Life such as are those raging Plagues Famines and Devastations which send many thousands early to the Grave We shall by this means not pass our days in his wrath An aged Christian that has been patient for many years comes at length like a Vessel richly laden home after a tedious and stormy Voyage full of reviving Experiences of the Divine Goodness from the Morning to the Noon and to the Evening of his Life Ps 71.17 18. He calls to mind with joy the various and admirable conduct of his Heavenly Father and sleeps in quiet on the lap of Providence Seeing with what beautiful Wisdom he had laid the soundation of his Happiness and carried on the Structure how he healed his Diseases and has safely brought him to the borders of a perfect cure How they were planted as Trees of Righteousness and by various Acts of Love and Power maintained in the Vineyard how they were in pain and how they were eased with his tender hand how they wept in agonies and how he wiped their tears away new support arises to the patient holy Soul Isa 40.31 It hastens our escape from trouble as the stilness and composure of any Person in a Fever tends to mitigate its force but a restless agitation of the Body does more and more inflame and fire the Blood By suffering we learn to suffer and patience reconciles us to the Cross Ps 27.14 No studied arguments no fine Sentences do so fortify the Soul in trouble as its own experience This is the Lenitive of anxious and unquiet thoughts gives a secret refreshing and a mighty strength this pours balm into those Wounds that otherwise might gangreen and fester when clog'd with outward infirmities and when there are the marks and signs of a falling habitation there will be the prospect of an house not made with hands and when death is in the windows there will be strength in the heart Reas 6. This patient waiting does most excellently prepare for the mercies waited for and gives them when they come the sweetest relish they are welcome as rest to weary Travellers that long to be at home When God and a waiting Soul meet together What transports and joys are there O he is come he is come that I long'd to see it revives me to hear his chearing Language to see his smiling face In what an extasie was Old Simeon whilst he embraced his Saviour many a long year had he waited for the blessed sight O happy eyes that saw that Sun begin his Race happy Arms that embraced and hugg'd so great a Treasure Luke 2.36 O what a joy to a Father to see a Prodigal returning home after he had long stayed and waited for his return With what Musick with what Joys with what Feasts does he solemnize such a pleasant day Thus 't is reported of Augustin's mother what a concern she had for her Son he was the daily Subject of her Prayers and Tears that St. Ambrose often when she mourned sent her away with this Answer That it was not possible that a Child of so many Prayers should perish No sooner was he Converted but her Spirit was at ease and she now desired no more He tells us in his Canfessions that when the day approacht that his Mother was to pass to a better Life as they were talking together of the joys of Heaven in the Conclusion of this Conference which was the most agreeable in all the World she said to me My Son I avow to you that as to what relates to my self that I have now no further hopes nor pleasure in this world I know not what I do here for I have nothing more to look for The only thing that made me desirous to live was to see thee a good Christian before my death now my good God has granted me so great a favour as to see thee become entirely his Servant by the contempt that thou hast of all the goods and pleasures of this Life Why then do I tarry here any longer Reas 7. It cures the frowardness of our spirits in our last sickness and makes death very happy and Heaven very sweet not an unbecoming thought nor word of God The Conclusion of such a serene Life is still and fair as the Evening of a Summers day Such an one is not pusht or hurryed out of the World but walks out as from one Room into another sleeps in death with the composure of an Infant sucking at its Mothers Breast they go by a smooth descent to death some without much pain tho' but rarely is that exemption from the assaults of the last Enemy granted Some are laid down very gently on their bed of dust and others with groans and sighs extinguish the dwindgling lamp of Life A patient Soul is ready and if God give the word it gladly flies away it longs and flutters to be gone and in the parting moment such an one shall not be left a Convoy of Angels shall wait upon it to see it safe through all the Regions of the Air where the Evil Spirits would dispute its passage to Glory Oh how welcome is Heaven to a troubled weary Soul How welcome are Hallelujah's to one that upon Earth heard the slanders and reproaches of many a bitter Tongue the Clouds of Life are then scattered and there succeeds an eternal day Then patience has no further work for there is no pain there hope is vanish't for the Good that was once desired is possest The calm of that quiet Region into which we enter after death will make amends for all the Storms we met with in the way thither How many Blessed Souls shall we meet that were in Storms as well as we that were sick and tempted and scorned and afflicted that had weak Bodies and fearful Spirits and to go thither from such a World as this from the Subburbs of Hell into the New Jerusalem Tho' we are in Tempests yet we are not to live upon the Sea Our Life may be very calamitous but 't is also very short Tho' loaded with bitter and uneasie griefs yet in Heaven there is no more sorrow for there is no sin there will be light in our Minds peace in our Consciences and comfort in our Hearts there will be no more fear in the place of Eternal Love no trembling doubting Soul in all the vast Assembly they cannot question whether they Love Christ or not when they are with him All their former suspicions are turned into pleasant wonder Isa 60.2 It s an Honour to be in Christ betimes an Honour to be Christ's Disciple and much more Honourable to be in his glorious Temple Oh Blessed are they that are at their Journeys end after having waited long for God he seeing they could find no durable rest below put out his hand and took them into his Ark above How can we almost forbear congratulating those happy Souls that have fought the good fight of faith and have got the Victory While we sin they
are eased if you are recovered after you have prayed to be brought from the Gates of Death If after having had many sollicitous thoughts about your being falsly accused God is at length pleased to scatter the Cloud and make your Innocence appear to the shame of your malicious Enemies Thus Jabez prayed in 1 Chro. 4.10 That God would bless him and enlarge his Coast And he granted him that which he requested It was a superabundant kindness to one desirous of Grandeur and Dominion for Jabez might have been a very happy man tho' his Coast had not been enlarged he might have governed and enjoyed himself and his Friends in a little room and he might have gone to Heaven by the way of grief 2. Your Crys are heard when God gives you resignation to his Will even in the absence of that which you most eagerly desired if after having poured out your supplications you return from his presence chearful and easie and well pleased leaving him that is insinitely wise to do with you and your Bodies with you and your Friends what seems best to him when you find your hearts unbroken with anxious cares and solicitude whether you are gratified or no This secret contentment is a foretast of Heaven and a pledge and instance of Divine Love 3. 'T is a most certain sign of your Cry being heard when even in the delays of the desired Comfort you love God more than you ever did When your thoughts of him are more frequent and delightful when your love to all his appointments and even to paintful Duties is increased and that you are thankful for the smallest mercies for the smallest intervals of pain and trouble and when even in the way of his judgments you wait for him by all which you may plainly perceive that your prayers may be heard when your affliction is not removed and many times the Mercies may be given and they are so sudden or surprizing that you scarce can believe your selves delivered even when you are delivered Psal 126.1 and Acts 12.14 tho' they had the faith to pray for Peter they had not the faith to believe that he was escaped and knocking at the door The Second General Head in order to your patient waiting upon God you must endeavour to keep up in your minds good and honourable thoughts of him all the while you are in trouble It is with great industry and art that the Devil takes occasion from our affliction to possess us with unbecoming thoughts of him that is our best Friend and to make him during our dark and gloomy seasons to pass for an Enemy as the Disciples in the storm mistook their approaching Saviour for a Spirit and in hideous consternation shouted out as thinking some Evil Spirit was come to make their Death more terrible for they looked upon themselves as just drowning If we have irregular apprehensions of God as rigorous and inexorably severe as rouzing up the greatness of his Power to crush and ruine us such undue thoughts breed black and superstitious fears and shrink all the faculties of our minds with despairing unbelief our minds are weakned and cramped by the terror of our thoughts and the consequent of this will be that we shall either give him no service or that which is very trifling and full of vain and idle Ceremonies For to such a sort of pompous insincere Worship does Superstition lead those poor People whose Eyes are hoodwink't and blinded with it Under our dark mistaken thoughts of God and his Designs our Obedience is the Action of a Slave 't is with unwillingness and constraint that we Obey retaining at the same time a disposition to throw off the Yoak We proceed in our Devotions like those that Row in Galleys 't is with a backward Heart and an unwilling Shrug Whatever we give to our Maker is with a convulst and stingy Hand for we apprehend him as a severe and a rugged Master as full of stern and ghastly Majesty Now to remedy these uneasie fears our Saviour came into this World to give us admiring thoughts of God to represent him as aimable and worthy to be delighted in to make him the object of our Trust and Hope and not of our Dread As a Benefactor or a most liberal Physician most tender and compassionate that wounds us in order to a lasting Cure and his Spirit is sent to promote our Love to him and St. John whose Soul was most full of Love was the most beloved God has in a great measure left off dealing with Men in visible terrors as he did heretofore Nay says the Apostle Tho' we know the terrors of the Lord yet 2 Cor. 5.11 we perswade Men we use towards them the most gentle and soft and easie Methods we are to say to them Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world and there is nothing frightful in him that has all the tender Qualities of one of the meekest of all Animals a Lamb. Thirdly If you would patiently wait upon God beware of having only little Faith We are not to lay the blame of our being troubled so much on the greatness of our danger as on the weakness of our Faith when we doubt and tremble then with Peter in the Storm we begin to sink That our Faith may grow we must use all the good means we can to enlarge our knowledge of God and Christ for the dwarfishness of our trust is owing to the darkness of our Minds They that know thy Name will trust in thee Knowledge of its self does not produce this admirable reliance of the Soul The Devils are very Learned and Knowing Spirits but their Light does only serve to scortch them it gives no comeliness to their horrid shape nor to their Flaming Torments any Relaxation But such a Knowledge as is founded upon Love and Hope and sweet Experiences of the Truths and Mercies of God will convey to us great degrees of Strength In order to remove our little Faith we may make frequent and delightful use of Christ we must run to his Arms with all the speed and force we can and by being near to him we shall learn to bear the Crosses of this Life and how to long for that which is to come Such whose Faith is rooted and spread to a mighty breadth and of a tall Stature scruple none of the greatest Tribulations and many of them go to Heaven with as much calmness as if they were but going into another Room or changing their Rags for a new Suit of Cloaths But a little Faith shivers and trembles and is loath to go hence as amazed at the painfulness of the Passage and the greatness of the Change In no case let us blame God for his Rigor but our selves for our unbelief In this Life we are exposed to very great Tryals and these will not be patiently born with a little Patience O! What a Contest is there between great Storms and little Faith
our Faith had been so weak till the Storms came and made us tremble While we are in a calm and on the quiet shore we do not so well know our weakness but when we put out to Sea and have lost the sight of Land and the Wind and Waves roar about us then we are amazed and astonished All the Medicinal stroaks of God to his Servants are the product of his Love He could take all their Burdens off in one moment but he sees that their Faith and Patience in the midst of troubles is beneficial to themselves and others Without some of the calmness that is in their Souls this World would be an Hell a Region of blasphemous discontent in their afflictions his People have a dearer love to Christ and new manifestations of his faithfulness and of the wisdom of his Conduct Reas 3. This quiet waiting upon God makes us in all sickness pain and trouble easie to our selves and others It makes us possess our Souls in patience but to be fretful and peevish and quarrelsome at our burden makes it more burdensome and splits one cross into a thousand fills our bitter Cup and makes that which before was but half full to run over with Gall and Wormwood a fore uneasie temper of mind makes us that we cannot rest in any posture and no Pillar will be soft enough for us when we Crown our Heads with Thorns an uneasie disquietness of Spirit approaches near to the tormenting fury of the damned Hell is an abode of horrible rage and discontent they are ever angry at God and at themselves continually burnt with Flaming thoughts But a patient Soul is like the milky way no Clouds obscure the brightness of his Grace He shines with a croud of graces joined together His Innocent sense of grief and his expressions of his affliction fall like the drops of dew in the silent Night they fall very gently and where-ever they come they make all very green and flourishing The words of the patient edify the by standers and shew to them the strength and beauty of Religion What an attractiveness is there in a composed quiet Soul How Serene how Lovely 't is entertained with Musick lives and dyes in Harmony When Storms are without all is still within but an impatient man vexes himself and others runs upon the Rocks and suffers Shipwrack he is overloaded with anxious cares and sinks beneath the bulky weight and often in his prosperity he is overset with too much sail his pride and ambition with too strong a gale blow him on the shelves Let us therefore strive to keep our Spirits under Government for the Scorchings of a Feaver and all the violence with which it preys upon the blood are not surer indications of abated Health then tumultuous fluctuating passions and discontented thoughts and murmuring expressions are of a bad state of Soul Reas 4. Because such evil days may come upon us wherein we shall by our decaying age and trouble be unqualified for active service We need patiently wait for it may be long before our Sorrows have a period Many a weary step may we have to take and many a burden to bear before we come to our Journeys end The time may come when nothing that offers it self to your Eye your Ear or your Tast will give you pleasure and you 'll neither be fit for business nor recreation and the motions of your graces will share in the decays of your age When you are a burden to your self you 'll find no content in other things Not all the grandeur of preferment could tempt old Barzillai to a Court Life and you 'll be very little capable of Spiritual Improvements when your faculties are weak When old age with its pale attendants shall sieze upon us it will be very well if in the Winter of our Life there be any vigour in our hope All the Oyl we have put into our Lamps will be little enough to serve us in our passage through the dark and shady veil We are to take great care least when the Night comes our Stock and Treasure of Grace should be spent and we shall find it hard to have inward liveliness and health when our outward Man decays 'T will be hard to rouze our Courage to new Conflicts when we come lagging like weary Soldiers from the field of Battle We can go but a very flow pace towards Heaven when old age has maimed us and when our Blood begins to freez and stagnate in our Veins In this nearness to the Grave People are generally so very feeble that they are fit for nothing They are blessed that in circumstances so afflicted have learned calmness and resignation and can patiently wait For by this means a pleasant Harvest and sweet and easie thoughts will arise in those furrows that are Ploughed with Age and while their Foreheads are wrinkled the face of their Soul will be very smooth No thorny cares no weeds nor thistles will be growing there In such a case if you patiently wait you will have the root of the matter and that Root will be fixed like some stately Cedar that has taken deep hold and is not easily torn up keeps its Station when its leaves are fallen off In the withering decays of Age you cannot indeed run very fast in the ways of God but you may travel by soft and easie Journeys to the Grave and your Souls be recreated with the bright views of Heaven whilst your Bodies stoop with the weight of many years Tho' your hearing fail you 'll be saluted by good News from within Musick will be in your own breast when the Daughters thereof are brought low And you 'll have this happiness in the want of that sense that you 'll hear no slanders nor sad tidings When your gust and relish of other things is gone you 'll feed upon the Bread of Life When your Eyes are sunk your heart will be in Heaven And when your Memory is failed God will not forget you His word will be the staff that your tottering Age may lean upon Reas 5. By patient waiting upon God we shall have renewed strength and fresh Experience of his Love We shall have help both for our Bodies and our Souls a Life of patience tends to its own preservation keeps the humours from overflowing their just bounds and the Spirits from irregular fermentation whereas the peevish and impatient chafe themselves into a continued Fever and their strength declines and evaporates It 's said Deut. 12.3 That the man Moses was very meek above all the men that were upon the face of the earth And in Ch. 34.7 He was an hundred and twenty years old when he dyed his eyes were not dim nor his natural force abated He had as a man may say a springing Winter or a youthful Age a remaining unperisht vigour in every part 'T is most certain that patient waiting upon God will make him not to send those Judgments that waste and shorten