4Ó2 The true Remedy againff Vol. H. even to death, upon the apprehenfion of what he was to undergo -, which made lüno pray fo earneftly, and to repeat that Petition fo often. Father, if it be poJfi ble, let thisCup pafs from me. Nay, the very anguith ofhis mind, caufedby the dread and horror of his Sufferings, was fo great as to force his blood through the pores of his body, fo that he fweat as if it were thick drops of bloodfalling upon the ground. And this is not to be wonder'd at, becaufe our bleffed Saviour, as he had the greateft endowments of human nature in their greateft perfection, fo he had a per- fed fenfeof the evils, and pains, and fufferings of it. Andall Philofophy that will not acknowledge lofs and pain and fuffering, to be evils and troublefome and ter- rible, is either obftinate fullennefs or grofs hypocrifie. 2. Nor doth this prohibition ofour Saviour exclude natural affecfion. This is a Plant which God himfelf hath planted in human Nature, and that for very ex_ cellent ends and purpofes; andhaving made us Men, and endowed us with fuch paffioiis, he does not expert that we thould put offour Nature, and transform our felves into another fort of Creatures than what we were when we came out ofhis own hands. To be without natural afeflion, and to have no affective fenfe of the lofs of the neareft Relations, is condemned in Scripture, a Mark of the greateft degeneracy and depravation of humanNature. And therefore we cannot imagine that our Saviour did intend to forbid fuch a moderate and well regulated degree of trouble upon thefe occafions, as is the proper and genuine íí3ùe of thofe natural affections; which God himfelf bath implanted in us. 3, When our Saviour forbids us to be troubled, he doth not forbid us to have a juft fenfe of God's Judgments, or of his Hand, in procuring or permitting the Evils which befal us; much lefs ofour own fins, which are the meritorious caufe of them, nay, on the contrary, he expeils that we fhould acknowledge his Provi- dence, and the juftnefs of it, in his fevereft dealings with us; that we thould be humbled under his mighty hand, and turn to him thatfinites us, and bear the indig- nation of the Lord patientiy, becaufe we have finned againfl him. Whatever is .a fign of God's difpleafure againft us, is a juil and reafonable caufe of trouble .to us. But when our Saviour here forbids us to be troubled, he plainly intends to pro- hibit thefe three things. a. Immoderate grief and furrow for any prefent afllittion or lofs, without any reftraint upon our felves, fo as to let grief loofe, and to give full fcope to it, to let the reins fall out of our hands, fo that the confiderations of Reafon and Reli- gion have no manner ofpower and command over us g to forrow, as Rachel did for her Children, refufing to be comforted. This is unreafonable, and ufually of pernicious confequence : for no man knows, when he once abandons himfelf to melancholy, and gives way to grief, and lets itpearce hisheart, and enter into his foul, how it may overwhelm his fpirit, and fink it paft recovery. And to this pitch, the trouble of force Men for worldly loffes and difappointments, becaufe it was not reftrained and governed at fiat, 'bath brought them; and ft often hap- pens, as St. Paul bath obferved, that the trouble of the world worketh death. I think hardly any Man did ever die of grief for his fins, and.killed himfelf by laying them to heart. It is well if our forrowfor fin proceed to that degree, as towork real repentance and amendment. And the reafon why our forrow for fin is commonly moderated and within bounds, is becaufe the forrow and trouble of repentance is always reafonable, and reafon keeps our grief within bounds: but the farrow. of the world, that is ofcovetous and worldly minded Men, who have unreafonably fet their affections upon this World, hath nothing to fet bounds and give limits to it. And therefore by the juft judgment ofGod, it fometimes pro- ceeds fo far as to workdeath, Many Mens hearts have been broken for the lofs of an Eftate, or force great crofs and difappointment in their worldly affairs and defigns. Thus;Nabal, upon the very apprehenfion of the danger that he and bis eftate were in, and had fo narrowly efcaped, was'ftruck with grief to the degree 4
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