VeR. 28.] SERMONS UPON ROMANS Yin. 261
their good. Therefore let this be included, though afflictions are chiefly spoken of in the context.
[2.] The manner of bringing it about — ' They work together.' Take anything single and apart, and it seemeth to be against us. We must distinguish between a part of God's work and the end of it. We cannot understand God's providence till he hath done his work ; he is an impatient spectator that cannot tarry till the last act, wherein all errors are reconciled ; as Christ told Peter, John xiii. 6, 7, 'What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter.' We are much in the dark ; we look only to present sense and appearance ; his purposes are hidden from us ; for the agent is ' wise in counsel and excellent in working.' His way of working is under a veil of con- traries, and unperceivable to an ordinary eye; he bringeth something out of nothing, light out of darkness, meat out of the eater. His end is not to satisfy our sense and curiosity, but try our faith, John vi. 6, to exercise our submission and patience, as in the case of Job, and our dependence and prayer. God knoweth what he is a-doing with you, when you know not: Jer. xxix. 11, 'For I know the thoughts that I think towards you, saith the Lord ; thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.' When we view providence by pieces, and see God rending and tearing all things in pieces, we are perplexed ; therefore we must not judge of God's providence by the be- ginnings, till all work together. When we apprehend nothing but ruin, God may be designing to us the choicest mercies: Ps. xxxi. 22, ' For I said in my haste, I am cut oft' from before thine eyes ; never- theless, thou heardest the voice of my supplication;' so Ps. cxvi. 11, ' I said in my haste. All men are liars,' — Samuel, and all that had told him he should enjoy the kingdom. Haste never speaketh well of God and his promises, nor maketh any good comment on his dealings ; we must stay till all causes work.
[3.] The end and issue — ' For good.'
1. Sometimes to good temporal, or our better preservation during our service : Gen. 1. 20, " But as for you, ye thought evil against me, but God meant it unto good, to bring it to pass as it is at this day, and to save much people alive.' Both the Egyptians and themselves had wanted a preserver, if he had not been sold and sent into Egypt. We often find by experience that God ordereth our disappointments for good. Suppose a man's heart were much set upon a voyage to sea, but he is hindered by many impediments, and before he cometh the ship is gone ; and afterwards he heareth that all that were in the vessel were drowned : this disappointment is for good. Crassus's rival in the Persian war, when he heard how that army was intercepted and cut off by the craft of the barbarians, had no reason to stomach his being refused. Many of us, whose hearts are set upon some worldly thing, have cause to say we had perished if we had not perished, and suffered more if we had suffered less. In the story of Joseph there is a notable scheme and draught of providence ; he is cast into a pit, there to perish ; thence, upon second thoughts, drawn forth to be sold to the Ishmaelites ; by them brought into Egypt ; sold for a slave again. What doth God mean to do with poor Joseph ? While a slave, he is tempted to adultery ; refusing the temptation, he is falsely accused, kept
262 SERMONS UPON ROMANS VIII. [SeB. XXXVII.
a long time in ward and duress ; all this is against him. Who would have thought that in the issue all should have turned to his good ? Who would have thought that the prison had been the way to pre- ferment ? that by the pit he -should come to the palace of the king of Egypt ? that he should exchange his party-colomed coat for the royal robes of a king's court ? Thus in temporal things we gain by our losses ; and God chooseth better for us than we could have chosen for ourselves.
(2.) Spiritual good. So all affliction is made up and recompensed to the soul ; it afflicts the body, but bettereth the heart : Ps. cxix. 71, ' It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might learn thy statutes.' There is more to be learned in affliction than in the vastest libraries ; no book will teach us so much as experience under God's discipline. Madmen are kept in the dark, and under hardship, to bring them to their wits again ; so God is forced to use us a little hardly to cure us of our spiritual frenzy. Thou darest not pray. Lord, let me have my worldly comforts, though they damn me ; let me not be afflicted, though it do me good ; and if thou darest not pray so, wilt thou murmur when God ordereth it so ? If a man break au arm or a leg in pulling us out of the water, wherein otherwise we should cer- tainly be drowned, would we be angry with him .? And shall we fret against the Lord when he takes away the fuel of our lusts, which will certainly drown us in perdition and everlasting destruction ? Is it not a good exchange to part with outward comforts for inward holiness? Certainly that will be of more gain to us than all the affliction, pain, and loss which we suffer will do us hurt. Certainly we lose nothing but our rust by scouring. If God will take away our peace, and give us peace of conscience — our worldly goods, and give us true riches, have we any cause to complain ? If outward wants may be recompensed by an abundance of inward grace, and we have the less of the world that we may have more of God, and be kept poor and destitute that we may be rich in faith, James ii. 5, who is the loser ? If we have a healthy soul in a sick body, as Gaius had, 3 John 2, and an aching head maketh way for a better heart, doth not God deal graciously and lovingly with us? In short, afflictions are compared to fire, that purgeth away the dross, 1 Peter i. 7 ; to the fan that drivetli away the chaff, ^lat. iii. 12 ; to pruning, that cuts off the luxuriant branches, and maketh the other that remain the more fruitful, John xv. 2 ; to physic, that purgeth away the sick matter, Isa. xxvii. 9 ; to ploughing and harrowing the ground, that fitteth it to receive the good seed, Jer. iv. 3. And shall we be troubled when God cometh to make use of this fire to purge out our dross? this fan to winnow away our chaff? this prun- ing to lop off the luxuriances of our souls ? this plough to break up our fallow ground, to destroy the weeds that are in our hearts ? this sharp medicine to cure our sick souls ? Should we not rather rejoice that he will not let us alone in our corruption, but refine us as metal is by tha fire ? and fan and winnow us, that we may be pure grain ? and prune us, that we may be fruitful in holiness ? and use medicine, to cure those distempers which otherwise would destroy us ? and suffer the ploughers to make long furrows upon our backs, that we may enjoy the richer crop ? This is for good.