lleply 1. God sits at the stern of liis church, Ps. xlvi. 5. Sometimes it is a ship tossed upon the waves, " O thou afflicted and tossed !" Isa. liA'. 11. But cannot God bring this ship to haven, though it meet with a storm upon the sea? This ship in the gospel was tossed because sin was in it ; but it was not overwhelmed, because Christ was in it. Clirist is in the ship of , this church, fear not sinking; tlie church's anchor is cast in heaven. Do not we think God loves his church, aiul takes as much care of it as we can ? The names of the, twelve tribes were on Aaron's breast, signi- fying how near to God's heart his people are ; they are his portion, Deut. xxvii. 9.,
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and shall that be lost ? His glory, Isa. xlvi. 13., and shall that be finally eclipsed ? No certainly. God can deliver his church, not only from, but by opposition ; the church's pangs shall help forward her deliverance.
lieplij 2. God hath always ])ropagated re- ligion by sufferings. The foundation of the church hath been laid in blood, and these sansruine showers have ever made it more fruitful. Cain put the knife to Abel's throat, and ever since the church's veins have bled : but she is like the vine, livhich by bleeding grows, and like the palm- tree, which may have this motto, percussa resurgit, — the more weight is laid upon it, the higher it riseth. The holiness and pa- tience of the saints, under their persecu- tions, hath much added both to the growth of religion, and the crown. Basil and Ter- tullian observe of the primitive martyrs, that divers of the heathens seeing their zeal and constancy turned Christians : re- ligion is that Phoenix which hath always revived and flourished in the ashes of holy men. Isaiah sawn asunder, — Peter cruci- fied at Rome with his head downwards, — Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, and Polycarp of Smyrna, both martyred for religion, — yet evermore the truth hath been sealed by blood, and gloriously dispersed ; whereupon Julian did forbear to persecute, tion ex de- mentia sed invidia ; not out of pity, but envy, because the church grew so fast, and mul- tiplied, as Nazianzen well observes.
The twelfth apology that discontent makes for itself, is this, it is not my trouble that troubles me, but it is my sins that do dis- quiet and discontent me.
Ans. Be sure it be so ; do not prevaricate with God and thy own soul ; in true mourn- ing for sin when the present suffering is removed, yet the sorrow is not removed. But suppose the apology be real, that sin is the ground of your discontent; yet I an- swer, a man's disquiet about sin may be be- yond its bounds, in these three cases.
1. When it is disheartening, that is, when it sets up sin above mercy. If Israel had only pored upon their sting, and not looked up to the brazen serpent, they had never been healed. That sorrow for sin which drives us away from God, is not without sin, for there is more despair in it
than remorse ; the soul hath so many tears in its eyes, th.it it cannot see Christ. Sor- row, as sorrow, doth not save, that were to make a Christ of our tears, but is useful, as it is preparatory in the soul, making sin vile, and Christ precious. O look up to the brazen serpent, the Lord Jesus ! A sight of his blood will revive, the plaster of his merits is broader than our sore. It is Sa- tan's policy, either to keep us from seeing our sins, or, if we will needs see them that we may be swallowed up of sorrow, 2 Cor. ii. 7., either he would stupify us, or af- fright us ; either keep the glass of the law from our eyes, or else pencil out our sins in such crimson colours, that we may sink in the quicksands of despair.
2. When sorrow is indisposing, it un- tunes the heart for prayer, meditation, holy conference ; it cloisters up the soul. This is not sorrow but rather sullenness, and doth render a man not so much penitential as cynical.
3. When it is out of season. God bids us rejoice, and we hang our harps upon the willows ; he bids us trust and we cast ourselves down, and are brought even to the margin of despair. If Satan cannot keep us from mourning, he will be sure to put us upon it when it is least in season. A^Hien God calls us in a special manner to be thankful for mercy, and put on our white robes, Satan will be putting us into mourning, and instead of a garment of praise, clothe us thus with a spirit of heavi- ness ; so God loseth the acknowledgment of mercy, and we the comfort. If thy sor- row hath tuned and fitted thee for Christ, — if it hath raised in thee high prizings of liim, strong hungerings after him, sweet delight in him, — this is as much as God requires, and a Christian doth but sin to vex and tor- ture himself further upon tlie rack of his own discontent.