'lhe Great Duty of Refignatio11. voice of JJis word. . They do not ufurp upon his Royalt>:", nor make ufc of their Power to deny fubjeCbon ro his Pleafure. NO\~ if rhe ~nfenor ~rcaturcs, who arc under IeiS Obligations, and cannot underfiand rhetr Duty; tf Supenor Creatures that excel us in Nobility of Nature, and Dignity of Stare, perfectly obey God ; fl10uld not their Example firongly incite us to fubm1t to his Wtll? Fourthly ; It is our moft glorious Perfection, to have our Wills united to the Divine Will. In Heaven Grace is in its exaltation, the Spirits of Ju!l: Men arc made perfect by their Compliance with the Divine Will rhar abfolurely governs there.. A private Will rhat compounds with God upon fordid Capitulations, that excepts agamfl: domg or fuffering what is diftail:eful and harlh to rhe carnal part ; How unreafonable, how degenerous and bafe is it ? Bur when the Will is obedient, enlarged, and uniform with God, 'ris ennobled. If our ilow-pac'd Thoughts could conceive things as .cafily, fuddenly, and n;, •fl m•t· clearly as rhe Angels do, our Mmds would be in rhc higheft Elcvatton : And xs it not a 71111 anunus. '!~; more valuable and defrrable Perfection to will as God does, than to undcdl:and as rhe ~c~;~:r.ca'uttt. Angels? Bciides, Patience has a fpecial Eminence above other Graces, and advances a Chriflian ·to the highcfi: Honour and Perfection that is attainable here. Ail Graces are of the f3.mc Divine ExtraCtion, and have the fame general Effect upon the Soul : They come from God, and produce a God-like Temper and Difpofirion: But they are difl:inguifh"d by their Objects and Operations: Some are Heroick, cxercis'd about great things, and produce more Noble Actions: Others are humble, and convcrfant in meaner things, and their Operations are lefs eminent. As amongfr rhc Birds, the Eagles fly aloft, and only fioop for a great Prey : The Bees fly from Flower to Flower, .and extract a lirrie Dew, bur 'tis all Hon~y. Ir. is the .c~unfel of S. James to rhe affird:cd, L et patience btrVe her perfeElworl.:, m bcarmg AffhCbons, though hca~y and continued, tbat y~u may be perfeEl and. entire, wanti~g nothing. A lin&:ul~r PerfeCho~ and Encomium is attnbuted to Pancncc, 111 that the tnal and cxercife of It IS the mofi: difficult part of our Duty, and without it we can neither obey the Commands, nor obtain the Promifcs of the Gofpel. Patience is rhe truefl: Fortitude, and draws forth other Divine Graces in their excellent adivity. What the temper is to material Weapons that are blunted or broken in the Combat without it, Patience is to other Graces, their firengrh is derived from it. This :~:~;~~~;:lOa~Jl;i~~!!~r;;~t~J~~;l:~~~;~~;:i~~~; J:;;r ,:t ~:~a~~:;:t:rt;::;t:;: Heb. ~; of tbeir fa!'Uation perfeEl throug,b fuffering,s. Pauencc is not only Yerenfivc Armour, bur has noble Operations. When our Saviour was nailed to the Crofs, and was the Mark wherein all rhe poifoned Arrows of Rage and Malice were received, he feemed only to Sttffer,. yet even then pe~fonned the ~oft: di:uine Exploits, and obtained the mofi glorious VtCtory; he reconciled God, difarm'd the Law, fubClued Satan, broke rhe Gates of Hell, dcfl:royed Death, and refcued us mifcrable forlorn Captives. Upon this account Chryfoj}om breaks forth in rapmrous Expre!Iions, That our Saviour futfering on the Crofs, was more Glorious than in his Creating the World. Thus the Patience of a ChriO:ian, which in appearance is 0nly a 9uiet bearing AfHi~ion from God, yet producrh many blclfcd Effects : A Believer, wlulc he feels the wetghr of God's Hand, unceffantly leeks his Face with the mo!l: ardent Affections. He cloth not murmur againfl: the Difplcafilrc of God, bur •mourns bitterly that he harh deferved it. He furrcnders himfclf to the Divine Pleafurc, which is the pure!l: Act of Obedience. He fubdues his unruly Pafiions, which is a more noble ViCtory than the Atchievemcnts of the mofi celebrated Conqu_crors. 'Tis tr~e., the power. of Grace is very conipicuous in refilling pleafant Temp'tanons, the perntcwus attraChves of the Senfcs and carnal Appetites; but m?re in the Battles of Patience, by how much 'tis more eafic to Nature to be content ~~~~i~~urit~~~1~c;~~!tcca~~ fnud=~~~i: ~!~hf~r~d~,tl:!~or~ede11 i~u~~ri;~;:,«fo~ ~~ed-J:!~;~: non and Imitation of all. The fir!l: is rhar of Jofeph, whofe unfpotted Cha!l:ity was dif. ~~~ej~1nJ :~jd~~:~g ~i~ ~~~~t~S~~~d!, 1~m~{~!l::~d ~~t~ira~~~c; Scl~~1~',J,~;:~; S1lencc, is ofre~ more perfuafive to the conuni1lion of Sin than the frrongefr Eloquence ; becaufe there bemg none that fees, rakes away the fhamc of being fcen in guilty and foul ~Cttons. Yomh IS violent in its Appetites, and needs no intrcaties to induce it to granfierhcm: The fen[ual Fancy reigns, and hasfuFh• ravilhing power upon rhe Will, that to corrupt Nature. th~ Temptation is irrefill:ible, and without DivinC Strength, an infiance of overconung tt, would boas rare as a Phll!nix in the World. Befides, Jofeph was he: Slave, and was tempted by Intrearies mix'd with Inticemenrs from a Superior, that (hkc a Bow that draws Strength from its bending) by making a !how of fubjection p p ~ acquires
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