Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

Surely it were good to fright ourselves by fach dreadful examples out of our finful fears; is any mifery we can fear from the hands of man like this? Oh, reader! believe it, "it is "a fearful thing to fall into the hands of an angry God." Hadft thou ever felt the rage and efficacy of a wounded and distressed confcience, as these poor wretches felt it, no fears or threats of men should drive thee into fuch an hell upon earth as this is, 2.And yet, though this be a doleful cafe, it is not the worst case your own finful fears will cast you into, except the Lord overcome and extinguifh them in you by the fear of his name, they will not only bring you into a kind of hell upon earth, but into hell itself for evermore; for fo the righteous God hath said in his word of truth, Rev. xxi. &. "but the fearful and unbelieving, "&c. fhall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire "and brimstone, which is the second death." Behold here the martial law of heaven executed upon cowards and renegadoes, whose fears make them revolt from Chrift in the time of danger. Think upon this, you timorous and faint-hearted profeffors: you cannot bear the thoughts of lying in a nafty dungeon, how will you lie then in the lake of fire and brimstone? You are afraid of the face and frowns of a man that fhall die, but how will you live among devils? Is the wrath of man like the fury of God poured out? Is not the little finger of God heavier than the loins of all the tyrants in the world? remember what Christ hath faid, Matth. x. 33. "But whofoever fhall deny me be"fore men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in "heaven." Reader, the time is coming when he that spake thefe words fhall break out of heaven with a shout, accompanied with myriads of angels, and ten thousands of his faints, the heavens and the earth fhall be in dreadful conflagrations round about him; the laft trump fhall found, the graves fhall open, the earth and fea fhall give up the dead that are in them. Thine eyes fhall fee him afcend the awful throne of judgment, his faithful ones that feared not to own and appear for him in the face of all enemies and dangers, fitting on the bench, as affeffors with him; and then to be difclaimed and renounced for ever by Jefus Chrift, in the face of that great affembly, and proclaimed a delinquent, a traitor to him, that deniedst his name and truths, because of the frowns of a fellow-creature, long face withered as the grass. O how wilt thou be able to endure this! Now put both these together, in thy ferious confideration, think on the terrors of confcience here, and the defperate horror of it in hell; this is a par-boiling, that as a roafting in the flames of God's infufferable wrath: these as fome fcalding drops fprink

led before-hand upon thy confcience, that tender and fenfible part of man; that as the lake burning for ever with fire and brimftone. Oh! who would fuffer himself to be driven into all this mifery, by the fears of these fufferings which can but touch the flesh; and for their duration, they are but for a moment?

Think, and think again upon those words of Christ, Mark viii. 35. "He that will fave his life, fhall lofe it." It may be a prolonging of a miferable life, a life worse than death, even in thine own account; a life without the comfort or joy of life; a life ending in the second death; and all this for fear of a trifle, compared with what thou shalt afterwards feel in thine own confcience, and lefs than a trifle, nothing, compared with what thou must fuffer from God for ever.

Rule 3. He that will overcome his fears of fufferings, muß forefee and provide before-hand for them.

The fear of caution is a good cure to the fear of distraction; and the more of that, the lefs of this; this fear will cure that, as one fire draws forth another, Heb. xi. 7. "Noah being moved "with fear, prepared an ark." In which he provided as much for the reft and quiet of his mind, as he did for the safety of his perfon and family. That which makes evils fo frightful as they are, is their coming by way of furprize upon us. Thofe troubles that find us fecure, do leave us distracted and desperate. Prefumption of continued tranquillity proves one of the greatest aggravations of mifery. Trouble will lie heavy enough when it comes by way of expectation, but it is intolerable when it comes quite contrary to expectation. It will be the lot of Babylon to fuffer the unexpected vials of God's wrath, and I wish none but she and her children may be fo furprized. Rev. xviii. 7. Oh! It were well for us, if, in the midst of our pleasant enjoyments, we would be putting the difficulteft cafes to ourselves, and mingle a few fuch thoughts as thefe with all our earthly enjoyments and comforts.

I am now at ease in the midft of my habitation, but the time may be at hand when my habitation fhall be in a prifon. I fee no faces at prefent but thofe of friends, full of files and honours; I may fee none fhortly but the faces of enemies, full of frowns and terrors. I have now an eftate to lupply my wants, and provide for my family; but this may fhortly fall as a prey to the enemy, they may fweep away all that I have gathered, reap the fruits of all my labours.-Impius has fegetes. I have yet my life given me for a prey; but, oh! how foon may it fall into cruel and blood-thirsty hands! I have no better fecurity for thefe things than the martyrs had, who fuffered the lofs of all thefe

things for Chrift's fake. A double advantage would result to us from fuch meditations as thefe, viz. the advantage,

1. Of acquaintance with
2. Of preparation for

[blocks in formation]

1. Hereby our thoughts would be better acquainted with thefe evils; and the more they are acquainted with, the less they will start and fright at them. We should not think it strange concerning the fiery trial, as it is 1 Pet. iv. 12. It is with our thoughts as it is with young colts; they start at every new thing they meet; but we cure them of it, by bringing them home to that they start at, and making them smell to it; better E acquaintance cures this ftartling humour. The newness of evil*, faith a late grave and learned divine, is the cause of fear, when the mind itfelf hath had no preceding encounter with it, whereby to judge of its ftrength, nor example of another man's profperous iffue, to confirm its hopes in the like fuccefs: For, as I noted before out of the Philofoper †, experience is inftead of armour, and is a kind of fortitude, enabling both to judge, and to bear troubles; for there are fome things which are poppohvxesa nαl #poow, scare-crows and vizors, which children fear only out of ignorance; as foon as they are known they ceafe to be terrible.

I know our minds naturally reluctate, and decline fuch harsh and unpleasant fubjects: It is hard to bring our thoughts to them in good earnest, and harder to dwell to long as is neceffary to this end upon them. We had rather take a pleasant prof pect of future felicity and profperity in this world; of multiplying our days as the fand, and at last dying quietly in our neft, as Job fpeaks. Our thoughts run nimbly upon fuch pleasant fancies, like oiled wheels, and have need of trigging; but when they come into the deep and dirty ways of fuffering, there they drive heavily, like Pharaoh's chariots difimounted from their wheels. But that which is moft pleafant, is not always. most useful and neceffary; our Lord was well acquainted with griefs, tho' our thoughts be fuch great ftrangers to them; he often thought and fpake of his fufferings, and of the bloody baptifm with which he was to be baptized, Luke xii. 50. and he not only minded his own fufferings before-hand, but, when he perceived the fond imaginations and vain fancies of some that followed and profeffed him, deluding them with expectations of earthly profperity and reft, he gave their thoughts a turn to

*Dr. Edward Reynolds.
+Epictetus.

this lefs pleafing, but more needful fubject, the things they were to fuffer for his name; instead of answering a foolish and groundless question, of fitting on his right and left hand, like earthly grandees, he rebukes the folly of the Queftionist, and afks a lefs pleafing question, Mat. xx. 22. "But Jefus answered " and faid, Ye know not what ye ask: are ye able to drink of "the cup that I thall drink of, and to be baptized with the bap"tism that I shall be baptized with?" q. d. You do but abuse yourselves with fuch fond and idle dreams, there is other employment cut out for you in the purposes of God; instead of fitting upon thrones and tribunals, it would become you to think of being brought before them as prisoners to receive your doom and fentence to die for my fake; thefe thoughts would do you a great deal more fervice.

66

2. As fuch meditations would acquaint us better, fo they would prepare us better, to encounter troubles and difficult things when they come. Readiness and preparation would fubdue and banish our fears; we are never much scared with that for which our minds are prepared. There is the fame difference in this cafe, as there is betwixt a foldier in complete armour, and ready at every point for his enemy; and one that is alarmed in his bed, who hath laid his clothes in one place, and his arms in another, when his enemy is breaking open his chamber-door upon him. It was not therefore without the most weighty reason, that the apostle preffes us fo earnestly, Eph. vi. 13, 14. "Take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to "withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand. Stand "therefore, having your lions girt about with truth, and having "on the breaft plate of righteoufnefs, and your feet shod with "the preparation of the gofpel of peace." We fee the benefit of fuch previfions and provifions for fuffering, in that great example of courage and conftancy, Acts xxi. 13., "I am ready, (faith "Paul) not only to be bound, but to die at Jerufalem." And the fame courage and conftancy remained in him, when he was entring the very lifts, and going to lay his very neck upon the block, 2 Tim. iv. 6. "I am ready to be offered up, the time "of my departure is at hand." The word doua, properly fignifies a libation or drink-offering, wherein fome conceive he alluded to the very kind of his own death, viz. by the sword: his heart was brought to that frame, that he could with as much willingness pour out his blood for Chrift, as the priests used to pour out drink-offerings to the Lord. It is true, all the meditations and preparations in the world, made by us, are not fufficient in themselves to carry us through fuch difficult fervices; it is one

thing to fee death as our fancy limns it out at a distance, and another thing to look death itself in the face. We can behold the painted lion without fear, but the living lion makes us tremble: but yet, tho' our suffering-strength comes not from our own preparations or forethoughts of death, but from God's gracious affiftance; yet ufually that affistance of his is communicated to us in and by the confcientious and humble use of these means; let us therefore be found waiting upon God for strength, patience, and refolutions to fuffer as it becomes Chriftians, in the daily ferious use of those means whereby he is pleased to communicate to his people.

Rule 4. If ever you will fubdue your own flavish fears, commit yourselves, and all that is yours, into the hands of God by faith.

.

This rule is fully confirmed by that scripture, Prov. xvi. 3. "Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be "established." The greateft part of our trouble and burden, in times of danger, arifes from the unfettlednefs and distraction of our own thoughts; and the way to calm and quiet our thoughts is to commit all to God. This rule is to be applied for this end and purpose, when we are going to meet death itself, and that in all its terrible formalities, and moft frightful appearances, 1 Pet. iv. 19. "Let them that fuffer according to the will of God "commit the keeping of their fouls to him in well-doing, as unto "a faithful Creator." And if this committing act of faith be fo ufeful at fuch a time, when the thoughts must be fuppofed to be in the greatest hurry, and fears in their full ftrength; much more will it establish the heart, and calm its paffions in leffer troubles. You know what ease and relief it would be to you, if you had a trial depending in law for your estates, and your hearts were overloaded and diftracted with cares and fears about the iffue of it: if one whom you know to be very skilful and faithful, fhould fay to you at fuch a time, trouble not yourself any farther about this bufinefs, never break an hour's fleep more for this matter; be you an unconcerned fpectator, commit it to me, and trust me with the management of it; I will make it my own concernment, and fave you harmless. O what a burden, what an heavy load would you feel yourselves eased of, as foon as you had thus transferred and committed it to fuch a hand! then you would be able to eat with pleasure, and fleep in quietnefs: much more eafe and quietnefs doth your committing the matter of your fears to God give, even fo much more as his power, wifdom, and faithfulnefs is greater than what is

[blocks in formation]
« AnteriorContinuar »