Ver. 4, Fifth Chap. 2d Ep. to the C O R I N T H. 33 and feel pain as well as others. Grace. doth notdeflroy the feelings of Nature' Jefus Chrift as Man had his fears, and tears, and ftrong crys,Heb. S. 7. He felt his Bur- den, and faid, My Scul is heavy unto death, Mttth. z6. 38. And therefore we cannot expect they Ihould be in an utter Dedolency, feel pain and trouble and forbear com- plaining ; partly too, becaufe Grace intendreth the heart, and maketh them in force fort mòre ¡enhble ofaffliftions,than others are, becaufe they look upon them as coming from God, and the fruit of fin ; and they dare not flight any of God's corre&tive Difpenlàtions. There are two Extreams ; Bighting, and fainting, Heb. sz. S. AffliEtion cannot be im- proved if we have not a fence of it, to Thew fo much reverence to God as to tremble at his Anger, Numb. i t. 14. When he croffeth and difappointeth us, it mutt not be Bight- ly pafled over. W hen the Windows of Heaven were opened from above, and the Foun- tains of the Deep broken Open from below, then the Flood was increafed, Gen. 7. it. So when nature and grace concurreth to heighten the affliEtion, the Children of God mull needs have a .greater and more tender fente of it than others have : As a delicate Cont}i- tution is more capable of pain than a robuftious and flubborn one. And the tender flea, of a Child will fooner feel the lath than the thick skin of a Slave: So the Children of God having a more ferious apprehenuon of things, and a more tender Spirit, fooneftfeel the .Burden of their Fathers Difpleafure, and do more lay, it to heart than carelefs and ftu- pid fpirits,who laugh at their Crofs, or drink away their Sorrow s : Partly too, becaufe they are more exercifed with AIBiâions. The World hateth them, becaufe they are fo good, and God chafteneth them becaufe they are no better, Fjal. 34. s s. Many are the troubles of the Righteous. There is more Squaring, and hewing, and hacking ufed about á Stone that is to be fet in a ftately Palace, than that which is placed in an ordinary Build- ing; and the Vine is pruned, when the Bramble is not looked after,but let alone to grow to its full length. And the Child of the Family is put under Difcipline, whiff} a Ballard or a Servant hveth more at large. God meaneth to defiroy thofe whom by a Juft Judg- ment he permitteth to go on in their fins to their own eternal undoing, Heb. it. Blef fed be God that he taketh more care of us, and when we need it, correCetlr us feafon- 'ably as Children; fo that in this earthly and mortal body we are burthened with an heavy load of Afili&ions. zdly. Why fn is a burthen to the Children of God ? Pfal. 3$. 4. Mine iniquities are gone over my head as an heavy burthen, they are too heavy for me ; Pfal. 40. r 2. Mine iniqui- ties have taken hold of me, that I am not able to look up ; they are more than the hairs of my head; my heart faileth me. The Burden is heavy, and the Creature weak ; and therefore they groan. Now fins are not only a burthen to a wounded Confcience, but to a tender Confcience ; even the relicks of corruption, Go to a wounded Confcience, and they will tell you, that better a Milfione had faln upon them, than one (park of God's wrath for fin Ihould light uppn the Confcietce,. But we fpeak now of a tender Confcience, and are to ¡hew you why fin is fuch , Iheavy Burthen to the Children of God. s. Becaufe they have more light than others, andfee l mare. -into the nature and evil of fin. After ,Iwas inflrulled, I fmote upon the 'Thigh er. ä:.rB. & Rom. 7. 9. The Command. .ment came, fin revived, and I died. As Convi &ion breaketh in upon the Soul, fo the more troubled with fn Ignorant men know not their danger, nor the heinoufnefs of their faults. z. Becaufe they have more love to God than others have o And they that love much; will mourn molt for fin ; as the Woman that had much forgiven loved mucls,Luk.7,47. and becaufe fhe loved much, fhe wept much. Many times God's Children, the more holy they "are, the more troubled about fin than ever before: What; the reafon ? 'Tis not from the increafé of fin, but the increafe of light and lave; they fee more fin, and more into fin, than they did before, and are moreaffe&ed with it : As in a glafs of pure Water, the leaft More may be efpied. They have more heartily renounced fin than others ; their hearts are fet againft it, and therefòre the Relicks of it are a greater Burthen to them, Elementa non gravitant in fuú lads, as Water not in its place; but when the heart is let againft it, then the leaft remainders are á Burthen to them ; this is that they pray and ftrive againf... Wicked men are in their Element ; they make a mock of tin, 'tis a fport to them to do evil. What I hate is my Burthen; O wretched man, &c. Rom.7.24. 4. They hope for a better eflate than other] do;to be perfe&ly freed from fin, s Joh.3.3; 'Tis a grief to theta they cannot find it while they are in the body, Here, as Hair cut will grow again, as long as the Roots remain; or Ivy in the Wall, cut Boughs; r r E flumpi
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