on them When God hath done for a season pouring down his favours upon them in that large measure as heretofore they have done also Praising of Him till the next convenient opportunity If God turn his hand they can turn their tongues from Thanksgiving to Quarrelling from Praise to Discontent if not Blasphemy and Cursing You may assure your selves this is quite another thing than true Religion For 2. This Doctrine plainly sheweth us That 't is our Duty to Love God for himself and all Creatures in Subordination to him For here you see the Religious Edomite Job Loving and Praising his God when he had hardly a Creature-comfort left him to converse pleasantly with and what should hinder He good man loved the Creature but as a step by which he may ascend to the Creator and if that were took away he needed it not if the Lord would stoop to his Soul or lift up his Soul to himself And indeed if we see any more than a subordinate relative usâ—fulness in the Creature 't is because the Devil hath set up a false light in our Souls and if we delight in the creature principally for any other reason than because they help us to Know and Love God we prostitute our Souls to an Idol If it be our Duty to Love and Praise God when he strips us of Creature-Comforts then surely we are to Love Him for Himself and His Creatures in a direct subordination to Him when we have them we should rejoyce more that God is Glorified by His Bounty to us than that we are accommodated and when he takes them away we should rejoyce that he is Glorified by His Sovereingty over us though we be not accommodated 3. This teacheth us That there is no such worth in Creature-enjoyments as we usually imagine That all things that God hath made are very good having the footsteps of Divine Power Wisdom and Goodness imprinted on them is past all question and I readily grant and that there is a suitable agreeing convenicy in the good things of this life to mans necessities in this Animal state I cannot deny but that the creatures in themselves and with respect to Man are less good than prejudiced Sinners do usually conceive is certain from Scripture and daily experience in as much as the one frequently tells us they are all vanity and the other as frequently finds it so Yet men pursue them I mean Meat Drink Estates Yokefellows c. as furiously as if they were undone if they had them not and enjoy them so extravagantly and abusively as if they had no other good to spend their Souls upon which if it were true God would never make it our Duty to part with them with rejoycing as he doth in this Text and in the 1 Thes 5.16 18. That there is less good in the Creature therefore than we usually think is evident from this that it may be our interest to be without them and our Duty to Bless God when he takes them away O that this may abide for ever upon your hearts 4. This shews That 't is the truest Wisdom to get an heart mortified to the World I mean to have one's Soul possess an even Spiritual temper in all revolutions of Providence so as not to be charmed or inveigled with the delights of Prosperity or be disturbed or grieved at the little annoyances of adversity Must we Bless and Praise and Love God when he takes away our comforts then surely 't is our Wisdom not to be excessively pleased when he gives them 'T is certainly a Vanity to Love the Presence of that much which with chearfulness we must bid farewell the next time the Giver calls for it he lives most rationally that lives most soberly with respect to Creature-Comforts because as he best relisheth the Sweetness of them and most perfectly knows the true tast of them so he is best fitted to manage his Duty at their departure If a man with Micah 18 Judges 24. Converts his Gold and Silver into a God no wonder if he run crying like a mad man after the Idol when the true God takes it away Whereas the Spiritual Heavenly Soul can easily part with it because he knew it and comparatively despised it before 5. This shews us that 't is an Evil to indulge a Grief at the loss of Earthly comforts I have told you already that the Text doth not prescribe a stupid Stoicism But to admit a Grief too near or entertain it too long for any Creature is unbecoming a Servant of Christ and a Professor of Religion to sorrow as those without hope as in 1 Thes 4.13 is expressed is certainly a very great Sin let the loss be what it will when persons sorrow is so great that it breaks their Spirits unfits them for Communion with God and destroys their Health when they Grieve as if they were undone c. this is certainly very evil or else when persons have never done Grieving but like foolish Jonah think they do well to be angry with God yea to be angry to the death as in Jon. 3.9 this is Horrid and Abominable How far are such persons from the right frame Sinners take but little notice of this thing but certainly where this frame doth prevail it bespeaks a great deal of untamed pride in a Person and signifies that there is very little Grace if any at all in such a Soul A Godly Soul may be surprized and or ever he is aware carried far into an extravagant passion of Grief but usually is somewhat composed after the first storm but a long tedious fixed Grief for the loss of any Creature shews either that the Soul never knew any thing greater than his Creature-comforts or else that he is very much sunk into a Spiritual distemper and for the present hath forgot the relish of Divine Consolation I now pass to the last Use and it is this 2. Carefully endeavour to dispose your selves to entertain Afflictive Providences as you ought by conceiving congruously of them aforehand My Brethren You are in a good measure ready for the bitterest Providence and fitted to receive the saddest Revolution whatever if you habitually conceive aright of an afflicted state I mean if you usually hit the nature and end of such Providences in your apprehensions about them The Evils of this life as they are managed for the Godly are not by far so dreadful when fully understood as at first sight they did appear certainly the reason why good Christians tremble at the approach of Temporal Evils is because they do not know them as heretofore the Poor Disciples cryed out when Christ came on the Sea to them as if a destroying Devil had been coming aboard the Ship whereas when they knew who 't was one of them dares go upon the waters that he may meet him Many times a Godly Soul looketh upon an approaching Calamity with Consternation and Terrour that he entertains with Profit and reviews with unspeakable Pleasure and
indeed in whom there was no guile Reverend Sir I cannot but presume That you will readily grant upon a Supposition that this Account is true as God knoweth it is That he was a very good man and consent That his Name should be kept alive and his good Example recorded for others Imitation For this End I have adventured thus to appear in Publick by Printing this well-meaning poor Discourse which I humbly lay at your Feet as a Token of my unfeigned Gratitude for your undeserved Love to me The Lord recompence you Bless this Essay to the Souls of them that shall read it and incline your Heart to Pray for London May 8. 1691. SIR Your Obliged Humble Servant HENRY CHANDLER JOB I. 21. The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away blessed be the name of the Lord. THE Words acquaint us with the incomparable good Temper of Soul that Religious Job possessed in the midst of an unparallell'd Affliction His case was thus A most tremendous Hurricane of Providence had overturned and swept away almost all his earthly Comforts his Oxen and Asses were seiz'd by the Saheans his Sheep destroyed by Lightning his Camels carried away by the Caldeans his Servants slain and which was worst of all his dearer Children unhappily taken away in the midst of their Mirth and the terrible Advice hereof brought him in Parcels by Messengers one upon the heels of another in one day A thing so dreadful that at first sight one would think it was a Conspiracy of Providence to make as great and dismal Destruction amongst his Graces within as it did amongst his Goods and Chattels and Children without and indeed this was the design of Satan but not of God as will appear to the serious Considerer of the meek and composed Remark he makes upon the Providence in the Words of my Text The Lord c. where he doth not only implicitly acquit God of all Unrighteousness or Cruelty but expressly praise and bless him A frame of heart as signally and wonderfully holy as God's Providence was dreadful and astonishing I shall consider this Practice of Job not only as a matter of History but as an example of Piety proposed to us by the Holy Ghost for our imitation And then they afford us this Observation Doct. Every Christian is indispensibly obliged to bless the afflicting taking God I shall endeavour to give you the Sense manifest the Truth and shew you the Usefulness of this Doctrine In the Explication of the Doctrine I shall first prevent some mistakes and shew what is not the Sense of it As 1. This Doctrine doth not mean that we should love our Afflictions for their own sake Malum qua malum non est appetibile I humbly conceive that this is impracticable and our Religion obliges us not to the Practice of things absolutely imposible as is the loving any Evil as Evil Pain Loss Poverty Sickness or Death cannot be loved for themselves 't is repugnant even to innocent Nature Christ Jesus himself could not practice it as we are taught by that Expression Matth. 26.39 If it be possible let this cup pass from me Neither 2. Doth this Doctrine designedly plead for a Stoical impenetrableness as tho it were a Virtue to be insensible of and unconcerned at the Afflictions of Providence this is very alien from the Sense of the Holy Ghost the Frame of Job or the Design of this Sermon As the first is impracticable this is inhumane if not impracticable too for by the way I think as few of the Stoicks arrived to their admired Apathy as Quakers to their pretended Perfection However to entertain the Rebukes of Providence with a moderate proportioned sorrowful Resentment I account virtuous and commendable Job himself expresseth somewhat of this nature by rending his Mantle shaving his Head and falling down upon the ground And God teacheth us this Lesson by creating us with a Disposition to grieve when his Providences call for it for God maketh nothing in vain then what need of Water and Sluices if the one must never run nor the other ever be drawn But affirmatively the Doctrine doth intend 1. When God afflicts us by taking away from us we must carefully prevent or suppress all quarrelling Discontent we are bound to see that there be no Rebels in our Hearts that find fault with God or that rise up and charge him foolishly 't is our Duty to keep the King of Heaven's Peace in our Souls at such times to watch carefully againgst Tumults and Mutinies in our Hearts which are ever and anon apt to rise at the least Provocation imaginable yea many times when there is none given at all Here I conceive are two things to be minded 1. In all our Afflictions we must take heed that we do not rashly and proudly call our God to account concerning his Providences for he is infinitely above us and who dare say unto him What doest thou Job 9.12 If we cannot understand the Wisdom or Usefulness of his Methods Watson we must silently adore where we cannot fathom and patiently wait till he unvail them The Examination of a God is not the Province of a Creature though we may humbly enquire for our own Instruction yet we may not proudly ask for Examination This is more than his Angels ever durst pretend to 2. We must be as careful that in our Judgment made upon his Providence we reflect not upon his Attributes In the Language of Scripture that we do not attribute Folly to God we may not in any case think that God hath forgot himself or acts unlike himself for if we should 't would be nothing less than speaking Blasphemy in our Hearts whose Words are as audible to God as those of our Mouths If I mistake not the Religious Aaron lived both these Particulars when being afflicted severely by the Lord in the Death of his two Sons Lev. 10.3 He held his peace his profound silence loudly speaking a Resolution in him not to examine nor impeach the Great and Holy God 2. Our blessing the afflicting taking God includeth a readiness in us to proclaim the Righteousness and Justice of all his afflictive Dispensations In all our Distresses and Sorrows 't is our Duty to think and acknowledge that God hath not wronged us by exceeding the demerits of our Sins but that we truly deserve the strokes we smart under be they never so many thus the poor afflicted Church of the Jews acknowledgeth and so will every gracious Soul and thus doth Job himself If I justify my self Ezra 9.13 Job 9.20 mine own mouth shall condemn me If I say I am perfect it shall also prove me perverse A gracious heart will justify God tho by so doing he unavoidably throws dirt in his own face he desires to honour God by Confession tho it be to his own disparagement as he rejoyces to see the Sun rise tho it put out the Moon and all the Stars 3.
Our blessing the afflicting taking God includeth our absolute Subjection to his Sovereign will Here be two things 1. 'T is our duty to believe that God ought to have an unlimited Dominion over us and ours to use and dispose as seemeth good to him this is an acknowledging of God's right Thus Job confesseth Behold he taketh away who can hinder him who will say unto him what doest thou Job 9.12 Which words describe to us not only God's irresistible Power but his unquestionable Authority none can none ought to oppose him now in our Afflictions especially we should firmly believe this That God may take away our Yoke-fellows Children Health Estates or what he please from us 't is his Right to dispose of us and ours 2. 'T is our duty freely and fully to consent that God shall exercise this Dominion over us and ours The first Particular I told you was an acknowledging of God's right This second is a rendring him his due The one we learn by the Light of Nature the other is only performed by the help of Special Grace We should unreservedly devote all our Comforts to his Sovereign disposal lay all our Enjoyments by sincere resignation at his feet as the Disciples did the Price of their Estates at the Feet of the Apostles Acts 4.35 When God cometh for any one of thy Comforts 't is thy Duty Christian like Araunah the Jebusite to give like a King 2 Sam. 24.23 unto thy King the Lord of Hosts thou shouldest say to God as he to David Let my Lord take 1 Sam. 3.18 and offer up to his own will what seemeth good unto him Thus the good old Eli replieth to Samuel It is the Lord let him do what seemeth him good In which Words he doth not only submit to the slaughter of his Sons and the rejection of his Family from the Priesthood for ever a terrible Providence but also signifies that if he had yet another Comfort left the resignation of which would glorifie God that also was heartily at his service Lord how little of this is lived by the generality of professing Christians Yet this is our Duty and questionless this was holy Job's practice and it should be ours daily When God is taking away any of our Comforts we should be so far from wresting them out of God's hands that we should most unfeignedly offer them all 4. Our blessing the afflicting taking God includeth our heedful conversing with the Divine Goodness and Mercy that ever manageth all our Afflictions I intreat you let this be carefully considered All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth Psalm 25.10 unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies Even the frowns of his Providence as well as the smiles these are not only just and righteous but merciful and faithful yea the Lord help our unbelief mercy and truth in the abstract Now God expects that we firmly believe it carefully observe it and gratefully acknowledge it 1. That we firmly believe it God never deceiveth us therefore we should never mistrust him God cannot be deceived he is too wife for that he cannot deceive he is too just for that Therefore when God tells us that however he deals with us he is ever mindful of and true to his Word in every Providence we must honour him by believing we should say O my soul though thy God taketh away this and that and the other comfort yet 't is in love mercy and truth for he hath promised he will never carry it otherwise towards thee 2. That we carefully observe it That we endeavour to taste and see that the Lord is good in his afflicting us God hath said Psal 34.8 he will be good to us in every Providence therefore we should believe it God is good to us in every Providence therefore we should observe and see it 'T is as really a fault to shut our eyes as our ears When God afflicts us we observe his anger tell his strokes and pore upon his severity but neglect to heed his mercy in the Providence but this is our fault we should as impartially study the usefulness as the pain of the Affliction A wise Patient will as much consider the wholsome tendency of his Physick as its griping operation 3. That we gratefully acknowledge it 'T is our duty to thank and praise the Lord for his goodness to us in afflicting of us This indeed is difficult but 't is as glorious when done 't is a Duty 1 Thes 5.18 and must be done In every thing we must give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning us What may some say must we give thanks for our sorrows Eph. 5.20 griefs and pressures must we thank God for stripping scourging and wounding us I answer so saith the Scripture giving thanks always for all things unto God c. You 'll be ready to say this is an hard Lesson who can learn it You by the grace of God quickly if you consider and believe the reason offer'd in above mentioned 1 Thes 5. This is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you where I conceive the Apostle would have us know that every Providence the adverse as well as prosperous is the gracious management of a God in Covenant proceeding not from meer justice but love and faithfulness and that therefore the Saints are as much obliged to praise God for the one as for the other because their true interest is equally promoted by both as a man is as truly beholden to his Chyrurgion that cuts off his gangreen'd Leg as to him that lends a Fillet to help bind it up I cannot therefore but admire the profoundness of Calvin's Judgment who thinks that Chrysostome did not fully reach the Sence of the Holy Ghost in this Text who to these Words This is the will of God adds only Nempe ut gratias agamus and therefore gives a more full account of them in the following Words Ego pleniorem sensum contineri puto his verbis quod talis sit erga nos Dei affectus in Christo ut in afflictionibus quoque largam habeamus materiam gratias agendi God is most certainly kind and good to his people when he afflicts them sure then in point of gratitude they can do no less than acknowledge it to him and others 1. To him Every kindness deserves thanks Afflictions are God's Kindnesses to the Saints and therefore they should thank him for them We thank God for our Food what hinders but that we should thank him for our Physick too A good Man once put up a Bill to me to this effect Sir my Family is sorely visited with Sickness I desire you would bless God on my behalf I read the Note and being amazed at the unusualness an singularity of it did not acquaint the People with the Contents of it but knowing who wrote it afterwards asked the Person what he meant Whether he had