ConI. Of Patience andits contraries. Chap,t4, 175 Spirit cannot be born : theSpirit of a man will bear other infirmities and c: níïcs, and fo the Heathen have{hewed great Patience, but when the Spirit or consetence it Prov, ' 8'tá fen: is wounded, who can bear it ? Or elfe they fall a murmuring a.gsanit Gods jurfice, and fay withCain, Their punifhmentis greater than they can bear, or have Gen. 4. 13. defervcd ; and fo miftaking Gods Jufttce fall away by defpair, and not confidering Sam, S. 5. Gods mercy, they come tobe of S01515 mind, If Godwill neither anfwer himby Prophees, Dreams, nor Voice, he will go to the Witch : and if this fucceedsnot; than he takes another courfe, and fo falls into the other extream, and lies flat on the ground with a brutifh kinde of Patience. And all this isby mifconftruing Gods jufticeor mercy, that becaufe he corre tethas a Father, he will condemn us as a Judge. The general means to get Patience are there. r . It is truly Paid by Saint j<erome, that gavot font caufs, as many cables aGod bath2147 of Pa- adpuniendum CO punirh, there are fomany for usadpatiendum to fuller with Patience.'unr There are many examples of Patience among the Heathen as of Sccvela, Rutilitu, Regulus, &c. There had thewof Patience, and their tea tonwas, Sieafinue, quern. cunqueafinum fors profilera feat. But there ought to be in Chriftians a more heroique courage, feting they know thecaufes from whence afidion comes, and whereto it tends, as was !hewed before. 2. They fay that it is Tennis patientia, quicquid corrigere ell tuftI, a fmall Pati- ence , when a man cannot help' it then to bear : fince we cannot help it , were belt to make a vertue of necef city. It is hard to kick againft the pricks. Ads 9. 5; A necefiity being laid upon us , let us do it willingly and fo it will become a commendable vertue , and let us not be like them that have no Hope. 3. The third is, that which the Heathen man conferred, .aüanturar Mercator prd lucro, quantumvtxator pro ludo, taciturn ego non Kmfumpro vertute, I have not fúfffer: cd fomuch for vertue, as the Merchant forgains or the Hunter for fpárt : this he fpaae our of ambition, that he had not fuffered fo much for his honour. But let uS add, Quantum etbnicus pro ambitione, tantumego non pafftrafum'proChriito meo, I have not endured fo much for my Chriff, as the Heathen fur hisambition. On the other fide confidering as we are Chriftians, and afllifted either ad correflionemor adp-obatir- new, for our amendment ortryal, there fhould be to make uspatient: of which two let us fpeak more particularly. r. In refpeft that affli&ions come upon us juftly for our fins. The left difhoneft Thief could blame his fellow for murmuring, and his reafon was, Peeing we fuffer juftly; all we fuffer is juftly deferved, yea left than we de- e23. qt: ferve. 2. The Pfalmijt faith, that God in faithfulnefs had afided him. That as the Pfal. 119.75. punifbment is juff in the firft place, fo if we are affiffed, we fhould afcribe it to God in very faithfulnefs. Though he vifit our offences with Rods, or our'fitts with Scourges, yet hi4'mercy fhall not,ùtterly be taken from us, nor his truth 8y' 3= 33. fail. This afui lionbeing fentinmercy, either to retain us, or to recall us, either for prevention or for cure, and we apprehending itfo, is el-pedal means to procure Patiencein us. For being ftrengthned by his promife, we (hall make ufe of his puni(hmcnt, and know that all things work together for good to them that love God. And to this we may apply the fpeech of the Heathen man, Patiar ne patiar Rom. 8.:8. I fuffer now, that I may not fuffer hereafter. That Abrahammake not that argumen t aga.inif us which he did to the rich man; Son remember that thou in thy in hie time received{{ thy good things, thereforenow thou fuffereft pains; but Lazarus, who Lúke t8. z5ò fuffered pain, (hall forhis Patience have his reward. That this conclufion may not be, herewe mutt fuller thofe pains that maybe ended, mitigated, endured withpa- tience ; and have hope of an end, that we may not hereafter fuffer thofe pains, in which there is Patience in bearing, no hope to be delivered no mitigation to be expected, but the end will be without end. And indeed this coati- next curfus temporalities, to have no misfortune or trouble, not to beplagued as Pfa.l 73,5' other men, is a dangerous lignof Gods disfavour to us. And there for thecorre(live part. The motives for Patience in thatafl3iftion which is explorative or brabativa'are. r. To
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