A CORDIALL FOR THE AFFLICTED Touching The Necessitie and Utilitie of Afflictions Proving unto us The happinesse of those that thankfully receive them AND The misery of all that want them or profit not by them By A. HARSNET B. D. and Minister of Gods Word at Cranham in Essex The Second Edition enlarged with direction touching Spirituall Afflictions LONDON Printed by Ric. Hodgkinsonne for Ph. Stephnes and Chr. Meridith at the Golden Lion in Pauls Churchyard 1638. TO THE HONOrable Lady the Lady JOHAN BARRINGTON The Wife of that Noble and renowned Sr. FRANCIS BARRINGTON late of Barrington Hall and to the Right Worshipfull The Lady MARY EDEN the Wife of Sr. THOMAS EDEN late of Ballingdon Hall Much honored Ladies IT is too true a saying that Greatnes and Goodnesse seldom go together for not many mighty not many noble are called Yet blessed be God for his mercies to you-wards wee finde both of these in both of you For your Greatnesse next under God yee are beholding unto your Parents out of whose loynes you came For your Goodnesse yee are in in some measure beholding unto Affliction by which The Lord hath done you good so as I make no question but that ye may both of you say with David It is good for mee that I have beene afflicted Hereupon worthy Ladies I have adventured to put forth this small Treatise touching the Necessitie and utility of Affliction under your Ladiships names and Patronage joyning you both together because God hath already conjoyned you so neere in affinity by the marriage of your Pious and Religious children beseeching your Ladyships to accept of these my poore labors being such as tend to the furtherance and increase of your comfort in present or future trials For allbeit yee bee good proficients in the School of Affliction Yet peradventure yee may have forgotten some good lessons which Affliction hath formerly taught you or else have not attained as yet to that good wherein it may hereafter instruct you To help you in either or both of these be pleased I heartily beseech your Ladiships seriously to peruse what is here tendered unto you and then I doubt not but by Gods blessing yee shall be able to make that good use of Affliction that yee shall not only blesse God the Father of mercies and God of all comfort who as hee hath afflicted so hath hee comforted you in all your tribulations but yee shall also be able to comfort others which are in Affliction by the cōfort wherewith yee your selves have been comforted of God Which fruit that yee may reape I shall sow my Prayers before throne of Grace and for ever rest your Ladyships to be commanded in the Lord AD. HARSNET Cranham TO THE CHRIstian Reader Increase of Faith Hope and Patience SVch is our blindnesse and ignorance that wee are too ready to judg amisse of our selves as may appeare by two extreames into which the most runne The one is self-conceitednesse or flattering our selves in and about our spirituall estate perswading our selves that wee are in the estate of Grace and that wee have the love and favor of God when as it is neither so nor so For the redressing of which mischiefe I have heretofore undertaken the discoverie of true and sound grace from false counterfeit that so we may no longer be deluded by an overweening of our selves and too high an opinion of our goodnesse as if we were that which wee are not or were not that which wee are The other extream is a diffidence and distrust of Gods love and our own happines through the sense and smart of some troubles and afflictions wherewith it pleaseth the Lord in mercy and wisdom to exercise and trie us Whence it commeth to passe that too many of Gods deere ones are ready to cēsure themselves as out-casts or at the best as a people but meanly beloved or regarded of God in that they are so sorely afflicted For the healing of which error that there may be no mistaking that we neither charge the Lord with any want of love to us ward or hard dealing with us in afflicting of us nor surcharge our selves with unnecssary needles feares and cares nor yet causelesly increase our griefe by adding of more sorrow to our affliction I have now undertaken this Treatise Wherein my desire and ayme is to minister some comfort to such as are in affliction that so they may not cast off their hope of hapines in Heaven because they are exercised with judgments upon earth but rather beleeve that the Lord it now refining and pollishing them that so they may bee the fitter for that glory which is prepared for thē I know it is a hard thing to obey in suffering yet because it is that which maketh for our good we should with the more willingnes and cheerfulnes undergo whatsoever afflictiōs it shal please the Lord to exercise us with If our afflictions brought God out of love with us or us more in love with that which God hates and is hurtfull unto us or if our afflictions were sent unto us as curses wee had great cause to mourn in them but seeing they make so much for our good being sanctified unto us and the word of truth telleth us that wee are blessed in thē have wee not great cause to bee thankfull to God for them the Lord sees how ready we are to plunge our selves into perils if we be but a while exempted from afflictions therefore that wee may not be too bold with sin the Lord wil have us to fall into affliction least being let alone wee fall into condemnation For where God is most silent in threatning and most patient in sparing there is he most inflamed with anger and purpose of revenge And seeing we are willing to receive being sick or diseased any medicine from the hand of him that can truely say probatum est good experience hath been made of the worth working of it let my counsel good reader be acceptable unto thee give me leave to tell thee how much good thou maist gain by afflictiō if through thine unbelief and impatience thou doest not put it from thee I assure thee by good experience that howsoever afflictiō be untoothsome and unpleasing to the flesh it is most soveraign and profitable unto the soul as in the Treatise following I have made plaine unto thee Now if the stile and phrase dislike any because it is so plain and homelike let him know that I prepared this provision for poore and hungry souls unto whom course mean things are welcome and bitter things are sweet not for queasie and full stomacks which despise an hony-combe He that is falne into a pit wil refuse no hand that may help him out of it He that hath a wound in his body will be glad of any plaister that may heal or ease him Accept then of these my poore labors which I desire may be as a hand to help thee out of affliction
the sight of Heaven What was it that carried those blessed Martyrs so joyfully thorow flames of fire but hope of glory After their sharp break-fast they were assured of a sweet and Royall supper Againe wee are to be patient in respect of our enemies whom the Lord is pleased to use as his instruments to afflict and scourge us Whosoever they bee that trouble us they are but the Lords instruments whom he sets on work for the execution of his will and purpose If we consider Jobs afflictions wee shal find three Agents in them God Satan and the Sabeans and all these three had their severall end in afflicting holy Job The Devill stirres up the Sabeans and God permits both The Sabeans spoile Job of his substance that so they might inrich themselves The Devill sets upon Job to provoke him to impatience and to stirre him up to blaspheme the Lord. And God permits all first for the punishment of the Sabeans wronging and robbing his servants secondly to prove the devill a malicious lier thirdly to justifie the innocency and patience of his servant Job and last of all to crown his patience and constancy with greater honor and glory both in this life and in the world to come But of all these three Agents whose hand was Jobs eye upon did he curse the Sabeans did he raile upon the Devill no such matter As the by-word is he set the saddle upon the right horse Hee lookes up to the hand of God The Lord hath given and the Lord hath taken it blessed by the name of the Lord Job 1.21 So in that most bloody and nefarious fact which ever was under the sunne commited I meane the murthering of the Lord of life glory there cōcurred the Jewes malice Judas his treason and Pilate in his injustice And yet all these were ordered by a superior power the Lord using these as his instruments for the execution of his purpose Acts 4. To do whatsoever thine hand thy counsell had determined before to bee done Now then if the Lord intendeth to afflict thee who shall let him from using what instruments hee pleaseth Looke not then upon secondary causes lest thou swell against them and grow impatient Look up to the hand of God that thou maist be quiet whatsoever or whosoever the instruments be As David asked the woman of Tekoa Is not the hand of Joab in all this 2. Sam. 14.19 So bee thou assured the hand of the Lord is in all thine afflictions And yet alas in trouble and affliction wee can see any thing before and more then the hand of God that smiteth us and our sinnes which have drawne forth the hand of God against us The want of which spirituall eye to behold Gods hand is the ground of that impatience which is too often seen in our afflictions and bewrayes it selfe in our uncharitable speeches I may thanke such a villain for this trouble I am beholden to such a neighbour for this crosse such a one hath done me thus much wrong these injuries I will therefore be revenged of him c. Many there be which set down by that affliction which comes immediately from God but can not be so still quiet in those wrongs and injuries which come from man They know there is no striving against the streame a vaine thing for man to contend with his maker and therefore fret not lost there impatience should open a new gappe or make the old breach wider to let in more if not greater afflictions But why they should be thus dealt withall by man it may be their inferior one that they can shift withall one that it may be they thinke they can crush to put up such a wrong this goes against the haire they can not beare it no wise man they say would put it up at his hands These words argue too much selfe too much pride and too little grace too little patience It will be our glory to passe by offences from whomsoever they come The greater the injurie is or the more able thou art to avenge thy selfe of thine enemie the greater will be thy glory to passe it by No wise man will fight against an enemie with his own weapon Christian wisdome teacheth us not to render evill for evill and rebuke for rebuke If thine enemie provoke thee either by his words or by his deeds and thou through impatience be stirred up to revenge what difference is there in both your faults and folly Only this Hee sinnes first and thou art second in evill Hee sinnes by provoking of thee and thou by being provoked by him Hee sinnes in offering the wrong and thou by revengeing it Are thou angry with thine enemie for troubling thee He may answere thee as David did his brethren when they were angry with him 1. Sam. 17.28 29. What have I now done Is there not a cause What hath thine enemy done unto thee which the Lord did not see cause to set him about Know therefore that how malicious and potent soever thine enemies are they can do no more unto thee or against thee nay they shall do no lesse then the Lord hath appointed them to do There is not so much as one poisoned arrow shot at thee but the hand of the Lord doth nock it not one bitter taunting or reproachfull word uttered against thee but the Lord wills it Suffer him to curse saith David to Shimei for the Lord hath bidden him 2. Sam. 16.11 And yet how soon is our blood up How ready are our hearts to rise against any of the Lords instruments like dogges running after the stone which was cast at them never looking to the hand that threw it Common humanity teacheth us not to flie in the face or fall about the eares of that mans servant which doth only bring us a message from his master The enemies of Gods Church and people are but the Lords servants The Lord calls Nebuchadnezzar the King of Babell his servant Jere. 27.6 Our enemies doe but bring us a message from the Lord as Ehad said unto Eglon Judg. 3.20 I have a message vnto thee from God If they doe but their errand why should wee be offended with them Were it not folly if not madnesse for him that is beatten with a wand to rent and teare it The wicked of the World are but Gods wands or rods to beat and lash his children withall Ashur the rod of my wrath and the staffe in their hands is my indignation Esay 10.5 A rod you know can do nothing of it selfe any further then that hand which holdeth it doth put force unto it it falls heavier or lighter according to the strength of the hand that useth it Bee patient then and fret not swell not against thine enemies It may bee they revile thee raile upon thee they backbite and slander thee be patient for the Lord hath bidden them as David said 2. Sam. 16.11 It may bee they hinder thee in thine estate they offer
the gold Behold saith the Lord I have fined thee I have chosen thee in the fornace of affliction Esa 48.10 The Lord compares affliction unto a fornace into which the Gold-smith doth cast his metals to fine them to purge them from that dirt and drosse which is mingled with them Prosperitie health ease libertie are occasions of contracting and gathering soyle and drosse therefore the Lord who loves to see his children clean will bring them thorow the fire and will fine them as Silver and trie them as Gold is tryed Zach. 13.9 Hence it is that the Apostle Peter saith Wee are in heavinesse through manifold temptations that the trial of our faith being much more precious then gold that perisheth might be found to our praise 1. Pet. 1.6.7 He doth chasten us for our profit that wee might be partakers of his holinesse Hebr. 12.10 Which we cannot be unlesse wee be washed and clensed from the filth of sinne Let us clense our selves from all filthinesse of the flesh and spirit and grow up into full holinesse in the fear of God 2. Cor. 7.1 Hence it is that David Professeth It is good for me that I have been afflicted Psal 119.71 Afflictions oft times make a bad man good they always make a good man better Therefore take this for a sure ground That the Lord never afflicts the body but for the souls good he never brings any evill upon our bodies but with an intent to better the soul When the Lord doth afflict us he is in a course of Physick with us to purge out those malignant humors which in the daies of our prosperity wee have contracted unto our selves Therefore as wee are content to receive bitter pils sick vomits and unpleasing potions for our bodily health striving to take them down though they go sore against our stomack As wee endure sharpe salves and strong eating plaisters and powders to be applied to bodily sores for the taking down of our proud and eating out our dead flesh so must wee be patient in the time of affliction seeing it is a means of helping and curing our sick distempered souls Sinne is the souls sicknesse and affliction is that physick which the Lord that wise and good Physician sees meet to be applied unto us for our health and recovery Therefore as that mans body is in a dangerous if not desperate case upon which physick will not work or working but a little doth little or no good unto him so as still the dissease prevaileth and the body languisheth even so it fareth with our souls if afflictions cannot better us our case is desperate Eze. 24.13 Thou remainest in thy filthinesse and wickednesse because I would have purged thee and thou wast not purged thou shalt not be purged from thy filthinesse till I have caused my wrath to light upon thee Gods corrections are for our reformation and amendment but if they cannot reform us they make way either for greater judgements as Levit. 26.21 Where the Lord telleth us that if wee walk stubbornly against him will not obey him he will then bring seven times moe plagues upon us according to our sinnes Or else they prepare us for confusion destruction for he that hardneth his neck when he is rebuked shall suddenly be destroyed and cannot bee cured Prov. 29.1 Some by accustoming themselves to sinne are brought at last into an incurable condition so that wee may say of him and to him as it was spoken to the King of Ashur There is no healing of thy wound Nahum 3.19 To be never the better for affliction is to bear the brand of a wicked person This is King Ahaz who in the time of his tribulation did yet trespasse more against the Lord. 2 Chro. 28.22 And this will seal up unto all incorrigible persons Gods heavier judgements which he will one day bring upon them True it is that many are so farre in league with sinne that none of those blowes which God giveth them will break that cursed league betwixt them and their sinne all that the Lord doth unto them is little enough to bring them to a sight of sin But God will have sinne out of request with us and us out of love with it that sinne may stink in our nostrills as it is unpleasing to the Lord. Many having a stinking disease in them or upon them seek not out for cure because it savors not amisse to them the smell thereof is not offensive unto them but when once they begin to be annoyed with their own stinck then they seek out for helpe and remedy Affliction searcheth sinne to the quick stirres up the bottome of our corruption makes it stink in our nostrils so as wee begin to grow out of love with that evill which somtime hath been most delightful and pleasing unto us Therefore if iniquitie be in thy hand put it far away and let not wickednesse dwell in thy tabernacle said Zophar Iob. 11.14 This was good counsell given to Job in his affliction he must purge his hand house yea and heart too of all wickednes then he should lift up his face without spot he should be stable and not feare Job 11.15 then should he be justified of the Lord freed from the staine of his sinne and be without all feare of judgement yea saith Zophar Thou shalt forget thy misery Not onely be an end of troubles but ease and joy shall come in the place of them Reason 3 Thirdly as affliction serves to finde out sinne past and to purge sinne present so also to prevent sinne to come which the Lord who knows us better thē we know our selves seeth wee would run into Hence it was that a thorne in the flesh the messenger of Satan was sent to buffet Paul lest he should be exalted above measure 2. Cor. 12.7 The Lord was pleased so highly to honor Paul as to take him up into Paradice where he heard words which cannot be spoken which are not possible for man to utter whereupon least Paul should grow too high in the instep and thinke better of himself then there was cause the Lord in wisedom takes him down a peg sendeth a satanicall messenger to buffet him that so hee might not be exalted The Lord sees we are ready to cast our selves into some perils and dangers or to run into some evils which would tend to the dishonor of his name or the scandall of our profession therefore by affliction as with a bit or bridle put into our mouthes he doth restrain us and so wisely prevents those sins which if affliction were not we should fall into God in his afflicting of his children lookes not alwayes backward upon their sinnes past but sometimes forward upon sinnes to come and makes them his principall aime and end of afflicting his children There is a preventing Phisicke for preservation of our health as well as Phisick for recovery out of some desease already grown upon us And yet I would have none
to be mistaken in this particular as though God did at any time afflict any without cause Although the Lord doth sometimes afflict and not for sinne yet never without sinne either inherent or imputed God is so farre from picking holes in our coat so far from afflicting any without just cause that hee may see enough in the best of us yea even in our best services performances to afflict us The best of us brought with us into the world so much corruption and do carry about us such bodies of sinne as may expose us to all the plagues of this and another life Every one of us hath in himselfe sufficient fewell for the fire of Gods wrath to work evermore upon him if the Lord in his justice would be pleased to kindle it Let no man therefore question Gods justice in afflicting the best of his children because as I have said he somtimes afflicteth us to prevent some evill to come which through our naturall propension through some violent occasion or through some strong temptation wee may be drawne into Ephraim was mad upon sinne therefore saith the Lord Hos 2.6 I will stop thy way with thornes and make an hedge that she may not find her paths Too much sun-shine will dazle our eyes Too much honey turnes to gall so too much prosperity and ease breeds security and makes us proud or wanton therefore lest our ranck blood should cause some inflamation it pleaseth God our wise and loving Physitian to open a veine to cool us and to keep us in good temper Horses that are full fed and pampered grow many times restif Vessels unused do quickly grow rusty even so our nature would soon contract some evill if the Lord should not now and then take us into affliction 's scouring house The Lord sees that prosperity and immunity from affliction blunts the edge of our devotion cools the fire of our zeal and dulleth our eager pursuit after Heaven and Heavenly things and therefore he afflicts us to prevent these evils as hee took away Jeroboams sonne by death lest if he had lived longer he might have trod in the steps of his wicked father and been tainted with his sinnes It may be the Lord seeth that wee would run into some danger if he should let us alone therefore as he snached Lot out of Sodom lest he should have perished in their flames so he catcheth hold of us by affliction thereby to deliver us from some sinne wee are falling into Therefore whatsoever triall and affliction doth befall thee lay thy hand upon thy mouth murmure not against the Lord but be thankfull unto him and say O Lord thou knowest the distemper of my soul thou knowest how prone I am to sinne and wickednesse and thou who seest things to come as if they were present seest I was inclining to some evill but in mercy hast by this affliction prevented mee keep mee therefore from falling into evill by what means thou pleasest suffer mee not to sin against thee Reason 4 Fourthly the Lord doth afflict us to teach us some good lesson which without affliction hee sees wee shall hardly learn Psal 119.71 It is good for me that I have been afflicted that I might learn thy statutes Corrections are instructions God will have none of his to perish for want of instruction he sendeth his word amongst us to teach us his wayes that so we may walk in his truth Psal 86.11 But outward prosperity so thickens our eare and so hardens our heart that we cannot wee will not heare to our profit Jerem. 22.21 I spake unto thee when thou wast in prosperitie but thou saidst I will not hear this hath been thy manner from thy youth that thou wouldest not obey my voice therefore the Lord openeth the ear of men even by their corrections Job 33.16 For such as will not hear the word shall hear the rod Mica 6.9 Manasses learned that lesson in the school of affliction which could never be taught him in the school of the Prophets 2 Chron. 33.12 In his tribulation he humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers He that was prowd and could set himselfe against the Lord and his truth and all that professed it all the while he was in prosperity and upon his throne when the Lord caused him to be cast in prison and put chaines of iron upon his leggs in stead of a chaine of Gold about his neck hee could then learn to be humble and obedient unto the Lord. Nabuchadnezzar being pulled out of his Babel driven from men to have his dwelling amongst the beasts could at length come to praise extoll magnifie the King of heaven whose works are all truth and able to abase those that walk in pride Dan. 4 34. Our hearts are very hard and sturdy so as the word will not break them untill the Lord by affliction subdues and humbles these hearts of ours making them soft and yeelding so as the word may take some impression in us Hence it is that Solomon tells us Prov. 15.32 Hee that obeyeth correction gets understanding Some say that many and I have found it true in some children after a sicknesse grow both in ripenesse of understanding and in stature of body so it is with the Lords children affliction bringeth them to a better understanding of heaven and heavenly things as Nebuchadnezzar confessed Dan. 4.33 Mine understanding was restored unto me and causeth the inner man to grow more then before It teacheth us to walk in the right way and to keep Gods Word as Psal 119.67 Before I was afflicted I went astray but now I keep thy word What havock did Paul before the Lord met with him make of Christs flock entring into every house hee drew out both men and women and put them into prison Acts. 8.3 And being armed with malice and authority he posteth to Damascus to put in execution his bloody commission but the Lord meets him by the way unhorseth this persecutor strikes him down to the ground and smites him with blindnesse and what followed Paul was now a new man Act. 9.6 He then both trembling and astonied said Lord what wil thou that I do What had become of Paul if affliction had not beene Which of Gods children cannot say as David said It is good for me that I have been afflicted Nay what affliction hath at any time befalne us which wee could have spared Nay let me go a little further is it not best with us when wee are under the rod Would it not be better with us thinke you if the Lord should afflict us more If thou beest the child of God I appeale to thy conscience whether thy case had not been farre worse then now it is if affliction had not been Many are like unto those kind of fishes which seldom or never without much difficulty and labour can be caught but when the water is troubled So before troubles do befall many they cannot be caught
nothing in our own eyes And be we thankfull unto our good God and loving Father that he will be at these paines to refine and purge us that so he may make choice of us for his glory before others Behold saith the Lord Esay 48.10 I have fined thee but not as silver I have chosen thee in the fornace of affliction When God doth cast thee into the fornace to refine thee take heed thou dost not say or think I am cast out of his eyes the Lord hath rejected and forsaken me for this were to bring an evill report upon the waies of God and to turn his truth into a ly Ezek. 20.37 I will cause you to passe under the rod and will bring you into the bond of the covenant Yet such is the peevishnesse of our nature such is our unbeliefe that if any extraordinary affliction doth befall us especially if it be such as tarrieth and sticks by us we are ready to mutter and murmur yea ready to feare that God hath forsaken us Whereas we should rather gather arguments of comfort to our selves that the more he afflicteth us the better he loveth us in that he carrieth such a straite hand and vigilant eye over us that we shal no sooner step aside but he will be ready to fetch us in againe The Lord might give us over to our own hearts lust even unto hardnesse of heart to a reprobate minde giving us leave to eate of the fruit of our own way and be filled with our own devices Pro. 1.31 But his love compels him to take another course with us to chasten us That we should not be condemned with the World 1. Cor. 11.32 Whereupon one of the antient Fathers prayed Lord seare me here that thou maist save me hereafter cut and wound me here that thou maist for ever heale and spare me Consider what the wiseman saith Pro. 3.11 12. My sonne refuse not the chastening of the Lord neither be grieved with his correrection for the Lord corcteth him whom he loveth even as a father doth the child in whom he delighteth Children will hardly be brought to beleeve thus much and therefore they are ready to measure their parents affection by their correction and to think there is most love where ther is least correction But this is their error for wisedome telleth us Pr. 13.24 that Hee which spareth the rod hateth his sonne but hee that loveth him chasteneth him betimes Least if he let him alone with out correction as too many foolish indulgent parents do he go to Hell in the end Therefore thou shalt smite him with the rod and shalt deliver his soul from Hell Pro. 23.14 So wee are ready to think wee might do well without affliction but the Lord knowes us better then wee know our selves and hee seeth we would to hell hereafter if hee should not afflict us here I am sure it had been wo with some of us if the Lord had not afflicted us Nay some of us can say blessed bee God for his unspeakable mercie that there never did befall us any affliction which we could have spared either for the nature and kinde or for the measure and quantity thereof And may we not all say that wee are then in the best temper when we are afflicted Even the wicked will be somewhat good in affliction Pharaohs proud heart will stoope and yeeld a little then the Israelites shall go and sacrifice to their God Exod. 10.14 But their goodnesse lasteth no longer then their troubles last When afflictions end their goodnesse ends And they returne with the dog to their old vomit 2. Pet. 2.22 Their hard heart will be a little softned whiles they are in the fire as iron bendeth as the Smith would have it all the while the fire is in it But as their affliction abateth so their hardnes and wickednesse returneth as iron growing cold grows as hard as it was before nay oft times harder as water waxeth colder after heating then it was at first Therfore we have more cause to be thankfull to God for afflictions then for meate and drinke seeing the Lord doth us more good by them then by these Which good though at the first thou seest not because thy physick is now but in working yet if thou belong to God thou shalt hereafter both see it and feele it too And thou wilt justify the goodnesse of God in every particular and say I could not have spared any of Gods rods I would not have been without this or that affliction for all the world None could have been invented to doe me more good so to hit me in the right veine I had been undone I had perished for ever if the Lord had not thus and thus afflicted me Happy art thou who canst thus say But this is a lesson which flesh and blood can hardly be brought to learne and some are more dull then others that is more proud more stubborn more carnall more earthly minded then others and therfore the Lord keeps those longer in the schoole of affliction then those his children that are more tractable and teachable But as I said it is a hard taske for the best and therfore if we might be choosers we would be no sufferers if we could shift it wee would not be afflicted How hardly are we brought to beleeve that the Lord intendeth or will do us good by this evill of affliction What meate to come out of the eater sweet out of the sowre this is a very riddle unto us But faith makes it plaine and easie to be understood for faith will shew us one contrary in another good in evill health in sicknesse ease in paine glory in shame and life in death Without this eye of faith thou canst not possibly see the Lords goodnes towards thee in afflicting thee nor yet reap that good by thine afflictions which otherwise thou maiest by beleeving And for proofe herefore I wish the to peruse such treatises as do tend to this purpose In the meane time let this which I have spoken serve to comfort thee in thine afflictions Howsoever they may be tart and sharp for the present bitter and grievous unto nature as if the print of every stroke did pierce thy flesh and fetch blood from thee yet God is where he was yet God loves thee as much as ever he did if not more and loving thee will lay no more upon thee nor suffer thee to be tempted above that which thou shall be able to beare 1. Cor. 10.13 Some the Lord doth chastise with rods othersome he doth whip with scorpions as it were laying on greatest loade where he hath given greatest strength to beare as a father will lay those burdens upon the shoulders of his elder and stronger sons which will go neere to break the backs of his little ones Or as a wise Physitian who tempereth and prescribeth Physick answerable to the constitution and strength of his sick patient How should this comfort us in
a decree yet shall it not stand Esay 9.10 There is no wisedome neither understanding nor counsell against the Lord Pro. 21.30 Thus wee see how the stayes and props of the wicked are but like reeds or Aegyptian staves which cannot helpe them Neither Heaven nor Earth can save or priviledge those whom the Lord will punish Then there is little cause why wee should grieve at the prosperitie or impunity of godlesse persons they are sorer plagued then the world takes notice of though no apparant judgement be seen upon them For doth not the Lord give them up to a reprobate mind even to fill and glut themselves with sinne and can there bee a greater punishment an heavier judgement then this not to be restrained from evill courses Desperate is the case of that patient whom the Physician gives over to his own appetite to eate and drinke what liketh him best When a father begins to cast off the care of his sonne suffering him to take his swinge sink or swim hee will not look after him doth it not appeare that he intendeth to disinherit such a childe Even so as the water where it is stillest is deepest and most dangerous to drown when God is most silent in threatning and patient in sparing there is hee most inflamed with anger and purpose of revenge For the fewer judgements are powred upon the wicked in this life the more are reserved for them in the life to come Therefore fret not thy selfe because of the wicked men neither bee envious for the evill doers for they shall soon be cut down like the grasse and shall wither as the green hearbe Psalm 37.1 2. Peruse the whole Psalme and it will teach thee that how prosperously soever the wicked do live for a time yet their happinesse is but transitory because they are not in the favor of God for in the end they shall be destroyed as his enemies Againe in that the Lord saith not they which I love shall be rebuked and chastened but whom I love I rebuke I chasten wee may in the next place observe this doctrine that All our trialls and afflictions come from the Lord. Of what nature and condition soever the affliction bee wherewith wee are exercised it is Physick of the Lords preparing hee hath his hand in it and therefore by a kind of proprietie afflictions be termed his judgements Wee have waited for thee O Lord in the way of thy judgements Esay 26.8 And in the next vers Thy judgements are in the earth c. That which Naomi spake to the people of Bethlehem makes much for the proof of the point in hand Call me not Naomi but call me Mara for the Almighty hath given me much bitternesse I went out full and the Lord hath caused mee to return empty why call ye me Naomi seeing the Lord bath humbled mee and the Almighty hath brought me unto adversitie Ruth 1.20 21. All her crosses and losses of what nature soever they were all her sorrows and bitternesse shee fathers upon the Lord. As personall so nationall evills come from the Lord as appeareth 2. Cron. 15.6 Nation was destroyed of Nation and citie of citie For the Lord did trouble them with all adversitie To the same purpose speaketh the Prophet Isaiah Who gave Jacob for a spoile and Israel to the robbers Did not the Lord because wee have sinned against him Isa 42.24 Whatsoever the outward means or instruments bee Gods hand hath a principall strok in all those afflictions which befall either the church in general or any particular member thereof whether it bee pestilence or sword or famine or captivity It is not the heedlesnesse and wilfulnesse of people which will adventure into places infected or upon goods that are contagious which beginneth or continueth the plague amongst us It is not alone the malice and cruelty of the enemie which bringeth the sword or causeth any to fall by it It is not unseasonable winter or summer which causeth and bringeth the famine amongst us these are but secondary causes the prime and supream cause is that all disposing wisedome and providence of God which causeth and ordereth both the one and the other Such as hee hath appointed to death shall go unto death and such as are for the sword to the sword and such as are for the famine to the famine and such as are for captivitie to the captivitie Jerem. 15.2 So likewise for particular judgments whether in our body or estate all commeth from the Lord. Who hath made the dumb or the deafe or the blind have not I saith the Lord Exod. 4.11 From whom come consumptions burning agues other bodily diseases Doth not the Lord apoint them Lev. 26.16 Hence the Church professeth Hos 6.1 The Lord hath spoiled us and hee will heale us he hath wounded us he will bind us up If wee peruse that bedroul of curses Devt 28. It will appeare that neither povertie sicknesse nor any crosse or losse doth befall us but that which God doth send us Is there any evill in the citie and I have not done it Amos 3.6 I the Lord do all these things Esay 45.7 Here I might quickly lead you into a Labyrinth by propounding ambiguous and unnecessary questions how farre God hath his hand in every evill but such questions will breed strife rather than godly edifying 1. Tim. 1.4 Know therefore that something the Lord effects in and by himselfe without the helpe or assistance of inferior causes such are the workes of creation and some miracles Some things the Lord causeth to be effected by means as castigations and deliverances And some things the Lord suffers to be done by his permissive will yet so as if hee pleased he could easily prevent and hinder or alter the doing of them thus the Lord may be said to have a finger in every sinne not as it is a breach of his revealed will but that it may be an occasion of the manifestation of his power and justice in punishing and revenging of it These truths the heathen which either knew not God or else did not glorifie him as God were utterly ignorant of and therefore turned the glory of the incorruptible God into the similitude of the image of a corruptible man and of birds and foure footed beasts and of creeping things Rom. 1.23 And hence it came to passe that they forged unto themselves so many Gods one of the sunne another of the moone one of the sea another of the windes c. By whose wisedome providence and power as they conceived the whole world with all occasions and occurences therein were ordered and swayed Whereas there is but one only true God Who by wisedome hath laid the foundation of the earth and hath stablished the heavens through understanding by his knowledge the depths are broken up and the clouds drop down the dew Prov. 3.19 20. See Jerem. 10.12.13 of him and by him and for him are all things Rom. 11.36 The Pelagians
many of his deare children groane under many long and tedious sharp and biting afflictions Answ The Lord hath many ends in dealing thus with his children First because they have been a long time delighted with some sinne which through custome is become as it were naturall and being so will not easily will not quickly be purged out of them That which is gotten to the bone will not easily be had out of the flesh Hard knubbs and knurles must have great and long wedges driven in to them many hard and great stroaks given them before they will yeeld Many hard and stony hearts will not be broken with little and short afflictions some kinde of mettles must be kept a great while longer in the furnace then others or else they will never be dissolved even so it fareth with some natures little and short afflictions work not upon them no whit at all molifie nor soften their hard and stony hearts therfore the Lord is forced to keep them down the longer Many men when any trouble befals them think to out-growe it or to beare it off by head and shoulders and to make as good a shift as they can never looking up to God whom they have offended and provoked by their sinnes but let these know that God will bow them or else he will breake them The Lord is the Lord of hosts he can send crosses thick and three-fold upon us to abate our lofty and proud spirits to break our rocky and stony hearts Gods wrath is answerable to his power as this is infinite so he can make the other insupportable Many are stiffe and stubborn as the Lord complaines They obeyed not neither inclined their eares but made their necks stiffe and would not heare nor receive correction Ier. 17.23 Little and short afflictions will not serve to reclaime such as these are therefore the Lord keeps them longer under his hand Againe the Lord doth thus deale with many of his children to work their hearts to a greater dislike of their sinne as that which hath brought upon them all those troubles which now lye upon them therfore in the time of our affliction we should fall upon our sinne upbraiding it and charging it with all our crosses Ah thou vile and loathsom sinne I may thank thee for this expence for this reproach and shame Ah cursed sin how hast thou heretofore domaniered over me Thou hast hitherto been too strong for me but God by this affliction I trowe will tame and hamper thee Is this the fruit I reape by entertaining thee Oh cursed be the time that ever I knew thee that ever I was ruled by thee The more grievous our affliction is the greater hatred we should beare our sinnes the causes of them and the more fearfull should we be for time to come of medling any more with them We say The burnt child dreads the fire Ephraim had been a long time polluted with idolatry The Lord stops her way with thorns and makes a wall that she may not finde her pathes Hos 2.6 exerciseth her with long affliction untill shee come to say What have I any more to do with Idols Hos 14.9 If I must buy my sinne at so deare a rate if thus long I must be afflicted for my sinne away with all I will no more of it Theirdly the Lord doth oft-times keepe the rod long upon his children for their greater and deeper humiliation Great sinnes must bee greatly repented of Great transgressions require great and long humiliation Davids sinnes of adultry and murder killing the husband with the sword that he might injoy his wife were great sinnes and those which caused the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme therefore the Lord threatned him with long affliction The sword shall never depart from thine house 2. Sa. 12.10 Neither will the Lord give us over or cease to afflict us one way or other untill hee hath brought us upō our knees broken our hard hearts and sufficiently humbled us under his hand For if we walk stubbornly against him he will walke stubbornly against us then their uncircumcised heart shall be humbled and they shall willingly beare the punishment of their iniquity Lev. 26.41 Remembering mine affliction and my mourning the wormwood and the gall my soule hath them in remembrance and is humbled in mee Lament 3.19 20. Fourthly the Lord by continuing his hand of affliction long upon his children doth hereby make known the strength of his Grace which is sufficient to support his children under long and tedious afflictions A wise builder will lay the heaviest burden upon that peece of timber which is most heart and most able to beare it Greatest peeces are put to greatest stresse because little peeces would warpe and yeeld if not break asunder Even so where there is most strength of Grace there the Lord oft times laies on the greatest load of affliction which as it makes for the praise and glory of his Grace so doth it serve much for example unto all that are neer unto them that they may live by faith and hope that if ever they come into the like trial the Lord as he is able to support and strengthen them so he will doe it and graciously stand by them even in long and sharpe afflictions as he hath upheld others in the like case Fiftly and lastly the Lord doth this that so he may afterward replenish the hearts of his children with aboundance of inward and spiritual joy After they have tasted of more gall then others they shall eate of more hony then others Heavines hath some long time sojourned in their hearts but joy and gladnesse followeth after to inhabit in them for ever The spirit of the Lord is upon mee saith Esay to comfort all that mourne appoint unto them that mourne in Sion and to give unto them beauty for ashes the garment of gladnes for the spirit of heavinesse that they may bee called trees of righteousnesse the planting of the Lord that he might be glorified Esay 61.2 3. Yee shall sorrow saith Christ but your sarrow shall be turned into joy Iohn 16.20 If thy sorrows and afflictions have been longer then ordinary they shal make way for more then ordinary joy and thankfulnes for issue and deliverance according to that which the Church uttered Lam. 3.21 22. I consider this in mine heart therefore have I hope It is the Lords mercy that we are not consumed because his compassions faile not Have wee not then good cause to bee patient in afflictions although they bee sharp and tedious seeing they proceed from the hand of our pitifull and mercifull father To helpe forward and further your patience do but consider of these 4. things First how exceedingly we have a long time provoked the Lord by our sinnes amongst which our unbeliefe is that which hath most offended him If the Lord should deale unto us our weight and measure that is punish us according to our deserts what would become of
because our safety and security lieth in it As God loveth a cheerfull doer so hee loveth a cheerfull sufferer A childe that is willing to kisse the rod wherewith it was beaten gives great content unto the parent which corrected it and makes halfe amends for the fault it hath committed Christ will have every one of his to take up his Crosse daily Luk. 9.23 the taking up of our crosse implyeth willingnesse and cheerfulnesse in the bearing of it Many a childe of God is content to beare his crosse when the Lord hath laied it upon his shoulders as the Prophet Jeremiah speakeath Woe is me for my destruction and my grievous plague But I thought yet it is my sorrow and I will beare it Jerem. 10.19 Hee dares not mutter or repine at the Lords doing but here was no rejoycing in tribulation Whereas James tells us that wee must count it exceeding joy when wee fall into divers afflictions Jam. 1.2 When the Lord commeth as it were in open hostilitie against us mustering his forces towards us when one affliction comes upon the neck of another when wee fall into divers afflictions even then we have cause of rejoycing For our afflictions comming from the hand of our loving Father cannot be hurtfull but profitable unto us Hee chasteneth us for our profit that wee might he partakers of his holinesse Hebr 12.10 Indeed if our afflictions brought God out of love with us or us more in love with sinne which God hates and is hurtfull unto us if our afflictions were sent unto us as curses wee had cause to mourn in them But when the Word of truth so often pronounceth us blessed in them as Psalme 94.12 Blessed is the man whom thou chastisest O Lord. Have wee not then great cause of rejoycing in them especially seeing our Heavenly Father hath the ordering and disposing of all our afflictions both in respect of their kinde and nature and also in respect of their measure either of quantity or continuance First in regard of their kind If you would know why this affliction befalls thee rather then another it is because the Lord the only wise and soveraign Physitian knows how to strike thee in the right veine hee knowes thy heart and the nature of thy corruption and therefore applieth such medecines unto thee as will bee most available for thy cure Which thing Job teacheth us Behold hee will break down and it cannot be built he shutteth a man up and hee cannot be loosed Behold hee withholdeth the waters and they drie up but when he sendeth them out they destroy the earth with him is strength and wisedom Job 12.14 15 16. Yea hee is mighty in strength and wisedom Job 36.5 Which he could not be said to be if any other course were better for us then that which he taketh with us The Lord is perfect wisedom and therefore will not cannot but go the best the safest and wisest way to worke for the good of his children Some peradventure may think that some other kind of affliction might have been better for them then the present some other they thinke would have done them more good then this can do But they speak they know not what And I may say unto them as Christ to his Disciples Luk. 9.55 Yee know not of what spirit yee are The choosing of the rod belongeth unto him that is to give the correction not to him that taketh it Indeed the Lord did once put David to his choice 2. Sam. 24.12 I offer unto thee three things chuse thee which of them I shall do unto thee But this was an extraordinary favor shewed unto David first to make triall of his Faith whether he had rather fall into the hand of the Lord then into the hand of man and secondly to let him know that the Lord would correct him in mercy in that hee gave him libertie to make choise of the punishment The Lord knew that either of those rods would bee sufficient to scourge David withall And none knows so well as the Lord how to meet with our corruptions or what afflictions are meet for us If thou canst not profit by that affliction which the Lord appointeth unto thee thou wilt profit by none To say some other kind were better for thee were to controll the judgement of the wise God as if hee knew not better then our selves to order and dispose of us Is it fit the patient should prescribe his Physitian what course to take with him wilt thou teach him what he shall administer unto thee this were to dishonor the Physitian therefore thou submittest to his judgement and takest what hee prescribeth thee resting upon his skill And wilt thou dare so highly to dishonor God as to question his wisedome and knowledge as if some other affliction were better for thee then this which hee is pleased to administer unto thee No no say as Ely did 1. Sam. 3.18 It is the Lord let him do what seemeth him good Secondly the Lord hath the disposing of our afflictions for quantitie for hee doth order all things in their measure number and weight but especially the afflictions of his children Jerem. 30.11 I will not utterly destroy thee but correct thee in judgement or in measure as the new translation hath it God therefore metes out unto his children not according to their merit but in mercy according to their strength looking more what they are able to undergoe then what they do deserve to be laid upon them Hee correcteth in judgement that is wisely proportioning our affliction to our strength and not in anger least he bring us to nothing Jere. 10.24 Feare not therefore O Jacob my servant saith the Lord for I am with thee I will not utterly destroy thee but correct thee by judgement and not utterly cut thee off Jerem. 46.28 Comfort thy selfe therefore in this that God is faithfull who will not suffer thee to be tempted above that thou art able to beare but will with the tentation make a way to escape that thou maist be able to beare it as was formerly spoken Thirdly and lastly the Lord disposeth of all our afflictions in respect of their time and continuance which he hath promised shall be but short For the rod of the wicked shall not rest on the lot of the righteous Psal 105.3 Hee indureth but a while in his anger Weeping may abide at the evening but joy commeth in the morning Psal 30.5 Who is a God like unto thee saith Micah that taketh away iniquitie and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage He retaineth not his wrath for ever because mercy pleaseth him Mic. 7.18 Therefore wait patiently upon the Lord for issue out of thine affliction which in due time thou shalt bee sure of For the Lord deals not with his children as the Devill doth with his servants bringing them into the briars and there leave them to scratch and rent and teare themselves but the
Christ the only begotten of the Father could not come to glory but through many tribulations and afflictions I hope the doctrine which I have delivered standeth without contradiction and that it is a most undoubted and undeniable truth that None no not the best of Gods children are without their trials and affflictions Reason 1 And if any should demand a reason why the Lord doth thus deal with his dear ones many may be rendered some whereof respect the sinnes of his children either as they are past present or to come Sometime the Lord afflicteth his children that so they may ransack and search their own hearts and consciences and so find out some sinnes which have a long time lurked in their breasts and are not as yet repented of Lament 3.39 40. Man suffereth for his sinne let us search and try our wayes The heart is deep yea deceitfull and wicked above all things who can know it Jere. 17.9 It hath many turnings and secret corners many holes for sinne to sculk and lurk in so as it will very hardly be found out unlesse a privie watch be set a narrow search be made In the examination of a craftie a cunning thief the Justice or Judge had need to gather his wits together and to have his eyes in his head least he be not able to find out that villany which will never be confessed though the evidence be cleer against it Affliction will quicken our wits and cleer our eye-sight so as we shall be the better able to finde out those sins which otherwise peradventure would never have beene discovered That person that cannot by affliction be wrought upon to search what is amisse in him will never do it If the conscience which hath been rockt asleep in the cradle of prosperity cannot bee awakned by affliction it is in a deep if not a deadly sleep Josephs brethren could be touched in their consciences for their unnaturall and cruell usage of their brother when they were in some straights suspected as they conceived to be spies and one of their brethren taken and bound before their eyes Genes 42.21 Whereas for divers yeares before they had no check of conscience for their sinne Iob in the day of his adversitie could call to mind old sinnes afflictions could bring them fresh to his remembrance Thou writest bitter things against me and makest me to possesse the iniquities of my youth Iob. 13.26 Elihu hath an excellent speech to this purpose If they be bound in fetters and tyed with the cords of affliction then will he shew them their worke and their sinnes Teaching us hereby that until such time as the Lord by some affliction or other doth hamper and shackle us wee have no list to finde out our sinnes but had rather cover and daube them over Whereas affliction like unto a prospective-glasse will shew us things a farre off and discover unto us many corruptions which wee have either buried or else slighted over In affliction wee can see our formalitie barrennesse loosnesse dead-heartednesse lithernesse in good duties pride hypocrisie earthly-mindednesse uncharitablenesse and many moe old and new sinnes which before we took little or no notice of Therefore if thou beest now under the rod of God or hereafter mayst be say unto thy heart surely there lieth some wedge of gold or Babylonish garment hid which the Lord would have me search and find out certainly there is some Ionah that hath raysed this storme there is some sinne or other that hath caused all this affliction to befall me which must be found out yea and cast out of my heart as Ionab was thrown out of the ship before this storm will be calme before the Lord will take off his hand from afflicting me Therefore do not repine at the Lords wise and righteous dealing but let thine anget and indignation reflect upon thine own vile heart cast thy selfe with all humilitie at the feet of God begge some of his eye-salve whereby the eyes of thy understanding may be enlightned that thou mayst be the more able to gage and search the bottom of thy heart find out that or those sinnes which have provoked the Lord against thee lest thou perish through impenitency St. Paul writing unto the Corinthians about their prophaning of the Lords ordinance their abuse of the Sacrament telleth them that for this cause many are weake and sick among you and many sleep for if wee would judge our selves wee should not be judged 1. Cor. 11.30.31 implying thus much that Gods hand lay upon them that so they might search out see and confesse their sinnes that so God might pardon them Therefore as at all times so especially in the time of affliction wee should narrowly sift and search our hearts lest any corruption lye lurking there to do us a mischief And if ever we bee brought to a sight and confession of our sinnes it will be while the rod is upon our backe when the Lord had throughly jerked Ephraim he could smite on his thigh bee ashamed and confounded because he did bear the reproach of his youth Jerem. 31.19 Old sinnes could bleed afresh before them when the hand of God did crush them The Lord by the Prophet Ezekiel told Jerusalem that he would judge her after the manner of harlots and would give her the blood of wrath and jealousie Ezek. 16.38 Because thou hast not remembred the dayes of thy youth but hast provoked me with all these things behold therefore I also have brought thy way upon thine head saith the Lord God yet hast thou not had consideration of all thine abominations Vers 43. Teaching us that the end of Gods correcting them was to bring them to a consideration and sight of their sinnes Reason 2 A second reason of the Lords dealing sharply with his children is to purge them and cleanse them from all their filthinesse of the flesh and spirit This appeares by divers places of Scripture I I will turn my hand upon thee and purely purge away thy drosse and take away all thy sinne Esa 1.25 And some of them of understanding shall fall to trie them and to purge them and to make them white Dan. 11.35 And so in Esa 4 4. When the Lord shal have washed away the filth of the daughters Sion and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgement and by the spirit of burning And Esay 27.9 By this shall the iniquitie of Jacob be purged and this is all the fruit even the taking away of his sinne not by justifying but by sanctifying them by the rod of affliction beating sinne out of its old corners for as Elihu said Iob 36.10 He openeth their ear to discipline and commandeth them that they return from iniquity when the Lord doth afflict us he doth really call upon us and charge us to turne from our evill wayes Hee knoweth my way and trieth me saies Iob 23.10 and I shall come forth like
be the name of our good and bountifull God live in plenty of the Gospel so as wee may speak of the food of our souls as Moses doth of bodily Lev. 26.5 Our threshing reacheth unto the vintage and the vintage unto the sowing time and wee eat our bread in plenteousnesse But little do wee know how soon the Lord may send a famine of the word as hee threatned Israel Amos 8.11 12. When wee shall wander from Sea to Sea from North to East too and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Churches and people of other nations who not many yeares sithence had as little cause of fear and dread as wee do now feel the smart of this famine The Tabernacle of David is fallen amongst them Idolatry and superstition is in the place of the Gospel And why may not wee fear the like judgement especially seeing the Gospel is so much contemned of many amongst us Vse 4 Fourthly doth the Lord thus afflict his dear children be wee then admonished to break off our sinnes by repentance that so the Lord may either divert his judgements or else aswage and alay the heat of them For if wee will sinne God will punish Sin is that seed which being sown grows up unto a harvest of punishment Hee that soweth iniquitie shall reap affliction Prov. 22.8 Trouble waits upon sinne for affliction followeth sinners Prov. 13.21 Yea it so follows them as it will be sure to catch hold of them All these curses shall come upon thee and shall pursue thee and overtake thee till thou be destroyed because thou obeyedst not the voice of the Lord thy God Deut. 28.45 Is there any thing under the Sunne that is able to make a separation between sinne and punishment If the one be welcomed and entertained the other will not be shut out Paradice could not shelter nor priviledge our first parents from punishment after they had once sinned How then shall those be able to escape the wrath and vengeance of the Lord who make it their pastime to do evill into whose hearts and affections wickednesse hath warped and woven it selfe these must if speedily they repent not look to have the judgements of God to light upon them For what saies Job Is not destruction to the wicked and strange punishment to the workers of iniquitie Iob 31.3 Notorious offenders have oft times notable judgements Wicked ones may revell and be joviall and go on in their own wayes and pleasures but which of them can say I will continue my game my sport my lusts unto the end without feare or danger little do they know how neer at hand some judgement or other is to arrest them as it did Balshazzar to interrupt and turn their jollitie into woe and miserie Shut sinne out of dores if thou wouldst have that punishment either sanctified or taken away which doth now lie upon thee To complain of troubles or to seek to be eased of them and not to mourn and be sorry for those sinns which have procured them is folly and madnesse Do not our children when wee are correcting them confesse their faults and promise to do no more so by these words hoping to have their correction lessened and ended Wee shall shew our selves to have lesse understanding and wisedome then young children if wee take not the same course when the rod of God is laid upon us Repentance will make us gainers by our afflictions What wise man will not be willing to take that course albeit painfull which may be beneficiall and profitable unto him Repentance so sanctifies our affliction or removes it that a blessing comes with it or follows in the room of it If when our heavenly father correcteth us wee doe unfainedly promise and purpose to cast away our sinnes from us the Lord will speedily either lay aside his rod or else bestow upon us some blessing which shall make it evident that hee is pleased with our humiliation and will love us the better after it So well is the Lord pleased to see his children stoop under his hand that he will be so much the more gratious and mercifull unto them by how much the more he hath afflicted them so as they shall see the curse turned into a blessing unto them Repent thee of thy transgressions and the Lord will repent him of his corrections For that which the Lord promiseth unto a Kingdom or Nation Iere. 18.8 shall also be made good unto every person If wee will turn from our wickednesse the Lord will repent of the judgement which hee thought to bring upon us I will cast them into great affliction except they repent them of their works Revel 2.22 As our impenitencie hastens judgements threatned and continues them being inflicted so our repentance diverts them being threatned and removes them being inflicted The Ninivites repentance wrought repentance in God God saw their works that they turned from their evill wayes and God repented of the evill that he said he would do unto them and he did it not Ion. 3.10 Thus by their repentance the sentence pronounced was reversed Is not this a strange thing that the repentance of condemned malefactors should repeal the Judges sentences It were strange to see this in the Courts of men but with God it is not so strange as true our repentance not only frustrates Gods condemning sentence but turns it into an acquitting sentence it turns away the evill and as I said even now brings good in the stead of it Davids murtherous and adulterous marriage with Bathsheba brought many direfull curses but yet unfained repentance turned all those curses into blessings unto them and us for of this marriage came Christ the worlds Saviour Therefore as Daniel said unto the King Dan. 4.24 Let my counsell be acceptable unto thee and break off thy sinnes by righteousnesse for man suffereth for his sin Lam. 3.39 If wee will forsake Gods law and not walke in his judgements if wee break his statutes and keep not his commandements then will the Lord visit our transgressions with a rod and our iniquitie with strokes Psal 89.31 32. The more libertie that any of Gods children shall take to sinne the more liable are they to punishment The more care the Lord takes of them the more love he beares unto them the readier will he be to chastise them offending Is not the whole history of the Jewes a people once as dear unto the Lord as ever any were even as the signet on his right hand and as the apple of his eye Zach. 2.8 a pattern and example of an ungratious child continually exercised under the rod of his loving father evermore labouring as he trespassed so to correct him for his sinne The Scripture doth plentifully tell us how the Lord nurtured his people with severe discipline sending them one judgement upon the neck of another and all by reason of their sinnes Iere. 30.15 Why criest thou for thine affliction because thy sinnes
of olde were much puzled about the divine Providence thinking it an unseemly thing to make God the author of an evill and therefore affirmed that there were two gods The one was the Father of mercies and author of all good that doth betyde man The other was an evill god the enemie of mankind the actor of such evills as do befall man But wee acknowledge onely one God the wise and just dispenser of good and evill for out of the mouth of the most High proceedeth both evill and good Lam. 3.38 Plato and other Heathens would say That God was the cause of all good things in Nature beleeving and acknowledging a Divine Providence in prosperity but when adversity came they were of another minde It is reported of Cato that hee stoutly held and defended a Divine Providence all the while that Pompey prospered and the citie flourished but when he did see Pompey to bee overthrown by Caesar in so just a cause when hee beheld the body of Pompey cast upon the shoare without any honor of buriall and himselfe exposed to danger by Caesars army hee then changed his opinion denying that there was any Divine Providence but that all things fell out by chance It were well with many Christians which know or at least should know more of Gods minde then Coto knew if they were not somtimes sicke of Cato his disease for they can trust God and acknowledgeâ— his Providence all the while they live at ease and in prosperitie but let the Lord change their estate and then they change their minde or an the least they begin to demurre about the truth of this doctrine Object But how can it be said That God ordereth and disposeth of all afflictions when there be many euils which wee bring upon our selves and may thank our selves for as appeareth in divers places of Scripture Hast thou not procured this unto thy selfe in that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God Jerem. 2.17 Againe it is said Hos 13.9 O Israel thou hast destroyed thy selfe And ordinary experience tells us how many mischiefes many bring upon themselves through surfets ryot c. Answ Wee procure unto our selves by reason of our sins whatsoever evills do befall us Besides God by withdrawing or with-holding of his grace gives us over to our own lusts or Satanâ— tentaâ—ions and so makes us his instruments to worke our selves that mischiefe or to bring upon our own paies those evills hee intended should befall us Therefore it is undoubted truth that God hath his hand in our afflictions and it may bee confirmed by these reasons Reason 1 First in regard of the infinitenesse of his being filling both Heaven and Earth with his presence Am I a God at hand saith the Lord and not a God afarre off Can any hide himselfe in secret places that I shall not see him saith the Lord Doe not I fill Heaven and Earth Jerem. 23.23 24. Whither shall we goe from his spirit or whither shall wee flee from his presence Psal 139.7 If wee be in hell there shall the Lords hand take us yea though wee more hid in the bottome of the sea the Lord can thence command the serpent to bite us Amos 9.2 3. So that the Lord is every where The Heaven and the Heaven of Heavens is not able to containe him 1. King 8.27 Hee is above us beneath us he is before us and behind us he is without us and within us hee is not only all eye to observe all for his eyes behold all nations Psal 66.7 But he is also all hand to order and dispose of all particulars If any thing were out of Gods reach or did fall out beyond his presence and privity then were not the Lord infinite and then were he not God But the Lord being every where and filling every place must needs have the ordering and disposing of all things which are done in Heaven or in the earth for as it pleaseth the Lord so all things come to passe Reason 2 that the Lords hand should bee in every affliction which befalls us because Hee worketh all things after the counsell of his will Ephe. 1.11 Man may devise and plot what he please hee may take others into confederacie with him but the Lord laughes them to scorne Psal 37.13 Their counsell shall bee brought to nought their decree shall not stand Esay 8.10 But the counsell of the Lord shall stand and the thoughts of his heart throughout all ages Psal 33.11 So Esay 46.10 My counsell shall stand and I will do whatsoever I will If the Lord hath a will to any thing that thing must needs follow for his willing of it is the doing of it I have purposed it and I will do it Esay 46.11 Therefore they blasphem the omnipotencie and power of God who say That Gods will attendeth and follows mans and worketh in many things as our will inclineth which is to set the cart before the horse to make the supreme governesse come after the handmaid Object But doth it not please the Lord to afford so much libertie to his creature that some thing may bee done as wee will and best liketh us Answ The Scripture doth no where tell us that God doth at any time suspend his omnipotencie and purpose so farre as to put the staffe at any time out of his owne hand that man may will any thing against or without the will of God Wee may not say wee will go to the next towne But if God will Jam. 4.15 The heart of man purposeth a way but the Lord directeth his steps Prov. 16.9 Howsoever the wicked may bandy themselves against the Lord his anointed they can do no more nor other but whatsoever his hand and counsell hath appointed to bee done Act. 4.28 Reason 3 Thrdly because all the creatures both of Heaven and Earth and under the Earth are ready prest as so many servants and souldiers to be sent forth and commanded at the will of God their Soveraigne Lord and chieftaine If the Lord will lead any of his hosts against Pharoah and his people for the rescue and deliverance of Israel his chosen they shall march in battell aray and they shall follow in ten severall troups and at the heeles of one another The least the meanest and the vilest of these hosts though of Lice or Grashoppers under the conduct of the Lord shall be able to make head against this great Monarch Pharoah and bring down the spirit and stomack of this proud King who a little before asked Who is the Lord that I should heare his voice and let Israel go I know not the Lord neither will I let Israel go Exodus 5.2 All which considered namely That the Lord is every where fulfilling all places and that all things are effected as hee will and that all creatures are at his bay wee may safely conclude That no affliction can befall us but that which the Lord appointeth unto us as 1. Thes
3.3 No man should bee moved with afflictions for ye your selves know that wee are appointed thereunto Vse 1 Is it so that all our afflictions come from God Away then with that heathenish conceit or dreame of Fortune Luck or Chance words too frequent in the mouths of Christians If any thing befall our neighbor better then ordinary and beyond our expectation wee are ready to congratulate his good fortune If any thing succeeed evill contrary to his desire or if any affliction doth befall him wee are ready to bemone or condole his ill luck and his bad chance Would you know from whence Fortune did first spring One tells us from nature I rather think from ignorance of nature Nature is nothing else but that order and course which the Lord hath set and established in all his creatures Why doth bread strengthen us rather then stones You will say it is the nature of bread to nourish and strengthen us and why so even because God hath said it and appointed it to be so This order and course of nature the Heathen being ignorant of as also of the Divine Providence guiding and disposing of all particulars they ascribed the event of things to a power of their own devising which they called Fortune Now for Christians who have the light of truth so clearely shining amongst us that wee should take up the language and termes of blind Pagans what a shame is it to our profession and reproach to our God Object But doth not the Scripture speake of chance Luk. 10.31 By chance there came down a certaine Priest that same way Answer In regard of God there is no chance although things may be said to bee casuall in respect of our ignorance who know not the causes of many things which fall out many times suddenly and beyond our expectation but all things past present and future are present with the Lord. And that all things in appearance casuall are ordered and governed by God may be gathered by that Vision of Ezechiel 1.18 Who beheld all things in the World in appearance to runne upon wheeles the ring of which wheeles hee observed to bee full of eyes implying hereby the universall and intentive Providence of the Lord overseeing all things Neither may wee ascribe any thing to that unluckie and as many call it unfortunate or fortunate Planet under which any may be said to be borne as the starre-gazer doth fondly hold and maintaine or that some dayes be good and some bad is a heathenish conceit For the Lord God Almightie that Most High and Incomprehensible JEHOVAH that Everlasting Alpha and Omega He that was that is and is to come He is the former framer and governor of all things Who made Arcturus Orion and Pleiades those famous starres and placed them in the firmament of heaven Who limited the North and South climats Hath not the Lord formed them and doth not He governe them Hath not He appointed them their severall spheares and motions Have they not their influences from him and doth not He withdraw from them at His pleasure Do they not remaine and continue as servants for the behoof of man as other creatures do and are not as gods or governors of mans nature neither can they dispose of our inclinations constitutions and affections or make us happy or unhappy at their pleasure but are ruled and commanded by God to stand or move at His will and pleasure Did not the Sunne stand still in Gibeon and the Moone in the valley of Ajalou a whole day Josh 10.12 By which and many other places it is evident that Sun and Moon and so all other creatures are subject to the will of the superior Governor who needeth not the helpe of such weake instruments to draw out or to shorten the life and wellfare the happinesse or the miserie of man to make our portion the more fat or lean to further or hinder us either in our spirituall or bodily welfare Thinke not therefore that either thy good or bad successe in thy proceedings the prosperous or adverse issues of thine indeavors thy riches or thy povertie proceedeth from the influence domination or power of the creatures but that all are ordered and disposed of by a higher cause the wise and righteous Providence of Almighty God Let us not therefore so much as name Fortune seeing all things in the World though many of them seem casuall and contingent to our weake and shallow apprehension are notwithstanding regulated by Divine Providence Some will say that Jonah being cast into the sea had good fortune that a fish should be ready at hand to swallow him up and so carry him a shore againe but this fortune was no other then Gods providence For the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah 1.17 The selling of Joseph unto the Ishmaelitish Merchants in appearance seemeth to be no other then the cruell act of his unnaturall brethren disputing and debating with themselves what they were best to do with him Yet Joseph telleth his brethren You sent me not hither but God Gene. 45.8 Can any thing appeare more casuall then the drawing of a lot yet it is the Lord that directeth my hand to this lot rather then unto another The lot is cast into the lap but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord Prov. 16.33 Gods Providence extendeth it selfe even to the smallest things the falling of every sparrow on the ground Matt. 10.29 The numbring of the haires of oun heads the feeding of the birds of the ayre and what not Hold wee it therefore as an undoubted truth that there is no fortune and that nothing comes to passe without the decree of God no not any of our afflictions nor any judgements which at any time befall any wicked person When the Drunkard hath besotted himselfe with excessive drinking and even transformed himselfe into a swine he takes his horse homeward goes the beast but the man more sencelesse then the beast is carried he knowes not whither down at last hee tumbles from his horse and breaks his neck or being on foot falls into the ditch and there is drowned you will say This man hath hard fortune And so when two roaring ruffians shall fall to word it upon some indignitie or wrong received or conceived and from words proceed either to blows or stabbing each other their companions will say the wounded party had a hard mischance befalne him verie ill lucke No no these had the just and righteous hand of God against them the Lord in justice and wrath appointing these heavie judgments unto them Hence it is that Jude speaketh of some which were before of old ordained to this condemnation Jude 4. The word ordained is very emphatical in the originall and signifies as much as if they were inrolled or set down upon record or registred and set down by the hand-writing of God to this condemnation Fortune befits the mouth of a heathen but Gods Providence the
us If the Lord should dispute with us wee could not answer him one thing of a thousand When hee visiteth what shall I answer him said Iob 31.14 Whereupon David saith Psalm 130.3 If thou Lord shouldest marke iniquities O Lord who shall stand The least sinne wee commit makes us liable to the vengeance of eternall torments How grear a measure of punishment do wee then deserve for our many for our grievous sinnes our sinnes being like unto the sand by the sea shore which is innumerable What ever our afflictions are or may be they come short of our sinnes they fall short of that which wee have deserved and that which the Lord may justly without any wrong to us lay upon us Amongst many other one maine cause why we are so troubled and vexed with affliction is because we are so little galled with our sinnes a true sense of these would make our afflictions to be more easie and us lesse sensible of them then many times we are Do we not see it by experience that when the stone and the gout or some other bodily malady meet together the paine of the stone being the more grievous alaies if not takes away the sense pain of the gout even so would it be here when sinne and affliction are both upon us at once the consideration of our sinnes deserving farre greater punishment then we beare should so grieve us that the punishment it selfe should not move us much lesse stirre us up to impatience Is there not then great cause that we should willingly and patiently bear Gods chastisements as the Church resolved Mica 7.9 I will beare the wrath of the Lord because I have sinned against him And confesse with the good theef in the Gospell We indeed are justly here for we receive the due reward of our deeds Luke 23.41 And thus did that Emperor Mauritius who beholding his wife and children murthered before his face cried out just art thou o Lord and just are thy judgements And thus David confessed I know O Lord that thy judgements are right and that thou hast afflicted me justly Ps 119.75 Secondly compare thine afflictions with the sufferings of many of the Lords Worthies and thou hast great cause to be patient Looke but into the 11. Chap. to the Heb. ver 35 36 37. and tell mee if thine afflictions be answerable or sutable to their fiery trials Looke into the sufferings of Christ Consider him that indured such speaking against of sinners lest you should be wearied and faint in your mindes ye have not yet resisted unto blood Heb. 12.3 4. If the Lord deal so sharply with many of his deare children and with thee so mildly so gently wonder at Gods clemency and lenity lay thy hand upon thy mouth and bee patient Thirdly consider how short thine affliction will bee in comparison of that eternall torment the Lord might lay upon thee our afflictions are but light and moment any as Paul calls them 2. Cor. 4.17 The Lord himselfe saith Esay 54.8 For a moment in mine anger I hid my face from thee for a little season but with everlasting love have I had compassion on thee Who would not bee content with a course of physick for a few daies though the physick be untoothsome and very bitter in hope of health for ever after What if thou hast indured months of sorrow and painfull nights have beene appointed unto thee as they were to Job 7.3 What are they in comparison of those eternall torments the Lord might throw thee into in which there will be no ease out of which there shall be no release A great cause of impatience and storming at afflictions is the ignorance of our selves and of the desert of our sinnes which if we knew aright we would confesse with Ezra let our miseries and troubles be what they will that the Lord hath punished us lesse then our iniquities have deserved Ezra 9.13 I will beare the wrath of the Lord saith the Church Mic. 7.9 I will not repine at his dealing with me I wil not open my mouth by way of complaint or murmuring but from what doth this holy resolution and patience proceed It followeth in the same verse because I have sinned against him I have carried my selfe proudly stoutly and rebelliously against him I have provoked the eyes of his glory I have many waies many times broken his holy lawes I have deserved farre more farre greater judgements then he hath laid upon me it is his mercy that I am not confounded that I am of this side hell Fourthly and lastly the consideration of the blessed end that God for the most part makes of the afflictions of his servants will further our patience After they have endured any great fight in affliction he doth usually bestow some speciall favor or other upon them yea proportionable to the measure of the affliction hath the recompence and the blessing been such as have had the bitterest crosses have received the sweetest comforts Ye have heard of the patience of Job and what end the Lord made Jam. 5.11 What this end was is recorded Iob. 42. where it is said that the Lord turned a way the captivitie of Iob and gave him twice as much as he had before So the Lord blessed the last daies of Iob more then the first Iob 42.12 This hope of future mercy kept David from fainting in his affliction Psal 71.20 21. Thou hast shewed we great troubles and adversities but thou wilt return and revive me and wilt come againe and take me from the depth of the earth Thou wilt increase mine honnor and receive and comfort me if not with temporall assuredly with spirituall comfort here for they bring forth the quiet fruit of righteousnesse unto them that are thereby exercised Heb. 12.11 They are occasions as hath been formerly proved of purging our corruption and bringing of us neerer God and into more conformity with Christ and should not this comfort us Besides they make way for glory and endlesse comfort They that sow in teares shall reape in ioy Psalm 126.5 Afflictions cause unto us a farre more excellent and eternall weight of glory 2. Cor. 4.17 Art thou in any affliction thou art but under a short cloud it will quickly blow over and thou shalt have a faire season a most comfortable and glorious sun-shine when all teares shall be wiped away from thine eyes Rev. 7.17 After two dayes hee will revive us and in the third day he will raise us up and wee shall live in his sight Hos 6.2 Art thou in affliction be patient the third day is comming wherein the Lord will deliver thee There must be a time for thee to sow thy prayers in and a time for thee to water them with the teares of true repentance and then presently comes the joyfull harvest in due season thou shalt reape if thou thou bee patient if thou faint not Gal. 6.10 What made Steven in his martyrdome to bee so patient and chearefull but
means of comfort Answ Gods wayes are not your wayes Esay 55.8 The Lord hath his wayes many times in the deep many times in the darke and secret Haply deliverance shall come some other way then thou canst imagine or thinke of When thou thinkest comfort and deliverance is farthest off it may be neare at hand yea when thou seest least likelyhood of it for In the mount will the Lord be seen Gen. 22.14 It may be thou seest no means but the Lord can worke without means yea by contrary meanes that his wisedome and power may appeare the more in thy deliverance What means had Daniel to save him from the fury of those hungry and devouring Lyons yet you know the Lord did deliver him Therefore Commit thy way unto the Lord and trust in him and hee shall bring it to passe Psalm 37.5 So that all things considered wee have little cause to bee disquieted in our afflictions seeing our heavenly Father sendeth them in love for our great good and lesse cause we have to fret or be disheartned if they tarry by us longer then wee would have them for when wee are fit for deliverance wee shall bee sure of it In the mean time if dangers or feares do increase upon thee say to the Lord as good King Jehosaphat 2. Chron. 20.12 Wee know not what to do but our eyes are towards thee Consider into what great distresse and strait the Lord brought the people of Israel when they came out of Egypt the sea before them their enemies behind them death as it were round about them yet how miraculously did the Lord make way for them So assure thy selfe whatsoever thy trouble or danger bee the Lord will one way or other give issue to his glory and thy good although thou seest not how because hee is the same God no changeling in his goodnesse towards his children It is a sweet motto which one hath I suffer I hope Though sorrows and afflictions increase upon thee yet give not over thy confidence but resolve with holy Job Loe though he slay me yet will I trust in him Job 13.15 The motion of a thing the neerer it comes to the center the swifter it is Doth thy sorrow thy paine thy trouble increase upon thee hope it is neere at an end The children of Israel the neerer they were unto comfort and deliverance the sorer grew their afflictions and the greater were the burthens which their cruell taske-masters layd upon them and so doth the Lord oft deale in other kindes with his children Therefore wait with patience seeing the Lord many times doth suddenly turne tragedies into comedies sorrow into joy as he dealt with his people in Esters dayes to day in heavinesse through feare of being swallowed up and made a prey unto their enemies to morrow triumphing over their enemies and treading them underneath their feet Ester 8.15 16. For what thing can there bee under Heaven so heavie upon the heart of his children which the Lord cannot remove and put joy in the place of it before the day be light Therefore hope in the Lord and bee strong and hee shall comfort thine heart Psalm 27.14 Be cheerefull therefore in thy affliction Object Some will be ready to say I hope I hurt no body by my sadnesse but they are deceived for Answ First they wrong the Lord by their uncheerfulnesse not only in going and doing against his word which willeth us to bee joyfull in the Lord as Psal 32.11 Be glad ye righteous and rejoyce in the Lord and bee joyfull all ye that are upright in heart but they do also wrong the Lord in robbing him of that honor and praise which they might bring unto him by their rejoycing in affliction Secondly they wrong if not hurt their brethren being occasions of discouragement and disheartning them making them to feare and doubt of Gods goodnes and their own abilitie to bear any burden which the Lord shall lay upon them seeing others or longer standing in Christ his school and of greater knowledge to shrink and buckle under their affliction Thirdly they wrong their profession by opening the mouthes of those that are without or by putting a stumbling-blocke before them causing them to abhorre the way and practise of godlinesse when they see so great troubles to attend upon it and so little courage and cheerefulnesse in those that professe it Fourthly and lastly they wrong and hurt themselves not only by disinabling and indisposing themselves to the generall and particular dueties of their callings for a joyfull heart causeth good health but a sorrowfull spirit dries up the bones Prov. 17.22 that is makes the body weake and feeble for a man is said to bee in his full strength when his bones run full of marrow Job 21.23 24. but also in spoiling themselves of that peace and comfort which they might enjoy by their cheerfull undergoing of afflictions and loosing that holy vigor and strength they might partake of by rejoycing in the Lord for the joy of the Lord is your strength Nehe. 8.10 Besides by their lumpishnesse they make themselves unfit for holy dueties they cannot serve God as they should being oppressed with sadnesse For we are to serve the Lord with gladnesse of heart Serve the Lord in feare and rejoyce before him Psal 2.11 How can any serve God joyfully or praise him heartily when the heart is laden with griefe and the mind oppressed with sorrow If no joy in the sweet promises of God what delight can be had in his worship and service And last of all they expose themselves unto Satans tentations when they are dejected with worldly sorrow then are they baits for Satan to catch at and fit subjects for him to worke upon How many have been brought to a shamefull and miserable end through Satans subtiltie and malice working upon them and taking them at advantage in the time of their sorrow and heavinesse So that it is evident that such by their sadnesse oft times do wrong both others and themselves But admit it were so as you see it is false that wee hurt no body but our selves by our sadnesse is this a sufficient warrant to bear us out in our lumpishnesse In what court was that commission sealed unto us which gives us liberty to harme or wrong our selves Are wee not delinquents against Gods law and the law of nature in offring wrong unto our selves Therefore seeing thy afflictions are but for a season hold fast the Confidence and the rejoycing of thy hope unto the end Heb. 3.6 Live by faith and as the Prophet exhorteth enter into thy chambers and shut thy doores after thee hide thy selfe for a little while untill the indignation passe over Esay 26.20 By chambers the Prophet meanes a quiet and peaceable conscience into the which he would have us sequester our selves all the while the storme of affliction bloweth that so with patience we may waite for the event of them And whereas he