delighteth in mercy; he will turn again, he will have compassion upon us. Micah vii. 8, 9. 18, 19. Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.-Matt. v. 4. Verily, verily, I say unto you, that ye shall weep and lament, &c. but your sorrow shall be turned into joy, &c. and ye now therefore have sorrow, but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice.-John xvi. 20. 22. And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. Rom. xvi. 20. God is faithful, who, &c. will with the temptation also make a way to escape.-1 Cor. x. 13. God who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver.-2 Cor. i. 9, 10. It is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you: and to you who are troubled, rest with us; when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed, &c.2 Thess. i. 6, 7. What persecutions I endured; but out of them all the Lord delivered me.-2 Tim. iii. 11. The Lord stood with me, &c. and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.-2 Tim. iv. 17, 18. Heb. xiii. 5, 6. The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations.-2 Pet. ii. 9. Cons. XI. That Afflictions and Persecutions have been the lot of Christ himself, and of the Saints in all ages. The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord: it is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, &c. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household? Fear them not therefore. - Matt. x. 24-26. If the world hate you, you know that it hated me before it hated you, &c. remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than the lord: if they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you.-John xv. 18. 20. We are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men, &c. even unto this present hour we both hunger and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwelling place, &c. being reviled, we bless: being persecuted, &c. We are made as the filth of the world, and the offscouring of all things unto this day.-1 Cor. iv. 9. 11-13. There hath no temptation taken you, but such as is common to man.1 Cor. x. 13. For we which live, are always delivered to death for Jesus' sake.2 Cor. iv. 11. But as then, he that was born after the flesh, persecuted him that was born after the Spirit: even so it is now. Gal. iv. 29. Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, &c. let us run with patience the race that is set before us; looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith: who, for the joy which which was set before him, endured the cross, &c. for consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.Heb. xii. 1-3. Take, my brethren, the prophets who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.-James v. 10. Hereunto also were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that we should follow his steps.-1 Pet. ii. 21. Your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, &c. whom resist, stedfast in the faith; knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.1 Pet. v. 8, 9. How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? and it was said unto them, season, until their fellow servants also, and their brethren that should be killed, as they were, should be fulfilled. Rev. vi. 10, 11. That they should rest yet for a little dust, neither doth trouble spring out SECT. IV. What are the Duties of the Saints; and how they ought to behave themselves under their Afflictions and Sufferings, both to ward God and Men. FIRST. Toward God. I. To see God in them, Afflictions being sent of him. JOSEPH said to his brethren, It was not you that sent me hither, but God. -Gen. xlv. 5. 8. 1. 19, 20. I will harden Pharaoh's heart, that he shall follow after them, &c.Exod. xiv. 4. iv. 21. When Israel wanted water in the desert, they did not regard God in it, but chid with Moses.-Numb. xx. 2,3. Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him: for the Lord thy God hardened his spirit, and made his heart obstinate. Deut. ii. 30. Are not these evils come upon us because our God is not amongst us? -Deut. xxxi. 17. See now that I, even I am he, and there is no God with me: I kill and I make alive; I wound, and I heal; neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.-Deut. xxxii. 39. The Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me; I went out full, and the Lord hath brought me home again empty.-Ruth i. 20, 21. When Samuel had told Eli what the Lord would do against his house, he said, It is the Lord, &c.-1 Sam. iii. 18. Shimei cursed David, &c. David said, So let him curse, because the Lord hath said unto him, Curse David; who shall then say, Wherefore? 2 Sam. xvi. 7-10. Satan said, Put forth thine hand, &c. Job said, the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken.-Jobi. 11. 21. ii. 5. Affliction cometh not forth of the of the ground, &c. Despise not the chastening of the Lord: forhe maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, &c.-Job v. 6. 17, 18. ix. 12. I will say unto God, &c. Shew me wherefore thou contendest with me? - Job x. 2. xxx. 11. God hath overthrown me, &c. he hath fenced up my way, that I cannot pass, &c.-Job xix. 6-12. xiii. 26, 27. Lam. i. 12, &c. ii. 5, 6. When he giveth quietness, who then can make trouble? and when he hideth his face, who then can behold him?-Job xxxiv. 29. I opened not my mouth, because thou didst it, &c. when thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity, thou makest his beauty to consume away, &c.-Ps. xxxix. 9. 11. Thou hast cast us off and put us to shame, &c. thou hast given us up like sheep for meat.-Ps. xliv. 9, &c. Thou who hast shewed me great and sore troubles, shalt quicken me again. - Ps. lxxi. 20. Thou turnest man to destruction. -Ps. xc. 3. Their enemies, he turned their heart to hate his people, and to deal subtilely with his servants. - Ps. cv. 24, 25. I know, Lord, that thy judgments are right, and thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me.-Ps. cxix. 75.. Despise not the chastening of the Lord, &c. - Prov. iii. 11, 12. Heb. xii. 5, 6. O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, &c. I will send him against an hypocritical nation, &c.-Isa. x. 5, 6. I make peace and create evil: I the Lord do all these things. Isa. xlv. 7. I have given the dearly beloved of my soul into the hands of her enemies, &c. Jer. xii. 7. Isa. xliii. 28. I was wrath with my people: I have, &c. given them into thine hand. - Isa. xlvii. 6. Thou hast cast me into the deep, &c. all thy billows and thy waves passed over me. - Jonah ii. 3. The Lord's voice crieth unto the city, &c. Hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it.-Micah vi. 9. In vain have I smitten your children, they have received no correction. Jer. ii. 30. When we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord.-1 Cor. xi. 32. Moses endured, as seeing him who is invisible. - Heb. xi. 27. Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. Heb. xii. 6, 7. II. To submit to God with an entire Resignation under Troubles. When Jacob, for the preserving of life, was under the necessity of sending Benjamin into Egypt, he saith, If I be bereaved, I am, &c. - Gen. xliii. 14. When God had slain Nadab and Abihu, Aaron's sons, and Moses had told Aaron that God would be sanctified in all them that came nigh him, &c. Aaron held his peace. - Levit. x. 1-3. If their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity; then will I remember my covenant.-Levit. xxvi. 41, 42. Ye shall eat until it come out at your nostrils, and it shall be loathsome unto you: because that ye have despised the Lord that is among you, and have wept before him, saying, Why came we forth out of Egypt?Numb. xi. 19, 20. Exod. xiv. 10-12. Do thou unto us whatsoever seemeth good unto thee: deliver us only, we pray thee, this day. -Judges x. 15. When Samuel had told Eli all which God had threatened against Eli's house; Eli said, It is the Lord, let him do what seemeth him good.1 Sam. iii. 14-18. David said, Carry back the ark of God into the city: if I shall find favour in the eyes of the Lord, he will bring me again, &c. But if he thus say, I have no delight in thee: behold, here am I, let him do to me as seemeth good unto him.-2 Sam. xv. 25, 26. Behold the days come, that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store unto this day, shall be carried into Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the Lord, &c. Then said Hezekiah unto Isaiah, Good is the word of the Lord which thou hast spoken, &c. - 2 Kings xx. 16-19. When Job had received all the sad messages of his losses, he worshipped, and said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. In all this Job sinned not.-Job i. 19-21. Then said his wife unto him, &c. Curse God and die. But he said unto her, &c. What! shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.Job ii. 9, 10. He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength: who hath hardened himself against him, and hath prospered? Who, &c. How much less shall I answer him, and choose out of my words to reason with him, whom, though I were righteous, yet would I not answer?-Job ix. 3, 4. 13-15.32. Shall any teach God knowledge, seeing he judgeth those that are high? one dieth in his full strength (or in the strength of his perfection), &c. and another dieth in the bitterness of his soul, and never eateth with pleasure.-Job xxi. 22-25. God is greater than man; why dost thou strive against him? for he giveth not account of any of his matters; for God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not, &c. -Job xxxiii. 12-15. For he will not lay upon man more than is right, that he should enter into judgment with God, &c. Surely it is meet to be said unto God, I have borne chastisement, I will not offend any more : that which I see not, teach thou me: if I have done iniquity, I will do no more.-Job xxxiv. 23. 31, 32, The Lord answered Job, and said, Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct him? He that reproveth God, let him answer it. Then Job answered, &c. and said, Behold, I am vile, what shall I answer thee? I will lay my hand upon my mouth : once have I spoken, but I will not answer, &c.-Job xl. 1-5. xlii. 3-6. I was dumb, I opened not my mouth, because thou didst it.-Ps. xxxix. 9. My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord, neither be weary of his correction: for whom the Lord loveth he correcteth. - Prov. iii. 11, 12. Heb. xii. 5, 6. Who would set the briars and thorns against me in battle? I would burn them together.-Isa. xxvii. 4. Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker: let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth: shall the clay say unto him that fashioneth it, What! &c.-Isa. xlv. 9. In vain have I smitten your children; they received no correction. -Jer. ii. 30. Cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the Lord. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in my hand, O house of Israel. Jer. xviii. 6. Thou hast chastised me, &c. after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh, I was ashamed, &c.-Jer. xxxi. 18, 19. God tells his people in Babylon, that if they would abide there, he would build them, and not pull them down; but if they submitted not to their condition, but said, They would go down to Egypt where they might see no war, &c. Then judgments should follow them thither, and there they should die. Jer. xlii. 10–17. It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth: he sitteth alone, and keepeth silence, because, &c. He putteth his mouth in the dust, if so be, there may be hope, &c. Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins?--Lam. iii. 27-29.39. I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against him.-Micah vii. 9. In your patience possess ye your souls. - Luke xxi. 19. None of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto me, so that, &c. -Acts xx. 24. Tribulation worketh patience, and patience experience, &c.-Rom. v. 3, 4. Patient in tribulation.-Rom.xii. 12. Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed, &c.-1 Cor. x. 10, 11. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then am I strong.-2 Cor. xii. 10. 2 Tim. ii. 3. I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. Phil. iv. 11. Endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ, &c.-2 Tim. ii. 3. We ourselves glory in you, in the churches of God, for your patience and faith in all your persecutions.2 Thess. i. 4. Consider him that endured, &c. lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds, &c. We have had fathers of our flesh, which corrected us, &c. Shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? for they, &c. chastened us after their pleasure; but He, for our profit. -Heb. xii. 3.9, 10. James i. 12. Submit yourselves therefore to God; resist the devil.--James iv. 7. The husbandman waiteth, &c. Be ye also patient, establish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord, &c.James v. 7, 8. 11. If ye do well, and suffer for it, and take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.-1 Pet. ii. 20. Think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened, &c.-1 Pet. iv. 12. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.-1 Pet. v. 6. I know thy work, &c. and thy patience, &c.-Rev. ii. 2, 3. 19. III. To confess their Sins, and justify God. Pharaoh, &c. said, I have sinned this time, the Lord is righteous, and I and my people are wicked. - Exod. ix. 27. If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass, &c. then will I remember my covenant, &c. - Levit. xxvi. 40-42. The princes of Israel, and the king, humbled themselves; and they said, The Lord is righteous. - 2 Chron. xii. 6. 1 Kings xxi. 27-29. Thou art just in all that is brought upon us; for thou hast done right, but we have done wickedly, &c.Neh. ix. 33, 34. Ezra ix. 10, &c. Judges x. 13-15. Dan. ix. 14. I have sinned, what shall I do unto thee, O thou preserver of men?-Job vii. 20. How should man be just with God? if he will contend with him, he cannot answer him one of a thousand, &c. If I justify myself, mine own mouth shall condemn me.-Job ix. 2, 3. 20. iv. 17. Ps. cxliii. 2. He looketh upon men: and if any say, I have sinned, &c. he will deliver his soul from going into the pit, &c. -Job xxxiii. 27, 28. He will not lay upon man more than is right, &c.-Job xxxiv. 23. Behold, I am vile, what shall I answer thee?, &c. -Job xl. 3, 4. I uttered that I understood not: things too wonderful for me, which I knew not, &c. I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes. - Job xlii. 3.5, 6. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, &c. that thou mayest be justified, &c.-Ps. li. 4. He hath not dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. Ps. ciii. 10. Ezra ix. 13. The church in her affliction confesseth her sin.-Isa. lix. 11-16. Thou art wrath, for we have sinned, &c. Isa. lxiv. 5-7. Thou sayest, Because I am innocent, surely his anger shall turn from me; behold, I will plead with thee, because thou sayest, I have not sinned.-Jer. ii. 35. Only acknowledge thine iniquity, &c. Jer. iii. 13. 25. Daniel confesseth to God at large in the time of the captivity. Dan. ix. 5-16. Jerusalem hath grievously sinned, therefore she is removed, &c. Zion spreadeth forth her hands, &c. The Lord is righteous, for I have rebelled. -Lam. i. 8, 9. 17, 18. It is of the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, &c. wherefore doth a living man complain? &c. Let us search, and try our ways, and turn again to the Lord.-Lam. iii. 22. 39, 40.42. The crown is fallen from our head: woe unto us that we have sinned.Lam. v. 16. I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early.--Hoseav. 15. I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against him. -Micah vii. 9. Dost thou not fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? and we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds, &c.Luke xxiii. 40, 41. IV. To hold fast to God, and own the Lord Jesus, his people and ways, in the midst of trouble, afflictions and persecutions. Should such a man as I flee, &c. and go into the temple to save his life?-Neh. vi. 11. Job's wife said unto him, in his great affliction, Dost thou still retain |