Serra. CLXIII. the troubles of life. And furely if we would bût let our minds dwell a while upon this Confidera- tion of the Sufferings of the Sonof God, and his great meeknefsand patience, and £ubmiflion to the will of God under them, it would mightily conduce to the mi- tigating of our trouble, and bringing us to poffèfs our fouls inpatience, in the fad- deft condition that can befal us. And what Confideration more proper for us than this, when we are going to receive the bleffed Sacrament, wherein the Sufferings of the Son of God are re- prefented to us, in the fymbols of his Body broken, and his Blood fhed for the remiffionof our fins ? And there are many Confiderations which this fight is apt to fuggeft to us, which are fo many powerful arguments to quiet and comfort our minds under the greateft Troubles and Sufferings which we are liable to ; fuch as thefe. I. The grievous Sufferings which the Son of God was expofed to, do clearly Phew us that the good things of this life are not fo valuable, nor the evils and fufferings of it fo confiderable as weare apt to fancy and imagine; when the .belt Man that ever lived, was fo deftitute even of the common comforts and conveni- encies of humane life, and had fo . large a fhare of the calamities and fufferings of it. If we could but redifie our opinion of things, it would go a"great. way in making any of the evils and affiiâions of this life tolerable. If God fee good to reduce us to poverty andwant, let us think of him, who being Lord of all, had not where to lay his bead ; who being rich, for our fakes became poor, that we through his poverty might be made rich. To be deftitute of worldly Accommoda- tions cannot feem fo difmal and defpicable a fight, when we confider whofe lot it was to live in a low and indigent condition; the very confideration whereof Both not only make poverty tolerable, but even glorious. So likewife whenwe are perfecuted for Righteoufnefs fake, and exercifed with Sufferings and Reproaches; when we are ready to be difcouraged in well-doing by the oppofition we meetwithal from the ingratitude of Men, and the malicious in- terpretation of our good a&ions, perverting the bet things, done with the heft mind and to the belt end, to force ill purpofe and defign; let us look toJefus, and confider bimwho endured fuch contradidion of fanners againfl himfelf, and this will help to abate the hideous apprehenfion of thefe things. 2. The Sufferings of theSon of God are a demonftration to us, that the love andlavour of God, wherein the chief Happinefs of Man confìits, are not to be eftimated and meafur'd by outward profperity in thisWorld; much lefs can it be concluded from temporal afi&ions and fufferings, that God hath no favour and kindnefs for thofe whom he thinks fit to exercife with them. For we fee plainly by this inftance of the grievous Sufferings of his Son, that God may molt deeply wound and aftlilt thofe whom he molt dearly loves: and if we can be fecure of the favour of God, and his loving kindnefs, why fhould our hearts be troubled and difinayed at the apprehenfion of any evil that can befal us? Godmay love his Children, and yet chaflen them very feverely : nay that he does fo, is rather an Argument that they are his Children, and that he loves them, and is concerned for them. So I am fure theApoftle teacheth us to argue, Heb. 12. 6, 7, 8. For whom the Lord loveth, he chafleneth, and fcourgethevery fon whom he receiveth. Ifye endure cha/lening, God dealeth with you as with fons : for what fon is he whom the father cba/leneth not? But ifyebe without chaftifement, where- of all are partakers, then are ye baflards, and not fons. The heavieft and molt grivevous load of Sufferings that ever was laid on any Man, God permitted to be laid on his only begotten Son, the dearly beloved of bis Soul, in whom he was well pleafed. The greater our aftlii`tions are, and the more we fuffer for Righteoufnefs fake, fo much the liker are we to the Son of God, and fo much the more likely to be the Sons and Children of God. 'Tis true, as the Apoile tells us, that no a '- Sion for theprefent is joyous, but grievous : but furely it is a great mitigation of it, to confider what a glorious Example and Argument of Patience our Religion pro- pofeth to us, for our encouragement under fufferings; That the belt Man that ever 415
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