And what sayest thou after all this, thou who hast tried many and many a friend, so called, and hast by sad experience first or last found them all unfaithful, and art almost ready to say of all men, that they are liars, and that truth and reality are rarities; thou thinkest there is scarce a man upon the earth to be trusted? and wilt thou never be afraid of such a friend? wilt thou at last be wise and be acquainted with a friend that never proved unfaithful? behold, such a one that would be glad with all his heart to entertain you, would you but forsake your old treacherous acquaintance. Here, here's one that never fails, nor forsakes those that put their trust in him. The Heavens shall depart, and the Hills be removed out of their places, but his faithfulness, his love shall never depart from his; and wilt thou not think such a friend after all this worth the having? Come, come, never stand fretting thy heart out with discontents, men will be men, that is, unfaithful as long as the world lasts. Do you expect as long as sin reigns in mens souls, that as long as Satan doth so much act therein, that they should forget to be selfish, covetous, deceitful? but now God will alway, be like himself a God, faithful, true, holy, just? and if ⟨p. 105⟩any one in Heaven, or in Earth can condemn God justly, of the least unfaithfulness, my mouth shall soon he stopped. In this thing I confess my self to be of Antoninus his mind, who said, That if there be a God as there is most certainly, why that God must necessarily be most faithful, most wise, most good; but if there be no God, it is not worth the while to live in a world, in which there is nothing but sin, confusion, disorder, and no hopes of a redress; the excellency of our being, our Reason, would make our misery more exquisite, and our lives less desirable. But blessed be God it is not come to that pass, that we should need question the being of a God; for as one saith wisely, Thou hast far more reason to question thy own being then Gods. Now I say again, methinks he that hath been so oft perplexed with many unfaithful, unworthy carriages from them which he called friends, should be at last persuaded to try what this one friend would do for him. O what abundance of sorrow would it prevent, if men would but trust God more, and men less.
And what sayest thou after all this, thou who hast tried many and many a friend, so called, and hast by sad experience first or last found them all unfaithfull, and art almost ready to say of all men, that they are lyars, and that truth and reality are rarities; thou thinkest there is scarce a man upon the earth to be trusted? and wilt thou never be affraid of such a friend? wilt thou at last be wise and be acquainted with a friend that never proved unfaithfull? behold, such a one that would be glad with all his heart to entertain you, would you but forsake your old treacherous acquaintance. Here, here's one that never fails, nor forsakes those that put their trust in him. The Heavens shall depart, and the Hills be removed out of their places, but his faithfulness, his love shall never depart from his; and wilt thou not think such a friend after all this worth the having? Come, come, never stand fretting thy heart out with discontents, men will be men, that is, unfaithful as long as the world lasts. Do you expect as long as sin reigns in mens souls, that as long as Satan doth so much act therein, that they should forget to be selfish, covetous, deceitful? but now God will alway, be like himself a God, faithful, true, holy, just? and if ⟨p. 105⟩any one in Heaven, or in Earth can condemn God justly, of the least unfaithfulness, my mouth shall soon he stopped. In this thing I confess my self to be of Antoninus his mind, who said, That if there be a God as there is most certainly, why that God must necessarily be most faithful, most wise, most good; but if there be no God, it is not worth the while to live in a world, in which there is nothing but sin, confusion, disorder, and no hopes of a redress; the excellency of our being, our Reason, would make our misery more exquisite, and our lives less desirable. But blessed be God it is not come to that pass, that we should need question the being of a God; for as one saith wisely, Thou hast far more reason to question thy own being then Gods. Now I say again, methinks he that hath been so oft perplexed with many unfaithful, unworthy carriages from them which he called friends, should be at last perswaded to try what this one friend would do for him. O what abundance of sorrow would it prevent, if men would but trust God more, and men less.
