The Combat Between the Flesh and Spirit, Sermon 2
SERMON. 2.
WEe come now to the third Queſtion, which I ſhall ſpend this whole Aftemoon upon, and that is this, to lay down to you 12 conſiderations, whereby to allay and keep under immoderateneſs and exceſſive ſorrow for any worldly croſſes or afflictions, and how to keep our ſelves in the frame and temper of ſpirit, which the Apoſtle here enjoyns us, namely, to weep as if we wept not. I told you in the morning, God would not have us ſtupid and inſenſible of his hand in any affliction; but yet as we ſhould not be ſtoicall, ſo neither muſt we be exceſſive in our ſorrows. I have therefore in my meditations revolved theſe ſeverall conſiderations, Severall Conſiderations to allay immoderate ſorrow. Job. 2.10.as likely to be moſt prevalent, to allay exceſſiveneſs and immoderacy of ſorrow.
1. Conſider, that you have had more mercies in your lifetime to chear you up, then ever you have had croſſes to diſcomfort you: this conſideration did ſtrongly work upon Job, to ſupport his ſpirits under afflictions, ſaies he, ſhall we receive good at the hands of God, and ſhall we not receive evill? I have read a ſtory of a man of 50 years of age, who lived 48. years and never knew what ſickneſs was; but all the two laſt years of his life, he was very ſickly, and very impatient under it; but at laſt he reaſon'd the caſe thus with himſelf, and ſaid, the Lord might have given me 48 years of ſickneſs, and but two years of health, but hath done the contrary; I will therefore rather admire the mercy of God, in giving me ſo long a time of health, then repine and murmur at him for giving me ſo ſhort a time of ſickneſs: the Lord doth ever leave with us more mercies then he takes from us; and therefore how ſhould this ſupport our ſpirits, ſeeing our mercies have been more and greater then ever our afflictions have been: what though the Lord doth now viſit me with ſickneſs, yet I have had more yeers of health, then I have had of ſickneſs: what though I have loſt friends, why yet let me conſider, they have lived a great while with me: what though this or that comfort is taken from me, yet I have a great many more left ſtill. The Scripture is very ſenſible how apt we are to grieve overmuch, and therefore preſcribes this Rule to allay immoderate ſorrow, Eccleſ. 7.14. In the day of adverſity conſider; why? what muſt we conſider? that God hath ſet the one over againſt the other, (that is) though you are in afflictions now, yet he hath given you mercies heretofore, and it may be he will give you proſperity again, he hath ballanced your preſent afflictions with former mercies, and if you ſet the mercies you have injoyed againſt the preſent afflictions you ſuffer, you will find the tale of your mercies, to exceed the number of your ſufferings. 2 Sam. 18.33.When David cryed out in ſuch immoderate ſorrow for his Son, Oh Abſalom my Son, my Son, would to God I had died for thee my Son, my Son: if he had then likewiſe ſaid, oh Solomon my Son, my Son; and ſeriouſly conſidered, what a good Son he had living: this would have been a great means to have quieted his ſpirit. The conſideration of thoſe many mercies we have enjoyed, will be an excellent means to bear up our hearts under any preſent affliction we lie under.
Conſid. 2 2. If you would keep your ſelves within bounds, in reference to your ſorrows, conſider that God doth many times take away creature comforts, and contentments from his people, to make way for greater mercy and bleſſings to come in the room of them. This is very obſervable in the caſe of David, God took away a Child by death, that was gotten illegitimately, and he gave him a Solomon, a lawfully begotten and better Child in the room of it; yea this conſideration did bear up Davids heart, Pſal. 71.20,21. Thou haſt ſhewed me great and ſore troubles; but thou ſhalt bring me again from the depth of the Earth, and ſhalt increaſe my greatneſs and comfort me on every ſide: and were this ſeriouſly conſidered, it would be a means to bear up our hearts under loſſes and troubles: what though this or that comfort be taken away, it may be God hath ſome gracious end in it, to make way for the beſtowing a greater mercy in the room of it. Would you be angry with that man that ſhould pull down your ſmoaky Cottage over your head, if he would erect a ſtately Pallace for you in the room of it; every mercy that God takes from you, he will give a greater for it: as the Prophet told Amaziah, who expended his Eſtate on the Iſraelites, the Lord is able to give thee much more then this: Job 1.3. with cap. 42.12.thus God dealt with Job, as you may ſee in the firſt and laſt Chapters of that Book, compared together, the Lord took away from Job all his Eſtate and ſubſtance; but gave him twice as much as he took away from him: there was taken from him ſeven thouſand ſheep, and God gave him afterward fourteen thouſand for them, he loſt 3000 Camells, he had afterwards 6…00 for them, he loſt five hundred yoak of Oxen, and 500. ſhe Aſſes, afterwards he had double reſtored for them. And this caſe of Jobs may be as an example and ground of encouragement for Chriſtians in all ages, to wait upon God, in an humble ſubmiſſion to all his diſpenſations. So James 5.11. ſaies the Apoſtle, you have heard of the patience of Job, and what end the Lord made with him, that the Lord is very pi…ifull, and of tend…r mercies: this example of his ſhould bear up your hearts in the time of affliction: the Lord takes away ſmall mercies to make room for greater. 'Tis very obſervable how this conſideration wrought with Iſaac, Sarah his Mother was lately dead, and to make up his loſſe, God gave him Bebeckah to wife, and 'tis ſaid, Gen. 24 67. She became his wife, and he loved her, and Iſaac was comforted after his Mothers death.
Conſid. 3 3. Conſider, that exceſſive ſorrow for the loſſe of one comfort, doth imbitter all the reſt of your preſent comforts to you, take heed therefore of caſting in this gall of bitterneſs amongſt your comforts; exceſſive ſorrow is like a worm in a Nut, that eats out all the ſweetneſs of the kernel and leaves nothing but the ſhell: ſo will exceſſive ſorrow take away all the ſweetneſs of your preſent comforts; thus it was with Haman, Eſther 4.11,12,13. He called for his friends and Zereſh his Wife, and told them the glory of his riches, and the multitude of his Children, and all the things wherein the King had promoted him, and how he had advanced him above the Princes, and the Servants of the King. Now you cannot but think this man was a gallant man. Nay Haman ſaid moreover, Eſt…er the Queen did let no man come in with the King unto the banquet, that ſhe had prepared, but my ſelf, and to morrow am I invi…ed unto her alſo with the King, yet ſaies he, all this availeth me nothing, ſo long as I ſee Mordecai the Jew ſitting at the Kings Gate, and will not reverence, and make obeyſance to me; here was the curſe of God upon him, in that he could not enjoy any mercy he had with comfort, becauſe Mordecai did not reverence him; ſo we ſee in the inſtance of Jacob formerly mentioned, Gen. 37.35. Exceſſive ſorrow for one affliction looſeth the comfort of all our mercies.
Conſid. 4 4. To allay immoderate ſorrow, conſider that thou haſt within thee more ground of exceeding joy, then any thing without thee can be a cauſe of exceſſive ſorrow; as Prov. 14.14. A good man ſhall be ſatisfied from himſelf, a godly man hath matter of rejoycing in himſelf, whatever befalls him in the world. We read, Luke 13.21. when the Diſciples doted upon a temporall flouriſhing Kingdom, Chriſt told them, the Kingdom of God was within them, if we have Chriſts grace, &c. though we have nothing elſe, thats greater cauſe of exceeding joy, then any other wants can be ground of exceſſive ſorrow; what though they have nothing here below, yet God is their portion, and they have an inheritance with the Saints in light reſerved for them. What though they have not a peny of money in their purſes, yet have they true treaſure which moth cannot corrupt, nor thief break thorow and ſteal? What though they have no bread in their Cubbords at home, when every day they feed upon the bread of life, the pretious body and blood of Chriſt? What though you are reproached and defamed in your good name, when notwithſtanding your name is written in the Book of Life? You have every way more cauſe of joy within you, then you have cauſe of ſorrow without you, Gen. 33.11. I have enough, ſaid Eſau, I have enough ſaid Jacob too; but the word ſignifies, I have all: yet Jacob was poorer then Eſau: ille habet omia qui habet habentem omnia.
Conſid. 5 5. Conſider, that that comfort which thou doeſt ſo exceſſively mourn for the want of, it may be would prove a greater croſſe and trouble, ſhould God have continued it ſtill to thee. There is a remarkable inſtance for this in Gen. 30.5. you read there of Rachel, an impatient woman overcome with paſſion and ſorrow for want of Children, ſhe cryed to her Husband, give me Children or elſe I die; well this woman had her deſire granted, and ſhe that before cryed, give me Children or elſe I die; when ſhe had Children ſhe dies in Child-birth, Gen. 35.16,17,18. As they journeyed from Bethel, Rachel travailed, and ſhe had hard labour, and the Mid-wiſe ſaid unto her, fear not, thou ſhalt have this Son alſo: And it came to paſſe, as her ſoul was in departing (for ſhe died) that ſhe called his name Ben-oni, 2 Sam. 12.16.ſhe died after her Son vvas born. God can make thoſe comforts that we deſire, to be croſſes to us. So to David, had God given him the life of his Child, it would have been a living monument of his ſhame, that all that knew the Child would have ſaid, yonder goes Davids Baſtard.
I have heard a godly Miniſter relate a ſtory, that once he went to viſit a Neighbour of his, (whoſe Child lay a dying) to comfort her, ſhe was very much grieved and dejected with ſorrow, and would by no means be comforted: the Miniſter ſaid unto her, woman, why do you grieve ſo much? if your Child ſhould live, it may be God might make it a ſcourge and vexation to you, by taking wicked and ſinfull courſes; ſhe anſwered, ſhe did not care if her Child did recover, though he were hanged afterward: this her Son did recover, and was afterward executed for ſome villany that he had committed: why now it had been a greater mercy, and a thouſand times better for her, to have ſeen him buried before, then that he ſhould have come to ſuch an unhappy end. I only mention this, to ſhew you, that God can turn thoſe comforts which we ſo much prize and dote upon, into croſſes to us; and therefore this ſhould allay exceſſiveneſs of ſorrow for the loſſe of any worldly comfort.
Conſid. 6 6. Conſider, that all thoſe croſſes in the world, for which you grieve, though they be never ſo great, yet they are very ſhort; and this is the Argument the Apoſtle uſeth here in the Text, Omni… brevia tolerabilia…ſſe de bent, etiamſi magna ſint. Cicero.(ſaies he,) Brethren, the time is ſhort, it remaineth therefore, that they that weep, be as if they wept not, though your afflictions be heavy, yet they ſhall not continue long: therefore be patient under them; though they be never ſo great, yet becauſe they are ſhort they are tolerable; and this the Apoſtle preſſeth in 2 Cor. 4.17. Our light affliction which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternall waight of glory. And ſo ſaies God, Eſa. 54.7.for a moment have I forſaken thee; but in everlaſting loving kindneſs will I have mercy on thee. Our afflictions are alwayes computed by dayes and howers; but our mercies by years, to ſhew that the time is but ſhort, wherein we do endure afflictions here below: they are ſoone over, and like Clouds the Sun will quickly break through them. When Athanaſius was baniſht, he ſaid it was but a little Cloud, it would be over preſently. A Martyr ſaid unto his fellow, ſhut but your eyes, and the next time they are opened, 'twill be in another world.
Conſid. 7 7. Conſider, that by immoderate ſorrow, you do not go the way to remove or leſſen your afflictions, but rather provoke God to continue and increaſe them. This I hinted to you in the morning. As a ſtubborn Child that fumes, and frets, and ſtamps and ſtarres, and blubbers, or the like: this cariage is not the way to make the Father forbear correcting him; but rather to give him the more blowes; ſo the more exceſſive we are in our ſorrows, the heavier afflictions God many times layes upon us. What Chriſt ſaid of taking cares, Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit to his Stature? may be ſaid in this caſe, which of you by exceſſive ſorrow can any whit leſſen your affliction? the way to remove our afflictions, is to accept of the puniſhment of our ſins. A Child that ſubmits and beggs pardon for his offence, and promiſeth amendment, ſaves many a blow by it.
Conſid. 8 8. Conſider, that any outward comfort here in this world, the loſſe of which thou doſt ſo exceedingly mourn for, it is no better then what any wicked man may have, and your ſelves may well be without. Is it for want of wealth, honour, Children, &c? Loe wicked men may have all theſe, and therefore why ſhouldeſt thou be ſo much troubled for the loſſe of that which any Reprobate may enjoy. Indeed were it for the loſſe of Chriſt, of Heaven and everlaſting happineſs, we could never ſufficiently mourn for the loſſe of theſe; but in the loſeing of theſe outward mercies, we loſe no more, then a damned wretch may enjoy, the things that we mourn for, are not of that worth and value, that we eſtimate them. I have read a ſtory of two godly men that met, named Anthony and Didymus. Now Didymus was blind, yet of excellent parts. Anthony askt him, if he were not troubled at it? yes ſaid Didymus; but ſaid Anthony, will you be troubled for want of what flies and Dogs may have, and not rather rejoyce that you have what Angels have?
Conſid 9 9. To allay thy immoderate ſorrow, conſider, that whatſoever loſſe or affliction God doth inflict upon you here in this life, he doth really intend your advantage and gain by that loſſe; and therefore why ſhould any misfortune trouble you? ſeeing God intends your good by them all, ſo that you ſhall in concluſion be forc't to ſay, Pſal. 119.it is good for me that I was afflicted, and in very faithfulneſs he hath afflicted me. 'Tis the obſervation of Salmeron on John 3. Suppoſe a man ſhould throw a rich Pearl or Diamond at you, and hit you upon the hand, ſo you might have the Diamond for it, would you count that an injury? why ſo God deals with us, he turns our loſſes into gain, and all our croſſes into comforts. Suppoſe a man that is very much in debt, and hath great need of money, even to buy bread to put in his mouth, ſhould go to a friend of his and make known his condition, and beg ſome relief from him: if this friend of his ſhould go to his Cheſt, and take out a great bag of money or gold, and throw it at him, bidding him take it, though he ſhould hurt him with the blow, do you think he would take it unkindly? no certainly: why ſo every affliction that God laies upon us, ſhall work for our good: we may ſay as Joſeph did to his Brethren, though you intend all this for my hurt, yet God intended & turned it to my good. So when any body do wrong or injure us, we may ſay to them, though you intend this to my hurt, yet God will work benefit and advantage to me by it. The Lord never intends us any harm, but good, by all the afflictions he laies upon us. All afflictions like Jonathans rod have hony on the top, and therefore let us bear them patiently. You would be very angry if an enemy ſhould draw blood from you; but if a Doctor does take away a great deal more from you in reference to your health, and for your good, you will not take that amiſſe. Be perſwaded therefore to patience under all worldly croſſes and troubles, becauſe God intends your good by them, and to promote your ſpirituall advantage, that as your afflictions do abound, ſo your conſolations in Chriſt may abound much more.
Conſid. 10 10. Conſider, that your betters have been in as bad or a worſe condition then ever you have been, and therefore let this allay your ſorrows. It is true indeed, were we in ſo bad a condition, that never any were in the like, we might have ſome excuſe for our immoderate ſorrow; but there are none of us that are afflicted alone, thoſe that are a great deal better then we, have had as great croſſes and afflictions as ever we have had, 1 Pet. 5.9. there the Apoſtle exhorteth them to reſiſt the Devill with ſtedfaſtneſs, as knowing that the ſame afflictions are accompliſhed in their brethren that are in the world: there are none now in ſo miſerable a condition; but there are others that have been, or are, or ſhall be in as ſad a condition as they: there hath no temptation befallen you, but ſuch as is common to man, for God is faithfull, who will not ſuffer you to be tempted above what you are able. 1 Cor. 10.13.Haſt thou loſt a great Eſtate? why Job loſt more then ever thou didſt; he loſt ſeven thouſand Sheep, three thouſand Camels, five hundred yoke of Oxen, five hundred ſhee Aſſes, he loſt all that he had, not ſo much as any outward comfort left him; and therefore ſeeing the ſame affliction hath befallen others, why ſhould not you be contented? But it may be you will ſay I have loſt my Children. Why Job loſt more Children then ever thou didſt, he loſt ten Children in one day, taken away by an untimely death; but it may be though you have loſt as many Children, yet they went to their graves in peace, and therefore that may comfort your heart; others have been in a worſe condition then you are in, and yet have undergone it patiently. Notwithſtanding all the afflictions that lay upon Job, he ſinned not, he did not open his mouth againſt God.
And ſo our Lord Jeſus Chriſt, he was a man of ſorrows; ſaith he, the Foxes have holes, and the Birds of the Air have neſts; but the Son of Man hath not where to lay his head. Jeſus Chriſt though Heire of all things, was yet as poor as ever thou haſt been; and therefore let theſe conſiderations ſtay your hearts in what ever afflictions may befall you here in this world; for the Lord knowes what a Cloud of blood is yet hanging over our heads.
Conſid. 11 11. To keep down exceſſive ſorrow for the loſſe of any Creature comfort, conſider, that your ſorrow is never fightly placed till it hath ſin for its object, your ſorrow is miſplaced, and runs in a wrong Channel, till it centers here. If you ſorrow for the things of the world, you let it run in a wrong Channel, and keep it from running there where it ſhould run: 'tis pitty to uſe ſweet water to waſh a foul room, ſin ought to be the chief object of ſorrow, and our teares are diverted out of their proper Channel, when we do not ſorrow for ſin either mediately or immediately. God hath promiſed to bottle all thoſe teares we ſhed for ſin, but no other; thoſe that we ſhed for the things of the world, they are but. tears caſt away, they run over, and not into Gods Bottles And indeed my Brethren, there are no afflictions here that do deſerve our ſorrows or tears. Would you not count him a mad man that ſhould go and throw Pearls or Diamond at a Pear-tree, and ſo loſe them: ſo it is pitty to throw away tears upon the things of this world, to waſt ſuch pretious commodities upon every ſlight occaſion.
Conſid. 12 12. Conſider that exceſſive ſorrow for the world, will hinder and interrupt your mourning for ſin: as when a vein is opened in the arm, and the blood runs out there, it hinders and diverts it from running in its uſuall Channel; ſo when you are in a vein of ſorrow and diſcontent for worldly loſſes or croſſes: this diverts and hinders the naturall courſe of your teares, ſo that you cannot mourn for ſin.
And thus I have done with theſe twelve Conſiderations, and alſo with theſe three Queries. I have ſhewed you when ſorrow is inordinate, and I have given you ſome reaſons why Chriſtians ſhould not mourn immoderately for the things of this world; and now I have laid you down twelve confideraions to keep you from exceſſive mourning for the loſſe of any outward comfort.