374' Faiths Triumph, i; 8. Vie 2. i-. , ' or the lofs of a dear friend ; it is not fo eaffe a thing to bearthe lots ofan eflate, as thou thinkefl, thou (halt find it a hard matter to bear in worldly forrów, we may item to take courage before aflli&ion comes, but when aflk&ions and trials fall uponus, then weare put to it : it is with us, as with a Ship, when the Sun doth Thine, and the Seas are calm, and the Wind fair, then the goes on plcafantly in her motion,butin a ftorm all little enough tokeep her Heady : in our eafie dayes,in our daÿes of peacc,in our calmeffate,thcn we can hold up our heads well enough ; but in our loffes and crofles, we fhall hardly bear up, unlefs the Lord do mightily fup- port us. We mayobferve two forts ofperfons in the world, force arc infcnfble perfons, who are like theRock that nothing can break it; who are to hardened,that though God do fcourge them, yet they feel it not, though God loth threaten them, they fear not, though Gods hand bealready upon them, they regard it not ; a condition not fo much now to be checked, as to be deplored. To fuck perfons it is all one, whether God blcfs, or whetherGod,curfe; whetherbe fpeakby his word, or by his Rod, it isall one to them,theyfeel nothing,nor fear nothing. Secondly, thereisanotherfortofperfons,whoarefenfiblepeifons,fenfibleofGods love, and fenfible of Gods anger ; they know that God is good and wife, that he doth not ftrikeoffour comforts fromus, but upon force fpecial ante. Now to flay upon God, and to yield to the Lord; It is theLord, let himdo what feemt goodun- tohim. God dothnot depriveme of fuch a comfort, but he fees it heft for me. Be- loved, it were good to learn this leffon, it will coil theefomething in a hear trial, to acquitthy felfbyfaith,to acquit God,and to fubmit to his chaftifement,to kifs the rod,to judg the fin,to bend the foul, to better the life, this were an excellent leffon to learn in all our trials and affli&ions. Secondly, if great trials may befal great Chriflians, and faith is that whichwill make aman acquit himfelf in great trials ; then get faith, ufe faith. what faith is, I have divers times difcovered in this affembly, whence it comes, from heaven, hoW wemayattain it, by the Word and Prayer ; but to omit there, I fay get faith, labour fer this grace of faith, if there were no other reafon but this, it is able to fupport us in ourdayes of trial, it is able to give us comfort in our greateft forrow ; this were motive enough tomake us labourto get faith, the day of trial being fo Com,non, and we apt every moment to fall under force trial or other. . Therebe four virtues and fpecial effects that faith works in the foul, whichwill finable us to go through great trials,and thereforewe fhould labour to get this grace of faith into our fouls. Firfl, faith gets affluence; Secondly,breeds fubmittance; Thirdly,dependancc; and laftly, conveyance. Firfl, faith gets aliurance, it can eye God asourGod, thoughthe dorms be very great, yet God can quiet it. When a man though lie fees hisoutwardcomfort dead, ,yet Faith fees it in the handof a livingGod; Faith afflicts the foul, God will put an end to the trial, though there be a changeablenefs in the outward condition, yet there is fafety in God, and fetlednefs in God. Though a man may look with a dull eye ujaon his lofs, yet ifhe can look upon GodWith the eye of faith, ashisGod, the abfence ofa poorcreature cannotfomuch troublehim,as thepretenceofa gracious, Ritd'a glorious God, can comfort and fupport im. Secondly, fubmittance is another effeát of faith, which faith works in the foul` .oitroutward condition is fubje& to many changes, and many times we meet with them, and we are hindred in our comforts, and naturally we grow impatient, and murmur and quarrel with Gods providence ; but now there is a vertue in faith, it fafhions the Heart;and themind to the condition; faithmakes a man fubmit to God in all cflates, to make usfloop to our burthen, it is the Lord, faithEli, I Sam. 3. let him do what feems goodunto him; and in the 39 Pfal. faith David,! mat demob, and opened not my month, becaufe the Lorddid it. Obfervc this, unbelief makes a man dumb, and faith made Davidldumb Zachary, becaufe he believed not the wordthat theAngel fpake, he was dumb ; and Davidbecaufe he believed the word Ofthe Lord , he was dumb ; unbelief procures dumbnefs, as a judgment from God, _
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