Preparation for Suffering in an Evil Day, Chapter 13
CHAP. XIII.
The tenth Direction for ſuffering, is Patience under Gods will: With reſpect to the Chriſtian, it makes him poſſeſs his Soul, conquer the World, and have inward Satisfaction: With reſpect to God, it ſubjects the Soul to his Will; it waits upon God for ſtrength and a good Iſſue; it produces ſpiritual Joy and Praiſe.
THe tenth Direction is this; if we would be in a fit poſture for ſuffering, we muſt labor after Patience under the will of God; this muſt be joyned to our Obedience, that we may be able to anſwer to all his will; As obedience reſpects Gods commanding will, ſo Patience (which is alſo a duty) reſpects his diſpoſing one. Ye have need of patience, that after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promiſe, Saith the Apoſtle, Hebr. 10.36. We are not only to do other Commands by Obedience, but, when Providence cals us to it, we are to do that of taking up the Croſs by Patience: Other Graces may help to bear the Croſs, but Patience takes it up upon its back: It is its proper peculiar office foreign, to make a man abide piouſly under the Croſs. This Grace may be conſidered two waies; either in that which it doth with reſpect to the Chriſtian in whom it is, or in that which it doth with reſpect to God; both ways it is of ſingular uſe in order to ſufferings.
1. Patience may be conſidered in that which it doth with reſpect to the Chriſtian in whom it is; and thus three things may be noted.
1. Patience makes a Chriſtian poſſeſs his ſoul, Luke 21.19. there is a great difference between the wordly mans patience & the Chriſtians: The word by man endeavours much that he may poſſeſs the things that are without him, but the Chriſtian bears that he may poſſeſs his own Soul. The Chriſtian, in a fit of Impatience, loſes himſelf, and puts himſelf, as it were, out of poſſeſſion, not only of his Rational Faculties, but of his Graces too; at that time he acts not like a Man or a Chriſtian. When Jonah told God, that he did well to be angry unto death, Jon. 4.9. he was in his furious paſſion, more like a Beaſt than a Man or a Saint. If thou deal thus with me, (ſaith Moſes to God) kill me out of hand, Numb. 11.15. The word (thou) here is of the Feminine Gender, At for Aita; the perturbation of Mind. made Moſes, the meekest man on earth, unable to fill up his words, or to ſpeak as he meant to do. It is by patience that the Chriſtian poſſeſſeth himſelf, and hath the free uſe of his Reaſon and holy Graces: While he is patiently bearing the Croſs, his Faith will roll out as Gold out of the Fire, his hope will fix itſelf in the unmovable Heavens, his love will burn within him towards God and his Glory. All the Powers in Earth and Hell cannot put him out of the poſſeſſion of himſelf, or hinder his Graces from coming forth into act; he will be like himſelf in his ſuffering.
2. Patience makes a Chriſtian to be a Conqueror of the perſecuting World. The Overcomer, mentioned in the ſecond and third chapters of the Revelation of St. John, to whom ſo many pretious and excellent promiſes are there made, is not one, that overcomes by Martial Fighting, but one that hath the Victory by Patient Suffering. Who ſhall ſeparate us (ſaith St.) Paul from the Love of Christ? Shall Tribulation or Diſtreſs, or Perſecution, or Famine, or Nakedneſs, or Peril, or Sword? In all theſe things foreign, we are more than Conquerors through him that loved us, Rom. 8.35, 37. More than Conquerors, becauſe they conquered by ſuffering; while their Bodies were ſlain their ſouls were triumphing over death itſelf. Thus St. Auſtin ſaith,Epiſt. 42. that the Pagans were overcome, non a repugnantibus, ſed a morientibus Chriſtianis, not by reſiſting, but by dying Chriſtians: Patience makes their Perſecutors ſecure them, and frame Crowns of Glory for them. This made the Martyr Vincentius tell his Tormentor, Nunquam aliquis adeò bene ſervivit mihi actu; no man ever ſerved me ſo much as thou haſt done. Patience doth ſo frame the heart to the will of God, that it makes a Chriſtian to be a King overhis Croſſes, loſſes to him are gain, reproaches glory, confinement liberty, anddeath life: While he ſuffers in any thing, he is above it.
3. Patience makesa Chriſtian to have inward content and ſatisfaction in ſuffering. It is the Apoſtles Exhortation, Let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing, Jam. 1.4. He that hath not Patience, is but a lame and imperfect Chriſtian; he may go a little way in Religion, as far as his Principles reach, but if he come to ſuffering, which is beyond them, he will halt and turn aſide: But if a Chriſtian hath an effectual Patience, he is then perfect and entire, wanting nothing; he hath every thing that may fill up his Chriſtianity or happineſs in this Life. The Croſs may come, but he hath Principles to bear it: Outward Bleſſings may be taken away, but he hath all in God. St. Auſtin brings in patient Job, De Simb. ad Cateck.ſtript of all, but only his God; ſpeaking thus, Quid mihi deerit, ſi Deum habuero? quid mihi alia proſunt, ſi Deum non habuero? What can I want, if I have God? What can other things profit, if I have him not? Patience gives the ſuffering Saint quiet and ſweet ſatisfaction in God, and, not only ſo, but in the very ſuffering as it is a pious ſubmiſſion to his will: There is a ſweetneſs and a ſecret reward in the doing of Gods will, much more in holy ſuffering for Him. The bleſſed Martyr Baynham at the Stake told the bloody Papiſts O ye Papiſts! ye talk of Miracles, behold here a true one, theſe Flames are to me a bed of Roſes. It's true, all holy Sufferers cannot ſay thus; but all of them find by experience, that there is a ſweet ſatisfaction in ſuffering for the good God.
2. Patience may be conſidered in that which it doth with reſpect to God; and here are three things to be taken notice of.
1. Patience ſubjects the ſoul to the will of God; when the Croſs comes the patient Chriſtians will with Aaron hold their peace; or if they ſpeak, they will do it in ſome ſuch language as that of Eli, It is the Lord, let him do what ſeemeth him good. Patience will inſtruct them to lye in the loweſt poſture of Humility, and to argue the matter with themſelves in this manner: Is God the Rector of the World, and ſhall we not ſubject to him? His Preſence is in all, his Power is over all, his Wiſdom and Righteouſneſs orders all; who can ſtay his hand, or ſay to him, what doſt thou, or call him to give account of any of his matters? To ſtrive with him is folly; to murmur at any piece of his Government is Rebellion; to think that things might have been better, is to blaſpheme his wiſe and juſt Providence; And is he the Father of Spirits, and ſhall we not be under him? We give reverence to the Fathers of our fleſh, and how much thers ſhould we be in ſubjection to the Father of Spirits and live? Our Saviour Chriſt, who ſuffered for us to ſweeten ſufferings to us, argued thus with himſelf, The Cup that my Father hath given me, ſhall I not drink it? John 18.11. After his pattern we ſhould ſubmit our ſelves to ſuffering, remembring that, though it come through bloody hands to us, yet it is ordered by the Father of Spirits; nay, and by the Father of Mercies too, who aſſures us, That all things, even Afflictions among the reſt, ſhall work together for good: In thoſe very ſufferings, in which man is cruel, God will be merciful: While the world hates and perſecutes us, God will embrace us in the Arms of his Love, and carrie us through the Croſs to the Crown of Glory: Upon ſuch accounts as theſe, Patience doth ſubject the Soul unto the Croſs. Our Saviour, the Mirror of Patience, being to drink up the cup of Wrath, expreſſes himſelf thus; not my will, but thine be done, Luke 22.42. His will was ſwallowed up in his Fathers, St. Ambroſe in his Commentary on thoſe words gives us this excellent note; Diſce Deo eſſe ſubjectus, ut non quod ipſe vis eligas, ſed quod Deo ſcias eſſe placiturum: Learn to be ſubject to God, that thou mayſt not chuſe, what thou wouldeſt, but what thou knoweſt to be pleaſing to God. Patience teaches us to be pleaſed with Gods pleaſure, and to will every thing, not as it is in our own will, but as it is in Gods.
2. Patience waits upon God for ſtrength to bear the Croſs, and for a good iſſue out of it: We have both theſe promiſed in that of the Apoſtle, God will not ſuffer you to be tempted above that ye are able, but will with the temptation make a way to eſcape, 1 Cor. 10.13. In the firſt Clauſe we have a Promiſe of ſtrength proportionable to the Temptation; in the laſt, we have a Promiſe of a good iſſue out of it. Firſt, Patience waits upon God for ſtrength to bear the Croſs; this is the right Method of obtaining ſtrength: Wait on the Lord, and he ſhall strengthen thy heart, Pſalm. 27.14. Strength comes in a way of dependance upon God. St. Auſtin ſpeaks of a double patience;De patientiâ. cap. 15. there is patientia ſuperborum; the patience of the proud; and patientia pauperum, the patience of the poor humble Soul: The one waits upon the will of man, the other upon the Grace of God: True Patience knows, that it is God only that can ſtrengthen the Inner man by his Spirit, Eph. 3.16. No other but his glorious power can ſtrengthen with all might unto all patience, Col. 1.11.De Martyr form. 5. Notable is that of St. Auſtin, Haec eſt vox Martyrum, omniatolerare, & de ſe nihil praeſumere: This is the voice of the Martyrs, to bear every thing, and to preſume of themſelves nothing. Thus the noble Martyr Potamenia, Spondan. Annal. An. 310.being threatned to be caſt into a Veſſel of burning Pitch, begged, that ſhe might not be caſt in all at once, but piece-meal, that they might ſee, how much Patience the unknown Chriſt had given to her. True patience waits upon God for ſtrength; but this is not all, it alſo waits upon God for a good iſſue out of the ſuffering; Salvation belongs unto the Lord, and he gives many good iſſues to his ſuffering people: If they have an encreaſe of Graces and Comforts, that's one good iſſue: If they hold out and perſevere to the end, that's another good iſſue: If by death they paſs from the Croſs to the Crown, from a Temporal Life to an Eternal one, that's the beſt iſſue of all: For ſuch iſſues as theſe do patient Souls wait, till the Lord put an end to all their troubles
3. Patience produces ſpiritual joy and praiſe: This is the difference between Philoſophical Patience and Chriſtian Patience; Philoſophical may bear adverſity, but Chriſtian hath joy in the bearing of it. It was the ancient cuſtome of the Primitive Chriſtians to have often in their mouths,Auſt. in P. l. 132. Deo gratias, God be thanked for this mercy, and for that mercy: The patient Chriſtian, that looks upon the good iſſues of ſuffering, may ſit down and ſing, Deo gratias, not to Bleſſings only, but to Afflictions alſo. Job being ſtript of all, cried out, The Lord gave, the Lord hath taken away, bleſſed be the name of the Lord, Job. 1.21. St. Auſtin ſpeaking of Job, obſerves, That, when he had nothing of outward things, yet there were Gemmae laudis Dei, Auſt. de Temp. Ser. 105.the Jewels of the Praiſe of God found with him. Suffering Saints have ſo much of the Love of God ſhed abroad in their hearts, that they have praemium ante praemium, a leſſer Heaven before a greater. St. Paul ſaith, foreign, I ſuper abound, or overflow in joy in all our Tribulations, 2 Cor. 7.4. The gracious Preſence of God did not only cauſe joy, but the overflowing of it in his heart. St. James ſaith to the ſeattered Chriſtians, Count it all joy, when ye fall into divers Temptations, Jam. 1, 2. That is when ye fall into Afflictions for the Goſpel: All joy, How can poor afflicted Souls reckon thus? In the Trial, their Graces appear in their pure beauty; Strength is made perfect in Weakneſs, Conſolations abound as much, nay, more than Afflictions; the beams of Divine Love irradiate the heart, and fill it with a ſweet ſerenity; Hope enters Heaven, and fixes upon the Crown of Life, and Heaven comes down in a Spirit of Glory upon the heart. Here is joy, all joy indeed; the total ſum of it in this life is made up in theſe things. It was the ſaying of the Martyr Mr. Philpot, That to dye for Chriſt is the greateſt Promotion, that God can bring any unto in this vale of miſery; yea, ſo great an honour as the greateſt Angel in Heaven is not permitted to have. It was the Prayer of Mr. Bradford the Martyr God forgive me my unthankfulneſs for this erceeding great mercy, that among ſo many thouſands, he chuſeth me to be one, in whom he will ſuffer. It was the obſervation of one of the Ancients, That it was peculiar to Chriſtians to give thanks in adverſity: Jews and Gentiles can praiſe God for benefits, but the patient Chriſtian can thank him for Afflictions: O let us labor after Patience, that we may not only ſuffer for Chriſt, but do it with joy: Thus our Saviour directs his perſecuted ones, Reioice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven, Mat. 5.12. Inward and outward Joys are very proper in ſuffering Saints, becauſe then they are arrived at the higheſt pitch of Chriſtianity, and ready to enter into the bleſſed Heaven, there to enjoy God for ever and ever.