The Haven of the Afflicted, Title page – Quotation from Augustine
THE HAVEN OF THE AFFLICTED. A SERMON PREACHED IN THE CATHEDRAL CHVRCH OF GLOVCESTER Aug. 10. 1613.
BY SEBASTIAN BENEFIELD Doctor of Divinity and fellow of C.C.C. in Oxford.
PSAL. 119.71.
It is good for me that I hauehave been afflicted, that I might learne thy ſtatutes.
AT OXFORD, Printed by Joſeph Barnes. 1613.
TO THE RIGHT REVEREND FATHER IN CHRIST MILES SMYTH BY THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE L. BISHOP OF GLOVCESTER GRACE AND PEACE BE MVLTIPLIED.
RIGHT REVEREND,
THis little Sermon preached by your Lordſhips appointment in the chiefe Citie of that Shire, wherein I firſt drew breath, now ſeeth the light. The religious deſires of ſome of my Countrymen there, wiſhing, that what I then vttered might not through obliuion periſh in the aire, hauehave brought it forth. Now they, who heard it, may record it; they who heard it not, may read it; all, I hope, wil be ſatiſfyed. My then endeavours were to arme my ſelfe, and that devout Auditorie with patience againſt the day of affliction; that day, which we muſt looke for, if we be the ſonnes of our Heauenly Father. St Hierome in his Epiſtle to Euſtochium hath theſe words: Quis ſanctorum ſine certamine coronatus eſt? Quaere, & invenies ſingulos adverſa perpeſſos; ſolus Salomon in delitijs fuit, & forſitan ideò corruit: Who of all the Saints was ever crowned without a combat? Seeke, and thou ſhalt finde, that every one of them ſuffered aduerſities; onelyonly Salomon was lulled in delights, and therefore perchance hee periſhed. It is but FORSITAN, perchance he periſhed. His booke called Eccleſiastes, or the Preacher, argueth his repentance, and perſwadeth me of his remiſſion and ſalvation with the LORD. And why might not Salomon in his time be, as many in our time are, inwardly in conſcience for ſinne afflicted? It's true; the ſtone hath no honourable place in a faire building vnleſſe it be much hewed and hammered; neither can wee the liuely ſtones of Chriſts Church hauehave any place of credit in the Celeſtiall building vnleſſe we, like the chiefe corner stone, Chriſt himſelfe, bee hewed and hammered with adverſitie. To the patient enduring whereof this little Sermon hath a deſire to perſwade. GiueGive it (My good Lord) your fauourable countenance, that it may cheerefully goe abroad: and the Author of it ſhall heartely wiſh to your L. much encreaſe of grace and honour, with a daily influence of bleſſings from Heaven vponupon your gouernment in the Church.
From my study in CORPVS CHRISTI COLLEGE in OXFORD, Auguſt 27, 1613. YOVR LORDSHIPS in all Christian duty to be commanded SEBASTIAN BENEFIELD.
Auguſt. Enarrat. in Pſal. 97. Vulgat.
QVid ſibi volunt tubae ductiles? —Ductiles tubae aereae ſunt, tundendo producuntur. Si tundendo, ergo vapulando eritis tubae ductiles, ad laudem Dei productae. Si cum tribulamini proficiatis, tribulatio tunſio, profectus productio eſt Tuba ductilis. erat Iob, quando repentè percuſſus tantis damnis & orbitate filiorum, tunſione illâ tantae tribulationis factus tuba ductilis, ſonuit: Dominus dedit, Dominus abſtulit; — ſit nomen Domini benedictum. THAT IS, VVHat is meant by thoſe long trumpets? Long trumpets are of braſſe, and are by hammering lengthned. If by hammering, then by beating you ſhall be long trumpets, lengthned to praiſe God. If, when you are afflicted, you profit, your tribulation is your hammering, your profit that cōmeth thereby, is your lengthning. Iob was a long trumpet, when hee was ſuddenly ſtriken with the loſſes of his ſubſtance and children. Being made by that hammering of ſo great a tribulation, a longe trumpet, he ſounded out: The Lord hath giuen, the Lord hath taken away,—bleſſed be the name of the Lord.