Chapter VIII: Part 8

That opinion of free will, so cried up, will be easily confuted, as it is by scripture, in the heart that hath had any spiritual dealings with Jesus Christ, as to the application to its merit, and subjection to his righteousness. Christ is every way too magnificent a person for a poor nature to close withal or to apprehend. Christ is so infinitely holy, nature durst never look at him; so infinitely good, nature can never believe him to be such, when it lies under a full sight of sin. Christ is too high and glorious for nature so much as to touch. There must be a divine nature first put in the soul, to make it lie on him, he lies so infinitely beyond the sight or reach of nature.

That Christ, which natural free will can apprehend, is but a natural Christ of a man’s own making, not the Father’s Christ, nor Jesus the Son of the living God, to whom none can come without the father’s drawing, John, vi. 44. 46. Finally, search the scriptures daily, as mines of gold, wherein the heart of Christ is laid. Watch against constitutional sins, see them in their vileness, and they shall never break out into act. Keep always an humble, empty, broken frame of heart, sensible of any spiritual miscarriage, observant of all inward workings, fit for the highest communications. Keep not guilt in the conscience, but apply the blood of Christ immediately. God chargeth sin and guilt upon thee, to make thee look to Christ.

Judge not Christ’s love by providences, but by promises. Bless God for shaking off false foundations, and for any way whereby he keeps the soul awakened and looking after Christ. Better sicknesses and temptations than security and slightness.

A slighting spirit will turn a profane spirit, and will sin and pray too. Slighting is the bane of profession; if it be not rooted out of the heart, by constant and serious dealings with, and beholdings of Christ in duties, it will grow more strong and more deadly by being under church ordinances. Measure not thy graces by other attainments, but by Scripture trials. Be serious and exact in duty, having the weight of it upon the heart; be as much afraid of taking comfort from duties as from sins. Comfort from any hand but Christ’s is deadly. Be much in prayer, or you will never keep up much communion with God. As you are in closet prayer, so you will be in all other ordinances.

Reckon not duties by high expression, but by low frames, and the beholdings of Christ. Tremble at duties and gifts. It was a saying of a great saint, he was more afraid of his duties than his sins; the one often made him proud, the other always made him humble. Treasure up manifestations of Christ’s love, they make the heart low for Christ, too high for sin. Slight not the lowest, meanest evidences of grace; God may put thee to make use of the lowest as thou thinkest, even that, 1 John, iii. 14, may be worth a thousand worlds to thee.

Be true to truth, but not turbulent and scornful. Restore such as are fallen; help them up again with all the bowels of Christ. Set the broken disjointed bones with the grace of the gospel. High professor, despise not weak saints. Thou mayest come to wish to be in the condition of the meanest of them. Be faithful to others’ infirmities, but sensible of thy own. Visit sick beds and deserted souls much, they are excellent schools in experience. Abide in your calling. Be dutiful to all relations as to the Lord. Be content with little of the world; little will serve. Think every little of the earth much, because unworthy of the least. Think much of heaven, not little, because Christ is so rich and free. Think every one better than thyself, and ever carry self-loathing about thee, as one fit to be trampled upon by all saints. See the vanity of the world, and the consumption there is upon all things, and love nothing but Christ. Mourn to see so little of Christ in the world, so few needing him: trifles please them better. To a secure soul Christ is but a table, the scripture but a story. Mourn to think how many there are under baptism and church order, that are not under grace, looking much after outward duties, little after Christ, little versed in grace. Prepare for the cross; welcome it, bear it triumphantly like Christ’s cross; whether scoffs, mockings, jeers, contempt, imprisonment, &c. But see it be Christ’s cross, not thine own.

Sin will hinder from glorying in the cross of Christ. Omitting little truths against light may breed guilt in the conscience, as well as committing the greatest sins against light. If thou hast been taken out of the belly of hell into Christ’s bosom, and made to sit among princes in the household of God, oh how shouldst thou live as a pattern of mercy? Redeemed, restored soul, what infinite sums dost thou not owe to Christ! With what singular frames must thou walk, and do every duty! On sabbaths, what praising days, singing hallelujahs, should they be to thee! Church fellowship: what a heaven, a being with Christ, and angels, and saints in communion; what a bathing of the soul in eternal love; what a burial with Christ, and dying to all things beside him! Every time thou thinkest of Christ, be astonished, and wonder; and when thou seest sin, look at Christ’s grace which did pardon it; and when thou art proud, look at Christ’s grace, that shall humble and strike thee down in the dust.

Remember Christ’s time of love, when thou wast naked, Ezekiel, xvi. 8, 9, and then he chose thee. Canst thou ever have a proud thought?--Remember whose arms supported thee from sinking, and delivered thee from the lowest hell, Ps. lxxxvi. 13: and shout in the ears of angels and men, Ps. cxlviii. and for ever sing, “Praise, praise, grace, grace.” Daily repent and pray; and walk in the spirit of grace as one that hath the anointing of grace upon thee. Remember thy sins, Christ’s pardoning; thy deserts, Christ’s merits; thy weakness, Christ’s strength; thy pride, Christ’s humility; thy many infirmities, Christ’s restorings; thy guilt, Christ’s new applications of his blood; thy failings, Christ’s raisings up; thy wants, Christ’s fulness; thy temptations, Christ’s tenderness; thy vileness, Christ’s righteousness.

Blessed soul! whom Christ shall find not trusting in his own righteousness, Phil. iii. 9, but having his robes washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb, Rev. vii. 14. Woeful, miserable professor, that hath not the gospel within! Rest not in church trials; thou mayest pass them, and be cast away in Christ’s day of trial. Thou mayest come to baptism, and never come to Jesus and the blood of sprinkling, Heb. xii. 24. Whatever working or attainments, short of Christ s blood, merits, righteousness, (the main object of the gospel) fall short of the truth, and leave the soul in a condition of doubtings and questionings; and doubtings, if not looked into betimes, will turn to a lightness of spirit, one of the most dangerous of frames.

Trifle not with ordinances. Be much in meditation and prayer. Wait diligently upon all hearing opportunities. We have need of doctrine, reproof, exhortations, consolation, as tender herbs and the grass hath of the rain, the dew, the small rain, and the showers, Deut. xxxii. 2. Do all thou doest as soul-work unto Christ, Zech. vi. 5, 6; as immediately dealing with Christ Jesus; as if he were looking on thee, and thou on him, and get all thy strength from him.

Observe what holy motions you find in your soul to duties; prize the least good thought thou hast of Christ, the least good word thou speakest of him sincerely from thy heart. Rich mercy! Oh! bless God for it! Observe if every day you have the Day-spring from on high, with his morning dews of mourning for sin, constantly visiting thee, Luke, i. 78. Have you the bright Morning-star, with fresh influences of grace and peace, constantly arising, Rev. xxii. 16, and Christ sweetly greeting the soul in all duties? What duty makes not more spiritual, will make more carnal; what doth not quicken and humble, will deaden and harden.

Judas may have the outward privilege of baptism, the supper, church-fellowship, &c., but John leaned on Christ’s bosom, John, iii. 23; that is the gospel-ordinance posture, in which we should pray and hear, and perform all duties. Nothing but lying in that bosom will dissolve hardness of heart, and make thee to mourn heartily for sin and cure lightness and indifference of spirit, that gangrene to profession; that will humble indeed, and make the soul cordial to Christ, and sin vile to the soul; yea, transform the ugliest place of hell into the glory of Christ. Never think thou art right as thou shouldst be, a Christian of any attainment, until thou come to this, always to see and feel thyself lying in the bosom of Christ, who is in the bosom of his Father, John, i. 18. Come and pray the Father for views of Christ, and you will be sure to speed. You can come with no request that pleaseth him better. He gave him out of his own bosom for that very end, to be held up before the eyes of sinners, as the everlasting monument of his unspeakable love.

Looking at the natural sun weakens the eye. The more you look at Christ, the Sun of righteousness, the stronger and clearer will the eye of faith be. Look but at Christ, you will love him, and live upon him. Think on him continually,--keep the eye constantly upon Christ’s blood, or every blast of temptation will shake you. If you see sin’s sinfulness, to loath it and mourn, do not stand looking upon sin, but look upon Christ first, as suffering and satisfying for it. If you would see your graces, your sanctification, do not stand gazing upon them, but look at Christ’s righteousness in the first place,--see the Son, and you see all,--look at your graces in the last place.

Go to Christ in sight of your sin and misery, not of your grace and holiness. Have nothing to do with thy graces and sanctification, they will but veil Christ, till thou hast seen Christ first. He that looks upon Christ through his graces, is like one that sees the sun in water, which wavereth, and moves as the water doth. Look upon Christ only as shining in the firmament of the Father’s love and grace, you will not see him but in his own glory, which is unspeakable. Pride and unbelief will put you upon seeing somewhat in yourself first, but faith will have to do with none but Christ, who is unexpressibly glorious, and must swallow up thy sanctification as well as thy sin: for God made him both for us, and we must take him for both, 1 Cor. i. 30, 2 Cor. v. 21. He that sets up his sanctification to look at, to comfort him, he sets up the greatest idol, which will strengthen his doubts and fears. Do but look off Christ, and presently, like Peter, you sink in doubt.

A Christian never wants comfort but by breaking the order and method of the gospel, looking on his own, and looking off Christ’s perfect righteousness, which is, to choose rather to live by candlelight than by the light of the sun. The honey that you suck from your own righteousness will turn into perfect gall; and the light that you take from that to walk in will turn into black night upon the soul. Satan is tempting thee, by putting thee to plod about thine own grace, to get comfort from that; then the Father comes and points thee to Christ’s grace, as rich and glorious, infinitely pleasing to him; and biddest thee study Christ’s righteousness; and his biddings are enablings; that is, a blessed motion, a sweet whispering, checking thy belief--follow the least hint, close with much prayer, prize it as an invaluable jewel; it is an earnest of more to come. Again,

If you will pray, and cannot, and are so discouraged, see Christ praying for you, using his interest with the Father for you. What can you want? John, xiv. 7, and chap. xvii. If you be troubled, see Christ your peace, Eph. ii. 14. Leaving you peace when he went up to heaven, again and again charging you not to be troubled; no, not in the least sinfully troubled; so as to obstruct the comfort of thy believing, John, xiv. 1, 27. He is now upon the throne, having spoiled upon his cross, in the lowest state of his humiliation, all whatsoever can hurt or annoy thee; he hath borne all thy sins, sorrows, troubles, and temptations, and is gone to prepare mansions for thee.

Thou who hast seen Christ all, and thyself absolutely nothing who makest Christ all thy life, and art dead to all righteousness besides, thou art a Christian, one highly beloved, and who hath found favour with God, a favourite of heaven. Do Christ this one favour for all his love to thee; love all his poor saints and churches, the meanest, the weakest, notwithstanding any difference in judgment, they are engraven on his heart, as the names of the children of Israel on Aaron’s breast-plate; Ex. xxviii. 21. Let them be so on thine. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem; they shall prosper that love thee, Ps. cxxii. 6.

THE END

SINS AND SORROWS

SPREAD

BEFORE GOD:

A SERMON,

BY THE REV. ISAAC WATTS.

GLASGOW:
PRINTED FOR THE BOOKSELLERS.

SINS AND SORROWS

SPREAD BEFORE GOD.

JOB xxiii. 3, 4.

Oh that I knew where I might find him! that I might come even to
his seat! I would order my cause before him, and fill my mouth
with arguments.

There is such a thing as converse with God in prayer, and it is the life and pleasure of a pious soul; without it we are no Christians; and he that practises it most, is the best follower of Christ, for our Lord spent much time in converse with his heavenly Father. This is the balm that eases the most raging pains of the mind, when the wounded conscience comes to the mercy-seat, and finds pardon and peace there. This is the cordial that revives and exalts our natures, when the spirit, broken with sorrows and almost fainting with death, draws near to the almighty Physician, and is healed and refreshed. The mercy-seat in heaven is our surest and sweetest refuge in every hour of distress and darkness on earth; this is our daily support and relief, while we are passing through a world of temptations and hardships in the way to the promised land. “It is good for us to draw near to God.” Psal. lxxiii. 28.

And yet so much is human nature sunk down and fallen from God, that even his own children are ready to indulge a neglect of converse with him, if their souls are not always upon the watch. But let it be remembered here, that so much as we abate of this divine entertainment among the vanities or amusements of the world, the businesses or burdens of life; so much we lose of the glory and joy of religion, and deprive our souls of the comfort that God invites us to receive.

Job was encompassed with sorrows all around, and his friends had censured him as a vile hypocrite, and a great sinner, because he was so terribly afflicted by the hand of God: whither should he run now but to his heavenly Father, and tell him of all his sufferings?

From the practice of this holy man, I thought we might have sufficient warrant to draw this inference, viz. that when a saint gets near to God in prayer, he tells him all his circumstances, and pleads for help. And this is the doctrine which I am endeavouring now to improve. O if I could but come near him; I would spread all my concerns before his eye, and I would plead with him for relief; I would fill my mouth with arguments.

Four things I proposed in the prosecution of this doctrine.

I. To consider what it is for a soul to get near to God in prayer.

II. What particular subjects doth a soul, thus brought near to the mercy-seat, converse with God about.

III. Why he causes to tell all his circumstances and his sorrows to God, when he is thus near him.

IV. How he pleads for relief.

I. We have already considered what it is for a soul to get near to the seat of God, and what are the usual attendants of such a privilege. At such a season the holy soul will have an awful and adoring sense of the majesty of God, a becoming fear of his terrors, and some sweeter taste of his love. There will be a divine hatred of every sin, and a sensible virtue and influence proceeding from a present God, to resist every temptation; there will be a spiritual and heavenly temper diffusing itself through the whole soul, and all the powers of it; a fixedness of heart without wandering; and a liveliness without tiring; no weariness is felt in the spirit at such a season, even though the flesh may be ready to faint under the overpowering sweetness; then the soul with freedom opens itself before the eye of God, and melts and flows in divine language, whether it complain or rejoice. But I have finished this head, and repeat no more.

II. What are some of the particular circumstances or subjects of complaint, that a saint brings to God when he comes near to him.

In general, a saint, when he is near to God, has all the fulness of his heart breaking out into holy language; he pours out his whole self before his God and his Father; all the infinite affairs that relate to the flesh and spirit, to this life and that which is to come; all things in heaven, and all things on earth, created or uncreated, may, at one time or other, be the subjects of converse between God and a holy soul. When the question is asked by a carnal man, “What can a Christian talk with God so long and so often about?” The Christian, in a divine frame, answers, “He that hath matter enough for converse with God, to wear out time, and to fill up eternity.” It may as well be asked on the other side, What has he not to say? What is there that relates to God, or to himself, to the upper, or the lower world, that he may not at some time say to his God?

But I must confine myself from wandering in so large a field, that I may comport with the design of my text. Though a good man, in devout prayer often spreads his hopes and his joys before the Lord as well as his sorrows, fear, and distresses; yet I shall at present endeavour to set forth only the mournful and complaining representations of his circumstances that he makes before the throne of God.

1. If I could but come near the mercy-seat, I would confess how great my sins are, and I would pray for pardoning grace. I would say, “How vile I am by nature;” I would count my original descent from Adam the great transgressor, and humble myself at the foot of a holy God, because I am the descent of such a sinner. I would tell him how much viler I have made myself by practice: “I have been an enemy in my mind by nature, and guilty of many wicked works, whereby I have farther estranged myself from him.” I would tell my God how multiplied my transgressions have been before I knew him, and how aggravated they have been since I have been acquainted with him. I would acquaint him with the frequency of my returning guilt, how I have sinned against mercies, against reproofs, against warnings received often from his word, and often from his providence.

I may appeal to the souls of many present, whether they have not had the greatest freedom of confession of their sins when they have been nearest to God, even though he be a God of holiness. At other times they have not only been averse to confess to any friend, but even unwilling to talk over to themselves the aggravation of their iniquities, or to mention them in prayer; but when they are brought thus near the throne of God, they unbosom themselves before him, they pour out their sins and their tears together, with a sweet and mournful satisfaction.

“I behold (says the saint) the great atonement, the blood of Jesus, and therefore I may venture to confess my great iniquities, for the satisfaction is equal to them all. When I behold God upon his seat, I behold the Lamb in the midst of the throne as it had been slain, and he is my Peace-maker. I see his all-sufficient sacrifice, his atoning blood, his perfect, his justifying righteousness.” The soul then answers the call of God with great readiness, when God says in Isaiah i. 18. “Come let us reason together; though your sins have been as scarlet, they shall be as wool.” “I am ready (says the soul) to enter into such reasonings; I am ready to confess before thee, that my sins are all crimson and scarlet, but there is cleansing blood with thy Son. Blood that has washed the garments of a thousand sinners, and made them as white as snow; and it has the same virtue still to wash mine too; I trust in it, and rejoice when I behold that blood sprinkled upon the mercy-seat, and therefore I grow confident in hope, and draw yet nearer to God, a reconciled God, since his throne has the memorials of a bleeding sacrifice upon it.”

2. If I could get nearer the seat of God I would tell him how many my enemies are, and how strong; how malicious, and how full of rage. And I would beg strength against them, and victory over them. I would say as David, “Many there be that hate me, many there be that rise up against me, and many there be that say of my soul, There is no help for him in God; but thou, O God, art my glory, my shield, and the lifter up of my head,” Psal. iii. Then, says the soul, I would complain to God of all my indwelling corruptions, of the body of death that dwells in me, or in which I dwell; and say; “O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me!” I would tell him then of the secret working of pride in my heart, though I long to be humble; of the rising of ambition in my soul, though I would willingly maintain a middle state amongst men, and not aim and aspire to be great. I would acquaint him of the vanity of my own mind, though I am perpetually endeavouring to subdue it. I would tell him, with tears, of my sinful passions, of my anger and impatience, and the workings of envy and revenge in me; of the perpetual stirrings of disorderly appetites, whereby I am led away from my God; I would tell him of the hardness of my heart, and the obstinacy of my temper. I would open before his eyes all the vices of my constitution; all those sacred seeds of iniquity that are ever budding and blossoming to bring forth fruit to death. These things are fit to mourn before the Lord, when the soul is come near to his seat.

I would complain of this sore enemy, the world, that is perpetually besetting me, that strikes upon all my senses, that by the ears, and the eyes, and all the outward faculties, draws my heart away from God my best friend. I would tell him of the rage of Satan, that watchful and malicious adversary; that I cannot engage in any duty of worship but he is ready to throw in some foolish or vain suggestion to divert me; and I would look forward, and point to my last enemy, death, and beg the presence of my God with me, when I walk through the dark valley; “Lord, when I enter into that conflict, assist me, that I may fear no evil, but be made more than a conqueror through him that has loved me.”

3. I would tell him what darkness I labour under, either in respect of faith or practice. If I am perplexed in my mind, and entangled about any of the doctrines of the gospel, I would tell them my God what my entanglements are, where the difficulty lies; and I would beg, that by his Spirit and his word, he would solve the controversy, and set his own truth before me in his own divine light. And then in point of practice, what darkness lies upon the spirit at such a time, is revealed before God: “My way is hedged up, I know not what path to chuse; it is very hard for me to find out duty; show me, O Lord, the way wherein I should walk, and mark out my path plain for me.”

4. I would mourn, and tell him how little converse I have with himself, how much he is hidden from me; I would complain to him, how far off I am from him the most part of my life, how few are the hours of my communion with him, how short is the visit, how much his face is concealed from me, and how far my heart is divided from him. A soul then says, “Surely there is too great a distance between me and my God, my heavenly Father;” and cries out with bitterness, “Why is God so far from me, and why is my heart so far from God? How often do I wait upon him in his own sanctuary, and among his saints, but I am not favoured with a sight of his power and glory there! And how often do I seek him in my secret retirements, but I find him not! I would tell him how often I read his promises in the gospel, and taste no sweetness; I go frequently to those wells of consolation and they seem to be dry; then I turn my face, and go away ashamed.”

5. I would tell him too of my temporal troubles, if I get near to God, because they unfit me for his service, they make me uncapable of honouring him in the world, and render me unfit for enjoying him in his ordinances; I would tell him how they damp my zeal, how they bow my spirit down, and make me go mourning all the day long, to the dishonour of Christianity, which is a dispensation of grace and joy. Thus I might complain before God of pains, of weakness, of sickness, of the disorders of my flesh; I might complain there too of the weakness of all my powers, the want of memory, the scatterings and confusions that are upon my thoughts, the wanderings of my fancy, and the unhappy influence that a feeble and diseased body has upon the mind: “O my God, how am I divided from thee by dwelling in such a tabernacle! Still patching up a tottering cottage, and wasting my best hours in a painful attendance on the infirmities of the flesh!”

I might then take the liberty of spreading before my God all the sorrows and vexations of life, that unhinge my soul from its centre, that throw it off from my guard, and hurry and expose me to daily temptations. I might complain of my reproaches from friends and enemies; because these, many times, wear out the spirit and unfit it for acts of lively worship. These are my weekly sorrows and groans, these are my daily fears and troubles; and these shall be spread before the eyes of my God, in the happy hour when I get near him.

Lastly, I would not go away without a word of pity and complaint concerning my relations, my friends and acquaintance, that are afar off from God. I would put in one word of petition for them that are careless unconcerned for themselves; I would weep a little at the seat of God for them: I would leave a tear or two at the throne of mercy, for my dearest relatives in the flesh, for children, brothers or sisters, that they may be brought near to God, in the bonds of the Spirit. Then would I remember my friends in Christ, my brethren and kindred in the gospel; such as labour under heavy burdens, languish under various infirmities of life, or groan under the power of strong temptations. When God indulges me the favour of his ear, I would spread their wants and sorrows before him, together with my own, and make supplication for all the saints. I would leave a petition at the mercy-seat for my native country, that knowledge and holiness may overspread the nation; that our king may be a nursing-father to the church, and our princes may be blessings to the land. And while I send up my request for the British Islands, I would breathe out many a sigh for Zion, that she may be the joy of the whole earth.--I proceed now to.

III. The third head of inquiry, which is this: Why does a saint, when he gets near to God delight to tell him all his circumstances, and all his sorrows?

In general I might say this, because it is so seldom, at least in our day, that a saint gets very near to God; therefore when he finds that happy minute, he says to his God all he wants to say; he tells him all his heart; he pours out all his wants before him; because these seasons are very few. It is but here and there an extraordinary Christian, who maintains constant nearness to God; the best complain of too much distance and estrangement. But to descend to particulars.

1. He is our chief friend, and it is an ease to the soul to vent itself in the bosom of a friend, when we are in his company. More especially as it was in the case of Job, when other friends failed him when he began to tell them some of his sorrows, and withal maintained his own integrity; they would not believe him, but became his troublers instead of his comforters; “My friends, scorn me,” saith Job, ch. xvi. 20, “but mine eye pours out tears to God.” I go to my best friend, my friend in heaven, when my friends here on earth neglect me.

Man is a sociable creature, and our joys and our sorrows are made to be communicated, that hereby we may double the one and alleviate the other. There is scarce any piece of human nature, be it ever so stupid, but feels some satisfaction in the pleasure of a friend, in communicating the troubles and the pleasures that it feels; but those that have God for their highest and best friend, they love to be often exercising such acts of friendship with him, and rather with him than with any friend besides, rather with him than all besides him. This is the noblest and highest friendship; all condescension and compassion on the one side, and all infirmity and dependance on the other! and yet both joined is mutual satisfaction. Amazing grace of God to man! The Christian rejoices in this admirable divine indulgence, and delights in all opportunities to employ and improve it.

Besides, this is the way to maintain the vigour of piety, and keep all the springs of divine love ever open and flowing in his own heart; therefore he makes many a visit to the mercy-seat, and takes occasion from every troublesome occurence in life, to betake himself to his knees, and improves every sorrow he meets on earth, to increase his acquaintance with heaven. He delights to talk all his grievances over with his God. Hannah, the mother of Samuel, is a blessed example of this practice, 1 Sam. i. 10. When she was in bitterness of soul, by reason of a sore affliction, and the teazing humour of her rival, she prayed to the Lord, and wept sore, and when she had left her sorrows at the mercy-seat, she went away, and did eat, and her countenance was no more sad, ver. 18. So saith the Christian, “I commit my sorrows to my God, he is my best friend, and I go away, and am no more sad; I have poured out my cares into his ear, and cast my burdens upon him, and I leave them there in peace.”

2. The saint knows God will understand him right, and will judge right concerning his case and his meaning. Though the expression (it may be) are very imperfect, below the common language of men, and propriety of speech, yet God knows the meaning of the soul, and he knows the mind of his Spirit, Rom. viii. The friends of Job perverted his sense; therefore he turns aside to God, for he knows God would understand him. It is a very great advantage, when we spread our concerns before another person, to be well assured that person will take us right, will take in our meaning fully, and judge aright concerning our cause. Now we may be assured of this when we speak to our God; he knows our thoughts afar, off, and all our circumstances, better infinitely than we can tell him. These our poor imperfect expressions of our wants, shall be no hinderance to his full supplies, nor any bar to his exercise of friendship toward us.

3. A saint pours out his soul before God, because he is sure of secrecy there. How many things are there transacted between God and a holy soul, that he could never publish to the world! and many things also that concern his conduct in life, his embarassment of spirit, his difficulties, his follies, or the obstinacy, guilt, or follies of his friends or relatives, which prudence or shame forbid him to tell his fellow creatures: and yet he wants to spread them all before God his best friend, God his dearest relative, the friend nearest to his heart. There may be many circumstances and cases in life, especially in the spiritual life, which one Christian could hardly communicate to another, though under the strictest bonds and ties of natural, and civil, and sacred relation; though we may communicate these very affairs, these secret concerns, with our God, and unburden our souls of every care, without the least public notice.

We cannot be perfect secure of this with regard to any creature; for when we have experienced the faithfulness of a friend many years, he may possibly be at last unfaithful: unfaithfulness is mingled with our nature since the fall, and it is impossible any person can be infallibly secure from it. Psal. lxii. 9. Men of low degree are vanity, and great men are a lie; but we may leave our case with our God, as secure as though we had communicated it to none: nay, we may be easily secure and free in speaking, because God knows all before-hand. Our complaint adds nothing to his knowledge, although it eases our souls, and gives us sweet satisfaction in having such a friend to speak to.

4. A saint believes the equity, faithfulness, and the love of God; therefore he spreads his case before him. His equity, that the judge of all the earth will do right; the righteous may plead with him. His faithfulness, that he will fulfil all his promises; and his love, that he will take compassion on those who are afflicted; he will be tender to those who are miserable. David takes occasion from this to address God under his sufferings and sorrows: Psal. lxii. 1, 2. “He is my rock, and my salvation, and my defence; I shall not be moved; therefore my soul waits upon God; my refuge is in him; he is a God that hears prayer, therefore unto him shall all flesh come,” Psal. lxv. 1. God will not account our complaints troublesome, though they be never so often repeated; whereas men are quickly wearied with the importunities of those who are poor and needy. Great men are ready to shut their doors against those who come too often for relief; but God delights to hear often from his people, and to have them ask continually at his door for mercy. Though he has almighty power with him, saith Job, yet he will not plead against me with his great power; no, but he would put strength in me; he would teach me how I should answer him; how I should answer his justice, by appeals to his mercy; and how I should speak prevailingly before him.

5. Lastly, A saint tells God all his circumstances and sorrows at such a season, because he hopes for relief from him, and from him only; for it is impossible creatures can give relief under any trouble, unless God make them instruments of relief. And there are some troubles in which creatures cannot be our helpers, but our help must come only from God, and that in a more immediate way. Whatsoever be our distress, whether it arise from past guilt and the torments of an anxious and troubled conscience, or whether it arise from the working of indwelling sin, the strength of temptation, or the violence of temporal afflictions, still God is able and willing to give relief. “Call upon me (saith the Lord) in the day of trouble, I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me;” Psal. 1. 12. And he hath never said to the seed of Jacob, seek ye my face in vain, Isa. xlv. 19.

IV. The fourth general head of discourse which I proposed, is to shew how a saint, near the mercy-seat, pleads with God for relief.

Holy Job tells us in this text, that if he was got near to the seat of God, he would fill his mouth with arguments.

Not as though he would inform God of the necessity, or the justice of his cause, beyond what he knew before; no, this is impossible; he that teacheth man all things, shall he not know? Psal. xciv. 9, 10. He who orders all the circumstances of our lives, and every stroke of his own rod, can he be unacquainted with any thing that relates to our sorrows?

Nor can we use arguments with God to awaken his ear, or move his compassion, as though he had neglected us or forgotten our distress; for all things are for ever naked and open before the eyes of him with whom we have to do. The shepherd of Israel cannot slumber; nor does his mercy want our awakenings.

But in this sort of expressions, the great God condescends to talk, and to transact affairs with us, and permits us to treat with him in a way suited to our weakness; he would have us plead and argue with him, that we may show how deep a sense we have of our own wants, and how entirely we depend on his mercy. Since we cannot converse with him in a way equal to his own majesty and Godhead he stoops to talk with us in such a way as is most agreeable to our state, and most easy to our apprehension, he speaks such language as we can understand, and invites us to humble conference with him in the same way. Come, says God to his people, by Isaiah his prophet, Come now, and let us reason together, Isa. i. 18. And he often in holy scripture, represents himself as moved and influenced by the prayers and pleadings of his afflicted saints; and he has ordained before hand, that the day when he prepares their hearts to pray, shall be the day when his ear shall hear the desire of the humble, and shall be the season of their deliverence, Psal. x. 17.

If you inquire, how a Christian pleads with his God, and whence does he borrow his arguments; I answer, that according to the various sorrows and difficulties which attend him, so various may his pleadings be for the removal of them. There is not a circumstance which belongs to his affliction, but he may draw some argument from it to plead for mercy; there is not one attribute of the divine nature, but he may use it with holy skill, and thereby plead for grace; there is not one relation in which God stands to his people, nor one promise of his covenant, but may at some time or other afford an argument in prayer. But the strongest and sweetest argument that a Christian knows, is the name and mediation of Jesus Christ his Lord. It is for the sake of Christ, who has purchased all the blessings of the covenant, that a saint hopes to receive them; and for the sake of Christ, he pleads that God would bestow them.

But having treated largely on this subject, it remains that I make a few useful reflections on the whole foregoing discourse.

REFLECTION I.

What a dull and uncomfortable thing is religion without drawing near to God! for this is the very business for which religion is designed; the end and aim of religion is getting nigh to God; if it attain not this end it is nothing.

O the madness of hypocrites, who satisfy themselves to toil in long forms of worship, and appear perpetually in the shapes of religion, but unconcerned whether they ever get near to God by it or no! They lose the end and design for which religion was made. What if we know all the doctrines of the gospel; what if we can talk rationally about natural religion; what if we can deduce one truth from another, so as to spread a whole scheme of godliness before the eyes or ears of those we converse with; what if we can prove all the points of Christianity, and give uncontestable arguments for the belief of them; yet we have no religion if our souls never get near to God by them. A saint thinks it a very melancholy thing when he is at a distance from God, and cannot tell God his wants and sorrows. Though he be never so much studied in divinity, and the deep things of God, yet if God be not with him, if he does not come near to his mercy-seat, so as to converse with him as his friend, the soul is concerned and grieved, and never rests till this distance be removed. It is to little purpose all these forms are maintained, if we have not the substance and the power of godliness; if our God be not near us, if we never get near to God.

REFLECTION II.

How happy are we under the gospel, above all ages and nations besides us, and before us! For we have advantages of getting near to God, beyond what any other religion has; above what the heathen world ever enjoyed; for their light of nature could never show them the throne of grace; above what the ancient patriarchs had, though God came down in visible shapes, and revealed and discovered himself to them as a man or an angel; above what the Jews had, though God dwelt among them in visible glory in the holy of holies. The people were kept at a distance, and the high-priest was to come thither but once a-year; and their veil, and smokes, and shadows, did, as it were, conceal God from them, although they were types of a future Messiah; and even their Shekinah itself, or cloud of glory, gave them no spiritual idea or notion of Godhead, though it was a shining emblem of God dwelling among them.

REFLECTION III.

Lastly, That future state of glory must be blessed indeed where we shall be ever near to God, even to his seat, and have no sorrows to tell him of. If it be so delightful a thing to come near the seat of God here upon earth, to mourn before him, and to tell him all our circumstances, and all our sorrows, how pleasurable a blessedness must that of heaven be, where we shall be ever rejoicing before him, as Christ Jesus was before the world was made, rejoicing daily before him; and our delight shall be with that God who created the sons of men; where we shall be for ever telling him of our joys, and our pleasures, with humble adoration of his grace, and everlasting gratitude.

O that I could raise your souls, and mine, to blessed breathings after this felicity, by such representations! But how infinitely short must the brightest descriptions fall of this state and place! May you and I, who speak and hear this, may every soul of us be made thus happy one day, and learn the extent and glory of this blessedness, by sweet and everlasting experience. Amen.

FINIS.

A

TOKEN FOR

MOURNERS.

WITH A SELECTION OF

SCRIPTURE PROMISES,

RELATIVE TO

THE TROUBLES of LIFE.

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust him for his grace;
Behind a frowning Providence
He hides a smiling face.

GLASGOW;
PRINTED FOR THE BOOKSELLERS.

A

TOKEN

FOR

MOURNERS.

&c.

2. KINGS, iv. 26.

_And she answered, It is well._

Short words, soon spoken; but to have a suitableness of heart to them is one of the highest attainments of faith. To be sure, “It is well;” we think so, when all things go according to our wish; when there is nothing in Providence that crosses our desires, that thwarts our designs, that sinks our hopes, or awakens our fears; Submission is easy work then; but to have all things seemingly against us, to have God smiting in the tenderest part, unravelling all our schemes, contradicting our desires, and standing aloof from our very prayers; how do our souls behave then? This is the true touchstone of our sincerity and submission; “Here,” as it is said, Rev. xiii. 10, “is the patience and faith of the saints;” this shews what they are made of, what they are within; but instances there are many in the book of God, wherein we find this sweet frame prevailing, as Abraham, Job, David, and the Shulamite in my text, than whose story we meet with few things in Providence more affecting. If you look back a little, you may see what were her circumstances, and those of her family. She was a “great woman,” says verse 8, and that she was a “good woman,” the whole context shews, her husband and she wanted but one thing to make them as happy as the vanity and uncertainty of all human affairs would admit of. They had enough of the world, and they seem to have had the enjoyment of it; for when Elisha, to requite her kindness, asks; “What shall be done for thee? Wouldst thou be spoken for to the king? &c.” she answers, “No, I dwell among mine own people,” “I seek nothing greater than what I have:” only (as Gehazie learned from her) they wanted a child to comfort them now, and to inherit what they had when they were gone. God in a miraculous way, gives this request. This child grows up, and was no doubt the delight of its parents. Just at the time of life when children are most engaging, before they are capable of doing any great thing to grieve their parents, God lays his hand suddenly upon him and takes him away. The dearest comforts are but short lived, and the dearer they are when living, the deeper they cut when they are removed. Many of you can judge what the loss of a son, an only son, must be, and when there is no hope of a Seth instead of Abel. But, behold, “he taketh away, and who shall hinder him?” Well: What does the mother do now? One would think all her hope is cut off, and all her comfort dried up: No, it is far otherwise. The same power that gave him could also raise him; in faith of this, she lays him upon the prophet’s bed, and makes all the haste to him she could. She concealing what had happened (as it is probable) from her husband, he objects to her going to the prophet, ver. 23, “Wherefore wilt thou go to him to-day? It is neither new-moon nor Sabbath.” And she said, “It shall be well.” Faith sets aside every obstacle: “It shall be well: the end will be peace;” “God is with me, and he will make all things work together for good.” Commentators, in general, make very light of this, and her answer to Elisha’s message in my text. Some suppose she has a reserve in her breast, when Gehazi asks after her family, that this “well” only refers to her husband and herself. Others think it is but a transition to something farther, which she was in haste to say; as if she had said, “All is well do not hinder me, I have urgent business with your master Elisha, and cannot stay to talk farther with you upon any matters.” This is the sense which most annotators incline to, which, I confess, I the more wonder at, because all agree, that the apostle’s words in part refer to this story, Heb. xi. 35. “Women received their dead raised to life again.” How they received them is there specified; namely, by or “through faith.” Faith, not as some carry it, in the prophet, but in the persons who had their dead restored to them; or else there would have been no need to make mention of any by name. Now wherein this woman’s faith appeared, my text and context make manifest. Here was a dependance upon God’s promise, an abiding by that, God had promised her a son; a son, not to lose him but to have comfort in him; and, as if she had said, “As for God, his work is perfect, he does not use to raise his people’s expectations for nothing; to give and immediately take away again. My son is dead, but God, all sufficient liveth; why should I mourn as though I had no hope? As for God’s power and faithfulness there is no abatement in them.” Therefore, she makes no preparation for his burial tells her husband nothing of his death, but seeks to God by the prophet, and expects help from him, See how she expresses herself: “Is it well with thee?” (and says Gehazzi,) “Is it well with thy husband? Is it well with the child?” and she answered, “It is well”. Here is the greatest submission in the greatest distress: Her son, her only son, the son of all her love, the son of her old age, he is taken away with a stroke, and yet all is well. There is nothing amiss in the dispensation; had she been to choose it, it is well; she has nothing to object. Here are submission and faith both discovered in their sweet exercise; submission to what God hath done; faith in what he is able to do, and in what she believed he would do: “By faith women received their dead raised to life again;” so that the words, thus explained, afford us this plain and useful observation.

OBSERV. Faith in God’s promise and power will bring a man to submit to the sorest and most trying dispensations of his Providence; or thus,

Faith where it is in exercise, will teach a Christian to say of all God does, “It is well.”

In discoursing on this proposition, I will endeavour to show what submission is, or how and in what sense we are to understand the expression in my text, “It is well.”