yearning in his bowels with bitter grief that he should be the cause of bringing this destruction upon his dearly beloved People So should we when our sins have been a cause to hasten the death of our dear Friend confess them unto God be deeply humbled for them and pray heartily for pardon thereof And then Thirdly and lastly Let us be careful to avoid these sins for the future This God expects Job 36.9 10. He shews them who are holden in the Cords of Affliction their work and their transgressions that they have exceeded he openeth also their ear to discipline and commandeth that they return from iniquity This the Church hath practised in times of great distress Lam. 3.40 Let us search and try our wayes and turn again unto the Lord. Oh! how should our hearts rise against such sins as rob us of our dear Friends If any mortal man had murdered our Father or Mother Son or Daughter Brother or Sister or any other near and dear Friend or Relation We would not endure that man but prosecute the Law on him to the uttermost and we would rejoyce to see justice done upon him Our hand would not spare our eye would not pitty him Oh then take an holy revenge upon your Lusts which have provoked God to take away such or such Relations let your hearts be transported with infinite indignation against them 2 Cor. 7.11 Say in the Language of Elihu Job 34.31 I have born chastisement I will not offend any more nor provoke God in this manner by my sins to take away my Friends Mortifie therefore your earthly members fornication uncleanness inordinate affection c. Coloss 3.5 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 kill or make dead Pursue these sins with a deadly implacable hatred not only odio aversationis but inimicitiae Oh! let not your sins survive any longer but as they have killed your Friend so let them be buried with him in his Grave Use 4 4. Imitate deceased Friends in what is good There is no Friend so universally bad but there is something of good in him worth imitation some good might be distil'd from him if we put under the fire of Charity Who so deeply buried * Refined Courtier p. 58. saith a learned man under the rubbish of his own ruines that something of goodness may not be discerned by a charitable Surveyor We find David commending Saul in that Panegyrick or Funeral Oration mentioned 2 Sam. 1. Do not like the silly Sheep leaping off a Bridge follow one another in irregular wayes to your destruction Nequaquà m facere nos improbos improbitas debeat aliena Salv. Salv. de Gub. Dei lib. 7 p. 241. What you find in any materially good follow it but chiefly imitate your godly Friends Phil. 3.17 But in as much as they have their failings as pure Gold hath its dross and the purest Wheat its Chaff follow them so far onely as they follow Christ 1 Cor. 11.1 Make then your godly Parents your Paterns as * Mr. Dugard in Epist deâ—icat to his Sermon on Ps 89 48 Constantines Sons are said to resemble him to the life 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Euseb Write after those good Copies which deceased Friends have set you Jerom having read the Life and Death of Hilarion who died Christianly as he lived Religiously Well said he Hilarion shall be the Champion whom I will follow Zeno Cilliaeus consulted with the Oracle how he might live well and he received this answer 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 If he was of the same colour with the dead This he interpreted to mean That he should get and read all the antient Books that he could hear of and then steep and die his mind in those sacred Notions A * Mr. Patrick in his Serm on Psal 90.12 Reverend Divine saith of this Sentence what St. Paul did of Epimenides's Sentence Tit. 1.13 This testimony is true If you would live well Look as like to the dead in the Lord as ever you can and labour to turn your Souls into their shape As living Examples are to be followed so the dead are not to be forgotten Heb. 6.12 Be not slothful but followers of them who through Faith and Patience inherit the Promises It is said of Abel Heb. 11.4 That being dead yet speaketh which as it may be understood of his blood calling for Vengeance Gen. 4.10 Heb. 12.24 So likewise of his example calling for our imitation Heb. 12.1 Well then was thy Friend a strict observer of the Sabbath a constant frequenter of the Ordinances a diligent reader of God's Word a faithful Instructer of his Children and Servants Was he a lover of good Ministers a reliever of good People a reprover of Vice an encourager of Vertue Was he much in praying laborious in his Calling Was he serviceable to his Neighbour faithful to his Friend a forgiver of his Enemies In a word Was he temperate meek patient peaceable humble honest heavenly-minded c If these and the like vertues were conspicuous in thy Friend Go thou and do likewise Luke 10.37 Though your Friend be dead and buried yet let his vertues live in your practice Use 5 5. Admire Gods goodness who as yet continues thee in the land of the Living Life is a mercy that we ought to bless God for Psal 66.8 9. O bless our God ye people and make the voice of his praise to be heard who holdeth our soul in life So Ps 103.1 2 3 4. The Psalmist there amongst other mercies blesseth God for healing his Diseases and redeeming his life from destruction Indeed God's delivering our Soul from Death is an effect of his bounty as ye may gather from Psal 116.7 8. It is of the Lords mercies that we are not consumed Lam. 3.22 For God to maintain that radical moisture that Oyl that feeds the Lamp and Light of thy Life is as * Mr. Goodwin on Rom. 2.4 5. one saith as great a miracle as the maintaining the Oil in the cruse of the poor famished Widow 1 Kings 17.16 When thou therefore hearest of the death of any Friend Neighbour or Relation consider with thy self it might have been thine own case thou art made of no better Mould then he was 'T is God only that preserveth the House of Clay from falling to the ground As thou accompaniest him to the Grave to pay the last office of Love consider thou mightest have been carried forth and others have accompanied thee Is it not a miracle of mercy that the Dart of Death should kill many round about thee and yet miss thee Conclude that the Hand of God guides it and it is his meer mercy that thou art yet spared When Lot as I told you before had his Wife turned into a Pillar of Salt and his Sons in Law swept away by a fearful showr of Fire and Brimstone he took it for a great favour that God had spared his life Gen. 19.19 Behold now thy Servant hath found grace in thy sight and
1.12 c. Old Par in Shropshire by faring hardly had attained to above an hundred and forty years Tenuis mensa sanitatis mater Delicate feeding renders the Body dull and diseased whereas slender meals make it active and healthful 5. Consid God can make course diet as pleasant to the taste See Prov. 15.16 17. Even a dinner of herbs is sweet Prov. 27.7 The full soul loatheth an honey-combe but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet To the hungry soul how pleasant is a piece of bread and cheese 6. Consid God can make course diet as satisfying if you belong to him Prov. 13.25 The righteous eateth to the satisfying of â—his soul but the belly of the wicked shall want Indeed we read how they who have their portion in this life God filleth their bellys with his hid treasure Psal 17.14 But many Epicures though their Bellies are filled yet their appetites are not satisfied but they are still hankering after variety of dainties Ecles 6.7 But God hath promised to his People that he will satisfy the poorest of them with bread Psal 132.15 I end this with that of Musculus Muscul in Gen. 1 29. p. 48. Sic esse naturam humanam comparatam ut quod cibum attinet modico ac facili demitti posset nisi ingluvies obtinuisset cui nullo edulij genere satisfieri potest 7. Consid God can make a little go far As he multiplied the Sareptan Widows handful of Meal and little Oyl in a cruse to the feeding of many many dayes 1 King 17.15 and Christ in the dayes of his flesh with five loves and two fishes fed five thousand men besides women and children Mat. 14.17 c. And though Miracles are now ceased yet we see daily God feeds many poor people with a little so that we wonder how they live yet through God's blessing they live and look well There is an expression Psal 107.41 of God's making the poor man's families like a flock of sheep which may imply thus much that the poor godly man's children being divided into families as so many flocks of sheep shall live and look well with a little as sheep you know gather fleece and flesh though they fare hardly 8. Consid God sees coarse diet to be most convenient for thee Pro. 30.8 wise Agur prayed that God would give him food convenient for him God sees that high feeding is not convenient For 1. It unfits for good Duties as Praying Reading Hearing Meditating Receiving the Sacrament c. St. Chrysostom in the first Homily on Genesis hath this pretty conceit That Moses when he came from the Mount and brought the two Tables of the Commandments with him when he perceived the Israelites to whom he came that they had fill'd themselves full and were dancing and sporting he threw down the Tables because saith that golden-mouth'd Father he thought it an absurd thing to give Commandments for them to observe upon a full stomach See Mr. Ramsden's Serm. on Luke 21.34 For 2. It besots men and makes them careless and sensless It is the nurse of security as you may see Luke 17.27 c. so Luke 21.34 Intrárunt Urbem somno Vimque sepultam Virg. Corpus onustum Hesternis vitiis animum quoque praegravat Horat. Full meals as they make dull bodies so they make foggy minds 3. It is accompanied usually with many sins As great and delicate Persons have usually a great Retinue waiting upon them so high and delicate feeding is generally accompanied with many sins as Pride and Idleness Ezek. 16.49 Unthankfulness and Forgetfulness of God Deut. 32.15 8.10 11. Prov. 30.8 Vomiting and Filthiness Isa 28.8 Lust and Uncleanness Prov. 23.31 c. Jer. 5.7 8. Rom. 13.13 Rioting and Drunkenness Chambring and Wantonness go together Saturitas ventris seminarium libidinis A full belly and a foul heart seldom go uncoupled 4. And lastly It brings down God's Judgments It brought the Flood upon the old World Mat. 24.38 Fire on Sodom Ezek. 16.49 50. The Sword on Israel Amos 6.4 7. compared See what befell the murmuring Israelites that desired delicious fare Psal 78.30 31. They were not estranged from their lusts but whilst the meat was in their mouthes the wrath of God fell upon them and slew the fattest of them c. We reade likewise of the rich-man that fared deliciously every day was after his death in Hell and lift up his eyes being in torment Luke 16.19 23 compared The Apostle tells you Phil. 3.19 Whose god is their belly their end is destruction To shut up this The Psalmist speaks of some how God gave them their request but sent leanness into their soul Psal 106.15 If God should give thee thy request and bestow more delicious fare upon thee however thy body might come on yet thy soul would be but poor in grace lean and ill-favoured It is well for God's Servants that their Master keeps them in good working case for as an Heathen said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Menand It is better to fare meanly and live well then to fare deliciously and live disorderly A barren ground doth well for Gods sheep fat pastures may rot them And a full table may be a snare to Christians and that which should have been for their welfare through an ill disposition in them may become a trap unto them Psal 69.22 God then in giving thee course Diet sees it most fit for thee 9. Consid If you serve God you are not without your feasts you have several Spiritual feasts which are far better then bodily To name a few 1. you have the feast of a good Conscience Prov. 15.15 He that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast The Scripture oft puts Heart for Conscience 2 Sam. 24.10 Acts 15.9 1 John 3.20 The Hebrews have no other word but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to express Conscience by And because a good Conscience causeth joy or mirth therefore it 's rendred a merry Heart but it may be rendred according to the Original A good Conscience is a feast alwayes or at a feast continually 2. You have the Word of God which is a feast This is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Clemens calls it Vitae aeternae viaticum David looked upon it as such Psal 119.19 I am a stranger here on Earth hide not thy Commandments from me He looked upon Gods Commands backt with Promises as his Spiritual food whilst travelling towards Heaven his own Country He esteemed it sweeter then honey or the honey-comb Psal 19.10 and Job esteemed it more then his ordinary food Job 23.12 3. You have the feast of the Lords Supper This is Heavenly Manna our viaticum to the Heavenly Canaan This is Spiritual meat 1 Cor. 10.3 It is Angelical food indeed an excellent banquet for saith Christ Joh. 6.55 My Flesh is meat indeed and my Blood is drink indeed Meat and drink indeed by way of reallity and by way of excellency see Psal 22.26 29. and 36.8
so Isa 25.6 and 55.1 2. These and such like places signify celestial viands wherewith God feeds his people by the ministry of his blessed Word and Sacraments Hungry and thirsty souls get much refreshing by these Luk. 1.53 4. and lastly You have the rich graces of the Spirit of God which are a spiritual feast of this Christ speaks Mat. 5.6 Such as hunger and thirst after the righteousness of Christ after the gifts and graces of his blessed Spirit they are blessed and they shall be filled as at a feast So Rev. 3.20 If any man open the door of his heart and recieve Christ with his graces he hath promised to come in and sup with him They shall be merry and fully satisfied as at a feast Thus the righteous have meat to eat that the world knows not of 10. And lastly consider If you belong to God you shall ere long have better fare You may be to morrow for ought you know at the Supper of the Lamb Rev. 19.9 God as one saith is the founder of this feast and none are admitted but Friends Christ the Lamb of God will gird himself and make them to sit down to meat and will come forth and serve them Luke 12.37 What a strange expression is this Christ himself their Lord and Master will serve at the Table he who is sweetness it self will afford them his presence to serve them and to solace them Future happiness is oft in Scripture set forth under the similitude of a feast as Mat. 26.29 Mark 14.25 Luke 22.16 18 30. Mat. 8.11 so Luke 13.29 the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies to sit down as at a feast or banquet but let us not dream as possibly that Pharisee did Luke 14.15 that there is eating and drinking in Heaven For glorified bodies are freed from these and the like necessities Rev. 7.16 They shall hunger no more neither thirst any more and then v. 17. The Lamb which is in the midst of the Throne shall feed them c. The Lamb of God shall be instead of meat drink apparel sleep and the like Muscul in Gen. 1.29 p. 47. In coelesti vitâ corpus futurum est sine cibo perdurare Glorified bodies shall stand in no need of any outward refreshments no more then Spirits do And therefore the Apostle tells you It is sown a natural body it is raised a Spritual body 1 Cor. 15.44 The holy Ghost then by comparing the joys of Heaven to a Feast shews that there is fulness of joy as at a Feast For as it is Psal 16.11 In thy presence is fulness of joy and at thy right hand there are pleasures for ever more Well then poor Christian that fares so hardly though it be bad with thee now it will be better with thee shortly Poor Lazaras that fared hardly here being dead is comforted Luke 16.25 and abundantly refreshed as at a feast And whereas you say you must wear mean apparel Consider for your comfort 1. Consider Thy betters have gone in worse habit then thou wearest John the Baptist had his Raiment of Camels hair and a leathern girdle about his Loins Mat. 3.4 so the Apostles 1 Cor. 4.11 We hunger and thirst and are naked so 2 Cor. 11.27 so those Worthies Heb. 11.37 They wandred about in Sheep-skins and Goat-skins being destitute afflicted tormented Our first Parents after the fall were no better cloathed then with Leather Gen. 3.21 2. Consider Thy Garments how mean soever are gifts from God Gen. 28.20 Jacob acknowledged raiment to put on as well as bread to eat to be Gods gift God ows thee nothing thou deservest nothing It is a mercy that thou hast any thing to put on to cover thy nakedness For thy unthankfulness God might justly strip thee of all Hos 2.8 9. 3. Consider God knows mean apparel is fittest for thee Costly apparel is many times a provocation to lust 1 Tim. 2.9 It is a consumer of a great estate and so hinders works of charity It brings down Gods judgments Isa 3.16 c. Zeph. 1.8 It makes them proud usually that wear it who more proud then your great Gallants though there is little reason for it For many inferior pitiful creatures excel man in his gallantry Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like a Lilly Mat. 6.28 29. And a poor Butter-fly as * Refin'd Courtier p. 47. one saith outvies all the artificial colours of the Court. Besides our clothes are ensigns of our sin and shame compare Gen. 2.25 with Gen. 3.21 The same Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that signifies a garment Buxtorf Heb. lex signifies likewise sin Had it not been for sin that caused shame we had not needed apparel And therefore to be proud of it is as if a wounded man should be proud of his plaisters Well then God cloaths thee in mean apparel to prevent sin in thee 4. Consider To be desirous of rich apparel argues much vanity St. Bernard saith Vestium curiositas deformitatis mentium et morum indicium est It shews the deformed nakedness of the soul and that virtue hangs but loosly on it Attire was at first given as I told you to cover shame and sin he therefore that is desirous of apparel surely hath more sin to hide more shame to cover then other men 5. Consider God respects no man a jot the more for the richness af his outward apparel see Jam. 2.5 God hath chosen the poor of this world rich in Faith Poor Lazarus was dear to him and received into Abrahams bosom but rich Dives notwithstanding his gorgeous apparel was cast into Hell the place of torment as you read Luke 16.19 c. 6. Consider Course garments may be as useful Hos 2.9 as costly apparel Garments were given for these ends 1. To cover our nakedness Gen. 3.7 Our first Parents after the fall sewed fig leaves together poor shifts to cover their shame 2. To defend and guard the body from the injuries of the weather Garments are munimenta corporis the bodies defence and safe-guard see Gen. 3.21 Our first Parents first covering was of fig-leaves which would do them little service but God afterwards provided them such cloathing as would defend them against the offence of heat cold wind rain c. 3. To give warmth to the body Joh 31.20 and Job 37.17 4. and lastly To distinguish persons 1. In respect of sex that men may be known from women and women from men Deut. 22.5 The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth to the man nor shall a man put on a womans garment Habits of men and women have been ever diverse 2. In respect of quality and condition Conditions should thereby be distinguished as well as Sexes Clergy should by their garments be distinguished from Laity Exod. 28.2 c. Rich from Poor Prince from Peasent Master from Servant Mat. 11.8 Luke 7.25 Well then are not thy course garments as useful as more costly apparel do
Salv. de Gub Dei l. 7. p. 273. prosperity makes few men better it makes many men worse But more particularly I shall mention several sins that plenty and prosperity expose men to As 1. To Pride Psal 73.2 6. compared It is there said of prosperous wicked men Pride compasseth them about as a Chain They glory in their pride as proud men do in a chain of gold so 1 Tim. 6.17 Charge them that are rich in this world that they be not high-minded 2. To creature confidence So 1 Tim. 6.17 we must charge rich men that they be not high minded so that they trust not in uncertain riches which they are apt to do thus did Doeg Psal 52.7 and the rich Farmer Luke 12.18 19. 3. To oppression see Psal 73.3 4 5 6 7 8. So Amos in his herds-mans dialect calls the rich and great ones of Samaria Kine of Bashan they were fat and frolick and did gore their inferiours Amos 4.1 Hear this word ye Kine of Bashan which oppress the poor which crush the needy So Jam. 2.6 Do not rich men oppress you 4. To uncharitableness cruelty contention I put them together for they are nigh of kin Rich Nabal was churlish and uncharitable to fainting David and his company 1 Sam. 25.10 11. so the rich man denied Lazarus relief Luke 16.19 20 21. Pity it is yet usually so it is that the more men have the more they would have and the less they 'l part with Yea they are not only uncharitable but cruel too Psal 73.6 Violence or cruelty covers them as a garment So Prov. 18.23 The rich answereth roughly They are rough in their speeches and carriage to the poor So Jam. 5.6 Yea have condemned and killed the just speaking of the rich men v. 1. Who so given to Law-suits Quarels and Contentions as the rich Whilst the Families of Abraham and Lot were not so great there was peace and quiet but so soon as they and their possessions were encreased they grew contentious Gen. 13.7 8.9 Wealth parted those whom neither Adversity nor Famine nor Exile could part asunder So Jam. 2.6 Do not rich men draw you before the Judgment-seats 5. To Luxury and Intemperance Luke 12.19 The rich Farmer sung a Requiem to his soul Soul take thine ease thou hast goods laid up for many years Eat drink and be merry So Luke 16.19 Dives fared sumptuously every day So Isa 56.12 and Amos 6.4 5 6. 6. To Lust and Uncleanness This sin the rich Sodomites were much addicted to Gen. 19.4 5. They burnt in lust and followed strange flesh Jude 7. Where there is no want usually there is much wantonness Jam. 5.1 5 compared Ye have lived in pleasure on the Earth and been wanton ye have nourished your hearts as in a day of slaughter 7. To Security Psal 30.6 In my prosperity I said I shall never be moved So Jer. 22.21 I spake unto thee in thy prosperity but thou saidst I will not hear So Prov. 1.24 31 compared 8. And lastly To contempt of God his Word and Judgments As Exod. 5.2 Job 21.14 15. Psal 55.19 Prov. 30.8 9. Amos 6.3 You see what abundance of sins rich men are exposed to These sins and more that might be mentioned are waiters in ordinary attending greatness God therefore by taking away such a Friend and bringing you into a poor condition would prevent or cure in you such sins as prosperity and plenty exposeth us unto God like a skilful Goldsmith casts his Children into fiery tryals to purge away their dross of sin as you may see Isa 27.9 48.10 Prov. 25.4 Sphinx Philos p. 311. Fiery tryals make pure Christians Job 23.10 Magna est miseria à peccatis non retrahi To go on in sin without controul is miserable O blessed poverty that starves our sins 2. Consid As God brings you into poverty for the purging out of sin so for the exercise of grace Poverty like a File brightens the Graces of Gods Spirit in his Children and makes them shine forth to the World I shall name several Graces that Poverty is a means to set a work As 1. Faith In Poverty God saith Let the Widows trust in me Jer. 49.11 so Zeph. 3.12 I will leave saith God in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor People and they shall trust in the Name of the Lord. 1 Tim. 5.5 She that is a Widow indeed and desolate trusteth in God So Jam. 2.5 God hath chosen the Poor of this World rich in Faith God by pulling away the pillow of creature-comforts teacheth you to rest on him alone As the Israelites in the Wilderness lived by Faith for their daily bread Exod. 16.19 c. Deut. 8.3 When we have little and know not how to get more then to depend on invisible bounty is a true and noble act of Faith 2. Prayer 1 Tim. 5.5 She that is a Widow indeed and desolate not only trusteth in God but continueth in supplications and prayers night and day David being brought low and refuge failing him he prayed earnestly to the Lord Psa 142.4 5 6. Affliction sets Prayer at work as Psal 107.6 13 19 28. so Jer. 31.18 Hos 5.15 so Isa 26.16 They poured out a prayer saith the Prophet when thy chastening was upon them Before they dropt out a prayer now and then a prayer as water drops through the Limbeck but in affliction they poured them out as water is poured out plentifully in rainy weather thorow the spout In Poverty people pray more earnestly and frequently for their daily bread 3. Thankfulness Man usually is unthankful Generale firmè est omni homini Salv. de Gub. Dei l. 1 p. 35. ut Deo semper ingratus sit But rich men most of all unthankful like Hogs eating up the Maste but never looking to the place from whence it comes But when God brings them into Poverty then they prize his creatures and him that sends them Qui non agrotat nescit quantum valet sanitas saith Jerom. As a sick man prizeth health so an hungry man prizeth plenty Those that have the shortest Meals usually have the longest Graces Poor people like birds sip a little and look upwards 4. Heavenly-mindedness Rich-men whose God usually is their Belly mind earthly things Phil. 3.19 but poor Christians as the Apostles were have their conversation in Heaven v. 20. The Prodigal when he ate husks with swine and was in great want he thinks seriously of returning to his Father's house Luke 15.14 c. St. Paul in Poverty is willing to be gone Phil. 1.23 Waters of Affliction as the Waters to the Ark mount us nearer Heaven Some never look Heaven-wards but when God casts them on their backs I mean reduceth them to poverty and misery God then dams up outward comforts that the stream of our affections may run faster another way 5. Humility God led the Israelites through the Wilderness to humble them Deut. 8.16 God sees a Wilderness a desolate condition may
belying of God so to eye second causes as to forget the first Jer. 5.12 They have belyed the Lord and said It is not be Let not therefore loss of Friends be imputed to chance or secondary causes but to God the supream efficient For as Eliphaz saith Job 5.6 Affliction cometh not forth of the dust neither doth trouble spring out of the ground He looks too low that under loss of Earthly-Friends looks lower than the Hand of Heaven Use 2 2. Have good thoughts of God and his wayes under such losses Many at such a time have hard thoughts of God as though he dealt hardly with them and strange thoughts of his wayes as though it was in vain to serve him They have little mind to pray read hear the Word c. some refraining the Church as though they had cast off all care of Religion Satan who hath his devices to ruine souls and rob them of spiritual comfort is very busie at such a time to suggest that God intends their ruine endeavouring by this means to drive them to despair of God's mercies and withal he tells them It is in vain to serve God Hence it is that many are ready to say with that wicked King in a time of Famine 2 King 6.33 Behold this evil is of the Lord what should I wait for the Lord any longer and as they said Mal. 3.14 It is vain to serve God and what profit is it that we have kept his Ordinances and that we have walked mournfully before the Lord of Hosts Even Job that eminent Servant of God lying under sad afflictions the saddest of which were the loss of his Children though you read Job 1.21 That in all this or hitherto Job sinned not nor charged God foolishly so the like you read Job 2.10 Yet afterwards when affliction did lodge with him and he began to be wet to the skin we find him uttering many unsavoury speeches In the third Chapter you find him cursing the day of his birth And Chap. 6. ver 8 9. he wisheth God would destroy him and cut him off And chapt 16.9 he said God hated him and chap. 30.21 he said God was become cruel to him So David lying under much affliction whilst the wicked prospered had much ado to keep his feet in the wayes of Godliness Psal 73.2 As for me said he my feet were almost gone my steps had well-nigh slipt and ver 13 14. Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain and washed my hands in innocency for all the day long have I been plagued and chastened every morning But though God's Children through the prevalency of temptation have spoken unbeseeming things of God and his Ways yet upon second thoughts which are ever †Secundae cogitationes meliores better they have humbled themselves for such speeches So did Job Job 42.3 6 compared And the like did David Psa 73.22 he confesseth there that in speaking dishonourably of God and his wayes he had played the fool and acted the part of a Beast rather than a Christian and ver 28. he concludes That it was good for him to draw near to God It is good for us under greatest losses to draw near to God and to have good thoughts of him and his wayes for as Azariah said to Asa Judah and Benjamin 2 Chron. 15.2 The Lord is with you while you be with him And if ye seek him hee 'l be found of you but if you forsake him hee 'l forsake you So Ezra 9.22 The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek him but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him Heb. 10.38 God's Soul hath no pleasure in such as draw back they that draw back do it to their perdition v. 39. O then part not with your Religion when you part with your Friends neither have hard thoughts of God Look upon him with Scripture-Spectacles which represent him to be as indeed he is a most wise just holy faithful and merciful God Even in his terrible Acts there is abundance of his Goodness and Righteousness appears Psal 145.6 7. His end and design is as you heard in the former Treatise to purge out sin to implant holiness in thee and so to fit thee for future happiness Therefore let God be exalted in his Judgments Isa 5.16 Sing a part in that Heavenly Hymn Rev. 15.3 4. Great and marvelous are thy Works Lord God Almighty just and true are thy wayes thou King of Saints Who shall not fear thee O Lord and glorifie thy Name for thou only art holy Use 3 3. Labour to find out the particular sin that hath provoked God to deprive thee of such a Friend or Relation and having found it confess it be deeply humbled for it pray for pardon thereof and be careful for the future to avoid it This Use I shall divide into three parts which I shall speak unto distinctly 1. Labour to find out the particular sin that hath provok'd God to deprive thee of such a Friend or Relation Nos coelestis ira ignem accendimus et excitamus incendia quibus ardeamus Salvian lib. 8. de Gub. Dei p. 288. as Salvian speaks We kindle the sparks of God's wrath that burn up all our comforts Isa 50.11 We are the cause of our own calamities Nos calamitatum nostrarum authores sumus Ibid. And he adds a little after A Deo punimur sed ipsi facimus ut puniamur Cum autem punire nos ipsi facimus cui dubium est quin ipsi nos nostris criminibus puniamus Salv. Ibid pag 288 229. quia quicunque dat causam quâ puniatur ipse se punit Our sins procure our sorrows That Cloud of Calamity that hangs black over our heads and is rained down in Judgment upon us was first raised by the ascending vapours of our sins Jer. 2.19 Thine own wickedness shall correct thee and thy backslidings shall reprove thee know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God We find in a great tempest the Heathens said every one to his fellow Come and let us cast lots that we may know for whose cause this evil is come upon us Jona 1.7 They concluded it was sin that caused that fearful tempest so as a worthy * Dr. Abbot on Jonah 1.5 6. p. 77. Divine saith if any cross befal us let us straightway with fear and trembling examine our selves and enter into our consciences and sift them in sincerity as in the sight of God what sin it is that plucks this cross upon us God's People have enquired of the Lord by Prayer and deep Humiliation when disasters have befaln them as you may read Judg. 20.26 so 2 Sam. 21.1 so Jer. 16.10 Lam. 3.40 Job looked upon his sins as the procuring cause of all his miseries Job 13.23 How many are mine iniquities and my sins make me to know my transgression and my sin And before
this he had said to God Job 10.2 Shew me wherefore thou contendest with me When God takes away Relations he testifieth against you as he did against Naomi who had lost her husband and two sons Ruth 1.5 21 compared that something in your lives hath been displeasing to him God oft-times visits the iniquity of the Fathers upon the Children Exod. 20.5 34.7 2 Sam. 12.14 1 King 15.29 30. Isa 14.21 Parents may by their sins provoke God to bring upon their children a temporal but not an eternal death for Ezek. 18.20 The soul that sinneth it shall die Indeed all persons as well Children as Parents ow a death to God if not by reason of actual yet of original corruption that is in them Psa 51.5 Rom. 5.12 Yet God many times takes away Children and other Relations not having an eye so much to their sins as to the sins of parents and others that provoke God to inflict a penal evil Well then pray to the Lord to discover to thee thy sin which provoked him so soon to take away thy Friend Psal 4.4 Commune with your own heart upon your bed and be still When others are a sleeping do you be a thinking what sins you were guilty of that might cause God to deprive you of such a Relation Search into God's Word and see for what sins God usually punisheth with loss of Friends Now God might take away thy Relation for such sins as these 1. Thy sin might be undervaluing thy Friend May be thou didst not prize him according to his worth and now God will teach thee the worth of him by the want of him You would not follow his good counsels reproofs example c. and therefore God might because you did not work by it put out this burning and shining Light It may be you dealt by him as the Philistines did by Sampson make sport with him and a laughing-stock of him and therefore God took him away Or 2dly Thy sin might be overvaluing thy Friend You might over-love him too much rejoyce in him or trust in him too much God breaks the Conduit-pipes when you forget the Fountain Gustavus the renowned King of Sweden said God would take him away because he was too much admired and his words were too true a prophecy Indeed hopeful Children godly Relations they are Jewels Mal. 3.17 but if you take them and make a golden calf of them and idolize them God may justly break them to pouder as Moses dealt with the golden Calf Exod. 32.3 4 20 compared So Hezekiah brake in pieces the brazen Serpent that Moses had made when he saw the people give divine worship unto it 2 King 18.4 When you make Idols of Friends and Relations bestowing that love joy and delight upon them which is due to God he may justly break them to pieces Jonah took more delight than he should have done in his refreshing Gourd and that hand that sent it sent a worm to destroy it Fond Parents like foolish Apes kill their young ones with imbraces Or 3dly Thy sin might be foolish indulgence Eli was too indulgent towards his Sons 1 Sam. 3.13 his Sons made themselves vile and he restrained them not or according to the Original frowned not upon them he was too gentle in his reproofs and corrections as you may see 1 Sam. 2.22 c. and God threatned that all the encrease of his house should die in the flower of their age and his two sons Hophni and Phineas should in one day die both of them ver 33 34. And accordingly it came to pass 1 Sam. 4.17 So David too fondly affected Absolom and he lived to see him come to an untimely death Or 4thly Thy sin might be undutifulness to thy own Parents Absalom even now mentioned had once three sons as you may read 2 Sam. 14.27 but he lived to see them all buried as you may gather from 2 Sam. 18.18 Absalom was an undutiful child seeking to take away the life of his Father and God takes away his childrens lives Or 5thly Thy sin might be Lasciviousness or Wantonness You read 2 Sam. 12.14 The Child gotten in Adultery dieth Solomon loved many strange women 1 King 11.1 and he left but one son behind him as we read of in Scripture Rehoboam by name v. 43. and he no wiser than he should be as you may reade 1 King 12. Or 6thly Thy sin might be Bloodshed or Murder God threatned Ahab's posterity for his murdering of Naboth 1 King 21.21 so God threatned David for his murdering Uriah 2 Sam. 12.9 10. that the Sword-should never depart from his house and he lived to see two of his Children slain incestuous Amnon 2 Sam. 13. and rebellious Absalom 2 Sam. 18. Or 7thly Thy sin might be Oppression See Job 27.13 14 15. God there threatens that the Sword or Famine or some such sudden and fearful Judgment shall sweep away the Oppressors Children So Amos 4.1 2. There is the posterity of Oppressors threatned God may most justly take away the lives of their Children who take away the livelihood of others Children It is seldom seen that a covetous griping Oppressor or Usurer leaves many Children behind him For these and some other sins mentioned before God may suddenly deprive us of dear and near Relations Now what saith Conscience doth it not fly in your face and tell you that you have been guilty of some one or more of these sins With Pharoah's Butler call to mind thy fault this day Gen. 41.9 And having thus found it out 2. Confess it to God be deeply humbled for it and pray heartily for pardon thereof Say as Josephs Brethren did Gen. 42.21 We are verily guilty concerning our Brother Let your uncircumcised hearts be humbled and accept of the punishment of your iniquity as the Expression is Levit. 26.41 Turn sorrowing for your Friend into sorrowing for your Sins that have deprived you of his sweet society We find 2 Sam. 24. David sin'd in numbering of the People and God punisheth him in lessening the number of them See what David doth vers 10. His heart smote him after he had numbred the People and he said unto the Lord I have sinned greatly in that I have done And now I beseech thee O Lord take away the iniquity of thy Servant for I have done very foolishly No sooner was David convinced of his sin by the testimony of his Conscience acted by the Spirit of God but presently makes his humble addresses to God confessing his sin and heartily bewailing his folly he prayes to God for pardon thereof vers 17. David seeing the People smitten by the destroying Angel he cries out Lo I have sinned and I have done wickedly but these Sheep what have they done David knew very well that the People were not without their faults justly deserving this and a greater judgment yet reflecting upon his sin as an occasion of this judgment he endeavours to acquit them taking the fault wholly upon himself and
assaults as other mens frequently are So vers 5. They are not in trouble us other men neither are they plagued like other men This stumbled him as you may read afterwards but at last he recovers himself having made his resort to the Sanctuary of God vers 17. He learned out of his Word that God governed all things wisely and had Judgments in store for them as you may read vers 18 19 20. God lift them the higher that their fall might be the greater Tolluntur in altum Ut lapsu graviore ruant So then though wicked men sleep securely in sin yet their damnation sleepeth not 2 Pet. 2.3 When they say Peace and safety then sudden destruction cometh upon them as travel upon a Woman with Child which comes suddenly certainly and painfully and they shall not escape 1 Thes 5.3 The wicked shall be turned into Hell Psal 9.17 Jesus Christ will come upon these with a vengeance and they shall be punished with everlasting destruction as you may read 2 Thess 1.7 8 9. I end this with that of David Psal 11.5 6. The Lord tryeth the Righteous but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth Upon the wicked he shall rain snares fire and brimstone and an horrible tempest this shall be the portion of their Cup. They shall be continually drinking the bitter cup of divine fury There shall be no Lucida intervalla no respite no breathing fits as the Righteous have here in their sickness but their pains shall be continual without either intermission or mitigation Vse 3 3. This consideration should keep us from censuring those for the greatest sinners that are in this kind the greatest sufferers Indeed we live in a censorious Age. The World judgeth those most wicked that are most afflicted we are apt to conclude that God hates those most whom he visits with most sickness Thus the Barbarians dealt with Paul who seeing the venomous Beast hang on his hand said among themselves No doubt this Man is a murderer whom though he hath escaped the Sea yet vengeance suffereth not to live Acts 28.4 Thus David's Enemies by the sharpness and violence of his Distemper concluded God was become his Enemy * Verbum Belial effusum est in ipso i. e. punitur divinitùs ob scelus aliquod commissum Muscul in locum Psal 41.8 Job's three Friends were to blame to accuse Job for an Hypocrite because God had sorely visited him with sickness he calls them truly Forgers of lies and Physitians of no value Job 13.4 They forged lies both of God and Job and like unskilful Physitians applyed Corrasives instead of Cordials And elsewhere he calls them Miserable Comforters Job 16.2 They came as Comforters freely offering themselves he sent not for them Job 2.11 But they were pitiful ones in that sence that Job calls them Miserable comforters for by their censures and bitter speeches instead of lessening they did encrease his burthen instead of easing they did aggravate his grief And God himself was highly displeased with Eliphaz Bildad and Zophar in as much as by their perverse disputings and false reasonings they had wronged even God himself Job 42.7 8 9. Let us then know that God's dear Children as Epaphroditus a dear Servant of the Lord here did may lie under great afflictions and dear affections at the same time Job 1.8 and 2.3 Job even now mentioned whom God boasts of again and again as a None-such for piety was smitten 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Job 2.7 with such an angry burning Boyl as God plagued the Aegyptians with Exod. 9.9 10. and after threatned to punish a rebellious people with Deut. 28.27 If Job had measured God's displeasure by the sadness of his Distemper he might have concluded indeed that God had hated him and cast him off but upright Job doubted not of God's favour under his saddest tryals We read of one Lazarus the Brother of Mary and Martha John 11.3 that was in his extream sickness beloved of Christ And we read of another Lazarus Luke 16.20 who was poor and pitiful lying at the rich mans gate full of sores yet after death carried by Angels into Abrahams Bosom vers 22. Let the words of the wise man shut up this Eccles 9.1 2. No man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them All things come alike to all there is one event to the righteous and to the wicked c. Vse 4 4. Let this consideration keep us from weeping immoderately when Godly Friends depart this life They are freed from those sicknesses and pains which here they groaned under Rev. 14.13 Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord for they rest from their labours 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from pain and pains-taking The World to them is as Aegypt to the Israelites a place of pains and sorrow Exod. 3.7 When they die God wipes away all tears from their eyes See Rev. 21.4 There shall be no more death neither sorrow nor crying neither shall there be any more pain for the former things as sin sickness c. are passed away If the dead in the Lord could speak they would say to surviving Friends that follow them to the Grave with sorrowful hearts as Christ did to the Daughters of Jerusalem that followed him to his crucifixion sorrowing Luk. 23.28 Weep not for me but weep for your selves and for your children Ye are in the Valley of Tears toss'd upon the Waves of a troublesome World subject as to sin so to sickness and sorrow But as for us we are at the Haven of Eternal-rest Weep not for us but weep for your selves and your Children Indeed did we but seriously consider the manifold miseries that God's dear Servants are subject unto whilst in this World we would give thanks rather then murmer when God by death sets them free The Church in the Funerals of the Dead hath taught us as much We give thee hearty thanks for that it hath pleased thee to deliver this our Brother or Sister out of the miseries of this sinful World 5. and last Vse But fifthly and lastly for I hasten This consideration me-thinks should put Christians upon sympathizing one with another This God calls for Rom. 12.15 1 Pet. 3.8 see Heb. 13.3 Remember them that are in bonds as bound with them and them which suffer adversitie as being your selves also in the Body In the Body that is say some as Members of the same Body Rom. 12.5 for so believers are Ephes 5.23 30. so Col. 1.18 they are Members of Christ's Mystical and Spiritual Body And as the Apostle speaks 1 Cor. 12.25 26. The Members should have the same care one for another and if one Member suffer all the Members suffer with it So then if we take it in this sence you are members of the same Body and therefore ought to sympathize one with another Others there are that by this expression being your selves also in the body understand it thus as being
Rejoyce not when thine Enemy falleth and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth lest the Lord see it and it displease him Job 31.29 and he turn away his wrath from him and lay it upon thee See Obad. 12.13 14 15. God there threatneth the Edomites for rejoycing at the calamity that befel the Israelites This sin call'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was condemned by the Heathens It is most opposite to the rule of charity which rejoyceth not in iniquity 1 Cor. 13.6 It maketh not others evil be it of sin or suffering matter of rejoycing 14. Take heed of innovating in God's Worship Nadab and Abihu for offering strange fire by fire from the Lord as with lightning were destroyed as you may read Levit. 10.1 2. 15. Take heed of invading the Ministers Office without a Call See Numb 16.35 You read there of two hundred and fifty men that offered Incense usurping the Priests Office were punished by fire wherein they offended So Vzziahs rash adventure to do the like was punished with the Leprosie as you read 2 Chron. 26.16 c. 16. Lastly Take heed of sins of the tongue as Lying Swearing Forswearing Cursing False-accusing Backbiting Brawling Blasphemy c. See Prov. 17.20 He that hath a perverse tongue falleth into mischief And Prov. 13.3 He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life but he that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction So Prov. 18.21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof The Psalmists words shall shut up this Point Psal 34.12 13 14. What man is he that desireth life and loveth many dayes that he may see good Keep thy tongue from evil and thy lips from speaking guile Depart from evil and do good seek peace and ensue it I might add to these sins which endanger health and life bold and audacious attempts as leaping Hedges swimming Waters c. when there is no necessity for either This is called properly a tempting of God when men without any warrant from God's Word make tryal of his Wisdom Power and Goodness which is expresly forbidden Deut. 6.16 Ye shall not tempt the Lord your God as ye tempted him in Massah whereof you read Exod. 17.2 where they are said to tempt God by requiring a miraculus evidence of his presence among them Our Saviour did beat back the Devil with this Text out of Deuteronomy when he would have had him to cast down himself from the * Doctor Hammond Annot. on Mat. 4.5 Pinacle i. e. out-wing or battlement of the Temple Mat. 4.7 If Christ had cast himself down into a needless danger God might have justly left him to destruction without breach of his Promise God indeed hath promised to keep us but it must be in all our wayes Psal 91.11 which necessary part of the Sentence the Devil left out Mat. 4.6 God hath promised to keep us in all our wayes or warrantable courses but not in our wanderings The Israelites fell in the Wilderness when they tempted God 1 Cor. 10.9 Object But some may say Are not they that tempt God delivered Mal. 3.15 Do not we daily see many wicked men that are disobedient to Superiours drunkards lustful impatient envious ambitious c. live become old and are mighty in power yea and the Rod of God is not upon them Job 21.7 9. Did not the Psalmist see such were not in trouble like other men nor plagued like other men that made conscience of their wayes Psal 73.5 Answ Indeed it may so fall out that a wicked man may prolong his life in his wickedness Eccles 7.15 God may bear long with some such notorious offenders to shew his own patience and long suffering to exercise the faith and patience of his Servants To teach that there is a day of judgment wherein he hath appointed to judge the World in Righteousness Acts 17.31 God may bear with them to leave them inexcusable that they may fill up the measure of their sins and for their greater damnation at last Rom. 9.22 For these and other reasons best known unto himself he may suffer some wicked men to live and prosper But let not us let loose the reyns to sin and make the impunity of some few an encouragement to wickedness It is folly and madness to be careless because some few have escaped shipwrack Certainly as the Apostle saith after he had told us of several punishments befalling several Offenders for several sins 1 Cor. 10.11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples and they are written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the World are come And as an Heathen Author said Felix quem faciunt aliena pericula cautum Happy is he whom other mens harms do make to beware Well then life being so great a mercy let us avoid all such sins as may be a means to shorten it and let us use all lawful means to preserve it as Food and Physick which God hath appointed Let us not through discouragement of Spirit because of deadly dangers which we meet with in our Christian Callings Numb 10.14 15. as weary of life wish for death which was an infirmity in that good Man Elijah 1 King 19.4 Much less ought we through discontent as Jonah did Jonah 4.3 8. wish for death But most prodigiously to blame are they that lay violent hands upon themselves Man's breath saith a worthy Bishop is put into his body as a Tenant at Will into an house Dr. Abbot on Jonah 4.3 4. Lect. 26. p. 543. whereinto it may not enter without the good will of the Land-lord and being once in it must keep there and hold the building upright till it have its discharge to remove somewhere else Yet after all this that I have spoken concerning the care you should have to maintain health and preserve life Give me leave to put in a Caveat or cautionary Proposition to prevent a mistake And it is this Caution That you ought to hazard health and life for the Churches sake and for Christs sake to witness to his Truth if called to it 1 John 3.16 We ought to lay down our lives for the Brethren St. Paul was willing to spend and be spent 2 Cor. 12.15 for the propogation of the Gospel and good of God's Church and People see Acts 20.24 and 21.13 Truth hath been sealed with the blood of many Martyrs An Heathen set such a price on Truth that he thought it worth our lives Vitamque impendere vero Nec propter vitam vivendi perdere causam What saith the Apostle of Epaphroditus see Phil. 2.30 For the work of Christ he was nigh unto death not regarding his life to supply your lack of service towards me Epaphroditus undertook a great Journey to minister to Pauls necessity which is here called the Work of Christ for what is done to his Members he takes it as done to himself Mat. 25.40 This Journey occasioned his