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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A26847	A posing question, put by the wise man, viz. Solomon, to the wisest men concerning making a judgment of the temporal conditions : wherein you have the ignorance of man (in knowing, what is good, or evil, for man in this life) discovered, together, with the mistakes that flow from it : and the great question resolved, viz. whether the knowledg of, what is good for a man in this life, be so hid from man, that no man can attain it / preached at the weekly lecture at Upton ... by Benjamin Baxter ...	Baxter, Benjamin, Preacher of the Gospel.; Baxter, Richard, 1615-1691.	1662 (1662)	Wing B1172A; ESTC R39509	142,945	270

be fitted for all the dispensations and purposes of God concerning him Solomon sayeth Prov. 27. 1. Thou knowest not what a day may bring forth And why hath God hidden that knowledg from man but that a man may be prepared for what ever a day shall bring forth whether good or evil mercies or miseries life or death Solomon in Eccles 7. 14. speaking of prosperity and adversity saith God hath set them the one over against the other that Man may find out nothing after him There is Chequer-work in the Dispensations of God toward man in this life There is Black and White There are Fair and Foul Sunshine and Rainy days Intermingled There is Prosperity and Adversity changes of Conditions And mark God hath set the one over against the other there is Adversity opposite to Prosperity there is a Vally over against a Hill And see for what end That Man may find out nothing after him What is the meaning of that why this That man should not know what shall come afterwards or what shall come next whether Prosperity or Adversity that so he may be prepared for both When God hath set a man upon a Mountain of Prosperity he cannot assure himself he shall alwayes stand there for there is the Valley of Adversity set over against that Mountain and he knoweth not how soon he may be in it And so since he knows not what may be next God will have him keep himself in a preparation for all conditions Phil. 4. 11. The Apostle saith I have learned to be full and to be hungry to abound and to want As if he should say I am prepared for what God sees good for me if he see it good for me to be in a low condition to be hungry and to want I am prepared for it I am prepared for all conditions And this is one reason why God hath hid this Knowledg from man that man may be prepared for all Conditions There is an expression in Eccles 8. 7. Man knoweth not what shall be And what is the reason that man knows not what shall be why this That man may be prepared for what ever shall be 9. God hath hid this knowledg from man To shew man the vanity of his thoughts and to let man see how his thoughts differ from the thoughts of God As the Lord saith in another case Esa. 55. 8. My Thoughts are not as your thoughts So the Lord will have men know that his thoughts and mans thoughts are not the same in respect of what is good or evill for a man in this life God doth it to shew man his thoughts and the vanity of them Man thinks that Riches and Honour are good for him in this life and God lets him see how he is mistaken in his thoughts by their becoming evil to him And man thinks Afflictions are evil for him in this life and God lets man see how he is mistaken in his thoughts by turning them to good Thus God shews man the mistake and vanity of his thoughts in respect of what is good or evil for man in this life And so the Lord discovers to man the vanity of his thoughts in this particular in three things 1. In thinking those happy that enjoy the good things of this life when alas poor man knoweth not but these things are evil for him Thus the Lord in turning mens Tables into Snares shewes His Thoughts are not as man 's We read of some Mal. 3. 15. that call'd the Proud Happy They thought wicked men were the happiest men But God tells them he would have a time to shew them the vanity of their thoughts v. last Then shall ye return and discern between the Righteous and the Wicked As if he should say You shall see My Thoughts were not as your thoughts Men are ready to think the Rich man the happy man and the Great man the happy man And thus he discovers to man the vanity of his thoughts and to let them know that they know not the thoughts of the Lord. As the expression is Micah 4. 12. But they know not the Thoughts of the Lord. 2. In his thinking them the only miserable men that are afflicted it is usual with men to do so And God by hiding from man what is good for man in this life discovers to man the vanity of those thoughts Thus by making afflictions good for a man they come to see they were mistaken in their thoughts and find that Gods thoughts were not as their thoughts God in this gives man to see his folly in giving a judgment of those things he knows not And to let man see that while he professeth himself wise he becomes a fool Rom. 1. 22 That he is mistaken about the intentions of God since what he apprehended evil was by God intended for good God by this lets men see how much their apprehensions and His intentions differ How hath the Lord brought men to acknowledg their folly in this particular Thus he that was the Penman of Psal 73. tells you at vers 22. So foolish was I and Ignorant 3. In his judging of the intentions of Gods heart by the dispensations and operations of His hand And for this reason God hath hid this knowledge from man to shew man the vanity of his thoughts and his judgings in that particular Though Gods heart and hand go together yet not alwayes so as men imagine Men think where there is a loving heart there should be a blessing hand and where there is an afflicting hand there should be an hating heart God carryeth things in a mystery But God will give man to know he understands not that mystery Man is ready to think God intendeth good to that man to whom he dispenseth good things I mean things temporally good and that he intendeth evil to that man to whom he dispenseth things temporally Evil. Now the Lord by hiding this knowledg from man will let man see how he is mistaken in these thoughts and will let him know that with a loving heart there may go an afflicting hand and with an hating heart an hand that is seemingly a blessing hand That there may be good in his intention when there may be seeming evil in his Dispensation When God Afflicts and Chastiseth and Corrects Who would think there were good in His Intention and yet Heb. 12. 10. He chasteneth us for our profit Rev. 3. 19. As many as I love I Rebuke and Chasten Remember that Eccles 9. 1. No man knowes love or hatred by what is before him he knoweth not the Intentions of God by his Dispensations he knoweth not Gods Heart by Gods Hand And thus for the Ground in General Why God hath hid the Knowledg of what is Good or Evil for a man in this life CHAP. III. I Now come to give you the Particular Reasons why no man knoweth what is good for a man in this life So the Ground of it is this Reason Mans inability to know what

is in sin and so he must needs be unhappy It is said of Naaman That he was a Great and Honourable man but he was a Leaper that imbittered all So let a man be what he will for his outward condition sin unpardoned will spoil all What comfort hath a Great man if he hath the Stone in the Bladder or the Gout So when sin is unpardoned it imbitters the comforts of the best worldly condition If we could extract the quintessence of all outward comforts into one Catholick and Universal comfort yet it would do nothing to cure the evil of sin 2. The worst worldly condition cannot make a pardoned man Miserable The comfort of a pardoned condition is such as is not to be over-topped by any discomfort in any worldly condition Our Saviour speaking to the man sick of the Palsy saith Mat. 9. 2. Son be of good comfort thy sins are forgiven thee Pardon of sin is the greatest comfort Isa 40. 1. Comfort ye my people saith the Lord And one thing wherewith they were to be comforted was this That their iniquity was pardoned Could we extract out of all worldly Evills the quintessence of them into one Catholick and Universal Misery As it is reported of Caesar-Borgia That he was so skilled in the Art of Poysoning that he could contract the Poyson of a hundred Toads into one drop Yet all this would not amount to the Misery that attendeth sin 11. This is good for a man in this life without dispute To lay up Treasure there where things are Purest and things are Surest viz. To lay up Treasure in Heaven According to our Saviours Counsel Mat. 6. 19 20. Lay not up for your selves Treasures on earth where the rust and moath doth corrupt c. Some may ask But is it not good for a man to lay up Treasures on earth Let me tell you It is not good for you to have those for your only Treasure They are Treasures that Rust may corrupt or Theeves Steal But would you know what is good for a man indeed in this life It is laying up Treasure in Heaven There things are Pure no Rust to Corrupt them and there things are Sure no Theeves to Steal them It is Wisdom in treasuring up of things not to reflect upon the place from which we are going but upon the place to which we are going Were a man only for this life and were this world only to be his continuing City then it were somewhat to lay up Treasures here But remember this life is but a passage to another and it is good to lay up our Treasure there whither we are going It should be with us as with a man that is removing into another Country He sends his Treasure before hand thither and keeps no more about him then what will serve him for his Removal So that without controversy this is good for a man in this life To lay up Treasure in Heaven 12. This is good for a man in this life without dispute viz. To seek after distinguishing Favours Conditions in themselves are un-distinguishing Eccles 9. 1. We should therefore look after those things that speak distinguishing and not common Love Psal 4. 6. There be many that say saith David Who will shew us any good But Lord Lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us This is a distinguishing thing Corn and Wine and Oyl are not But the light of God's countenance is Christians remember that the outward things of a condition are but common without the Graces of the Condition 13. This is good for a man in this life without dispute viz. To keep peace within however things are without A good Conscience is a good thing for a man in this life An Heathen could say as I told you before Intus si recte ne labores If all be well within never trouble thy self Solomon saith of a good Conscience that it is a continual Feast A good Conscience is an Heaven and an evil one is an Hell in this life 14. This is good for a man in this life without dispute viz. For a man to keep himself in a continual preparation for Death This is good for a man without controversy And it will appear by these particulars 1. It is not good for a man to live one hour in that estate wherein he dare not dye Dare you dye in an Unbelieving and an Unregenerate Estate 2. It is good for a man to dye daily and to keep himself in a dying disposition When the Apostle saith Pray continually The meaning is That we should still keep our hearts in a praying Frame So when we speak of dying daily The meaning is That by daily meditation of and preparation for Death we should dye daily A Lyon seldom seen is the more terrible 3. It is good for a man in this life To do every thing so as that it may hold an agreement with a dying condition This is that we should look to Whether in seeking the things of this life we seek them so as that our seeking holds an agreement with a dying state Do you use the world as though you used it not Do you do every Duty as if it were your dying Duty 4. It is good for a man in this life To live every day as if it were his last day and to be doing that every day that we should be found doing at our last day Some think that good at Death that they looked not upon as good in Life O that men would consider that what is good at the last hour must needs be good every hour As on the contrary What is evil at Death must needs be evil in Life 5. It is good for a man so to live that when he comes to die he may have nothing to do but to die It is a folly in many to put off all till Sickness and Death come Solomon calleth upon men Eccles 12. 1. To remember their Creator in the dayes of their youth It is a madness in people to leave the hardest work to the worst and weakest State To close all Let me tell you Christians That it is said of David that after he had served his Generation by the Will of God or as some read it After he had served the Will of God in his Generation he fell a sleep How many fall a sleep before they do their work And put off their bodies before they put off their sins FINIS Fuit nuper non in agris nec in sylvis sed in maxima florentissimaque et quod stupeas urbe Italiae neque is Pastor aratorve sed vir nobilis magnique apud cives suos loci qui juravit se magno pretio empturum nequis unquam suam patriam literatus intraret O vox saxei pectoris Petr. Perhaps it was some Pope of Rome

times Of that they have been ignorant till they have gone into the Sanctuary and till experience hath afterward taught it them Time was when David a Godly man was mistaken about the Afflictions of Godly men and the Prosperity of Wicked men till he went into the Sanctuary Till then he was as Ignorant as other men So that till then a Godly man may be Ignorant of What is good for man in this life CHAP. II. NOw for the Confirmation of the Proposition I shall confirm it by 1. Scripture 2. Reason 1. By Scripture So we may gather from Scripture two things that may serve to assert the truth of this Proposition 1. Scripture acquaints us with what Disappointments men have met with in those wayes wherein they have dreamt of nothing but good and benefit and advantage to themselves How many have Ruin'd themselves by that by which they thought to have Rais'd themselves Scripture gives us many Instances in this kind of those whose Table hath been their Snare and what they thought should have been for their Welfare hath become their Trap Psal 69. 22. And this shews how men have been mistaken in what is good for them The Scripture furnisheth us with many Instances as those of Ahab in compassing Naboths Vineyard Gehezi in getting the Talents of Silver from Naaman Achan in stealing the Wedge of Gold and the Babylonish Garment Haman in screwing himself into the Favour and Affection of his Prince Israel in asking a King and in asking Quails Scripture shews us how these were mistaken about what was good for them We may say of them this That had they known what had been good for them they would not have done what they did Solomon in Eccles 5. 13. speaks of an Evil that he had seen under the Sun viz. Riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt Surely if the owners had not thought they had been for their good they would not have laid them up 2. Scripture acquaints us with this That there have been many that contrary to expectation have found those things good for them that they thought evil and looked on them as Evils As it tells us of many that found that to be evil to them that they thought to be good for them so of many that have found that to be good for them that they thought to have been evil Scripture furnisheth us with Instances in this particular And here time would fail me to tell you 1. Of Job who looked upon himself as the most Miserable man in the World That God had set him as a Mark to shoot at as if God would make sport with him He tells you how God wrote bitter things against him Yet we see all was for his good And so we see Jam. 5. 15. what end God made with him so that we see by that that Job was mistaken about his Afflictions 2. David Psal 119. 71. confesseth It is good for me that I have been Afflicted Consider time was when David did not think so Time was when David complained of them But see he was afterwards of another mind and tells us It was good for him that he was afflicted In Psal 73. if he were the Penman of it you find there was a time when he was envious at the prosperity of the Wicked and thought them the happiest men and he was troubled at the adversity of the Godly and thought them the most miserable men but afterwards he confesseth his ignorance and mistake in that particular To close up this If you look upon Heb. 12. you shall find the Apostle speaking to Christians under Affliction and endeavours to convince them of their mistake about Afflictions and that they looked upon that as evil which was for their good You shall find this is the scope of the Apostle in the beginning of that Chapter And then vers 7. 8. 9. He tells them they are Chastisements and that they bring forth the quiet fruit of Righteousness q. d. When you come to taste the fruit of these Afflictions you will be of another minde You will find contrary to your expectation that good for you that you thought evil You must judge of the Tree by the Fruit and when you come to taste the Fruit of Afflictions you will say You were mistaken in the Tree Thus for the Confirmation by Scripture 2. We come to shew the Grounds and Reasons of the Proposition Why no man infallibly knows what is good for man in this life So there is 1. Some Reason of it in Respect of God 2. Some reasons of it in respect of Man 1. The Reason of it in Respect of God is this Because God hath hid this knowledge from man and therefore no man knoweth what is good for man in this life And if any ask For what reason God hath hid this knowledg from man I Answer 1. God hath done it to maintain his own Prerogative It onely belongs to him who made the creature to know what is good for the creature It belongs only to him who hath given life to man to know what is good for a man in this life He knows man best and knows best what is good for man whether Riches or Poverty Quietness or Trouble Health or Sickness Life or Death This knowledg is too high and excellent for man It is not for man to know this which God hath put in his own Power 2. God doth it to keep man in a state of Dependance on him and Submission to him That man may know at whose finding he is and at whose disposing viz. of that God who onely knows what is good for man God doth it to take the creature off from being his own Carver He will have man look to Him and seek to Him for what is good for him God hath hid this knowledge from man that man may pray both for the good things and against the evills of this life with submission to the will of God Lord I know not what is good or what is evill for me in this life and therefore I leave my self to thee and in those things submit my self to thee Thou shalt Dispose of me Thou shalt Carve for me Thou shalt Guide me by thy Counsel who onely knowest what is good or evill for me in this life Thou shalt chuse my condition for me 3. God hides this knowledge from man to magnify and make the Glory of his Wisdom and Power known in working contrary to the apprehensions hopes and expectations of man So the Wisdom and Power of God shewes it self 1. In a way of Justice turning good into evill 2. In a way of Mercy turning evill into good 1. He shewes his Wisdom and Power in a way of Justice causing what was apprehended by men as good for them to become evil to them contrary to their hopes and expectations Thus the Lord causeth some mens Tables to become their Snare and what they thought to have bin for their welfare to be their Trap. Thus

and evil good and so are disabled from knowing what is good for a man in this life I shall name some of those ways by which most judge of the good or evil of a Condition 1. Opinion 2. Sense 3. Affection I. Most judge of Conditions by Opinion they take things to be as they account them It is Opinion that makes things to be good and evil to some that if rightly considered are not so Thus Conditions are looked upon as good or evil according as they are in our Opinion It was the saying of Seneca Levis est Dolor si nil Opinio adjecerit The misery would be little if our Opinion did not adde to it Opinion is a leight judgment of things by which things are good in the imagination but never arrive at the understanding to be made Reason It is an ill Guide and therefore some call it the Guide of Fools when Reason is the Guide of the Wise Most men judg of Conditions by Opinion and so it is impossible they should make a right Judgment of Conditions of what is good or evil for a man in this life And therefore we find the Scripture setting it self to oppose and cross the Opinions of Men in relation to what is good and evil for a man in this life Jam. 5. 1. Howl ye Rich Men c. Now it is the Opinion of most that Rich men have cause to Rejoyce Prov. 15. 16. Better is a little with the Fear of the Lord then great Treasures with Trouble This crosseth the general Opinion of men Psal 37. 16. A little that a Righteous man hath is better then the Riches of many Wicked Now the Opinion of the World is That much is alwayes better then little One place more Eccles 7. 2 3. Vers 2. It is better to go to the House of Mourning then to go to the house of Feasting But most men think not so Vers 3. Sorrow is better then laughter But this crosseth the general Opinion of men II. Another way by which men Judg of the Good or Evil of Conditions is by Sense They judg of the good evil of things according as they are pleasing or displeasing to their Senses They judg of Conditions as many do of Meats who judg of them by the taste and so take them to be Wholsome that are Toothsome And so on the contrary those meats Unwholsome that are Unpleasant And therefore the Apostle tells those Heb. 12. 11. how they were mistaken about their Condition which was then a Suffering Condition No Affliction saith he for the present seemeth Joyous but Grievous Why Sense at the present can feel no good in it But afterwards it bringeth forth the quiet Fruit of Righteousness This way of judging deceived Eve She saw the Fruit was desirable it looked fair to the Eye Thus many are deceived about their Conditions They are like the Book St. John eatt As Hony in the Mouth but in the Belly as bitter as Gall. Thus men look upon Conditions whether they are Hony in the Mouth they look no further whether they may not prove Gall in the Belly Why thus most judg of Conditions by Sense and while they judg so it is impossible for them to know what is good or evil for them in this life III. Some make a judgment of Conditions by their sinfully-sensual Affections and so account that good for them in this life that suits with their Lusts and Inordinate Desires Thus men come to be beguiled with the appearance of Good instead of Real Good Most men take the word of their Lusts and corrupt and sinful Desires concerning what is good for them As Sampson said Give her me for she pleaseth me well Since the Fall man rather consults with his own Corrupt desires then any thing else and makes them his Oracle at which he enquires about the good and evil of things and while they seek to that Oracle it must needs follow that Good must be rejected under the Notion of Evil and evil lookt upon as desirable under the Notion of good Affections sensually-sinful are wofully blinded in judging of Conditions CHAP. IV. HAving Explained and Confirmed the Point I come now to Resolve some Questions that may be put in Relation to the Truth delivered 1. Question Whether it be lawful to Pray against Afflictions Since no man knoweth what is good for a man in this life and so in praying against them we may Pray against and Deprecate that that for ought we know may be for out Good 2. Quest. Whether it be lawful to Pray for outward and worldly good things as Riches c. Since we know not but we may pray for what is evil for us 3. Quest. Whether our being ignorant of what is good for us in this life doth not warrant us to undertake things and adventure on them hand over head or at hap-hazard as we say or at adventure without any Circumspection Consideration Prudential Foresight or Providential Care as in Marriage c. Why some may say I know not what is good for me in this life and therefore Let it happen how it will So the Question is Whether this Truth do not deny and destroy all Care of Providence I shall Answer to these in order 1. Quest. Whether according to the Truth delivered it be lawful for a man to Pray against Afflictions Since he knoweth not but that he may Pray against his own good Since some by Experience have found It was good for them that they were Afflicted Answ Some have bin of this Opinion that It is unlawful to Pray against Afflictions and that it was not the Errour of Tertullian to say Afflictions were to be sought for and desired and said That men ought to be so far from praying against them that they ought to pray for them and desire them But this I look upon as one of his Errours I shall give an Answer to the Question 1. General 2. Particular I. General So I Answer That notwithstanding it so falls out that Afflictions are good for a man yet they may be lawfully prayed against And this Truth I shall clear up to you by four things 1. Afflictions are in their own Nature Fruits and Effects of Sin and such as Nature abhors such are Sickness Poverty all sorts of Losses and Crosses they were brought in by Sin The Apostle saith Rom. 5. 12. Sin entred into the world and Death by Sin Death is there put for All Miseries As Life in Scripture is put for all Good so Death is the Topick for all Miseries being called the King of Fears and so the King of Evils being the King of whatsoever is fearful to man and what Nature abhoreth As Death so all Evils as Death's attendants came into the world by Sin Sin was the Mother and Afflictions of all sorts are the Daughters So then looking upon them under this Notion as the Effects of Sin they may be prayed against When Sin came into the world these Evils

put out our eyes To escape the danger of misunderstanding the Scriptures to keep them from understanding them and to lock them up in an unknown Tongue and to fly from them because they are abused by Hereticks As if Christ should not have said again It is Written because the Devil had said It is Written But of the two Evils the Vanity is more tolerable of them that glory in their excellent Libraries or of Sabinus in Seneca that boasted of his learned Servants or the Great Men that glory in their learned Chaplains while they are ignorant themselves than the Villany of Licinius that called learning The Pest and Poison of the Common-Wealth Or the Italian Noble Man that Petrach mentioneth that would give a very great summe of mony to keep all men of Learning from ever coming into his Country Or the impiety of them that would banish the knowledg of the Scriptures from the laity in the Church of God 2. And from the matter and manner of this Treatise I have more special Reasons to take the publication of it for a Mercy The Subject is very suitable and seasonable in these times when Providence sporteth it self in the affairs of men and puzzeleth so many and is so variously interpreted by the best and misinterpreted by the most This Doctrine of mans uncertainty of what is for his good in the matters of temporal concernment or of the disengaged Providence of God is not any where else so fully and methodically handled that I know of And it is of very great use to the correcting of many and great miscarriages and the right ordering of our affections and imployments in the world How unreasonable is it That we should be so eager and peremptory in our desires of that which we know not Whether it will do us good or hurt That we should be so passionately troubled for those passages of God's Providence which for ought we know may be the means of our felicity O how oft do we foolishly trouble our selves because God is saving us from greater trouble and we do not understand His meaning Strange that the knowledg of our nothingness and the experience of the fruits of our miscarriages will not yet perswade us to give God leave to Govern the World without our medling or seeking to take his Work into our hands and censuring of that which we never understood That we have not yet enough of the desire of being as gods having smarted for it as we have done O the folly of those Expositors of the Prophecies of Scripture who first overvalue a prosperous state and conclude beyond their knowledg that it is best for us and then reduce the Promises to their sense and grow so confident in their expectations of outward deliverances and prosperous times as to lay their hopes and comforts on it and the very credit of Religion it self And ô the madness of those men that laying this as their ground work that fleshly Prosperity is best for them are unreconcilable to the wayes of Faith and Holiness and Mortification because they square not with this Erroneous Foundation These Generalls we are certain of First That ordinarily Adversity is more profitable to the Soul then worldly Prosperity Secondly That all things shall work together for good to them that love God And therefore we have reason to be most suspicious of Prosperity but if we are true Christians to interpret all well that is of God Did we but know what need we have of mortifying Providences as the ordinary means of mortifying Grace we should rightlier judg of them then we do Tanto quisque ferramentum medici patientius tolerat quanto magis putridum conspicit esse quod secat Saith Greg. He that best knowes the rottenness of the flesh will best endure the Surgions knife And happy are we if that be cured by the pain of the flesh which was corrupted by the pleasure of the flesh Si quae carnis delectatione peccamus carnis dolore purgamus Marvel not if when thou turnest unto Christ thou seemest to be assaulted with successive Waves and to be cast into a Furnace or brought into a Thorny Wilderness and compassed with Sorrows which thou never wast acquainted with before As Augustine to his friend Noli admirari frater si postquam Christianus effectus es mille te undique tribulationes vexant Quoniam Christus nostrae Religionis caput est nosque ejus membra sumus debemus ergo non solum eum sed ejus vitam cumulatissime sequi Christs way must be our way we must be conformed to our Head We must Suffer with him if we will be Glorified with him The Cross is the passage to the Crown The Armies of Saints have gone this way in all Generations Similes aliorum respice casus Mitiùs ista feres Ov. Should we expect that Grace should have no Conflict no Conquest before the Triumph but be Crown'd before we have shewed what it can do Nay we know not the power of it in our selves till it be tried Nemo scit quid potueris neque tu quidem ipse Opus enim est ad suî notitiam experimento Quid quisque possit non nisi tentando didicit inquit Seneca Be not therefore too unmannerly and foolishly importunate with God for any outward thing till thou not only thinkest that at the present it would do thee good but also canst see as far as to the end and say That it will be in the issue good and will not cross any greater Good And marvel not if God grant not such mistaking Prayers Non audit medicus ad voluntatem sed ad sanitatem saith August What sickly tempers should we be of yea what certain death would follow if our Father and Physitian should dyet us as we desire and give us what we would have our selves It seems a hard saying of Augustine of Rich men Difficile imo impossibile est ut praesentibus et futuris quis fruatur Bonis ut hic ventrem et ibi mentem impleat ut à deliciis ad delicias transeat ut in utroque seculo primus sit ut in terra et in coelo appareat gloriosus It is hard yea impossible to enjoy both present and future Goods to satisfy the belly here and the mind hereafter to passe from pleasures unto pleasures to be a chief man in both worlds to be glorious both in Earth and in Heaven But it meaneth no more than Christ meant in Luk. 16. 25. 18. 25. O how great a Victory do they get that overcome the temptations of Prosperity Magnae virtutis est cum foelicitare luctari et magnae faelicitatis est à foelicitate non vinci Aug. How few are so happy who have that which the world counteth happiness as to escape its sting and the everlasting misery which living after the flesh will procure Rom. 8. 1 13. Heu caecae mentes tumefactaque corda secundis This maketh the Great ones of the

us as our Daily Bread It is strange yet it is true These Thorns will bear Grapes and these Thistles will bear Figgs And there is a Day when the Saints of God shall say They could not have been without such and such Afflictions and that It was good for them that they were Afflicted Some Trees there are whose Root is Bitter yet their Fruit Sweet A natural Eye seeth no Good in them and tastes no Sweetness And indeed the Spiritual man doth not always at present discern what Advantage cometh by them We must know those Creatures that we look upon as Venemous and Noxious are yet useful for some Ends and some Respects Thus even Toads c. The skilful Apothecary knoweth how to make Vipers and Scorpions Medicinal Enquire of the Saints of God and they will tell you from their own Experience What good Afflictions have done them and that they were Chastned for their Profit Heb. 12. 10. Afflictions seem to be but dry Rods yet like Aaron's Rod they have found them bringing forth both Blossomes and Fruit. 3. Some say Afflictions are bitter and burthensom to Nature and therefore conclude they are not good for a man in this Life We shall a little examine this to see whether there be Truth in it The Premises are granted That they are Bitter and Grievous to Flesh and Blood and the Apostle grants it Heb. 12. 11. But the Consequence is denied That what is Bitter and Grievous to Flesh and Blood is therefore Evil for a man in this Life And therefore we are to distinguish between what is Toothsom and what is Wholsom Between things that are Pleasingly and Profitably good Things may be Profitably good for us that are not Pleasingly good Those things are sometimes most Wholsom that are least Toothsom There be sweet and honied Poysons that Destroy And there be bitter and distastful Medicines that do Cure We know Wormwood is a Bitter hearb and yet Wholesom and Useful for Man Some things may be sweet in the Mouth that yet are bitter in the Stomack Heb. 12. 11. The Apostle saith of Afflictions though they are Grievous yet they bring forth the quiet fruit of Righteousness Here is the Difference between the Evils of Sin and of Affliction The Evils of Sin they are Sweet in the Mouth but bitter afterwards but the Evils of Affliction are bitter in the Mouth but sweet in the Close Afflictions indeed are bitter but oftentimes the bitternesse ariseth from our own Spirits When our Taste is Vitiated some things seem to be Bitter to us that otherwise would not be so It 's our Spirits that many times Imbitter our Condition and make our Chain much Heavier than other waies it would be There are many Afflict themselves when they are under an Affliction As it is with a Bird when it is gotten into a Room or Chamber it might do well if it sate still till the Doors and Casements were opened but till then with flying against the Walls it doth but hurt and bruise it self To close up this Physitians do observe we are most apt to Surfeit of those things that are most Sweet and Luscious And we find Solomon the Wisest of Men prefers bitter things before Sweet Eccles 7. 3. Sorrow is better than Laughter Ver. 4. It is better to go to the House of Mourning than to the House of Feasting 4. Some say That Afflictions are the Effects and Fruits of Sin And therefore not Good for a man in this Life We shall a little Examine this Ground It is true That Afflictions were at first Fruits of Sin But we must make a Difference between what they were at First and what Jesus Christ hath made them to His People now It is true they were at first the products of Sin but to the People of God they are now Changed and Altered We must Distinguish between what is Sinfully Evil and Penally Evil. What is Sinfully Evil is Unchangeably Evil but Afflictions are but Penally Evil and may be made good We must know As there is a Regeneration of Persons so of Things To him that is Born again All is Born again As his Outward Comforts are born again so all his Outward Afflictions It is true the Evils of Afflictions were first Conceived in the womb of Sin and Sin brought them Forth but there is the womb of the Covenant and of the Promise where they are New-formed and out of which those things that were Punishments come forth Priviledges and what was Loss comes forth Gain We read Rom. 5. 12. Sin entred into the World and Death by Sin We see Death came in by Sin Death which is the King of Fears and so its Attendants with it viz. all Miseries and Afflictions whatsoever Thus at first they were conceived in and came forth of the womb of Sin but the Covenant and Promise have changed and altered them it turneth Miseries into Mercies and Punishments into Priviledges and Evil into Good 1 Cor. 3. 22. All is yours saith the Apostle to Believers and among other things he names Death where he makes Death one of the Believer's Priviledges put into the Believer's Charter And the same Apostle Phil. 1. 21. saith To him to Die was Gain Death in respect of its first Birth was Losse but being born again it becomes Gain And as Death which is the King of Fears and so the chief of Evils so likewise all other Evils are Gain to a believer Rom. 8. 28. All things work together for Good to them that love God Thus we have examined the Grounds that those go upon in making this Judgment of an Afflicted Condition That it is Evil for a Man in this Life I shall Conclude with these Queries 1. Who knows or can say that That is Evil for a man in this Life that God inflicts upon the best in this Life We often find the cup of Gall and Wormwood going round about the Saints Tables We usually find it the Diet-drink with which God doth Physick his Dearest Children With the same Sword wherewith He destroyeth his Enemies He sometimes wounds his Friends and all this for their Good We find the Godly ones of Judah were carried Captives to Babylon as well as others they lost their Houses Estates were taken out of the Land of their Nativity and carried into a strange Land And yet the Lord saith of them Jer. 24. 5. That he had sent them into Captivity for their Good 2. Who knows or can say that that is Evil for man in this Life that may be consistent with Happinesse An Afflicted Man may yet in this Life be a happy Man As Man at his best Estate is but Vanity so there are that in their worst Estate may be Happy A Man may be Great and Rich and yet Miserable And a Man may be Poor and Afflicted and yet Happy Job 5. 17. Behold Happy is the Man whom God Correcteth It seems to be a strange thing and therefore a BEHOLD is put to it A

Comfort when they see they can keep it no longer And this is that Submission that some rest in and think it sufficient to say There is no remedy But now there is another Submission that hath more of Grace in it And that is when God calleth for a Comfort from us there is free Resignation of it up to God As we read of Abraham When God called for Isaack he presently resigned him up to Him And this Submission proceedeth from Faith which works a Christian to the denying of himself and to a complying with God in that that is seemingly contrary to his own desires and content Thus we read Heb. 11. how Abraham by Faith offered up his only begotten Son By a hand of Faith he presents again to God That Blessing he received from Him Faith teacheth a man to receive a Mercy from God and to be thankful and to part again with it and to be content And this not out of necessity because they can keep it no longer but there is a free resigning of it up to God Consider the difference between these Submissions is such as is between the death's and ends of men Some men when they see they must dye and that there is no remedy do yield out of necessity and so their Soul 's are as it were taken from them As the expression in the Gospel is Thou fool this night shall thy Soul be taken from thee Whereas a Godly man makes his Soul a Free-will-Offering to God As our Saviour did his Father into thy hands I commend my Spirit And as Stephen did his Lord Jesus receive my Spirit It is said Prov. 14. 32. The Wicked is driven away in his Wickedness i. e. He is thrust and forced out of the world whether he will or not But the Righteous hath hope in his Death and that hope makes him to Resigne and give up his Soul to God As we read of giving up the Ghost 8. This is another work we have to do in an Afflicted Condition viz. To lay to heart the Affliction When God puts a man into an Afflicted Condition This is one thing God expects from him Eccles 7. 14. In the day of Adversity consider In Isa 42. 25. the Prophet complaineth of Jacob That when God poured out upon him the Fury of his Anger and the Strength of Battle And it had set him on Fire round about yet he knew it not and it burned him yet he layed it not to heart According to the Original it is thus He did not put it upon his heart It is an Hebrew Phrase and notes diligent consideration of Affliction Now that you may not be mistaken about this you must know There is a double laying to heart of an Affliction 1. Carnal sinful and hurtful 2. Spiritual holy and helpful 1. There is a Sinful laying of Afflictions to heart When a man takes those burthens that lye upon his outwards viz. His Person Estate c. and layeth them as a burthen upon his Spirit whereby a man troubles himself when God troubles him When he layeth his troubles without so to heart as to trouble himself within this is Evil. This is forbid John 14. 1. Let not your hearts be troubled The word in the Original signifieth such a trouble as is in water when the mud is stirred up or as the Sea is when it is troubled with a Storm or Tempest As we read in Scripture of the troubled Sea that it's Waters cast forth Mire and Dirt. It also signifieth such a trouble as is in an Army when it is Routed and Disordered there is nothing but Fear and Distraction and Confusion So saith our Saviour Let not your hearts be troubled i. e. Take heed of so laying your troubles to heart as to trouble your Hearts to distemper your Affections and so to blind the Judgement that you can see and discern things no better then a man can in muddy water This laying of Afflictions to heart is unlawful when they are layed to heart to disquiet and distemper the Heart and to raise a Storm in the Soul to make it a troubled Sea casting forth nothing but the mud of impatiency and discontent Take you a glass of water that hath some mud in it and let it stand still the mud settleth at the bottom and the water above is clear but shake this water and then the mud ariseth and there is confusion and the water that before was clear becometh muddy So it is with our hearts and affections there is mud at the bottom and when they come to be stirred by Affliction then the mud ariseth This we should take heed of of laying Afflictions so to heart as to stir up the mud of impatiency and discontent 2. There is a laying of Afflictions to heart that is Spiritual holy and helpful This is a laying them to heart not for the troubling but for the bettering the heart Not for the making of the Spirit more Distempered Impatient Weak and unfit for Duty but for the making of it more Holy and Humble and Submissive this is a right laying of Afflictions to heart It is then right when there is an applying of the heart to the Affliction to find out what use and benefit may be made of it When we lay the Affliction to the heart not to distemper it but as a plaister to heal the diseases and distempers of it viz. to heal it's Pride and Worldliness and Vanity c. It should be with us in considering of and laying Afflictions to heart as with the Bee which alights on a Flower and leaves it not till she hath made something out of it even out of the very blossom of a Thistle she will get somewhat So it should be in respect of an Afflicted Condition There should be such an application of the heart to it as to get somewhat out of it for the bettering of the heart Solomon telleth us Eccles 7. 2. It is better to go to the House of Mourning then to the House of Feasting For this is the end of all flesh and the living will lay it to his heart Laying to heart the ends of others is the making somewhat out of them that is good and profitable for our selves It is our Duty to lay to heart the Afflictions of others much more our own The Lord telleth Babylon Isa 47. 7. That she said She should be a Lady for ever and did not lay the Afflictions of his people to heart As she laid them not to heart by way of Sympathy so not by way of Improvement So then to close this Laying afflictions to heart stands in this In having Impressions made upon our Spirits suitable to the Providence and the Dispensation We read of Ahaz That in his Affliction he transgressed more and more 2 Chron. 28. 19. God brought Judah low and Ahaz was put to his shifts he gave gifts to the King of Assyria yet he helped him not And Verse 22. In the time of his distress he did