[3.] What fools they are that take up religion upon a carnal design of ease and plenty in the world : they quite mistake it. There are in- conveniences that attend religion in peaceable times, but the profes- sion will afterwards engage us in the greater troubles ; and therefore men do but make way for the shame of a change, and other incon- veniences to themselves, that hope for temporal commodity by the pro- fession of the gospel. The great drift of the gospel is to draw us off from the comfort of this Avorld to the concernments of a better, and to bring us to follow a naked Christ upon unseen encouragements; therefore they that have temporal things in their eye quite change the nature of the gospel, and make Christ another Christ.
[4.] That the course which Christ taketh to draw in proselytes is quite different from that of Satan and the world. Satan showeth us the bait and hideth the hook, but Christ telleth us the worst at first. The world useth to invite followers with promises of honours and riches, and Christ telleth us not of the crown, but the cross. Why so? Partly to discourage hypocrites, who will come and cheapen and taste, but will not buy. Christ will not deceive them, but have them count the charges. Partly to forearm his people, that they account afilictions will come, and prepare accordingly. We entered upon the ways of godliness on these terms, to be willing to suffer afilictions when the Lord seeth fit, and therefore we should arm ourselves with a mind to endure them, whether they come or no. God never intended Isaac should be sacrificed, yet he will have Abraham lay the knife to his throat. Partly because sorrows foreseen leave not so sad an impression upon the spirit, the evil is more familiarised before it cometh : Job iii. 25, ' For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I Avas afraid of is come unto me.' When we suffer our fears to prophesy, and do expect evils, they smart less ; prcecogitati mali mollis ictus ; but when they come unlooked-for, it is the more burdensome.
VeR. 21.] SERMONS UPON MARK X. 17-27, 9
He saith his lesson best that often conned it over. Partly because it allayeth the offence -when we see nothing befalleth us but what we were warned of beforehand : John xvi. 1 , ' These things have I spoken to you, that you should- not be offended ; ' and ver. 4, ' But these things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them.' The scripture speaketh nothing at random ; we pretend to believe them when they are read, and yet we complain when they are fulfilled. For all these reasons it is necessary that those that will be Christ's disciples must be forewarned in peaceable times of approaching troubles, and the rather because we are so apt still to promise great things to ourselves. Use 2. Is of reproof of several sorts.
1. Of those that suffer per force, by compulsion and constraint, not willingly. It is not enough to bear the cross, but we must take it. It is said of the three children, that ' they yielded their bodies that they might not serve nor worship any god except their own God/ Dan. iii 28 ; that is, they cheerfully suffered themselves to be cast into the furnace, rather than worship any but the true God. Many suffer, but it is unwillingly and against stomach, with repining and impatience under the hand of God, like refractory oxen, that draw back, and are loath to submit then- necks to the yoke, especially such as have not been acquainted with sufferings. Patience per force is no true patience, little better than the patience of the devils and damned in hell, who suffer misery and torment against their wills, being forced to it. Rebel- lion and want of subjection is the very curse of crosses ; it maketh the burden heavier than otherwise it would be, and causeth God to redouble his strokes, as a stubborn child under the rod hath the more blows.
2. Those that murmur not against the cross in general, but such a cross ; if it were any other they could bear it. Christ saith, ' Take up the cross,' indefinitely, whatever God is pleased to lay on us ; we must not be our own carvers, but stand to God's allowance. The patient is not to choose his own physic ; God knows what is best for us. Men under their troubles wish that God would afflict them in another kind, lay any trouble upon them rather than that which is laid, and think they could bear it better. The poor man wishes any other cross but poverty, the sick man he could bear poverty better than the pain of sickness. He that hath a long and lingering sickness wisheth for a sharp fit so it might be short ; and, on the contrary, another feeling a sharp and violent sickness, could wish for a longer, so it were less painful. Thus we are apt to dislike our cross, which God layeth on us for the present. But this is disobedience to God and folly too, for if God should leave us to ourselves to choose our own crosses, we should choose worse for ourselves than the Lord doth, that affliction which is hurtful and dangerous for us. The Lord knows what is best for us and in what vein to strike us.