Direction 7. If you can fetch no comfort from any of the former arguments, then, in the laft place. Try whether you cannot draw fome comfort out of your very troubles. Surely this trouble of yours is a good argument of your integrity; union is the ground of fympathy; if you had not fome rich adventure in that ship, you would not tremble as you do, when it is in danger: befides, this frame of fpirit may afford you this argument, that if you be fenfible of the church's troubles, Jefus Chrift is much more fenfible of, and folicitous about it, than you can be; and he will have an eye of favour upon them that mourn for it, Ifa. lvii. 18.

Seafon 4. The fourth special season of expreffing our utmost diligence in keeping our hearts, is the time of danger and public diftraction; in fuch times the best hearts are but too apt to be fur• prized by flavifh fear; it is not eafy to fecure the heart against dif⚫tractions in times of common distraction. If Syria be confederate

with Ephraim, how do the hearts of the houfe of David fhake, ⚫ even as the trees of the wood, which are fhaken with the wind? • Ifa. vii. 2. When there are ominous figns in the heaven; on the ⚫ earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the fea and waves roar⚫ing, then the hearts of men fail for fear, and for looking after thofe · ⚫ things which are coming on the earth, Luke xxi. 25, 26. Even a • Paul himself may "Sometimes complain of fighatings within, when "there are fears without," 2 Cor. vii. 5.

But, my brethren, these things ought not to be fo, faints should be of a more raised spirit: So was David, when his heart was kept in a good frame, Pfal. xxvii. 1. "The Lord is my light, and my falvation; "whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom "fhall I be afraid ?" Let none but the fervants of fin be the flaves of fear, let them that have delighted in evil, fear evil; impius tantum metuit, quantum nocuit. O let not that which God hath threatened as a judgment upon the wicked, ever feize upon the breasts of the righteous. "I will fend (faith God) faintnefs into their hearts in the "land of their enemies, and the found of a fhaking leaf fhall chace "them," Lev. xxvi. 36. O what poor-fpirited men are these, to fly at a shaking leaf! which makes a pleasant, and not a terrible noife; and is in itself a kind of natural mufic: But to a guilty confcience the whistling leaves are drums and trumpets. "But God hath not given "us the fpirit of fear, but of love, and of a found mind," 2 Tim. i. 7. A found mind as it stands there in oppofition to the fpirit of fear, is an unwounded confcience, not infirmed by guilt: And this fhould make a man as bold as a lion. I know it cannot be said of à faint what God fpake of Leviathan, that he is made without fear: There is a natural fear in every man, and it is as impoffible to be wholly put off as the body itfelf is: It is a perturbation of the mind, arifing from the ap prehenfion of approaching danger; and as long as dangers can approach us, we fhall find fome perturbations within us. It is not my purpose to commend to you a ftoical apathy, nor yet to take you off from fuch

a degree of cautional, preventive fear as may fit you for trouble, and be ferviceable to your fouls; there is a provident fear that opens our eyes to foresee danger, and quickens to a prudent and lawful use of means to prevent it: Such was Jacob's fear, Gen. xxxii. 7, 9, 10. &c. But it is the fear of diffidence I perfuade you to keep your hearts from; that tyrannical paffion which invades the heart in times of danger; distracts, weakens, aud unfits the heart for duty; drives men upon unlawful means, and brings a fnare with it. Well then, the fourth cafe will be this:

Cafe 4. How a Christian may keep his heart from distracting and tormenting fears, in times of great and threatening dangers.

Now there are fourteen excellent rules, or helps, for the keeping the heart from finful fear, when imminent dangers threaten us; And the first is this,

Rule 1. Look upon all the creatures as in the band of God, who manages them in all their motions, limiting, reftraining, and determining them all at his pleasure.

Get this truth well fettled by faith in your hearts; it will marvellously guard them against flavish fears. The first chapter of Ezekiel contains an admirable fcheme, or draught of providence ; there you may see the living creatures who move the wheels, viz. the great affairs and turnings of things here below, coming unto Chrift, who fits upon the throne, to receive new orders and inftructions from him, ver. 24, 25, 26. And in Rev. vi. you read of white, black, and red horses, which are nothing else but the inftruments which God employs in executing his judgments in the world, as wars, peftilence, and death: But when thefe horfes are prancing, and trampling up and down the world, here is that may quiet our hearts, that God hath the reins in his hand. Wicked men are fometimes like mad horses, they would ftamp the people of God under their feet, but that the bridle of providence is in their lips, Job i. 11, 12. A lion at liberty is terrible to meet, but who is afraid of the lion in the keeper's hand?

Rule 2. Remember that this God, in whofe hand all the creatures are, is your Father, and is much more tender over you, than you are, er can be, over yourselves: "He that toucheth you, toucheth the "apple of mine eye," Zech. ii. 8. Let me afk the most timorous woman, whether there be not a vaft difference between the fight of a drawn fword in the hand of a bloody ruffian, and the fame fword in the band of her own tender husband? As great a difference there is in looking upon creatures by an eye of fenfe, and looking on them as in the hand of your God by an eye of faith; that is a sweet scripture to this purpose, Ifa. liv. 5. "Thy Maker is thy Husband, the "Lord of Hofts is his name:" he is Lord of all the hofts of creatures in the world: Who would be afraid to pass through an army, though all the foldiers should turn their fwords and guns towards him, if VOL. V. No. 45. 3 M

the general of that army were his friend, or father? I have met with an excellent story of a religious young man, who being at sea, with many other paffengers, in a great ftorm, and they being half dead with fear, he only was obferved to be very cheerful, as if he had been but little concerned in that danger: One of them demanding the reafon of his cheerfulness O, (faid he) it is because the pilot of the fhip is my father.' Confider Christ, first as the King, and fupreme Lord over the providential kingdom, and then as your Head, Husband, and Friend, and thou wilt quickly fay, "Return unto thy "reft, O my foul." This truth will make you cease trembling, and cause you to fing in the midft of dangers. Pfalm xlvii. 7. "Lord is King of all the earth, fing ye praise with understanding;" "(or, as the Hebrew word is,) Every one that hath understanding," viz. of this heart-reviving and establishing doctrine of the dominion of our Father over all the creatures.

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Rule 3. Urge upon your hearts the exprefs prohibitions of Chrift in this cafe: and let your hearts ftand in awe of the violations of them.

He hath charged you not to fear, Luke xxi. 9. "When ye fhall "hear of wars and commotions, fee that ye be not terrified." And Phil. i. 28. "In nothing be terrified by your adverfaries." Yea, in Matth. x. 26, 28, 31. and within the compafs of fix verses, our Saviour commands us thrice, not to fear man. Doth every big word of proud duft and ashes make thee afraid? Doth the voice of a man make thee tremble? and fhall not the voice of God: If thou art of fuch a fearful and timorous fpirit, how is it that thou feareft not to difobey the flat commands of Jefus Chrift? Methinks the command of Chrift fhould have as much power to calm, as the voice of a poor worm to terrify thy heart. Ifa. li. 12, 13. «I, even I, am he that "comforteth you: Who art thou, that thou shouldst be afraid of a "man that shall die, and of the son of man that shall be made as "the grafs, and forgetteft the Lord thy Maker?" We cannot fear creatures finfully, till we have forgotten God; did we remember what he is, and what he hath faid, we fhould not be of fuch feeble fpirits: Bring thy heart, then, to this dilemma in times of danger; if I let into my heart the flavish fear of man, I muft let out the reverential awe and fear of God; and dare I caft off the fear of the Almighty for the frowns of a man? Shall I lift up proud duft above the great God? Shall I run upon a certain fin, to fhun a probable danger? O keep thy heart by this confideration!

Rule 4. Remember how much needlefs trouble your vain fears have brought upon you formerly, and how you have difquieted yourselves to no purpose.

Ifa. li. 13. " And haft feared continually because of the oppreffor, "as if he were ready to devour; and where is the fury of the oppreffor?" He seemed ready to devour, but yet you are not devoured; I have not brought upon you the thing that you feared; you have wasted your spirits, difordered your fouls, and weakened your hands,

and all this to no purpose: You might have all this while enjoyed your peace, and poffeffed your fouls in patience. And here I can not but obferve a very deep policy of Satan, managing a design a gainst the foul by these vain fears: I call them vain, in regard of the frustration of them by Providence; but certainly they are not in vain, as to the end Satan aims at in raifing them; for herein he acts as foldiers use to do in the fiege of a garrison, who on purpose to wear out the befieged by conftant watchings, and thereby unfit them to make refiftance when they ftorm it in earnest, do every night give them falfe alarms, which though they come to nothing, yet doth notably ferve this further defign of the enemy. O when will you beware of Satan's devices? ::

Rule 5. Confider folemnly, That though the things you fear fhould really fall out, yet there is more evil in your own fear, than in the thing feared;

And that not only as the leaft evil of fin is worse than the greatest evil of suffering; but as this finful fear hath really more torment and trouble in it, than is in that condition you are so much afraid of: fear is both a multiplying and a tormenting paffion; it reprefents troubles much greater than they are, and fo tortures and wrecks the foul much worse than when the suffering itself comes. So it was with Ifrael at the Red-fea, they cried out, and were fore afraid, till they put foot into the water, and then a paffage was opened through those waters, which they thought would have drowned them. Thus it is with us; we looking through the glafs of carnal fear, upon the waters of trouble, the fwellings of Jordan, cry out, O they are unfordable f we must needs perish in them: But when we come into the midft of those floods, indeed we find the promise made good; "God will "make a way to escape," 1 Cor. x. 13. Thus it was with bleffed Bilney, when he would make a trial, by putting his finger to the candle, and not able to endure that, he cried out, What, cannot I bear the burning of a finger? how then shall I be able to bear the • burning of my whole body to-morrow?' And yet when that morrow came, he could go cheerfully into the flames, with that scripture in his mouth, Ifa xliii. 1, 2, 3. "Fear not, for I have redeemed thee: "I have called thee by thy name, thou art mine; when thou pass"eft through the waters, I will be with thee; when thou walkest "through the fire, thou shalt not be burnt."

Rule 6. Confult the many precious promises which are written for your Support and comfort in all dangers.

These are your refuges to which you may fly and be fafe; " When "the arrows of danger fly by night, and deftruction wafteth at noon "day." There are particular promises suited to particular cafes and exigencies; and there are general promises, reaching all cafes and con ditions: Such are thefe, Rom. viii. 28. "All things thall work toge "gether for good," &c. And Ecclef. viii. 12. “Though a finner "do evil an hundred times, and his days be prolonged, yet it fhall

be well with them that fear the Lord." &c. « Could you but believe the promises, your hearts fhould be established." 2 Chron. xx. 29. Could you but plead them with God, as Jacob did. Gen. xxxii. 12. "Thou faidft, I will furely do thee good," &c. they would relieve you in every distress.

Objection. But that promise was made perfonally, and by name to him, fo are not thefe to me.

Anfwer. If Jacob's God be your God, you have as good an inte reft in them as he had. The church, a thousand years after that transaction betwixt God and Jacob, applied that which God fpake to him, as if it had been spoken to themselves, Hof. xii. 4. «He found him "in Bethel, and there he spake with us."

Rule 7. Quiet your trembling hearts by recording and confulting your paft experiences of the care and faithfulness of God in former diftresses.

Thefe experiences are food for your faith in a wilderness condition, Pfai. lxxiv, 14. By this David kept his heart in time of danger, 1 Sam. xvii. 37. and Paul his, 2 Cor. i. 10. It was fweetly answered by Silentiarius, when one told him that his enemies way-laid him to take away his life, Si Deus mei curam von habet, quid vivo? If God take no care of me, how have I escaped hitherto? You may plead with God old experiences to procure new ones; for it is in pleading with God for new deliverances, as it is in pleading for new pardons. Now mark how Mofes pleads on that account with God, Numb. xiv, 19. "Pardon, I befeech thee, the iniquity of this people, as thou hast "forgiven them from Egypt until now." He doth not fay as men do, Lord, this is the first fault, thou haft not been troubled beforeto fign their pardon: But, Lord, becaufe thou haft pardoned them fo often, I beseech thee pardon them once again. So in new straits, Lord, thou haft often heard, helped, and faved in former fears; therefore now help again, for with thee there is plenteous redemption, and thine arm is not fhortened.

Rule 8. Be well fatisfied that you are in the way of your duty, and that will beget holy courage in times of danger.

"Who will harm you, if you be followers of that which is good?" 1 Pet. iii. 13. Or, if any dare attempt it, "you may boldly com"mit yourselves to God in well-doing," 1 Pet. iv. 19. It was this confideration that raised Luther's fpirit above all fear: In the cause

of God (faid he) I ever am, and ever shall be ftout;' herein I affume this title, Cedo nulli, a good caufe will bear up a man's fpirit bravely. Hear the faying of a * heathen, to the shame of cowardly Christians: When the emperor Vefpafian had commanded Fluidius • Prifcus not to come to the fenate; or if he did, to speak nothing ⚫ but what he would have him; the fenator returned this noble ans▲wer, That as he was a fenator, it was fit he should be at the fenate; ⚫ and if being there he were required to give his advice, he would

• Char. of Wisdom, p. 358.