out the Heavens and Commanded the succession of the Seasons and who is the Author and Lord of thy Life We need not tempt God as the Philistins did of old and require from him a miracle to know if it be his hand for God assures us that he himself inflicts the Wound and binds it up that his hand strikes and heals again 1 Sam. 5. Affliction cometh not forth of the Dust neither doth trouble spring out of the ground Job 5. Who is able to say that these things are come to pass and the Lord hath not commanded them doth not evil and good proceed from the appointment of the most High There is no evil in the City but God hath done it that is to say that there is no distemper nor affliction but he over-rules and governs it by his wonderful Providence This perswasion will stop our murmuring in the midst of our greatest troubles and violent paines it will cause us to say with David I have held my peace Lord and have not open'd my Lips because it was thy doing Or if we offer to speak it shall be in the language of a blessed Servant of God Lord thou troublest me but it is sufficient for me to know that it is thy hand Job 2. As if he should have said this Physick is very bitter O great Physitian of my Soul and Body but I will freely drink it up because thou hast prescribed it It is not just to receive good at the hand of God and refuse evil to complain of a disease that he hath sent us for a few days instead of blessing him for the health which he hath continued unto us many years In short when our Souls should be troubled with the anguish of death when drops of bloud should come out of our veins we must in such a case lift up our Eyes to Heaven and say with our Lord and Saviour Father if it please thee that this Cup should not pass away from me except I drink it Nevertheless O Father not my Will but thy Will be done Luk 21. This same consideration will keep us from falling into despair and from fancying that the evils will swallow us up For seeing God sends both evil and good and that he is faithful and just that he is true and merciful he will not suffer us to be tempted that is that we should be afflicted above that we are able but with the temptation he will make away to escape that we may be able to bear it 1 Cor. 10. He kindles not all his wrath at once and employs not all his fury he discovers not all the strength of his Arm Psal 78. but when his anger is hottest he remembers to have pity and compassion on the afflicted for he knows of what we are made that we are but Dust and Ashes Hab. 3. He remembers that we are but Flesh that is to say weakness it self a wind that passeth away and returneth not again Psal 103. He regulates his chastisements not according to the horridness of our sins but according to our great weaknesses Gen. 18. Psal 78. Therefore when God speaks of David's Son the true and lively Image of the Holy Seed with which he hath concluded an Eternal Covenant he speaks in this manner If he commits sin I will chastise him with the Rod of Men and with the stripes of the Children of men but my mercy shall not depart away from him 2 Sam. 7. And St. Paul speaking in general of the afflictions with which God visits his Children 1 Cor. 10. he stiles them Humane temptations to assure us that they shall never exceed the strength and power of our weak Nature The wise and experienced Physitian appoints neither Physick nor Bleeding to the Patient until he hath well examined his Pulse and understood thereby the disposition of his Body and shall not God's Eternal Wisdom that never acts without good reason and that perfectly knows the Pulse and Temper of our Souls that searcheth our Reins and that sees our very Heart proportion his Physick and Remedies to our weaknesses for his design is to heal and not to destroy us He once inflicted punishments upon Babylon by measure and numbred the Viols of his Wrath which he poured upon the seat of the Beast and shall not this good God measure the Rods and weigh the Afflictions with which he reproves his Children shall not he number their Sighs and Tears This consideration comforts King David Thou saith he O God tellest my wandrings put thou my tears into thy bottle are they not in thy Book Ps 56. Although Flesh and Bloud may think otherwise I am perswaded that Diseases may be looked upon as the sweetest and most favourable afflictions It was David's perswasion for when he was to chuse one of these three Plagues either War Famine or Plague which is the most grievous most hated and dreadful of all distempers he chose the Plague We should never forget the reason of his choise Let us fall now said he to the Prophet Gad into the hands of the Lord for his Mercies are great and let me not fall into the hand of Man The evils which God sends to us are expressions of his Love and of his Fatherly Care of us for God begins his Judgements that is his Chastisements at his own House and shews most severity to the Servants whom he loves best 1 Pet. 4. Therefore he tells the Angel of the Church of Laodicea As many as I love I rebuke and chasten Revel 3. The greatest affliction that can happen to us in the World is never to be afflicted and the most grievous temptation is never to be tempted St Paul to the Hebrews speaks most excellently upon this subject Forget not saith he the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto Children my Son despise not thou the chastening of the Lord nor faint when thou art rebuked of him for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth and scourgeth every Son whom he receiveth If ye endure chastening God dealeth with you as with Sons for what Son is he whom the Father chasteneth not but if ye be without chastisement whereof all are partakers then are ye Bastards and not Sons Heb. 12. All things work together for good to them that love God Rom. 8. The Diseases of the Body are the Physick of the Soul The Aches which thou seelest in thy Body are Instructions of thy Mind God intends to make thee sigh for thy sins water thy Couch with thy Tears and abhor the remembrance of thy former miscarriages Psal 6. The causes of thy present pain and grief He intends to make thee partaker of his Holiness Heb. 12. If it please God to sanctify his afflictions to thee thou wilt be able to say with David It was good for me that I was afflicted that I might learn thy Commandments Before that I was afflicted I went astray but now I keep thy Word Psal 119. Although our Lord and Saviour was the only Son and
to grant us the blessed disposition of St. Paul that we may be able to speak as he did I have learn'd to be content in whatsoever estate I am I know both how to be abased and I know how to abound every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry both to abound and to suffer need I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me Phil. 4. Remember Christian Souls to settle your Treasure in Heaven where neither the Moth nor Rust can corrupt and where Thieves cannot break through and steal Labor to be rich in Faith and in good Works that you may inherit the Kingdom that God hath promised to them that love him 7. But if it hath pleased God to bless thy labors and if his powerful and liberal hand hath raised thee up to great Honor so that thou enjoyest Riches in abundance thou must remember to possess them in such a manner that they may not enslave thee and according to St. Paul's advice thou must remember to enjoy them as if thou enjoyest them not and that the fashion of this World passeth away we must not trust upon them nor pride in them we ought to glory in something else as God himself exhorts us Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom nor the strong of his strength Let not the rich man glory in his Riches but he that glories let him glory in that he hath understanding and knows me Jer. 9. 8. We must not only take off our hearts and affections from the world and its vanities trample upon them and esteem them like Dung in comparison of the unspeakable Treasures of Heaven but we must also be ready to leave them at every moment as so many trifles vain and perishable things as we are to possess them without displeasure and fear so we must part with them without grief and murmuring When we should loose in a day all that God hath bestowed upon us in the world it becomes us to strengthen our selves with an Holy confidence and resolution saying with Job The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away blessed be the name of the Lord Job 1. 9. If we happen to part with our Goods Honors and Dignities in the service of God and for the profession of Christs Gospel in such a case we ought to endure the loss with a Christian patience and an excessive joy because that such a loss for a just cause will prove at last to our advantage and glory This was the practice of the faithful Hebrews of whom St. Paul renders this testimony You have received with joy the spoiling of your Goods knowing that you have in Heaven a better and a more lasting inheritance Heb. 10. Christian Souls represent unto your selves the example of the Prophet Moses who esteem'd the reproach of Christ greater riches than the Treasures of Egypt for he had a respect unto the recompense of the reward Heb. 11. 10. Whilst we enjoy our Goods we must take care of the poor and be bountiful in Alms and to speak in St. Paul's language Whilst we have any time let us do good especially to the houshold of faith Gal. 6. Whoever hath compassion of the poor makes God his debter he will assuredly return him his good Deed Prov. 19. Our Saviour promiseth to recompense a Cup of cold water that shall be given to the meanest of such as believe in his name Matt. 10. Alms is a Seed that is cast upon Earth but its Flowers and most excellent Fruits are to be gather'd in Heaven He that sows liberally shall reap liberally It is not therefore as that other Seed mentioned Psal 126. That they that sow in Tears shall reap with Songs of Triumph 2 Cor. 9. For whosoever bestows his Alms sparingly and unwillingly he shall be Treated in the same manner as him that refuseth to part with it therefore St. Paul declares When I should give all my Goods to nourish the poor if I have no Charity I am nothing 2 Cor. 13. God loves a chearful Giver and delights in such Sacrifices 2 Cor. 9. Remember therefore Christians that God shall judge you at the last day not by your Learning Knowledge Riches or Dignities and Honors of this life but by your Alms Deeds and acts of Charity and Hospitality and by the distributing of your Goods to the necessities of the Saints Make to your selves friends of the Mammon of unrighteousness that when you fail they may receive you into the everlasting Habitations Matt. 25. Rom. 12. Luke 16. That upon your Tomb one may justly engrave He hath scattered he hath given to the poor his Righteousness that is his Charity and Alms-deeds remain for ever Psal 112. 11. Finally we must not only take off our Heart and Affections from the Riches Honors and Vanities of this World but we must also deny our selves tame and overcome our passions and crucify our Flesh with its Lusts Therefore our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ calls upon us from Heaven He that will follow me let him deny himself take up his Cross daily and come after me Matt. 10. That we may be able to imprint this good Lesson in our minds we should seriously consider in the first place that we are but strangers and pilgrims in this world and that we have no lasting City Heb. 13. The Houses that God grants to us are no perpetual Dwellings but only Inns for our present accommodation This was the frequent consideration of the great Patriarchs Abraham Isaack and Jacob who saw the promises afar off believed and embraced them for St. Paul informs us that they did ingeniously profess that they were no better than strangers and pilgrims upon earth and that their intention was to march forwards to their Celestial Countrey This was Jacobs language when he appeared before Pharaoh The days of my pilgrimage have been short and evil they have not attain'd to the years of the life of my Fathers and of the time of their pilgrimage Heb. 12. Gen. 47. And not only the antient Patriarchs who never had any other possessions in the world than a Tomb or some small piece of ground have acknowledg'd themselves to be strangers and pilgrims but Princes and Kings also whom God hath sanctified by his Holy Spirit have freely confess'd the same for David declares not in the time of his banishment nor of his flight nor in his calamities and misery but in his most flourishing Estate and in the midst of his Triumphs Glory Plenty and Prosperity he declares unto God I am a stranger and a forreigner with thee as all my Fathers were Psal 39. 119. And when he speaks not only of himself but also of the rest of God's Children that are upon Earth he makes no difficulty to confess We are strangers and forreigners with thee as all our Fathers were and our days are as a shadow upon Earth that have no stop 1 Chron. 29. Rich and Poor Masters and
passionately love and because there is not one thing here below that can express unto us the Glory and Happiness of Paradise so many perfections are not to be found in one only thing Therefore the Holy Ghost gathers together all the Excellencies Riches and Beauty scattered about in the inferior Creatures and borrows the Ideas and Notions of those things that are rarest and most glorious and that give us the greatest pleasure and satisfaction to represent unto us Heaven's Glory To begin in the first place with the word Paradise it signifies a delightful and a pleasant Garden it is often made use of to express to us the Joys and Happiness of the life to come and to make us sensible that what we have lost by Adam is restored to us by Jesus Christ Our Lord and Saviour who is goodness it self shall bestow upon us another Eden another Garden of pleasure watered with living water in the midst of it is the Tree of Life that brings forth its Fruits every moneth instead of an earthly Paradise subject to change we shall find an Heavenly and an Unchangeable Paradise The earthly Paradise is no more to be seen it is thought that it was swallowed up and destroyed by the Waters and Deluge but the Heavenly Paradise can never be destroyed by the most furious Fire nor by the most swelling Waves It is above all the Winds and Storms and Tempests therefore St. Peter assures us That it is an incorruptible inheritance that fadeth not away It hath no need of an elemental Water for it is watered every where with the River of living Water that proceeds from the Throne of God and the Lamb. And whereas Cherubims armed with a flaming Sword stood at the entrance of the Earthly Paradise to hinder Adam from approaching near to the Tree of Life and from gathering of its Fruits Now whole Legions of Cherubims are to carry us up upon their wings to the true Tree of Life which stands in the midst of the Heavenly Paradise and Jesus Christ himself the Prince of all the Angels of all the Cherubims and Seraphims promiseth to admit us to partake of its delicious Fruits by these blessed words To him that shall overcome I will give him to eat of the Tree of Life which is in the midst of the Paradise of God It is the common custom of Men to have an high esteem of beautiful and great Cities whereof the buildings are stately and the Inhabitants many Therefore the Jews were wont to boast of Jerusalem and to call it The City perfect in Beauty the joy of the whole Earth Therefore the Holy Ghost represents unto us the Glory and Happiness of Heaven by a City which he names Jerusalem And St. Paul in his Epistle to the Hebrews mentions the same comparison for when he had said That Abraham by faith sojourned in the Land of Promise as in a strange Countrey dwelling in Tabernacles with Isaack and Jacob the Heirs with him of the same promise he adds immediately after For he looked for a City which hath foundations whose builder and Maker is God and a little after God is not ashamed to be called their God for he hath prepared for them a City Heb. 11. And in the 12 Chapter of the same Epistle he speaks to Believers in this manner Ye are come to mount Sion and unto the City of the living God the Heavenly Jerusalem and to an innumerable company of Angels And elsewhere We have no continuing City here below but we seek one to come Heb. 13.14 God is pleased not only to describe unto us our future Paradise under the general notion of a City and of Jerusalem but he declares unto us its Heavenly Beauty its Glory and Magnificence you cannot find a richer and a more excellent Image than that of St. John who himself had been a spectator of the new Jerusalem and had beheld all its rarities and wonders for when the Angel who had in his hand a Golden Reed to measure this Glorious City had said unto him Come I will shew thee the Spouse the wife of the Lamb. He carried him in the Spirit to an high Mountain from whence he had a prospect of that great and Holy City Jerusalem which came down from Heaven from God decked as a Spouse prepared for her Husband having the Glory of God and his Light This faithful witness assures us that its Buildings and the Streets of this blessed City were all of fine Gold as bright as Chrystal its Foundations were of precious Stone it s twelve Gates were twelve Pearls at each of them stood an Angel of God This Holy City hath no need of the light of the Sun or of the light of the Moon for the Light of God enlightens it and the Lamb is the Light thereof there is no Temple therein for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the Temple of it It is our delight to abide in stately and magnificent Houses and in rich and glorious Palaces Therefore Paradise is expressed unto us by a Dwelling and by a Palace which God himself hath built with his own Hands This is the Picture that the Royal Prophet represents unto us in the 65 Psal when he speaks of God's House and of the Holy place of his Palace And St. Paul doth the like in the 1 Cor. 5 Chap. when he saith We know that if our earthly House of this Tabernacle were dissolved we have a building of God an House not made with hands eternal in the Heavens And our Saviour when he was ready to leave the World he comforts his Apostles in this manner In my Fathers House there are many Mansions I go to prepare a place for you And St. John heard a mighty voice from Heaven saying Behold the Tabernacle of God with Men he shall dwell with them and they shall be his people and God himself shall he their God with them Every one desires to be rich there be some that esteem it their chief Happiness therefore the Holy Ghost represents the Happiness of Heaven under the notion of Riches and Treasures our Saviour himself speaks of it in this manner in the 6 of St. Matthew Lay not up for your selves Treasures upon Earth where Moth and Rust doth corrupt and where thieves break through and steal but lay up for your selves Treasures in Heaven where neither Moth nor Rust doth corrupt and where thieves do not break through nor steal Therefore when the Holy Ghost describes Heavens Glory and mentions Gold Pearls and precious stones it hath a regard to this consideration And because Men are for the most part desirous of Honors Greatness and Dignities and that there is nothing in the world more esteem'd than Scepters Crowns therefore the Glory of Heaven is express'd by a Kingdom by Thrones Crowns and Triumphs Our Saviour speaks in this language to his Apostles To you all who have continued with me in my afflictions I appoint a Kingdom as my Father hath