that the King of Judah being taken captive he left more then Job and therefore his sorrow was greater I answer again that Job in those times must needs be supposed to be as a King for he was the greatest man of the East but in the captivitie the King had some to pitie him some to attend him he had not such temptations in his soul not such sores on his bodie there was some societie somewhat to asswage his grief and he pulled that sorrow upon himself by rebelling against the King of Babylon he was foretold and might have been armed nay by subjection he might have procured a quiet condition So that we may conclude Jobs sorrow to be the greatest of any mans that ever lived And then it is no wonder Christ the Son of God his sorrow must alwayes be excepted if it work very much upon him and if you compare the carriage of another man with Iobs unlesse you find his affliction to be as great you speak not to the purpose And when you read that Jonah was angrie to the death and Ieremiah to curse the day of his birth these not having neer the like cause you cannot but wonder Ier. 20.14 15 16 17 18. that Iob uttered no more passion then he did 2 And secondly every expression of our grief is not impatience unlesse it be more then the affliction amounts unto To speak much of small crosses is not fit but Iob had more then he could utter and nothing but sorrow could have made him so pathetically and eloquently to utter and set out his own case to say that God made him a mark for his arrow was true and was not impatiencie unlesse he should charge God of injustice if he had murmured against God as the Jews in the wildernesse this had been blame worthy 3 But thirdly we cannot clear Iob altogether of being impatient for humane frailtie breaks out and he having somewhat more boldly pleaded and expostulated with God Job 40.4 doth in the conclusion humble himself before him And it is no wonder if patience in Iob be foyled sometimes by the opposite corruption Faith in David and Abraham was sometimes mastered by unbelief and so was patience in Iob but grace in the Saints will at length prevail and be conquerour And it is apparent that Iob did set his heart to bear his sorrows and his frailties God did wink at And to draw towards a Conclusion of this second Meditation Consider That in this Instance of Job all objections that can be framed against the point in hand may be answered As some will object If my sorrowes were not so very great I could beare them But mine are extraordinary and who can be able to undergoe such a burthen as I am under Againe others object against that particular trouble which is upon them If it were immediately from God I could take it patiently But I am wronged with unreasonable men It were better to fall into the hands of God then to be at the will of malicious men Another comes in with a Complaint that it is in his body and particularly instanceth in long and tedious sicknesses of this or that kind And because he wants health he cannot but droop and bee dejected And a fourth makes his Moane that it is in his soul and he hath often prayed unto God and his desires which are good and religious are not satisfied And how then can he rest contented And if way were given to all Complaints there would be no end But in a word to answer all Job had not one but all these upon him at once He was afflicted in his soule in his body in his goods in his Children in his Wife in his friends He was tryed by God by men by Sathan and the greater the Crosse is the greater honour hath thy Patience For Faith most shines in beleeving things that seeme incredible And Hope in expecting things improbable so Patience in bearing Crosses that appeare intolerable And if thou feare thou canst not be able to beare then consider that if thy heart be willing God will take notice of that which is good in thee and not charge thee with thy failings For you shall find Job not challenged for Impatience but contrarily hee is crowned and chronicled and many times mentioned in Scripture for an example of Patience both in the old and new Testament You heare of Job and God boasts as it were of Job and it is evident that what we do or suffer for God he will make a faire and favourable construction of it and not upbraid us with our faylings Medita ∣ tion 3 A third Meditation mooving unto Patience is taken from the common state which every one is in And there is not a Child of Adam but is borne to sorrow and calamitie And if all have their Crosses why should any repine and murmure Iob 5.7 Man is borne to trouble as the sparkes to fly upward As thou art a man thou must be content to beare what is common to man As thou art a sinfull man thou hast brought troubles on thy self and thou hast cause to beare the wrath of the Lord for thou hast sinned against him Micha 7. As thou art a good man thou hast peculiar troubles and thou must shew thy goodnesse in bearing thy crosses so that in what relation soever thou art there is cause of patience And here let us reason the case why art thou discontented and troubled above the rest why may not all men as well as thou complain It is as if a great companie of travellers should in their journey meet with foule way and weather and all being wet and wearie one among the rest should complain and cry and keep a stirre that his clothes were spoiled and he is wet through as if he had wrong that God had not speciall care of him above the rest It is true that if this man had more weightie and urgent businesse then others and was hindred more then ordinarie or sustained more losse then others or were singled out alone from others as Iob was then there might be more said to move pitie to such a one but no reason for his impatience for God is the soveraign Lord of all and may dispose of every one as he will and none can justly find fault Unlesse man did suffer more then he deserves which he never doth for his sin might have procured more sorrow then he endures and if God will spare others what is that to thee But if he be spared in one kind he is exercised in another and this is one fruit of impatience to think our own crosses heavier and other mens lighter then they are Medita ∣ tion 4 4 Consider God takes care for his children and then especially when they are in trouble Pitie and bowels of mercie are in God and in an extraordinarie measure above that which is in the most mercifull man Now any necessitie in a servant moves our compassion
them praise in every land where they had been put to shame And for their enemies this comes in and is inserted I will undo all that afflict thee He will not onely impoverish them or weaken their power and in part pull them down that were so proud and loftie but he will undo them utterly ruine them that they shall never be able to recover their strength and glory again they shall never be able to molest his people again And because a man may be undone in this world and be brought down and yet not miserable for God may pitie him and comfort him therefore evill men shall be hated of God and not onely punished openly before men but a secret curse and plague shall consume them and that in a fearfull manner as you have it in Zach. 14.12 This shall be the plague of all them that fought against Ierusalem the Lord will smite them that their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet and their eyes shall consume away in their holes and their tongue shall consume away in their much If the proud insolent adversaries of Religion would think of it it would make them more mild and moderate as the storie wrought upon a rough natured King so it might much more on meaner persons Sesostris King of AEgypt did ride in a golden chariot drawn by foure Kings which he had overcome and taken prisoners one of them as he was drawing in the chariot often looked back the King of Egypt asked him the reason why he looked back He answered that he looked on the wheel how quickly that part is below and at the bottome which before was at the top Intuens inquit Rotae volubilitatem in qua citò ca quae summa suerant fiunt una cogito de nostra fortuna which resembles our condition we were Kings that ruled men and now we are forced to draw like horses which did so daunt the pride of Sesostris thinking it might be his owne case that he freed them from that servile work If our Egyptian task-masters had been as wise as this Egyptian Tyrant they would upon the like hints given them have desisted from their crueltie before they were enforced but God reserved them for their deserved punishment Medita ∣ tion 8 The eight Meditation No trouble shall be too much or too long and if we were perswaded of this it were no great matter to be patient That we may see the truth of it consider that onely is too much 1 That exceeds our desert men that are punished more then their faults come too that 's injurious and they have cause to complain but in this respect who can open his mouth to God but rather let him acknowledge as it is Ezra 9.13 Thou hast punished us lesse then our iniquities deserve and this may stop the mouth of impatience that it clamour not against God 2 It shall not be too much in regard of our strength for though God lay burthens on us yet not beyond our strength for it would not suit to his own ends that burden which is above our strength is impossible to be born that which requires a mans full strength is very difficult and will lie heavie and that which is under our power is easie now God will so proportion all our afflictions that they shall not break our backs and therefore he will correct us in measure Isa 27.7 And let us see why men correct servants Isa 64 9.12 or children or punish enemies above measure and we shall find that no such thing can fall upon God 1 Sometimes passion so farre prevails that men exceed in their corrections and go so farre that their furie brings lamenesse and they have cause to repent all their dayes of the hurt they have done to others And it is given as a direction to men to do nothing in anger Plut. de ira cohibenda because they are sure to offend say to thy servant If I were not angrie I would correct thee But God by reason of the simplicitie of his essence and puritie of his nature Isa 27.4 cannot be troubled with passions And furie is not in me saith the Lord and therefore he is never angry without a cause or doth his anger exceed the offence and therefore the punishment is never excessive 2 Ignorance of the fault not judging aright or self love aggravating the offence done to our selves makes men unreasonable in their punishments but none of these fall upon God and therefore he cannot erre in any of his actions Obiect But hath not God afflicted his servants exceedingly even more then they could undergo passing their strength and abilitie to bear 1 Cor. 1.8 Pauls trouble in Asia was above his strength and he was pressed out of measure Ans To which I answer that he met with unreasonable men who knew no measure and his afflictions were above his strength as he was a man considered by himself but God did more then ordinarily assist him and he was able to do all things through Christ that strengthened him Phil. 4.13 And in the words before he speaks of being abased and being in want so that by his own strength he could not but by a derived power from God he could bear his crosses And God hath vouchsafed to a Christian man more strength then a naturall man and one can do more then another And to some that are religious he gives not so much strength as to others but when they are designed to extraordinarie labours and also to suffer more then ordinarie then God encreaseth their power Isa 40.29 31. He giveth strength unto him that fainteth and unto him that hath none he encreaseth might they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength they shall run and not be wearie they shall walke and not be faint It is much to walk and to run the race of Gods commands it is more to be able to do that and carrie a heavie burthen and most of all to do both the former and not be faint and wearie and though we can do none of these of our selves yet God hath engaged himself to enable us to all So that it is all one whether our burden be lighter or our patience stronger and so long as God proportions our calamities to our strength we may say he afflicts not too much Neither will he afflict too long we are apt to cry how long and a little time seems long but God that intends our good must take a time answerable to his own intentions Great corruptions and dangerous diseases that have long setled upon us are not suddenly removed and though the Physitian finds the disease weakned and wasted yet he will not suffer his Patient to return to his former diet and imployment but will still keep him under his directions to confirm his health till the humours be setled and his strength fully recovered And so doth God by his servants which makes him to take
and we afford that to him which we do not to a son If therefore a sonne a deare sonne were sick Damus agrotanti servo quod non damus filio sano if Joseph or Benjamin were sick what could Jacob deny them therefore much more God And this was a comfort to David in his trouble Psal 40 17. I am poore and needie yet the Lord thinketh on me And he thinks as friends think of such as are dear to them Thoughts of peace and not of trouble to give his servants an end and their hope Jer. 29.11 But God thinks of evill men to observe and watch them and to poure more plagues and judgements on them for their obstinacie and rebellion to do to them as he did to Pharaoh and his host In all afflictions it hath been the extremitie of grief to the servants of God to be forgotten of God and in temptation they have sometimetimes thought they have been forgotten It was the greatest part of Jonah his sorrow that he apprehended himself cast out of Gods sight Jonah 2.4 so did the Church Isa 49.14 but her thoughts so judging of her estate are there gently reproved and refuted for God can no more forget his children afflicted then a woman can forget her sucking child ver 13.15 so that from hence we see what reason we have to be patient God thinks of thee either to deliver thee when the fit time is come or else to uphold thee while the burthen lies upon thee Medita ∣ tion 5 God intends thee no evill but good thine enemies like Josephs brethren entend no good but evill the good that God purposeth Faelix necâ—ssitas quae ad meltora compellit multi enim quiâ—u securitate prosperitate mundo vivunt instante adversitate periculo ad Deum fugiunt cannot be hindred the evill they imagined cannot be effected Good men are assured that all their afflictions shall work their good evill men have no cause so to think and we must conceive they will work some new good and therefore it shall be better with them then if they were not in affliction For which purpose see Ier. 24.5 Like these good figs so will I acknowledge those that are carried away captive of Iudah whom I have sent into the land of the Chaldeans for their good If that affliction which was pulled upon them by their disobedience and rebellion in which they suffered not onely losse of their temporall estates but were deprived of Gods ordinances and wanted the speciall presence of God which was annexed to the Temple and wanted opportunitie to offer sacrifice to God and lived a long time among Idolaters if that affliction be for their good which is there affirmed to be then it is easie to conclude that all things work together for good to them that love God Rom. 8.28 So that the case stands with every good man as with one that is sick and if he have a Physitian upon whose skill and fidelitie he depends for what is needfull to be taken for his recoverie there needs no arguments to perswade him to be patient for he readily submits to his directions So God sends crosses which are his physick to purge out those lusts and corruptions which like ill humours abound in a peaceable and plentifull estate and we have reason to be patient because he is faithfull and carefull for our good and he doth more then any man can do he gives the physick himself he prepares the ingredients he stands by and sees the working that it lie not as dead drugges in the bodie but he orders that it work in a fit proportion neither too much nor too little it shall not be as Satan will nor yet as we will but as God will our enemies would lay too much upon us and we if it were in our power would have too little therefore God hath wisely ordered our afflictions which is best of all and therefore let us be patient But let no evill man that is not reconciled to God take this to himself for you read in the same Chapter of the same calamitie that it was sent for the hurt of the obstinate Jews Jer. 24.9 which are there compared to the evill figs. From both these grounds the Christian may speak confidently to his adversaries as once Socrates to Anytus and Melitus Plut de tranq ani Interficere me possunt nocere mihi non possunt They may kill me but cannot hurt me they may take away my head but not my crown my life but not my hope Medita ∣ tion 6 Another ground of patience is taken from the consideration of the time to come when thou art in any affliction be assured that it shall be better then now it is let thy future hopes work thy heart to patience It shall be better not onely at thy death and the day of judgement Rom. 15 4. which yet may be sufficient to revive thy heart but even in this life Iam. 5.8 for we have promise enough to assure that the rod of the wicked shall not alway rest on the lot of the righteous and that the darkest night shall have a faire morning And therefore in all our tribulations when friends come to visit us if the heart be in a right temper when they ask how we do we may answer Well for the present and it will be better hereafter and that is the word and motto of a patient man And it is a sentence worthy to be written in letters of gold which whosoever can speak it and assent to it is a happie man and shall never be hurt by any crosses that befall him We may upon this ground challenge the stoutest and strongest spirit as once Iehu did the rulers of Samaria to chuse the best of Ahabs sons and to bring out their chariots and horses and come out against him 2. King 10. so let the wisest and most learned man the bravest spirit be asked the question in his sicknesse or in his trouble when the world frowns upon him whether from any true ground or experience he is able to say that which every poore Christian that is furnished with patience can utter viz. that it is well for the present and shall be better hereafter No every one that hath not interest in God nor the power of grace in his heart doth or may know that it is ill for the present and will be worse hereafter And that this is a strong motive to patience consider it in a familiar instance suppose a poore man readie to be turned out of his cottage and left to the wide world imagine some Noble-man his friend undertake and presently begin to build him not onely a better house but a strong stately Castle and because it requires time to finish it if he should fret and be impatient he deserves to be reproved and cast off Just so it is with the Church there were never so great blessings preparing as when great
afflictions were laid upon Gods people Israel groaning under the Egyptian bondage is but in a way of preparation to go out with jewels and gold and great riches And the like was made good in Isaiahs prophesie Isa 54.11 O thou afflicted and tossed with tempest that hast no comfort behold I will lay thy stones with the Carbuncle and lay thy foundation with Saphires I will make thy windows of Agates and thy gates shining stones and thy borders of pleasant stones The Church was then afflicted and like a poore man in a cold cottage and if they could have patience till God had done that which he was about he would make their condition better Seeing then that though in affliction the Church be as a woman forsaken Isa 54.6 yet seeing she shall be as a royall diademe in the hand of her God she hath great reason to be patient Isa 62.3 And in the present troubles of our Land when it is demanded of us how things go in the Kingdom We may answer It is well for the present and will be better hereafter We do not meane it is simplie well but in comparison of what was heretofore The bondage we were in was farre greater and it was a Spirituall servitude that did inslave the soules of men And if we consider the libertie of the Gospel now more fully injoyed then in former times And do esteem that above our Wealth we shall be easilie perswaded to thinke it better then heretofore I am sure we the Preachers of the Gospell have cause so to thinke And when they object their great Losses their Sheepe and Oxen are driven away by Hundreds we grant they do exceedingly try their Patience But if they please to remember that the like nay greater numbers of men were monethlie fetcht into the Ecclesiasticall Courts and with troublesome Journeys tedious Attendance and unjust vexatious suites spent more money then these Losses amount unto they may be brought to beleeve it is now better then heretofore And we have cause to render thankes to God and You his worthie Instruments for this freedome Such as have been whipt with their Scourges can easily assent to this which wee affirme And our fore-fathers did rejoyce in the Hope of that we do in part enjoy and would have parted with great summs of Money for the enjoyment thereof It was with some in former times as with Josephus the Iew who was perswaded that Vespatian the Emperour should set him free out of Prison when yet there was no great probability that he should obtaine the Empire being a man in the Armie not so well knowne or so much honoured as if opportunity were offered to be able to carry it but so it fell out that he obtained his desire And divers had a private perswasion that this Parliament should set them free and it hath prooved answerable to their desire And the like hope they conceive for the future that Your zeale will earnestly endeavour to finish and perfect the worke which God hath called You unto And they daylie pray that God would crowne Your labours with happie successe Medita ∣ tion 7 The seventh consideration let the Church consider what she looseth and how farre she suffers viz. the losse of some things that may be spared and which God will make up in some thing else as good If theeves come and take away some earthen pots or pewter and brasse and such like things and yet carrie away none of your gold and silver no man would cry out that he were undone because though he loose some of his goods yet his treasure remains Heathens accounted their riches to lie in the vertues of the mind which made the Phylosopher in the taking of the Citie when his house was ransackt among the rest and he lost all that was found therein yet he comes out mertily among them that lamented their losses Non est tuum quod fortuna facit tuum Vincent spec moral Vbi fortuna reliqua depraedatur omnia atque adimit habemus aliquid in nobis me ipsis tale quod ferre aut agere invitis non possit achivus Plâ—t de tranquil ani and said he had lost nothing And he gave this for a reason those things are not mine to be numbred among my goods which are casuall and subject to fortune and if a Heathen much more a Christian man may rejoyce because his faith and hope of heaven cannot be taken away his riches lie in Christ his treasure is laid up in heaven and no malice can reach that Nay troubles further our faith and interest in Christ for it befalls them that are going to heavenward as it happens to children who being sent of an arrand if they meet with nuts or flowers by the way they loyter and make no haste homeward but if any thing fright them then they run as fast as may be So men in peaceable and quiet conditions they make not such haste to heaven-ward but if adversity or persecution befall them then they mend their pace and come and relate all to God their heavenly Father and in this or somewhat else he will make up their losse for so he hath promised Zach. 10.6 I will have mercy upon the house of Iudah and Ioseph and they shall be as though I had not cast them off and I will hear them It is peculiar to men that fear God to be so in affliction as if they were not afflicted both because they are not overcome or forsaken in their trouble 2. Cor. 4.8 9. And also to make up their losses in the world God shews himself more present with them at that time which makes them joyfull and it is no more then if a man were in a fair dyning roome with much companie and there is some speciall friend whom he loves dearly that calls him aside to speak in private of businesse that neerly concerns him and though he go into a worse roome yet he is well enough pleased So God cals men out of much companie of friends out of their houses and estates and if they loose that way yet if he will speak with them and conferre with them about their peace and comfort and salvation in another world this will make them sing in prison and sing in the dust and they will be as if they had not been cast off and when God restores them the blessings again they are fitter to use them So that consider what thou loosest and then withall consider what the Churches enemies shall suffer and that will make thee patient they shall endure not any light afflictions it will fall heavie upon them they shall not be bereaved of some lesser benefits which they can spare but God will utterly undo them So he threatens Zeph. 3.19 in which place the Lord comforts his people and promiseth to gather them that were sorrowfull for the solemne assemblies ver 18. And to save her that halted and gather them that were driven out and to get
a longer time for the work but if nothing else hinder ordinarily the time of sorrow and affliction is but short sometimes called a day the evill day sometimes a peece of a day a night Ephes 6.13 for in the morning comes ioy Nay but a peece of a night as Isa 17.14 At eventyde trouble and before the morning he is not sometimes but a moment Isa 54.8 it is there said to be a little while a moment and a little season For a moment in mine anger I hid my face from thee and ve 7. it is called a small moment And if it be demanded how this can be true seeing the time of affliction is many times much longer I answer 1. In all the time there is much intermission and many calm and quiet times even during the calamitie partly by ease from the pain and grief that oppresseth and partly because of the joy and sweet communion with God so that though the crosse be not removed but lies many moneths and yeers as an Ague that holds a man very long yet compare the well dayes with the dayes on which he hath his fits and subduct all that time in which he sleeps and eats and is at quiet there remains but a little behind And so is the case with Gods people in affliction whereby it appears to be but a little time a moment And every one may in their own experience assent to this truth when the affliction is past for when we look back and see what good comes by it how lusts were purged or else prevented graces cherished and encreased blessings which were for a time taken away being restored again are thereby sweetned when we look back we can easily say the affliction was not too long and it was but want of patience that made us complain But if we consider eternitie in which we shall reap the fruit of our sufferings we may easily conclude it is not too long Shall God vouchsafe eternitie of perfect joy which shall not be mixed with the least sorrow and shall we think much to endure for his sake a little sorrow which is accompanied and sweetned with unspeakable joy God forbid And therefore if thou find thy impatient heart to murmure at afflictions or at delayes cry down all such thoughts and shame thy self for entertaining them And that we may see the peculiar comforts of Gods people the more clearly let us consider what can be said of evill men and it is true also of them that their sorrow shall neither be too much nor too long but it is in a different sence onely in regard of their desert for God will do them no wrong to lay more in measure or continuance then they have deserved But he hath no regard to proportion their calamities to their strength and abilitie nor doth he intend their good but the glory of his justice and therefore to them there are not the same grounds of patience and if you should visit one if he were known to be hated of God you could hardly bid him be patient and speak good sence For what good could ye oppose against the evill he endures for he neither in a good cause nor in a good manner doth suffer what is befallen him nor can he look for comfort nor expect an end nor can ye speak to him as men use to do to friends when they are sick and bid him be of good cheare and that there is hope that he shall shortly come out of trouble and though it be sharp yet it is like it will be short none of these are true if spoken to an evill man For the sorrows of this world are but as the leaves in comparison of the trees that will fall upon him hereafter and the great aggravation of his trouble is that God is his enemie and will shew him no favour It is a cutting speech and fâ—r worse then their captivity Jer. 16.13 to some of the Jews that went into captivitie God shewed much favour but others had none at all Let me go into the darkest dungeon nay into hell it self if God promise to shew me favour rather then be sent to the easiest prison or fall into the hands of the mildest keeper without his favour Joseph found favour in prison so did Daniel in the Lyons den and the three young men in the fierie fornace and it was easie to perswade them all to be patient for God did not onely honour them but assist them in a speciall manner that they received much good by their afflictions and came out with much honour and God himself was gloriously made known to many by the manifestation of his mercie to them But evill men find no favour at all if they be afflicted it is in anger if the judgement be removed it is not in mercie and favour to them and in what condition soever they are in they have no ground of contentment and patience But while I am discoursing of patience lest by being too long I put you out of patience therefore I will now turn my self to application Vse 1 For instruction let me inform and advise you to take notice of your want you need patience and it may be your wisdom to endeavour the supply of your want else you cannot wait upon God in the way of his judgements He that hath fewest troubles and the mildest nature yet hath need of patience we are soon weary of the lightest burdens and soon moved with the least injuries and being once out of tune we are hardly reduced to a quiet temper And though good natures are not so soon moved nor doth their anger so soon turn to ranker and malice against an adversarie yet nature having no supernaturall goodnesse in it patience must be a work of grace or else we shall not bear much It hath been questioned by some Aqui. 22. q. 136. whether a man can have patience sive auxilio gratiae but Christians that are instructed out of the Scriptures have learned that it is a fruit of the Spirit Gal. 5.22 That we may see this more fully that patience which is naturall ariseth from the constitution and well tempered humours in the bodie Differences between naturall patience and the grace of patience whereby the heat not abounding over much a man is not proan to choller and passion but hath a command over himself and useth his reason in ordering of himself under his crosses and having a stout and hardie spirit bears what he cannot decline But the grace of patience is from God as well as faith and requires the power of God to frame the heart to bear adversitie and naturall meeknesse is not sufficient to enable him to suffer in a fit manner yet all naturall abilities may afford matter of thanksgiving and that in a two fold respect 1. Though they breed not nor beget grace yet where a good disposition is the soul is a plain smooth board whereon a Painter may more easily draw
a picture and a harsh crabbed nature is as a board full of knots and rugged whereon the Artificer cannot so well shew his workmanship and though the power of God will shew it self wheresoever he intends to make a vessel of mercie yet it is with more ado and will cost a man the more sorrow 2. Good dispositions sanctified become more usefull and better instruments then ordinarie in that they are more pleasing and amiable to others and so do win more respect to Religion and become more gracefull and gain more credit to the Gospel whereas froward and hastie and passionate persons are distastfull to others and many times they are shunned even for their passions men being too apt to look upon the blemishes of others rather then their graces 2. That patience which is naturall will bear some evils but not all that God laies upon him it may be he can converse quietly and calmly with friends with wife and children and in case he be provoked he can bear a great deal and if any difference be he will desire and embrace reconciliation but disgrace and injuries for Religion he cannot endure and greater troubles he will decline by yeelding to evill men in evill and unlawfull things and his good nature will not suffer him to contend no not for the faith but that patience which is supernaturall resolves to bear not one but all crosses and abides firm and constant in his Religion unto the death and chiefly desires to be armed to undergo those trials that fall upon him for Religion Naturall Patience is not voluntary but forced in such things as come from God as Sicknesse and Losses he therefore suffers because there is no helpe but a Religious man doth imbrace and willingly undergo his burthen and saith in a secret dispute Jer. 10.19 Woe is me for my hurt my wound is greivous but I said it is my greife and I must beare it Plaga quae mihi debetur as some translate it It is greivous but I must beare it He concludes out of former reasonings that he must beare it God layes a necessitie upon him and he layes a necessitie upon himself his heart goes along with God and he saith not onely I must bear it but I will beare it Mich. 7.9 and both cleares God and condemnes himself saying I will beare the wrath of the Lord because I have sinned against him A Naturall man is not voluntary unlesse it be first Multa in laboribus doloribus sustinent bomines propter ca quae vitiosè diligunt August de patien in sinfull courses and then his inordinate lusts put him upon sorrowes and disgraces and troubles which he willingly undergoes many men have suffered so much trouble for their lusts which had it beene for Religion they had been Martyrs Naturall Patience is sometimes voluntary in reference to some Temporall good which a man lookes after As being wounded in the legge when it Gangrenes he may patiently endure the cutting of it off to save his life And being sicke a Naturall man may take bitter Pills to recover his health and the earnest desire he hath to live may make him Patient But Religion teacheth us willingly to undergoe Calamities and to take up our Crosses upon better grounds and for more excellent ends then the gaining of a Temporall good To omitt the grounds which have been handled before I will a little insist First In the great Evill which he shuns by suffering afflictions he apprehends Gods displeasure the terrours of an accusing Conscience and the torments of Hell If he to shunne afflictions should yeeld to do any Evill or should betray the Truth therefore to make himself the more willing he sets before his eyes the fearefull case of Judas betraying his Master and of Francis Spira that to hold his Preferments sinned against the knowne Truth in his recantation and never had good day all his life and to shun these great Evils he willingly suffers lesse he thinkes a Prison is not so bad as Hell the threatnings of men nothing to the frownes of an angry God the losse of all his dignities on earth not to be compared to the losse of heaven and being put to it that he must suffer the losse of one he willingly chuseth to part with the lesse Ferre minora volo ne graviora feram So that if ye consider what he shuns and what he hopes to gain it is no wonder if he be not onely patient Nemo nisi pro eo quod delectat sponre suscipit quoâ—i cruciat Biel. ex Augustino but joyfull in tribulation This made Martyrs to run to the stake and embrace the flames and would not accept deliverance and if men did well consider they would neither condemne them that are in trouble nor say as Peter to Christ Pitie thy self and yeeld rather then run such a hazard 4. The patience of a naturall man never brings true comfort to his soul he never tastes of those joyes which God affords to them that suffer in a good cause Paul and Silas are as merrie in prison as ever they were and John in Patmos knows more ravishing joy then those that lived in the Emperours Palace but such as suffer either for their offences unlesse their patience did spring from a true root it is impossible the fruit should be good Faith and patience are coupled together Hebr. 6.12 and therefore comfort and patience are joyned together Rom. 15.4 That we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope And then follows the God of patience and consolation which concludes the point in hand that no man not the mildest man hath by nature the grace of patience God is the author of it as well as any other grace and therefore that every one should endeavour after it in the use of the same means by which he looks for every grace Vse 2 The second Use is a reproof to all impatient persons And here we that reprove others have need first to reprove our selves It was a modest expression of Tertullian who being to write of this subject intimates that he was ashamed to speak Ne dicta factis erubescant lest his actions should contradict his speeches and he be ashamed of his sayings Let us all be humbled for our intemperate language our unseemly gestures our unfit carriage we fall short of that quiet silent temper of soul before mentioned our spirits are full of bitternesse our mouths are full of complaints what a shame is it to sea Christian like Hercules furens or like Solomons fool And if men do not break out so inordinately yet it is too common to hear some with David crying out Oh my sun Absolon 2 Sam. 18.33 would God I had died for theâ— Oâ— Absolon my sonne Or with Jonah Oh my gourd Iona 4.8 I am not able to endure this heat seeing my gourd it taken away take away my life also Oh these daughters in law saith Rebecca Gen. 26.35
Cap. 27.46 I am weariâ— of my life because of them Others in our dayes say these are pitifull times trading is decayed the treasure of the Kingdom is exhausted all things are out of frame In these and the like expressions where corruption appears I am now to speak to it by way of reproof The causes of Impatience are 1. The crosse lies in somewhat that is too dear unto us Foure causes of impatience and self-love may be the cause of this impatience Rachel mourns and will not be comforted for her children Jacob is impatient of Benjamins going out of his sight and the reason is he loved him more then was meet An when once we are lost in our affections to any thing the crosse proves heavie and we pull it upon our selves It is just with God to punish us in that thing we idolize And if we cannot moderate our affections we pull a double evill upon our selves 1. To be bereaved of that which is dear unto us 2. We shall not be able to bear the losse of it If we joy too much in any thing when we loose it we shall mourn too much and then in stead of pitie from friends we should have a reproof Impatience discovers men for you shall find that in some things they can bear it better then in others and if they be most tachie and peevish when crossed in matter of profit or pleasure or name and reputation a Heathen concluded that then they are covetous or ambitious or luxurious An impatient man is guiltie of a double fault one past in his irregular affections an other present in his ill carriage to God or man in the losse of that which is taken from him 2. Anothâ—r cause of Impatience is ignorance of God when we see God in a crosse we submit but if not we are perverse We see a great deal of difference in David towards Shimei and Nabal both of them give him ill language and Shimei was worse then the other yet he is more patient towards him then Nabal and the reason is he saw God more in his reproachfull termes then the other God hath bidden him curse saith he and therefore he will bear it If a man meet the King and know him not he will not give him due reverence And if we acknowledge not God in our crosses no wonder if we be impatient It is in this case as with the owners of the Asses colt if you say the Lord hath need of him they will let him go saith our Saviour so when we part with our estates if the Lord have need of them let them go Let us offer as Araunah did our barnes and all that is on the barn-floore our oxen or any thing we have but unlesse we know it is the Lord that requires them we shall hardly submit and scarce then unlesse nature be subdued by a higher and more powerfull principle 3. A third cause of impatience is the distemper of the constitution of the bodie for it comes from passion and that is from the passive principle in man where choller abounds there the soul works distemperedly for all actions taste and have a taâ—g of the humour that is predominant and though passions and passionate expressions are to be ascribed to the mind yet all actions elicited and acted by the bodie partake of the naturall temper It is inbred and setled and hardly overcome and so it is both a sin and a great affliction to them that are sensible of it Passions are the feet of the soul they are in the sensitive appetite and when they grow inordinate they are the diseases of the mind the depravers of reason the disturbers of the understanding whereby wise men speak nothing do nothing like themselves It is a weaknesse to have passions a greater weaknesse to be conquered by them Therefore when the people gave too much to the Apostles to take down that opinion Act. 14.15 they alledge they were men subiect to like passions as themselves intimating that it is a weaknesse and belowe a wise man to have passions in him And for conclusion consider that when we are commanded Luk. 21.19 to possesse our souls in patience it appears that by passion and impatience we are dispossessed of our souls of our understanding of our joy and comfort and peace for that time that passion bears sway A patient man doth quietly injoy himself his comforts his friends but if passion possesse thy impatient soul it will play the tyrant and turn thee out of all Mark 5.2 3. thou art like him that was possessed by an evill spirit and we find tâ—at he did tear himself so impatient persons wound and cut and vex themselves and it is said that none could bind him ver 3.4 rage will break out and will not be restrained I would kill a man in mine anger saith Lamech Gen. 42.28 I will go mourning to my grave if ought but good befall Benjamin by the way saith Jacob. When men give way and let the rains go their passions runne like wilde horses in which case men are burthensome to themselves and others he that was possessed of the evill spirit was among the tombes but these are among the living and molest and grieve most those that are nearest to them 4. A fourth cause of Impatience is the crosse comes suddenly and takes us unawares We break out before we consider of it passion surprizeth a man as a thief that robs him before he could make any resistance It were good we did think beforehand of the evils of the day of the crosse occurrents that may fall out in our callings and families and occasions Collect thy spirits and consider there may be and it is like there will be some untowardnesse in servants some undutifulnesse in children some unkindnesse in husband wife or friends arme thy self against all and be prepared Think with thy self God could have matched all good husbands and good wives together and could have given to all good parents good children and faithfull servants to the masters that fear him he could have put all sweet dispositions to have laid together and injoyed a happie neighbourhood but divine providence hath disposed otherwise to try our patience Having gone through the first part of the dutie of waiting upon God I now come to the second The Church her hope which is a cheerfull expectation of good If we were never so patient in bearing evill and yet did not keep up our desires and affections we failed in our waiting for there ought to be a certain and a cheerfull expectation of such future good things as God hath promised 1. It must be a future good we hope for not present which we do enjoy alreadie and it must be promised else we build without a foundation Presumption roves abroad at large but hope looks for a promise Objectum spei 1 Proximum 2 Principale There is a double object for our hope one is principall and
with in this kind but you shall find the want of things desired cause fainting of the spirits Prov. 13.12 It must not be understood 1. Of naturall men 2. Not of good men under humiliation 3. Not of such as have not strong affections The deferring of the hope makes the heart sick In every sicknesse and pain the heart is not sick for it comes to the heart but a little before death and then it is more dangerous for then men faint and go away and this being worse then the other it is more grievous to bear it But when we speak of heavenly things you must not apply it to naturall men for they have but weak desires that way nor must we understand it of men under the burthen of their sins in the time of humiliation for a wounded spirit who can bear but if you speak of men that have strong desires to some good and have some pressures by reason of some evill or if you understand it of religious men having passed through the work of humiliation it is more easie to bear evill then to wait till the promised good be injoyed but yet you must suppose affections to abound in them or else their desires are not so strong And the Apostle in that text you have need of patience Hebr. 10.36 that after you have done the will of God you may receive the promise seems plainly to determine the point in hand that it is more to wait till we receive the promise Vers 34 for when he spake of spoyling of goods and those afflictions he said nothing but when he comes to this then he tels them they had need of patience no doubt the other did require patience but this more then ordinarie 2. Evils that fall upon us or are coming towards us we flee from them there is fuga mali and after good things we make haste there is prosecutio boni now from the manner of flying from evill and following after good we may determine the question if a man flee from a Bear or any dangerous beast he makes haste till he be gotten a good distance from him and then he goes softly In pursuit of good things we grow more eager and earnest for at first we do not fully understand and perceive the excellencie of them till we are well acquainted with the wayes of God we know not the sweetnesse and worth of his love Therefore distinguish of the time at first evils coming on us with their full power do much affect us and require all the patience we have but afterwards some troubles become more easie as the prison to him that suffers in a good cause becomes as his own house and doth not so much perplexe Good things upon more full knowledge are more earnestly longed for and the desires encrease and therefore such as are bent upon heaven and the assurance of Gods love and pardon of sins by Christ they are compared to hungrie and thirstie persons which must have somewhat to satisfie them and that presently or else they die therefore as at first some evils do much try our patience so good things at last do more put us to it and it is harder to wait 3. Heaven hath more force by an attractive power to draw our desires then Hell hath operation by way of terrour for faith and love and other habits of grace are effectuall in their kind and have objects to elicite their power as well as any naturall affections Heaven upon a heavenly mind hath such an influence that it draws up desires more strongly then the Sun the moisture of the earth and when desires are strongly set and are in their motion it is a painfull thing to have them stayed A traveller that minds home and is drawing homeward in his journey and is detained against his will counts it an uncomfortable condition and wisheth often that he were in his house Psal 42.1 2. and so did David My soul panteth after thee O God when shall I come and appear before God The hatred of Saul was a great calamitie but the desire of Gods presence in the Sanctuarie and having the Kingdom did work more upon him The fear of hell troubles not neer so much as the want of heaven 4. For the bearing of evill there are more grounds of patience then for the enduring of the want of good desired for the evill that is upon us Si injuriam de posueris ultor est si damnum restitutor est si dolorem medious si mortem resuscitator est Tertul. may be made up in somewhat else as good if a man be sick or impoverished or imprisoned for Religion there is sufficient cause to rest contented and bear it patiently both because he honours God and therein he is to rejoyce and also he may have somewhat that may be as good as health or libertie or wealth and he may be in better state but when the soul desires heaven or the assurance of it and desires the sence of Gods love in Christ if he attain not to it there is nothing can be had equall or near as good and offer what you will in stead of it it is despised If Jacob desiring Rachel cannot be satisfied with Leah much lesse can the heart be satisfied till it have the graces it desires and all the good things that are contained in the promises and at last the glorious presence of God in heaven And it is no sence to say to a man be patient though God love thee not and although thy sins be not forgiven yet thou may do well enough this would be odious even to every man because reason and naturall conscience will tell him that the want of these will make him miserable All that could be said is that though he have not these blessings as yet he may in time obtain them if he wait on God in the use of his ordinances And from the forenamed particulars the heart that is set on heavenly things is ready to breake out and say I am not able to wait and be patient till I receive the promise my heart is ready to breake and many times I thinke it belongs not unto me what shall I do Ans For answer Let us first qualifie the matter The Church sicke of Love asswage the griefe and then if we can heale the wound To asswage the paine of this impatient heart that cannot waite till it receive the promise consider this Impatience is not sinfull nor dangerous but it ariseth from the most heavenly temper of the soule strongly bent to have as soone as may be a large portion of the favour of God in Christ and it is the ardencie of love that makes the soule restlesse and if there were not much love there could not be these desires All Impatience comes either from necessitie as a hungry man cannot stay any time but must have meate presently if you tell him you will a weeke or some few dayes hence