BookiV. H 0 P E cpMPARED To AN A N C H 0 R, 6es ' 4· To make Gold our H ope, implieth much Trouble and Anxiety of Mind, when ' once we fee our Endeavors incffetl:ual and unfuccefsful abom the attaining of it.' If Hope deferred make the Heart lick, as was hinted before, then when H ope dies, or as Zophar fpeaks, Chap. xi. 20. i> as the giving up of the Ghoft, the Heart mull: needs die too. 2. It is not Hope of Length of Days: If I wait, the Grave is my Houfe, &c. But then, 2. Pojitively, it is a patient and well- grounded ExpeCI:ation of the Accom– plifhment of what God hath promifed. Faith fees the Promife, and beholds it, though afar off: Abraham Jaw my Day, faith Chrifi : But then in comes Hope, and keeps the Soul alive, in a well·grounded Expetl:ation of the fulfilling and accomplifhment of it. See the Defcription of it where Faith is compared to an 1-lelmet. Why Hope is compared to an Anchor, may appear by what followeth. METAPHOR. I. AN Anchor is a good Stay and Secmity to a Ship in a Storm. ' 'Vhat would the Mariner do, had he not an Anchor to call: out of the Ship, when he is in dan– ger ofl~ocks and Sar.ds? I!. An Anchor takes hold of fomething which is out of light. I!I. A n Anchor, when it·takes hold of a Rock, or firm Ground, faftens and ftays a Ship more fiea– dily, preferving it from fuffering Shipwreck. IV. An Anchor would be of no ufe without the Cable to which it is fafiened. V. An Anchor, that it mav be of advantage to a Ship, req~ires Skill rightly to caft it. MET fl. PH 0 R. PARALLEL. I. so Hope in God, through Chrifi, is a moll: excellent Stay for the Soul of a Believer, in a D ay of Trouble and Perfecution. '!"hey fuffered jo;fully the jpoiling of their Goods, knowing in them– felves, they bad in Heaven a better and mduring Subftance. We are faved by Hope, &c. Heb. x. 34· It ftays the Soul, as an Anchor does the Ship. I!. So Hope, the Anchor of the Soul, takes hold of fomething which is not feen with carnal Eyes, which is within the Veil, &c. Ill. So Hope, the Anchor of the Soul, taking hold of Chrift, who is called a Rock, ftays the Soul in a perilous Time moft firm and ITeadily, fo ~hat it is fafe from fpiritual Shipwreck. IV. So Hope without Faith is of no ufe, nor can avail the Soul any thing in time of Need; thofe two Graces always co-operate, and work together for the Htlp and Succor of a Believer. V. H ope, the Anchor of the Soul, muft be rightly caft, or elfe it will not profit a Saint any thin!/ in the Day of Trouble. It muft be call: withtn the Veil, whither the Fore-runner iJ for us entered, even Jefus, &c. Heb. vi. D IS PAR IT Y. I. AN Anchor is cafi down into I. HOPE, the Anchor of the Soul, is caft upthe Sea, River, &c. ward; the Saint's Hope is in Heaven. I!. An Anchor may let go its 11. Hope, the Anchor of the Soul, is both hold, or be broke, and fo become fme and !tedfafi ; hence it is faid, Hope maketb trfelefs to a Ship, by which means not afhamed. If their Hope was not firm, or the Ship may be loft. were there any danger of tts being loft or broke, the Saints of God were in a fad Condition, and they might turn away with their Faces afhamed. If their Hope fhould fail them, they would have no Refuge left. If H ope hold, all holds; but if Hope be gone, all is gone. Neither is it to be thought, that the Hope of holy Job, Heman, anJ others, who in Trouble fpake of their Hope being gone, and peri)bed from the L ord, was indeed ut~erly_ loft and perifhed,_ but that it was only fo in their own Apprehenlion, they berng m great depths of Defpondency, and under fad Defection of Spirit. Like as the. Church was, w~en !he faid, ~ God bath Jorfaken me, my God bath forgotten ·me; whtch God htmfelf gracwuily anfwers, It was not fo, nor could be fo. A Saint's ftanding in Chri!l: is firm; the Covenant is ordered in all Thincrs, and fure. But to ·confirm this gloriou• Tru'th, and make it yet more clear, and that I may leave no room for an Objetl:ion, that Hope is both fure and ftedfaft, &c. confider the many lhong &rs that are cemented together, as fo many Bars of Iron, hammered by the Spirit, to the makmg of thts blelfed Anchor of the Soul both fure and ftedfaft, 7 p ~irf!,
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