upon the Epiflle of J A M 1 s. 557 the temptation oflownelfe and bafcnelfe, Gods children never gain fo muck honour as in their troubles; many whofe names now doe :breath forth afrdh perfume in the Churches, would have lived and died obfcurely , and,their bonts' have been cafi into fome unknown dlarnell J.tndifiinguifhed from other reliques of mortality , but that God drew them forth into publick notice by eminent fufferings. Again from that [the patience qflob] he iliewed .much impati- Obfe ~ ence and murmuflng , curling the day of his birth , &c. but not a ervAt. word of all this: where the bent ofthe heart u right ,the in~r:mitiil ofG•Js people ar.e not mentioned:fo Heb.I I. 3 I. there is no mentioro ofRabAbs lye, bat only of her faith, and peaceable behaviour towards the Spyes; where God feethgrace , ,he doth as it were hide his eyes from thofe circumfiance5 taat might feem to deface tbe gloryofit: fo in SarahJ fpeech, though the whole fentence be full of difiruO: and unbeleef, God taketh notice of het reverenc~ to her hufband, *She calledAbrahamLord, I Pet. 3· 6. wicked men·watc:h •see the notes for our halting , and feed their malice with our faylings , they can un cap :.. v. :. 5 overfee a great deal of good, and pitch only upon what is evill; But " the Lord,where the heart is fincere, pardoneth the defetl:s; lob murmured, but the wemiJaith, }C have bu1rd of the patience of Job, there was patience in the main: Iob often fuomicteth eo God,fametimes bldfeth God, diflikech chafe murmurings extorted from him by the fenfe of his fufferings, o!ten correClc=th himfdfe , as foon as he had fpoken any unbecommg word of God and prO\'idence,when he was reproved ofGod, /6b 41. he hnmbled himfelfe, cap. .4z. Again obferve , we fhou!d often in surafflictions propolmd lobs p.cttern and example, he was famous fmmiferies, variom ·in their Ob[trvat. kinde, nowChald.ums, then S11.b.eans, nowwind, then fire, &c. when affliCl:ions come like waves , one in the neck of another , and you are but upon divers trials, thinkot lob i th'J light upgn aOhu comforts, hisgoods, alifeis no life without alivelyhood; his children, thofe dear pledges ofaffeClion, youlofe one, rob many) when ycu lofe all,it isb:.1t asfob:chen uponhisown bodJ,hewas rough-cafi with fares. Gods affli~ion~ ufually come clofer and dofer,till they touch our very skins:m·the plague you·may remember how1obsbody was f.11itten withfores, nay his foule was exafperated with the cc:n(Ures ofbis friends , this goeth clofer and clofer , Gods immediate haad filenceth tbe fpiric, we cake take injuries from man very unkindly, efpecially injuries from frimds , thefe were fi:tbbes to the very heart; P..£ri~ \lr.?Ong fa!fo Brethrbenb ~as Panh fo~~~ t~iall, it is grieB V 3 Vt>US
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