* In this day men shall give an account (De bonis commissis, de bonis dimissis, de malis commissis, de malis permissis) of good things committed unto them, of good things
2 Cor. II. 11.] against satan's devices. 47
upon that account that they must ere long give for all the mercies that they have enjoyed, and for all the favours that they have abused, and for all the sins they have committed, it would make their hearts to tremble and their lips to quiver, and rottenness to enter into their bones ; it would cause their souls to cry out, and say, Oh that our mercies had been fewer and lesser, that our account might have been easier, and our torment and misery, for our abuse of so great mercy, not greater than we are able to bear. Oh cursed be the day wherein the crown of honour was set upon our heads, and the treasures of this world were cast into our laps ; oh cursed be the day wherein the sun of prosperity shined so strong upon us, and this flattering world smiled so much upon us, as to occasion us to forget God, to slight Jesus Christ, to neglect our souls, and to put far from us the day of our account !
Philip the Third of Spain, whose life was free from gross evils, professed, ' That he would rather lose his kingdom than offend God willingly ;' yet being in the agony of death, and considering more thoroughly of his account he was to give to God, fear struck into him, and these words brake from him : ' Oh ! would to God I had never reigned. Oh that those years that I have spent in my kingdom, I had lived a solitary life in the wilderness ! Oh that I had lived a solitary life with God ! How much more securely should I now have died ! How much more confidently should I have gone to the throne of God ! What doth all my glory profit me, but that I have so much the more torment in my death ?' God keeps an exact account of every penny that is laid out upon him and his, and that is laid out against him and his ; and this in the day of account men shall know and feel, though now they wink and will not understand. The sleep- ing of vengeance causeth the overflowing of sin, and the overflowing of sin causeth the awakening of vengeance. Abused mercy will cer- tainly turn into fury. God's forbearance is no quittance. The day is at hand when he will pay wicked men for the abuse of old and new mercies. If he seem to be slow, yet he is sure. He hath leaden heels, but iron hands. The farther he stretcheth his bow, or draweth his arrow, the deeper he will wound in the day of vengeance. Men's actions are all in print in heaven, and God will, in the day of account, read them aloud in the ears of all the world, that they may all say Amen to that righteous sentence that he shall pass upon all despisers and abusers of mercy.1
The ninth device that Satan hath to draw the soul to sin is, Device (9). By presenting to the soul the crosses, losses, re- proaches, sorrows, and sufferings that do daily attend those tliat walk in the ways of holiness. Saith Satan, Do not you see that there are none in the world that are so vexed, afflicted, and tossed, as those that walk more circumspectly and holily than their neighbours ?
neglected by them, of evil committed by them, and of evils suffered [allowed] by them. In die judicii plus valebit conscientia pura, quarn marsupia plena ; then shall a good conscience be more worth than all the world's good. — Bernard.
1 Hierom [Jerome] still thought that voice was in his ears (Surgite mortui et venite ad judicium), Arise, you dead, and come to judgment. As oft as I think on that day, how doth my whole body quake, and my heart within me tremble.
48 PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 C'OR. II. 11.
They are a byword at home, and a reproach abroad ; their miseries come in upon them like .bib's messengers, one upon the neck of another, and there is no end of their sorrows and troubles. Therefore, saith Satan, you were better walk in ways that are less troublesome, and Less afflicted, though they be more sinful; for who but a madman would spend his days in sorrow, vexation, and affliction, when it may be prevented by walking in the ways that I set before him?
Now the remedies against this device of Satan are these :
Remedy (1). The first remedy against this device of Satan is, solemnly to consider, Tltat all the afflictions U hat do attend the people of God, are such as shall turn to the profit and glorious advantage of ' tlte people of God. They shall discover that filthiness and vilenesa in sin, that yet the soul hath never seen.
It was a speech of a German divine1 in his sickness, 'In this disease I have learned how great God is, and what the evil of sin is ; I never knew to purpose what God was before, nor what sin meant, till now.' Afflictions are a crystal glass, wherein the soul hath the clearest sight of the ugly face of sin. In this glass the soul comes to see sin to be but a bitter-sweet ; yea, in this glass the soul comes to see sin not only to be an evil, but to be the greatest evil in the world, to be an evil far worse than hell itself.
Again, They shall contribute to the mortifying and purging away of their sins, Isa. i. 15, and xxvii. 8, 9. Afflictions are God's fur- nace, by which he cleanses his people from their dross. Affliction is a fire to purge out our dross, and to make virtue shine ; it is a potion to carry away ill humours, better than all the benedictum rnedica- mentum, as physicians call them.2 Aloes kill worms ; colds and frosts do destroy vermin ; so do afflictions the corruptions that are in our hearts. The Jews, under all the prophet's thunderings, retained their idols ; but after their Babylonish captivity7, it is observed, there have been no idols found amongst them.
Again, Afflictions are sweet preservatives to keep the saints from sin, which is a greater evil than hell itself. As Job spake, ' Surely it is meet to be said unto God, I have borne chastisement, I will not offend any more : That which I see not, teach thou me ; if I have done iniquity, I will do no more. Once have I spoken foolishly, yea. twice, I will do so no more/ Job xxxiv. 31, 32. The burnt child dreads the fire. Ah I saith the soul under the rod, sin is but a bitter- sweet; and for the future I intend, by the strength of Christ, that I will not buy repentance at so dear a rate.3
The Rabbins, to scare their scholars from sin, were wont to tell them, 'That sin made God's head ache;' and saints under the red have found by woful experience, that sin makes not only their heads. but their hearts ache also.
Augustine, by wandering out of his way, escaped one that lay in
1 Gaspar Olcvianus (1586).— G.
2 In time s of peace our armour is rusty, in time of war it is bright
8 Salt brine preserves from putrefaction, and salt marshes keep the sheep rom the rot: so do afflictions the saints from sin. The ball in the Emblem saith, Pcrcussa surgo, the border you beat mo down in affliction, the higher I shall bound in affec- tion towards heaven and heavenly things.