hast set up And therefore our Blessed Lord redoubles the injunction of our fear toward him that can destroy both body and soul in hell but forbids any fear of such persecutors who can only destroy the body and then can do no more And certainly that man that hath full assurance of favour and esteem with the great God of heaven and earth of an incorruptible weight and crown of glory the next moment after death must needs have a low esteem of the reproaches and scorns and persecutions of men for righteoufness sake and so much the rather because that very favour with God and that very crown of happiness that he expects is enhanced by those very scorns and those very afflictions For Our light afflictions which are here for a moment work for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory 3. Concerning the third kind of world namely the Providential world consisting in external dispensations of adversity or prosperity And first concerning the dark part of this world namely Adversity as casualties losses of wealth or friends sicknesses the common effects whereof are impatience distrust murmuring and unquietness Faith conquers this part of the world and prevents those evil consequences which either temptations from without or corruptions from within are apt to raise 1. Faith presents the soul with this assurance that all external occurrences come from the wise dispensation or permission of the most glorious God they come not by chance 2. That the glorious God may even upon the account of his own Sovereignty and pro imperio inflict what he pleaseth upon any of his creatures in this life 3. That yet whatsoever he doth in this kind is not only an effect of his power and sovereignty but of his wisdom yea and of his goodness and bounty No affliction can befall any man but it may be useful for his instruction or prevention 4. That the best of men deserve far worse at the hands of God than the worst afflictions that ever did or ever can befall any man in this life 5. That there have been examples of greater affliction that have befallen better men in this life witness Job and that excellent pattern of all patience and goodness even as a man our Lord Christ Jesus 6. That these afflictions are sent for the good even of good men and it is their fault and weakness if they have not that effect 7. That in the midst of the severest afflictions the favour of God to the soul discovering it self like the Sun shining through a cloud gives light and comfort to the Soul 8. That Almighty God is ready to support them that believe in him and to bear them up under all their afflictions that they shall not sink under them 9. That whatsoever or how great soever the afflictions of this life are if the name be blasted with reproaches the estate wasted and consumed by fire from heaven if friends are lost if hopes and expectations disappointed if the body be macerated with pains and diseases yet Faith presents to the believer something that can bear up the Soul under these and many more pressures namely that after a few years or days are spent an eternal state of unchangeable and perfect happiness shall succed that death the worst of temporal evils will cure all those maladies and deliver up the soul into a state of endless comfort and blessedness and therefore he bears all this with patience and quietness and contentedness and cheerfulness and disappoints the world in that expectation wherein its strength in relation to this condition lyes namely it conquers all impatience murmuring unquietness of mind 2. As to the second part of this Providential world namely Prosperity which in truth is the more dangerous condition of the two without the intervention of the divine grace the foils that the world puts upon men by this condition are commonly pride insolence carnal security contempt or neglect of duty and religion luxury and the like The method whereby Faith overcometh this part of the world and those evil consequences that arise upon it are these 1. Faith gives a man a true and equal estimate of this condition and keeps a man from overvaluing it or himself for it lets him know it is very uncertain very casual very dangerous and cannot out-last this life death will come and sweep down all these cobwebs 2. Faith assures him that Almighty God observes his whole deportment in it that he hath given him a law of humility sobriety temperance fidelity and a caution not to trust in uncertain riches that he must give an account of his stewardship also to the great Master of the Family of Heaven and Earth that he will duly examine all his Items whether done according to his Lord's commission and command and it lets him know that the more he hath the greater ought his care to be because his account will be the greater 3. Faith lets him know that the abundance of wealth honour power friends applause successes as they last no longer than this short transitory life and therefore cannot make up his happiness no nor give a man an ease or rescue from a fit of the Stone or Colick so there is an everlasting state of happiness or misery that must attend every man after death And on the one hand all the glory and splendor and happiness that this inferior world can afford is nothing in comparison of that glory that shall be revealed to and enjoyed by them that believe and obey 1. Nothing in respect of its duration if a man should live a thousand years yet that must have an end and the very pre-apprehension of an end is enough to dash and blast and wither any happiness even while it is enjoyed but that happiness that succeeds after death is an everlasting happiness 2. Nothing in respect of its degree there is no sincere complete perfect happiness in this world it is mingled with evils with fears with vicissitudes of sorrow and trouble but the happiness of the next life is perfect sincere and unmixed with any thing that may allay it And upon these accounts faith which is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen and therefore by a kind of anticipation gives a presence to the Soul of those future joys renders the best happiness this world below can yield but languid and poor like the light of a Candle in the presence of the Sun On the other side the misery that after death attends the mispent present life over-ballanceth all the good that this life can yield both in its degree and duration and therefore with the pre-apprehension of it it sowres and allays all the good that is in the greatest happiness of this life 4. Faith doth assute every believing Soul that as sure as he now liveth and enjoyeth that worldly felicity it hath so surely if he in belief and obedience to the will of God revealed in and through Christ
their own weapon to be as proud and consequently as violent as the rest of mankind for it is part of the Game of the world and Humility makes his case worse Veterem ferendo injuâ—â—m invit is novam Where the Countrey is full of Wolves and Tigers it is better be a Wolf or a Tiger as well as they than be a Sheep and expoted to their Violence I Answer to this Objection 1. As to the former part that though it be true that it can never be expected that all the world should be perswaded to be Humble no more than it can be expected that all should be perswaded to be Virtuous Just or Honest but yet if there were some though the lesser part of mankind truly Humble and Lowly it would make very much to the abating of those Evils that arise by the Pride and Haughtiness of men 1. Because the more Humble men there are in the world it necessarily follows there are the fewer Proud men and consequently fewer common Disturbers of the peace and welfare of mankind and humane society 2. When the contest comes by the proud man against the proud man indeed there is the same tumult between them as if there were none humble but when the contest is by the proud man against the humble man the strife is quickly at an end it is a true Proverb It is the second blow makes the sray the humble man gives way to the wrath and insolence of the proud man and thereby ends the quarrel for Yielding pacifieth wrath saith the Wise man and I have very often observed that the Quietness of spirit and Humility of a man attaqued by a Proud man hath subdued and conquered his Pride and Animosity to a wonder and made him tame that by opposition would have been furious and implacable Soft words breaks the bones and a Sword is sooner broken by a blow upon a Cushion or Pillow that yieldeth than upon a bar of Iron that resists But if it should fall out that the Proud man's Violence is not broken by the Gentleness and Facility of the Humble man whereby he suffers in his own particular yet there be two advantages that hereby happen to the publick viz. 1. That the contention is soon at an end the proud man hath got the day and the parties are quiet 2. It gains a secret compassion from the beholders to the injured humble man and a general resentment and detestation of the injury committed to the humble man that receives the injury with so much Humility and bears it with so much Patience and thereby Pride and Oppression become the common objects of the general detestation of insolence pride and oppression and the generality of mankind thereupon look on them as beasts of prey with hatred and abhorrence and endeavour means to secure themselves against it 3. A third advantage is this That though oftentimes humble and good men are exposed to the injuries of the proud violent and insolent yet they are a kind of ferment or leaven in the places where they live and by the secret influences of their virtues the commendableness of their conversation and the secret interest that virtue hath in the Soul not only of good but even of the worst men it doth work upon mankind assimulates in some measure to it self and makes others good and humble by a kind of secret Magnetism that that virtue hath upon the minds of men and the more such are in number in the world the more effectual and operative their example and influence will be upon those with whom they converse 2. As to the second namely the Damage and Detriment that the humble man receives in the world upon the very account of his humility I answer First that Detriment is abundantly recompensed with the quiet and tranquility and evenness and composedness of his own mind As a man possesseth his own Soul by patience so he doth by humility namely the composedness right temper and due estate of his own mind which no proud or violent or impatient man doth or can But secondly it is most certain that though an humble man may upon the very score of his humility and meekness receive a brush in the world yet at the long run he gains advantage thereby even in this present life When I first read the saying of our Saviour Matth. 5. Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth I looked upon it as a meer Paradox if applied to the comforts of this life and therefore thought it must be meerly and only intended of that new Heaven and new Earth wherein dwelleth the righteous but upon deeper consideration I found it in a great measure true also of the former for 1. It is most certain that no proud man is truly loved by any but himself but so far as relates to his pride every man hates him One proud man perfectly hates another and looks upon him as his enemy and those very actions of pride that his own self love makes him approve or at least allow in himself he scorns derides abhorrs in another and though an humble man hath a common love to every man though proud or otherwise vicious as being one of mankind yet in relation to his pride he loves him not nor approves That very Consideration therefore that renders a proud man hated or not loved renders an humble man loved and approved yea and by the very proud man himself for he looks upon him as no obstacle or impediment to the attaining of his ends as one that is injurious to none benificent to all gentle and one that stands not in his way giving all due respect honour and difference suitable to his place and dignity he wisheth all the world were such as he except himself and therefore he respects and tenders him yea and we shall by daily experience see in the world that if a proud man injure or oppress an humble man 't is a thousand to one he undertakes his patronage defence and vindication and very oftentimes is a means of his protection and deliverance 3. But farther it is a certain and experienced truth that Virtue and Goodness especially that of Humility hath a secret party and interest love or at least approve it in another though they practise it not themselves for Virtue and Goodness and Humility hath a secret congruity to the true and genuine frame of the humane nature and though mens lusts and passions in a great measure obscure the consonancy to it they can never extinguish it but the mind and conscience will give a secret suffrage wherever it finds it 4. It is a thing observable that though the generality of mankind abound with pride intemperance injustice and almost all kind of vicious dispositions yea though the best of men are not without the irruptions of some of those distempers and though it must needs be that where there is the greatest number there is the greatest external force either to make
instance is impossible in nature to be parallel'd 2. Because Pride and Vain-glory is so unhappily rivetted in the corrupt nature of man and it is so hard a thing to bring him to be humble and lowly notwithstanding all the benefits and advantages of it that it did not only stand in need of the most explicit Doctrine of Christ to teach and commend it the most unparallel'd Example of Christ to win men over to it but also the most plain and direct and explicit explication of that Example by that remarkable and special invitation of our Lord to it Learn of me for I am meek and lowly and again by his Apostle Let the same mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus c. 3. Because without Humility to prepare and mellow the hearts of men it would not be morally possible for them to receive the Faith of Christ It was Pride that made the Doctrine of Christ only to be to the Jews a stumbling-block to the Greeks foolishness but to them that are called viz. that obey the call of Christ Matth. 11.28 Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden c. Learn of mâ— for I am meek and lowly in heart it is Christ the Power of God and the Wisdom of God 1 Cor. 1.23 24. 4. Because without Humility all the rest of those Excellent Virtues that were taught in the Doctrine and exhibited in the Example of Christ had been but unacceptable A visible Holiness yet accompanied with Pride and Ostentation is but a disguise of holiness that accursed hypocrisie that our Saviour condemned in the Pharisees and others Matth. 6.16 Obedience to the Law of God Good works Fasting Prayers yet if done with Pride Ostentation and Vain-glory are dead and unacceptable Matth. 23.5 Charity Alms and Benificence if done with Pride and Ostentation and to receive Glory of men loseth its worth and reward Matth. 6.12 So that Humility and Lowliness of Mind is the substratum and ground-work the necessary ingredient into all acceptable duties towards God or Men. A GOOD METHOD TO ENTERTAIN Unstable and Troublesome TIMES THe first expedient is to Expect them before they come the very state of the World is Uncertain and Unstable and for the most part Stormy and Troublesome If there be some intervals of Tranquillity and Sedateness they are commonly attended with longer periods of unquietness and trouble and the greatest impressions are then made by them when they surprize us and come unexpected When the mind is prepared for them by a kind of Anticipation it abates the edge and keenness and sharpness of them By this means a man in a great measure knows the worst of them before he feels them which renders the very incumbence of them not so smart and troublesome to sense as otherwise they would be This Pre-apprehension and Anticipation of troubles and difficulties is the mother of Prevention where it is possible and where it is not yet it is the mother of Patience and Resolution when they come Bilney the Martyr was wont before he suffered to put his Finger in the Candle to habituate himself to a patient undergoing of his future Martyrdom by this means he in a great measure knew the worst of it and armed himself with resolution and patience to bear iâ— Men are too apt to feed their fancies with the Anticipation of what they hope for and wish in this World and to possess it in imagination before they attain it in fruition and this makes men vain and if they would have the patience sometimes to anticipate what they have just cause to fear and to put themselves under a Pre-apprehension of it in relation to crosses and troubles it would make them wise and teach them a lesson of Patience and Moderation before they have occasion to use it so that they need not then begin to learn it when the present and incumbent Pressure renders the lesson more difficult This was the Method our Blessed Lord took with his Disciples frequently to tell them before-hand what they must expect in the world Math. 10. and in divers other places telling them they must expect in this world the worst of temporal evils that they might thereby be prepared to entertain them with Resolution and Patience and might habituate their minds for their reception 2. The second expedient is that we use all diligence to gain such a Treasure as lies above the reach of the Storms of this world a Kingdom that cannot be shaken namely our Peace with God in Christ the Pardon of our Sins and a well-grounded Hope and assurance of Eternal Life These be things that lie out of Gun-shot and will render the greatest troubles that can befall this lower world or us in it not only tollerable but small and inconsiderable when in the midst of all the concussions of this world in the midst of Losses of Goods or Estate in the midst of Storms and Confusions and Disasters and Calamities a man can have such deep and settled considerations as these Though I can see nothing but Confusions and little hopes of their amendment yet I have that which is out of the reach of all these that which is infinitely more valuable to me than all the best the World can give that which I can please and comfort my self in not with standing all these worldly distractions and fears namely the assurance of my Peace with the great God of Heaven and Earth The worst that I can suffer by these discomposures the most I can fear from them is but death and that will not only put a period to the things I suffer or can fear in this life but will let me into the actual possession of my hopes even such a state of glory happiness as can never be ended nor shaken Such a hope and such an assurance as this will keep the soul above water and in a state of peace and tranquillity in all the Tempests and Shipwracks that can befal either this inferiour World or any person in it 3. The third Expedient is this that a man be Resolvedly constant to keep a good Conscience both before the approach of Troubles and under them It is most certainly true that the very Sting and Venom of all Crosses and Troubles is Sin and a Consciousness of the guilt of it This is that which gives Troubles and Crosses and Calamities their vigor force and sharpness it is the Elixir the very Life of them when a man shall be under extream outward Calamities loss of Goods loss of Liberty loss of Country all outward hopes failing and still greater Billows and Waves and Storms and Fears in prospect and within an angry unquiet avenging Conscience then indeed troubles have their perfection of Malignity But if a man in the midst of all these black and stormy appearances hath a Conscience full of Peace and Integrity and comfortable Attestation this gives a Calm in the midst of all these Storms and the