But you will say, religion breeds a gi-eat deal of trouble and pensiveness. It is indeed the speech of the shallow people of the world, ' rehgion makes men sad.'
And it is trae, that as our Saviour Christ here had made his disciples sad, by teUing them that he would leave them ; and that a gi-eat scandal would be taken at his cross, and shameful suflering ; but yet withal, bids them not be troubled, and gives them grounds of comfort ; so religion will make men sad ; for it discovers truths, and sad truths. Aye, but the same religion will cheer them up again, yea, it casts them down, that it may raise them up. The sun in the morning raiseth clouds ; but when it hath strength it scatters them. God intending solid and substantial comfort, doth first beget troubles, and discovers true grounds of trouble ; he lets us see that all is not well. But still as religion brings any trouble, so it brings with it gi'eat remedies against these troubles ; and that God that raiseth a BouJ to see just matter of grief, will by his Spirit shew its due and right portion, in comfort. Thus, to be sorrowful and sad, in some measure is from religion ; but that which will prevent the excess and over-measure of it, is from religion hkewise.
So that it is a scandal to religion to be overmuch dejected.
Third. Besides, though we should be troubled for sin, yet to be over- much troubled for sin is a dishonour to Christ, and to the love of God in Christ ; for it is as if we had not in him a sufficient remedy for that great malady. As, bo it giief for the troubles of the church ; as not to be troubled at the affliction of Joseph, is branded for a sin; so to be too much cast down, as if Christ had cast off" the government from his shoulders, or had not the name of the chm'ch on his breast in heaven (as the high priest had the names of the twelve tribes in his breastplate) ; to be so cast down as to be taken off" from prayer, and from the use of all good means to help the church, this is sinful. So also when grief for sin makes us forget the mercies of God in Christ ; to forget the healing virtue of him our brazen serpent ; to neglect to search our grounds of comforts, and to yield to Satan, to temptation. Overmuch saAness, even though it be for sin, or for the church, it is hurtful and scandalous.
Joshua was much cast down when he saw it went not well with Israel ; but ' Get thee up, Joshua,' saith God, ' what dost thou lying here ?' Up and do thy duty ; consider what is amiss ! There is an Achan in the camp. And so when things go not well, let not your thoughts be conversant
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about tlie matters of trouble, so much as about your duty. So we see it is incident to God's people to be ovennuch troubled, and we see also the reasons why it should not be so, because it is injurious to God, to our- selves, and others every way.
And after all this, there is much reason in this, that Christ hath forbidden it, ' Let not your hearts be troubled.'
Obj. But Christ could as well have cured it, being God, as easily as for- bidden it.
Ans. It is true, but he cures it by forbidding it. "With the words, there went forth a spirit of comfort into their hearts ; an influence of grace ac- companied his commands, for the word and Spu-it go together. Christ deals with men by men. The Spirit of comfort is a spii'it of truth ; and therefore God comforts by truths. He gives us sanctified understandings and aflections ; and then works on them by sanctified truths.
And sometimes Christ cures it by real comforts ; for comforts are either rational, which are fetched fi-om grounds, which faith ministers ; or real, fi'om the presence of anything which comforts ; as the sight of friends, or the accommodating of us in anything wherein we see the love of God con- veyed. How many real comforts doth God bestow, when he fitteth us with conveniences in our way to heaven, so that we may read the love of God in them ! God doth not only comfort us by his gi-acious promise, by his word and sacraments, administering heavenly comforts by them ; but also by the conveying of himself and his love, by outward comforts that we en- joy in the world. Howsoever carnal men abuse them (making all things to work for the worst) ; yet that love, that intends heaven, sweetens all things in the passage to heaven, to his childi-en ; because they see the love of God in the least comfort.
Again, observe from this here, ' let not your hearts be troubled,' what is the seat of comfort, the heart. The seat of comfort is the seat of gi-ief. There must be an apphcation of comfort suitable to the grief, and the heart must be comforted.
And therefore in Isa. si. 1, 2, ' Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, speak to the heart.' As the grief sinks and soaks to the root of the heart; so do Christ's comforts, like true cordials indeed, that go as deep as the grievance. If the grief goes to the heart, the comfort must go as deep. Now God, the Father of spuits, and the Holy Ghost, the Comforter, knows and searches om- spu-its. They know all the corners of the heart. They can banish fear and soitow out of eveiy cranny ; and bring hght, heat, and influence into every part of the soul. And therefore Christ saith, ' Let not your hearts be troubled.'