and judging those who are in affliction as though they were wicked men or hypocrits Which was a foule ouersight in the three friends of Iob who condēned him to be an hypocrit because God had so grieuously afflicted him And herein those curious persons did offend which we mentioned Luk. 13. for they supposed that those Galileans whose bloud Pilat mingled with their sacrifices were grieuous sinners in comparison of themselues In like sort the Barbarians when they saw the viper light on the Apostles hand They said among themselues surely this man is a murtherer whom though he had escaped the se◠yet vengeance hath not suffered to liue The vse then which we are to make of Gods judgements vpon others is in steed of censuring them to judge our selues and by the example of Gods correction vpon them if we will not be like to Balthasar our selues to learne repentance For if we in this time of the plague shall take occasion by the judgement of God vpon others to thinke better of our selues and worse of them we may feare least that sentence of our Sauiour may worthily bee applied to vs Doe you thinke that they which are visited are greater sinners than those commonly are which escape the plague I tell you nay but except you amend your liues you shall all likewise perish Neither let the Papists or Atheists thinke the worse of that religion which is professed among vs because the hand of God is vpon vs for as Peter sayth Iudgement beginneth at the house of God And those sinnes which the Lord seemeth to winke at or to passe ouer in others he will not suffer to goe vncorrected in his children Which course the Lord taketh with his children both in respect of his glorie and their good for if the Lord should spare them hauing committed some open sinne the enemies of God would be readie to object that God were a fauourer of such offences and that such sinnes were the fruits of that religion which his seruants professe But in respect of their good also the Lord correcteth his owne children sometimes when he seemeth to spare the wicked least with the wicked they should goe on in their sinnes to their destruction As the Apostle sayth When we are iudged we are chastified of the Lord that wee should not bee condemned with the world Thirdly from this doctrine let Atheists and Papists and all other wicked persons receiue this terror for if the Lord doth correct his owne deare children with whom he is reconciled in Christ how shall his enemies thinke to escape who haue no part in Christ For as Peter sayth The time is that iudgement hath begun at the house of God But if it begin with vs what shall be the end of those who obey not the Gospell of God And if the righteous scarcely be preserued where shall the vngodly and the sinner appeare Behold sayth Salomon the righteous shall be recompenced that is corrected in the earth how much more the wicked and the sinner 2. Wee haue heard that it is the lot of the righteous to be afflicted in this world let vs now see what is their dutie when they are afflicted for that is the second thing which is here to be considered namely to pray that God would deliuer them or else arme them with patience Call vpon me sayth he in the day of trouble In like sort Iames Is any among you afflicted let him pray But here some bodie will object who seemeth to himselfe wiser than his fellowes that our times are set and appointed of God in his immutable decree which we may not hope to alter or change by our prayers I answere that Daniel although he knew by the prophecie of Ieremie that seuentie yeares were appointed to the captiuitie of the Iewes in Babylon yet notwithstanding he thought it his dutie in the end of those yeares to call vpon God for the deliuerance of his people for hee well knew which we must also acknowledge that as the Lord appointeth the end so also he appointeth the meanes among which the principall is prayer On the other side Ezechias although hee heard by the Prophet the sentence of the Lord That he should die and not liue notwithstanding by prayer obtained the prolonging of his life For as God had decreed to adde to his life fifteene yeares so he decreed prayer to be the meanes whereby that addition should be obtained And so the Niniuits though the Prophet Ionas had told them and they beleeued him that their citie within fortie dayes should be destroyed yet by humbling themselues before God by fasting and prayer and repenting from their euill wayes they escaped that common destruction And hereunto may bee added the examples of the faithfull in all ages who hauing called vpon God in their trouble haue beene deliuered out of their distresse Adde also the testimonie of Iames that the prayer of a righteous man auaileth much with God and also the commandements of God and his gracious promises both in this place and elsewhere in the Scripture And let vs know that it is damnable curiositie vnder a pretence of submitting our selues vnto the secret will of God to rebell against his will reuealed For as Moses sayth The secret things belong to the Lord our God but the reuealed things vnto vs and to our children for euer that we may doe all the words of this law But by this reason a man might as well refuse his food because the day of his death is appointed and cannot be altered by him which euery man knoweth to bee both wicked and foolish Let vs therefore know that whatsoeuer the secret will of God is concerning vs that his reuealed will is that in this time of affliction we should according to the example of Dauid pray vnto him and let vs assure our selues of this That if God in his secret counsell hath decreed to deliuer vs for our good he hath also decreed that our deliuerance shall bee begged and obtained by prayer Yea but sayth another afflictions must be borne patiently and meekely and therfore wee may not pray against them I answere that these things may well stand together for we must patiently beare afflictions and yet pray against them Indeed we may not pray against them absolutely but in our prayers we are willingly to submit our selues to the good will and pleasure of God and resigne our selues into his hands following therein the example of our Sauiour Christ O my father sayth he if it be possible let this cup passe from me neuerthelesse not as I will but as thou wilt And of Dauid who in his greatest distresse said Behold here am I let the Lord doe to me as seemeth good in his eyes Wherefore whiles it pleaseth God to continue the affliction we are patiently to beare it and yet without fainting to call vpon God for deliuerance for so
are accepted of God in Christ for this is to pray in the name of Christ by whom and in whose name we haue confidence accesse with assurance through faith in him with faith in the promises of God made to our prayers and consequently thou art to beleeue not onely that thou and thy praiers are accepted of God in Christ but also that thy particular request shall be graunted vnto thee Aske saith Christ and it shall be giuen you c. for whosoeuer asketh receiueth c. And againe Verily verily I say vnto you whatsoeuer you shall aske the father in my name he will giue it you And thus were we to pray in respect of the manner viz. in truth and from our hearts otherwise our prayer is dead and without life in feruencie otherwise our prayer is cold and luke-warme in faith otherwise it is turned into sinne Againe our prayer must be conformable to the will of God in respect of the end It may be thou askest riches to spend the same vpon thy lust or thou askest deliuerance out of thine affliction that thou mightest follow the pleasures or haue opportunitie or leisure to follow thine accustomed sinne c. But we may so aske and yet notwithstanding the promise we may misse our desire for as Iames saith you aske and receiue not how so seeing Christ hath said aske and you shall receiue Because you aske amisse and wherein did they aske amisse in respect of the end that you might consume it on your lusts But we must remember that in this promise the Lord hath joyned these two together I will deliuer thee and thou shalt glorifie me And therefore if we aske deliuerance we must aske it to this end that we may glorifie God Wherefore as it is good for the stirring vp of our feruencie and spirituall hunger with our prayer to joyne fasting so also it is expedient for the confirmation of our faith and setling our resolution in glorifying God to joyne with our prayers godly vowes of some things whereby God may be glorified And this hath bene the practise of the godly in all ages as of Iacob Genes 28. of Anna 1. Sam. 1. of Dauid c. The third limitation is in respect of the thing which is asked for if the cause why thou art not heard and deliuered is not to be imputed either to thy person being one that doth beleeue and repent or yet to thy prayer being framed in some measure according to Gods will both in respect of the manner and the end then art thou to be assured and vndoubtedly resolued that the thing which thou askest is either not good for thee at all or else not yet And that God doth alwayes heare his children praying vnto him effectually though not ad voluntatem according to their desire yet ad vtilitatem according to their profit For if earthly parents who are euill can giue to their children good gifts how much more shall our father which is in heauen giue good things to them that aske him Thou askest deliuerance out of affliction and God hath promised to deliuer his chileren that call vpon him but it may be it is not a good thing that thou shouldest be deliuered and therefore in that case deliuerance is neither included within the compasse of Gods promise nor yet intended in thy prayer if it be conceiued aright For a promise vnlesse it be of some good thing it is a threatning rather than a promise we must therefore remember that God hath promised to giue good things to them that aske him And that prayer which is conceiued aright for temporall benefits such as deliuerance out of affliction is must not bee made absolutly but with the condition of Gods glorie and our euerlasting good Whereas thou therefore askest deliuerance out of trouble that thou mightest be restored to thy former estate it may bee that it is better for thee to be taken out of this world that thou mayest change thy mortall life for an immortall and that a finall end may be put both to thy trouble and to thy sinne which is the cause of thy trouble It may be if thou shouldest liue longer thou wouldest be infected with the common corruptions of the time and therefore as it is said of Enoch Thou art taken away least wickednesse should alter thine vnderstanding or deceit beguile thy mind For when we are iudged that is afflicted though it be by bodily death wee are chastised of the Lord that wee should not be condemned with the world Or if thou shouldest bee continued longer in this life it may bee that such common calamities as the Lord is intended to bring vpon the land should happen in thy time and therefore God in great mercie taketh thee away as hee did the godly king Iosias that thou shouldest not see the euill which is to come as it is said of Esay 57. The righteous perish and no man takes it to heart mercifull men are taken away and no man vnderstandeth that the righteous is taken away from the euill to come Or else it is good for thee that the affliction which thou desirest to bee remooued from thee should be continued vpon thee thine estate and disposition being such that it is very needfull for thee to bee trained vp in the schoole of affliction and to be dayly exercised vnder the crosse And therefore if God doe see it good to take that course with thee thou must resolue with patience and comfort to take vp thy crosse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 day by day as our Sauiour Christ hath warned thee and remember that it is good for a man if God doe so appoint to begin betimes and to beare the yoke of affliction euen in his youth Or at the least it is not good for thee as yet to be deliuered because the Lord hath not as yet attained to that end for which hee doth afflict thee For if it haue beene good for Dauid and the rest of Gods children that they haue beene afflicted not in respect of the afflictions themselues but in regard of those profitable and excellent fruits which the holy ghost by their afflictions worketh in them then assuredly it is not good for thee that thine affliction should cease before it hath wrought such good effects in thee as the Lord by it intendeth to worke vnlesse thou wouldest giue the Lord occasion to complaine that thou art one of those whom he afflicteth in vaine Now the Lord afflicteth his seruants either for their triall or for their chastisement The Lord trieth them by afflictions either that his graces may appeare in them to his glorie and the good example of others or that their weakenesse may be manifested for their owne amendement and instruction of others If hee trie men for the manifestation of his graces in them it is expedient that they should bee tried by a triall proportionable to the
Dauids fast for Abner that hee refused to eat any meat while it was yet day but swore saying So doe God to me and more also if I tast bread or ought else till the Sunne be downe In like sort not onely the Iews but also the auncient Christians vsed to fast vntill the Sunne were set Howbeit in processe of time they began especially in the Church of Rome to dissolue their fasts at the ninth houre which is three a clocke afternoone which now they haue brought to the sixt houre and for the most part on their fasting dayes goe to supper before noone But the shortest time that is mentioned in the Scripture of a fast is vntill the euening to which custome their practise is most conformable who fast all day vntill the ordinarie time of supper This as I said is the vsuall time But the children of God when they haue beene pressed with more vrgent occasion haue sometimes continued this exercise for more dayes together As Esther and the Iewes for three dayes Esth. 4 and likewise Paule Act. 9. The men of Iabesh Gilead when they mourned for the death of Saule and his sonnes fasted seuen dayes 1. Sam. 31. Daniell one and twentie dayes 26. As for the fortie dayes fast which Moses Elias and our Sauiour Christ did fast it was miraculous and therefore not to be imitated Neither did they fast fortie dayes together either to subdue their flesh or to humble their soules But Moses being the publisher of the law Elias the restorer of religion our Sauiour Christ the author of the Gospell the Lord would by this miraculous fast so countenance their doctrine as that in respect therof they might seeme not men arising from the earth or authorised by men but the two former as Angels the third as the sonne of God sent from heauen for their abstinence for the time was angelicall And we might as well take vpon vs to imitate the Angels not taking of food which they doe not need as the fast of Christ and of the other two who were by the power of God aboue the strength of nature so sustained as that during their fortie dayes they no more needed food than angels doe Neither did our Sauiour Christ or either of the other fast fortie dayes euery yeare but once onely in all his life Wherefore vnlesse we haue the like cause of fasting and the like power to support vs as indeed none haue it is but a vaine thing to goe about to imitat their fast Now when the fast is continued for more dayes together it is not vnmeet that as in the meane time we are to take but one meale euery day in the euening so also that we should at those times content our selues with a spare diet in respect of the quantitie and meane in respect of the qualitie whether it bee fish or flesh or neither according to the example of Daniel But when our fast is once dissolued whether it bee at the end of one day or of more we may freely vse our ordinary diet obseruing alwayes the rules of temperance and sobriety And it fitteth best the faith of Gods children when they haue humbled themselues before God and poured forth their suit into his bosome to cheere vp themselues in this persuasion That they hauing cōmended and committed their cause to God he will dispose of it and them as shall be most for his glory and their good To this purpose consider the examples of Anna 1. Sam. 1 who after she had fasted and poured forth her soule before the Lord she went her way and did eat and looked no more sad Of Dauid euen then when the Lord did seeme to haue denied his perticuler request 2. Sam. 2. He arose from the earth and washed and annointed himselfe and chaunged his apparell and came into the house of the Lord and worshipped and afterward came to his owne house and bad that they should set bread before him and he did eat And thus much may suffice to haue spoken of the outward fast 27 Now for as much as the kingdome of God standeth not in meat and drinke nor in the abstinence therefrom and seeing bodily exercise profiteth little but piety which consisteth in duties of religion sincerely performed hath the promises both of this life and of that which is to come therefore all this outward abstinence is nothing worth vnlesse it be ioyned with the inward fast and spirituall exercise of religion and bee referred thereunto as to the end thereof For if men rest in the outward fast as though that in it selfe were acceptable vnto God they fast no better than the beasts of Niniuie fasted They fast not vnto God for God is a spirit and they that will worship him must worship him in spirit and truth Wherefore as Zacharie sayth to the Iewes who resting in the outward fast imagined that they pleased God therby When you fasted and mourned in the fift and seuenth moneth these seuentie yeares did you in fasting fast to me to me sayth the Lord Likewise Esay 58 when as the Lord respected not the fast of the Iewes whereby they looked to win his fauour as appeareth by their question vers 3. Wherefore haue we fasted and thou respectest it not we haue afflicted our soules and thou regardest it not He rendreth this reason Because neglecting the inward exercise they rested in the outward Is it such a fast that I haue chosen that a man should for a day afflict his soule namely by outward fasting and hang downe his head like a bull-rush and lie downe in sackeloth and ashes wilt thou call this a fasting or an acceptable day to the Lord But if men shall not onely rest in the outward fast as if that in it selfe were an acceptable worship of God but shall also obserue it with an opinion of satisfaction and merit persuading themselues that by their fast they satisfie for their sinnes and merit euerlasting life then is it much more abhominable in the sight of God as being derogatorie to the onely both satisfactorie sufferings and meritorious obedience of Christ our Sauiour And such seemeth to haue beene the fast of the Pharisie who for all his fasting twice a weeke and his other merits which hee alledgeth went home vnjustified And such is the fast of the Papists at this day who not onely rest in their outward fast which notwithstanding in many respects is but a mockefast but also ascribe satisfaction and merit thereunto 28. What then is the spirituall exercise and the inward fast whereunto the outward abstinence must be referred It is an humbling of our soules in a solemne exercise of prayer joyned with repentance for the obtaining of our speciall suit holpen forward and testified by the outward fast as Ezra speaketh chap. 8. I proclaimed a fast that we might humble our selues before our God and seeke of him a right way