It is very rarely that we make any great attainments unless we meet with Crosses Secondly They are very useful to the weaning of good men from this world and all worldly things They teach them to make a right judgment and estimate of things And this is a fruit of great wisdom and a step to the greatest perfection He that prospers knows but one part of the world he looks upon it on one side and does not know it throughly We do not know it perfectly till we come to suffer Till then we see the fair and glozing and false side of the world He that sees no more than this runs a great hazard The Shepherd in the Fable was tempted out of the hopes of gain to turn a Merchant He did so and lost his adventure upon a rough and tempestuous Sea But then he gained this wisdom by his loss not to trust to the Sea when it was calm The world does us the greatest mischief when it smiles and never does us a greater hurt than when it speaks us fair It is a great proficiency to be able to contemn the smiles and Courtship of the world Thirdly They are of great use to make us more earnest contenders for heaven They bring the good man nearer to God and to his happiness By these sufferings the good man is prepared for the enjoyment of God The contempt he meets with here makes him aspire after a future glory His poverty and pain and confinement put him upon breathing after the plenty and the joys and enlargement of a future state what he loses here he gains above And we are very happy when we do whatever the occasion be endeavour earnestly after an incorruptible Crown Fourthly They give us an experiment of our selves We know not what we are till we are tried It is easie to be valiant when we are in no danger Our courage is then proved when we are surrounded with danger It is the Storm that shews the skill and courage of the Sea-man We are reproached we shall now know whether or no we can pray and forgive them that speak evil of us without a cause We are injured now we shall know whether or not we can forgive an enemy We lose our goods we shall now see whether our faith and patience be genuine or not We are affronted this is the time to take a proof of our meekness If these things had not hapned the graces of good men had not been known to others nor to themselves But by this means good men have the comfort of this experience and others an advantage also It is much better to bear our evils well than to meet with none at all Jam. 1.2 3. Count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations knowing that the trying of your faith worketh patience Rom. 4.3 4. We glory in tribulation also says St. Paul knowing that tribulation worketh patience wherein ye greatly rejoyce says St. 1 Pet. 1.6 Peter though now for a season if need be ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations That the trial of your faith being much more precious than of gold that perisheth though it be tried in fire might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ Though we had these graces before we might yet have been without the comfort and our Brother without the advantage and God without the glory had we not been tried Fifthly Good men that have suffered much and in a good cause and with an undanted courage shall have a greater reward in an other life There are degrees of glory in the other state and these holy men shall be placed in the higher Stations of glory Rom. 8.17 If we suffer with him we shall be glorified together If we bear an heavy Cross we shall receive a glorious Crown I consider IV. That good men are supported under their sorrows and troubles here And if God enable them to endure well may he lay upon them what he pleaseth For the good man is well dealt with when he is enabled here and hath a sure Reward hereafter I do intend to discourse of the supports which the pious man will meet with in another place CHAP. II. HAving cleared the good Providence of God and shewed that the sufferings of good men are very consistent with his particular care and government I shall Secondly Shew you the great reasonableness of the Laws of Christ by which we are oblige to suffer for righteousness sake no only reproach and the loss of oâ—â— worldly goods but even life it self Our Saviours Precept is plain 〈◊〉 this matter Luk. 14.26 with Mat. 10.37 If any man come to mâ— says Christ and hate not his Father and Mother and Wife and Children and Brethren and Sisters yeâ— and his own life also he cannot be 〈◊〉 Disciple The meaning of theâ—â— words is plainly this that we caâ— not be the true Disciples of Chriâ—â— if we do not prefer his command before Father and Mother â— and our very life it self To hatâ— these things is to love them less thaâ— we do our Saviour as appearâ—â— from a parallel place Luk. 9.23 It is but fâ—â— we should choose to dye rathâ—â— than deny our Saviour and renounce our Religion And we aâ—â— frequently commanded by ouâ— Lord to deny our selves Mar. 8.34 to take up his Cross to follow him And we are assured that he that loseth his life for his sake shall find it Oâ— the other hand we are excluded from the hopes of mercy in another life if we do now deny our Saviour before men If we suffer Mat. 10.39 Ver. 33. 2 Tim. 2.12 we shall also reign with him If we deny him he will also deny us It is our interest as much as it is our duty to part with life it self in the confession of the truth Mat. 10.28 Fear not them says our Saviour which kill the body but are not able to kill the soul But rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in Hell And in another place he tells us Joh. 12.25 He that loveth his life shall lose it And he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal Now certain it is that our Lord is no hard Master and that all his Laws are very righteous and good Our Blessed Saviour promiseth us rest if we will become his followers and assures us Mat. 11.29 30. that his yoke is easie and his burden light He that undertakes the Laws of Christ and sincerely sets himself to obey them will never have any cause to complain of his Master or his Work They that find fault with the Laws of Christ are those that do not understand them aright or never did seriously apply themselves to the practice of them That we should choose to die rather than break his Laws and renounce his Religion is indeed one of the hardest Laws of Christ But
crowd of Professors there are many Hypocrites and Unbelievers 2. Supposing these sufferers sincerely and universally good yet they are but imperfectly so There is some folly bound up in the heart of the wisest and best of men There is some defect in the most perfect Saint All menneed some grains of allowance Nullum magnum ingenium sine venia placuit Sen. And as there is some flaw in the greatest wit so there is some defect even in them who have made the greatest proficiency in goodness And whatinjustice is there in chastising the follies of good men especially when this chastisement is for their Emendation It is folly and fondness to suffer an otherwise towardly Child to go on in an evil and unbecoming course It is greater kindness to correct than to indulge him There is no man so good but doth sometimes go astray It is no impeachment of the Divine Providence to correct the faults of the best of men This is just and very consistent with the Divine care and providence It rather confirmes it and strengthens our belief of it Psa 89.20 22 27 28 29. I have found David my Servant with my holy Oyl I have anointed him The enemy shall not exact upon him nor the Son of wickedness afflict him Also I will make him my first-born higher than the Kings of the earth My mercy will I keep for him for evermore and my Covenant shall stand fast with him his Seed also will I make to endure for ever and his Throne as the Laws of heaven These are great Promises and such as give assurance of a very particular Care and Providence But all these great things do not imply that Davids Children shall not be chastised They may be corrected for their sin without the least diminution to the Promise or impeachment of Gods care and Providence Ver. 30 32 33 34. It follows If his Children forsake my Law and walk not in my Judgments then will I visit their transgression with a rod and their iniquity with stripes Nevertheless my loving kindness I will not utterly take from him nor suffer my faithfulness to fail My Covenant will I not break nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips It is an act of mercy and kindness in God to correct his Children Heb. 12.6 Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth If God did it not Intelligimus esse nos Deo curae quibus quoniam peccamus â—rascitur Lactant Inst l. 5. c. 23. we might have greater cause to impeach his care and doubt of his Providence We commend the care of that Master of a Family who does correct the disorders of his own house Good men are Gods peculiar His Church is His Family Amos 3.2 You only have I known of all the Families of the earth therefore will I punish you for all your iniquities not to do thus would be cruelty and disregard And it is the greatest Plague to meet with none at all It is said of the worst of men Psa 73.5 They are not in trouble as other men neither are they plagued like other men And it is a severe threat no merciful promise which we read Hos 4.14 I will not punish your Daughters when they commit Whoredom nor your Spouses when they commit Adultery As the faults of good men make it just that they should be corrected so their relation to God makes it necessary God may justly do it because they deserve it and He does it because they are His. There is in it Justice and Kindness at once Be it then that the good man suffer yet hath he deserved it from God Be it that he is sincerely good yet he is imperfectly so He fails in many things He is too cold in his Prayers or too weak in his Faith too contracted in his Charity or too propense to the world Be it that he be Gold there may be some dross that may be taken away by the Discipline of Heaven Let us consider in the next place II. The evils themselves which are in this world the lot and portion of good men They meet with Evils but what Evils are they How great and how durable or what proportion do they bear to their demerits or their mercies They meet with Evils indeed but not with the worst of things And this will appear if we consider 1. That the evils which good men meet with are not strictly evils They are in some sense Evils but not of the greater size and character That is indeed a great Evil which makes us evil and is not consistent with real goodness As that is truly good which makes us good so that is only an evil in the truest sense which makes us so Poverty restraint reproach sickness death are in some sense evils But they are not such evils as Pride Wantonness Prophaness Injustice a guilty mind and unquiet Conscience They are evils but they are tolerable ones The Spirit of a man may bear his infirmity but a wounded Spirit who can bear The good man meets with evils then but not with the worst of things for such things will imply him not to be good A good man may be killed but he cannot be hurt Men may kill his body they cannot deprave his soul He may be banished from his Country not from his God Men may make him poor they cannot make him covetous and proud earthly and sensual They may load him with Calumnies but not with Guilt He hath goods of which he cannot be rifled and stripped He may fall under the anger and power of a Tyrant or popular Tumult but is not by that force robbed of his integrity The good man is well dealt with he hath good things which no malice or force can take away 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Arrian Epictet l. 3. c. 17. Why do we blame Providence which allots the best of things to the best of men Is it not better to be modest than to be rich Is it not better to be good than to be great Is not integrity of mind better than health of body If it be then the good man does not meet with the very worst of things and though he may be afflicted with sundry evils which other men avoid yet he hath many very good things belonging to him which other men want 2. The evils which good men meet with are but Temporal evils at most Sharp they may be and painful to the flesh but they are but short The best man may meet with a fiery trial he will not fall into everlasting burnings His sufferings bear no proportion to a future misery or glory If we think of eternal sorrows we cannot think our short ones worthy to be compared with them The good man meets with all his pain here there is none remains for him in reversion Alas what compare is there between a fire and fagot and eternal fire Between a Gibbet and a Rack and the Worm that never dies and
a thief or as an evil doer or as a busie-body in other mens matters It is the cause not the suffering which makes the Martyr We are happy if we suffer for righteousness sake Rebellion and Treason against our Prince cannot make men Saints and Martyrs These men are evil doers whatever ever tokens of fortitude they seem to shew I now proceed to shew how we ought to demean our selves under our sufferings And that you may take in the following particulars which concern us as we stand related to God to our Neighbour and to our selves And I. As to God whose hand we must look at we must suffer without murmuring and repining We must entirely resign up our selves unto God and imitate our blessed Saviour when he said Not my will but thy will be done Our Lord went like a Sheep to the slaughter he opened not his mouth It becomes us to refer all to Gods wisdom and disposal not to choose the kind and form of our sufferings but to leave all that to him and depend intirely upon him It is the Lord we ought to say let him do what is good in his own eyes II. As to our Neighbour and especially those who are the instruments of our sufferings we are to shew the greatest meekness and charity In this our Saviour was a great pattern 1 Pet. 2.22 23. Who did no sin neither was guile found in his mouth Who when he was reviled reviled not again when he suffered he threatned not but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously It becomes us to imitate this glorious example us it becomes who are vile sinners and have deserved our sufferings from Gods hand though we suffer in a righteous Cause Father forgive them says our dying Lord for they know not what they do Our Lord did not threaten his enemies No he pitied them and he prayed for them And so must we do also if we would suffer as Christians We must forgive our Enemies pity them as we do people that are blind or delirant Their folly and their rage and madness call for our compassions and our hearty Prayers for their precious and immortal souls De dupl Martyr Thus St. Cyprian describes the manner of Christians sufferings We see not says he that placid and meek and sublime temper of mind joyned with humility unless it be in the Martyrs of Christ They do not look upon the Executioner with fierce eyes they do not threaten the Tyrant They are more grieved for their blindness than for their own afflictions Even Christ cries in them Father forgive them c. They look at nothing but heaven where their hope is laid up c. III. As to our selves that we undergo our sufferings undauntedly and with constancy that we do not any thing unbecoming our Christian Profession It is not to be imagined but that the Christian hath as quick a sense of pain as any other man he is not stupid and unconcerned all that is required is this that he hold out with courage and Christian Fortitude and be not betrayed by his fear It is not necessary that he should be rid of all fear It is enough that it do not prevail upon him so far as to cause him to distrust God or deny the Truth It is not every one that can triumph in Flames and shew tokens of joy upon Racks and Wheels It is not every Martyr that can express great exultation of mind 2 Cor. 7.5 Some fear is very consistent with the greatest Sanctity He is not to be deprived of the glory of Martyrdom that continues constant under his sufferings though he went to them with fear and suspicion of himself THE General CONTENTS CHAP. I. THe Introduction and design of the following Discourse The necessity of believing the particular Care and Providence of God The Evils which befal good men are reconcileable with the Providence of God A more particular consideration of the Persons to whom these Evils befal of the Evils themselves of their usefulness and the supports which good men are furnished with Page 1. CHAP. II. That it is very reasonable that in obedience to Christ's Law we should suffer even death it self A more particular consideration of the Law-giver the Equitableness of the Law it self as also of the ground and reason of it p. 31. CHAP. III. The first great support under our sufferings is the hope of eternal life A more particular consideration of the greatness of the reward the clearness of its revelation and its fitness to work upon us p. 63. CHAP. IV. The consideration of Gods particular care and Providence another great support under our afflictions A more particular consideration of the assurance which the Gospel gives us of Gods special Providence How much this tends to our support The Application p. 79. CHAP. V. The Assistance of the Holy Spirit another support A more particular consideration of the sufficiency of this Divine assistance The great assurance we have of receiving this heavenly aid The condition on our part for the obtaining this Assistance p. 97. CHAP. VI. Of the Example of Christ and holy men who have suffered the greatest evils That we are obliged to place their example before our eyes A short account of their sufferings The usefulness of these examples to us p. 124. CHAP. VII The support we receive from the Intercession of the Son of God That Christ is now in heaven That he is there concerned on our behalf How this tends toward our support under the afflictions and sufferings of this life p. 140. CHAP. VIII Of the Comfort of the Scriptures A more particular consideration how the Scriptures tend to our comfort under our sufferings p. 165. CHAP. IX An Exhortation to use these helps and not to be dismayed at death it self for righteousness sake The reasonableness of this Exhortation farther considered Advice to those who are afraid to suffer death because they have not lived as they ought p. 195. CHAP. X. Of preparing for sufferings and for death A more particular consideration of what we are to do toward the fitting our selves for what ever evils may happen especially for death and the severest persecution for righteousness sake How we are to demean our selves under our sufferings p. 212. THE END
gave him that Counsel that they thought would be to him the most grateful But there came to him an honest Stoick that dealt sincerely with him He told him that he need not much afflict himself as if some great matter were before him Non est res magna vivere omnes servi tui vivunt omnia animalia c. Sen. Ep. 77. It is says he no great thing to live All thy Servants live and every Animal does it It is a great thing to die well wisely and undauntedly Life considered abstractly is of no great price and there are many Creatures that have it which we do not greatly value upon that score And when our Lord requires us to give up our life he does not command any great thing of us in doing that Life it self is at best but a manner or circumstance of being and there are those Creatures which have it whose condition is yet very mean and low Life alone does not import any happiness at all Instead of that it often serves to make them who have it sensible of their misery 2. That supposing life more valuable than it is yet it is but a very little of it we lose when we part with it by the hands of violence It is indeed of very great moment how we live of very little how long He that takes our life away does rob us of very little And when God calls for it we have no cause to murmur and complain We generally take false measures here and there is nothing in which we more frequently miscount than we do in this matter And hence it is that we judge so much amiss of our Saviours Laws For what is this life that we put so great a price upon What it is at the most I reckon that what we have spent of it is not at all and what is to come is not yet That which is past is gone irrecoverably and that which is to come is not yet at all so that all we have and all that we can be said to lose is the present moment In all things else we cannot properly be said to be deprived of what we had lost before 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mar. Ant. l. 3. c. 8. or to lose what we never had No man can be deprived of more than what he hath in actual possession We live the present moment only For all the rest we either have lived it or it is uncertain whether we shall or not This is all then that we lose and indeed all that we can enjoy at once the present moment So that one of the Ancients said very truly That he that died very old and he that died very young losâ— but one and the same thing Id. l. 2. c. 12. For said he the present time is that only which any man can be deprived of Agreeably hereunto the Apostle speaks when he calls the sufferingâ— of this life 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 8.18 the sufferings of this present time It is but a moment that we suffer for it is but a moment that we live at once It is true indeed we flatter our selves with a long time that we have to live but we cannot promise our selves that which is to come and we cannot with any propriety of Speech be said to lose that which we never had 3. That supposing we might have lived longer had we not been cut off by the hands of violence yet is this a very inconsiderable â—oss Our Saviour is no hard Master if he call us hence in our youth and full strength and suffer us to fall under the hands of violence What does all this amount to We do but die a little sooner and after another way And sure we have little love for our Lord and our Religion if we think much to do this For suppose we might have lived longer yet that is not much which we lose Perhaps a few years or months and what does it signifie What proportion does this hold to Eternity Or of what moment is it if you consider the boundless love of God and our blessed Saviour A long life is no infallible token of Gods favour under the Gospel This was indeed a blessing under the Law of Moses But we are now received into a better Covenant We know it was otherwise before the Law of Moses was given Enoch that walked with God and that pleased him lived the shortest life of any of the Patriarchs from Adam to Noaâ— And many times so it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that he diâ— in his youth whom God loves I hath been esteemed a favour to bâ— removed hence betimes We muâ—â— die and if we are sure of that iâ— is of small moment when we diâ— And therefore when we die foâ— our Religion we do not lose muâ—â— for the sake of it For we must all die We are but deprived of thaâ— which we knew before would eâ—â— long be taken from us If our house had not been pulled or fired down yet in a little while it would have fallen of it self He that kills me does not by doing so make me mortal Si mortem possemus evadere meritò mori timeremus Cypr. l. 4. Ep. 6. he found me so We have no cause to fear death when we know we cannot escape it When we are killed it is life not immortality which we are deprived of Let us not phansie that our Lord requires any great matter of us when he commands us to lay down our life for his sake We must have died if he had never made this Law and it is a small matter which he requires of us when he would have us die for him Dlogen Laertius Socrat. When one told Socrates that the Athenians had decreed his death He told him that Nature had decreed theirs also His death was hastened by them it was determined by a superiour Power We have no cause to complain but great cause to bless God that since we must die he is pleased to call upon us to do it in a righteous cause We are very foolish and fond if we now murmur and complain I know very well that we are affrighted with the pain of a violent and unnatural death And perhaps the shame and reproach of it is also irksom to us For its reproach and shame it is the most trifling pretence imaginanable And I can hardly think that a wise man upon second thoughts can be moved with so vain a consideration as this The truth of it is there is not any shadow in this pretence For to die for our Religion whatever our death be is not more our duty than it is our priviledge and our honour The first Christians judged thus They rejoyced in this that they were esteemed worthy to suffer for the name of Christ It is no reproach to suffer any death in a good cause He that dies for his Country is not by any wise man reproached because he was found dead in
Saviour He prayed that if it were possible the Cup might pass but then he adds Not my will but thy will be done There is great danger in neglecting our duty in this matter and he will be very ready to deny his Lord who hath not throughly learned this Lesson Whatever happens to us now let us resign our selves to Gods Will. Is my dearest Friend or Child dead Is our health impaired Is our Estate wasted Let us say always Let the will of the Lord be done By these steps we shall perfectly learn this Lesson and practise it then when God shall send for us by death into another World V. Do all the good which you can This tends to the making our death more easie unto us For our account is lessened hereby and consequently death it self is the less to be feared Besides that acts of mercy have a promise of mercy belonging to them They that shew mercy shall receive it It is enough that they are sure of their reward This takes away much of the terrour of death it self And the merciful man is well dealt with if he be supported under the Agonies of death This is better for him than to be delivered from it Psal 41.3 And we know there is a particular promise of support to the merciful man even then when he is threatned with death On the other hand he that shews no mercy must not expect to find it He that hides his Talent in a Napkin is unprepared to meet his Lord He will have a very sad account not only that squanders away but he that hides his Lords Money VI. Frequently and diligently examine your selves Call your selves to a strict and severe account often This will be a great preparation for any evils which may happen to us and against death it self We shall never be safe if we do not take this course For this examination is in order to the knowing our state to God-ward and to our repentance and consequently our pardon We must confess our sins and in order to that we must know them For our Confession the more general it is the more dangerous the more particular the more safe For though we hope for pardon upon a general repentance where we cannot find out all our secret sins yet this does not give us hope of pardon upon a general repentance where upon search we may be more particular From whence it may easily appear how much a strict and diligent examination of our selves tends to our comfort and our peace and how much it does dispose and prepare us for sufferings and for death it self We are at ease and at liberty when our accounts are cleared and setled Whereas it is a burden to every honest mind to think that his affairs are entangled and perplexed and that he is not able to adjust his accounts Let any man but seriously consider how much he offends every day either in doing what he should not or not doing what he should In omitting his duty or in doing it slightly and he will soon find he hath work to do at the close of every day before he betake himself to rest And then sure he will be very unfit for death if he have the follies and errors of a whole life or a great part of it to unravel and to account for Such a man must needs be full of fears and jealousies that all is not right who hath not been very careful to try whether it be so or not It were well that this self-examination were the work of every day For as we might find enough to employ our selves in without troubling our selves with the faults of our Neighbours so I am sure we could not take a better course to secure our own souls And it was required that a man should examine himself before he received the Communion 1 Cor. 11.28 at that time when Christians communicated very frequently if not every day And though we excuse our selves too easily from frequent communicating yet they that do that cannot deny but that it is their duty to be prepared for it and consequently to examine themselves also VII Set your house in order My meaning is that we would do that duty which we owe to one another in order to our more comfortable passage hence And there are many things that fall under this head which every wise and good man would do before he goes hence Such are the making our Wills and setling our worldly Estate making restitution where we have done wrong being reconciled where there hath been a grudge or difference disburdening our Consciences where they are oppressed seeking satisfaction where we are in doubt and clearing our accounts with others where they are entangled These things and such like have a tendency toward the comfort and ease of our minds and when they are done we are left at greater liberty and freedom chearfully to bear whatever evil God thinks fit to exercise us with VIII Be very much in Religious Exercises and in the Service of God Such as reading and hearing meditating of heavenly things and receiving the Sacrament and frequent Abstractions from the hurries and the amusements of this lower world But especially let us give our selves much to Prayer Let us with all humility and fervour with all attention and watchfulness with prostrate souls and broken hearts implore the aid and assistance of God and of his Holy Spirit that we may continue faithful unto death that we may receive the Crown of righteousness Prayer is very seasonable at such a time as this Jam. 5.13 and it is recommended to us from the Example as well as from the Precept of our blessed Saviour Luk. 21.36 22.44 of whom it is said that being in an Agony he prayed more earnestly I shall now shew you how we are to demean and behave our selves under our sufferings And before I do that I shall premise the following particulars First That we ought not to run after sufferings and to bring them upon our selves We are not obliged to throw away our lives but to stay till God calls for them at our hand Our Religion allows us the wisdom of Serpents though it strictly require the innocence of Doves It is lawful in some cases to flee and decline our sufferings and in many Cases it is fit and expedient that we should do so Mat. 10.23 By this means we may reserve our selves for farther service and avoid the temptation But if our flight betray our Religion and endanger our Brethren that are under our charge we ought to stand to it and rather part with our lives Our lives are then to be given up when we gain a greater end but they are so long to be preserved as we may keep them without prejudice to our Conscience and the Salvation of our Brother Secondly That we are to take great heed that we do not suffer as evil doers 1 Pet 4.15 Let none of you suffer as a murderer or as