(5) Consider, God is a Faithful God.

And this should be another encouragement, patiently to bear whatsoever he shall lay upon us. Thus the Apostle urgeth it, 1 Pet. iv. 19. Wherefore, let them that suffer according to the will of God, commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator. He is faithful to his word and promise, which he will certainly fulfil, in his due and appointed season.

Now, as there is no condition that needs more, so there is no condition that hath more promises made to it, than an afflicted and suffering condition.

[1] He hath promised a Moderation of all our afflictions.

1 Cor. x. 13. God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will, with the temptation, also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. He will proportion our burden to our strength, and not lay heavy loads upon weak shoulders.

[2] He hath promised his Presence with, and his Comforts and Assistance to, the afflicted.

Isa. xliii. 2. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burnt; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. And, certainly, the presence and the consolations of God are such, as can sweeten the most bitter condition, and make the waters of Marah pleasant and refreshing.

[3] He hath promised to rescue thee out of all thy Dangers, and to deliver thee out of all thy Sorrows and Troubles.

Job v. 19. He shall deliver thee in six troubles; yea, in seven, and there shall no evil touch thee. However,

[4] He hath made thee that universal promise, which shines among all the rest, as the sun in the firmament, and were enough, if there were no other besides, to give light and comfort to a believing soul, under the saddest circumstances; That all our sorrows and sufferings shall, in the end, evaporate to our Gain and Advantage.

Rom. viii. 28. All things shall work together for good, to them that love God. He can make the top of the rod yield us honey, and the eater meat: for he is almighty, and he will do it; for he is faithful, who hath promised. And, what folly then is it, to murmur and complain of our afflictions, when as our very afflictions are our great advantages! and could we, with a wish,

transform our condition, and make it such as we fancy and desire, yet it would be far worse with us than now it is.

Well then, O Christian! though thou mayst be troubled when thou lookest to second causes, and to the instruments and occasions of thy afflictions; yet, look unto God, the great Guide and Governor of all things: consider his Sovereignty, his Propriety, his Wisdom, his Fatherly Mercy, and his Faithfulness; and, if impatience hath not tainted thy very reason, and fretted thee out of all use of serious thoughts and reflections, thou wilt find abundant cause to bear all thy burdens, not only with submission, but with thankfulness.

(6) To this let me add one consideration more concerning God; and that is, that he is the God of Patience.

So he is styled, Rom. xv. 5. The God of Patience. And that, not only as he is the God, that requires patience from us; not only as he is the God, that gives patience to us; not only as he is the God, that doth own and crown patience in us: but as he is the God, that doth himself exercise infinite patience towards us. He bears more from us, than we can possibly bear from him. He bears our sins, whereas we only bear his chastisements and sin is infinitely more contrary to God's nature, than suffering can be unto ours. And what strange disingenuity is it, when we daily offer many horrid affronts and indignities against his Divine Majesty, and yet expect that he should put them up and pass them by with patience; yet, that we should murmur and fret, and cannot quietly bear the least correction from the hand of God! Certainly, we allow ourselves strange privilege and advantage, that we can be content, the Great God of Heaven and Earth should daily suffer by our sins; and yet cannot be content, when we suffer a little by his chastisement. Thus, did we but well consider the Author and Inflicter of all our sufferings, it would much help us patiently to undergo them.

That is a Second Motive.

3. Consider what thou hast deserved.

And this will be a most unanswerable argument for patience under what thou feelest. If God should extract the very spirit and quintessence out of all the most bitter things in the world, and put this potion in thy cup, and make thee drink of it all thy days; yet, all this is nothing to what thou hast deserved. When thou liest under any pain or sickness, or whatsoever misery and affliction it be, think with thyself, "This is nothing,

to one gripe of hell-torments; much less, to an eternity of them." Think with thyself, "Though this be grievous which I now suffer; yet, how happy is it for me, that I am not now in hell! If I now feel so much pain, when I am but a little touched with his finger; oh! what intolerable anguish should I have felt, had I now lain under the furious strokes of his almighty arm! And shall I howl, and fret, and be impatient, when I have infinitely more reason to bless God, that it is no worse with me, than to complain, that it is thus ?" Thus, I say, compare your sorrows and sufferings with your deserts; and this will be a most effectual means to excite you to a patient bearing of them.

4. A fourth motive to patience may be the consideration of the great Benefits and Advantages, that accrue to us by afflictions. It is true, that afflictions, in themselves considered, can have no great encomiums made of them: for, so, they are rather pernicious and destructive, than any way conducible unto the welfare of those that suffer them: that man must have worne off all impressions of natural good and evil, whoever shall think, that pains and sorrows are but delights and recreations: after all the grave dictates of philosophy, pains will be pains; and diseases, diseases, still: and, if reason should presume to teach sense to judge what is pleasant and what is grievous, it would exceed its due bounds, and grow very profoundly ridiculous: it is work enough for patience to bear them as they are; it is not required, that we should account them pleasures and divertisements; and those, who are of such a cynical humour, deserve enough of such blessings. But, though afflictions be in themselves evil, yet are they capable of such excellent improvements, that the good, which shall spring from them, will more than compensate the pain and grief of our present sufferings. To this accords that of the Apostle, Heb. xii. 11. No chastisement for the present seemeth to be joyous, but rather grievous: nevertheless, afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. As the ploughing up of a field seems utterly to spoil the beauty of it, when its smoothness and verdure are turned into rough and unsightly furrows, and all its herbs and flowers buried under deformed clods of earth; but yet, afterwards, in the days of harvest, when the fields laugh and sing for joy, when the furrows stand thick with corn and look like a boundless sea and inundation of plenty, they yield an incomparable delight to the eyes of the beholders, and welcome sheaves into the bosom of the reapers: so, when God

ploughs up any of his children and makes long furrows upon their backs, it may possibly seem somewhat a strange method of his husbandry, thus to deform the flourishing of their present condition; but yet, afterwards, when the seed, which he casts into these furrows, is sprung up; when it shall overspread their souls, and shake like Lebanon; both the wisdom and goodness of Divine Providence will be made apparent, in thus converting a barren prosperity into a more fruitful adversity; and, though they go forth weeping, yet they shall, doubtless, come again with rejoicing, bringing their sheaves with them; as the Psalmist speaks, Psal. cxxvi. 6. And, therefore, since afflictions may be thus improved to so great an advantage, impatience and fretfulness under them may be justly censured, not only as impiety, but folly.

Now, there are Four sorts of Improvements and Advantages, that we may make of our afflictions.

(1) As they are the Exercise of our Graces, so they keep them lively and active.

Exercise, you know, though it weary and tire the body for the present, yet conduceth to its health and soundness. Now afflictions are the soul's exercise, by which God keeps our graces in breath, which else would languish and be choked up. And, though this exercise may sometimes be very violent, so as to make the soul pant and run down with sweat; yet this tends to better its constitution, and to remove that sluggish phlegm, which otherwise would obstruct and oppress it. And, therefore, O Christian! whatsoever thy present troubles and afflictions be, know, that God brings them upon thee, only to breathe thy graces, and make them the more healthful and vigorous. Possibly, he takes from thee all thy outward props and dependencies, to try thy Faith; whether it can lean firmly upon a promise, and be confident enough to take his word without a pawn. Possibly, he lets loose all his winds and his waves upon thee: the whole face of heaven may be muffled with clouds; and, for many days, thou mayest see neither sun nor star, no other light but those flashes which are more terrible and dismal than darkness itself: and all this, only to try the temper of thy Hope; whether that anchor be strong enough to hold out in a storm. And, if ever Providence should call thee to lay down thy secular enjoyments, or thy life itself, for the profession of the name of Christ, this is only to try the ardency of thy Love and Zeal, how much thou

VOL. IV.

canst forego and undergo for his sake; whether thou canst espouse a naked Truth, a destitute and forsaken Christ, when reproaches, revilings, persecutions, and martyrdom, are the only dowry thou canst here expect. Thus, I say, God often brings afflictions upon his people, that their graces may be exercised; and, upon trial, be found unto praise, and honour, and glory, when their faith shall appear victorious, their hope tenacious, and their love sincere, in the midst of troubles, dangers, distresses, yea and death itself. As spices send forth their most fragrant scents, when they are most bruised; so are the graces of God's people more sweet and redolent, when they are crushed and bruised under the pressure of heavy afflictions. Now, as the trial and exercise of our strength is a natural means to encrease it; so, this exercise of grace by afflictions is a proper means to get great strength and perfection of grace: all habits are confirmed in us by frequent acts: and, therefore, O Christian! if thy afflictions put thee upon the acting of faith, and hope, and a generous unbiassed love of God, and self-denial, and humility; know, that thou art a great gainer by thy very losses, and happy in thy greatest troubles. Nay, if by suffering thou only learnest how to suffer, and growest more expert in patience, this alone is a sufficient recompense for all thy sorrows: it will be motive enough to any one, who knows the excellency of this divine grace, to suffer patiently, that he may be patient: see that remarkable place of the Apostle, Rom. v. 3, 4. We glory in tribulations: we esteem them our privilege and advantage: why so? because tribulation worketh patience: we rejoice to have our patience tried, so long as the product of it is still patience: and patience worketh experience: we hereby grow to be experienced Christians; and, by long custom, find, that those troubles are not so dreadful, nor insupportable, when we come to grapple with them, as we thought, when we stood at a distance. Indeed, experience and custom facilitate all things; and make that very easy, which before we accounted difficult, if not impossible. All birds, when they are first caught and put into their cage, fly wildly up and down, and beat themselves against their little prison; but, within two or three days, sit quietly upon their perch, and sing their usual notes, with their usual melody: so it fares with us: when God first brings us into straits, we wildly flutter up and down, and beat and tire ourselves, with striving to get free; but, at length, custom and