The Case and Cure of a Deserted Soul, Chapter 26
CHAP. XXVI. … Debet amor laeſus iraſci. Qui rogante… …Motive to uſe theſe counſels; ta… from poſsibility of recovery.
THe ſecond thing is, the argument to perſwade; if a man loſe … health, friends, riches, liberty, it is … hard thing to perſwade him to end … vours of recovery, and to run after th… that he may bring them home again… but in ſpirituall things, men are of… content to ſit downe with the loſſe… things of greater worth, and it is ha… to ſet the wheeles of the ſoule movi… in a ſerious ſtudy to regain them. But … ſuch who finde themſelves deſerte… provoke themſelves, to endeavour t… cure of this evill, and I will propou… two things as perſwaſives.
1 poſsibility of recovery.
2 neceſsity of recovery.
Firſt,1. Motive. It is poſſible to recover. it is poſsible to regain what you have loſt, it is a comfort that there … hope, hope addes life to endeavour… but deſpaire kils them; ſit not dow… … if all hope were cut off, ſay not my wound cannot be healed, lay not out your ſelves for dead menaforeign. Soph. in Antig., you may recover.
1. You have power to ſeeke it; though much deadneſſe be upon you, yet if you be in Chriſt, Becauſe ſuch have power to ſeeke it.you have a ſpirit of life in you, you have a naturall life, a rationall life, and a ſpirituall life; reaſon doth much in many without grace, much more may you; a Chriſtian is a living thing, and all life hath power to doe the acts of life, not to be able to act is to be d…ad bVivere eſt agere. Sen. at hoc reprehendit Scalig. de ſubtilit. exercit. 102.5.: I have ſhewed before that God never leaves his people wholly; but though he withdraw his arbitrary influence, yet not the vitall; that may ceaſe in a great meaſure, which is to the well…ing of a godly man, but yet neither doth that ceaſe totally, nor doth God at any time hold backe that which is to life and being; you have a power, therefore you muſt blow up the grace of God in …, 2 Tim. 1.6.*foreign. there is fire in the …embers, foreign; Thou haſt a …itle ſtrength. Apoc. 3.8. And as in a naturall way, God expects that nature ſhould worke, or elſe he will not wor… ſo in a ſpirituall way, thinke not to …in… God except you ſeeke him. Call up… your ſelvescBene reſponſum fuit Ruſtico Her cuſem invocanti, cum in limo haerebat plauſtrum, manum ro…ae admove, boves ſtimula, ſic Deos invoca. foreign. apud Suid., ſet your mindes to con… deration, commune and plead w… your ſelves, for your life is preſerv… by knowledge, as it is wrought by it; a… conſideration is like the drumme in … Army, to put all in motion; a conſiderate man is an active man, apprehenſio… and thoughts put life into the hear… therefore ſtirre up your ſelves; if yo… will not helpe your ſelves, God w… not; but if you will doe what you c… God will draw neare, Iames 4.8.
2. Are capable of reviving.You are capable of reviving: though… now deadneſſe be upon you, there is … warnith left dQuidui ac cedere poſſit a quo r…cedere potuit? Bern: in Cant. Sermon. 82., there is great difference betweene one in a ſwound, and o… dead.eAptius multo, eſt ſub…ctum om…e od recipiendum influxum Deiſemel, praehabitum, …uam eum … ſemper caruit ut titio recens ex…inctus, & adbuc ſumigans apt. or eſt ad … mam. Mau. Ben. Iſc. de reſurr. li. 1.c. 4.
3. There is incouragement in this caſe.As you have a power, ſo you have encouragement, you have need to conſider this, for an humble ſpirit is apt to oppoſe it ſelfe, and to ſit downe with hanging hands, feeble knees, weeping eyes, fainting heart, as if it were incurable, like them, Acts 27.20. In ſuch a darke and ſtormy ſeaſon they reckon themſelves among the dead, and thinke that all hope is gone of getting out of theſe deepes; but now conſider there is hope.
1. The life you have is from Chriſt, Their life is from Chriſt, and deare to him.it is deare to him; he laid downe his life, that you might live, he hath planted in you that grace you have, and will hee not cheriſh his owne worke, which with ſo much coſt and care he hath undertaken? the breathings of thy ſoule are the breath of his own ſpirit, and he wil own it; if you come to him, he will in no wiſe caſt you out fforeign.Joh. 6.37. That grace you have was given you to fit you for communion with him; and when you come to him, will hee ſhut the doore? he opened the doore in your heart when you ſhut it, and will he not open his doore when you knocke? he loves to doe much for his, for he loves them much: you are not ſtraitned in him, but in your ſelves; what is the meaning of the Goſpell, doth not Chriſt ſtand with a fulneſſe in his hand? why doe you not looke to him with faith who is as full of goodneſſe as of power? is he not your head? are you not his members? he feeles your paines, and ſickneſſe, yea he well knoweth and that by experience in his kinde, what it is to be without God, and knoweth there is no help for you but in himſelfe; your unkindneſſes ſhall not hinder, if you will be friends with him, he will be a friend to you; the adultereſſe ſhall finde acceptance if ſhe returne, Ier. 3.1.
2. There is a promiſe to ſuch as ſeeke.You have a promiſe, why then doe you not lift up your heads? you cannot come before you are called, and what you want is ready for you: he hath ſaid he will give reſt to the weary, ſtrength to the weake, light to the blind, health to the ſicke; he would not have ſaid theſe things, but that hee would have you rejoyce in hope; when you come to aſke the ſpirit, it is granted before you aske, Luke 11.13. If you that are evill know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more ſhall your heavenly father give the holy Spirit to them that aske him? Doe you think that you have more compaſſionate love then he? you thinke if your children come hungring, crying, fainting for bread, you could not deny them, how much leſſe will Chriſt? your love is nothing to his. He is love. 1 John 4.16. that is to ſay, he is the fountain of love, he workes it where it is, and that love that you have to him, is from him; and would he be loved of you, if he did not love you? certainly he was your friend, before he made you his friend. 1 Iohn 4.19. So then beleeve, and God is ready, good hangs in the promiſe like ripe fruit, if you ſhake the treefVerba cupreſsis ſimilia, dici ſolet de promiſsis ſpecioſis quidem, ſed f …llentibus. apud Caelium. l. 25. c. 2. the fruite will fall; turne this promiſe into prayer, plead with God in his owne language, make his bond thy petition, live upon his word; if you beleeve it ſhall be well; if you have faith as a grain of muſtard ſeed, thoſe mountaines that lye upon you ſhall be removed; when God deales with us by way of promiſe he deales the ſweeteſt way, for what would you expect but his good will? and how would you know his good will but by his word? by the promiſe you have God not inclining and yeelding, but determining, binding himſelfe: by this ladder climb up, and bowe thy ſoule before him, upon the pillars of faith, which doth ſo ſurely intereſt thee in thy God: he proclaimeth and makes heaven and earth his witneſſes that hee is yours, he hath given ſuch power to faith, that he that beleeves ſits upon the throne with Chriſt, Apoc. 3.21. and is made Lord of all the treaſures of the kingdome, All is yours. 1 Cor. 3.22. Yea, God hath ſo tyed himſelfe to his people, that he hath not only ſaid aske, ſeek, pray, but command me. Eſay 45.11.
3 You have experience; Experience.you are ready to ſay as Gideon, what ſigne doſt thou give me? ſtil the heart cryeth for ſecurity, and is hardly ſatisfied: have you not ſignes? what is the word but a ſign of his favour? what is the Sacrament but a ſigne and ſeale of his love? what is the grace you have but a ſigne, and earneſt of his love? What are all the Saints but ſignes, a cloud of witneſſes? Eſay 43.10, 12. Chap. 44. 8.Others. How many cripples have you ſeen walking and leaping? how many ſick healed? how many dead raiſed? and why doe you thinke he ſhould be harder to you then to all? what thinke you that hee hath ſome ſpeciall quarrell to you? are you alone, and have you none like you in ſin? what if it were ſo, yet is not all the ſins of all the Saints more then yours? cannot he pardon thy perſonall debt that hath ſealed a diſcharge to ſo many thouſands? it matters not how much thou oweſt, a mountaine is as eaſily covered in the ſea as a mole-hill.
Have not you your ſelves experience? Your own.bethinke your ſelves, have you not often been refreſhed by his hand? did you never finde your bones out, and your ſoul ſick till now? and who helped you? when you came grovelling in the duſt, with your backs bowing under preſſures, did he not lift up thy ſoule with a renewed ſtrength? when you came with yokes upon your necks, irons on your hands, and feete like poore captived ſlaves, did he not heare you when you cryed? when you had but a little roome to peep at, and could out of a cloſe, ſtinking, dark dungeon ſee but little of heaven, when your ſoules were almoſt among the dead, and you had but ſo much life, as to cry Lord help me, did he not help? Nay, how often unſought hath he come to you? When Pharoah and his taskmaſters made your ſoules to ſerve, you did not ſend up the groanes and cries that Iſrael did, yet hee came and led you out, not into the wilderneſſe, but unto Canaan, and gave you liberty, peace, and the good things of the land, when you had run in a ſort out of all; you came not as the Prodigall to his father, but he came to you, and renewed your ſtock, and filled your becalmed ſoules with freſh gales of grace; And now after all this, when hee hath been ſuch a friend, ſo faithfull, ſuch a father, ſo mercifull, will you ſay there is no hope? No, rather ſay, if new tentations ariſe, and new luſts that break in and ſpoile, ſay as David, The Lord that delivered me out of the pawe of the Lion, and out of the pawe of the Beare, hee will deliver me out of the hand of this Philiſtim. 1 Sam. 17.37. and as the Apoſtle, We had the ſentence gforeign.of death in our ſelves, that we ſhould not truſt in our ſelves, but in God which raiſeth the dead, who delivered us from ſo great a death, and doth deliver us, in whom we truſt that he will yet deliver us hforeign. Lubin. foreign l. 1.. 2 Cor. 1.9, 10.