Canaan yet we see how hardly they were brought to depart from thence Yea when they were in the way to Canaan they would often haue returned backe againe into Aegypt to their flesh-pots Num i4 3 4 Exod. 16.3 Num. 11.5 their fish their cucumbers their pepons c. If they had liued in preferrement there and enioyed the fatte of the land as they did in Iosephs time Gen. 45.18 and 47.11 it would no doubt haue beene an hard matter to haue perswaded them to depart So it fareth with the most of vs wee are in this world as in a Sea of misery neuer out of one danger or other yet such is our folly we loue to be here still What would we do if we neuer had any thing to molest vs It is a lamentable thing to consider that our mindes should bee so dazeled with the glittring shew of riches plesures honors as they cannot look to heaueÌ„ that our hearts should be so oppressed and weighed downe with couetousnes and ambition that they can not raise vp themselues vnto celestiall cogitations and that our soules should be so ensnared with the pleasant inticements of the flesh that they seeke for their felicitie vpon the earth And therfore the Lord in mercy to preuent this euill doth by daily experience of miseries put his children in minde of the vanity of all earthly things Caluin instit lib. 3. cap 9. sect 1. lest they should promise to themselues a constant and continuall peace in this world hee suffereth them many times to bee disquieted and molested with warres with tumults with robberies and other iniuries lest they should with too much greedines gape after brittle and inconstant riches or should too much rest in those which they doe possesse God bringeth them to pouerty sometimes by banishment sometimes by barrennes of the earth sometimes by fire sometimes by one meanes and sometimes by another lest they should take too much delight in the comfortes of marriage he eyther causeth them to be vexed with the shrewdnesse of their wiues or humbleth them with lewd children or afflicteth them with the losse and death of their children And if it fall out that the Lord doe spare them in all these things yet lest they should either swell with vaine-glorie or reioyce with foolish confidence he chasteneth them with sickenesse and diseases that they may learne how fraile and vnstable all earthly things are and may lift vp their eyes to heauen where that incorruptible crowne of glory is laid vp for them And thus the Lord in his vnspeakeable goodnes many times diminisheth the health of our bodies that we may more earnestly desire the saluation of our souls He taketh away the things of this life that we may more carefully seeke after the things of a better life So that afflictions are like to a great storme at Sea Philip. 1.23 to make the godly wish to be in the hauen As the waters of the deluge the more they increased the higher they bare vp the Arke So the waters of tribulation the greater they are the higher they lift vp the soule towardes heauen according to that speech of Bernard a Per flagella domini spernuntur teâ—rena amantur coelestâ—a De coena dom serm 10 By the Lords corrections we contemne earthly things and loue heauenly And therefore as Zeno b Diog. Laertius in vita Zenonis hauing suffered shipwracke became the Scholler of Crates and studied Philosophie and after said it was an happie shipwracke that made him affect such excellent knowledge So may wee say much more truly It was a blessed sicknes a blessed pouerty a blessed imprisonment c that caused vs to looke towardes the kingdome of heauen Ninthly affliction doeth saue the children of God from hell condemnation If God should let vs alone we would neuer rest till we run headlong to hell as foolish childreÌ„ if they be not hinderd will run into the ditch And therefore it is the Lords mercie to lay the rodde vpon our backs that so we may bethinke our selues of the danger wherein wee stand and may labour to preuent it And this is that which Iob saith Iob 33 16.18 that the Lord openeth the eares of men by corrections that so he may keepe backe their soules from the pit and that their life should not passe by the sword And the Apostle hath a saying to the same purpose i Cor. 11.32 that when we are iudged we are chastened of the Lord because we should not be condemned with the world When a man is desperately about to cast himselfe into the fire or to drowne himselfe in the water can any do him a greater benefite then to preuent him and saue his life So there cannot be a greater benefit to vs then when we are ready to drowne our selues in perdition by our sinnes that the Lord by his corrections should stay vs and holde vs backe Last of all affliction doth fitte and prepare vs for the kingdome of Heauen As the Apostle saith of the Thessalonians that by persecutions and tribulations which they suffered they were counted woorthie of the kingdome of God 2. Thess 1.5 As the parching heat of the Sun ripeneth the corne and maketh it fitte to bee carried into the barn so doth afflictioÌ„ ripen the godly that they may be meet to be gathered into Gods barne And this is done two wayes First because by afflictions â—as wee haue heard wee are purged and purified from our sins which else would hinder vs from comming there Apocal. 21.27 For no vncleane thing shall enter into Gods kingdome As gold must first be purified in the fire before it be laid vp in the kings treasury Prou. 25.4 as wheat must be cleansed from the chaffe before it be laid vp in the garner so must it be with vs. Affliction is the fire that must purge vs 2. Tim. 2.21 to make vs vessels of honour for the house of God and the fan that must clense vs to make vs pure wheat for his garner In the building of Solomons temple 1 Kings 6.7 all the stones were hewen and fitted in the quarry before they were brought thither and There was neither hammer nor axe nor anie toole of yron heard in the temple while it was in building So in the kingdome of heauen which is the spirituall house of God all the liuing stones thereof must be hewen and squared and fitted by afflictions in this life Secondly affliction prepareth vs for heauen because it is a meanes to worke holines in vs Heb. 12.14 without which no man shall euer see the Lord as the Apostle saith We see then by all these gracious effects and blessed fruits which affl ction bringeth with it that Dauid had good cause to say It is good for mee that I haue beene afflicted And therefore wee may conclude with Saint Augustine a Percutis vt sanes â—et occidis nos ne moriamur abs te
the sea and could not be moued and the hinder part was broken with the violence of the waues And the men that were in her constrained so many as could swimme to cast themselues into the sea and so goe out to land and the rest some vpon bords and some on pieces of the ship to escape and saue themselues He that had stood on the shore at that time no doubt should haue seene a fearefull and lamentable spectacle but hee that had beene a partie in it himselfe would haue sound it an vpspeakeable danger Deut. 13 6 It is a great heauinesse for a man to loose a louing friend which was to him as his owne soule as Moses saith And yet this was Dauids case in the death of Ionathan 1. Sam. 18 1 3. whose soule was knit to the soule of Dauid and they loued one another as their owne soules and they made a couenant together And how hee tooke it to heart may appeare by that dolefull lamentation that he maketh for him when he heard the tydings of his death Woe is me for thee my brother Ionathan 2. Sam. 1 â—6 very kinde hast thou beene to me thy loue to me was wonderful passing the loue of women The losse of children by any meanes whatsoeuer is a great griefe to kinde and louing parents who haue born them with great paine and trauell and brought them vp with much care and cost But to be depriued of them by vntimely violent feareful death is a griefe that cannot be expressed None knoweth the greatnes of it but they that haue felt it And yet this hath befallen euen the dearest of Gods children Aaron Psal 106 16. whom the Scripture calleth the Saint of the Lord had his two sons Nadab Abihu fearfully destroyed both in a momeÌ„t with fire from heauen Leuit. 10.2 Eli a good man 1. Sam. 4 11 had likewise his two sons Hophni and Phinehas slaine in battell both on a day Iob also Iob. 1 2 19. whose godlinesse we haue heard before had all his children seuen sonnes and three daughters pittifully slaine crusht in pieces with the fall of an house But the greatest griefe of all is when a mans childe is taken away in some sin so as besides the death of the bodie hee hath iust cause to feare the death of the soule And yet this was good Dauids case in the losse of his Absalom which made him breake forth into such passionate mourning as he did 2. Sam. 18.33 O my son Absalom my sonne my sonne Absalom would God I had dyed for thee O Absalom my sonne my sonne It is a great griefe for a man to bee depriued of the wife of his youth Pro. 5 18. which hath long lyen in his bosome Deut. 13 6 which for many yeares hath beene vnto him as the louing hinde and pleasant Roe Prou. 5.19 in whose loue he hath so long delighted and which was the pleasure and desire of his eyes Ezech. 24 16 And yet this befell those two holy Patriarkes Abraham and Iacob Abraham was depriued of his dearest Sara Gen. 23.2 and 35 19 and Iacob of Rahel whom he so much affected There cannot be a greater affliction to a poore woman then to loose a kinde and louing husband which was the vaile of her eyes in all places Gen. 20.16 But with the losse of an husband to be bereft of all meanes of maintenance and exposed to extreame pouertie is such a crosse as can hardly bee imagined And yet wee haue examples euen of this kinde also Poore Naomi Ruth 1.3 was depriued of her husband in a strange cuÌ„try where she had few friends and small meanes and her two sonnes which had taken them wiues there in the land of Moab died also 5. so that she was left alone and destitute of succour And how much she was affected with this calamitie may appeare by her speeches 20. when she returned againe into her owne country Call me not Naomi saith she that is beautifull but call me Mara that is bitter for the Almightie hath giuen me much bitternesse I went out full 21 and the Lord hath brought me home againe emptie why then call yee me Naomi seeing the Lord hath humbled mee and the Almightie hath brought mee into aduersitie So likewise the Prophets wife that dyed in the land of Israel 2. Kin. 4.1 besides the losse of her husband was left in great debt and hauing nothing to pay the mercilesse creditour came to take her two sonnes to be his bondmen It is an vncomfortable thing to dy in child birth Gen. 35.17.18 and yet it was the case of Rahel Iacobs wife who dyed in the paines of her labour Sai m. 4 19 20. of Elies daughter in lawe who hearing that the arke of God was taken and her husband and father in law were dead bowed her selfe and trauelled and in her trauell dyed It is feareful to dye a violent death and yet it is a thing that hath happened euen vnto those that were deare vnto God 1. Sam 4 18 Eli of whom wee haue heard before when he heard mention of the losse of Gods Arke being heauie and vnweildie with age fell backward from his seat and his necke was broken and so he dyed The Prophet of the Lord that was sent to cry against the altar 1. Kin. 13 24 which Ieroboam had made at Bethel because he kept not the commaundement which the Lord commaunded him a lyon met him by the way and slew him and his carkaise was cast in the way 2. Kin. 23.29 And good Iosiah who is so highly commended for his godlinesse was notwithstanding slaine in the warres by Pharao Necho king of Egypt Nay a man may be so far left to himselfe as he may coÌ„mit such a sinne wherby he may deserue to be cut off by the sword of the Magistrate yet still be the child of God As the sins that Dauid coÌ„mitted by the expresse law of God were to be punished with death if there had bin any Magistrat aboue him that had had power to inflict it By all these particular instaÌ„ces many more that might be produced it may appear that there is not any kind of afflictioÌ„ or calamity but the children of God may be subiect to it according to that enumeration which the Apostle maketh Rom. 8.35 wheÌ„ he saith Who shal separate vs from the loue of Christ shal tribulation or anguish or persecution or famine or nakednesse or perill or sword c. A man may bee subiect to all these miseries yet not be depriued of the loue of Christ But besides all these outward afflictions the children of God may bee and oftentimes are subiect to inward fear horror of conscience which as Solomon saith Prou. 18.14 is the most intolerable tormeÌ„t that can be indured The spirit of a man wil sustain his infirmitie
one and the same motion causeth the dung to stincke horribly and the ointment to smell most sweetely So that afflictions are like the red Sea wherein the Aegyptians were drowned and the Israelites saued Vse 2 Secondly it serueth to comfort all Gods children in the middest of the greatest afflictions that can befall them It is the infirmitie and weaknes of our nature to thinke that affliction is a token of Gods anger and that if any extraordinary crosse doe befall vs we presently feare that God hath forsaken vs. But as we heard already though God afflict vs with many and heauie crosses yet we are neuer the lesse deare vnto him neyther doth hee loue vs any whit the lesse An Heathen man that neuer had experience of the loue of God to his children had yet a glimmering of the trueth of this point a Seneca Dc diuin Prouid Dost thou not see saith he that fathers loue their children farre otherwise then mothers doe They would haue their children stirred vp betimes to vndergoe labor toile cause them to sweat yea somtimes to weepe But mothers desire to cherish them in their bosoms to keep them in couert shelter they would neuer haue them weepe they would neuer haue them sad they would neuer haue them take paines In like maner saith he God hath a fatherly affection towards good men and loueth them not effeminately but manfully and exerciseth them with labors with sorrows with losses that so they may gather true strength and hardnesse So that the greater that our afflictions are the better may wee be perswaded of the loue of God yea the more comfort we may take in them For God hauing promised 1 Cor. 10 13 that Hee will not suffer vs to be tempted aboue that wee are able we may assure our selues that God seeth wee haue strength to beare them or else he would not put vs to encounter with theÌ„ When a Captain hath a piece of seruice weighty and full of danger hee will not send a coward or a white-liuered fellow about it but hee maketh choice of those that are stoutest and of whose valour and courage hee hath had most experience and to them he committeth the charge of that busines So dealeth the Lord with vs. In his great wisedome and mercie hee proportioneth his afflictions according to that measure of strength which hee seeth in vs. When a Physition hath to deale with a Patient that is of a strong constitution hee ministreth to him strong purgations But if hee be weake and feeble hee prescribeth for him milder potions In like manner our heauenly Physition maketh the cup of our affl ctions more bitter or more milde as hee knoweth hee hath giuen vs ability to beare the same And so long as hee strengtheneth vs by his glorious power wee neede not care what crosses wee meete withall for wee may be sure they shall not hurt vs. For as so many riuers which daily do runne into the Sea Sen. de diuina Prouid and such aboundance of raine that falleth continually into it from the Cloudes and such a multitude of fountaines that spring from the middle of the earth doe not change no nor any whit abate or diminish the salt sauour thereof so the violence and force of afflictions doth not alter the minde of a violent man but he abideth in his estate and whatsoeuer befalleth hee bringeth it into his owne colour And on the contrarie side there is no greater cause of discomfort then when wee are altogether free from aiflictions And therfore one calleth a secure life which is not subiect to crosses the dead Sea affirming that when a man hath nothing to stirre him vp and pricke him forward nothing to trie the constancie and firmenesse of his minde Non est tranquilitas malicia est Seneca epist 68. but lieth burâ—ed in idlenesse it is not tranquility but a dead calme Againe this is no small argument of comfort that God beholdeth vs in all our troubles and afflictions as it is said of the people of Israel Exod. 2.25 when they groand vnder the bondage of Pharao that God looked on them and had respect vnto them Though they might thinke in regard of the miserable slauery which they indured that God had quite forgotten them and his promise made to them and their fathers yet it was otherwise his eye did still behold them Neithet doth the Lord looke vpon vs as an idle beholder or as one that taketh pleasure to see our misery but with compassion and a tender regard As hee saith in the former case Exod 3.7 I haue surely seene the trouble of my people which are in Aegypt and haue heard their cry because of their taske-maisters 8. and I know their sorrowes Therfore I am come downe to deliuer them c. 9. And loe the crie of the children of Israel is come vnto me and I haue also seene the oppression wherewith the Aegyptians oppresse them Where we see that the Lord taketh to heart the afflictions of his children Iudg. 10 19 zach 2.8 And his verie soule is grieued for their miserie and it goeth as neare him Psalme 56.8 as if a man should touch the apple of his eye He regardeth their sighs and groans Malac. 3.16 and their teares hee putteth in his bottell hee registreth their words and complaints Exod. 2 23 There is a Booke of remembrance written for them that feare him and all their cries come vp to him It is true that the Lord somtimes seemeth to forget neglect his children in the time of trouble As our Sauior Christ being in the ship with his Disciples was asleepe till the ship was couered with waues and they were all like to perish Iohn 11 6 When he heard that Lazarus his friend whom hee loued was sicke he did not presently goe to visite him to coÌ„fort his sisters but abode stil two dayes in the place where he was so as Lazarus was dead buried before he came there But when hee hath sufficiently tryed humbled them he returneth speedily comforteth theÌ„ and so disposeth of their afflictions as hee alwayes enableth them to get the victory For Orig. de prin lib 3. cap. 2. as they that had the ouersight of the wrastlings and combates among the Heathen did not suffer the combatants to begin the conflict hand ouer head nor arme them confusedly all alike but making diligent examination as they saw mens bodies and ages they were carefull to match like with like and to furnish them with weapons fitte for them In like sort the prouidence of God disposeth and ordereth after a most equal maner all those that descend into the conflicts of this life so as one encountreth with the flesh another with pouerty another with sickenes another with infamy another with persecution and putteth vpon euery one of theÌ„ diuers kinds of armor and furnisheth them with greater or lesser strength as