Preparation for Suffering in an Evil Day, Chapter 10
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 what that Fear is which prepares us for Suffering, and then how it prepares us thereunto.
1. I ſhall conſider what that Fear is which prepares us for Suffering; and this I ſhall diſpatch in three things.
It is not the Fear of man but of God that doth it: It is not the fear of man, that can do it; God gives us a charge againſt this, Who art thou that thou ſhouldeſt be afraid of a man that ſhall dye? Eſay. 51.12. There is no cauſe to fear a weak piece of Clay, a very Breath, a fading Leaf; he muſt dye and there is an end of him, and all his thoughts periſh with him. The wiſe man tels us, That the fear of man bringeth a Snare, Prov. 29.25. It made Abraham diſſemble as if he had no wife; David change his behaviour as if he had no reaſon; Peter curſe and ſwear as if he knew not his Maſter: This Fear diſpoſes to apoſtacy, and muſt be cured by that Fear of God, which diſpoſes to ſuffering: When we are ready to drown in worldly ſorrow, it is of ſingular uſe to ſpring another, a godly ſorrow in our hearts; and when the Fear of man puts us into trembling fits, it is an excellent remedy to raiſe up the Fear of God in our Souls above the other. Thus God directs his People not to fear the confederate Enemies, but to ſanctify the Lord of Hoſts himſelf, and to let him be their fear and their dread, Eſa. 8.12, 13. He is Lord of Hoſts, God over all, and the fear of him ſhould be above all other fears; this is the way to have him to be a Sanctuary to us, as it follows. If we Fear him he will be an inviolable place of retreat where we may repoſe our ſelves in a day of Trouble.
2. It is not a diffidential Fear, but a fiducial one that doth it: A diffidential Fear makes the mind, as Meteors in the Air, to hang in ſuſpenſe, and, in caſe Affliction come, to fail under the burden. St. Peter walked upon the water to go to jeſus; but when he ſaw the wind boiſtrous, he was afraid, and began to ſink, Math. 14.29, 30. By Faith he walked, and by diffidence he began to ſink.Non ambularet, niſi crederet nec mergeretur niſi dubitaret. Auſt. de Verbis Rom. Serm. 14. Our condition is the very ſame; in the waves of a troubleſome World we ſtand by Faith, but fall by diffidence; That Fear, which prepares us for ſuffering, muſt be a fiducial one. Ye that fear the Lord, truſt in the Lord, he is their help and their ſhield, Pſal. 115.11. Holy fear is and muſt be in Conjunction with faith. Fear flies from the evils of Sin and Hell; Faith cloſes in with the Promiſes of Grace and Glory, both concurr to make a man fit for ſuffering; and ſuch a ſufferer ſhall have God for his help and ſhield.
3. It is not a ſervile Fear, but a filial one that doth it: He that hath a meer ſervile fear of the wrath to come, may forbear an act of ſin; but he hath the Love of it in his heart, adbuc vivit in eo peccandi voluntas, the Love of ſin lives in him ſtill, as an Ancient hath it. Such an one is not in a fit caſe to ſuffer for the Truth; he hath not a Love to God to move him to it, nor a capacity to have Heaven after it; and how can he ſuffer? It is very hard for a man to ſuffer for a God that he Loves not: Or part with the good things of This World, when he hath no hope of thoſe in a better. That Fear, which prepares for Suffering, is not ſervile, but filial; it ſtands not in conjunction with the love of Sin, but with the Love of God; the nature of it is ſuch, that he that hath it will diſpleaſe man rather then offend God; part with a World rather then let go the Truth and pure Worſhip; nay, and lay down his Life rather then forfeit the Divine Preſence and Favour which are better then Life. Thus much touching the nature of that Fear, which prepares us for ſuffering.
2. I come to conſider how holy Fear doth prepare us for ſufferings; and this I ſhall open in three things.
1. Holy fear looks upon ſin as an evil much greater then any ſuffering: ſuffering is oppoſite to the Creature, but ſin is oppoſite to the infinite God; it is a Rebellion to his Soveraignty, a contradiction to his Holineſs, a provocation to his Juſtice; an abuſe to his Grace; a ſtain caſt, as much as in us, lies, upon his Glory; nay, as the Schools ſpeak, it is a kind of Deicidium, it ſtrikes in a ſort at the very life and being of God; it wiſhes, that there were none at all; and, if it could effect it, there ſhould be none: Suffering doth not make a man worſe then he was before, but ſin doth it: Thoſe Saints that were deſtitute, afflicted, tormented, wandring in Deſerts, and Mountains, and Dens and Caves of the Earth, were yet ſuch excellent ones, that the World was not worthy of them, Hebr. 11.37, 38. On the other hand, Antiochus Ephiphanes (who was, as his name imports, illuſtrious and glorious in the World) was yet but a vile perſon, and was made ſuch by his wickedneſs. Suffering ſtrikes at the eſtate or body of man, but ſin ſtrikes at his Soul, a thing more pretious then a World; nay, and at the Divine Image there, which is more worth then the Soul it ſelf: It doth, where it can prevail, turn men into Beaſts in its ſenſual luſts, or into Devils in its ſpiritual Wickedneſſes: Suffering may have good, nay great good in it, but ſin is evil, only evil; tis called by St. James foreign, the ſuperfluity or excrement of all evil, Jam. 1.21. It contains all evils in it; and if all evils (ſaith a worthy Divine) were to have a ſcum or excrement, crement, ſin is it, as being the abſtracted quinteſſence of all evil, and having nothing at all of good in it. Sin, ſaith Bradwardine, is a thing not to be done, pro quantiſcunque bonis lucrandis, aut pro quantiſcunque malis praecavendis; for the gaining never ſo great a good, or for the avoiding never ſo great an evil. He that hath this holy Fear in his heart, will chuſe ſuffering as the leſſer evil, rather then ſin, which is much the greater. When Antitiochus Epiphanes brought forth Wheels, Rodds, Hooks, Rakes, Racks, Caudrons,Joſeph. Ant. Cages, Gridirons, Gantlets, Awles, Bellows, Braſen Pots, and Frying-pans, before Salamona & here ſeven ſons to terrify them, they could not be induced by all his tormenting Engines to treſpaſs ſo far as to eat of a little ſacrificed Swines-fleſh, to ſave themſelves from a cruel death. It was the ſaying of Anſelm, That if Sin were ſet before him on one hand, and Hell on the other, he would rather chuſe Hell then ſin. Scult. Decad. An. Dom. 1528Henry Flander, being a Priſoner for the Proteſtant Religion, would not ſay, that his Wife was his Whore, no, not to ſave his life offered to him on thoſe terms. Holy Fear will tell us, that ſin muſt not be done to avoid ſuffering; that we were better bear all reproaches then dishonour God; loſe our Eſtates then leave our Religion; nay, and lay down our lives then be ſeparated from the Divine Love. O let us look upon ſin as the Maximum formidabile; as that which hath in it the moſt proper cauſe of fear and flight, that no external miſeries and dangers may be able to drive us into it.
2. Holy Fear looks at the ſufferings which God inflicts in Hell, as incomparably greater then thoſe which man doth or can inflict upon Earth. Our Saviour directing our fear to its right Object, takes notice of the vaſt difference between them, Fear not them, which kill the body, but are not able to kill he ſoul; but rather fear him, which is able to deſtroy both ſoul and body in Hell, Math. 10.28. Mans killing is one thing, but Gods deſtroying another: Man may kill the Body, and it may be in a tormenting manner; but there is no death like the ſecond; no torments on Earth are comparable to thoſe in Hell; no finite arm can ſtrike ſo hard as the infinite One; no Culinary or Elementary Fire can burn ſo hot as the Infernal doth. God bid Moſes take and ſprinkle the aſhes of the Furnace, and they ſhould become boils and blains, Exod. 9.8, 9. A Great Doctor of ours gloſſes on the words thus; The ſufferings here on Earth are but the aſhes of the Furnace, ſmall things in compariſon of the Furnace itſelf; an Hell of unquenchable fire; man may kill the body, but he is not alwaies a killing of it; he may torment, but he cannot bear up the Patient in long ſuffering; the torments in a little time will ceaſe, and the Martyr Sleep in Jeſus; but God kils the damned, and is ſtill a killing them, power ſupports them, and Juſtice puniſhes them; the fire of Hell, kindled by eternal breath, never goes out, and the ſmoak of their torment aſcends for ever and ever: After thouſands, and ten thouſand of years, ſtill there will be wrath to come, ſuch as no time can meaſure: Man may kill the body, but after that he can do no more, his Engines of Cruelty cannot reach the Soul, or touch the inward man, which is a Sanctuary for God; but God kils the ſoul, his wrath is in a peculiar manner poured out there where the chief ſeat of ſin was; the neverdying Worm is ever growing upon corſcience: The ſpirit of the damned furiouſly reflects upon itſelf over the eternal miſery that it lies under: All the horrors of a Spira or a Judas are far ſhort of that deſperate rage and anguiſh which tortures the loſt ſouls in Hell. He that hath this holy fear in him will chuſe any ſufferings on Earth rather then thoſe in Hell. One of the ſons of Solomona told the Tyrant Antiochus, that his fire was cold, and indeed it was ſo comparatively to the Fire of Hell: St. Auſtin putting the queſtion, whom we ſhould obey; God commanding one thing or the Emperor commanding another, makes his anſwer; Da veniam, Imperator, tu carcerem minaris, ille gehennam, Gives place, O Emperor,De Verb. Dom. ſerm. 6. thou threatneſt a Priſon, he a Hell. When Polycarp was threatned with Fire, his anſwer was, That the Perſecuter threatned only a momentary Fire, but knew not The Eternal one. He, that ever heard that true Thunder, which is the voice of God, would hardly be afraid of ſuch Artificial Cracks as the Emperor Cajus Caligula uſed to make to ſhew himſelf a God: And he that carries upon his heart an awe of thoſe ſufferings which God inflicts in Hell, will hardly fear thoſe which men inflict on Earth.
3. Holy Fear looks upon Spiritual and Eternal Loſſes, as incomparably greater then Carnal and Temporal ones: The loſs of the World may be made up in the ſaving of the Soul; but for the loſs of a Soul, nothing can make a recompence: That little ſparkle of Divinity mightily outweighs the great Globe of the World: What are Bodies to Spirits? Nemo (ſaith Auſtin) bene ſe inſpexit, qui non omni corpori qualemlibet animam praeponendam eſſe fateatur; he that looks well into himſelf muſt confeſs, that any Soul is to be preferred before all Bodies. The loſs of mans favor may be richly made up by the preſence of Gods. Moſes endured the King's wrath, as ſeeing the inviſible one; the preſence of God was ſo with him, that he feared no human frowns: But if the Divine Favour be wanting, nothing can ſupply the defect of it. It's true, a man without it may have all outward bleſſings flowing round about him; but he eats, and drinks, and Sleeps, under the wrath of God, which hangs over his head, as the ſword did over the head of Damocles at the Tyrants Table; and, as ſoon as the thread of life breaks, it comes down upon him in an utter ruine. The loſs of Creatures may be made up by an intereſt in God; a real Chriſtian having nothing, may poſſeſs all things in him: but if a man forſake God, what will the World give in exchang for him? It's Riches are but poor moth-eaten things, which in a little time vaniſh away; its Pleaſures are but the titillations of Senſe, and periſh in the uſing; its Honours are but a blaſt, a little popular Air, which ſoon go away and come to nothing. When once God, who is the Fountain and Spring of all good, departs, it is in vain to hope for any thing from the little Rivulets and Ciſterns of the Creature. He, that hath this holy Fear in him, will chuſe to ſuffer loſs in Carnal and Temporal things, rather then in Spiritual and Eternal. It is the ſaying of St. Ambroſe, Eaeſt vera pietas, quaepraeponit divina humanis, perpetua temporalibus; Lib. 7. Epiſt. 56.that is, true Piety, which prefers Divine Things to humane, and perpetual things to temporal. St. Auſtin ſets out ſervile and filial Fear by an Adulterous and a Chaſt Wife; Timet mulier adultera, In Joh. Tract. 63. in E piſt. Joh. Tract. 9.ne vir ejus veniat; timet & caſta ne vir ejus abſcedat: The adulterous woman ſears, leſt her husband may come; the chaſt woman fears leſt her husband depart. In like manner ſervile Fear makes us afraid that God will puniſh, & filial Fear makes us afraid that God will depart: The loſs of him is more then the loſs of all things. When the Martyr Menas, under the Perſecution of Diocleſian, Magd. hiſt Cent 4. cap. 12.was brought forth to ſuffer, he gave this reaſon for it; Nihileſt, quod meâ ſententiá conferripoſſit cum regno coelorum; neque enim totus Mundus poteſt, aequâ lance expenſus uni comparari animae; there is nothing in my judgment like the Kingdom of Heaven; neither may the whole World, if weighed in an equal ballance, be compared with one Soul. He had rather loſe any thing in the World then an Heaven and a Soul. O let us labour to know where the great loſs lies, that we may never forſake Spiritual and Eternal things for Carnal and Temporal.