218 S E R M O N S upon Serm. XXX; we may be Cafe at length : Here moft of our days are Sorrow, Grief, and Travel ; but there is our repofe ; our heart would fail, were there not tome hopes mingled with our tears. Secondly, That thofe who have the ftrfi'`ruits of the fpirit, are more apprehenfive of this mifery, than others are or can be. 1. Of Mifery and AliUions: Partly, becaufe Grace intendreth the heart; they look upon of li &ions with another eye than the ftupid world doth ; they look upon them as coming from God, and as the fruit of fin, and they dare not flight any of Gods cor- re&ive difpenfations ; there are two extreams,(lighting, and fainting, Heb. 12. g. Affli&i- on cannot be improved, if we have not a (enfe of it. We owe fo much reverence to God, as to tremble at his anger, Numb. 12. r4. When he croffeth and difappointeth us, it mutt not be (lightly pat ed over; look as in the Flood, Gen. 7. t 1. When the windows of Heaven were opened from above, and the fountains of the great deep were broken open from below, the flood increafed. So when nature and Grace concur to heighten the aftfi &ions, the children of God mutt needs have a greater and more tender fence of it than of hers have ; as thofe that are of a delicate conftitution, are more capable of pain, than the ftubborn and robuftious ; and the tender flefhof achild, will footer feel the lath, than the thick skin of a (lave : So the children of God, who have a more ferions apprehenfi- on of things,and a more tender fpiric,fooneft feel the burden of their Fathers difpleafure, and do more lay it to heart, than carelefs fpirits, who laugh out their croft, and drink away their forrows ; and partly, becaufe they are more exercifed with affli &ions; the world hateth them becaufe they are fo good, and God chaftens them becaufe they are no better;many are the troubles ofthe righteous,Pfal.34.19.There is more fquaring,and hewing, and cutting ufed about ftones, which are to be let in a (lately Palace, than thofe which are placed in an ordinary building; the Vine is pruned, when the bramble in the hedg is not looked after ; the child is putunder difcipline,when the Baftard liveth more at large. God meaneth to defiroy thofe, whom by a jutt judgment he permitteth to go on in their fins, to their eternal undoing. 2. They are more fenjibie of fin as a burden; Pfal. 38. 4.. Mine iniquities are gone over my head, they are a burden too heavy for me. That fins are a burden to a wounded confcience is evident by their complaints ; if a milf}one fall upon them, 'tis not fo heavy and brui- fing, as one fpark of Gods Wrath lighting upon the confcience for fin; but they are alto a burden to a tender confcience : and partly, becaufe they have more light than others, and fee more into the hainous nature and evil of fin; Jer, 18. 31. After I was inflrmeled, I (mote upon the thigh;and Rom. 7. 9. When the commandment came, fin revived, and I died. And partly, becaufe they have more love than others have, and they that love much, will mourn moft for fin, Luke 7. 47. She wept much, becaufe the loved much. The more holy any are, the more they are troubled aboutoffending God, than others are, or them - felves were before; what's the Reafon? 'cis not from the increafe of fin, but the increafe of light and love ; they fee more and more into fin, than formerly they did ,or could do; as in a glafs of pure water, the leaft mote is foon efpied ; and partly, becaufe they have more heartily renounced (in ; therefore the relicks of it are a greater burden to them. Elements burden not in their own place; wicked men are in their own Element, 'cis a fport to them todoevil ; for fools make a mockoffin. But 'tis otherwife with the chil- dren of God; finis that they hate, and pray down, and ftrive againft; they are afpiring after a better eflate, and 'tis a trouble to them they find fo little of it while they are in the body. 2. The other fort of reafons concern the other life. A Chriftian here is unfatisfied, and waiteth for a better and purer eflate, a hate of confiant felicity, and exec conformity to God, and that for four Reafons. a. By the fir( fruits o f the fpirit he is confirmed in the belief of the certainty of this eflate; for the Holy Ghofi openeth his eyes to fee the reality of the world to come, Eph. I. 17, 18. That the God of our Lord Jefus.Chrifl, the Father of glory, may give unto you the fpi- rit of wifdom and revelation in the knowledg of him ; the eyes of your under(landing being inlightned, that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of the inheritance of the faints in light, r Cor. 2. 12. Now we have not received the fpirit of the world, but the /Pisa which is of God, that ye may know the things that are freely gi- ven
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