Box on the Ear from an Inferiour or an Equal or from one a little above you But if so be a King should be near and strike you you could bear that you would not be so ready to rise against him as against an Inferiour mans striking of you Why 'T is the Lord that is Infinitely above us that is the Infinite Glorious and Blessed God He must be submitted to Yea secondly It is the Lord that hath the absolute Right to us and all that we have more than we have to our selves or any thing that we enjoy It is the Lord that hath the absolute Authority over us to do with us what He will you have not so much authority over a Worm under your feet as God hath over you and over all your Comforts you have not so much right to kill a Fly as the Lord hath to take away your Lives He hath more Right a thousand thousand times over your Lives Familie Comforts and all you have than you have over the meanest Creature He hath the absolute Right over you all If any thing be done amiss in a Family and the Servants be falling out one with another and one saith you did thus and thus and the other saith you did it and so are wrangling one with another now if the Master comes and saith Why It was I that did it He makes account that this should still them all because it was he that had right to do it Why It is the Lord and therefore it is not for us to stand Fretting against any means For it is the Great Soveraign Lord that hath the absolute Power and Dominion over us And then Thirdly It is the Lord we have sinn'd against and hath us at infinite Advantages that way It is the Lord that we are liable unto While we are here in this World and carry about with us so much sin we cannot have any serious Thoughts of God but we must needs have Thoughts how we have sinn'd against this God and what advantages this God hath us at in respect of our sins Oh! It is the Lord that we have offended and sinn'd against Fourthly Hence it follows It is the Lord and therefore it is He that if He hath brought a little Affliction He may bring abundantly more if He pleases It is He whose Power as it is not shortned in a way of Help so not in a way of Affliction Hath He afflicted in one kind He might in a hundred if he pleased Hath He afflicted thee in thy Estate He might have afflicted thee in thy Body Hath He afflicted thee in thy Body He might have afflicted thee in thy Soul Hath He afflicted thee in thy Soul here He might have sent thee down to Hell eternally Is it upon any within thy Dwelling-place it might have been upon thy self It is the Lord that hath us under His feet And if He bring the least evil He might have brought as much as He pleased He might have afflicted us abundantly more than He hath done And this is a mighty humbling Consideration to quiet the Heart under the Hand of God And then Fifthly It is the Lord. Why it is the Lord that hath done all the Good that ever we have enjoyed It is He that hath done all Good to us You have an Affliction but have you no Mercies Do you enjoy no Good Why from whence was it was it not from the Lord Shall I receive Good from the Hand of the Lord and not Evil saith Job Why even the Savage Beasts will bear strokes from them that feeds them The very Bears will suffer the Bearherd that brings them Meat to strike them they will not suffer a stranger so much but those that bring them Meat They receive good from them and therefore they will submit to them Now we receive infinite Good from God daily Good and that 's a very useful Meditation for us to consider of in times of Affliction There 's this Good or that particular Good taken from me but what do I enjoy or what have I enjoyed It 's a usual thing in Afflictions to keep the sight of God from us As the putting a thing but as big as a Two-pence upon the Eye it will keep the sight of all the Heavens from us and so a little Afflictions many times keeps the sight of all the Good that we do enjoy from us But when we consider it is the Lord the infinite Fountain of all Good this is a mighty quieting Consideration Sixthly It is the Lord He is Just and Righteous in all his Proceedings there 's nothing but Righteousness in Him in all His Wayes In very Faithfulness saith David hast thou afflicted me It may be some affliction may come from Men and we may think they deal Unrighteously and Unjustly but it is the Lord and there is nothing but Righteousness in all His Wayes If we should think Why these afflictions they fall upon me and such and such they escape You must not reason so It is the Lord and therefore it is Righteous You think it might be better thus and thus but it is the Lord that is Just and Righteous in all His Proceedings and in all His Wayes Yea Seventhly As Righteous so infinitely Wise He is Infinitely Wise and so knows how to Order things in the best way that may be He knows what 's fittest both for us and for His own Glory We are poor weak Creatures but it 's the Lord that sees Infinitely beyond us Eightly It is the Lord that hath alwayes very Holy ends in all His Dealings He hath Holy ends and Aims at Great and Holy things though perhaps we know them not and therefore He is to do whatsoever He will We use to say of a Man if we see him to be a Wise and Understanding man yea a Just man and to be a man that doth all things alwayes from good Principles and for good Ends let him alone though we do not understand what he is doing yet let him alone he knows what he doth It is the Lord let Him alone in His work let Him do what seemeth Him good Ninthly It is the Lord and He is able to bring good out of the greatest evils to bring light out of darkness yea to bring the greatest good out of the greatest evils I verily believe that many of the People of God have found it so That the greatest Blessings that ever they have had since they were born have been Ushered in by the greatest Afflictions Certainly as the Lord would not suffer sin in the World were it not for His Infinite Power to bring about Good from the sins of men so neither would He suffer Afflictions in the World to His Saints but that He knows He hath Power enough to bring good to them even out of their greatest Afflictions It is the Lord that hath this Power One would be loath to trust ones self with one in any Danger that cannot tell how to bring him
if you read the Scripture from this place till you come to Chap. 42. you shall find that God is Manifesting himself there and Revealing himself in his Glory and Righteousness to Job Now in the 3d. verse Job takes up the very words to himself that God had before spoken Saith Job Who is he that hideth Counsel without Knowledge Therefore have I uttered that I understood not things too wonderful for me which I knew not God he saith Who is this that uttereth words without knowledge And then he shews himself Look upon me is it not I that have done it Then Job saw that it was God that did it I have meddled with things that I understood not I have troubled my self like a Fool in things that I did not understand O foolish wretched heart that I have And then afterwards he saith I have heard of thee by the hearing of the Ear but now mine Eye seeth thee wherefore I abhor my self and repent in Dust and Ashes As if he should say I 'll never be Impatient more I 'll never have any risings of heart more against any of thy dealings towards me For Lord now I see that I heard of thee before I could have said All things come by the Providence of God I could have said so I but now mine Eyes see thee I have the sight of that Glorious Infinite Majesty of thine that art so infinitely Great Blessed and Holy and therefore now I abhor my self in Dust and Ashes Let become of me what will I have learned for ever to sanctifie that Holy Name of thine It is the Lord let Him do what seemeth Him good And therefore by way of Exhortation O my Brethren I beseech you apply these things unto your selves In some of your Thoughts it seems I have been as Dead hear then somewhat that I am this day to say to you as you know Dives said If one come from the Dead they will hear him Here what I have to say to you from this Point First O let this sinck into your hearts as if one should come from the Dead to speak it to you namely this That God is so infinitely worthy of Honour from you that you should be at a point whether you Honour him either in the enjoyment of Mercy or suffering of Affliction it 's no great matter The Honour of God should be so dear to you and you should so much love him your hearts should be so much with God as you should leave it wholly to himself which way he would be Honoured by you Surely though we think we have a Love to God and we would Honour him yet our Love to God and desire to Honour him is very little If so be that we do not wholly resign up our selves to him to do in us and by us as he will then indeed is the heart right And this is Honouring God as a God when there is a full yielding up of the heart and when it is in a manner indifferent what way God will take Then your hearts are come to a right frame Secondly The second thing that I would say to you is this That there is so great evil in sin and O that God would make it take as great an Impression upon you as if one from the Dead spake it as the least stopping one in the way of sin the least abating the power of sin hath so much good in it as it 's enough to countervail the greatest evil in the greatest Afflictions in the World O this Principle would be of mighty use in the hearts of People when any Affliction doth befal them or their Family but doth God by this at least stop me in any way of sin Doth not God by this some way or other help me against some sin O then the Affliction is well paid for I have now a greater good abundantly than the evil of the Affliction comes to There was a little bitter but here 's a great deal more sweet Thirdly There is more good in any Exercise of any Grace than there is evil in the bearing of any Affliction If God doth bring an Affliction but for the Exercise of any Grace or for the stirring up thy heart but to look towards him there may be more good in that then there is evil in any Affliction Perhaps thou art going up and down muddling in the World and thy Thoughts were but little upon him before why if by Afflictions thou comest but to look after God his is a greater good than the evil of the Affliction comes to But if God Blesses thee so as thou comest to Exercise Grace in it Humility Patience Self-denial Faith O here thine Affliction is abundantly made up Oh! labour therefore upon the Consideration of this that It is the Lord to submit humbly to him this is acceptable to God Suppose you have two Children that were sick it may be one he riggles and keeps a stir and will take nothing that you give him but now you have another Child lies and he is sick too and he saith Father Mother I 'll do what you will have me I 'll take what you will give me do but tell me what you would have done I 'll presently do it though it be never so grievous and bitter I 'll take it Now would it not make your hearts relent towards such a Child that should be so yieldable will lie this way or that way take this thing or that thing and all because it comes from a Father If the Child should say to you It 's true I am Sick and Ill but I know you love me and know what 's better for me than I do and therefore I 'll take it Would not this be very acceptable O this it is which the Lord accepts when his Children do behave themselves so under his Afcting Hand And my Brethren This further helps against a great many Temptations When Job did but say this The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away let Him do what seemeth Him good The Devil saw his hopes gone then his hopes of doing that hurt and mischief that he intended was gone O the heart is in a safe condition that is thus submissive unto God Others that have Fretting Impatient hearts are subject to abundance of Temptations but the danger of Temptation is over when thy heart comes to this And this will make the Affliction very easie unto thee when thou bringest thy heart to this It may be others may think that 's very sore and hard with thee I but thou findest it very easie abundance of sweetness comes in with this Yea I appeal to the Experience of the Saints that knows but what this means Whether ever had you more Comfort in all your Lives than at that time when you have been most Afflicted and yet brought your hearts to this Temper and Disposition O therefore learn to work these things upon your hearts It 's an easie matter for Men and Women to speak
than Paul did and yet death was Gain to him he should get much by it Why many things might make the death of Paul Gainful I remember the last time I spake to you I spoke about an Argument of the Victory over Death that we have by Christ I will not speak now of what then I spake to but meerly Confine my self for otherwise the Argument might be very large to shew the Gain of death to Believers But I 'll confine my self to the very thing that the Apostle speaks of here in this Chapter That he should be present with Christ Therefore now I 'll speak of the Gain of being with Christ Now I confess there are many things that might be opened The Communion of the Soul departed with Jesus Christ As First It shall be immediate the Souls of the Saints while they are in the Body they have Communion with Christ but it is Mediately by other things by Ordinances and Means whereby Christ conveys Himself to them but there they shall have Communion with Christ Immediately only Christ and the Soul together Now the more Immediate the Communion is with Christ it is the more pure Here we have some Communion with Christ but a great deal of Sin mixt together with it That that is immediately from the Fountain is more pure that that comes in the Streams hath Dirt mixed with it So that that we shall have with Christ immediately shall be pure we shall have Communion with Him and nothing else We shall have no mixtures at all of any evil in our own Spirits And then Secondly Immediate communion with Christ it is more Sweet As the more Pure so the more Sweet As now the Wine that comes immediately from the Grape it hath more Spirits and is more delightful than that that is poured from Vessel to Vessel That which we have here from Christ it is that that is poured from Vessel to Vessel but that which Souls departed have from Christ is immediate and so comes more Sweet As if the Child suck Milk from the Breast it is more sweet to the Child than the Milk in a Spoon That that we have from Christ here is Milk as it were from the Spoon but that that Souls have that are departed they suck from Christ immediately and so comes to be more sweet Thirdly And more especially we account that that comes Immediately to have more Love in it As that that a Friend gives by his own hand is better and more comfortable to us So that that comes from God Immediately it 's a great deal more sweet As now here while we Live in the World the more immediate a Mercy is the more sweet it is to a gracious Heart Indeed a Mercy that comes by second Causes it 's comfortable because God Over-rules all the Causes but when it can see God immediately in a Mercy the more immediate the Hand of God is here Though God doth not work so Immediately here as He will do afterwards but the more Immediate God is here the more sweet it is And therefore in a Judgment the more Immediate the Hand of God is the more Terrible as in the Plague So in a Mercy though every Mercy is sweet yet the more Immediate God is in a Mercy the more sweet it is And then O how sweet is all the Good that the Saints have immediately from Christ therefore it 's Gain to them And then Fourthly It 's more strong The first Rebound is more Powerfull than a second and the first Gushings out are more strong The Beams of the Sun when they are first Reflected than if you take a Glass and Reflect them again and again And so that that comes Gushing out as it were of the very Heart of God it 's more strong a great deal and there is greater Impressions upon the Heart by it than that that comes by second Causes Fifthly That that comes Immediate it comes without Labour The Soul draws it from Christ and is not put to so much Pain and Labour as now we are put to If we would have Communion with Jesus Christ we must stir up our selves to the Humbling of our Hearts to the Acting of our Faith to Exercise our Graces and put the Body to it If you would have any communion with Christ in Prayer it must put you to some Labour And so in the Word and Sacraments And the Labour of a Christian is very great But when we come to have Immediate communion with Christ it will be the flowings in of Christ to the Soul without any Labour at all Sixthly It shall be more full when we come to be United to the very Fountain it self there it will be more full than the Stream Certainly there is that Good and Excellency in Christ that is too much for any Creature in the World to convey Yea take all the Creatures in the World and Ordinances they are too scant to be able to convey the Good that is in Christ yea that Good that Christ takes delight to communicate to the Souls of His People And that 's the Reason that here we have but a little Why Because the Conduits are so Narrow and Small that there can be but a little let out through those Conduits but when the Soul is with Christ immediately then it hath the Fulness of the Lettings out of Gods Mercy There will be an Eminency of every sort of Good to every poor Christian I remember Jerom speaking of that Text Christ being All in all He makes this Interpretation of it saith he Christ is here but some to some but not all to all As for Instance saith he Here some Men have some Eminency of some particular Grace conveid to them and some other Eminency of some particular Grace As Moses had an Eminency of Meekness Abraham an Eminency of Faith Job an Eminency of Patience and Solomon an Eminency of Wisdom but saith he Where was there ever a Man Eminent in all Graces But then saith he Christ shall be All in all That is Christ shall convey all Grace to all His Saints that all the Saints shall have an Eminency and Fulness in all Grace whatsoever This will be an Excellent thing Surely it 's Gain then to Die for a gracious Heart where Christ shall be thus All in all to them to convey this Fulness of Good in all things unto them Those Saints that are the Meanest now whose Souls have the least degree of true Grace they shall have an Eminency of all Grace Wouldst not thou think thy self happy if thou hadst as much Faith as Abraham as much Meekness as Moses and as much Patience as Job and as much Insight into the Misteries of the Gospel as Paul Now hadst thou as much as all the Saints ever had were not that Gain Why now as soon as thy Soul is departed from the Body thou shalt have an Eminency in all Graces as much as all the Saints ever had since the beginning of the World