Preparation for Suffering in an Evil Day, Chapter 12
CHAP. XII.
The ninth Direction for Suffering is Active Obedience to the will of God; it flows from a good and honeſt heart; it reſpects Gods will and Glory; it makes us to grow up into Chriſt, and to be allied to him; it encreaſes Grace and ſpiritual ſtrength; it obtains the gracious Preſence of God, and it is the way to Heaven.
THe ninth Direction is this; if we would be in a fit poſture for Suffering, we muſt labor after an Active Obedience to the Will of God; to do in a right manner as he would have us to do. It is a notable ſaying of the Rabbins, Marces praeceptum praecepti; one Precept is the reward of another: He that rightly obſerves one Precept, ſhall have in the name of a reward ſuch Grace from God, as ſhall enable him to do another and a more difficult Command. It is an excellent thing to enure our ſelves to the doing of Gods will; Obedience is the chain about the Spouſes neck, Cant. 4.9. one link hangs upon another; one piece of Obedience draws on another; Active Obedience will prepare us for paſſive; the doing of Gods Will, will diſpoſe us for the Suffering of it. The Apoſtle prays for the Coloſſians firſt, that they might walk worthy of the Lord, unto all pleaſing, being fruitful in every good work; and then in the next Verſe, that they might be ſtrengthned with all might according to his glorious power, unto all patience and long ſuffering with joyfulneſs, Col. 1.10.11. Where we may obſerve, that an holy Life goes before, and then ſuffering Graces follow after. There are in Obedience ſix things obſervable, each of which tend to prepare us for Suffering.
1. True Obedience flows from a good and an honeſt heart; nay, I may adde, it flows from the holy Spirit of God. It flows from a good and honeſt Heart; many unprofitable hearers that are, but the good and honeſt Heart brings forth fruit. It was an high Character which the Apoſtle gives to the Romans, That they had obeyed from the Heart, that form of doctrine, which was delivered to them, or (as it is in the original) into which they were delivered, Rom. 6.17. The Goſpel was not only delivered to them, but they were delivered, and, as it were, caſt into the mould of it, and that was the reaſon that they obeyed from the heart. Nay, further, Obedience flows from the holy ſpirit; it is a choice Promiſe in the Covenant, I will put my ſpirit into you, and cauſe you to walk in my ſtatutes, Ezek. 36.27. Obedience being a meer ſupernatural act, comes from the holy Spirit as the prime Cauſe thereof; a general Concourſe ſuffices not, there muſt be a peculiar Motion and Impulſion of the Spirit in it; which made Gerſon ſay, That all ſpiritual life was founded in miraculo influentiae divinae, in the miracle of a Divine Influence. We ſee what are the Principles and Fountains of Active Obedience, and the very ſame will produce Paſſive too. The good and honeſt heart brings forth fruit with patience, Luke. 8.15. The words (with patience) are very remarkable; the good and honeſt heart may meet with Perſecutions in the world, yet it would bloſſome and bring forth fruit in the midſt thereof. The righteous flouriſhes as the Palm-Tree, Pſal. 92.12. The Palm-Tree is a Symbol of Immortality, growing under its burden; and the Righteous, who hath an Immortal ſeed in him, flouriſhes under all the preſſures of a perſecuting World. Again, the holy Spirit; which makes good men do Gods will, will enable them to ſuffer it too; St. Paul took pleaſure in perſecutions, becauſe when he was weak, then he was ſtrong, 2 Cor. 12.10. that is, the holy Spirit did ſtrengthen his inward man to bear the Croſs. The holy Spirit in the Saints is a Well of water, ſpringing up to everlaſting Life, John. 4.14. The perſeſecuting World would fain ſtop and damme it up; but in the midſt of all Oppoſitions it Springs, and never leaves ſpringing till the Saints be in Heaven; and before they come thither, it is, as St. Peter ſpeaks, a ſpirit of glory resting upon them, 1 Pet. 4.14. it brings down ſome glimpſes of Heaven into their hearts, whilſt they are ſuffering for Religion.
2. True Obedience hath a pure reſpect to Gods Will and Glory: It hath a pure reſpect to Gods Will; it doth not do the Commands of God upon a by-account, as Jehu deſtroied Ahab's houſe; but it doth them intuitu Voluntatis, becauſe it is the will of God; it is that which ſwaies and caſts the ballance in a good mans heart and life: As in matters of Faith he believes, becauſe God hath ſaid it; ſo in matters of Practiſe he obeys becauſe God hath commanded it. Alſo it hath a pure reſpect to Gods Glory; Mens cujuſque id eſt quiſque; the man is as his mind is, and the mind is as his end is; An obedient perſon will not be a Center to himſelf, nor make God the moſt excellent Being, a medium to any other thing: His great deſign is that God in all things may be glorified: His Holineſs is but to ſhine as a beam from the holy one; his Mercy is but as a little drop flowing from the Divine Ocean; his Obedience is to tell the World that God is ſupream; like his Saviour Chriſt, he ſeeks not his own glory, but his Fathers. Such an Obedience as this admirably diſpoſes a man for ſuffering; He, that doth ſome things becauſe they are commanded, will take up the Croſs too, becauſe it is in a peculiar manner commanded in the Goſpel: The ſtamp of the Divine Authority is not only found upon the Precepts of Piety and Juſtice, but upon that of Patience too: Alſo, he that doth ſincerely glorify God in other things, will, if occaſion be, glorifie him in pious ſufferings: Some honour may be done to God in other Duties, but in no other thing is there ſuch honour given to him as in bearing the Croſs; therein a man doth practically declare that he values God above all the World; and therefore the Martyrs have (as the School-men tell us) a greater reward in heaven than others: Others have the eſſential Glory in the Viſion of God, but for the Martyrs is reſerved an Aureola, a peculiar Coronet to be added to their Crown of Glory, propter victoriam de mundo, for their victory over the World
3. True Obedience makes us to grow up into Chriſt the Head, and to be of neer alliance to him. It makes us to grow up into Chriſt the head, Eph. 4.15. Obedience, being the exerciſe of all Graces, brings us into a neer union with Chriſt, and makes us more and more like to him: The more we act our Love, Meekneſs, Mercy, Goodneſs or any Grace, the more we are united to him and incorporated with him; nay, true Obedience makes us to be of neer alliance to him. When our Saviour was told, that his Mother and Brethren ſtood without to ſee him, his anſwer was, My Mother and my Brethren are thoſe which hear the word of God and do it, Luke 8.20, 21. St. Ambroſe upon theſe words tels us,In Lucam. cap. 8. Religioſiores copulae mentium quam corporum; the conjunction of Minds is more ſacred than that of Bodies. The Obedient Chriſtian is Brother to Chriſt, being born of the ſame holy Spirit in Regeneration, of which he was conceived in his Incarnation; nay, he is Mother to Chriſt, bringing him forth in the exerciſe of holy Graces; ſomewhat of the Love, Mercy, Piety, Meekneſs of Chriſt is ſtill a coming forth from him: In both theſe reſpects doth obedience diſpoſe us to ſuffering; the more we grow up into Chriſt the Head, the more Divine Power and Virtue we have from him; our chief ſtrength lies not in our ſelves, but in our Head; we may do, nay and ſuffer any thing, through him ſtrengthning us: And the more we are allied to him, the more we are bound to adhere to him: Our ſupernatural Birth obliges us to live to him, nay, and if need be, to die for him; and we are to bring him forth not only in other holy Virtue, but in that of Patience. St. Paul bore about in his body the dying of the Lord Jeſus, 2 Cor. 4.10. and the Allies of Chriſt muſt be ready at Gods call to ſuffer with him.
4. True Obedience produces an increaſe of Grace and ſpiritual Strength: Obedience is a Chriſtians daily walk; the more he exerciſes himſelf to Godlineſs, the more grace he hath in his Soul: That Faith, which was but as a little grain of Muſtardſeed, becomes a Tree ſpreading itſelf forth at laſt as high as aſſurance: That love, which was as a little ſpark raked up in the aſhes, comes to be a vehement Flame aſpiring after the fruition of God in Heaven: That Hope, which was but a poor weak thing in the Soul, comes to have more livelineſs and ſupernatural ſtature. The path of the juſt, which is in obedience, is as the ſhining light, which ſhines more and more unto the perfect day in heaven, Prov. 4.18. The more a Chriſtian exerciſes himſelf in Obedience, the ſtronger he grows in the Inner-man: of a Plant he comes to be a Tree of Righteouſneſs; of a Babe he comes to be a Man in Chriſt: His vital Principles become more ſtrong, his ſupernatural hear increaſed, he holds on his way of Obedience, and ſo grows ſtronger and stronger, Job 17.9. Such an Obedience as this admirably Diſpoſes a man for ſuffering: The greater his ſtock of Grace is, the better will he hold out in the ſtraits of the World: The more ſtrength he hath in the inner-man, the more able he will be to bear the burden of the Croſs: If thou faint in the day of adverſity, thy ſtrength is ſmall, Prov. 24.10. Great ſtrength will keep a man from fainting. When the Children of Iſrael were come to be above ſix hundred thouſand, Numb. 1.46. it was a great encouragement to make them go on gallantly againſt their Enemies: And when Chriſtians have their Graces multiplied, and among the reſt Patience comes to be all Patience, as the expreſſion is, Col. 1.11. it gives them ſpirit and life to bear ſufferings.
5. True obedience obtains the gracious Preſence of God to help and comfort good men in the doing his Will: The Rabbins ſay, That if two ſit together conferring about the Law, the Shechinah is among them: I may ſay, if one ſingle Chriſtian be a doing of Gods will, the Divine Preſence is with him: Thus our Saviour ſaith: If any man love him, and keep his words, the Father and the Son will come and make their abode with ſuch an one, John 14.23. Such an one hath a Shechinah in his heart; God will be there helping and comforting of him. Whilſt he is a doing of Gods will, ſtrength will come in, as it did to the Levites, 1. Chron. 15.26. and not only ſtrength, but comfort too: In keeping his commands there is great reward; ſome of the oyl of Joy, which is upon Chriſt the great doer of Gods will, drops down upon good men in their ſincere obedience; they have an inward peace, and joy unſpeakeable: In this reſpect obedience prepares the heart of Chriſtians to endure ſuffering: An obedient Chriſtian can argue thus with himſelf; I have found Gods gracious Preſence ſtrengthning and comforting me in the doing of his will, much more ſhall I have it when I come to ſuffer, and part with all for his ſake. When all forſook St. Paul, yet the Lord ſtood with him, and ſtrengthned him, 2 Tim. 4.16.19. When Mr. Sanders was examined about his Religion, he was wonderfully comforted, and received a taſt of the Communion of Saints, a pleaſant refreſhing did iſſue from every part of his Body to his heart, and from thence into all parts again. Cicely Ormes was filled with ſuch joy and comfort, that at the kindling of the fire, ſhe ſaid, My ſoul doth magnify the Lord, and my Spirit doth rejoice in God my Saviour. O let us firmly conclude this with our ſelves, that God will not leave or forſake his people, no not at other times, much leſs will he do it in the time of Fiery Trials: Then they ſhall have ſtrength and comfort in a more than ordinary way, enough to make them to triumph over their Sufferings, or at leaſtwiſe to bear them with Patience.
6. True Obedience is the way to Heaven: Thoſe bleſſed ones, that do the commands of God have right to the Tree of Life, and enter in through the gates into the City, Rev. 22.14. The more obedient a man is to the Divine Will, the richer entrance he hath into the bleſſed Kingdom: After ſowing to the Spirit comes the Crop of Eternal Glory; after walking in holy Obedience, comes the bleſſed end of Life and Immortality. In this reſpect Obedience fits us for Sufferings: A man that is in the way to Hell, is not capable of ſuffering; it is not imaginable that a man ſhould bear Reproach for Chriſt, who hath no hope of Glory; or that he ſhould part with his Treaſure here, who hath none in Heaven; or that he ſhould lay down his Life Temporal, who hath no right to an Eternal one; or that he ſhould let go his Portion of good in this World, who hath none in another. But the Obedient Chriſtian, who is in the way to Heaven, is in a capacity to ſuffer any thing that meets him in the paſſage thither: Reproaches may come, but he is going to ſhine in glory; Worldly Goods may be ſpoiled, but he hath an Inheritance incorruptible that fadeth not away; Temporal Life may be loſt, but in the very inſtant there begins an Eternal one with the bleſſed God in Heaven; he may by a Perſecution be juſtled out of this World, but he hath a better to go to, where there are Crowns of Glory, Rivers of Pleaſures, Plenitudes of Joy, and all in the bleſſed God. Our Saviour Chriſt for the joy that was ſet before him, endured the croſs, Hebr. 12.2. St. Paul would finiſh his courſe that he might have the Crown of righteouſneſs, 2 Tim. 4.7, 8. When the Martyr Babylas ſuffered, he ſung that of the Pſalmiſt, Magd. hiſt. cent. 3. cap. 12.Return unto thy reſt O my Soul; his mind was upon the eternal Sabbath in Heaven. When Baſil the great was threatned with Baniſhment, and Death, he was not at all moved at it: Baniſhment is nothing to him that hath heaven for his Countrey; neither is Death any thing to one to whom it is the way to Life: He that is in the way to Heaven hath great reaſon to break through all Difficulties to get thither.