to sufferings The greater the thing is the more requisite is the Preparation Suffering is a great thing hard to Sense harsh to Flesh and Blood It may be it takes away the worldly Goods which are dear to men it may be it comes neerer and touches the Bone and the Flesh which is dearer then outward things It may be it goes further and treads down the precious Life which is highly valuable Nature in the best shrinks and flies away from such things as these and supernatural Graces and Assistances lift up men above themselves they will never bear them In such a case as this we have need to put on all our Spiritual Armor not this or that piece only but all of it and not only to put it on but to gird it on too All will be little enough to make us stand in the evil day Again the more excellent a thing is the more requisite is the Preparation Suffering for Christ is the excellency of a Christian the top and Complement of all his Graces Faith cannot rise higher Love cannot shew it self better than in this No Profession of Christianity is so high nor Imitation of Christ so full as that which is made in blood Here is the Christians consummatum est his work is done and Heaven opens to receive him into glory And how should we prepare our Souls and gird up the Loins of our Minds that we may be capable of that which is the highest Stature of a Christian in this World and the neerest capacity to a better This Preparation is of very great moment to Christians Upon their having or not having of it depends their Happiness or Misery He that is prepared for Sufferings come what will come is a happy man if sufferings do not come he is yet a Martyr in mind and purpose God sees the suffering frame that is in him his willing mind is accepted as much as if his blood were actually Shed and being ready to dye for Christ he is ready to live with him in Heaven If Sufferings come he is provided for then St. Paul was ready to be bound and die for the name of Jesus Polycarpe when threatned with Various deaths made this reply Quid tardas Why dost thou delay Inflict what thou wilt The prepared Christian is ready for all the Will of God which is an happiness that no Suffering can interrupt He is in a posture to overcome all the World and he will do it The very Pagan Emperors did observe the primitive martyrs to be Victors in death It is said of the Martyr Vincentius Magd. hist cent 4. cap. 12. that according to his name he overcame in Words and overcame in Punishments overcame in Confession and overcame in Tribulation overcame in Fire and over came in Water overcame Living and overcame Dying The prepared Christian is a Vincent a Conquerer of the World his Love is above the smiles of it his Fear above the Terrors of it Nay he is more than a Conqueror he overcomes by suffering and lives by death nay being dead he yet speaks forth the truth he suffered for and propagates it to all posterity Neither need we wonder at this Conquest he is not alone but hath God with him And as the Emperor Antoninus Verus said of the Primitive Christians He carries God about with him in conscience and where God is there must be happiness in the most afflicted Condition the whole sacred Trinity are present with him the everlasting Father will strengthen him the Son will walk with him in the fiery Furnace the holy Spirit will come to him with all his cordials Stephen was never so full of it as when he was stoned Hist mag Cent. 2. The Martyr Felicitas professed to her Persecutor That she had the holy Spirit in her The prepared Christian hath a Spirit of Power in Infirmities a Spirit of Glory in Reproaches a Spirit of Comfort in Distresses There are no such rich Anointings as those that wait upon the Cross of Christ At other times a Christian hath some measures of the Spirit but then he hath such large effusions of it that no Sufferings can make him miserable The Clouds without cannot break the serenity in his Conscience the noise of a troublesome World cannot interrupt that Divine Peace which keeps his heart no malice of man can hinder the sheddings of Gods Love into him no wants or exigencies can deprive him of the hidden Manna promised to the Overcomer he is happy even in a Vale of Tears And what will he be in Heaven There his reward will be great nay greater than that of others On the other hand he that is not propared for Sufferings is a miserable man He hath a Name of Religion and that 's all a Notion of the Gospel but without a Root he hath a false Christ that is a Christ without a Cross but the right Christ he knowes not a pretence to Heaven he hath but he is not in a posture for it neither will he go thither in an hard way If Sufferings come he is snared as Fishes in an evil Net the surprize will rob him of that which he seems to have he will not have so much as the Name or notion of Religion left Christ will be an Offence or stumbling-Block to him Heaven it self will not be worth suffering for Thus those of the Stony ground received the word with joy but because their hearts were not ready for it as soon as Persecution arose they were offended Magd. hist Cent. 2. cap. 3. Thus it was observed among the Primitive Christians that the unready and unprepared did faint and fall in time of Persecution The Cup of Sufferings is bitter Nature starts at it The unprepared Christian rather than drink it will in all likelihood turn Apostate in the day of trial prosperous error will be embraced by him before persecuted Truth Idolatary with the World will goe down better than the pure Worship without it Christ coming in Poverty and Tribulation will be forsaken Antichrist appearing in the Pomp and outward greatness of the World will be followed Meer Vanity will outweigh all the great offers of the Gospel a Soul and a God will be laid at stake for a little outward prosperity And what a forlorn Condition is this And without Repentance how dismal must the end be The Good God whom he hath forsaken will depart from him Jesus Christ the Saviour will cast him out a curse a blast will be upon his Prosperity a sting and a wound in Conscience will make him weary of himself in a word he will become loathsome to God Men and himself Cypr. de Lapsis It is storied That in the third Century the tokens of Gods wrath came in an extraordinary way upon those Christians that fell off in time of Persecution some of them were struck dumb some vexed with Devils some tormented in their bowels unto Death and though not in these wayes yet in other
Flesh lusteth against the Spirit No sooner is the New-Creature born but the indwelling Sin doth hunt it as a Partridge upon the Mountains and seeks the life of its Infant-graces as Herod did the life of Christ in the Cradle And how can the Saints wonder at a Persecution without when they have one within in their Souls Or how can they expect less than Briars in the world when they feel a Thorn in their own flesh Outwardly it will even in Saints when let out be injurious to others A David when his Corruption breaks forth can be inhumane towards the Ammonites an Asa can imprison the Seer and oppress the People And if Corruption may do so in a Saint in whom it is in part mortified what may it not doe in a Son of Belial in whom it is the total ruling Principle In the one the regenerate part holds back but in the other the whole Soul is carried out to wickedness It is no wonder that such an one should persecute his Principles are entirely for it The Church is Heir to the Cross It 's suffering began from the blood of Abel and hath continued eversince Israel Gods peculiar People was first oppressed in Egypt under cruel Bondage then vexed in Canaan by the neighbour Nations round about them after wards carried captive into Babylon and at last trod under foot by Antiochus Epiphanes The Christian Church was first persecuted by the Pagan Emperors then torn in pieces by Arians and other Hereticks afterwards over-run with Gothes and Vandals and at last trod down by Mahomet and Antichrist All along it hath been in a suffering condition and it is no wonder if it suffer on till it come to rest in Heaven God orders the sufferings of the Church for his own glory and his Peoples good He orders them for his own glory Providence is admirable in preserving a suffering Church The Ark sloats upon the waters and drowns not the Bush burns and is not consumed the Lilly is among Thornes and withers not the Saints are perplexed but not in despair persecuted but not forsaken cast down but not destroyed Strength comes forth out of weakness Light arises out of darkness the Bones though sometimes dry and hopeless live the Witnesses are slain and revive again Pressures multiply the Church and Sufferings propagate it And what a sight is this Who may think much at those Sufferings in which so much of God appears Again he orders them for his Peoples good the Fann will purge away their Vanity the Furnace will melt out their Dross every Name of Persecution will lift them up neerer to Heaven their Sufferings will make them white their Graces will come forth as Gold out of the fire in their pure Lustre the Rod will blossom and bring forth peacable fruit of Righteousness the holy Spirit will come down upon them in larger effusions of Grace and Comfort And what things are these Who can imagine those Sufferings needless which have so excellent an issue To conclude Things abroad and at home admonish us Abroad the Protestant Religion runs very low Idolatry growes in the world and where that goes before Cruelty follow 's after The fiery Furnace waits upon the Idol the Scarlet Whore full of Fornications will drink the blood of Saints the false Worshippers will persecute the true the Sighs and Groans of the poor Souls in France do alarm all that have any sense of Piety or Humanity Who can but mourn at such mourning Providences At home our sins are grown up to Heaven Oaths Blasphemies Perjuries Hellish Plots Uncleannesses Excesses A theism Contempt of Ordinances Deadness and Formality in Religion Unthankfulness and Unsaithfulness to God are found among us The Cloud of Guilt which hangs over our heads is very black ready to come down in Storms of wrath upon us Sword and Plague and Fire have already consumed us and because we Sin on with a stiff neck heard heart and impudent face more Judgments may be expected Eliphas seeing the wicked taking root Suddenly cursed his Habitation Job 5.3 He that sees our aggravated Sins may easily foretel our sudden destruction CHAP. II. It is useful to Christians to discern the signs of the Times and to be ready for all the Will of God Providence bids us prepare for sufferings we have need to do so Suffering is hard to sense and the excellency of a Christian The prepared Christian is an happy man and the unprepared miserable Two things are of great use to Christians the one is to discern the Signs of the Time He that looks without and sees the State of things there and then turns to Scripture and there sees the issues that wait upon such States may discern the signs of the Time The Luxury of the old World was a sign of the Deluge the Persecution of the Prophets was a sign of Jerusalems Desolation When Ephesus declined and left its first love the Candlestick was removing When Laodicea was luke-warm God was ready to spue them out of his mouth And so it is in other things such and such a State of things will have such and such an issue The discerning of this will make Christians time their duties and do every thing in the true season of it which is no less profitable then beautiful The other thing is to be ready for all the Will of God to have Graces aptly answering to Providence Such holy Joy as may tune the heart to Prosperity and such humble Submission as may frame the heart to adversity This is that blessed temper that bids every thing welcome that comes in the Will of God If we observe the signs of our Times we may easily discern Judgments a coming and therefore nothing can be more necessary than to prepare for Sufferings God hath a controversy with us and seems to speak to us by his Providence as he did to Israel by his Prophet Prepare to meet thy God Sit down then O Christians and consider how to do it and think with your selves with what penitential Tears Wrestling Supplications real Reformations and holy Resignations you will meet with him Jesus Christ the Captain of your salvation seems now to ask you by his Providence as the Roman General did his Souldiers Are you ready Reflect upon your selves and consider are you ready to keep the Word of Christs Patience to take up his Cross and follow him Though the cross be not yet upon your backs yet you must carry it in your Hearts your minds must be ready at his call to suffer any thing rather than to part with the Gospel Preparation is necessary to every good work The Pagan Priests had preparatory Washings before the sacrifice the People had an hoc age cried to them to awaken their Attention The Jewes were to wash their Clothes at the giving of the Law they had their Preparations to Sabbaths and Ordinances Christians are to prepare for the Wood and for the holy Table but above all Preparation is necessary
a man of meer Leaves but had a root of Knowledge and Grace in him It is with Christians as it is with Trees the more the Tree is rooted in the ground the faster it stands in a storm the more a Christian is rooted in Evangelical Truths the firmer he stands in a time of Persecution Those of the stony ground received the word with joy but fell off in time of perpersecution because they had no root in them selves Math. 13.21 The Heavenly Truth did but lye upon the face of their Hearts and never sunk into them to become a virtual Principle in them The Truth that we would suffer for had not need be a loose Notion but Truth in the hidden parts fastned there as a nail in a sure place sealed up to the heart by the holy spirit ingrafted and innaturalized in the mind that we may not let it go We had need be grounded and setled in the faith as the Apostle speaks Col. 1.23 Grounded as an house upon a sure Foundation and setled as a man sitting fast in a Chair We had need have a good Scripture bottom and be firmly seated in the Truth that we may be capable of suffering for Religion The Scripture tels us that there is but one God one only to be worshipped and served that his glory may not be given to another nor his praise to graven Images that Idols are silver and gold the work of mens hands that they have mouths and speak not eyes and see not ears and hear not noses and smell not hands and handle not feet and walk not that the Makers and Worshippers of them are like unto them as stupid as the senseless Images are that an Idol is nothing a thing of no moment or power at all a meer nothing to be it self made a God or so much as to represent one If such truths as these of which St. Cyprian hath given a great Catalogue in his Exhortation to Martyrdome be intimately radicated in the heart they will strengthen it against Idolatry Magd. Hist Cent. 4. cap. 12. The glorious Martyr Eulalia seemed to be full of them when in her great sufferings she sung that Isis Apollo Venus were nothing and Maximianus the worshipper of them was himself nothing O let us adhere to the holy Truths in the Word these came down from Heaven and like their Original are nothing but pure Truth without any mixture of Error in them these appear to us in the light of the first Truth and lead to the bliss-making Vision of him in Heaven and as we desire to be there let us firmly adhere to them especially to the word of Christs Patience The Truth that must be suffered for at such at time as this to that we must cleave closest because in that will be the greatest stress and trial It is good to be established in all Truth but now it is in a special manner necessary to be well fixed in the Truth that concerns the Pure Religion which runs very low in the Christian World while in the mean while the Idolatrous one is like to be triumphant 2. It must be a right estimating Knowledge that will prepare us for suffering Every Notion of the things of God will not do it he that hath an high notion of them but a low estimation hath but a knowledge falsly so called he knows them not as he ought to know them because he knows them only to know them but not to value them We must so know them as to rate them above a World this is of great moment in order to Suffering A man is capable to suffer or not according as his estimate of Spiritual things is higher or lower When the Martyr Polycarp was urged by the Proconsul to deny Christ Eustb Lio. 4. cap. 15. his answer was A potioribus non esse transeundum ad pejora we must not pass from better things to worse He esteemed Christ better then the World and therefore he suffered for him But if he had esteemed the World better then Christ he had never been a Martyr As the estimation is so is the man We know the Evangelical Truth but if we do not rate it higher then all the World we shall never be able to suffer for it It is indeed in itself a glorious Beam let down from Heaven a pure discovery of the great Salvation that is in Jesus Christ and in that respect incomparably more worth then all the World but if we do not so account it we shall fall from it to embrace the World as being better in our eyes It is very remarkable that when the Emperors Presect allured the great Basil to the Arrian Doctrine Tneod b. 4. cap. 19. as being but a small thing the holy man answered That he would not part with one syllable of Scripture no not to save his life Such an esteem of Truth is of excellent use to make a man adhere to it in an evil day We know the pure worship but if we do not prize it above all earthly things we shall never be able to suffer for it It is in itself a thing exceeding pretious it is the choicest part of life that is spent in it the honor of God is more immediately concerned in it then in other things That noble Convert Galeacius Caracciolus who left all for Christ prized one days Communion with Christ more than all the Gold or Silver in the World And if we can rate it so we shall never turn aside from it to the Idolatrous World nor be carried into sin by the stream of the Time Or say as one going to Mass did Eamus ad communem errorem let us go to the Common Error We know the Glory of Christ is to be promoted but if we do not value it above our own Reputation we shall never suffer reproach for him Moses esteemed the reproach of Christ greater riches then the treasures of Egypt Hebx 11.26 Reproach in itself is a vile thing no way estimable but the reproach of Christ hath an honor in it and outshines all the glories of the World Marsacus a French Souldier being adjudged with others to the Fire and for his Military service not having as others had Thuan Lib. 12. An. 1553. a With put about his neck demands the reason why he might not be permitted to wear such a Chain as his Fellows did and to be made of the same illustrious order as they were of If we have such a Divine Spirit as this is in us we shall count in an high honor to suffer reproach for Christ A right estimation of things is an excellent help to bear sufferings for Religion 3. It must be a tasting or Savouring Knowledge that will prepare us for suffering Treat of Faith cap. 9. It is the taste of God's Word saith Dr. lackson that sweetens sufferings to us and makes us couragious to adventure upon all difficulties that are objected to deter as from entring into the
land of Promise Such speculative conceits of the Food of Life as we may find in the Schoolmen are of as little force to inflame our hearts with longing after that Heavenly Kingdom as Poetical Descriptions of far Countries are to make us undertake their Conquest We must have Knowledge and Sense Phil. 1.9 Theory and Experience too to make us stand in the evil day we must tast and see that the Lord is gracious that we may be able to suffer for him A spiritual relish of the sweet streams of Grace that flow from him is a choice preparative to make us take and drink of the bitter Cup. Gotteschalcus suffered a close imprisonment for twenty years together meerly for preaching up the Doctrine of Grace and it is without question that he had not a meer Notion but an experimental taste of it in his Suffering Many have the Knowledge of Christ in a way of Speculation but we must have the Savour of his Sweet Ointments upon our heart that we may follow him into Suffering We had need feel the sweetness of his blood in the calms of Conscience that we may Shed our own blood for him Let us not content our selves to have Christ only in our Bibles but endeavor to have a proof of him in our Hearts a proof of his sweet-smelling Sacrifice in our inward peace a proof of his rich Anointings in our supplies of Grace The experience of Christ in us is a strong encouragement to suffer for him He that hath a Christ only in Notion will fall off from him but he that hath a tried Christ will hardly leave him 4. It must be a Knowledge practical and operative in the life that will prepare us for suffering A meer notional Knowledge of Christ is not a right one He that saith I know him and keepeth not his commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him 1. Joh. 2.4 Such an one contradicts himself his Conversation gives the lie to his Profession the Truth is not in him in a practical way his Knowledge is but a Flash a vanishing Vapor that gives no vital influence to his life he will not do other Commands much less will he take up the Cross which is a Command more grievous to Sense then others are He that would be prepared for Sufferings must labor for such a knowledge as gives a proof of itself in holy Obedience Doing is a good preparative for suffering he that sincerely doth other Commands will take up his Cross too that being a Command as well as others He that indeed is subject to Gods commanding Will will be subject to his disposing one too which orders the coming of the cross to us It is the active Christian that will if occasion serve be passive Our Saviour Christ doth notably set forth what kind of Christians will stand in time of Persecution and what will fall He that heareth his sayings and doth them builds upon the rock and when the storm comes he stands fast because he is founded upon the Rock Math. 7.24.25 that is he is founded upon Christ by Faith and Ocedience and in the Storm he continues upon him by Patience the Rock bears him up as a part of itself But he that heareth Christs sayings and doth them not builds upon the sand and when the storm comes he fals Vers 26 27. Because he is upon the Sand he hath no true Foundation for his Religion he never did dig deep enough to come to Self-denial and therefore in the Storm his fall is very great he and his Religion utterly perish as when a house is broke up from the very Foundation or a Tree is blown up by the Roots Therefore if we would stand firm and unmovable in a Storm let us labor to have Such a lively and operative Knowledge of Christ as may diffuse itself into an universal Obedience to his precepts He that enures himself to do the Will of God will be ready when the Cross comes to take it up and say This is the Will of God too and must be done To conclude that we may have this excellent Knowledge we must not only read the holy Scriptures but with Zuinglius look up to Heaven for that holy Spirit that is able to lead us into all Truth and to seal it upon our hearts for ever CHAP. VII The fourth direction for Suffering is pretious Faith This hath a triple respect arespect to God his providence Power and Grace Arespect to Christ as a propitiation a Pattern an Head and Helper Arespect to the Promises the Promises of Gods Presence the Promises of Confirmation the Promises of a good Issue THe fourth Direction is this if we would be in a fit posture for Suffering we must labour after a pretious Faith A Dogmatical Faith will not do it the Devil himself who is the Chief Agent in Persecution hath such a Faith neither will a temporary Faith do it this is but a meer blossom that fals off in a storm of Persecution it must be a pretious Faith a Furnace Faith that will endure the fiery Trial This is the Apostles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Shield like a door broad enough to cover the Soul and all its Graces Eph. 6.16 this is to be taken above all other pieces of Spiritual Armor it is eminent among the Graces as the Sun is among the Planets It is the great conquering Grace all other Graces act in conjunction with it In the eleventh Chapter to the Hebrews stiled by some the little Book of Martyrs the Saints are brought in doing and suffering great things but all is ascribed to Faith as the Captain-grace of all the rest the first mover to other Graces It works by Love and not only so but by Meekness Obedience Patience running like blood and Spirits in every part of the New-creature Faith hath a triple respect to God to Christ to the Promises and in each of these it is of singular use in order to sufferings 1. Faith hath a respect to God it makes its approaches to him nay it fixes the the Soul in him as in its Center Hence it is that the righteous fears no evil tidings because his Heart is fixed trusting in the Lord Psal 112.7 The word rowles about but he by faith stands fast in the unmoveable God Hence it is that the Church becomes unmoveable too God is in the midst of her she shall not be moved Psal 46.5 There are three things in God which Faith fixes upon in order to pious Suffering 1. Faith fixes upon his Providence The Stoick could say That there was no living in a World empty of God and Providence Much more may the Christian that is tossed up and down in a persecuting World say so But his Faith tels him that persecution comes not by Chance Man rages but God reigns The World is as a tempestuous Sea but God sits at the Sterne and governs all He limits the fury of Persecutors the wrath of man shall praise him
valuation of him it esteems him to be such an one as he is set forth in Scripture To be the only wise God the only Potentate the only One that is good to be all these essentially fontally supereminently He that hath such an estimate of him will be ready to suffer for him To such an one it is folly to learn the only Wise weakness to leave the only Potentate misery to leave the only Good And how can he leave so excellent an Object to such an one it is prudence to adhere to the only Wise strength to adhere to the only Potentate happiness to adhere to the only Good And how can he chuse but adhere to him It was the saying of an Ancient Minut. 〈◊〉 18. Tum dignè Deum aestimamus cum inaestimabilem dicimus then we rightly esteem God when we account him inestimable Estates Bodies Lives may be valued but he is infinitely beyond all estimation All creatures are but as shadows and little drops of being in comparison of him It is a just debt we owe to him to rate him incomparably above all things and in so doing the Soul it self is ennobled and made fit to suffer for him As a man by valuing the World above itself becomes base and brutish and like the Beasts that perish so a man by estimating God above all things becomes heroical and Divine and like the Angels that live altogether upon him Such an one is able to part with life in the Channel to have it in the Fountain to let go all other things to have all in the one All-sufficient God 2. Love to God stands in holy D sires after him it makes the soul pant after him as the heart panteth after the Waterbrooks Duleissimo Deo totus immergi cupit inviscerari Carthus and go out of itself in holy anhelations after union with him Such is the Heavenly property of it that it aspires to be one Spirit with him to have idem Velle and idem Nolle to will as he wills and nill as he nills and when once our Wills are melted into his every thing that comes from him will be welcome to us Though Flesh and Blood may cry out of Suffering as a very hard thing yet Love will say that nothing can be wiser or better then that which our Father orders and laies out for us If desire after God as the supream good once put our Souls into motion we shall follow him not into Ordinances only but into Sufferings also His gratious Presence is in both In Ordinances it is in a good measure but in Sufferings which are the highest Services on Earth it is in a more eminent manner God doth not barely say to his afflicted people I am with thee but I will strengthen thee yea I will help thee yea I will uphold thee with the right hand of my Righteousness Esay 41.10 many words are heaped up together to impart the excellency of his presence with them O let our hearts burn within us with ardent desires after him that we may be able to bear the fiery Trial at its coming 3. Love to God stands in an holy Complacence in him it makes the Soul rest upon him as Noah's Dove did upon the Ark and Center in him as in the supream Good Holy desires end in inward satisfaction David thirsting after God comes to have his soul satisfied as with marrow and fatness Psal 63.5 And Christians that breathe after him come to have sweet spiritual joys and delights tasts of Heaven and drops from the pure rivers of pleasures that are above These are able to sweeten the bitterest sufferings It is said of the Thessalonians that they received the word in much affliction with joy of the holy Ghost 1 Thessal 1.6 The Gospel doth not go alone but Affliction accompanies it neither will affliction go down alone but the joy of the holy Ghost sweetens it The blessed Martyrs have experimentally found these divine joys in their hearts It is said of Alexander the Martyr Magd. hist Cent. 2. Chapt. 12. famous for his Love to God that ne ingemuit he did not so much as fetch a groan in the midst of his Torments and doubtless he had strong consolations within to bear him up in his Sufferings The Martyr Algerius being in prison wrote thus in the dark Dungeon I find a Paradise of Pleasure in a place of sorrow dwells tranquillity in an Infernal Cave I have joy of Soul O how good is the Lord How easy and sweet his yoke Such Heavenly Cordials will bare up Christians in the greatest trials O let us labour to delight our souls in God that we may be able to suffer for him 4. Love to God stands in an holy Benevolence towards him it delivers and surrenders up the whole man to him it wills and endeavors so far as a poor Creature can to an Infinite Creator to bring all service and glory to him Thus the 24. elders fel down before him and cast down their crowns saying Thou art worthy O Lord to receive glory and honour and power Revel 4.10 11. renouncing themselves they referr all that they have and are to him alone This is an excellent preparative to Suffering If we would indeed serve him we must be willing to suffer for him for that is the highest Service that can be done to him on earth If we would indeed glorify him we must be ready to Suffer for him for that is the greatest glory that we can possibly give unto him therein we do practically declare to all the World that God is our All Riches Honours Relations Life it self are as nothing to him O let us labor to surrender up our selves to him in other things that we may not fail to make the greatest surrender of all in Suffering 2. Love to Christ is a preparative to suffering Ignatius whose Motto was Amor meus crucifixus My Love was crucified would suffer any thing for Christ The Martyr Felicitas was so in love with Christ Magd. hist Cent. 2. cap. 12. that she would not only suffer herself but have her seven sons suffer for him also Love to Christ stands in four things each of which will dispose us to suffer for him 1. Love to Christ stands in an high Valuation of him it esteems him altogether pretious Pretious in his Person being Immanuel God and man in one pretious in his atoning sufferings which being by his Deity elevated into a kind of infinity were enough to pay for the sin of a World pretious in his holy words his Mysteries being heights his Commands rectitude his Promises Grace pretious in the rich Treasures of Grace which are in him and everflowing out towards Believers He that thus esteems of him will be ready to suffer for him To leave his atoning sufferings is to run into Hell to leave his words is to run into all Error to leave his Treasures of Grace is to run into Spiritual Poverty And how can we leave
or Notion but it is an active and lively thing it doth not meerly look to the glory above but puts the Soul into a posture for it Every one that hath in him the hope of so great a thing as the seeing the blessed God is purifieth himself even as he is pure 1 Joh. 3.3 He knows Darkness cannot have communion with Light unclean eyes cannot be opened in so pure a place as Heaven is the earthly heart is too gross to be in the Region of holy Spirits he that drowns himself in Sensual Pleasures is not meet to drink of the pure Rivers that are above Malitious Spirits cannot be capable of dwelling there wher infinite Love opens it self in all its sweetness The false-hearted Hypocrite can never be admitted to see Truth in the Original nor the evil man to drink Goodness at the Fountain-head He therefore that hath a right hope of being with God in Heaven will purifie himself for such an high estate he will labor to have more of the light of Faith to fit him for that of Vision to have more purity of heart to make him meet to see the holy One to have more of Heaven in his affections to prepare him for that blessed Region to have more spiritual delight here that he may be capable of entring into the joy of his Lord hereafter to have his heart more filled with holy Love that he may be in an apt posture for the rich effusions of Love in Heaven to have more truth and goodness in his heart that he may be the more ready to enjoy the Fountain and Fulness of both I mean the blessed God who is All in All Thus this lively Hope makes a man meet for Heaven and in so doing it makes him meet for those Sufferings that lie in his way thither That Purity which disposes him to enjoy God in Heaven doth also dispose him to suffer for him on Earth and the greater disposition is to Heaven the Center of blessedness the stronger will the motion be to break through all difficulties that are in the passage thereunto Let us therefore get a purilying Hope that we may be fit for the Cross 3. Hope doth not only dispose us for the good things to come but it waits for them unto the end Hope is a waiting grace it makes a Christians life to be a perpetual waiting All the days of my appointed time will I wait till my change come saith Job Chap. 14. Vers 14. Job had many changes but he waited for that great one which should bring him into a state of unchangeaale happiness Whatever holy men are a doing still they are in a waiting posture When Jacob was blessing his Sons he did not for get this but broke out in a Sudden sweet Ejaculation I have waited for thy Salvation O Lord Gen. 49.18 Hope makes Christians to wait for the good things to come at all times but in a Special manner in time of Sufferings St Paul speaking first of the suffering Saints and then of the groaning World Expresseth himself thus We our selves also which have the First-fruits of the Spirit groan within our selves waiting for the Adoption the Redemption of our Body for we are saved by Hope Rom. 8.23 24. Here we may observe the true state and posture of the Saints Afflictions make then groan but the Divine Hope the First-fruits of the Spirit make them wait for a better World in which Adoption and Redemption shall have their compleat perfection A Chrisstian in Afflictions being tormented in this World will wait for a better The Martyr Agatha having her Breasts cruelly cut off for Religion told the persecutor That yet she had two breasts remaining such as he could not touch the one of Faith the other of Hope which afforded her great Comforts in her Torments Faith adheres to the Promise Hope waits for the good things promised both strengthen in a day of Trial It is the very nature of Divine Hope to wait for the good things to come When the Sun of Prosperity Shines it waits in a way of obedience Lord I have hoped for thy salvation and do thy Commandments saith David Psal 119.166 He waited in a way of obedience to Gods Commands And when the storm of Perfecution comes it waits in a way of Patience Hence the Apostle speaks of the patience of hope 1. Thessal 1.3 That hope which in Prosperity waited in a way of Obedience will in Adversity wait in a way of Patience Hope would have the Christian to be always waiting for the upper World but when the Cross comes it presseth upon him more vehemently and will speak after this manner to him what hast thou waited for the great reward in Heaven in Duties and Ordinances and wilt thou not wait for it in Sufferings too Heaven is the same still and Sufferings are not worthy to be compared with it Do but suffer a little and thou shalt be there When the Martyr Ananias in the Persian Persecution seemed to tremble at the approaching Cross Pusices spake thus to him Sozom. L. 2. cap. 10. Paulisper O senex oculos claude nam statim lumen Dei videbis Shut thine eyes a little O old man and immediately thou shalt see the light of God Excellent is that of the Apostle Our light Affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory while we look not at the things which are seen but at the things which are not seen for the things which are seen are temporal but the things which are not seen are eternal 2. Cor. 4.17 18. Here it is observable Affliction is light and momentary but glory is a weight and eternal there is no proportion between them If by hope we look at the invisible and eternal things this will support our hearts that it is but a little short suffering and we shall be in Heavenly bliss for ever Let us therefore labor after a waiting hope that we may patiently bear the Cross CHAP. X. The Seventh Direction for Suffering is holy Fear not the Fear of man but of God not a diffidential Fear but a fiducial one not a servile Fear but a filial one Holy Fear looks at Sin more then at suffering at Sufferings in Hell more then at those on Earth at Spiritual and Eternal losses more then at Carnal and Temporal THe Seventh Direction is this if we would be in a fit posture for suffering we must get an holy Fear in our hearts The wise Solomon begins his Proverbs with this The fear of the Lord is the beginning or head of Knowledge Prov 1.7 and ends his Ecclesiastes with this That to fear God and keep his Commandments is the whole duty of Man Eccl. 12.13 Other things appertain to the Beast or the Devil but holy Fear is the All of man it makes him a perfect man not only to do Gods Will but to suffer under it In speaking to this I shall first consider
thee He knew that his strength was in God only Oh let us labor to have an humble dependance upon God that when sufferings come we may look and be supported wait and renew strength be nothing in our selves and have all in God So we shall be safe and secure from anxious fears dabitur in horâ support and comfort will come in the time of need CHAP. XII The ninth Direction for Suffering is Active Obedience to the will of God it flows from a good and honest heart it respects Gods will and Glory it makes us to grow up into Christ and to be allied to him it encreases Grace and spiritual strength it obtains the gracious Presence of God and it is the way to Heaven THe ninth Direction is this if we would be in a fit posture for Suffering we must labor after an Active Obedience to the Will of God to do in a right manner as he would have us to do It is a notable saying of the Rabbins Marces praeceptum praecepti one Precept is the reward of another He that rightly observes one Precept shall have in the name of a reward such Grace from God as shall enable him to do another and a more difficult Command It is an excellent thing to enure our selves to the doing of Gods will Obedience is the chain about the Spouses neck Cant. 4.9 one link hangs upon another one piece of Obedience draws on another Active Obedience will prepare us for passive the doing of Gods Will will dispose us for the Suffering of it The Apostle prays for the Colossians first that they might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing being fruitful in every good work and then in the next Verse that they might be strengthned with all might according to his glorious power unto all patience and long suffering with joyfulness Col. 1.10.11 Where we may observe that an holy Life goes before and then suffering Graces follow after There are in Obedience six things observable each of which tend to prepare us for Suffering 1. True Obedience flows from a good and an honest heart nay I may adde it flows from the holy Spirit of God It flows from a good and honest Heart many unprofitable hearers that are but the good and honest Heart brings forth fruit It was an high Character which the Apostle gives to the Romans That they had obeyed from the Heart that form of doctrine which was delivered to them or as it is in the original into which they were delivered Rom. 6.17 The Gospel was not only delivered to them but they were delivered and as it were cast into the mould of it and that was the reason that they obeyed from the heart Nay further Obedience flows from the holy spirit it is a choice Promise in the Covenant I will put my spirit into you and cause you to walk in my statutes Ezek. 36.27 Obedience being a meer supernatural act comes from the holy Spirit as the prime Cause thereof a general Concourse suffices not there must be a peculiar Motion and Impulsion of the Spirit in it which made Gerson say That all spiritual life was founded in miraculo influentiae divinae in the miracle of a Divine Influence We see what are the Principles and Fountains of Active Obedience and the very same will produce Passive too The good and honest heart brings forth fruit with patience Luke 8.15 The words with patience are very remarkable the good and honest heart may meet with Persecutions in the world yet it would blossome and bring forth fruit in the midst thereof The righteous flourishes as the Palm-Tree Psal 92.12 The Palm-Tree is a Symbol of Immortality growing under its burden and the Righteous who hath an Immortal seed in him flourishes under all the pressures of a persecuting World Again the holy Spirit which makes good men do Gods will will enable them to suffer it too St. Paul took pleasure in persecutions because when he was weak then he was strong 2 Cor. 12.10 that is the holy Spirit did strengthen his inward man to bear the Cross The holy Spirit in the Saints is a Well of water springing up to everlasting Life John 4.14 The persesecuting World would fain stop and damme it up but in the midst of all Oppositions it Springs and never leaves springing till the Saints be in Heaven and before they come thither it is as St. Peter speaks a spirit of glory resting upon them 1 Pet. 4.14 it brings down some glimpses of Heaven into their hearts whilst they are suffering for Religion 2. True Obedience hath a pure respect to Gods Will and Glory It hath a pure respect to Gods Will it doth not do the Commands of God upon a by-account as Jehu destroied Ahab's house but it doth them intuitu Voluntatis because it is the will of God it is that which swaies and casts the ballance in a good mans heart and life As in matters of Faith he believes because God hath said it so in matters of Practise he obeys because God hath commanded it Also it hath a pure respect to Gods Glory Mens cujusque id est quisque the man is as his mind is and the mind is as his end is An obedient person will not be a Center to himself nor make God the most excellent Being a medium to any other thing His great design is that God in all things may be glorified His Holiness is but to shine as a beam from the holy one his Mercy is but as a little drop flowing from the Divine Ocean his Obedience is to tell the World that God is supream like his Saviour Christ he seeks not his own glory but his Fathers Such an Obedience as this admirably disposes a man for suffering He that doth some things because they are commanded will take up the Cross too because it is in a peculiar manner commanded in the Gospel The stamp of the Divine Authority is not only found upon the Precepts of Piety and Justice but upon that of Patience too Also he that doth sincerely glorify God in other things will if occasion be glorifie him in pious sufferings Some honour may be done to God in other Duties but in no other thing is there such honour given to him as in bearing the Cross therein a man doth practically declare that he values God above all the World and therefore the Martyrs have as the School-men tell us a greater reward in heaven than others Others have the essential Glory in the Vision of God but for the Martyrs is reserved an Aureola a peculiar Coronet to be added to their Crown of Glory propter victoriam de mundo for their victory over the World 3. True Obedience makes us to grow up into Christ the Head and to be of neer alliance to him It makes us to grow up into Christ the head Eph. 4.15 Obedience being the exercise of all Graces brings us into a neer union with Christ and makes us more and more like to
him The more we act our Love Meekness Mercy Goodness or any Grace the more we are united to him and incorporated with him nay true Obedience makes us to be of neer alliance to him When our Saviour was told that his Mother and Brethren stood without to see him his answer was My Mother and my Brethren are those which hear the word of God and do it Luke 8.20 21. St. Ambrose upon these words tels us In Lucam cap. 8. Religiosiores copulae mentium quam corporum the conjunction of Minds is more sacred than that of Bodies The Obedient Christian is Brother to Christ being born of the same holy Spirit in Regeneration of which he was conceived in his Incarnation nay he is Mother to Christ bringing him forth in the exercise of holy Graces somewhat of the Love Mercy Piety Meekness of Christ is still a coming forth from him In both these respects doth obedience dispose us to suffering the more we grow up into Christ the Head the more Divine Power and Virtue we have from him our chief strength lies not in our selves but in our Head we may do nay and suffer any thing through him strengthning us And the more we are allied to him the more we are bound to adhere to him Our supernatural Birth obliges us to live to him nay and if need be to die for him and we are to bring him forth not only in other holy Virtue but in that of Patience St. Paul bore about in his body the dying of the Lord Jesus 2 Cor. 4.10 and the Allies of Christ must be ready at Gods call to suffer with him 4. True Obedience produces an increase of Grace and spiritual Strength Obedience is a Christians daily walk the more he exercises himself to Godliness the more grace he hath in his Soul That Faith which was but as a little grain of Mustard-seed becomes a Tree spreading itself forth at last as high as assurance That love which was as a little spark raked up in the ashes comes to be a vehement Flame aspiring after the fruition of God in Heaven That Hope which was but a poor weak thing in the Soul comes to have more liveliness and supernatural stature The path of the just which is in obedience is as the shining light which shines more and more unto the perfect day in heaven Prov. 4.18 The more a Christian exercises himself in Obedience the stronger he grows in the Inner-man of a Plant he comes to be a Tree of Righteousness of a Babe he comes to be a Man in Christ His vital Principles become more strong his supernatural hear increased he holds on his way of Obedience and so grows stronger and stronger Job 17.9 Such an Obedience as this admirably Disposes a man for suffering The greater his stock of Grace is the better will he hold out in the straits of the World The more strength he hath in the inner-man the more able he will be to bear the burden of the Cross If thou faint in the day of adversity thy strength is small Prov. 24.10 Great strength will keep a man from fainting When the Children of Israel were come to be above six hundred thousand Numb 1.46 it was a great encouragement to make them go on gallantly against their Enemies And when Christians have their Graces multiplied and among the rest Patience comes to be all Patience as the expression is Col. 1.11 it gives them spirit and life to bear sufferings 5. True obedience obtains the gracious Presence of God to help and comfort good men in the doing his Will The Rabbins say That if two sit together conferring about the Law the Shechinah is among them I may say if one single Christian be a doing of Gods will the Divine Presence is with him Thus our Saviour saith If any man love him and keep his words the Father and the Son will come and make their abode with such an one John 14.23 Such an one hath a Shechinah in his heart God will be there helping and comforting of him Whilst he is a doing of Gods will strength will come in as it did to the Levites 1. Chron. 15.26 and not only strength but comfort too In keeping his commands there is great reward some of the oyl of Joy which is upon Christ the great doer of Gods will drops down upon good men in their sincere obedience they have an inward peace and joy unspeakeable In this respect obedience prepares the heart of Christians to endure suffering An obedient Christian can argue thus with himself I have found Gods gracious Presence strengthning and comforting me in the doing of his will much more shall I have it when I come to suffer and part with all for his sake When all forsook St. Paul yet the Lord stood with him and strengthned him 2 Tim. 4.16.19 When Mr. Sanders was examined about his Religion he was wonderfully comforted and received a tast of the Communion of Saints a pleasant refreshing did issue from every part of his Body to his heart and from thence into all parts again Cicely Ormes was filled with such joy and comfort that at the kindling of the fire she said My soul doth magnify the Lord and my Spirit doth rejoice in God my Saviour O let us firmly conclude this with our selves that God will not leave or forsake his people no not at other times much less will he do it in the time of Fiery Trials Then they shall have strength and comfort in a more than ordinary way enough to make them to triumph over their Sufferings or at leastwise to bear them with Patience 6. True Obedience is the way to Heaven Those blessed ones that do the commands of God have right to the Tree of Life and enter in through the gates into the City Rev. 22.14 The more obedient a man is to the Divine Will the richer entrance he hath into the blessed Kingdom After sowing to the Spirit comes the Crop of Eternal Glory after walking in holy Obedience comes the blessed end of Life and Immortality In this respect Obedience fits us for Sufferings A man that is in the way to Hell is not capable of suffering it is not imaginable that a man should bear Reproach for Christ who hath no hope of Glory or that he should part with his Treasure here who hath none in Heaven or that he should lay down his Life Temporal who hath no right to an Eternal one or that he should let go his Portion of good in this World who hath none in another But the Obedient Christian who is in the way to Heaven is in a capacity to suffer any thing that meets him in the passage thither Reproaches may come but he is going to shine in glory Worldly Goods may be spoiled but he hath an Inheritance incorruptible that fadeth not away Temporal Life may be lost but in the very instant there begins an Eternal one with the blessed God in Heaven he may by
beaten tortured burned torn killed and yet they were multiplied Julian the Apostate learned this from persecution under Diocletian and upon that account he abstained for a time from exercising Torments and bloody Cruelties upon Christians Magd. cent 4. cap. 3. because he saw that the Christians by patient Suffering were multiplied and became more glorious in the eyes of the People Antichrist hath shed a great deal of pretious blood and the witnesses of the pure Religion have been slain under him yet hath the Evangelical Truth remained and the Witnessess which were Slain have from time to time revived and stood up in illustrious Successors who have held forth the same Truth and spoke in the same Spirit and Power as those before them had done When after the Parisian Massacre there happened to be a great serenity in Heaven Thuan Lib. 52. and a Barbery-tree blossoming in a time unusal some Papists said That the thing was grateful to God as if Heaven and Earth had rejoiced at it But the Protestants took it as a sign that the Church should revive and flourish again like the bush that burned and was not consumed The true Church which is founded in Christs blood is not propagated or multiplied by Martial Arms but by patient Sufferings This is the true way to do good to the Church and to continue the Gospel among us if we are indeed in a posture for suffering and ready to Seal up the Truth with our Blood we may comfortly hope that whatever Sufferings come the Gospel and gratious Presence of God shall not finally depart from our Nation 3. Pious Sufferers do give an evident token to the Persecutor that the wrath of God will come upon him When the Emperor Commodus was worshipping Jupiter Vincentius Eusebius Peregrinus Magd. hist cent 2. cap. 12. and Potentianus went about and exhorted the People to depart from the Worship of Devils and honour the One only true God lest they perished with Commodus and soon after they suffered Martyrdome for the same thing Though all the Martyrs did not in words warn the Persecutors that the Wrath of God would come upon them yet they all by their patient Suffering gave them an evident token of it St. Paul exhorts the Philippians to patient suffering upon this account Stand fast saith he in one Spirit with one mind striving together for the Faith of the Gospel and in nothing terrified by your adversaries which is to them an evident token of Perdition but to you of Salvation and that of God Phil. 1.27 28. The Persecutor comes with his Torments and Engines of Cruelty to terrify the Martyr but the Martyr by his Christian Patience and Courage gives the Persecutor and evident token that the wrath of God will come down upon him at last If bloody Persecutors who look upon the suffering Martyrs had but their Eyes open they would see cause enough to reflect upon themselves and say Surely these men have a patience more than humane and therefore they suffer for God and if so we in persecuting them fight against him may expect that his wrath should come down upon us as it hath upon former Persecutors Herod Agrippa was eaten up of Worms Nero with a trembling hand cut his own throat Trajan was thought to have poisoned himself upon the Persecution in the time of Antoninus Verus there followed Wars Earthquakes Inundations Pestilences as so many Tokens of Divine Vengeance Decius was slain together with his Children Dioclesian died of fearful and miserable Diseases Julian in the Persian war was mortally wounded by an Arrow from Heaven and threw up his blood thither with that horrible Blasphemy Vicisti Galilaee Valens in his war against the Gothes was wounded and flying into a Cottage was burnt with it by the Enemy The temporal Judgments that have befallen former Persecutors tell the after-ones what they may look for here in this World or if they might escape here eternal Vengeance will surely meet them hereafter Our Saviour Christ will at the great day bid those that did not feed cloth and Visit him in his Members depart into ever lasting fire Matth. 25.41 much more will he say so to those that Imprison torment and kill him in his Members When Henry the second of France in his running a Tilt received a fatal wound in his Eye he looked to the Prison Thuan. L. 22. where the poor Protestants were shut up as Captives for their Religion and often uttered these words That he was afraid that he had done the poor innocent men wrong Conscience then told him what it was to persecute Oh! That such things as these might stop Persecutors in their bloody ways as the Thunderbolt falling neer the Emperor Anrelianus did him in his intended Persecution of the Christians The patience of those that suffer under their cruel hands tell them that the wrath of God will fall upon them at Last I conclude with that of St. Cyprian Ad Demetrianum Quanto major persecutio tanto gravior pro persecutione vindicta The greater the Persecution is the heavier will be the Vengeance for it 4. Pious Sufferers are happy here and hereafter They are happy here upon a double account 1. They give the highest proof of their Sincerity that can be given Abraham gave a great proof of his Sincerity in leaving his Countrey and a greater in offering up his only Son Isaac at Gods command but I take it the Martyr gives a higher proof of it than is done in either of those it being more to part with all the World than to part with our Countrey and to offer up our selves to God than to offer up a Son The highest proof of Grace is in Suffering That Faith muh be right that endures the fiery Furnace that Love must be pure that practically lifts up God above all other things that Hope must be lively that lets go a present World for a future one that Obedience must be glorious that continues unto the death The Martyr hath a fair prospect with a comfortable sight of his own uprightness Conscience gives an Euge to his Graces and Sufferings nay the holy Spirit is as a seal and earnest of his Heavenly Inheritance It bears witness with his Spirit that he is a Son and Heir of God 2. As they give the highest proof of their Sincerity so they have the gracious Presence of God in the most eminent way with them All his glorious Attributes do as it were pitch their Tents round about them and put forth their Virtues in a gracious manner for their good His Power rests upon them to bear them up how weak soever in the fiery Trial his Wisdom directs them how to carry the selves under the Cross his Mercy melts over them while they are under mans Cruelty his Love is shed abroad in their heart while they bear the World hatred The Presence of God will be to them in stead of nay infinitely more than all other Comforts They may say If God be for us who can be against us Rom. 8.31 Why Devils can wicked men can but Aquinas expounds the words Quis contra nos laesive prevalenter Who can be against us to hurt us and prevail over us That which is of God cannot be overthrown they may break out with St. Paul in that gallant triumph 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I am perswaded that neither death nor life nor Angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor hight nor depth nor any other Creature shall be able to separare us from the Love of God in Christ Rom. 8.38 39. What St. Bernard saith of the Church is true of them a noble part of it In Cant. ser 79. Nec Verbositate Philosophorum nec Cavillationibus Haereticorum nec Gladiis Persecutorum potuit illa Separari à Charitate Dei quae est in Christo They cannot be separated from the Love of God in Christ neither by the words of Philosophers nor by the Cavils of Hereticks nor yet by the Swords of Persecutors God is in the midst of them and they shall not be moved Again They are happy hereafter this stands in two things 1. They are freed from all evils In Heaven they shall have no Corruption within nor Oppression without no Noise of Passion in the heart nor rout of turbulent Persecutors to disquiet them the will of the Flesh shall have a total Circumcision the infirmities of the Body shall have a perfect cure the Serpent cannot hiss in Paradise no temptations or miseries can fasten on a Saint in Glory There is Day without Night Love without Fear Joy without sorrow Life without Death all Happiness without the least mixture of Evil There the blessed Martyrs shall be freed from all their troubles and miseries 2. They are endowed with all good and happiness The promises made to the Overcomer in the Revelation of St. John shall be made good to them they shall eat of the Tree of Life in a blessed immortality they shall have the white stone in a perfect absolution they shall be clothed in Robes of Glory they shall be Pillars in the heavenly Temple standing there as ornaments in an immoveable Felicity they shall sit down with Christ in his throne and judge their Enemies that condemned them they shall inherit all things they that lost all for God shall enherit all in him who is goodness itself and the fountain of it They shall see him who is the original and Christal ocean of all truth they shall enjoy him who is the supream good and sabbath of souls they shall be swallowed up in the joy of infinite truth and goodness and their happiness shall not be for a time but run parallel with eternity itself they shall be for ever in the Lord in the blessed Region De Civit. Dei Lib. 22. cap. 30. There as St. Austin hath it God who is all in all Sine fine Videbitur since fastidio amabitur sine fatigatione laudabitur shall be seen without end loved without disdain and praised without weariness In the next World there will be a vast difference between Persecutors and Sufferers The Pride and Cruelty of the one will be paid for in Torments and endless Misery in the Prison of Hell and the Patience and Suffering of the other will be returned in Joys and eternal Felicity in the blessed Heaven FINIS