101 judgment's keason.
state of grace,' he" is safe ; he shall not be condemned with the world ; he is in heaven already ; he is sure of it, as if he were there. I beseech you, let this make us in love with the sincerity of religion, and let us never cease labouring till we have gotten out of this cursed slate into this happy estate.* Thcro is but a little Hock of Christ. We should never give our temples |- quiet, and our souls rest, till we j evidence to them that we are of the little number which are taken out of the world ; till we see that we are a first-fruits dedicated to God ; till we find the beginnings of grace wrought in our souls. Why should w-e defer one hour till we have gotten this assurance, considering our life is so uncertain ?
Doct. 3. The third general thing is this, ilie course that God takes with his children in this ivorld, whereby theij are jyreservcd from damnation, it is correc- tions and chastisements. We are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world ; wherein, as I shewed you, there are these three branches. I will specially speak of the last.§
(1.) First, that ivhatsoecer God's deaJinr/s be with his children, it is but a fatherly correction cnid chastisement ; and therefore it is in mercy, in discre- tion ; a little punishment is enough of a mother to her child. God hath the wisdom of a father, but he hath the bowels of a mother ; and therefore God II is pitiful and merciful, because he is a Father. There is a won- drous sweet comfort wrapped in that word Father. The whole world is not worth this^ that is yielded to a Christian from this, that a Christian** is the child of God, and that God is his Father. I might enlarge myself in the point, that all are but fatherly corrections. A father, when he sees his child in an evil way, he corrects him ; but it is a preventing correction, it is to prevent execution after. A child set at liberty makes his mother and his father ashamed ; and so if we should be set too much at liberty, if God should not meet us with seasonable correction, we should shame religion and shame Christ ; and therefore God in mercy corrects us with fatherly correction. Oh ! it is a wonderful comfort to think, when we are taken into the covenant of grace, all comes from God as a Father then ; and having taken us of enemies to be children, will he cast off his children for infirmities ? Will a mother cast off her children for breaches, for something that displeaseth her ? No I But rather she wdll be more merciful and more pitiful. But I will not enlarge myself in this point. It is a familiar point ; and, I suppose, you hear it often. But, I beseech you, do but think of it, that it may be ready in your hearts and in your memories against temptation, to have a good conceit of God. It overcomes temptation ff ofttimes to have a good conceit of God, to present God to our souls as a father, whereas the devil would present him as a judge, as one that hates us. Oh! take heed of it, this is but fatherly correction. God is our Father : ' Our Father which art in heaven,' saith Christ. Let us help our souls by presenting God to us in these colours, as a father in temptation, and all that we sufl'er as fatherly corrections. To speak familiarly, we know in the street, JJ when one child is corrected, and another is not, we know he is the father that corrects. God doth not use to correct those that are not his children ; he lets them go on still, they
* ' Condition ' in B, C— G. f That is, = bodies. Cf. 1 Cor. vi. IQ.— G. X ' Can evidence ' in B, C. — G.
§ ' I will , . . last ' not in B, C ; nor ' because be is a Father.'— G.
II ' He ' in B, C— G. ft ' Temptations' in B, C— G.
•If ' The comfort ' in B, C— G. H ' When we see in the street ' in B, C— G. ** 'He'inB, C.-G.
judgment's eeason. 105
are not worth correcting ; * because tliey have abused his mercy before, ho lets them go on.f When God takes us in our sinful course, and meets with us, and hedgeth our ways with thorns, he shews himself to be a Father. We are bastards, and not sons, if we have not correction, as at large it is sweetly followed, and many arguments to it, J Heb. xii. 7, sa], God shews himself a Father when he corrects us, or else we are bastards, and not sons.
Use 1. Well, let us take all thhujs therefore the better at God's hands, be- cause they are but corrections ; for we need it, the best of us. The bes gardens have need of weeding, and the best metals have need of purging, and the best linen hath need of washing. God knows it well enough, and therefore he will purge us. As the Scripture saith, As gold and silver is purged, he will purge out the dross, and all in mercy. We lose nothing by any visitations of God but corruption. The fruit of all his dealing with us is to take sin from us.