Christian Geography and Arithmetic, Part 3 – Part 4
Take theſe three Reaſons in ſpecial.
Reaſon 1. The Lord does it for Correction of Sin; daily Sins muſt have daily chaſtiſements, there is a neceſſary connexion between Sin and Puniſhment, as between ſowing and reaping, we are fowing and reaping every day. It is worthy your obſervation, that ſome kind of grain comes up ſooner a great deal than others; but the Husband-man does ſo order his ſowing, that commonly he reaps all together: ſome ſins that are committed, are not puniſhed till a great while after, again ſome ſins are reckoned for immediately upon the Commiſſion; ſome ſad ſinful ſeed comes up quickly, ſown in the morning & reaped the ſame day, ſome not till a Week or a Month, or a Year, or many years after: but it is ſo ordered that there is reaping work for every day; I may be reaping this week what I ſowed the laſt, and ſowing this week for the next; I may this year be teaping what I ſowed laſt, Or twenty years ago, as Joſeph's Brethren did their cruelty to their Brother; I may in old Age be reaping the Sins of my Youth; Thou writeſt bitter things againſt me and makes me poſſeſs the Sins of my Youth ſaith Job. The Fathers ſow for the Children,Job 13.26 God puniſhes the Iniquity of the Fathers upon the Children: and I may be reaping the Fruit of my Fore-Fathers tranſgreſſion, and I may now be ſowing that ſeed that my poſterity may taſte the bitter fruit of, and ſet their teeth on edge. When I meet with any remarkable Affliction more bitter than ordinary, then ſhould I be thinking with my ſelf, what ſeed was this of, what is the name of the ſeed that this Fruit came from, what is the name of the Apple, it is a very ſowre one, it wrings me by the Bowels and cauſes me to make Faces, and groan and cry out; What is the Sins name? what do you call that Iniquity of mine that has laid me under this great diſtreſs? is not the name of it Self-Love, Back-ſliding, falling from the Fear of God, decay of love to God, unprofitablneſs under the means; I have heard that ſuch kind of ſeed does uſe to bring forth Friut with ſuch a taſte or may not the Name of it be Love of the World Covetouſnes, or may it not be Idolatry have not I ſet up ſomething or other in my Affections and eſteem above God have not I made an Idol of ſome comfort? for I hava read that God is very jealous of his Glory, and cannot endure that any thing ſhould be in the throne of the Heart equal to him, much leſs above him; and upon this account I have know a him ſometime Kill a Child in the Mothers boſom a Wife in the Husbands boſom, an Husband in the Wifes boſom to the amazement and aſtoniſhment and even overwhelming of the ſurvivor; and all this becauſe he was robbed of that love he ought to have had, and he will not give his Glory to another: if the living have been the Idol, the Dead ſhall he thy puniſhment. Thoſe that have truſted in their Wealth and the abundance of their Riches, that have pleaſed and prided themſelves in them, he has all on a ſudden ſent his Serjeants and diſtreined and recovered all from them, by Fire or Water, or Thieves, or that little moth his ſecret curſe and blaſting; thoſe that have lived careleſly and wantonly he has brought them to Pinching & Peverty; ſome the Lord paies with ready Money, and lets them ſee their Fruit aſſooh as ever they have ſown their ſeed: let me not think therefore to want my troubles daily while I am committing ſin daily; there is none that lives and ſinneth not, the Righteous Man falls ſeven times a day into ſin, and let him not wonder if he get as many hurts as falls: Moſes and Aaron were Men as holy as the moſt,Pſal. 98.9. yet what ſais the Pſalmiſt? Thou waſt a God that forgaveſt them, though thou tookeſt vengeance on all their inventions; they had their crooked Affections, their daily Infirmities, their continued Irregularities, for which the Lord thought fit to give them daily correction and chaſtifement, and this was conſiſtent enough with his forgiving them; for therefore they were chaſtned that they might not be condemned with the World, and ſo inſtead of a daily correction have incurred Eternal deſtruction. To conclude this, wonder not at Suffering, whilſt you ſee ſinning: They that Plow Iniquity and ſow Wickedneſs reap the ſame; if you ſee the Corn come up in rank cluſters, you conclude the ſeed has fallen too plentifully there.
Reaſon 2. The Lord fills our dayes with trouble for Diſcipline and the Exerciſe of Grace; if the Sea was not rough, Grace would be becalmed, there would be no motion; Faith, Hope, Self-denial Mortification, &c. cannot live but in hard and rough, and ſtormy Weather; the more tempeltuous the Sea is, the better Faith works; Faith has but little employment, where there is much enjoyment: No Grace honours God ſo much as Faith doth, and the exerciſe of it; and nothing gives Faith that exerciſe as trouble doth. The Ships are ſafeſt in the Harbour, and the Seamen quiet and out of danger in their Beds at home; But there is nothing to be gotten, and they may ſtarve at, home, unleſs they venture forth to Sea: How canſt thou truſt God when thy Cupboard is full, thy Barns and Garners full? it's true, thou mayeſt and ought to exerciſe Faith then in acknowledging God, and depending upon the goodneſs and bleſſing of God in the enjoyment of them, and uſing them in his fear; but the exerciſe of Faith is much more difficult, and much leſs viſible in ſuch a condition: Faith that is ſeen, is not Faith; till the Stream be dryed up, thou canſt not ſo well take thy fill of the Fountain: When the water in the Bottle is ſpent, then the Well is beſt ſeen and diſcovered, ſee Hab. 3.17, 18. No ſuch rejoying in God, as when we have nothing elſe to rejoyce in, no ſuch Grape as the Wilderneſs-Grape; God taſtes the ſweeteſt, when the World is the moſt bitter: ſo Repentance and Mortification will go on the moſt proſperouſly, when the occaſions, and means, and ſupports of Luſt and Corruption are removed; Senſuality is ſooner curbed by want than by plenty, and Pride better checkt by diſgrace than Honours; and a wandring, vain, perverſe Spirit ſooner brought down by ſickneſs and pain, than by health; and the love of the World, delight in it, deſigns for it are more eaſily mortified by continual loſſes, and croſſes, and faſtings, than by ſucceſſes, encreaſe, and proſperous returns; we ſhall more readily be brought to believe on God alone, when we can ſee nothing but him; the life of Senſe and the life of Faith are quite contrary the one to the other. Take a Chriſtian that hath lived in a quiet, ſerene, calm, and undiſturbed condition for ſome years, never meeting with any conſiderable trouble; Take another that hath ſtill been exerciſed with variety of afflictions, almoſt never without ſome great diſtreſs upon him in one kind or another; let them both have been under the ſame means of Grace, and advantages in that kind; compare theſe two Chriſtians together, and you will find how much the Weather-beaten▪ Saint will excel the other in Livelineſs, Fervency, Zeal, Faith, Humility, yea, even in a Spirit and expreſſions of thankfulneſs, there will be no compare between them. Proſperity is clogging, Adverſity is cleanſing; it's an harder matter to endure, than to enjoy, any one can lie upon a Featherbed, but every One cannot lie under an Hedg; it's more eaſie to love a Child, than part with a Child, to ſeek and poſſeſs than part with an eſtate, to love a good Wife or Husband than to bury them: all Honourable things are difficult things, difficilia quae pulcra; Wiſdom is Honourable, the experienced man is the Wiſe Man, and he cannot be an experienced man that was never tried but in one conditions; he that has travelled through all quarters, that there is ſcarce a Country but he has been in, hardly an Affliction but he has been under, that's the Man that's Company for a Prince; it's worth ſitting by ſuch a Man to hear him diſcourſe of his travels, how he paſſed from one Region to another, from one condition to another, how loth he was to enter into it, with, what amazement he was received into it, with what difficulty, diſtreſs and anxiety of Spirit he paſſed on under it, how many times he had almoſt fainted, how wonderfully good and kind the Lord was to him, how ſeaſonably ſupports and ſupplies came in once and again, what ebbings and flowings he paſſed through; how when he vehemently cried out, ſave me Maſter I periſh, preſently the Lord Jeſus appeared and ſaid, be not afraid, it is I; this diſpenſation has Love in it, it is for thy good, it wil not hurt thee, be not ſo afrighted, not an hair of thy Head ſhall periſh by thy affliction, thou ſhall loſe nothing but what would, have done thee harm to have kept; how afterwards the Lord quieted, compoſed and ſatisfied his Soul, made him ſee how much need there was of ſuch a ſevere Providence, ſuch a ſharp Paſſage, ſuch a bitter Diſpenſation; as alſo how much Love and Goodneſs there was in it, which at firſt ſight carried ſo much of the Face of enmity, diſturbance and deſtruction; ſo that he comes to ſay, this Affliction, this Loſs, this great Trial, though I thought at firſt I could not have born it, yet I now ſee I could not have been without it; as he ſaid once, I had been undone if I had not been undone, periiſſem niſi periiſſem.I had periſhed if I had not periſhed; and laſtly, how he no ſooner had got through one Affliction, but the Lord brought him to the borders of another; he was no ſooner Landed, and ſafe in his Harbour, but God bids him prepare for another Voy age; in thoſe dayes was Hezekiah ſeek unto Death, ſee Iſa. 38.1. comp. with 3 laſt verſes of 37. cha. To hear him tell you how gladly now he would have taken a little reſt, and was thinking, ſurely he ſhould now meet with no more Troubles ſo diſmal, when preſently another meſſenger came to tell him, that the Lord did intend to try him again, (the firſt chapter of Job did not conclude his combate,) and bid him make ready for a new on-ſet either in the ſame or another kind; how he treated the Meſſenger and ſpake wiſely and kindly unto him in ſuch language as this; it is but lately that my Lord laid an heavy and an amazing Affliction upon me, it found me much unready and unprepared, I did ſtorm and rage at it, I was as a Bullock unaccuſtomed to the Yoke; I was caſt down and dejected, I did murmur and repine, many an hard thoght had I of my maker, and ſeveral unhandſom and unbecoming expreſſions came from me, ſome that favoured of deſpair, Oh I ſhall never have a comfortable day more, my good dayes are gone, better for me that I had never been Born, than to live to ſee this Trouble; why does the Lord let me live, why does he not deſtroy me, it would be an happineſs for me if ſome would come and take a Knife and cut my throat, its happy for them that are Dead, they endure no ſuch tormenting pain, they ſuſtain no ſuch loſſes, they know not tht meaning of ſuch piercing, Heartbreaking Sorrows &c. But it pleſed the Lord by degrees to bring me to more ſober expreſſions, he began to convince me that I had deſerved a great dealmore, it is a wonder I was out of Hell, he ſet my ſins in order before mine eyes; and then I ſaw that he had Puhiſhed me leſs than mine Iniquities did deſerve, that if I had my Due I ſhould be in Endleſs, Eaſeleſs and Remedileſs Torment; and then I came to acknowledg him, his Juſtice, his Mercy, and to fall down at his Feet; he then began to ſpeak ſome comfortable Words to me, to give me a little reviving, a little Faith and Hope in himſelf, and to let me ſee his end and deſign ih Afflicting me; he ſhewed me my work, Job 36.8.9.10.and my tranſgreſſions wherein I had exceeded, he opened my ear to Diſcipline, and commanded me to depart from Iniquity: and now he has recovered me and made me to live in his ſight, if it be his pleaſure to bring me into the fire again, I know it is for the purging away of my Iniquity; I deſire I may not diſhonour him, and then let him do with me what he pleaſes; I hope he will lay no more upon me than he will enable me to bear, and then his will be done: thus you ſee what great experience is to be got by Affliction, how needful it is for the exerciſe of Grace.
Reaſon third,
The Lord fills our day with trouble for diſtinction ſake, that we may know Earth from Heaven and God from the Creature. To Know the meaning of that text, there remaineth therefore a reſt for the People of God; if it were not ſo we ſhould be apt to ſay, it is good being here. There are two things the World is hardly brought to Believe. Firſt, That quietneſs and peace and reſt cannot be obtained here: And Secondly, That it is to be enjoyed hereafter, and in himſelf. Now it is impoſſible that we ſhould ever meet with any full contentive good under Heaven; if one could ſhow me that which the Tempter ſhewed our Saviour even all the Kingdoms of the World and the Glory of them, they are too beggarly a good to give content: excellently to this purpoſe, one of the Antients; O Lord ſaies he, thou haſt made us for thy ſelf, Feciſti nos ad te & cor noſtrum inquictum eſtdonec re quieſcat in te verſa & reverſa in tergum &in latera & in ventrem, & dura ſunt omnia! tu ſolus requires Auſtinand our Hearts cannot be at quiet, till they come to reſt in thy ſelf; I tumble and toſs this way, and that way, upon Back and Belly, this ſide and that ſide, and every way to get a little eaſe, and yet I find every thing to be hard, and God is the only true Reſt.
No ſatisfaction to he had from any thing here below; look but upon the ſeveral Conditions of Men in City, Court and Country, and ſee if every one would not be a little higher, a little Richer, and a little bettered in eſtate; or elſe what means their endleſs carking and caring? what means ſo many hands working and Heads hammering about this thing and that thing? there is not the verieſt frock and apron but by little and little it would hirſtle up to the Rob and Purple; Mr. G.not the pooreſt Friars cowle but by ſtep and ſtep have at the Popes mitre. This unſatisfied deſiring of one thing after another (which Is very troubleſome and grieving) the Preacher elegantly calls the walking of the deſire; Eccleſ. ….9.better, ſaies he, is the ſight of the Eyes, that is, the comfortable beholding and enjoying theſe things we have, then the walking of the deſire, the rambling of it after the things we have not, or as ſome render it, the walking Soul: a walking Soul is very uncomfortable, to be haunted night and day with a Spirit of greedineſs and unſatisfiedneſs, to have its company going out and coming in, lying down and riſing up; nay, to have diſturbing and troubleſome dreams too. The Lord never intended that the world ſhould be a quiet place; do you know any place upon Earth that a man may go to have one day of reſt, and freedom from care, and trouble, within and without? I would go many miles to ſee that place, and enjoy ſuch a Day: he that kept the key of ſuch a place would quickly heap up Treaſures; what flocking would there be thither from all quarters, of all ſorts of People! you would ſee great numbers of Great-one and Noble-men poſting thither. The Apoſtle dehorts us from ſeeking things that are upon the Earth, & the reaſon is, becauſe they are things upon the Earth, it is a bad ſoile, it is a troubleſome air. Men may ſave themſelves a lobour of ſhiting from one condition to another, for till they ſhift out of the World, let them never expect to ſit eaſily; no reſt to be found in any part of the Earth, no reſtleſneſs in any manſion in Heaven. I might ſtill proſecute this matter of the wandring of the deſire, which is in all conditions of men upon Earth: Does not he that is juſt within the preſence Chamber door, wiſh he were a little nearer the chair of State? and he that is the third Man to the chair, wiſh he were the ſecond? and he that is the ſecond, wiſh he were the firſt, that he might have the Princes ear? the firſt grieves becauſe the chair is not his, and he that hath the chair wiſhes it were advanced a ſtep higher, that whereas he has but one Kingdom, he had two, and he that hath two wiſhes he had more, and he that hath more, wiſhes he had all, and he that hath all, is not content becauſe he hath all a ſtrange thing! at firſt he was not content becauſe he had not all; and now he is much leſs content, becauſe he hath all for then he had ſome hope to obtain his deſire, when he aimed at all, but now he has no hope to obtain his deſire, becauſe all will not ſuffice; but he complains there are no more Worlds. And now I am fallen into this Diſcourſe, give me leave to anſwer an Objection.
Object.
Are there not many that will ſay, that had they but ſo much, they would be content, ay that would they with all their heart, and never deſire more; does not this contradict your Doctrine, and that which you are deſigning to prove all this while; that he that lives upon Earth in any part of it, or in any condition in it, muſt expect trouble every day, all their life time and enough of it?