will give for their Honour but forgive no Contempt or Injury and as the dividing living Twins destroys them so the Life and Sincerity of Obedience that consists in the union and intireness of its parts is destroyed by dividing our respects to some commands neglecting the rest And in Passive Obedience many will submit to lighter and shorter afflictions but if an Evil comes that nearly touches the heart or that remains long without redress they become impatient or so dejected as to neglect their Duty I shall therefore superadd to the former Arguments wherein the Necessity the Equity and the Policy of our Dutiful Resignation to God's Providence is clearly set forth some other Motives and Directions that may be useful and effectual for this end First Look frequently to Jesus Christ the Author and finisher of our Faith The Divine Wisdom to reform the World assumed the Humane Nature and expressed in a Holy Conversation upon Earth a living Copy of his Precepts to direct us in the various parts of our Duty and because the exercise of Humility Self Denial and the rest of the Suffering Graces is so difficult to our frail and tender Nature he ascended the Cross and instructs us by Suffering to suffer with his Affections leaving us his Example as the best Lecture of our Duty His Sufferings concern us not only in point of Merit but Conformity We can never enjoy the benefit of his Passion without following his Patern His example is the Rule of the highest Perfection and we are under the greatest obligation to imitate and honour him who is our Sovereign and Saviour to whom we owe our Redemption from everlasting Misery and the Inheritance of Glory 'T is the Apostle's advice to the afflicted to consider him that endured such contradiction of Sinners against himself that ye be not wearied and faint in your minds This deduction is with greater force to make us humble and patient If we consider First the Infinite Dignity of his Person He was the Eternal and Onely Son of God and descended from the Throne of his Majesty divested himself of his Robes of insupportable Light that concealed and manifested his Glory to the Angels and was obedient to the Death of the Cross what are the highest and best of Men to him Were it not extreamly unbecoming and undutiful for a Subject to refuse Obedience to a just Law if the King that made the Law should voluntarily observe it and reserve no other advantage to himself but the honour of enacting it Our Saviour did not stand upon the dignity and liberty of his Person being equal with God and our King but intirely complied with the Law and shall we complain of its rigour Secondly The Greatness of his Sufferings They were incomparable as to their value so in their degrees He endured the equal extremities of Infamy and Torment that are so contrary to the inclinations of Mankind He was Crowned with a cruel Diadem of Thorns Scourged Spit upon Derided Crucified Insensible Nature as if capable of Understanding and Affection was disordered in its whole frame at his Death The Heavens sympathized in Eclipses of the Sun in the darkness of the Air at Mid-day as Midnight the Earth quak't with deep Tremblings and the Rocks were rent a sunder And the Sufferings of his Soul from the incensed Justice of God were inconceivably great What is the worst we suffer either immediately from God or instrumentally from Men to his bitter Passion Our Sufferings are but superficial shadows of Misery compared to his deep Sorrows Thirdly His Sufferings were most undeserved For he was the Holy One of God his Conception without the least taint of Sin his Life of strictest Purity and compleat Obedience to the Divine Law We may read the process of our Sins and understand their Guilt in his Passion He was made Sin for us a Sacrifice to atone the Divine Displeasure who knew no Sin As David when Guilty of Adultery and Murder was fired with disdain at the relation of an incompassionate Rich Man killing the single Lamb of his poor Neighbour and sparing his own numerous Flock and when the Prophet unveiled the Parable and surprised him with that piercing reproach Thou art the Man he presently by that Fiction in another was convinced of his own true guilt and was extreamly afflicted in the sense of it Thus we are apt to conceive indignation against the Murderers of our Saviour the Apostate Apostle the Malicious Priest the Unrighteous Judg the Bloody Soldiers But Conscience as a true Nathan may charge us to have been in that wicked Conspiracy against the Lord of Glory for our Sins Condemned and Crucified him And as our Sins were the impulsive cause of his Sufferings so our good is the effect of them He suffered the Death of the Cross that his Blood might be our Ransom his Ignominy the purchase of our Glory his Torments the merit of our Blessedness his Death the Seed of Immortal Life to us but we suffer the just punishment of our own Sins Fourthly His willing Obedience Divine Patience and invincible Constancy in Suffering for us In his distress the whole Army of Heaven were in readiness for his Protection and Rescue upon the least signification of his Will If I prayed to my Father he would send me twelve Legions of Angels Nay he had the Springs and Keys of the Divine Power in his hands and could by a Word have destroyed his Enemies but he freely gave himself for us and without resistance without complaint took up his Cross. Now our Saviour who had the fulness of the Spirit communicates to us the first Fruits of it Faith and Love Humility and Patience Peace and Joy to support us under Affliction Fifthly Consider the excellent reward of his Sufferings He was abased below Men and is advanced above all the Angelical Orders and is the Eternal Argument of their Praises Never were Sufferings so grievous never was Issue so glorious For the Joy that was set before him he endured the Cross despised the shame and is set down at the right hand of the Majesty on high Now our Blessed Saviour hath promised To him that overcomes will I grant to sit with me in my Throne even as I also overcame and am set down with my Father in his Throne Unfainting Perseverance in our Duty shall be rewarded with the Glory of our Redeemer And is not the prospect and expectation of this sufficient to confirm our Minds and make us patiently bear the greatest Afflictions Secondly The Consideration of the Suffering Saints in all Ages is a powerful perswasive to Patience Thus the Apostle James directs Christians Take my Brethren the Prophets who have spoken in thâ— Name of the Lord for an example of suffering Affliction and of Patience And we have great encouragement from hence if we consider 1. That those who are of most precious account with God and highly favoured by him are usually exercised with
God he was confirmed in hope of Deliverance The Apostle implores the glorious Power of God That the Colossians might be strengthned with all Might unto all Patience and Long-suffering with joyfulness We should sink under heavy Sufferings or be tired with the length of Miseries without his immortal Strength But if the Power of God assist a weak Spirit it will be finally victorious over all the Evils of the World How many Martyrs of the tender Sex who would naturally tremble at a drawn Sword yet by divine Support despised the Tormentors and all the Instruments of Cruelty In them was an imitation of that Miracle of divine Power when the three Children walked in the midst of the flaming Furnace untouch'd by the Fire God is stiled the God of Patience and Consolation It is his sole Prerogative to comfort the afflicted I even I am he that comforts you The Woman in the Gospel that had a bloody Issue no human Art could afford her aid and relief And when her Estate was wasted on the Physitians and her Strength by her Disease she came to our Saviour and by touching the Hem of his Garment was presently healed Thus the afflicted Spirit whom no worldly things are able to support and make joyful finds everlasting comfort in God He satisfies the Soul with his Love and establishes this Persuasion That all things shall turn for the best to his People Now by Prayer the divine Power and Favour is engaged for our support and deliverance How many Psalms of David begin in Tears and end in Triumph In his great Exigency when ready to be swallowed up by his Enemies he dispatch'd a flying Prayer to Heaven for relief Lord take bold of Shield and Buckler and stand up for my help And the Almighty appeared in Arms for his Rescue And he recounts another blessed experience of the efficacy of Prayer In the day when I cryed thou answered'st me and strengthenest me with strength in my Soul The Affliction was still incumbent but did not overwhelm him which was a more gracious testimony of God's love than if it had meerly been taken away It is said of the distressed They looked to him and were lightned It is the Perfection and Propriety of the Saints in Heaven to see the glorious Face of God without Veil or Shadow but here some Rayes of his quickning Countenance comfort his afflicted Servants while they lift up their Eyes and Hearts to his Sanctuary a joyful Light breaks forth that leads them out of the dark Labyrinth of their troubled Thoughts If the Saints remain disconsolate it is not for want of Mercy and Power in God to refresh their Sorrows but from neglecting to improve their Interest in him and deriving Spiritual Comforts from his fulness by humble believing Prayer When the Disciples were surprized with a Storm in the Sea of Tiberias they toil'd with hard labour to save the Ship that was like to be over-whelmed by the Waves but all in vain till by their Cries they waked our Saviour who was asleep in the Ship He lifts up his Head and the proud Waves presently sink he speaks a word of Command and the boisterous Winds are silent and a great Tempest is changed into a great Calm This may fitly represent the afflicted state of a Christian their Passions swell into a Storm they are ready to be overwhelm'd with Troubles but 't is because Christ sleeps in them they have his Presence as if they had it not but earnest constant Prayer will awake him and his propitious Presence will secure them from Shipwrack and make their Breasts the true Pacifick Sea and bring them safely to the Blessed Eternal Shore Briefly God teaches us to profit by our Afflictions and this affords matter of Joy and Thanksgiving The Psalmist declares Blessed is the Man whom thou chastenest and instructest out of thy Law The Divine Teacher gives a right understanding of Sufferings for what end they are sent and teacheth by the voice of the Rod to obey his Word He instructs us in our Duty with the clearest Convictions and infuseth gracious dispositions suitable to his Doctrine He gives directing Light and a seeing Eye to perceive it he presents Heavenly Encouragements and prepares the Heart to receive them Now what Paul speaks of the Cross of Christ is applicable to the Crosses of the Saints God forbid that I should glory but in the Cross of Christ by which the World is crucified to me and I to it The Cross of Christ made the Jews and Pagans to despise and reject the Gospel esteeming it to be gross folly to expect a glorious Immortal Life from one who was ignominiously put to Death yet that was the great Argument of the Apostles triumphant Joy because he felt the Vertue of it to unbind the charms of the World so admired by carnal Eyes He looked upon it with the same disaffection and disregard as one that is near expiring it appeared in his Eyes rather as a loathsom object than with amiable qualities And if the Cross of a Christian be the means of internal Mortification if thereby this vain deceiving World be rendered contemptible to him and his Affections are inflamed to things above he will find cause to glory in Tribulation To conclude this Argument There is no Affliction how great soever though with respect to natural means unremovable and unmitigable yet if it be sanctified by Divine Grace a Christian even while he is so afflicted has more cause of Joy than Grief more reason to bless God for it than to repine and complain In every thing give Thanks for this is the Will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you He turns Afflictions into Benefits and our affectionate Praises are due upon that account FINIS Plin. l. 2. c. 7. Sed tantum cum fortuna se digladiari momentis omnibus gloriantur Lact lib. 3. Isa. 22. 12 13 14. 1. 1. Rom. 5. 3 4 5. 2. Nihil agis dolor quamvis sis molestus nunquam te esse confitebor malum Possidomus * Talis est sapientis animus qualis Mundi status super lunam sem per illic serenum Seneca * Magna verba excidunt cum Mors proprius accessit cum tortor manum poposcit possis illi dicere facile provocabas mala absentia Seneca 1. 2. Heb. 12. 5. 2 1. Isa. 39. 6 7 8. 2. 2 Sam. 15. 25. 3. 2 Sam. 16. 9. 10. Job 10. 3. Jer. 20. 14. Jer. 31. 15. 1 Sam. 3. 17. Job 1. 21. St. Hillary declares of himself Non sibi relictum quicquam aliud a natura sua intelligere in quo majus officium praestare conditori suo posset quam ut tantum eum esse intelligeret quantus intelligi non potest potest credi de Trin. lib. 1. Ille est vinculum per quod res publica cohaeret Ille spiritus vitalis quem tot millia trahunt nihil ipsa futura nisi onus praeda si mens illa Imperii sub trahatur lib. de Clem. Psal. 8. Act. 9. 6. Job 38. 4 Psal. 39. 8. Psal. 36. 6. Mic. 7. 9. Lam. 3. 39. Job 34. 31 32. Lam. 3. 22. Ezra 9. 13. Levit. 26. 41. Isa. 45. 9. 1 Pet. 5. 6. Heb. 12. 9. Heb. 12. 6. Rom. 8. 32. 2 Cor. 13. 7. Heb. 12. 10. Isa. 59. 2. Jer. 2. 19. Job 36. 8 9. Ver. 10. Psal. 119 1 Cor. 11. Psa. 141. 5. Heb. 4. 14. 1 Pet. 1. 7. Jam. 1. 2 3. Rev. 22. Rom. 8. Heb. 12. 5. Jer. 8. Psal. 89. 31 32 33. 1 Cor. 10. 13. 2 Cor. 1. 5. 2 Cor. 12. 9. * Acin quamvis de missum Etna nullus frigore ante vertit Solin Heb. 12. 11. Jam. 1. 12. 2 Cor. 4. 1 Tim. 1 Eph. 1. 11. Deut. 32. 4. Isa. 28. 29. Job 32. 2. Job 42. 3. 6. John 12. 27. Judg. 11 36. Rom. 8. 28. Eccles. 6. 12. Vse 1. Prov. 19 3. Rev. 16. 9. Psal. 80. John 3 38 39 Omnia bona mea mecum sunt Justitia Virtus Temperantia Prudentia hoc ipsum nihil boni put are quod eripi possit Seneca Epist. 9. Use 2. Heb. 12. 3. Psa. 104 Heb. 12. 2. Rev. 3. 21. Jam. 5. 10. Heb. 12. 1. Rev. 7. 9. Psal. 148. 8. Psal. 103. Hic est magnus animus qui se Deo tradidit Senec. Heb. 2. Mille pia cer non vagliono un tormento Job 2. 3. Rom. 8. 29. Isa. 5. Jam. 5. 2 King 4. Psal. 147. 5. 1 Kings 22. 34. Mat. 10. O bone Omnipotens qui sic unumquemque nostrum tanquam solum cures sic omnes tanquam singulos Aug. Conf. lib. 13. Dial. 1. Heb. 11. 1. Psal. 84. Rev. 13. 10. Isa. 61. 10. Respondit tibi Deus Haeccine est fides tua haec tibi promisi Ad haec Christianus factus es ut in Seculo floreres Zech. 13 1 Pet. 1. 8. Omnia Spiritui patent vagare spiritu spatiare spiritu Nihil crus sent it in nervo cum animus in coelo est Ad Martyr Nullus iis dolor est de incursatione malorum praesentium quibus siducia est futurorum bonorum Quid hoc ad Christianos quid ad Dei Servos quos Paradisus invitat quos gratia omnis copia Regni coelestis expectat Cypr. cont Demet. Rom. 8. 28. Lam. 3. 24. Psal. 94. 19. Hab. 3. 17 18. Poenam de adversis mundi ille sentit cui laetitia gloria omnis in mundo est Cyp. ad Demet. Psal. 131. Mat. 6. 34 1 Pet. 4. 12. ☜ Psal. 51. Jer. 31. 20. Heb. 12. 1 Tim. 6. 17. * Si duo istae proponantur ridere vis aut flere Quis est qui respondeat nisi ridere Sed tantum praevalet invictissima veritas ut eligat homo sanâmente flere quā mente alienata ridere August Tract de Epict. Jam. 1. 6. Videris obolum porrigere elephanti Macrob. Isa. 49. 14 15 16. 2 Cor. 7. Nec quicquam in te mutavit fortunae amplitudo nisi ut prodesse tantundem posses velles Plin. Non dicit quid sanctos meos quid servos meos sed quid me persequeris Aug. Non audit Deus nisi quod dignum ducit suis beneficiis Arab. Jam. 1. Psal. 42. Col. 1. Psal. 138. Psal. 34. 5. Si non dormiret in te Christus tempestates istas non patereris Ideo fluctuabat Navis quia Christus dormiebat Navis tua cor tuum Aug. 1 Thess. 1. 5.
The Great Duty OF RESIGNATION TO THE DIVINE WILL IN Afflictions Enforced from the Example of our Suffering SAVIOUR By William Bates D. D. Nihil fit visibiliter sensibiliter quod non de interiori invisibili intelligibili aula summi Imperatoris aut jubeatur aut permittatur in ista totius Creaturae amplissima quadam immensaque Republica Aug. lib. tert de Trin. LONDON Printed by J. D. for Brabazon Aylmer at the three Pigeons over against the Royal-Exchange in Cornhil 1684. Gulielmus Batesius S. S. Theol Prof Aetat 57. Nov 1682. THE PREFACE THE first Man by Rebellion against his Maker lost his Innocence and Felicity and conveyed a sad inheritance of Sin and Misery to his Universal Progeny Ever since it has been esteemed a principal part of Wisdom to prepare the Minds of Men to encounter with innumerable Evils that surround them and to preserve a well-order'd contented state of Soul when actually under the greatest Afflictions All the famous Sophy's of the World the most celebrated Professors of Patience could not attain to this Skill Their consolatory Discourses composed with Wit and Eloquence are like artificial fruits of Wax that seem to surpass the productions of Nature but can only please the sight and afford no real refreshment to the taste Or like Rings of Steel that are joined by the attractive virtue of the Load-stone that make a Chain fair to the Eye but of no strength and use It was inexcusable Ignorance their not resolving Temporal Evils to their proper Original the righteous Providence of God They erected a blind foolish Power under the title of Fortune to preside in this Sphere of mutability they always boast of their playing a Prize with Fortune and triumph over a Phantome of their own Fiction This Conceit was both impious and uncomfortable impious to take the Scepter of Government from God's hand and attribute to that foolish Pleasure of Fortune what is ordered by his Providence and uncomfortable for they fancied their Deity to be blind without discerning between the worthy and unworthy and inexorable to the complaints of the injured and the Prayers of the miserable The common Topicks from whence they hardned themselves are That none are exempted in this open state from Afflicting accidents the common tribute of Mankind that 't is in vain to struggle with what is irresistible that Death is the balm and close of all Evils And the best of their moral Arguments for Patience under Sufferings such as the dignity of the reasonable Soul and that nothing inferior to it should have power or is worthy to put it into confusion that Vertue is the noblest Perfection and is encreas'd by the most difficult Exercise that 't is best to yield up our selves to the Divine disposal These Arguments are with infinite more advantage propounded in the Sacred Scriptures and for Christians to attend to the instructions of natural Reason and neglect the Divine Revelations of the Gospel is a folly like that of the silly Indians of Mexico who having plenty of Wax the natural work of the Bees yet 〈◊〉 made use of Fire brands to light them in the Night that afforded a little Light mixt with a great deal of Smoak Briefly they had but wavering conjectures of the future State and the recompences thereof from whence are derived the most powerful Motives of Active and Passive Obedience to the commanding and disposing Will of God But in the Scripture are laid down in the clearest manner and with infallible assurance such Principles as are effectual to compose the Mind to patient Suffering and to meet with valiant Resolution all the terrible contrarieties in the way to Heaven It declares that Sin opened an entrance unto all the current adversities in the World which are the evident signs of God's displeasure against it In anguish we are apt to dispute with Providence and an imagination of Innocence kindles Discontent Of this impatience some even of the best Moral Heathens were guilty Titus and Germanicus charged the Gods with their untimely and in their apprehension undeserved Deaths but the due sence of Sin will humble and quiet the Mind under Sufferings it directs us to consecrate our Sorrows to turn the flowing Stream into the Channel of Repentance And thus the Passion of Grief which if terminated on external Troubles is barren and unprofitable it can neither retrieve our lost Comforts nor remove any oppressing Evil if it be imployed for our offences prepares us for Divine Mercy and is infinitely beneficial to us And thus by curing the Cause of Afflictions our Guilt that deserves them we take away the malignity and poison of them The Word of God assures us that all the perturbations and discords in the passages of our Lives are ordered by his Wisdom and Will so that without extinguishing the two eyes of Reason and Faith we must acknowledg his Providence and observe his design in all which is either to excite us when guilty of a careless neglect or remiss performance of our Duty or to reclaim us from our excursions and deviations from the narrow way that leads to Life Indeed there is nothing more common nor more fatal than for afflicted persons to seek by carnal diversions and contemptible comforts to overcome their Melancholy and the sense of Divine Judgments and hereby they add new Guilt and provoke new displeasures This presages and accelerates final Ruine for such whom Afflictions do not reform are left as incorrigible But above all encouragements the Gospel sets before us the Sufferings of our Redeemer and directs all his Disciples in sincerity to accustom themselves to the contemplation and expectation of Troubles on Earth it tells them 't is a branch of their Religion to Suffer with him that they may Reign with him And what is more reasonable than if our Saviour endured superlative Sufferings to purchase Eternal Glory for us that we should with the same Mind bear lighter Afflictions to prepare us for it If this Principle be alive and active in our Breasts that our present Afflictions shall determine in our future Happiness when Time shall cease and Eternity succeed this will encourage us to serve God with our best affections when our days are overcast with Sorrow as in a bright Prosperity this will secure our passage through a stormy tempestuous World as if it were a truly Pacifick Sea knowing that Divine Providence always guides us to the Port of eternal Tranquility This is the substance of what is amplified in the following Treatise And whilst there are Miseries in the World no Discourses are more seasonable and useful than those that lighten our oppressing Sorrows and that enable us with uniformity and constancy in all the changes of this mortal Life to pursue our eminent End The Holy Spirit the great Comforter apply these Truths to the Hearts of the Afflicted William Bates Errata PAge 24. l. 1. for as objects are greater r. appear greater Page 116.
became him for whom are all things and by whom are all things in bringing many Sons to Glory to make the Captain of their Salvation perfect through Sufferings Patience is not only defensive Armour but has noble Operations When our Saviour was nailed to the Cross and was the Mark wherein all the poisoned Arrows of Rage and Malice were received he seemed only to Suffer yet even then performed the most divine Exploits and obtained the most glorious Victory he reconciled God disarm'd the Law subdued Satan broke the Gates of Hell destroyed Death and rescued us miserable forlorn Captives Upon this account Chrysostom breaks forth in rapturous Expressions That our Saviour suffering on the Cross was more glorious than in his creating the World Thus the Patience of a Christian which in appearance is only a quiet bearing Affliction from God yet produceth many blessed effects A Believer while he feels the weight of God's Hand uncessantly seeks his Face with the most ardent Affections He doth not murmur against the Displeasure of God but mourns bitterly that he hath deserved it He surrenders himself to the Divine Pleasure which is the purest Act of Obedience He subdues his unruly Passions which is a more noble Victory than the Atchievements of the most celebrated Conquerors 'T is true the power of Grace is very conspicuous in resisting pleasant Temptations the pernicious attractives of the Senses and carnal Appetites but more in the Battels of Patience by how much 't is more easy to Nature to be content without unnecessary and superficial Pleasures than to endure oppressing and painful Evils I will produce an instance in both kinds recorded in Scripture for the Veneration and Imitation of all The first is that of Joseph whose unspotted Chastity was discovered by rejecting the impure desires of his Master's Wife Three powerful Tempters join'd to draw his Consent Solitude Youth and Solicitation Solitude with its Silence is often more persuasive to the commission of Sin than the strongest Eloquence because there being none that sees takes away the shame of being seen in guilty and foul Actions Youth is violent in its Appetites and needs no intreaties to induce it to gratify them The Sensual Fancy reigns and has such a ravishing power upon the Will that to corrupt Nature the Temptation is irresistible and without Divine Strength an instance of overcoming it would be as rare as a Phoenix in the World Besides Joseph was her Slave and was tempted by intreaties mixt with inticements from a Superiour that like a Bow that draws Strength from its bending by making a show of subjection acquires a double Empire But he had a reverence of his invisible Observer and Judge How shall I do this great Wickedness and sin against God Now Joseph in the Flower of his Age was not emboldened by Solitude nor excited by Concupiscence nor poison'd by the breath of the Basilisk was an admirable effect of Divine Grace He preserved his sincere and constant Innocence as the Sun its undefiled lustre in the midst of all the feculent exhalations that ascend from the Earth The other Instance is Job whose Victorious Grace in the comparison is more glorious than that of Joseph for as the lapses of those who by Terrors and Torments violate the Law are less culpable and more excusable than of those who by Sensual Allurements transgress the Divine Commands The Humane Nature being capable of such dolorous impressions as infinitely exceed all the Pleasures of Sense and consequently the yielding from fear of vehement pains and extreme evils is less voluntary than what proceeds from the Love of Delights so proportionably that Vertue is more eminent that remains firm and preserves us in our Duty notwithstanding the Batteries of extream Evils than that which preserves us by flight from the deceitful sensitive good The Holy Ghost has given us a particular Narrative of Job's Troubles and his behaviour under them The loss of a great Estate was but a preparative for worse Calamities his Ten Children were all destroyed in a day his Body was covered with Ulcers his Wife that in this desolate Condition was onely left to alleviate his Sorrows unspeakably encreas'd them yet under this heavy weight of Miseries he did not express one unbecoming complaint His Patience exceeded all the Pains of his Body and Griefs of his Mind Who loves God so ardently in his Prosperity as he did in his Afflictions Like Flaming Torches that reverst the Flame ascends with more force to Heaven St. Austin admiring his Invincible Temper says that Job half dead on the Dunghil was stronger than Adam when Immortal in Paradise for with Indignation he repuls'd his Wife who was Satan's Instrument to tempt him to Despair and Blasphemy How graceful and amiable a Spectacle is a patient Saint He attracts the Eye and Heart of God himself What an honourable Testimony proceeded from his Mouth concerning Job to vindicate his Sincerity from the malice of the Accuser Hast thou seen my Servant Job that there is none like him on the Earth Unparallel'd Saint who endured such a succession of Tragical Events with humility and submission The active holiness of his Prosperous Life is not recorded with that Note of eminency and admiration as his Patient Sufferings for which he is universally Crowned with the Praises of the Saints in all Ages Ye have heard of the Patience of Job He is a spectacle that draws the regards of all more famous for his Patience than his Misery 'T is the saying of the Platonick Philosopher Take away from the Life of Hercules the Tyrants he supprest and the fierce Beasts he slew his Travels and Combats wherein his Courage was exercised and appear'd and you lessen his Vertue the Hero is lost He that in the Opinion of the Heathen World deserved a Deity and is crowned with Stars in Heaven will not have a spark of Glory on Earth to preserve his Fame alive in Memory Thus take away from Job the Chaldean and Sabean Robbers the shower of Fire that consumed his Estate the Whirlwind raised by infernal Spirits that destroyed his Children his Diseases and his cruel Wife the exercises of his insuperable Patience and the honourable remembrance of Job is lost If the Prince of Darkness had not tried all his Arts and Strength to overcome him and had not been foiled in his Attempts his Graces had not been so illustrious St. Peter declares that the Spirit of Glory and of God rests upon Suffering Christians They are the Temples of the Holy Spirit the Eternal Deity wherein he displays his Divine Vertue and Glorious Power In short God usually conducts his People to the sublimest degrees of Grace and Glory by Suffering the more they are tryed and refined the brighter their Crown will be 5. 'T is our Felicity quietly to resign our Wills to the Blessed Will of God Patience considered as a Moral Vertue frees us from many Sorrows and Vexations that are supervenient to