Counsel to the Afflicted, Question 2 · Section 18
SECT. 18.
18. Encourage and comfort your ſelves in the Lord, when any perplexity ſeizeth upon you, or any ſad and troubled thoughts ariſe in your mindes upon the account of your own loſſes, or upon the account of the miſery and diſtreſs that is like to come upon the Nation by reaſon of this dreadful Judgment. When Ziglag, David's City of Refuge, was ſet on fire by the Amalekites, and both David and his men had loſt their Wives and Children, and their ſubſtance, which made them weep till they could weep no more; and beſides all this, David was in danger of loſing his life, (for the people ſpake of ſtoning him) in this great diſtreſs, David encourageth himſelf in the Lord, 1 Sam. 30.6. David was greatly diſtreſſed, for the people ſpake of ſtoning him—but David encouraged himſelf in the Lord his God. You cannot readily be in greater diſtreſs, than David was at this time: and if he in his diſtreſs encouraged himſelf in God, when he had loſt his Habitation, Wives, Subſtance, &c. and was alſo like to loſe his life, may not you finde that in God which may encourage you in all your diſtreſſes which are not ſo great as Davids? I will propoſe briefly ſome grounds of comfort and encouragement (beſides what hath been ſaid upon the firſt Queſt. Sect. 17. page 118, &c.) to ſuch of the Servants of God as are caſt down either at their own loſſes, or at the diſtreſs and miſery which is like to follow in the Nation, upon the account of this ſore Judgment.
1. God is all-ſufficient to ſhield and defend you from all thoſe evils which you fear will come upon you, and to make up whatever good you fear you ſhall be deprived of, now you have loſt your Eſtates, Gen 15.1. After theſe things the word of the Lord came unto Alram in a viſion, ſaying, Fear not Abram: I am thy ſhield, and thy exceeding great reward. Why ſhould that man fear any evil that hath God for his ſhield? and why ſhould that man be diſquieted for the want or loſs of any worldly good things, who hath the great and all-ſuſſicient God for his exceeding great reward? It may be you will ſay, It is true, if I knew that God were my ſhield, and my exceeding great reward, I think I ſhould be ſo comforted, that nothing would trouble me; but I do not know that God is my ſhield, and my reward: this is ſpoken to Abraham, and not to me. I anſwer, The ſame promiſes and bleſſings which were given to Abraham, do belong to every one that believeth in Jeſus Chriſt, Gal. 3.7,9. Know ye, that they which are of faith, the ſame are the children of Abraham—So then, they which be of faith, are bleſſed with faithful Abraham.
2. Though your Eſtates be gone, and your outward comforts be taken away, God himſelf will ſtand by you: Though your Eſtates may fail, and your Calling may fail, and your Friends may fail and forſake you, God will never fail you, nor forſake you, Heb. 13.5. He hath ſaid, I will never leave thee, nor forſake thee. He hath ſaid: Who is that? God, who is a God of truth, a God that cannot lye, a God that changeth not; the Father of mercies, and the God of all conſolation: he hath ſaid, I will never leave thee, nor forſake thee: and why ſhould that man be caſt down that hath the God of all conſolation continually with him? yea, though not only Eſtate, and Calling, and Friends fail, but your hearts fail you alſo; yet God will not fail you, but will be yours for ever, Pſal. 73.26. My fleſh and my heart faileth; but God is the ſtrength of my heart, and my portion for ever. But I am afraid, my trials will be ſo great, that my faith will fail me; and what can I expect then but that God ſhould fail me alſo? Anſwer 1. The Lord Jeſus will take care of your Faith, that it ſhall not totally or finally fail, Luke 22.31,32. Simon, Simon, Behold, Satan hath deſired to have you, that he may ſift you as wheat; but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not. 2. Though there may be ſome partial failings in your faith, yet God will not fail to fulfil his promiſe wherein he ſtandeth engaged not to leave nor forſake you, 2 Tim. 2.13. If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful, he cannot deny himſelf: therefore, when fears and diſcouragements begin to ſeize upon you, remember that God calleth to you, Iſa. 41.10. Fear thou not, for I am with thee; be not diſmayed, for I am thy God; I will ſtrengthen thee, yea, I will help thee, yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteouſneſs. Iſa. 43.1,2. Fear not, for I have redeemed thee—thou art mine: 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. Though the fire be long ſince quenched, yet it may be you will feel the ſad fruits and effects of this Fire as long as you live; but if you ſhould, be not caſt down, but look upon God, that he, according to his promiſe, will be with you to ſtrengthen and ſupport you when you paſs through the fires.
3. You are as dear to God as ever; he loves you now you are poor, as much as he did when you were rich, Pſal. 40.17. I am poor and needy, yet the Lord thinketh upon me: Though your Eſtates be gone, yet Gods love remains firm to your ſouls, and ſhall continue ſtedfaſt towards you, although you ſhould meet with greater mutations in your eſtate and condition, than you have done to this day, Iſa. 54.10. The mountains ſhall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindenſs ſhall not depart from thee, neither ſhall the covenant of my peace be removed, ſaith the Lord, that hath mercy on thee. Whatever dangers or troubles compaſs you about, you are, and alwayes ſhall be compaſſed about with the loving kindneſs of the Lord, Pſal. 5.12. Thou Lord wilt bleſs the righteous, with favour wilt thou compaſs him as with a ſhield. Now this is a ground of everlaſting comfort, and may cauſe us in all conditions to ſhout for joy, to underſtand that we are in the love and favour of God, as is evident from the 11. verſe. Let all thoſe that put their truſt in thee rejoyce, let them ever ſhout for joy, becauſe thou defendeſt them; let them alſo that love thy Name, be joyful in thee. Three times the Pſalmiſt calls out to the Servants of God to rejoyce, Let them rejoyce—let them be joyful in thee, let them ever ſhout for joy: and why? what is it which may be a ground of everlaſting joy to them in all eſtates and conditions? Many times they are poor, and under great afflictions, what reaſon then have they to ſhout for joy for ever? He renders the reaſon why a godly man may, and ought to be alwayes joyful, ver. 12. For thou Lord wilt bleſs the righteous, with favour wilt thou compaſs him as with a ſhield. That Gods love is a ground of everlaſting comfort in all eſtates and conditions, is evident from 2 Theſſ. 2.16. Our Lord Jeſus Chriſt himſelf, and God even our Father which hath loved us, and hath given us everlaſting conſolation.—
4. Though your Houſes and Eſtates be conſumed, and your Trading fail, and your Friends ſhould turn away from you, and ſtand aloof from your ſore; God will not turn away from doing of you good as long as you live, Jer. 32.40. 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. When you are in trouble, and have no friend in the world to go to; if you go to the Lord, he will be your refuge, and ſuccour, and comfort you in all your ſtraits, Pſal. 9.9. The Lord will be a refuge for the oppreſſed, a refuge in times of trouble. Iſa. 66.13. As one whom his mother comforteth; ſo will I comfort you, and ye ſhall be comforted in Jeruſalem. When the Jews were in the Wilderneſs, God followed them with a conſtant ſupply of all their wants. The pillar of fire and the cloud never departed from them, Exod. 13.21,22. The Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night: He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people. And though they ſinned againſt God, yet he forſook them not, as Nehomiah confeſſeth, Nehem. 9.19. Yet thou in thy manifold mercies, forſockeſt them not in the Wilderneſs; the pillar of the cloud departed not from them by day, to lead them in the way; neither the pillar of fire by night, to ſhew them light, and the way wherein they ſhould go. And as God guarded and guided them by night and by day, ſo whereever they were, he rained down Manna upon them, and gave them water to drink; he never failed them of a ſeaſonable ſupply of their wants forty years together, Nehem. 9.20,21. Thou gaveſt alſo thy good Spirit to inſtruct them, and with-heldeſt not thy Manna from their mouth; and gaveſt them water for their thirſt; yea, forty years didſt thou ſuſtain them in the Wilderneſs, ſo that they lacked nothing, their clothes waxed not old—The Manna did not ceaſe till the day that they entred into Canaan, and did eat of the corn of the land, Joſh. 5.12. The Manna ceaſed on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land—The water alſo that came out of the rock followed them up and down in all places whereever they went to give them drink, 1 Cor. 10.4. Now as it was with the Iſraelites whilſt they were in the Wilderneſs, ſo will God deal with all his ſervants whilſt they are in the Wilderneſs of this world; he will guard them and guide them by night and by day, he will ſend in a ſuitable and ſeaſonable ſupply of all their wants, Iſa. 27.3. I the Lord do keep it, I will water it every moment; leſt any hurt it, I will keep it night and day. Iſa. 49.10. They ſhall not hunger nor thirſt, neither ſhall the heat nor Sun ſmite them; for he that hath mercy on them, ſhall lead them, even by the ſprings of water ſhall he guide them. When your wants are many, and you know not how or which way they ſhall be ſupplyed, remember what is ſaid, Phil. 4.19. My God ſhall ſupply all your need according to his riches in glory, by Chriſt Jeſus. And be aſſured of this, that God who hath been good to you, will follow you with goodneſs and mercy as long as you live, Pſal. 23.6. Surely goodneſs and mercy ſhall follow me all the dayes of my life. It may be you will ſay, I have enough to comfort me, if I were but ſure that goodneſs and mercy ſhould follow me all the dayes of my life: but though David was ſure of this, it doth not follow, that I may reſt aſſured that it ſhall be ſo with me. I anſwer, They that come to, and cloſe with Jeſus Chriſt, ſhall be bleſſed with the ſame mercies that God beſtowed upon David, Iſa. 45.3. Encline your ear, and come unto me; hear, and your ſouls ſhall live, and I will make an everlaſting covenant with you, even the ſure mercies of David.
5. Great calamities are oft-times followed with great mercies; and this is true both as to Nations and particular perſons, when thoſe Nations and perſons are humbled and brought nearer to God by their afflictions. Jobs afflictons were exceeding great, both in reſpect of what he met with in his ſoul, body, name, eſtate, and relations; yet God turned the captivity of Job, and made his Eſtate more glorious and proſperous than ever, Job 42.12. The Lord bleſſed the latter end of Job more than his beginning. I will inſtance in ſome mercies which God is wont to beſtow upon his people, either in, or ſoon after they come out of great troubles.
1. God is wont at ſuch times to give his people greater and ſtronger conſolations than at other times, Pſal. 71.20,21. Thou which haſt ſhewen me great and ſore troubles, ſhalt quicken me again, and ſhalt bring me up again from the depths of the earth: Thou ſhalt encreaſe my greatneſs, and comfort me on every ſide. Pſal. 66.3,5,6. How terrible art thou in thy works—Come and ſee the works of God, he is terrible in his doing toward the children of men; he turned the Sea into dry land, they went through the flood on foot, there did we rejoyce in him. When God is doing terrible things, he is making way for his peoples joy. After David had ſpoken twice of Gods being terrible in his doings, he adds, there did we rejoyce in him. In the night of affliction, God puts ſuch comforts into his peoples hearts as makes them ſing for joy, Job 35.10. None ſaith, Where is God my maker? who giveth ſongs in the night. When they are deprived of outward comforts, and are in a ſolitary ſtraitned condition, he giveth them internal and ſpiritual comforts, Hoſ. 2.14,15. I will allure her, and bring her into the Wilderneſs, and ſpeak comfortably unto her; and I will give her, her Vineyards from thence, and the Valley of Achor for a door of hope, and ſhe ſhall ſing there as in the dayes of her youth, and as in the day, when ſhe came up out of the land of Egypt. When our troubles abound, he cauſeth our conſolations to abound alſo, 2 Cor. 1.5. As the ſufferings of Chriſt abound in us, ſo our conſolation alſo abounded by Chriſt.
2. Great troubles are oft-times followed with great pourings out of the ſpirit, and great meaſures of grace. The Prophet Joel having foretold times of great diſtreſs, Chapter 1. & Chapter 2. to the 12. verſe, tells us, what God would do for his people after thoſe great calamities, Joel 2.28. It ſhall come to paſs afterward, that I will poor out my ſpirit upon all fleſh:—The Prophet Zephaniah alſo, having foretold great judgments, promiſeth that they ſhould be followed with great meaſures of grace, Zeph. 3.8,9,13. My determination is to gather the Nations, that I may aſſemble the Kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger; for all the Earth ſhall be devoured with the fire of my jealouſie. Obſerve now what mercies follow theſe judgments, Then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the Name of the Lord to ſerve him with one conſent—The remnant of Iſrael ſhall not do iniquity, nor ſpeak lies; neither ſhall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth: ſee alſo Iſa. 32.10,15. Many dayes and years ſhall be troubled—until the ſpirit be poured upon us from on high:—After the Jews had been under ſore troubles by their long captivity in Babylon, what an encreaſe of grace, and other choice mercies doth God promiſe them, Ezek. 36.25,26,27,28,29.
3. In times of great trouble, God is wont to afford his people more clear manifeſtations of his love, and to give them more communion and fellowſhip with himſelf, than at other times, Zech. 13.9. I will bring the third part through the fire—they ſhall call on my Name, and I will hear them; I will ſay, It is my people; and they ſhall ſay, The Lord is my God. In the day time, the Lord went before the Iſraelites in a pillar of a cloud; but in the night, by a pillar of fire. Divers of Gods ſervants that are much clouded in the day of proſperity, have clear and bright diſcoveries of Gods love to their ſouls in the night of adverſity. When the three Children were in the fiery furnace, the Son of God was ſo evidently with them, that their adverſaries themſelves could not but take notice of it. When the Spouſe was as a Lily among Thorns, compaſſed about with ſharp afflictions, the Lord Jeſus converſed with her in a very familiar manner; He put his left hand under her, and embraced her with his right hand, Cant. 2.2,6.
And as it is thus with particular perſons, ſo alſo with Nations; after God hath afflicted them with great judgments, he is wont to beſtow upon them great mercies, when his judgments lead them to repentance. After Judea, which was like the Garden of Eden, was by Gods judgments made like a Wilderneſs, Joel 2.3. The Inhabitants of the Land being brought to repentance by theſe judgments, the Lord promiſeth to do great things for them, ver. 21. Fear not, O Land, be glad and rejoyce; for the Lord will do great things. The Prophet Iſaiah having ſet forth the miſerable and diſtreſſed condition of the Jews, both in reſpect of the corruption of all ranks and degrees of men, and of the ſore judgments of God that were upon them, Iſa. 1.4,5,6,7,8,9,10. Ah ſinful Nation, a people laden with iniquity, a ſeed of evil doers, children that are corrupters; they have forſaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One of Iſrael to anger, they are gone away backward; Why ſhould ye be ſtricken any more, ye will revolt more and more, the whole head is ſick, and the whole heart faint, from the ſole of the foot even unto the head, there is no ſoundneſs in it—Your Country is deſolate, your Cities are burnt with fire, your Land ſtrangers devour it in your preſence, and it is deſolate, as overthrown by ſtrangers; and the Daughter of Zion is left as a Cottage in a Vineyard, as a lodge in a Garden of Cucumbers:—Hear the Word of the Lord, ye Rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the Law of our God, ye People of Gomorrah. After the rehearſal of their ſinful and miſerable condition, he promiſeth that if they would be brought to repentance by theſe judgments, ver. 16, 17. God would do great things for them, notwithſtanding they were brought very low, ver. 25, 26, 27. I will turn mine hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy droſs, and take away all thy Tin; and I will reſtore thy Judges as at the firſt, and thy Counſellors as at the beginning, afterward thou ſhalt be called the City of Righteouſneſs: Zion ſhall be redeemed with Judgment, and her Converts with Righteouſneſs: And in ſeveral other places of this Propheſie, the Lord promiſeth, that when he did return with mercy to his afflicted people, he would make their eſtate far more glorious than ever it was, Iſa. 30.26. The light of the Moon ſhall be as the light of the Sun; and the light of the Sun ſhall be ſeven fold, as the light of ſeven dayes: In the day that the Lord bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the ſtroke of their wound. Iſa. 60.15. Whereas thou haſt been forſaken and hated, ſo that no man went through thee, I will make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of many Generations. Iſa, 61.7. For your ſhame you ſhall have double; and for confuſion they ſhall rejoyce in their portion; therefore in their Land they ſhall poſſeſs the double; everlaſting joy ſhall be unto thee. When the Lord is not only ſhaking a particular City or Nation, but all places, and all Nations, we ſhould not be ſtartled at it, God is but making way for the exalting and ſetting up of his Sons Kingdom, Hag. 2.6,7. Thus ſaith the Lord of Hoſts, Yet once, it is a little while, and I will ſhake the Heavens, and the earth, and the Sea; and the dry Land: and I will ſhake all Nations, and the deſire of Nations ſhall come.—