But Oh, when wants pinch, and we see not whence supplies should come, then our faith in the promise shakes, and we like murmuring Israel cry, He gave bread, can he give water also? O unbelieving hearts! when did his promise fail? who ever trusted them, and was ashamed? may not God upbraid thee with thine unreasonable infidelity, as Jer. 2. 31. Have I been a wilderness unto you, &c. or as Christ said to the Disciples, Since I was with you, lacked ye any thing? Yea, may you not upbraid your selves, may you not say with good old Polycarp, thus many years I have served Christ, and found him a good Master; indeed he ⟨p. 94⟩may deny what your wantonness, but not w•at your real wants call for: he will not regard the cry of your lusts, nor yet despise the cry of your faith; though he will not indulge and humour your wanton appetites, yet he will not violate his own faithful promises. These Pr•mises are your best security for eternal life; and 'tis strange it they should not satisfy you for daily bread: remember ye the words of the Lord, and solace your hearts with them amidst all your wan•s. 'Tis said of Epicurus, that in the dreadful fi•s of the Colic he often refreshed himself o• memoriam inventorum, by calling to mind his inventions in Philosophy: and of Possidonius the Philosopher, that in a great fit of the stone, he solaced himself with discourses of moral Virtue: and when the pain twinged him, he would say, nihilagis dolour quamvis sis molestus nunquam confit•bor te esse malum: O pain, thou dost nothing, though thou art a little troublesome, I will never confess th•e to be evil. If upon such grounds as these they could support themselves under such grinding and racking pains, and even delude their diseases by them; how much rather should the precious promises of God, and the sweet Experiences which ⟨p. 95⟩have gone along step by step with them, make you to forget all your wants, and comfort you over every strait!
But Oh, when wants pinch, and we see not whence supplies should come, then our faith in the promise shakes, and we like murmuring Israel cry, He gave bread, can he give water also? O unbelieving hearts! when did his promise fail? who ever trusted them, and was ashamed? may not God upbraid thee with thine unreasonable infidelity, as Ier. 2. 31. Have I been a wilderness unto you, &c. or as Christ said to the Disciples, Since I was with you, lacked ye any thing? Yea, may you not upbraid your selves, may you not say with good old Polycarp, thus many years I have served Christ, and found him a good Master; indeed he ⟨p. 94⟩may deny what your wantonness, but not w•at your real wants call for: he will not regard the cry of your lusts, nor yet despise the cry of your faith; though he will not indulge and hum•ur your wanton appetites, yet he will not violate his own faithful promises. T•ese Pr•mises are your best security for eternal life; and 'tis strange it they should not satisfie you for daily bread: remember ye the words of the Lord, and solace your hearts with them amidst all your wan•s. 'Tis said of Epicurus, that in the dreadful fi•s of the Collick he often refreshed himself o• memoriam inventorum, by calling to mind his inventions in Philosophy: and of Possidonius the Philosopher, that in a great fit of the stone, he sollaced himself with discourses of moral Vertue: and when the pain twinged him, he would say, nihilagis dolor quamvis sis molestus nunquam confit•bor te esse malum: O pain, thou dost nothing, though thou art a little troubl•som, I will never confess th•e to be evil. If upon such grounds as these they could support themselves under such grinding and racking pains, and even delude their diseases by them; how much rather should the precious promi•es of God, and the sweet Experiences which ⟨p. 95⟩have gone along step by step with them, make you to forget all your wants, and comfort you over every strait!
