even Curse the first day of their Acquaintance How often is the Wife a Thorn in the side of her Husband such was Iob's Wife to him the Child an Heart-break to his Father such was Absalom to David and the Brother an Affliction and Terror to his Brother so Esam was to Iacob and Cain to Abel There must be something beside the Relation to sweeten it otherwise the Persons related will be mutual Crosses and Torments instead of being pleasant 113 Psal. 1. Behold how good and how pleasant it is for Brethren to walk together in Vnity This is like the Precious Ointment like the Dew of Hermon the Dew that descended upon the Mountains of Zion there God commandeth the Blessing It is not nearness of Relation nor oneness of Blood nor any other strictness of Bond that will be sufficient alone but together with that there must be an oneness of Mind and Heart Thus it should be in Families and thus in Churches 2 Acts 42. They continuing daily with one accord in the Temple did eat their meat with gladness And again 4 Acts 32. The multitude of them that believed were of one Heart and of one Soul Brethren and UNITED BRETHREN this is amiable indeed and delightfull when they Dwell together Meet and Converse together and all in Unity so that there are no Animosities and Heart-burnings among them no Divisions and contrary Motions no Quarrels and Contentions but Harmony and Agreement this is good a lovely sight God and Man count it so and it is pleasant the Joy and Comfort of those Persons Lives Well then this was not all in the present Case there was not only a nearness of Relation but also Secondly There was in Ionathan unto David a dearness of Affection Not only such as was suitable to the Relation but above it such as too too often is not to be found in an own Brother For the proof of this do but observe the expressions used in the Scripture for the setting of it out 1 Sam. 18. 1. When he had made an end of speaking unto Saul the Soul of Ionathan was knit with the Soul of David They were glewed together fastened one to another and bound together by the Holy Spirit of God There was between them as the Philosopher saith but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one Soul and read on Ionathan loved him as his own Soul which words are repeated in Verse 3. He did really desire his good as his own and sensibly felt his Afflictions as his own and heartily rejoyced in his Prosperity Successes and Honours as if they had been his own they rejoyced and mourned together they sung and sighed laugh'd and wept together Again it is said in 1 Sam. 19. 2. That Ionathan delighted much in David He was not only pleased with him but he delighted in him too and that not a little but much He was delighted to see his Face and to hear his Discourses and to be in his Company David was sensible of this could not but take notice of it you may see he did in the words immediately following the Text where he speaks of it in an high and lofty strain that so he might the better shew the Price he himself set upon it and raise up in others the greater Admirings of Ionathan Thy Love to me was wonderful passing the love of women As if He were a Prodigy of Love the None-such of the Age yea of the World and had such a pure and vehement Flame as could not possibly be matcht Among men there was none to be found that came near it nay it exceeded the Love of Women Which may be variously understood and is by the Learned Either thus Thy Love to me is above that which men have yea that which thou my dearest Brother hadst for Women Or thus That Love which was in thine heart unto me was above the Love which is in the Heart of Women themselves Tho' they have strong Affections and violent Passions yet they come short of thine are not to be compar'd with thine the most endearing Wives do not love their Husbands the most affectionate Mothers do not love their Children the fruit of their own Wombs at such a rate to such a degree as Ionathan did his David Now this could not but make him very pleasant for Love is the Beauty of all Relations it puts a sweetness into and a gloss upon all Societies yea it is the Glory of Heaven it self where it is advanced to and shall Eternally continue in it's highest Perfection without the least languishing or diminution But further This Love of Ionathan to David was not dull and sluggish a sleepy habit but lively and active hastily catching at and laying hold upon all opportunities offered for the venting and expressing of it's self And therefore Thirdly The Love of Ionathan did signally evidence its self in a way of Self denyal and by the unparallel'd humility of his Spirit He was no conceited and lofty Person puffed up with Pride wholly confin'd to his own Interest and looking with contempt or jealousie upon them who were below him but most readily yielding to the interest of his Brother and cheerfully welcoming and embracing all means of promoting it We may learn this from 1 Sam. 18. 4. Ionathan stript himself of his Robe that was upon him and gave it to David and his Garments even to his Sword and to his Bow and to his Girdle Good Man he now would have his David go like himself arrayed in a Courtly Habit as became the Son-in-law to a King He must put off the Shepherd and put on the Prince yea he should have his own Robe that all who met with him might see Ionathan in him and accordingly respect and honour him as another Ionathan yea he gave him his very Girdle or Belt which was a great Ensign or Badge of Honour and the principal Ornament of a Souldier thus he accounted nothing too good or too great for David And tho' he full well knew that David should succeed his Father in the Throne and be King in Israel yet he had no rising of Heart against it he did not at all envy him that Royal Preferment No no 1 Sam. 23. 16. He went to him into the Wood and strengthened his hand in God i. e. with the gracious Promises that God had given him putting him in mind of former Assurances he had received as is clear from the 17th Verse He said unto him fear not for the hand of Saul my Father shall not find thee and thou shalt be King over Israel and I shall be next unto thee He was very well content not to insist upon the Right Line but tho' as Prince Heir of the Crown yet to resign it to David and to be himself his Inferior and Subject Nor was he at all heated in his Spirit against him or alienated from him in Affection by his Fathers angry taunts and upbraiding him with his having chosen the Son of Iesse to
A SERMON Preach'd at CROSBY-SQUARE Jan. 8. 1692. Upon the FUNERAL Of that Faithful Servant of Christ M r. John Reynolds Who Died in the Lord the preceding 25 Decemb. By SAMUEL SLATER Minister of the Gospel LONDON Printed for I. Lawrence at the Angel in the Poultrey 1693. TO M ris Reynolds Dear Sister ALL these things shall be dissolved the very Heaven and Earth and so must our Relations however delightful for they are only for a time Death with its cold hand will easily loose the straitest Knot that coupled the most suitable and affectionate Pair You frequently have heard and seen it now you feel it God hath been pleased to make a breach upon you Oh that he would fill it up by standing himself in it By the Father of Mercies and God of Bowels great and precious Promises are made to the solitary Widow which are Yea and Amen sue them out by Prayer and live upon them by Faith It is well with your Deceased Husband and whatever straits and Difficulties you may for a time meet with I hope it will be so with you What I heartily pray for you is that you may have a full Enjoyment of God in the end and receive Supports from him by the way together with fresh and full supplies of Grace Peace and Comfort You by and with your Son desir'd the printing of the following Discourse I could not deny you Now it sees the light may it do good to you and many more through the Blessing of God accompanying it which will be the Rejoycing of Your Sympathizing Friend and Brother Samuel Slater From my Study Ian. 19. 92 3 Newly published and sold by John Lawrence at the Angel in the Poultrey A Sermon Preached on the Thanksgiving-day the 27th of October 1692. at Crosby-Square By Samuel Slater Minister of the Gospel Quarto A good Minister of Iesus Christ. A Funeral Sermon for the Reverend Mr. Richard Steel a Faithful and Useful Minister of the Gospel Delivered Novemb. 27. 1692. By George Hamond M. A. and Minister of the Gospel Octavo Mr. Addy's Short-Hand is newly Re-printed the Bible being Printed in the same Short-hand Octavo 2 SAM I. 26. I am distressed for thee my Brother Ionathan very pleasant hast thou been unto me THE last Chapter of the former Book of Samuel gives us an account of a Battle fought between the Philistines and Israel in which the former had the Victory and the latter were put to flight no less than three of Saul's Sons were slain and alas of them Ionathan was one and Saul to avoid being killed and abused by such loathed hands took a Sword and fell upon it which however it may be by some applauded as a Brave and Heroick Action was certainly unlawfull for him to do wicked and abominable whereby he became Felo de se and brought upon himself the guilt of his own Blood but as he had lived so he dyed under the power of an evil Spirit The dolefull tydings hereof being by an Amalekite brought to David it much affected and afflicted him he lamented over them with a great Lamentation of which the Words of my Text are a part and in them two things present themselves to our Observation 1. What Ionathan had been to David while he lived very pleasant and sweet by consequence his Life was exceeding desirable 2. What David found himself to be now that his Ionathan had been so cut off a poor distressed Man I am distressed for thee my Brother Ionathan for thee i. e. for the loss which I poor I have of thee in whom so much of my Comfort was laid up Thou art gone for ever gone thy place will know thee no more and I both do and shall dearly miss thee Although he was sure shortly to possess the Throne of Saul the Father yet he should want the Company of Ionathan the Son By how much the Life of Ionathan had of all outward Enjoyments been to him most sweet by so much was his Death of all Temporal Losses most grievous I am distressed for thee my Brother Ionathan very pleasant hast thou been unto me The Doctrinal Conclusion which I shall draw from these Words and prosecute in the following Discourse will be this Doct. When God doth take away from his own People their pleasant things it brings them into distress Depriving Providences are distressing Providences If you look into the 13 Iob 26. you will find that good Man complaining to God that He did write bitter things against him If you ask how did God do that I Answer by the hand of his Providence though he had set down most precious things for him in his Eternal Purposes yet he wrote bitter things against him in his present Dispensations He had stript him of all his outward Comforts his Estate was melted down his Cattel driven away his Servants slain his Children all buried in the Ruines of the House which fell upon them while they were Feasting together God had in this way brought him from Plenty to Penury and from great Abundance to pinching Want He took his pleasant things from him and in so doing he wrote bitter things against him Ionathan had been very pleasant to David his tender and immovable Love had very much sweetened to him the implacable Hatred and violent Rage of Saul against him but now his Death did imbitter his Enjoyments and Expectations whatever he had in his Hand whatever in his Hope yet he had not his Ionathan No No He is gone He is gone never to return He is slain in his high places and therefore he lifts up a great and bitter Cry I am distressed There are three things that I shall speak to in the Doctrinal part and then proceed to the Application which I principally have in mine Eye We shall enquire 1. What rendered Ionathan so pleasant unto David 2. What brought David into Distress 3. What his being in Distress doth import and hold out to us We begin with the first of these What was it that rendered Ionathan so very pleasant unto David to this I Answer There were sundry things which did happily concurr and greatly contribute thereunto so many remarkable things did unite and meet in that one excellent Person so many singular Ingredients as that they could not choose but make in him such a Composition of Sweets as would make him the Pleasure and Delight of David's Soul You may take some of them in these following particulars First The nearness of that Relation in which he stood This is mentioned in the Text my Brother Ionathan Not that he was his Natural Brother but by Marriage Not Consanguinity but Affinity David having married Michal the Daughter of Saul and Sister of Ionathan But had this been alone had it been all it would not have been enough to make him so very pleasant Many times Relations are bitter they prove Burdens and Vexations to one another and instead of rejoicing in the nearness of their Union they could
his own confusion and to the confusion of his Mothers nakedness As if he should have said Thou dost by this means expose thy self and thy Mother to reproach none will look upon thee as my Son but a Bastard and of some mean and base Original Fourthy Ionathan was true and immoveably faithful to the interest of David He was a cordial and sincere Friend as did appear by his stedfastness As he was united to him in Affection so he would bind himself to him yet faster by a Covenant As in the 1 Sam. 18. 3. Ionathan and David made a Covenant and they did again renew it in the 20 ch 12 13 14 15 and 16 Verses Thus he added Obligation to Obligation as if he thought he could never lay bonds enough upon himself nor give unto David sufficient assurance of his Sincerity and Faithfulness and that never dying Friendship and Kindness which he had with and for him He so loved David that he feared himself and was jealous of his own Heart lest it should afterward prove false and treacherous and therefore he would bind it to its good Behaviour Fifthly Such was the Love of Ionathan to David that it put him upon being his Advocate Oh how ready and forward was he at every turn to appear on his behalf and plead his Cause with his angry Father tho' he knew him to be very jealous of him and desperately enraged and set against him and could not but foresee that his standing up on his behalf would certainly bring his Fathers Displeasure Frown and Indignation upon himself yet he was resolved to act the part of a Friend and Brother to the utmost and put his Life in his hand and speak rather than by a timerous silence be wanting unto David We find in the 1 Sam. 19. 1. that Saul spake to Ionathan his Son and to all his Servants that they should kill David He gave them Command and Commission to do it but notwithstanding this we read in the 4th Verse of the same Chapter that Ionathan spake good of David unto Saul his Father and said unto him Let not the King sin against his Servant even against David because he hath not sinned against thee and because his works have been to thee-ward very good It was an argument of dear Love and a brave Spirit to speak so to his Father at such a time And he did the like again in the 1 Sam. 20. 31 32. As long saith Saul as the Son of Iesse liveth upon the ground thou shalt not be established nor thy Kingdom wherefore now send and fetch him to me for he shall surely dye What now this went to Ionathans Heart it was as a Sword in his Bones the Fire burned Then spake he with his tongue and said unto his Father wherefore shall he be slain what hath he done i. e. What Evil hath he done what one thing hath he done for which he deserves to dye And it is said ver 34. He did eat no meat the second day of the month for he was grieved for David He could not but think of David's Case and when he did think of it it could not be without great sadness Sixthly I shall add but this one thing further Ionathan was unto his David a ready and faithful Counsellor Ready to give him timely notice of any danger that threatned him and to acquaint him with the true state of things and how matters went as to him and to afford him the best Advice he could for the steering of his Course and preservation of himself in so critical a time Thus in the 1 Sam. 19. 2. When Saul had declar'd his Will to have him butcher'd Ionathan told him My Father seeketh to kill thee and thereupon directed him what to do I pray thee take heed to thy self until the morrow and abide in a secret place and hide thy self And again afterward in the 20th Chapter by the Arrows which he shot and the words which he spake to the Lad he gave him to understand how exceeding hazardous his continuance thereabout would be and how necessary it was for him to provide for his own Security as well as he could and with all possible speed Make speed haste stay not Shall we now take all these six Particulars and bind them up togegether thus Since Ionathan was in so near a Relation to David as his Brother and did bear him such a sincere and entire Affection could freely wave his own Interest and lay it at the foot of David continued so faithful to him and at all times ready to plead for him and carefull to give him the best Advice and counsel that he could he must needs be very pleasant exceeding desireable and delightful he was very loving and therefore very lovely But alas David was not always to have his Ionathan the knot is soon untied that had united and coupled this excellent pair Ionathan hath breath'd his last his Soul hath made it's escape out of his wounded Body and taken its flight into the other World He is slain in his high places and that brought David into distress and it brings me to the second thing which I promised to enquire into viz. What was there in the Case that David should be so distressed What Reason was there that so Good a Man should be in such a plunge Time was when we found him at Ziklag 1 Sam. 30. which was burnt by the Amalekites the Wives and Sons and Daughters were taken Captives and the People spake of stoning him and then he pluck'd up a brave Spirit and encouraged himself in the Lord God How then comes it to pass that upon this Occasion tho' sad enough he cryeth out of his being distressed I shall give you my Answer in these three things First I do not think he was brought into Distress by any Fears or dark Apprehensions concerning the Eternal State into which Jonathan was now enter'd Surely he did not question but he was now in the Bosom of Divine Love though he had fallen by the Cruel hand of a barbarous Enemy for he was a good Man whosoever reads the Story of his Life and considers his Spirit and Carriage will find therein sufficient reason to conclude him not only truly gracious but a Person of an excellent and more than ordinary Spirit and from thence gather whatever was his Exit out of this World He had an entrance ministred to him abundantly into the glorious Kingdom of his God and Saviour His dying upon the Mountains of Gilboa could not at all hinder his direct speedy and joyfull ascent to the Mountains of Myrrhe and Beds of Spices where he shall take a sweet and undisturbed repose to all everlasting He had indeed his Head not incircled with a Crown but laid in the Dust and so the earthly Throne was left for David to fill but he was advanced to one much above it a Throne of Glory in Heaven I do not in the least doubt that David was abundantly
should please God to bring it to this Thou knowest how to abound with Joy and to eat thy Bread at a plentiful Table with a merry Heart but dost thou know how to be contented in a time of Want and Scarcity and to rejoyce in the God of thy Salvation in a Day of Famine as the Holy Prophet could 3 Habbuk 17 18. Fourthly Seek for and diligently look after those things which you cannot lose nor be deprived of In the midst of the uncertainty you live at as to all the Comforts of this present World make sure of something I mean something that is worth your pains to get and that it is your interest to keep In the 17 Psalm 14. we read of the Men of the World that their Bellies are fill'd with hid treasures and possibly so is their Bags and their Cherts and their Houses too all full and that not of Trash but Treasure But poor Creatures this is their Misery that they have their Portion in this Life They have a Portion and it looks great makes an huge noise but alas it is only in and for his Life We read also of the sure mercies of David 55 Isa. 3. Incline your ear and come unto me hear and your Soul shall live and I will make an everlasting Covenant with you even the sure mercies of David now be you so wise as to mind them It is very good to be sure excellent to have that which is so Christ told Martha in a way of friendly Reproof to her that Mary her Sister had chosen the good part which should never be taken from her neither by God who was too good to do it nor by Men and Devils who were too weak That was a wise Choice be you perswaded to make it Take not up with that which may leave you and which sooner or later you must leave Sit not down with any thing that Thieves may break thro' and steal or that Moths can corrupt or Rust can fret or Time shall see the end of Look out for Christ who is the everlasting Father and able to save to the utmost of your Needs and Dangers and Desires and of Eternity too pray for the Spirit he will abide with you for ever Grace will grow up to Glory and Holiness bring you to an Happiness that knows neither measure nor end Follow the Noble Example which was set you by the Holy Apostles and Primitive Christians taught of God who 2 Corinth 4. 18. Looked not at the things which are seen but at the things which are not seen because the things which are seen are Temporal but the things which are not seen are Eternal Spiritual Blessings in heavenly places and things are of all good things the best and also the most lasting Riches and Honour are with Wisdom But what such Riches as take unto themselves wings and flee away such Honour as is a vain and vanishing breath No no durable Riches and Righteousness 8 Prov. 18. When all worldly Enjoyments take their last Farewell leaving you for ever you need not look upon your selves as Persons undone but say for all this the lines are fallen unto me in a pleasant place still I have a God here and I shall have an Heaven hereafter VSE 2. Learn that it is both the Duty and Interest of Persons in Relation to study and endeavour the being pleasant to one another Ionathan was so to his Brother David and by being so He obtained a good Report in the Text Very pleasant hast thou been unto me This is a fair and lovely Copy for us to Write after drawn by an excellent Hand let us all imitate it and come up to it as near as we can Whether we stand in Natural or Civil or Church-Relation whether Conjugal Parental or Filial whether we are Masters Mistresses Servants Fellow-Citizens or Church-Members let us labour to sweeten that Relation and to render our selves as easie and acceptable as possibly may be to one another that we may not be as Thorns in one anothers sides nor pricks in one anothers eyes there will be Aloes enough we had need bring good store of Honey It is an excellent Command the Scripture gives Follow peace with all Men go and do it follow Peace abroad tho' it run from you follow it but be sure to keep Peace at home yea not only Peace but Pleasantness too and both these are to be found in the ways of Wisdom 3 Prov. 17. Her ways are ways of pleasantness and all her paths are peace See then that ye walk circumspectly not as fools but as wise A great deal of benefit will be the fruit and effect hereof your Relations will have the Comfort of it while Providence continues you with them and so will your selves also and besides that you will have the Comfort of it when you come to die a reflection thereupon will be exceeding cordial and over and above you will have the Honour of it after Death Nabal was a very Chub a morose and ill-natur'd Fellow Well what did his Servants say of him behind his back while he lived see 1 Samuel 25. 17. He is such a Son of Belial that a Man cannot speak to him And what did his prudent Wife say of him after he was dead 25 Verse of the same Chapter Let not my Lord regard this man of Belial even Nabal for as his Name is so is he Nabal is his Name and folly is with him whereas by your being pleasant to your Friends and Relations you will raise a Monument to your own Honour far better than Absolam's Pillar and tho' your Body will corrupt in the Grave and return to Dust yet your Name will be embalmed and your Memory blessed And to this end I commend to you by way of Advice these three things desiring you to put them in practice First Let your Love be sincere hearty constant and free a self-evidencing Love that there may be more ground and reason to believe it than your bare say so Be sure that your Relation carry along with it all the Affection that it calls for and all the desireable fruits of that Affection It is this my Friends that makes every thing savoury and puts a good relish into it take this away and all that remains is nothing else but bitterness What is Communion and Cohabitation without Love but a constant Burden And what are Services but ungrateful and what is it that makes them so when they are good in themselves Nothing but their coming from such an hand The Conjugal Yoke will be very heavy and pinch and gall if it be not lin'd with Love and is there not reason Did not God reject and abhorr all that the hypocritical and profane Iews did in his worship upon this very account because he knew they did not love him Isai. 29. 13. This People draw near me with their mouth and with their lips do honour me but have removed their Heart far from me And for that cause
Mettal and courage when but a Stripling he did not fear Goliah an huge and mighty Gyant before whom all Israel trembled yet when God was pleased to deprive him of his Friend and Brother to take from him his Ionathan he was distressed How great Strangers are all of us at home and how much unacquainted with our selves It is very usual for good men to be mistaken about themselves and that among others in these two cases They do not know how much they can do and suffer when God is with them That which to them seem'd intolerable at a distance feels light when upon them they can sing under that which they thought would have broken their Hearts Hence a good man once said I was in Prison till I was in Prison On the other side They do not know how little they can do or suffer if God be pleased to subduct from them and cometh not in to their assistance This made confident Peter tell our Lord Though all men should deny him yet he would not whereas when the Temptation came though Iudas betrayed him and the rest of the Disciples forsook him yet Peter was the only man of them that denyed him But let us return to the business before us Afflictive Providences may and oft-times do bring the best Saints into distresses and those not only outward in their Condition so that they shall be compast about with Difficulties and hemm'd in on every side as Israel was at the Red Sea but likewise inward in their spirits so as to be brought to their Wits-end and almost to their Faiths end they know not which way to turn them nor what course to steer They are at a loss both how to bear the Affliction upon them and what to do in the case First Afflictions such afflictions may be order'd to good men as may bring them into those distresses that they shall not know how to bear it This is often seen and felt David did not know how to bear the Death of Absalom but went up and down like a Bedlam wringing his hands and crying Would God I had died for thee O Absalom my Son my Son 2 Sam. 18. 33. Ionah could not bear the non-fulfilling of his Prophecy concerning the Destruction of Niniveh nor the withering of his Gourd for he would have had God take his Life from him and told him to his Face He did well to be angry even unto Death 4 Ionah 3 and 9 Verses Thus the spirit is roil'd the Patience is spent and the Heart fires and flames In the 73 Psalm holy Asaph seeing the Prosperity and flourishing state of the Wicked while he was daily under a pressing load of Afflictions and the violent hurries of Temptation cried out Ver. 26. That his Flesh and his heart failed Have not some of us heard poor Creatures under some sore and heavy blow given them by the hand of God crying out in the Agony and bitter Anguish of their spirits This is such a loss I cannot bear it Little considering that Iob did bear more than is laid upon them and when all was gone at a Clap fell down and worshipped saying The Lord hath given and the Lord hath taken blessed be the Name of the Lord. Neither do they consider that nothing is happened to them but what is common to man and what reason is there for extraordinary passions when there is nothing but ordinary Providences Once more they do not consider what the Apostle saith viz. That God is faithful who will not suffer his People to be tempted above what they are able but will so graciously and tenderly order that they shall be able to bear it Forbear such Expressions The Church understood her self and spake very wisely when she said 7 Micah 9. I will hear the Indignation of the Lord And if she could bear indignation you may very well resolve to bear affliction Secondly Afflictions do sometimes bring good men into such afflictions as that they do not know what to do under them That is an usual cry Things are so and so with me that I cannot tell what to do I do not know in all the World what I shall do And indeed it must needs be exceeding sad with that Person who is brought to such a loss Now I shall say these two things to such Persons as these are First Those distresses which amount to this are too much and rise to too great an height and you may thank your selves for them Be the affliction which you meet with what it will it is not too much nor too great not such as God could have laid on nor as you did deserve So Ezra acknowledged in his 9th Chapt. 13 v. Thou our God hast punished us less than our Iniquities deserve Remember it is of Gods ordering out all whose wayes are Mercy and Truth to them that fear his Name and keep his Covenant who doth all things to his People with Wisdom and in Love measuring out the Potion and weighing the Burden that there may not be a grain more than is necessary and fit But this sore distress is a great deal too much into which thou hast thrown thy self by thy unbelief and Impatience What meanest thou by saying This I cannot bear from whom comes it Was it not from God and if from God it is thy Duty to bear it The Lord Jesus knew better and spake better when He said Shall I not drink of the Cup which my Father hath given me to drink of 18 Ioh. 11. and how will you avoid it how can you help your selves Can you shake off the burden If not you must bear it Thine arrows stick fast in me said David 38 Psal 2. v. Yes too fast for him to pull out with all the strength he had See to it that you bear it becomingly submissively like a Child whose will is bowed to the Will of God and swallowed up by it Let Patience have its perfect work Be the present load what it will if you will not bear it you take a Course to bring upon your selves an heavier What doth a wild Bull in a Net do when he tosseth and kicks and flings but intangles himself the more He had better be quiet Again Art thou thy self when thou sayest I know not what to do Have you been in the School of Christ and taught of God and yet such a Dunce as not to know what to do You ought to know and do too Your work is before you and will you not see it I beseech you to sit down and recollect your selves seriously commune with your own Hearts propound the Question What is the will of God concerning me There is no State or Condition in which you are or can be but therein you may find something yea enough to do You may do something to please and honour God and something to help and profit your selves You may therein set Faith at work and Patience at work A time of Affliction is the proper season