world say? Exod. xxxii. 12, Num. xiv. 12-16. Would tbey not say that he is a hard master, and that his ways are not equal ? Would they not say, Verily they are liars that say he is glorious in power, and won- derful in counsel, and infinite in mercy, and admirable in goodness, and rich in grace, and unsearchable in his understanding ? For surely were he, he could not, he would not, put his children upon such hard and dangerous services, but he would own them, and stand by them ; he would assist them, and smile upon them ; he would be as careful to bring them bravely off, as he hath been ready to bring them freely on Oh ! he could not see them in garments rolled in blood, but his bowels would yearn towards them, and he would arise, and have mercy on them.
III. Then, thirdly, Waiting times are times wherein God is pleased to give his people some secret tastes of his love, and to lift up the light of his countenance upon them: * I waited patiently' for the Lord,' saith David, ' and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of an hoixible pit' (or out of a pit of noise), 'out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God,' Ps. xl. 1-3. After God had exercised David's patience in waiting, he sweetly breaks in upon him, and knocks off his bolts, and opens the prison doors, and takes him by the hand, and leads him out of the pit of noise and confusion, in which he was, and causes his love and good- ness so to beam forth upon him as causes his heart to rejoice, and his tongue to sing. So after devout Simeon had waited for the consolation of Israel, that is, for Christ's coming, the Holy Ghost falls upon him, and leads him to a sight of Christ in the temple, and this makes the good old man sing, Nunc dimittis, Now, let thy servant depart in peace, Luke ii. 25-33. Ah ! says Simeon, I have lived long enough ! now I have got Christ in my heart, and Christ in my arms, who is my light, my life, my love, my joy, my crown, let me depart, according to thy word. Ah ! saints, I appeal to you, have not many of you found by experience the sweet breathings of Christ upon you, even whilst you have been waiting at the door of mercy ? while you have been weeping and waiting, hath not the Lord Jesus come in and said, * Peace be to you ' ; ' Waiting souls, be of good cheer, it is I; be of good cheer, your sins are pardoned' ? Surely you have. Hath not God made that word good unto you, ' Wait on the Lord, be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart : wait, I say, on the Lord ' ? Ps. xxvii. 24< ; yes. And hath he not made that good to you, ' They shall not be ashamed that wait for me ' ? Isa. xlix. 23 ;* that is, they shall not be deceived, or disappointed of their hopes and expectations, that wait for me. Yes. And have you not found that word made sweet to your souls, * There- fore will the Lord wait, that he may be gracious : blessed are all they that wait for him ' ? Yes. And hath not the Lord made that word good to you, ' The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul
^ *nMp nip waiting, I waited.
* These words, •shall not be ashamed,' in the Hebrew dialect, do not simply import that Buch shall not be brought to shame, or shall not perish, but that he shall be advanced to great dignity and glory, to everlasting happiness and blessedness.
SS-i HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.
that seeketh him' 1 Lam. iii. 25. Yes. Waiting souls, remember this assurance is yours, but the time of giving it is the Lord's ; the jewel is yours, but the season in which he will give it is in his own hand ; the gold chain is yours, but he only knows the hour wherein he will put it about your necks. Well ! wait patiently and quietly, wait expectingly, wait believingly, wait affectionately, and wait diligently, and you shall find that scripture made good in power upon your souls, ' Yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not taiTy,' Heb. x. 37, (jfitxfov 0 gov 0 sov), Hab. ii. 3, He will certainly come, he will seasonably come, he will suddenly come, as the prophet Malachi speaks : ' Behold, I will send ray messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant whom ye delight in : behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts,' Mai. iii. 1. Well ! I will say but this, if assur- ance of God's love be not a jewel worth a waiting for, it is worth no- thing.
IV. Fourthly, Suffering times are times wherein the Lord is pleased to give his people some sense of his favour.^ When they are in suffer- ings for righteousness' sake, for the gospel's sake, then usually God causes his face to shine upon them.^ Now they shall hear best news from heaven when they hear worst from earth. God loves to smile most upon his people when the world frowns most. When the world puts their iron chains upon their legs, then God puts his golden chains about their necks ; when the world puts a bitter cup into their hands, then God drops some of his honey, some of his goodness and sweetness into it. When the world is ready to stone them, then God gives them the white stone ; and when the world is a-tearing their good names, then he gives them a new name, that none knows but he that hath it, a name that is better than that of sons and daughters. When the world cries out, ' Crucify them, crucify them,' then they hear that sweet voice from heaven, ' These are my beloved ones, in whom I am well pleased.' When the world clothes them with rags, then the Lord puts on his royal robes, and makes a secret proclamation to their spirits, * Thus shall it be done to the men whom the King is pleased to honour.' When the world gives into one hand a cup of water, God gives into the other a cup of nectar, a cup of ambrosia. When the world gnasheth upon them, and presents all imaginary tortures before them, then the Lord opens paradise to them, as he did to Stephen. When Paul and Silas were in prison for the gospel's sake, then God fills them with such unspeakable joy, that they cannot but be singing when others were sleeping, Acts xvi. 23, 24. God turns their prison into a palace, a paradise, and they turn his mercies into praises. Paul and Silas found more pleasure than pain, more joy than sorrow, more sweet than bitter, more day than night, in the prison.^
God will make some beams of his goodness and glory to break through stone walls, to warm and glad the hearts of his suffering ones.
' Kon poena sed causa facit martyrem.
* Adversiis pentet, gratias agimus quod H molestii dominit liberemur, saith one : We thank you for delivering us from hard taskmasters, that we may enjoy more sweetly the bosom of Christ.
• Methinks, said one, I tread upon pearls, when he trod upon hot burning coals : and I feel no more pain than if I lay in a bed of down ; and yet he lay in flames of lire.