Trouble of the Mind and the Disease of Melancholy, Discourse · Part 2 · Chapter 3
CHAP. III.
Shewing, that the Favour of God is diligently to be ſought; and what is to be done, that we may obtain it.
1. SEeing in the Favour of God is Life, ſeek it earneſtly. If I were to bid you to take care of your Lives, or your Eſtates, you would quickly think it a needleſs Requeſt, becauſe your own ſafety and intereſt would prompt you to it: but if we bid you to take care of your Souls, there indeed you can hear one Sermon after another, one Exhortation after another, and ſtill be as ſecure and careleſs as before. VVe hear many People wiſhing for other things, and very few that are deſiring this. VVe hear the Poor ſay, Oh that I were rich! The Sick, Oh that I were well! And the Priſoner ſighing for his liberty; the Trader buſily concerned for his gain; and the Merchant for good returns; but oh, how few are there that are ſaying, Oh that I might find grace in the ſight of God! Oh that I might be his, and he mine! Many have their eyes fixed upon the World, admiring and doating on it, though they daily ſee how vain it is, and how its faſhion paſſes away: but oh! how few are there whoſe eyes are fixed on Heaven? and whoſe hearts are panting after the Living God! If I could teach you a way to be the Favourites of the King, or of ſome Powerful, or Great Men, you would think to derive great Advantages from ſuch a Privilege, and quickly ſtrive to get it: but here is a greater than they, even the King of kings, whoſe Favour is tendred to your acceptance, and your choice; his Throne is acceſſible; tho his Majeſty might confound you, yet his Goodneſs bids you welcome to his preſence: Seek, and you ſhall find; knock, and it ſhall be opened unto you. And methinks every Soul here ſhould rejoice, even to know, that it is poſſible for him to have God to be his own God. That how abject, how ſinful ſoever he may have been, yet he may be advanced and honour'd by the Lord of glory, if he do but return; and when he bids us ſeek his face, we ſhould anſwer, Thy face Lord will we ſeek; Pſal. 27.8. and ſeek it preſently, while he may be found; leſt Sickneſs, and Death, and Judgment, ſhould prevent us; and leſt grieved with our delays, he ſhould cover himſelf from us by an Eternal Separation, and we ſhould ſeek him, and not find him: and becauſe we did not hear his Calls, he ſhould ſhut out all our cryes; And laugh when our calamity comes like an armed man; Prov. 1.28. If you have no need of him to forgive your Sins, to heal your Souls, to protect you from danger, or to bring you to Salvation, then let this Work alone; then be unconcerned, whether you ſeek his favour, or diſeſteem it; whether he be your Friend, or your Enemy; but if you have need of God, as I am ſure you have; then pour out your ſupplications to him for his Grace; and ſay, O Lord, I have been dead in ſin, but I know that nothing is impoſſible to thee. Thou openeſt the Graves, and makeſt even the Dead to live. Let my Soul feel thy Almighty power, and have a ſhare in the firſt Reſurrection, that over me the ſecond Death may not prevail. O let me be one of thy Children; one of thy bleſſed Family; one whom thou loveſt, and whom thou wilt love for ever: thou haſt pardoned many who were once as guilty as I have been; O magnify the Riches of thy Grace in blotting out mine Iniquities: Thou haſt quickned many that were once dead; Let me alſo be quickened by the vital influences of thy Spirit. Many Prodigals haſt thou received; Let me not be thrown off Many haſt thou bleſſed; many Bleſſings haſt thou in ſtore. Therefore bleſs me, even me alſo, I pray thee, O my God.
2. Joyn Endeavours to your Prayers, and uſe all the means of grace with conſcionable diligence: 2 Cor. 5.9. We labour, that whether preſent, or abſent, we may be accepted of him. Pſal. 119.58. Oh do not mock him with a meer form of words! but let your affections and your words be joined together: be as the Hart, that when it pants for the Waterbrooks, runs with all the ſpeed it can thither: when your Souls are once warmed with a ſenſe of God, uſe all the care you can to maintain the ſacred and the comfortable Flame, leſt by your neglect it be extinguiſh'd and go out again. For a man to wiſh that he had the favour of God, and not to uſe all his preſcribed means, is fooliſh, and ineffectual; as if a Traveller ſhould ſit in a lazy poſture, without any motion in the Road, and yet wiſh to be at his Journeys end; as if a man ſhould wiſh to be learned, and yet never read or ſtudy: as if a Soldier ſhould wiſh for victory, and yet never fight: or an Husbandman for a gainful Crop, and yet neither plow nor ſow. It is not a careleſs wiſh for God's favour, that will ſerve the turn; you muſt pray conſtantly, and reſort to thoſe places of Worſhip where he uſually manifeſts his preſence in his own Ordinances; and read his word with reverence, humility and frequency; you muſt ſeek him with your whole heart; you muſt expect and wait, tho it be long, for a gracious anſwer of your Prayers: how many days will men give their attendance for ſome Preferment, or High Place, in a Prince's Court! And it ſhould not grieve us to ſtay for the Favour, and the Love of God; for when it is once beſtowed, it will requite all your pains and labour; 1 Cor. 15. laſt verſe. You will meet in the queſt of this, with manifold trials, and with great oppoſitions; your Carnal Nature, and your old Sins will preſent motives to your ſenſe to draw you back. Satan will perplex you with a thouſand doubts and troubles; for you may be ſure this Lyon will roar, when he is like to loſe his Prey: but nothing of this muſt diſcourage you. The Favour of God is ſo great a mercy, that you may juſtly be importunate and reſtleſs till you get it, notwithſtanding all the dangers that you meet withal. No great things are obtained, but with difficulty: you'll ſee hereafter, that it was worth the while to take pains in a matter of ſo great conſequence. You now find, that after all the pleaſure of Sin is paſt, it leaves a ſting, and fills your minds with bitterneſs and trouble; but you'll hereafter find nothing but comfort, nothing but an overflowing-pleaſure in the love of God: and you'll find it to be ſo very pleaſant, that you will wiſh that you had done more for him than you have done. There's not a Soul in Heaven that repents of the pains he took to get thither.
3. You muſt he deeply ſenſible of your own miſerable and undone ſtate without it. Luke 5.31. They that are whole, need not a Phyſician, but they that are ſick. Matth. 18.11. The Son of Man is come to ſave that which is loſt. Job 33.27. He looketh upon men; and if any ſay, I have ſinned, and perverted that which was right, and it profiteth me not; he will deliver his ſoul from going down to the pit, and his life ſhall ſee the light. If you are once convinced, that your ſins have made him angry; that his Anger is very juſt; and yet ſo ſevere, that if it continue, it will be intolerable. If you are once ſenſible what a great God you have provoked; what an holy Law you have broken; what an Hell you have deſerved; you will reckon it as a great mercy that you are not already there, whence there is no return. If your Conſcience have been awakened with a deep impreſſion of his Wrath, all the Riches, the Honours, and the Pleaſures of this World, will ſeem to you to be very poor and empty things. The ſight of Sin that has deceived you, that has defiled you, that has expoſed you to ſo great danger, will fill you with ſhame and ſorrow, with fear and trouble. Of all your deſires, this will be your chief, and your only deſire; Let me have the Favour of God, whatever elſe I want: Let me have his Favour, or I dye for ever: you will be reſtleſs and unſatisfied till you have the hope of this. The reaſon why men are ſo induſtrious for all other things, and ſo little concerned for the Favour of God, is, becauſe they are blinded by the Devil, and their own Luſts, and under a ſpiritual inſenſibility. But if you once find Sin to be bitter, this will be very ſweet: If that has thrown you into painful Agonies, and deep diſtreſs of Soul, this will greatly comfort and revive you: you will ſee then great cauſe to humble, and to loath your ſelf; and not find any cauſe of pride, or of the boaſt of the Phariſee; but in the better poſture and temper of the Publican, ſay, Lord be merciful to me a ſinner. Never did a Traveller, after a tedious Journey, more deſire his home; or a Mariner, long toſt with Tempeſts, to ſee the quiet Shore, than you will deſire this Favour of God. When you have been ſcorcht with inward thirſt, you will pant for this Fountain of Love, wherein you may quench your thirſt; when you have been in a long war with God, and come at length to ſee the danger of it; Oh how beautiful will be the feet of thoſe who are Ambaſſadors of Peace! You will then ſay, as it is in Luke 1.53. He bath filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he hath ſent empty away.
4. The Favour of God is only to be had in, and through Jeſus Chriſt; and you muſt apply your ſelves tn him for it. It is not all your Zeal, your Repentance, your Self-denial, or your Mortifications, that of themſelves will be ſufficient to bring you to the Favour of God: Tho you labour in his Service all the day, and mourn for your Miſcarriages all the night, what ſatisfaction will this give to his offended Juſtice, and to the honour of his violated Law? We were happy indeed at our firſt Creation, in his Love; and happy had we been ſtill, had we perſevered: but our firſt Apoſtacy, by the fall from that Innocent Condition, has made a large breach between God and us; and there is none found in Heaven, or in Earth, that can make it up, but his only Son. The loſs of Original Righteouſneſs has made us to loſe his Favour, and occaſioned a vaſt diſtance between him and us; this has brought forth all the miſeries of the World: Irregular Seaſons, overflowing Inundations, and dreadful Wars; all the ſickneſs and pain of our Bodies, and all the guilt, and unquietneſs, and diſorder of our Souls: in Adam we all died; both natural and ſpiritual death came upon all, becauſe all have ſinned; but God has in his mercy not left us hopeleſs. As ſoon as Adam fell, He was pleaſed to provide for his riſing aagain, and as ſoon as ever he had wounded himſelf, he did prepare a Balſom to heal and cure his Wounds; and when he was ſtung, and poiſoned with the Venom of the Serpent, he did prepare an Antidote. The poor guilty Creature could have expected nothing but a Curſe, and yet God gave him the Promiſe of Redemption, and of a Bleſſing by the Seed of the Woman that ſhould break the Serpent's head: when he drive Adam out of Paradiſe, he might have put him out of Heaven, and out of his Preſence for evermore; and have ſaid, Go and dwell with that Devil that tempted thee to ſin. Upon the Fall, he withdrew indeed his uſual Favour; this raiſed a cloud that obſcured the beauty of his morning-glory, and that intercepted the beams that a little while before ſhone upon his head: but tho we had deſtroyed our ſelves, in God was our help: He ſent his own Son to dye for us, to give a ſatisfaction to his Juſtice, which would otherwiſe have ſlamed againſt us: and though we are enemies, yet he is willing to reconcile us by the death of his Son; Rom. 5.10. It is by him that he will treat with us; to him muſt we addreſs our ſelves; as being ordain'd of God to make our peace: To his Righteouſneſs muſt we look, as being very ſenſible, that our own at the beſt is miſerably defective: If our Perſons, and our Services be accepted, it muſt be through his Beloved; he is the Principal, and the great Favourite of Heaven: all the mercy that we need, will be beſtowed for his ſake alone; all the miſeries that we deſerve, will he keep from us: it pleaſes God to behold what Chriſt has done; he will be pleaſed with us, if we are in him. It is the Blood of Jeſus, and the merit of his Death, and our application of theſe by faith, that will reinſtate us in his Favour; and 'tis the power and the virtue of his Interceſſion that will preſerve us in it. Chriſt is the way, and the truth, and the life; 'tis he that will conduct and lead us to his Father; and make him that was our Enemy, becauſe of our Sin, to be our Friend aagain. It is his Office, as a Mediator, and a Saviour, to heal the Wounded, to reduce the Wanderers, to call home the baniſhed, to make the Lame to walk, and the blind to ſee; Iſa. 61.1. and our bleſſed Lord is willing to plead our Cauſe, and to help our Wants; for thoſe that come unto him, he will in no-wiſe caſt out; if you believe, his Father ſhall be your Father; and his God your God: for God has reſolved, that all the communication of his Grace ſhall be made through his dearly beloved Son; and if you do ſincerely beg his Favour for Chriſt's ſake, you ſhall not be denied: He that hath the Son, hath life. You ſhall indeed flouriſh, when you are united to this great and glorious Head; and the death that you found by the firſt, ſhall be removed by the ſecond Adam: As in Adam all died, even ſo in Chriſt ſhall all be made alive; 1 Cor. 1.22. The Office of our Redeemer in Heaven is ſtill to be a Reconciler; and not all the Angels, or the Saints there, can do for us what he does. When you are complaining of the yet remaining defilement and power of Sin, and ſaying with the great Apoſtle, Oh wretched man that I am! who ſhall deliver me from the body of this death? Then remember that there is help laid upon one that is mighty; one that is compaſſionate, and hath a tender ſenſe of all your griefs and miſeries; and therefore when you are amazed with the view of your own guilt, terrified with the Accuſations of your own Conſciences, and perplext with the violent Aſſaults and Temptations of the Devil; when you are afraid you ſhall be the Stubble to the devouring Wrath of God, then lay hold of his ſtrength, Iſa. 27.5. i. e. on Chriſt who is the power of God, and the wiſdom of God, 1 Cor. 1.24. And it may be ſaid of you, as in Epheſ. 2.12 Though in time paſt ye were without Chriſt, being aliens from the commonwealth of Iſrael, and ſtrangers from the covenants of promiſe, having no hope, and without God in the World: but now in Chriſt Jeſus, you who ſometimes were far off, are made nigh by the blood of Chriſt; for he is our peace.
5. That you may have an intereſt in the favour of God, which is Life, your natures muſt be renewed. It is not enough that your Conſciences are delivered from guilt, and from an obnoxiouſneſs to puniſhment; but they muſt alſo be delivered from the dominion and the power of ſin. If your Luſts are unſubdued, they will by their unquiet and diſorderly motions create an Hell within, and then you cannot expect an Heaven without; if you reliſh only temporary, carnal joys, you muſt not expect to taſte the Joy of God; nor think, that if you will wallow in the mire, that he will place you on his Throne. Tho' his Sun gives refreſhment with his chearful beams to all the World, to the bad as well as to the good; yet the beams of his ſpecial favour will not ſhine upon a Dunghil, nor viſit thoſe hearts which are full of all manner of pollution: his pure and holy nature will not allow him to behold iniquity with approbation. Think not to ſee the reviving ſmiles of his face, ſo long as you turn your backs upon him, ſo long as you love what he abhors; ſo long as without any remorſe or grief, you ſcorn his Government, and violate his Laws. Till you are born again by the Spirit of God, you are in a ſtate of death, and are unfit for the communications of the Divine favour. You are in that condition, no members of the Body of Chriſt; for all that are joyned to that glorious Head, have life and ſtrength from him to mortify their Luſts. What fellowſhip hath righteouſneſs with unrighteouſneſs? and what communion hath light with darkneſs? and what concord hath Chriſt with Belial? 2 Cor. 6.14, 15. There is no Communion between God and you till your natures, your inclinations, your principles, your deſigns are all changed from what they once were. The righteous Lord loveth righteouſneſs, Pſal 11.7. Till you have his image, and a reſemblance of him wrought in you by the Holy Ghoſt, you are not his favourites, nor ſuch in whom he can take a peculiar delight; without holineſs, his preſence will not ſeem amiable to you; or at leaſt without it, you cannot ſee his face. Iſa. 59.1, 2. Your iniquities have ſeparated between you and your God; and your ſins have hid his face from you. And th…refore t hey are compared to a thick Cloud, they obſtruct and dim the light that otherwiſe would ſhine upon your heads. Therefore David prays, Create in me a clean heart; and then, reſtore unto me the joy of thy ſalvation, Pſal. 51.10, 12. Whil'ſt ſin is lodged and entertained in the ſoul, it is like wind in the bowels of the Earth, it will cauſe Convulſions and troubleſome agitations there. It was the ſin of Adam that made ſo many frowns in the face of God; that cauſed the firſt eruption of his Wrath; that makes it ſo frequently to flame out with terror againſt the guilty Sons of Men. Till you are born again, you will have an averſion to God; And how can you expect that his favour ſhould be given to you, whileſt you care not to think of him? Till your darkneſs be removed, and you be acquainted with him, you cannot be at peace.
VI. That you may have the favour of God, you muſt in conformity to the new Nature, and thoſe holy diſpoſitions that you receive by his Grace, yield him a ſincere and a conſtant obedience all your lives. His countenance doth behold the upright, Pſalm. 11.7. He encourages the weakneſs of that Soul that is tender and afraid of ſin; he will not treat you with the kindneſs that he ſhews to his honourable Subjects, if you take part with his open enemies: Ye are my friends, if ye do whatſoever I command you, Joh. 15.14. Obedience is the genuine effect of ſo excellent and ſo near an alliance; and 'tis the proof and evidence thereof. Joh. 14.21. He that hath my Commandments and doth them, he it is that loveth me; and he that loveth me, ſhall be loved of my father, and I will love him. And verſ. 23. We will come unto him, and make our abode with him. A Promile full of Mercy! Words that have in them all that is deſirable, that are big with conſolation! What can a ſoul wiſh for more, than to have God, the Father and the Son, to have them for his Friends, for his Gueſt! and not only to tarry for a night or a day, but for ever! Not to comfort him with a tranſient viſit, which were a great privilege; but to dwell with him! Oh! bleſſed is the Houſe that hath ſuch Inhabitants; and bleſſed is the Soul who is thus honoured and eſteemed. By obeying his Commands, you ſhew your ſelves to be veſſels of Honour; and when you are ſo, he will at one time or other fill you brim-full of Joy. If you ſerve the Devil, you can by no means have that ſatiſfaction that flows from the hope of being a Son of God, and an Heir of Heaven; And tho' his Showers fall upon the Sands; as well as on the manured and cultivated ground; yet till you are fruitful, you cannot expect to be refreſh'd with his gentle and comfortable Dews. There are peculiar influences of his Grace that fall upon his incloſed Gardens, and not upon the Deſerts. If favour ſhould be ſhewed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteouſneſs, Iſa. 26.10. It ſhines like the Sun on a Rock; he is no more fruitful, no more tender-hearted than he was before; if you embrace your ancient Sins, if you hold on your correſpondence with your former Luſts, God will▪ not pour the oyl of gladneſs into ſuch old and depraved hearts; if we go on in ſin, we violate our own ſerenity, and raiſe within our breaſts a multitude of ſtorms; whereas, Pſal. 119.165. Great peace have they which love thy Law, and nothing ſhall offend them. And ſo, Gal. 6.16. As many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy. Iſa. 64.15. Thou meeteſt him that rejoyceth and worketh righteouſneſs. By theſe means you ſhall obtain the favour of God, and when you have ſo obtained it;