pleased to discover better things to you so as to make you renounce your former ways and to make choice of another way in which your souls have found other maner of comforts and satisfactions and contentments then ever you did before bless God as David did Blessed be the Lord that hath given me counsel and made me to understand aright So may such a soul say for had I been left to the counsels of mine own heart I know what should have become of me I have as vile a heart as any and my heart did take as much delight in the flesh as any and I should have gone on God knows whither and might by this time have plunged my self into the bottomless pit my friends would have given me other counsels to harden me in my ways of sinful pleasure but blessed be God that hath over-powered my heart How many do I see every day whose parts of nature exceed mine and yet they are mistaken in the things that concern their everlasting welfare they minde no other things but the pleasures of the flesh and stumble at the meanness of Gods people and this hides the beauty of godliness from their eyes and what a great mercy is this that God hath taken this stumbling block from me and that he hath opened mine eyes to see pearls though wrapped up in rotten rags and to see the excellency of godliness notwithstanding all afflictions that do attend upon them Certainly it is no other but a beam of Gods own light from Heaven that hath shined into thy heart It is a remarkable passage that we have Esay 44. 20 21. where God shewing the difference between those who forsook the true God and his people who chose him to be their God stirs up his people to remember for ever this mercy of God towards them that they should be delivered from the deceit and vanity whereby others were deluded and guided in a right and safe way to be the servants of the blessed God As for the Idolater he feedeth upon ashes a deceived heart hath turned him aside that he cannot deliver his soul nor say Is there not a lye in my right hand Now mark what follows Remember these O Jacob and Israel for thou art my servant c. As if he should say Do you see how others have left God and God hath left them They feed upon ashes a seduced heart hath deceived them but it is otherwise with you God hath put it into your hearts to be my servants to choose me for your God Remember for ever these things O Jacob here is a mercy indeed never to be forgotten How comes it to pass that your hearts should not be so seduced as theirs it is Gods free grace and rich mercy towards you And his mercy is the greater in that it is in such a weighty thing that the Lord hath given thee counsel to make a right choice in If a man makes an ill choice in a matter that is of moment that will bring him trouble in his life how is he grieved as in marriage when he is to make choice in that one thing upon which he knows the comfort or trouble of his life does much depend if the Lord hath so provided for him that he hath made a good choice onely in that how does he bless God it is that which sweetens all his life If it be such a mercy to be guided to make a good choice in marriage what a mercy is it to be guided to make a good choice for ones soul to be happy to all eternity if the Lord should leave a soul in that choice what a lamentable condition had the soul been in And therefore those that have any savour of godliness if they be to change the condition of their lives they will seek God and be earnest that God would guide them and not leave them to themselves and take advantage to punish their former sins in their choice now If you be to make a choice that concerns the outward comforts of your lives you will earnestly desire God not to leave you there Now you are to make your choice for your eternal condition if God should leave you now what a lamentable condition would you be in as he does leave most in the world As soon as we come to years of discretion we come to make our choice to go on in the ways of God or in the ways of death How many yong ones make a woful choice in the beginning and go on and are hardened in their choice and perish for ever And hath the Lord looked upon you and considered how like you would be to fail in your choice And hath the Lord been pleased to come in with his Spirit and a light from Heaven to shew you the way Have you heard a voyce from heaven saying This is the way walk in it Though God should leave you in all outward things yet you are made for ever and therefore thou mayest say as Judas not Iscariot Lord wherefore is it that thou revealest thy self to us and not to the world Lord wherefore is it that in this great business of my choice that concerns my eternal estate thou art pleased to reveal thy self to me a poor contemptible creature rather then to the world 1. Hence it is because thou art one of the chosen ones of the Lord because the Lord hath made a choice of thee and hath separated thee from all eternity to do good to thy soul hence it is manifest that thou art the chosen one of the Lord when thou seest most in the world to follow the pleasures of the world if God hath given thee a heart to choose his ways upon any terms take this as an argument that thou art a chosen vessel of God Reciprocal signs of Gods grace are the most sweet as if I love God this is an argument God loves me if Gods honor be dear to me then my soul is near to God so if I choose God then God hath chosen me 2. This choice is that for which thousands of Gods people have blessed God upon their death-beds they counted it a blessed time and blessed the means the Word and the Instrument that God was pleased to work by to incline their hearts to such a choice as this 3. Yea this choice of thine though it be suffering affliction it is that thou shalt bless God for to all eternity in the highest Heavens it is such a great mercy as this little poor span-long life of ours is not sufficient to give God glory for it therefore there is an eternity reserved to praise God for it when thou shalt see what good comes of thy choice then thou shalt bless God indeed Certainly God takes it well at thy hands now Jer. 2. 2. I remember the kindeness of thy youth and the love of thine espousals when thou wentest after me in the wilderness God takes it kindely that men will choose him and his
poor afflicted estate And surely the Papists could not always plead this argument time hath been when the Goths Vandals Hunnes and Turks have been more prosperous then they The Emperor Henry the fourth was much hated by the Bishop of Rome and yet he was not unprosperous in his way when the Pope cursed him and made another Emperor namely Rodulphus King of Swevia yet this Emperor of his setting up prospered not at all but was overcome and slain by Henry The Pope after set up another and he was slain by a woman yea he set up a third after him against Henry the fourth he likewise was taken in a Mill and slain by the Emperor at the last the Pope himself was cast out of his Seat and cast into Prison and dyed in extreme dolours of minde for that he had so wronged the Emperor and as it is reported he asked pardon of him And as outward prosperity hath not been always an argument that they could make use of so we hope that time will come when they shall make use of it no more when their judgements shall be altered and this argument wherein now they boast shall for ever fail them but for the present though now she be crowned with Diamonds and cloathed with Scarlet yet still she is the mother of Harlots and the abominations of the earth I have not says Luther a stronger argument against the Papal Kingdom then this that it is without the cross Let none amongst us deceive themselves by resting upon outward prosperity as an argument of Gods love for their everlasting estates Many have no other hold to lean upon for their salvation but this all those solemn protestations of God against this in his word all the works of Gods providence towards his own people in leading them on in an afflicted condition and towards the wicked in giving them the fat of the earth will not take mens hearts off from this false reasoning but still they will think if God did not love them surely he would not let them prosper so as he doth A painted face is as certain an argument of a good complexion as this is of a good condition When God shall come hereafter to take up his own to himsef he will not look so much amongst the great ones of the earth the rich the gorgious attires sumptuous houses furnished tables as amongst the the persecuted contemned scorned company out of them he will finde his own Mal. 3. 17. In that day when I make up my jewels saith the Lord the phrase notes that Gods jewels now do lie scattered in the dirt and God hath his time to make them up God passes by Pallaces and looks in at cottages he passes by the rich and takes the poor he passes by the honorable and takes the despised ones Thirdly hence we have a confirmation of another life after this certainly these things cannot always continue it is impossible that the godly should always be in this poor afflicted distressed condition it is not against the rule of justice to suffer this for a while that way may be made to other of Gods intentions but that there never should be any righting of their cause that there should never be seen a difference between him that feareth God and him that feareth him not that God should never appear to judge in the Earth that there should never be a reward for the righteous this cannot be The souls that are under the Altar which were of those who were put to death for the Testimony of Christ they cry How long O Lord holy and true will it be before thou avengest thy self for the blood of thy Saints S. Paul reasons strongly from this argument 1 Cor. 15. 19. to prove the resurrection For saith he if in this life onely we have hope in Christ we are of all men most miserable When therefore we see the godly to be wronged and persecuted when we see iniquity to be in the place of righteousness and wickednes in the place of judgement let us not be offended but say in our hearts God shall judge the righteous and the wicked for there is a time for every purpose and every work And as Chap. 5. 8. When thou seest the oppression of the poor and violent perverting of judgement marvel not at the matter for he that is higher then the highest regardeth If God should always prosper his servants in this life then it would be thought he intended no other for them but he withdraws his hand here that we might be taught to look for another In the times under the Law God did usually more prosper his people in outward things then now he does and the reason may be because then Christ was but darkly revealed the riches of spiritual mercies were not much made known there was but little mention made of that eternal life which is to come hereafter we have very few texts of Scripture in the Old Testament wherein there is any clear mention made of eternal life but in the times of the Gospel God calls his people to a more suffering condition then he did then and therefore the mystery of Christ the glorious promises of the Gospel the Doctrine of the resurrection and the ways of God in that eternity which is to come hereafter are more clearly and fully revealed It is an excellent expression that Luther hath to this purpose Bodily promises says he is as the shell or husk that covers the nut which is Christ and eternal life wherefore Christ coming the shell the husk is broken and taken off that is temporal promises cease and the spiritual succeed he means in comparison of that it was under the Law The Reason why the Pharisees scorned at Christ preaching against seeking the things of the world Luke 13. 14. was because the promises were so large for temporal things Wherefore when Christ would teach them not to seek those which they conceived the chief blessings of God contained in the promises they deride him hence Christ tells them ver 16. The Law and the Prophets were till Iohn till then the promises ran much upon temporal things but now the Kingdom of heaven suffers violence there is now another maner of kingdom revealed sought after in another way then ever formerly I dare appeal to thy conscience whosoever thou art canst thou think otherwise in thy conscience but that those who walk close with God subjecting their hearts and lives unto his fear must be most beloved of him they must needs be nearer that eternal good and fountain of all happiness then vile wretched sinners who walk according to their lusts who are vile and abominable in their ways When thou seest Gods people to be so low so distressed so afflicted either thou must be convinced strongly that there is a time wherein all shall be called over again or else thou art an Atheist God will convince thee another day by this argument Did you
is a woful choice that many make Most people are offended at the afflictions of Gods people their hearts are set upon pleasure and delight and pleasure they must have pleasure to the flesh is that they choose and that they follow after but as for the afflicted ways of godliness they cannot relish them their carnal sensual hearts do turn aside from them they give themselves up to the pleasures of the flesh and satisfie themselves in the enjoyment of their hearts desires and God does give them up likewise to their own lusts to let them have their choice so that they shall spend their time in mirth and jollity in eating and drinking and gaming and in this they bless themselves as those who have wisely provided for themselves to make their lives so full of comfort and soul-content as they imagine these are set upon carnal frothy sensual things as if the chief good and happiness of man consisted in them and therefore they give themselves liberty in them to the utmost That wherein a mans happiness consists he may desire infinitely and he cannot but do it it is as natural for him to do it as for the fire to burn or the stone to descend and because men put happiness in the pleasures of the flesh therefore their hearts are set infinitely upon them that is to set as they give themselves liberty without any bounds and desire that if it were possible no limits might be set either by God or man If they have means they account the chief good of what they have is in that they may have larger opportunities then others to satisfie the flesh in the sensual pleasures of it and hence is the infinite excess of meats and drinks and carnal delights in those whose means afford them opportunities thereunto Luther speaking of this excess hath this expression If Adam should now rise again and see this madness of all sorts of men I believe he would be so amazed at it that he would stand as a stone A. Gellius tells of Caligula that he made one supper that cost three hundred thousand Crowns I have read also of Vitellius the Emperor that at one supper he was served with Two thousand sorts of fishes and Seven thousand several fowls In such profuse expences for the satisfying of the flesh how many do glory as if it were the highest happiness attainable upon the earth And the baser sort of people seeing the great ones set upon such a kinde of life in satisfying the flesh they think there is no other happiness to be had therefore all their care thoughts endeavors are how they may live jocundly and give satisfaction to their lusts Clemens Alexandrinus tells of a fish that hath the heart in the belly differing from other living Creatures which the Philosophers call the Sea-Ass This is like sensual men whose hearts are onely set upon the things of the belly so as it may be said of many in regard of satisfying the flesh as Aurelianus said of one Bonoses He was born not that he might live but that he might drink So do these seem to be born not that they might live but that they might eat and drink and pamper the flesh the whole world is too strait to some for the pampering their bellies Oh how beneath is this to the true excellency of a rational and immortal soul What pity is it that an immortal reasonable soul should be of no other use then to keep the body alive to taste the sweet of the flesh of beasts and of the fruit of the earth How many draw all their substance thorow their throats and their belly their houses lands yea and devour their posterity like Cannibals when men in company spend their estates their wives and children wanting bread at home what do they but even drink the very blood of their wives and children It was the prophaneness of Esau for which God hath branded him That he sold his birth-right for a mess of pottage yet that was in the time of extreme hunger these men sell God and Heaven and all for drink not to satisfie thirst but their lust But O thou vain man know thou art utterly mistaken in thy choice if thou continuest in this way of thine that thou hast chosen to satisfie thy flesh in thou art undone for ever thou wilt ere long cry out of this thy choice most bitterly and curse thy self for it most fearfully It is a seduced heart that hath deceived thee and thou feedest upon ashes and thou canst not say Is there not a lye in my right hand Esay 44. 20. It is true not onely of Idolators but of all other ways of evil thou feedest upon ashes they are but ashes thou feedest upon and delightest in and it is a seduced heart hath turned thee aside from the ways of God that makes thee offended at them it is the God of this world that hath blinded thy eyes so that thou shouldest not see the glorious excellencies and beautiful pleasures and sweet delights that are in the ways of God but that thou shouldest please thy self in those ways that tend to death What hath the whole course of thy life been but playing with the Devils bait under which is a hook that will snatch thee into the sorrows of eternal death Howsoever those that live in jollity and delight in the flesh may bless themselves yet Gods people whose eyes God hath opened would not be in their condition one quarter of an hour for a thousand worlds There are divers sorts that come under this use of reprehension for that ill and woful choice they have made First such as choose to satisfie themselves in such pleasures as are in themselves sinful such who take pleasure in filthiness and ungodliness these are the dregs of men these are the basest of all that can take delight in the very act of sin it self All that is said concerning the dreadful evils of sin and that venome and curse that there is in sin is so far from making sin to be bitter to them as they account more pleasure to be had in many sinful ways then there is to be had in the enjoyment of all the glory that there is in God and Jesus Christ in Heaven and Eternity O cursed heart and cursed choice is this that when God hath revealed in his Word so much concerning the evil of sin that might make any heart in the world tremble at it that thou shouldst not onely not apprehend the evil of it or not taste any bitterness that is in it but shouldst count it delightful yea shouldst esteem so much pleasure to be had in the act of sin it self more then there is to be had in God in Christ or in the Promises or in Heaven or Eternity Surely a cursed seduced heart hath deceived thee these are infinitely out of the way What is there in sin that is thy pleasure that thou choosest as
many pollutions and many sins and yet at last lose all this reward for closing with some secret sin O take heed lest this be any of your portions you have been vile and you have reformed your ways in many things and are not guilty of such and such sins as you were before but look to your selves that you do not lose all this reward for some one sin at last let them do what they will in profession if their hearts do not come off from every sin it is all nothing not but that there may be some remainders of sin and yet the heart be taken off from every sin but if there be any secret closing with any sin all your profession and the leaving of all the other is to no purpose it will never bring you to this reward As suppose a wife should be very serviceable to her husband in many things and forsake many lovers yet if she entertain but any one lover besides her husband her husband does not care for all her service and respect and so it is with those that make profession Look that there be no one secret sin lodge in your hearts if there be you will lose all It was a vexation to Lysimachus a King that his staying to drink one draught of water lost him his Kingdom And so it will be a vexation to any that have gone on in the ways of godliness that he hath lost Heaven for one sin It was a grievous affliction upon Moses that he came towards Canaan within the sight of it and yet for one sin not sanctifying Gods name at the water of Meribah he was deprived of it it went to his heart and so it will be a grievous thing when you shall come towards Heaven and for one sin not sanctifying Gods name as you ought you shall be deprived of heavenly Canaan Many Prodigals have an inheritance and at one cast of the Dice lose it to lose this Inheritance at one cast is a grievous thing A man may scape many wounds and shots in the Wars and yet may be killed at last with the wound of a Pen-knife or the wound of a pin or needle so many that have escaped many gross sins may by some little secret lust be deprived of the glory of heaven You that are going on in this way that tend to the reward take heed you do not lose all for some one sin Thirdly those that apostatize are to be rebuked Apostates go far and lose all this reward because they do not endure to the end but go back and decline You were once in a blessed way and had a blessed gale and you were going on apace to heaven and now you are turned back again O what have you done it may be you were near your end as Christ said to the yong man He is not far from the Kingdom of Heaven as the Israelites were within a few days journey of Canaan and yet lost it so many though they be near in their profession and have had as it were the taste of heaven yet turning back again they lose all As if a man were going a rich Voyage and just as he was entring into the Haven there should come a gust of wind and blow him home again how does it grieve him I was just at the Haven and if I had entred I had been enriched for ever So many have gone on in the profession of Religion if they had continued who knows but that they might have had all this reward but for want of continuance they have lost all and they are come short of the glory of God We may say to them as the Angel said to Hagar Hagar from whence comest thou and whither goest thou So it may be said to an Apostata Poor creature from whence comest thou and whither goest thou Thou comest from heaven and eternal life and thou art going to hell and eternal death You know how earnest the Apostle was with the Galatians when they had once received the faith and drew back again says he Who hath bewitched you Was there ever such wickedness like this to receive that faith that brings such happiness and after you have received it to turn back again Who hath bewitched you And this is the fourth Use Fifthly if there be such a glorious recompence of reward for the people of God this should then encourage such as are looking towards and such as are walking in the ways of God First it may encourage to begin betimes in Gods ways It is your wisdom to begin to work at the first hour seeing God will reward so richly If you were to work for another and you knew he would give you a great sum of money for every hour you wrought you would be sure to be betimes at work that day You that are yong you are deferring and putting off your repentance what a sottish delusion is this What do you lose you lose a great deal of the reward you might have Therefore you little ones as soon you come to know any thing of the ways of God embrace them for you shall be rewarded abundantly for every minute of an hour Therefore the losing the time of youth yea the losing of any opportunity of doing any gracious action is an eternal loss for if God reward every one according to his works then the loss of an opportunity to do a good work is an eternal loss they that have neglected opportunities let them consider what they have lost and you that have your time before you begin betimes if a man were working and knew not when he should be paid or how he should get his wages he would come late to work and would be negligent but God would not have you come into his vineyard upon those terms but promises he will reward you and therefore begin betimes Secondly here is an incouragement to Gods people to be strict if we look for such a glorious reward we had need be accurate many cry out What need men be so strict Indeed if they had no higher ends then your base ends you might say so a base hypocrite what need he be so strict but for a gracious heart that hath such high and noble and glorious ends as these are in his work as a crown and glory and the like he had need be strict and precise In ordinary pieces of work by which workmen do not expect much they are not so strict and exact but if a man be about some curious work that he expects some great matter for then he will be very strict and so because Gods people do expect such great matters for Religion no wonder that they are so strict and precise Thirdly if there be such a glorious reward here is an encouragement to be very fervent and zealous in the ways of God because they serve such a God and shall have such reward says the Apostle in Rom. 12. 11. Be fervent in spirit serving the Lord as
your peace with God and your own conscience If vapours be not got into the earth and stir not there they are not all the storms and tempests abroad that can make an earthquake but if vapours be within and work there an earthquake is caused so where there is peace within all troubles and oppositions without cannot shake the heart but if there be no peace within every little thing troubles the spirit terrours without and terrours within both are very hard Be not thou a terrour to me O Lord says Jeremy chap. 17. 17. for thou art my hope in the day of evil I care not though all the world be a terrour to me so be it thou beest not a terrour if I have peace with thee it is enough what ever evil befal me Oh therefore maintain and keep this peace above all it is no matter whether you have peace or no with the world so be it you have the peace of the Gospel in your hearts it is one special part of that spiritual armory we read of Ephes 6. to be shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace that is that blessed peace of the Gospel which is a strong preparation to endure any troubles or afflictions that Christians meet withal the reason of that phrase to be shod is this because we are to go amongst briars and thorns in our way to Heaven we are to meet with many hard things we are to pass through therefore we had need be well shod if a man be not so he will be as one that goes upon sharp flints bare-foot or a mongst thorns or bushes so that the blood tricles down his feet every step he takes surely such a man cannot hold out long thus it is with the soul that is not fenced with the Gospel of peace Be careful in nothing let not your spirits be divided for so is the word Phil. 4. 6 7. And the peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and mindes the word is shall guard your hearts afflictions and troubles are as enemies compassing us about but the peace of God guards our hearts from the evil of them this enables Gods children though not in the letter yet in some sort to tread upon the Adder and Asp to shake off Vipers and receive no hurt Having peace with God we glory in tribulations we are not onely patient under them but we glory in them How were the spirits of those blessed Martyrs we read and hear so much of strengthened with this blessed peace of the Gospel Take heed therefore that you never maintain peace with any sin Great peace have they that love thy Law and nothing shall offend them Psal 119. 165. Oh how many of you have broke your peace with God! at least the comfort of it is exceedingly darkned you would fain have outward ease and peace but you have neglected the comforts of this peace and that is the reason you have no strength to suffer any thing for the truth Nehem. 8. 10. The joy of the Lord is your strength that joy that comes from this inward peace but where this is not there is nothing to sweeten sorrows and therefore they must needs be very bitter That time therefore that God gives you yet respite from afflictions let it be spent in making up your peace more with God then ever and getting clearer evidence and sense of his love If ever you knew what peace with God meant I appeal unto you when at any time the sense of it hath enlarged your hearts with joy whether then have you not found your selves willing to suffer any thing for God you could then go through fire and water your spirits could triumph with the Apostle I am per swaded that neither life nor death nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come shal ever be able to seperate me from the love of God in Christ Jesus Fifthly labour to see more into the fulness of all good in God the Lord told Abraham that he was God all-sufficient as the onely means to strengthen him against whatsoever evils he was like to meet withal Labour to have the insight into Gods fulness in these three particulars First look at all the excellency beauty comfort and good in the creature and know that it is all in him in a most eminent and glorious maner There is no good in the effect but the causes together have it in them now God is the first cause and so all causes have their principle in him and therefore all good must needs be in him Secondly all possible good is in the Lord that is as there is no actual good but is for the present in him so there can be none but it is in him already there is such fulness of good in him that it is impossible that there should be any good added to him in the least degree Thirdly look at God as taking infinite delight in communicating himself in letting out his goodness to his creature let God be seen thus and let these three meditations of the fulness of good in God be wrought upon the heart and they will mightily support the spirit in all afflictions for what is the loss of any thing to me when I see where I can have it made up what is any bitterness when I see such infinite sweetness to sweeten all When tempests come upon Mariners and they be in narrow seas where they want sea-room there is danger but if they have sea-room enough there is no fear Thus if we are acquainted with the infinite fulness of good in God we should see our selves safe in the midst of all tempests we should feel our spirits quiet under the sorest afflictions Sixthly A sixt preparation for the bearing further crosses is an humble cheerful bearing of present afflictions and an humble submitting to the present condition That soul that is willing to yield to God in the present condition God will fit it for the future many cast about in their thoughts what they shall do hereafter if troubles should befal them and yet in the mean time they neglect the duties of their present condition Go on therefore humbly and patiently in the performance of the duties that God calls now for and they will prepare you for whatsoever duties shall be required of you hereafter there is no good to be expected from any in a new condition who are not careful to perform the duties of the present many are ready to promise When we shall be in such a condition then we will do thus or thus but what do you in your present never think to be able to suffer if God call you to a new condition if you cannot be patient under the troubles you meet with now especially when these troubles are small and petty in comparison of those you are like to meet withal Mr Bilney the Martyr used to put his finger into the candle to
nothing to those which thy Lord suffered he suffered more and greater things and know assuredly says he to his wife I never leave off thinking of the wrongs my Savior endured till my minde be still and quiet He that is afraid to suffer cannot be his disciple who suffered so much says Tertullian Certainly the example of Christ in humbling himself to suffer so much for us should be mightily prevalent with us if he emptyed himself so much to become the Son of man how much more should we be willing to empty our selves that we may be the Sons of God Worthy is the Lamb that was slain he is worthy of all honor from us who being Lord of all was content to be in the form of a servant to suffer for us and how can we express our honoring of him our respect to him better then in being to suffer for him I have read of a Roman servant who knowing his Master was sought for by officers to be put to death he put himself into his masters cloaths that he might be taken for him and so he was and was put to death for him whereupon his master in memory of his thankfulness to him and honor of him erected a brazen statue Christ who was not a servant but our Lord yet when he saw we were like to dye he took upon him the form of a servant he came in our likeness that he might dye for us and he dyed he requires not us to erect up brazen statues in memory of him in honor to him but that we should be willing to suffer for him when he calls us thereunto let not us put off the cloaths of our Christian profession that we may avoid sufferings for him as many do who put on the cloaths of our humanity yea of our servility that he might suffer for us The example of the servants of God in all times suffering in his cause is likewise a special help to us in our way of suffering Let us warm our hearts often at the meditation of the fiery tryal of the Martyrs Consider what precious choycespirited men they were how holy heavenly spiritual what service they did for God and yet that they should suffer such hard things as they did what are we in comparison of them Chrysostom in an Oration upon two famous Martyrs raising their honor and speaking how the worthies of God in former times endured hard things How is it says he that thou ô Christian must be so delicate a Soldier so dainty canst thou overcome without fight triumph without combate And in his Sermons upon the Colossions Remember the chains of Paul and consider what an absurd thing it is that he should be in bonds and you should live deliciously Does the desire of pleasures take remember the Prison of Paul Wouldest thou be cloathed in silks remember Pauls chains and silken cloaths will be more vile to thee then filthy rags Wouldest thou be adorned with gold remember Pauls chains and they will shew you that such ornaments are no better then the dirt under your feet Would you be beautiful with your hair think of the filth of the deformity of Paul in the Prison and thy heart will rise with indignation against such beauty and will account it extream deformity What would you have sweet oyntments consider of his tears I have read of Phocion an Athenian Captain when he was condemned to death by his ungrateful Countrey he saw one Tudippus condemned to the same death but very fearful he comforts him with these words Is it not enough for thee Tudippus that thou art to dye with Phocion so we may say to our own hearts Is it not enough for us that we have such a cloud of witnesses such a noble Army of Martyrs before us and with us be not therefore so afraid of the ways of God because of afflictions as thou hast been but submit thy self to God in this way of his CHAP. IX Duties required of us when God calls us to an afflicted condition SEeing God hath so ordered things that his people must be in an afflicted estate in this world when God calls us to suffer afflictions let us know there are three duties required of us First that we be willing to yield to Gods call to come under that condition he hath appointed us unto Secondly that we behave our selves Christianly with all humble submission patience contentedness in this condition Thirdly that we labor to improve our affliction that shall be layed upon us For the first when our cross comes we must be willing to take it up freely and readily to submit unto it It was the honor of the three children in Daniel that they yielded their bodies to those fiery flames they were cast into Dan. 3. 28. Let us not seek to put off sufferings by distinctions certainly the best policy in dangerous times is the greatest purity The Lacedemonians were wont to say It is a shame for any man to flye in time of danger but for a Lacedemonian it is a shame for him to deliberate How much more truly may this be said of a Christian when God calls him to suffer he should be such a resolved man beforehand that it should be a shame now for him even to deliberate It is argument enough for a Christian to suffer any thing because it is the will of God out of bare submission to God but when it is not onely so but in the cause of God in witness to his truth in vindicating his honor this call to suffer comes with strength indeed it is unworthy of a Christian once to deliberate the avoyding of this How much better is it to suffer a little to prevent a sin and so prevent Gods wrath then by avoyding sufferings to fall into sin which being once committed Gods wrath incensed by it cannot be pacified though we should be willing to suffer a thousand times as much Our condition is such that we must suffer one way or another while we live here Is it not better then to suffer for God then any other way This was Chrysostoms argument in his Sermons upon the 2 Cor. chap. 12. Sermon 26. If you suffer not for Religion you will suffer for some other unprofitable light cause Seeing then says he we following this or the other course of life we must suffer affliction why do we not choose such a suffering which with the affliction brings unspeakable glory Certainly it is infinitely better to suffer for Christ then for our sin We read of Peace-offerings that were offered there might be oyl mixed but not so in Sin-offerings in those afflictions we endure for Christ we offer up our selves as Sacrifices of Peace-offerings and in them there is joy much oyl of gladness is mixed in such offerings but when we suffer for our sins there is no oyl of gladness mixed there Let us take heed that we be not found guilty before the Lord when the
the chief contentment of thy soul Is it possible that the chief contentment of a creature should be in sinning against an infinite God That thy chief contentment should be in departing from God in striking at God So thou doest in the way of sin That thy chief contentment should be in incensing the wrath of an infinite Deity against thy soul That thy chief contentment should be in putting thy self under the everlasting curse that bindes thee over to eternal death That thy chief contentment should be in that which being committed if ever it comes to be pardoned must cost more then Heaven and Earth is worth Thou goest out in the morning and goest into thy company and countest thy self happy that thou hast money to spend and so takest thy pleasure This day thou hast done that which if ever it be pardoned it must cost more then Heaven and Earth is worth There must be a price paid more worth then a thousand worlds to purchase the pardon of it Canst thou choose that for thy chief contentment which was such a dreadful but then to Jesus Christ that made the soul of Christ to be heavy to the very death that squeazed out clods of blood from him What is the chief pleasure and delight of thy soul in that which a true enlightened gracious heart would rather suffer all the torments in the world then do it If so be it were put to him either such a sin must be committed or else all the tortures that can be devised by all the world must be inflicted upon him A gracious heart had rather choose all the tortures that can be inflicted then do that which thou makest the great pleasure of thy soul What an infinite difference is between thy base heart and a gracious heart Thy wretched heart doth choose this deliberately as the great pleasure of thy life which a gracious heart would rather suffer all the torments of the world then be brought to do it To delight in sins against conscience is the most desperate folly in the world No man rejoyces in any error or fault in other things but is rather ashamed onely in the errors in the rule of life and obedience men owe to God they rejoyce in Secondly those come under this reprehension who though they do not choose things for their chief pleasures that are sin yet do choose to themselves pleasures that come in by sin and though this be not so ill as the other yet ill enough that is those that shall strain their consciences to get something in the world to raise their estates and when they have got estates and money and things well about them then they can be merry then their tables are furnished and they can eat and drink and this they delight in O poor deluded heart what is this that can give thee so much content Thou hast cause to look upon thy table and every morsel that thou eatest as having death in it and every draught you drink as having the curse of God in it Little cause thou hast if thou knewest all to rejoyce in these pleasures that come in by sin certainly there can be no good that comes in by sin as sin I know God may turn sin to the good of some but that which sin brings in of it self it is impossible good should come of it that which thou takest pleasure in that which thou art merry and jocund in delighting thy self withal is it may be the calamity and misery of others and how hard is that heart that can make that his mirth and joy that is the sorrow and distress of his brother Chrysostom in a Sermon against luxury and excess cryes out against those who riot in those things that they have got by making others miserable and says It is the most grievous thing that can be Thirdly those who do neither of these they choose not to themselves the pleasures that are sin nor the pleasures that come in by sin but such pleasures in the enjoyment of which they do sin though the pleasures be in themselves lawful they choose to let out their hearts unto them and spend the strength of their spirits on them they think because there is no hurt in them in themselves therefore they may give liberty to themselves there is a great deal of mistake in this we may sin exceedingly in things that are lawful when men shall spend so much time as many that are professors do in giving themselves content in some sports and delights to the flesh as they cut God short of his time that time that should be spent in examining their hearts humbling their souls seeking the face of God is spent in some slight vain idle sport Many are guilty of this especially those that have means and their callings do not require such a necessity of continual attendance How is that time spent wherein you have liberty from your callings Certainly no good account can be given of that time much might be gained to your souls in it and much converse and communion you might have with God and what ill choice do you make when as many poor Christians would bless God if they could have a little liberty from their callings On the one side there is this liberty for you to enjoy communion with God and furnish your souls with heavenly excellencies On the other side there is a little vain delight and carnal content and ease to the flesh and you rather choose this It may be though God hath helped you in the main you chose right yet be convinced this day of the evil of this particular choice in giving such inordinate contentment to your selves in giving that ease to your bodies liberties to the sluggishness of your spirits and reform You have not honored God as you ought and therefore your lives are not so beautiful In the general you continue in the ways of Religion but there is not that convincing lustre and beauty in your lives you do not draw others to that love of godliness because your hearts become so vain and so slight in choosing inordinate liberties to your selves in spending your times and strength in the pleasures of the flesh and therefore when you come to spiritual employment you have no strength but your hearts are dead I appeal to your consciences when you have given your selves leave to have content to the flesh when you come to communion with God what dead flat hearts have you Let me speak to such this day from the Lord this liberty you take to your selves in the pleasures of the flesh hath been the root of the Apostacy of many as 2 Pet. 2. 18. those who fell off were allured through the lusts of the flesh even though they are said to be clean escaped from them who live in error yet through wantonness they were drawn aside Wanton professors seldom prove lasting professors at least in any power of godliness Take this one note
but what if it does prove that this way of mirth and delight to the flesh shall procure unto thee Gods laughing and Gods mocking at thee in thy anguish and greatest distress that ever thy soul shall be in Certainly if thou walkest in the way thou art in this will be thy portion mark that place in Prov. 1. 24. what God says I have called and you refused I have stretched out my hand and no man regarded but ye have set at naught all my counsel and would none of my reproof I also will laugh at your calamity I will mock when your fear cometh c. Be it known unto thee that in whatsoever sin thou blessest thy self the more thou blessest thy self in it the more cursed shall it be unto thee What comfort will the pleasures of the flesh be to thee when as Christ shall come and say Was I content to part with the pleasures of Heaven the bosome of my Father to redeem poor man and was it not the pleasure of a little meat and drink thou couldst be content to part with for me Could I be content to part with my blood and couldst not thou be content to part with thy lusts Was not all my sufferings worthy of enduring those little things thou wert called to suffer in thy life What was not all that glory of mine that I revealed in my word and works sufficient to shew me to be worthy that thou shouldst have given such a testimony of thy respect and honor to me as to be willing to part with such empty poor slight things and to suffer such poor little things When God shall bring the Saints before thee that did make a better choice and thou shalt see them to be in a most glorious blessed condition and thou thy self cast off for ever how will this confound thee another day Consider of this you that have made an ill choice now while it is time consider of the evil of the folly of the danger of the cursedness of that choice that you have made in that you have chosen rather to give content to your flesh then the ways of godliness Wherefore for the following of this in a word of exhortation CHAP. XIV The drawing mens hearts to a happy choice THe Lord then perswade thy heart to change thy choice change it or else thou art lost better thou hadst never been born then that thou shouldst not change thy choice O that now thou hadst wisdom for eternity whatsoever your ways have been now at last in this your day learn to know the evil of them to renounce them to embrace the ways of godliness and let it be sufficient that you have spent so much time in the ways of sin and giving content to your flesh O that this may be the day of your new choice that you may bless God for this day that God did this day dart in some truths to turn the streams of thy soul another way to make another choice that there might be before thou goest out of the presence of God a secret frame of spirit surrendring thy soul unto God being convinced of thy evil choice and say O Lord how have I lived What hath my course been the Lord knows my course hath been to give content to my flesh and to live bravely in my life now God begins to make me afraid lest I have been in a dangerous false way the Lord have mercy upon me what have I done Is it not time to look about me I have all this time miscarried in the choice of my soul for my everlasting estate I have chosen the ways of death all this while O that the fear of God might fall upon your hearts this day and then the promise of God is Psal 25. 12. Who is the man that feareth the Lord him will he teach in the way that he shall choose The fear of God will put you into a teachable frame and the Lord delights to teach such and surely it is an unspeakable blessing of God to be taught in the way of our choice How happy were it if the Lord would put a reasoning frame into your hearts that you might begin to ponder and weigh things and if spiritual arguments cannot prevail yet let us see whether they you reasonable Creatures or no Esay 46. 8. Remember and shew your selves men bring to minde O ye transgressors Come let us reason together Is there not infinite reason for Gods ways more then those ways you have walked in Is not God infinitely worthy of honor and praise from you other maner of honor and praise then he hath had from you your own consciences being judges Hath not God given you immortal souls and are they not capable of better things then these things that you have chosen for your chiefest good Hath not God made you for a higher end then to eat and drink and play What did the blessed Trinity consult to make a glorious creature Come let us make man according to our own image and when this great work is done is he made for no other end then to eat and drink and commit wickedness What is not man to live by rule indeed no creatures but Angels and men have a rule to walk by no creature is capable of knowing a rule but they What if so be that now thou wert to dye what would comfort thee if God should put an end to thy days and call thee to an account for thy ways what account couldst thou give to the great and dreadful God of thy ways and life would thy ways be peace It may be thou thinkest thou mayest have thy pleasure and that which is spoken out of the word by the Ministers thou canst avoid and there are no such things as thou hearest but what if those things that we deliver concerning the evil of sin and the danger of that way of sin should prove true then wo unto thee if all thy comfort depends upon this thou hopest these things that we preach are not true and is not this all the support of thy comfort which if it fail thou art lost for ever Certainly if that glory of God and that eternal estate we preach so much of be true it is worth the venturing of the loss of greater pleasures and delights then any thou hast in thy seeking after them make but a supposition What if it should be so is it not worth the venturing You will do so in other things the very supposition of a great gain or possibility of great evil will make you venture much God does not call you to venture much they are poor things that you are perswaded to leave and be not too confident in your way all that is written in the word may be true and if it be but possible yet be so wise as upon a supposition to venture O that you would make tryal of the ways of God! If once your hearts were in them whereby you would be satisfied
and danger and hazard himself in joyning with your childe in his affliction and danger you would take it well at his hands Secondly they hold out the honor of God in the world in their sufferings they are Gods witnesses Isaiah 44. 8. They stand for God in appearing therefore for them and their cause ye appear for God himself the cause is yours as well as theirs if God be yours Thirdly they need encouragement especially in the time of their affliction the best have flesh and blood and if they be deserted in their cause much advantage is given to temptation Wo to him that is alone If any should fail if any should miscarry through your deserting or not coming in and joyning with them it will prove a sore and a fearful evil against you If any of Gods servants in affliction shall go to God and make their means to him and in the grief of their souls tell him how you have left them how they are alone in so great a cause whereas such and such might have afforded much help and encouragement surely this will witness fearfully against you and it will go ill with you Certainly you bring much guilt upon your souls in deserting the Saints in the time of their affliction Hence Paul prayed that God would not lay to the charge of those in Asia that left him in his first answer Fourthly not appearing is a betraying the truth It is a speech of Zuinglius in his third Epistle We may as well with Dioclesian worship at the Altar of Jupiter or Venus as hide our faith under Antichrist He that is not with me is against me says Christ Fifthly Christ appears most for his people in their afflictions when they are at the lowest Isaiah 63. 9. In their affliction he was afflicted the Angel of his presence was then with them his love and his pity was towards them he bare them and carried them Psal 69. 9. The Zeal of thine house hath eaten me up the reproaches of them that reproached thee are faln upon me You know the place is spoken of Christ and these words were spoken when the Church was in a very ill case as appears in the Psalm Sixthly times of affliction are the especial times to manifest our true love to the Saints which are near to us in many bonds It is an ill part of a wife or friend to forsake husband or friend when in affliction Josephus reports of Herodias wife to Herod the Tetrarch who when the Emperor had deprived her husband of his Tetrarchy and banished him annexing his Tetrarchy to Agrippa his kingdom understanding that Herodias was Agrippa's sister the Emperor gave her her husbands substance supposing that she would not accompany her husband but she answered the Emperor There is a cause that hinders me from partaking the benefit of your bounty the affection I bear to my husband whom if I should forsake in this his misery it would very ill beseem me in that I have been a partner with him in his felicity the Emperor displeased with her answer banished her likewise with her husband a brother a friend a wife is for the time of adversity Especially hence it is recorded of Davids brethren and fathers house 1 Sam. 22. 1. When David was persecuted and came to the Cave of Adullam when they heard it they went down thither to him they ventured the displeasure the rage of Saul the forfeiting all their estates to go down to David their brother both his father and mother was there though very old now as appears ver 3. Basils forwardness in appearing for his friend in danger mightily affected Chrysostom he tells of him that he hazarded himself much to deliver his friend in danger and being blamed by some for venturing so much he gave this answer I have not learned to love otherwise I know not how to manifest my love but thus Seventhly when Gods people suffer most in Gods cause it is then most honorable to be called forth to appear for it to assist in it Amongst the Persians the left hand is accounted the most honorable Xenophon reports of Cyrus that those whom he honored most he placed at his left hand upon this ground because that hand was weakest and most subject to danger the most honorable of the kingdom were set to defend where there was most weakness and most danger If the people of God be brought low if they be brought under by affliction if the cause of God in them seem to be in danger then to come in and appear to stand by them and for them this is honorable Eighthly this appearing for the Saints and joyning with them in their affliction shall be highly rewarded of God When David was in his affliction persecuted by Saul Abiathar fled to him with the Ephod and abode with him Although self-respects might move him Saul having slain his father and fourscore and four priests of the Lord and if he had not escaped he had gone to it too yet because he was with David in his affliction mark how Solomon respects him for it 1 Kings 2. 26. Thou art worthy of death but I will not put thee to death but go to Anathoth to thine own fields because thou barest the Ark of the Lord God before my father David and because thou hast been afflicted in all wherein my father was afflicted Josephus reports of Agrippa that being bound with chains and sent to prison by Tiberius for wishing Caius in the Empire one Thaumastus one of Caius his Servants carrying a pitcher of water met him and Agrippa being very thirsty desired him to give him drink which he willingly did upon which Agrippa said This service thou hast done in giving me drink shall do thee good another day afterwards when Caius was Emperor and Agrippa was made King he first begged Thaumastus his liberty of the Emperor and made him a free man then he made him his chief Officer over all his affairs and after his decease he took order he should continue in the same office with his son This Agrippa was a wicked man who thus rewarded him that relieved him in his affliction it was the same Agrippa whom the Angel smote and was eaten up of worms because he gave not glory unto God How much more then will Christ reward those who shall give him in his members cups of water in their affliction yea who shall so joyn with them as to hazard themselves for them surely they shall not go without their reward when Christ comes in his glory he will own them But how must we appear what doth this point require of us First when Gods servants and their cause are accused and condemned you must not be silent you must not let it pass as being afraid to be accounted one belonging to them Luther in an Epistle to Staupitius a German Divine says That when Jesus Christ is condemned and
lane and such a craggy mountain though he would be glad they were not yet when he comes at them he is glad because they are signs of the way he must go Straight is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to life Master Bradford made use of that place when he came to the Stake and looked upon his sufferings as an evidence to him that he was in the right way Secondly they are an evidence to him of that difference that God hath made between others and him there was a time when as other men could close with me and agree with me now see what a difference there is they nothing but contemn me and despiseme I might have gone on and have been a scorner and a mocker as they are O the difference that God hath made between me and them that God should call me from them who was as vile as they and suffer them to be reproachers of godliness and make me a sufferer for godliness Jerome writ to Augustine that it was a great sign of glory to him that all Hereticks did hate him Thirdly it is an evidence of the sincerity and the power of his grace and his love that he bears to Christ and this is great riches for a gracious heart says Lord try me Lord prove me he would fain have an opportunity to manifest the truth of his love to Christ all the while I go on in a way of prosperity and have the desire of my heart wherein appears my love to Christ but now when I am called to suffering and to part with much for Christ here is an opportunity to shew I love Christ for himself that my love to him does not depend upon any thing that I gain by him in the world The Apostle says The tryal of your grace he speaks of faith is more precious then silver and gold and not onely your grace is more precious but the tryal of grace is more precious then gold and silver A gracious heart does rejoyce much in evidencing love to Christ as any dear friend rejoyces much in any opportunity of manifesting his love to another friend and the greater the opportunity is the more does he rejoyce And likewise the power of grace is manifested as David said to the King Achish Thou shalt know what thy servant can do and so a gracious heart thinks here is an opportunity to manifest the strength and power that is in grace Fourthly they are an evidence that much good is done that Satans kingdom is shaken in sufferings we see the rage of the Devil and he rages then most when he sends most opposition to his kingdom wherefore those against whom he rages most may have hereby evidence that they were most instrumental against him I rejoyce says Luther That Satan does so rage and blaspheme as often as I do but touch him he took it as an argument that much good was done otherwise the Devil would not have been so vexed he would not have raged so much Fifthly a gracious heart hath an evidence to it self that God will spare him when others shall suffer from his wrath Certainly the more any one is called to suffer in the cause of God and when he findes his heart ready and willing to yield to God in suffering the more evidence may he have to his soul that when others shall be called to suffer from Gods wrath he shall be spared and this is the bottom of the prayer of the Psalmist Psal 89. 50. Remember Lord the reproach of thy servants how I do bear in my bosom the reproach of the mighty people I read of one Escelus being condemned to be stoned to death and all the people were ready to cast stones at him and his brother came and run in and shewed that he had but one hand and the other hand he had lost for the defence of his countrey and then none would stone him and so the marks of the Lord Jesus are notable marks to safeguard thee in the time of trouble when the Lord goes out in his wrath he will set his mark upon those that he will save and none more notable marks then the reproaches and sufferings they bear for Christ This was Jeremiahs plea before the Lord chap. 15. ver 5. O Lord thou knowest remember me and visit me know that for thy sake I have suffered rebuke Lastly it is an evidence of salvation Phil. 1. 28. not that all that suffer shall be saved but a gracious heart that suffers in a gracious Christian maner hath God sealing to him by his spirit in his sufferings his salvation Put these together and we see one cause why we should count the reproaches of Christ great riches yea this is greater riches then the riches of Egypt Secondly the reproaches and sufferings which we endure for Christ are riches of preferment It was a speech of Ignatius when he was to suffer It is better for me to be a Martyr then a Monarch Epist 12. ad Romanos Euseb l. 8. c. 7. To be preferred to honor is counted great riches now there is a preferment of Gods people here these three or four ways Basil upon that famous Martyr Bar-aam says he rejoyced in stripes as in honors he exulted in the severest punishments as if praeclara bravia acceperet First the Saints look upon this as high preferment because it is a testimony that God hath a high esteem of them God does not use to call those that are weak and mean to great sufferings but his servants that are most eminent God will dispose of the conditions of his people suitable to their dispositions therefore he will not call those to the strongest work that are weakest A Captain does not call out his mean Soldiers to a notable enterprize but he calls out his most able couragious Soldiers and the more desperate the enterprize is the more honor the Soldier thinks it to be called out so the greater work God calls one to the more preferment is in it and we have cause to admire that God should deal so with us his poor creatures rather then others as if we were fitter then ' others though we cannot say we are fitter because we are conscious to our selves of so much weakness but God honors us as if it were so Secondly by this we come to be honorable in the eyes of the Churches and the Saints of God nothing makes Gods people more honorable in the eyes of the Saints then when they are called to suffer much for God And so in the Primitive times they esteemed much of the Martyrs even too much Chrysostom speaking of Babylas the Martyr calls him a great man a man to be admired and says if I may call him a man and Tertullian writing to some of the Martyrs says I am not worthy to speak to you he writes that it was a custom of some in those times to creep to the Chains