5 8 The PerfeEiion ofPatience, ;:Confider she eomfona- ble fruit of born with Patience, Rev;;,ro- How to exec- cifePatience la laying of 'statics. t. Confider that delays ate aotdenyala. a. That delays increafe met- eies. ` tfa.6r.7. a Cor.q. a. Co". s. That delays are but (bon, compared to Eternity. Lay, confider the giauous and comfortable rime of Affliction that is born with Patience : For firli Patienceleffenech the judgment, impatience increafeth ic on a es; man. The Rruglin Child bath more gri s A man in a Fever,che more he ft ru a á rip lethand ftriveth, the more he increafeth his pain. The more pat-ion-0 a man yeeld. ech himfelf to the hands of God, the more ( by the mercy of God ) he findeth eáfe, and mitigation of the affli&ion. And this God promifeth, Becaufe thou haft ¢rpr the wordof my Patience, / will deliver thee in the timeof trouble. GodWill rake off the afflidtion, when once he ham perfe&cd Patience byaftli6tion : For you muff know this,that all that God aymeth St in ali of lidtions that he layeth on men, is to perfe& Patience in them : Therefore the iffue will be good. There will for the pre. lent be more cafe to the heart, and aftern,rd a gracious iffue and deliverance from trouble, when thou are exercifed by Patience. Secondly, there are other affli&ions of our life, and that is not only in chofe cafes wherein fogne pofitive evil, as we account it naturally, Come affli &ion grievous to Na- tug and Senfe are upon a man a But mercies are delayed, And hope deferred, m>1etb theheart faint. It is an affli&ion to a man, to be kept and delayed in the expeltacicn Of that good he bath not: If he (rem to catch at i., is is drawn from him furchet and further. There aremany men that havefentmanyaPrayertoGod ,yetthething:bey ask isnot granted to this day : Many a man bath waited long, and fought the Lord, ye: he bath not that his Soul defirech. How (hall a man c :,rc to exercife Patience in inch a cafe as this ? in filch a cafe when Goddelayeth, know firft that Gods delayes are not Denyals ; thoughGod delay the thing, h e may and will in time certainly graine it, yea though he delay it a great while: As we fee in other Servantsof God, we may fee It in David, is rob, in Pau!, in the fanaanitifhWoman, and in others; The Fijian isfor an ap- pointed time ( faith Habalk'eosk ) waitfor it,it will come, and it willnot tarry, it will not lie. God will beknown a Godof Truth, what he bath promifedhe will performe in due time : Only what dash hr expect of thee? to wait for the prefent. Now this is an a&of Faith; He that believethwill not make hafte. Glorifie God by believing, Put to thy Seal that he it true : Whacfoever God hach promifed in the Word, and thou hail a Warrant to btlicve, wait for it. Secondly,Godsdelayes are not only not denials,butImprovements of Gods favour; God increafeth and commendeth the excellenciesof his Mercies by delayes, he recoin- pencech our Expe&anion, andwaiting forthem, with putting in greater fweetnefs into thofe Favours when they come: I fay, God increafeth the comfort anfwerable to the delay, as in the 6 s.lfa.7. God to comfort the diftreffed Church in the time of Cala. m.ty, For their ::/flit-ions (faith he) they (leall bave double; Double what ? Double Comforts for their cryals ; Our light afitflions (faith the Apoftle ) thatare butFor a. moment, taufe us a far more excellent andfurpofng weight ofglory. A weight of glory for light Affli &ions,an eternal weight of glory for momentary Affli&ions. Here s she iffue; As our Afflifiions have abounded, fa our Confolations abound much more. This is the tourieof God. Thirdly, know that Gods delayes are never long ; at the longelt they are but fora a care time : What if he delayaYear ? What it twenty, thirty, forty years a What if the life of a man ? This is no great delay. Compare this time of thy waiting for Mercy, with tee time to comeof thy enjoying of Mercy. A (mall time of waiting on Earth, to an Eternity of recdmpence in Heaven. Compare Eternity with the time of thy fuffering, Alas how little, what a fmall or no agreement is between them ? A ,noment to Eternity. If the life of a man fhould extend to a hundred Years, to a choufand Years( to which age never manyet lived) yet that is but a point, a moment to Eternity. A thou('änd years pall and tocome, they are but as Tefter.day to God. fake the Eternity paft,in Godhimfelf that is without all beginning, and the Eternity to come, that (hall be without all end, and put the life of man in the middeft of thefe two, and we will concludr,it is as a point in the middeft of a Circumference,it is but a moment; nay, not fo much as a moment of time. Stretch out the duty of Patience then -; haft thou waited aWeek ? Wait a Month, a Year,feven Years, feventy Years, nay, feventy Ages, all the Ages of the World if it were poßïble; All theft are buta moment to Eternity. And
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