1. First, Dwell much upon the sweet hehaviour of others under the loss of their near and dear relations. When God had passed the sen- tence of death upon David's child, 2 Sam. xii. 20, he ' arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his apparel, and came into the house of the Lord, and worshipped ; then he came to his own house, and when he required, they set bread before him, and he did eat.' When his servants questioned this action, he answers, ' Now he is dead, wherefore should I fast ? Can I bring him back again ? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me,' ver. 23, So when Aaron's sons were destroyed by fire for their offering up strange fire, Lev. x. 22, 23, Aaron holds his peace ; he bridled his
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passions, and submitted sweetly and quietly to divine justice. So when it was told Anaxagoras that both his sons, which were all he had, were dead, being nolhinf:^ terrified therewith, he answered, Scieham me gcnnissc niortahs, I knew I begat mortal creatures. Dransi,i people in Thrace, bury their children witli great joy, but at their birth lament grievously, in regard of the miseries that are like to befall them while they live.
2. Secondly, In time of crosses, losses, and miseries, it is the ivisdom of believers to look more upon the crown than upoii the cross, to dwell more upon glor// than upon misery, to eye more the brazen serpent that is lifted up, than the f cry serpent that bites and stings.'^ Basil speaketh of some martyrs that were cast out all night naked in a cold frosty time, and were to be burned the next day, how they comforted them- selves in this manner : ' The winter is sharp, but paradise is sweet ; here we shiver for cold, but the bosom of Abraham will make amends for all.' 3 Galen writes of a fish called Uranoscoj^os, thnt hath but one eye, and yet looks continually up to heaven. A Christian under the cross shouhl always have an eye looking up to heaven, that so his soul may not faint, and he may give glory to God in the day of visitation. It is recorded of Lazarus, that after his resurrection from the dead he was never seen to laugh ; his thoughts and affections were so fixed in heaven, though his body was on earth, that he could not but slight temporal tilings, his heart being set upon eternal things.'^ A man, saith one, [Chrj^sostom,] would dwell in this contemplation of heaven, and be loath to come out of it. Nay, saith another, [Augustine,] a man might age himself in it, and sooner grow old than weary.
3. Thirdly, Compare your mercies and your losses together, and you shall find that your mercies ivill ivonderfully outiveigh your losses. You have lost one mercy, you enjoy many mercies. What is the loss of a wife, a child, or any other temporal mercy, to a soul's enjoyment of the favour of God, pardon of sin, peace of conscience, hopes of heaven, &c. ? Besides, you enjoy many temporal mercies that many of the precious sons of Zion want, kc.
4. Fourthly, Consider seriously of the reasons of God's stripping his ijeople of their nearest and their dearest mercies ; and they are these : —
[1.] For a trial of the strength and ijower of their graces. It is not every cross nor every loss that tries the strength of a Christian's graces. Job held l)ravely in the fiice of many afilictions for a time, but when he was thoroughly wet to the skin, then he acts like a man rather void of grace, than like a man that did excel all others in grace.5 When God burns up the out-houses but leaves the palace
' Query, ' Dolonci' or 'Digeri' ? — G.
' '2 Cor. iv. 1G~18; Hcb. x. 34, xi. 24-26, 35, and xii. 1-3.
3 Basil ad XL JIartyr. Tolle caliim nullu.s ero, said the philosopher.
* Let heaven be a man's object, and tlie eartli will be his abject.
* God tried the strength of Abraham's faith, and the strength of Job's patience, and the strength of iMoses" meekness, and the strength of David's zeal, and the strength of Paul's courage, to the utmost, tiud will not only try the truth, but he will also try the .strength of every grace that is in a believer sooner or later, Exod. xii. 27, 30, 3L It is the observation of Theodorct, that when God smote Pharaoh's firstborn, he drew blood ofFthc arm for the cure of the head, wliich because it mended not, thereupon came all to confusion.
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standing, when he takes away the servant but leaves the child, when he gathers here a flower and there a iiower out of men's gardens, but leaves the flowers that are the delight of their eyes and the joy of their hearts, they bear it patiently and sweetly ; but when he burns up the palace, and takes away the child, and gathers the fairest flower in all our garden, then we usually shew ourselves to be but men, yea, to be weak men, passionately crying out, ' 0 my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom ! would God I had died for thee, 0 Absalom, my son, my son!' 2 Sam. xviii. 33.
[2.] God ixisses the sentence of death upon mens dearest mercies, that himself may he more dreaded, and that his precious servants and their counsel may he the hetter minded and regarded. The Egyptians trembled not under several judgments, nor minded not what Moses and Aaron said, till God smote their firstborn, and then they tremble, and then the servants of the Lord and their counsel found better quarter with them than formerly they had done. Ah, friends ! has the Lord smitten your firstborn, as 1 may say? then look to it, as you tender the honour of God, the advancement of -the gospel, the peace of your own consciences, the stopping of the mouths of the wicked, and the gladding of those hearts that God would not have sadded, that God be more dreaded, and that his servants and his services be more owned, loved, and regarded. The people of God, and tlic ordi- nances of God, are to God as his firstborn ; and they that make light of God's firstborn, God will make as light of their firstborn. These Egyptians had slain Israel, God's firstborn, and therefore God smites their firstborn. My desire and prayer shall be that God's removing and taking away your firstborn, as I may say, may be the making of more room in your bosoms for God, Christ, saints, and ordinances, that so your great loss may be turned into the greatest gain. And cer- tainly, if this physic, this potion that is given you by an outstretched hand from heaven do not work this, the next potion will be far more bitter, John v. 14.