Go, hang upon such a man but a few years ; and to another, Go, hang upon such a man but a year ; and to another, Go, hang upon such a man but a few months ; and to another. Go, hang upon such a man but a few weeks ; and to another, go, hang upon such a man but a few days ; and to another, go, hang upon such a man but a few hours, &c. ; and accordingly it cometh to pass. But,
(8.) The eighth lesson that you are to learn by the rod or by the raging pestilence, is, to get more weaned and more' mortified affections to all worldly comj'orts, contentments, and enjoyments.^ A man never comes to experience so much of the emptiness, the nothingness, the uselessness, the vanity, the mutability, the impotency, the insufficiency, and the uncertainty of all worldly comforts and enjoyments, as when he comes to fall under the rod. The constant cry of the rod is. Be dead to the profits, pleasures, honours, and applauses of the world ; be dead to relations, be dead to friends, be dead to everything below a living Jesus. But,
(9.) The ninth lesson that you are to learn by the rod or by the raging pestilence is, to get assurance of greater and better things than any this world doth afford, Heb. x. 33, 34. That saying is as true as it is old, viz., that the assurance of an eternal life is the life of this temporal life. But having spoke so much of this particular in my treatise on •assurance, which is now in your hands, I shall satisfy myself with this hint at present.'^ But,
(10.) The tenth lesson that you are to learn by the rod, or by the raging pestilence, is, not to despise the rod : Heb. xii. 5, ' My son, de- spise not thou the chastening of the Lord.' The Greek word ' OXiyu^n that is translated despise, signifies the littling of a thing. Oh ! do not little the rod, do not lessen it, do not slight it, do not make a tush at it, do not set light by it, do not say, I will not regard it. He that doth, shews himself rather to be a Roman than a Christian. Now, because there is such a desperate aptness and proneness in many to make light of the rod, it will be your wisdom seriously to lay to heart these four particulars :
[1.] First, That it is an immediate hand of God, Amos iil 6, Deut. xxviii. 58-61, and therefore not to be despised. It is a sad and sinful thing to despise the mediate hand of God ; but it is more sad and sinful to despise the immediate hand of God. But,
[2.] Secondly, It is a mighty hand of God : 1 Peter v. 6, * Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.' Certainly that heart must be mightily wicked that dares despise the mighty hand of God, Amos iv. 10, Ezra xxxviii. 22, 23.
[3.] Thirdly, It is an angry hand of God, and therefore do not de- spise it : Ps. xc. 7, ' For we are consumed by thy anger, and by thy wrath •are we troubled;' ver. 11, 'Whoknoweth the power of thine anger? even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath.' Shall devils tremble under his angry hand ? yea, shall they roar as the sea under his wrathful hand, as that Greek word (p^iesoven in that James ii. 19, and will you presume to despise his angry hand ? The Lord forbid, Num. xvi. 46, Ezra xxxiii 27-29, Deut. xxix. 22-25. But,
1 Gal. V. 24 ; 1 Cor. vii. 29-31 ; Eccles. i. 2 ; Prov. xxiii. 5 ; Jer. xlv. 4. 6. * ' Heaven on Earth,' included in the present volume. — G.
158 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN.
[4.] Fourthly and lastly, Consider that it is a holy hand, it is a just and righteous hand, it is a faithful hand of Ood; and therefore do not despise it; Jer. xxix. 17-19, Lev. xxvi. 25, Jer. xiv. 12-lG: Ps. cxix. 75, 'I know, 0 Lord, that thy judgments are right, or righteousness, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me.' Ver. 137, ' Righteous art thou, O Lord, and upright are thy judgments.' Certainly none but unholy persons will be so impudent as to despise God's holy hand. Well,
(11.) The eleventh lesson that you are to learn by the rod, or by the raging pestilence, is, not to be discouraged under the rod, Jer xxvli. 13, 2 Sam. xxiv. 10, 17 : Heb. xii. 6, ' Nor faint when thou art rebuked of him.'
First, It is a rod in a Father's hand ? and therefore do not faint under it.
Secondly, God will do much good by the rod, and therefore do not faint under the rod.
Thirdly, You could not have been without the rod ; and therefore do not faint under the rod.
Fourthly, The rod that is now upon [you] is not according to the great- ness of God's anger, nor according to the gi*eatness of his power, nor accord- ing to the strictness of his justice, nor according to the demerits of your sins, nor according to the malicious desires of Satan, nor according to the designs, plots, and contrivances of wicked and unreasonable men, nor according to the extensiveness of your fears, — for you have feared worse things than you feel, — nor according to that rod that hath been upon the primitive saints, nor according to that rod that many thousands of the precious sons and daughters of Sion are under in other parts of the world ; and therefore do not faint under the rod, do not be discouraged under the rod.
Fifthly, by fainting under the rod, you will gratify Satan, reproach religion, reader yourselves unserviceable, and make work for future repentance ; and therefore do not faint under the rod. But,
(12.) The twelfth lesson that you are to learn under the rod, or by the raging pestilence, is, humbly to kiss the rod, and patiently und quietly to lie under the rod, till the Lord shall either give you^ a gracious or a glorious deliverance from it} What is the rod, and what is the raging pestilence, to the horrors of conscience, and to the flames of hell, or to an everlasting separation from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power ? 2 Thes. i. 8, 9. And therefore put your niouths in the dust, and be silent before the Lord. He that hath deserved a hanging, if he escape with a whipping, hath no cause to murmur or complain ; and we that have deserved a damning, have little cause to murmur or complain of a whipping, yea, though it should be with a pestilential rod. But,
(13.) The thirteenth lesson that you are to leam by the rod, or by the raging pestilence, is, highly, fully, freely, and signally to justify the Lord, and to think well of the Lord, and to speak tvell of the Lord under the rod. To that purpose, consult these scriptures, Ps. cxix. 75, 137; Neh. ix. 33 ; Ezra ix. 13 ; Lam. i. 3, 5, 7, 8, 10 ; iv. 15, 18 ; Dan. ix. 12, 14 ; 2 Kings xx. 16-19 ; Jer. xii. 1, 2 ; Ps. cxix. 17-22 ; xxil 1-3 ; xcvii. 2. But,
> 2 Chron. xxxii. 25, 26 ; Lev. xxvi. 40-42 ; Micah vii. 9 ; Lam. iii. 30.
EPISTLE DEDICATORY. 159
(14.) The fourteenth lesson that you are to learn by the rod, or by the raging pestilence, is, personal refoi'Tnation. When the rod smarts, and the pestilence rageth, God expects that every man should smite " upon his thigh, and turn from the evil of his doings : 2 Chron. vii.