Trouble of the Mind and the Disease of Melancholy, Discourse · Part 1 · Chapter 3
CHAP. III.
Of the ſeveral Advantages that are deſigned by God to his Servants, in his being Angry with them only for a moment; toge her with the Obligations which they are under from ſo merciful a Diſpenſation of his Providence; and the ſeveral Improvements we are to make of it.
Inf. 1. NONE of the People of God have Cauſe to conclude, That becauſe he is angry with them at preſent, therefore they are in a ſtate of Wrath. Our ſenſe and feeling of things that are very bitter, joyned with the knowledge that we have of our Guilt, and our innumerable Sins, does frequently corrupt our Reaſon, and obſcure our Faith. And from the ſeverity of his preſent Diſpenſations, we are apt to ſay, he has forgotten to be gracious. If the Lord be with us, as Gideon ſaid, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of? Judges 6.13. he will be favourable no more. But this is the Language of our miſtaken unbelief, Iſaiah 49.14, 15. Zion ſaid, The Lord hath forſaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. Can a woman forget her ſucking child? yea, ſhe may; but I will not forget thee. Iſaiah 40.27. Why ſayeſt thou, O Jacob, and ſpeakeſt, O Iſrael, That my way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment is paſſed over from my God? Our Sins indeed may cauſe him to withdraw the manifeſtations of his Love, ſo that we ſhall feel no comfort in our Prayers, none in his Ordinances, none in his Words. Every threatning ſhall pierce us to the quick, and no promiſe yield us quiet; and yet for all this, he may with his vital Influences return again; and tho we have not ſeen either the Sun, Moon, or Stars, for many Days and Nights, yet a glorious Light may ſucceed afterwards. In ſore Afflictions our grieved ſenſe, and the fear that attends our Guilt, and the malice of the Devil, may put us upon deſperate and unwarrantable Concluſions; and the deſerted Perſon may ſay, I am abhorred of the Lord, he counts me for his Enemy, he is cruel to me, he is departed from me. Ho anſwers me not; I go to his Miniſters, and they give me no relief; I go to his Word, and it is bitter to my taſte, it fills me with gall and wormwood. I ſeek him in my Solitudes, and in the Aſſemblies of his People, but I find him not. He has left me, he has thrown me off. The comforter that ſhould relieve my Soul, is far from me. He hath built againſt me, he hath hedged me about, that I cannot get out: he hath made my chain heavy. Alſo when I cry and ſhout, he ſhutteth out my prayer. He is unto me as a Bear lying in wait, and as a Lion in ſecret places, Lam. 3.7, 8, 9, 10. This is a ſad, and a doleful Caſe, and yet one that ſuffers all this, ought not to ſay, that there is no future help; for God may be gracious, and his wrath, tho very terrible and perplexing, is but for a moment. No Believer ought to conclude, that becauſe he is under the diſpleaſure of God at preſent, that therefore he is a Child of wrath; nor ought he from his preſent feeling, to dare to aſſert his Reprobation; it is an uſurping that Judgment which does not belong to Men, and a poſitive Determination of that which we cannot know. We may as well conclude, that when the Sun ſets, it will never riſe again, or that when thick Clouds darken the Air, it will never be fair weather any more. We ought never to forget the Caſe of Job; never was any Man covered with a greater heap of Miſeries, never was any Man more ſeemingly left of God, and haraſs'd by by the Devil, than he was; never did any Man make more doleful complaints than what we hear from the poor Man in his heavy tryal, as Job 10.16. Thou hunteſt me as a fierce Lyon; and again, thou ſheweſt thy ſelf marvellous upon me: thou reneweſt thy witneſſes againſt me, and increaſeſt thine indignation upon me. Chap. 19.10. Know now, that God hath overthrown me, and compaſſed me with his net; he hath deſtroyed me on every ſide, and I am gone, mine hope hath he removed like a tree; he hath kindled his wrath againſt me, and he counteth me unto him as one of his enemies. And yet what a glorious deliverance had the poor Man after all this! We ought not to ſay, that becauſe we are miſerable at the preſent, we ſhall always be ſo; or that becauſe God is now angry, he will never be pleaſed again; no, we ought rather to remember, that it is but for a moment; and tho' the kind hand of a Friend may put us to pain, yet he does but ſearch our wounds in order to a Cure; he will not poiſon our Sores, nor, as an Enemy, take pleaſure in our Torments.
Inf. 2. We have great cauſe to be patient in all thoſe ſufferings that are the effects of God's diſpleaſure, ſeeing it is but for a moment. Mic. 7.9. I will bear the indignation of the Lord, becauſe I have ſinned againſt him; till he plead my cauſe. There is nothing to which we are more obnoxious under the ſenſe of God's diſpleaſure, than to fretfulneſs and diſcontent; as David, Pſal. 31.22. I ſaid in my haſte, I am cut off from before thine eyes. And we ſhould with all imaginable care be fortified againſt it. This grace of Patience is that for which we ſhall all of us have very much occaſion during the manifold evils of this miſerable World; for this we ſhall have occaſion as we are Men, for as ſuch we are born to trouble; and much more ſhall we need it if we be true Chriſtians, for as ſuch, we muſt expect more trouble from the corruption of our Hearts, from the World, and from the Devil; for if he ſees us going to that Heaven from whence he is for ever excluded, his rage will prompt him to give us a continual moleſtation in our way thither. That we may therefore be prepared to reſiſt his ſubtle and violent aſſaults, and to bear thoſe long and ſore Tryals that may be our lot, let us have before our eyes theſe things:
1. If when God is angry with us, we are impatient, we ſhall provoke him to further wrath, and cauſe double the him to blows of his Arm, which are at the preſent heavy enough for us to bear. If the firſt corrections bring us not to a malleable and a tender frame, He will (if he deſign our good) be forced to ſend upon us many more; our unrulineſs and impatience will add more pain and ſmart to the Rods that are upon us, and put a greater edge upon our trouble; and ſo that which at the firſt was but a ſingle ſtroke, will multiply to many more, and by this we ſhall make the evil of our affliction, which is deſign'd for our good, to become our ſin; and ſo carry that inconvenience to our Souls, which with a quiet and ſubmiſſive frame would but hurt our Bodies. We loſe by this means, all the comfortable bleſſings of a ſanctified and a well-improved Croſs, and make that yoak to gall us, which otherwiſe might lye with eaſe upon our necks.
2. Let us remember, that we are no way injured when we are under long afflictions; and that whatever come of us, God is always very juſt: He will not lay upon man more than right, Job 34.23. An earthly Parent in the warmth and heat of anger, may in too ſevere a manner correct the follies of his Child; but that God that knows our frame, what is fit for him to do, and what we are able to bear, will proportion his corrections to the neceſſities of our aſe, and not ſuffer our troubles to ſtay a day longer than is needful to accompliſh thoſe excellent ends for which they were deſign'd: He may in his anger pull us down and make us deſolate; but we know not what a comely ſtructure he intends to build from theſe ruins; it may be that the darkneſs that affrights us is to uſher in an eternal and a glorious day: His ways are far above our ways. So much greatneſs, wiſdom and goodneſs as there is in him, ſhould produce in our hearts patience and reſignation, tho' we know not what a period he intends to put to his preſent dark and unſearcheable deſigns. Tho' we are pained, he is faithful ſtill; and tho' he do not gratify our curioſity, nor ſuffer our blind eyes to pierce into the depths of his Counſels, yet let us hold this for a certain truth, That the Lord is righteous and juſt in all his ways. He may ſay to us, as Chriſt ſaid to Peter, What I do thou knoweſt not, but thou ſhalt know hereafter, Joh. 13.7. His Juſtice ſhould ſilence our murmuring complaints; and his faithfulneſs our diſcouragements and faintings. He never afflicts us but with reaſon; he never does it but with a deſign of our final good. The Sword that wounds us, brings a Balſom with it; it opens a paſſage to let out our Corruptions, and then it heals and cloſes up the wound again. Iſa. 30.18. Therefore will the Lord wait that he may he gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted that he may have mercy upon you: for the Lord is a God of judgment. Bleſſed are all they that wait for him.
3. That we may bear his Anger with Patience, let us conſider what Mercies he has given us; and how much worſe we might be, than now we are; he frowns it may be upon us, but that frown might have been our final ſentence; and that anger which now is kindled againſt us, might have been Everlaſting Burnings; and tho he ſpeak to us by terrible things, yet he might have ſaid, Depart from me, ye curſed: The drops that fall upon us, might have been a Deluge and a Storm of Wrath; and the fiery Furnace whereinto we are thrown, to conſume our Droſs, might have been our Hell. Why does a living man complain, a ſinful man that might have been deprived both of Hope and Life long ago? Oh how does our Gracious God, even in our ſoreſt Trials, deal much better with us than we have deſerved! We multiply our ſorrows to a vaſt account; but if we compared them with our ſins, their number would appear to be very ſmall; if we put our Croſſes and our Iniquities into the ſame balance, we ſhould quickly ſee what a mighty difference there is between them: It will be a conſiderable motive to Patience, to conſider what we have deſerved. We bewail the loſs of the ſenſe of the Love of God, and alas we did not value it as we ſhould have done! We complain that he has forſaken us, but who among us valued his Preſence at the rate we might have valued it? We ſay that he does not hear our Prayers, that he is deaf to our Requeſt; and how often did we pray as if we prayed not? how often did he ſeek to enter into our hearts, and we gave him a repulſe? How often did he call and invite us to come to him, and we did not obey his call? Have we reaſon then to be impatient that he is a ſtranger to us, when we remember how he would have dwelt with us, but we ſhut him out? Tho it was our ignorance that betrayed us to it, and we knew not what we did. We reckon up our nights of darkneſs, how long they are, and how diſmal; but we forget how he has given us many a bright and clear day, many an hour of Peace and Joy, for one of Grief and Trouble: We have deſerved to be miſerable all the days of our Lives, for every day we ſin: we have many healthful ſeaſons, as well as times of Sickneſs; whereas he might have made our paſſage uneaſie and troubleſome in the deep waters, from the womb unto the grave; Know therefore, that God exacteth of thee leſs than thine iniquity deſerveth, Job 11.6. We ſuffer juſtly for our ſins; if God ſhould enquire into the multitude, the heinouſneſs, and all the aggravations of our ſins, we ſhould have a greater multitude of Croſſes: Let us ceaſe then to be impatient; for he deals in great Tenderneſs and Mercy with us: Our troubles have been it may be ſharp and long, but they might have been more ſtinging, more bitter, and more violent, and drawn out to a more formidable length; but now becauſe it is not ſo, he hath viſited in his anger, yet he knoweth it not in great extremity, Job 35.15. He has not ſtirr'd up all his wrath, nor amaz'd us with all the Thunder of his Power; let us not be like the Iſraelites, Pſal. 106.7. who provoked him, and remembred not the multitude of his Mercies.
4. Conſider that he uſes no other methods with you when he is angry with you, than what he has us'd with his deareſt ſervants heretofore; and this may tend to compoſe your Spirits under long and ſore Tryals; are you better than Moſes, than Job, than Heman, than David and Aſaph, and many other excellent and holy Men, with whom he was diſpleaſed, and who felt his Wrath, though it was but for a moment? Are we more dutiful and obedient than they were? do we not merit the Chaſtiſements of our Heavenly Father as much as they did? yea, and much more. If we have the ſpirit, and the priviledge of Children, we ought not to murmur, though we have our ſhare in the diſcipline of the Family. Would we have the Courſe of Providence inverted, and changed for us? Can we imagine that we ſhall be always ſpared, when ſo many great Saints have ſmarted under the diſpleaſure of God for their ſin? We are apt to think there is no ſorrow like to our ſorrow wherewith the Lord hath afflicted us, Lam. 1.12. but we do not wiſely inquire in this matter; for if we trace the ſteps of holy men of old, we ſhall find that innumerable, and very grievous Calamities were their portion as well as ours. We have heard of the diſtreſſes, and of the patience of Job; of the pains of his Body, and of the troubles of his Soul; and when either our Bodies or our Souls are more afflicted than his was, then it will be ſoon enough for us to begin to murmur; and if we do it not till then, we ſhall be as remarkable for our patience as he was. Think it not ſtrange concerning the fiery trial, which is to try you, as though ſome ſtrange thing hapned to you, 1 Pet. 4.12. 1 Pet. 5.9. All theſe things are accompliſhed in your brethren which are in the world; and this is duly to be thought upon; for there is nothing of which Satan makes a greater uſe, to perplex us in our hour of temptation, than of the length and the ſharpneſs of our trials; as if therefore God were our Enemy becauſe he does afflict; or that we are no Children becauſe we are afflicted ſo very long; thus will the Evil Spirit ſuggeſt and ſay, If thou wert a friend of God, who is ſo compaſſionate, and ſo flow to wrath, would he follow thee with breach upon breach, with one ſtroak after another, and let his hand be heavy upon thee day and night? He ſupports, comforts and refreſhes all his Servants, but thou haſt no refreſhment, nothing but anguiſh and vexation; therefore thou art none of his: but by Faith we muſt quench this fiery Dart, and know that the fruit of our affliction may be very ſweet, though for the preſent 'tis very bitter; and that we are under the Conduct of that Wiſdom which can order even this Croſs for good; and whatever miſts that envious Spirit may raiſe before our eyes, let us ſtill remember, that his anger is but for a moment; that others, whom we are ſure he lov'd, have undergone the like troubles; and his own dear Son was ſtill a Son, when a man of ſorrows; and that his Afflictions were of a great length from the Manger to the Croſs. And if God will have us to be ſo far conformable to this bleſſed Perſon, ſo that we have no reſt from trial, till we are quiet in the Grave; we ſhould not diſtruſt his goodneſs, nor murmur as it.
5. Let us compare our preſent Sufferings and Afflictions with that Happineſs which is to come; His Anger is but for a moment, but his love will be for ever: He frowns for a moment, but he will ſhew them his pleaſed Face for ever: He corrects them, and they weep for a moment, but he will embrace them, and they ſhall rejoice for ever. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning: And do we not find our hearts begin to ſpring within us, when we conſider that we are in pain for a moment, but we ſhall be at caſe for ever? Is not this good news to thoſe that fear God, and yet are afflicted? Lift up your heads ye Mourners, ye Priſoners of hope, 'tis but for a little ſeaſon: Let not your hearts faint; I know you will ſay, Oh, I could bear any thing but the wrath of God; he is angry with my Soul; he denies an anſwer to my Prayers; he ſpeaks not to me one comfortable word. I look up to his Heavens, and they are as Braſs: I run to his Ordinances, and hear his Word in the Aſſemblies of his People; but whilſt others are wet with the dew of Heaven, I remain dry and neglected as I was. I ſeem to be as the mountains of Gilboa, there is no dew nor rain falls upon me. I ſeem to be under the Curſe of God; and becauſe I have formerly not improv'd the means of Grace, he ſeems to ſay of me as of the barren Figtree, never let fruit grow upon thee more: and can you tell me whither I ſhall go, and what I ſhall do in ſuch a caſe as this? You muſt ſtill in humble ſubmiſſion wait upon the Lord, he ſtays from your preſent help upon a very gracious Deſign. He bottles your tears, and is acquainted with your griefs; and that anger that now bows you to the ground, ſhall in a little while be removed; and your faith and your hope will not be in vain. There are thouſands of Joys prepared to meet you when you are a little more purified and prepared for them. Iſa. 54. 7,8. For a ſmall moment have I forſaken thee, but with great mercies will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment, but with everlaſting kindneſs will I have mercy on thee, ſaith the Lord thy Redeemer. Nothing can be leſs than a moment; 'tis the leaſt part of time; and yet ſo ſmall a thing as that is, are all our troubles here, to that endleſs Eternity which is to come: So if your outward afflictions, and your ſpiritual fears ſhould laſt for Life, as none can give you aſſurance to the contrary; yet all this Life is but as a moment, as nothing to that ſtate of Bleſſedneſs that comes afterward: Nor are the degrees of your ſorrows here, proportionable to the degrees of your approaching glory: For our light affliction which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 2 Cor. 4.17. This great Apoſtle calls his afflictions very light, and yet there was never any that ſuffered more troubles from the malice of the world than he did; as you may ſee, 2 Cor. 11.25, 26. What is a moment to a day, and a day to a year? And yet ſuch, and infinitely leſs, are our longeſt afflictions here, to that Eternity. What is one grain of ſand, as one ſays, (Jurieu Balance du Sanctuaire, p. 72.) to all thoſe vaſt heaps of ſand that are in all the Sea? What is one drop of Water to the vaſt Collections of it that are in the large Ocean? What is a little gnat to the whole Univerſe? So is all the affliction of this life which paſſes away, when compared with the glory which is to come: And yet a grain of ſand is ſomething in reſpect of the whole earth; and a drop is not altogether nothing, tho compared with the Ocean; for by a continual heaping of grain upon grain, it were poſſible to make a Globe as great as the Earth; and the Ocean might be emptied of its Water; but Eternity cannot be diminiſhed; it ſuffers no changes; after Millions of Years in Happineſs, it will be as ſweet arid as comfortable as it was the firſt moment. It is the Length of our Troubles and our Pain, that makes them more grievous: And as when we do not ſleep, the night ſeems very long, and the doleful hours of our ſickneſs ſeem to move with a much ſlower pace than thoſe of our pleaſant health. Thus Job diſcourſes as if his time, being clogg'd with miſeries, ſeem'd an Eternity, Job 7 15, 16. My ſoul chuſeth ſtrangling, and death rather than life; I loath it, I would not live always; let me alone, for my days are vanity: He was weary of being in ſo long pain; and thought that his afflicted life would never have an end: But yet all the afflictions of the preſent time, are not worthy to be compared with that glory which ſhall be revealed, Rom. 8.18. We are near to a Bleſſed Change; and who would not undergo the dangers of a troubleſome Voyage for a month, if he knew that ho ſhould return laden with great Treaſures to his home, and live in Splendor ever after? What a pleaſure is it to ſuch as are beſieged, to know that they ſhall certainly be relieved in a little time? It cauſes them, tho preſs'd very cloſe by their Enemies, to reſume a new Courage, and to hearten one another. So ſhould it be with all Believers; the day of their Lord's coming draws near, and then he will put all their Enemies to the flight, and reward their Diligence and Perſeverance: The Enemy of our Souls is full of Rage; but that which fills him with fury, may yield us comfort, even becauſe we know that his time is ſhort. The God of peace will bruiſe Satan under your feet ſhortly, Rom. 16.20. Oh what comfortable words are theſe! that enemy that fills us with vexation, and whoſe malice is both great and conſtant, ſhall in a little time not moleſt nor interrupt our ſatisfactions any more. Your tears that you ſhed for your offences now, are very juſt; 'tis what we owe to God for having ſinned ſo much againſt him; but ſhortly we ſhall be with him, and never complain of his abſence from us any more: When a man is toſt with ſtorms, and ſees no proſpect of the ſhore, 'tis very diſmal; but it is not ſo with us who have our Haven in our view: What if our troubles ſhould continue for Twenty or Thirty Years? this would be very overwhelming to our ſenſe; and yet it is nothing when compared with an Eternity of Joys above: How ſoon will this be over? but how long will that remain? It caſts a great damp upon all things under the Sun, that they are unſatisfying, and that they are very ſhort; how pleaſant ſoever they are to us, they will depart: Our Friends, and all the Delight of their Converſation; our Riches, and all the Reſpect and Service they procure us, will fade away: Our beloved Bodies, which we maintain with great Expence and Care, will leave us, and muſt go into the Grave; but our Happineſs will be for ever; it is Eternal Happineſs, and what that is, our thoughts cannot comprehend, nor our words expreſs; we ſhall then know what it is, when we are in actual Poſſeſſion of it. To be for ever with the Lord, what an encouragement does this afford to Patience and Reſignation? To be with him, who is our Portion, and our all; to be with him, and to be without our ſin that provoked him to wrath, and made our ſpirits ſad; what an Heaven will this be! As this life by its tedious afflictions ſeems to thoſe that are in diſtreſs to be as an Eternity; ſo the pleaſures of that undecaying life will ſeem but a moment to us, it will be ſo very pleaſant; and we are near to it: Tho the pains that forerun our departure, prove to be very ſharp, yet in a moment death, whenever it comes, will be paſt; in a moment we ſhall ſee the face of God that was hid from us here; we ſhall be changed as in the twinkling of an eye; and when we are in that Eternity, ſhall we then ſay, that we cleanſed our hearts in vain? Shall we not then ſee, that we had no cauſe to murmur or repine? All our Faculties will be gratified with proper Objects, and with ſuitable Employment; and all overſpread and ſwallowed up with a quick and a lively Joy. Oh how bleſſed are the Tears that will lead us to ſuch a Joy? Bleſſed is the Croſs that will yield us ſuch fruit as this; and bleſſed be that God who will beſtow ſuch a reward upon us: When we come there, we ſhall ſing in the conſideration of thoſe very afflictions that, while we were on earth, made us ſigh and groan. It is good to be there; and how freely ſhould we ſuffer our thoughts always to dwell upon the pleaſant Subject, but that our worldly buſineſs, and the neceſſary affairs of Life, call us away from the Mountain of our Transfiguration? However let us not forget, that theſe things are the Truths of God, which he hath ſhewed to his ſervants, and which ſhall ſhortly come to paſs; and they are very near too; and ſhould have a ſuitable influence upon us. How did the Martyrs of old rejoice, when they ſaw the day wherein they were to ſuffer? How did they embrace and encourage one another, ſaying, We want but an hour or two of Heaven: We have but one combat more to finiſh, and we ſhall be with Chriſt: We dine upon bitter Herbs, but we ſhall ſup with him: Ere the Crowd that came to ſee us dye, be diſperſt, we ſhall be with God, and with innumerable Angels, and the ſpirits of the Juſt: With what calmneſs have the bleſſed Sufferers bid this world adieu, ſaying, Farewel Sun, Moon, and Stars, and welcome better Lights: Farewel Wives and Children, Friends and Acquaintance: Farewel ye deceiving Pleaſures of the World; and now welcome ye joys of Paradiſe; welcome thou ſweet Croſs of Chriſt; and welcome death that will convey us thither: And thus their ſouls were driven in Chariots of Fire to their Father's Houſe: Whether there be Muſick in the Revolution of the Celeſtial Spheres, as ſome of the Philoſophers imagined, we know not; but 'tis very likely that the ſeparated ſoul of the Patient and Triumphant Chriſtian, will have thoſe Angels that rejoiced at its Converſion, that wait to carry it to its bleſſed Home, to preſent it to the Throne of God, with joyful Praiſes, and united Hallelujahs: Thus we ſhould admire and imitate the Patience of the Saints, whoſe Life was begun with darkneſs and ſorrow, but ended with Light and Pleaſure; began with a Combat, but concluded with Victory: And then ſhall the Soul that a few moments before was diſconſolate, have cauſe to ſay in that day, Iſa. 12.1, 2. O Lord, I will praiſe thee; tho thou waſt angry with me, thine anger if turned away, and thou comforteſt me. Behold, God is my ſalvation, the Lord Jehovah is my ſtrength, and my ſong; he alſo is become my ſalvation.