86 VE R s.rz. An Expofition , with Notes CHAP.!. W~rldly applaufe. Oh confider, there is no bleJfedne[t· in fuch fuf– ferings; then may you fuffcr chearfully, when y0u ap.peal to Gods ommfciency for your uprightnefs, as they do in the ·P[Alm, The Lord k..,noweth the Iecrets gf the heart;·yea, for thy fak.! are \\?e flain all the day long, Pfal. 44· 2 r, 2.2. Can you appeal to the God that k..,nowethjecrets, and fay, For thy fak..e are we expofedttJfuch hd::<.ards in the world? Obfervat. 3• 3.From that [when he i& tr]ed] note,That before crowning there muft be a tryal. We have no profit at all by the affliction, neither grace norglory,till there be fome wrefllingand exercifej forgrace the ApofUe lheweth plainly, Heb. u. J r• It yeeldeth the quiet fruits tJj righteoufnefs 'Tal~ ysyvp.vaa-p.f.vot~ to them that are exercifed thereby. The plea{antnefs and bletfednefs is not found. by and by , but after much frrugling and wrefiling with God in prayer, long acquaintance with the affliction. So for glory, the Apofile fheweth here, When he u proved, he foal! receive a crown. In the building of the Temple the fl:ones were fit!l: carvedand hew· ed, that the found of Hammer might not be heard in Gods houfe : So the living .ftonesare firfi hewen, before they are fet in the new rerufa/em. The ·Apofile faith, z Tim. z. 5· If aman ftrive for ma(feries, heu not crowned, unlefs he ftrivelawful!y; that is, unlefs he perform the conditions and Laws of the exercife in which • vat4n!hil he is engaged,he cannot expect the reward: So neither can we from curollat ntfl do- God, till we have pafl: through all the frages ofChrifl:ianity. The ~a~~a. :~;~· tryal dothnot merit heav en, but always goeth before it : Before he~ _' 14 • • we are brought to glory, God will firfi wean us from fin and the "'Miju um te world, which the Apo~lecalleth, a beingmade meetfor the inheri– judecu quod . tance ofthe Saints in·light, Col. I. I 2. And this work is helped nunqtam fm"~1 on by many afflictions; thofe ferve to make us meet for the comrm[<r tra•?jifit.,. · f · · · . * h G d ftne a.dvc· fariu munton o Samts not to merit lt. W en o crowneth us, he 'Vitam, ; fmo doth but crown his own gifcs in us. Well then, bear your tryals fc;~t quid potu_- with the more patience, 'cis faid, .AEls I4.22. That Paul confirm– m~ ;_ne tu qui- ed the fouls of the Difciples, iliewing, that through much tribula– d(lemdzp[e,t -,"pus tion we muft enter into the Kingdom ofGod: ' tis the common lot; r a no z ;am Th . - h h . h . h {tti rxperimmto ere ts none goet to eaven Wlt out then tryal: As t eway to qua~ qu~[quc Canaan lay through anhowling wildcrnefs and defart, [o the path piJ!et mft m~- to heaven lyeth through much affiitl:ion. i< He that paJ:feth his life . ~~;d~ non/~dt without tryal, knoweth not himfelf, nor bath no opportunity to ~r~vid~;. J1 p~ 4~. difcover· his uprightnefs .
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