God they will not leave him nor â—orsake him they will to the grave to glory with him In that famous battel at Leuctrum where the Thebans got a signal victory but their Captain Epaminondas a little before his death demanded whether his buckler were taken by the enemy and when hee understood that it was safe and that they had not so much as laid their hands on it hee died most willingly chearfully and quietly Well Christians your shield of faith is safe your portion is safe your Royal Robe is safe your Kingdome is safe your Heaven is safe your happiness and blessedness is safe and therefore under all your afflictions and troubles in patience possess your own souls But Sixthly If you would be silent and quiet under your sorest troubles and trials then set your selves in good earnest upon the mortification of your lusts it is unmortified Austin saith if thou kill not sin till it dye of it self sin hath killed thee and not thou thy sin lusts which is the sting of every trouble and which makes every sweet bitter and every bitter more bitter sin unmortified adds weight to every burden it puts gall to our wormwood it adds chain to chain it makes the bed uneasie the chamber a prison relations troublesome and every thing vexatious to the soul James 4. 1. From whence come wars and fightings among you come they not hence even of your lusts that war in your members So say I from whence comes all this muttering murmuring fretting and vexing c. come they not hence even from your unmortified lusts come they not from your unmortified pride and unmortified self-love and unmortified unbeleef and unmortified passions c. Surely they do Oh therefore as ever you would be silent under the afflicting hand of God labour for more more of the grace of the Spirit by which you may mortifie the lusts Rom. 8. 13 of the flesh it is not your strongest resolutions or purposes without the grace of the Spirit that can over-master a lust a foul sore till it bee indeed healed will run though wee resolve and say it shall not It was the blood of the Sacrifice and the Oil that cleansed the Leper in the Law and that by them was meant the bloud of Levit. 14. 14 15 16 Mark 5. 25 26 27 Christ and the grace of his Spirit is agreed on all hands It was a touch of Christs garment that cured the woman of her bloody Issue Philosophy saith Lactaâ—tius it may hide a sin but it cannot quench it it may cover a sin but it cannot cut off a sin like a black patch in stead of a plaister it may cover some deformities in nature but it cures them not neither is it the Papists purgatories watchings whippings c. nor St. Francis his kissing or licking of Lepers sores which will cleanse the fretting leprosie of sin in the strength of Christ and in the power of the Spirit set roundly upon the mortifying of every lust Oh! hugg none indulge none but resolvedly set upon the ruine of all One leak in a ship will sink it one wound strikes Goliah dead as well as three and twenty did Caesar one Dalilah may do Sampson as much spight and mischief as all the Philistines one broken wheel spoils all the whole Clock one veins bleeding will let out all the vitals as well as more one Fly will spoil a whole box of ointment one bitter herb all the pottage by eating one Apple Adam lost Paradise one lick of honey endangered Jonathans life one Achan was a trouble to all Israel one Joâ—â—h raises a storm and becomes lading too heavy for a whole ship so one unmortified lust will bee able to raise very strange and strong storms and tempests in the soul in the daies of affliction and therefore as you would have a blessed calm and quietness in your own spirits under your sharpest trials set throughly upon the work of mortification Gideon had seventy sons Judges 8. 30 31. ch 9. 1 7. and but one bastard and yet that bastard destroyed all his seventy sons Ah Christian thou dost not know what a world of mischief one unmortified lust may do and therefore let nothing satisfie thee but the blood of all thy lusts Seventhly If you would bee silent under your greatest afflictions your sharpest trials then make this consideration your daily companion viz. That all the afflictions that come upon you come upon you by and through that covenant of grace that God hath made with you in the covenant of grace God hath engaged himself to keep you Jer. 32. 36 ult from the evils snares and temptations of the world in the covenant of grace God hath engaged himself to purge away your sins to brighten and encrease your graces to crucifie your hearts to the world and to prepare you and preserve you to his heavenly Kingdome and by afflictions hee effects all this and that according to his covenant too Psal 89. 30 31 32 33 34. If his children forsake my Law and walk not in my commandements If they break my statutes and keep not my commandements in these words you have a supposition that the Saints may fall both into sins of commission and sins of omission in the following words you have Gods gracious promise Then will I visit their transgressions with the rod and their iniquities with stripes God engages himself by promise and covenant not onely to chide and check but also to correct his people for their sins Nevertheless my loving kindness will I not utterly take from him nor suffer my faithfulness to fail Afflictions are fruits of Gods faithfulness to which the covenant bindes him God would bee unfaithful if first or last more or less hee did not afflict his people afflictions are part of that gracious covenant which God hath made Psal 119. 75 with his people afflictions are mercies yea covenant-mercies Hence it is that God is called the terrible God keeping covenant and mercy Neh. 1. 5. Because by his covenant of mercy hee is bound to afflict and chastise his people God by covenant is bound to preserve his people and not to suffer them to perish and happy are they that are preserved whether in Salt and Vinegar or in Wine and Sugar All the afflictions that come upon a wicked man come upon him by virtue of a covenant of works and so are curst unto him but all the afflictions that come upon a gracious man they come upon him by virtue of a covenant of grace and so they are blest unto him and therefore hee hath eminent cause to hold his peace to lay his hand upon his mouth Eighthly If you would bee silent and quiet under afflictions then dwell much upon this viz. that all your afflictions do but reach the worser the baser and the ignobler part of a Christian viz. his body his outward man 2 Cor. 4. 16. Though our outward man decay yet our inward man
Peter Paul yea Christ himself Matth. 4 who as hee was beloved above all others so hee was tempted above all others hee was tempted to question his sonship hee was tempted to the worst Idolatry even to worship the Devil himself to the greatest infidelity to distrust his Fathers providence and to use unlawful means for necessary supplies and to self-murder cast thy self down c. Those that were once glorious on earth and are now triumphing in Heaven have been sorely tempted and assaulted it is as natural and common for the choicest Saints to bee tempted as it is for the Sun to shine the Bird to flye the Fire to burn The Eagle complains not of her wings nor I am without set upon by all the world and within by the Devil and all his Angels saith Luther the Peacock of his train nor the Nightingale of hâ—r voice because these are natural to them no more should Saints of their temptations because they are natural to them Our whole life saith Austin is nothing but a tentation the best men have been worst tempted therefore hold thy peace Secondly Temptations resisted bewailed will never hurt you nor harm you distasted temptations seldome or never prevail so long as the soul distastes them and the will remains firmly averse against them they can do no hurt so long as the language of the soul is Get thee behinde mee Satan Mat. 16. the soul is safe it is not Satans tempting but my assenting it is Hee that can say when hee is tempted as that young convert ego non sum ego is happy enough under all his temptations not his enticing but my yeelding that mischiefs mee temptations may bee troubles to my mind but they are not sins upon my soul whilst I am in arms against them if thy heart trembles and thy flesh quakes when Satan tempts thy condition is good enough if Satans temptations bee thy greatest afflictions his temptations shall never worsen thee nor harm thee and therefore if this bee thy case hold thy peace Thirdly Temptations are rather hopeful evidences that thy estate is good that thou art dear to God and that it shall go well with thee for ever than otherwise God had but one Son without corruption Heb. 2. 17 18 but hee had none without temptation Pirats make the fiercest assaults upon those vessels that are most richly laden So doth Satan upon those souls that are most richly laden with the treasures of grace with the riches of glory Pirats let empty vessels pass and repass without assaulting them so doth Satan let souls that are empty of God of Christ of the Spirit of Grace pass and repass without tempting or assaulting of them When nothing will satisfie the soul but a full departure out of Egypt from the bondage and slavery Exod. 14. 9 of sin and that the soul is firmly resolved upon a march for Canaan then Satan Pharaoh-like will furiously pursue after the soul with Horses and Chariots that is with a whole Army of Temptations Well a tempted soul when Israel going into Egypt had no opposition but travelling into Canaan they were never free it is at worst with him may safely argue thus if God were not my friend Satan would not bee so much my enemy if there were not something of God within mee Satan would never make such attempts to storm mee if the love of God were not set upon mee Satan would never shoot so many fiery darts to wound mee if the heart of God were not towards mee the hand of Satan would not bee so strong against mec When Beza was tempted hee made this answer Whatsoever I was Satan I am now in Christ a new Creature and that is it which troubles thee I might have so continued long enough ere thou wouldest have vexed at it but now I see thou dost envy mee the grace of my Saviour Satans malice to tempt is no sufficient ground for a Christian to dispute Gods love upon if it were there is no Saint on earth that should quietly possess divine favour a week a day an hour The Jaylor is quiet when his prisoner is in bolts but if hee bâ—e escaped then hee pursues him with hue and cry you know how to apply it Men hate not the picture of a Toad the Wolf flies not upon a painted Sheep no more doth Satan upon those he hath in chains therefore hold thy peace though thou art inwardly tempted as well as outwardly afflicted Fourthly Whilst Satan is tempting Rom. 8. 34 1 John 2. 1 2 Zach. 3. 1 2 3 of thee Christ in the Court of glory is interceding for thee Luk. 22. 31 32. And the Lord said Simon Simon behold Satan hath desired to have you that hee may sift you as wheat But I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not Satan would fain have been shaking of him up and down as wheat is shaken in a fan but Christs intercession frustrates Satans designed temptations when ever Satan stands at our elbows to tempt us Christ stands at his Fathers to intercede for us Heb. 7. 25. Hee ever lives to make intercession Some of the learned think that Christ intercedes onely by virtue of his merits others think that it is done onely with his mouth probably it may bee done both waies the rather because hee hath a tongue as also a whole glorified body in Heaven and is it likely that that mouth which pleaded so much for us on earth should be Joh. 17. altogether silent for us in Heaven Christ is a person of highest honour hee is the greatest favourite in the Court of Heaven hee alwaies stands betwixt us and danger if there bee any evil plotted or designed against us by Satan the great accuser of the brethren hee foresees it and by his intercession prevents it When Satan puts in his pleas and commences sute upon sute against us Christ still undertakes our cause hee answers all his pleas and non-sutes Satan at every turn and in despite of Hell hee keep us up in divine favour when Satan pleads Lord here are such and such sins that thy children have committed and here are such and such duties that they have omitted and here are such and such mercies that they have not improved and here are such and such ordinances that they have slighted and here are such and such motions of the Spirit that they have quenched divine Justice answers All this is true but Christ hath appeared on their behalf hee hath pleaded their Saith Christ Lord here is wisdome for their folly humility for their pride heavenliness for their earthliness holiness for their wickedness c. cause hee hath fully and fairly answered whatever hath been objected and given compleat satisfaction to the utmost farthing So that there is no accusation nor condemnation that can stand in force against them upon which account the Apostle triumphs in that Rom. 8. 34. Who is hee that condemneth it is
a wet some in a moist clay and some in a sandy dry ground So every spiritual husbandman must observe the fittest times to sow his spiritual seed in hee hath heavenly seed by him for all occasions and seasons for spring and fall for all grounds heads and hearts now whether the seed sown in the following Treatise bee not suitable to the times and seasons wherein wee are cast is left to the judgement of the prudent Reader to determine if the Author had thought otherwise this babe had been stifled in the womb Fifthly The good acceptance that my other weak labours have found God hath blest them not onely to the Rom. 15. 21 Phil. 1. 9 10 11 conviction the edification confirmation and consolation of many but also to the conversion of many God is a free Agent to work by what hand hee pleases and sometimes hee takes pleasure 1 Cor. 1. 17 29 to do great things by weak means that no flesh may glory in his presence God will not despise the day of small things and who or what art thou that darest despise that day the Spirit breathes upon whose preaching and writing hee John 3 pleases and all prospers according as that wind blows Sixthly That all afflicted and distressed Christians may have a proper salve for every sore a proper remedy against every disease at hand as every good man so every good book is not Prov. 25. 11 That remedy is no remedy that is not proper to the disâ—ase fit to bee the afflicted mans companion but this is here hee may see his face his head his hand his heart his way his works here hee may see all his diseases discovered and proper remedies proposed and applied here hee may finde Arguments to silence him and means to quiet him when it is at worst with him in every storm here hee may finde a tree to shelter him and in every danger here hee may finde a City of Refuge to secure him and in every dâ—fficulty here hee may have a light to guide him and in every peril here hee may finde a buckler to defend him and in every distress here hee may finde a cordial to strengthen him and in every trouble here hee may finde a staff to support him Seventhly To satisfie some bosome-friends some faithful friends man is made to bee a friend and apt for friendly offices hee that is not friendly is not worthy to have a friend and hee that hath a friend and doth â—ot shew hâ—mself friendly is not worthy to bee accounted a man friendship is a kinde of life without which there is no comfort of a mans life Christian friendship 1 Sam. 22. 1 2. 3. ties such a knot that great Alexander cannot cut Summer friends I value not but winter friends are worth their weight in gold and whâ— can deny such any thing especially in thâ—se daies wherein real faithful constant friends are so rare to bee found Oâ— my friends I have never a friend said Socrates a friend is a very mutable creature saith Plato The friendship of most men in these daies is like Jonahs Gourd now very promising and flourishing and anon fading and withering it is like some plants in the water which have broad leaves on the surface of the water but scarce any root at all their friendship is like Lemons cold within hot without their expressions are high but their affections are low they speak much but do little as Drumms and Trumpets and Ensigns in a battel make a great noise and a fine shew but act nothing so these counterfeit friends will complement highly how hansomely speak plausibly and promise lustily and yet have neither a hand nor a heart to act any thing cordially or faithfully from such friends it is a mercy to bee delivered And therefore King Antigonus was wont to pray to God that hee would protect him from his friends and when one of his Council asked him why hee prayed so hee returned this answer every man will shun and defend himself against his professed enemies but from our professed or pretended friends of whom few are faithful none can safe-guard himself but hath need of protection from Heaven but for all this there are some that are real friends faithful friends active friends winter friends bosome-friends fast friends and for their sakes especially those among them that have been long very long under the Smarting Rod and in the fiery Furnace and that have been often poured from vessel to vessel have I once more appeared in Print to the world Eighthly and lastly There hath not any Authors or Author come to my hand that hath handled this subject as I have done and therefore I do not know but it may bee the more grateful and acceptable to the world 1 Thes 1. 7 8 2 Cor. 8. 10. ch 9. 1 â— and if by this assay others that are more able shall bee provoked to do more worthily upon this subject I shall therein rejoyce I shall onely add that though much of the following matter was preached upon the Lords visitation of my dear yoak-fellow my self and some other friends yet there are many things of special concernment in the following Tract that yet I have not upon any accounts communicated to the world And thus I have given you a true and faithful account of the reasons that have prevailed with mâ—e to publish this Treatise to the woâ—ld and to dedicate it to your selves Secondly The second thing promised was the giving of you a little good â— unsel that you may so read the following discourse as that it may turn much to your souls advantage for as many fish and catch nothing so many read Luke 5. 5 good books and get nothing because they reaâ— them over cursorily slightly superficially but hee that would read to profit must then First Read and look up for a blessing Paul may plant and Apollo may water but all will be to no purpose except the Lord give the encrease God must 1 Cor. 3. 6 7 do the deed when all is done or else all that is done will do you no good if you would have this work successeful and effectual you must look off from man and look up to God who alone can make it a blessing to you As without a blessing Micah 6. 14. from Heaven thy cloaths cannot warm thee nor thy food nourish thee nor physick cure thee nor friends comfort thee So without a blessing from Hag. 1. 6. Heaven without the precious breathings and influences of the Spirit what here is done will do you no good it will not turn to your account in the day of Christ and therefore cast an eye heaven-wards It is Sencca's observation that the husbandmen in Egypt never look up to Heaven for Rain in the time of drought but look after the overflowing of the banks of Nilus as the onely cause of their plenty Ah! how many are there in these daies who when
28. Job 40. 4 5. chap. 42. 1 7. Surely this affliction shall issue in the purging away of my drosse Isa 1. 25. Surely as plowing of the ground killeth the weeds and harrowing breaketh hard clots so these afflictions shall kill my sins and soften my heart Hos 5. ult chap. 6. 1 2 3. Surely as the plaister draws out the core so the afflictions that are upon mee shall draw out the core of pride the core of self-love the core of envy the core of earthlinesse the core of formality the core of hypocrisie Psal 119. 67 71. Surely by these the Lord will crucifie my heart more and more to the world and the world to my heart Gal. 6. 14. Psal 131. 1 2 3. Surely by these afflictions the Lord will hide pride from my soul Job 33. 14 21. Surely these afflictions are but the Lords pruning-knives by which hee will bleed my sins and prune my heart and make it more fertil and fruitful they are but the Lords potion by which hee will clear mee and rid mee of those spiritual diseases and maladies which are most deadly and dangerous to my soul Affliction is such a potion as will carry away all ill humours better than all the benedicta medicamenta as Physicians call them Zach. 13. 8 9. Surely these shall encrease my spiritual experiences Rom. 5. 3 4 Surely by these I shall bee made more partaker of Gods holinesse Heb. 12. 10. As black sope makes white cloaths so doth sharp afflictions make holy hearts Surely by these God will communicate more of himself unto mee Hos 2. 14. Surely by these afflictions the Lord will draw out my heart more and more to seek him Isa 26. 16. Tatianus told the Heathen Greeks that when they were sick then they would send for their gods to be with them as Agamemnon did at the siege of Troy send for his ten Counsellors Hos 5. 15. In their afflictions they will seek mee early or as the Hebrew hath it they will morning mee in times of affliction Christians will industriously speedily early seek unto the Lord. Surely by these trials and troubles the Lord will fix my soul more than ever upon the great concernments of another world Joh. 14. 1 2 3. Rom. 8. 17 18. â— Cor. 4. 16 17 18. Surely by these afflictions the Lord will work in mee more tendernesse and compassion towards those that are afflicted Heb. 10. 34. chap. 13. 3. As that Tyrian Queen said Evils have taught mee to bemoan All that afflictions make to groan The Romans punished one that was seen looking out at his window with a Crown of Roses on his head in a time of publick calamity Bishop Bonner was full of guts but empty of bowels I am afraid this age is full of such Bonners Surely these are but Gods love-tokens Some say if a knife or needle be touched with a loadstone of an Iron-colour it will cut or enter into a mans body without any sense of pain at all so will afflictions when touched with the loadstone of divine love Rev. 3. 19. As many as I love I rebuke and chasten Seneca perswaded his friend Polybius to bear his affliction quietly because hee was the Emperours favourite telling him that it was not lawful for him to complain whilst Caesar was his friend So saith the holy Christian O my soul bee quiet bee still all is in love all is a fruit of divine favour I see hony upon the top of every twig I see the rod is but a Rosemary-branch I have sugar with my gall and wine with my wormwood therefore bee silent O my soul And this general Conclusion that all should bee for good had this blessed effect upon the Church vers 28. Hee sitteth alone and keepeth silence because hee hath born it upon him Afflictions abase the loveliness of the world without that might entice us It abates the lustiness of the flesh within which might else ensnare us And it abates the spirit in his quarrel against the flesh and the world by all which it proves a mighty advantage unto us Secondly They shall keep them humble and low vers 29. Hee putteth his mouth in the dust if so bee there may bee hope Some say that these words are an allusion to the manner of those that having been conquered and subdued lay their necks down at the conquerours feet to bee trampled upon and to lick up the dust that is under the conquerours feet Others of the learned look upon the words as an allusion to poor petitioners who cast themselves down at Princes feet that they may draw forth their pitty and compassion towards them As I have read of Aristippus who fell on the ground before Dionysius and kissed his feet when hee presented a petition to him and being asked the reason answered Aures habet in pedibus hee hath his ears in his feet take it which way you will it holds forth this to us That holy hearts will bee humble under the afflicting hand of God When Gods Rod is upon their backs their mouths shall bee in the dust A good heart will lye lowest when the hand of God is lifted highest Job 42. 1 7. Act. 9. 1 8. Thirdly The third soul-quieting Conclusion you have in vers 31. For the Lord will not cast off for ever the Rod shall not alwaies lye upon the back of the righteous At even-tide loâ— there is trouble but afore morning it is gone Isa 17. 14. As Athanasius said to his friends when they came to bewail his misery and banishment Nubecula est cito transibit 't is but a little cloud said hee and will quickly bee gone There are none of Gods afflicted ones that have not their lucida intervalla their intermissions respites A little storm as one said of Julians persecution and an eternal calm follows breathing-whiles yea so small a while doth the hand of the Lord rest upon his people that Luther cannot get diminutives enough to extenuate it for hee calls it a very little little cross that wee bear Isa 26. 20. Come my people enter thou into thy chambers and shut thy doors about thee hide thy self as it were for a little moment or for a little space a little while until the indignation bee overpast The indignation doth not transire but pertransire pass but over-passe The sharpnesse shortnesse and suddenness of the Saints afflictions is set forth by the travel of a woman John 16. 21. which is sharp short and sudden Fourthly The fourth soul-silencing Conclusion you have in vers 32. But though hee cause grief yet will hee have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies in wrath God remembers mercy Hab. 3. 2. Weeping may endure for a night but joy cometh in the morning Psal 30. 5. their mourning shall last but till morning God will turn their winters night into a summers day their sighing into singing their grief into gladness their mourning into musick their bitter into sweet their
bee mute and silent under their afflictions is this because it is ten thousand times a greater judgement and affliction to bee given up to a fretful spirit a froward spirit a muttering or murmuring spirit under an affliction than it is to bee afflicted This is both the Devils sin and the Devils punishment God is still afflicting crossing and vexing of him and hee is still a fretting repining vexing and rising up against God no sin to the Devils sin no punishment to the Devils punishment A man were better to have all the afflictions of all the afflicted throughout the world at once upon him than to be given up to a froward spirit to a muttering murmuring heart under the least affliction When thou seest a soul fretting vexing and stamping under the mighty hand of God thou seest one of Satans first-born one that resembles him to Irenâ—us calleth such or a Diaboli the Devils mouth the life no childe can bee so much like the Father as this froward soul is like to the Father of lies though hee hath been in chains almost this six thousand years yet hee hath 1 Pet. 5. 8 never lain still one day nor one night no not one hour in all this time but is still a fretting vexing tossing and tumbling in his chains like a princely Bedlam â—ee is a Lion not a Lamb a roaring Lion not a sleepy Lion not a Lion standing still but a Lion going up and down hee is not satisfied with the prey hee hath got but is restless in his designs to fill hell with souls Hee never wants an Apple for an Eve nor a Grape for a Noah nor a change of rayment for a Gehezi nor a wedge of gold for an Achan nor a Crown for an Absolom nor a bagg for a Judas nor a world for a Demas if you look into one company there you shall finde Satan a dishing out his meat to every palate if you look into another company there you shall finde him a fitting a last to every shooe if you look into a third company there you shall finde him a suiting a garment to every back hee is under wrath and cannot but bee restless Here with Jael hee allures poor souls in with milk and murders them with a nail there with Joaâ— hee embraces with one hand and stabs with another here with Judas hee kisses and betraies and there with the Whore of Babylon hee presents a golden cup with poison in it hee cannot bee quiet though his bolts bee alwaies on and the more unquiet any are under the rebukes of God the more such resemble Satan to the life whose whole life is filled up with vexing and fretting against the Lord. Let not any think saith Luther that the Devil is now dead no nor yet asleep for as hee that keepeth Israel so hee that hateth Israel never slumbereth nor sleepeth But in the next place Reas 5. A fifth reason why gracious souls should bee mute and silent under the greatest afflictions and sharpest trials that do befall them is this because a holy a prudent silence under afflictions under miseries doth best capacitate and fit the afflicted for the receit of mercies When the rolling bottle lies still you may pour into it your sweetest or your strongest waters when the rolling tumbling soul lies still then God can best pour into it the sweet waters of mercy and the strong waters of divine consolation You read of the peaceable fruits of righteousness Heb. 12. 11. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to bee joyous but grievous nevertheless afterwards it yeeldeth the peaceable fruits of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby Jam. 3. 18. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace The still and quiet soul is like a Ship that lies still and quiet in the harbour you may take in what goods what commodities you please whilest the Ship lies quiet and still So when the The Angels are most quiet and stâ—ll and they take in most of God of Christ of Heaven soul is quiet and still under the hand of God it is most fitted and advantaged to take in much of God of Christ of Heaven of the Promises of Ordinances and of the Love of God the Smiles of God the Communications of God and the counsel of God but when souls are unquiet they are like a Ship in a storm they can take in nothing Luther speaking of God saith God doth not dwell in Babylon but in Salem Babylon signifies confusion and Salem signifies peace now God dwells not in spirits that are unquiet and in confusion but hee dwells in peaceable and quiet spirits Unquiet spirits can take in neither counsel nor comfort grace nor peace c. Psal 77. 2. My soul refused to bee comforted The Impatient Patient will take down no cordials hee hath no eye to see nor hand to take nor palate to rellish nor stomach to digest any thing that makes for his health and welfare when the man is sick and froward nothing will down the sweetest musick can make no melody in his ears Exod. 6. 6 7 8 9. Wherefore say unto the children of Israel I am the Lord and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians and I will rid you out of their bondage and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm and with great judgement And I will take you to mee for a people and I will bee to you a God and yee shall know that â— am the Lord your God which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians And I will bring you in unto the Land concerning the which â— did swear to give it to Abraham to Isaac and to Jacob and â— will give it you for an heritage I am the Lord. The choicest cordials and comforts that Heaven or Earth could afford are here held forth to them but they have no hand to receive them Here Moses his lips drops hony-combs but they can taste no sweetness in them here the best of Earth and the best of Heaven is set before them but their souls are shut up and nothing will down here is such ravishing musick of paradise as might abundantly delight their hearts and please their ears but they cannot hear here are soul-enlivening soul-supporting soul-strengthening soul-comforting soul-raising and soul-refreshing words but they cannot hearken to them v. 9. And Moses spake so unto the children of Israel but they hearkened not unto Moses for anguish of spirit and for cruel bondage They were under their aguish feaverish-fits and so could neither hear nor see taste nor take in any thing that No air agrees well with weak pevish sickly bodies might bee a mercy or a comfort to them they were sick of impatiency and discontent and these humours being grown strong nothing would take with them nothing would agree with them When persons are under strong pangs of passion they have no ears neither for Reason
up of Lice Pope Adrian was choaked with a Gnat. A Mouse is but little yet killeth an Elephant if hee gets up into his Trunck a Scorpion is little yet able to sting a Lion to death though the Leopard bee great yet hee is poisoned with a head of Garlick the least spark may consume the greatest house and the least leak sink the greatest ship a whole arm hath been impostumated with the prick of a little finger A little Postern opened may betray the greatest City A dram of poison diffuseth it self to all parts till it strangle the vital spirits and turn out the soul from the body if the Serpent can but wriggle in his tail by an evil thought hee will soon make a surprisal of the soul as you see in that great instance of Adam and Eve The trees of the forrest saith one in a Parable held a solemn Parliament wherein they consulted of the innumerable wrongs which the Axc had done them therefore made an Act that no tree should hereafter lend the Axe an helve on pain of being cut down The Axe travels up and down the forrest begs wood of the Cedar Oak Ash Elm even of the Poplar not one would lend him a chip At last hee desired so much as would serve him to cut down the briers and bushes alledging that such shrubs as they did but suck away the juice of the ground and hinder the growth and obscure the glory of the fair and goodly trees hereupon they were all content to afford him so much hee pretends a thorow reformation but behold a sad deformation for when hee had got his Helve down went both Cedar Oak Ash Elm and all that stood in his way Such are the subtil reaches of sin it will promise to remove the Briers and Bushes of afflictions and troubles that hinder the soul of that juice sweetnesse comfort delight and content that otherwise it might enjoy Oh do but now yeeld a little to it and instead of removing your troubles it will cut down your peace your hopes your comforts yea it will cut down your precious souls What is the breathing of a vein to the being let blood in the throat or a scratch on the hand to a stab at the heart no more are the greatest afflictions to the least sins and therefore Christians never use sinful shifts to shift your selves out of troubles but rather bee mute and silent under them till the Lord shall work out your deliverance from them But Secondly Consider it is an impossible thing for any to sin themselves out of their troubles Abraham Job and Jonah attempts it but could not effect it the devils have experienced this near this six Jer. 2. 36 37. ch 17. 5 6 11. thousand years they had not been now in chains could they but have sinned themselves out of their chains could the damned sin Jude 6. themselves out of everlasting burnings Isa 33. 14 there would have been none now a roaring in that devouring unquenchable fire Hell would have no inhabitants could they but sin themselves out of it Ah Christians devils and damned spirits shall as soon sin themselves out of Hell as you shall bee able to sin your selves out of your afflictions Christians you shall as soon stop the Sun from running her course contract the Sea in a Nut shell compasse the earth with a span and raise the dead at your pleasure as ever you shall be able to sin your selves out of your sufferings and therefore it is better to bee silent and quiet under them than to attempt that which is impossible to accomplish this second consideration will receive further confirmation by the next particular Thirdly As it is an impossible thing so it is a very prejudical a very dangerous thing to attempt to sin your selves out of your troubles for by attempting to sin your selves out of one trouble you will sin your selves into many troubles as Jonah and Jacob did 1 Sam. 2â— 5 ult and by labouring to sin your selves out of lesse troubles you will sin your selves into greater troubles as Saul did and by endeavouring to sin your selves from under outward troubles you will sin your selves under inward troubles and distresses which are the sorest and saddest of all troubles thus did Spira Jerom of Prague Bilney and others Some there have been who by labouring to sin themselves out of their present sufferings have sinned themselves under such horrours and terrours of conscience that they could neither eat nor drink nor sleep but have been ready to lay violent hands upon themselves And Cyprian in his Sermon de lapsâ—s speaks of divers who forsaking the Faith to avoid sufferings were given over to bee possessed of evil spirits and died fearfully Oh man thou dost not know what deadly sin what deâ—dly temptation what deadly judgement what deadly stroak thou mayest fall under who attempts to sin thy self out of troubles what is it to take Venice and to bee hanged at the gates thereof It is better to bee silent and mute under thy afflictions than by using sinful shifts to sin thy self under greater afflictions Fourthly Consider it is a very ignoble and unworthy thing to go to sin your selves out of your troubles and straights it argues a poor a low a weak a dasterdly and an effeminate spirit to use base shifts to shuffle your selves out of your troubles Men of noble couragious and magnanimous spirits will disdain and scorn it As you may see in the three children Dan. 3. 8 ult ch 6. Heb. 10. 34 Lactantius speaks of many such brave spirits Daniel and those worthies in that 11th of the Hebrews of whom this world was not worthy Jerom writes of a brave woman who being upon the rack bad her persecutors do their worst for shee was resolved to die rather than lie And the Prince of Conde being taken prisoner by Charles the ninth King of France and put to his choice whether hee would go to Masse or bee put to death or suffer perpetual imprisonment his noble answer was that by Gods help hee would never chuse the first and for either of the latter hee left to the Kings pleasure and Gods providence A soul truly noble will sooner part with all than the peace of a I might produce a cloud of witnesses from among the Primitive Christians whâ— have been noble and gallant this way good conscience Thus blesied Hooper desired to bee rather discharged of his Bishoprick than yeeld to certain ceremonies I have read of Marcus Arethusus an eminent servant of the Lords in Gospel work who in the time of Constantine had been the cause of overthrowing an Idol Temple but Julian comming to bee Emperour commanded the people of that place to build it up again all were ready so to do Onely hee refused it whereupon his own people to whom hee had preached fell upon him stript off all his cloaths then abused his naked body and gave it up to children and
my peace but heark Christian heark canst thou tell mee how long thou must have travelled in birth again with them before they had been born again before they had been twice born would not every sin that they had committed against thy gracious God cause a new throw in thy soul would not every temptation that they had fallen before been as a dagger at thy heart would not every affliction that should have befallen them been as a knife at thy throat what are those pains and pangs and throws of child-birth to those after pains pangs and throws that might have been brought upon thee by the sins and sufferings of thy children Well Christians hold your peace for you do not know what thorns in your eyes what goads in your sides nor what spears in your hearts such near and dear mercies might have proved had they been longer continued Eleventhly Thou canst not tell how bad thy heart might have Deut. 32. ult 5. to the end Jer. 5. 7 8 9. ch 2. 31. ch 22. 21. Hosea 4. 7 proved under the enjoyment of those near and dear mercies that now thou hast lost Israel were very bad whilst they were in the wilderness but they were much worse when they came to possesse Canaan that Land of desires mans blood is apt to rise with his outward good In the winter men gird their cloaths close about them but in the Summer they let them hang loose in the winter of adversity many a Christian girds his heart close to God to Christ to Gospel to Godliness to Ordinances to Duties c. who in the summer of mercy hangs loose from all I have read of the Pine-tree that if the bark bee pulled off it will last a long time but if it continue long on it rots the tree Ah! how bad how rotten how base would many have proved had not God pulled off their bark of health wealth friendship c near and dear relations they stick as close to us as the bark of a tree sticks to the tree and if God should not pull off this bark how apt should wee be to rot and corrupt our selves therefore God is fain to bark us and peel us and strip us naked and bare of our dearest enjoyments and sweetest contentments that so our souls like the Pine-tree may prosper and thrive the better who can seriously consider of this and not hold his peace even then when God takes a Jewel out of his bosome Heap all the sweetest contentments and most desirable enjoyments of this world upon a man they will not make him a Christian heap them upon a Christian they will not make him a better Christian many a Christian hath been made worse by the good things of this world but where is the Christian that hath been bettered by them therefore bee quiet when God strips thee of them Twelfthly and lastly Get thy heart more affected with spiritual losses and then thy soul will bee less afflicted with those temporal losses that thou mournest under Hast thou lost nothing of that presence Qui te non habet Domine Deus totum perdidit Bern. of God that once thou hadst with thy spirit hast thou lost none of those warmings meltings quicknings and chearings that once thou hadst hast thou lost nothing of thy communion with God nor of the joyes of the spirit nor of that peace of conscience that once thou enjoyedst hast thou lost none of that ground that once thou hadst got upon sin Satan and the world hast thou lost nothing of that holy vigour and heavenly heat that once thou hadst in thy heart if thou hast not which would bee a miracle a wonder why doest thou complain of this or that temporal loss for what is this but to complain of the loss of thy purse when thy gold is safe if thou art a loser in spirituals why dost thou not rather complain that thou hast lost thy God than that thou hast lost thy gold and that thou hast lost thy Christ than that thou hast lost thy Husband and that thou hast lost thy Peace than that thou hast lost thy Childe and that thou art damnified in spirituals than that thou art damnified in temporals Dost thou mourn over the body the soul hath left mourn rather over the soul that God hath 1 Sam. 15. 35 forsaken as Samuel did for Saul saith one I have read of Honorius a Roman Emperour who was simple and childish enough when one told him Rome was lost hee was exceedingly grieved and cried out Alass Alass for hee supposed it was his Hen that was called Rome which Hen hee exceedingly loved but when it was told him it was his imperial City of Rome that was besiedged by Aâ—aricus and taken and all the Citizens rifled and made a prey to the rude enraged souldiers then his spirits were revived that his loss was not so great as hee imagined now what is the loss of a husband a wife a childe a friend to the loss of God Christ the Spirit or the least measure of Grace or Communion with God c. I say What are all such losses but the loss of a Hen to the loss of Rome and yet so simple and childish are many Christians that they are more affected and afflicted with the loss of this and that poor temporal injoyment than they are with the loss of their most spiritual attainment Ah Christians bee but more affected with spiritual losses and you will bee more quiet and silent under temporal losses let the loss of Rome trouble you more and then the loss of your Hen will not trouble you at all Let these things suffice for answer to the second Objection Object 3. Oh but my afflictions my troubles have been long upon mee and how then can I hold my peace were they but of yesterday I would bee quiet but they are of a long continuance and therefore how can I bee silent c. To this I answer First Thou canst not date thy affliction from the first day of thy pollution thou hast been polluted from the womb but thou hast not been afflicted from the womb many have Psal 51. 5 Rom. 5. 12 been the daies the years since thou wast born in sin few have been the daies the years that thou hast experienced sorrow thou canst not easily number the daies of thy sinning thou canst easily number the daies of thy suffering thou canst not number thy daies of mercy thou canst easily number thy daies of calamity thou canst not number thy daies of health but thou canst easily tell over thy daies of sickness Secondly Thy afflictions are not so long as the afflictions of other Saints compare thy winter nights and other Saints winter nights together thy storms and troubles and other Saints storms and troubles together thy losses and other Psalms 77 88. Gen. 15. 12 13. Exod. 12. 40 41 42 Jer. 25. 11 12. Saints losses together thy miseries and other Saints miseries together
of plenty and this is that the wise man would have us seriously to consider Eccles 7. 14. In the day of adversity consider but what must wee consider that God hath set the one over against the other As God hath set winter and summer night and day fair weather and foul one over against another So let us set our present mercies over against our present troubles and wee shall presently finde that our mercies exceed our troubles that they mightily over-ballance our present afflictions therefore let us bee silent let us lay our hands upon our mouths Fifthly If you cast up a just and righteous account you will finde Read but the ten persecutions and thou wilt be full of this opinion that they are not so many as the afflictions that hath befallen other Saints have you reckoned up the afflictions that befell Abraham Jacob Joseph Job Asaph Heman the Prophets and Apostles if you have you will say that your afflictions are no afflictions to those that have befallen them their lives were filled up with sorrows and sufferings but so are not yours therefore kiss the rod and bee silent It may bee if thou lookest but upon thy relations thy friends thy neighbours thou mayest finde many whose afflictions for number and weight do much ouâ— weigh thine therefore bee silent murmure not hold-thy peace Sixthly Not so many as attended our Lord Jesus whose whole life from the cradle to the crosse Isa 53. read the whole chapter was nothing but a life of sufferings Osorius writing of the Sufferings of Christ saith that the Crown of Thorns bored his head with seventy two wounds Many seventy two afflictions did Christ meet with whilst hee was in this world none can bee ignorant of this who have but read the new Testament he is called a man of sorrows his whole life was filled up with sorrows when hee was but a little past thirty years of age sorrows pains troubles oppositions persecutions had so worn him that the Jews judged him towards fifty John 8. 57. a man were as good compare the number of his bâ—some-friends with the stars of Heaven as compare his afflictions and the afflictions of Christ together Seventhly Muttering and murmuring will but add to the number when the childe is under the rod his crying and fretting doth but add lash to lash blow to blow but of this enough before Eighthly and lastly Though they are many yet they are not so many Psal 16. ult Isa 64. 4. 1 Cor. 2. 9 as the joys the pleasures the delights that bee at Christs right hand as the pleasures of Heaven are matchless and endless so they are numberless Augustine speaking August de Triplici habitu cap. 4. concerning what we can say of heaven saith that it is but a little drop of the Sea and a little spark of the great Furnace those good things of eternal life are so many that they exceed number so great that they exceed measure so precious that they are above all estimation â—â—c Christus nec coelum patitur hyperbolem neither Christ nor Heaven can bee hyperbolized for every affliction many thousand joyes and delights will attend the Saints in a glorified estate what will that life bee or rather what will not that life bee saith one speaking of Heaven since all good either is not at all or is in such a life Light which place cannot comprehend Voices and musick which time cannot ravish away Odours which are never dissipated a Feast which is never consumed a Blessing which eternity bestoweth but eternity shall never see at an end and let this suffice for answer to this fourth Objection Object 5 My afflictions are very great how then can I hold my peace though they were many yet if they were not great I would bee mute but alass they are very very great Oh! how can I bee silent under them how can I now lay my hand upon my mouth To this answer First Though they are great yet they are not so great as thy sins thy self being Read Psa 106. and Nehem. 9. Judge therefore hold thy peace Ezra 9. 13. And after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds and for our great trespasse seeing that thou our God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve They that are under the sense and guilt of great sins have cause to bee silent under their greatest sufferings Never complain that thy afflictions are great till thou canst say that thy sins are not great it is but justice that great afflictions should attend great sins therefore bee quiet thy sins are like great Rocks and mighty Mountains but so are not thy afflictions therefore lay thy hand upon thy mouth the remembrance of great sins should cool and calm a mans spirit under his greatest troubles and if the sense of thy great sins will not stop thy mouth and silence thy heart I know not what will Secondly It may bee they are not great if you look upon them with Scripture-spectacles flesh and 1 Pet. 5. 10 blood many times looks upon Mole-hills as Mountains and scratches upon the hand as stabs at the heart wee make Elephants of Flies and of little Pigmies wee frame Giants Carnal reason often looks upon troubles through false glasses As there are some glasses that will make great things seem little so there are others that will make little things seem great and it may be that thou lookest upon thy afflictions through one of them Look upon thy afflictions in the Isa 54. 7 8. ch 26. 20. glass of the word look upon them in a Scripture dress and then they will bee found to bee but little hee that shall look into a Gospel-glass shall bee able to say heavy afflictions are light long afflictions are short bitter afflictions are sweet and great afflictions are little 2 Cor. 4. 16 17 18. It is good to make a judgement of your afflictions by a Gospel light and by a Gospel rule Artâ—mon an Engineer was afraid of his own shadow men that look not upon their afflictions in a Scripture dress will bee afraid even of the shadow of trouble they will cry out no affliction to our affliction no burden to our burden no cross to our cross no loss to our loss but one look into a Gospel-glass would make them change their note The Lion is not alwaies so great nor so terrible as hee is painted neither are our troubles alwaies so great as wee fancy them to bee when Hagars bottle of water was spent shee sate down and fell a weeping as if shee had been utterly undone her provision and her patience her bottle and her Gen. 21. 17 18 19 hope were both out together but her affliction was not so great as shee imagined for there was a well of water near though for a time shee saw it not So many Christians they eye the empty bottle the cross the burden that is at present upon them and then they
10. 13. But God is faithful who will not suffer you to bee tempted above that yee are able but will with the temptation also make a way to escape that yee may bee able to bear it Rom. 16. 20. And the God of peace shall tread Satan under your feet shortly 1 John 2. 13 14. I write unto you Fathers because yee have known him that is from the beginning I write unto young men because you have overcome the wicked one I write unto you children because yee have known the Father I have written unto you Fathers because yee have known him that is from the beginning I have written unto you young men because yee are strong and the word of God abideth in you and yee have overcome the wicked one 1 John 5. 18. Wee know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not that is that sin that is unto death vers 16. nor hee sinneth not as other men do delightfully greedily customarily resolvedly impenitently c. but hee that is begotten of God keepeth himself and that wicked one toucheth him not The glorious Exod. 14. victory that the people of God had over Pharaoh and his great Host was a figure of the glorious victory that the Saints shall obtain over Satan and his instruments which is clear from that Rev. 15. 3. Where wee have the song of Moses and of the Lamb but why the song of Moses and of the Lamb but to hint this to us that the overthrow of Pharaoh was a figure of the overthrow of Satan and the triumphal song of Moses was a figure of that song which the Saints shall sing for their overthrow of Satan As certainly as Israel overcame Pharaoh so certainly shall every true Israelite overcome Satan The Romans were worsted in many fights but were never overcome in a set war at the long run they overcame all their enemies though a Christian may bee worsted by Satan in some particular skirmishes yet at the long run hee is sure of an honourable conquest God puts a great deal of honour upon a poor soul when hee brings him into the open field to sight it ouâ— with Satan by fighting hee overcomes hee gains the victory hee triumphs over Satan and leads captivity captive Augustine gives this reason why God permitted Adam at first to be tempted viz. that hee might have had the more glory in resisting and withstanding Satans temptation it is the glory of a Christian to bee made strong to resist and to have his resistance crowned with a happy conquest Sixthly By temptations the Lord will make his people more frequent and more abundant in the work of prayer every temptation proves a strong alarm to prayer When Paul was in the school of temptation hee prayed 2 Cor. 12. 8 9 thrice that is often daies of temptation are daies of great supplication Christians usually pray most when they are tempted most they are most busie with God when Satan is most busie with them a Christian is most upon his knees when Satan stands most at his elbow Augustine was a man much tempted So Bernard Basil Gâ—rgonia Trucilla James Jacob Daniel and a man much in prayer holy prayer saith hee is a shelter to the soul a sacrifice to God and a scourge to the Devil Luther was a man under manifold temptations and a man much in prayer hee is said to have spent three hours every day in prayer hee used to say that prayer was the best book in his study Chrysostome was much in the school of temptation and delighted much in prayer Oh! saith hee it is more bitter than death to bee spoiled of prayer and hereupon as hee observes Daniel chose rather to run the hazard of his life than to lose his prayer But Seventhly By temptations the Lord will make his people more and more conformable to the Image of his Son Christ was much Luk. 4 tempted hee was often in the school of temptation and the more a Christian is tempted the more into the likeness of Christ hee will bee transformed of all men in the world temâ—ted souls do most resemble Christ to the life in meekness low liness holiness heavenliness c. The Image of Christ is most fairly stampt upon tempted Heb. 12. 1 2 2 Cor. 3. 18. Heb. 2. 17 18 souls tempted souls are much in looking up to Jesus and every gracious look upon Christ changes the soul more and more into the Image of Christ tempted souls experience much of the succourings of Christ and the more they experience the sweet of the succourings of Christ the more they grow up into the likeness of Christ temptations are the tools by which the Father of spirits doth more and more carve form and fashion his precious Saints into the similitude and likeness of his dearest Son Eighthly and lastly Take many things in one God by temptations makes sin more hateful and the world less delightful and relations less hurtful by temptations God discovers to us our own weakness and the creatures insufficiency 1 Pet. 5. 8 in the hour of temptation to help us or succour us by temptations God will brighten our Christian Ephes 6. 10 18 Armour and make us stand more upon our Christian watch and keep us closer to a succouring Christ by temptations the Lord will make his ordinances to bee more highly prized and Heaven to be more earnestly desired Now seeing 2 Cor. 5. 1 2 3. that temptations shall work so eminently for the Saints good why should not Christians bee mute and silent why should they not hold their peace and lay their hands upon their mouths though their afflictions are attended with great temptations Object 8 Oh! But God hath deserted mee hee hath forsaken mee and hee that should comfort my soul stands afar off how can I bee silent the Lord hath hid his face from mee clouds are gathered about mee God hath turned his back upon mee how can I hold my peace supposing that the desertion is real and not in appearance only as sometimes it falls out I answer First It hath been the common lot portion and condition of the choicest Saints in this world to be deserted and forsaken of God Psal 30. 6 7. Psal 77. and 88. Job 23. 8 9. Cant. 3. 1 2 3 4. ch 5. 6 7. Isa 8. 17. Micah 7. 7 8 9. If God dealâ— no worse with thee than hee hath dealt with his most bosome friends with his choicest Jewels thou hast no reason to complain But Secondly Gods forsaking of thee is onely partial it is not total God may forsake his people in part but he never wholly forsakes them he may forsake them in respect of his quickning presence and in respect of his comforting Psal 9. 4. Gen. 49. 23 24 presence but hee never forsakes them in respect of his supporting presence 2 Cor. 12. 9. My grace is sufficient for thee for my strength is made perfect in weakness Psal 73. 23 24. The steps