Batteries Upon the Kingdom of the Devil, Chapter 5

Batteries Upon the Kingdom of the Devil · Chapter 5

p. 117Honey at the end of the Rod: OR, Help for the Internal Distempers with which External Afflictions are usually accompanied.

HEB. xii. 5.

My Son, Despise not thou the Chastening of the Lord, nor Faint when thou art Rebuked of Him.

THE World has never yet seen the Day, since the Sin and Fall of our unhappy Father, wherein any Man alive had not cause to say, like him in Lam. 3.1. I am the Man that hath seen Affliction. But the World is p. 118now plunged into that Age, wherein perillous Times do put some special Accents, both of Bitterness and Frequency, upon that Affliction which Mankind is exposed unto. And that little part of the World, unto which we belong, encounters with such complicated Judgments of Heaven, as render Affliction yet further considerable among our selves. 'Tis no little Affliction, that Sword▪ and Plague, and Fire, at once coming upon a poor People must needs be the occasion of. Hence 'tis, that some Afflicted Persons are mourning over their sickly Bodies, and making the Complaint of Job, Wearisome Nights are appointed unto me, my Skin is broken and become loathsome. Some Afflicted Persons are mourning over their broken Estates, and sighing the Complaint of Naomi, I am become Empty. And not a few, are weeping over their departed Friends from Day to Day. One wrings her Hands, like the Distressed Widow that came to Elisha, saying, They Servant my Husband is Dead. Another laments his being in the condition of Ezekiel, having lest the Desire of his Eyes with a stroke. Here you shall hear the Moans of an Orphan, saying like David, My Father and my Mother do forsake me. And there you shall see bereaved Parents, in the posture of Rachel, weeping for their Child…en▪ and refusing to be comforted for their Chil…ren▪ because they are not. But, behold in these Words a counsel proper for all these Children of Affliction. It is in this very Text intimated unto us. That the God of Heaven has in the Scripture of Truth made provision for the direction of them that shall be in affliction, and that our miscarriage p. 119in affliction proceeds from our not remembring and regarding of this all profitable Word. I know not whether there be any one thing of a greater Figure in a Christian Conversation, than the right bearing of affliction; and the Text now before us▪ will assist us to discourse upon that blessed Skill.

One of the best Preachers and Writers that ever lived▪ is under the Inspiration of the Almighty here making some Ʋse of the Doctrine delivered by him in the former part of his Epistle to the Christianised▪ but Apostatising Hebrewes; and indeed, that was the usual Method of his Holy Sermons. The Apostolical Exhortation in our Context, is, unto a patient perseverance under all the afflictions which our profession of Christianity may be attended with; and several, weighty▪ pungent Arguments▪ do in our Context press that Exhortation. One of those Arguments is contained in the Verse now read unto us; 'Tis drawn, from the Gracious Design of God, in all those afflictions which he doth exercise us with. All the afflictions that we are squeez d withal, whether we consider them on our part, or on Gods part, they carry in them very charming Characters. On our part, our afflictions come as witnesses; they are to witness our being those Children, whose Nurture the Great God is very careful of. On Gods part, our afflictions come as chastisements; they are to chastise us into that holiness, and fruitfulness, which the God of Heaven is well-pleased with. All of this is insinuated unto us in our Text; which is, My son, despise not the chastning of the Lord, p. 120nor faint when rebuked of him. Before I give you those Remarks, which I am to make upon this Golden Sentence, you must let me mind you of those that are here made by the Apostle Paul himself. The Text is a Quotation of what fell from the Pen of Solomon Hundreds of Years before, in Prov. 3.11. My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord, neither be weary of his correction The Apostle observes, That it is an Exhortation, which may also be rendred, a Consolation; there is indeed Comfort as well as Counsel contained in it. He again observes, That it speaks; no part of the Bible is to be a dumb or a dead Letter to us; there is a Voice in every Line of it. He also observes, That it speaks to us; The Oracles of the Bible, though they were at first more immediately directed unto these or those, that are now dead and gone, yet we should count our selves as intimately concerned therein, as if we were by Name Addressed in them. He likewise observes, That it speaks to us, as to Children. It is in the Quality of a Father that our God afflicts us from time to time; and it becomes us to maintain the Frames and Hopes of Children under such Fatherly Dispensations. He furthermore observes, That our Afflictions are both Chastenings and Rebukes of God upon us; they are Chastenings, which implies Corrections with Instructions to our Souls; they are also Rebukes, which implies Convictions o… what is a…iss in us; in short, they are but parts of the Liberal Education which our Heavenly Father bestows upon us. I may safely tell you, that all these …re Notes which the Apostle Paul himself p. 121would have made upon this Text, if he had been to have gi…en you a Sermon upon it; for I find the… lying plainly before us here. 'Tis therefore no ill husbandry of the Hour now running▪ to take notice of those Observations; but there is one more which the Apostle would leave us to Raise. 'Tis, That there are two Distempers which we should under all Afflictions be concern d for the avoiding of; that in all our Afflictions we should keep up a Temper, both in our Courage and in our Patience; that in our Afflictions, there is a despising, which is an Excess, or an Error on the Right Hand, and there is a desponding, which is a Defect, or an Error on the Left Hand, very Religiously to be watched against. In fine, This is the Observation which we have to insist upon,

That on the one side a despising of, on the other side, a desponding at, Afflictions, is an Evil which 'tis our Duty carefully to avoid.

Behold now incumbent on us a double Duty, with reference to those Afflictions which in an evil World we meet withal.

I. It must be our study to avoid the despising of Afflictions We must not sleight them, contemn them, disregard them, or treat them as if we were not concerned in them; but a positive Respect un…o them, is also required of us.

First. It is our Duty to be affectionately sensible of the Blows, which by Afflictions are p. 122given to us: A quick sense usually accompanies the Grace of God in the Heart of Man. A stupid, and a sottish Temper under Afflictions, is very contrary to the Expectations of the Lord our God; a Stoical Apathy is no Christian Vertue; but it is mentioned as a great provocation, in Jer 5.3. O Lord, Thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved. Our God has bestowed Affections upon us, and He expects that they should be suitably moved by such Afflictions as He shall visit us withal. We must not receive the Blowes of God, like a Stock fish, without any feeling of them; but every afflicted Man should with some sensible Passions feel, This is a sore Chastening and Rebuke upon me. It was brought in as a sad Indictment against that insensible People, in Isa. 42.25. The fire burned him, yet he laid it not to heart. For Afflictions to come and burn us out of our Enjoyments, and yet for us to keep Hearts untouch'd with a sense of what has befallen us, is to despise the Chastening of the Lord. It is to put off Humanity it self; and, I pray, what Rule have we in Divinity for doing so? We should have our pensive Resentments of our Afflictions, whether we look upon them as natural or as paenal Evils. There never was a stouter Hero than David, who yet melted into Tears when he saw the Frowns of God upon him. When one was taken with a Distemper, that had some resemblance to the Small Pox, it was said of her, in Numb. 12.14. If her Father had spit in her Face, should she not be ashamed? Thus ought we to entertain our Afflictions, as things that are to p. 123humble us, and abase us before the Lord. There is a comfortable Order of our Conditions and Circumstances, which God himself has implanted into us the desires of; this Order is invaded and disturbed by all of our Afflictions; and it is a Sin for us now to stupifie our just Apprehensions hereof, by saying, Well, It can't be help'd; and, There's an end on't; or by using the Cauteries which were the Common Reliefs of the Ancient Heathen, in their Distresses; this is, as one says, to have in our Souls a Calm, like that of the Dead Sea; 'tis indeed a Calm with a Curse.

Secondly. It is our Duty to be awfully sensible of the Hand from which Afflictions come unto us. We must not reckon our Affliction to be meer casual Events, or the Effects of Injustice and Injury from our Neighbours; but we are to think, as in Amos 3.6. Shall there be Evil in the City, and the Lord hath not done it? No, There shall not be so much as an House in all the Town robbed or burned, but there shall be a doing of the Lord about it. In our Afflictions, we must look beyond Second Causes, and believe the Providence of the Great God about them all, and say with our selves, I have to do with God in all of these Calamities. Many in their Afflictions only look downward; but we are to cast our Eyes another way, and look upward, that we may see the Original of all our Troubles; and we are to think, like him in Job 5 … Affliction comes not forth of the Dust, neither d …h Trouble spring out of the Ground. It may be that Affliction has laid p. 124our delights in the Dust, and in the ground▪ yet we must not think the Affliction proceeds from so low a cause. In all our losses, it becomes us to say with him of old, The Lord has taken away; and in all the wrongs that have been done unto us, we should say with him, …Tis God has bidden it. Though the Arrows of Affliction that are shot at us, do seem to come never so much at a venture, yet we must perswade our selves that the Hand of God has the directing of them. Afflicted Men do often say, 'twas their Fortune to meet with such or such a disaster; thy Fortune, Man; for shame, take no… the Name of that Idol into thy Mouth. We may not ascribe unto a blind chance any of those Afflictions which our affairs are crippled with. Although the Hand of God in our Afflictions be wrapt up in a Cloud, yet should the sight of our Souls penetrate unto it; and God should not be concealed from us by the crowd of immediate Agent, which are the Instruments of our Vexations.

Thirdly, It is our Duty to be Piously sensible of the end for which Afflictions come upon us. We must imagine that our Afflictions are managed by the All-Wise God, with some aim at our amendment and improvement; and we should often ask, like her of old, Why am I thus? 'Tis the Command in Mic. 6.9. Hear the rod. We are to think that there is a loud call and voice of God in every Rod with which he does afflict us; we should labour to know, and labour to do those things about which our Afflictions are the Monitors of our God unto us. In all Afflictions p. 125we should seriously request, like him in Job 10.3. Shew me wherefore thou contendest with me. We should inquire what Sin our Afflictions come to correct us for? and we should presently set upon a thorough Repentance of that evil way; we should presently stone that Achan which has been the Troubler of us; and we should presently cast over the Wall the Head of that Sheba which has caused the Armies of Heaven to beleagure us. We should inquire what good our Afflictions come to excite us to? And we should presently set upon the expressing of that Grace and the performing of that work, which we find our selves now under a new obligation to; we should presently bring forth such Fruits as all our prunings and purgings are designed for. If our Afflictions produce not such things as these upon us, they are but like stripes bestow'd upon the Hide of a wild Asses Colt. Never was there a sadder or a blacker brand upon a miserable Man, than that in 2 Chron. 28.22. In the time of his distress did he trespass yet more against the Lord. And there never was a more doleful sight in the World, than that of a Thief on the Cross continuing his malignity against the Son of God. Would you hear what is meet for us under our Afflictions? I ll tell you then, in the best words that can be spoken; I mean those in Job 34.31. Surely it is meet to be said unto God, I have born chastisement, I will not offend any more. If we do not thus behave our selves under our Affliction, we despise the chastning of the Lord. But this is not all our Duty; pars superest.

p. 126II. It must also be our study to avoid the desponding at Afflictions. Our Souls must not suffer any dissolution by them; nor must we suffer our selves to be thereby relaxed into the disorders of Impatience. But more positively and particularly.

First, It is our Duty to undergo Afflictions with a submissive Contentation of Soul. We must keep our Souls from those Deliquia ac Deliria, those wretched swoonings which Afflictions may dispose us unto. But how? 'Tis said in Luke 21.19. In your patience possess ye your souls. There is a sinful Patience, which renders the Soul a Galley-slave, there is a Brutal Patience which renders the Soul an Issachar, under all Afflictions; and there is a Moral Bravery which Pagans have sometimes born their Trials with. But our Lord says, You must have [your] Patience; 'tis a Christian Patience, which we are to be studious of. Under Afflictions, we have these Two comprehensive Things to do, for the contenting of us; both of them intimated in Psal. 39.9.

1. Under Afflictions we are to suppress all Tumultuous Discomposures in our selves; there is an Holy Silence which we are now to command our selves into. Our God sayes to us, as to the disconsolate Parent in Jer. 31.16. Refrain thy Voice from weeping, and thine Eyes from Tears. Be not immoderate in any of thy Lamentations. There are Discomposures of Tongue which are now to be restrained. In our Afflictions we p. 127must beware of hasty Wishes; we may not now fly out into the Distemper of Elijah, when he was e'en tired with his Troubles, and said, It is enough; now▪ O Lord, take away my Life. Nor may we now fall into the Distemper of Job, when he saw that he was not enough pittied by his Neighbours, May their Soul be in my Souls s…ead In our Afflictions we must beware of hasty Censures too We may not now Fret at God, like those di…tressed ones whom the Prophet compares to Wi…d Bulls in a Net, filled with the Fury of the Lord. Nor may we now Rail at Man, like the Raging Israelites in the Wilderness, crying out upon Moses, as the Authour of all the Destruction that came upon them. There are likewise Discomposures of Heart, which are now to be Restrained. Sayes the Apostle, I would have you without Distraction; there are Cares and Griefs which wonderfully distract the Souls of them [like an Army in a Rout] that cross Accidents come tumbling in upon. We must not suffer our Souls to be distracted or divided into incohaerent Motions as may unfit us for Communion with the Lord our God. We must not like David onc… upon the loss of a Son, lay the Reins upon the Nccks of the Wild-Beasts that are within us; but we must come to such a Quietness and Settlement of our Souls, as the sorrowful Hannah had, when she had poured out her Soul unto the Lord. And then, under our Afflictions we must fetch all our Peace from our Converse with the Blessed God in all His Attributes; we must quell our own unruliness by remembring, Yn God that has done all p. 128that I feel. 'Tis the Sight of God that must allay all the Madness and Foaming which we now find our selves prone unto; thus Moses in Heb. 11.27. Endured, as seeing him who is In…isible. We should keep our Souls in Order, by having our Eyes upon the Sovereignty of God. We must confess, as in Job 9.12. None may say to Him, What dost thou? And for this Reason, we should have no secret Clamours in our Souls, when he goes to meddle with any of our Darlings; we must have no Meum and Tuum in our Transactions with God, but let Him take all, because as David said once of his Riches, Lord, All of this is Thine alone. We should likewise keep our Souls in Order, by having our Eyes upon the Righteousness of God. We must confess, as in Neh. 9.33. Thou art Just in all that is brought upon us, for thou hast done Right, but we have done wickedly: and for this Reason we should be free from all Murmurings at what comes upon us. In the worst of our Difficulties, we should call to mind, My own Doings have procured these things unto me! and say, Why should any Man alive complain of the punishment of his Iniquities? We should moreover, Eye the Wisdom of God, for the Calming our Souls. We must confess with him in Psal. 119.175. Thou in Faithfulness hast Affiicted me. And therefore we should perswade our selves, that the Faithful God is but fulfilling of his Covenant in all the Inconveniencies that may befal us; that He can bring forth Meat out of the Eater, and that we now know not what He does, but we may hereafter. We should furthermore Eye the Goodness of God for p. 129the composing of our Spirits in our saddest Hours. We are to confess with him in Psal. 119.71. It is good for me, that I have been afflicted. And hence, we should humbly conceive that we shall not be losers by any of our Mishaps; but that our God will try us and prove us, to do us good in the latter end: And we should impute all to love, think, 'Tis because God loves me, that he does rebuke and chasten me. Finally, We should Eye the Fulness of God, for the rectifying of what wild Thoughts we may have about our Miseries. We should hear the God of Heaven saying to us, as in Gen. 17.1. I am the All-sufficient God. And hence, we should in the absence and withdrawing of all other things, yet satisfie our selves by this, God is my portion still, and He is All, and infinitely more than All.

Secondly. 'Tis our Duty to undergo Afflictions with a believing Expectation of Soul. When we are never so much disquieted, yet are we to lay that Charge upon our selves, in Psal. 43.5. O my Soul, hope in God, for I shall yet praise him. An Affliction, though it bear never so hard upon us, yet it should not kill our hope in God for the good issue of it. In the midst of all our Lamentations we should still be of that Principle, in Lam. 3.26. It is good that a man should hope, and quietly wait for the salvation of God. An hopeless Despair in Affliction, is the fainting of the Soul: An afflicted Man should still keep alive Two Expectations. One thing to be expected by him, is that in Psal. 126.5. They that sow in Tears shall reap in Joy. We should expect, That the p. 130Clouds will one Day blow over, and that we shall one Day be at rest from the Loads that now lie upon us: And suppose we, Non si male nunc, & olim sic erit; —but, that as it is said, The Lord will not always chide. Another thing to be expected is, that in 2 Cor. 4.17. Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. We should expect, That we shall be Gainers by all our Sorrows; and we should say of our selves, as one of the Martyrs did, My God is now scouring of me, that He may set me among His Vessels of Honour, on an High Shelf in Heaven for ever; and we should say to our selves, as another of the Martyrs did, Hold out, O my Faith and Patience, hold out a little more, and Heaven will quickly make amends for all.

Thirdly, 'Tis our Duty to undergo Afflictions with a Gracious Resolution of Soul. We should not by Affliction be discouraged in Devotion, but say with a Noble Zeal, as he in Job 13.15. Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him. Whatever Afflictions overtake us, we should still cleave, as Barnabas expressed it, with full purpose of Heart unto the Lord; and we should be able still to say like them, in Psal. 41.17, 18. All this is come upon us, yet have we not forgotten thee, O Lord. We should be resolved for the Service of God, though the Wrath of Man should molest us in it. Cain's Club should not make us at all abate of our sacrificing to the Lord: Though the Persecutors keep roaring like so many Lions and Leopards upon us, yet should we resolve like p. 131him. At f… me an… … the Lord. And we should be resolved …or t… Service of God▪ though the R… o… G… Himsel… should be never s… severely la…ing of u… Tho our Inwa … Man should b… never so much harassed with the Terrours of God▪ yet should we resolve. I wil… fea the Lord▪ and obey Hi… V…ice▪ thoug… I must wa…k in da…kne…s▪ and …ee … Though our Outward Man should be never …o much distressed by the strokes of God upon us, yet we should resolve, I wi… be moved by none o… these thing: from Endeavours to finish m… Course with joy. We should resolve. That for us to Live it sha… be Christ, although our Lives are never so much embittered by pining and paining Sicknesses. We should resolve, That we will be rich in good Works, though it be our portion to be the Poor of this World. We should resolve, That we will do all we can to Honour the Name of God, though our Name should have never so much Reproach cast upon it. And we should resolve, That whatever Crosses we have in our Children or our Servants▪ yet we will be dutiful Servants and Children to the Lord our God.

Thus we Faint not when Rebuked of Him.

APPLICATION.

And now, Let the Afflicted in this Assembly, attend unto the Exhortation that speaks unto us all. Christians, You have been suffe…ing a thousand other things; I pray, now suffer a Word of Exhortation.

p. 132I. Be not faulty in despising of your Afflictions; but so bear them as to be the better for them. You have been smitten with multiply'd Impressions from the Hand of God upon you; but O let it not be said of you, as in Jer. 2.30. In vain have I smitten them, they have received no correction. The Errand of all your Afflictions is to bring you unto greater measures of Holiness and Righteousness than you have been heretofore us'd unto. Despise not these Messengers of Heaven, so as to send them away without their Errand.

Consider, First.

If your are not the better for your Afflictions, 'tis a sign that you are very bad indeed! There is an obstinate Stupidity, in that Soul, which Afflictions will not awaken to Repentance. 'Tis from the Hardness of our Hearts, that we should need any Afflictions to reduce us from our Evil Ways; that the sweet Invitations of the Gospel will not operate so far upon us as to bring us home to our God; that He must use Briars and Thorns upon us, before we can be taught what an evil and a bitter thing it is to forsake the Lord. But for a Man to go on in sin, after that Affliction has been employ'd upon him, this truly is a more abominable Hardness. We may say of such doleful unreclaimable Creatures, as in Zech. 7.12. They have made their Hearts, as an Adamant Stone, and there is great Wrath upon them. We read concerning the Word of God, That it is an Hammer which breaks the Rocks to pieces. But what an Heart p. 133hast thou, to make light of Words, yea, and of Wounds too▪ proceeding from the Eternal God; verily The Nether Milstone has no such Impenetrable Hardness in it. What a Monster of a Man, was Hiel the Builder of Jerico! of whom we read, in 1 King. 16.34. That when he begun his Wickedness, God killed one of his Children; but he went on, and then God killed another of his Children; yet he gave not over, till at last the Most High God had cut off all his Family. Hearken to this, You that continue in your Sins, albeit one Affliction after another has been plaguing of you; You are like that wicked Hiel, the Prodigies of the World. Yea, Let me go on to say, There is a Devilish Obstinacy in the Soul, whom Afflictions do not good unto. It has been said, Perseverare in peccato est Diabolicum; But what a Degree of Devillism then is it for a Man to persevere in his Impieties after he has been Afflicted for them? 'Tis the Malignity of the Devils in Hell; the foul Fiends of Darkness, are Tormented for their Enmity to God, and yet they go about with horrible fiery Chains of Guilt upon them, Confirmed in that Cursed Enmity. You that will continue in Rebellion against God, notwithstanding all your Afflictions from Him, I pray, whom do you take for your Father in this your Obdurateness? May it not be said, as in John 8.44. Ye are of your Father, the Devil: for it? What a Devil was that Roman Emperour, who as often as God Thundered over his Head, would with his Fire-works Thunder back again? Why, All your Impenitency under Affliction, is but a p. 134Thundering back upon the omnipotent God, when he is threatning to destroy you by the terrible Thunder of his Power. O consider of it! And

Consider, Secondly,

If you are not the better for you past Afflictions, the Almighty God has yet more and worse, than those to inflict upon you. You must not think that God has already spent all his Arrows. Even in this Life there are sorer Plagues which God may have reserved for you, if you make light of what you have already felt; He will heat the Furnace of his Vengeance yet seven times hotter for you. This is what he says in Lev. 26.23, 24. If ye will not be reformed by these things. I will punish you yet seven times more for your sins. Says the Lord, If Rods won't cure that Sinner, I'll try what Scorpions will do upon him. First, the Man has had Losses by Sea; if he remain as worldly and woful a Creature as he was before, then says God, I'll burn his House for him; if he remain still the same, then says God, I'll go feed the Worms with the dearest Friends he has in the World; if he remain still what he was, then says God, I'll kill him, I'll never suffer any Ground of mine to be cumbered by such a Wretch as he. Just as Pharaoh, so is many a Sinner, follow d with Plague after Plague; but if nothing do obtain, then as it was said of old. The wrath of the Lord arises, till there is no remedy. And there are the Plagues of another World in …ore, to be then heaped upon them that made light of what they endured here. 'Tis po…sible that God may give you a respite p. 135from his Judgments; as a Parent that has tryed all means for the recovery of a prodigal Son, at length gives him over to his full Swinge in all manner of Baseness; thus does God often say over a desperate Sinner, as in Isa. 1.5. Why should you be stricken any more! ye will revolt more and more. But this is only a dismal Presage of a final Ruine at hand, for such a forlorn Soul. The next News will be, In Hell he lifts up his Eyes, and crys out, I am tormented here! But you that are groaning under Afflictions, take this Warning of the Lord; If you do not now turn to him that smites you, all those Afflictions are but like the Irons and Hardships of a Prison upon a wretched Malefactor, going before a far more terrible Execution: Your present Miseries are but the Beginnings of Sorrows. Behold, ye Despisers, and wonder, and be reduced.

II. And on the other hand, Be not guilty of desponding at your Afflictions; but bear them with such a Patience as will be proper for you. … none of your Exercises drive you into the fumes of Discontent; but according to that in Jam. 1.4. Let patience have its perfect work. Oh be not so faint in any of your Afflictions, as to fall out with God, or to discover the feebleness of your Minds, by your inability to encounter them. One that was tortured with grinding pains, gave that account of himself to them that asked him, How he did, I Groan, but I do not Grumble. You may mourn in your Afflictions; but O do not murmur; I beseech you, not a word of that! Let me set before you a few Things, that may p. 136serve as Cordials, to keep you from fainting in your Afflictions.

Consider, First;

All your Afflictions are indeed your Advantages. 'Tis a sweet Promise that you have to feed upon, in Rom. 8.28. All things shall work together for good, unto them that love God. Be your Afflictions never so many, and never so heavy, what are they? They are but Visitations; thus the Oracles of God have called them; they are the Friendly Visits of God unto your Souls. 'Tis a dark Time with you; but what says the Psalmist, in Psalm 112.4. Ʋnto the upright there ariseth Light in Darkness These troublesome Afflictions of yours, they are to promote your Knowledge; they are but the clay and spittle to open those Eyes, that Sin has blinded. Certain bitter Herbs are good for the Eyesight, They are also to promote your Vertue; they are but the Physic, of which I may say, Hereby Iniquity is purged, and their Fruit is to t… away Sin; they do but keep you near the Fire, that you may be the better in Tune for the Work of God. It was a pittiful Outcry made by Good old Jacob, when he parted with his Children, in Gen. 42.36. All these things are against me. But, Good Sir, you had perished, if it had not been for those very Things; and it came afterwards to be acknowledged, in Gen. 50.20. God meant it unto Good. The Rod of God, which now afflicts you, 'twill be like Aarons Rod; you'l find upon it, those precious Blossoms, which p. 137will one Day cause you to say, I would not for a World have been without that Affliction!

Consider, Secondly.

Notwithstanding all your Afflictions, you have enough to make you compleatly happy and blessed for ever. Though you may want this and that Fine Thing in the World, yet you may say, as in Psal. 116.7. Return to thy Rest, O my Soul; for the Lord has dealt bountifully with thee. O pause a little. Has not God given you his Grace? Don't you find your Hearts Touched with sincere Inclinations to what is Holy and Just and Good? Well then, you have the True Riches; one Drachm of Grace is worth all the Riches in the World. Again, Has not God given you his Christ? Have not you felt your Souls closing with him, as your Prince and your Saviour? Well then, you have him, in whom all fulness dwells. One Christ will weigh down Ten Worlds. In a word, Is not God …urs? As the Courtier said unto his Companion, Don't complain of any hard hap, so long as thou hast Caesar for thy Friend. So let me say, Never complain of Affliction, while God is yours. If you can say, The Lord is my portion, then, be your Afflictions what they will, you may also say, I have a goodly Heritage.

p. 138Consider, Thirdly.

Though your Afflictions have never such Aggravations in them, yet they might have been infinitely worse than they are. I beseech you, to make a Comparison.

Compare your Afflictions with your Deservings. You must own before the Lord, as in Ezr. 9.13. Lord, Thou hast punished us less than our Iniquities deserve. Though your Afflictions have bereaved you of this and that pleasant Thing, yet you have a thousand such Things left about you still; you have not lost All; although we are all unworthy to have any thing at all. A pious Mother, having one of her two Children suddenly drowned, presently took up the surviving one, and said, Blessed be God that has left me This! Why, if any thing be left, it is more than we are worthy of. But suppose, All gone; What shall we say then? Why, Then I say, yet, Man, Thou art out of Hell. Thou art wo…thy to be broken in the place of Dragons, worthy to have all the Scalding Lead that is in the Cup of Gods horrible. Vengeance poured all down into thy sinful Bowels for ever; and shall a little Flea bite now set thee a Roaring before the Lord?

Again, Compare your Afflictions with those of other and Better Men. You may see Thousands in the World, that never sinned against God, so much as you; and yet, I believe, you p. 139would be loath to change places with them. I'll repeat an Antient Proposal unto you that cry out of your Afflictions, I cannot bear them; That which I propound is, That all the Afflictions of Mankind might be brought and laid in one Common Heap, and that you may only come and have your equal Share with the rest in the World: Would this please you? Alas! This would make you much more calamitous than you are. 'Tis a Passage in Jam. 5.11. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and seen the end of the Lord. Some think, that a Couple of Examples are there offered unto us; q. d. You have indeed heard, how patient Job was; but you have seen a more perfect Copy than him, for you to write after; you have seen how patient the Lord Jesus was, and what a patient End he made at Jerusalem a few Years ago. So let me say; What are you better than Job? And yet what one Affliction have you, that Job had not experience of? Tell me one, if you can. But, behold, a greater than Job! Was not the Lord Jesus perfectly Holy and Harmless and Ʋndefiled! and yet what amazing Afflictions did besal him! Was there any Dolour omitted in them, that the Fury of Heaven, or Earth, or Hell could put into his Cup? O then, do not sink under that little Splinter of a Cross, that is now laid upon you.

p. 140Consider, Fourthly.

The manifold Evil of giving way to our unruly and unquiet Spirit, in our Afflictions, is enough to fright us into Moderation. 'Tis said, in Prov. 4.10. If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small. So indeed it is; but I have a worse thing also to say of it; namely this, Thy Sin is great. It argues a fearful deal of Corruption in us, when Affliction on us is not born with much Resignation of Soul. You find in Jude 15. in that one Verse, there is Ʋngodliness at least four times over-charged upon sinful Men; and, What is the Description of these ungodly ones? It follows, These are Murmurers, Complainers. Truly, there is a world of ungodliness in our Murmurings and Complainings under our Afflictions. When the Israelites had been murmuring and complaining under the Fatigues of the Wilderness, it is added in Num. 17.10. Aarons Rod was kept for a Token against the Rebels. Why, there is a cursed Rebellion that murmuring and complaining which our Afflicted Spirits do often faint into. 'Tis below a Christian. I remember, Plutarch reports of a certain People, who if they saw a Man over-much dejected with any Affliction, condemned him to wear the Habit of a Woman all his Days; because that such an one did, as it were, unman himself. Even so, They that are unable to bear Affliction, do, in a sort, unchristianize themselves; 'tis not fit you should wear the Badge of a Christian, till you know what it is to lye still, when p. 141the Heavenly Chirurgeon is lancing of you. In short, By this Faintness you undo all your Prayers. I suppose, you do not use the Lords-prayer, as the Form of your Devotions; yet you must make it the Rule of them. But, as Father Latymer speaking of Peter's denying his Lord, had this Note upon it, Peter forgot his Pater Noster; for that was, Hallowed be thy Name, and Thy Kingdom come: So may it be said now to us, You forget your Prayer; your Prayer is, Thy Will be done; and yet, when you see that Will done, you faint under it, as if you were your selves undone. I know not what your other Afflictions are, but this I affirm, Your fainting under those Afflictions, is a greater Affliction it self, than any of the rest. It is that horrible Plague whereof we read in Prov. 18.14. The spirit of a man shall sustain his infirmity, but a wounded spirit who can bear? Cheer up then, my Afflicted Neighbours; be of a good Heart; be faithful, and not fainting in all your Afflictions; and receive that Advice from God this Day, in Deut. 8.5. Thou shalt consider in thy Heart, that as a Man chastens his Son, so the Lord thy God chastens thee.