THE Balm of the Covenant Applied to the BLEEDING WOUNDS OF Afflicted Saints.
TEXT.
Although my house be not so with God, yet hath he made with me an everlasting Covenant; ordered in all things, and sure: for this is all my salvation, and all my desire, although he make it not to grow.
THese are part of David's last words. The last words of dying Saints, but especially of dying Prophets, are ponderous, [Page 2] memorable, and extraordinarily remarkable; and such are these acknowledged to be, by all Expositors: 'tis a golden Sentence, a divine Oracle, fit to be the last words of every dying Saint, as well as of David.
They are called his last words, not simply, and absolutely, as though he breathed them forth with his last breath; (for he spake many things afterwards) but either they are the last he spake as a Prophet, by divine inspiration, or because he had them often in his mouth, to his last and dying day. They were his Epicedium, his sweet Swan like Song, in which his Soul found singular Refreshment, and strong Support, amidst the manifold A [...]ictions of his Life, and against the Fears of his approaching Death.
The whole Chapter is designed for a Coronis or honourable Close of the Life of David, and gives us an account both of the worthy Expressions that dropt from him, and of the renowned [Page 3] Worthies that were employed by him: but all the heroick Atchievements recorded to the honour of their Memories, in the following part of the Chapter, are trivial and inglorious things, compared with this one divine Sentence recorded in my Text; in which we have two things to consider, viz.
- 1. The Preface, which is exceeding solemn.
- 2. The Speech it self, which is exceeding weighty.
1. In the Preface, we have both the instrumental and principal efficient Cause of this divine Sentence, distinctly set down, ver. 1. and the Efficient, or Author of it, v. 2.
The Instrument or Organ of its conveyance to us, was David; described by his Descent or Lineage, the Son of Iesse; by his eminent Station, the man that was raised up on high, even to the top and culminating point of Civil and [Page 4] Spiritual Dignity and Honour, both as a King, and as a Prophet; by his Divine Unction, The anointed of the God of Iacob; and lastly, by the flowing sweetness of his Spirit, and stile in the divine Psalms that were penned by him, whence he here gets the Title of The sweet Psalmist of Israel, the pleasant one in the Psalms of Israel, as some read it.
The principal efficient Cause of this excellent passage, is here likewise noted, and all to commend it the more to our special observation and acceptance: w. 2. The spirit of God spake by me, and his word was in my tongue. This stamps my Text expresly with divine Authority. The Spirit of God spake by David; he was not the Author, but only the Scribe of it. Thus the ensuing Discourse is prefaced. Let us next see,
2. The Matter or Speech it self, wherein we shall find the Maxims, and general Rules of Government prescribed, and the Felicity of such a Government elegantly [Page 5] described. v. 3. He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God. Princes being in Gods place, must exalt the Righteousness of God, in the government of men; and when they do so, they shall be as the Light of the Morning when the Sun riseth, even a morning without Clouds, &c. What Halycon days shall that happy People see, whose Lot is cast into such times and places! All this is typically spoken of David, and those pious Princes who succeeded him; but mystically and eminently points at Christ, who was to rise out of David's Seed, Rom. 1.3. and to sit upon his Throne, Acts 2.30. So that in this he was raised on high, to an Eminency of Glory and Dignity indeed; He was so in his ordinary natural Seed; a Royal Race, deriving it self from him, and sitting upon his Throne in a Lineal Succession, till the Babylonish Captivity, which was about four hundred and thirty years. And after that, the Iews had Governours [Page 6] of his Line, at least rightful Heirs to that Crown, till the promised Messiah came. But that which was the top of David's Honour, the most sparkling Jewel in his Crown, was this, that the Lord Iesus was to descend from him, according to the Flesh, in whom all the glorious Characters, before given, should not only be exactly answered, but abudantly exceeded. And thus you find the natural Line of the Messiah is drawn down by Matthew, from David to the Virgin Mary, Matth. 1. and his Legal Line by Luke, from David to Ioseph, his supposed Father, Luke 3.23.
Now though the illustrious Marks and Characters of such a righteous, serene, and happy Government, did not fully agree to his day, nor would do so in the Reigns of his ordinary natural Successors, his day was not without many Clouds both of Sin and Trouble; yet such a blessed day he foresaw and rejoyced in, when Christ, the extraordinary Seed of [Page 7] David, should arise and set up his Kingdom in the World, and with the expectation hereof, he greatly chears and encourages himself: Although my house be not so with God, yet hath be made with me an everlasting Covenant, &c. In which words four things are eminendy remarkable.
- 1. Here is a sad Concession of Domestick Evils.
- 2. A singular Relief from Gods Covenant with him.
- 3. The glorious Properties of this Covenant display'd.
- 4. The high esteem and dear regard his house had unto it.
1. Here is David's sad and mournful Concession of the Evils of his House, both Moral, and Penal. Although my house be not so with God, (i. e.) neither so holy, nor so happy, as this description of a righteous and flourishing Government imports; alas, it answers not to it: for though he was [Page 8] eminent for Godliness himself, and had solemnly dedicated his House to God, Psal. 30. as soon as it was built, yea, though he piously resolved to walk in the midst of it with a perfect heart, and not to suffer an immoral person within his Walls; yet great miscarriages were found even in David's House, Psal. 101.2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. and Person, which God chastized him for, by a thick succession of sharp and sore Afflictions. Tamar was defiled by her Brother Amnon, 2 Sam. 13.23. Amnon was barbarously murthered thereupon, by the advice of Absalom, 2 Sam. 13.28. Absalom unnaturally rebels against his Father David, and drives him out of the Royal City, and perishes in that Rebellion, 2 Sam. 15.1. Then Adonijah, another Darling-Son, grasps at the Crown setled by David upon Salomon, and perishes for that his Usurpation, 1 King. 2.25. O what an heap of Mischiefs and Calamities did this good man live to see within his own Walls! besides the many forreign Troubles [Page 9] that came from other hands. How many flourishing Branches did God [...]op off from him, and that in their sins too? so that his day was a day of Clouds, even from the morning unto the evening of it; Psal. 132.1. Lord, remember David, and all his afflictions. Well might he say, His house was not so with God. But what then, doth he faint and despond under these manifold Calamities? Doth he refuse to be comforted, because his Children are gone, and all things involved in trouble? No, but you find,
2. He relieves himself by the Covenant God had made with him: Yet hath he made with me a Covenant. Plus est quam haec domus mea ante deum. Jon. He looks to Christ, there is more in the Covenant than this my House before God, as the Chaldee turns it. This little word yet, wraps up a great and soveraign Cordial in it. Though Amnon, Absalom, and Adonijah be gone, and gone with many smarting aggravations too; yet hath he made with me a Covenant, yet I [Page 10] have this Sheet-Anchor left to secure me. Gods Covenant with me, in relation to Christ, this under-props and shores up my heart.
This Covenant was, without controversie, a Gospel-Covenant. It was David's Gospel: for all his salvation and all his desire were in it; which could never be, except Christ had been in it, who is the salvation of all the ends of the Earth, and the desire of all Nations.
'Tis true, it was a more obscure and imperfect Edition of the Covenant of Faith, yet clearer than those that were made before it; it came not up to the fulness and clearness of the discoveries made by Ieremy and Ezekiel: but yet in this Covenant with David, God revealed more of Christ, than had been ever revealed before; for the Light of Christ, like that of the Morning, increased still more and more, till it came to a perfect day. It is worthy our observation, how [Page 11] God made a gradual discovery of Christ, from Adam, down along to New Testament-times. It was reveal'd to Adam, that he should be the Seed of the Woman, but not of what Nation, till Abraham's time; nor of what Tribe, till Iacob; nor of what Sex and Family, till David; nor that he should be born of a Virgin, till Isaiah; nor in what Town, till Micah. The first Revelation of this Covenant with David, 2 Sam. 7.12, 13, 14. was by Nathan the Prophet; afterwards enlarged and confirmed, Psal. 89. By it he knew much of Christ, and wrote much of him. He spake of his Person, Psal. 45.6.11. Psal. 8.4, 5, 6. of his Offices, both Prophetical, Psal. 40.8, 9, 10. Priestly, Psal. 110.4. and Kingly, Psal. 2.6. of his Incarnation, Psal. 8.5. of his Death on the Cross, Psal. 22.16, 17. of his Burial, Psal. 16.8, 9, 10. Resurrection, Psal. 2.7. and triumphant Ascension, Psal. 68.18. there was sum of the Gospel discovered, though in dark and typical terms and forms of [Page 12] Expression; but if out of this Covenant, as obscure as its Revelation was, David fetcht such strong Support and Consolation, amidst such an heap of Troubles, then the Argument is good, à fortiori: What Support and Comfort may not we draw thence, who live under the most full and perfect display of it, in all its Riches and Glory? Enough hath been said to prove it a Gospel-Covenant; but if any doubt should remain of that, it will be fully removed, by considering,
3. The eximious Properties and Characters of the Covenant, as we find them placed in the Text; and they are three, viz.
- (1.) Everlasting.
- (2.) Ordered in all things, and
- (3.) Sure.
[...].(1.) It is an Everlasting Covenant, or a perpetual Covenant, a Covenant of Eternity; not in the most [...]trict, proper, and absolute sence: for that is the incommunicable [Page 13] property of God himself, who neither hath beginning, nor end; but the meaning is, that the Benefits and Mercies of the Covenant are durable and endless to the People of God: for Christ being the principal Matter and Substance of the Covenant, there must be in it everlasting Righteousness, as it is called, Dan. 9.24. everlasting Kindness, Isai. 54.8. everlasting Forgiveness, Ier. 31.34. and in consequence to all these, everlasting Consolation, Isai. 51.11. In all which, the riches and bounty of Free Grace shine forth in their greatest glory and splendor.
(2.) It is a Covenant order'd in all things, [...] ordinavit, disposuit, aptavit. or orderly prepared, disposed, and set, as the word imports. Every thing being here disposed and placed in the most comely order, both persons and things here keep their proper place: God the Father keeps the place of the most wise Contriver and bountiful Donor of the invaluable Mercies of the Covenant; [Page 14] and Christ keeps the proper place both of the Purchaser and Surety of the Covenant, and all the Mercies in it; and Believers keep their place, as the unworthy Receivers of all the gratuitous Mercies and rich Benefits thereof, and the most obliged Creatures in all the World to Free Grace, saying, Although my house, yea, although my heart and my life be not so with God, yet hath he made with me an everlasting Covenant. And as Persons, so Things, all things in this Covenant stand in the most exquisite order, and exact correspondence to each other. O 'tis a ravishing sight to behold the habitude and respect of the Mercies in the Covenant, to the sins and wants of all that are in it! Here are found full and suitable supplies to the wants of all Gods People. Here you may see Pardon in the Covenant, for guilt in the Soul; Ioy in the Covenant, for sorrow in the Heart; Strength in the Covenant, for all defects and weaknesses in the Creature; Stability [Page 15] in the Covenant, for mutability in the Creature. Never did the Wisdom of God shine forth more in any contrivance in the World, (except that of Christ, the Surety and principal Matter of the Covenant) than it doth in the orderly dispose of all things in their beautiful order, and comely proportions in this Covenant of Grace.
(3.) It is a sure Covenant, [...] custodivit ser [...]avit. or a Covenant safely laid up and kept, as the word imports; and upon this account the Mercies of it are called, The sure mercies of David, Isai. 55.3. And so, Psal. 89.28. speaking of this very Covenant, God saith, My Covenant shall stand fast with him, there shall be no vacillancy, no shaking in this Covenant: and ver. 34. My Covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips. Every thing is as its foundation is. Now, Gods Covenant being founded in his unchangeable counsel and purpose, wherein there can be no lubricity, and Christ being [Page 16] the Surety of it, it must needs b [...] as the Text calls it, a sure Cov [...]nant, wherein the faithfulness o [...] God is as illustriously display'd, [...] his Bounty and Wisdom are in th [...] two former properties of it. An [...] such a Covenant as this so eve [...]lasting, aptly disposed, and sure must needs deserve that preciou [...] Respect and high Esteem from e [...]very believing soul, which Davi [...] here doth pay it in.
4. The singular and high valua [...]tion he had of it, when he saith This is all my salvation, and all my desire, [...] or as some translate, all my delight, or pleasure; (i. e.) here I find all repaired with an infinite overplus, that I have lost in the Creature: Here is life in death fulness in wants, security in dan [...]gers, peace in troubles. It is al [...] my salvation, for it leaves nothing in hazard that is essential to my happiness; and all my desire, for i [...] repairs whatever I have lost, or can lose: it is so full and compleat a Covenant, that it leaves nothing to be desired out of it. O it is a [Page 17] full Fountain! Here I repose my weary soul with full satisfaction, and feed my hungry desires with sweetest delights; so that my very soul is at rest and ease, in the bosome of this blessed Covenant. Thus you have the parts and sence of the Text. The Notes from it are three.
Observation I.
That Gods Covenant People may be exercised with many sharp Afflictions in their Persons and Families.
Even David's House was the House of Mourning. Although my house be not so with God, though he make it not to grow. All sorts of outward Afflictions are incident to all sorts of men. Eccl. 9.2. All things (saith Solomon) come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the clean, and unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not. The Providences seem one and the same, [Page 18] though the subjects on whom the [...] fall be vastly different. Estate and Children, Health, and Libe [...] ty, will still be like themselv [...] vanishing Comforts, whoever the Owners of them. No ma [...] spiritual Estate can be known b [...] the view of his temporal Estat [...] A godly Family cannot be a mis [...] rable, but it may be a mournful F [...] mily. Religion secures us fro [...] the Wrath, but it doth not secur [...] us from the Rod of God. Th [...] Lord hath chosen another way o [...] expressing his love to his peopl [...] than by temporal and externa [...] things: therefore all things come alike to all. The Covenant exclude [...] the Curse, but includes the Cros [...] If his children forsake my Law, &c then will I visit their iniquity with the rod, and their sin with stripes nevertheless my loving kindness will not utterly take away.
Nor indeed would it be the priviledge of Gods Covenanted People, to be exempt from the Rod; a mark of Bastardy can be no mans felicity: Heb. 12.8. to [Page 19] go without the chastising discipline of the Rod, were to go without [...]he needful instructions and blessed fruits that accompany and result from the Rod, Psal. 94.12.
Let us not therefore say, as those [...]rreligious persons did in Mal. 3.14. It is in vain to serve God, and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinances, and walked mournfully before him? Surely none serve him in vain, but those that serve him vainly. Godliness cannot secure you from Affliction, but it can and will secure you from Hell, and sanctifie your Afflictions to help you to Heaven. But I stay not here.
Observation II.
A declining Family is a sore stroke from the hand of God, and so to be acknowledged, wherever it falls.
It was a growing sorrow to David, that his House did not grow; and he eyed the hand of [Page 20] God in it: He made it not to gro [...] as he speaks in the Text. He fe [...] as many Deaths as he had de [...] Children. It is God that buil [...] and destroys Families; he enla [...]geth, and straighteneth them [...]gain. A Family may decline tw [...] ways, viz. either,
- 1. By the Death: or,
- 2. By the Degeneracy of i [...] Off-spring.
1. By their Death, when Go [...] lops off the hopeful springin [...] Branches thereof; especially th [...] last and only Prop of it, in whom not only all the care and love, bu [...] all the hope and expectation of th [...] Parents is contracted and boun [...] up. For,
The hearts of tender Parents are usually bound up in the life of an onely Son. As a mans Wife is but himself divided, so his Children [Page 21] [...]re but himself multiplied; and [...]hen all love and delight, hope [...]nd expectation, is reduced to one, [...]e affection is strong, and that [...]akes the affliction so too. If it [...]ere not an unparallel'd grief a [...]ong all earthly griefs and sor [...]ows, the Spirit of God would ne [...]er have chosen and singled it out [...]om among all other sorrows, to [...]lustrate sorrow for sin by it, yea, [...]orrows for that special sin of [...]iercing Christ, as he doth. They [...]all look upon him whom they have [...]ierced, Zech. 12.10. and shall mourn for him, as [...]e that mourneth for an onely son. How naked are those Walls, and [...]ow unfurnished is that House, [...]here the Children (its best Or [...]aments) are taken down and re [...]oved by Death! It is natural to [...]ll men, to desire the continuance [...]f their Names and Families in [...]he Earth; and therefore when God cuts off their expectations in [...]hat kind, they look upon them [...]elves as dry Trees, or as the wi [...]hering Stalks in the Fields, when [...]he Flowers are fallen off and blown [...]way from them.
[Page 22]2. Or which is yet much wo [...] a Family may decline by the [...] generacy of its Off-spring. Wh [...] the Piety, Probity, and Vert [...] of Ancestors descend not wi [...] their Lands to their Posterit [...] here the true Line of Honou [...] cut off, and the glory of a Fam [...]ly dies, though its Children liv [...] the Family is ruin'd, though the [...] be a numerous Off-spring. Su [...]ly it were better mourn for [...] dead Children, than for one su [...] living Child.
How many such wretched F [...]milies can England shew this da [...] how hath Atheism and Debauc [...]ry ruin'd and subverted ma [...] great and once famous Familie [...] O it were better the Arms of tho [...] Families had been reversed, a [...] their Lands alienated, yea, bett [...] had it been a Succession had fa [...]ed, and that their Names had bee [...] blotted out, than that Satan shoul [...] rule by Prophaness in the plac [...] where God was once so serious [...] and sweetly worshipped.
[Page 23]Whensoever therefore God shall [...]ther of these ways subvert a Fa [...]ily, it becomes them that are [...]oncerned in the Stroke, not only [...] own and acknowledge the [...]and of God in it, but to search [...]eir Hearts and Houses to find [...]ut the sins which have so provo [...]ed him: yet not so as to fall [...]to an unbecoming despondency [...]f Spirit, but withal to relieve [...]emselves, as David here doth [...]om the Covenant of God; Yet [...]ath he made with me an everlasting [...]ovenant. Which brings us to the [...]hird and principal point I shall insist on.
Observation III.
That the everlasting, well order'd, [...]nd sure Covenant of Grace, affords [...]verlasting, well order'd, and sure Relief to all that are within the bond [...]f it, how many or how great soever [...]heir personal or domestick tryals and [...]ffictions are.
[Page 24]This point will be cleared t [...] your Understandings, and pre [...]pared for your use, by clearin [...] and opening three Proposition [...] which orderly take up the sum an [...] substance of it, viz.
Proposition I.
That the minds of men, yea, th [...] best men, are weak and feeble thing under the heavy pressures of affliction and will reel and sink under them except they be strongly relieved an [...] under-propp'd.
A bowing Wall doth not more need a strong Shore or Butteress than the mind of man needs [...] strong Support and Stay from Heaven, when the weight of Affliction makes it incline and lea [...] all one way. Psal. 119.92. Unless thy Law ha [...] been my delights: I should then hav [...] perished in my affliction. Q. d. Wha [...] shift other men make to stand the shock of their afflictions, I know [Page 25] not; but this I know, that if God had not seasonably sent me the relief of a promise, I had certainly gone away in a faint fit of Despondency. O how seasonably did God administer the Cordials of his Word to my drooping sinking Soul!
This weakness in the mind, to support the burdens of Affliction, proceeds from a double cause, viz.
- 1. From the sinking weight of the Affliction.
- 2. From the irregular and inordinate workings of the thoughts under it.
1. From the sinking weight that is in Affliction, especially in some sorts of Afflictions: they are heavy pressures, ponderous burdens in themselves. So Iob speaks, O that my grief were throughly weighed, Job 6.2, 3. and my calamity laid in the balances together: for now it would be heavier than the sand of the sea, therefore my words are swallowed up. [Page 26] Q. d. If all the Sand that lies upon all the shores in the World, were shovelled up into one heap, and cast into one scale, and my sorrow [...] into the other, my grief would weigh it all up. How heavy are the hearts of the afflicted! what insupportable sorrows do they feel▪ and groan under, especially when God smites them in the dearest and nearest concerns they have in the World!
2. But especially the reelings and staggerings of the mind, are occasioned by the inordinate and irregular workings of its own thoughts. Were it but possible to keep the mind in a serene, sedate, and ordinate frame, our burdens would be comparatively light to what we now feel them to be▪ but the falling of the thoughts into confusions and great distractions spoils all. Upon this account i [...] is, that Afflictions are compare [...] to a stupifying Dose, which cas [...] the Soul into amazement. Psal. 60.3. Th [...] hast shewed thy people hard thing [...] thou hast made us to drink the wi [...] [Page 27] of astonishment. Afflictions are called the Wine of Astonishment, from their effects upon the mind: for under a great and sudden stroke of God, it is like a Watch wound up above its due height, so that for a time it stands still, neither Grace nor Reason move at all: and when it begins to move again, O how confused and irregular are its motions! It is full of murmurs, disputes, and quarrels: these aggravate both our sin and misery. 'Tis our own thoughts which take the Arrow God shot at us, (which did but stick before in our Clothes, and was never intended to hurt us, but only to warn us) and thrust it into our very hearts.
For T1houghts, as well as Ponyards, can pierce and wound the hearts of men. Luke 2.35. A sword shall pierce through thine own soul; (i. e.) thy thoughts shall pierce thee. They can shake the whole fabrick of the Body, and loose the best compacted and strongly joynted parts of the Body. Dan. 5.6. His thoughts troubled [Page 28] him, and the joynts of his loyns were loosed. And thus a mans own mind becomes a Rack of Torment to him; a misery which no Creatures, except men and Devils, are subjected to. O how many Bodies have been destroy'd by the Passions of the Soul! they cut through it, as keen Knife through a narrow Sheath. Worldly sorrow works death, 2 Cor. 7.10.
Proposition II.
The merciful God, in condescension to the weakness of his people, hath provided the best supports and reliefs for their feeble and afflicted Spirits.
Psal. 94.19. In the multitude of the thoughts I had within me, thy comforts delight my Soul. Carnal men seek their relief, under trouble, from carnal things; when one Creature forsakes them, they retreat to another which is yet left them, till they are beaten out of all, and then their hearts fail, having no acquaintance [Page 29] with God, or special interest in him: for the Creatures will quickly spend all that allowance of comfort they have to spend upon us. Some try what relief the Rules of Philosophy can yield them, supposing a neat sentence of Seneca may be as good a remedy as a Text of David or Paul; but alas, it will not do: submission from fatal necessity, will never ease the afflicted mind, as Christian resignation will do. It is not the eradicating, but regulating of the affections, that composes a burthened and distracted Soul. One word of God will signifie more to our peace, than all the famed and admired Precepts of men.
To neglect God, and seek relief from the Creature, is to forsake the Fountain of living Waters, and go to the broken Cisterns, Jer. 2.13. which can hold no water. The best Creature is but a Cistern, not a Fountain; and our dependance on it makes it a broken Cistern, strikes a hole through the bottom of it, [Page 30] so that it can hold no water. I, even I (saith God) am he that comforteth thee. Isai. 57.12. The same hand that wounds you, must heal you▪ or you can never be healed. Ou [...] compassionate Saviour, to asswage our sorrows, Joh. 14.18 hath promised he wi [...] not leave us comfortless. Our God will not contend for ever, lest the Spirit fail before him, Isai. 57.16. He knew how ineffectual all other comforts and Comforters would be, even Physicians of no value▪ and therefore hath graciously prepared comforts for his distressed ones, that will reach their end.
Proposition III.
God hath gathered all the material [...] and principals of our relief into the Covenant of Grace, and expects that [...] betake our selves unto it, in times o [...] distress, as to our sure, sufficient, and only Remedy.
As all the Rivers run into the Sea, and there is the Congregation [Page 31] of all the Waters; so all the Promises and Comforts of the Gospel, are gathered into the Covenant of Grace, and there is the Congregation of all the sweet streams of Refreshment that are dispersed throughout the Scriptures. The Covenant is the Store-house of Promises, the Shop of Cordials and rare Elixirs, to revive us in all our Faintings; though alas most men know no more what are their Virtues, or where to find them, than an illiterate Rustick, put into an Apothecary's Shop.
What was the Cordial God prepared to revive the hearts of his poor Captives groaning under hard and grievous Bondage both in Egypt and in Babylon? Was it not his Covenant with Abraham? And why did he give it the solemn confirmation by an Oath, but that it might yield to him, and all his believing Seed, Heb. 6.17▪ 18. strong consolation, the very spirit of joy amidst all their sorrows?
And what was the relief God gave to the believing Eunuchs that [Page 32] kept his Sabbaths, took hold of his Covenant, and chose the things in which he delighted. To them (saith he) will I give in my house, and within my walls, Isai. 56.4. a place, and a nam [...] better than that of sons or of Daughters. Though they were deprived of those comforts other men have in their Posterity, yet he would not have them look upon themselves as dry Trees; a Covenant-interest would answer all, and recompence abundantly the want of Children, or any other earthly comfort.
Certainly therefore, David was at the right door of relief and comfort, when he repairs to the Covenant, as here in the Text, Yet hath he made with me an everlasting Covenant. There, or nowhere, the Relief of Gods Afflicted is to be found.
Now, to make any thing become a compleat any perfect relief to an afflicted Spirit, these three Properties must concur and meet in it, else it can never effectually relieve any man.
- [Page 33]I. It must be able to remove all the causes and grounds of troubles.
- II. It must be able to do so at all times.
- III. It must be capable of a good personal security to us.
For if it only divert our troubles, (as Creature-comforts use to do) and do not remove the ground and cause of our trouble, 'tis but an Anodine, not a Cure or Remedy. And if it can remove the very ground and cause of our trouble for a time, but not for ever, then 'tis but a temporary relief; our troubles may return again, and we left in as bad case as we were before. And if it be in it self able to remove all the causes and grounds of our trouble, and that at all times, but not capable of a personal security to us, or our well-established interest in it, all signifies nothing to our relief.
[Page 34]But open your eyes and behold, O ye afflicted Saints, all these Properties of a compleat relief meeting together in the Covenant, as it is display'd in the Text. Here is a Covenant able to remove all the grounds and causes of your trouble; for it is ORDER'D i [...] all things, or aptly disposed by the wisdom and contrivance of God, to answer every cause and ground of trouble and sorrow in our hearts. It is able to do this at all times; as well in our day, as in David's or Abraham's day: for it is an Everlasting Covenant; its vertue and efficacy is not decay'd by time. And lastly, it is capable of a good personal security or assurance to all Gods afflicted people; for it is a Sure Covenant. The concurrence of these three Properties in the Covenant, makes it a complea [...] Relief, a perfect Remedy, to which nothing is wanting in the kind and nature of a Remedy. These three glorious Properties of the Covenant are my proper Province to open and confirm, for your support [Page 35] and comfort in this Day of Trouble.
I.
That the Covenant of Grace is able to remove all the causes and grounds of a Believers trouble, be they never so great or many. This I doubt not will be convinceingly evidenced and demonstrated by the following Arguments, or undeniable Reasons.
Argument I.
Whatsoever disarms Afflictions of the only sting whereby they wound us, must needs be a compleat Relief and Remedy to the afflicted Soul.
But so doth the Covenant of Grace, it disarms Afflictions of the only sting by which they wound us.
Therefore the Covenant of Grace must needs be a compleat [Page 36] Relief and Remedy to the afflicted Soul.
The sting of all Afflictions, is the guilt of sin; when God smites, Conscience usually smites too: and this is it that causes all that pain and anguish in the afflicted. 'Tis plainly so in the Example of the Widow of Zarephath, 1 King. 17.18. when her son, her only son, and probably her only child died, how did that stroke of God revive guilt in her Conscience, and made the affliction piercing and intolerable! as appears by her passionate Expostulation with Elijah, who then sojourned in her house: What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son? Q. d. What injury have I done thee? Didst thou come hither to observe my sins, and pray down this Judgment upon my Child for them? The death of her son revived her guilt, and so it generally doth, even in the most holy men.
[Page 37]When Iob looked upon his wasted body under Afflictions, every wrinkle he saw upon it, seemed to him like a witness rising up to testifie against him. Job 16.8. Thou hast filled me with wrinkles which is a witness against me, and my leaness rising up in me, beareth witness to my face.
Affliction is like a Hue and Cry after sin in the ears of Conscience, and this is the envenom'd poysonous sting and Affliction: pluck out this, and the afflicted man is presently eased, though the matter of the affliction still abide with him, and lie upon him. He is afflicted still, but not cast down by affliction; the anguish and burden is gone, though the matter of trouble remain.
This is plain both in Scripture, and in Experience. Suitable hereunto is that strange, but sweet Expression, The inhabitant shall not say I am sick, Isai. 33.24. the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquities. It's not to be imagined these people had found such a fortunate Island, o [...] happy Climate, where no Disease could touch or invade their [Page 38] Bodies; no, sickness will find o [...] the Bodies of the best men, where ever they live; wherever sin ha [...] been, sickness and death will fo [...]low it. Heaven is the only pr [...]viledg'd place from these miseries but the meaning is, though the [...] be sick, they shall not feel th [...] pains and burdens of sickness they shall not say they are sick: An [...] why so? because their iniquitie [...] are forgiven. Plainly confirmin [...] what was before asserted, that the anguish of an Affliction is gone as soon as ever the sting of guil [...] is plucked out. And hence par [...]doning of the Soul, and healing o [...] the Body, are put together as co [...]jugate mercies: Psal. 103.1.3. Bless the Lord, O my soul, who forgiveth all thine iniquities and healeth all thy diseases. When the soul is at ease, the pains of the body are next to nothing: sick [...]ness can cloud all natural joys, but not the joy of a Pardon.
Nay, which is yet more; pluck out but the sting of sin, and there is no horrour in Death, the King of Terrours, and worst of all outward [Page 39] Evils. See how the pardoned Believer triumphs over it: O death, 1 Cor. 15.55. where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? the sting of death is sin. They are words of defiance, as men use to deride and scorn a boasting insulting Enemy, when they see him cast upon his back, and his sword broken over his head.
Where are your boasts and menaces now? O Death, thou hast lost thy sting and terrour together. Thus the pardoned Believer, with an holy gallantry of spirit, derides and contemns his disarmed Enemy Death: so then 'tis manifest, that whatever plucks out the poysonous sting of Affliction, must needs be an effectual Remedy and Cure to the afflicted person.
But this the Covenant of Grace doth, it reveals and applies Gospel-remission to them that are within the blessed bond of it. [Page 40] This shall be the Covenant that I wi [...] make with the house of Israel; Jer. 31.33, 34. I wi [...] forgive their iniquity, [...] It respects the propitiatory expiation of sin by Christ, who is therefore called [...]. and I will remember their sin no more. Behol [...] here a gracious, full, and irrevo [...]cable Pardon! I will forgive, o [...] be propitiously merciful, as tha [...] word imports; pointing plainly t [...] Christ our Propitiation, our sin [...] are forgiven us for his Names sake And a Pardon as full as it is free iniquity and sin, 1 Joh. 2.2. & Rom. 3.25. smaller and grea [...]ter, are here forgiven: for Go [...] in the remission of his peoples sins having respect to the propitiatin [...] Bloud of Christ, he pardons all as well as some, that Bloud deser [...]ving and purchasing the most ful [...] and compleat Pardons for his Peo [...]ple. 1. Joh. 1.7. The bloud of Christ cleanseth us from all sin.
And this Covenant-pardon is a firm, as it is free and full. So ru [...] the expressions in the Grant, I wi [...] remember their sin no more: or in the Apostles words, Heb. 8.13. [...]. I will not remember them again. That is, not so remember as to impute them, o [...] [Page 41] condemn my pardoned ones for them: for the pardoned persons come no more into condemnation, Ioh. 5.24. their sins are cast into the depths of the Sea, Mica. 7.19. Sooner shall the East▪ and the West, the two opposite points of Heaven, meet, than the pardoned soul and its sins meet again in condemnation, Psal. 103.12.
Now, the case standing thus with all Gods Covenant-people, all their sins being graciously, fully, and irrevocably forgiven them, how convincingly and sweetly doth this conclusion follow, that the Covenant is a compleat Remedy to all afflicted Believers? As nothing can befal us before Christ and Pardon be ours, which is sufficient to raise us, so nothing can befal us afterwards, which should deject and sink us. This is the first benefit afflicted Believers receive from the Covenant, and this alone is enough to heal all our sorrows.
Argument II.
As the Covenant of Grace d [...] arms all the Afflictions of Bel [...]vers of the only sting by whi [...] they wound them; so it al [...] the very nature and property [...] their Afflictions, and turns the [...] from a Curse into a Blessing [...] them: and in so doing it becom [...] more than a Remedy, even a choi [...] Benefit and Advantage to them.
All Afflictions in their own n [...]ture, are a part of the Curse; the [...] are the consequents and punis [...]ments of sin; they work naturall [...] against our good: but when on [...] they are taken into the Covenan [...] their nature and property is alte [...]ed. As Waters in their subterr [...]nean passages meeting some ver [...]tuous Mineral in their course, a [...] thereby impregnated and endow [...]ed with a rare healing property [...] the Body; so Afflictions passing through the Covenant, receive from it an healing Vertue to our [Page 43] souls. They are in themselves soure and harsh, as wild Hedge-Fruits; but being ingrafted into this stock, they yield the pleasant Fruits of Righteousness. If his children break my Statutes, Psal. 89.30, 31. and keep not my Commandments, then will I visit their iniquity with the rod, and their sins with stripes: nevertheless my loving kindness will I not utterly take away, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail. Here you may see all the Rods of Affliction put into the Covenant, as Aaron's Rod was into the Ark. And hence two things necessarily follow.
(1.) That such Afflictions can do the Children of God no hurt. They may affright, but cannot hurt them: We may meet them with fear, but shall part from them with joy: An unsanctified Rod never did any man good, and a sanctified Rod never did any man hurt: He may afflict our Bodies with sickness, deny, or cut off our comfort in Children, impoverish our Estates, let loose persecutors [...]pon us; but in all this he really [Page 44] doth us no hurt, as he speaks in I [...] 25.6. no more hurt than a skil [...] Chirurgeon doth in saving his P [...]tients life, by cutting off a mor [...]fied gangren'd Member: no mo [...] hurt than Frosts and Snow do t [...] Earth in killing the rank Wee [...] that exhausted the sap and streng [...] of it, and preparing and mello [...] ing it to produce a fruitful crop [...] Corn. By these he recals o [...] minds from vanity, weans o [...] fond and ensnaring affections fro [...] the World, discovers and mortifi [...] those lusts, which gentler method and essays could not do: and [...] this for our hurt?
I confess Gods thoughts an [...] ours often differ upon this case [...] We measure the good and evil o [...] Providences by their respect t [...] the ease and pleasure of our flesh [...] but God sees this is the way to cas [...] our Spirits into a dead formality and in removing them, he dot [...] but deprive us of the occasions and instruments of spiritual mischief [...] and miseries, in which certainly he doth us no hurt.
[Page 45](2.) But that is not all. Af [...]ictions once put into the Covenant, must promote the good of [...]he Saints: they are beneficial, as well as harmless things. We know [...]saith the Apostle) that all things work together for good to them that [...]ove God. This Promise is the Compass which sets the course and directs the motion of all the Af [...]ictions of the People of God; [...]nd no Ship at Sea obeys the Rudder so exactly, as the troubles of the Righteous do the direction of this Promise. Possibly we cannot discern this at present, but rather pre [...]udge the works of God, and say all these things are against us; but hereafter we shall see, and with [...]oy acknowledge them to be the happy instruments of our salvation.
How often hath Affliction sent [...]he People of God to their knees, with such Language as this! ‘O my God, how vain and sensual hath this heart of mine been under prosperity! How did the love of the Creature, like a sluce, [Page 46] cut in the bank of a River, draw away the stream of my affect [...] ons from thee! I had gotten soft a Pillow of Creature-comfort under my head, and I easily fel [...] asleep, and dreamed of nothin [...] but rest and pleasure, in a stat [...] of absence from thee; but now thy Rod hath awakened me and reduced me to a right sen [...] of my condition. I was negl [...] gent or dead-hearted in th [...] course of my duty, but now [...] can pray more fervently, feelingly, and frequently than before. O it was good for me, that I hav [...] been afflicted. O, saith God, how well was this Rod bestow'd which hath done my poor Chil [...] so much good! Now I hav [...] more of his heart, and more o [...] his time and company than ever. Now I hear the voice, and see the gracious workings of the Spirit of my Child after me again, as in the days of his first love.’ The sum of all this you may see in the ingenuous meltings of Ephraim under a sanctified Rod, Ier. 31. [Page 47] 19,20. and the sounding of the [...]owels of mercy over him. 'Ephraim mourns at Gods feet, and God falls upon Ephraim's neck. I have been as a Beast, saith Ephraim: Thou art a dear son, a pleasant child, saith God. My bowels are troubled and pained for sin, saith Ephraim: And my bowels are troubled for thee, and my compassions rolled together, saith God. O blessed fruits of [...]anctified Rods! such precious ef [...]ects as these richly repay you for [...]ll the pain and anguish you feel. And thus, as the wound of a Scor [...]ion is healed by applying its own Oyl, so the evil of Affliction is cured by the sanctified Fruits that [...]t produceth when it is once put [...]nto the Covenant.
Argument III.
The Covenant doth not only alter the nature and property of the Saints Afflictions, but it also orderl [...] disposes and aptly places them in the frame of Providence, among th [...] other means and instruments [...] our salvation; so that a Counc [...] of Angels could never place them or the least circumstance belonging to them, more aptly and a [...] vantageously than it hath done▪ The knowledge of this must need quiet and fully relieve the afflicted soul: and who can doubt it that believes it to be a Covenan [...] ordered in all things, as the Te [...] speaks? Here all things, yea, th [...] most minute-circumstances that be [...]fal you, are reduced to their proper Class, and place of service; s [...] exactly ordered, that all the wi [...] dom of men and Angels know not how to mend or alter any thing to your advantage.
[Page 49]If a small Pin be taken out of the frame of a Watch, and placed any where else, the motion is either presently stopped, or made irregular. And as Gallen observes of the curious Fabrick of an humane Body, that if the greatest Naturalist should study an hundred years to find out a more commodious scituation, or configuration of any part thereof, it could never be done. 'Tis so here: No man can come after God, and say, this or that had been better placed or timed, than it is, if this Affliction had been spared, and such an enjoyment stood in the room of it, it had been better. All God's Providences are the results and issues of his infinite Wisdom: for he works all things according to the counsel of his own will, Eph. 1.11. The Wheels, (i. e.) the motions and revolutions of Providence, are full of Eyes; Ezek. 1.18. they are well advised, and judicious motions, Non caeco impetu volvuntur rotae; they run not at random. The most regular and excellent [Page 50] working, must needs follow the most deep and perfect counsel. Isai. 28▪ 29. He is deep in counsel, and excellent in working.
Now every Affliction that befals Gods covenanted People, being placed by the most wise and infinite counsel of God, in tha [...] very order, time, and manner in which they befal them, this very Affliction, and not that, at this very time, and not at another, (it being always a time of need▪ 1 Pet. 1.6.) and usher'd in by such fore-running occasions and circumstances; it must follow, that they all take the proper places▪ and nick exactly the fittest seasons▪ and if one of them were wanting, something would be defective in the frame of your happiness. As they now stand, they work together for your good, which displaced, they would not do.
It's said, Ier. 18.11. Behold [...] frame evil, and I devise a devi [...] ▪ It's spoken of the contrivance and frame of Afflictions, as the proper work of God. The project of i [...] [Page 51] is laid for his glory, and the eternal good of his People. It turns to their salvation, 1 Phil. 19. But oh how fain would we have this or that Affliction scrued out of the frame of Providence, conceiving it would be far better out than in. O if God had spared my Child, or my Health, it had been better for me than now it is. But this is no other than a presumptuous correcting and controlling of the Wisdom of God; and so he interprets it, Iob 40.2. He that reproveth God, let him answer it. God hath put every Affliction upon your Persons, Estates, Relations, just where you find and feel it; and that whole frame he hath put into the Covenant, in the vertue whereof it works for your salvation: and therefore let all disputings and reasonings, all murmurs and discontents cease, nothing can be better for you, than as God hath laid it; and this one would think should heal and quiet all. You your selves would mar all, by presuming to mend any thing. [Page 52] Who hath directed the spirit of the Lord, Isai. 40.13, 14. or being his counsellour, hath taught him? With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him the path of judgment? and taught him knowledge, and shewed him the way of understanding? Well then, be satisfied 'tis best as it is; and nothing can be so advantageous to you, as God's project and contrivance, which you are so uneasie under, and dissatisfi'd about.
Argument IV.
As the Covenant sorts and ranks all your troubles into their proper Classes and places of service, so it secures the special gracious presence of God with you, in the deepest plunges of distress that can befal you; which presence is a full relief to all your troubles, or else nothing in the World is or can be so.
The very Heathens thought themselves well secured against all [Page 53] evils and dangers, if they had their petty houshold Gods with them in their Journeys: but the great God of Heaven and Earth hath engaged to be with his People, in all their afflictions and distresses. As a tender Father sits up himself with his sick Child, and will not leave him to the care of a Servant only; so God thinks it not enough to leave his Children to the tutelage and charge of Angels, but will be with them himself, and that in a special and peculiar way: so run the express words of the Covenant, Jer. 32.40. I will not turn away from them to do them good, but I will put my fear into their hearts; and they shall not depart from me. Here he undertakes for both parts, himself and them. I will not, and they shall not.
Here is the Saints security for the gracious presence of God with them, a presence which dispels all the Clouds of affliction and sorrow, as the Sun scatters the morning Mists. The God of all consolation is with you, O poor dejected [Page 54] Believers, and will not such a presence turn the darkness into light round about you? There is a threefold presence of God with his Creatures.
- 1. Essential, which is common and necessary to all.
- 2. Gracious, which is peculiar to some on Earth.
- 3. Glorious, which is the felicity of Heaven.
The first is not the priviledge here secured; for it is necessary to all, good and bad: in him we all live, and move, and have our being. The vilest Men on Earth, yea the Beasts of the Field, and the very Devils in Hell are always in this presence of God, but it is their torment, rather than their priviledge. The last is proper to the glorified Saints and Angels. Such a presence imbodied, Saints cannot now bear; but it is his special gracious presence which is made over and secured to them in the Covenant of Grace: and this presence of God is manifested to them two ways.
- [Page 55]1. Internally, by the Spirit.
- 2. Externally, by Providence.
1. Internally, by the Spirit of Grace dwelling and acting in them, this is a choice priviledge to them in the day of affliction: for hereby they are instructed and taught the meaning of the Rod. Psal. 94.12. Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, and teachest him out of thy law. O 'tis a blessed thing to be taught so many Lessons by the Rod, as the Spirit teacheth them! Surely they reckon it an abundant recompence of all that they suffer. Psal. 119.71. It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might learn thy statutes. Yea, he refreshes as well as teaches, and no Cordials revive like his. Psal. 94.19. In the multitude of the thoughts I had within me, thy comforts delight my soul. Yea, by the presence and blessing of his Spirit, our Afflictions are sanctified to subdue and purge out our corruptions. Isai. 27.9. By this shall the iniquity of Iacob be purged, and this [Page 56] is all the fruit to take away sin. Now if a man be instructed in the ends and designs of the Rod, refreshed and comforted under every stripe of the Rod, and have his sins mortified and purged by the sanctification of the Spirit upon his Afflictions; then both the burthensomness and bitterness of his Afflictions are removed and healed by the internal presence of the Spirit of God with his afflicted ones. But,
2. Besides this, God is providentially present with his People, in all their troubles, in a more external way; ordering all the circumstances of their troubles to their advantage. He orders the degree and extent of our Afflictions, still leaving us some mercies and comforts to support and refresh us, when others are cut off. In measure doth he debate with his Covenant People, Isai. 27.8. staying the rough wind in the day of the East wind. He might justly smite all our outward Comforts at once, so that Affliction should not rise up [Page 57] the second time: for what comfort soever hath been abused by sin, is thereby forfeited into the hand of Judgment. But the Lord knows our inability to sustain such strokes, and therefore proportions them to our strength. We have some living Relations to minister comfort to us, when mourning over our dead: He makes not a full end of all at once. Yea, and his Providence supports our frail Bodies, enabling them to endure the shocks and storms of so many Afflictions, without ruine. Surely there is as much of the care of Providence manifested in this, as there is in preserving poor crazy leaking Barks, and weather-beaten Vessels at Sea, when the Waves not only cover them, but break into them, and they are ready to founder in the midst of them.
O what a singular mercy is the gracious presence of God with men! even the special presence of that God, Eph. 4 6. who is above all, and through all, and in you all, as the Apostle speaks. Above all, in Majesty [Page 58] and Dominion; through all, in his most efficacious Providence; and in you all, by his Grace and Spirit. As he is above all, so he is able to command any Mercy you want, with a word of his mouth; as he is through all, so he must be intimately acquainted with all your wants, straights, and fears; and as he is in you all, so he is engaged for your support and supply, as you are the dear Members of Christ's mystical Body.
Object. But methinks I hear Gideon's Objection rolled into the way of this soveraign Consolation. If God be with us, why is all this Evil befallen us?
Sol. All what? If it had been all this rebellion and rage against God, all this apostacy and revolting more and more, all this contumacy and hardness of heart under the Rod; then it had been a weighty and stumbling Objection indeed: but to say, If God be with us, why are all these chastening corrections and temporal crosses befallen us? why doth he smite [Page 59] our Bodies, Children, or Estates? is an Objection no way fit to be urged by any that are acquainted with the Scriptures, or the nature and tenour of the Covenant of Grace. Is afflicting and forsaking, all one with you? must God needs hate, because he scourgeth you? I question whether Satan himself hath impudence enough to set such a Note or Comment upon Heb. 12.6. For Whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
No, no, Christian, 'tis not a chastening Rod, but the denying of such a favour, and suffering men to sin with impunity, and go on prosperously in the way of their own hearts, that speaks a rejected man, as the next words, ver. 7. informs you. As he never loved you the better for your prosperity, so you may be confident he loves you never the less for your adversity: and will not this close and heal the wounds made by Affliction? What, not such a Promise as this, I will be with him in trouble, [Page 60] Psal. 91.15. Will not such a presence revive thee? What then can do it? Moses reckoned that a Wilderness with God, was better than a Canaan without him. Exod. 33.15. If thy presence go not with me (saith he) then carry us not hence. And if there be the Spirit of a Christian in thee, and God should give thee thine own choice, thou wouldst rather chuse to be in the midst of all these Afflictions with thy God, than back again in all thy prosperity, and among thy Children and former Comforts, without him.
Argument V.
As this Covenant assures you of Gods gracious and special presence, so it fully secures all the Essentials and Substantials of your Happiness, against all hazards and contingencies; in which security lies your full Relief and compleat Remedy against all your troubles for the loss of other things.
[Page 61]There be two sorts of things belonging to all God's People, viz.
- 1. Essentials.
- 2. Accidentals.
1. They have somethings which are essential to their Happiness; such are the loving kindness of God, the pardon of sin, union with Christ, and eternal salvation. And they have other things which are Accidentals, that come and go, live and die, without affecting or altering their Happiness; such are Health, Estates, Children, and all sorts of Relations and earthly Comforts. These are to our Happiness, as Leaves are to the Tree which fade and fall away without endangering the Tree; but the other as the vital Sap, without which it withers and dies at the very root. Now if it can be made out that the Covenant fully secures the former; then it will strongly follow, that it therein abundantly relieves us under all our [Page 62] sorrows for the latter: and that it doth so, will evidently appear, by reviewing the Covenant, wherein you shall find all these substantial and essential Mercies of Believers, fully secured against all hazards and contingencies whatsoever.
There the loving kindness of God is secured to their Souls, whatever Afflictions he lays upon their Bodies. Psal. 89.33. Nevertheless my loving kindness will I not take away. And their pardon is as safe as the favour of God is; 'tis safely locks up in that Promise, Jer. 31.34. I will remember their sins no more. Yea, Heaven, together with our perseverance in the way to it, are both put out of hazard by that invaluable Promise, They shall never perish, Joh. 10.28. neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
Thus are all the Essentials of a Believers Happiness secured in the Covenant; and these being safe, the loss of other enjoyments should not much affect or wound them, because if he enjoy them, they add nothing to his Happiness; [Page 63] and if he lose them, he is still happy in God without them. And this unriddles that AEnigmatical Expression of the Apostle, 2 Cor. 6.10. As having nothing, and yet possessing all things; (i. e.) the substraction of all external things cannot make us miserable, who have Christ for our portion, and all our happiness intire in him.
If a man travelling on the Rode fall into the hands of Thieves who rob him of a few shillings, why this doth not much affect him: for though he have lost his spending Money, yet his stock is safe at home, and his Estate secure, which will yield him more. Or if a man have been at Court, and there obtain'd a Pardon for his Life, or a Grant of a Thousand pound per annum, and returning home should chance to lose his Gloves or his Handkerchief, sure if the man be in his wits, he will not take on or mourn for the loss of these Trifles, whilst the Pardon or Grant is safe. Surely these things are not worth the mentioning.
[Page 64]'Tis true, the loss of outward earthly things, are to a Believer real Tryals, yet they are but seeming Losses: and therefore they are expressed in the Apostles phrase with a Tanquam, 2 Cor. 6.9. sicut: As chastened, and not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoycing. And if your losses be but as it were losses, your sorrows should be but as it were sorrows: Much like a Physick sickness, which we do not call a proper sickness, but as it were a sickness, because it conduceth to the health, and not the hurt of the Person; as all God's medicinal Afflictions on his People also do.
Indeed, if the stroke of God were at our Souls, to cut them off from Christ and Heaven, to raze our Names out of the Covenant, or revoke the pardon of sin; then we had cause enough to justifie the extremity of sorrow; cause enough to weep out our eyes, and break our hearts for such a dismal blow as that would be. But blessed be God you stand out of the [Page 65] way of such strokes as these; let God strike round about you, or lay his hand upon any other comforts you possess, he will never smite you in these essential things, which is certainly enough to allay and relieve all your other sorrows.
My Name is blotted out of the Earth, but still it is written in Heaven. God hath taken my only son from me, but he hath given his only Son for me, and to me. He hath broken off my hopes and expectations as to this World, but my hopes of Heaven are fixed, sure, and immoveable for ever. My house and heart are both in confusion and great disorder, but I have still an everlasting Covenant ordered in all things, and sure. I cannot say my son liveth, [...]ut I can still say I know that my Redeemer liveth. The grass wither [...]th, and the flower fadeth; but the word of the Lord abideth for ever, Isai. 40.8.
Argument VI.
As God strikes none of the sub [...]stantial Mercies of his covenan [...] People, so when he doth smi [...] their external and accidental Com [...]forts, the Covenant of Grace [...] sures them, that even those stroke [...] are the strokes of Love, and m [...] Wrath; the Wounds of a Frien [...] and not of an Enemy: which another singular relief to the affl [...]cted soul.
The most frightful thing in an Affliction, is the mark or characte [...] of God's Wrath which it seems [...] bear: take away that, and the Affl [...]ction is nothing. Psal. 6.1. O Lord, rebuke [...] not in thine anger, neither chasten [...] in thy hot displeasure. He doth no [...] deprecate the rebukes, but the a [...]ger of God; not his chastening but his hot displeasure. Gods a [...]ger is much more terrible than hi [...] rebuking, and his hot displeasur [...] than his chastening. Therefor [...] he intreats, that whatever God di [...] [Page 67] to him in the way of affliction, he would do nothing in the way of wrath; and then he could bear any thing from him. A mark of divine anger ingraven upon any Affliction, makes that Affliction dreadful to a gracious soul.
But if a man be well satisfied that whatever anguish there be, yet there is no anger, but that the Rod is in the Hand of Love: O how it eases the soul, and lightens the burden! Now this desirable point is abundantly cleared in the Covenant; where we find a clear Consistence, yea, a necessary Connection betwixt the Love and the Rod of God, Psal. 89.31. and Heb. 12.6. nay, so far are the Afflictions of the Saints from being marks of his Wrath, that they are the Fruits and Evidences of his Fatherly Love.
Two men walking through the Streets, see a company of Boys [...]ighting, one of them steps forth [...]nd singles out one of those Boys, [...]nd carries him home to correct [...]im; which of the two think you [Page 68] is that Childs Father? The c [...] standing thus with all Gods People, surely there is no reason fo [...] their despondencies whatever the [...] Afflictions be.
Argument VII.
Lastly, the Covenant doth no [...] only discover the consistence an [...] connection betwixt the Love an [...] the Rod of God, but it also giv [...] full satisfaction to the Saints, th [...] whatsoever temporary Mercy the [...] are deprived of, which was with in the Bond of the Covenan [...] when they enjoyed it, is no [...] lost, but shall certainly be restore [...] to them again with a rich im [...]provement, and that they shall en [...]joy it again to all eternity.
What a rare Model or Platfor [...] of Consolatory Arguments ha [...] the Apostle laid down, to antido [...] our immoderate sorrows for th [...] death of our dear Relatives whic [...] died interested in Christ and th [...] Covenant! I would not have yo [...] [Page 69] [...]gnorant, 1 Thess. 4.13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18. brethren, concerning them which are asleep, v. 13. They are not dead, but asleep. Sleep is but [...] Parenthesis to the Labours and Travels of this Life; and it is but a partial privation, not of the ha [...]it, but acts of Reason, to which [...]pon awaking the soul returns again. Just such a thing is that [...]hich in believers is commonly [...]alled Death. And we do not [...]se to bewail our Friends, because [...]hey are fallen asleep: And there [...]re it no way becomes us to sor [...]ow as those that have no hope, or to look upon them as lost; [...] (as he strongly argueth and concludeth, v. 14) their restora [...]ion to their Bodies, yea, and to [...]ur enjoyment again, is fully se [...]red both to them and us by the Resurrection of Jesus from the [...]ead. The influence of his Re [...]rrection is by the Prophet Isaiah [...]ompared to the Morning-dew, Isai. 26.19. [...] shew that what vertue there is [...] the Morning-dew to cause the [...]nguishing Plants of the Earth to [...]ive and flourish, that, and much [Page 70] more there is in the Resurrectio [...] of Christ, to revive and quicke [...] the dead bodies of these Saints, their Bodies shall be restored by vertue of the warm animating dew or influence of his Resurrection.
Obj. But the marvellous change which the Resurrection makes up on glorified Bodies, and the long separation of many Ages betwi [...] us and them, seems to make it in possible for us to know them [...] those that were once related to [...] upon Earth; and if so, then tha [...] comfort which resulted from them as in relation to us, is perishe [...] with them at death.
Sol. Whatever change the R [...] surrection shall make on their B [...] dies, and the length of time betwixt our parting with them [...] Earth, and meeting them agai [...] in Heaven, shall be; neither th [...] one or other seem sufficient to i [...] form the grounds of our hope, th [...] we shall know them to be the ver [...] persons that were once so dear t [...] us upon Earth. There may remai [...] [Page 71] [...]ome lineament or property of in [...]ividuation whereby the acute [...]lorified eye may possibly discover [...]ho they were; or if not, yet [...]one can doubt but it may be dis [...]overed to us by revelation from God: and that one way or other [...]t will be discovered, is highly pro [...]able, because nothing will be denied to that perfect State which may contribute to, or compleat [...]he joy and happiness thereof, as [...]e cannot but think this know [...]edge will do. If Adam knew Eve to be flesh of his flesh, and [...]one of his bone, in the state of [...]nnocence; and if the Apostles knew Moses and Elias upon the Mount; yea, if Dives in Hell [...]new Abraham and Lazarus in Heaven: sure we may well allow [...]hat knowledge to the glorified [...]aints in Heaven, which we find [...]n the State of Innocence, or in [...]he sinful State on Earth, or in [...]he State of the Damned in Hell.
And if so, then the Covenanted Parents shall be able to say in that [Page 72] day, This was our Child for who [...] we prayed and travelled again, ti [...] Christ was formed in him; th [...] is he whom we educated for God▪ and trained up in the Nurture an [...] Admonition of the Lord; and now we see the fruit of our Prayers, Counsels, Catechisings, [...] Child of so many Prayers perishe [...] not. And the Covenanted Chil [...] shall say, This was my pious [...]ther, who took such care for my Soul; and this my tender Mother who, like another Monica, was ze [...]lously concerned for my etern [...] happiness. These are they th [...] sowed so many Prayers, which God gave them not time [...] reap the fruits of on Earth, b [...] now they shall reap the fruit an [...] comfort of them for ever. O joy [...]ful meeting in the Kingdom o [...] God! The joy of such a meeting abundantly recompences for a [...] the tears and groans of a dolorou [...] parting.
Now, put all this together, an [...] value the Arguments produced to make good the first thing pro [...]pounded, [Page 73] namely the sufficiency of the Covenant to relieve and remedy all the sorrows and losses of Believers, be they never so many, or so great; this cannot be doubted, since it hath been proved, that it Disarms all their Afflictions of the only sting by which they wound; Alters the very nature and property of their Afflictions, turning them from Curses into Blessings; Ranks and Disposes them into their proper class and place of service, so as the counsel of men and Angels could never lay them better to our advantage; Engages the gracious and special presence of God with you in all your troubles; Secures all your essential and substantial Mercies from all hazards and contingencies; Discovers a consistency, yea a connection betwixt the Rod and the Love of God; and Assures you, that whatever temporal Mercy you ever enjoy'd in, and by vertue of the Covenant, shall be restored to you again with an admirable improvement, and singular [Page 74] advantage. It is by all this, I say abundantly proved, that the Covenant is a soveraign and effectua Remedy to all the sorrows o [...] Gods People; and that it was no [...] Hyperbole in David's Encomium, when he call'd it his Salvation, and all his Desire. But then, as I hinted before.
II.
It must be able to do these things at all times, and in all Ages, or else it will be but a temporary relief to some only, and not to all. Now that the Covenant hath this ability in all Ages, and is as able to relieve us now, as it was to relieve David in his day, fully appears by the Epithet given it in the Text, it is an EVERLASTING COVENANT. Yet hath he made with me an everlasting Covenant.
Time is the measure of other things; but Everlastingness is the measure of the Covenant. When the Lord espouseth a People to [Page 75] himself in Covenant, he betroths them to himself for ever, Hos. 2.19. and from that day forward they may say on good grounds, This God is our God for ever and ever: he will be our guide even unto death, as it is in Psal. 48.14. Nothing in nature is so firmly established as the Covenant is. Hills and Mountains shall sooner start from their basis and centre, and fly like wandering Atomes up and down in the Air, than this Covenant shall start from its sure and stedfast foundation, Isai. 54.10.
The Causes and Reasons of the immutability of the new Covenant, are
- 1. The unchangeable purpose of God, which is a sure and stedfast foundation. 2 Tim. 2.19. Nevertheless, the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth who are his. The first act of Gods love to the creature is that by which he chuseth such a one to be his, and is therefore called the foundation of God, as being that on which he lays the super-structure [Page 76] of all other Mercies. And this stand sure, there can be no vacillancy or slipperiness in such a foundation: for he knows who are his; he knows them as his Creatures, and as his new Creatures in Covenant with him; as his by Election, and his by Covenant, Transaction and Compact. The purpose of his Grace before time, gave being to the Covenant of Grace in time, and is the foundation of it.
- 2. The Free Grace of God in Christ, is that which gives immutability to this Covenant. It is not built upon Works, but Grace:
Therefore it is of faith,
Rom. 4.16.that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed. This Covenant is not founded as the first was, upon the variable and inconstant obedience of man, but upon Grace which is a steady and firm foundation.
- 3. The suretiship of Christ gives everlasting stability to this Covenant. Heb. 7.22.
He was made the surety of a better Testament, or
[Page 77] Covenant:
[...] ab. [...] pro mittere qua si [...], in manibus.for [...], signifies both, he struck hands, or engaged himself for the whole Covenant, and every condition in it, and that both on Gods part and ours; to undergo all our punishments, to pay all our debts, and to work in us all that God required of us in the Covenant of Grace: and all this under the penalty that lay upon us to have undergone. And this not as other Sureties, who enter into one and the same Bond with the principal, so that the Creditor may come upon which he will; but he lays all upon Christ, and relies wholly upon him for satisfaction, knowing he was able to perform it; and so under the Type of Gods Covenant with David, Christ is brought in, Psal. 89.19. Thou spakest in vision to thy holy one, and saidst, I have laid help on one who is mighty. Q. d. I know thy ability, my Son, thou art able to pay me, and therefore lay all upon thee.
It follows strongly from what hath been said, that the vertue of [Page 78] the Covenant decays not by time, as other things do, but it is at this day, and will be to the end of the World, as potent and efficacious a Relief to all Gods People, as ever it was to David, or any of the Believers of the first Ages.
And if so, certainly nothing can be more strongly supporting, or sweetly relieving in such a changeable World, than this he hath made with me, an everlasting Covenant. What David speaks of the natural Heavens, will be found true, of things over-spread and covered by them. Psal. 102.26, 27. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure, and all of them shall wax old like a garment: and as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed. But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end. The Creature was, and is not; but my Covenant God is the same; his name is I Am, and his Covenant is the same that ever it was; which is the second Property or Ingredient of this compleat Remedy to the Saints Afflictions. The Covenant hath not [Page 79] only all Power, Vertue, and Efficacy in it self to relieve a distressed Christian, but it hath it in all Ages, as well for one as for another. The third and last follows, namely,
III.
That it is a sure Covenant. So David stiles it in my Text. The certainty of the Covenant, is the glory of the Covenant, and the comfort of all that are in it. The certainty of it in it self is past all doubt, by what hath been said before. It is certain God did make such an everlasting Covenant with his People in Christ, and it must remain an eternal Truth, that such a Covenant there is betwixt God and them. It is as impossible that this everlasting Covenant should not be made with them, as it is impossible for God to lye, Heb. 6.18. If he might make himself not have covenanted, everlastingly with them, when once [Page 80] he had so covenanted, such a supposition would turn up the foundation of all Faith and Certainty, and overthrow the Apostles consequence on which the Faith and Comfort of Believers is built. Nor is it any infringement of the Almighty power, to say, God himself cannot do that which implies a plain contradiction, as factum infectum reddere, to make that which was done, not to be done.
But of this there is no doubt; it is a sure Covenant in it self: That which makes to my purpose here, is to prove it capable of a personal security and certainty to us. David had, and all the Federates, as well as he, may have a subjective or personal certainty also. He speaks categorically and positively in the Text, Yet hath he made [with me] an everlasting Covenant.
Object. If it be said, he might have a personal certainty of it, because it was revealed to him in an extraordinary way by the Prophet Nathan, 2 Sam. 7.12, 13, 14. and [Page 81] extraordinaria non currunt in exemplum, this was a peculiar favour, which we may not expect.
Sol. I reply, And why may not we know it with as full a certainty to whom God is pleased to make it known in his ordinary way? Think you his Word and Spirit cannot ratifie it as fully and firmly to our souls, as Nathan's discovery of it did to David's soul? God give me but such a Seal of it in his ordinary method and way of confirmation, and I will desire no more of him in this World for my relief and comfort, whatever Afflictions it shall please him to lay upon me.
And thus you see all the Properties of a compleat Remedy in the Covenant, and of it every Believer may say, This is all my salvation, and all my desire, though he make not my house to grow. And now what hinders, but that all Gods afflicted should say from henceforth, Psal. 116.7. Return unto thy rest, O my soul, for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee. I have all the desires [Page 82] of my heart in the Covenant of God, though he take away the desire of mine eyes upon earth with his stroke. In this Covenant my soul is at rest, and my very heart is centred. No Affliction can be great enough to make the Consolations of the Almighty seem small in mine eyes. Worldly sorrows may swallow up worldly comforts, but no sorrows upon Earth can swallow up the consolations of the Covenant.
I know many Christians droop and are dejected under the Rod, notwithstanding such soveraign Cordials are prepared for them in the Covenant; but this is not for want of Efficacy in the Covenant, but for want of Faith to clear their interest, and draw forth the vertue of it to their relief. Some are ignorant of their priviledges, and others disfident about their interest. It is with many of Gods Children, as it is with our Children in their infancy, they know not their Father, nor the Inheritance they are bo [...]n unto.
[Page 83]That which remains, is the improvement of this Truth to our actual comfort and relief in the day of trouble. And this I shall assist you in as God shall assist me, by way of,
- 1. Information.
- 2. Exhortation.
- 3. Examination, and
- 4. Consolation.
VSE I.
For information, in three Corolaries.
Corolary I.
By what hath been discoursed from this Text, it appears, That God governs the spiritual part of the World by Faith, and not by Sense. He will have them live upon his Covenant and Promises, and fetch their relief and comforts thence, under all their sorrows and distresses in this Life.
[Page 84]God never intended temporal things for his Peoples Portion, therefore from them they must not expect their relief in times of trouble. He will have us read his love to us by things within us, not by things without us. He hath other ways of expressing his love to his People, than by the smiles of his Providence upon them. How would earthly things be over-valued and idolized, if beside their conveniency to our Bodies, they should be the marks and evidences of Gods love to our souls! A Christian is to value himself as the Merchant, or the Husbandman doth. The Merchant values himself by his Bills and Goods abroad, not by the ready Cash that lies by him. And the Husbandman by his Deeds and Leases, and so many Acres of Corn he hath in the ground, and knows he hath a good Estate, though sometimes he be not able to command twenty shillings. Christian, thy Estate also lies in good Promises and new Covenant-securities, whether thou [Page 85] hast more or less of earthly comforts in thy hands.
Every Creature feeds according to its nature; the same Plant affords food to several sorts of Creatures: the Bee feeds upon the Flower, the Sheep upon the Branch, the Bird upon the Seed, and the Swine upon the Root. One cannot live upon what the other doth. So it is here: A Christian can feed upon the Promises, and make a sweet meal upon the Covenant, which the carnal mind cannot relish. The life that I now live, I live by the faith of the son of God, Gal. 2.21. saith the Apople.
This is that mysterious and excellent life of Faith, and the Test of true Christianity, to relieve our selves by our hopes of things to come, against present Evils; to balance the sorrows and losses of this life, with the promises and expectations of the next. Thus did the renowned Believers of the first Age; whenever they felt a faint pang or qualm upon their hearts, under their tryals and sorrows [Page 86] from the World, they would presently run to their Cordial, the Promises, and a sip of Faith from that Bottle would refresh and invigorate their souls with new life and powers. 2 Cor. 4.16, 17, 18. We faint not, whilst we look not at the things which are seen, for they are temporal; but at the things which are not seen, for they are eternal. And truly so must we also, when our hearts are faint within us in days of affliction, or our Spirits will fail, and we shall go away in a faint fit of despondency.
Corolary II.
Learn hence the soveraign efficacy of the word, and what a choice priviledge it is to have these lively Oracles of God in our hands, in a day of distress and trouble.
'Tis no ordinary Mercy to be born in a Land of Bibles and Ministers; to have these choice Supports and Reliefs at hand, in all [Page 87] our fainting hours. Psal. 119.50. This is my comfort in my affliction, for thy word hath quickened me. It was no small Mercy gained by the Reformation, that it put the Oracles of God into our hands. It opened a Shop of Cordials for the support of our [...]ouls. For this, among other great and excellent uses, the Scriptures were written, Rom. 15.4. That we, through patience, and comfort of the Scriptures, might have hope. In other parts of the World it is a sealed Book; bless God it is not so to you. All Creature-comforts have a double defect, they are neither suitable nor durable; but the word is so. Compare the Arguments that have been urged from the Covenant, with such as these. It's in vain to trouble our selves about what we cannot help: we are not alone in trouble, others have their losses and afflictions as well as we. Alas, what dry and ineffectual comforts are these! they penetrate not the heart, as pardon of sin, peace with God, and sanctification of troubles to our salvation do.
[Page 88]And no less is the Mercy of an able New Testament Ministry, to open, apply, and inculcate the consolations of the Scriptures to be esteemed. It is no common favour to the afflicted soul, to have with, or near him, an INTERPRETER, one among a thousand, Job. 33 23. to shew unto him his uprightness. O England, prize and improve these Mercies, and provoke not thy God to bereave thee of them.
I can find no such settlement made of the Gospel and Ministry upon any place or People, but that God may remove both, upon their abuse of them; and if he do, sad will the case of such a People be, especially when a day of distress and trouble shall be upon them. 'Tis sad to be in a storm at Sea, without a Compass or Pilot to direct and advise the distressed Passengers. Much so is the case of the afflicted, when deprived of the Word and Ministry.
Let it therefore be your care to hide the Word in your hearts, and get the Teachings of the Spirit; [Page 89] that whatever changes of Providence be upon the World, you may have the light and comfort of the Scriptures to direct and chear your souls. Sanctification is the writing of Gods Law in your hearts; and what is written there, is secure and safe. The Word within you, is more secure, sweet, and effectual, than the Word without you. Ierom saith of Nepotianus, that by long and assiduous meditation of the Scriptures, his Breast was at last become the Library of Christ. O that the Breast of every Christian were so too.
Corolary III.
How sad and deplorably miserable is their condition, who have no title to, [...]or comfort from the Covenant of God, when a day of affliction and great [...]istress is upon them!
Unrelieved Miseries are the [...]ost intolerable Miseries. To be [Page 90] over-weighed with troubles o [...] Earth, and want support and com [...]fort from Heaven, is a dism [...] state indeed; yet this is the ca [...] of multitudes in the World. If [...] Believer be in trouble, his God bears his burden for him, yea, he bears up him and his burden too but he that hath no Covenant i [...]terest in God, must say as it is Jer. 10.19. This is my affliction, an [...] I alone must bear it.
There are but two ways the [...] can take for relief, either to di [...]vert their troubles by that whi [...] will inflame them, or rest their burthened Spirits upon that which will fail them. To run to the Tavern or Ale-house, instead of the Closet, is to quench the fire, by pouring on Oyl; and to run from one Creature which is smitten and withered, to another which yet continues with us, is to lean upon a broken Reed, which not only deceives us, but wounds and pierceth us. What a miserable plight was Saul in, and how doleful was his cry and complaint to [Page 91] [...]amuel, 1 Sam. 28.15. I am sore [...]istressed, for the Philistins make war [...]gainst me, and God is departed from [...]e, and answereth me no more. Heaven and Earth forsook him at once.
Reader, if this be thy case, I advise thee to rest no longer in so miserable a condition. Thy very distress seems by an happy necessi [...]y to put thee upon God, and drive thee to him for refuge: And [...] seems to be the very aim and design of God in blasting all thy earthly comforts, to necessitate thee to come to him, which thou wouldst never be perswaded to do, whilst thou hadst any Creature-prop to stay and rest upon. And think not that thou shalt be rejected, because thou art brought by a plain necessity to him; come sincerely, and thou shalt not be upbraided, because a necessity threw thee upon him.
VSE II.
Seeing then that the Covena [...] of God is the great relief and su [...]port of all the afflicted people, I [...] the afflicted soul go to this blesse [...] Covenant; study and apply it i [...] all distresses. It is in it self a s [...] veraign Cordial, able to revive [...] gracious Spirit at the lowest ebb [...] but then it must be studied an [...] applied, or it will never give fort [...] its consolations to our refreshment [...] Extream sorrows are apt to deafen [...] our Ears to all voices of comfort [...] The loud cries of Affliction too often drown the sweet still voice of spiritual Consolation; but either here or no-where our redress is to be found. Why seek we the living among the dead? comfort from things that cannot yield it? The Covenant can discover two things which are able to pacifie the most discomposed heart, viz.
- [Page 93]1. The good of Affliction.
- 2. The end of Affliction.
1. It will discover to us the good of Affliction, and so rectifie our mistaken judgments about it. God is not undoing, but consulting our interest and happiness in all these dispensations. It will satisfie us, that in all these things he doth no more than what we our selves allow and approve in other cases. It is not meerly from his pleasure, but for our profit, that these breaches are made upon our Families, and Comforts, Heb. 12.10. Who blames the Marriner for casting the Goods over board to save Ship and life in a storm? or the Chirurgeon for lancing, yea, or cutting off a Leg or Arm to preserve the life of his Patient? or Souldiers for burning or beating down the Suburbs, to save the City in a siege? And why must God only be censured, for cutting off those things from us which he [Page 94] knows will hazard us in the [...] of temptation? he sees the less [...] have of entanglement, the m [...] promptness and fitness we [...] have to go through the tryals [...] are coming upon us; and that the comforts he cuts off from [...] Bodies, goes to the profit and [...] vantage of our Souls.
2. Here you gain a sight [...] only of the good of Affliction, [...] also of the comfortable end [...] issue of Affliction. This clou [...] and stormy morning will wind [...] in a serene and pleasant evenin [...] There's a vast difference betw [...] our meeting with Afflictions, [...] our parting from them. Jam. 5.11. You ha [...] heard of the patience of Iob, and [...] seen the end of the Lord. O get [...] Iob's Spirit under Affliction, an [...] you may see as happy an end [...] them as he did.
Had Naomy seen the end of [...] Lord in taking away her Husband and starving her out of Moab, [...] would not have changed her name or said the Lord had dealt bitter with her, in grafting her Daughte [...] [Page 95] by that Providence into the Noble Line, out of which the Saviour of the World was to rise; and could you but see that good in order to which all this train of troubles is [...]aid, you would not murmur or [...]espond as you do.
Object. 1. O but this is a grievous Stroke; God hath smitten [...]e in the apple of mine Eye, and written bitter things against me. No sorrow is like my sorrow; 'tis a mourning for an onely Son; I have lost all in one.
Sol. 1. You can never lose all in one, except that one be Christ; and he being yours in Covenant, can never be lost. But your meaning is, you have lost all of that kind in one: no more Sons to build up your House, and continue your Name.
2. But yet Religion will not allow you to say, that your dead Children are a lost Generation. Praemittuntur, non amittuntur: They are sent before, but not lost. For they are a Covenant-seed, by you dedicated to the Lord: They [Page 96] were Children of many Prayers a great stock of Prayers was lai [...] up for them; in them also yo [...] and all that knew them, discerne [...] a teachable Spirit, pious inclina [...]tions, and Conscience of secret du [...]ties, some good things toward the Lord God of Israel, as was sai [...] of young Abijah, 1 King. 14.1 [...] So that you parted from them u [...] on far easier terms than good D [...]vid parted from his Amnon, Abs [...]lom, or Adonijah, who died in the [...] sins and open rebellions. Ther [...] was a sting in his troubles whic [...] you feel not; and if he comforte himself notwithstanding in th [...] Covenant of his God, in this r [...]spect may you much more.
Object. 2. O but my Son w [...] cut off in the very Bud, just wh [...] the Fruits of Education were re [...]dy to disclose and open.
Sol. Let not that consideratio [...] so incense your sorrows: Go [...] knows the fittest time both to giv [...] and to take our comforts; an [...] seeing you have good grounds [...] hope your Child died interest [...] [Page 97] in the Covenant of God, you have the less reason to insist upon that afflicting circumstance of an immature death. He that dies in Christ, hath lived long enough both for himself and us. That Marriner hath sailed long enough, that hath gained his Port: and that Souldier fought long enough, that hath won the Victory: and that Child lived long enough, that hath won Heaven, how early soever he died.
Beside, the sooner he died, the less sin he hath committed, and the less misery he saw and felt in this wretched World, which we are left to behold and feel. And it is but a vanity to imagine that the parting pull with him would have been easier, if the enjoyment of him had been longer: for the long enjoyment of desirable Comforts, doth not use to weaken, but abundantly to strengthen and fasten the tyes of affection.
Submit your Reason therefore, as is meet, to the Wisdom of God, who certainly chose the fittest season for this Affliction.
[Page 98]O but, — No more Buts and Objections, I beseech you. Enough hath been offer'd from the Covenant of your God, to silence all your Objections, and to give you the ease and pleasure of a resigned Will. And what are all our Buts and Objections, but a spurning at Divine Soveraignty, and the thrusting in the Affliction deeper into your own hearts, which are wounded but too deep already?
I perswade you not to put off, but to regulate natural Affections: To be without them, would deservedly rank us among the worst of Heathens; but rightly to bound and manage them, would set you among the best of Christians.
I cannot imagine what ease or advantage holy Basil gained by such a particular and heart piercing account, Filius mihi erat Adolescens, solus vitae successor, solatium senectae, gloria generis, flos aequalium, sulcrum domus, aetatem gratiosissiman agebat, &c. as he gave of a like Affliction with this; nor to what purpose it can be to you, to recal and recount those things [Page 99] which only incense and aggravate your troubles: Doubtless your better way were to turn your thoughts from such subjects as these, to your God in Covenant, as David in the Text did, and to recount the many great and inestimable mercies that are secured to you therein; which death shall never smite, or cut off from you, as it doth your other enjoyments.
Quest. But yet unless we can in some measure clear our Covenant-interest, all these excellent Cordials prepared, will signifie no more to our relief, than water spilt upon the ground: help us therefore to do that, or else all that hath been said is in vain? How may a person discern his Covenant-right and interest?
Answ. This indeed is worthy of all consideration, and deserves a serious answer, forasmuch as it is fundamental to your comfort, and all actual refreshment in times of trouble; and will bring us to the next Use, which is for tryal of our Covenant-interest.
VSE III.
The great Question to be decided, is, Whether God be our Covenant-God, and we his People? A Question of the most solemn nature, and such as requires awful attention.
We cannot expect satisfaction in this matter by such an extraordinary way as David had it, but we may know it by,
- First, Our Covenant-Engagements.
- Secondly, Our Covenant-Impressions.
- Thirdly, Our Covenant-Conversations.
First, By our Covenant-Engagements, or Dedications of our selves to God; sometimes called our joyning our selves to the Lord, Zech. 2.11. our yielding our selves to him, Rom. 6.19. our giving our selves to him, 2 Cor. 8.5. The [Page 101] soul that freely and deliberately consents to take or chuse the Lord to be his God, may warrantably conclude the Lord hath taken or chosen him: for our choice of God is but the result of his choice of us. Joh. 15.16. You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you; (i. e.) you could never have chosen me, but in consequence to, and by vertue of my first choice of you.
Well then, let it be seriously considered, whether you have duely consented to take the Lord for your God, and Christ for your Redeemer. This includes two things in it.
- 1. Your relinquishing of all things inconsistent with him.
- 2. Your acceptation of all that promotes the glory and enjoyment of him.
1. Your relinquishing of all things that are inconsistent with an interest in him. Except we let these go, God cannot be our God, [Page 102] nor Christ our Redeemer. The things to be relinquished for Christ are in short, both our sinful and our righteous self. Sinful-self must be disclaimed and renounced: for we cannot be the Servants of sin, and the Servants of Christ too, Rom. 6.14.18. and righteous self must be renounced also, or we can have no part or interest in his Righteousness, Rom. 10.3. These are two difficult points of self-denial to part with every beloved Lust, and to give up our own Righteousness. Thousands chufe rather to be damned for ever, than to do either of these.
2. Your acceptance and embracing of all things that promote his glory, and further the enjoyment of him. As all the painful ways of duty, hearing, praying, meditating, and all this with the intention of the inner man, and offering up of the soul to God in these duties, and the more painful ways of suffering for God, and enduring all losses, reproaches, torments, and death for him, if [Page 103] his glory require it, and you be thereunto called. All this is included in your chusing God to be your God. And upon our understanding, and free consent, and sealing to these Articles, we have right to call him our God. Mat. 16.24. If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me. Now have you considered the terms of the Covenant, weighed and balanced all the conveniencies and inconveniencies of Godliness, and then determined for Christ and Holiness, let the cost be what it will; then you have chosen him aright for your God. Many think they have chosen God for their God, that never understood or deliberated these terms. But Non consentit, qui non sentit: He that neither knows nor ponders them, is not capable of giving a due consent.
Secondly, We may discern our Covenant-Interest, in the Covenant-Impressions that are made upon our souls. All Gods Covenant People have a double mark [Page 104] or impression made upon them, viz.
- 1. Upon their Minds.
- 2. Upon their Hearts.
1. Upon their Minds, in a more spiritual and efficacious knowledge of God: Jer. 31.33. They shall all know me, from the greatest of them, even to the least of them. This knowledge is said to be given, not acquired by the meer strength of natural Abilities and humane Aids; and given us in the face of Christ, not by the foot-steps of the Creatures only, as he speaks, 2 Cor. 4.6. 'tis the choice teaching of the anointing, 1 Ioh. 2.27. a knowledge springing from inward experience, and spiritual sense; as we know the sweetness of Honey by tasting, better than by all the descriptions and reports that can be made of it.
2. Upon their Hearts, in that gracious tenderness and meltings of it for sin, or the discoveries of Free Grace in the pardon of it. [Page 105] So you read in Ezek. 36.26. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you, and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
It is as easie to melt the obdurate Rocks into sweet Syrup, as it is to melt the natural heart into a penitential and tender melting for sin; but now there is a principle or habit of tenderness implanted in the soul, whereby it is disposed and inclined to relent and thaw ingenuously upon any just occasion.
Thirdly, Our Covenant-Interest may be evidenced in and by our Covenant- Conversations. All the knowledge which is communicated to our Minds, and all the tenderness given to our Hearts, do respect and tend to this: Ezek. 36.27. I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes. Habits and Principles are for action and practice: Grace in the heart is for Obedience and Holiness in the life.
[Page 106]It is true, that as our Graces are imperfect, so is our Obedience also. Perfect working is not to be expected from imperfect Creatures. God's own Covenanted People do often grieve him, and provoke him to bring them under the Rod of Affliction; but those their Infirmities break not the Bond of the Covenant, Psal. 89.30, 31, 32. Care and Watchfulness ordinarily goes before them, Conflicts and Resistance accompanies them, and Shame, Grief, and renewed Care usually follows them. 2 Cor. 7.11. By these things (which deserve a more copious discourse than my present design can allow) we may be helped to clear our interest in the Covenant of Grace: and that being done, it should be out of the power of all the Afflictions in the World to sink your Spirits. Let me therefore in the last place add,
VSE IV.
A word of Consolation to your dejected and drooping hearts, upon this sad and mournful occasion. Why are you so troubled? and why do Thoughts arise in your Hearts? Methinks there hath been so much of Support and Comfort already discovered to you in this blessed Covenant, that could your Faith but once fix upon it, and realize and apply it, I might lay down my Pen at this period, and say the Work is done, there needs no more; but knowing how obstinate deep sorrows are, and how difficult a Task the comforting of an afflicted mind is, I will for a close, superadd a few Considerations more, to all that hath been urged and argued before.
Consideration I.
I Consider how small and trivial the Comforts, whose loss you bewail, are in comparison with Jesus Christ, who is still your own, under the Bond of a sure Covenant. A Son, an only and a promising Son, is a great thing, when he stands in comparison with other Creature-comforts; but surely he will seem a small thing, and next to nothing, when set by, or compared with Jesus Christ. Behold, the Father, Son, and Spirit! Pardon and eternal salvation are this day presented in the Covenant of Grace before your souls, as your own. God, even our own God shall bless us, Psal. 67.6. When you feel your hearts wounded with such a thought as this, I cannot embrace my Children in my arms, they are now out of my reach; then bless and admire God, that the arms of your Faith can embrace so great, so glorious [Page 109] a Saviour, and that you can say, My beloved is mine, and I am his.
Consideration II.
Consider what evil days are coming on, II and what a mercy it is to your dead, that God hath taken them away from the evil to come, Isai. 57.1, 2. There are two sorts of Evils to come, viz. Evils of Sin, and Evils of Suffering; and 'tis no small favour to be set out of the way of both. The Grave is the hiding-place where God secures some from the dangers of both.
We are apt to promise our selves times of Tranquility, and then it cuts us to think that our dear Ones shall not partake with us in that Felicity: but if we wisely consider the sins or the signes of the times, we have more cause to rejoyce that God hath set them out of harms way.
[Page 110]All things seem to conspire and work towards a day of great Temptation and Tribulation. Now as Christ told his Disciples, who were so dejected because he was to leave them, Ioh. 14.28. If ye loved me, ye would rejoyce, because I said, I go to the Father: so truly you would much better express and manifest your love to your Children, in your satisfaction in the will and appointment of God, in taking them into rest and safety, than in your dejections and sorrows for their removal. Surely they are better where they are, than where they were, whom God hath housed in Heaven out of the storm and tempest. And could your dead Friends that are with Christ, have any more intercourse with this World, and see your tears, and hear your sighs for them, they would say to you, as Christ did to those that follow'd him wailing and mourning, Weep not for us, but for your selves, and such as remain in the World with you, to see and feel the calamities that are coming on it.
Consideration III.
Consider how near you are to that blessed State your selves, III. where God shall be all in all, and you shall feel no want of any Creature-comfort, 1 Cor. 15.28.
Creature-comforts are only accommodated comforts to this animal life we now live, but shortly there will be no need of them; for God will be all in all: that is, all the Saints shall be abundantly satisfied in and with God alone. As there is water enough in one Sea to fill all the Rivers, Lakes, and Springs in the World; and Light enough in one Sun to enlighten all the Inhabitants of the World: so there is enough in one God eternally to fill and satisfie all the blessed Souls in Heaven, without the addition of any Creature-comfort. God is compleat satisfaction to all the Saints, in the absence (I cannot say want) of Wives and Children, Meats and drinks, Estates and sensitive Pleasures: There will be no [Page 112] more need of these things, than of Candles at Noon-day. You shall be as the Angels of God, who have no concernment for Relations.
Your fulness of years, infirmities of Body, and I hope I may add your improvements in Grace, speak you not far short of this blessed State: and though you may seem to need these comforts in the way, your God shall supply all your wants.
Consideration IV.
IV.To conclude, whatsoever your troubles, wants, fears, or dangers are, or may be in your passage to this blessed State, the Covenant of Grace is your security, and by vertue thereof your troubles shall open and divide, as Iordan did, to give you a safe passage into your eternal Rest.
Look as when the Israelites came near the Land of Promise, there was a swelling Iordan betwixt it and them, which seemed to forbid their farther passage and progress; but [Page 113] it's said, Iosh. 3.17. The Priests that bore the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, stood firm on the ground in the midst of Iordan; and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground, until all the people were passed clean over Iordan. Just so it is here: The Covenant of Grace stands on firm ground in the midst of all the deep Waters of Tribulation you are to pass through, to secure unto you a safe passage through them all. Rejoyce therefore, and triumph in the fulness and firmness of this blessed Covenant, and whatsoever Affliction your God shall please to lay upon you, or whatsoever Comfort he shall please to remove from you, still comfort and encourage your selves, as David here doth, Yet hath he made with me an everlasting Covenant, ordered in all things, and sure: for this is all my salvation, and all my desire; although he make it not to grow.