VeR. 22.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XL 413
time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie ; though it tarry, wait for it, because it will surely come, it will not tarry.' The vision is silent for a while ; there is delay, there is misery and oppression, and so it seemeth to lie ; ay, but it doth but seem to tarry.
[5.] The church in the latter times hath an advantage of the former, as their hopes draw nearer. Their troubles, though they did re- dound to the good of the church in the end, yet they made way for the revelation of antichrist, 2 Thes. ii. 9, the inundations of these bar- barous nations, the Goths, and Vandals, and Lombards, to weaken the Koman empire. But now, though we cannot be confident at par- ticular occurrences, yet one or other lend to the destruction of anti- christ. God taketh his aim afar off. The providences of latter times are like great eclipses, which have not their operations presently, yet it is good to observe their general aim and tendencies.
[6.] God many times worketh contrary to outward likelihoods. When the bricks were doubled, who would look for deliverance ? As the Hebrew tongue must be read backward, or as the sun going back ten degrees in Ahaz, dial was a sign of Hezekiah's recovery ; so is pro- vidence to be read backward. Joseph was made a slave that he might be made a favourite ; who would have thought that the dungeon had been the way to the court ? that error is a means to clear trnth ? and bondage maketh way for liberty ? Persecution and oppression are like an iron in the fire, which, heated too hot, burnetii their fingers that hold it. Christ loveth to befool his enemies in the height of their wis- dom : Exod. i. 10, ' Come on, let us deal wisely with them, lest they multiply, and it come to pass that when there falleth out any war, they join also with our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of our land.' When the project is laid finely, the wise are taken in their own craftiness. All looketh towards ruin and destruction, but nothing is out of order to providence ; the wise God can make use of the most cross accidents, he is never out of his way. Nothing is out of order to faith and providence.
All afiiictions continued upon the people of God work for the glory of God and their good.
(1.) For the glory of God ; that is dear to his children. The malice and wickedness of the enemies is compared to ploughing : Ps. cxxix. 3, ' The ploughers have ploughed upon my back, they made long their furrows.' We have fallow ground that must be broken and ploughed up ; and when they have ploughed enough, he cuts their cords asunder. It is for our benefit and God's glory ; they plough, but the harvest is Christ's, the crop belongeth to the owner of the field. We must dis- tinguish between Gods aims and the enemy's aims. The water keepeth its course, but the wise husbandman maketh it drive the mill : Isa. x. 7, ' Howbeit he meaneth it not so, neither doth his heart think so, but it is in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a few ; ' and Ps. Ixxvi. 10, ' Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee, the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain.' God will restrain wrath when the work is done ; when the mill hath nothing to grind, we shut the sluices, but that which breaketh out turneth to God's praise.
(2.) For our good temporal, spiritual, and eternal.l
^ Vide the Life of Faith as to afflictions.
414 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [SeR. LVI.
[7.] If we should miscarry in this work, God cannot want instru- ments. If we should miscarry sinfully by negligence and silence : Esther iv. 14, ' If thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place.' Her petitioning was the only likely way of preserving the people of God. Or if we miscarry by death ; if Moses die, there will be a Joshua. God knoweth how to help when we are at an utter loss : Micah V. 7, ' And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from the Lord, as the showers upon the grass, that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men.' The herbs of the garden have a visible means of supply by the water-pot, which dependeth upon man's providence and industry ; but dews and showers do not fall at the pleasure of man, and the grass in the wilderness groweth by the mere providence of God.
[8.] They that act for the church shall be no losers ; their endeav- ours shall not be lost, however they speed in the world : Isa. xlix. 4, ' Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain; yet surely my judgment is with the Lord, and my work is with ray God.' God doth not take notice of success, but affection : 2 Chron. vi. 8, ' Forasmuch as it was in thine heart to build a house for ray name, thou didst well that it was in thy heart.' Actions intended for God's glory, if they fail of their aim, they shall not fail of their reward ; as fountains run, though none drink of them.