The Great Duty of Self-Resignation to the Divine Will, Section 2 · Chapter 1
CHAP. I. That in order to the resigning our Wills intirely to the Will of God, we should frequently consider such principles as are most available to the effectual subduing them thereunto: And several such Principles further inlarged on.
ANd now hoping that what hath been discoursed may have perswaded the Readers to some desires after the attainment of this excellent temper of Self-Resignation, we proceed to direct to the use of certain means and helps thereto: Some of which refer more particularly to Active, some to Passive Resignation, and others to both alike.
First, Let us often eonsider and labour to be fully possest with the truth and power of such Principles as are available, and have a proper tendency to the effectual subduing our Wills to the Will of God. This sort of Principles hath been largely spoken to; but because we cannot insist over-much upon so highly useful an Argument, nor indeed well speak sufficiently to it, we will dwell a while longer upon it, and entreat the Reader to fix deeply in his mind these following Truths also, which, though they are the same for substance with some of the foregoing, deserve to be farther and more particularly inlarged on.
1. That the Will we are to submit to is the Will of our great Creator, Preserver and Benefactor. It is the Will of our Creator, of him who hath given us our Being, and by whom we are whatsoever we are. Now we have shewn that man's receiving his Being from God, and his dependance upon him for the continuance of it, doth speak it necessarily his duty to be ruled, ordered and disposed by him, so that he can never be disobliged from willing agreeably to the Will of God.
As God is our Creator, he hath a right to be our absolute Lord and Sovereign; and he being so we must needs acknowledge that we ought to will nothing nor do any thing but what God allows. That we are not to take leave to do what we list, but what God likes best.
Again, 'tis the Will of our great Preserver and Benefactor, who hath ever since we had a Being laid new Obligations upon us, in the continued care of his gracious Providence, and by his renewed mercies and favours. We are nothing without God, we have nothing but from him, and therefore we should do and will nothing, but what he would have us. He, the overflowing Spring of Goodness hath not left himself without witness, is always doing us good, and filling our hearts with food and gladness; doing all that is fit for him to do to please us, being not at all niggardly in the comforts of this life, but bestowing them in such a proportion as is able to content moderate and modest desires, and being richly gracious in affording us advantages and suitable means for a better life. And therefore if we have any the least sense of what is worthy and ingenuous, we will acknowledge it most reasonable and becoming we should do all we can to please him, who hath done so infinitly much to please us. The Apostle well knew the power of this Argument, when he said, I beseech you by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living Sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service, Rom. xii. 1.
Nor can there be a more powerful Argument than this to perswade to Patience, to a quiet and meek submission to all the disposals of the Divine Providence; seeing for one cross we have many hundred blessings. Vbi mali gutta est, ibi immensum mare beneficiorum Dei. Where there is one drop of evil there is a large sea of divine favours and benefits. And this men would be forced to confess, if they were as curious and careful to consider the many mercies they enjoy, as they are to consider the few evil things that they suffer: If they were duly sensible that they are less than the least of the many mercies they possess; but in all their sufferings God punisheth them less than their sins deserve. Holy Iob thought it reasonable thus to argue, as prodigious and unparallel'd as his sufferings were, Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? Job ij. 10. What? is God bound to be always heaping favours upon us? must we have nothing but Sunshine, fair and calm days, must we be fed with nothing but marrow and fatness, taste nothing but what is sweet and dainty? If God gives us sometimes to taste of the sour and bitter, to drink of the waters of Marah, shall we repine and murmure, and think much of it? Far be it from us so to do.
2. The Will we are to obey and submit to is the Will of the infinitely perfect Being, that is most holy, most good, most wise, most powerful: And accordingly his Will is most holy, good, wise and perfect, and therefore infinitely more worthy to be followed than our own Will, which is vain, foolish and perverse, when not governed by his, and hath many foolish and hurtful desires.
If a Child be left to his own Will, it would be his ruine, and it would be much more pernicious to us not to be guided, governed and restrained by the Will of God.
And when God doth restrain and abridg us as to some things which our Will would be free and loose to, we have no cause to complain; as those that are come to be grown men, and to have a right judgment of things, do clearly see that they had no cause to be froward and complain when Children, that their careful and wise Parents would not suffer them to eat green trash, nor humour them in every thing they longed for.
God, who is the great Physician of Souls, seeth it fit in his infinite Wisedom to restrain us from certain things, as a wise and careful Physician doth his Patient from what he knoweth would be his bane, however grateful to his appetite.
And so for the other part of Resignation, Submission to God's disposals, and Patience under afflictions, when it is the will of God we should be exercised with them, it is to be yielded to and preferred above our own will, as being the Will of a most wise and good God, the great Physician of Souls, who perfectly knows our frame, and what affliction is necessary Physick for us.
God is not onelyonly to be considered as the great King and Soveraign of the Wold, and therefore his Will to be received with all regard, but he is also to be considered as the wise Physician of the World, that hath care of Mankind as of sick persons, this World being a great Hospital or Pesthouse, a place for diseased and infected Souls, and afflictions are his Physick which he prescribes and applies according to the several cases of his Patients. The sick Soul is not for this kind of Physick, but would rather be pleased and gratified; but God's thoughts are not as our thoughts, nor his will as ours. He will have his Patients to submit to his method and way of Cure, and not quarrel his appointments; herein he is wise and good also, 'tis an act of great mercy in him to do thus. It would be an act of cruelty in the Physician to comply with his Patients humour, and to suffer his will to prevail and rule. And there is no true Christian, however chastening is not joyous but grievous to him for a time, but he finds afterwards that it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness, and that it was good for him to have been afflicted.
I added that it is the Will of God most Powerful as well as most holy and wise, that we are to submit to; and this teacheth us how vain and fruitless an attempt it is to struggle with and resist his Will. Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker; let the potsheard strive with the potsheards of the earth, Isaiah xlv. 9. So that if we will not be perswaded to a compliance with the Will of God either from the consideration of his Holiness, Wisdom or Goodness, let us dread the terrible effects of his Power. How many instances of Irresignation and stubborn Self-willedness are to be found in Scripture, whom God made to know, before he had done with them, that 'tis impossible to oppose his Will and Power.
3. The Will we are to be resigned to commands such things for the most part as are in their own nature good, and carry their own reason in them; and whatsoever things else are commanded, they are in order to such things. The goodness and reasonableness of all God's primary Commands, and our Obligation to them, doth not meerly depend upon his Soveraign Authority: Though they are to be observed because God commands them, yet he doth not command them onelyonly pro imperio, to shew his absolute Soveraignty and Dominion over us, but because they are intrinsecally and essentially good, most agreeable to his holy nature, and greatly for our good and advantage, infinitely better for us as we are Reasonable Creatures to observe, than to be disobliged from.
This is the will of God even our sanctification, 1 Thes. iv. 3. This is the sum of all he wills concerning us; and judge in your selves, is not a life of Chastity better than that of Vncleanness? Is not Temperance and Sobriety better than Surfeiting and Drunkenness? Is not Humility and Meekness more lovely and commendable than Pride and Insolence? Is not Iustice, Vprightness and Truth better than Injustice, Falshood and Oppression? Is not Charity and Pity better than Hatred, Cruelty, and Hard-heartedness? Is it not more worthy and reasonable to love God above all, than to prefer any thing before him, he being the highest Good, our infinitely best Friend and Father, from whom our selves and all we enjoy are? Nay, whose reason doth not tell him, that as the former are most amiable and most becoming humane nature, so the latter are as hateful and unworthy of us?
Is it not better beyond all comparison to love the Soul which is Spiritual and Immortal, more than the Body which is corruptible and but for a short time, and whose wellfare depends wholly upon the Wellbeing of the Soul? And when we have sined against the Law written in our hearts, or more clearly and largely revealed in the Scriptures, is it not reasonable and most becoming us to repent, to be sensible of our unkind and unworthy behaviour towards God, to be grieved that we have offended the Father of mercies, and amend our ways, and do so no more, as ever we would expect his favour, and the light of his wellpleased Countenance, and those mercies which we most need, and which none but he can bestow upon us? And is not this better than to continue in disobedience, impenitence, and to harden our necks against God, and not to be affected with any ingenuous sense of our carriage towards him? So that we see Repentance is most agreeable to the quality and condition of our state here; and so is also patient Submission to the Will of God in his disposals of us, both in respect of his Wise Goodness and Soveraign Power, nor can any thing more become us. And nothing is more manifestly unreasonable than to fret and repine at any of the Divine Providences.
And as for the other things God commands, those which are our duty onelyonly by positive institution; as they are but very few under the Gospel, so are they onelyonly commanded for this end, that they may better secure the weightier matters of the Law, the primary commands, and to fit us for a mindful regard and observance of them. And he, who is infinitely wise and good, knowing best what is fittest to be required of us in order to so great an end, it cannot but be highly unreasonable and unworthy not to comply chearfully with his Will declared in these also as well as in the other Commands.
4. The Resignation of our Wills to the Will of God hath the promise of a Reward infinitely above the labour of any services he requires of us, and the pain of any sufferings he inflicts upon us. Our services are due to God as we are his Creatures, and therefore it would be our duty to yield our selves to his Will without the consideration of any future Reward. And besides we have more than our services are worth, and our labours and sufferings amount unto. We are less than the least of the multitude of mercies we daily receive. And the very comforts and pleasures which arise from the sense of doing our duty, and from the being busied in that work and employment which is most agreeable to the primitive and proper constitution of our Souls, are a great Reward. But that God should confer a Reward upon us upon the account of poor mean services, than which nothing can be better; a Reward so rich and glorious beyond expression and apprehension, what a consideration is this! What we do or suffer in compliance with the Will of God is far from being above what the heart can conceive, or the tongue express: But the Reward which God will bestow for this doing and suffering is such as is unspeakable and full of Glory, and passeth all understanding. It is such as eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entred into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him, 1 Cor. 2. 9.
Again, our Services and Sufferings are but for a short time, they are but for this life,Jam. iv. 14. which is but as a vapour that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away: But God will reward them with an eternal Reward,2 Cor. iv. 17. with an exceeding and eternal weight of Glory. So that well might the Apostle reckon the sufferings of this present time (and consequently the services also) not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us, Rom. viii. 18. Thou art not far from thy journeys end, thou hast but a short life; a little time to testifie thy love to God here on earth, and he hath an Eternity to reward thee in; which therefore should encourage our patience to persevere and hold out to the end. Especially when we consider, that though this Reward be future, yet it is near, at least, part of it, and a considerable part too. Though there will be a further completion of our felicities at the Resurrection of the just, and the great day of recompence, yet the Souls of the faithful may expect to receive a very considerable part of the recompence of reward before that day.
And even in this life they have some earnests of that glorious Reward, some foretastes of the pleasures of God's right hand, some bunches of the Grapes that grow in the upper and heavenly Canaan. And the more Christians endeavour to live the life of Heaven, the more heavenly their affections and conversations are here, the more shall they have here of heavenly Enjoyments. And in these respects the Scripture sometimes speaks of those that are excellently religious, even whilst they are in this life, that they have eternal life, John vi. 54. 1 John v. 13. And that they sit with Christ in heavenly places, Eph. ii. 6.
Lastly, This Resignation to the Will of God is also highly conducing to our Temporal Good: And that not onelyonly because it hath the promise of the life that now is, as well as of that to come, but because it tends in its own nature hereunto. Here I will particularly and very briefly shew that it makes for our profit and advantage, as to our outward estate, as to our ease and quiet, and as to our health and strength.
1. As to our outward estate. This it doth, 1. As it engages men against Pride, and to Humility and Modesty. By this means are avoided vast and needless expenses about Attire and Dressing, Building, Feastings, and a great number of pompous Vanities: And also the great charges which men of aspiring and ambitious spirits are at for the procuring of Dignities, Honours and high Places; and the supporting of their Grandeur that they may be the more esteemed, reverenced, and admired by the world. 2. As it engageth to Temperance and Sobriety, against all Sensuality, and a delicious luxurious life. And so, expensive Divertisements, Sports and Revellings, Incontinence, and making provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof, which impair and consume mens Estates, and bring not a few to a morsel of bread, are all avoided. The desires of Temperance are cheap, easie and soon satisfied. 3. As it engages to Meekness in opposition to Wrath, Malice and Revenge: And by this means, Quarrels, which often cost men dear, and abundance of expensive Law-suits are prevented. It costs men much more usually to revenge Injuries than to bear them. 4. As it engageth to Labour and Industry in lawful Callings in opposition to Carelessness and Sloth, which (as Solomon saith) shall clothe a man with rags, whereas the hand of the diligent maketh rich.Prov. x. 4.
2. It makes for our ease and quiet in the world. And this 1. As it engageth to Meekness and peaceable spiritedness, which as it is a grace most lovely in it self, so it makes those that are indued with it lovely and acceptable to others, and wins and attracts good will. 2. As it engageth to Mercifulness both in giving and forgiving. None but a Monster, and one prodigiously wicked and unworthy, will put affronts upon and procure trouble to those that are mercifull in these two respects. 3. As it engageth to Justice, Truth and Uprightness, in giving to every one his due, in not defrauding, wronging or defaming any; all which plainly tend to the procuring of Peace.
3. It makes for our health and strength, the good habit and constitution of our Bodies, as well as of our Souls. This it doth 1. As it engageth to Sobriety against Excess, which both begets and feeds diseases and Distempers. Incontinence and Intemperance weaken both the body and the mind, shorten life, and make it painful and uncomfortable while it lasts. 2. As it engageth against heart-tearing Cares, and such anxious Solicitudes as waste natural strength, and prey upon the spirits. 3. As it engages against all inordinate affections, all fleshly as well as worldly lusts. These make men lean and sick, as Amnon's lust after Tamar made him. 4. As it begets chearfulness and tranquillity of spirit, which hath a proper efficacy to the preservation of health. As a broken spirit drieth the bones, so a chearful heart doth good like a medicine, Prov. xvii. 22. 5. As it engageth to honest labour in opposition to a soft and delicate life. Exercise hath a natural tendency to the making men hardy, strong and healthful.
Now then, would we be fully, and in all things resigned to the holy and good will of God, let us observe this first Direction, and labour after a great sense of the truth of the foregoing Principles, and all those Considerations which have been proposed to our view, which are most powerful arguments to perswade to this Duty.