Sight of God; and fo they ought to be in ours. Will God comfort a Creature, that is wallowing in all the Mire of Sin? No: If you are a Lover of Sin, you. have no Promise from God to fupport you; and whatever of that Kind comes before you, is brought by Satan, who endeavours to entertain the Hypocrite with the pleafing Hopes of Heaven, and fo to lead him into a dangerous Security. Examine then your Circumstances.. How is it with you, when a Promife comes? Has your Cafe been represented as above? Then your Circumstances are awful and melancholy indeed! But, if your Souls are in Darkness, mourning and longing af-. ter an absent Lord; if you are hungering and thirsting after Righteoufnefs; if you are feeking after a Sense of the Love of God, walking humbly with him, and pressing towards greater Degrees of Holiness; in this Cafe, when any Promife is brought to your Mind with any Degree of Power, you may conclude that it comes from. the Spirit of God*. 2. We should inquire into the immediate End and Tendency of a Promise brought to us, and its Influence upon For Example-If it lulls us to Security, and gives us any Hopes of eternal Life, though we are careless and indolent; if it leads us to Prefumption, encoura us. * I may here add one Way, by which we may know whether we have an Intereft in the Promises we find in the Word of God. We may generally obferve something in a Promife, that is defcriptive of the Perfons who have an Interest in it. Thus, that glorious Promise in Ifai. xli. 10, Fear not ; for 1 am with thee: Be not difmayed; for I am thy God: I will firengthen. thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right Hand of my Righteoufnefs. This Promife is evidently made to thofe, that fear that God is not with them, and are difmayed, left God should not be their God. Those then, that are in these Circumstances, have an Intereft in this Promife Thus we may find something in most other Promises and comfortable Paffages of Scripture, to direct us whether we have an Intereft in them or not. 1941 geth geth us to Sin, and yet affures us of an Intereft in Jefus Chrift; we may look upon it as coming from Satan, who is willing to give us all poffible Encouragement, provided it does not produce in us a Hatred of Sin, and a Love to Holiness. But if, on the other hand, the Promife, when it comes, melts our hard Hearts, and fills us with Admiration of the Love and rich distinguifhing Grace of God; if it not only fcatters our Fears, and fills us with Joy, but makes us humble; if it endears a Saviour more to us, and tends to bring us into a greater Conformity to God; if, in fine, it leads us into a more evangelical Frame, even that Frame that honours God, and is fuited to the Scheme of Salvation in the Gofpel; we may then conclude that it comes from God, and not from the Enemy. A Promife, having fuch an Influence upon the Soul, answers all the Ends for which it is revealed. Now we cannot fuppofe, that Satan would bring a Promise to anfwer these important Purpofes: This would be acting against himself, and destroying his own Kingdom: For the more humble we are, the more Chrift is endeared to us, and the less is Satan's Influence upon us-Thus then we have Reason to conclude that a Promife in these Cir cumstances comes from God. II. Let us now confider Threatnings and awful Passages of Scripture-As there is a Variety of thefe in the Word of God, and they are defigned for Usefulnefs, yet are often made ufe of to anfwer other Purpofes; fo it is of Importance to us to know, when these come to us from the Spirit of God, and when from the Enemy. Now we may take the fame Method in judging of these, as we did in judging of Promifes, viz. confider the Cir. cumstances we are in, view the End and Defign of Threatnings, when they come, and then examine their Influence E 2 Influence upon us. Thus, if Threatnings, or awful Paffages of Scripture, come with a Defign to rób us of our spiritual Comfort, to ftagger our Faith, and bring us into Despair, we may conclude they come from Satan, and not from God-But, if we are flothful and fecure; if we have been running into Sin, omitting known Duties, and are not yet awake; if the Means that have been used, have not been made effectual to revive us, and these Threatnings or awful Paffages feem brought to our Minds with a Defign to rouze us, and to ftir us up to greater Diligence in our Chriftian Course; if, in fine, they have this Influence upon us, we may conclude they come from God; for these are the Purposes they are defigned to answer. We have a Variety of Paffions to work upon. Promises, endearing Reprefentations of the Love of Chrift, &c. are defigned to touch the finer Springs of human Nature, to move the fofter Paffions. Threatnings and awful Representations, of Hell, &c. are defigned to alarm us, to compel, and, as it were, drive us. Thus God makes ufe of various Arguments to begin and carry on his Work in us. This Ufe then we fhould make of the more awful Parts of Scripture. A View of them should make us admire that Grace, that has plucked us as Brands out of everlasting Burnings; fill us with a godly Jealousy over our Hearts; make us seriously inquire whether we are Christians indeed; and ftir us up to prefs forward with growing Chearfulness, towards the Mark for the Prize of the high Calling of God in Chrift Jesus. When Threatnings appear to be brought with this View, and when they have this Influence upon us, they are as Means in the Hands of God for our Good. But, when they forbid our Hopes, and draw us to Defpair, we may conclude there is the Hand of Satan in --- it. Upon the whole, fo far as Threatnings promote our greater Holiness and spiritual Advantage, so far they are useful, and answer their End; but, so far as they weaken our Hands, difcourage our Souls, and lead us from God, so far they are made ufe of by the Enemy of Souls to our spiritual Hurt — Thus then inquire, you who have had Promises, or Threatnings, or both, come upon your Minds with any Degree of Force, inquire what Circumstances you were in, what the direct Tendency of these Promises or Threatnings was, and what Influence they had upon you; and from hence you may in fome Measure determine whether they came from God, or from the Enemy. I shall now conclude with one Remark, viz. How glorious is Heaven, and how happy the Believer there! Here we are fluctuating between Hope and Fear: We often hang our Harp upon the Willows: We are watering our Couch with Tears, and are exposed to the Fury of the roaring Lion. Oh happy Alteration, when we reach the Manfions above, to find all Sin perfectly destroyed, every Fear scattered! no longer to know what it is to be in Darkness, or what the least Degree of Coldnefs means! Defireable State! to be present with the Lord, and to find his Prefence animating our Souls with the nobleft Ardour in his Service ! to have the whole Conduct of Providence laid before us, and every Mystery fweetly unravelled! to look back upon the many Instances of Divine Wisdom and Grace in our Salvation; to find ourselves got fafe over Jordan, and appearing in all the Glory of the Children of God, and triumphing as Kings and Priests! Bleffed World! "Hail, happy Day, when it will be thus with me! "Come, thou important Period, when this earthly Ta"bernacle fhall be diffolved! Hafte that joyful Moment, E 3 my "ment, when I fhall at once be delivered from all "Sins, and all my Sorrows; when I fhall no more "ftand in Need of Promifes or Threatnings, the one to comfort, the other to quicken me; having the "glorious uninterrupted Views of my exalted Media"tor, and the fweeteft, fulleft Manifeftations of his "Love, to keep the facred Fire ever burning in me, to "fill me with Joy unfpeakable, and to engage my un"wearied and everlafting Praifes !" Thus may we long and breathe after the heavenly State, and in God's own Time make the glorious Exchange. Amen. CASE |