If I have not prevailed with your hearts for God, by all that I have said, your consciences shall yet bear me witness, that I showed you God's title, and love, and goodness, and said that which ought to have prevailed; and you shall find ere long, who it is that will have the worst of it: but if you resolve and give them presently to God, he will entertain them, and sanctify, and save them; and this happy day and work will be the angels' joy, Luke xv. 7, 10; and it will be my joy, and especially your own everlasting joy.
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[Sidenote: To trust in God.]
_Grand Direct._ XII. Trust God with that soul and body which thou hast delivered up and dedicated to him; and quiet thy mind in his love and faithfulness, whatever shall appear unto thee, or befall thee in the world.
I shall here briefly show you, 1. What is the nature of this trust in God.[118] 2. What are the contraries to it. 3. What are the counterfeits of it. 4. The usefulness of it. And then, 5, I shall give you some directions how to attain and exercise it.
1. To trust in God, is, upon the apprehension of the all-sufficiency, goodness, and faithfulness of God, to quiet our hearts in the expectation of the safety or benefits from him which we desire, rejecting the cares, and fears, and griefs that would disquiet them, if they had not the refuge of these hopes.[119] It containeth in it a crediting the word or nature of God, or judging it to be a sufficient ground of our security and expectation: and then security and expectation built upon that ground, make up the rest of the nature of trust. Looking for the benefit, and finding a complacency and quietness of mind in the ground discovered, and ceasing all other cares and fears, which would else disquiet us. Aquinas and other school-men often call affiance, _spes roborata_, a confirmed hope. There is a twofold trust in God: one is, for that which he hath not promised to do, but yet we think that we find reason sufficient, from his nature itself, and relations, to expect: this may be more or less certain and strong, as our collection of the will of God, from his nature, is more or less sure and clear. The other is, when we have not only God's nature, but his promise also to trust upon: and this giveth us a certainty, if we certainly understand his promise. To the last sort I may reduce that trust in God for particular benefits, when we have only a promise in general, which maketh not the particulars known and certain to us: as the promise, that all shall work together for our good, doth give us but a probability of health or outward protection and deliverances, because we are uncertain how far they are for our good. All that is promised is sure; but whether this or that be good for us, must be otherwise known. But those general promises which contain particulars as surely known as the promise itself, do make every one of the particular benefits as sure, by promise, as the general: as, the promise of the pardon of all our sins, ascertaineth us of the pardon of every sin in particular. Where there is a promise, we trust God's faithfulness as well as his nature; but where there is none, we trust his nature only. As a child doth quietly trust his parents, without a promise, that they will not kill, or torment, or forsake him. But because man is apt to make false collections of God's will from his nature, he hath given us such clear expressions of it in his word, as may bring us above uncertain probabilities, and are sufficient for faith to ground upon (supposing God's properties) for our government and peace. And it is certain that all collections of God's will which are contrary to his word, are the errors of the collector.
In what I have said in this direction, I desire you chiefly to observe these three things: 1. That God's nature and love are the sufficient, general security to the soul. 2. That his promise is the sufficient, particular security. 3. And that our unfeigned self-dedication to him, is our sufficient evidence of our interest in his love and covenant, which may warrant our special trust and expectations.
II. The contraries to trust in God, are: 1. Privative: not trusting him: not seeing the ground of just security in his love and promise: not crediting what is seen: not ceasing disquietness and distrustful cares and fears. 2. Positive distrust: supposing the all-sufficiency, goodness, and promises of God, are not sufficient grounds of our expectation and security; and thereupon disquieting our minds with sinful fears, and griefs, and cares, and shifting endeavours for ourselves some other way. And this hath various degrees: in some it is predominant; in others not. 3. Opposite or adverse: when we trust ourselves, or friends, or wealth, or something else instead of God, either against him, without him, or in co-ordination with him.