1. How far we are to submit to the will of God in providence.
2. What are the grounds of this submission.
3. The helps to it.
First, How far w^e are to submit to the will of God in providence. That will be discovered in several propositions.
1. The lowest degree is, we must be quiet and silent. When a vessel is much shaken, it is apt to plash over; and so usually we give vent to strong passions, and to the grievances of the mind, by murmur- ing and complaint. There is a quick intercourse between the tongue and the heart ; and therefore when the heart is burdened and over- charged, it seeks ease and vent by the tongue. The first degree then of the patience of the children of God is to keep silence : Ps. xxxix. 10, saith David, ' I was dumb, and opened not my mouth, because thou didst it ; ' it is God, and therefore the least repining thought must not be allowed ; when he saw God in the providence, he durst not speak one word that might savour of discontent. So Lev. x. 3, when Aarou had two children taken away by a judgment, and a strange stroke of God's providence, it is said Aaron held his peace. Now this quietness and silence must be, not only in suppressing words of pet and passion, but in calming the affections. When an oven is stopt up, it is more hot within. When David kept his tongue as with a bridle, yet musing made the fire burn and his heart boil against God, Ps. xxxix. 3. And therefore there must be a quiet contentation of the mind and submis.siou of the heart, how grievous soever the affliction be. A stormy mind is as bad, though not as scandalous, as a virulent tongue. You must be contented in your very souls, you should not dare to quarrel with God, nor enter a plea against providence. Thoughts are as words with God ; therefore take heed of private disputings. We must obey God with silence and quietness. Believing will give us ease, when disputing cannot.
2. We must not only quietly submit to God, but willingly, and approve and accept the providence. Patience perforce is no grace. God is not glorified, till there be a subscription of the judgment and a consent of the will. A subscription of the judgment, that the provi- dence is good, because God wills it : as Hezekiah said, Isa. xxxix. 8, ' Good is the word of the Lord which thou hast spoken.' Look into the context, and you will find it was a heavy sentence that intimated
25U A TREATISE OF SELF-DENIAL. [BoOK I.
the transportation of his issue and posterity into Babylon, yet his sancti- fied judgment calls it good — good, because God would have it so. That is best which God wills. We murmur, we set up an anti-provi- dence, and censure the acts and dispensations of God, as if we could correct them, and do better and fitter for the government of the world. A heathen could say, If this be pleasing to God, let it be, that is best which pleaseth him. And so there must be a consent of the will : Lev. xxvi. 41, ' If then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity.' Mark that place : it is not said, if they shall hear the punishment, but ' accept the pun- ishment of their iniquity ; ' kiss the rod, and welcome the providence. There must be a perfect correspondence between our wills and the dispensations of God. Look, as the patient doth willingly take bitter pills that make for liis health ; so should we swallow with willingness and contentment the hardest accidents. We should not take the providences of God as a drench, but as a potion ; not as a thing that is enforced upon us, but that to which our sanctified judgment consents. Heathens, if their lives were as good as their works, may shame many christians ; they would always be of the same mind with God. Seneca saith, I yield to providence, not out of necessity, but choice. It is best, saith he, because God wills it ; if he bless, it is good ; if he afflict, it is good ; his will is the highest wisdom and reason ; therefore faith welcometh all providences, as well as submitteth to them. Kabbi Gamzeth said, This dispensation is good, and this too, because it comes from God. God hath a supreme right to dispose of us according to his own pleasure : Job ix. 22, ' Behold, he taketh away, who can hinder him ? and who can say. What dost thou ? ' Will you resist him in the disposal of what is his own ? Which is more equal, that your will should stoop to God's, or God's will be brought down to yours ? How little good will it do us to murmur ! it is better to submit.
3. We are not only to submit to God, but to love him when he seems to deal most hardly with us. You know in the gospel we are bidden to love our enemies, though they be really so, though they be our fellow-creatures, and we do not depend upon them as we do upon God; therefore much more are we to love God when he only appeareth as an enemy. The Lord Jesus in the height of his sufterings loved his Father, yea, he loved the cross for his Father's sake : John xviii. 11, ' The cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink of it? ' Christ loved the elect \yhen he suffered most for them, and loved his Father when he suffered most from him — It is a bitter cup, but it is of my Father's sending. Our love should glow most to God in our affliction, so the church professeth, Isa. xxvi. 8, 'In the way of thy judgments, 0 Lord, have we waited for thee; the desire of our souls is to thy name ;' then did their desires burn and glow towards God. Many pretend to love God when he blesseth them, when they abound in ease and all kind of comfort, but storm as soon as they are touched in the skin. Look, as the heliotrope turns after tlie sun, not only in a shining but in a cloudy day ; so in most gloomy days the bent of our hearts and desires should be after God. So also among the creatures ; the dog loves his master that beats him, and many times when he is half dead he will run after his master. Look, as God sends Israel to