afflictions 387. Reasons 1 God will then help us to beare them 396. 2 God will do us good by our afflictions 397. 3 No misery can make us miserable if God love us 401. Uses 1 Whence it comes to passe that many are so perplexed in their afflictions 411. Of inward and spirituall afflictions 432. Divers objections from feare and unbeliefe answered 462. 2 Be perswaded of Gods love 488. Tokens of Gods afflicting of us in love 493. 1 If he gives us a contented minde 494. 2 If affliction brings us neerer to God 496. 3 If they worke godly sorrow in us 498. 4 If thankfull for afflictions 502. Doctr. IIII. The chiefe end of Gods afflicting of us is the bettering of us 508. Reasons 1 By affliction wee come to know our selves 514. 2 By affliction wee come to judge aright of sinne 518 How wee may find out that sinne for which wee are afflicted 524. 3 Affliction makes us to feare God 536. Uses 1 Satisfaction is not made to God by our affliction 546. 2 Our stubbornnesse provokes God to afflict us 550. 3 Amend by little else greater affliction will come 554. 4 Adde not affliction to the afflicted but rather comfort them 564. 5 Bee thankfull for afflictions 578. Whether wee may pray for afflictions 585. Errata PAge 91. line 14. for complaining read complaineth p. 92. l. 17. Esa 64.7 8 9. p. 96. l. 13. for their r. they p. 105. l. 12. r. set to p. 159. l. 16. r. so much p. 190. l. 3. r. it may p. 199. l. 9. r. as ready p. 217. l. 1. for and with r. for p. 333. l. 7. for originally r. organically p. 340 l. 5. r. makes him p. 341. l. 13. r. and disquiet p. 453. l. 16. r. drawest back p. 456. l. 4. so much put out p. 461. l. 6. r. as is implied p. 480. l. 13. for ever r. never p. 489. l. 12. for being r. be p. 524. l. ult for baiting r. biting A CORDIALL FOR THE AFFLICTED Touching the Necessity and Utilitie of Afflictions REVEL 3.19 As many as I love I rebuke and chasten be zealous therefore and amend THese words are a part of that Epistle which was written unto the Laodiceans In which Epistle there is set down first the Inscription or Superscription of the party unto whom it was sent to wit The Angel of the Church of the Laodiceans vers 14. Secondly there is a Description of the person from whom it was sent set forth by a twofold property The first is his fidelity and truth from whence he is intituled Amen or according to the originall the or that Amen which is an Hebraisme and signifies as much as Truly or Trueth it selfe explicated in the next words That faithfull and true witnesse The second is his Eternity or Power noted in these words The beginning of the Creatures of God Thirdly there is laid down the Narration or matter of the Epistle wherein there is first of all a Conviction of the Angel his sinnes the first whereof is Lukewarmnesse verse 15. which is such a temper as is neither hot nor cold He was as all hypocrites are good only in outward shew and appearance for he wanted both the mettall and making of zeal and piety He had only an outside and face of religion but wanted both the power of Gods word and the zeal of his Spirit in this allyed to the Cretians who professed that they knew God but by their works they denied him being abominable disobedient and unto every good work reprobate Titus 1.16 Then follows a Commination or the Punishment which the Lord threatned to inflict upon him for this sinne of Lukewarmenes and that is Rejection in the end of the 16. vers I shall spite thee out of my mouth The second sinne for which the Angel and in him the whole Church of Laodicea is taxed is his Pride or Boasting vers 17. For thou sayest I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing The third sinne was Ignorance of his wretchednesse and misery And knowest not that thou art wretched and miserable Which misery consisted in three particulars Poverty Blindnesse and Nakednesse in the end of the 17. verse The third thing in the matter of the Epistle is a Remedy prescribed for the curing of these three fore-named miseries unto each misery a severall remedy For the bringing of him out of his Poverty the Lord counsells him verse 18. To buy of him gold tryed by the fire that he might be made rich For the covering of his Nakednesse he adviseth him to furnish himself with White rayment that he might be clothed And for the healing of his Blindnesse he would have him to Annoint his eyes with eye-salve that he might see Fourthly the Lord sets down a way and course which he usually takes with his best beloved ones for the reclaming and amending of them and that is Rebuking and chastening of them in these words which I have read unto you vers 19. Whom I love I rebuke and chasten c. Which words are as a comfortable cordiall prescribed by a wise and loving Physitian unto his sick diseased patient to whom hee hath formerly administred some bitter pills or unpleasing potions The Lord before threatned to reject the Laodiceans for their lukewarmnes whereupon lest they should altogether despaire of regaining his love and favor he doth prevent their fear by telling of them that his correcting of them was no argument either of his hatred or of their rejection but an evidence of his love beating them that hee might better them Whom I love I rebuke and chasten bee zealous therefore and amend These words consist of two parts The first acquaints us with the Lords practice The second layes down the drift and end of his practice His practice in these words As many as I love I rebuke and chasten The end and drift of his practice in the latter part of the verse Be zealous c. I will briefly unfold the sence of the words and then the Lord willing collect Instructions out of them As many as I love I rebuke This word rebuke in the originall signifies not a bare and fingle reproof but even such a reproof as is uttered with some strong arguments and reasons to convince the party reproved implying unto us that when the Lord rebukes man for sinne it is an argument of his dislike and hatred of sinne And chasten This also must not be understood of ordinary correction but such a chastisement as a loving father gives unto the child of his love for the originall is taken from a word which signifies a child that as a father useth to teach and instruct his child so the Lord correcting all those he loveth intendeth thereby to teach and instruct them Bee zealous therefore These words are in opposition to their luke-warmnes and therefore Beza well renders it be hot Zeal or spirituall heat is an affection compounded of two qualities love and hatred
are mercy and truth Therefore most true it is that whosoever in affliction offereth praise doth glorifie God Psalm 5.23 Men may be thankfull for peace plenty seasonable times deliverances and the like in selfe-love but for troubles and afflictions crosses and losses to bee thankfull this manifesteth our love to God which none can shew untill hee bee beloved of God Thankfulnesse in affliction is a notable soule of faith for faith will tell as that nothing can befall us which shall either lessen Gods love or encrease our hurt yea faith perswades us that God in afflicting of us loveth us though the affliction bee unto death and hence it comes that wee are thankfull for afflictions and patient in the bearing of them Now lay all these together Art thou willing to kisse that rod wherewith thou art beaten Canst thou cheerefully say as it is Mic. 7.9 I will heare the wrath of the Lord because I have sinned against him Art thou taken off from thine old courses thine old consorts thine old comforts and brought neerer unto God Is thy heart dissolved into teares of contrition for thy sinnes and transgressions Dost thou cordially unfainedly blesse God that ever hee took thee to do that ever he laid his hand upon thee then is it as evident as the Sun at noon day that God in afflicting of thee loves thee because hee hath taught thee to make so good and holy use of thy affliction For afflictions of themselves and in their own nature are fruits of the curse and such as being unsanctified will make us storm and rage and beat us further off from God but when wee feel and find them to worke contrary to themselves their nature altered and changed this is a most evident and infallible signe of Gods love and mercie extracting Treacle out of this ranck poison and good out of this evill Thou mayst hold it as a certaine truth that God in afflicting of thee loveth thee Now I come to the latter part of the verse the drift and end of Gods afflicting us in these words Be zealous therefore and amend I purpose not to make any discourse upon Zeal or Repentance for then I should go out or my intended course which tendeth wholy to the setting forth of the necessity and utilitie of Afflictions The Lord having said As many as I love I rebuke and chasten addeth by way of exhortation these words Bee zealous therefore and amend from which words wee may gather this conclusion The chiefe and speciall end of Gods afflicting us is the bettering and amending of us The Lord knows that grace is beter for us then great possessions and a healthfull soul is more to be desired then a strong and lusty body and therefore for the good of the soul doth many wayes afflict the body That ground from which wee expect and desire good wee digge or plough and harrow but that ground which wee regard not wee meddle not with it wee take no paines about it but let it lie waste Even so dealeth the Lord with man Hee lets the wicked alone hee looks for no good from them but hee ploweth over his children and harroweth them with affliction that so they may be fruitfull that in their lives they may bring forth a rich and plentifull crop of grace and godlinesse Why do we beat our wall-nut trees Why do wee prune and cut our vines is it not to make them more fruitfull So deals the Lord with his children hee breaks and cuts off many superfluous evils with the pruning knife of Affliction that so they may grow more fruitfull in well doing The end of Gods correcting of us is not as some may think to avenge himselfe upon us for those evils which wee have committed against him nor yet to please himselfe in our smart as if hee took delight in our punnishment and sorrow but it is for the bettering of us Moses tells the Israelites that the Lord was their guid in the great and terrible wildernesse to humble them and to prove them that he might do them good at their latter end Deut. 8.16 Hee chasteneth us for our profit that wee might be partakers of his holinesse Heb. 12.10 Hee woundeth us that hee may heale us A legge that is crooked and groweth awrye must bee broken before it can be made right and streight If the Lord should not break those crooked and perverse wills of ours they would never be rectified The Lord useth to beat out one evill with another the evill of sinne with the evill of punishment There is a great deal of folly in the hearts of his wisest children they are slow of heart to beleeve and practise that which will make for their good this folly the Lord in wisdom drives away from them by the rod of correction By this shall the iniquitie of Jacob be purged and this is all the fruit the taking away of his sinne Esa 27.9 Naturally wee sport with sinne and make it a pastime to do evill Prov. 10.23 Many drink iniquitie like water Job 15.16 Wickednesse is sweet in our mouths and wee are loth to part with it untill the Lord in love doth administer unto us some affliction or other which like unto Stibium shall make us to vomit up these sweet morsells and make us out of love with our former evill wayes and courses as things not only unpleasing and distastfull unto the Lord but such as are noxious and hurtfull unto us Therefore for the preventing of that evill which sinne may bring upon us and for the bestowing upon us that good which the love and practise of sinne would hinder us of the Lord doth afflict and chastise us How did his people Israel go a whoring from him they were set upon gadding yea madding after sinne and therefore the Lord was constrained to fetch them back againe by his judgements Wee are as ready to wander out of the way as sheep going astray so that the Lord must send some affliction or other after us to call us back again as David Psal 119.67 Before I was afflicted I went astray The prodigall in the Gospel turnes his back upon his father and takes his journey into a farre countrey where he consumed and wasted his goods with riotous living but having spent all and being pinched with penury he could then mind home and returne againe unto his father with griefe and shame which had not affliction been no doubt hee would never have done The like may be said of many moe who for ought wee know to the contrary had perished if they had not been afflicted So that few or none of Gods children but can say It had been wrong with them if they had not been afflicted for by afflictions they have been much bettered Reason And that first of all because by affliction they have been brought to know themselves and to see and acknowledge the damnable estate whereinto they were by sinne plunged Hence is it said That the prodigall
Prophet Jeremiah speaketh Thou hast consumed them but they have refused to receive correction they have made their faces harder then a stone and have refused to return Jerem. 5.3 They were unwilling either to beare their correction or to be bettered by it But let it not be so with any that love the Lord or their own good let both these extremities be avoided of us and let us exercise the golden mean to be sensible of the hand of God and to be cheerfull and thankfull for our affliction seeing as hath been proved so much good commeth unto us by them Object If it be so that afflictions are so profitable then may wee yea ought wee to pray that God would afflict us for may not every one nay should not every one pray for that which may be profitable for himselfe and others Answ Those things which in themselves are evill howsoever by the wise Providence and mercifull disposition of God they may have a good issue and work together for the best to those that love God yet may wee not lawfully pray for such evills to light upon our selves or others upon presumption of Gods goodnesse to turn them to the best The disasters and miserable calamities which for many yeeres together have rent and torn the Church have stirred us up to seek and cry mightily unto â—he Lord and to be humbled with fasting before him may wee therefore pray that the rod of God may still lie upon the backs of his people that ruines and the breaches of Sion may not be repaired Surely no for wee are to pray for the peace of Jerusalem That peace may be within her walls and prosperitie within her pallaces Psal 122.6 7. Death in it selfe is an evill thing for it is the wages of sinne Rom. 6.23 Yet by the infinite power and mercy of God who delights to bring good out of evill it is made the period of all our labors and an entrance into Gods own presence may we therefore being wearle of our lives desire death sooner then the Lord will Albeit afflictions when the Lord sendeth them unto us shall bring good unto his children yet ought wee not either to pray for them or wilfully to cast and plunge our selves into them Therefore Agar praies unto the Lord Give me not poverty nor riches feed me with food convenient for me Prov. 30.8 Wee are to pray for such a condition in which the Lord sees wee shall be best able to honor and glorifie him and procure most good to our selves and others Now whether this will be by prosperitie or adversitie wee must leave it to the wisedome of the Lord who knoweth better then our selves what is expedient and needfull for us Object But if it be so that afflictions are so profitable unto us whether being in them may wee pray for deliverance out of them or no Answ Wee are to pray for deliverance out of them if wee have received that good by them which God intended us otherwise wee are to be willing nay desirous that the Lord would not take off his plaister untill the sore be healed lest it ranckle and grow worse and so wee cause the Lord to apply some sharper medicine to lay upon us some greater affliction Therefore in thine affliction call upon the Lord and say Smite Lord correct me still untill thou hast done me good by thy rod let me have this affliction sanctified else let mee not be eased let it not be taken off me Are there not many delivered oft times out of sicknesse for whom it had been better in respect of their souls they had still continued upon their sicke bed The like may bee said of many other kinde of afflictions and that it had been better for some they had never come out of them Therefore when wee are in affliction let us not pray for freedome and deliverance but conditionally if it be the will of God to inlarge us and if he seeth that deliverance will be better for us Otherwise to desire the Lord to keep us still under and to give us patience and faith to beare his rod and to profit by it But if any shall unwillingly beare the Lords yoke using all means he can to cast it off and to pull his head out of the collar this shewes that such a person doth not desire that the Lord should do him good neither doth hee acknowledge the Lords wisedome and righteousnesse but seemeth to tell the Lord what hee thinkes were better for him And let him know that the Lord will either keep him in affliction longer then otherwise hee would or else that this affliction shall be but a fore-runner of some greater judgement Therefore let us not vexe or disquiet our selves in our afflictions and so make them more grievous unto us then the Lord would have them Lee us cast our selves upon the Lord and resolve to abide his pleasure and assure wee our selves that the longer wee are under his hand the more good he will do us and the better able we shall be to beare his hand You shall heare a new cart in the street which will squeak and make a noise if the least load that can be lie upon it whereas an old seasoned cart will go under a great weight and make no noise even so many a Christian not used to beare affliction will squeak and cry out upon every little trouble whereas hee that hath been seasoned long and exercised with afflictions undergoes many great and grievous ones cheerfully and contentedly Wert thou never in affliction untiil now then look up to the promises of God acquaint thy selfe with them and they will make thee cheerfull and thankfull for thy affliction It is my comfort in my trouble for thy promise hath quickened me Psal 119.50 Say as Sydrac Meshac and Abednego said our God whom wee serve is able to deliver us and hee will deliver us Hast thou been formerly afflicted and delivered let former deliverances confirm and strengthen thy faith in this present or future afflictions as it did Paul wee should not trust in our selves but in God Who delivered us from so great a death in whom we trust that yet hereafter hee will deliver us 2. Cor. 1.10 In the mean time resolve to tarry the Lords leisure consider not what now thou feelest but what good hereafter thou art like to find by thine afflictions Blesse God that hee will take this course with thee as Job said What is man that thou dost magnifie him and thou settest thine heart upon him And dost visit him every morning and triest him every moment We would take it as a great grace and honor if the King should every day send to know how we do but if hee should daily come in person to visit us how highly should wee think our selves honored It is thy case that art afflicted The King of Kings hath sent his servant nay comes with his servant to visite thee when he sendeth affliction unto thee Assure thy selfe he mindes thee nay sets his heart upon thee if he regarded not thy good and welfare hee would suffer thee to take thy swinge in sin but because he loveth thee he correcteth thee It is a truth the Lord hath spoken it As many as I love I rebuke and chasten bee zealous therefore and amend So be it FINIS 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Fervent Zeal what it is Doct. 1. The best have afflictions Affliction findeth out sinnes Iob 36 8 9 Affliction purges out sinne Affliction is physick for the soul Affliction preventeth sinne Affliction teacheth us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Affliction trieth the truth of grace in us Affliction doth fit us for Gods service Affliction teacheth us to prize Gods benefits Affliction weaneth us from the world Affliction stirs us up to prayer 0. Affliction quickneth our devotion Affliction coÌ„formeth us unto Christ Vita crucis vita lucis Affliction prepareth us for glory Censure not the afflicted How are we said to be conquerers when conquered 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Store thy self with comfort out of the word of God Break off thy sinnes by repentance Afflictions of the godly and wicked differ Seek to the Lord by prayer Comfort for the afflicted 1 Sam. 2.17 22. M. Culverwell of faith Desire to be with Christ Death how it may be desired Woe to those that are not afflicted Note Doct. 2. All our afflictions come from God God filleth both heaven and earth Againe it must needs be God worketh all things as he will All creatures are subject unto the Lord. Away with Fortune and luck 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God disposeth of all tempests Patient in afflictions 1 Helps to the patient bearing of affliction Our enemies are but the Lords rods to whip us Comfort for the afflicted God doth order our affliction Note Go to God for issue and deliverance Fero spero Note Vncheerfulnesse doth much hurt Doctr. 3. Perswasion of Gods love will helpe us to beare our affliction Because God will helpe our crosse God intends our good in afflicting us No misery can make Gods people miserable Nothing can separate us from God We learne from hence why we be so troubled with our affliction Note Be perswaded of Gods Love Tokens of Gods afflicting of us in love Note Doct. 4. The chiefe end of Gods afflicting us is the bettering of us By affliction wee come to know our selves Note By affliction wee come to judge aright of sinne Affliction makes us to feare God The feare of Gods is very profitable Wee do not make satisfaction by our afflictions Our stubbornnesse provoketh God to afflict us Amend by little else greater affliction will come Note Adde not affliction to the afflicted but pitty them Live by faith in affliction Be thankfull for affliction Note Dan. 3.17
The love of God and his truth and the hatred of every evill which tendeth to the dishonour of God or to the clouding or eclisping of his truth against which evils when the childe of GOD shall any way bestirre himself hee is said to be zealous for the Lord. So that to be zealous is to shew love to God and hatred of error and false wayes to be grieved at those things which may dishonour God or crosse his truth to oppose them with might and main and to the utmost of our power to resist them And amend or repent These words have relation to their Lukewarmnesse The Lord will have them to leave off their Lukewarmnesse to repent them of their sinfull temper being negligent and carelesse in good duties and promoting the glory of God Object But it may be demanded why the Lord doth here put zeal before repentance when as zeal is by Paul set down as a fruit and effect of repentance For writing unto the penitent Corinthians 2. Cor. 7.11 He saith Behold this thing that you have been godly sorry what care it hath wrought in you yea what zeal making zeal an effect of repentance Answ The meaning of the Lord in this place is to exhort the Laodiceans to the practice of that duty which they had altogether neglected being a lukewarme a remisse and carelesse people Therefore having before reproved them for their sinne of Lukewarmnesse he doth now exhort them to be zealous and not only so but to repent them of their former remisnesse The words of the verse may be thus metaphrased Those that are my dearest children my best beloved I do rebuke and convince of their sinnes yea as a loving father tendering their good I do in mercy correct and chastise them therefore see you be not so Lukewarme as heretofore you have been but shew more love to mee and my word and more hatred to error and evill wayes be grieved and sorry for your olde courses and amend your lives Come wee now to the raysing of some Instructions out of the words In that the Lord telleth the Laodiceans that he rebuketh and chasteneth as many as he loveth wee may in the first place from hence learn that None no not the best of Gods dear children are without their trials afflictions Man is born unto trouble as the sparkes flie upward Job 5.1 Affliction is the lot and portion of all Gods children It was a cup which Almighty God did temper and put into the hands of Christ his best beloved Sonne Shall I not drink of the cup which my father hath given me John 18.11 And in this cup Christ will have all his members to pledg him as appeareth Mat 20.23 Ye shall drink indeed of my cup and be baptized with the baptisme that I am baptized with Hence it is that Tryals and afflictions are by Paul called the marks of the Lord Jesus Gal. 6.17 I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus The crosse is Christ his badge and cognizance If any man will be my follower let him denie himself and take up his crosse daily and follow me Luke 9.23 The way wherein Christ went to glory was affliction and in this path all that shall be glorified with him must foot it after him for Acts. 14.22 Thorow many afflictions wee must enter into tho Kingdom of God The way to heaven and happinesse is not strewed with rushes or set with violets and roses but with briars and thorns it is not a milky but a thorny way not a faire broad smooth and easie but a narrow cragged crooked and crosse way through many difficulties and troubles As the children of Israel were evill intreated in Egypt groaned under heavy burdens sighed and cried for their bondage before they could be possessed of that land which flowed with milk and hony so must we know what troubles and sorrows mean before we come at our place of rest our spirituall and Heavenly Canaan True it is that some have but a few tryals in comparison of others yet the most have many and the best yea all have some for all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution 2. Tim. 3.12 Do you desire examples for the better setling and confirming you in the trueth of this point Sooner may I find where to begin then where or how to make an end therefore out of an heap and a cloud of witnesses I will take but an handfull some few drops Job was a holy man as the Lord himself hath witnessed of him Job 1.8 An upright and just man one that feared God and eschewed evill Yet how great were his tryals how sharp and bitter were his afflictions Stript of all his outward means brought unto a morsell of bread bereaved at one time of all his children and that by sudden death yea whiles they were eating and drinking not having it may be breathing time to call and cry for mercy Wee should take it to be a heavy judgement and think that the Lord were highly displeased with us if out of ten children some two or three of them should be made away by an untimely and sudden death but to be at one blow bereaved of all our children to lose ten at one clap where is the man that would lay his hand upon his mouth in so great a tentation and not murmurre against the Lord Besides the Lord came neerer to Job fighting against him with many personall terrors afflicting his body with aches and botches vexing his soul in the day time either with the words of a foolish woman his wife or with the biting and taunting speeches of some which came to visit him whereas in truth like miserable comforters Job 16.2 they came to vex and gall him And in the night time how was he tumbled and tossed up and down Job 7.4 for when he said My couch shall relieve me and my bed shall bring mee comfort then was hee feared with dreams and astonished with visions Job 7.13.14 So that he was a burthen to himself grew weary of his life cursing the day wherein he was born wishing that he had died in his birth that he might not have lived to see and feel the miseries and sorrows which he sustained David also was a man after Gods own heart 1. Sam. 13.14 Yet how sorely did the Lord almost all his life time exercise and afflict him Hee was daily punished and chastned every morning Psal 73.14 So as he roared day and night through extremity of grief his bones were consumed with sorrow and his moysture was like the drought in summer Betrayed by his false-hearted friends persecuted and pursued from place to place by Saul 1. Sam. 26.20 As one would hunt a partridge in the mountains And which went neerer him then any other troubles his sins excepted what heart-breaking sorrows did he sustain through the wickednesse of his children defiling each other murdering each other yea and most unnaturally seeking to depose him
rod or the stick hee cries out hee layes on tongue hee doth with all eagernesse and earnestnesse intreat for pardon or no moe stripes even so when wee feel the smart of Gods rod whipping of us there is an edge set upon our prayers wee pray not in that drowsie and sleepy manner wee did before This appears by that which David speakes Psal 88.9 Mine eye mourneth by reason of affliction Lord I have called upon thee I have stretched out my hands unto thee In their affliction they will seek me diligently saith the Lord. Hos 5.15 You may observe many a dog sleeping in the chimney corner which will not arise when he is spoken unto but if you spill but a drop or two of any scalding liquor upon him he is up and is gone he cries and laies on tongue Thus the Lord by affliction awakens his children so as they call upon him in a more lively manner then formerly they have done If you peruse the Psalmes of David you shall find that very many if not most of them were penned in the time of triall and affliction And the sharper his afflictions were the more fervent and earnest were his petitions unto the Lord Out of the depths have I cryed Psal 130.1 The lower hee was brought by affliction the higher was he in prayer crying out unto the Lord. Thus was it with his forefathers in the dayes of the Judges the greater their danger was the more instant and earnest were they in prayer unto the Lord. To give you one instance The children of Israel were sore troubled and vexed by the Ammonites whereupon they cryed unto the Lord for help but the Lord gave them a cold answere saying unto them Ye have forsaken me and served other Gods wherefore I will deliver you no more Goe and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen let them save you in the time of your tribulation Judges 10.13 14. Whereupon they confessed their sinnes made hast to put away their strange gods from among them then they will lay on tongue unto the Lord beseeching him that he would do unto them whatsoever he pleased Onely wee pray thee deliver us this day Judg. 10.15 Thus I have made it evident that afflictions are very needfull to drive us unto the Lord in prayer yea to make us amend our pace to double both our diligence and our fervency in prayer Therefore If any be afflicted let him pray Wee highly dishonor God and wrong our selves if wee seek not unto the Lord in our troubles Call upon me in the day of trouble so will I deliver thee and thou shalt glorifie me Psal 50.15 Wee must make our afflictions our arguments to move God to deliver us as David did Psal 25.16 Turn thy face unto mee and haue mercy upon me for I am desolate and poore Reas 11 Eleventhly the Lord doth thus afflict his deare children to make them conformable unto Christ who though he were without sinne yet was he not without affliction If then affliction be a meanes of purging out sinne and refining of us as formerly we have heard then it is needfull wee be afflicted that wee may be made more like unto Christ both in sufferings and in righteousnesse The life of the crosse is the life of light Christ was the light of the world and his life was in a sort a continuall crosse Was it thus in the green tree and shall it not be so in the dry was the head thus continually exercised and should the body go free especially when all the sufferings of Christ were for our sake either suffering for us or to teach us patience by his example or to sanctifie our afflictions unto us God will have all his elect to be made like to the image of his Sonne Rom. 8.29 Not onely in holinesse and obedience but also in sufferings Wee must know the fellowship of his afflictions and be made conformable unto his death Phil. 3.10 Not any that shall reigne with Christ can be exempted or priviledged from suffering with him If any man will follow me let him denie himselfe and take up his crosse daily and follow me Luke 9.23 Yea the dearer and nearer unto him wee be in love the more conformable must wee expect to be made unto him in-affliction For the bearing of the crosse is a part of our tenure or holding of Christ himselfe as may be gathered out of that place last quoted Luk. 9. Christ himselfe held by this tenure Luke 24.26 Ought not Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into his glory And as any of Gods children have obtained a more evident right and cleare title unto this inheritance or as any hereafter shall obtain therein a greater portion of glory then other by so much the more strictly are they tied and bound to observe the custom of the Mannor For God hath predestinated us as I said even now to bee made like to the image of his Sonne first in his sufferings then in his glory for we an heires annexed with Christ if so be that we suffer with him that we may be also glorified with him Rom. 8.17 The end of the Lord his hewing and squaring of us by affliction is to make us lively stones of that spirituall house 1. Pet. 2.5 so that we may be joyned with Christ the chiefe corner stone 1. Pet. 2.6 unto whom wee be made conformable by affliction And againe 2. Tim. 2.12 If we suffer wee shall also reign with him Hence it is that James saith chap. 1.12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation for when he is tryed he shall receive the crown of life which the Lord bath promised to them that love him Therefore such as go without correction whereof all the Lords people are partakers cannot be conformable unto Christ for hee was consecrated through afflictions Hebr. 2.10 Hee was a man full of sorrows and had experience of infirmities Esa 53.3 He was in all things tempted as we are that so hee might both have a feeling of our infirmities and also succour us in them for in that hee suffered and was tempted hee is able to succour them that are tempted Hebr. 2.18 Reas 12 Lastly not to keep you any longer in laying down of moe reasons the Lord doth afflict his children in this life that they may not perish in another life When wee are judged wee are chastened of the Lord because wee should not be condemned with the world 1. Corin. 11.32 Prosperity immunity and freedom from afflictions ease liberty and fulnes is the broad way which leadeth to death and condemnation Hence it is that our blessed Saviour hath pronounced woe to those that are rich woe to those that live in fulnesse woe to those that live merriy c. Luke 6.24 25. Now because Gods children doe naturaly linger after these earthly delights and comforts the Lord in great mercy doth hedge up our wayes with thornes Hos 2.6 Hee will have us to
were increased I have done these things unto thee Thus visiting even the best of his children with the rods of men yea and sometimes scourging their transgressions with whips of scorpions which hath made them roar through anguish and to cry night and day through extremity of gtiefe For if a man will sinne God will yea must punish unlesse hee should let us perish for hee that spareth the rod hateth his sonne but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes Prov. 13.24 Bee not therefore ventrous in sinning Though Israel transgresse yet let not Judah sinne Hos 4.15 The Lord hateth sinne wheresoever hee sees it and will sooner punish it in his deare children then in the wicked although hee will not do it with that rigor wrath and severitie wherewith hee plagues the wicked They are the people by whom his name is called upon of his houshold his servants friends sonnes yea his beloved spouse and therefore do not only shame themselves by sinning but highly dishonour God their Lord their father The lewd prankes which rogues commit in streets or vagrant persons by high-way sides do not redound to the reproach of the housholder but if any of his family especially son or daughter do grow outragious hee thinkes his credit is neerly touched and it is a matter which much concerns him to look unto Even so the prophane and licentious lives of open and notorious sinners do not so much dishonor God therefore many times he lets them have their swinge and take their course but if such as make profession of piety and truth will be bold with sinne whereby the mouthes of the wicked are opened and the name of God blasphemed the Lord if he love such and purpose to save them will not suffer them to go unpunished For as the Lord is zealous of maintaining his own glory and will have it known to men and Angels that he is no patron of sinne or sinners but will punish the wicked sinning be they never so great neither will he give alowance unto iniquitie in the godly be they never so good so also is he tender of the good of his children and therefore must not suffer them to go on in sinne which they would do if the Lord should nor restrain them being so ready to cast themselves into perils if they be but a while exempted from affliction Therefore let none of Gods children say I am safe and farre enough from correction because sure of salvation If thou beest bold with sinne thou maiest fall into sore affliction in this life though thou beest in a state of happinesse for the life to come As appeareth by old Eli whose sonnes wickednesse which hee connived at when as he should have sharply punished it was in the eye and mouth of all Israel so that Gods glory should have been much wronged and his name as much blasphemed as his offerings were abhorred if they had escaped unpunished No doubt but Eli repented him of his sinne but this might not quit him from temporall judgement The chastisements of the Almightie are many times deadly though the sinne be remitted by which the Lord was provoked God had said that the wickednesse of Elies house should not be purged with sacrifice for ever 1. Sam. 3.14 Repentance doth not alwayes free us from outward afflictions Freedom from damnation doth not free a man from affliction What punishment unlesse it bee eternall torments in hell fire can any of Gods children think to escape unlesse he will forbeare such sinnes as provoke the Lord to wrath against him David was as far from damnation if wee consider Gods purpose and decree as the devill is from salvation yet you have heard how his afflictions made him roare and roare againe Obje If it be thus that upon every sinne the Lord is thus ready to afflict his children may bee demanded what priviledg the godly have more then the wicked or what difference there is betwixt them seeing the one must be corrected and punished as well if not before or more then the wicked if they do sinne Answer Surely the child of God hath no more rather lesse liberty and priviledge to sin then the wicked Yet there is a great deal of difference in their afflictions For though all things fall alike to both in respect of the evills themselves as the childe of God may perish through famine fall by the sword die of the pestilence c. Yet in respect of the effects and ends of these outward evills there is great difference betwixt them For their nature is much altered and there is as much difference betwixt the afflictions of the Godly and the wicked as is betwixt poison corrected and rectified by the arte and skill of the Physitian that so it may be medicinable and wholsome and that poison which remains in its naturall temper The Lord in afflicting his children doth it with a father-like heart and hand in mildnesse and mercy to amend and better them Whereas hee correcteth the wicked with the rod of his wtath in justice and severity to plague and torment them The wicked shall be cast away for bis malice but the righteous hath hope in his death Pro. 14.32 In respect of the wicked the Prophet Nahum 1.2 speaks thus God is jealous and the Lord revengeth even the Lord of anger the Lord will take vengeance on his adversaries and he reserveth wrath for his enemies Loe here is anger wrath and vengeance belonging to the wicked Whereas in respect of the godly Mica 7.18 19. speakes thus He taketh away iniquitie and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage Hee retaineth not his wrath for ever because mercy pleaseth him Hee will turn againe and have compassion upon us hee will subdue our iniquities and cast all our sinnes into the bottom of the sea By which places it appeares that afflictions are nothing but the messengers of Gods wrath the rods of his indignation the arrows of his vengeance to plague and punish the wicked for their sinnes and to give them an earnest and taste of those endlesse torments which they have purchased by their wickednes Whence ariseth in them feare and terror horror of conscience rage and desperation Whereas to his children afflictions are tokens of the tender and father-like care the Lord hath of them they are cords of his love to draw them neerer unto him Yea they be badges of their adoption For whom the Lord loveth hee chasteneth and scourgeth every sonne that hee receiveth Hebr. 12.6 And this bringeth forth the quiet fruit of righteousnesse to them that are thereby exercised Again the Lord takes pleasure in avenging the wickednesse of the wicked upon their own pates I will ease me of mine adversaries and avenge me of mine enemies Esay 1.24 And not only so but I will laugh at their destruction and mock when their fear commeth Prov. 1.26 Whereas it is a grief unto him to afflict his people His soul was grieved for the
of whom I spake even now being brought to that extreame want that hee would faine have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eate but no man gave him them then hee came to himselfe Luk. 15 16 17. Being before as it were out of his right wits that is ignorant of that miserable and wicked condition into which through sinne he had brought himselfe How many of Gods people have forgotten the Lord and themselves untill such time as the Lord hath remembred them with some affliction wee never come to a thorow understanding and knowledge of our own hearts untill affliction hath gaged and sounded them In prosperitie wee can carry our selves moderately and cheerefully towards God and man for the corruption that is within us lieth still and is not stirred and therefore not seene or discerned as the stinking smell and savor of some dunghill or bumby is kept in and not smelled untill it be stirred but if once you meddle with it then it casts up those stinking vapors that are in it even so let God lay affliction upon us then that corruption which before lay hid is now manifested Wee never come to make experience as was said before of our impatience testinesse rebellion infidelity love of the world and the like untill affliction come unto us Wee are so blinded with selfe-conceit and privie pride that when wee heare of or see others distempered with affliction wee can be ready to condemne them and in our own breasts justifie our selves and thinke that wee would beare out the affliction more manfully then so if the same or the like should befall us Whereupon the Lord to humble us and take us down sendeth us some affliction or other that so wee may thinke no better of our selves then there is just cause for when affliction comes wee can doubt of Gods promise wee can question his Providence wee can murmurre and repine or at the least hang down the head in a discontented and suâ—len manner as if wee had neither faith nor hope nor any dramme of grace in us Reason 2 Secondly by affliction wee come to judge aright of sinne as well as of our selves It is that which will make sinne as heinous and odious in our own view as it is in its own nature Did not the God of this world cast a mist before our eyes or else shew us our sinnes in false glasses wee would be so farre from pleasing our selves with any sinne that upon the committing of it wee would cry out with the leper in the law I am unclean I am unclean Lev. 13.45 Wee would abhorre our selves in dust and ashes if wee saw how loathsome sinne hath made us in Gods eye and this wee seldome see but when affliction opens our eyes Indeed afflictions of themselves can not do this it is the Word of God which inlightens us and brings us to the knowledge of our estates But wee seldome find instructions to enter home untill afflictions have sharpned them Those that live in prosperitie ease and fulnesse are ready to passe by rebukes and to slight reproofe as unseasonable and as that which belongs not unto them but when the chastisements of God have seazed upon them awakened their consciences and mollified and humbled their hearts then rebukes have a keener edge and pierce more deeply Instructions are the light that guides us in the way but corrections joyned with them do make our eye-sight more cleere and cause us more heedfully to follow the directions of the Word Affliction makes us to heed that which before wee regarded not As our eares are opened by correction which were formerly sealed Job 33.16 so also our eyes are enlightned which were formerly darkned After the Lord had smitten down Paul to the ground as hee was journeying towards Damascus it is said that there sell from his eyes as it had been scales and suddenly hee received sight and arose and was baptized Acts 9.18 untill affliction had seized upon Paul hee could never be brought to see the oudiousnesse of his sinnes If the Lord should alwayes sit still and never come forth to judge us for our sinnes many would not only flatter themselves in their evill wayes not only justifie themselves but condemne the Lord in being ready to thinke that the Lord himselfe were well enough pleased with them and their practise These things thou hast done and I held my tongue therefore thou thoughtest that I was like thee but I will reprove thee and set them in order before thee Psal 50.21 Impunity and prosperity makes many think that sinne is not so dangerous a thing nor so foul an evill as many Preachers would beare them in hand it is whereupon they take heart and are emboldned to the committing of sin and continuing in it as the Preacher saith Eccle. 8.11 Because sentence against an evill worke is not executed speedily therefore the heart of the children of men is fully set in them to do evill Whereupon to beat us out of these wicked conceits the Lord sendeth some affliction or other home unto us to be an eye-salve to anoint our eyes that wee may see both the nature and the danger of our sinnes how odious and hateful they are unto the Lord How noxious and hurtfull they will one day prove unto us if by speedy repentance we do not turn away from them especially from those sinnes for which chiefly the Lord doth afflict us Naturally wee are all children of darknesse so blind and blockish that many know not like blindfolded people who smote them nor yet wherefore they are smitten In afflictions for the most part wee are like blind men or those that grope up and downe in the dark to feele the doore but cannot find the way out It is a master-peece of Satans pollicie to delude our understandings and judgements with carnall reasonings that so when God afflicts us to bring us unto the sight of our sinne wee should either hold on our old course or else do more wickedly by not seeing and so not amending that sinne for which we are punished that by sinne wee might be plunged into punishment and for want of repentance our punishment continued increased Object But how may I be certified what sinne it is for which I am corrected of the Lord Answ First of all look upon thine affliction and weigh well with thy selfe the nature and quality of the same for oft times the Lord meets with us in our own kind and paies us home with judgements sutable unto our sins Adonibezek had cut of the thumbs of the hands and feet of divers Kings and therefore God rewarded him as hee had done to others Judges 1.7 If David will kill Vriah with the sword the sword shall never depart from his house 1. Samu. 12.9 10. Thus wee see how the Lord oft times meets with sinners in the same kind wherein they have sinned what may wee say is the cause of this sore and baiting famine
walk stubbornly againist us and he will also chastise us seven times more accordng to our sinnes Lev. 26.28 If lighter afflictions wil not serve the turn greater shall The Lord came to Ephraim first like a moth Hos 5.18 you know that a moth though it be a noxious and hurtfull creature yet if it bee looked unto betimes the harme is little which it doth and the breach or hole which it maketh may easily be darned up again Thus dealt the Lord at first with Ephraim hee did favorably and gently afflict them but this salve was not strong enough to take down their proud flesh yet would not Ephraim bee healed nor cured of her wound Therfore saies the Lord I will be unto Ephraim as a Lyon Hos 5.13 14 A Lyon we know rents teares where he comes so the Lord when gentle meanes will not serve the turne comes like a Lyon with tearing and devouring judgments God when he see good to exercise his power will make the proudest Pharoah the stoutest sinner to stoop and yeeld else he will not spare to follow them with one judgment upon the neck of another All these curses shall come upon thee and shall pursue thee and overtak◠thee till thou be destroied Deu. 28.45 Consider what is spoken by the Prophet Nahum 1.9 What do ye imagine against the Lord he will make an utter destruction affliction shall not rise up the second time The Lord tarrieth long before he comes to smite his enemies he forbeareth much but when his patience is abused then he oft times gives a deady blow The spirit of the Lord did a long time strive with man in the daies of Noah but when their sinnes began to bee multiplied against the patience and long suffering of the Lord When the Lord savv that the vvickednesse of man vvas great in the earth and that al the imaginatiō of the thoughts of his heart vvere onely evill continually Gens 6.5 Then the Lord could beare with them no longer then the Lord comes with his sweeping judgment destroying from the earth the man vvhom he had created from man to beast to the creeping thing and to the sowle of the heaven vers 7. The Lord suffered Sodom Gomorrah so long that the cry of their sins did ring up to heaven but at length the Lord was even with them and paied them home for all their wickednes destroying them with fire and brimston from heaven Many other such like examples might be brought to shew how the Lord comes out against sinners at last with sweeping and devouring judgements if they will not take warning by lesser ones The history of the Jevvs a people sometime as deare unto God as the apple of his eye and as neere unto him as the signet on his right hand doth plainly teach us how severely the Lord at last deales with stiffe obstinate and impenitent sinners The favors the benefits which God bestowed upon them the priviledges which they injoyed were above all the nations of the world yet for all this did they above all other people provoke the Lord to anger against them They mocked the messenger of God they despised his Word and misused his Prophets untill the vvrath of the Lord rose against them and there vvas no remedy 2. Chron. 16.26 They did not onely kill the Prophets and stone those that were sent unto them but they crucified the Lord of life Acts 3.15 Yea and preferred a murderer before him provoking the Lord so long as hee could endure them no more and therefore hee sends against them Titus the son of Vespatian the Roman Emperour who besiged and sacked the City of Jerusalem and made such havock of the people as is most lamentable to heare of It is reported that they were besiged so long as many thousands of them perished through the famine and many of them isuing forth in hope either to escape or to finde mercy with their enemies were most cruelly hanged upon crosses and gibbets set up before their walls 500. of them somtimes hanged in one day so long untill there was no more space left unto them for execution The number of dead carcases carried out of the Citie for want of buriall to be cast into the ditches if wee will credit histories was numberlesse for at one of their gates the keeper thereof took the the tale of one hundred and fifty thousand dead bodies Nay through the exttemity of famine they were driven to eate their old shooes the dung of their stables and the fruit of their own loynes And after all this thousands of them murdered by the sword and many moe thousands carried into captivity to be a spectacle to all succeeding ages of Gods indignation and wrath against them And these things are recorded for our good that wee may not dare to stand it our against the Lord but speedily to amend upon the first warning and blow given us else the Lord will not give over but come with seven times more and greater judgemenes against us If wee belong unto the Lord hee will never leave afflicting till wee cease provoking him If wee be beloved of God hee will still follow us with correction till wee fall to unfained and sound humiliation repentance For we shall never be able to overcome the Lord and make him give over by our stubbornnesse and resisting his blow but by falling down and yeelding unto him The sturdy oke is rent and torne in pieces by the tempest when poore and weak reeds stand still by yeelding and bowing There is no standing out against the Lord no resisting by force of armes what is a silly sheep to grapple with a Lion The sooner wee yeeld and turn from our evill wayes the readier will the Lord be to repent him of that evill which otherwise hee will surely bring upon us Thou that by the Word of God and by loving and gentle correction canst not be perswaded to leave thy sinne must know that if thou belongest to God hee will never leave following of thee with one affliction upon the neck of another untill hee hath his will of thee What may wee then think of those that are little or nothing at all amended and bettered by any judgements that have befallen them assuredly if they be such as belong to the Lord hee is preparing of sharper Physick for them if they be none of his it may be hee will give them over to their own hearts lust and reserue them unto those eternall and unavoydable torments of the second death Vse 4 Fourthly is it so doth God correct his children for their great good let us then beware of doing them hurt by persecuting those whom the Lord doth smite lest we adde afflict on unto the afflicted and this wee do when wee shall either uncharitably censure or deride and scoffe at those that are afflicted or else in our mindes contemn and scorne them because it pleaseth the Lord in love for their great good to humble
companions of our sorrow to have those that fellow-feele with us cannot but be a comfort to any that are in misery Little do you think what refreshing if not ease it is to one in affliction to heare or see another to pittie his case to weep with those that weep and mourn with those that mourn doth excedingly abate though not remove and take away the smart of their affliction We shall be the more ready and willing to put forth our hand of comfort to lift our neighbor out of the ditch if wee consider how soone his case may be ours and our selves before it be long may stand in as much need of pitty and comfort as our neighbor now doth What measure you meat it shall be measured to you againe Matt. 7.2 Therefore denie not unto the afflicted any comfort which thou art able to afford him But above all beware as I said before of insulting over those that are afflicted This was the sinne of the Edomites which the Lord reproveth and threatneth by the Prophet Obadiah Thou shouldest not have rejoyced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction neither shouldest thou have spoken proudly in the day of their affliction As thou hast done it shall be done to thee thy reward shall returne upon thine head Obadiah vers 15. The Lord will not have any to solace themselves with others sorrow nor make themselves merry at others misery though hee were our enemie Bee not thou glad when thine enemie falleth and let not thine heart rejoyce when hee stumbleth least the Lord see it and it displeaseth him and hee turn his wrath from him towards thee Prov. 24.17 18. But rather pitty those that are afflicted and then no doubt but the Lord will stirre up the hearts of others to extend mercy and bowels of compassion towards thee when thou art in affliction And if there be no man to pittie thee here the Lord himselfe will most certainly remember and recompense thy kindnesse hereafter in that day wherein hee will reward every one according to his workes and will say unto the mercifull Come yee blessed of my Father inherit yee the kingdome prepared for you from the foundation of the World for I was an hungry and yee gave me meat I thirsted and yee gave me drink I was a stranger and yee lodged me I was naked and yee clothed me I was sicke and yee visited mee I was in prison and yee came unto mee for as much as wee have done these things to the least beleever yea if wee do them to a bad liver for Christs sake wee have done them unto Christ who will abundantly recompense us Vse 5 Fiftly is this the end of God afflicting of us that hee may better us Then let faith perswade thy heart and wait in hope of a blessed and happy issue and end of thy affliction Though thou hast not wisedome enough to make good use of thy chastisments yet thy God who is perfect wisedome will make good his promise and perfect his own handy-wotke so as if thou beleeve thou shalt finde thy selfe one day much bettered by thy affliction If thou beleeve thou wilt patiently wait for the fulfilling of Gods promise a beleeving patient had rather be held to a long and continuall course of physick in hope of future health then to be in danger of his life by interrupting his course of Physick And for asmuch as our understandings are exceedingly blinded through ignorance and selfe love and much darkned with fleshly lusts as you shal see a looking glasse to be sometime covered with dust that we can neither see what is amisse in our selves nor yet amend on the suden what we find amis in us we had need to exercise our faith in praier in patience to wait for the accomplishing of that good the Lord intends us by afflicting us For as God prescribes the physick so he must cause it to work blesse it unto us we of our selves are like children who being taken in som fault and feeling the smart of the rod are ready to promise amendment but presently forget both the fault the punishment and our promise Faith will teach us not only to beg grace from God to amend our lives but also help and strength from him to walke more closly with him For as no force of the hammer can worke the Iron unto any forme unlesse it be softned by the fire even so afflictions will beat in vaine upon us until God by his spirit molifie and soften these hard hearts of ours and teach us to profit by our afflictions And although thou dost not presently finde or feel that good to be wrought in thee which the Lord intendeth yet live by faith and wait with patience and in the end thou shalt confesse that God hath shewed thee his love made good his promise and much bettered thee by afflicting thee Vse 6 Lastly if the end of Gods afflicting of us bee the bettering of us be wee then both thankfull to the Lord for our afflictions and joyfull in them Suppose thou wert fallen into some dangerous pit or quagmyre in danger of perishing wouldst thou not be glad to see any comming neere to help thee wouldest not bee thankfull to that person that should bee a meanes of thy deliverance though it were by putting some hook into thy flesh which may for the present hurt and wound thee Sinne is a dangerous pit and gulfe wherein many soules do perish When the Lord afflicts thee he doth cast a cord unto thee to lay hold of or it may bee hee strikes some hooke into thy flesh some sore affliction by which he desires to pull thee out of thy sinne hast thou not then great cause of thanks and rejoycing offered unto thee when the Lord afflicteth thee If wee had wisedome and understanding to consider aright of Gods goodnesse and love toward us there would be more thanks for and cheerfulnesse in affliction and lesse repining and mourning amongst us then there is If wee were not poysoned with infidelity and distrust it could not be but wee should be more joyfull in afflictions and thankfull for them then wee many times seeme to bee Some when the hand of God is upon them are like to a man cast into a deep lethergie which is a drousie and forgetfull sicknesse when the use of memory and reason is almost or altogether taken from us so they are like stocks and stones insensible of their afflictions they have neither hearts nor eyes to consider of or see their sinnes which have pulled this judgment upon them nor yet the end which God aimes at in smiting them And there be other some of a contrary temper and these are like to a man in a phrensie hee rages and stormes if not blasphems the hand of God upon him kicking and spurning against the Lord unwilling to beare that burthen the Lord is willing should lye upon him of both these sorts of people the