strength is gone, and there is none shut up or left,” and when they are brought to see that their false gods can not help them, and that the rock in whom they trusted is vain, Deut. xxxii. 36, 37. Before God delivered the children of Israel out of Egypt, they were prepared for it by being made to "see, that they were

“ in an evil case,” and “to cry unto God, because of their hard bondage.” Exod. ii. 23. and v. 19. And before God wrought that great deliverance for them at the Red Sea, they were brought into great distress, the wilderness had shut them in, they could not turn to the right hand nor the left, and the Red Sea was before them, and the great Egyptian host behind, and they were brought to see, that they could do nothing to help themselves, and that if God did not help them they would be immediately swallowed up; and then God appeared and turned their cries into songs. So before they were brought to their rest, and to enjoy the milk and honey of Canaan, God “ led them through a great and terrible wilderness, that he might humble them, and teach them what was in their heart, and so do them good in their latter end,” Deut. viii. 2, 16. The woman that had the issue of blood twelve years, was not delivered until she had first “ spent all her living on earthly physicians, and could not be healed of any," and so was left helpless, having no more money to spend; and then she came to the great physician, without any money or price, and was healed by him, Luke viii, 43, 44. Before Christ would answer the request of the woman of Canaan, he first seemed utterly to deny her, and humbled her, and brought her to own herself worthy to be called a dog, and then he showed her mercy and received her as a dear child, Matth. xv. 22, &c. The apostle Paul, before a remarkable deliverance, was

pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch as they despaired even of life; and had the sentence of death in himself, that he might not trust in himself, but in God that raiseth the dead,” 2 Cor. i. 8, 9, 10. There was first a great tempest, and the ship was covered with the waves and just ready to sink, and the disciples were brought to cry to Jesus, “ Lord save us, we perish;" and then the winds and seas were rebuked, and there was a

great calm, Matth. viii, 24, 25, 26. The Jeper, before he is cleansed, must have his mouth stopped by a covering on his upper lip, and was to acknowledge his great misery and utter uncleanness, by rending his clothes and crying, “Unclean, unclean,” Lev. xiii. 45. And backsliding Israel, before God heals them, are brought to "ackpowledge that they have sinned and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord,” and to see that they lie down in their shame, and that confusion covers them,” and “ that in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, and from the multitude of mountains,” and that God only can save them, Jer. ïïi. 23, 24, 25. Joseph, who was sold by his brethren, and therein was a type of Christ, brings his brethren into great perplexity and distress, and brings them to reflect on their sin, and to say, We are verily guilty; and at last resign themselves entirely into his hands for bondmen; and then reveals himself to them as their brother and their saviour.

And if we consider those extraordinary manifestations, which God made of himself to saints of old, we shall find that he commonly first manifested himself in a way which was terrible, and then by those things that were comfortable. So it was with Abraham; first, a horror of great darkness fell upon him, and then God revealed himself to him in sweet promises, Gen. xv. 12, 13. So it was with Moses at Mount Sinai; first, God appeared to him in all the terrors of his dreadful majesty, so that Moses said " I do exceedingly fear and quake,” and then he made all his goodness to

pass before him, and proclaimed his name, “ The Lord God, gracious and merciful,” &c. So it was with Elijah; first, there is a stormy wind, and earthquake, and devouring fire, and then a still, small, sweet voice, 1 Kings, xix. So it was with Daniel; he first saw Christ's countenance as lightning, that terrified him and caused him to faint away; and then he is strengthened and refreshed with such comfortable words as these, “ O Daniel, a man greatly beloved,” Dan. x. So it was with the apostle John, Rev. i. And there is an analogy observable in God's dispensations and deliverances, which he works for his people, and the manifestations which he makes of himself to them, both ordinary and extraordinary.

But there are many things in scripture which do more directly show that this is God's ordinary manner in working salvation for the souls of men, and in the manifestations God makes of himself and of his mercy in Christ, in the ordinary works of his grace on the hearts of sinners. The servant that owed his prince ten thousand talents is first held to his debt, and the king pronounces sentence of condemnation upon him, and commands him to be sold, and his wife and children, and payment to be made; and thus he humbles him, and brings him to own the whole debt to be just, and then forgives him all. The prodigal sons spends all he has, and is brought to see himself in extreme circumstances, and to humble himself, and to own his unworthiness, before he is relieved and feasted by his father, Luke xv. Old inveterate wounds must be searched to the bottom, in order to healing: and the scripture compares sin, the wound of the soul, to this, and speaks of healing this wound without thus searching of it, as vain and deceitful, Jer, viii. 11. Christ, in the work of his grace on

. . the hearts of men, is compared to rain on the new mown grass, grass that is cut down with a scythe, Psal. lxxii. 6. representing his refreshing, comforting influences on the wounded spirit. Our first parents, after they had sinned, were first terrified with God's majesty and justice, and had their sin, with its aggravations, set before them by their Judge, before they were relieved by the promise of the seed of the woman. Christians are spoken of as those “ that have fled for refuge, to lay hold on the hope set before them,” Heb. vi. 18. which representation implies great fear and sense of danger preceding. To the like purpose Christ is called “ a hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest, and as rivers of water in a dry place, and as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land,” Isa. xxxii. at the beginning. And it seems to be the natural import of the word gospel, glad tidings, that is news of deliverance and salvation, after great fear and distress. There is also reason to suppose that God deals with particular believers as he dealt with his

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church, which he first made to hear his voice in the law; with terrible thunders and lightnings, and kept her under that schoolmaster, to prepare her for Christ; and then comforted her with the joyful sound of the gospel from Mount Zion. So likewise John the Baptist came to prepare the way for Christ, and prepare mens hearts for his reception, by showing them their sins, and by bringing the self-righteous Jews off from their own righteousness, telling them that they were “a generation of vipers," and showing them their danger of “the wrath to come," telling them that “ the axe was laid at the root of the trees, &c.

And if it be indeed God's manner (as I think the foregoing considerations show that it undoubtedly is) before he gives men the comfort of a deliverance from their sin and misery, to give them a considerable sense of the greatness and dreadfulness of those evils and their extreme wretchedness by reason of them; surely it is not unreasonable to suppose that persons, at least oftentimes, while under these views, should have great distresses and terrible apprehensions of mind: especially if it be considered what these evils are that they have a view of; which are no other than great and manifold sins against the infinite majesty of the great JEHOVAH, and the suffering of the fierceness of his wrath to all eternity. And the more so still, when we have many plain instances in scripture, of persons that have actually been brought into great distress by such convictions, before they have received saving consolations: as the multitude at Jerusalem, who were “pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and the rest of the apostles, men and brethren what shall we do?" And the apostle Paul, who trembled and was astonished, before he was comforted; and the jailor, when he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"

From these things, it appears to be very unreasonable in professing Christians, to make this an objection against the truth and spiritual nature of the comfortable and joyful affections which any have, that they follow such awful apprehensions and distresses as have been mentioned.

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And, on the other hand, it is no evidence that comforts and joys are right, because they succeed great terrors, and amazing fears of hellit This seems to be what some persons lay great weight upon; esteeming great terrors an evidence of the great work of the law wrought on the heart, well preparing the way for solid comfort: not considering that terror and a conviction of conscience are different things. For though convictions of conscience do often cause terror; yet they do not consist in it; and terrors do often arise from other causes. Convictions of conscience, through the influences of God's Spirit, consist in conviction of sinfulness of heart and practice, and of the dreadfulness of sin, as committed against a God of terrible majesty, infinite holiness and hatred of sin, and strict justice in punishing of it. But there are some persons that have frightful apprehensions of hell, a dreadful pit ready to swallow them up, and flames just ready to lay hold of them, and devils around them ready to seize them who, at the same time, seem to have very little proper enlightenings of conscience, really convincing them of their sinfulness of heart and life. The devil, if permitted, can terrify men as well as the Spirit of God, it is a work natural to him, and he has many ways of doing it, in a manner tending to no good. He may exceedingly affright persons by impressing on them images and ideas of many external things, of a countenance frowning, a sword drawn, black clouds of vengeance, words of an awful doom pronounced, hell

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| Mr. Shepard speaks of “mens being cast down as low as hell by sor, row, and lying under chains, quaking under apprehension of terror to come, and then raised up to heaven in joy, not able to live; and yet not rent from lust: and such are objects of pity now, and are like to be the objects of terror at the great day.” Parable of the ten virgins, P. i. p. 125.

* “The way of the Spirit's working, when it does convince men, is by enlightening natural conscience. The Spirit does not work by giving a tes. timony, but by assisting natural conscience to do its work. Natural conscience is the instrument in the hand of God, to accuse, condemn, terrify, and to urge to duty. The Spirit of God leads men into the consideration of their danger, and makes them to be affected therewith, Prov. xx. 27. The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord, searching all the inward parts of the belly.” Stoddard's GUIDE TO Cukist, p. 44.

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