which are unexpected the suddenness of them deprives us of that stayedness of mind which is requisite to a due deportment under such a tryal And our passions then transport us into many indecent excesses and make us foam with impatient murmurs and cast up mire and dirt 2. Let us always maintain an humble penitent sense of sin and our own unworthiness This is necessary because Pride will indispose us for submission to the Divine Will And if we joyn impenitence 't will make us contend with the Almighty overlook his Goodness despise his Wisdom distrust his Faithfulness and find faults with his Providence as if things could be better ordered than they are by Gods management Whereas an humble Soul sensible of the desert of sin thinks every condition good enough and so is willing to be at God's dispose Lord will such a man say with admiring thoughts of the divine goodnes and bounty what can be too little for me who am less than the least of all thy mercies What temporal calamities too severe when I deserve eternal What condition too low that is on this side the bottomless pit What cup too bitter where thy wrath and remediless despair are none of the Ingredients Am I not thy creature and mayest thou not do what thou wilt with thy own Have I not provok't thee and shall I not receive correction Have I merited damnation and can I be wronged and injur'd by a temporal sorrow What are gentle Rods to fiery Scorpions And the light and momentary afflictions of this life to the agonies and torments of an eternal Tophet Oh pardon me now and save me at last and do with me what seemeth good in thy sight Deny me not an entrance into Heaven and let thy will be done upon earth This is the proper Language of an humble penitent referring himself to the divine choice as to every thing in this World 3. Some things are necessary respecting the affairs of this present world 1. That we have right notions of Prosperity and Adversity of temporal good and evil For according to the Judgment we make of these will our Passions be exercis'd We ought therefore to endeavour to understand what is their due value and what estimate in Reason we should make of them We ought to consider as to the good That it is fleeting and inconstant uncertain and temporal may be lost on a sudden and must be left shortly that no outward advantages above others do on that account rfcommend us to God or intitle us to his favour That 't is no Argument of his displeasure to be poor and despised to be afflicted and calamitous that bread is not alway to the wise nor riches to men of understanding but time and chance happens to them all Ecl. 9 11. That all things under the Sun are mutable and 't is a madness to think they will never change That 't is necessary God should make a difference and variety in the conditions of men that some should be rich and others poor Because neither could subsist without both The meanness of some is no less needful to the order and harmony of the World than the greatness and abundance of others the Rich cannot live comfortably without the Poor nor the latter be supported without the former Besides 't is to be considered That a prosperous condition without God's blessing to improve it will but administer to our sin increase our guilt and advance our ruin That an abundance of Temporal enjoyments is attended with many dangerous temptations and very few perish by Famine in comparison with those many who die of a Surfeit That there is no Temporal evil but God can support us under and sanctifiâ— for our good That the loss of life is the utmost we can fear and having the promises of a future blessedness that is not to be dreaded and if our lives are spared we can only be deprived a little sooner of those comforts which otherwise we must relinquish when we quit the body And suppose the worst that can possibly befall us the time of its continuance cannot be long within a few years suppose Thirty or Forty and hardly that number of the greatest Assembly shall then be left alive And after this life we shall meet with no disappointment evermore to trouble us no cross Providence to try our patience or require our submission no sudden loss or casualty to be the matter of a complaint no publick storm or private adversity to discompose us And having this hope in us as to the other life for shame let us resign all things to the Will of God as to this And if we consider our selves either as Men or Christians the calamities and sufferings to which we are exposed are so many that 't is a merciful dispensation our Lease is shortned and the number of our sorrowful days on Earth diminisht that whereas our Fore-fathers were train'd up in the School of the Cross for many hundred years we are not to live so long but may hope to get to Heaven sooner and there only remains a Rest for the people of God 2. 'T is necessary that we mortifie our love to this World and moderate our Affections to earthly things Love seems to be the measure and Origine of all other Passions And if this present World and its injoyments be inordinately lov'd we shall be apt to repine or despond when evil befalls us Our sorrow by the loss of outward blessings will hold proportion with our fond Affection while we possess'd them and our dejection under calamity be proportion'd to our fears lest it come to pass Whereas if our Affections be moderate and guided by Faith and Reason we shall not be much concern'd at the evils we can suffer we shall not much trouble our selves for the want of that which we neither value nor love but within the limits prescribed us by God For what we embrace with the greatest fondness that we part from with the greatest regret And as many ways may we be miserable as there are variety of accidents to separate us from what we inordinately love This is the great Reason why the calamities we suffer dissolve our patience and rob us of our peace Because we love this World too well and are over-fond of that which we may easily lose And how quickly may that man be miserable if there be so many Worms can make that Gourd wither which he sits under the shadow of with inordinate satisfaction Nay with Temporal injoyments or without them we can never be at rest if we love them too well for all our days we are either perplext with fear lest they should be lost or with sorrow in case they are If we love any thing very much besides God 't is seldom but we meet with occasions for as great a sorrow as we entertain the Object with an undue Affection But loving God above all and every thing else only according to his prescription would make
us willing to be at his dispose and content with his order What pleaseth him cannot then displease us and what is according to his mind cannot contradict ours and so we may speak it from our hearts let him do unto us as seemeth good unto him 2. Let us consider what abundant Reason we have thus to refer our selves to God's dispose 1. Upon the account of our Profession 2. Our Duty 3. Our Interest 1. Upon the account of our Profession We own our selves the Disciples and Followers of the Holy Jesus who as he chearfully performed so he patiently submitted to the Will of his Father declaring his Resignation under his sharpest Conflicts Father not my will but thine be done Mat. 26.39 And as we are Redeemed by his Death and are the price of his Blood we are obliged by his Example We profess to follow him as the Captain of our Salvation and ought to remember he was the most glorious instance of submission and patience of trust in God and resignation to his Will that ever the World was acquainted with As his Victory should be our Encouragement his Example must be our Pattern As he was perfected by sufferings and stoop'd to the severest ones Heb. 2.10 to purchase glory for us we are directed to expect our share to prepare us to partake of that glory To consider him who endur'd the contradiction of sinners against himself Heb. 12. â— is propounded as an expedient against fainting in our minds And so it may prove if in imitation of him we are satisfied in every thing with the Will of our Father We call God Father and own our selves his Children and shall we not be content he should chuse our Allowance and dispose of our Conditions We pray that his will may be done on earth as it is in heaven and shall we be displeased that our prayers are answered and that he doth as we desire him that is what seemeth good in his sight The blessed Spirits above flee wheresoever they are sent chearfully obey his Will and execute his Pleasure and shall not we be satisfied with his Government â— 18.11 and pleased with his Orders and drink of that cup which our heavenly Father gives us to drink Certainly we may trust his Wisdom because he is God and his Love and Faithfulness because he is a Father who knowing what is best for us will do nothing but what really is so We know that every Commission concerning the events of time is signed by our Father 's own hand and do we think he will set his hand to what is really for the prejudice of his own Children whom he tenderly loves What we shall eat and drink and wherewithal we shall be clothed where we shall lodg and what we shall do and be and how in every thing we shall be disposed of are things that belong to his Paternal Government to order and obedient Children will leave it to their Father's care and acquiesce in his choice 2. Upon the account of Duty 1. In gratitude for his abundant kindness whereof we have had already such large experience He formed us in the Womb and brought us into light with our intire senses and integral parts He dispos'd of us in our Infancy educated our Childhood and guided our Youth and hath compassed us about with mercy on every side The streams of his Fountain have continually refresht us and shall we overlook the innumerable instances of his past kindness by not trusting him for the future We cannot fully display his benefits their wonderful greatness or undiscerned freeness their excessive multitude and large extent their suitableness and seasonableness their convenience and duration c. Our imaginations cannot conceive the dimensions of his Goodness nor our speech utter them such as the advantages of our Education the protection of his Providence the provisions of his Bounty the restraints of his Grace the priviledg of his Gospel and the assistance of his Holy Spirit his goodness to our Bodies and to our Souls to our Friends and Relatives in all the places wherever we have liv'd and in all the portions of our time hitherto some blessings immediately from God and others from such instruments to whom God gave the Will and the Power the Capacity and the Opportunity and Inclination of doing us good How many hazards that we thought inevitable hath he rescu'd us from How many difficulties that we thought insuperable hath his Wisdom and Power enabled us to wade through and conquer From how many surprising Casualties hath he secur'd us From how many Maladies and infectious Diseases hath he preserv'd us How many unobserv'd dangers hath his care prevented How many of our fears hath he delivered us from How many of our doubts hath he wisely resolved How many of our prayers hath he graciously answered He hath given us ease and health rais'd us from sickness and pluckt us often from the Jaws of Death Have we met with Affliction we have either had present support or speedy deliverance he hath either diverted the calamity or given us strength to bear it he hath known our souls in the day of Adversity and succour'd us from fainting in the hour of distress And if the rod were not presently remov'd he increas'd our patience and sanctified the visitation and in the issue 't was good that we were afflicted Moreover no affliction we have been under but had many concomitant Mercies unmixed misery is only the portion of Hell as perfect bliss the state of Heaven And why should we not receive some evil at the hand of God as well as good Job 2.10 Especially considering the vast disproportion For how many blessings have we received to one adversity When some mercies are taken are not others left of the same or greater consequence Have you lost part of your estate did not God give the whole and doth not he continue health without which you could not injoy any of it Are some of your Relations snatcht away by Death doth not God continue or raise up others in their room Therefore in the day of Adversity consider â— 14 as well as in the day of Prosperity rejoyce for God hath set the one over against the other If then he should deprive us of what we now have we ought to be thankful we had it so long and content if we injoy it no longer and consequently be willing he should do with us what seemeth good unto him The greatest evils we can now suffer are consistent with his favour which is our chiefest good and the good we have received already is more and greater than the evils we have felt or fear And have we tasted so much of his bounty and shall we quarrel at a change of Providence What condition have we ever passed through but the present mercies of that condition would more than counterpoise the calamities and sorrows of it The measures of God's Grace say the Jewish Rabbins is larger
than the measure of his judgment For one cross we have many blessings Have you not the Love of God the Testimony of a good Conscience the Influence of the Holy Spirit the Ministry of Angels the Promises of the Gospel and the Hopes of Glory These you have kept or might have kept notwithstanding all your afflictions After such reflections as these can we reasonably suppose that there will ever be any just ground of dissatisfaction in God's disposal Ever any reason for us to quarrel with his Providences and be displeased with what he doth He hath done us good and not evil all our days hitherto and are we loth to be guided by so Gracious a Father Are we unwilling to be disposed of by so good a God 2. We ought in duty to resign to his will if he had not thus oblig'd us by his benefits because we are his Creatures and owe him subjection and because by our many sins we deserve his wrath He hath an undoubted right to order us by his Providence as well as govern us by his Law And 't is a vile contempt of the Authority and Wisdom of our Absolute Soveraign to dispute his will We cannot suffer any evil of affliction but what is of his sending Poverty as well as Riches is his gift The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken blessed be his holy name Job 1.21 Prov. 22.2 Psal 39.8 1 Sam 3.17 The rich and the poor meet together the Lord is maker of them both I was dumb and open'd not my mouth because thou O Lord didst it saith David It is the Lord let him do what seemeth good unto him saith Eli. We owe obedience to all the instances of his declared will And when we see his hand at the bottom of the Warrant silent submission becomes us as we are his creatures especially considering that we have provok'd him and deserv'd his Wrath that all the good we receive is undeserved but none of the evil we suffer is so We cannot challenge his favour or merit his love and therefore should be thankful for every mercy We cannot but confess that we deserve his judgments and therefore should humbly submit to every Affliction Shall we not bear the indignation of the Lord Mic. 7.9 Lev. 26.41 Ezra 9.13 having sinn'd against him Shall we not accept the punishment of our iniquities especially when 't is less than our sins deserve Hath God removed any one comfort we did not forfeit Doth he inflict any one calamity we did not merit And ought we not with thankfulness to acknowledg his mercy and with intire submission resign unto his good pleasure 3. Upon the account of Interest We are not only obliged to this Resignation of our selves to the Will of God in duty to him but for our own Interest and Convenience Because 1. God knows better what is good for us than we can possibly do our selves 2. Because having resign'd all to his Will the worst that can befall us will be really for our good 1. God knows better what is good for us than we can possibly do our selves We think that to be evil which God brings about for good From the finiteness of our Nature and the feebleness of our Reason we can't view the full circuit of his Providence or discern the gracious design in every dispensation which he infallibly carries on and will at length discover We have nevertheless the highest Reason to adore his Will and hold the general conclusion that whatever he doth is best Eccl. 3.11 and 't will be beautiful in its season 'T is therefore our Interest to refer our selves to him Eccl. 6.12 For man knoweth not what is good for himself in this life God like a wise Physitian may consult our health when he doth not gratifie and please our Palates He may deny us in some particulars to grant us in others which will be more for our advantage He may contradict our designs and wishes to secure our greater good How many men who have waited for a Wind and miss'd it have fretted and disquieted themselves for being occasionally absent when the Ship set Sail who soon after have thank't the Providence of God for preserving their lives by so cross an accident when they heard that the Ship perisht in the Voyage and all the men were drown'd We know not how much God may be befriending us when we think he acts like an enemy As he gives us many things by his Providence for our good which we afterwards find to be so but would not have chosen so he takes away many with the same design which we are loth to part with God may take away one blessing which we prize to substitute another in the room of it that is much superior So that were we offer'd our choice what we would have we could not do wiser than to put the choice to him again and desire him to chuse for us For we behold not the series of good or evil consequences which would follow upon our Wishes if they should be granted That may be good on a naked prospect which a series of depending events may turn to evil And so on the contrary But God who holdeth the Chain of all Causes in his view seeth what reference one part hath to another and so orders all as may best attain his great design and our truest interest Jacob understood not till afterwards that the loss of Joseph was the means of his advancement to the Throne of Egypt and the preservation of his Family in a Famine the intended issue His Brethren sold him for a Slave that he might not become their Master And by that very means it came to pass that their sheaves bowed down to his according to his dream We only take notice of what is good at present but know not what would be so for the remainder of our lives but God can order things so as to be for our greater and more lasting good And hereafter we shall find that what now afflicts us was a real kindness and advantage Even those barren Women in Jerusalem who long'd to become joyful Mothers and for want of children would not be comforted when Titus sack't the City and the Inhabitants were destroyed by Fire Sword Famine and all sorts of Calamities they then found the words of our Saviour to be true Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bare and the paps that never gave suck Besides we know not what is best for us as we stand related to others and in reference to the publick The publick good of Mankind may be promoted by our private inconvenience and loss and of that God is the best Judg. We are troubled at the frustration of our endeavours and hopes as to some instances when that disappointment may conduce to the publick advantage because we should but have got into the room and place of our betters who are of greater use and service to the common Interest of Christianity
peace of our minds and consequently our happiness in every condition For our desires and choice being subjected to the will of God our own wills may be said to be done when his is so Then only may we have whatsoever we will when we will nothing but what God will give and are pleased with every thing which he thinks fit Let the weather be fair or fowl let the world smile or frown upon us by such a frame of heart we may commend our selves to the blessing of God with an humble boldness invoke his aid and with a Christian confidence wait the execution of his purposes and expect the performance of his promises From the preceding discourse we may learn divers things for our Instruction and Practise As 1. This may instruct us in the true reason of mens distracting fears concerning future events and their despondency of mind under actual difficulties viz. the want of Resignation to the will of God 1. From thence arise our distracting fears concerning future events For did we upon a sound belief of the nature and word of God resign our selves to him we should not be afraid of evil tidings or disquiet our minds by the apprehension of approaching evil Psal 34.4 Isa 33.16 God hath secur'd us of all necessary good by his promise That there shall be no lack to them who fear the Lord That bread shall be given them and their water shall be sure And no such case can we imagine wherein God by his Wisdom and Power cannot send us relief wherein his presence cannot give us support and joy or any thing fall out but according to his wise counsel to whom we have resign'd our selves 2. T is the want of Resignation is the ground of our despondency and dejection of mind under actual sufferings and present difficulties When any thing happens contrary to our desires how unreasonably do we repine against God and torment our selves send out our complaints against Heaven and fret against the Governor of the World or sit down in despondency as if there were no hope and no sorrow were ever like ours Which is a base reflection on the Providence of God an affront to his soveraignty a disparagement of his Wisdom the reproach of his Goodness and the dishonor of his Truth And such a temper is not only Sinful but Vnreasonable and Vain 't is both absurd and fruitless For it not only implies great unthankfulness for our present mercies and supposeth the preference of our own wishes before God's appointment as if the Wisdom of God were to be advised by our foolish fancies But it supposeth an impossibility that things should ever be otherwise or that any remedy or relief should ever be found out for the evils we suffer Whereas that wheel of Providence whereby we are now at the bottom may at the next turn raise us up and surprize us by unexpected favours We know not what blessings God designeth us what mercies are teeming in the womb of futurity for us 'T is unreasonable to suppose when we are in adversity that things will never alter and 't is in vain to torment our selves if they do not For God's Counsels shall stand and his will take place whether we are willing or unwilling Tho the Birds may flutter and be impatient of confinement he that carryeth the Cage in his hand will go never the slower 2. Should we resign our selves to the Divine good Pleasure We ought not then over-eagerly to desire and pursue any temporal good or be over-earnest and positive in deprecating any temporal evil If God grant us the blessings we wish for let us praise his name by the acknowledgment of his bounty but if he think good to deny us we must sit down with submissive satisfaction without them Not envying those who have more than we as believing we have a goodly heritage and that the lines are fallen to us in a place sufficiently pleasant because by God's direction We should not set our hearts so much on any earthly design as not to be satisfied if we meet with disappointment nor on any outward blessing so as not to be content to lose it when God shall think it fit Let us do what we can and what we ought and yet leave God to do what seemeth good to him For we dare not deliberately wish for a total exemption from calamity and sorrow in this world What if God say to any of us Since you are unwilling to submit to my conduct and refuse to trust to the care of my Providence since my Wisdom Power Goodness and Truth are not thought a sufficient security I 'le cross thy desires no more for the future in every thing thou shalt have thy choice but beware the event c. The miserable case of such a person thus left in the hands of his own counsel may convince us of our error 3. Should we resign our selves intirely to the Divine good pleasure Let us then undertake nothing of any moment or consequence without imploring his direction to guide us and his blessing to succeed our undertaking 'T is common for men to ask counsel of God when they are firmly resolved what to do themselves But we ought to have recourse to God for advice before we are determin'd in our own thoughts and not lay the plot of our own affairs as to what we intend to do and then suffer God to come in only as the Executor of our Wills Our Resignation to the Will of God would teach us to ask Counsel from Heaven as well as success 4. This may instruct us in the unlawfulness of anxious prying into futurity and disswade us from it Let us mind what God will have us to do and refer our selves to his good pleasure and we neither need nor shall be over-solicitous what he will do with us Our times and ways are in the hand of God and in much Wisdom and Mercy hath he hidden future events to prevent the confident presumption of some and the melancholy despair of others by the certain foreknowledg of what will come to pass That we may live by Faith depending on his Word and Promise and be resign'd to his Will 'T is true that some have tried to mend their own Fortunes by telling those of other men pretending that every man's Temper and Condition is legible in the Planets and the future events of Persons and Kingdoms may be known by the Stars but such may be confuted and reproved by the challenge of God by the Prophet Isaiah when he foretold the destruction of Babylon Isa 47.10 11 12 13 14. Evil shall come upon thee and thou shalt not know from whence it riseth and mischief shall fall upon thee thou shalt not be able to put it off and desolation shall come upon thee which thou shalt not know Stand now with thine inchantments and the multitude of thy sorceries if so be thou maist be able to profit if so be thou mayest prevail Let now the astrologers the star-gazers the monthly prognosticators stand up and save thee from the things that shall come upon thee Behold they shall be as stubble c. If we love to be concern'd about futurity and will be prying into things to come let our solicitude be imployed about our everlasting state what will become of our Souls for ever but let us resign our selves to the Will of God as to all our Temporal Affairs We see then upon the whole what is our Duty and where is our Happiness And thanks be to God who hath graciously connected them together that by complying with the former we may most effectually secure the latter We are apt to think we can never be happy till our desires are granted but the Remedy must be by the change of our Minds and not of God's Providence For an humble Resignation to his pleasure with a satisfaction in his choice would settle the peace of our minds and silence all our complaints knowing that God hath an undoubted right to do with us what he pleaseth because of his Soveraignty and a fitness to rule us for our good because of his infinite Wisdom and that he will most certainly do so from his Mercy and Truth Let his Promises be our Refuge and his Providence our Comfort his Wisdom our satisfaction and his Almighty Power our Encouragement and Support his Mercy our only Treasure and the secret of his presence our Pavilion chearfully referring all things to his management stedfastly depending on him in every strait or difficulty practically acknowledging him in every dispensation of his Providence and quietly submitting to whatsoever he shall order for he can do nothing but what is best because he himself is infinitely wise and infinitely good And were we well in our Wits we could desire nothing but what is best and of that God only can judg and of that we are fully assured in every condition THE END