* Plutarch, lib, de tuperstitione.
• Eodolphua the emperor's motto was, Omnia ex voluntaU Dei, all must be as God will [have it. And this should be every Christian's motto under the rod.
» [?oxe] Acts and Mon. in Edward I. [Sub nomine : Foxe, by Townsend, vol. ii. 577,
144 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN.
him, seeing him submit, and on bended knee sueing for his life, did not only put up his sword, but also spared him, and received him into his favour. The King of kings will never put up his sword when once he hath drawn it, till his people fall on their knees, and submit unto him. God never left chastising of Ephraim till he had brought him to his bow, till he had made him submit, and kiss the rod, Jer. xxxi. 18-20. But,
(6.) Sixthly, AjffiictioTis are called a rod, in respect of the hand that lays them on. Though affliction be a rod, it is a rod in a Father's hand, The sword is in the judge's hand, John xviii. 11, and the cudgel is in the master's hand ; but the rod is in the father's hand, Heb. xii, 6-9. When Balaam's ass offended him, he wished for a sword to slay him^ Num. xxii. 29 ; but so doth not God. When we do most highly pro- voke him, he doth not take up a sword to slay us, but only a rod to scourge us and chastise us, as indulgent fathers do their dearest children. But,
(7.) Seventhly and lastly. Afflictions are called a rod, in regard of the ends to which they serve. A rod is not to kill, but to cure ; it is not for destruction, but for correction. When David gave a full com- mission to his soldiers against Absalom, it was not to slay him, but to restrain him ; it was not to ruin him, but to reduce him to his former obedience. The application is easy. We can as well live without our daily bread as without our daily rod. Now, the end of taking up the rod are these :
[1.1 First and naore generally. It is for the good of the child, and not for his hurt. It is so here. God takes up the rod, but it is for the good of his people : Gen. 1. 20, * But as for you, ye thought evil against me ; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.' Divine goodness did so over-master the plotted malignity of Joseph's brethren as that it made a blessed medicine of a most deadly poison : Jer. xxiv. 5, ' Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge them that are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good.' When Israel was dismissed out of Egypt, Exod. xl., it was with gold and ear-rings ; and when Judah was dismissed out of Babylon, it was with great gifts, jewels, and all neces- sary utensils, Ezra i. So Rom. viii. 28, ' And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.' This text, like Moses's tree cast into the bitter waters of affliction, may make them sweet and wholesome to drink of But,
[2.] Secondly, and more particularly. The rod is to make the child sensible of his folly and vanity : Pro v. x, 13, ' In the lips of him that hath understanding, wisdom is found ; but the rod is for the back of him that is void of understanding.' So it is here : God takes up the rod, but it is to make his people sensible of their folly and vanity ; it is to make them look up to him, and to look into conscience, and to look out to their conversations. Schola crucis is schoJa lucis. God's house of correction is his school of instruction. His lashers are our lessons, his scourges are our schoolmasters, and his chastisements are our adver- tisements. Hence both the Hebrews and Greeks express chastening and teaching by one and the same word, musar, paideia, because the
EPISTLE DEDICATORY. 145
latter is the true end of the former, according to that in the proverb, ' Smart makes wit, and vexation gives understanding.'^ Afflictions are a Christian's looking-glass,* by which he may see how to dress his own soul, and to mend whatsoever is amiss. They are pills made up by a heavenly hand on purpose to clear our eyesight : 1 Kings xvii. 18, 'And she said unto Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God f Art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son ?' If God had not taken away her son, her sin had not been brought to remembrance. It was the speech of an holy man in his sickness : ' In this disease,' said he, ' 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 was before.' The cross opens men's eyes, as the tasting of honey did Jonathan's. ' Here,' as that martyr phrased it, ' we are still a-leaming our A, B, C, and our lesson is never past Christ's cross, and our walking is still home by weeping-cross.' But,