning Influences of his Spirit to this very day! And yet rejoyce, as if all were ſafe and well! That ſit down to eat and to drink, and riſe up to play; and in the midſt of thoſe diverſions Death ſeizes on their Bodies, and when their Bodies dye, their Souls dye, and are paſt our help. Oh! my Friends, if you have any Life, any Compaſſion, put on the bowels of Chriſt, and take up a lamentation for the dead.
Inf. IV. Why good Chriſtians are ſo willing to depart from this World. 'Tis becauſe the favour of God is their Life; and when they are dead, they live again; becauſe they cannot ſee God and live, they are content to dye that they may enjoy the bleſſed ſight. They remember very well, that they are ſtrangers and pilgrims on earth; that Affiction is as proper to this World, as Heat in Summer, and Storms and Snow in Winter; they know how courſe ſoever their fare be, how harſh ſoever the uſage they meet withal, that they are travelling to their deareſt Countrey; and every one of thoſe Holy Pilgrims in the way to Sion, is continually crying out (as one ſays) after this or the like manner, As for thee,Scituation of Paradiſe, p. 95. O City of God, how great, and how tranſcendent is thy beauty! Nothing but thee do I deſire; I think of nothing but thee; I pant, I thirſt, I long for thy felicity. How do I long for thee, thou ſure reverſion of never-fading pleaſures! O! Paradiſe, thou art the recompence of my Travels, and the ſole aim of all my Hopes. How fain would I leave theſe habitations of Clay, to dwell in thy eternal and delightful Manſions! What would I not give to enjoy the liberty of thy Citizens! O! Jeruſalem, Jeruſalem, when ſhall I leave this ruinous and ſhaken Houſe! O that I had the Wings of a Dove! for then would I fly away, and be at reſt: O! when; when ſhall I arrive there! How long will it be ere I enter the Court of Heaven! Oh! how have many, on whom the face of God hath comfortably ſhined, long'd to depart, and to be with him? They bear all diſappointments and vexations in the hope of this; and pain and ſickneſs are welcome, becauſe they are as the wheels of their Chariots, and drive them nearer to their home. Such as theſe are like a Ship well fraighted, that is ready to Sail, and ſtays only till a favourable Wind preſent it ſelf. They dye not by ſurpriſe; for theſe happy Travellers to Glory, are always on the road that leads to the bleſſed place above; Death is not frightful to them, becauſe they have often meditated what it is to dye, and what is required for ſo vaſt a change. There are, indeed, a great many formidable things in Death, the ſeparation of the Soul, the many foregoing pains, and an innumerable Army of Sorrows and Griefs, that march before the King of Terrors; all which, by Faith, theſe holy perſons overcome; they know that Chriſt hath taken from Death, all its poyſonous and hurtful qualities. Their diſtance from God is the trouble of all good people; and when he ſhews himſelf, they rejoyce, as when he hides himſelf they mourn. And hence many a Religious Perſon, when he came to dye, has been heard to ſay, I would not now, for all the World, be without an Intereſt in Chriſt; I always found him to be a good Maſter, and I ſtill find him to be ſo; he has taken away the ſting of death, and I am willing to go unto the Houſe prepared for all living; for my Lord hath been there before, and has perfumed and ſanctified the Grave. Thou lookeſt, O Grave, with a dreadful aſpect to Fleſh and Blood, but not ſo to Faith; and I bid thee welcome, as the way to Glory: I commit my Body to thee, to keep it ſafe till the Reſurrection, when my Soul, that I now commit into the hands of my Saviour, ſhall come and fetch it back again. With the ſenſe of this favour of God, did the Martyrs ſo chearfully perſevere, and look upon their dying day as the day of their Coronation; this Favour made them to ſcorn the threats and the frowns of Tyrants, and all their rage and fury; by this they went to the fiery furnace as to a bed of Roſes, becauſe they knew God would be with them there. In the hope of his acceptance, old and young, grave Matrons and tender Virgins have embraced the Stakes, and kiſt the Flames, and freely dyed; and have rejoiced, and look'd with an unmoved countenance on all the preparations of death, whil'ſt thoſe that were the ſpectators of their patience, could not look upom them without flowing eyes; To whom, they have ſaid, Death would be frighful, if we looked no further; but it comforts us when we ſee the Crowns, the Hallelujahs, and the Glories that wait for us on the further ſide. This will deliver us from an evil World, from our corrupt hearts, and from all thoſe ſins which we have long groaned under; this will bring us to him, whom all our days we have long'd to ſee. Our Friends bewail us here, but Angels are waiting for our Souls, and will be glad to convey them to their Lord Chriſt and ours: and conformably to this, did thoſe Forty Martyrs whom Baſil and ſo many of the Fathers celebrate, encourage one another; when neither Promiſes nor Threats would prevail with them to forſake their God, they were condemned to be expoſed on Ice, to be kill'd with Cold; when they beheld the place, caſting away their Garments, they ran to it with delight, not as if they had been going to Death, but to gather the ſpoils of Victory: VVith our Garments, ſaid they, we ſhall put off our old man, our Sin, and all the corruptions of our Nature. VVhat great thing is it if the ſervant ſuffer that which his Lord endured before! VVe were the cauſe that he was diſrobed and afflicted; the cold, ſaid theſe happy Souls, is troubleſome, but Paradiſe is ſweet: This Ice afflicts us; but the Reſt there, will delight us: Let us endure this cold a litte while longer, and the warmth of Abraham's Boſom will refreſh us for ever: VVe ſhall exchange this bitter and tempeſtuous Night, for an Eternal Day. Let us turn our backs upon the world; and ſeeing we are once to dye, Let us now Dye, that we may Live: And O Lord, let us be acceptable to thee, when we are offered to thee by this painful Death. Thus they endured in the cold night, rejoycing in the hope of Glory. VVhat wonders of courage and of zeal have been produced by the ſenſe of the Favour and the Love of God!
Inf. 5. How inexcuſable are they that refuſe this Favour of God, in which alone is Life! Who would chuſe to be a Beggar, when he might be the King's Favourite? Who would chuſe to embrace a Dunghill, when he might be treated with Plenty, and all ſuitable accommodations? Who would chuſe to be Sick, or Blind, when he might receive his Sight? And yet this is the ſad caſe of Sinners! God would be their friend, and they will not have him to be ſo; he would ſave them, and they will not be ſaved; he would bleſs them, and they chuſe to be curs'd. How many are there, that prefer a Luſt before a Saviour, and Earth before Heaven, and the applauſe of their vain ſottiſh Companions, before the approbation of the All-ſeeing Judge? O blind Sinners! Why will you lay hands upon your ſelves, and do all you can to deprive your Souls of Life? What a ſad thing is it, as one ſays, to deny ſuſtenance to thine own Life! The breath of God is in thee, what ſhall be done to him that ſtarveth a Prince's child?Symmond's Sight and Faith. p. 214. What have we of like worth to Spiritual Vigour, Agility, Courage and Peace of Soul! And ſhall we who have a door of Life, at once offer contempt to Divine goodneſs, and violence to our own Life, by not uſing what God hath put in our hands for our relief! Is there ſo much allurement in deſtruction, and ſo much Beauty in Eternal Flames, that you cannot forbear going thither! Why will you ſuffer your Souls to ſtarve, whilſt you are contriving to gratify the Fleſh? Why will you ſtill ſerve the Devil and your own Sins? Are they ſo good Maſters, will they pay you ſo well in the latter end? Are you content to have the pleaſures of Sin for a ſeaſon, though you loſe your ſhare in Paradiſe? Oh what bitter reflections on ſo bad a choice will this cauſe hereafter! VVhen you ſhall lift up your Eyes in miſery, and ſee the Kingdom of Heaven afar off, and ſay, I was once offered that Kingdom and thoſe Joys, and I would not have them; I was once fair for Salvation, but I ſlighted; I might have had the Favour of God, and I would not have it; O my curſed Sins! How you have deceived me! You promiſed me delight, and you have brought me to bitterneſs and wo; you promiſed me ſafety, and you have made me to periſh; Oh that ſome Angel, or ſome Saint, might be ſent to bring me ſome relief! The word of God told me of that Glory; his Miniſters earneſtly intreated me to prepare for it; my Friends were always bidding me to leave my wicked courſe; my Conſcience checkt me for it, and I broke through all theſe exhortations and theſe checks, and ſo am come laden with guilt, to Eternal Miſery. I was at my Games and Sports, when I ſhould have been upon my Knees: I had indeed time, and ſtrength, and health, and many helps and advantages; O that I had all my days watcht, and ſtrived, and denyed my ſelf, then I ſhould not have come to this place of Torment! O that my Sun would riſe again! O that I might have another Tryal, and more time! But alas! the Judge is my Enemy, I have heard my Sentence, and he will not change his purpoſe! I am condemned, I am loſt for ever! O Sinners! As you would never fall into ſuch a hopeleſs ſtate, now, even now, ſeek the face of God: Have you not already ſpent time enough in Sin, in walking in the imagination of your own heatts, and the ſight of your own eyes? Have you not loved your ſottiſh pleaſures long enough? O! come leave the tents of Wickedneſs, come and Love your God, for he is ready to receive you; come to him, and all your ſins ſhall be forgiven! O let not Mercy it ſelf, that ſpeaks for your hearts, be denyed: Who will be ſo good a friend as God? Who will abide with you, when life it ſelf is gone? And now ſurely, the heart of ſome ſinner or another begins to relent; ſome that is ſaying with himſelf, Though I never prayed in ſecret before, yet now I will begin to pray: Though I loſt abundance of my youth and my health, I will ſtrive to loſe no more: I have put off God and my Conſcience with vain excuſes and delays, but I will not put them off again: He ſhall have my thoughts, my heart, and my endeavours, who gave me life; and I will ever admire the riches of his Love, if he will pardon ſuch a Malefactor, and condeſcend to ſuch a Worm, and entertain ſuch a Prodigal as I have been.
Inf. 6. In what a woful Condition are thoſe poor Sinners that are without this Favour of God! To how great a danger are they every day expoſed! And, which is a part of their miſery, they know it not: Spiritual Death has cloſed their eyes, and they ſee not where they go. What a ſad object is a poor ſinner, that is yet a ſtranger to this God; that is every hour liable to his Eternal Wrath; that ſeeks the Friendſhip and the Favour of men, and has no thoughts of his Creator, no dread of his Diſpleaſure, no taſte or reliſh of his Love! Surely they muſt be fallen into a dead ſleep, whom all the Terrors of the Lord, all the Threats of his Word, and all the Calls of his Miniſters will not awaken! With what peace can you eat and drink, or work, or reſt, whilſt ſo great a God is your Enemy? Will his Wrath, that makes the Devils in their Helliſh Agonies to roar and tremble, be tolerable to you? When his Vengeance purſues you, whither will you run for help? When he frowns, what will it avail you, tho all the world ſhould ſmile upon you? When he caſts you off, who will ſhew you pity? When he condemns you, who will plead your Cauſe? Do you not know that your Life is ſhort, that your Change is near, that the Judge is at the door? Do you not know that this World will leave you, that you may quickly go into another? And can you dwell with Eternal Burnings? Can you venture to go to the Judgment-Seat, before you have an Intereſt in Chriſt? Are you fruitleſs and barren here, and do you think to flouriſh in the Coeleſtial Paradiſe? Do you remain dead here under all the means of Grace, and do you hope to live for ever? What pleaſures are thoſe that enchant you, that you will not come and taſte the Joys of God? Who is that that will be a better Friend than he? If you laugh at deſtruction, it will not be the further off: Oh let not the Devil be your Maſter, nor the world your God. Let not ſin cheat and impoſe upon you with its falſe and counterfeit Delights. Others are mourning in ſecret after the Lord; and have you not as much cauſe to mourn as they? Others are ſtriving with earneſt Prayers and Supplications, and holy Endeavours, to enter in at the ſtrait ga…e; and will it open of it ſelf to you? Or have you not alſo Souls to ſave, as well as they? Others Read, and Hear, and Pray, and do all that they can for Salvation, being afraid they ſhould fall under the Power of Eternal Death; and have you no cauſe of fear? VVhence is it, that when they are running ſo faſt in the way of Heaven, you run faſter in the way of Hell? VVhy do you with ſo great a care, tend and regard your Bodies to preſerve them from pain, and yet ſuffer your Souls to languiſh and pine away? If you did but know how miſerable you are, without the Favour of God, it would create a vaſt horror in your thoughts: How deeply would you groan, if you were but ſenſible of the vaſt load of Guilt that is upon you! How earneſtly would you cry for help, if you did but ſee whither you are ſinking, and where you are like to be for ever! How would you ſtart, if you did but perceive that the Devil flatters you, that he may deſtroy you! That it is his work you do, his Luſts that you embrace, his Deſigns that you comply withal! There is no Dungeon ſo doleful, no Place ſo full of Torment, no Fire ſo hot as that whither he leads you; and which will be more inſupportable to you, becauſe you let him lead you captive at his own pleaſure. If we receive any Life from God, let us bewail our Dead; let us pity them that have no pity for themſelves; let our eyes, and our hearts melt and be troubled for them, tho they will not ſhed any tears for the ſadneſs of their own caſe.
Inf. 7. Hence we ſee the Reaſon why ſome grow more in Grace than others do, and are alſo more ſerviceable in the world. Fear and ſadneſs damp and contract our Spirits, but joy and comfort dilate them, and cauſe them to act with ſpritelineſs and vigour: The Diſpleaſure of God weakens the Faculties and Powers of the Soul, by the terrible apprehenſions which it is then fill'd withal; but his favour-bringing life fills it with defight; and Faith is then ſtrong and unmov'd, when it can behold God, his Son, and the Promiſes, all as her own Portion. Love is then genuine and durable, when it has a warm ſenſe of the Love of God; and under the conſtraining power and force of this, the heart is diſſolved into a tender Sorrow, and a true Repentance: It is the ſhining of the Face of God, that makes us active for his Glory, and unwearied in his Service: And under his pleaſant and reviving Beams, the Chriſtian travels with delight and haſte to his dearly-beloved home: But when this Favour is eclips'd, this Sun covered with a cloud, then the poor Chriſtian is as one who travels in the darkneſs of the night, and has loſt his way; he is full of fear and perplexity; and ſo is the deſerted Soul; but the firſt Beam of day makes him to go on, and to finiſh his Courſe; and then is accompliſhed that promiſe, Iſa. 35.1, 2. The wilderneſs and the ſolitary place ſhall be glad, and the deſart ſhall rejoice, and bloſſom as the roſe; it ſhall bloſſom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and ſinging, &c. The Favour of God is as dew upon the graſs, it cauſes fruit where there was nothing but withering and decay before. According as he is pleaſed to favour us, or to be diſpleaſed, ſo there is either a great Eaſe, or Reſtleſneſs and Indiſpoſition on our Spirits: His Favour excites Admiration and Praiſe, and Love and Joy; and with theſe cheerful Affections a man may do a great deal for God. Whereas, moſt uſually, with our departing Comforts, does our ſtrength depart; what can we do for the Salvation of others, if we are under great fear that we our ſelves ſhall not be ſaved? How can we work in the Vineyard, if we fear that our Maſter will in Anger caſt us out? Pſal. 51.11. Caſt me not away from thy preſence; and take not thy holy Spirit from me. v. 12. Reſtore unto me the joy of thy ſalvation, and uphold me with thy free ſpirit. And ſo it is, as it 1. Delivers us from thoſe Luſts and Corruptions which chain us down, that we cannot run the way of God's Commandments, 2. As it keeps us from being intangled with the affairs of the world, that ſubjugate and enthral our minds. 3. As it is in us a Spirit of Adoption, and frees us from thoſe ſlaviſh Fears of the Juſtice, and Sovereignty, and Holineſs, and Power of God, which overwhelm our hearts. Job 22.26. Then ſhalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty, and ſhalt lift up thy face unto God: Thou ſhalt pray unto him, and he ſhall hear thee. It gives us acceſs to the Throne of Grace; it takes off our unwillingneſs to, and our reſtraint in holy Duties; it gives a freedom and enlargement of Soul; and it is then, as the flower that opens it ſelf to the ſhining Sun.†See Mr. Burrough's Gracious Spirit, p. 20. Tho a man ſuffer no alteration in his Conſtitution, or his outward appearance, yet if God withdraw, all greatly decays within. When the Spirit came upon Saul, 1 Sam. 10.6. He propheſied, and was turned into another man. He was inſpired with greater courage, and had a diſpoſition more Heroical, and better qualified; but when this Spirit was taken away, an evil Spirit ſucceeded in his room; then Saul was no more the ſame, nothing but fear, and horror, and deſpair, and vexation, raged in his breaſt; he was in all reſpects a very miſerable man; he had the name of a King, but was diveſted of all Royal Qualities, when he was left of the God of Iſrael, and went to ask Advice of the Witch of Endor; ſee his own Complaint, 1 Sam. 28.15. I am ſore diſtreſſed; for the Philiſtines make war againſt me, and God is departed from me, and anſwereth me no more, neither by prophets nor by dreams. Does not every Chriſtian find it by his experience, that he is not the ſame in his Duties at one time, that he is at another? Sometimes his heart melts under a ſenſe of the Love of God, and he feels ſuch a vital. Influence of the Spirit, that it ſeems as the Foretaſte of Heaven; he ſeems to be even ſwallowed up with Joy; he ſeems to be within the Courts of God, and to ſet his foot within the Land of Promiſe: Oh who can expreſs the ſweetneſs that ſpreads over all the panting Soul, when it ſees the Face of God! it lives then indeed, but hardly knows whether it be in the body or out of it; ſo many wonders of Grace and Mercy does it view! And yet this ſame perſon that is now in Triumph at the Gate of Heaven, may at another time be bewailing its own caſe, and in deep ſorrows, as at the very door of Hell. When the Dew of God ceaſes to fall upon it, it looks no more ſo freſh and ſo fair, but ſighs and groans for her Saviour; tho a little while ago ſhe could ſay, I am my beloved's, and he is mine The ſame perſon may look upon God as a Judge, that before thought him to be a Father. The Life (as one ſays) which God gives his ſervants, may be weakned; but 'tis never extinguiſh'd; there is oftentimes upon them a ſpiritual fainting, tho not a total Death: when the Spirit does not produce any chearful motion, nor diſplay any of his uſual Beams of Light; ſo that they are toſt between Fear and Hope, between the ſentiments of Life, and the apprehenſions of Death. What dryneſs, what hardneſs, comes upon our hearts? How little Life, or Enlargement, or Comfort, have we in duty, when the Spirit of God is withdrawn from us? All our endeavours, all our ſtrivings with our ſelves, do not warm our Spirits, as he uſed to do. How little delight have we in Prayer? And how loth are we to pray? And we know how lame and defective our Petitions and Deſires are: And we are at as great a loſs as Job, when he ſaid, chap. 23.3, 4. Oh that I knew where I might find him, that I might come even to his ſeat. And v. 8. I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him, &c.
Inf. 8thly and Laſtly. Hence you ſee the reaſon, why the Servants of God do ſo earneſtly beg this favour, and are ſo deeply troubled when it is removed: It is their life, their portion, their all: Every thing is ſtrangely changed; all its Comelineſs, and Beauty, and Glory, vaniſhes, when the Life is gone: Life is the pleaſant thing; 'tis ſweet and comfortable; but Death with its pale attendants, raiſes an horror and averſion to it every where: The Saints of God dread the removal of his favour, and the hidings of his face; and when it is hid, a faintneſs, and a cold amazement and fear ſeizes upon every part, and they feel ſtrange bitterneſs, and anguiſh, and tribulation, which makes their joints to tremble, and is to them as the very pangs of death. Pſal. 22.14, 15. I am poured out like water, and all my hones are out of joint; my heart is like wax, it is melted in the midſt of my bowels; my ſtrength is dried up like a potſherd, and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws, and thou haſt brought me into the duſt of death. Pſal. 38.2, 3, 6, 8, 9, 10. And Job 23.8, 9. Pſal. 13.1, 3, 4. Pſal. 27.9. Hide not thy face from me; put not thy ſervant away in anger; thou haſt been my help, leave me not, neither forſake me, O God. Pſal. 69.17. Hide not thy face from thy ſervant, for I am in trouble; hear me ſpeedily. Pſal. 4.6. There be many that ſay, Who will ſhew us any good? Lord lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us.