[The sincere convert, discovering the small number of true believers, and the great difficulty…[The sincere convert, discovering the small number of true beleevers, and the great difficulty…

Never tell me therefore, that God blesseth thee in thine outward estate: no greater sign of Gods wrath, then for the Lord to give thee thy swing, as a father never looketh after a desperate son, but letteth him run where he pleaseth. And if God be thine enemy, then every creature is so too, both in heaven and earth.

Never tell me therefore, that God blesseth thee in thine outward estate: no greater sign of Gods wrath, then for the Lord to give thee thy swinge, as a father never looketh after a desperate son, but letteth him run where he pleaseth. And if God be thine enemie, then every creature is so too, both in heaven and earth.

Secondly, God hath forsaken them and they have lost God, Eph •.12. It is ••id, that in the grievous famine of Samaria, ¹doves dung was sold at a large price, because they wanted bread. Oh, men live and pine away without God, without bread; and therefore •he dung of worldly contentments are esteemed so much of. Thou hast lost the sight of God, and the favour of God, and the special protection of God, and the government of God. Cains punishment lieth upon thee in thy natural estate: thou art a runagate from the face of God, and from his face thou art hid. Ma•y h•ve grown mad to see […] houses burnt, & all their goods lost. Oh, but God ⟨p. 51⟩the greatest good is lost. This loss made Saul cry out of distress of conscience, 1. Sam. 28 15. The Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me The loss of the sweetness of whose presence, for a little while only, made the Lord Jesus himself cry out, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? whereas thou hast lost God all thy lifetime. Oh, thou hast an heart of brass, that canst not mourn for his absence so long. The damned in hell have lost God, and know it, and so the plague of desperate horror lieth upon them. Thou hast lost God here, but knowest it not, and the plague of an hard heart lieth upon thee, and thou canst not mourn for this loss.