7. The seventh duty that lies upon those who have been burnt up, is to bless a taking God as well as a giving God ; it is to encourage themselves in the Lord their God, though he has strip2yed them of all their woi'ldly goods. Thus did Job when he had lost his all : ' The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away ; blessed be the name of the Lord,' Job i. 21. One^ brings in holy Job standing by the ruined house, under Avhose walls his ten children lay dead and buried, and lifting up his heart and hands towards heaven, saying, ' Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither : the Lord gave, and the Lord hatb taken away ; blessed be the name of the Lord.' Ecce spectacidum, says he, dignum ad quod respiciat intentus o^oeri suo Deus ! Behold a spectacle — a spectacle worthy of God himself, were he never so intent upon his work in heaven, yet worthy of his cognisance ! When Ziklag was burnt with fire, and David plundered by the Amalekites, and his wives carried captive, yet then he ' encouraged himself in the Lord his God,' 1 Sam. xxx. 1-3, 6. ' His God ' notes [1.] His nearness and dearness to God. Saints are very near and dear to God. [2.] ' His God' notes his relation to God. God is the saint's Father. [3.] ' His God' notes his rights to God. Whole God is the believer's. All he has, and all he can do, is the believer's, Ps. cxlviii. 14 ; Ejjh. ii. 13 ; 2 Cor. vi. 18. From these, and such other like considerations, David encouraged himself in the Lord his God when all was gone ; and so should we. So the believing Hebrews ' took joyfully the spoiling of their goods' — whether by fire, or plundering, or otherwise, is not said — ' knowing in themselves that they had in heaven a better and more enduring substance,' Heb. X, 34. And to this duty James exhorts : chap. i. 2, ' Count it all joy, my brethren, when you fall into divers temptations,' or tribulations, or afflictions. A Christian in his choicest deliberation ought to count it all joy when he falls into divers tribulations. The words are emphatical ; the apostle doth not say, be patient or quiet when you fall into divers temptations or afflictions, but ' be joyful.' Nor the apostle
^ Spelled 'raigning': query, 'raging'? — G. * Drexelius in his Gymnasiuvi Patienlice.
'J4S London's lamentations on [Isa. XLll. 24, 25.
dotli not say, be joyful witli a little joy, but be 'joyful with exceeding great joy ;' the words are a llel^raism. All joy is full joy ; all joy is jicrt'ect joy. And this becomes the saints when they fall, or are begirt round, not with some, but with divers, that is, with any kind of afHiction or tribulation. An omnipotent God will certainly turn his ])cople's misery into felicity ; and therefore it concerns them to be divinely merry in the midst of their greatest misery. Oh that all burnt citizens would seriously consider of these three things: —
[1.] That tliis fiery rod has been a rod in a father's hand.
[2. J That this fiery rod shall sooner or later be like Aaron's rod, a blooming rod. Choice fruit will one day grow u])on this burnt tree, London. No man can tell what good God may do England by that fiery rod that he has laid upon London.
[3.] That this fiery rod that has been laid upon London has not been laid on, 1. According to the greatness of God's anger; nor 2. According to the greatness of his power ; nor 3. According to the strictness of his justice ; nor 4. According to the demerits of our sins ; nor 5. According to the expectations of men of a Romish faith ; who, it is to be feared, did hope to see every house laid desolate, and London made an Aceldama, a field of blood. Acts i. 19; nor 6. Ac- cording to the extensiveness of many of your fears ; for many of you have feared worse things than yet you feel. Now, upon all these considerations, how highly does it concern the peoj)le of God to be thankful and cheerfid ; yea, and to encourage themselves in the Lord under that fiery dispensation that has lately passed ujjon them !
QiLest. But what is there considerable in God to encourage the soul under heavy crosses, and great losses, and fiery trials ?
Ans. [L] First, There is his gracious, his special, and peculiar presence, Dan. iii. 24, 25. Ps. xxiii. 4, ' Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, 1 will fear no evil : for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.' Ps. xci. 15, 'He shall call upon me, and I will answer him : I will be Avith him in trouble.' Oh, the precious presence of God with a man's spirit will sweeten every fiery dispensation, and take off much of the bitterness and tcnibleness of it. In the gracious presence of God with our spirits lies, (1.) Our greatest happiness. (2.) Our greatest honour. (3.) Our greatest profit and advantage. (4.) Our greatest joy and de- light. (5.) Our gi-eatest safety and security. The bush, whicli was a type of the church, consumed not all the while it burned with fire, because God was in the midst of it. The gracious jiresence of God with a man's spirit will make hea\y afflictions light, and long affiictions short, and bitter afflictions sweet, 2 Cor. iv. 16-18. God's gracious presence makes every burden light, Ps. Iv. 22. He that has the presence of God with his spirit can bear a burden without a burden, Deut. xxxiii. 27, 21). What burden can sink that man that hath everlasting arms under him, and over him, and round about him ? But,
[2.] Secondly, There is wisdom in God io encourage them tinder all their trials, Jer. xxiv. 5; Rom. viii. 28. There is wisdom in God 80 to temper and order all judgments, afflictions, crosses, and losses, as to nxike them work kindly and sweetly for their good.
ISA, XLII. 24, 25.] THE LATE FIEKY DISPENSATIOX. 249
Whilst God is near us, wisdom and counsel is at hand. God is that wise and skilful physician that can turn poison into cordials, diseases into remedies, crosses into crowns, and the greatest losses into the greatest gains. What can hurt us, whilst an infinite wise God stands by us ? But,
[3.] Thirdly, There is strength, power, and omnipotencij in God to encourage them, Prov. xviii. 10; Ps. xlvi. 1, 2; Isa. xxvi. 4; Ps. iii.
17. There is nothing too high for him, nor nothing too hard for him : he is able easily and speedily to bring to pass all contrivances. You read of many who have been mighty, but you read but of one Almighty : Kev. iv. 8, ' Holy, holy, holy. Lord God Almighty.' Chap. xi. 17, ' We give thee thanks, Lord God Almighty.' Chap. xv. 3, ' Great and marvellous are thy works. Lord God Almighty.' Chap. xvi. 7, 'And I heard another out of the altar say, &c., even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.' Under all your fiery trials an almighty God can do mighty things for you. And therefore it concerns you to encourage yourselves in him, even when you are stripped of all.