Well then, be convinced of the sin and danger of a discontented spirit under the hand of God, and instead of mourning over lost re- lations, now mourn for the loss of patience, the want of submission, and for the pride and arrogancy of your own reason, that presumes to correct the works of the Almighty ; and say to God, as Joseph did to his father, when he wittingly crossed his hands in blessing Ephraim and Manasseh, Not so, myjather. This is not fit.
Query 3. But how may these evils be prevented ore ured, and tlie tempestuous soul calmed under the rod.'' How shall all strifes betwixt God and his people be ended, and the soul made quiet at his feet ?
Reply. This blessed frame of spirit may in a great degree and measure be attained in the use of the following directions : I say, in their use and application, not by the prescription or simple know- ledge of them. And,
Rule 1. The first rule or direction is this : Study zcell the glorious sovereignty of God over you, and awe your hearts with the same con- sideration of' it. From his mere pleasure, you, and all that is yours, proceeded ; on his pleasure you depend, and into that good pleasure of his will, your wills therefore ought to be resolved: "Whatever the ** Lord pleased, that he did, in heaven and in earth, in the sea, and " in all deep places," Psal. cxxv. 6. Man and man stand on equal ground ; and if our reason be not satisfied about tlie equity of men's dealings with us, we may ask who did it, and demand the reasons why he did it ; but when we have to do with God, we must not dispute his pleasure. Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth ; but let not the clay dispute with \\\e potter. Now the so- vereignty of God is gloriously displayed in \\\^ decrees, laws, and provi- dences. (1.) In his decrees, appointing the creatures to their ends, whether to be vessels of mercv, or of wrath, Rom. ix. 18, 19, 20. In
136 A SERMON PREACHED AT THE
this case there must be no disputing with God. (2.) In his laws, ap-' pointing the work and duty of the creature, as also the rewards and punishments ; Jam. iv. 12. " There is one Lawgiver, that is able to save and to destroy.*' In this case his sovereignty immediately and indispensably binds the conscience of man, and no human authority can dissolve that obligation : Nor must we snuff at the severest com- mand. (3.) The glorious sovereignty of God is displayed in his pro- vidential administrations, appointing every man to that station and condition in which he is in this world ; whether it be high or low, prosperous, or afflicted : Ps. Ixxv. 6. " I said to the fools, deal not " foolishly, &c. for promotion cometh not from the east, nor the *' west, but God is Judge ; he putteth down one, and setteth up ano- *' ther.'' Let not them that are at the top of the world be lifted up ; nor those that are at the bottom be dejected ; for God casts every man's lot, and changeth their condition at his pleasure ; a word of his mouth plucks dov. n the lofty, and exalts the lowly ; he woundeth, and his hands make ^hole. Hence it becomes the afflicted to be still, and knoAV that he is God, Psal. xlvi. 10. to put his mouth in the dust, and quietly to wait for his salvation : All our fretting and struggling cannot shake off the voke which he hath put upon us ; but a meek and quiet submission to his will, and compliance with his designs, is the best expedient to procure our freedom. There is not one circumstance of trouble befals you without his order ; nor can you expect deliverance but by order from him.
Rule 2. Study the transcendent evil ofsin^ and wJiat the demerit of the least sin that ever you committed is. This will becalm your tem- pestuous spirits, and at once work them into contentment with your present state, and admiration that it is no worse. Lam. iii. 22,69, 40.
Consider, thou querulous and discontented soul, that the wages of sin is death, Rom. vi. ult. that tribulation, anguish, and wrath, are due by law, to every soul of man that doth evil ; that so often as we have sinned, so often have we deserved hell : and shall we then charge God with severity, for scourging us with the rods of gentle, fatherly, chastisements.? Is this hell ? Dare'you say the severest afflic- tion that ever was upon you, is above the demerit of your sin ?
It is true, indeed, the Lord tells Jerusalem, that she had " received " of his hand double for all her sins,'' Isa. xl. 2. But that is not the language of strict justice, but of compassions rolled together. There is not a gracious soul in all the world but will readily subsciibe Ezra's confession, that God hath afflicted it less than its iniquities deserve, Ezra ix. 13. Oh ! if once we measure our afflictions by our sins, we shall admire they are so few, so mild and gentle as they are !
Rule 3. Consider uhat a difference there is hetzoixt the saints meet-' ing with ajffiictions, and their parting iviih them. You meet them with trembling and astonishment, but you shall part with them with praise and thanksgiving ; blessing God for the manifold blessings they have instrumentally conveyed to your souls. It is good for me, saith
FUNERAL OP JOHN UPTON, ESQ, 137
David, that I have been afflicted. By these things sin is prevented, discovered, and mortified, the ensnaring world embittered, and the rest to come sweetened.
Many other excellent rules may be added : try these, and the blessing of the Spirit accompany them.
To conclude ; be not swallowed up of sorrows for what you have lost; but balance all the troubles of this life with the hopes of the next. Your dear children are gone, your sweet husband is gone ; but to consider who took them, and whither. It is said of Enoch, Gen. V. 24. " He walked with God, and was not, for God took him." Mr. Upton is not, and yet he is : he is not with men, — he is with God : he ceases not to he^ though he ceases to breathe : he is taken away, but God took him : he is better where he is than where he was : though he be not in your bosom, he is in Christ's.
Imitate his zeal, plain-hcartcdness, diligence in duties, and you shall shortly meet him again, and never part any more ; 1 Thess. iv. 15, 16, 17, 18. "For this we say by the word of the Lord, that we " which are alive, and remain to the coming of the Lord, shall not *' prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall des- " cend from heaven with a shout, and with the voice of the arch- " angel, and the trump of God : and the dead in Christ shall rise *' first : Then we which are alive, and remain, shall be caught up " together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air : " and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one '' another with these words." Did you but know the deep emphasis of these words, ever with the Lord ; I doubt not, but you would find comfort enough in them for yourself, and a great overplus for the (comforting of others.
ASSEMBLY'S CATECHISM.
With Practical Inferences from each Question :