If the Lord layes out his cost and sees no good return the next word will be Cut down the tree why cumbreth it the ground 8. Another sin that hath brought us low is the sin of swearing Christ saith Swear not at all Mat. 5.34 And a godly man is said to fear an Oath Eccles. 9.2 Truly it is a matter of tears we can hardly go in the Streets but our ears are crucified with hearing of Oaths and Cursings Chrysostom spent most of his Sermons at Antioch against swearers we need many Chrysostoms now adayes to preach against this sin This may well be called the unfruitful work of darkness for it is a sin hath neither pleasure nor profit in it How do men shoot their Oaths as chain-bullets against Heaven I knew a great swearer saith Reverend Mr. Bolton whose heart Satan so filled that on his death-bed he swore as fast as he could and desired the standers by to help him with Oaths and to swear for him Will the Lord reckon with men for idle Words what will he do for sinful Oaths for every Oath a man swears God puts a drop of wrath in his Viall Nay usually Gods judgements overtake the swearer in this life I have read of a German Boy who was given to swearing and did use to invent new Oaths the Lord sent a Canker into his mouth which did eat out his tongue But saith one it is my custom to swear and I cannot leave it Is this a good plea As if a Thief should plead to a Judge not to condemn him because it is his custome to rob and steal therefore will the Judge say thou shalt the rather dye This sin hath brought us low Jer. 23.10 For because of swearing the Land mourneth 9. Another sin which hath brought us low and is like to bring us yet lower is uncleanness The adulterers heart is a Mount Aetna burning with lust Adultery is the shipwrack of chastity the murder of conscience It was said of Rome of old it was become a Stews Urbs est jam tota Lupanar I wish it might not be verified of many parts of this Land Adultery is a brutish sin Jer. 5.8 They neighed every one after his neighbours Wife It is a branded sin it doth not only stigmatize mens names Prov. 6.33 But God makes them carry the marks of this sin in their Bodies it is a costly sin it proves a Purgatory to the Purse Prov. 6.26 By means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread There is no coming to an Harlot but as Iupiter did to Danae in a golden shower It is a confounding sin laeta venire Venus tristis abire solet The adulterer hastens his own death The Romans were wont to have their Funerals at the Gate of Venus Temple to signifie that lust ends in death The adulterer takes a short cut to Hell Prov. 26.23.27 Till a dart strike through his Liver Creatures void of reason will rise up in judgement against such The Turtle-Dove is an Hieroglyphick of chastity The Stork comes into no Nest but his own and if any Stork leaves his Mate and joyns with another all the rest fall upon him and pluck his feathers from him God will chiefly punish such as walk in the lust of uncleanness 2 Pet. 2.10 This sin hath brought us low The fire of lust hath kindled the fire of Gods anger 10. Another sin which hath brought us low is our unbrotherly animosities Mat. 12.25 A Kingdom divided against it self cannot stand The Turks pray that the Christians may be kept at variance we have in a great measure fulfilled the Turks prayer rara est concordia fratrum What seeds of dissention are sown among us how are we crumbled into Parties one is for Paul and another for Apollo but I fear few for Christ. Our divisions have given much advantage to the Popish adversary When there is a breach made in the wall of a Castle there the enemy enters If the Popish enemy enter it will be at our breaches These divisions have cut the lock where our strength lay Cut off the top of the Beech-tree and the whole body of the tree withers Divisions have taken away unity and amity here is the top of the Beech-tree cut off and this hath made us to wither apace These are the sins which have brought us low and if the Lord prevent not are like to bring Englands gray hairs with sorrow to the grave 5. Hence I infer if sin brings a person low then what madness is it for any one to be in love with sin 2 Thess. 2.12 Who take pleasure in iniquity The Devil can so cook and dress sin that it pleaseth the sinners pallat But hear what Iob saith Job 20.12.14 Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth it is the gall of Asps within him Herodotus writeth of the River Hypanis that near to the fountain the water is sweet but a few leagues off it is exceeding bitter Sin will bring one low who would love such an enemy The forbidden fruit is sawced with bitter hearbs Sin is a Serpent by the way that biteth Gen. 49.17 When you are about to commit sin say to your soul as Boaz said to his Kinsman Ruth 4.4 What day thou buyest the Field thou must have Ruth with it So if thou wilt have the sweet of sin thou must have the curse with it it will bring thee low To love sin is to love a disease A sinner is perfectly distracted Solomon speaks of a generation of men Madness is in their heart while they live Eccles. 9.3 'T is true of those who love sin sin puts a worm into conscience a thorn into death yet that men should love sin Madness is in their heart There is no creature doth willingly destroy it self but man Sin is a Silken Halter yet he loves it O remember that saying of St. Austin the pleasure of sin is soon gone but the sting remains 6. See what little cause we have to envy sinners Prov. 3.31 Envy thou not the Oppressor Men are high in worldly Grandeur God hath given them large estates and they sin with their estates but though they build among the Stars God will bring them down Ezek. 28.18 I will bring thee to ashes Who would envy men their greatness their sins will bring them low Deut. 32.35 Their foot shall slide in due time There is a Story of a Roman who was by a Court-Marshal condemned to dye for breaking his rank to steal a bunch of Grapes and as he was going to execution some of the Souldiers envied him that he had Grapes and they had none saith he Do ye envy me my Grapes I must pay dear for them So the wicked must pay dear for what they have The prosperity of the wicked is a great temptation to the godly David stumbled at it and had like to have fallen Psal.
made all of Glass and that if any one touch them they shall break Melancholy cloaths the mind in Sable it puts a Christian out of tune that he is not fit for prayer nor praise Lute-strings when wet will not sound nor can one under the power of Melancholy Make melody in his heart to the Lord Ephes. 5.19 when the mind is troubled it is unfit to go about work Melancholy doth disturb Reason and weaken Faith Satan works much on this temper it is balneum diaboli he bathes himself with delight in such a person Through the black Spectacles of Melancholy every thing appears black When a Christian looks upon sin saith he this Leviathan will devour me when he looks upon Ordinances these will serve to increase my guilt when he looks upon affliction this gulf will swallow me up Melancholy creates fears in the mind it excites jealousies and misprisions I may allude to that Psal. 53.5 There were they in great fear where no fear was 5. Sin brings a man low in spiritual Plagues It brings many an one to a seared conscience to final induration Isa. 29.10 The Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit of a deep sleep and hath closed your eyes Men are brought low indeed when the sound of Aarons Bell will not awaken them no Sermon will stir them They are like the Smiths Dog that can lye and sleep near the Anvil when all the sparkles fly about Conscience is in a Lethargy When once a mans speech is gone and his feeling lost he draws on apace to death So when the checks of Conscience cease and a man is sensible neither of sin nor wrath you may ring out the Bell he is past hope of recovery Thus some are brought low even to a reprobate sense This is limen inferni the threshold of damnation 6. Sin brings a man low in temptation Paul began to be proud and he had a messenger of Satan to buffet him 2 Cor. 12.7 Some think it was a visible apparition of Satan tempting him to sin others that the Devil was now assaulting Pauls faith making him believe he was an hypocrite Satan laid the train of temptation to blow up the fort of his Grace And this temptation was so sore that he called it a thorn in the flesh it did put him to much anguish Such temptations do the godly oft fall into They are tempted to question the truth of the Promises or the truth of their own Graces Sometimes they are tempted to blasphemy sometimes to self-murder thus they are brought low they are almost gone and ready to give consent The Devil nibbles at their heel but God wards off the blow from their head 7. Sin brings one low in desertion This is an abysse indeed Psal. 88.6 Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit Desertion is a short Hell Cant. 5.6 My beloved hath withdrawn himself and was gone Christ knocked but the Spouse was loth to rise off her bed of sloath and open to him presently Christ was gone When the Devil finds a person sleeping he enters but when Christ finds him sleeping he is gone And if this Sun of Righteousness withdraws his Golden beams from the soul darkness follows Desertion is the arrow of God shot into the soul. Job 6.4 The arrows of the Almighty are within me the poison whereof drinketh up my Spirit The Scythians in their Wars did use to dip their Arrows in the blood and gall of Asps that the venemous heat of them might the more torture the enemy So the Lord did shoot his poisoned arrow of desertion at Iob under the wounds whereof his Spirit lay bleeding God is called in Scripture a light and a fire The deserted soul feels the fire but doth not see the light So dreadful is this that the most tormenting pains Stone Collick Strangury are but a pleasure to it All the delights under the Sun will administer no comfort in this condition Worldly things can no more relieve a troubled mind than a silken Stocken can ease a broken Leg. Psal. 88.15 While I suffer thy terrors I am distracted Luther in desertion was like one giving up the ghost He had no blood seen in his face nor was heard to speak but his body seemed dead as one writes in an Epistle to Melancthon 8. Sin brings many low in despair this is a gulf that none but reprobates fall into Jer. 18.11 Thou saidst there is no hope Despair is devoratoria salutis it is a milstone tyed about the soul that sinks it in perdition Despair looks on God not as a Father but a Iudge It refuseth the remedy Other sins need Christ despair rejects him It closeth the Orifice of Christs wounds that no blood will come out to heal This is the voice of despair My sin is greater than the mercy of God can pardon It makes the wound broader than the plaister Despair is a God-affronting sin it is sacriledge it robs God of his Crown-jewels his Power Goodness Truth How doth Satan triumph to see the honour of Gods Attributes laid in the dust by despair Despair casts away the Anchor of hope and then the soul must needs sink What will a Ship do in a storm without an Anchor Despair locks men up in impenitency I have read of one Hubertus who dyed despairing he made his Will after this manner I yield my goods to the King my body to the grave my soul to the Devil Isa. 38.18 They that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth They who go down into this pit of despair cannot hope for the truth of Gods promise And this despair grows at last into horror and raving Eheu quis intus scorpio 9. Sin brings a man without repentance into the bottomless pit and then he is brought low indeed Sin draws Hell at the heels of it Psal. 9.7 The wicked shall be turned into Hell Not to speak of the punishment of loss which Divines think is the worst part of Hell i. e. the being separated from the beatifical sight of God in whose presence is fulness of joy The poena sensus the punishment of sense is bad enough Then wrath will come upon sinners 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to the uttermost 1 Thes. 2.16 If when Gods anger is kindled but a little and a spark of it flyes into a mans conscience in this life it is so terrible what will it be when he stirs up all his wrath Psal. 78.38 How sad was it with Spira when he did but sip of the Cup of wrath he was a very Anatomy his flesh consumed he became a terror to himself What is it then to lye steeping in Hell Some may ask where the place of Hell is but as Chrysostome saith let us not be inquisitive where it is but rather let our care be to escape it But to satisfie curiosity Hell is some infernal place it lies low Prov.
this disease brings it low The soul is fallen from its pristine dignity it hath lost its noble and sublimated operations and lyes exposed without Grace to the second death 2. Sin must needs bring a man low because the sinner enters a contest with God invadunt Martem clypeis pugnamque lacessunt He tramples upon Gods Law crosseth his will if God be of one mind the sinner will be of another he doth all he can to spight God Jer. 44.16 As for the word which thou hast spoken to us in the name of the Lord we will not hearken to thee but we will do whatsoever thing proceedeth out of our own mouth to burn incense to the Queen of Heaven The same Hebrew word for sin signifies rebellion Now can the Lord endure to be thus sawcily confronted by proud dust God will never let his own creature rise up in arms against him he will pull down the sinners plumes and bring him low Psal. 18.26 With the froward thou wilt shew thy self froward In the Hebrew it is thou wilt wrestle and if God once wrestle with the sinner he will throw him to the ground When the Angel wrestled with Iacob he touched only the hollow of his thigh Gen. 32.25 But when God wrestles with a sinner he will rent the caul of his heart Hos. 13.8 The Apostle saith It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God Heb. 10.31 'T is good to fall into Gods hands when he is a friend but it is ill falling into his hands when he is an enemy 3. Sin must needs bring a man low because the sinner labours what he can to bring God low 'T is true God cannot lose any of his essential glory he is so high that no strength of Mortals can reach him but a wicked man doth what in him lies to bring God low He hath low thoughts of God he slights his soveraignty questions his truth looks upon all Gods Promises as a forged deed The sinner therefore is said to despise God Numb 11.20 Again the sinner lessens God and brings him low in the thoughts of others Ezek. 8.12 They say the Lord seeth us not the Lord hath forsaken the earth Do but secure your selves from mans eye and as for Gods taking notice of sin you need not trouble your selves the Lord seeth you not he hath forsaken the earth Zeph. 1.12 They say the Lord will not do good neither will he do evil If you serve him you must not look for reward and if you do not serve him you need not fear punishment Mal. 2.17 Ye say every one that doth evil is good in the sight of the Lord and he delighteth in them or where is the God of judgement Here they blemish Gods Sanctity God is not so holy but he bears as much favour to the wicked as to the good and Where is the God of judgement Here they tax his justice as if they had said God doth not order things right he doth not weigh matters impartially in an equal ballance Where is the God of judgement Thus a sinner eclipseth the glory of the Godhead and labours to bring God low in the thoughts of others And besides he doth what in him lies to extirpate a Deity he wisheth there were no God he saith Cause the holy One of Israel to cease Isa. 30.11 A wicked man would not only unthrone God but unbee God if he could help it God should be no longer God Now if a sinner be thus impious as to endeavour to bring God low no wonder if God brings him low Nahum 1.19 I will make thy grave for thou art vile I will bring thee O Sennacherib from the throne to the tomb I will kick thee into thy grave Obad. ver 4. Though thou set thy nest among the Stars thence will I bring thee down saith the Lord. 4. Sin must needs bring a person low because sin is the only thing God hath an antipathy against The Lord doth not hate a man because he is poor or despised you do not hate your friend because he is sick but that which draws forth the keenness of Gods hatred is sin Jer. 44.4 Do not this abominable thing that I hate Now for any one to espouse that which Gods soul hates it must needs undo him at last Is that subject like to thrive whom his Prince hates The cherishing countenancing of sin makes the fury come up in Gods face Ezek. 38.16 And if his wrath be once kindled it burns to the lowest Hell The Psalmist saith Who can stand before his cold Psal. 147.17 But rather who can stand before his heat Isa. 33.14 5. Sin must needs bring the sinner low because it exposeth him to Gods curse and Gods curse blasts where ever it comes Deut. 28.15 16. If thou wilt not harken to the voice of the Lord all these curses shall come upon thee Cursed shalt thou be in the City and cursed shalt thou be in the field cursed shall be thy basket and thy store The curse of God haunts the sinner where ever he goes if he be in the City it spoils his Trade if he be in the Countrey it destroyes his Crop Gods curse drops poison into every thing It is a Moth in the Wardrobe Murrain among the Cattel Rot among the Sheep If the flying Roul of curses enters into a mans house it consumes the timber and walls of it Zach. 5.4 When Christ cursed the fig-tree it presently withered Mat. 21.19 Mens curses are insignificant they shoot without bullets but Numb 22.6 He whom thou cursest is cursed Gods curse kills Psal. 37.22 They that are cursed of him shall be cut off If all Gods curses are levelled against the sinner then he must needs be brought low Use 1. Informat 1. Branch See then from hence that Gods punishing either a person or a Nation is not without a cause A Father may chastise his Son out of an humour when there is no cause but God doth never punish without a just cause He doth it not purely to shew his Soveraignty or because he takes pleasure to bring his creature low Lam. 3.33 He doth not willingly afflict or as it is in the Hebrew from the heart but there is some impellent cause They were brought low for their iniquity Cyprian writes thus concerning the Persecution of the Church under the Emperour Valerian We must confess that this sad calamity which hath in a great part wasted our Churches hath risen from our own intestine wickedness whilst we are full of avarice ambition emulation c. Jer. 4.17 As keepers of a field are they against her round about Like as Horses or Deer in a field are so enclosed with hedges and so narrowly watched that they cannot get out So Ierusalem was so besieged with enemies and watched that there was no escape for her without danger of life Verse 18. Thy way and thy doings have procured these
for himself He hath set an hedge about it Remember to keep holy the Sabbath Day But how is this enclosure made common This blessed day which is made purposely for communion with God is become a day of perambulation People frequent the Fields or Taverns more than the holy assemblies O that our head were waters and our eyes a fountain of tears That we might weep To see men pollute what God himself hath consecrated If they are to take Physick it must be on the Lords Day if they are to make Feasts or Visits it must be on this day And so in a prophane sense they call the Sabbath a delight Sabbath-breaking is Sacriledge 't is a robbing God of his due People take that time which should be dedicated wholly to the Lord and spend it in the service of the Devil and their lusts and hath not this sin brought us low God threatens Jer. 17.27 If ye will not hearken to me to hallow the Sabbath Day then will I kindle a fire I observe the devouring Fire which brake out in London began on the Sabbath Day as if God would tell us from Heaven he was now punishing us for our prophaning his day 3. The third sin which hath brought us low is neglect of Family-worship Religion in mens families is brought low No reading of Scripture they look oftner upon a pair of Cards than a Bible No praying 't is made the note of a reprobate He calls not upon God Psalm 14.4 The Atheist will be sure his prayer shall not be turned into sin for he never prayes at all The Graecians asked counsel of their feigned Gods by their Oracles the Persians by their Magi the Galls by their Druides the Romans by their Augures Shall Ethnicks pray and not Christians Creatures by the instinct of nature cry to God Psal. 147.9 The young Ravens which cry Prayer hath no enemies unless infernal spirits and such as are near of Kin to them Keyes that are often used are bright but if they be laid aside and never used they grow rusty so it is with mens hearts if they are not used to family-prayer they will be rusted over with sin For this God hath brought us low Why did he pull down many houses in this City but because they were unhallowed houses there was no prayer in them How do we think to have a blessing from God if we never ask it Then God should do more for us than he did for his own Son Heb. 5.7 In the dayes of his flesh he offered up prayers with strong cryes and tears 4. Another sin which hath brought us low is Covenant-violation Psal. 78.10 They kept not the Covenant of God Ver. 50. He made a way to his anger he spared not their souls from death The Carthaginians were noted for Covenant-breaking O that this sin had dyed with them Doth not this poisonful Weed grow in our soil Did not we make a vow in Baptism to fight under Christs banner against world flesh and Devil Did not we solemnly covenant to be the Lords people to shine in sanctity going each one before another in an exemplary Reformation Deut. 5.28 29. They have well said in all that they have spoken O that there were such an heart in them that they would fear me and keep my commandments We have much conforming but where is reforming Is not Jesus Christ opposed in his Kingly Office This is the great Controversie who shall reign Sin or Christ for this God hath been as a Moth to us and we may fear lest he make good that commination Levit. 26.25 I will bring a Sword that shall avenge the quarrel of my Covenant 5. Another sin which hath brought us low is the abuse of the Gospel We are sick of Israels disease they despised Manna Num. 21.5 Our soul loatheth this light bread We did nauseate the bread of life The Gospel is the visible token of Gods presence it is the sacred Conduit-pipe that empties the golden Oyle of mercy into us it is the Glass in which we see the face of Christ it is the Celestial banquet wherewith God doth chear and refocillate the souls of his people But was there not a Gospel surfeit in England People had itching ears and knew not who to hear and hath not our curiosity brought us to scarcity God had no better way to raise the price of the Gospel than by abating the plenty God surely did bring us low when darkness did overspread our Horison and the Lord suffered so many hundred Lights to be at one time put under a bushel The Aegyptian Priests of old told the people when any Eclipse happened that the Gods were angry and great miseries would follow What sad catastrophies have ensued this spiritual Eclipse is not unknown 6. Another sin which hath brought us low is Covetousness When mens Spirits are low and with the Serpent they lick the dust then God layes them in the dust Isa. 57.17 For the iniquity of his Covetousness I was wroth and smote him Covetousness is the Dropsie of the soul men are set upon the world when God is plucking it from them Covetousness is a Key that opens the door to further wickedness opes irritamenta malorum 1 Tim. 6.10 The love of money is the root of all evil A covetous man wil stick at no sin This made Absolom attempt to dethrone his Father this made Ahab stone Naboth And what is one the better for all his wealth at death 1 Tim. 6.10 We brought nothing into the world and it is certain we can carry nothing out When the rich Miser dies what scrambling is there his friends are scrambling for his goods the worms are scrambling for his body and the Devils are scrambling for his soul. This sin is most uncomely in those that profess better They pretend to live by faith and yet are as worldly and griping as others These are spots in the face of Religion Jer. 45.5 Seekest thou great things for thy self For this sin God hath brought us low he hath made our Fig-tree to wither and suffered the Palmer-worm to eat our Vine 7. Another sin which hath brought us low is Barrenness under the Means of Grace Hos. 10.1 Israel is an empty Vine his juice runs out only into leaves We have had much pruning and dressing the silver drops of Heaven have fallen upon us but we have not brought forth the fruits of humility and repentance we can discourse of Religion but this is only to bring forth leaves not fruit non-proficiency hath laid us low and we may fear will lay us waste God may pull up the hedge and let in a forraign Wild-Boar Ursin tells us that those who fled out of England in Queen Maries dayes acknowledged that that calamity befell them for their great unprofitableness under the Means of Grace in King Edwards dayes What man will sow seed in barren ground
be done to the dry If the godly lye among the pots Psal. 68.13 the wicked shall lye among the Devils If judgement begin at the house of God what shall the end be of them that obey not the Gospel 1 Pet. 4.17 If God mingles his peoples cup with wormwood he will mingle the sinners cup with fire and brimstone Psalm 11.6 If God thresh the Wheat he will burn the Chaff If the Lord afflicts them whom he loves how severe will he be against them whom he hates They shall feel the second death Rev. 21.8 Use 2. Exhortation 1. Branch 1. If sin brings a person low then let us fear to come near sin it will bring us either into affliction or worse It s foul face may offend but its breath kills Sin is the Apollyon the Man-devourer O that we were as wise for our souls as we are for our bodies How afraid are we of that meat which we know will bring the Gowt or Stone or will make our Ague return Sin is aguish meat which will put conscience into a shaking fit and shall we not be afraid to touch this forbidden fruit Gen. 39.9 How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God When the Empress Eudoxia threatned to banish Chrysostom Tell her saith he I fear nothing but sin It was a saying of Anselm if Hell were on one side and sin were on the other I would rather leap into Hell than willingly commit sin Love will be apt to grow wanton if it be not poised with holy fear No better Curb or Antidote against sin than fear Deut. 17.13 They shall fear and do no more presumptuously If we could see Hell fire in every sin it would make us fear to commit it The fiercest creatures dread fire When Moses his rod was turned into a Serpent he was afraid and fled from it Sin will prove a stinging Serpent O fly from it Most people are like the Leviathan made without fear Job 41.33 They play upon the hole of the Asp. Sinners never fear till they feel Nothing will convince them but fire and brimstone 2. If sin brings a person low then when we are brought low under Gods afflicting hand let us behave our selves wisely and as becomes Christians I shall shew 1. What we must not do when we are brought low When our condition is low let not our passions be high impatience is not the way to get out of trouble but rather to go lower into trouble What gets the Child by strugling but more blows Oh do not lispe out a murmuring word against God Murmuring is the skum which boils off from a discontented heart Psalm 39.9 I was dumb and opened not my mouth because thou Lord didst it Davids ear was open to hear the voice of the Rod but his mouth was not open in complaining Christian who shouldst thou complain of but thy self thy own sin hath brought thee low 2. What we must do when we are brought low 1. Let us search the sin which is the cause of our trouble Job 10.2 Shew me wherefore thou contendest with me Lord What is that sin which hath provoked thee to bring me low Lam. 3.40 Let us search and try our wayes As the people of Israel when they were worsted in battel searched the cause and at last found out the Achan that troubled them and stoned him to death Josh. 7.18 So let us search out that Achan which hath troubled us Perhaps our sin was censoriousness we have been ready to judge and slander others and now we our selves lye under an evil tongue and have false reports raised on us perhaps our sin was pride and God hath sent poverty as a thorn to humble us Perhaps our sin was remisness in holy duties we had forgot our first love and were ready to fall into slumbering fits and God hath sent a sharp cross to awaken us out of our security We may oftentimes read our sin in our punishment O let us search the Achan and say as Iob Chap. 34.32 If I have done iniquity I will do so no more 2. When we are brought low let us justifie God God is just not only when he punisheth the guilty but when he afflicts the righteous Let us take heed of entertaining hard thoughts of God as if he had dealt too severely with us and had put too much Wormwood in our Cup No let us vindicate God and say as the Emperour Mauritius when he saw five of his Sons slain before his eyes by Phocas Righteous art thou O Lord in all thy wayes Let us speak well of God If we have never so much affliction yet not one drop of injustice Psalm 97.2 Clouds and darkness are round about him righteousness and judgement are the habitation of his Throne 3. When we are brought low in affliction let us bring our selves low in humiliation 1 Pet. 5.6 Humble your selves under the mighty hand of God When we are in the Vally of Tears we must be in the Vally of Humility Lam. 3.19 Remembring the Wormwood and the Gall my soul hath them continually in remembrance and is humbled in me If our condition be low then is a time to have our hearts lye low 4. When we are brought low in affliction let us be low upon our knees in prayer Psalm 130.1 Ex Profundis Clamavi Out of the depths have I cryed unto thee O Lord. Psalm 79.8 Let thy tender mercies speedily prevent us for we are brought very low Iacob never prayed so fervently as when he was in fear of his life he oyled the Key of prayer with tears Hos. 12.4 He wept and made supplication One reason why God lets us be brought low is to highten a Spirit of prayer But what should we pray for in affliction Let us pray that all our Hell may be here As Pilate said concerning Christ Luke 23.22 I will chastise him and let him go So pray that God when he doth chastise us will let us go that he will free us from Hell and Damnation Let us pray rather for the sanctification of affliction than the removal pray that the Rod may be a Divine Pencil to draw Gods Image more lively upon our souls Heb. 12.10 That affliction may be a Fornace to refine not consume us Pray that if God do correct us it may not be in anger Psal. 6.1 That we may taste the honey of his love at the end of the rod. Let it be our prayer that God will lay no more upon us than he will enable us to bear That if the burden be heavier our shoulders may be stronger 5. When we are brought low let our faith be high Let us believe that God intends us no hurt That though he casts us into the deep he will not drown us Believe that still he is a Father he afflicts us in as much mercy as he gives Christ to us He doth by his rod of Discipline fit us for
of his profession Now after pruning what fruits have we brought forth The fruits of obedience love self-denial meekness heavenliness longing to be with Christ If the sharp Frost of affliction hath brought on the Spring flowers of Grace which the Apostle calls the peaceable fruits of righteousness Heb. 12.11 then we are bettered by affliction A fruitful heart is better than a full Crop 9. When we do really commiserate and put on bowels to such as are in a suffering condition Haud ignara mali miseris succurrere disco Jesus Christ having suffered is touched with our infirmity Heb. 4.15 Having felt hunger and cold he knows how to pity us Before we have drunk of the bitter Cup instead of pitying others in misery we are ready to despise them Psalm 123.4 Our soul is filled with the scorning of them which are at ease But when we have been under the Harrow and can sympathize with our suffering Brethren and weep with them that weep this is a sign we are bettered by the affliction In Musick when one string is touched all the rest sound so our bowels sound as an harp Isa. 16.11 10. When we have learned to bless God in affliction Job 1.21 The Lord hath taken away blessed be the name of the Lord Many can bless God when he is giving Iob blesseth him when he takes away This is excellent not only to praise God when we are upon the Mountain of Prosperity but in the Valley of adversity Deut. 8.10 When thou hast eaten and art full then thou shalt bless the Lord. But it is a greater matter when we are empty and in want then to bless him 1 Thes. 5.18 In every thing give thanks But what should we bless God for in affliction We are to bless God that it is no worse with us He might have put more Gall in our Cup Ezra 9.14 We are to bless God that he will choose rather to correct us in the world than to condemn us with the world 1 Cor. 11.32 That he hath made affliction a means to prevent sin that he proportions our strength to our tryals that he gives us any support in our trouble Psalm 112.4 Though he doth not break our yoke yet he lines our yoke with inward peace and makes it soft and pleasant We are to bless God that he deals with us as Children setting his seal of affliction on us and so marking us for his own We are to bless God that Christ hath taken the sting out of the Cross that there is an hope of better things laid up for us in Heaven Col. 1.5 When we can upon these considerations break forth into an holy gratitude and triumph in affliction this is to be bettered by affliction and it shews a Spirit of God and glory rests upon us 1 Pet. 4.14 To bless God in Heaven when he is crowning us with glory is no wonder but to bless God when he is correcting us to bless him in a Prison to give thanks on a sick-bed not only to kiss the Rod but to bless the hand that holds it here is the Sun in the Zenith this speaks an high degree of Grace indeed and doth very much adorn our sufferings If we can find these sweet fruits of the Cross we may assure our selves the affliction is sanctified and we may say as David Psalm 119.71 It is good for me that I was afflicted and then God will throw away the Rod and make us glad after the dayes of our mourning Ezek. 16.42 So will I make my fury towards thee to rest and my jealousie shall depart from thee and I will be quiet and will be no more angry 3. If sin brings us low let us labour to bring our sins low Let all our spight be at sin let us pursue it with an holy malice Sin hath brought us even to the dust and would bring us lower into the abysse of Hell let us then shed the blood of sin which would shed our blood Col. 3.5 Mortifie your members which are upon the earth fornication uncleanness c. We are apt to plead for sin Is it not a little one Who would plead for him that seeks his life We are ready to say to the Minister concerning sin as David to Joab concerning Absalom 2 Sam. 18.5 Deal gently with the young man So Sir deal gently with my sins Oh be not too sharp in your reproofs Why Doth not the traytor sin seek to take away thy Crown of glory as Absalom did his Fathers Crown Would it not bring thee low If therefore thou art wise spare it not Do with thy sin as Joab with Absalom he took three darts in his hand and thrust them through the heart of Absalom 2 Sam. 18.14 So take these three darts the Word of God Prayer Mortification and strike through the heart of thy lusts that they dye As Sampson dealt with the Philistins they brought him low they put out his eyes and he never left till he was revenged on them and brought them low Judges 16.30 He bowed himself with all his might and the house fell upon the Lords c. Sampson dyed we live by the death of our enemies O that every day some limb of the old man may drop off What is the end of all a Christians duties praying and hearing but to weaken and mortifie lust Why is this spiritual Physick taken but to kill the child of sin he goes with Sin will insinuate it self and plead for a reprieve but shew it no mercy Sauls sparing Agag lost him the Kingdom and your sparing sin will lose you the Kingdom of Heaven Lastly Let this make us weary of living in the world for while we live we sin and sin brings us low We eat the forbidden fruit and then are sick after it How should this make us long to have our pass to be gone and cry O that we had the wings of a Dove to fly away and be at rest Then we shall shake off those Vipers which leaped upon us 1 Cor. 3.22 Death is yours At death we shall have an eternal Iubilee and be freed from all incumbrances Sin shall be no more Death smites a Believer as the Angel smote Peter on his side and made his Chains fall off Acts 12.7 So death smites a Believer and makes the Chains of his sins fall off Trouble shall be no more This lower Region is full of Storms Troubles and vexations are some of the thorns with which the earth is cursed But in the Grave a Believer hath his quietus est There the wicked cease from troubling there the weary are at rest Job 3.17 God will shortly wipe away all tears Rev. 7.17 How should this make the Saints desire to be dissolved Phil. 1.23 Israels being so oft stung with Serpents made them weary of the Wilderness and aspire after Canaan The discurtesies a Prince meets with in a strange Land makes him long to be in his own