Though ho may be poor in the world, yet he is rich in faith and holy experiences, James ii. 5 ; and what are all the riches of this world to spiritual experiences? One spiritual experience is more worth than a world, and upon a dying bed and before a judgment-seat, every man will be of this opinion. The men of this world will with much quiet- ness and calmness of spirit bear much, and Buffer much, and suffer long, when they find their sufferings to add to their revenues ; and shall nature do more than grace? It is the common voice of nature, 'Who will show us any good?' Ps. iv. 6; how shall we come to be great, and high, and rich in the world ? We care not what we suffer, nor how long we Buffer, so we may but add house to house, heap to heap, bag to bag, and land to land, Isa. v. 8. Oh how much more then should Christians be quiet and calm under all their afflictions, though they are never so long, considering that they do but add jewels to a Christian's crown ; they do but add to his spiritual experiences. The long afflicted Christian hath the fullest and the greatest trade ; and in the day of account, will be found the richest man.
(6.) Sixthly, Long afflictions sometimes are but preparatives to long- lived mercies. Joseph's thirteen years' imprisonment was but a pre- parative to fourscore years' reigning like a king ; David's seven years' banishment was but a preparative to forty years' reigning in much honour and glory ; Job's long afflictions were but preparatives to more long-lived mercies, as you may see in that last of Job ; and those sad and sore trials that the Jews have been under for above these sixteen hundred years, are to prepare them for those matchless mercies, and those endless glories, in some sense, that God in the latter days will crown them with :J Isa, liv. 11—14, 'O thou afflicted, tossed with tem- pests, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundation with sapphires. And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones. And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord, and great shall be the peace of thy children. In righteousness shalt thou be established : thou shalt be far from oppression, for thou shalt not fear ; and from terror, for it shall not come near thee.' Though they have been long afflicted and tossed, yet they shall at last upon glorious foun- dations be established ; God will not only raise them out of their dis- tressed estate wherein now they are, but he will advance them to a most eminent and glorious condition in this world ; they shall be very glorious, and outshine all the world in spiritual excellencies and outward dignities : Isa. lx. 14, 15, ' The sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee, and all they that despised thee shall bow them- selves down at the soles of thy feet : and they shall call thee, the city of the Lord, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel. Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated, so that no man went through thee, I will make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations.' Ah, < Ihristians ! do not mutter nor murmur under your long afflictions, for you do not know but that by these long afflictions God may prepare and fit you for such favours and blessings that may never have end. By long afflictions God many times prepares his people for temporal, spiri- tual, and eternal mercies. If God by long afflictions makes more room 1 Isa. lxii., lxiii., and lxvi.
Ps. XXXIX. 9.] UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 357
in thy soul for himself, his Son, his Spirit, his word ; if by long afflic- tions he shall crucify thy heart more to the world and to thy relations, and frame and fashion thy soul more for celestial enjoyments ; hast thou any cause to murmur ? Surely no. But,
(7.) Seventhly, Tlie longer a saint is afflicted on earth, the more glorious he shall shine in heaven; the more affliction here, the more glory hereafter.1 This truth may be thus made out :
[1.] First, The more gracious souls are afflicted,the more their graces are exercised and increased, Heb. xii. 10, Rom. v. 3-5. Now, the more grace here, the more glory hereafter ; the higher in grace, the higher in glory. Grace differs nothing from glory but in name : grace is glory in the bud, and glory is grace at the full. Glory is nothing but the per- fection of grace ; happiness is nothing but the perfection of holiness. Grace is glory in the seed, and glory is grace in the flower ; grace is glory militant, and glory is grace triumphant. Grace and glory differ non specie sed gradu, in degree, not kind, as the learned speak. Now, it is most certain that the more gracious souls are afflicted, the more their graces are exercised ; and the more grace is exercised, the more it is increased, as I have sufficiently demonstrated in this treatise already. But,
[2.] Secondly, The longer a. gracious soul is afflicted, the more his religious duties will be multiplied. Ps. cix. 4, ' For my love they are my adversaries ; but I give myself unto prayer ;' or as the Hebrew reads it, ' But I am prayer/ or ' a mau of prayer.' In times of afflictions a Christian is all prayer ; he is never so much a man of prayer, a man given up to prayer, as in times of affliction.2 A Christian is never so frequent, so fervent, so abundant in the work of the Lord, as when he is afflicted : Isa. xxvi. 16, ' Lord ! in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them/ Now, they do not only pray, but they pour out a prayer ; they were freely, largely, and abundantly in prayer when the rod was upon them. Look ! as men plentifully pour out water for the quenching of a fire, so did they plentifully pour out their prayers before the Lord ; and as affliction puts a man upon being much in prayer, so it puts him upon other duties of religion answerably. Now, this is most certain, that though God w 11 reward no man /or his works, yet he will reward every man according to his works:3 1 Cor. xv. 58, 'Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord ; for- asmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.' 2 Cor. ix. 6, ' But this I say, he which soweth sparingly shall reap sparingly ; aud he which soweth bountifully shall reap bountifully / or he which soweth in benedictions or blessings shall reap in benedictions, as it runs in the original.
It is an excellent observation of Calvin upon God's rewarding the Rechabites' obedience, Jer. xxxv. 19 ; God, saith he, oft recompenseth the shadows and seeming-appearance of virtue, to shew what compla- cency he takes in the ample rewards he hath reserved for true and sin- cere piety. Now, if the longer a Christian is afflicted, the more his
1 2 Cor. iv. 16-18; Mat. v. 10-12; 1 Cor. iii. 21-23.