might have been alfo Eftate, and all the Means of Subfiftance. Or fuppofe that's gone too; you have Liberty, Health, Peace, and Friends. Or fuppofe they are alfo gone; you are out of Hell, and within reach of Heaven which, I will fay, is a greater thing than any you have loft, or all these put together. Pardon of Sin, and Peace with God, may fill be yours. Mourner. Thefe, I fear, are not mine. Answer. Nay, then it is Time to mourn over fomething else than a dead Friend. To mourn over a dead Soul of your own, to mourn over a loft God, to forrow for Sin; thefe are infinitely more to your Purpofe than forrowing for the Dead. And there is at leaft this room to rejoice, that all thefe fpiritual Bleffings may be bad. You may be pardoned, accepted, fanctified, and faved. And it is a Matter of great Comfort that these things are poffible, and within reach. Mourner. But I would have had these spi. ritual Bleffings, with the Life and Enjoyment alfo of thofe that are gone. Anfwer. That is, you would have every thing according to your Defire and Fancy; that God and Providence fhould take their Orders from you, and confult your Liking, before they execute their Decrees. But, fhould it be according to thy Mind! Job 34. 33. Hethat has a Pillow to lay his Head upon, and yet (as one fays) will needs lay it upon a Stone; he that has many convenient Seats to fit upon, and and nothing will ferve him but a Bush of Thorns; furely they must be very much in love with Sorrow and Melancholy, who enjoy fo many Bleffings, and will yet flight all the Pleasures of them, to pine away in the Company of their Wants. Underftand what you now poffefs, as you would do if it were taken away, and then you will have a better Relish for it. The Miferies and Troubles entailed on the Pofterity of. Adam, are numerous. They are compared to the Sparks that fly up, for Number. It is a Mercy we efcape any of them: That all these Sparks do not kindle upon us together: That all these Troubles do not feize upon us at once: That out of fo many Miseries we should have fo few, when we are born to all, by Defcent; fubject to all, by Nature; deferving of all, by Sin. Do you forget what your Sins deferve? Shall a living Man complain; a Man for the Punishment of bis Sin? Lam. 3. 39. A living Man, when you might have been dead; for the Punishment of Sin, and you might have been damned? The Punishment of Sin, on this Side of Hell, is always less than our Iniquities deferve. Mourner. I will bear the Indignation of the Lord, becaufe I bave finned against him. Answer. "Let every Man, fays one, when "he computes what he wants of his Defires, "reckon as exactly how far he is fhort in his Duty; 66 A "Duty; and when he has duly pondered both, "he will think it a very eafy Compofition, "though his Wants should be unfupplied, pro"vided his Sins be pardoned; and will fee "Caufe to fit down contentedly with honeft "Mephibofbeth, 2 Sam. 19. 23. What Right "have I yet to cry any more to the King ?" The Good of Affliction in general ought to be taken into the Account, as another Confideration to affwage our Griefs. He for our Profit chaftifes; fays the Apoftle; and it was good for me that I was afflicted, fays David. Afflictions have, a Tendency to awaken our Repentance; to ftir us up to fearch and try our Ways, in order to turn our Feet unto God's Teftimonies. I will go and return to my Place, till they acknowlege their Offence. In their Affliction they will feek me early, Hof. 5. 15. And fo it proved, ver. 16. Come, let us turn to the Lord: He bath torn us, and he will beal; be bath broken us, and he will bind us up. They help to wean us from this World, and make us more willing to depart. As we must needs be lefs fond of the World, the more trouble-` fome it is to us; and as it makes our Dying the more eafy and more welcome, to have fent thofe before us for whofe Sake we might defire to live, and with whom we defire to be. We have fewer Ties and Engagements to Earth. The Fibres being cut off, and the Roots loofened, the Tree falls with greater Ease. Af Afflictions bring us to Thoughtfulness and Confideration, when all other Means in the World can hardly do it. A Man that can fit at a Sermon as unmoved as if the Joys of Heaven, the Sorrows of Hell, and the Eternity of both were no Part of his Concern: The Excellency of God, the Vanity of the World, the Deformity of Sin, and the Beauty of Holinefs, fhall leave him unmoved, if not asleep; he little regards the Meffage, or the Meffenger: But let God fend one of Job's Meffengers to tell him fuch a Ship is loft, his House is burnt, or fuch a dear Relation dead; prefently he is awake, and has more Thoughts of Heart in an Hour, than he had before in a Month. The patient Bearing of fuch Afflictions, and the fanctified Improvement of them, is one Mirk of our Sonship, and the Love of God to us. Should you lofe the Comfort of fuch an Evidence by Impatience? Heb. 12. 7.If ye endure Chaftening, he dealeth with you as with Sons. To endure, feems to fignify more than merely to be chaftifed; namely, to accept the Chaftifement as from the Hand of God, and to bear it with becoming Decency and Patience. There is one Remark more, proper for fome Mourners, from thefe Words: If ye endure chaftening, be dealeth with you as with Sons. What a Miftake is it then to say, "If I was a Child of God, he would not deal "with me in such a Manner;" when the Text fays, fays, If ye endure chaftening, he dealeth with you as with Sons? Affliction well fuftained improves every Part of our Religion. It teaches Compaffion and Sympathy towards others in their Troubles. It gives an Edge to our Devotion, an Ardency to our Prayers, Tenderness to our Heart, and a Life to our Graces: It is the Trial and Triumph of our Faith. Patience hath its perfect Work: Our Refolutions for God are confirmed; fo that we take fafter Hold of God, and of thofe Things that cannot be taken from Us. Our Sorrows, at longeft, are but short; and we shall shortly ourselves go the fame Way. How diminutively does the Apostle speak of the Afflictions of this prefent Time? Our light Afflictions, which are but for a Moment, 2 Cor. 4. 17. You call them heavy, he calls them light; and thofe light Afflictions but for a Moment; and that Moment of light Afflictions worketh for us. You are apt to think they all work against you, but they work for you a far more exceeding and eternal Weight of Glory. The Contraft lies betwe.n Affliction and Glory; light Affliction, and the Weight of Glory; light Affliction for a Moment, and a Weight of Glory eternal: Spoken as much like an Orator, as like an Apostle. And who was it that faid all this? One that knew as well what Affliction was, one that had as much of it to his Share, as any Man in the World. In Labours more abundant; G |