A Key Opening Mysterious Texts of Scripture, Collection of sermons 5 · Sermon 50
THE SWEET SPRING OF THE WATERS OF MARAH. THE L. SERMON.
Apoc. 3.19.
As many as I love I rebuke and chaſten.
Right Honourable, &c.
SAintaCyp. de bon. patient. De patientiâ loquuturus, fratres dilectiſſimi, & utilitates ejus & commoda praedicaturus, unde potiùs incipiam quam quod nunc quoque ad audientiam veſtram video patientiam eſſe neceſſariam, ut nec hoc ipſum quod auditis & diſcitis ſine patientiâ ſacere poſſitis? Ciprian having propoſed to his auditory bonum patientiae, the good of bearing, for his theame reckoneth (if I may ſo ſpeak) upon the ſtocke, and maketh his advantage of the very duty and ſervice they were at that time to performe to God, in affording to the Miniſter of his word their religious attention and Chriſtian patience. Being to treat of patience, ſaith hee, dearly beloved, and to recount the ſundry commodities that by it accrew to the ſanctified ſoule, whence ſhall I rather take my beginning than from the neceſsity of, this vertue to the holy exerciſe wee are now at; which cannot bee performed as it ought, without the concurrence of your patience with the divine aſsiſtance, and my labour? I cannot ſpeake profitably to you in commendation of patience, except you heare me with patience.
Mutato nomine de me
Fabula narratur.
This godly fathers caſe hath bin, & yet is mine, who am to entreat your patience to treat yet once more of patience in your hearing: & if the handling often the ſame argument, and preſſing the like motives to patience hath ſeemed weariſom & tedious unto you, I may hence gather with that father an argument for patience, without which ye cannot endure the leaſt affliction, no not of the eare. But if the repeating and inculcating the like doctrine and arguments were not burdenſome unto you, I may ſafely preſume upon your patience, to ſeale up my text, and perfect my meditations upon ſo neceſſary & profitable a ſubject.bSen. ep. Nunquam ſatis dicitur, quod nunquam ſatis diſcitur. We cannot hear too much of that which we can never learne enough. Sorrowes and diſturbances are very many, and worke ſtrongly upon our fraile nature; but ſpirituall medicines of the ſoules maladies and comforts worke but weakely: therefore it is wiſedome to take as many of them as we can. If they who are ſubject to ſwouning, and generally all that are carefull of their bodily health, will have cordiall waters in readineſſe at hand, that they may not be to ſeeke in time of need; how much more ought all Chriſtians, who are ſtill either in feare, or in danger of conflicts with troubles and vexations, be provided of ſtore of ſpirituall comforts; the rather becauſe they ſerve as well to moderate their proſperity, as to mitigate their afflictions? For the ſame meditations which ſome way ſweeten the brine of affliction, that it be not too ſalt and quicke, ſauce the pleaſures of proſperity, that they be not too ſweet and luſcious. What ſtronger levers to raiſe up a drouping ſoule, than theſe in my Text, that afflictions proceed from God in love, and fall upon all his deareſt children for their good? Againe, what ſtronger clubs to beate downe pride and inſolencie in all ſuch as abound in earthly comforts, and know no end of their wealth, and keepe under the minde, that it be not too much lifted up with temporall bleſſings, than theſe inferences from this Scripture, that God chaſteneth with afflictions, and pampers not up with pleaſures, all ſuch as he beareth a ſpeciall affection unto? Therefore may they thus well reaſon with themſelves; For all our honour and wealth we are in no better, nay perhaps we are in far worſe eſtate than the pooreſt and miſerableſt creature upon earth, that hath run thorough or is in the midſt of all calamities. God chaſteneth him in love for his amendment, but he hath no care of us, he lets us run riot in ſin: that poore wretch hath now his paiment, ours is to come, we know not how ſoone: he hath his paine here with Lazarus, but we take out our pleaſures with Dives: therefore may it be juſt with God to change his paine into pleaſures, but our pleaſures into everlaſting paines. Better weep in Chriſts ſchoole, than ſport at the Divels games: better to want all things and to have Gods love, than to have all things elſe and want it. If it had not beene better, Moſes would never have choſen to ſuffer afflictions with the ſervants of God, cHeb. 11.15.rather than to enjoy the pleaſures of ſinne for a ſeaſon. Theſe uſes alone, if there were no more to be made of this ſoveraigne parcell of Scripture, ſufficiently recompence our labour, in decocting the ſpirits, and drawing this oyle of comfort out of it: but the more we trie and apply it, the more vertue we ſhall finde in it, and uſe to be made of it. I have already counted many particulars in my former diſcourſes upon theſe words, and the ſupply of the reſt (together with the ſumme of the whole) ſhall be my taske for the remainder of the time. I will begin with the occaſion, which was a deepe wound of griefe which the Angel of Laodicea might ſeeme to have received from that keene and cutting reproofe, Becauſe thou art neither hot nor cold, I will ſpew thee out of my mouth. Now that he might not take on too farre by reaſon of ſo grievous and heavie a meſſage, the Spirit verifieth his name Paracletus, and healeth and ſuppleth the wound with theſe comfortable words, As many as I love I rebuke and chaſten. Gather not too much upon my former ſharp reproofes and threats againſt thine owne ſoule, there is yet place for thy zealous repentance: deſpaire not of my favour, nor wrong my love in thy over-weening conceit; I would not have ſo rebuked thee, if I had not loved thee.
Are thoſe that are in Gods place to rebuke ſinne, and chaſten offenders, ſo carefull not to drive them to deſperate courſes? will they daigne as God here doth, to yeeld a reaſon of their proceedings, and mitigate their ſharpe cenſures with favourable expoſitions, & take away all ſcruples out of mens minds, which their ſpeeches and actions might otherwiſe leave in them? Yee ſee the occaſion, and by it the ſcope of the Spirit, and connexion of the words, which carry this ſenſe: I rebuke with conviction, and chaſten with inſtruction all thoſe whom I love, not onelyonly at large, as I doe all mankind; but in a ſpeciall manner, as I doe thoſe whom I intend to make heires and co-heires with my only begotten Son.
Here wee have a ſpeciall action of Gods carefull providence over his children. Now the actions of God may be conſidered in a double reſpect, either as they come from the Soveraigne of all power above us, or as he is the patterne of all goodneſſe to us: as they are actions of ſoveraignty, they require of us obedience, and an awfull and a trembling regard of them; as they are examples of goodneſſe, we are to ſeeke to imitate them, and expreſſe them in our lives. According to the former conſideration, theſe actions of God, and words of my Text, rebuke and chaſten, ſtrengthen thoſe that are under the rod; but according to the latter, they direct thoſe that are to uſe it: the former when they are chaſtened, the latter when they chaſten, are to take notice of the ſeverall circumſtances ſet down in the Text. More particularly and plainly thus,
1. We learne out of the words Gods care of his, whom he reclaimes by threats and chaſtenings from their evill courſes.
2. The condition of the Church militant, which is ſeldome without rebukes and chaſtenings.
3. The imperfection of inherent righteouſneſſe, and difficulty, or rather impoſſibility of performing the Law now after our fall: all Gods deare children are rebuked and chaſtened by him; and therefore are not without blame or fault: Theſe are the ſpeciall obſervations.
Their uſe muſt be to informe our judgement in the true eſtimate of the things of this life, to ſtirre up our love to God, who taketh ſuch care of and paines with us (as it were) to call us home unto him by threatning of judgements, and correcting us with a fatherly and compaſſionate affection. Let us yet reſume the words, and conſider the proceedings of the Almighty, and wee ſhall ſee in God his actions, the Magiſtrate his direction and charge, and in the Magiſtrate his charge of diſtributing theſe tokens of Gods love, the duty of all inferiours, to receive them with the ſame affection wherewith they are given. The Miniſter is to reprove, the Judge to convince, the Father to nurture, the Magiſtrate to puniſh, the Maſter to diſcipline thoſe that are under them without partiality, with moderation and in love: thoſe that are under their authority they may not revile, but rebuke; not torment, but chaſten; not ſome in a ſpleen, but all in love, by the example of the Spirit in my Text: God rebuketh whom he liketh, and chaſteneth whom he rebuketh, and loveth whom he chaſteneth. Amor ille fraternus, ſaith SaintdAug. confeſ. lib. 10. c. 4. Reſpirent in bonis, ſuſpirent in malis. Auſtine, we may ſay paternus ſive approbet me, ſive improbet me diligit; O that fatherly mind, which whether it approve mee, or reprove mee, ſtill loveth mee, is worth all. Amor (ſaith the old man in the Poet) eſt optimum ſalſamentum; Love is the beſt ſawce of all: it giveth a relliſh to thoſe things that are otherwiſe moſt diſtaſtefull and loathſome. It is moſt true of Gods love: for it maketh rebukes gratefull, and even chaſtenings comfortable; I rebuke and chaſten as many as I love. Happy are we, if we are of theſe many; foreJob 5.17. bleſſed is he whom God correcteth. Howſoever all chaſtening ſeemeth grievous unto us for the preſent, yet it after bringeth the fHeb. 12.11.quiet fruit of righteouſneſſe to thoſe that are exerciſed thereby. Wherefore it is worth the obſervation, that David prayeth not ſimply, O Lord, rebuke mee not, neither chaſten mee; for that had been as much as to ſay, O Lord, love mee not: for God rebuketh and chaſteneth every one whom he loveth; but he addeth,gPſal. 6.1. Rebuke mee not in thine anger, neither chaſten mee in thine heavie diſpleaſure: or, as Junius rendereth it out of the Hebrew, in aeſtu irae tuae, in the heat of thy wrath.
I rebuke. Was it enough to allay and coole the boyling rage of the young man in the comedy, Pater eſt, & ſi non pater eſſes; were thou not my father? ſhall not this word I in my Text, and this conſideration, that Gods hand is in all our afflictions, be more forcible to quell the ſurges of our paſſions within the ſhore of Chriſtian patience, that they break not forth, and fome out our own ſhame? It was the ſpeech of Laban & Bethuel, though devoid of the knowledge of the true God,hGen. 24.50. This thing is proceeded of the Lord, we cannot therefore ſay neither good nor evill. We who are better inſtructed muſt alter the words, and ſay, This thing is proceeded of the Lord, this croſſe is ſent us from him; therefore we cannot but ſay good of it: we muſt thanke him for it. In this loſſe, ſickneſſe, diſgrace, baniſhment, impriſonment, or whatſoever affliction is befallen us, the will of our heavenly Father is done upon us; and is it not our daily prayer, Fiat voluntas tua, Thy will be done? Looke we to the author and finiſher of our ſalvation, hee bowed his will to take upon it his Fathers yoake: ſhall we with a ſtiffe necke refuſe it? Father (ſaith he) let this cup paſſe, let it paſſe, if it be poſsible let it paſſe. Ye heare he prayeth thrice againſt the drinking of it with all poſſible vehemency and earneſtneſſe; yet preſently he yeeldeth to forgoe his will, and undergoe his paſſion: Sed fiat voluntas tua, non mea; But thy will be done, not mine: or, Nevertheleſſe, not as I iMat. 26.39.will, but as thou wilt. Not as I will, theſe words imply an unwillingneſſe; Nevertheleſſe, be it done as thou wilt, ſheweth a reſolute will: here is a conſent of will without a will of conſent, a will againſt a will, or a will and not a will: Non mea, ſed tua. As man he expreſſed a naturall feare of death and deſire of life, yet with a ſubmiſſion to the will of his Father: it was not his will to take that cup for it ſelfe, and antecedently, and as he ſaw wrath in it; yet as hee ſaw the ſalvation of man in it, and greater glory, it was his will to drink it off conſequently, becauſe ſuch was his Fathers good pleaſure, to which his will was alwayes ſubordinate. SaintkCyp. de bono patient. Dominus ſecit voluntatem Patris ſui, nos non faciemus & patiemur voluntatem Domini? Cyprian ſpeaketh home in this point to all that repine at what God ſendeth them, be it never ſo bitter to their carnall taſte: Our Lord did, and ſuffered the will of his Father, ſhall not we doe and ſuffer the will of our Lord? he conformed his will to his Fathers, ſhall not we ours to his? If theſe inducements from the love of God and example of our Saviour, which prevaile moſt with the beſt diſpoſitions, worke not kindly with us, let vulgar and common diſcretion teach us to make a vertue of neceſsity. Suffer we muſt what God layes upon us: for who can lRom. 9.19.reſiſt his will? If we ſuffer with our will, wee gaine by our ſufferings a heavenly vertue for a worldly loſſe or croſſe; we make a grace of a judgement: if we ſuffer againſt our will, we ſuffer nevertheleſſe, and loſe all benefit of our ſufferings. We adde drunkenneſſe to thirſt, and impatience to impenitence, paſſive diſobedience to active, and what doth obſtinacy and rebellion againſt the will of God availe us? Doe the waves get by their furious beatings againſt the rockes, whereby they are broken? the bones in our body by reſiſting the lightening, whereby they are bruiſed and conſumed (the ſoft and yeelding fleſh being no way hurt?) The ſtrong and talleſt trees by their ſtiffe ſtanding, and ſetting themſelves as it were againſt the wind, give the wind more power over them to blow them downe to the ground, and teare them up by the root, whereas the reeds and bents, by yeelding to every blaſt, overcome the wind, and in the greateſt and moſt bluſtering ſtorme keep their place and ſtanding. Alas, the more we ſtruggle, and ſtrive, and tugge to plucke our necke out of Gods yoake, the more paine we put our ſelves to; the oftner and ſtronger we kicke at the prickes of Gods judgements, the deeper they enter into our heeles:mVae oppoſitis voluntatibus: quid tam poenale, quàm ſemper velle quod nunquam erit? & ſemper nolle quod nunquam non erit? inaeternum non obtinere quod vult, & quod non vult inaeternum ſuſtinere? Woe be to theſe croſſe wills (ſaith St. Bernard) they ſhall never attaine what they would, and they ſhall ever ſuſtaine and endure what they would not. As grace in the godly is a means to procure the increaſe of grace: as the cymball of Africa ſweetly tinckleth, Ipſa meretur augeri, ut aucta mereatur; ſo puniſhment in the wicked, through their impatience, becommeth a meanes to improve both their ſinnes and puniſhments: for after they have ſuffered for not doing the will of God, they are againe to ſuffer, and that moſt deſervedly, for their not ſuffering patiently their moſt deſerved puniſhments. If any be ſo wedded to their wills, that they will not be ſevered from it, no not to joyne it and themſelves to God, let them in the laſt place conſider, that the only meanes to have their will perpetually, is to reſigne it to God; not only becauſe Voluntas inordinata eſt, quae non eſt ſubordinata; The will which is not ſubordinate to God, is inordinate, and therefore not to be termed will, but luſt; but eſpecially, becauſe ſuch is the condition propoſed to us by God, either to ſuffer temporall chaſtiſements for our ſinnes with our wills, or eternall puniſhments againſt our wills. If we will have our will in all things here, we ſhall want it for ever hereafter; but if we will be content to want our wills here in ſome things for a time, we ſhall have our will in all things, and fill alſo of heavenly contentments for evermore hereafter.
And chaſten. If all afflictions of the godly are chaſtenings, and all chaſtenings are for inſtruction, then to make the right uſe of them, we are not only in general, but alſo in particular to ſearch our ſelvs, what thoſe ſins are in our ſoules, which God ſeeketh to kill in us by ſmart afflictions. If our affliction be worldly loſſes, let us conſider with our ſelvs, whether our ſin were not covetouſneſſe: if diſgrace and ſhame, whether our ſinne were not ambition: if ſcarcity and famine, whether the ſinne were not luxury: if bodily paines, torments, or aches, whether wee offended not before in ſinfull pleaſures: if a dangerous fall, whether the fault were not confidence in our owne ſtrength: if trouble of mind, and a fit of deſpaire, whether before we provoked not God by ſecurity and preſumption. This to have bin the practice of Gods Saints, as in other examples, ſo we may cleerly ſee in the brethren of Joſeph, who impute the hard meaſure that was mett to them in Egypt, to the like hard meaſure they had mett to their brother Joſeph, ſaying one to another:nGen. 42.21. We verily ſinned againſt our brother, in that we ſaw the anguiſh of his ſoule, when he beſought us, and we would not heare: therefore is this anguiſh come upon us. We find it alſo in Saint Paul, who conceived that theo2 Cor. 12.7. meſſenger of Sathan was ſent to buffet him, that he might not be lifted up above meaſure with his ſo many graces and ſpeciall revelations: And when certain virgins raviſhed by barbarous ſouldiers, in regard they found in themſelves no ſpot of impurity before they ſuffered this violence, called in queſtion the juſtice of God, for permitting thoſe unclean perſons to have their will of them, who had all their life preſerved their honour and reputation untainted, and their bodies unſpotted, SaintpLib. 1. de civit. Dei, c. 28. Auſtine wiſely adviſeth them to ſearch their hearts, whether thoſe inſolent indignities offered them by the worſt of men, might not be a puniſhment of ſome other ſinne, rather than unchaſtity; and in particular, whether their ſinne were not their pride of this vertue, and too highly prizing their virginity: for pride even of virginity is as fowle a ſinne before God as impurity.
As many. Experience teacheth us, that what wee ſee in water ſeemeth greater than it is. It is moſt true, if we ſpeake of the waters of Marah, they make any thing that befalleth us appeare greater than it is: See if there be any qLam. 1.12.ſorrow like unto my ſorrow, ſaith captive Judah. I am the rLam. 3.1.man, ſaith Jeremy, that hath ſeen affliction (as if none but hee had ſeen the like:) in like manner David, and after himſJonah 2.3, 4. Jonas: All thy waves and ſtormes have gone over mee. What more direct Text of Scripture to checke and reprove this fanſie than this, As many as I love I rebuke and chaſten? All Gods deareſt children firſt or laſt are viſited as well as we, and thoſe perhaps more grievouſly by whom it is leaſt ſeen: our affliction is in body, theirs may be in their mind: our loſſes may bee of tranſitory goods and worldly wealth, theirs may be of ſpirituall graces, or the like; ſo that howſoever wee amplifie our miſeries, yet all things conſidered, we ſhall have ſmall reaſon to exchange them with any other.
As I love. To many other reaſons before touched, two may be added why afflictions may proceed from Gods love.
The firſt, becauſe they make the mind ſoft and tenderly affected, and thereby apter to receive a deep impreſſion from love. Excellent to this purpoſe is that meditation of St.tGregor. in Cant. 2.5. Corda noſtra malè ſ…na ſunt, cùm nullo Dei amore ſautiantur, cùm peregrinationis erumnam non ſentiunt, cùm nullo erga proximum affectu langueſcunt; ſed vulnerantur ut ſanentur, quia amoris ſpiculis mentes Deus inſenſibiles percutit, moxque ſenſibiles per ardorem charitatis reddit. Gregory upon thoſe words of the Spouſe in the Canticles, as he rendereth them, vulnerata charitate ego, I am ſicke of love: Our hearts are indiſpoſed when they are not wounded with the love of God, when they feele not the trouble and miſery of our pilgrimage, when they pine not away through ardent deſires and longing to be with God; but they are wounded that they may be healed: God ſtriketh our minds and affections with the darts of love, that they may have more ſenſe and feeling of celestiall objects.
The ſecond is, becauſe affliction eſtrangeth our affections from the world, and entirely fixeth them upon God, which before were divided between him and the world. Now it is moſt proper to love to appropriate the object beloved to it ſelfe; whom we entirely affect, we deſire to have entire to our ſelves, and none other to have part with us.
To draw towards an end; thoſe many whom Chriſt here chaſteneth diſtributivè, or one by one, are collectivè the militant Church, whoſe members we are: her rebukes are our ſhame, her chaſtenings our diſcipline, her affliction our condition, either by paſſion of griefe or compaſſion of love. Behold then what is her uſage in her pilgrimage upon earth; her greetings are rebukes, her viſits chaſtenings, her love-tokens croſſes, her bracelets manicles, her chaines fetters, her criſping-pins thornes and nailes, her drink teares, her markes blacke and blew wounds, her true emblemeuMat. 2.18. Rachel mourning for her children, and refuſing all comfort becauſe they are not. A wife of pleaſures had been no fit match for him, who is deſcribed by the Prophet to be a man of ſorrowes, with a head crowned with thornes, eyes bigge with teares, cheekes ſwolne with buffets, his heart pricked with a ſpeare, his hands and feet pierced with nailes, his joynts ſet on the racke of the Croſſe, his whole body bruiſed with ſtripes, and torne with whips and ſcourges. Ecce homo; Behold the man, and judge whether is likelier to bee his conſort, the Whore of Babylon, or the mother of our faith: the one ſitteth upon many waters, the other is ready to be overwhelmed with a floud cast out of the mouth of the Dragon at her: the one is arrayed with purple and ſcarlet, the other in mourning weeds, ſtained with her owne bloud: the one adorned with chaines of gold, the other clogged with fetters of iron: the one for many ages treading on the neckes of Kings and Princes, the other trodden downe by them at the foot of Chriſts Croſſe. But be of good cheare, thou afflicted and diſconſolate Spouſe, let not the pompe and beauty of thy corrivall be an eye-ſore unto thee: according to the *Rev. 18.7.meaſure of her pleaſures ſhall her torments be. It cannot now be long, forbeare a while, and ſhee ſhall be ſtripped of all her gay attire, but thou clothed in a veſture of gold wrought about with divers colours: when ſhe ſhall be carried with ſorrow and heavineſſe to the dungeon of everlaſting darkneſſe, thou ſhalt with joy and gladneſſe be brought into the Kings chamber: thy cheekes now blubbered with teares, ſhall be decked with rubies, and thy necke with chaines; hee will make thee borders of gold with ſtuds of ſilver.
Here I might make an end: for what out of the words of the Spirit in my Text hath bin ſpoken to cheare up the Spouſe of Chriſt, bewailing her deplorate eſtate, belongeth to every faithfull ſoule that hath her part in her mothers griefes. Howbeit, more diſtinctly to propoſe the inſtructions and comforts laid out in this Scripture to your moſt ſerious conſideration, and apply them to thoſe in particular whom they moſt concerne, may it pleaſe you to ſort with mee all the members of the militant Church into
1. Thoſe that are comforted, but in feare of affliction.
2. Thoſe that are afflicted, but in hope of comfort.
All that will live godly in Chriſt Jeſus muſt ſuffer affliction; and therefore all neceſſarily fall under the members of this diviſion: for the former the Spirit in my Text pointeth to this exhortation.
Ye whom God hath enriched with ſtore, graced with preferments and honour, proſpered with all happineſſe amidſt your pleaſures, jollity, and mirth, remember the affliction of Joſeph, and deſpiſe not the condition of Lazarus, but partake with them in their ſorrowes by compaſſion, and take part from them by your charitable reliefe: their turne of ſorrow is come, and neere paſt, yours is to come; they are now rebuked and chaſtened, yee may be, nay yee ſhall be, if yee are of thoſe in my Text, on whom God caſteth a ſpeciall eye of favour: if yee are not of thoſe, then is your condition worſe than that of the pooreſt Lazar. Beware of flattering tongues as of Serpents ſtings, or rather more of thoſe than theſe: for thoſe venome but the fleſh, and make it ſwell, theſe corrupt the ſoule, putrifie it with luſt, and make it ſwell with pride. If honours, riches, and pleaſures were certaine arguments of Gods love and favour, the deareſt of his children could not be ſo often without them as they are. Value not your ſelves by theſe outward vanities, but by inward vertues, take heed how ye drinke deep of the ſugered wine of pleaſures, ſet not your hearts upon the bleſſings of this life; for then they will ceaſe to be bleſſings unto you, nay they are already become curſes, becauſe they withdraw you from God, which is a kind of death of the ſoule. How then may we know, that they are undoubtedly bleſſings of God unto us, that we may rejoyce and take comfort in them? By this: If we over-joy not in them, if they diminiſh not, but contrariwiſe increaſe our love of God: if they ſerve as inſtruments and encouragements of vertue, not nouriſhments of vices: if our expence on the poore be ſome way anſwerable to our receits from God: if we love them only for his ſake that gave them, and for his ſake are willing to part with them.xLib. de mirab. cuſcuit. Ariſtotle writeth of a parcell of ground in Sicilie, that ſendeth ſuch a ſtrong ſmell of fragrant flowers to all the fields and leazes there-about, that no Hound can hunt there, the ſent is ſo confounded with the ſweet ſmell of thoſe flowers: Conſider (I beſeech you) this ſeriouſly with your ſelves, whether the ſweet pleaſures of the world have not produced a like effect in your ſoules; whether they have not taken away all ſent and ſenſe too of heavenly joyes; whether they hinder you not in your ſpirituall chaſe: if not, ye may take the greater joy and comfort in them, becauſe it is an argument of rare happineſſe not to be overcome of earthly delights, not to be corrupted with temporall happineſſe. But if ye find that theſe tranſitory delights and ſenſuall pleaſures have diſtempered your taſte, in ſuch ſort that ye cannot relliſh heavenly comforts: if they have made your hearts fat, as the Prophet ſpeaketh, ſo that the ſpirits of your devotion are dull and groſſe, and ye are altogether inſenſible of Gods judgements, then re-call your minds from thoſe pleaſant objects, and repreſent to your conceits the loathſome deformity of your ſins, the fearfull ends of thoſe that are rich, and not in God, the vanity of earthly comforts, and the heavie judgements which ye have deſerved by being not made better but worſe by Gods benefits. Theſe very thoughts will be as rebukes and inward chaſtenings, which if they worke in you godly ſorrow and unfained humiliation, God will ſpare further to afflict you who are already wounded at the heart, or humble you whom he finds already humbled. Now for thoſe that are under Gods hand, afflicting them outwardly with any ſcourge, the Spirit layeth forth this exhortation: It is God that rebuketh you; juſtifie therefore not your ſelves, acknowledge your ſins, that heyPſal. 51.4. may be juſtified in his ſayings, and cleare when he is judged: it is he that chaſteneth you, reſiſt not, but ſubmit and amend: hee rebuketh and chaſteneth you in love, repine not at it, but be thankfull. What folly is it to reſiſt Gods will? I. What profit to be nurtured? chaſten. What honour to be admitted into Chriſts Schoole, and ranked with Gods deareſt children? as many. What comfort to be aſſured of Gods love? as I love. The wheat is purged by the flaile, the gold tryed by the fire, the vine pruned by the knife, the diamonds valued by the ſtroake of the hammer, the palm groweth up higher by preſſing it downe, the pomander becomes more fragrant by chaſing. If your afflictions be many and very grievous, know that God maketh not choice of a weake champion, be aſſured that he will lay no more upon you than he will enable you to beare. Souldiers glory in their wounds which they receive in warre for their King and Country: have not we much more cauſe to glory in them which we endure for the love of God? What joy will it be at that day, when the Son of man commeth with the clouds, and layeth open his ſcarres before all the world, to have in our bodies ſtore of his ſufferings, and to be able to ſhew like ſtripes and wounds to his? Poſſeſſe your ſoules therefore in patience for a while, and on the ſudden all priſons ſhall be opened, all chaines looſened, all ſtripes healed, all wrongs revenged, all your ſufferings acknowledged, all your miſeries ended, and your endleſſe happineſſe conſummated. I end in the phraſe of the Pſalmiſt: Though in the great heat of affliction and perſecution yee look as if yee had lien among the pots, yet ye ſhall be as a zPſal 68.13. As a dove covered with ſilver, and her feathers with yellow gold.dove, whoſe feathers are ſilver, and wings of pure gold, wherewith your ſoules ſhall flye into heaven, and there abide and neſt with Cherubins and Seraphins for ever. Deo P…, Filio, & Spiritui ſancto ſit laus, &c.