Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n
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A04368
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The picture of patience. Or, a direction to perfection Most needfull and vsefull in these dangerous daies of sinne, and publike feares.
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Jeffray, William.
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1629
(1629)
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STC 14483; ESTC S100758
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29,169
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97
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be perfect c. The second obiect of our knowledge which being knowne must be a motiue to induce Patience to suffer till Perfection is not onely to know that troubles and Crosses are Christs Legacy vnto vs by his last will bequeathed but which is more are Gods high-way to eternall felicity Iob. 5.17 Blessed saith Eliphas to Iob is the man whom the Lord correcteth correction you see is so farre from a curse that it is a meanes to obtaine a blessing so also our blessed Apostle affirmeth Iam. 1.12 Blessed is he that indureth temptation for when hee is tried he shall receiue a crowne of life on the contrary our Sauiour pronounceth a wee to them that laugh now Luk. 6.25 for they shall mourne and weepe thus one poore laughter is attended with a double mourning Shall we not then desire with our Sauiour to be crowned with a crowne of thornes that hereafter by our Sauiour wee may be crowned with a crowne of Starres Reu. 7.14 Those that come out of great tribulation haue white robes to teach vs that purity follows troubles reward afflictions tribulation being that Heauen-bred herbe of the celestiall dyer that dyes our soules in purity for as we haue beene afflicted so shall wee be comforted According to which saith holy Augustine As many persecutions and tribulations as we here indure by pouerty power and cruelty of our enemies so many Rewards after our Reâ—urrection shall we receiue in the Retribution of the Saints Let vs then desire rather with Lazarus to liue in misery and dye with comfort than with Dives and Polycrates to liue in iollitie and dye in miserie the one being that happily-painfull way which leadeth to endlesse happinesse the other that painfully-happilesse rode which leadeth to remedilesse torment resembling herein the Violets of America which in Summer please with a sense-delighting sweetnesse but in Winter kill with a life-deuouring poyson See the geeat worldlings the darlings of fortune with greedinesse gape after her pleasures in the Summer of their strength which speedily prooues their poyson in the winter of their age but christians must looke for winters continuall tempests here that doe expect to obtaine a Summer of glory which neuer shall be subiect to alteration hereafter For as the wood of the Aegyptian Firre-tree throwne into the water against the nature of wood sincketh to the bottome where hauing for a space beene deepely steeped and as it were drunken with that liquid humor doth immediately beyond natures ordinary course mount it selfe aloft vpon the euer-varying face of the water so a christian man hauing the floods of tribulation entring euen in vnto his soule may for a while seeme to be suppressed when indeed hee is but oppressed with so great an inundation but straight the hope of a harbour mounts him aloft and Patience easily wafts him to the Hauen of Felicity Let vs then not be dismaid when Tribulation like a Tempest heapeth billowes of sorrows vpon our backs for a calme shall follow when Christ shall say Be still Mark 4 3â— but of this point we shall speake more largely at the end Onely now let the sweetnesse of Felicity giue a relish to the bitternesse of Miseries that it may make vs patiently endure what God louingly inflicts that Patience may haue her perfect worke that wee may bee perfect c. And the rather because we reade in Ezechiel that he saw a strange beast with the face of a Man a Lion an Oxe and an Eagle and in the 10. Chapter hee sayth he saw the same beast againe but the face of an Oxe was now changed into the face of a Cherube Ezech. 10.14 To teach vs that labour toyle and affliction open vnto vs the Glory of Eternity making vs of Laborious Oxen Glorious Cherubins in Angelicall perfection For it is not the Beautie of the Face of Man The fiercenesse of the Lyon nor the quick sight and Agilitie of the Eagle that helpe vs forward in the way to perfection Only the Face of an Oxe the Trouble and Patience in that trouble vnder the yoke is changed into the face of a Cherub and this is not another but the same Beast for They were the same faces that he saw by the Riuer Chebah Ezech. 10.22 If then thou desirest to be loosed from the yoke of Humane affliction and be made partaker of Angelicall perfection Then let patience c. The second maine Motiue vnto this duty to let Patience haue her perfect worke that so we may be entire is Imitation and that of those perfect patternes of Patience which haue beene before vs for Examples vsually preuaile more them perswasiue arguments and herein the most perfect Patterne must needs prooue the most forcible motiue to induce vs to let Patience haue her perfect worke For as Aristotle commanded that Children should not looke vpon Pauson's vnperfect figures but vpon the perfect figures of Polignotus least they indeauouring to attaine perfection might by vnperfect patterns be inueloped in the Cimerian darke cloudes of Imperfection So I being about to build this absolute Aedifice euen the perfect worke of Patience in your hearts will not present vnto you an imperfect patterne of so needfull a vertue but will intreate you to behold the Patterne which Christ Iesus himselfe hath left vnto you he being the perfect Picture as of all graces so especially of Patience which blessed Iesus as in his diuine Nature he is the perfect Image of his fathers glory So in his humane Nature he is the absolute Image of perfect Patience let vs therefore follow his stepps as we are directed by the Spirit of God who to this end vouchsafeth to giue vs this holy and heauenly exhortation Heb. 12.1.2.3 Let vs runne with Patience the Race that is set before vs looking vnto Iesus the Author and Finisher of our Faith who for the ioy which was set before him endured the Crosse and despised the shame and is set downe on the righ hand of God For consider him that indured such contradiction of Sinners against himselfe least you be wearyed and faint in your minds See here the Synopsis of Christ his Patience together with with an exhortation to vs to insist in his stepps When the pillar of the Cloud went forward the Israelites followed it and when this Pillar of Health goes before shall we stand still and not follow him We desire to be called Christians and yet haue not learned Christ vaine is the name if the nature be wanting What shall we doe with the appearance when we want the Essence Ought not the masters conuersation be the disciples Instruction How willingly doe we see the Subiects of Kings imitate their Soueraignes example shall not we imitate the King of Heauen Bernard vpon these words Cant. 2.1 I am the flower of the field shewes that two things are therein signified either the forme of our fighting or the glorie of our Triumph and adds Lord thou
the hope of the reward of eternall blisse Gregory thus To be Patient is with an equall minde to endure mischiefes from other men not to be moued with anger towards them that do inflict them Others thus Patience is a vertue by which a man beares all infirmitie and aduersity that can betide him with an vndanted constant resolution for God godlines sake And this later definition may be preferred to the former who though they doe expresse Totum Patientiae yet they doe not expresse Patientiam totaliter They doe expresse the whole of patience but not patience wholly And to this last agreeth the definition which may be gathered out of Calvin and other Orthodox writers namely that Patience is a voluntary suffering of all losses and crosses for Christs sake and the Gospels grounded vpon the neuer-fayling prouidence of God Now when I speak of a voluntary suffering I meane not a Stoicall stupiditie as when a man seemes to be senselesse in affliction but I meane such a suffering as pincheth and pleaseth pincheth with griefe pleaseth with reliefe pincheth with griefe when wee feele the rod vpon our shoulders and sit with Israel mourning by the waters of Babylon Ps 137.1 pleaseth with reliefe when we feele Christ drying vp our teares and curing our wounds and telling vs in the eare This grace is sufficient 2 Cor. 12.19 either by trying vs in the fire to make vs pure or by changing our Elegies into Eulogies by a happy and heauenly deliuerance for then shall our water be turned into wine our mouthes shall be filled with laughter and our tongues with ioy Againe it is not euery suffering but a suffering for Christ wherein patience truly can shew her selfe for Heathens so can shew vs patternes of patience but the Christian must arme himselfe to suffer patiently not for euill but for good yea for God And happy are those soules that so suffer for if Patience haue her perfect worke we shall be perfect The second thing obserued was to delineate her by her picture for which I will be beholding to that exact Symmetritian Tertullian who doth thus decipher her Patience saith hee hath a most quiet and a most pleasant aspect her forehead pure voyd of all wrinckles either of sorrow or anger her eye-browes sweetely but modestly inclined to Myrth her eyes cast downe but by humilitie not by infelicitie her mouth sealed vp with the honour of Silence her colour such a Securitie and Integritie are wont to haue her head she often mooues with a threatning laughter against the Deuill as for her apparell about her breasts it is white close to her body to signifie she is neither puffed vp nor yet disquieted she sits in the throne of the sacred spirit for where God is there is his Nurse-child Patience here you heare not but may euen see the admirable beauty of this vertue which Prudentius that diuine Poet or Poëticall Diuine doth after Tertullian thus delineate Behold how Patience with a mild aspect Stands in the midst of vertues chiefest foes No trouble can her setled minde deiect From Resolution She vndaunted goes Into the midst of danger whose rough piles Doth lend her wounds which she repaies with smiles See here and admire to see the excellencie of this vertue and let vs learne at last at least for shame to loue her whom thou seest to be so excellent is not beauty loues loadstone why should it not then attract thy heart to bee enamored of her that Patience may haue her perfect worke c. The third thing was to decipher her by her Character a kind of morall instruction as not much in vse among the ancients so happily receiued in these times of ours I will therefore thus presume to Characterike her Patience is Miseries best Physick which if she doth not extirpate doth yet extenuate the disease she is the nurse of valour and Christian Resolution the Child of Calamitie and Mother of true Constancie she goes the Milkie way to the golden Meane bearing as well from the Rock of distemper as of distraction she sets her selfe a worke with Dorcas to make cloathes for vertue against the winter of Aduersitie she sleepeth contentedly vpon a bed of Nettels and riseth with comfort from the Couch of care shee may bee made subiect to but neuer the subiect of Misery Misfortune may be an vsurping Tyrant ouer her to paine her but neuer a receiued Soueraigne to command her she weepes the teares of Comfort and findes Content in the middest of discontent thus by a heauenly Neglect she makes Troubles and Calamities the Foyle of her Lustre making the deepest misery the Basis of her highest triumph Gold she is and therefore pure for the Fire Wheat she is and therefore cleane for the Fanne Oyle she is and therefore clearer for the presse In a word she gaines by losse and mounteth from the vale of Miserie to the mount of Glory See here the Character of this blessed vertue and blessed is he that can enioy her not to possesse her onely but to be possessed of her The last thing obserued was to commend her by her Effects So that as the woemen said See what Dorcas did when she was aliue so may I say see what works Patience would doe if she were aliue Now these effects are admirably laid downe by Tertullian and after him by Cyprian the happy Imitator of Tertullian as Lorinus noteth namely that Patience defends all God his Decrees obeyes his Precepts fortifieth faith gouerneth peace assisteth loue instructeth humilitie expecteth repentance assigneth confession ruleth the flesh preserveth the spirit refraineth the tongue restraineth the hand infulteth vpon temptations expelleth scandalls finisheth Martyrdome She comforts a poore man moderates a rich man sustaines a sick man protects a strong man she delights the faithfull inuites the gentle she commends the seruant to his master and his master to his God she is the ornament of woemanhood and the touchstone of manhood she is loued in a child commended in a young man but admired in an old in all sexes in all ages she retaines a neuer-fading beauty These be the works of patience these she performes wheresoeuer shee resides so that for the conclusion of this point I may speake of her as Hugo doth of Charitie I know not what I shall more say in thy commendation but that Patience made Christ like vs and will if we embrace her make vs like Christ The second thing obserued was the Admonition it selfe Let Patience haue her perfect worke where by perfect worke is meant the worke of perseuerance So Hierome expounds it Then shall Patience haue her perfect work if she continues to the end for Patience is not perfect if she endure the first or second storme of tribulation and then prooue recreant but shee must perseuere to the vtmost end if she will bee perfect for not to perseuere to the end were to ouercome some sharp and perilous sickenesse and dye by