Historian tells us of a clear Vein of Water that springs from Mongibel that great Furnace that always sends forth Smoak or Flames yet is so cool as if it distilled from a Snowy Mountain thus the Saints in the Fiery Trial have been often refreshed with Divine Comforts and such humble Submissions and gracious Thanksgivings have proceeded from their Lips as have been very comfortable to those about them Thirdly The Issue out of all is the most sensible declaration of God's Love to them The continuance is limited by his tender Love till they are prepared for Mercy The Prosperity of the Wicked is Wine in the beginning and Lees at the bottom but the worst and afflicted state of the Saints is first and will at length certainly end in Felicity In the Tragedy of Job the Devil was the Author Chaldeans and Sabaeans were the Actors but the end was from the Lord. We are instructed by the Apostle That although no Chastisement for the present seems to be joyous but grievous nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them that are exercised thereby It is an allusion to the Rewards in the Olympick Games when the persons that overcame in those Exercises were crowned with Wreaths of Olive Leaves the Emblem of Peace Thus Christians who with unfainting perseverance in their Duty suffer Affliction shall be rewarded with Holiness in conjunction with Peace This peaceable fruit of Righteousness is not the natural product of Affliction Grapes do not spring from Thorns nor Figs from Thistles neither can it be so properly ascribed to the afflicted person as to the powerful Vertue and special Grace of the Holy Spirit who sanctifies Afflictions and makes them profitable for effecting God's intention by them And when the afflicted person becomes more humble more holy more weaned from the World more resigned to the Will of God this Fruit unto Holiness will compensate all their Pains and Sorrows And in conjunction with Holiness there is a Divine Peace a Joyful calm and quietness of Conscience in the sense of God's favour his answers of Peace are usually a reward according to the operations of Grace His Comforts are dispensed as encouragements to Obedience Besides when the Sinful Corruptions are purged out which caused perpetual disturbance and our Affections and Actions are correspondent to the Divine Law there is that clearness and serenity of Mind that rest and ease in the Soul arising from its just and due subordination unto God which the disobedient in all their seeming prosperity never enjoy There is no peace saith my God to the Wicked These beginnings of happiness are obtained here but the perfection of it is in the next Life Blessed is the Man that endureth Temptation for when he is tryed he shall receive the Crown of Righteousness which God hath promised to them that love him The richness and value of the Crown of Life is so great that God the most wise and just esteemer of things gave the precious Blood of his Son to purchase it for us It is a Felicity so transcendent in its quality and stable in its duration that the Blessed God cannot give us a greater for what greater good is conceivable than himself and what more stable enjoyment of it than Eternity The hope of this makes a Christian Blessed in the midst of the greatest miseries Our light Afflictions that are but for a moment work for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory Fifthly The infinite Wisdom of God orders all things in the best manner for his own Glory and the final good of his People If he governed by absolute Empire none in Heaven or Earth might say to him What dost thou but there is an inseparable connection between his Wisdom and his Will he is the King Eternal and the only Wise God as the Apostle joins those Divine Titles In this the excellence of the Divine Liberty shines that 't is always regulated by Infinite Wisdom He works all things according to the Counsel of his Will this is spoken according to humane conceptions but must be understood in a sense becoming the Perfections of God for Counsel cannot properly be attributed to God whose Understanding is Infinite and in one view comprehends all things but as those things are most compleat that are the product of our deliberate reasonings and deep contrivance so his work is perfect for all his ways are Judgment When ever we are dissatisfied or displeased with his Proceedings it is from the Error of our Minds and the Viciousness of our Affections we presume to correct his Providence as if it were defective in regulating the affairs of this lower World but he is wonderful in Counsel and excellent in Working In the Creation this regular and beautiful World was formed out of Darkness and Confusion And his Providence that is now misterious and vailed to us will bring into glorious Order and sweet Agreement those things in their final resolution that now seem so perplext to our Apprehensions 'T was a confounding reproach from God to Job Who is this that darkens Counsel by words without knowledg His passionate exclamations were such as if the Divine Wisdom had not disposed all the Afflicting circumstances in the series of his Sufferings and that Holy Man being convinced of his presumptuous Folly repeats the Charge against himself with tears of Confusion Who is he that hideth Counsel without Knowledg therefore have I uttered that I understood not things too wonderful for me which I knew not wherefore I abhor my self and repent in Dust and Ashes More particularly First all things are so wisely ordered that God shall be glorified in the event and it is the noblest disposition of a Christian to prefer the advancement of his Glory before all the Comforts of this Life and Life it self Our Blessed Saviour in the Fore-thoughts of his Sufferings was in distress and perturbation of Mind like the darkening of the Sky before a great Shower Now is my Soul troubled what shall I say Father save me from this Hour But the short conflict of Nature was presently at an end he willingly yielded up himself to be a Sacrifice to the Divine Honour and said Father glorify thy Name Moses and Paul whose admirable Zeal had only a Parallel between themselves in the same degree of Holy heat desired the Salvation of the Jews before their own if God might be more glorified by it This is the first Petition in Order and Dignity in that compleat form of Prayer composed by our Saviour as the Rule of all our desires Thy Name be Hallowed and Glorified in us and by us The admirable History of Jephtha's only Daughter is applicable to this purpose she joifully came forth to meet her Father returning Victorious and Triumphant after his War with the Ammonites He had made a rash Vow to offer up in Sacrifice to God who ever should first meet
sharp Afflictions The singularity and greatness of a Calamity exasperates the Sorrow when it is apprehended as a sign of extraordinary Guilt in the Afflicted and of severe displeasure in God that sends it but to prevent Trouble that ariseth from that apprehension the Scripture records the heavy Afflictions that happened to God's chosen Servants and Favourites Moses whom God honoured with the most condescending and familiar Discoveries of himself was tried by long Afflictions David a Man after God's own Heart was a long time hurled to and fro by Tempestuous Persecutions from his unjust and implacable Enemies Isaiah who was dignified with such Heavenly Revelations that his describing the Sufferings of Christ seems rather the History of an Evangelist than the Vision of a Prophet was sawn asunder 2. Their Nature was as frail as ours their Afflictions as cutting and sensible yet how patiently and couragiously did they endure the most cruel Sufferings 3. We have the same blessed Comforter to assist us as they had the Holy Spirit He that is stiled the Spirit of Power infuseth a holy Magnanimity to bear the heaviest Sufferings Now it is the Apostles Inference from the History of the Saints under the Old Testament some of whom died Martyrs and others lived Martyrs by their constant and generous suffering various evils for Divine Truth Wherefore seeing we are compassed about with so great a Cloud of Witnesses let us lay aside every weight and the Sin that doth so easily beset us and let us run with patience the race that is set before us The Metaphorical Expression a Cloud of Witnesses imports a numerous Company and is by some of the Ancients interpreted as an Allusion to the Benefit we receive from the Natural Clouds that refresh the Air and skreen us from the scorching heat of the Sun The Allusion is too subtile and strain'd but the Benefit is real for the admirable examples of their Patience and Courage are powerful to refresh sorrowful Spirits We are encompassed with them as a Theatre There is no kind of Affliction and no part of our Duty whereof there is not presented to us some example for our Encouragement and Imitation It is also worthy of Observation that Christians have a special Obligation Encouragement and Assistance to bear Afflictions with chearful Spirits above the Believers of the Old Testament For under the Mosaic Dispensation outward Prosperity Riches Honour Victory long Life were the open Expressions of God's Favour promised by the terms of that Covenant as Rewards to Obedience Yet even then some of the most excellent Saints were illustrious Examples of patient suffering Afflictions But in the Gospel God hath declared that his design is to train up his Children by Sufferings for their future Happiness that through many Tribulations they must enter into the Kingdom of God And we find the truth of this by manifold Experience from the first Ages of the Christian Church St. John by Revelation Beheld a great multitude which no Man could number of all Nations and Kindreds and People and Tongues that stood before the Throne and before the Lamb cloathed with white Robes and Palms in their Hands And they all came out of great Tribulation and had washed their Robes and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb. Now since the Cross is an Appendix to the Gospel we should with more prepared Minds submit to it Besides if Believers then who enjoyed only Star-Light less clear discoveries of the glorious World to come were so patient and constant in suffering for the Truth How much more should we be animated in our Troubles to whom the Sun of Righteousness appears revealing Life and Immortality by the Gospel If they who were partakers of the Holy Spirit in lesser degrees were supported should not Christians that receive the Graces of the Spirit in richer abundance be more comforted Thirdly All Creatures obey the Will of the Creator All the lower Rank Fire and Hail Snow and Vapours and stormy Winds fulfil his Word The Sun stood still till Joshua had compleated his Victory it started back to confirm the Faith of Hezekiah Nay sensible Creatures will contradict their own Natures at God's Command The Ravens fed Elias and the Lions spared Daniel And Creatures of the Superior Order exactly fulfil his Will The Angels that excel in strength do his Commandments hearkning to the Voice of his Word They do not usurp upon his Royalty nor make use of their Power to deny subjection to his Pleasure Now if the Inferior Creatures who are under less Obligations and cannot understand their Duty if Superior Creatures that excel us in Nobility of Nature and Dignity of State perfectly obey God should not their example strongly incite us to submit to his Will Fourthly It is our most glorious Perfection to have our Wills united to the Divine Will In Heaven Grace is in its exaltation the Spirits of just Men are made perfect by their compliance with the Divine Will that absolutely governs there A private Will that compounds with God upon sordid Capitulations that excepts against doing or suffering what is distasteful and harsh to the carnal part How unreasonable how degenerous and base is it But when the Will is obedient enlarged and uniform with God 't is enobled If our slow-paced Thoughts could conceive things as easily suddenly and clearly as the Angels do our Minds would be in the highest Elevation And is it not a more valuable and desirable Perfection to will as God does than to understand as the Angels Besides Patience has a special eminence above other Graces and advances a Christian to the highest Honour and Perfection that is attainable here All Graces are of the same Divine Extraction and have the same general effect upon the Soul They come from God and produce a God-like Temper and Disposition But they are distinguish'd by their Objects and Operations some are Heroick exercis'd about great things and produce more noble Actions others are humble and conversant in meaner things and their Operations are less eminent As amongst the Birds the Eagles fly aloft and only stoop for a great Prey The Bees fly from Flower to Flower and extract a little Dew but 't is all Honey It is the Counsel of St. James to the afflicted Let Patience have her perfect Work in bearing Afflictions though heavy and continued that you may be perfect and entire wanting nothing A singular Perfection and Encomium is attributed to Patience in that the trial and exercise of it is the most difficult part of our Duty and without it we can neither obey the Commands nor obtain the Promises of the Gospel Patience is the truest Fortitude and draws forth other Divine Graces in their excellent activity What the temper is to material Weapons that are blunted or broken in the Combate without it Patience is to other Graces their stability is derived from it This was the most glorious perfection of Christ's Obedience For it
became him for whom are all things and by whom are all things in bringing many Sons to Glory to make the Captain of their Salvation perfect through Sufferings Patience is not only defensive Armour but has noble Operations When our Saviour was nailed to the Cross and was the Mark wherein all the poisoned Arrows of Rage and Malice were received he seemed only to Suffer yet even then performed the most divine Exploits and obtained the most glorious Victory he reconciled God disarm'd the Law subdued Satan broke the Gates of Hell destroyed Death and rescued us miserable forlorn Captives Upon this account Chrysostom breaks forth in rapturous Expressions That our Saviour suffering on the Cross was more glorious than in his creating the World Thus the Patience of a Christian which in appearance is only a quiet bearing Affliction from God yet produceth many blessed effects A Believer while he feels the weight of God's Hand uncessantly seeks his Face with the most ardent Affections He doth not murmur against the Displeasure of God but mourns bitterly that he hath deserved it He surrenders himself to the Divine Pleasure which is the purest Act of Obedience He subdues his unruly Passions which is a more noble Victory than the Atchievements of the most celebrated Conquerors 'T is true the power of Grace is very conspicuous in resisting pleasant Temptations the pernicious attractives of the Senses and carnal Appetites but more in the Battels of Patience by how much 't is more easy to Nature to be content without unnecessary and superficial Pleasures than to endure oppressing and painful Evils I will produce an instance in both kinds recorded in Scripture for the Veneration and Imitation of all The first is that of Joseph whose unspotted Chastity was discovered by rejecting the impure desires of his Master's Wife Three powerful Tempters join'd to draw his Consent Solitude Youth and Solicitation Solitude with its Silence is often more persuasive to the commission of Sin than the strongest Eloquence because there being none that sees takes away the shame of being seen in guilty and foul Actions Youth is violent in its Appetites and needs no intreaties to induce it to gratify them The Sensual Fancy reigns and has such a ravishing power upon the Will that to corrupt Nature the Temptation is irresistible and without Divine Strength an instance of overcoming it would be as rare as a Phoenix in the World Besides Joseph was her Slave and was tempted by intreaties mixt with inticements from a Superiour that like a Bow that draws Strength from its bending by making a show of subjection acquires a double Empire But he had a reverence of his invisible Observer and Judge How shall I do this great Wickedness and sin against God Now Joseph in the Flower of his Age was not emboldened by Solitude nor excited by Concupiscence nor poison'd by the breath of the Basilisk was an admirable effect of Divine Grace He preserved his sincere and constant Innocence as the Sun its undefiled lustre in the midst of all the feculent exhalations that ascend from the Earth The other Instance is Job whose Victorious Grace in the comparison is more glorious than that of Joseph for as the lapses of those who by Terrors and Torments violate the Law are less culpable and more excusable than of those who by Sensual Allurements transgress the Divine Commands The Humane Nature being capable of such dolorous impressions as infinitely exceed all the Pleasures of Sense and consequently the yielding from fear of vehement pains and extreme evils is less voluntary than what proceeds from the Love of Delights so proportionably that Vertue is more eminent that remains firm and preserves us in our Duty notwithstanding the Batteries of extream Evils than that which preserves us by flight from the deceitful sensitive good The Holy Ghost has given us a particular Narrative of Job's Troubles and his behaviour under them The loss of a great Estate was but a preparative for worse Calamities his Ten Children were all destroyed in a day his Body was covered with Ulcers his Wife that in this desolate Condition was onely left to alleviate his Sorrows unspeakably encreas'd them yet under this heavy weight of Miseries he did not express one unbecoming complaint His Patience exceeded all the Pains of his Body and Griefs of his Mind Who loves God so ardently in his Prosperity as he did in his Afflictions Like Flaming Torches that reverst the Flame ascends with more force to Heaven St. Austin admiring his Invincible Temper says that Job half dead on the Dunghil was stronger than Adam when Immortal in Paradise for with Indignation he repuls'd his Wife who was Satan's Instrument to tempt him to Despair and Blasphemy How graceful and amiable a Spectacle is a patient Saint He attracts the Eye and Heart of God himself What an honourable Testimony proceeded from his Mouth concerning Job to vindicate his Sincerity from the malice of the Accuser Hast thou seen my Servant Job that there is none like him on the Earth Unparallel'd Saint who endured such a succession of Tragical Events with humility and submission The active holiness of his Prosperous Life is not recorded with that Note of eminency and admiration as his Patient Sufferings for which he is universally Crowned with the Praises of the Saints in all Ages Ye have heard of the Patience of Job He is a spectacle that draws the regards of all more famous for his Patience than his Misery 'T is the saying of the Platonick Philosopher Take away from the Life of Hercules the Tyrants he supprest and the fierce Beasts he slew his Travels and Combats wherein his Courage was exercised and appear'd and you lessen his Vertue the Hero is lost He that in the Opinion of the Heathen World deserved a Deity and is crowned with Stars in Heaven will not have a spark of Glory on Earth to preserve his Fame alive in Memory Thus take away from Job the Chaldean and Sabean Robbers the shower of Fire that consumed his Estate the Whirlwind raised by infernal Spirits that destroyed his Children his Diseases and his cruel Wife the exercises of his insuperable Patience and the honourable remembrance of Job is lost If the Prince of Darkness had not tried all his Arts and Strength to overcome him and had not been foiled in his Attempts his Graces had not been so illustrious St. Peter declares that the Spirit of Glory and of God rests upon Suffering Christians They are the Temples of the Holy Spirit the Eternal Deity wherein he displays his Divine Vertue and Glorious Power In short God usually conducts his People to the sublimest degrees of Grace and Glory by Suffering the more they are tryed and refined the brighter their Crown will be 5. 'T is our Felicity quietly to resign our Wills to the Blessed Will of God Patience considered as a Moral Vertue frees us from many Sorrows and Vexations that are supervenient to
unmitigable Sorrows Did his compassionate Eye regard all that were afflicted and are we now out of his sight Then such was his indulgent Humility that altho he could have performed the Cure by a Word yet he readily offered to attend a sick Servant I will come and heal him and now he is raised from his humble state on Earth to the Throne of Heaven does he disdain to extend his merciful Hand for our Relief No his Heart and Love is the same in Heaven as upon the Earth 'T is true he is exempted from all passionate Frailties all afflicting Affections that are inconsistent with the Felicity and Glory of his Kingdom But he still retains the same solid Love the same God-like Compassion the same ready Will to support and deliver his People in Misery Nay if the change of his state could have made any in him it could be no other than what is recorded to the immortal Honour of Vespatian by one that had experience of his royal Bounty That the raising him to the Imperial Throne made no alteration in his Breast but that his Power was enlarged equal to his Will of doing Good Our Saviour in his exaltation at the right Hand of God has all Power equal to his infinite Love that is suitable to the permanent relation between him and the Saints He is their Head and they his Members And was there ever such a Miracle or rather Monster in Nature that the Head the most eminent part the Seat of all the Senses did not resent a Wound made in the Foot the lowest and most servile part of the Body Does it not presently express its real Complaints For the natural union of the parts communicates the sence of the pain suffered by any to the whole And such is the spiritual Union between the divine Head and his Members that from Heaven he rebuk'd the cruel Persecutor of the Saints in language expressing the connexion of Charity between himself and them Saul Why persecutest thou me He does not say why persecutest thou my Saints why my Servants but Why me Tho he is not capable of any sorrowful sence yet his Affections are quick and vigorous to his People If it were possible that his Joy wherewith he is infinitely blessed should be increas'd it would be in the effusions of his Goodness to afflicted Christians Let us therefore come boldly unto the Throne of Grace that we may obtain Mercy and find Grace to help in time of need How heavy soever the Calamities are let them not sink our Spirits into Despair but raise them to nearer approaches to the God of Consolation 2. The Prayers of the afflicted must be always with submissive deference to the Will and Wisdom of God as to the manner the degrees and time of his delivering them Afflictions are not peremptory and immutable Dispensations but conditional for holy and good Ends and we may humbly pray for their removal 'T is no resisting of Providence to address to the divine Majesty with frequent and fervent Requests that he would please to take his chastizing Hand off from us Upon David's humble Prayer the destroying Angel was commanded to cease in the midst of Judgment Mercy interposed It is enough But we are apt to be impatient in our Troubles and by hasty impetuous desires of Ease and Deliverance disturb our tranquility and offend God As those who are diseased with a Rheumatism being worse in the Night than the Day impatiently long for the rising Sun to dispel the oppressing Humors and cheer their Spirits So in our Afflictions we impatiently renew our Requests Lord How long Lord make haste not reposing our selves on his Wisdom and Goodness who will do what is best for us God is both our Father and Physician and when the corrupt Humours are purged away will give Cordials and Restoratives to his afflicted Children The Prophet tells us He that believes makes not haste he doth not by undue means seek to remedy his Evils nor passionately and unquietly sollicite the accomplishment of the Promises before the season appointed by the divine Decree for that is to desire that his Mercy should be displayed to the prejudice of his Immutability but humbly waits God's Pleasure 3. Let the main desires of the Afflicted be for Divine Grace which is never more necessary and useful than in Troubles that they may glorify God and obtain their eminent End the Salvation of their Souls by them We are often very ardent in our Prayers for trivial things neglecting the most necessary and important As if a Prisoner loaden with Irons should passionately intreat that his Chains should be gilded not loosed How many spend their zealous Affections in praying for temporal things wherein their Happiness does not consist One of the reasons why God heaps upon rebellious Sinners the good things of this Life is to instruct us how despicable they are in his account things to be thrown away as he seems to do And he often refuses the Petitions of his Servants concerning temporal things When Pelopidus interceded with Epaminondas the wise Governor of the Thebans for the freedom of a base Fellow that for some Crime was committed to Prison he denied his Request and presently released him upon the desire of a vile Harlot And gave this reason it was a favour not worthy the dignity of Pelopidas but suitable to the quality of such a Petitioner And sometimes we pray for things dangerous and hurtful to our Souls and 't is becoming the Providence and Love of our heavenly Father to deny our ill-counselled desires Let us therefore be more intent and importunate in our Petitions that our Afflictions may be sanctified then removed We have neither Understanding nor Strength how to order our selves how to bear and improve great Afflictions St. Paul declares I have learned in every Condition to be content By the Revelation of the Gospel and the Holy Spirits teaching that all his earthly troubles should end in the heavenly glory he was instructed in that Science of the Saints We are therefore directed If any Man want Wisdom that is how to manage himself patiently under Afflictions let him ask it of God who gives to all liberally and upbraids not If Afflictions are sore and sudden it is very hard to compose and support the Spirit The Passions are Servants of Sense rather than obedient to Reason and by their first violent Motions surprize the Mind and overcome it before it perceives the Assault he that is not a Master isa Slave to them Or suppose no angry Resistance no impetuous Passions in the afflicted Breast yet the Heart bleeds inwardly and faints away David had natural courage to encounter a Lion yet he was so disconsolate in his troubles that he was fain to argue against his Sadness Why art thou cast down O my Soul why art thou disquieted within me And having raised his drooping Spirits yet he relapsed to his first Faintness till by supplies from
his Kingdom and Life And the King said unto Zadock the Priest Carry back the Ark of God into the City if I shall find favour in his eyes he will bring me again and shew me both it and his Habitation but if he shall say I have no delight in thee behold here I am let him do to me as seems good unto him O happy frame his Spirit was so equally ballanced That if God would suffer a Rebel that violated the most tender and strict relations of a Son and Subject to a Gracious Father and Sovereign the Murtherer of his Brother and a Parricide in his desires to usurp his Throne he humbly submitted to it The Duty of Resignation consists in the composure of the Affections to a just measure and temper when under the sharpest Discipline Of the Passions some are tender and melting others are fierce and stormy and if a ponderous oppressing Evil happen or the loss of that good that was very pleasing they sometimes join together as the Clouds at the same time dissolve in Showers and break forth in Thunder and Lightning Now when sanctified Reason hath a due Empire over them and the Soul possesseth it self in Patience it is a happy effect of Resignation to the Divine disposal Of this we have an eminent instance in the afflicted Saint forementioned When David was so wickedly reproached by Shimei and Abishai fired with Indignation would presently have taken exemplary revenge by stopping his Breath for ever Should this dead Dog Curse my Lord the King Let me go over I pray thee and take off his Head How cool and calm was David's Spirit he felt no aestuations nor tumults within exprest no outragious complaints but said Let him Curse because the Lord hath said to him Curse David There is a twofold excess of the Sorrowful Affections in Troubles I. In the degrees of them II. In the continuance First In the degrees of them when they exceed their causes Afflictive things that deeply wound us are usually represented by the reflection of Sorrow with all the heightning Circumstances the Loss as unvaluable the Evil as intollerable As objects are greater than their true proportion when seen through a Mist so do Evils apprehended through Grief and after such a false judgment the Passions take their violent course and the Spirit sinks under overwhelming heaviness The Soul is disabled from performing what belongs to it with respect to the general and particular Calling and cannot with freedom wait upon God but neglects its duty and felicity 'T was the complaint of the afflicted Poet Hei mihi quod miseros prudentia prima relinquit The first effect of misery is black confusion in the thoughts that the Mind doth not distinctly consider and apply such things as would be effectual to mitigate or remove it Besides as when the Stream overflows the Channel it runs foul and turbid so immoderate Sorrow often causeth secret Discontent and Anger at the Almighty disquieting and tormenting risings of heart against his Providence All things are disordered and turbulent in the little and marvelous Monarchy of the Soul And such seeds of incitation are in our corrupt Nature that in the extremity of Anguish the furious Passions swell into a Storm and break the restraints of Reason and Grace Job in a hot fit expostulates strangely with God Is it good unto thee that thou shouldest oppress He was a Holy Man and a Prophet who in the Paroxism of his Passion curst the day of his Birth Secondly There is an Excess in the continuance Deep Grief doth more arrest the Thoughts upon its object than the Affection of Joy doth The Mind is not so easily diverted from what afflicts as from what delights The main strain of the Soul is towards the mournful Object and in the midst of Comforts to support the fainting Spirts there still remains a sad remembrance of that which torments a swarm of stinging thoughts continually wound and inflame the Breast no Counsels prevail but the Soul is resolved in its grief and always restless with a bitter desire of what is irrecoverable Thus the Prophet describes the misery of Rachel weeping for her Children and would not be comforted because they were not As some Venomous Creatures turn all that they eat into Poison so obstinate Sorrow takes occasion from every thing to encrease it self This consumes the strength and the Mourner lives only to feel his Misery and thinks Death too slow for him that was so precipitate for the person lamented Thus by the fixed contemplation of its Trouble the Soul is distracted from its heavenly Original and from pursuing its blessed End and indulgeth its Sorrow as if the loss of a Temporal Comfort were utterly undoing to it This obstinate grief is inconsistent with a resigned frame of Spirit Though in great Afflictions there will be a conflict of Nature and it is Wisdom to let Grief breath forth and have a passage yet Grace will asswage the Fury and limit the time by regarding the Will of God and by deriving from the Springs of Comfort above some inward refreshings when the Streams below totally fail I shall now propound the Arguments that will clearly convince us of this Duty of Resignation some of which are powerful to silence all rebellious Arguings and suppress all the transports of the Passions others to raise the drooping Spirits and incline the Heart to a calm yielding and compleat subjection to the Divine Will The first Argument ariseth from God's Original Supream Right in our Persons and all things we enjoy He is the Fountain of Being and produced us out the depth of our native nothing and made us little lower than the Angels He is the Author of all our Good the just and true Proprietor of all his Benefits From hence results his Sovereignty and Dominion over us which is declared in his Law and the dispensations of his Providence His Law is the Rule of our Lives and Actions his Governing Providence the Rule of our Sufferings and Passions There is indispensibly due a free and full Obedience to his Commands and an intire universal Resignation to the Orders of his Providence The enjoyment of all our Blessings is from his pure Goodness and rich Bounty which requires our humble and affectionate Thankfulness and his resumption of them should be entertained with a Holy and a Patient Submission He gives them freely and may recall them at his Pleasure In whatsoever instance his Will is declared we must with Humility and Meekness submit for he hath an equal Empire in disposing all things that are equally his own and we are bound by an equal Obedience to acknowledg his Dominion When Eli received the terrible message of the ruine of his Family the final excision of it from the dignity of the Priesthood he patiently submits It is the Lord let him do what seemeth him good The meer desire of exemption from his over-ruling Will is a heinous Sin
and a stubborn uncompliance with it in the issues of things is direct Rebellion mixt with ingratitude obstructive to our present Peace and future Happiness If the Afflicted would for a while suspend their Tears and Sighs and with free Reason consider that what relation soever they had in their dearest Loss whether of a Father a Son of a Husband or Wife or any other amiable and passionate terms yet God hath a nearer right and juster claim in those Persons being his by the best Titles of Creation and Redemption it would silence murmurings and impatience and stop the scope of inordinate Sorrow Our Propriety in them was derived from his Favour and our Possession was depending on his Will for his Right in all his Creatures is unalienable This consideration was the foundation of Job's Patience when he was stript of all his outward Comforts how composed was he in his Mind how considerate in his words he reflects upon his Native Poverty Naked came I into the World and naked shall I return thither and Adores God's Dominion The Lord hath given and the Lord hath taken blessed be his Name Add farther that which by immediate connection follows the consideration of the glorious Majesty of God and our natural meanness and unworthiness The distance and disproportion is so vast between him and us that we are not able to conceive the full and just Idea of his Excellent Greatness We are fain to assist our Minds in the Thoughts of God by sensible representations and to express our Conceptions by borrowed terms His Immensity by the Ocean his Eternity by the returning of a Circle into it self his Power by Thunder his Majesty by the Sun in its Meridian splendours As the flying Fishes Shoals of which are met in sailing to the Indies can fly no longer than their Wings remain moist when those Membranes are dry they cannot move and are forc'd to dip themselves again in the Sea that by softening them they may renew their Flight Thus when we ascend in our Minds to God we form no Conceptions but what take their rise from sensible things which infinitely fall short of his Perfections Who can fully understand the transcendent Excellencies of his Nature Who can describe what is ineffable and most worthy to be ador'd with silent admiration and extasy of Mind He dwells in that Light which is inaccessible the Angels the most comprehensive Spirits vail their faces in the presence of his Glory He is his own Original but without Beginning alone but not solitary one ever Blessed God yet communicates his intire Deity to the Son and Spirit he is not divided in number nor confused in Unity He is not compell'd by Necessity nor chang'd by Liberty nor measur'd by Time If we ascend to the first Fountains of all Ages then his Infinite Understanding comprehended in one clear view the whole compass extent and duration of all things His powerful Word made the visible and invisible World and upholds them That which was spoken with Flattery of a Roman Emperour by Seneca who as much degenerated from the dignity of a Stoical Philosopher in licking Nero as in biting Alexander is absolutely true of the Sovereign Lord of the World His Providence is the Band that unites the parts of the Universal Common-Wealth the Vital Spirit and Vertue that sustains all Without his Eye and Hand his dispositive Wisdom and Power the whole frame would disband and fall into Confusion and Ruine He is seated upon the Throne of the Universe Thousand thousands of glorious Spirits minister unto him and ten thousand times ten thousand stand before him in the quality and humility of his Servants ready to execute his Commands He is the Judg of the Living and the Dead that disposeth of Heaven and Hell for Ever And what is Man a little Breathing Dust. He is infinitely above us and so strangely condescends in having a tender care of us that the Psalmist was swallowed up in Extasy and Amazement at the thoughts of it Lord What is Man that thou art mindful of him or the Son of Man that thou regardest him Nay we are beneath his Anger as a Worm is not worthy of the indignation of an Angel Now the more we magnify God and exalt his Authority in our Judgments the more our Wills are prepared to yield to him His Excellency will make us afraid to oppose his Providence When the Son of God appeared to Saul in his Glory and commanded in Person he presently lets fall his Arms of Defiance and says Lord what wilt thou have me to do His Resignation was absolute nothing was so hard to do nothing so formidable to suffer but he was ready to accomplish and endure in obedience to Christ. The more we debase and vilify our selves the more easy it will be to bear what God inflicts Humility disposeth to Submission Our Passions are not excited at the breaking of an ordinary Glass but if a Vessel of Christal be broken it moves us the lower esteem we have of our selves the less we shall be transported for any breach that is made upon us We read in the History of Job many heavy Complaints uttered by him of his Sufferings all the sad Figures of passionate Eloquence made use of to represent them and the fruitless Essays of his Friends that did rather exasperate than appease his Spirit And it is very observable that when the Lord interposed himself to justify the ways of his Providence he did not charge upon him the guilt of his Sins that deserved the severest Judgments but appears in his Glory and reminds himof his original nothing Where wast thou when I laid the Foundations of the Earth declare if thou hast Understanding He opens to him some of the Excellencies of the Deity in the works of Creation and Providence and the present effect was Job adored with humble Reverence the Divine Majesty and acknowledged his own unworthiness Behold I am vile what shall I answer thee I will lay my hand upon my mouth now mine eyes see thee I abhor my self and repent in Dust and Ashes The thickest smoak by ascending dissipates and vanishes If the troubled Soul did ascend to Heaven and consider that even the worst Evils are either from the operation or permission of the Divine Providence the Cloudy disturbing Thoughts and Passions would be presently scattered David had a blessed experiment of this in his distress I was dumb and opened not my mouth because thou didst it Such an awful apprehension he had of God as transcendently superiour to him and unaccountable for his Proceedings When any impatient Thoughts arise we should presently chain them up for there is Folly and Fury in them What am I that my sullen Spirit should dispute against the Orders of Heaven that my Passions should resist the Will of of the highest Lord that my Desires should depose him from his Throne For thus by implication and consequence they do who
and support the Spirit in the greatest Agony The first is God scourgeth every Son whom he receiveth And the other that is joined with it is Whom the Lord loves he chasteneth The Rule is general First All his Sons are under the Discipline of the Rod and who would be so unhappy as to be exempted from that number for all the prosperity of the World Afflictions sanctified are the conspicuous Seal of their Adoption and Title to Heaven And who would forfeit the honour of that Adoption and lose the benefit annext to it the eternal Inheritance rather than patiently bear his Fatherly Chastisements Others that enjoy a perpetual Spring of Pleasure here are declared Bastards and not Sons they are indeed within the compass of his Universal Providence but not of that peculiar care that belongs to his Sacred and Select Progeny His Corrections are an Argument of his Authority as our Father and an assurance that we are his Children this should induce us not only with submiss temper of Soul but with thankfulness to receive the sharpest Correction from the hands of our Heavenly Father This was the reason of our Saviour's meek yielding himself to the violence and cruelty of his Enemies The Cup which my Father hath given me shall I not drink it Secondly Chastisement is the effect of his Paternal Love He is the Father of our Spirits and that Divine Relation carries with it a special Love to the Spirits of Men and in that degree of Eminence as to secure and advance their happiness though to the destruction of the Flesh. The Soul is of incomparable more worth than the Body as the bright Oriental Pearl than the mean Shell that contains it this God most highly values for this he gave so great a Price and on it draws his Image If Temporal Prosperity were for our best advantage how willingly would God bestow it on us He that spared not his own Son but gave him up for us all how shall he not with him also freely give us all things Which words among all that the Holy Ghost hath dictated to the Interpreters of God's Heart to his People are most expressive of his â—ove and Bounty and most for their comfort He that gives Grace and 〈◊〉 â—â—â—ost real testimonies 〈…〉 certainly withholds no good thing from them I shall produce one convincing instance of this St. Paul who by an incomparable Priviledg was rapt up to the Coelestial Paradise and heard ineffable things yet was tormented by the Angel of Satan and his earnest repeated Prayer for deliverance not presently granted Did not God love that blessed Apostle whose internal Love to Christ almost equall'd the Seraphims those pure everlasting Flames and was expressed in the invariable tenour of his Life by such miraculous Actions and Sufferings for the propagating and defence of the Faith of Christ and the Glory of his Name If we love him because he first loved us as St. John testifies certainly he that returned such a superlative Affection to Christ received the greatest Love from him Now if Christ did love Paul why did he not upon his earnest repeated Prayer deliver him from his wounding Trouble whatsoever it was That Permission was a demonstration of the Love of Christ to him as it is acknowledged by himself Lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of Revelation there was given to me a Thorn in the Flesh and the Messenger of Satan to buffet me That the Afflictions of the Saints proceed from God's Love will be evident by considering I. His gracious Design in sending them II. His compassionate Providence over them and his assisting Power afforded to his People in their Troubles III. The happy issue out of them First His gracious Design in sending them God doth not afflict willingly but if need be not for his own pleasure but for our profit that we may be partakers of his Holiness The expression is high and emphatical his Holiness the brightest Glory of his Nature the divinest Gift of his Love The two principal parts of Holiness are ceasing from doing Evil and learning to do well And Afflictions are ordained and sent as profitable for both these effects 1. For the prevention or cure of Sin which is an evil incomparably worse in its nature and terrible consequents in this and the next World than all meer afflicting temporal Evils Sin defiles and debaseth the Soul which is the proper excellency of Man and separates from God our supream Good Your Sins have separated between you and your God and have hid his face from you All Afflictions that can befall us here in our persons or concernments the most disgraceful Accidents the most reproachful contumelious Slanders the most loathsom contagious Diseases that cause our dearest Friends to withdraw from us yet cannot deprive us of Union with God by Faith and Love nor of the fruition of his propitious Presence Lazarus when covered with Ulcers was kissed with the Kisses of his Mouth But Sin hath this pernicious effect it separates from his gracious Presence here and if continued in without Repentance will exclude from his Glorious Presence for ever Now Afflictions are Medicinal Applications for the cure of Sin the Disease and Death of the Soul and therefore infinitely worse than the sharpest Remedies The beginnings and progress of Conversion to God are usually by sanctified Afflictions Indeed considering our folly and perverse abuse of his Blessings they are the most congruous means for our Recovery The Light of God's Law doth not so powerfully convince us of the Evil of Sin till felt in the effects of it Thy own wickedness shall correct thee and thy backslidings shall reprove thee know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and a bitter that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God and that my fear is not in thee saith the Lord of Hosts The Instructions of the Rod are more sensible than of the Word as the feeling of a tormenting Disease produceth another kind of understanding of it than the reading of its nature in Books of Physick and they make us more attentive to God's Call and leave a deeper impression upon us It is Elihu his observation If Sinners be bound in Fetters and held in Cords then he shews them their works and their transgressions that they have exceeded Affliction clarifies their Sight makes Sin to be as heinous in the view of Conscience as in its own foul nature It follows He openeth also the Ear to Discipline and commandeth that they return from their iniquity Gentle Methods were lost upon them but by Judgments he effectually commands they relent and return to their Duty And after Conversion we need their Discipline to make us more circumspect and obedient The Psalmist declares It is good for me that I have been afflicted For before he was afflicted he went astray He was reduced from the errour of his ways by his Troubles And 't was
his experimental observation I know in faithfulness from the constancy of Love thou hast afflicted me Nothing so cools our Zeal to Eternal things as the Love of the World Vital heat declines and languishes as the Peaverish heat is inflamed and till we feel the vexations we are allured by the vanities of the World therefore God is pleased by such bitter means to make us more Holy and Heavenly Sometimes he removes with Jealousy those objects to which our hearts are so intirely engaged that the enjoyment of them intercepts the ascending of our Affections to himself Besides he will not suffer us to perish in Prosperity We are chastened of the Lord for our amendment that we may not be condemned with the unreformed World And is not this an infallible testimony of his Love David said Let the Righteous smite me and it shall be a kindness let him reprove me and it shall be an excellent oil If he valued the Reprehensions that were not contumelious and injurious not to upbraid but reform him as a favour and dear obligation how much more should we the corrections of our Heavenly Father And it will be a greater incitement to an humble and grateful acceptance of this Discipline if we consider what a severe neglect it is when God suffers the Wicked to lead a Voluptuous Life without disturbance They are encircled with Riches and Honours softned with Pleasures charmed with inticing objects and thus become hardned in Sin they are Riotous and Luxurious and give the Reins to their corrupt unruly Appetites without controll the Slaves of Sense led onely by Principles of Pleasure and hereby are inexcusable and made ripe for Perdition and reserved for final Vengeance Others though not guilty of scandalous enormities yet are by continual Prosperity setled upon their Lees careless and secure neglect the great Salvation and say in their hearts It is good to be here and their Damnation is as certain though not so visible as of those who commit gross and open Wickedness Sad Preterition In the midst of Pleasures they are truly miserable They have just reason to be abandoned to Sorrow being forsaken of the Love of God The Bramble is not cut when the Vine is pruned till it bleeds in order to its fruitfulness this letting them alone to take their fill of Pleasures is a heavy presage of final ruine When the Patient is desperate the Physitian lays no restraint upon the Diseased Appetite but permits him to take what he craves Besides the Intention of God is by Affliction to exercise and illustrate their Graces The most excellent Christian Vertues would be comparatively of little use without hard Trials Unfeigned Faith in the Truth and Power of God to accomplish his Promises Sincere Love to him humble Self-denial Persevering Patience then appear in their radiancy and vigour What a blessed advantage is it by the loss of Temporal Comforts to encrease in the Graces of the Spirit they are the truest Riches the fullest Joy and the highest honour of a Christian. St. Peter declares the trial of our Faith is much more precious than of Gold that perisheth 't is refined and resplendent by the fire of Affliction and will be found unto Praise and Honour and Glory at the appearing of Christ. It is the advice of St. James Count it all Joy when ye fall into divers Temptations Knowing this that the trial of your Faith worketh Patience Though Afflictions simply considered may be very grievous yet if we advisedly weigh and rightly compare things even when our sorrowful Passions are moved our Judgments will esteem them matter of Joy not onely in expectation of Future Happiness but as Divine Grace is thereby drawn forth in the most noble Operations In short the ultimate design of God in afflicting his People is thereby to bring them to Heaven Affliction mortifies the Lusts of the Flesh purifies the Spirit and makes us fit for the Inheritance of the Saints in Light By persevering Patience in Sufferings they are approved of God and obtain a Right and Title to the Kingdom of Glory For according to the tenor of the Covenant of Grace Heaven shall be conferred as a reward to those that overcome If there be no Enemy there will be no Fight and if no Fight no Victory if no Victory no Triumph only those who Conquer are Crowned The beloved Disciple with his Brother though allied to our Saviour by Consanguinity who expected by special favour to be glorified without a preparatory Trial yet he tells them without drinking of his Cup they could not have a share in his Kingdom and this should reconcile our Spirits to all our Troubles for the Apostle declares who was a competent Judg having been throughly acquainted with Griefs and had a Prospect into the Glorious Kingdom Ireckon that the Sufferings of this present Life are not worthy to be compared to the Glory that shall be revealed in us 2. God's Love is discovered in his compassionate Providence over them and assisting Power afforded to them in their Afflictions He speaks to the afflicted and disconsolate My Son despise not thou the Chastening of the Lord nor faint when thou art rebuked of him To sweeten by that tender expression the rigour of his Discipline to signify his dear sympathy with their Anguish and Sufferings Heavenly Consolation God himself bears a share in their Sorrows is afflicted in their Afflictions And the effect of this Love is that he always tempers and moderates their Trials to their Strength or increases their Strength in proportion to the Trial His Corrections are deliberate Dispensations that proceed from Judgment not from Fury which the Prophet earnestly deprecates His Rods are bound up with Mercy his Faithfulness joins with his Affection in moderating their Sufferings It is one Clause of the Covenant of Grace made with Christ typified by David If his Children break my Statutes and keep not my Commandments then will I visit their transgression with a Rod to amend not to destroy them but my loving Kindness I will not take away from them nor suffer my Faithfulness to fail The Apostle assures Believers That God is faithful who will not suffer them to be tempted above what they are able but will with the Temptation make a way to escape that they may be able to bear it Our Redeemer in his Agony was relieved by Heavenly Succour the presence of an Angel with a message of Comfort St. Paul found it verified by his own Experience That as the Sufferings of Christ abounded in him so his Consolations abounded by Christ and the Divine Power was accomplished illustriously appeared in supporting his weakness How many have enjoyed Comforts of a more precious nature and more abundant in want of Supplies from the World than in the possession of them When there is a total Eclipse below the blessed Comforter descends with Light and fills the Soul with Joy in Believing The
Thorns of his Crown more than all the Roses of Pleasure than all the Diadems of earthly Dignity in expectation of the blessed Reward Tertullian wrote to the noble Confessors of Christ that were imprisoned in Africa How willingly would we change our Prosperity with your precious Miseries If weak nature be sensible of your hard Restraint and Sufferings take flight by your Thoughts to Paradise The Persecutors cannot lay Fetters upon your Spirits but when you please you may ascend to the Kingdom of God where you shall reign for ever In the mean time counterpoise the Darkness and Straitness the Loathsomness and Sufferings of your Prison with the Light and Amplitude the Riches and Abundance the Joy and Glory of the Celestial Kingdom which no Words are significant enough or worthy to express A Saint whose Blessedness is in Heaven cannot be made utterly unhappy by Afflictions on Earth He will serve God with as much Love and as good a Will when poor despised disconsolate as in a flourishing condition and with this peculiar satisfaction that his sincerity is then most evident For the Service that is without respect to a present Sallary is not base and mercenary for a temporal Interest Besides that Obedience is more eminent and acceptable that is with Sufferings and the Reward shall be answerable to our Obedience One Draught of the River that makes glad the City of God above can sweeten all the bitterness of the World In short the Christians Hope is in the Apostle's Expression The Anchor of the Soul sure and stedfast that enters within the Veil it is fastened in Heaven confirmed by the fidelity of God's Promises and the prevailing Intercession of Christ and secured us in the midst of all the turbulent Agitations in the wide Sea below Hope makes us not only patient but joyful in all our Sufferings A Christian encouraged by the blessed Hope comes with joy to Death as the Door that opens to the Kingdom of Glory and immortal blessedness Direct 2. Let God be the supreme Object of our Esteem and Affections and whatsoever Evils we sustain will be made light and easy to us The Apostle assures us That all things even the most afflicting work for the good of those that love God That Heavenly Affection is not only the condition that intitles us to that Promise that by special priviledge makes all the Evils of this World advantagious to the Saints but 't is the qualification by which 't is accomplished By Love we enjoy God and Love will make us willing to do or suffer what he pleaseth that we may have fuller Communion with him In God all perfections are in transcendent eminence they are always the same and always new He gives all things without any diminution of his Treasures He receives the Praises and Services of the Angels without any advantage or increase of his Felicity By possessing him all that is amiable and excellent in the Creatures may be enjoyed in a manner incomparably better than in the Creatures themselves His infinite Goodness can supply all our wants satisfy all our desires allay all our Sorrows conquer all our Fears One Beam of his Countenance can revive the Spirit dead in Sorrow and buried in Despair The Prophet Jeremy in the Desolation of his Countrey supports himself with his Interest in God The Lord is my Portion saith my Soul The Expression signifies the Truth and Strength of his affectionate choice of God as his chiefest Good What Loss can make a Christian poor whose Treasure is above What Danger anxious whose Heart is fixed trusting in the Lord What Disaster unhappy whose Blessedness is in Heaven What Death can destroy him whose Life is hid with Christ in God Deprive him of all the contents of this World yet by communion with God Heaven descends to him or he ascends to Heaven where God is all in all The blessed Reward is not reserved wholly till hereafter Divine Joy is not deferred till our entrance into the Celestial Kingdom There 't is a refined Joy from all mixture of Sorrow 't is infinitely increased there spiritual Joy meets eternal Joy but it begins here The gracious Soul has a taste and sight how good the Lord is as an earnest of the fulness of Joy in Heaven Hope brings some Leaves of the Tree of Life to refresh us with their fragrancy but Love of its Fruits to strengthen us As transplanted Fruits where the Soil is defective and the Sun less favourable are not of that Beauty and Goodness as in their Original Countrey so heavenly Joys in this Life are inferior in their degree to those of the blessed above but they are very reviving In the multitude of my Thoughts within me thy Comforts delight my Soul 'T is the triumphant Exultation of the Prophet Although the Figtree shall not blossom neither shall Fruit be in the Vines the labour of the Olive shall fail and the Fields shall yield no Meat the Flock shall be cut off from the Fold and there shall be no Herd in the Stalls Yet will I rejoice in the Lord I will joy in the God of my Salvation He supposeth himself in Extremity utterly destitute not only of the Refreshments but Supports of Life yet he knows how not only to be patient and contented but joyful in the most forlorn Condition Joy is an Affection proper to the happy State In the day of Prosperity rejoice And in his deepest Affliction he had such a Felicity in the favour of God that no external want could diminish The Tree of Life brought forth Fruits for every Month Our blessed Redeemer typified by it has Consolations for the most deplorable and desolate Condition If he says to the afflicted Soul I am thy Salvation and within a little while thou shalt be with me for ever in Glory it sufficeth Rejoice in the Lord always again I say rejoice It is the most affectionate counsel of the Apostle These are not inaccessible heights of Religion and points of Perfection to which none can arrive unless extraordinary Saints but are the experimental practice of humble sincere Christians that say with the Psalmist Whom have we in Heaven but thee and there is none upon Earth we desire besides thee The guilty principle of vexatious discontents and immoderate griefs under outward losses and troubles is a false Judgment that God without the World is not sufficient for our compleat Felicity Who unless a Person distracted and foolish would say that the magnificent Feast of Ahasuerus that was prepared to shew the Riches and Glory of his Kingdom was mean and poor because there was not set before the numerous Guests in Dishes of Gold Grass and Acorns the Food of Brutes 'T is equal folly to imagine that God who is an infinite Good suitable to the spiritual immortal nature of the Soul and all-sufficient to fill the vast capacity and desires of our angelical Faculties the Understanding and Will by his glorious
sinful yet there is the greatest reason to justify him and accuse our selves much more when our Punishment is far below our Deserts Humility is the Mother of Meekness they are Graces of the same Complexion and Features Our Saviour in the order of the Beatitudes first declared Blessed are the poor in Spirit that have a low conceit of themselves as nothing in Spirituals and worse than nothing in Sin as empty of all that is Holy and Good and compounded of all Evil And Blessed are those that mourn in a sence of their Sins And then Blessed are the Meek And these are very congruously joyned for Meekness is a Disposition inseparable from the other He that duly considers himself to be a wretched Creature a worthless Rebel and is humbly and sorrowfully affected for his unworthiness his Passions will be subdued and as melted Metal receives any form so he patiently suffers what God inflicts A broken Heart is an acceptable Sacrifice to God and implies a tender sense of Sin as the Offence and Dishonour of the holy and gracious God in allusion to a broken Bone that has an exquisite sense of any hurt And it may be extended to signify a Heart that is compliant and submissive to God's Will in allusion to a Horse that is broken and easily managed by the Reins of the Rider Contrition for Sin is always joyned with Resignation to the chastizing Providence of God Besides Godly Sorrow will lessen natural Sorrow Sin first deserves our Grief and the sharpest accents of our Lamentation should be placed upon it and the more sensible we are of it the lighter will Affliction be to us As the opening a Vein stops by Revulsion a flux of Blood in another part so the turning the Stream of Sorrow from Affliction to Sin is a powerful means to make it cease There is Health in the bitterness of Physick and Joy in the depth of this Sadness Briefly Repentance inclines the Heart of God and opens his tender compassions to the Afflicted We have an admirable example of this in the case of afflicted Ephraim upon his Penitential complaint the expression of his Grief and shame for his Sin God graciously answers Is Ephraim my dear Son Is he a pleasant Child for since I spake against him I do earnestly remember him still therefore my Bowels are troubled for him I will surely have Mercy on him saith the Lord. When the relenting Sinner is covered with Tears the great Comforter descends and brings healing to the troubled Waters this advice is more necessary for the Afflicted because usually the stroaks of Providence are properly a Reproof and Correction for Sin the application of a Corrosive implies that some corrupt matter is to be discharged God is provoked by their neglects and though Love cannot hate it may be angry and without renewing their Repentance and recovering his Favour their Afflictions are very uncomfortable 'T is extreamly sad to feel the sting of a guilty Conscience within and the displeasure of God without The Burthen is heavy and oppressing that is laid upon a wounded Back It is therefore our best Wisdom and Duty to search our Hearts and try our Ways that we may discover what is the procuring cause of our Troubles and turn unfeignedly to the Lord. This will endear Afflicted Souls to God and incline him to afford gracious supports to them It is true sometimes our Sufferings are designed for Trial especially when they are for Righteousness sake Counterfeit Coin though with a fair Stamp and Inscription is discovered by the Fire thus meer titular Christians specious Hypocrites are made known by Persecutions but true substantial Gold endures the Fire without loss and the more 't is tryed the more 't is refined Thus the true Christian whom neither the gain of the World nor the loss of Life can remove from the stedfast owning of the Holy Truth has a clear manifestation of his Sincerity And it is a peculiar favour and honour when God calls forth his Servants to the hardest Trials for his Names sake 't is the noblest way of Service a special Conformity to the Son of God more glorious than the resembling his power in doing Miracles In this the Saints here have a capacity of serving God above the Angels for the obedience of the Angels is always joined with their Happiness but the obedience of the Saints here is often attended with Adversity and is more valuable to them upon that account As a Soldier of Courage and Generosity when he is chosen from the rest of the Army for some bold Exploit values the choice of the General as a signal mark of the esteem of his Valour and Fidelity To you it is given not only to believe but to suffer for Christ's sake This is just matter of Joy Innocence with the faithful companion of it a good Conscience makes our Sufferings from the rage and violence of Men to be comfortable There may be a Feast within the House when a Storm of Hail rattles upon the Tiles But it is sometimes so ordered by Divine Providence that the Evils we suffer are of a mixt nature partly Chastisements and partly Trials This was the case of the Believing Hebrews to whom the Apostle directs his Counsel their Persecution was from the unrighteous Pagans for a cause purely Religious but 't was permitted by the righteous God as a punishment for their Sins And here the Divine Wisdom and Goodness is admirable that the same Affliction is instrumental for the purifying of his Servants from Sin and the advancement of his glorious Gospel The first and most immediate effect of his Discipline is the humbling and sanctifying them to prepare them for his Love by which they are fortified to bear couragiously the worst Evils for his sake Direct 6. Apply the Mind to consider the Blessings we receive as well as the Evils we endure Whilst the intence Thoughts are fixt upon the Cross the Soul is rackt with inward Tortures but did we turn our Eyes upon our Enjoyments and the Comforts that are interwoven with our Troubles it would be a means not only to compose us to Patience but Thankfulness The Apostle directs us to trust in the Living God who giveth all things richly to enjoy In the poorest and lowest state of Life we have many Favours and effects of his rich Bounty and it is the ignorance of our deservings and of our enjoyments that causeth Discontent and Murmuring under our Troubles Particularly this Consideration will be effectual to repress the Discontent that is apt to kindle in our Breasts upon the sight of the different Dispensations of Providence that some are exempted from the current Adversities of the World and live in ease and pleasure whilst we are deprived of many outward Comforts Suppose a Sick person in extream Poverty were received by a rich and liberal Lord into his House and convenient Food and precious Medicines were provided for him without his desert or
are vex'd at his Providence A Holy Soul will tremble at the Thoughts of it Methinks God speaks to the afflicted and disturbed Soul in the words of the Psalm Be still and know that I am God The actual consideration of his Supremacy will be powerful to lay the growing Storm of Passions Impatience ariseth from the ignorance of God and our selves Secondly The Righteousness of God in all his ways if duely considered will compose the Afflicted Spirit to quiet and humble submission He is never injurious to us when he deprives us of our sweetest and most precious comforts because we have incurred the forfeiture of all He is not cruel in laying the heaviest punishments upon us for we deserve them If we were free from actual Sins yet our depraved nature so repugnant to the pure Law of God involves us under an Obligation to Punishment If we had not been attained with the guilt of Original Sin yet the Sins committed in the course of our Lives make us deeply obnoxious to Divine Justice How much more the concurrent guilt of Original and Actual Sins The acts of Sin are transient and pass away but the guilt and stain of Sin and the Conscience of Sin remain and no less than Eternal Punishment is commensurate to the obliquity From hence there is the clearest Reason to justify God in all his Proceedings Righteousness establishes his Throne The Prophet saith Thy Righteousness is like the great Mountains thy Judgments are a great Deep The special ends of God in severe dispensations are sometimes indiscernible but never unjust his Righteousness is obvious to every eye The actual consideration of this is powerful to silence the uproar of the Passions and to make us lie humbly at his Feet under the sorest Chastisements I will bear the Indignation of the Lord without murmuring saith the Afflicted Church because I have sinned against him As disobedience in our Inclinations and Actions is a tacit reflection upon the equity of his Law as if the restraints of it were unreasonable so Impatience and fretful Discontent is upon the equity of his Providence as if the afflicting dispensations of it were not due to us And the sense of our Sinfulness and God's Righteousness is an excellent preventive of it If thou art in great Afflictions and feelest any tumultuous Thoughts any rebellious Risings within thee Consider thou art a Sinner guilty of ten Thousand Provocations and darest thou appear before his inlightned and terrible Tribunal and challenge him for any unrighteous Proceedings Wherefore doth a living Man complain a Man for the punishment of his Sins Surely it is meet to be said unto God I will not offend any more That which I know not teach thou me and if I have done Iniquity I will do no more Besides all the Punishments of Men here are with Merciful allays not in just proportion to their Guilt The Church in its calamitous State described in the most doleful Lamentations of Jeremiah when the greatest number of the Jews perished by the Sword or Famine that attended the War their City and Temple were laid in Ruines and the unhappy People that escaped the fury of the Chaldeans were the Captives and Triumphs of their Enemies yet in that unparallell'd Affliction she acknowledges It is the Lord's Mercies that we are not utterly and totally consumed and lays her Mouth in the Dust a posture of the lowest abasement And Holy Ezra reflecting upon that dreadful Calamity acknowledgeth their Punishment was beneath their desert as their Deliverance was above their expectation And for all that is come upon us for our evil deeds and great trespasses seeing thou hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve and given us such a deliverance as this Our Deserts are less than the least of God's Mercies and our Offences greater than the greatest of his Judgments This should make us not onely patiently submit but humbly accept the punishment of our iniquity as far less than what is deserved If the Sentence of Death against a Malefactor be exchanged for Banishment or Banishment be remitted for a short Confinement is there not incomparable more cause to be thankful for what is pardoned than to complain for what is suffered What Ingratitude is it to be impatient and murmuring for these light Afflictions that are but for a moment when we deserve an eternal and insupportable weight of Misery in Hell It is infinitely more becoming us and safe to argue against our irregular Passions than to tax his Righteous Dispensations Thirdly His Power is Immense and uncontrollable and it is a vain attempt to contend with him as if the Eternal Order of his Decrees could be altered or broken The Contest between God and the Sinner is whose Will shall stand It is his glorious work to depress the Proud and subdue the stubborn refractory Spirits The Punishment of the first Pride in the Angels is an Eternal and terrible example of his powerful Justice and how intolerable a Crime it is that Heaven could not bear but presently opened and the Guilty fell into the bottomless Pit Now Pride is a seminal Evil and lies at the root of Stubborness and impatience under Judgments Proud Dust is apt to fly in God's Face upon every motion of the Afflicting Passions And by the resistance of Self-Will he is provoked to more Severity Wo be to him that strives with his Maker This is to be like a restive Horse or Mule without Understanding that flings and foams when the Burthen is laid upon him but gets nothing but Blows without the removal of the Burthen It is our Duty and Interest to observe the Blessed Apostles direction Humble your selves under the mighty hand of God and he shall exalt you There is a passive humbling by his irresistible Providence and an active voluntary humbling which implies a subjection to his Law and a submission to his Providence This is infinitely pleasing to him 't is the right disposition that prepares us for Mercy and is the certain way of Exaltation for then God obtains his End The humble Prostrating our selves at his Feet to receive his Correction causes his Bowels to relent and stops his Hand the seeming humiliation of Ahab procured a respite of those fearful Judgments denounced against his House It is said of the generosity of the Lion that he spares his prostrate Adversary In short our Salvation depends upon our humble demeanour under afflictive Dispensations We have had Fathers of our Flesh which corrected us and we gave them reverence shall we not much more be in subjection to the Father of Spirits and live Unsubmission induces a deadly guilt upon the Rebellious Fourthly His Paternal Love in sending Afflictions is a sufficient Argument to win our compliance with his Will The blessed Apostle applying Lenitives to the Afflicted propounds two Divine Truths that if seriously thought of and stedfastly believed are powerful to mitigate the acerbity of all Sufferings
him after his Victory and upon the sight of his Daughter was so deeply wounded with Sorrow that his Triumph was converted into Lamentations but the Grief was only in the Father for in that first surprise of such a terrible Sentence to be executed upon her she did not answer his Tears with Tears nor Lamentations with Lamentations but said unto him My Father if thou hast opened thy mouth unto the Lord do to me according to that which hath proceeded out of thy mouth for as much as the Lord hath taken Vengeance for thee on thine Enemies Methinks the admirable Love and Generosity in a young Virgin to whom her Father's Honour and Exaltation was more dear than her Life upbraids us for our unwilling submission to those Providential Dispensations that are ungrateful to Flesh and Blood wherein the Glory of God is advanced If we were called to Martyrdom for his Truth and our Lives should bleed forth as Sacrifices on the Altar or our Bodies be consumed as Incense on the Censer it were an unjust and ungrateful complaint to express passionate reluctancy against his Providence If there were other consequences of our present Sufferings but the glorifying God we should be content That is the worthiest end which he proposeth to himself and will accomplish His Divine excellencies will be illústrated by the wickedness of Men that at present obscures the Glory of his Government his Wisdom Power Holiness Mercy and Justice will be acknowledged admired and magnified at last 2. His Wisdom will order all things even the most afflicting and dolorous for the good of his People This is a fearful Paradox to a carnal Mind that judgeth of Good and Evil as present things are pleasant or unpleasant to sense without regard to what is future 'T is like Sampson's Riddle to the Philistims Out of the Devourer came Meat and out of the Strong came sweetness But to the Mind that hath spiritual discerning and judgeth of Good and Evil as things are conducive or destructive to the happiness of the Soul it is a clear undoubted Truth We know saith the Apostle with the greatest assurance that all things work together for good to them that love God All things the most adverse to their present desires are so disposed and over-ruled by his Providence as if there were a secret intelligence and concert between them to promote the Happiness of the Saints thus in mixt Bodies the contrary qualities are reduced to such a just measure and temperament by the Wisdom of the Divine Maker that a sound and healthful constitution results from them We have a rare instance of this in the History of Joseph his envious Brethren were the Instruments of his Exaltation they sold him for a Slave into Egypt to frustrate his Prophetick Dreams and there by many admirable turns of Providence he was advanced to the highest Dignity and then was verified in him and his Brethren that his Sheaf arose and stood upright and their Sheaves stood round and did obeisance to his Sheaf God had reserved purposes of greater good for Joseph than if he had continued under his Fathers tender Eye and Care therefore 't is said in his History that they perfideously sold him but God sent him He that attentively reads the Journeys of the Israelites through the Wilderness to Canaan cannot but wonder at the Circuits and indirect motions in their tedious Travel for Forty Years and when near the Borders of the place so long and ardently desired they were often commanded to retreat in the same Line wherein they had advanced to it had they chose the shortest way and disobeyed the Divine Conducter they had never entred into the Land of Promise but following the Pillar that directed their March though they seem'd lost in their intricate wandrings yet they obtained the joyful possession of it This was a Type of the Saints passage through a troublesom World to the true rest above and that they are guided through many cross ways directly to the Kingdom of Heaven Who knows saith Solomon what is good for a Man in this Life all the days of his vain Life which he spendeth as a shadow That which is desir'd with importunity as tending to his Happiness often proves his Woe Some had not been so wicked and consequently so miserable if their Lusts had not been excited by Riches and Power others had not been secured from destructive Temptations but in a low and afflicted state 'T is therefore both our Duty and Interest not to pray absolutely for any temporal thing but when our Desires are most passionate to say with the humility and holiness the reverence and obedience of our Saviour Not my Will but thine be done We shall find our selves more happy by the Divine disposal of things than if we had obtained our dearest Wishes and most ardent Prayers And when we shall come to the top of the Holy Hill and look down on the various Circuits of Providence by which we ascended we shall then understand that Wisdom and Love conducted us safely to Felicity we shall approve and admire all the Divine methods in order to our blessed End Now the belief of this should compose us to a patient and cheerful resignation of our selves to God's Providence and Pleasure Who would not accept of the Counsel of a Friend that proceeds from Love though his Judgment were not so exact as to be relied on Much more should we thankfully receive the Appointments of God whose Knowledg and Affection are equally superlative in whom there is united the Wisdom of a Father's and the tenderness of a Mother's Love to his Children Briefly as Jonathan by tasting the Honey at the end of his Rod had his eyes enlightened so the end of the severest Chastisements will convince them that the Providence of God was more benign and propitious than they could imagine His ways are as far above our ways and his thoughts above our thoughts as the Heavens are above the Earth This Point is applicable to us First by way of Reproof for our unsubmissive behaviour in Afflictions our uncompliance with the Divine Disposals Some are in a secret discontent at God's Afflicting Providence and this razeth the memory of former Mercies and takes away the relish of present Mercies as the sweet Showers of Heaven that fall into the Sea are turned into its brackish taste such neither enjoy God nor themselves What egregious folly and vile ingratitude is this All we have is from his most free favour and shall we peevishly slight his Benefits because our Desires are not gratified in every respect Others are moved with Anger and Vexation for the Evils that befal them as the Red-hot Iron under the blows of the Hammer casts abroad Fiery Sparks so their stubborn fierce Spirits when afflicted break forth in expressions of impatience and displeasure They count it a base abjectness of Mind a despicable Pusillanimity to humble themselves under God's Judgments and with
contrition for their Sins to implore his Clemency The voice of the Lord maketh the Hinds to calve the timerous and weak creatures But when the Heavens roar the Lions Thunder back again Thus strong and stubborn Sinners when they feel the effects of God's Anger are raging and furious in their Passions and Expressions The foolish Man perverteth his way his most grievous sufferings are the fruits of his Sins and his Heart fretteth against the Lord as the inflicter of them This is a high indignity to God and an injury to themselves For a vile Creature a base guilty Wretch to murmur and storm against God's righteous Judgments argues a Prodigious Forgetfulness both of its dependance and obnoxiousness to the Divine Tribunal It is said of the adherents of Antichrist that they were scorched with great heat and blasphemed the name of God which hath power over the Plagues and they repented not to give him Glory Infinite Insolence Such obstinate Souls the Prince of Darkness possesses as his peculiar Dominion they have more need of Conversion than Consolation Besides by impatience and vexatious fretting they exasperate their pains turn the Rod into a Serpent Vipers into Dragons and God's mighty hand is more heavy by their resistance Bold Expostulations irritate his Anger rather than incline his Mercy the wilful Man never wants Woe With the froward saith the Psalmist thou wilt shew thy self froward or as it is rendred in the Margent wrestle The strongest Sinner is not a Match for the Almighty if his Anger excite his Power how easily how suddenly are they destroyed without remedy Stubborn impatience under the inflictions of God's righteous Providence is the nearest Step to final ruine Others are so dejected and broken with Afflictions that their continuance in the World is but a Living Death every thing entertains their Grief and the best means afforded for their reviving and comfort are ineffectual Sorrow flows into Despair they lament and languish as if their case were hopeless and remediless The Fountain of this black Stream is a superlative esteem and affection to inferiour things and what is reserved for the Blessed Creator If a temporal Loss be the most afflicting Evil 't is a sign that God was not valued and loved as the chiefest Good The difficulty of receiving Consolation shews the necessity of their being afflicted the Language of such resolved Sorrow is They have taken away my Gods and what have I more The sole objects of their felicity are removed and they refuse to be comforted as if no less Sacrifice were due to the remembrance of their loss but Life it self What a disparagement is this of the Divine Excellencies Are the consolations of God small to us Is not his Love able to compensate the loss of a frail mutable mortal Creature Cannot he please and satisfy us without the fruition of one Earthly Comfort This dejection of Spirit is equally undutiful as uncomfortable our Griefs are sometimes as vain and as guilty as our Joys there is a tincture of Disobedience in our Tears for we are commanded to mourn as if we mourned not for the fashion of the World passeth away and we at once break his Law and our own Peace Our Disobedience in this is aggravated as being contrary not only to the Authority and Sanctity of the Law-giver but to his Loving-Kindness and Compassion Ah the miserable blindness of Humane Minds and the more miserable because voluntary Who is more deservedly unhappy than one that sits upon the bank of a River and yet is Tormented and Dies with Thirst the clear fresh Stream passeth before him allures and invites him but he will not stoop to drink this is the case of those who neglect and refuse the Spiritual Consolations in the Gospel that are compared to the flowing Rivers of Living Water for their cooling refreshing quality They meritoriously and actively bring trouble to their Souls their Passions are the Instruments of their Misery He that is his own Executioner has no excuse of Dying he is justly because wilfully miserable Consider also what a reproach is cast upon Christianity that so many vertuous Heathens in great Afflictions were in some measure supported by the Precepts of Humane Wisdom and that Christians to whom there is revealed from Heaven that an Eternal state of Glory and Joy shall be the reward of their patient Sufferings remain utterly disconsolate I will single out one example Stilpon the Philosopher when his City was destroywith his Wife and Children and he escap't alone from the Fire being asked whether he had lost any thing replied All my Treasures are with me Justice Vertue Temperance Prudence and this inviolable Principle not to esteem any thing as my proper Good that can be ravish't from me his Mind was erect and stedfast under the Ruins of his Country And others upon lower and less generous considerations have born up in their Sufferings How do such Examples upbraid us that their Twilight excells our Noon-day Brightness If common Cordials raised such couragious Spirits in them shall not the Waters of Life the Divine strong Comforts of the Gospel fortify us to bear all Sufferings with a valiant Resignation to the good Will of God Can the Spirit of a Man by rational Principles sustain his Infirmities and cannot the Spirit of God the great Comforter support us under all Troubles What a blot is this to Religion Those who will not be comforted will not be Christians by the same Holy Spirit who is stiled the Comforter we are the one and the other If the precious Promises of the Gospel do not alleviate our Sorrows 't is not from Infirmity but from Infidelity 'T is an incredible Miracle that a person can be in reality a Christian and not capable of Consolation as if Eternal Life were not purchased by Christ for his People or the present Sufferings were comparable to the future Glory or the possession of it were to be obtained after a years of hard trial But if it were delayed so long that sensible duration should not sink our Spirits for the Misery that passeth with Time is not of moment with respect to the Blessedness that is establish'd for Ever Secondly Let us be excited to transcribe this Divine Lesson so full of excellency and difficulty in our Hearts and Lives 'T is easy in Speculation to consent to the reasonableness of this Duty but how hard to practise it and to bear not too sensibly such Evils as are incurable here A deliberate universal constant subjection to God's Will though contrary to our Carnal desires and interests how rarely is it to be found among those who in Title and Profession are his Servants In Active Obedience some will readily perform some particular Commands but withdraw subjection from the rest they seem to make Conscience of the Duties of Piety but neglect Righteousness or else are just in their Dealings and careless of Devotion Some are liberal but irreconcilable they