Imatges de pàgina
PDF
EPUB

CHA P. XXXIV.

How God ought to be addressed to in Time of

Disciple.] Ta

Adverfity.

HE Lord giveth, and the Lordtaketh away, and bleffed be the Name of the

Lord. Yea,bleffed be thy Name for this ve- Job i. 21. ry Calamity,with which thy Fatherly Wisdom and Affection hath now thought fit to chaftife and try me. I cannot flee from the Scourge of thy Rod, but I will fly to thee for Succour, and beg that thou would'ft affift me with thy Patience, and turn all my Sufferings to my Soul's Advantage. I am indeed in Trouble, and cannot but confefs the prefent Disorder which this Misfortune gives me. But this is my own Infirmity; and I know not what to pray for as I ought. For what fhall I say? Lord, fave me from Rom.viii. 26. this Hour. No, dearest Father, thou hadst John xii. not brought me to this Hour, had it not been for thy Glory and my own Good. And therefore I will rather beg, that my Affliction may continue till thy gracious Purposes are accomplished in me; and when thou feeft me fufficiently humbled, that then, and not before, thou wouldeft refresh, and raife, and deliver me out of it.

For my Deliverance, I am duly fenfible, can come from no other Hand; fince I my felf am weak, and poor, and blind, and know not what is beft, or what to do. Grant me then, bleffed Lord, a Rescue in thy own due time; and in the mean while ftrengthen me with Patience, that by thy powerful Aid I may bear up against the fharpeft Tribulations, without Defpondency or Diftraction. Not my Will, Lord, but thine be done, fhall be the conftant Language of Heart; My finful Heart, which acknowledges thy Ο

my

Mer

Mercy in the midst of Wrath; and fadly reflects, that thou haft punished me much lefs than my Offences deferve. O that this humble Senfe of my own Guilt may work in me fuch quiet and contented Submiffion to thy Will, that I may neither unduly decline, nor unthankfully murmur at the weight or the length of my Sufferings, till thou fee fit to compofe this Storm, and reftore to me the Comforts of thy Favour and indulgent Providence.

For, if the Tempeft ftill rage, this is not the Effect of want of Power in thee to quiet it; but because a perfect Calm is not yet seasonable for me. Thy mighty Hand can lay it in a moment, Thou canft abate its Fury, or thou canft protect and fupport me under its Violence and Extremity. Iknow thou canft; for thou haft taught me by my own Experience; and the Remembrance of thy former Mercies will not fuffer me to doubt the Efficacy of thy Power. But, in proportion as my Grief and Burthen is greater, fo much the fweeter and more refrefhing let thy healing Virtue, and Spiritual Confolations be; and let me feel thy gracious Promife, That thou wilt not fuffer thy Servants to be tempted abovethat they are able, but wilt with the Temptation alfo make a way to escape that they may be able to bear it.

1 Cor. X. 13%

CHA P. XXXV.

How the Divine Affiftance should be fought, and depended upon.

Nahum 1:

Chrift.] Am that Lord, my Son, who is the StrongI hold of Afflicted Men in the Time of Trouand in whom thou doft well to take Sanctuary in all thy Diftreffes. But if thy Comforts

ble;

make

make not haft, thou doft thy felf frequently obftru&t and difappoint thy own Expectations, by deferring thy Prayers, and by flowness to ask Relief. For Men generally try all other Comforts and Remedies firft, and referve Me for their laft Refuge, in Times of fuch Extremity, that nothing will do them Service; and then my Honour is concerned, not only to defeat thofe Human Contrivances, in which they vainly trufted; but to defer my own Succours; and, by making them fmart for their impious Neglect, compel them to acknowledge,that I am the Deliverer of them that truft in Me; and that, without me, no Succours are ftrong, no Counfels wife, no Remedies fuccefsful; And if their Sufferings find fome prefent Abatement, this only skins the Wound, but is no perfect Cure,and the Pain it affwages will return again with doubled Anguish and Rage. For I alone, who gave the Stroke, can heal it; and as there is no Evil which the Lord hath not done, fo neither is there any Deliverance which the Lord hath not wrought.

But now thy Applications are come up into my Ears, and thou haft caft thy felf upon my Mercy, I will revive thy Drooping Spirits, and thou fhalt, after this dark difmal Storm, rejoice again in the Light of my Countenance. For I am ready not only to restore thy former Happiness, but also to recompence thy paft Pains and Patience, by plentiful Additions of more and greater Bleffings. And let not any Adverfi

tho' never fo grievous, prevail upon thy Frailty to diftruft my doing fo; For,Can there any thing be hard for me? Or am I like deceitful Men, who footh their Dependants up with Promifes which they never defign to perform? Have I at any time broken my Word? Where then is thy Faith? Where thy Courage? bear bravely up, and discharge thy Duty; for if thou fail not to qualifie thy felf for receiving them, Grace and Confolation fhall certainly approach in due time. If

[ocr errors][merged small]
[merged small][ocr errors][merged small]

Hab. ii.

the Lord tarry, yet wait for him, for he will furely come and heal thee. The Load which now oppreffes thee, is only laid there, to try thy Strength and Virtue; nor would it weigh thee down fo low, if thy own Folly did not make it heaupvier, by heaping on Anxious Cares for the future on thy prefent Sufferings. But this is to confpire against thy felf, and turn thy own TorMatt.vi. 34. mentor. Sufficient to each day is the Evil thereof; without charging it with additional Troubles,which no way belong to it. These are indeed impertinent and fenfelefs at all times: For how abfurd is it to exalt or deject one's felf, by Hopes and Fears, and fond Reprefentations of diftant Good and Evil,which have not any Being in Nature, and probably may never be at all? Difmifs these empty, but painful Follies, the mere Creatures of thy own Sick Fancy; for fuch Delufions are a great Reproach upon Reason, and a greater yet upon Chriftianity; when thy mean timorous Soul is mocked by fuch Airy Phantoms, and fo very eafily led captive by the Enemy's Suggeftions. And fuch are thefe difponding or fanguine Thoughts of what will be hereafter. Whether it be or not, he matters not; for his Bufinefs is to deceive and undo Men. And true or falfe Hopes and Terrors contribute equally to this Defign: The Love of present Good, and Dread of approaching Evils, are Inftruments of Ruin employed by him, with wonderful Addrefs; and fo Ruin be but the Confequence, the Methods and Management of it are altogether indifferent to him.

Do not therefore fuffer Fear to deject thee, but ftill maintain thy Chriftian Courage, and repofe thy Confidence in my Mercy. I am often ready at hand,when thou fuppofeft me at a distance; and at thofe times, when all is given for gone, things are fo far from defperate, that profperous Events, and most furprizing

[ocr errors]

Com

Comforts are breaking in upon thee, like a glorious Sun from an astonishing Eclipfe. 'Tis Rafhnefs therefore to conclude Affairs in a loft Condition, because fome Croffes have baulked your Expectations: Nor can either your own Refentment of Misfortunes within, or the Violence of any Calamity without, give you fufficient Grounds, from the terrible Face your prefent Circumftances wear, to pronounce, That all Hope of Escape and better Days is past. Nay, which is the moft fenfible and moft deplorable Cafe of any, if at the fame time that I fcourge thee with outward Calamities, thou feel the inward Supports of my Grace withdrawn, which fhould enable to bear the Rod; Yet even fo, think not thy felf forfaken, or that I have utterly caft thee from my Prefence. The Way to Heaven is fet with Briars and Thorns, and they who arrive at that Kingdom, travel over cragged Rocks and comfortless Defarts: And more it is for their advantage to have their Virtue awakened, and brightned, and brought to the Teft, by the Smart of Adverfity; than that all things fhould go fmoothly on, without any manner of Let or Molestation.

The Heart of Man is deceitful, who can know it? Thy very felf art often under very dangerous Mistakes about thy own Condition. Thou art ignorant what thou art, and much more ignorant what is fit for thee. But I, who have a perfect Understanding of both, fee plainly, that it is proper and beneficial fometimes to be left to thy felf; that thus, ftruggling to fo little purpose with the Calamities that bear thee down, thou may'st be brought to a juft and humble fenfe of thy Infirmities, that this Senfe may check thy Vanity, and shew that all thy Attempts which prove fuccefsful, are owing entirely to another Hand; and thou in truth, nothing less than that mighty Man thou art apt to take thy felf for. This makes my depriving thee of thy usual Comforts convenient, but ftill 'tis in my power

« AnteriorContinua »