2(////, If Israel be sometimes in the house of bondage, in an afflicted state, then think befoi-ehand of affliction ; say not as Job xxix, 18., " I shall die in my nest." In the house of mirth, think of the house of bondage ; you that are now Naomi, may be Marah, Ruth i. 20. How quickly may the scene turn, and the hyperbole of joy end in a catastrophe! All outward tilings are upon the tropics, given to cJiange. The forethoughts of affliction would make us so))er aiul moderate in the use of lawful delight; it would cure a surfeit. C-hrist at a feast mentions his burial, — a good an- tidote against a surfeit. The forethoughts of affliction would make us prepare for it ; it would take us off the world, it would put us upon a search of our evidences, — We should see what oil Ave liaA'e in our lamp, Avhat grace Ave can find, that Ave may be able to stand in the evil day. That sol- dier Avas imprudent Avho had his SA\^ord to Avhet, Avhen he Avas just going to fight, lie Avho fitrecasts sufferings, Avill have the shield of faith, and the SAvord of the S])irit ready, that he may not be surprised.
3r////, If afflictions do come, let us labour to deport ourselves Avisely as Christians, that Ave may adorn our sufferings; that is, let us endure Avith patience; James v. 10., " Take my brethren tlie proj>hets for an example of enduring affliction and patience." Satan labours to take adAantage of us in affliction, by making us either faint or mur- ■
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nmr , lie blows tlio coals o\ passion and discontent, and tlien warms himself at the fire. Patience adorns sufferinfrs. A Chris- tian should say as Jesus Christ, " Lord, not my will but thy will be done." And indeed, it is a sii^n the afflicticm is sanctifi- ed, when the heart is brought to a sweet
submissive frame, and then God will re- move the affliction ; he will take us out of the iron furnace. And that brings me t5 the second thing, God's deliverance of his people Israel, " I brought you out of the house of bondage."
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ExoD. XX. 2. Which brought thee out of the house of bondage.
WE may consider these words, " Which brought thee out of the house of bondage ;" either, 1. Literally; or, 2. Spiritually, and mystically. \st. In the letter, " I brought thee out of the house of bondage ;" that is, I delivered you out of the misery and ser- vitude you sustained in Egypt, where you were in the iron furnace. 2d. Spiritually and mystically, " I brought thee out of the house of bondage." So it is a type of our deliverance by Christ from sin and hell.
First, Literally, in the letter, " I brought thee out of the house of bondage," viz. out of great misery and slavery in the iron fur- nace. The thing I note hence is, though God bring his people sometimes into trou- ble, yet he will bring them out again, Is- rael was in the house of bondage, but at last I brought you out of bondage. 1. That God doth deliver out of trouble. 2. In what manner. 3. Wlien are the seasons. 4. Why God delivers. 5. How the deli- verances of the godly and wicked out of trouble differ.
l.sf, That God doth deliver his children out of troiddes, Ps. xxii. 4., " Our fathers trusted in thee, they trusted, and thou didst deliver them ;" 2 Tim. iv. 17., " And I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion," viz. from Nero; Ps. Ixvi. 11, 12., "Thou laidst affliction upon our loins, but thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place;" Ps. XXX. 5., " Heaviness may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the moi-ning." God brought Daniel out of the lion's den, Zion out of Babylon. God, in his due time, gives an issue out of trouble, Ps. Lwiii. 20. The tree which in the winter seems dead, in the spring revives : Post nubila Phabus. Affliction may leap on us as the viper did on Paul, but at last this viper shall be sha-
ken off. It is called a cup of .affliction, Isa. li. 17. The wicked drink a sea of wrath, the godly drink only a cup of affliction, and God will say shortly, ' Let this cup pass away.' God will give his people a gaol-delivery.
2dly, Quest. In what manner doth God deliver his people out of trouble ?