more bitter and more violent and drawn out to a more formidable length but now because it is not so he hath visited in his anger yet he knoweth it not in great extremity Job 35.15 He has not stirr'd up all his wrath nor amaz'd us with all the Thunder of his Power let us not be like the Israelites Psal 106.7 who provoked him and remembred not the multitude of his Mercies 4. Consider that he uses no other methods with you when he is angry with you than what he has us'd with his dearest servants heretofore and this may tend to compose your Spirits under long and sore Tryals are you better than Moses than Job than Heman than David and Asaph and many other excellent and holy Men with whom he was displeased and who felt his Wrath though it was but for a moment Are we more dutiful and obedient than they were do we not merit the Chastisements of our Heavenly Father as much as they did yea and much more If we have the spirit and the priviledge of Children we ought not to murmur though we have our share in the discipline of the Family Would we have the Course of Providence inverted and changed for us Can we imagine that we shall be always spared when so many great Saints have smarted under the displeasure of God for their sin We are apt to think there is no sorrow like to our sorrow wherewith the Lord hath afflicted us Lam. 1.12 but we do not wisely inquire in this matter for if we trace the steps of holy men of old we shall find that innumerable and very grievous Calamities were their portion as well as ours We have heard of the distresses and of the patience of Job of the pains of his Body and of the troubles of his Soul and when either our Bodies or our Souls are more afflicted than his was then it will be soon enough for us to begin to murmur and if we do it not till then we shall be as remarkable for our patience as he was Think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you as though some strange thing hapned to you 1 Pet. 4.12 1 Pet. 5.9 All these things are accomplished in your brethren which are in the world and this is duly to be thought upon for there is nothing of which Satan makes a greater use to perplex us in our hour of temptation than of the length and the sharpness of our trials as if therefore God were our Enemy because he does afflict or that we are no Children because we are afflicted so very long thus will the Evil Spirit suggest and say If thou wert a friend of God who is so compassionate and so flow to wrath would he follow thee with breach upon breach with one stroak after another and let his hand be heavy upon thee day and night He supports comforts and refreshes all his Servants but thou hast no refreshment nothing but anguish and vexation therefore thou art none of his but by Faith we must quench this fiery Dart and know that the fruit of our affliction may be very sweet though for the present 't is very bitter and that we are under the Conduct of that Wisdom which can order even this Cross for good and whatever mists that envious Spirit may raise before our eyes let us still remember that his anger is but for a moment that others whom we are sure he lov'd have undergone the like troubles and his own dear Son was still a Son when a man of sorrows and that his Afflictions were of a great length from the Manger to the Cross And if God will have us to be so far conformable to this blessed Person so that we have no rest from trial till we are quiet in the Grave we should not distrust his goodness nor murmur as it 5. Let us compare our present Sufferings and Afflictions with that Happiness which is to come His Anger is but for a moment but his love will be for ever He frowns for a moment but he will shew them his pleased Face for ever He corrects them and they weep for a moment but he will embrace them and they shall rejoice for ever Weeping may endure for a night but joy comes in the morning And do we not find our hearts begin to spring within us when we consider that we are in pain for a moment but we shall be at case for ever Is not this good news to those that fear God and yet are afflicted Lift up your heads ye Mourners ye Prisoners of hope 't is but for a little season Let not your hearts faint I know you will say Oh I could bear any thing but the wrath of God he is angry with my Soul he denies an answer to my Prayers he speaks not to me one comfortable word I look up to his Heavens and they are as Brass I run to his Ordinances and hear his Word in the Assemblies of his People but whilst others are wet with the dew of Heaven I remain dry and neglected as I was I seem to be as the mountains of Gilboa there is no dew nor rain falls upon me I seem to be under the Curse of God and because I have formerly not improv'd the means of Grace he seems to say of me as of the barren Figtree never let fruit grow upon thee more and can you tell me whither I shall go and what I shall do in such a case as this You must still in humble submission wait upon the Lord he stays from your present help upon a very gracious Design He bottles your tears and is acquainted with your griefs and that anger that now bows you to the ground shall in a little while be removed and your faith and your hope will not be in vain There are thousands of Joys prepared to meet you when you are a little more purified and prepared for them Isa 54. 7,8 For a small moment have I forsaken thee but with great mercies will I gather thee In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee saith the Lord thy Redeemer Nothing can be less than a moment 't is the least part of time and yet so small a thing as that is are all our troubles here to that endless Eternity which is to come So if your outward afflictions and your spiritual fears should last for Life as none can give you assurance to the contrary yet all this Life is but as a moment as nothing to that state of Blessedness that comes afterward Nor are the degrees of your sorrows here proportionable to the degrees of your approaching glory For our light affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory 2 Cor. 4.17 This great Apostle calls his afflictions very light and yet there was never any that suffered more troubles from the malice of the world
say to him because we are the work of his own hands Our hearts in sore distresses are apt to say Why are we so much and so long afflicted Why are we compassed with such terrible Calamities when others are at ease that to appearance have sinned as much as we But these first risings of Murmuring and Disquiet are to be resisted by the considerations of the Majesty and the Greatness of God who may put his Creatures to what use he pleases and so as may tho with their own smart promote the good of others and their own final good Tho Job as Mr. Charnock observes Discourse on the Attributes pag. 781. were a pattern of Patience yet he had deep Tinctures of Impatience he often complains of God's usage of him as too hard and stands much upon his own Integrity but when God comes in the latter Chapters of that Book to justifie his carriage towards him he chargeth him not as a Criminal but considers him only as his Vassal he might have found flaw enough in Job's carriage and corruption enough in Job's Nature to have cleared the Equity of his Proceedings as a Judg but he useth no other medium to convince him but the Greatness of his Majesty the Unlimitedness of his Soveraignty which so appales the good man that he puts his finger on his mouth and stands mute with a self-abhorrency before him as a Sovereign rather than a Judge His Wisdom also that makes the Night to precede the Day and Storms to clear the Air and make way for a fairer Season ought to silence and pacifie our Souls Isa 30.18 And therefore will the Lord wait that he may be gracious unto you and therefore will he be exalted that he may have mercy upon you for the Lord is a God of judgment blessed are all they that wait for him He knows the fittest times and seasons wherein to heal our Diseases to remove our Fears and to do us good Cons III. How great the Mercies are that we are to wait for 't is for Heaven and Glory and we have his Promise That our Faith and our Patience shall not be in vain Isa 35.3 4 5 6 7. And after all the dangers the snares and hindrances and temptations of this world to come to Salvation at the last is so great a Mercy that it is surely worth staying for Tho we labour Six days yet the rest of the Sabbath does refresh our Spirits and so will after the sufferings of this mortal Life that Eternal Sabbath that is to be kept above with God give us great Refreshment our time on earth is a season wherein by several Trials and Afflictions to prepare us for that Happiness and Glory As the Night does affright us the Morning will surely bring us Joy It is but a little while and our Lord will come and save us Let us not surrender our selves to our Spiritual Enemies tho we are straitly press'd for our Saviour is marching to our Relief Jam. 5.7 Behold the Husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth and hath long patience for it until he receive the early and the latter Rain Be ye also patient stablish your hearts for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh The Husbandman gives not his Grain for lost tho it be covered with Snow and Storm he expects to see it rise with the returning Spring so neither should we despair of finding Comfort tho the Prayers that we have made bring us no present satisfaction You know David had the promise of a Kingdom but what strange Difficulties did he meet withal And what a long time was it before he came to sit upon a Peaceful Throne We must have Conflicts before we get the Victory we must run our Race and strive hard ere we get the Reward but when it shall once be bestowed upon us it will abundantly recompence us for all our Tears and all our Heaviness we are to take up our Cross daily every day on earth will afford us cause of Patience we are to watch for all our time is but as a moment to Eternity Let not our Lord that will bless us with a long and unspeakable Felicity have cause to say to us as he did to his sorrowful Disciples Could ye not watch with me one hour Mat. 26.40 He looks on knows our weakness and will give us help he could immediately solace and refresh and save us if he would but seeing that he is not pleased so to do let us humbly be silent and acquiesce in the Wisdom of his Appointment and Decree for tho he delay he is not unmindful of our sorrows and in the very Minute that is most for his Glory and for our Good he will come and save us Isa 64.4 For since the beginning of the world men have not heard nor perceived by the ear neither hath the eye seen O God besides thee what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him V. Entertain a secret hope that it will not always be thus sad and dismal with you Tho you have made several Prayers that have not yet received a Gracious Answer of Peace yet pray still and be not discouraged but like blind Bartimaeus cry the more earnestly You know that the Woman of Canaan persevered in her attendance on our Lord tho the words he spake seemed to have in them a great deal of sharpness and severity yet she was resolved not to leave him nor be denied and at the last our Saviour commended highly that Faith of which he seem'd to take no notice before It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait to see the salvation of God Lam. 3 27. The reason whereof is alledged v. 31 32. For the Lord will not cast off for ever but tho he cause grief yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies Tho every thing that you look upon within your own hearts terrifie and perplex your thoughts yet the vastness of that Mercy that is in God and which through his Son he is willing to communicate to you may afford you support and relief the very possibility of help tho never so remote may a little quiet and calm your souls for tho you see nothing for the present but Frowns and Anger in the Face of God yet you cannot you ought not to say that it will never shine again tho his strokes are increased and every day more painful than they were the day before yet you must not then conclude That he who chastens for your profit will not lay aside the Rod Tho you are sinking with your fears and you have no power left yet lay hold on the strength of God he will not strike off your trembling hand but encourage your dependance and your trust in him you are not everlastingly perisht you have not yet received your final doom it is possible that you may escape There is great comfort in a May be I shall be saved even tho by fire
Divine Goodness on your behalf that he hath visited you with his own Presence tho he had his way in the whirlwind and in the storm when he came unto you I bless the unsearchable Riches of his Grace in our Lord Jesus Christ that he hath shed abroad any sense of his Love upon your Soul who had poured so much of his displeasure forth that you complain of his Anger in every stroke of the Rod of God upon you I rejoyce abundantly that he hath bowed his ear unto Prayer for you when you thought he had bent his Bow like an Enemy that he hath botled up your Tears when your Roarings were poured forth like the Waters that God hath form'd you into a Vessel of Mercy when you thought he had slung you away as a Vessel wherein is no Pleasure In a word I rejoyce with comfort and enlargements that the Lord hath given us so good hopes through Grace that you are Sealed up unto the Day of Redemption who did once mournfully express it in my own Hearing That you were Sealed up unto the Black Day of Wrath and should not see me until the Heavens were no more No more at present but my Hearty Requests at the Throne of Grace That He who hath been the Author of your Faith may become the finisher of the same and confirm you unto the End till an Abundant Entrance through the Broad Gate of Assurance be administred unto you into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ I am SIR Your Affectionate Friend Servant and Brother in the Lord J. HUSSEY LETTER III. Dear Brother AS the tidings of your Distemper affected my Soul and drew out my heart to make request unto God for you so the tidings of your deliverance from trouble confirmed by so evident a demonstration of it as your appearance both in the Pulpit and Press hath much affected me with joy and thankfulness to the Lord. In your Book I read the Wisdom and Goodness of God in his severest dealings with his afflicted Servants and the accomplishing of what Job speaks That when he hath tried them he brings them forth at gold you have not been in the Furnace in vain but to humble and prove you and do you good in the end O how good is God! good in himself good and kind to all his Creatures but especially good to Israel You have had abundant experience of it he hath upheld you when falling and raised you up when you was bowed down and hath turned for you your mourning into dancing hath put off your sackcloth and girded you with gladness that your soul may sing praise unto him and not be silent and you have well done in making so publick an acknowledgement of your thankfulness to God that as deliverance hath been granted at the request of many so by the many who have been concerned for you thanks may be given unto the Lord on your behalf I am persuaded the Lord hath taught you the truth of that viz. That the School of the Cross is the School of Light You had not known so well either your own vanity or the Vanity of the Creature and of all humane help nor the marvellous loving-kindness of the Lord in stepping in betwixt the Bridge and the Water many times for your help had you not learned these things by being in the School of Affliction and I am encouraged to believe that the Lord hath reserved you and restored you that you may be through his Grace greatly instrumental for the glory of his Name in turning many to righteousness the most eminent Servants in the Lord's work have been prepared for it by manifold temptations our Blessed Redeemer himself was tempted that he might be able to succour those who are tempted and the Lord comforts his Servants in all their tribulations that they might comfort others with the same comfort wherewith they have been comforted of God the Lord hath brought you out of the depths of distress that you may be the more skilful Pilot to lead others through the Waves and Billows which they are afraid will swallow them up Now Dear Brother What doth the Lord require of you but what Paul sets before young Timothy 1 Tim. 4.12 Be you an example to Believers in word in conversation in charity in spirit in faith in purity your sound speech holy converse servent love and spiritual mindedness rightly improving spiritual Gifts both in sincere professing and publishing of the truth and unspotted purity of life will be a speaking Rule to others and so adorn both your Person and Profession that it will appear you have been with Jesus and that the Life of Christ doth shine forth in you And that you may be long a shining and burning Light in this World and at last be abundantly recompenced with the Reward promised to the Wise and Faithful is the fervent desire and prayer of Your Vnworthy but Affectionate Brother in the service of the Gospel RALPH WARD York Nov. 6. 1690. LETTER IV. From Steeple in Dorsetshire May 1. 1691. My Dear Friend I Did hope when I was last in London to have had the satisfaction of a free and large Conversation with your self and to have discours'd some particular matters with you but I was unhappily defeated I am now at too great a distance to use so much freedom with you as some of my Circumstances would prompt me to if I were placed so near you as would admit of my waiting on you personally But tho I do not think it proper to desire satisfaction from you by Letter about some things which would be of great use to my self and about which I believe you can better resolve me than other of my Acquaintance yet if it be consistent with your conveniences I would be glad that you and I might maintain a correspondence sometimes by writing I heartily bless God for his gracious dealings with you and for the good I hope he hath done me by what you have published to the World I have found my self obliged frequently to peruse your Book and the oftner I do read it the more I am affected with it I heartily wish English People might become so sensible of their great concernment that you might have encouragement to publish what you intimate in your Preface you did design It is what I earnestly long to see and what I am persuaded would be of singular use if people were a little awakened out of their Lethargick Distemper Peradventure God will use it to rouze and awaken many who otherwise will sleep on and continue in their doleful regardlesness and formality It would greatly rejoice me to understand by a line or two from you that I have some ground to hope to see that Tract in Print The Lord preserve his faithful Messengers and arm them against Discouragements Remember Eccles 11.1 6. I am Your Affectionate Friend SA BOLD LETTER V. Dear Mr. Rogers SIR I thank you for your Discourses on
may more effectually shew the evil of Sin and preach Repentance to their Neighbours round about He sets some on Fire that they may serve as Beacons to warn the rest of approaching Danger He is sometimes angry that he may maintain the Honour of his Laws and the Justice of his Government He throws some upon Sick beds that others may by them learn to know their own frailty and prepare for the like Tryals Some he leaves in Darkness and Anguish and Tribulation that others may learn to prize the Light lest they come to the very same Calamity He shoots his Arrows into the Souls of some of his Servants that all who behold his severe and righteous proceeding may tremble at it and learn to fear him who is so Holy and so Just a God That they may not dare to venture upon those Sins under the woful effects of which they see their fellow-creatures groan so very much and he must bean hardned Malefactor indeed that will practice his old Crimes when he sees another whipt or executed for those of the very same kind Thus the view and the report of his Judgments have a natural tendency to reform the World to purify and make it better as Thunder and Lightning cleanse the Air and make it more healthful How wicked is this present World notwithstanding the manifold Examples of his Justice And how much more wicked would it be if he suffer'd Sin always to be unpunished His best Servants are too secure and careless too forgetful of him and of themselves till he awaken them by some severe stroak upon themselves or others and make them to be more diligent and more serious when they see the Clouds gather and the Night drawing on and by his anger he designs to teach us all to put an higher value on the Love of Christ and to make us know of how high a nature our Offence was seeing his only Son endured so much of his Wrath ere we could obtain a Pardon And when we smart our selves under his displeasure to make us ever admire the kindness of our Saviour that freely suffer'd so much smart and pain for us 3. He is angry with his own to teach them to value his favour more than they ever did If it were not that we feel the bitterness of his Anger we should not have so sweet a relish of his Love If he did not sometimes withdraw himself we should not think his presence so comfortable as it is If it were not sometimes Winter and storm and frosty Weather we should not take so great a pleasure in the Summer-season Oh! how pleasant are the Smiles of God when we have long laid under the terror of his Frowns How pleasant is it to find him to be indeed our Friend when we have long thought him to be our Enemy How pleasant is it to have the hope of Heaven when a Man has long trembled at the very Gate of Hell When we have been long wandring for our Follies as in a strange Land how pleasant is it to come to our home again After we have been among our Enemies to come to our Heavenly Father to have him to meet us with encouraging words to embrace us in his Arms to feast us at his Table to call us his Children to forget all our former Injuries and to be at peace with us How shall we run under his Wing for shelter when we have found that innumerable Dangers overtook us while he withdrew his Care How shall we wait upon him with Obedience and Love and yield him faithful Service in all that he Commands when we remember what Griefs our former disobedience brought upon us He is angry with us to cure our Luxuries our Wantonness and Pride and when our Follies have brought us low we shall give a most hearty welcome to the first dawning of the day to the first shining of his face and tho before we priz'd at a small rate his highest Favours and his largest Entertainments we shall now value one glimps of Light as much as we did the whole Sun before and to partake tho but of the Crumbs that fall from his Table will seem to us both an honour and a priviledg After many days of Storm and Darkness 't is the more pleasant to see the Sun even the very Birds sing with a sweeter Note when there is a clear Sky and the Furrows of the Fields rejoyce after a long Drought to be refresh'd with the former and the latter pain When a Country has been long harass'd with Confusions Tumults and bloody Wars how delightful is the return of Peace When a soul has mourned a great while in fear and trouble how delightful is it to hear the voice of its God saying Be of good comfort How do his Promises like dew from the womb of the morning cause his poor drooping spirits to revive Isa 12.1 CHAP. II. The Anger of God towards his People is but for a short season and why he is pleased to order it to be so 1. HIS anger is but for a moment if compar'd with the Eternity of Happiness which he designs them Their troubles and afflictions shall have a period but their glory shall never have an end They weep for a while and they shall rejoice for ever They are disconsolate a few years on earth but how little and inconsiderable are these to the vast durations of Eternity 2. His Anger is but for a moment if compared with the continuance of his Love In his Favour is Life that is usually the greater portions of out Life are laden with his Benefits we have more pledges of his Love than messengers of his Wrath We have more Mercies than Crosses We have a thousand easie Blessings for one sharp Affliction His Displeasure brings a storm but his Favour shines when that is gone and past We have many a fair Season to one dark and gloomy Day The Reasons why his Anger is but for a moment are 1. He remembers the frame of his poor people for if his Wrath should be long continued they must utterly sink and perish Psal 103.14 For he remembreth our frame he knoweth that we are but dust One Frown causes us to sink and tremble what then would his multiplied Frowns and Displeasure do He knows our tenderness with what evil inclinations our nature is corrupted how prone we are to sin and how if he should be strict to mark what we do amiss he must continually destroy the works of his own hands and have none left to serve him here on earth He remembers with what frailties we are daily beset and he pities us as a Father does the weakness of his Child He could kill us in a minute and take away our breath how soon can he scatter a little dust and pull in pieces our frail constitution For we are as unable to resist his Anger as the dust to resist the wind he knows we are so weak that if he let us alone we
Decree There are many people whom we are angry with and reprove whom notwithstanding we do in the mean time most sincerely love and Christ has told us Rev. 3.19 As many as I love I rebuke and chasten 4. The Anger of God is but for a moment because he delights in Mercy Psalm 103.8 The Lord is merciful and gracious slow to anger and plenteous in mercy He will not always chide neither will he keep his anger for ever It is long before he punishes and 't is with haste that he comes to our help when we repent and many times before In the midst of Wrath he remembers Mercy he does not always inflict what we have deserved but considers what is most proper for him to lay upon us and what we are able to bear and therefore he gives to us some mitigations with our most bitter Cup. He is called the Father of Mercies and the God of all Comfort and tho Punishment does proceed from him as well as Tenderness and Affection yet he is no where called the Father of Judgments Mercy ariseth from his own Nature and he delighteth in it Micah 7.18 He retaineth not his anger for ever because he delighteth in mercy His wrath is said to be reserv'd in Golden Viols Rev. 15.7 i. e. it doth not flow forth all at once but by degrees but his Mercy is compared to a River and a flowing Stream Isaiah 66.12 to the Oyl of gladness to the smell of Myrrh Aloes and Cassia It is a Glory to this God to relieve the miserable and to help his Servants when all their power and might is gone and he ends the Controversy with them when there is cause enough on their side that he should pursue the Quarrel further When he leads us into a Wilderness yet he provides some Water some refreshment for us there It is one of the great Wonders of his Providence that he supports those poor Souls that have no light of Evidence no sense of his Love no hope nothing but the fears of Wrath and Desolation and yet the matter of Fact and our own Experience plainly tells us that so it is his everlasting Arms are underneath and his Power does maintain our Life when we say that he has forgotten to be gracious He bottles our Tears when we weep and hears our Groans when we lament and proportions the Troubles that he sends that they shall not be too long nor too violent Jer. 30.11 I will not make a full end of thee I will correct thee in measure and will not leave thee altogether unpunished And those Afflictions which his People suffer are not in all respects proper Punishments because his Anger is mixed with mildness and mitigated by the Intercessions of a Mediator Lam. 3.31 32. The Lord will not cast off for ever but tho he cause grief yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his tender mercies 5. That his Anger is but for a moment is for his own Name sake His Nature is most inclinable to do us good therefore the Prophets to those Idolaters mentioned in 1 Kings 18.24 says The God that answers by sire let him be God and he chose that Element above the rest to signify how soon we shall have Mercy it comes as upon the wings of the Wind it is as swift as the rays of Light Hosca 11.9 I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger I will not return to destroy Ephraim for I am God and not man A Man when he is greatly provoked by his Enemy is not satisfied with having once made him feel his Anger but carries on his Revenge to further degrees and only ceases the pursuit with the Death of him that he first assaulted But the Great God tho he is able to Conquer those that oppose him with a total Defeat and Ruin yet he suffers them to breathe and live that they may Repent and that he may cause his Goodness to shine with a greater Brightness to the World He could follow them with one Blow after another with a Succession of new and greater Miseries but he restrains his Anger for his own sâ—ke And it maybe a great Consolation to poor afflicted People to consider that they have to deal with God and not with Men when they have sinn'd they have not to deal with Men that are full of Rage and Cruelty but with a God that is gracious and full of Mercy not with Men that may Caress them to day and Hate them to morrow but with a God that is unchangeable and even when they are in the Fire or in the Water his Love is still to them the very same Men think it a dishonour to spare their interiors if they do not by the lowest Submissions testify their Sorrow for their Crimes but the Great God is so far above all his Creatures that he may when he will think them below his Indignation and magnify his Goodness in sparing and forgiving them when they most deserve to dye Isaiah 4.8 9. For my names sake will I defer mine anger and for my praise will I refrain for thee that I cut thee not off 'T is his Power that moderates his Anger Those Persons that have the least strength either of Reason or of Courage are the most passionate and inclinable to Revenge In Punishments he shews his Dominion over his Creatures but his Power over himself when he forgives great Injuries and is slow to punish great Affronts and his Power in those Acts of Grace is very great and illustrious He is God and not Man there is more Compassion and more real Pity in him than in the most compassionate or tender hearted Man that we ever knew He is God and not Man he whom we have offended and who can destroy us begins first to treat about a Reconciliation with us This is not the manner and way of Men who think that those who have offended them are to make the first advances towards a repairing of the Breach There is no Attribute in the displaying of which the Great God glories so much as in this of Mercy and 't is by this that he would be known Exod. 34.6 7. 6. That his Anger is but for a moment is because he would make a difference between the righteous and the wicked The Afflictions that he sends upon the Righteous are to prepare them for Heaven and Glory But those Scourges that he uses to the Wicked and Impenitent are but the beginning of their Sorrows the flashes of those Flames that will consume them for ever The distresses of the Righteous are short and so are the Prosperities of the Wicked The Righteous are weeping here but they shall rejoyce hereafter The Wicked have now their Heaven such as it is and hereafter they go to an Eternal Hell and there must they weep and wail when the Good and Holy shall have all their Tears wiped away The one shall find him to be a loving Father and to have been
than he did as you may see 2 Cor. 11.25 26. What is a moment to a day and a day to a year And yet such and infinitely less are our longest afflictions here to that Eternity What is one grain of sand as one says Jurieu Balance du Sanctuaire p. 72. to all those vast heaps of sand that are in all the Sea What is one drop of Water to the vast Collections of it that are in the large Ocean What is a little gnat to the whole Universe So is all the affliction of this life which passes away when compared with the glory which is to come And yet a grain of sand is something in respect of the whole earth and a drop is not altogether nothing tho compared with the Ocean for by a continual heaping of grain upon grain it were possible to make a Globe as great as the Earth and the Ocean might be emptied of its Water but Eternity cannot be diminished it suffers no changes after Millions of Years in Happiness it will be as sweet arid as comfortable as it was the first moment It is the Length of our Troubles and our Pain that makes them more grievous And as when we do not sleep the night seems very long and the doleful hours of our sickness seem to move with a much slower pace than those of our pleasant health Thus Job discourses as if his time being clogg'd with miseries seem'd an Eternity Job 7 15 16. My soul chuseth strangling and death rather than life I loath it I would not live always let me alone for my days are vanity He was weary of being in so long pain and thought that his afflicted life would never have an end But yet all the afflictions of the present time are not worthy to be compared with that glory which shall be revealed Rom. 8.18 We are near to a Blessed Change and who would not undergo the dangers of a troublesome Voyage for a month if he knew that ho should return laden with great Treasures to his home and live in Splendor ever after What a pleasure is it to such as are besieged to know that they shall certainly be relieved in a little time It causes them tho press'd very close by their Enemies to resume a new Courage and to hearten one another So should it be with all Believers the day of their Lord's coming draws near and then he will put all their Enemies to the flight and reward their Diligence and Perseverance The Enemy of our Souls is full of Rage but that which fills him with fury may yield us comfort even because we know that his time is short The God of peace will bruise Satan under your feet shortly Rom. 16.20 Oh what comfortable words are these that enemy that fills us with vexation and whose malice is both great and constant shall in a little time not molest nor interrupt our satisfactions any more Your tears that you shed for your offences now are very just 't is what we owe to God for having sinned so much against him but shortly we shall be with him and never complain of his absence from us any more When a man is tost with storms and sees no prospect of the shore 't is very dismal but it is not so with us who have our Haven in our view What if our troubles should continue for Twenty or Thirty Years this would be very overwhelming to our sense and yet it is nothing when compared with an Eternity of Joys above How soon will this be over but how long will that remain It casts a great damp upon all things under the Sun that they are unsatisfying and that they are very short how pleasant soever they are to us they will depart Our Friends and all the Delight of their Conversation our Riches and all the Respect and Service they procure us will fade away Our beloved Bodies which we maintain with great Expence and Care will leave us and must go into the Grave but our Happiness will be for ever it is Eternal Happiness and what that is our thoughts cannot comprehend nor our words express we shall then know what it is when we are in actual Possession of it To be for ever with the Lord what an encouragement does this afford to Patience and Resignation To be with him who is our Portion and our all to be with him and to be without our sin that provoked him to wrath and made our spirits sad what an Heaven will this be As this life by its tedious afflictions seems to those that are in distress to be as an Eternity so the pleasures of that undecaying life will seem but a moment to us it will be so very pleasant and we are near to it Tho the pains that forerun our departure prove to be very sharp yet in a moment death whenever it comes will be past in a moment we shall see the face of God that was hid from us here we shall be changed as in the twinkling of an eye and when we are in that Eternity shall we then say that we cleansed our hearts in vain Shall we not then see that we had no cause to murmur or repine All our Faculties will be gratified with proper Objects and with suitable Employment and all overspread and swallowed up with a quick and a lively Joy Oh how blessed are the Tears that will lead us to such a Joy Blessed is the Cross that will yield us such fruit as this and blessed be that God who will bestow such a reward upon us When we come there we shall sing in the consideration of those very afflictions that while we were on earth made us sigh and groan It is good to be there and how freely should we suffer our thoughts always to dwell upon the pleasant Subject but that our worldly business and the necessary affairs of Life call us away from the Mountain of our Transfiguration However let us not forget that these things are the Truths of God which he hath shewed to his servants and which shall shortly come to pass and they are very near too and should have a suitable influence upon us How did the Martyrs of old rejoice when they saw the day wherein they were to suffer How did they embrace and encourage one another saying We want but an hour or two of Heaven We have but one combat more to finish and we shall be with Christ We dine upon bitter Herbs but we shall sup with him Ere the Crowd that came to see us dye be disperst we shall be with God and with innumerable Angels and the spirits of the Just With what calmness have the blessed Sufferers bid this world adieu saying Farewel Sun Moon and Stars and welcome better Lights Farewel Wives and Children Friends and Acquaintance Farewel ye deceiving Pleasures of the World and now welcome ye joys of Paradise welcome thou sweet Cross of Christ and welcome death that will convey us thither And thus their
there is a sweetness that cannot be declared Ye rejoyce with joy unspeakable and full of glory 1 Pet. 1.8 We dare not give a particular relation of our grievous sufferings lest we should discourage many poor people that are apt enough of themselves to sink and be discouraged or if we would we cannot they are so very terrible So the sight of God after long darkness fills us with wonder and with pleasing astonishment we feel we are delighted but we cannot fully tell what it is to be so and sometimes we are in such transporting joys that like the blessed Apostle when he had the view of Paradise whether we are in the Body or out of it we scarcely know The poor soul is so transported that it is every way surrounded with delight Will God dwell in such an heart as mine that has been so full of murmurings and so full of unbelief Will he pardon and accept of me Shall I that was doomed to dye in my own sad thoughts have the hope of glory and instead of my slavish fears from the dread of Hell have the sight of Heaven Shall I be his Favourite of whom I had such hard and unbecoming thoughts Oh! what Grace is this how unlook'd for how undeserved and yet how suitable Is this the manner of men O Lord God! Is this thy kind usage of a poor sinner and of so great a sinner as I have been This is Grace indeed this is all free Love and Mercy How can this be past over in silence Such a person escaped after such apprehensions of so near a danger is like the Lame Man that was healed He leaping up stood and walked and entred into the Temple walking and leaping and praising God And all the people saw him walking and praising God Acts 3.8 9. and they were filled with wonder and amazement at that which happened unto him As inward anguish causes the distressed many times to roar out vehemently so heavy is the load that presses them on the contrary when the fear of Wrath is removed they rejoyce with shouting and with a loud voice like those that Conquer or reap the Harvest For as when a Man is under inward anguish and tribulation he looks upon himself as a Beacon fired on a Hill to give warning to others and to shew them the danger of Sin so when he comes to peace and hope again he wishes that he might be placed as on a Mountain and enabled to trumpet out to all the World the Riches of the Grace of God that as none may presume when they see his misery so none may despair when they see his safety and his escape from that misery Inf. 1. The Wisdom and the Beauty of the Divine Providence That as in the World there is a comfortable Succession of Night and Day so in his Servants mourning after the Sorrows of the Night the Joy of the morning comes this Night comes and this morning dawns when it is most proper for it so to do He hath made every thing beautiful in his time Eccl. 3.11 The Storms and Rain and Cold of Winter are as beneficial to the Universe as the Summers heat Tho we from our Self-love judge of God either with more admiring or less becoming Thoughts as he deals well or ill with us but it is not particular Churches nor particular Persons that God only regards but his whole Creation his Providences to us contribute to the good of that We know not to what uses God will put us but it ought something to support us to think in what state soever we are we are serving his Design how pressing and how violent soever our Dangers and Tribulations are he can save us even by methods contrary to those which our Reason apprehends by throwing us down he can make us to be more established and by seeming so destroy us promote our welfare he can make unlikely things to advance his purpose 'T is many times more dark just before the break of day and the going back of the Sun on the Dial of Ahaz was to be a sign of Hezekiah's longer Life Isaiah 38.8 Therefore if you will allow me a small digression 't is a very evil thing for men to censure the Providence of God because of the present Miseries that he suffers his Servants to be afflicted with there are many that think it a piece of Zealous Loyalty not to blame their Superiors for the higher Matters of Government which are above their reach and yet dare to Arraign at their Bar the Supreme Ruler of the World if what he does be not according to the Model of their Fancies or suitable to their Imaginations or because whilest others are gratified their Humours are crost and disappointed not considering that the difference and variety of Circumstances amongst particular Men are necessary to the general and publick Good To censure God and to reflect upon his Conduct is as if a Country Clown who never travelled beyond the Smoak of his own Cottage should condemn the Proclamation of a King or the Votes of a Parliament when he does not know the great Reasons of State that these Actions depend upon But as St. Basil observes When Men are first crossed in their Worldly Affairs they begin for want of Patience to doubt whether God in very deed regardeth the things of this World whether he take notice of particular Men when they see no end of their Miseries but one evil continually is attended with another they are blasphemously apt to think there is no God God can bring Affliction to try and manifest the Graces of his People as the Stars that are a chief part of the Glory of the Worlds are then most illustrious and visible when the day is gone and then he makes the Sun to rise again that displays new Objects to us The Rods of God are many times very sharp but at last we shall find that they were dipt in Honey and managed with Love The Conduct of Providence is always Wise and Good but very often Mysterious and Unfathomable and in nothing more so then in his bringing abundance of his Servants to Heaven by the very Gates of Hell and in suffering Satan to buffet and to vex them that they may triumph over him in the latter end He makes them to be in great perplexities that the sweet wonders of his deliverance may the more appear We went through fire and through water but thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place Psal 66.12 Thus he preserved Moses in a Cradle of Bull-rushes and would not suffer the great Infant to perish though he was in manifest danger either to be carried away by the force of the Water or to be devoured by Crocodiles with which that River did abound So was Noah preserved in the Ark not by any Art in Navigation but by the Government and Conduct of God himself He hastens deliverance many times when it seems to be at the remotest distance In the Evening