9-3.2.. AFFLLCTION COMPARED TO WORM.W00 D. Book. ·IV.· VI. In the Time of Heat, and hot fcorchings of the Sun, Men ufe to betake them– felves to fome lhadowy Places for Refre!hment : So in the Day of Afllicrion, and hot Perfecution, rhe Church of God, and each fincerc Chri!han, bath a fhadowy Place to retire unto; God affords fweet Refreilu"ent to his fuffering Saints. VII. In a Time of great Heat, the Fruits of the Earth, and many green Thin"'s are dried up, and withered away, and a Famine many/ times follow': So by the Means of a hot and cruel Perfecution, many Chriftians, who feemed zealous for God, an:.! to have much Greennefs upon them, in a Day of Liberty and Profperity, are dried up, like the fruitlefs Fig-tree, and wither away; and alfo fometimes a Famine of the Word follows. VIII. In a Time of great Heat and Drought, thofe Trees that are planted by the Water.-Courfes Aqurilh fweetly notwithftanding: So all faithful and fincere Chriftians, in the hotteft Time of Perfecution, !hall flouri!h, and not ceafe from yielding Fruit : Blejfed is the Man that.trufletb in the Lord.-For he}hall be as a 'freepianted by the Water– fide, ·and that fpreadeth out her Roots by the River, and jhall not fee when Heat cometh; but her L eafjha/1 be Green, and jhe jha/1 not be careful in the Year of Drought, 11eitbct ceafe from yielding F'r11it, ]er. xvii. 8. . A F F L I c T I 0 N COMPARED TO w0 R M w0 0 D. R emembering mine .t1Jfliflions, and my Mifery, the Wormwocd, and the Gall, Lam. iii. 19. WORMWOOD properly is an Herb well known "amongft us, upon the account of its exceeding Bitternefs ; hence a common Proverb riles, It is as bitter as Gall ·~r Wormwood, &c. P A .R A L L E L ~ I. woRMWOOD and Gall, and other bitter Things, are phylical, very good in divers Diftempers : So AflliB:ions are good fpiritual Phyfic; the difeafed Soul receives much Profit by them many Ways. r. They purge out the corrupt and noxious Humors of the Soul. 2. They tend to abate and pull down the Tympany of Price. 3· They are &ood againft fpiritual Deadnefs. 4· They are againft fpiritual Barrennefs; nothing, when fancrified, makes a Soul more fruitful. 5· They !<ill,Worms, as Wor.m- ' wood naturally doth, principally th~ Worm of an accufing Confcience, that breeds out of the Corruption of the Heart and Life, &c. II. Wormwood, Gall, or Aloes, are not commonly given alone, but are mixed with other Ingredients, otherwife it is hard to take them down : So God mixeth Mercy with AflliB:ion; in the midft of Judgment, he remembers Mercy towards his own People. Baby/on fhall have nothing but Gall and Wormwood, it fh all be without any Compolition of Mercy or Pity; hence faid to be a Cup without mixture, &c. Ill. Wormwood and Gall are exceeding bitter, and make fuch Things bitter as are given with them, though fweet in their own Nature: So AflliB:ions, efpecially fame forts of Afllicrions, are very bitter and irkfom~ to the Flefh ; they alfo make bitter all our earthly Sweets. · .~eft. Perhaps fome may fay, when are AflliB:ions fo exceeding bitter? &c. Anfw. I. When God ilrikes us in our beft and deareil: earthly Enjoyments; when he, takes away an only Son, a Hufhand, a Wife; or by a Fire, or otherwife, takes away all our earthly Subftance, ftripping l1S• quite naked of ever.y Thing: Then AflliB:ion• may be faid to be bitter, like Gall and Wormwood. z. When God brings upon us one AflliB:ion after another: To Day thy Cattle are taken away, and then prefently upon it thy Children, by a fevere Judgment; and after all, thou art ftruck with a fore and difmal Afllichon in thine own Body. Thus it was with Job. When God deals thus with a Man or ·woman, ABliB:ions may be faid to be bitter. But then again, 3· When God llrips a People, or particular Perfon, not only of al)their outward Mercies, or earthly good Things, but alfo of all their fpirimal good Thmgs too, fuch Thinas as are dearer ro'them than their Lives; then ABlicrions may be faid to be bitter. Should God at once bring fo fevere a Stroke upon us, as to deprive us of all ou r civil Rights and Privileges, fuffering an Enemy·to break in upon us, who w<>uld not regard 2 · our
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