haste, he doth lose his place. Thus it is sometimes with good people, they make so much haste to their comfort, that they lose it by their haste; they would have it sooner if they went on in an ordinary way of waiting on God without such posting haste; but they must have it to-day; oh let me know my interest in Christ to-day, saith one, or else I am undone for ever. Thus, by stinting and limiting God to a time, they tempt the Holy One, and so are more distant from their comfort; the more the child cries, and is froward under the rod, the longer is the rod continued.

Some seek comfort in a way of reason, and think to reason out their temptation, and to reason in their comfort, but as one saith well, Dispute not with God lest you be confounded, dispute not with Satan lest you be deceived.

Some again tire themselves in duty, neglecting of their calling; the truth is, prayer is a friend to comfort, and more than ordinary time is to be used in prayer for those that are troubled in conscience, but when men under temptations, and without comforts throw up their callings, thinking that nothing is to be done but prayer, by throwing aside their calling, they lay themselves open to more temptations of Satan, they do so tire out their natural spirits in duty, that they are flat and dead in duty, so their temptations are the more increased, and their comforts more distanced. Wherefore consider, if you would have comfort restored again, whether you do not use the means of comfort in such a manner, as to set you at a further distance from it.

3. Whether have you not strained, and reached for some outward comfort so far, as to lose your inward comfort? I read of Francis Spira, that when he was in horror of conscience, he could not with peace and quietness behold his wife and children, for, to get an estate for them he denied the truth, and therefore when they came before him in his trouble, he cried out in much horror, How terrible is the sight of these to me! They had been comforts to him before, yet now he could not away with the sight of them. Oh, thought he, for your sakes, and for your provision, I have denied the truth and yielded to these superstitions; and therefore says he, How terrible is the sight of these unto me! What peace or comfort had Judas in the sight of his thirty pence? Look what outward comfort a man strains his conscience for,

that will be death unto him to behold. We read of David, that when his men had ventured for the waters of Bethlehem, he would not drink of it, but poured it out before the Lord, for, saith he, "Why should I drink the blood of these men?" He did not sin in desiring of it, nor did he command his men for to venture through the enemy's quarters, for those Hebrew words, in' 'p, quis dabit, who will give me? are but words of wishing, who will give me to drink of the waters of Bethlehem; that is, Oh, that I had the waters of Bethlehem: according to the Hebrew language, but though he sinned not in his desires, yet when he had the waters, he poured them forth before the Lord, and said, "God forbid that I should drink the blood of these men ;" and will you drink the blood of your own conseience? Time was heretofore when you had peace and comfort, and by straining and stretching your conscience for your outward comfort, now you have lost your inward, will you not then take that outward comfort, and pour it forth before the Lord, and say, God forbid that I should drink the blood of mine own peace and comfort? How can any of you have peace, while those stolen and unrestored goods lie by you?

But alas! all my comforts do lie prostrate at the feet of my fears, that now I have no peace at all: what shall I do that my peace and comfort may be restored?

By way of direction, three things.

1. Look what you would do if you were to be justified, and do the same now: if I were to be justified, having a sight of my own sin and nature, I would, through grace, come to the righteousness of Jesus Christ, and leave the weight of my poor, guilty soul upon it; which act of faith would justify me, and give me peace; for "being justified by faith (saith the apostle), we have peace with God."

And as faith doth justify and give peace at the first, so the renewing of this act of faith doth renew our peace; and what is my justifying faith, but in time of temptation to leave myself and condition upon Christ alone, saying, Whether godly or ungodly, whether in Christ or not in Christ, now I do not dispute, but leave myself upon Christ alone: this do again, and this will bring peace again.

2. You have now lost your comforts and the shinings of God's face either God has withdrawn himself for your sin,

or not; if not for your sin, he will return again, and that quickly too; if for your sin, labour more and more for to find it out, and to be humbled for it.

I know you will say, Oh, but now in this condition I cannot be humbled.

But withal remember, that in this condition, that goes for humbling which doth not before, and God will take that for humiliation now, which he would not take before. Psalm xxxii., saith David, "I said I will confess my transgression unto the Lord, and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin." Dixit non fecit, saith Austin, he said he would do it, but did not do it fully, yet thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. God took his humiliation although it was very low. Why? Verse 3, 4, we find him under temptation and in much discouragement, for saith he, "My bones waxed old with my roaring all the day long, day and night thy hand was heavy upon me; my moisture is turned into the drought of summer," yet how ready was God to receive an acknowledgment, and a little humiliation from him at this time.

Oh, but what is all this to us? this was David's case. Nay, saith David, this is not my case alone, for verse 6, "For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee, in a time when thou mayest be found." God will receive a little when you are much discouraged. Either therefore God hath withdrawn for your sin, or not; if not, wait but a little, he will return again; if for your sin, labour more and more to be humbled for it, for he will receive that measure of humiliation now, which he will not do at any other time.

3. Are all your comforts gone, and would you have them fain restored? Then read and read the Scripture much; if you cannot read yourself, get some others for to read them to you. When a man's mind is empty, as in temptation and want of comfort, it is empty of Christ, and full of fear, then it doth grind itself, as a quern or mill when empty of corn, one stone grinds another: the more full a man's mind is, the more free from temptations and fears. Now Scripture matter is the most filling matter, the more ye see Christ walking in the sweet shades of divine love toward poor sinners, the sooner will your faith revive, and your comforts be restored; and where can you see Jesus Christ walking, and taking his turns with poor sinners under the shades of

divine love, but in the Scriptures? stand there awhile, and you shall see him, and your heart will say, And why not one turn of love with me, oh my Saviour? Study, read, and read much the scriptures.

But if I do read the scriptures, and read them much, I shall then meet with some promise, possibly many, and now I cannot apply them being thus discouraged as I am, I shall see the promises indeed, and say, There is such and such an old friend of mine, but it is now mine enemy, the promise will not own me, and I cannot apply it, and so it will do me no good.

Ye cannot tell what the promise will do till you come to apply it; the promise never gives down its power and strength till it be applied, it doth then work when it is put to work, and not before. When Moses saw his rod turned into a serpent, he was afraid of it, and fled from it, but when he put forth his hand and took it by the tail, it was a rod in his hand again, as it was before; it may be you look upon such and such a promise at a distance, and you say, Oh, there is my enemy, now it will not help me, it will sting me, it will undo me, but put forth your hand again to it, and it will become a promise, a rod in your hand, as comfortable as ever it was before.

And doth not the promise come to you? go you to it. Sometimes the promise doth come to us, sometimes we go to it; when the promise doth come to you, you have joy, when you go to it, you have peace, and this peace may last longer than the other joy; but remember this as an everlasting rule, that your very relying upon the promise doth make it yours.

But if I do read the scriptures much in this condition. of my discouragement, I shall not only meet with the promise, but with a threatening, and that will discourage

me more.

Not so, for if a threatening make way to the promise, and doth therefore come forth to meet you, that it may lead you to the promise, have you any hurt thereby? Now as the law was a schoolmaster to bring to Christ, so sometimes the threatening is a schoolmaster to bring you to the promise.

Yea, and God doth therefore sometimes send the threatening that it may lead you to the promise. You know how

God appeared to Elijah, first in a wind that did shake the mountains and rocks, but God was not there; then in an earthquake, but God was not there; then in a fire, but God was not there; then in a still voice, and there was God. So when God appears to a soul, sometimes he doth first send a threatening, and shakes the rocks and mountains, and hard hearts, and his converting grace may not be there, but there is a still voice behind, the voice of the promise, God is there, and all this shaking of the threatening, is but to make way unto the still voice of the promise that is behind.

Oh, but if I should read the scriptures much in this condition, I should meet with many other things which concern not me, there are many histories in the Scripture which suit not with my condition, and so I should get no good or

comfort.

Say not so; Christ cures, per modum divertentiæ, by way of divertency, as you do those that are grieved. If a friend have lost a husband, or wife, or child, you do not speak of the lost person and say, Oh, what a sweet friend, or husband, or wife, or child you have lost; but you speak of something else, and then afterwards you are able to speak of the person lost, but first you divert his mind from the matter of his grief, and so you do cure his grief. Thus doth Christ also when he cures a poor, wounded, grieved soul, he doth not always speak to the subject matter of grief in hand, but leads the heart sometimes into the consideration of other truths, and then afterwards doth speak unto the matter that is now concerning; he cures by way of divertency.

Study therefore, oh, study the Scriptures much, for thus the Lord will pour wine and oil into your bleeding wounds, and in due time you will say, as David did, “ In the multitude of my thoughts, O Lord, thy comforts have comforted my soul," Psalm xciv. 19.

But suppose the Lord do restore to me the joy of my salvation, that the bones which I have broken may rejoice; suppose there be a return of peace and joy, what shall I do then?

I shall not need to tell you what then, you will tell me what then, for you will say, Oh, now I must be thankful, now