Whore no not to save his life offered to him on those terms Holy Fear will tell us that sin must not be done to avoid suffering that we were better bear all reproaches then dishonour God lose our Estates then leave our Religion nay and lay down our lives then be separated from the Divine Love O let us look upon sin as the Maximum formidabile as that which hath in it the most proper cause of fear and flight that no external miseries and dangers may be able to drive us into it 2. Holy Fear looks at the sufferings which God inflicts in Hell as incomparably greater then those which man doth or can inflict upon Earth Our Saviour directing our fear to its right Object takes notice of the vast difference between them Fear not them which kill the body but are not able to kill he soul but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in Hell Math. 10.28 Mans killing is one thing but Gods destroying another Man may kill the Body and it may be in a tormenting manner but there is no death like the second no torments on Earth are comparable to those in Hell no finite arm can strike so hard as the infinite One no Culinary or Elementary Fire can burn so hot as the Infernal doth God bid Moses take and sprinkle the ashes of the Furnace and they should become boils and blains Exod. 9.8 9. A Great Doctor of ours glosses on the words thus The sufferings here on Earth are but the ashes of the Furnace small things in comparison of the Furnace itself an Hell of unquenchable fire man may kill the body but he is not alwaies a killing of it he may torment but he cannot bear up the Patient in long suffering the torments in a little time will cease and the Martyr Sleep in Jesus but God kils the damned and is still a killing them power supports them and Justice punishes them the fire of Hell kindled by eternal breath never goes out and the smoak of their torment ascends for ever and ever After thousands and ten thousand of years still there will be wrath to come such as no time can measure Man may kill the body but after that he can do no more his Engines of Cruelty cannot reach the Soul or touch the inward man which is a Sanctuary for God but God kils the soul his wrath is in a peculiar manner poured out there where the chief seat of sin was the neverdying Worm is ever growing upon corscience The spirit of the damned furiously reflects upon itself over the eternal misery that it lies under All the horrors of a Spira or a Judas are far short of that desperate rage and anguish which tortures the lost souls in Hell He that hath this holy fear in him will chuse any sufferings on Earth rather then those in Hell One of the sons of Solomona told the Tyrant Antiochus that his fire was cold and indeed it was so comparatively to the Fire of Hell St. Austin putting the question whom we should obey God commanding one thing or the Emperor commanding another makes his answer Da veniam Imperator tu carcerem minaris ille gehennam Gives place O Emperor De Verb. Dom. serm 6. thou threatnest a Prison he a Hell When Polycarp was threatned with Fire his answer was That the Persecuter threatned only a momentary Fire but knew not The Eternal one He that ever heard that true Thunder which is the voice of God would hardly be afraid of such Artificial Cracks as the Emperor Cajus Caligula used to make to shew himself a God And he that carries upon his heart an awe of those sufferings which God inflicts in Hell will hardly fear those which men inflict on Earth 3. Holy Fear looks upon Spiritual and Eternal Losses as incomparably greater then Carnal and Temporal ones The loss of the World may be made up in the saving of the Soul but for the loss of a Soul nothing can make a recompence That little sparkle of Divinity mightily outweighs the great Globe of the World What are Bodies to Spirits Nemo saith Austin bene se inspexit qui non omni corpori qualemlibet animam praeponendam esse fateatur he that looks well into himself must confess that any Soul is to be preferred before all Bodies The loss of mans favor may be richly made up by the presence of Gods Moses endured the King's wrath as seeing the invisible one the presence of God was so with him that he feared no human frowns But if the Divine Favour be wanting nothing can supply the defect of it It 's true a man without it may have all outward blessings flowing round about him but he eats and drinks and Sleeps under the wrath of God which hangs over his head as the sword did over the head of Damocles at the Tyrants Table and as soon as the thread of life breaks it comes down upon him in an utter ruine The loss of Creatures may be made up by an interest in God a real Christian having nothing may possess all things in him but if a man forsake God what will the World give in exchang for him It 's Riches are but poor moth-eaten things which in a little time vanish away its Pleasures are but the titillations of Sense and perish in the using its Honours are but a blast a little popular Air which soon go away and come to nothing When once God who is the Fountain and Spring of all good departs it is in vain to hope for any thing from the little Rivulets and Cisterns of the Creature He that hath this holy Fear in him will chuse to suffer loss in Carnal and Temporal things rather then in Spiritual and Eternal It is the saying of St. Ambrose Eaest vera pietas quaepraeponit divina humanis perpetua temporalibus Lib. 7. Epist 56. that is true Piety which prefers Divine Things to humane and perpetual things to temporal St. Austin sets out servile and filial Fear by an Adulterous and a Chast Wife Timet mulier adultera In Joh. Tract 63. in E pist Joh. Tract 9. ne vir ejus veniat timet casta ne vir ejus abscedat The adulterous woman sears lest her husband may come the chast woman fears lest her husband depart In like manner servile Fear makes us afraid that God will punish filial Fear makes us afraid that God will depart The loss of him is more then the loss of all things When the Martyr Menas under the Persecution of Dioclesian Magd. hist Cent 4. cap. 12. was brought forth to suffer he gave this reason for it Nihilest quod meâ sententiá conferripossit cum regno coelorum neque enim totus Mundus potest aequâ lance expensus uni comparari animae there is nothing in my judgment like the Kingdom of Heaven neither may the whole World if weighed in an equal ballance be compared with one Soul He had
will his wrath come down upon all Apostates if they are not dumb before men they will be speechless before God if Devils vex not their Bodies they will yet possess their Souls if there be no torments in their Bowels yet there are in their Consciences The miseries which Apostates incur are much greater than those which they avoid by their Apostacies It is therefore highly reasonable that we should prepare for Sufferings lest by Apostacy we make our selves more miserable than any outward Suffering can make us CHAP. III. Preparation for Sufferings considered more generally A Christian that will be prepared for Sufferings must secure to himself three things that is A good Cause a good Heart and a good God Having seen the necessity of Persecution and the necessity of Preparation I come now to the main thing intended to consider how a Christian may be prepared for Sufferings And here I shall first speak in General and then more Particularly In General a Christian that would be prepared for Sufferings must secure to himself three things a good Cause a good Heart and a good God The first will make Suffering honourable the Second will make us us meet for it the third will give assistance and comfort in it 1. The Christian must secure to himself a good Cause he must take care not to suffer as an Evil doer this is not grateful to God nor honorable among Men in it Christ is not imitated but Christianity is shamed Such Sufferers are the Devils Martyrs it cannot be reasonably expected that they should have the gratious Presence of God or any comfort in Conscience their own hearts cry out Guilty and plainly tel them that their Suffering is but the just wages of their Iniquity A Christian must be sure that there be no guilt in that which he suffers for Holy Daniel saith that Innocency was found in him Dan. 6.22 He speaks not of the innocency of his Person as if he were without sin but of the innocency of his Cause for which he suffered His praying against a Law did not merit a Den of Lions he broke the Humane Command only to keep the Divine It highly concerns the Christian to have an innocent Cause it is the Cause not the meer Suffering that makes the Martyr Again the Christian must take care that he suffer not as a Busy-body in other mens Matter he must not have his own Station nor forfeit Gods protection he must abide with God in his Calling and do his own Business God took care of the Bird sitting over her young in her Nest Deut. 22.6 but not of the wandring one The learned Johannes Fancius of a Minister of the Gospel in his Prince's Court turned Minister of State to his Prince and was at last for some evil Counsel condemned to dye and before he suffered he much lamented the leaving of his Calling and left this Distick Disce meo exemplo mandato munere fungi Et fuge ceu pestem 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Learn this of me thine own Office to bear In others meddle not the Plague is there It is very uncomfortable to a Christian when he runs into Sufferings by going out of his own Sphear Moreover the Christian must take care that he suffer not for his own rashness He that defaced the Emperors Edict against Christians and Suffered for it was not accounted a Martyr Bishop Audas demolished the Persian Temple dedicated to the Fire as their Numen and suffered for it but it was reckoned as a Piece of rash and unreasonable Zeal We must not cast our selves into dangers God will keep us in our ways Theod. Hist Lib. 4 cap. 39. not in our Precipices We must take up the Cross that God makes for us but not make one of our selves by our own rashness If we must suffer let it be for that good Conscience which is a continual Feast for that Righteousness which is in Conjunction with Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost Let it be for that Jesus who suffered for us for that God who crowns momentary Sufferings with eternal Glory This was the case of the Primitive Christians they suffered but it was in a good Cause Justin Martyr and Athenagoras in their Apologies for them shew That there was nothing amiss found in them no Atheism no Thyestean Suppers no unclean Copulations no unjust Actions the only Crime was Christianity And afterwards Tertullian shews That the name in Christians was condemned but no Crime was found in them towards God or man This is the first thing we are to do we must secure a good Cause 2. We must secure good Hearts It is said of the Children of Ephraim that being armed and carrying Bows they turned back in the day of Battel Psal 78.9 and the reason of this we have in the precedent Verse they set not their hearts aright Unless the Heart be good as well as the Cause men will turn back from God and the pure Religion Corrupt Hearts will fall in with the World and ever be on the Sunny side In Dioclesian's time they can be Pagans in Constantine's Christians in Constantius's Arrians in Julian's Pagans again Purpuram colunt non Deum It is the good Heart only that is sit for Sufferings Now two things are requisite to make a good Heart it must be purged from sin and again it must be furnished with principles of Grace 1. It must be purged from sin from the guilt and power of it It must be purged from the guilt of sin A man that hath inward wounds is unfit to bear outward ones Guilt upon Conscience like a Boyl upon the Back makes one uncapable to bear the burden of a Cross They that are partakers of Christs Sufferings in Martyrdome had need first partake of them for Remission They that wash their Robes in the Blood of the Lamb by suffering for him had need first wash their Consciences in it to take away their Guiltness It is not imaginable that a man can piously embrace a Temporal Death when immediately after it he shall fall into an Eternal one Or that he can patiently bear the wrath of Man when the wrath of God is to ensue upon it It was a very forlorn Case with the Egyptians when they were drowning in the Sea and God looked through the Cloud upon them and so it will be with Christians if the World be as a troubled Sea to them and withal God look with an angry Face upon them Therefore it much concernes them to get a pardon sealed in the Blood of Jesus Christ that when they come to suffer they may have nothing to bear but the single Cross without any pressure of Guilt upon Conscience to aggravate it Again It must be purged from the power of Sin Every Lust is a Dalilah an Exhauster as the Hebrew word signifies it takes away the Heart drains and debases the man makes him vile and impotent and by consequence altogether uncapable of so heroical a thing
valuation of him it esteems him to be such an one as he is set forth in Scripture To be the only wise God the only Potentate the only One that is good to be all these essentially fontally supereminently He that hath such an estimate of him will be ready to suffer for him To such an one it is folly to learn the only Wise weakness to leave the only Potentate misery to leave the only Good And how can he leave so excellent an Object to such an one it is prudence to adhere to the only Wise strength to adhere to the only Potentate happiness to adhere to the only Good And how can he chuse but adhere to him It was the saying of an Ancient Minut. 〈◊〉 18. Tum dignè Deum aestimamus cum inaestimabilem dicimus then we rightly esteem God when we account him inestimable Estates Bodies Lives may be valued but he is infinitely beyond all estimation All creatures are but as shadows and little drops of being in comparison of him It is a just debt we owe to him to rate him incomparably above all things and in so doing the Soul it self is ennobled and made fit to suffer for him As a man by valuing the World above itself becomes base and brutish and like the Beasts that perish so a man by estimating God above all things becomes heroical and Divine and like the Angels that live altogether upon him Such an one is able to part with life in the Channel to have it in the Fountain to let go all other things to have all in the one All-sufficient God 2. Love to God stands in holy D sires after him it makes the soul pant after him as the heart panteth after the Waterbrooks Duleissimo Deo totus immergi cupit inviscerari Carthus and go out of itself in holy anhelations after union with him Such is the Heavenly property of it that it aspires to be one Spirit with him to have idem Velle and idem Nolle to will as he wills and nill as he nills and when once our Wills are melted into his every thing that comes from him will be welcome to us Though Flesh and Blood may cry out of Suffering as a very hard thing yet Love will say that nothing can be wiser or better then that which our Father orders and laies out for us If desire after God as the supream good once put our Souls into motion we shall follow him not into Ordinances only but into Sufferings also His gratious Presence is in both In Ordinances it is in a good measure but in Sufferings which are the highest Services on Earth it is in a more eminent manner God doth not barely say to his afflicted people I am with thee but I will strengthen thee yea I will help thee yea I will uphold thee with the right hand of my Righteousness Esay 41.10 many words are heaped up together to impart the excellency of his presence with them O let our hearts burn within us with ardent desires after him that we may be able to bear the fiery Trial at its coming 3. Love to God stands in an holy Complacence in him it makes the Soul rest upon him as Noah's Dove did upon the Ark and Center in him as in the supream Good Holy desires end in inward satisfaction David thirsting after God comes to have his soul satisfied as with marrow and fatness Psal 63.5 And Christians that breathe after him come to have sweet spiritual joys and delights tasts of Heaven and drops from the pure rivers of pleasures that are above These are able to sweeten the bitterest sufferings It is said of the Thessalonians that they received the word in much affliction with joy of the holy Ghost 1 Thessal 1.6 The Gospel doth not go alone but Affliction accompanies it neither will affliction go down alone but the joy of the holy Ghost sweetens it The blessed Martyrs have experimentally found these divine joys in their hearts It is said of Alexander the Martyr Magd. hist Cent. 2. Chapt. 12. famous for his Love to God that ne ingemuit he did not so much as fetch a groan in the midst of his Torments and doubtless he had strong consolations within to bear him up in his Sufferings The Martyr Algerius being in prison wrote thus in the dark Dungeon I find a Paradise of Pleasure in a place of sorrow dwells tranquillity in an Infernal Cave I have joy of Soul O how good is the Lord How easy and sweet his yoke Such Heavenly Cordials will bare up Christians in the greatest trials O let us labour to delight our souls in God that we may be able to suffer for him 4. Love to God stands in an holy Benevolence towards him it delivers and surrenders up the whole man to him it wills and endeavors so far as a poor Creature can to an Infinite Creator to bring all service and glory to him Thus the 24. elders fel down before him and cast down their crowns saying Thou art worthy O Lord to receive glory and honour and power Revel 4.10 11. renouncing themselves they referr all that they have and are to him alone This is an excellent preparative to Suffering If we would indeed serve him we must be willing to suffer for him for that is the highest Service that can be done to him on earth If we would indeed glorify him we must be ready to Suffer for him for that is the greatest glory that we can possibly give unto him therein we do practically declare to all the World that God is our All Riches Honours Relations Life it self are as nothing to him O let us labor to surrender up our selves to him in other things that we may not fail to make the greatest surrender of all in Suffering 2. Love to Christ is a preparative to suffering Ignatius whose Motto was Amor meus crucifixus My Love was crucified would suffer any thing for Christ The Martyr Felicitas was so in love with Christ Magd. hist Cent. 2. cap. 12. that she would not only suffer herself but have her seven sons suffer for him also Love to Christ stands in four things each of which will dispose us to suffer for him 1. Love to Christ stands in an high Valuation of him it esteems him altogether pretious Pretious in his Person being Immanuel God and man in one pretious in his atoning sufferings which being by his Deity elevated into a kind of infinity were enough to pay for the sin of a World pretious in his holy words his Mysteries being heights his Commands rectitude his Promises Grace pretious in the rich Treasures of Grace which are in him and everflowing out towards Believers He that thus esteems of him will be ready to suffer for him To leave his atoning sufferings is to run into Hell to leave his words is to run into all Error to leave his Treasures of Grace is to run into Spiritual Poverty And how can we leave
him To adhere to his Atonement is peace and comfort to adhere to his Words is to keep the way of life to adhere to his Treasures of Grace is to have continual influences of grace from him And how can we chuse but adhere to him St. Paul counted all things dross and dung for him Phil. 3.8 St. Cyprian in his Exhortation to Martyrdome gives this as one rule that we should nihil Christo praeponere prefer nothing before Christ To esteem any thing better then him is the way to turn Apostate but to esteem him better then all is the way to stand in a day of Trial. 2. Love to Christ stands in holy desires after him it causes a man to long and faint for him and as one in extremity to cry out Give me Christ or else I dye Without the laver of his blood I dye in my sins without the supplies of his Grace I dye in my wants O! that I may have him the Spouse in the Canticles was sick of Love languishing and ready to fall into a Spiritual Swoon with her passionate desires after him and his gratious Presence nothing in all the World could cure or satisfie her but his all-desirable self That soul that truly desireth Christ doth not desire aliud praeter illum aliud tanquam illum aliud post illum any thing besides him any thing equally to him any thing after him Such an ardor and holy flame of Love as this is is an extatical thing it makes a man go out of himself to seek after him it will sell all for him and like those virgin souls Revel 14.4 follow him whithersoever he goeth not only into the Banqueting-house of Ordinances but into Sufferings and Afflictions for him The Martyr Gordius had such an ardent Love to Christ Magd. hist Cent. 4. cap. 12. that he was ready to suffer mille mortes a thousand deaths for the name of Jesus Christ O let us Labour to have our hearts kindled and inflamed with holy desires after him that we may be able to stand and endure the fiery trial 3. Love to Christ stands in an holy Complacence in him it makes the soul enjoy a kind of heaven in his Presence and delight itself in his satisfying Sweetness The Spouse in the Canticles was ravished and as it were swallowed up in him the savour of his sweet Ointments lay upon her heart his Love was better to her then all the Wine of the World she sat under the broad shadow of his Merits with great delight Pardons and Graces dropping down from the Tree of Life upon her he is in her eyes totus desideria all loves or desires every thing in him hath a divine sweetness in it This spiritual joy and delight in Christ our Saviour is an excellent preparative in order to suffering The Church will have him lie all night between her breasts Cant. 1.13 all night that is in times of fear and temptation that his presence may sweeten the bitterest condition to her The Cross of Jesus if we tast the sweetness of it will turn a Marah into joy and comfort Tua praesentia Domine Laurentio ipsam craticulam dulcem fecit thy presence O Lord made the tormenting Gridiron sweet to St. Lawrence saith an Ancient Philip Lantgrave of Hesse being a long time Prisoner under Charles the fifth felt the divine consolations of Martyrs supporting of him O let us labor to tast more of the sweetness of Christ to find his blood in every Pardon his Spirit in every Grace his Wine-cellar in every Ordinance that the Divine Comforts that we experimentally feel in him may sweeten the Cross to us 4. Love to Christ stands in an holy Benevolence towards him it surrenders up the whole man to him it endeavours to serve and honour him to the utmost Thus those many thousands cry out worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honour and glory and blessing Rev. 5.11 12. they give all to Christ This is an excellent Preparative for Suffering If we would serve him in other things we must serve him in suffering for him if we would honour him in obedience to other Commands we must honour him in taking up the Cross too St. Paul desired that Christ might be magnified in his body whether it were by life or by death Phil. 1.20 If he lived he would magnifie Christ by Active Obedience and if he died he would do it by Passive Either way he would have Christ glorified in him Tot laudant-ora quot sunt vulnera Magd. hist Cent. 4. cap. 12. The Martyr Romanus having a multitude of wounds in his body thanked the Persecutor for opening so many mouths to glorify Christ In nothing is Christ so much glorified as in his suffering Saints therein they demonstrate the highest Love Seal up the Evangelical Truths with their own blood practically prefer Christ before all the World and offer up themselves for him who gave himself a Sacrifice for them O let us labor to make a total resignation of our selves to him that if sufferings come we may be able to bear them for his sake CHAP. IX The sixth Direction for suffering is a lively hope of eternal Life Hope assures us that there is another World that the good things of it exceed those of this that we have an interest in them Hope disposes us for them Hope waits for them unto the end THe sixth Direction is this If we would be in a fit posture for suffering we must get a lively hope of eternal Life As our life is a Sea Hope is compared to an Anchor which makes us stand steady in a storm As our life is a warfare Hope is compared to an Helmet which covers the soul in times of danger As the body liveth Spirando by breathing so the Soul lives Sperando by hoping A man cannot drown so long as his head is above water Hope lifts up the head and looks up to the Redemption and Salvation that is to come in another World in its fulness and perfection Hope doth three things it assures good things to come it disposes us for them it waits for them unto the end Each of which will be of singular use to fit us for pious Sufferings 1. Hope assures good things to come It is called the Hope of Salvation Thessal 5.8 the hope of Glory Rom. 5.2 the hope of eternal Life Tit. 1.2 because it assures these things To this I shall speak in three Particulars 1. Hope assures us that there is another World called in Scripture the World to come without this there can be no foundation for pious Suffering no man can freely part with this World unless he be assured of another If in this life only we have hope in Christ we are of all men most miserable 1 Cor. 15.19 Miserable indeed to be persecuted out of one World and to have never another to go to If Christians were in as dark a case
what that Fear is which prepares us for Suffering and then how it prepares us thereunto 1. I shall consider what that Fear is which prepares us for Suffering and this I shall dispatch in three things It is not the Fear of man but of God that doth it It is not the fear of man that can do it God gives us a charge against this Who art thou that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall dye Esay 51.12 There is no cause to fear a weak piece of Clay a very Breath a fading Leaf he must dye and there is an end of him and all his thoughts perish with him The wise man tels us That the fear of man bringeth a Snare Prov. 29.25 It made Abraham dissemble as if he had no wife David change his behaviour as if he had no reason Peter curse and swear as if he knew not his Master This Fear disposes to apostacy and must be cured by that Fear of God which disposes to suffering When we are ready to drown in worldly sorrow it is of singular use to spring another a godly sorrow in our hearts and when the Fear of man puts us into trembling fits it is an excellent remedy to raise up the Fear of God in our Souls above the other Thus God directs his People not to fear the confederate Enemies but to sanctify the Lord of Hosts himself and to let him be their fear and their dread Esa 8.12 13. He is Lord of Hosts God over all and the fear of him should be above all other fears this is the way to have him to be a Sanctuary to us as it follows If we Fear him he will be an inviolable place of retreat where we may repose our selves in a day of Trouble 2. It is not a diffidential Fear but a fiducial one that doth it A diffidential Fear makes the mind as Meteors in the Air to hang in suspense and in case Affliction come to fail under the burden St. Peter walked upon the water to go to jesus but when he saw the wind boistrous he was afraid and began to sink Math. 14.29 30. By Faith he walked and by diffidence he began to sink Non ambularet nisi crederet nec mergeretur nisi dubitaret Aust de Verbis Rom. Serm. 14. Our condition is the very same in the waves of a troublesome World we stand by Faith but fall by diffidence That Fear which prepares us for suffering must be a fiducial one Ye that fear the Lord trust in the Lord he is their help and their shield Psal 115.11 Holy fear is and must be in Conjunction with faith Fear flies from the evils of Sin and Hell Faith closes in with the Promises of Grace and Glory both concurr to make a man fit for suffering and such a sufferer shall have God for his help and shield 3. It is not a servile Fear but a filial one that doth it He that hath a meer servile fear of the wrath to come may forbear an act of sin but he hath the Love of it in his heart adbuc vivit in eo peccandi voluntas the Love of sin lives in him still as an Ancient hath it Such an one is not in a fit case to suffer for the Truth he hath not a Love to God to move him to it nor a capacity to have Heaven after it and how can he suffer It is very hard for a man to suffer for a God that he Loves not Or part with the good things of This World when he hath no hope of those in a better That Fear which prepares for Suffering is not servile but filial it stands not in conjunction with the love of Sin but with the Love of God the nature of it is such that he that hath it will displease man rather then offend God part with a World rather then let go the Truth and pure Worship nay and lay down his Life rather then forfeit the Divine Presence and Favour which are better then Life Thus much touching the nature of that Fear which prepares us for suffering 2. I come to consider how holy Fear doth prepare us for sufferings and this I shall open in three things 1. Holy fear looks upon sin as an evil much greater then any suffering suffering is opposite to the Creature but sin is opposite to the infinite God it is a Rebellion to his Soveraignty a contradiction to his Holiness a provocation to his Justice an abuse to his Grace a stain cast as much as in us lies upon his Glory nay as the Schools speak it is a kind of Deicidium it strikes in a sort at the very life and being of God it wishes that there were none at all and if it could effect it there should be none Suffering doth not make a man worse then he was before but sin doth it Those Saints that were destitute afflicted tormented wandring in Deserts and Mountains and Dens and Caves of the Earth were yet such excellent ones that the World was not worthy of them Hebr. 11.37 38. On the other hand Antiochus Ephiphanes who was as his name imports illustrious and glorious in the World was yet but a vile person and was made such by his wickedness Suffering strikes at the estate or body of man but sin strikes at his Soul a thing more pretious then a World nay and at the Divine Image there which is more worth then the Soul it self It doth where it can prevail turn men into Beasts in its sensual lusts or into Devils in its spiritual Wickednesses Suffering may have good nay great good in it but sin is evil only evil t is called by St. James 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the superfluity or excrement of all evil Jam. 1.21 It contains all evils in it and if all evils saith a worthy Divine were to have a scum or excrement crement sin is it as being the abstracted quintessence of all evil and having nothing at all of good in it Sin saith Bradwardine is a thing not to be done pro quantiscunque bonis lucrandis aut pro quantiscunque malis praecavendis for the gaining never so great a good or for the avoiding never so great an evil He that hath this holy Fear in his heart will chuse suffering as the lesser evil rather then sin which is much the greater When Antitiochus Epiphanes brought forth Wheels Rodds Hooks Rakes Racks Caudrons Joseph Ant. Cages Gridirons Gantlets Awles Bellows Brasen Pots and Frying-pans before Salamona here seven sons to terrify them they could not be induced by all his tormenting Engines to trespass so far as to eat of a little sacrificed Swines-flesh to save themselves from a cruel death It was the saying of Anselm That if Sin were set before him on one hand and Hell on the other he would rather chuse Hell then sin Scult Decad An. Dom. 1528 Henry Flander being a Prisoner for the Protestant Religion would not say that his Wife was his
but giveth grace unto the humble Jam. 4.6 God hath two hands with the one he casts down the proud that lift up themselves against him with the other he lifts up the humble that lye at his feet for mercy Humility is not only a Grace but a capacity to receive more of it He that goes to a River to take up water puts the mouth of his Vessel downward to do it he that goes to God for Grace must put his mouth in the dust and cry to have it not for his worths sake but for his spiritual poverty An humble Heart is as Parisiensis cals it a spiritual Vacuum and as nature doth not suffer a Vacuum in Bodies but fils up the space one way or other so Grace doth not suffer a Vacuum in Spirits but fils up the humble Soul with fresh supplies of Grace St. Austin sets out this by a notable similitude Si humiles sunt valles sunt quod infuderis capiunt non dimittunt Aust de Verb. Apost ser 9. The water that fals down from Heaven upon the Mountains flows away but the water that fals upon the Vallys stays there In like manner the Divine Grace that distils from above doth not rest upon high proud persons but upon humble ones God leaves the full Souls and fils the empty abases the exalted and exalts the abased All other Graces grow together with Humility the more humble we are the more we have of God with us the more we have of Grace in us and the more we have of these the more we have of strength in the inner man and the more we have of preparation for a day of Trial. If we build so high as suffering for Christ we must dig deep and lay the Foundation low that when the storm comes we may stand fast and unmovable 3. Humility makes a man freely to bow and subject himself to God in all things This is a choice and excellent preparative for suffering the same which our Saviour commends to weary and heavy laden souls take my yoke upon you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart Math. 11.29 Christians are to take up a double yoke the yoke of Evangelical Commands and the yoke of the Cross that accompanies them in both subjection is requisite In the one Subjection to Christs Authority commanding in the other subjection to his Providence ordering And that Christians may be subject to both they must look to the great Pattern learn meekness and humility from him The heart of man naturally is a very proud Belial thing that will bear no yokes it will not be under Christ not under his Righteous Commands by Obedience nor under his Afflicting Providences by Patience it lifts up itsel and by a kind of Blasphemy practicalls aspires to be above God himself But when the Divine Grace hath melted the heart and made it humble then it will bow down and take both yokes upon itself it will become freely subject to God and all his holy pleasure I say freely A proud man may be bowed down under the pressure of an external Calamity but an humble man bows himself down by an internal Principle of Grace in the one the subjection is meerly of necessity in the other it is free and of choice Humility makes a man lye at Gods foot and say Lord what wilt thou have me to do or What wilt thou have me to suffer Let the word of God come saith Baldasser the German Divine and we will submit to it six hundred necks if we had so many Let the Cross come saith the humble man and I will submit to it Humility is virtually all obedience and patience it makes a man to be as a little child ruleable by all the Will of God Whether that Will come forth in Precepts or providences Humility will comply and bow down under it The lowly in heart will do or be any thing for God therefore our Saviour promises rest to such De Tempore Ser. 213. as the gracious reward of their labors and sufferings It is good counsel that St. Austin gives Esto parvus in oculis tuis ut sis magnus in oculis Dei be thou little in thine own eyes that thou mayst be great in Gods Subjecting thy self to all his pleasure is the way to be exalted by him 4. Humility causes a man to depend upon God for support and comfort in his Sufferings The proud person stands in the posture of the Pharisee 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 standing to himself Luk. 18.11 he stands upon his own bottom and thinks himself able by his own power to do or suffer any thing as he pleases But standing in his own presumption it is very likely that he will fall off as soon as the trial comes But it is otherwise with the humble man he knows that he is weak in himself and must be strong in God and therefore he will not trust in his own Power or Will but look up to God for support and comfort in the evil day De Verb. Dom. ser 13. It is a notable passage of St Austin Multos impedit a firmitate praesumptio firmitatis nemo a Deo fit firmus nisi qui a seipso sentit infirmum A presumption of firmness hinders many from being firm no man is made firm by God but he that feels infirmity in himself The story in the Marian Persecution is very memorable Mr. Sanders the Martyr at first shewed much weakness and fear but Dr. Pendleton said to him What man fear I will see every drop of my grease melted before I forsake Christ and his truth But afterwards Sanders triumphantly Suffered kissing the Stake and saying Welcome the Cross of Christ but proud Pendleton turned Papist Unto this instance I shall add a more ancient one Peter a Great Apostle fell and denied his Lord but among the Primitive Christians Women and little Children suffered in a brave and heroical maner Aust in Joh. tract 113. The greatest Christians may fall by presuming upon themselves the Least may stand by depending on the power of God The poor in Spirit would not be their own Keepers but would commit themselves unto God Psal 10.14 as being safer in his hands then in their own Humble souls not being able to bear up their own weight lean upon the Rock of Ages and having no rest in themselves they acquiesce in the Center of Souls The feeble Conies have their houses in the Rocks and the weak Christians dwell in the secret of the most high Annas Burgus a Senator of Paris suffered for the pure Religion with that constancy that many were curious to know what Religion that was for which he so patiently endured death and one reason of his patience was his humble dependance upon God which he expressed in that often repeated prayer at his death Deus mi ne me derelinquas ne ego te derelinquam Thuan Lib. 23. O my God leave me not lest I leave
him The more we act our Love Meekness Mercy Goodness or any Grace the more we are united to him and incorporated with him nay true Obedience makes us to be of neer alliance to him When our Saviour was told that his Mother and Brethren stood without to see him his answer was My Mother and my Brethren are those which hear the word of God and do it Luke 8.20 21. St. Ambrose upon these words tels us In Lucam cap. 8. Religiosiores copulae mentium quam corporum the conjunction of Minds is more sacred than that of Bodies The Obedient Christian is Brother to Christ being born of the same holy Spirit in Regeneration of which he was conceived in his Incarnation nay he is Mother to Christ bringing him forth in the exercise of holy Graces somewhat of the Love Mercy Piety Meekness of Christ is still a coming forth from him In both these respects doth obedience dispose us to suffering the more we grow up into Christ the Head the more Divine Power and Virtue we have from him our chief strength lies not in our selves but in our Head we may do nay and suffer any thing through him strengthning us And the more we are allied to him the more we are bound to adhere to him Our supernatural Birth obliges us to live to him nay and if need be to die for him and we are to bring him forth not only in other holy Virtue but in that of Patience St. Paul bore about in his body the dying of the Lord Jesus 2 Cor. 4.10 and the Allies of Christ must be ready at Gods call to suffer with him 4. True Obedience produces an increase of Grace and spiritual Strength Obedience is a Christians daily walk the more he exercises himself to Godliness the more grace he hath in his Soul That Faith which was but as a little grain of Mustard-seed becomes a Tree spreading itself forth at last as high as assurance That love which was as a little spark raked up in the ashes comes to be a vehement Flame aspiring after the fruition of God in Heaven That Hope which was but a poor weak thing in the Soul comes to have more liveliness and supernatural stature The path of the just which is in obedience is as the shining light which shines more and more unto the perfect day in heaven Prov. 4.18 The more a Christian exercises himself in Obedience the stronger he grows in the Inner-man of a Plant he comes to be a Tree of Righteousness of a Babe he comes to be a Man in Christ His vital Principles become more strong his supernatural hear increased he holds on his way of Obedience and so grows stronger and stronger Job 17.9 Such an Obedience as this admirably Disposes a man for suffering The greater his stock of Grace is the better will he hold out in the straits of the World The more strength he hath in the inner-man the more able he will be to bear the burden of the Cross If thou faint in the day of adversity thy strength is small Prov. 24.10 Great strength will keep a man from fainting When the Children of Israel were come to be above six hundred thousand Numb 1.46 it was a great encouragement to make them go on gallantly against their Enemies And when Christians have their Graces multiplied and among the rest Patience comes to be all Patience as the expression is Col. 1.11 it gives them spirit and life to bear sufferings 5. True obedience obtains the gracious Presence of God to help and comfort good men in the doing his Will The Rabbins say That if two sit together conferring about the Law the Shechinah is among them I may say if one single Christian be a doing of Gods will the Divine Presence is with him Thus our Saviour saith If any man love him and keep his words the Father and the Son will come and make their abode with such an one John 14.23 Such an one hath a Shechinah in his heart God will be there helping and comforting of him Whilst he is a doing of Gods will strength will come in as it did to the Levites 1. Chron. 15.26 and not only strength but comfort too In keeping his commands there is great reward some of the oyl of Joy which is upon Christ the great doer of Gods will drops down upon good men in their sincere obedience they have an inward peace and joy unspeakeable In this respect obedience prepares the heart of Christians to endure suffering An obedient Christian can argue thus with himself I have found Gods gracious Presence strengthning and comforting me in the doing of his will much more shall I have it when I come to suffer and part with all for his sake When all forsook St. Paul yet the Lord stood with him and strengthned him 2 Tim. 4.16.19 When Mr. Sanders was examined about his Religion he was wonderfully comforted and received a tast of the Communion of Saints a pleasant refreshing did issue from every part of his Body to his heart and from thence into all parts again Cicely Ormes was filled with such joy and comfort that at the kindling of the fire she said My soul doth magnify the Lord and my Spirit doth rejoice in God my Saviour O let us firmly conclude this with our selves that God will not leave or forsake his people no not at other times much less will he do it in the time of Fiery Trials Then they shall have strength and comfort in a more than ordinary way enough to make them to triumph over their Sufferings or at leastwise to bear them with Patience 6. True Obedience is the way to Heaven Those blessed ones that do the commands of God have right to the Tree of Life and enter in through the gates into the City Rev. 22.14 The more obedient a man is to the Divine Will the richer entrance he hath into the blessed Kingdom After sowing to the Spirit comes the Crop of Eternal Glory after walking in holy Obedience comes the blessed end of Life and Immortality In this respect Obedience fits us for Sufferings A man that is in the way to Hell is not capable of suffering it is not imaginable that a man should bear Reproach for Christ who hath no hope of Glory or that he should part with his Treasure here who hath none in Heaven or that he should lay down his Life Temporal who hath no right to an Eternal one or that he should let go his Portion of good in this World who hath none in another But the Obedient Christian who is in the way to Heaven is in a capacity to suffer any thing that meets him in the passage thither Reproaches may come but he is going to shine in glory Worldly Goods may be spoiled but he hath an Inheritance incorruptible that fadeth not away Temporal Life may be lost but in the very instant there begins an Eternal one with the blessed God in Heaven he may by
a Persecution be justled out of this World but he hath a better to go to where there are Crowns of Glory Rivers of Pleasures Plenitudes of Joy and all in the blessed God Our Saviour Christ for the joy that was set before him endured the cross Hebr. 12.2 St. Paul would finish his course that he might have the Crown of righteousness 2 Tim. 4.7 8. When the Martyr Babylas suffered he sung that of the Psalmist Magd. hist cent 3. cap. 12. Return unto thy rest O my Soul his mind was upon the eternal Sabbath in Heaven When Basil the great was threatned with Banishment and Death he was not at all moved at it Banishment is nothing to him that hath heaven for his Countrey neither is Death any thing to one to whom it is the way to Life He that is in the way to Heaven hath great reason to break through all Difficulties to get thither CHAP. XIII The tenth Direction for suffering is Patience under Gods will With respect to the Christian it makes him possess his Soul conquer the World and have inward Satisfaction With respect to God it subjects the Soul to his Will it waits upon God for strength and a good Issue it produces spiritual Joy and Praise THe tenth Direction is this if we would be in a fit posture for suffering we must labor after Patience under the will of God this must be joyned to our Obedience that we may be able to answer to all his will As obedience respects Gods commanding will so Patience which is also a duty respects his disposing one Ye have need of patience that after ye have done the will of God ye might receive the promise Saith the Apostle Hebr. 10.36 We are not only to do other Commands by Obedience but when Providence cals us to it we are to do that of taking up the Cross by Patience Other Graces may help to bear the Cross but Patience takes it up upon its back It is its proper peculiar office 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to make a man abide piously under the Cross This Grace may be considered two waies either in that which it doth with respect to the Christian in whom it is or in that which it doth with respect to God both ways it is of singular use in order to sufferings 1. Patience may be considered in that which it doth with respect to the Christian in whom it is and thus three things may be noted 1. Patience makes a Christian possess his soul Luke 21.19 there is a great difference between the wordly mans patience the Christians The word by man endeavours much that he may possess the things that are without him but the Christian bears that he may possess his own Soul The Christian in a fit of Impatience loses himself and puts himself as it were out of possession not only of his Rational Faculties but of his Graces too at that time he acts not like a Man or a Christian When Jonah told God that he did well to be angry unto death Jon. 4.9 he was in his furious passion more like a Beast than a Man or a Saint If thou deal thus with me saith Moses to God kill me out of hand Numb 11.15 The word thou here is of the Feminine Gender At for Aita the perturbation of Mind made Moses the meekest man on earth unable to fill up his words or to speak as he meant to do It is by patience that the Christian possesseth himself and hath the free use of his Reason and holy Graces While he is patiently bearing the Cross his Faith will roll out as Gold out of the Fire his hope will fix itself in the unmovable Heavens his love will burn within him towards God and his Glory All the Powers in Earth and Hell cannot put him out of the possession of himself or hinder his Graces from coming forth into act he will be like himself in his suffering 2. Patience makes a Christian to be a Conqueror of the persecuting World The Overcomer mentioned in the second and third chapters of the Revelation of St. John to whom so many pretious and excellent promises are there made is not one that overcomes by Martial Fighting but one that hath the Victory by Patient Suffering Who shall separate us saith St. Paul from the Love of Christ Shall Tribulation or Distress or Persecution or Famine or Nakedness or Peril or Sword In all these things 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we are more than Conquerors through him that loved us Rom. 8.35 37. More than Conquerors because they conquered by suffering while their Bodies were slain their souls were triumphing over death itself Thus St. Austin saith Epist 42. that the Pagans were overcome non a repugnantibus sed a morientibus Christianis not by resisting but by dying Christians Patience makes their Persecutors secure them and frame Crowns of Glory for them This made the Martyr Vincentius tell his Tormentor Nunquam aliquis adeò bene servivit mihi actu no man ever served me so much as thou hast done Patience doth so frame the heart to the will of God that it makes a Christian to be a King overhis Crosses losses to him are gain reproaches glory confinement liberty anddeath life While he suffers in any thing he is above it 3. Patience makesa Christian to have inward content and satisfaction in suffering It is the Apostles Exhortation Let patience have her perfect work that ye may be perfect and entire wanting nothing Jam. 1.4 He that hath not Patience is but a lame and imperfect Christian he may go a little way in Religion as far as his Principles reach but if he come to suffering which is beyond them he will halt and turn aside But if a Christian hath an effectual Patience he is then perfect and entire wanting nothing he hath every thing that may fill up his Christianity or happiness in this Life The Cross may come but he hath Principles to bear it Outward Blessings may be taken away but he hath all in God St. Austin brings in patient Job De Simb ad Cateck stript of all but only his God speaking thus Quid mihi deerit si Deum habuero quid mihi alia prosunt si Deum non habuero What can I want if I have God What can other things profit if I have him not Patience gives the suffering Saint quiet and sweet satisfaction in God and not only so but in the very suffering as it is a pious submission to his will There is a sweetness and a secret reward in the doing of Gods will much more in holy suffering for Him The blessed Martyr Baynham at the Stake told the bloody Papists O ye Papists ye talk of Miracles behold here a true one these Flames are to me a bed of Roses It 's true all holy Sufferers cannot say thus but all of them find by experience that there is a sweet satisfaction in suffering for the good God 2. Patience