Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n
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A41527
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Patience and its perfect work under sudden & sore tryals
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Goodwin, Thomas, 1600-1680.
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1666
(1666)
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Wing G1251; ESTC R40909
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51,072
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174
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were full c. Now ye are full now ye are rich ye have Reigned as Kingâ— without us It was a Citâ— very rich and the Christianâ— in it had a fulness of outward things when he wrote this they were full and rich Buâ— as for us says he God hath 〈◊〉 forth us Apostles last as it werâ— appointed to death c. Ye are honourable but we are despised 〈◊〉 both hunger and thirst and arâ— naked and are buffited and havâ— no certain dwelling place and labour working with our hands being reviled we bless being persecuted we suffer it being defameâ— we intrâ—at we are made as thâ— filth of the world and are the off-scouring of all things unto thiâ— day And yet he did not at all envy this their fulness in the least No he wisheth them all true prosperity would to God ye did reign v. 8. that is in true and spiritual respects he wisheth them all good rather in all inward enjoyments of God and Christ together with their outward riches c. Now what was it that had so much rooted up envy c. in him and the other his fellow Apostles It was his sufferings and wants and their being made spectacles to Angels and men as there This had wrought his and their Spirits to this In the old Testament Joshua though he proved a man of a choice Spirit yet when he was young in years and but a young beginner in Grace envy rose up in him for his good Master Moses sake Eldad and Medad Prophesie says he Num. 11. 29. But Moses said to him Enviest thou for my sake and so reproved him and thereupon expresseth his own heart thus Would God that all the Lords people were Prophets and that the Lord would put his spirit upon them Now whence arose thiâ— blessed disposition of heart thuâ— free from envy in him In the very next chapter you meet with another instance which giveâ— a true account both of his not envying others as also in bearing the envy of others against himself sharpned with the highesâ— provocations unto ANGER which was the second It being as unkindly as unreasonable 'T was the envy of his own only Brother and Sister for this that God had chosen him to utter his mind by unto his people and reveal himself so as never to any man as Gods testimony of him is in that 12. Chap. Whereupon they had said v. 2. Hath the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses hath he not spoken by us Thereupon follows the Account or bottom disposition of Spirit which made him bear both this and the former v. 3. Now the man Moses was very meek above all the men which were upon the face of the earth And so good man he would himself have passed this â—y and have taken no notice at â—ll of this affront but that God 't is there said heard it as noting â—hat HE would not put it up so for Moses sake Now what was â—t had tamed and made Mosesâ—hus â—hus meek and calm and passive Certainly His great Afflictions And his Faith having been exercised thereby had wrought Patiâ—nce in him Heb. 11. By Faith v. 24 he chose v. 25. Rather â—o suffer afflictions c. and accordingly had lived forty years â— mean shepheard a servile life â—n exile a banished man from Pharaohs Court-Honors and pleasures of it as an underling iâ— hardship and durance And iâ— was a sudden Tryal for he fleâ— for his life at an hours warning as well as a sore and long Tryaâ— of forty years and these sufferings as great as any mans in thaâ— age made him Meek verâ— Meeâ— which word the Dutcâ— Annotators render Patient The Hebrew word hath affiniâ—â— with afflictions saith Ainswortâ— which had taught him Patiencâ— as sufferings did Christ whoâ—â— type he was These had subdueâ— anger and envy in him unto thâ—â— so high a degree And Patiencâ— had its perfect work For otherwise we find he could be angrâ— at times Exod. 11. 8. and 26. 20 and 31. 19. Lev. 10. 16. Nuâ— 16. 11. and 31. 14. and chapâ— 20. 10 11. as Ainsworth hath collected them Jesus Christ hath taught us lesson against this envy Mat. 20. 15. Shall I not doe what I will with mine own Are not all things mine And wilt thou envy that I have taken them from thee and not done so from another Shall thine eye be evil because I am good Shall a man be sick that another is in health 3. Inordinate Fears When too much trouble comes upon us we use to fear too much at the present And are apt to project a thousand things for the future as that poverty and beggary will follow many such fears lay hold upon us because we see Gods anger hath begun and we know not the worst nor when or whereâ—twill â—twill end But saith Christ Rev. 2. 10. Fear none of those things that thou shalt suffer Be thou faithful unto death and I will give thee a Crown of life Faith and faithfulness unto God or constancy in enduring unto death he here opposeth to Fear and Faith works Patience and Patience eats out fear Fortitude and courage differs from Patience in this that a stout courage in a man of a great Spirit will indeed overcome FEAR iâ— so be he sees any hope of evading and so will rouse a mans Spirit up to resistance and defence But Patience though it sees no hope as to this life yea nothing but present death afore it it will yet strengthen the heart to bear it and make a man Faithful untâ— death and constant without prevailing fears even unto death 4. Murmuring against Godâ— Patience workes out that As iâ— Job The Devil projected hiâ— blaspheming He will blasphemâ— thee to thy face He made sure account of it and would needs turn Prophet and prophesie what Job would doe and that before God But the devil was befool'd and proved a lying Prophet Job instead of blaspheming God he blesseth God In all this Job charged not God foolishly I may say of it as in the Revelation twice 't is said of the Saints Here was the Patience of Job And it was that patient frame of Spirit that God had wrought in him which the Scripture so extolls that enabled him hereunto 5. Faith by Patience mortifies inordinate CARES Against the times of those great distresses that were to come upon the Jewish Nation and among them upon the Christian Jews in that nation afore the destruction of Jerusalem which would try every vein in their hearts Christ gives two special exhortations besides divers others Luke 21. The first In YOVR Patience that is that Patience which is truly Christian and properly Yours possess your own souls v. 19. The second Take heed to your selves least at any time your hearts be overcharged with the cares of this life 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cares do as the word imports distract the Soul scatter it into wilde thoughts and wandring anxieties But Patience which Christ first exhorts to calls
GLORIOVS Power is requisite to perfect this Grace which argues this to be so difficult an exercise above any other and that our Natures are infinitly remote from it of our selves which we not minding nor considering have not perhaps with answerable vehemency implored the aid of so Great a Power And secondly This gives us a clear reason why prayer of all other means should be directed by the Apostle and extraordinarily set upon by us as the most effectual yea as an only means to obtain this For seeing that Power lyes out of our selves in GOD which must effect this in us then surely nothing can be judged so prevailing as Faith and Prayer which are the Graces in and by which the Soul going out of it self in a sence of its utter insufficiency supplicates the Grace in Gods heart to exert this power of his good pleasure and so do draw it forth and bring it down into the Heart And then thirdly This gives us the highest encouragement that we may obtain this perfect work of it however remote from it the present temper of our Spirits may seem to be to us Seeing that no less then such a glorious power is requisite to effect it in the strongest Christians And a power so glorious is able to work it in the weakest Let us Pray therefore with all vehemency for our selves as the Apostle did for those Colossians that this glorious power may come upon us and strengthen our inward man as 't is elfwhere with all might which might in us is the effect of that power in God as the cause For as this Patience is to be an All Patience or else it hath not its perfect work so this MIGHT it must be an all might you must be strengthened with unto such A Patience of you will not be perfect at it That MIGHT you had in such or such a Triall will not serve to strengthen you against the next triall that shall come But you must still have a new speciall might for every new triall Your dependance therefore is great upon God for this perfect work of Patience And yet your encouragements are great For as it must be that if God will please to strengthen us under any great unusual Tentations that he should put forth no less then this Glorious power So we have heard how in our Apostle he hath promised he will give it and give it freely and liberally to them that make it their main constant earnest business to ask it And therefore his Grace if applyed to is engaged to put this POWER forth It cannot but be a great support to a weak heart that finds it self so remote and distant from such a work of Patience and weak also in comparison of finding such an inward might that it should have Ground and Cause to think and to believe that Gods glorious power is engaged most sreely to be abundantly and readily put forth if continued to be sought unto Why this says the weak heart will do it namely this glorious power And I have found by some Tryals already that the strong God and a weak heart will be too hard for any thing yea for the whole World And therefore when you think your present trials that are come upon you far greater then you can bear think withall of the glorious power of God that is at hand to help you 'T is a great word That his GLORIOVS POWER A greater attribute could not have been named or found out for our comfort And is a word of vertue force and power to hearten to or against anything whatever 'T is true thy present trial may be and is above that in ward strength which serves and hath served hitherto to act thy graces in thy ordinary walkings with God holily and sincerely A child may by its ordinary strength be able to walk up and down a room by stooles suppose supporting it without any other extraordinary help But if it be to goe up a pair of Staires the strength that enabled it to these lesser performances will not be sufficient thereunto He must be carryed and held up in the arms of one who is strong and mighty And so it is here That other part of our Christian obedience the active â—ife of a Christian prayed for by the Apostle in that place to the â—olossians also whereby he walks â—ruitfully c. as in the seventh â—erse of that chapter requires indeed Gods power for by it it is we are kept unto Salvation all-a-â—ong But when it comes to Patiâ—nce and Long-suffering and ALL PATIENCE and that such â— trial comes as will try all Patiâ—nce in you then it is He makes â—ention of that glorious Power â—nd not afore For it must be no â—ess that must go to that then Gods GLORIOVS POWER And â—he promise therefore is in such case that the SPIRIT OF GLOâ—Y shall rest upon us and not â—he Spirit of Grace only as I Pet. 4. 14. Relieve and comfort therefore your selves with these things and specially with this That as your trials abound so this glorious power of God will abound also towards you for your support AMEN FINIS Some Slips and Omissions PAge 4. Line 11. For strongest Read strangest Page 18. Line 15. After to Patience Read Let Patience have but its perfect work and that alone will make you eminently perfect And his scope c. Page 24. line 25. For And they Read And now they Page 58. line 16. After In the world Read Which he had reckoned up Page 90. line 21. After Discouragement Read For this cause we faint not Page 99. line 9. For Spâ—ritual Read In Glory Page 106. line 1. For But yet for all my Read But for all he knew my Page 109. line ult Read His meaning further A. Page 111. line 18 After So long Read The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken Blessed c. Page 119. line 12. After Sums up Read The Frame of his Spirit Page 131. line 20. Read Vnto Patience LONG-SVFFERING is added Page 148 Margin For Toibi sibi tentum Read Trâ—bui sibi sensum Job 7. 18. Psal 37. 13. Ps 44. 22. Jer. 29. 11. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The same word here and there 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 est id per quod sit explaratio Grotius in Verba and so it differs from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which notes the issue the experiment or fruit upon tryal see the same Grotius on Rom 5. 4. even as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â— Cor. 8. 7. Psal 89. 15 Pf. 40. 8. Heb. 10. Rev. 1. 9. Patientia it a Dei rebus proposita est ut nullum praeâ—eptum obire quis possit à Patientia extraneus Tertul. De Patientia Mat. 5. 47. Eclesiast 9. 10. Mat. 5. 12. The Description of Patience Admonet Victores omnium Tentationum fore qui Deum amant Nec aliâ de â—â—usâ nos animo defici cum tentamur nisi quia prevalet MVNDI AMOR. Calvin in Verba Omnes virtutes certant sola Patientia vincit coronatur 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Psal 55. 12. Heb. 5. 〈…〉 habet vim quietativam Psal 51. * See Piscator and the Dutch Annotat And the Ground why it may be so judged is the conformity which these passâ—ges in the Psalm verse 8. Make me not the REPROACH of the foolish and this specially v. 9. I opened not my mouth because THOV DIDST IT doe hold with that story 2 Sam. 16. 10 11. When Shimei did curse him upon occasion of which David simularly spake thus The Lord hath said to him curse David Who shall then say wherefore hast thou done so Let him alone THE LORD HATH BIDDEN HIM Which is just as here THE LORD HATH DONE IT 'T is such a phrase as when Christ says I know you not Heb. 12. Sapientiae nomen ad circumstantiam praesentis Loci restringo Calvin in Verb. Siquis vestrum non potest intelligere Vâ—ilitatem Tentationum postulet a Deo toibui sibi tentum Beda in Locum Cum dicat omnibus intelligit qui Petunr Calvin in Virba NECEXPROBâ—T Hoc additum est Ne quis deum sepi us adire metuat â—ui ex Hominibus maximè sunt Liberales rametsi identidem quispiam juvari se postuler priora beneficia commemorant at que ita excusant IN POSTERUM Calvin in verba Vel certe ideo addit nequis deum sepius adire vereatur Calvins very words nonne enim dicit jam toties dedi quid adhuc me obtundis Ut solent homines etiam qui maximè sunt liberales Calvins very words again Sed Deus ut est Fons inexâ—austus ita ad dandum modo petâ—ssicut oportet paratissimus imo iâ—â—e ultro nos invitans ad semper petendum c. Aestius in verba 1 Head 2 Head 3 Head Ephes 4. 17.