3. This fhall not abide for ever: it is but a little cloud, and will blow over. It is but for a moment, and that moment's darkness ufhers in everlafting light, Ifa. liv. 7. Yea, laftly, the light of God's countenance fhall not only be reftored certainly, but it fhall be reftored feasonably; when the darkness is greatest, thy troubles at the highest, and thy hopes lowest. He is a God of judgment, and knows how to time his own mercies, Pfal. cxxxviii. 3. Obj. 3. But I am a weak woman, or a young perfon, how shall I be able to confefs Chrift before rulers, and look great ones in the face? Sol. Chrift delights to make his power known in fuch, 2 Cor. xii. 9. for he affects not focial glory. 2. "Thou shalt be holden up, for God is able to make thee ftand," Rom. xiv. 4. Thou that art fenfible of thine owh infirmity, mayeft run to that promife 3. Such poor weak creatures fhall endure when stronger (if selfconfident) fall, Ifa. xl. 30, 31. "Even the youths fhall faint, and "be weary, and the young men utterly fall. But they that wait up"on the Lord, fhall renew their ftrength: they fhall mount up "with wings as eagles, run and not be weary, walk and not faint." Youths, and young men, are bold, daring, and confident perfons, that truft to their own ftrength; to whom fuch as wait upon the Lord ftand here oppofed; they fhall faint, but these shall renew their ftrength. Art thou one that waiteft and dependeft upon an all-fufficient God, in the fenfe of thine own weakness? This promife then is for thee. 4. You may furnish yourfelves at pleafure, with examples of the mighty power of God refting upon fuch as you are, out of our own inartyrology. Thomas Drowry the poor blind boy, Fox, vol. 3. p. 703. What ä presence of spirit was with him, when examined by the Chancellor! Eulalia, a virgin of about 12 years of age, see how she was acted above thofe years, yea, above the power of nature. Fox, vol. 1. p. 120. Tender women, yea, children, act above themfelves, when affifted by a strong God. And thus you have fome help offered you by a weak hand, in your present and most important work. The Lord carry home all with power upon your hearts, that if God call you to fuffer for him, you may fay as Paul did, "I am now ready "to be offered up, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have "fought a good fight, I have finifhed my courfe, I have kept the faith; henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteoufnefs, "which God the righteous Judge fhall give me at that day; and not "to me only, but to them alfo which love his appearing," 2 Tim. iv. 6, 7, 8. And as you expect so to finish you. courfe with joy; be dir ligent in the ufe of all means, to prepare and make yourselves ready to follow the call of God, whether it be to bonds, or to death, for the name of the Lord Jefus. THE Balm of the Covenant APPLIED TO THE BLEEDING WOUNDS OF AFFLICTED SAINTS. TO WHICH IS ADDED, A SERMON preached for the Funeral of that excellent and religious Gentleman, JOHN UPTON, of LUPTON, ESQ. I To the Virtuous and Much Honoured Madam, URSULA UPTON, of LUPTON in DEVON. MADAM, F I find it an hard task to write on such a doleful subject, it cannot be imagined but your part must be abundantly harder, who feel over and over what is here written, Could I tell how to administer counfels and comforts to you, without exafperating your forrows, I would certainly take that way; but feeing the one (in this cafe) cannot be done without the other, it is our duty to fubmit to the method Providence hath prefcribed to us. The defign of the enfuing difcourfe, is to evince the truth of what feems a very great paradox to moft men, namely, that the afflictions of the faints can do them no hurt, and that the wisdom of men and angels cannot lay one circumftance of their condition (how uneafy foever it seems to be) better, or more to their advantage than God hath laid it. I attempt not by a flourish of rhetoric to perfuade you against the demonftrations you can fetch from fenfe and feeling to the contrary, but to overthrow the falfe reafonings of flesh and sense, by the allowed rules of Scripture, and fure principles of religion. And methinks you, and every Chriftian, fhould gladly entertain that comfortable conclufion, when you fhall find the foundation of it as ftrong, as the influences thereof are sweet and comfortable. Certainly, Madam, the intent of the Redeemer's undertaking was not to purchase for his people riches, eafe, and pleasures on earth; but to mortify their lufts, heal their natures, and spiritualize their affections; and thereby to fit them for the eternal fruition of God. Upon this fuppofition the truth of this conclufion (how strange foever it feems) is firmly built. It was not without Divine direction, that the subject of the ensuing difcourfe was as pertinently, as feafonably, recommended to me by your dear husband, in the day of your forrows for your only fon. He took, I hope, his portion of comfort out of it before he died, and it is now left as a fpring of comfort to you, who then mourned with /him, and now for him. Heavy preffures call for ftrong fupport, and fainting seasons for rich cordials. Your burden is indeed heavy: yet I muft fay it is much our own fault our burdens are so heavy as we feel them to be; for according to the measure of our delight in, and expectation from the creature, is our forrow and disappointment when we part from it. The highest tides are always followed with the loweft ebbs. We find temperance and patience knit together in the fame precept, and intemperance and impatience as infeparably connected in our own experience. It may be we did not fufpect ourselves of any finful excess in the time of their enjoyment; but it now appears the creature was gotten deeper into our hearts than we imagined by the pain we feel at parting: Did we not lean too hard upon it, there would not be fuch thakings as we feel when it is flipt from us. But, Madam, it is high time to recal your thoughts, and bound your forrows, which the following confiderations would greatly affist you in. 1. What is the very ground and reafon of our exceffive forrows for the loss of earthly comforts? Is it not this, That they are perishing and tranfitory? That is, that you find them to be as God made them. And can we expect that God should altar the laws of nature to please and humour us? It is as natural to our relations to die, as it is for flowers to wither, or the moon to wane. 2. That there is no fuch neceffary connexion betwixt these things and our comfort, that whenever God removes the one, he niuft needs remove the other with it. Chrift and comfort are indeed fo united, but nothing befide him is or can be fo. I hope you will fhortly experience the truth of this conclufion, by the comfort God will give you in the absence of thofe comforts you have loft. Can you not now have as free accefs to God as before? Yea, do not thefe very afflictions fend you oftener into his prefence? And if God meet you in those duties, (as in days of diftrefs he ufes to meet his people,) then it will be evident to you that your joy and comfort lives, though your husband and children be laid in their graves. 3. That the removing of your earthly comforts hinders not but that you may ftill purfue the great end and business of your life, and carry on all your defigns for heaven as fuccefsfully as ever. Indeed, Madam, had we been fent into this world to raise eftates, contract relations, and then fit down in the midft of them as our portion, then our design had been utterly dafhed and difappointed; but you know this is not your main end, or great bufinefs upon earth, but to honour God by an holy fruitful life here, and make ready for the full enjoynient of him hereafter. And what hinders but you may as profperoufly manage and carry on this your defign as ever? You do not think the traveller is difabled for his journey, because he hath fewer clogs and hinderances than before. I think few Chriftians find much furtherance heavenward by their multiplicity of engagements or enjoyments in this world. Your cares and fears about these things, will now lie in a narrower compafs than they did before, and thereby you may have your thoughts more about you, to attend the great concerns of God's glory, and your own falvation. 4. But above all, you will certainly find your relief and confolation to lie in the everlasting covenant of God. Thence it was, that David fetched his fupport under a much heavier burden and fmarter rod than yours: For your relations were fuch as gave you comfort in their lives, and left you many grounds of hope in their deaths; but his were taken away in their fins. But though the grounds of his forrow (bleffed be God) are not yours, yet I hope the grounds of his comfort in the text are fully yours. I confefs, I have prepared these things in too much hafte and diftraction of thoughts, which in this juncture was unavoidable; nor have I bestowed much of art or language upon them: And if I had, they would have been never the more effectual to your relief for that. But fuch as they are, I humbly prefent them to you, with my hearty payers, that God would make them a fovereign balm, by the bleffing of his Spirit on them, to your wounded fpirit, and to all other godly families groaning under the like ftrokes of God with you, and remain, MADAM, Your most Faithful, Sympathizing Friend and Servant, 2 SAM. xxiii. 5. Although my house be not fo with God; yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and fure: for this is all my falvation, and all my defire, although he make it not to grow. HESE are part of David's last words. The laft words of dying TH faints, but especially of dying prophets, are ponderous, memorable, and extraordinarily remarkable; and fuch are these acknowledged to be, by all expofitors. It is a golden fentence, a divine oracle, fit to be the laft words of every dying faint, as well as of David. They are called his last words, not fimply and absolutely, as though he breathed them forth with his laft breath; (for he fpake many things afterwards) but either they are the last he spoke as a prophet, by Divine inspiration, or because he had them often in his mouth, to his laft and dying day. They were his epicedium, his fweet fwan-like fong, in which his foul found fingular refreshment, and strong support, amidst the manifold afflictions of his life, and against the fears of his approaching death. The whole chapter is defigned for a coronis or honourable close of the life of David, and gives us an account both of the worthy expreffions that dropped from him, and of the renowned worthies that were employed by him. But all the heroic atchievements recorded to the honour of their memories, in the following part of the chapter, are trivial and inglorious things, compared with this one divine fentence recorded in my text; in which we have two things to confider, viz. 1. The preface, which is exceeding folemn. 2. The fpeech itself, which is exceeding weighty. 1. In the preface, we have both the inftrumental and principal efficient caufe of this divine sentence diftinctly fet down, ver. 1. and the efficient, or author of it, ver. 2. The inftrument or organ of its conveyance to us, was David; defcribed by his defcent or lineage, the fon of Jeffe; by his eminent ftation, the man that was raised up on high; even to the top and culminating point of civil and spiritual dignity and honour, both as a king, and as a prophet; by his divine unction, the anointed of the God of Jacob; and lastly, by the flowing fweetnefs of his fpirit and ftile, in the divine pfalms that were penned by him, whence he here gets the title of the sweet pfalmift of Ïfrael; the pleasant one, in the psalms of Ifrael, as fome read it. The principal efficient caufe of this excellent paffage, is here likewife noted, and all to commend it the more to our special obfervation and acceptance: "The Spirit of God fpake by me, and his word was "in my tongue." This ftamps my text exprefsly with divine authority. The Spirit of God fpake by David, he was not the author, |