THE BENEFIT of Affliction.  
A Sermon, first preached, and afterwards enlarged, by Charles Richardson Preacher at Saint Katherine's near to the Tower of London.  PSAL. 94.12. 
Blessed is the man whom thou chastisest, O Lord, and teachest him in thy Law.  
LONDON Printed by Lionel Snowdon, for W. Butler, and are to be sold at his shop in the Bulwark, near the Tower of London. 1616.   

¶ To the right honourable and truly Religious Lady, the Lady ELIZABETH Countess of Lincoln, grace and peace be multiplied.  
Right Honourable,  
I First preached this Sermon at the burial of one, 
M. Brocklesby a Goldsmith in Cheapside.  who on his deathbed gave order, that this Text might then be handled. And having since, upon some other occasion, enlarged the same, I have presumed, in your honours name, to make it more public, by committing it to the Press. The reason that moved me, besides mine own private respect (whereby I confess I am bound to do your Honour all the service I can, in regard of the great favour which for many years I have found at your hands) is this, because I know the Doctrine of it doth most properly appertain unto you: who a long time have felt these blessed fruits of affliction yourself in a most plentiful manner. 
james 1.4. Rom. 8.37.  If ever Patience hath had her perfect work in any, it hath been in you: who have not only been thereby more than a Conqueror: but also have learned to contemn and despise all outward crosses, as not able to come near your soul, being mounted up so high above their reach. Yea hereby the graces which GOD hath wrought in your Honour, have been so tried, like gold in the furnace, as they have shined forth, in such excellent and glorious manner, that all that have known you, have been drawn into admiration thereof. For mine own part, I must needs acknowledge, that I never came to your Honour, but I went away ashamed, to see myself so much inferior in grace unto you. I have many times wondered, to behold your exceeding diligent attention in hearing the word, your blessed memory to retain the things which you have heard, and your godly care to make an holy use thereof in the whole course of your life. And as your desire is great to hear the word in public: so you spend much time in the private reading of the same, making it your chief delight, 
Psal: 1.2. 1 Cor. 1.5. Heb. 5.14.  to meditate in the Law of the Lord day and night: whereby you are made rich in knowledge: and, through long custom have your wit exercised, to discern both good and evil. But you have not thought it sufficient to be thus Christianly affected yourself, but your care hath been likewise extended to your children that they also might be trained up in sound religion. It would do a man good, to hear the sweet lessons and gracious instructions, which you like another Bath-sheba have taught your little ones, 
Prou. 31.1.  causing them as young Timotheus did, to know the holy Scriptures, 
2 Tim. 3.15.  even from their cradles. Whereby you have made so deep an impression of godliness in their hearts, as (I trust) the devil shall never be able to raze out. Neither hath your goodness been dammed up in your own private family, but it hath also flowed forth to the good of others. For at such time as God denied your Honour that plentiful use of his word, which I know you thirsted and panted after, as earnestly as ever did the Hart after the rivers of water, 
Psal. 24.1.  whensoever you had any opportunity of hearing it offered unto you, you did not engross it, as worldlings do their commodities, to your own private use alone, but with good Cornelius, 
Acts 10.24.  you called together your neighbours and friends, that they also might be partakers of the grace of God with you. And howsoever you have not in former times had such means to perform external works of charity, as God hath afforded unto others: yet to your power, 
2 Cor. 8.3.  yea and beyond your power, you have been willing to do good that way also. For you spent not your estate in pride and bravery (for that you never affected) but your richest dress and attire were the ornaments of the Apostle, as Tertullian saith. Your earrings were the word of God, your necklaces the yoke of Christ, your silken and velvet garments were piety and holiness. By which means you spared much from vain and idle expenses (wherein too many of your place do greatly exceed) that you might have something, to give to such as stand need of relief: especially to the Ministers of the word, which brought unto you the glad tidings of peace and salvation. There is none that hath been more ready to entertain them at all times, nor to use them with greater respect than your Honour hath done. And as I can witness, how earnestly you have desired, that you might but live to do more good in the Church of God: so I doubt not, but God having at the last, in mercy granted your desire, 
Psa. 66.13, 14  you will be mindful to pay the vows, which your lips have promised, and your mouth hath spoken in your affliction. I doubt not, but with virtuous Ruth, 
Ruth 3.10.  you will show more goodness in the latter end, then at the beginning: that as all that have known you, have hitherto called you, The good Lady Clinton, so you may now be called, The good Countess of Lincoln. You see (right Honourable) how far I have been transported with the admiration of your excellent virtues. God is my witness, I have not done it to flatter, or to give Titles to your Honour, for then my Maker would reprove me: and I know your humility is such, as you love not to hear your own praises. But I do it in the sincerity of my soul, that GOD may have the glory of his graces, and that the Church may be edified by your example: I would all the great Ladies in the Land would tread in your steps: so should they shine as so many glorious diamonds in the Church of God. For it is not the greatness of their birth, nor the eminence of their places, that can so ennoble them, and make them so truly honourable in the sight of God and his children, as the admirable graces which appear in you. I pray GOD, even from the bottom of my heart, to bless your Honour with many happy days, in this life, to perfect the good work which he hath begun in you, and in the end, to bring you to that immortal inheritance that fadeth not away, which is reserved in Heaven for you.  
Your Honour's most humbly devoted, CHARLES RICHARDSON.   

To the godly, virtuous and religious Ladies, the Lady Katherine Scot, the Lady Isabel Bowes, the Lady Frances S. Paul, and the Lady Frances Wray, increase of grace and fruition of glory.  
Worthy Ladies:  
AS God hath united you all in the bonds of nature and alliance; so I am bold to join you all together in the dedication of this Sermon. I confess, in itself, it is not worthy the acceptance of any one of you. But seeing it hath pleased God, to make you all instruments of much good and comfort unto me, and I know not whether I shall ever have opportunity, to publish several things in every one of your names in particular: I have thought good, to take this occasion, to manifest my thankful acknowledgement of the kindness of you all in general: which hath been extended, not to me only, but to many others of my calling. For I may truly give this testimony of you, that you have all showed great love to the faithful Ministers of God, and when any of them have resorted unto you, you have according to the Apostles precept, 
Phillip 2.29.  received them with all gladness, and made much of them. The matter of this Sermon is concerning affliction, whereof you have all had your portion more or less: and therefore, the Doctrine contained in it, doth fitly appertain to you all. But especially to you my good Lady Scot, whom the Lord hath caused to drink deeper of this cup than many others. But as it hath pleased God, hitherto to support you with grace and patience: so I doubt not, but he will, in his good time, make a blessed end with you, as he did with job, 
james 5.11. Psal. 90.15.  making you glad again according to the years wherein you have seen evil. If these meditatations of mine may minister any comfort unto you, or to any other in the like case, I shall think my labour well bestowed. And thus presuming that you will kindly accept of this my poor service, which in my sincerest affection I tender unto you, I commend all your Ladyships to God, and to the word of his grace, who is able to build you further, and to give you an inheritance among them that are sanctified.  
Your Ladyships in all dutiful affection. CHARLES RICHARDSON,   

Errata.  
Pag. 7. li. 4. read, divers temptations. pag. 9 li. 17. read, borne. pag. 10. li. 18. read silver. lin. 26. read, army. pag 11 li. 4 read, were constrained pa. 28. li. 10. read, concerning inward temptations, is true also of outward afflictions. pa 35. li. 10. read, strange. pa. 40. li. 5. put out And. ●a. 41. li. 18. read, broken in pag 45. li. 6. for violent, read, godly. ibid. in mark lege malacia.   

THE BENEFIT of Affliction.  Psal. 119.71. It is good for me that I have been Afflicted, that I may learn thy Statutes. 
IF it be lawful to make comparisons between one part of the holy Scripture and another, 
Psal. 119, 129 2. Tim. 3.16:  which is all most excellent, as David saith, being inspired by one and the same blessed spirit of God: we may truly say that there is no part more worthy than the book of Psalms, and in them, none more full of heavenly instruction than this Psalm. The author whereof is generally agreed upon to be David, whom the Scripture hath styled, The sweet singer of Israel. 
2, Sam, ●3, 1.  Who as he had a good faculty in the art of divine Poetry, & a great dexterity in penning of Psalms, to the glory of God, and the edification of his Church: so it is evident that he showed the excellency of his skill in composing this Psalm: being there unto occasioned and excited by the great afflictions that were upon him. For the Psalm seemeth to have been penned in the time of his exile and banishment, whereby he laboureth to confirm his faith, by many comfortable meditations of the word of God. The matter of the Psalm containeth many instructions and prayers, all tending to direct us in the way of godliness. The general proposition of it is this, that they that are truly godly, are truly blessed, and that they are truly godly, that are acquainted with the word of God, and are careful to frame their lives according to the directions and rules thereof.  
And therefore he laboureth by many arguments throughout the whole Psalm, and especially by his own example to stir up all the children of God, both to the continual meditation, and due practice of the word.  
The Psalm, as it is the longest of all the rest, being divided into two and twenty several parts: so it is more curiously and more artificially penned then any of the rest. For first, all the parts and divisions of it are of equal length, each of them consisting of eight verses. Again, every division in the original beginneth with an Hebrew letter according to the Alphabet, and every verse in that division beginneth with the same letter. And last of all, 
Verse 122:  there is not any verse in the whole Psalm but one, which maketh not some mention of the word of God, and hath not some title or other, to set out and commend the excellency of it. As it is called the Law, the Testimonies, the Ways, the Precepts, the Statutes, the Commandments, the judgements, the promise, the truth, the ordinances, the name of God etc. Now the reasons why the Prophet is so exquisite in framing of this Psalm, is to commend the excellency of the matter contained in it, that so we may be stirred up to regard it with greater attention. For where the Lord is curious in speaking, there should we be most diligent in hearing and learning. As also it was no small help to the memory: for being written in the Hebrew tongue, it was to the jews in steed of an holy Alphabet, which they might learn as our children do the A.B.C.  
Now concerning this ninth part of the Psalm, wherein this verse that I have read is contained, the Prophet having first thankfully acknowledged Gods mercy in dealing graciously with him, 
We another. 65.  he maketh his petition to be further taught & instructed in the knowledge of Gods will. 
Vers. 66.  Which petition he urgeth and enforceth with diverse reasons. First, because he had believed God's Commandment in the end of that verse. A second reason is taken from his former untowardness and untractablenesse, that he had been like an unruly beast, 
Vers. 67.  that would not keep the way without beating. Where by the way, he showeth the benefit that the children of God do receive by the cross. Namely, that it subdueth the untamednesse of their nature, and maketh them live in better order. After this he repeateth his former acknowledgement of God's goodness, 
Vers. 68  and reneweth his petition to be taught, backing it with another reason in the two next verses. And in this verse he repeateth that which he said before concerning affliction, though in other words. It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn thy Statutes. Wherein we are to consider, first, the person that was afflicted, and that is David himself. It is good for me, that I have been afflicted. Secondly, the fruit which he found in his affliction, which is propounded first generally, It is good for me, etc. And then by a particular effect, which was wrought in him thereby, That I may learn thy Statutes. And thus we see the coherence that these words have with the former, together with the sum and resolution of them. Let us now come to the several instructions contained in them.  
It is good for me.) In the example of David, we learn, that even the Godly themselves are subject to many afflictions. The dearest of God's children may, and oftentimes do suffer affliction with variety, 
Psal. 34, 19  extremity, and continuance. Many saith David, or great, are the troubles of the righteous. 
Psal. 80, 5.  Yea God doth many times feed his own children with the bread of tears, and giveth them tears to drink in great measure. And he threateneth even those, with whom he hath made a sure covenant, and from whom he will never take his mercy and loving kindness, 
Psal. 89, 30, 31, 32.33.  that if they forsake his law and walk not in his judgements: If they break his statutes and keep not his commandments, he will visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with strokes. And to this purpose is that saying of Solomon, that even a just man, 
Pro 24, 16  falleth seven times, that is, is afflicted oft and many times. And the Apostle james exhorteth the faithful, 
jam. 1, 2,  to count it exceeding joy when they fall into temptations, or afflictions. And hereof the Prophet David himself is a most pregnant example. He was a man that God had set up on high, 
2. Sam. 23, 1,  the Anointed of the God of jacob. 
1. Sam. 13.14.  Yea by the Lords own testimony, he was a man after his own heart: and yet he affirmeth of himself, that daily he had been punished, 
Psal. 73, 14:  and chastened every morning. Every day that went over his head, borough with it some affliction or other. He was persecuted by Saul, who pursued him from place to place, 
1. Sam. 26: 20  as one would hunt a partridge in the mountains. 
and 22, 9, and 23, 19, 20  He was falsely accused by Doeg, that cursed Edomite, betrayed and discovered by the false hearted Ziphims. He was discomforted and derided by his wife that lay in his bosom. He had many heartbreakings with his children. Ziglag, 
1. Sam. 30: 1, 5.  the town which Achish king of Gath had given him for his habitation, was sacked & burnt by the Amalekites, & his wives that were the comfort of his life, were taken prisoners. Yea it may appear to all that shall read his story in both the books of Samuel, that, as if he had been a man borne to misery, he scarce had one good day in all his life.  
Neither was this the case of David alone, but even all the children of God mentioned in the Scripture, have also been partakers of the same condition. 
Rom. 9.13.  jacob that holy Patriarch, on whom God had set his love before he was borne, was many ways afflicted in the greatest part of his life. He was hated of his brother, and for fear of his fury, forced to leave his own country and his father's house, and to live as a servant in a strange land for the space of twenty years. 
Gen. 31.41.  He was vexed with the unkindness of his churlish Uncle, who notwithstanding his faithful service, changed his wages ten times. He was upbraided and slandered by his Cousins, the sons of Laban. He was grieved with the peevish behaviour of his wives, and much discomforted by his children. job likewise, though a godly man, one of whom the Lord himself testified, that he was an upright and a just man, 
job. 1.8.  one that feared God and eschewed evil: Yet his life for a long time, was even a Map of misery. It was no small affliction to lose such a deal of substance all in a day, to have his children so pitifully dismembered, to have his wife and his friends that should have assuaged his sorrow, 
job. 16.2. and 6.4.  to play the miserable comforters, and to add affliction unto his misery, and which was worst of all, to have the terrors of God to fight against him. Solomon also, of whom the Lord said before ever he were bone; He shall be my Son, 
1. Chr. 22: 10  and I will be his Father, and concerning whom he promised, that his mercy should never departed from him as he took it from Saul: 
2. Sam. 7.15.  though he enjoyed great prosperity for many years: yet when he turned his he art from the Lord God of Israel & kept not that which he had commanded him, 
1. King. 11 9.10.  the Lord raised him up adversa ies one after another, which molested him with wars all the days of his life. 
1. Kin. 11, 14 23.26  As first Hadad, than Rezon, and after him jeroboam, and when he was dead, ten tribes of the kingdom were rend away from his son. And Hezekiah a man so upright in the sight of the Lord, 
2. Kin. 18, 5, 5  as after him there was none like him among all the Kings of judah, neither were there any such before him; was notwithstanding exercised with grievous and continual afflictions. 
Verse 13, 14, 15, 16  First of all, Sanecherib king of Assyria came up against all the strong cities of judah, and took them: and he to make his peace, was constrained to give him three hundredth talents of silver, and thirty talents of gold. For raising of which sum, he was forced to take all the silver, that was found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasures of the king's house, yea he pulled off the plates of the door of the temple, and the pillars which himself had covered over, and gave them to the making up of the tribute. And yet notwithstanding all this, 
17.  Sanecherib presently after sent a great arny against jerusalem to destroy it, 
and 19, 10, 11.  and caused Rabshakeh with a black mouth, to the breaking of Hezekiahs' heart, to blaspheme the name of the living God. And he was no sooner by God's mercy delivered out of this danger, 
and 20, 1,  but straightway he was visited with a sore sickness (and as some think with the plague) which in all appearance was unto death. So Lazarus, 
Luk 16.20, 21 22  at whose death the Angels of heaven were employed to carry his soul into Abraham's bosom, was in his lifetime poor, impotent, harbourless, distressed, and unpitied. In a word, these famous worthies of the world, that the Apostle speaketh off, of whom the world was not worthy, were tried, 
Heb. 11, 36.37.38.  some by mockings and scourge, some by bonds and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were hewn asunder, they were tempted, they were slain by the sword, they wandered up and down in sheeps skins & goats skins, being destitut, afflicted & tormented. And as this is true in the general, that God's children are subject to many & great afflictions: so it is true also in the particular, that there is not any several kind of calamity, but it may befall a godly man. There can be no greater grief to godly parents, then to be troubled with wicked & graceless children: and yet the Scripture hath many examples, of the holiest men that ever lived, that have been afflicted that way. 
Gen. 6.9 and 9.22.25.  Noah was a just and upright man in his time, and walked with God: yet had he a wretched Cham that scoffed at the infirmities of his father, and therefore was cursed, both himself, and his posterity. Abraham that was the Father of all them that believe, 
Rom. 4.11.  had a wicked Ishmael, the son of the bondwoman, 
Gen. 21.9.  who, by mocks and taunts, 
Gal. 4.29.  persecuted Isaac the son of the promise. Holy Isaak had a profane Esau as the Apostle calleth him, 
Heb. 12.16.  who of set purpose to displease his father took him wives of other nations, 
Gen. 26.34.35. and 27.46 and 28.8 9  as bad as himself, who by their disobedience and rebellion, were a grief of mind to his parents, and made his mother weary of her life. Good jacob was troubled with Simeon and Levi, brethren in evil, who in their wrath and self will, 
Gen. 34.30. and 49, 5, 6  committed such a bloody outrage upon the Sichemites, as caused their father to be abhorred among the inhabitants of the Land. Eli the Priest, a good man, had sons that were wicked and knew not the Lord, 
1. Sam. 2.12.17, 22.  who behaved themselves so vilely in their places, lying with the women that assembled at the door of the Tabernacle of the congregation, that men abhorred the offering of the Lord. 
and 3.20.  Faithful Samuel, the Lords Prophet, as he is called by the holy Ghost, had sons that walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, 
and 8.3.  and took rewards and perverted judgement. And David of whom we have heard such high commendation before, had as much heartbreak by his children, as ever poor father could have. First Amnon most beastly ravished and deflowered Tamar his own sister. Afterward Absalon, 
2 Sam. 13.14.24.28.  to revenge that villainy, invited him to a feast at his Sheepesheering, and caused his servants treacherously to kill him. And in the end he rebelled against his father, 
cap. 15.16.17, 18  drive him out of his kingdom, and had not God prevented him, would have taken the Crown from his head. It is no small misery, to be exposed to open contempt and reproach in the world, to be despised and made the laughing stock of base people. And yet this was jobs case, and that in as high a degree as possibly could be. For so he complaineth, that even they whose fathers he refused to set with the dogs of his flock, 
job. 31.1.  mocked him and insulted over him. Yea the children of villains, 
8 9.10.  and such as were more vile than the earth, made him their song and their talk. Yea they did not spare to spit in his face. Neither was this indignity offered him by strangers only, but he was despised also in his own family. 
and 19.15,  They that dwelled in his house (as he saith) and his maids took him for a stranger. 
16  He called his servant but he would not answer, though he praed him with his mouth. 
17.  Yea his breath was strange to his wife, though he prayed her for the children's sake of his own body. He that shall consider the great authority that job was in before the Lord humbled him, as he saith, how men of all sorts esteemed and reverenced him, may easily think, what a grief it was to his heart, to be now made a laughing stock to fools. And David, had his part likewise in the same cross. 
Psal. 35 15, 16  For the abjects assembled themselves against him, in time of his adversity, they tore him and ceased not. The scoffers at banquets gnashed their teeth against him. Yea, 
and 69.11.12  he became a proverb and a byword unto them, and the very drunkards made songs of him.  
It is a grievous thing to be imprisoned, 
and 107, 10.  to lie in darkness in the shadow of death, fast bound in misery and iron, as David saith. And yet many of God's dearest children have been tried and afflicted therewith. joseph, a good man, and one that was always careful not to sin against God, 
Gen. 39.19.20.  by the false accusation of his Mistress was put in prison, where he lay diverse years, so as his feet was hurt in the stocks and the iron entered into his soul. 
Psal. 105: 18,  jeremiah, 
jer. 1.5  a man that was sanctified by the Lord before he came out of the womb, and ordained to be a Prophet, was often brought into this affliction. First, 
and 20, 1, 2,  Pashur the Priest smote him, and put him in the stocks that were in the gate of Benjamin. 
and 32, 2,  After this, he was shut up in the court of the prison, that was in the King of judah's house. Again, the princes smote him, and laid him in prison in the house of jehonathan the scribe, 
and 37.15, 16,  where he remained in the dungeon a long time. 
and 38, 6,  And last of all, they took him & cast him into the dungeon that was in the court of the prison, and let him down with cords, where there was no water but mire: so that he stack fast in the mire. So likewise Michaiah a faithful Prophet, by the commandment of Ahab, 
1 Kin, 22, 27,  was put into the prison house, where he was fed with the bread of affliction, and with water of affliction. And the Apostle Peter was caught up by Herod, 
Act. 12, 4, 6, 7  and put in prison, and delivered to four quaternions of soldiers to be kept, where he was bound with two chains, not his feet only, but his hands also. And the Apostle Paul and Silas were delivered to a cruel jailor, 
and 16.23.24  who cast them into the bottom, or dungeon of the prison, and made fast their feet in the stocks. And thus were many of God's blessed Martyrs used in the time of Popery. Who were not only put in prison, but they were kept in the stocks both hands and feet, so long, as some of them died as they sat.  
Shipwreck is a fearful thing and a heavy affliction: yet the Apostle Paul suffered it thrice, as he saith himself. 
2. Cor. 11.25.  The Evangelist S. Luke recordeth one of them at large. Namely, that they were toasted with an exceeding tempest, in so much as they were enforced to lighten the ship, 
Act. 27.18.19 20.  by casting the goods into the sea, yea with their own hands to cast out the tackling of the ship. Yea the tempest that lay upon them was of that continuance, that neither sun nor stars for many days appeared, and all hope that they should be saved was taken away. And in the end, 
41.43.44.  the forepart of the ship stack fast in a narrow place of the sea, and could not be moved, and the hinder part was broken with the violence of the waves. And the men that were in her, constrained so many as could swim, to cast themselves into the sea, and so go out to land, and the rest, some upon boards, and some on pieces of the ship, to escape and save themselves. He that had stood on the shore at that time, no doubt should have seen a fearful and lamentable spectacle: but he that had been a party in it himself, would have sound it an upspeakeable danger.  

Deut. 13, 6,  It is a great heaviness for a man to lose a loving friend, which was to him as his own soul, as Moses saith. And yet this was David's case in the death of jonathan, 
1. Sam. 18, 1, 3.  whose soul was knit to the soul of David, and they loved one another as their own souls, and they made a covenant together. And how he took it to heart, may appear by that doleful lamentation, that he maketh for him when he heard the tidings of his death; Woe is me for thee my brother jonathan: 
2. Sam. 1, ●6,  very kind hast thou been to me: thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women.  
The loss of children by any means whatsoever, is a great grief to kind and loving parents, who have born them with great pain and travel, and brought them up with much care and cost. But to be deprived of them by untimely & violent & fearful death, is a grief that cannot be expressed. None knoweth the greatness of it, but they that have felt it. And yet this hath befallen even the dearest of God's children. Aaron, 
Psal. 106, 16.  whom the Scripture calleth the Saint of the Lord, had his two sons Nadab & Abihu fearfully destroyed both in a moment with fire from heaven. 
Levit. 10.2:  Eli a good man, 
1. Sam. 4 11:  had likewise his two sons Hophni and Phinehas slain in battle both on a day. job also, 
job. 1, 2, 19  whose godliness we have heard before, had all his children, seven sons and three daughters, pitifully slain, & crushed in pieces with the fall of an house. But the greatest grief of all is, when a man's child is taken away in some sin, so as, besides the death of the body, he hath just cause to fear the death of the soul. And yet this was good David's case, in the loss of his Absalon, which made him break forth into such passionate mourning as he did. 
2. Sam. 18.33.  O my son Absalon, my son, my son Absalon, would God I had died for thee, O Absalon my son, my son.  
It is a great grief for a man to be deprived of the wife of his youth, 
Pro. 5, 18.  which hath long lain in his bosom, 
Deut. 13, 6  which for many years hath been unto him as the loving hind and pleasant Roe, 
Prou. 5.19  in whose love he hath so long delighted, and which was the pleasure and desire of his eyes. 
Ezech. 24, 16  And yet this befell those two holy patriarchs Abraham and jacob, Abraham was deprived of his dearest Sara, 
Gen. 23.2. and 35, 19  and jacob of Rahel, whom he so much affected.  
There cannot be a greater affliction to a poor woman, then to lose a kind and loving husband, which was the vail of her eyes in all places. 
Gen. 20.16  But with the loss of an husband, to be bereft of all means of maintenance, and exposed to extreme poverty, is such a cross as can hardly be imagined. And yet we have examples even of this kind also. Poor Naomi, 
Ruth 1.3.  was deprived of her husband in a strange country, where she had few friends, and small means, and her two sons, which had taken them wives there in the land of Moab, died also, 
5.  so that she was left alone and destitute of succour? And how much she was affected with this calamity, may appear by her speeches, 
20.  when she returned again into her own country. Call me not Naomi, saith she (that is beautiful) but call me Mara (that is bitter) for the Almighty hath given me much bitterness. I went out full, 
21:  and the Lord hath brought me home again empty: why then call ye me Naomi, seeing the Lord hath humbled me, and the Almighty hath brought me into adversity. So likewise the Prophet's wife that died in the land of Israel, 
2. Kin. 4.1.  besides the loss of her husband, was left in great debt, and having nothing to pay, the merciless creditor came to take her two sons to be his bondmen.  
It is an uncomfortable thing to die in child birth: 
Gen. 35.17.18  and yet it was the case of Rahel jacobs' wife, who died in the pains of her labour: 
Sai. m. 4, 19, 20.  & of Elies' daughter in law, who hearing that the ark of God was taken, and her husband and father in law were dead, bowed herself and traveled, and in her travel died.  
It is fearful to die a violent death, and yet it is a thing that hath happened even unto those that were dear unto God. 
1. Sam 4, 18  Eli (of whom we have heard before) when he heard mention of the loss of God's Ark, being heavy and unwieldy with age, fell backward from his seat, and his neck was broken, and so he died. The Prophet of the Lord, that was sent to cry against the altar, 
1. Kin. 13, 24  which jeroboam had made at Bethel, because he kept not the commandment which the Lord commanded him, a lion met him by the way and slew him, and his carkaise was cast in the way. 
2. Kin. 23.29  And good josiah, who is so highly commended for his godliness, was notwithstanding slain in the wars by Pharaoh Necho, king of Egypt. Nay a man may be so far left to himself, as he may commit such a sin, whereby he may deserve to be cut off by the sword of the Magistrate, & yet still be the child of God. As the sins that David committed, by the express law of God were to be punished with death, if there had been any Magistrate above him that had had power to inflict it. By all these particular instances, & many more that might be produced, it may appear, that there is not any kind of affliction or calamity, but the children of God may be subject to it: according to that enumeration which the Apostle maketh, 
Rom. 8.35.  when he saith, Who shall separate us from the love of Christ, shall tribulation, or anguish or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril or sword, etc. A man may be subject to all these miseries, & yet not be deprived of the love of Christ.  
But besides all these outward afflictions, the children of God may be, and oftentimes are subject to inward fear & horror of conscience, which as Solomon saith, 
Prou., 18.14.  is the most intolerable torment that can be endured The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity: but a wounded spirit who can bear? job was not only afflicted in his body and outward estate, but also troubled and wounded in his conscience, with the fearful apprehension of God's wrath. And therefore he complaineth, 
job. 6.4.  that the arrows of the Almighty were in him, the venom or poison whereof did drink up his spirit, and the terrors of God did fight, or set themselves in array against him. And David crieth out, 
Psal. 22, 1.  My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me, and art so far from my health, and from the words of my roaring? And in another place he saith, 
and 32.3.4  When I held my tongue, my bones consumed, when I roared all the day long. For thy hand was heavy upon me day and night, and my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. And in another place, he maketh such a lamentable complaint, as if he had been brought to the very pit of desperation. 
and 38.2.3.4.5, 6.7.8.  Thine arrows, saith he, stick fast in me, and thy hand presseth me sore. There is nothing sound in my flesh, because of thine anger: neither is there any rest in my bones, by reason of my sin. For mine iniquities are gone over mine head and as a mighty burden they are too heavy for me. My wounds stink, and are corrupt because of my foolishness. I am bowed and crooged very sore: I go mourning all the day. For my reins are full of burning, and there is nothing sound in my flesh. I am weakened, and sore broken: I roar for the very grief of my heart, etc. And again, 
and 130.1.  Out of the deep places have I called unto thee, O Lord: as if he had been even in the bottom of hell. In a word, Hezekiah that good King complaineth, that besides the sickness which God laid upon his body, that brought him even to deaths door, the Lord had broken all his bones like a lion, 
Isa. 38.13.14.  and from day to night he made an end of him, and that he chattered like a crane or swallow, and mourned as a dove. By this we see, that even the children of God do many times wrestle with desperation itself: and the Lord doth so long hide his face from them, as they seem utterly to be forsaken, and begin to think, that his mercy is clean gone for ever, as David saith, and that he will be favourable no more. And therefore, the Church of God is compared to a lily among thorns, to give us to understand, that though it be very lovely & beautiful in the sight of God: yet it is subject to many miseries, and accumbered with many molestations.  
But here it may be some will object, if the case be so that the children of God be subject to so many & great afflictions, than it seemeth, that either their sins are not fully forgiven them, or else, that God is not just in inflicting such punishments upon them. To this I answer, 
Psal. 103.3 Col. 2, 13 1, john. 1, 7  that first, for the sins of God's children, they are all absolutely forgiven. The hlood of Christ, as the Apostle saith, 
Isa 1, 8,  doth cleanse us from all sin. So that though they be as scarlet, yet the Lord maketh them as white as snow, & though they be red like crimson, he maketh them as will. 
and, 44, 22.  Yea the Lord putteth away our transgressions like a cloud, and our sins like a mist, 
Mich. 7.19  he subdueth our iniquities, and casteth them into the bottom of the Sea. So as they shall never rise up in judgement against us to accuse or condemn us. Again, the Lord is righteous in all his ways, 
Psal. 145.17,  & holy in all his works: and being judge of all the world, as Abraham said, he must needs do right. 
Gen. 18, 25  And forasmuch as our Saviour Christ hath satisfied God's justice for our sins, 
1. Pet. 2.24  & hath borne them in his body on the cross: & feing the Lord having punished them once in Christ, 
Non his punitur in idem.  cannot justly punish them again in us: therefore, it must needs follow, that the miseries whereunto the children of God are subject, are not punishments of their sins, but the Lord hath other ends for which he afflicteth them. Now the ends are many, but for order sake, we will refer them to three heads. Some of them are in respect of Gad, some in respect of us, & some in respect of others. The end that God aimeth at in respect of himself, is twofold. First, thereby to manifest & set forth his own glory As our Saviour said concerning the man that was borne blind, 
john 9, 2, 3  that that affliction was laid upon him, neither for his own sins, nor for his father's sins, but that the works of God might be showed on him. And indeed no small glory redoundeth unto God by the afflictions of his children. As the power of God is more magnified and declared in adversity, than ever it could be in prosperity. For that which the Lord said to the Apostle Paul concerning outward afflictions, 
2. Cor. 12.9  My power is made perfit through weakness. For when we are in prosperity, & see no evil, we seem not to stand need of God's help. But when God delivereth us out of trouble, then is his power manifested, and then have we occasion offered to glorifiie him. 
Psal. 50.15  As it is said in the Psalm. Call upon me in the day of trouble and I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me. Yea though the Lord for causes best known to himself, do not deliver his children out of their miseries and tribulations: yet this is no small matter of glory unto him, 
2. Cor. 1, 4. 1. Pet. 1.8  that in the midst of them all he ministereth comfort unto them, and maketh them cheerful, and causeth them to rejoice with joy unspeakable, and glorious.  
Secondly to declare his anger and indignation against sin, that when the wicked shall see that God's dearest children, if they take liberty to sin, do not escape the rod, they may know what themselves are to look for at his hands, according to that speech of the Apostle Peter, If judgement first begin at the house of God, 
1. Pet. 4, 17.  what shall be the end of them that obey not the Gospel of God?  
The ends that God aimeth at in respect of us, are diverse. First to correct and chasten us for our faults. As the Apostle saith, When we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord. 
1. Cor. 11.32.  As a father that hath care of his child, if he see him take evil courses, will correct him to bring him to amendment: so our most merciful father will not suffer his children to continue in sin, 
Heb. 12, 6.  but useth corrections to reclaim them. Secondly, to try and exercise the graces that are in them, and to make them more conspicuous. Not as though the Lord were ignorant of them. For he that made them, must needs know what is in them. And therefore, it is said of our Saviour Christ, 
joh. 2, 24, 25,  that howsoever many professed to believe in him; yet he did not commit himself unto them, because he knew them all, and had no need that any man should testify of man, for he knew what was in man. But he doth it, that men may know themselves, and that it may appear unto others, what excellent things God hath wrought in them. Thus said job of his afflictions, he knew they were no punishments of his sins, as his friends would have persuaded him, but trials of his faith and patience. He knoweth my way, 
job. 23, 10,  saith he, and trieth me, and I shall come forth like the gold. 
1. Pet 1, 6, 7  And the Apostle Peter saith, that the children of God are in heaviness through manifold temptations, that the trial of their faith, being much more precious than gold that perisheth, might be found to their praise and honour and glory at the appearing of jesus Christ. God will not suffer the graces of his children to lie idle and to rust in them, but by afflictions will exercise them and bring them to light. As Saint Augustine saith well. 
a Non est paena criminis, sed vittutis examen. De Civ. Dei lib. 4. cap. 3.  Affliction is not a punishment of sin, but a trial of our virtue. And first, the faith of God's children is hereby tried and manifested. When a man is in no danger nor misery it is an easy matter for him to believe, but when he groaneth under the burden of affliction, and seemeth even to be quite forsaken of the Lord, then by the power of his faith to cry with David, My God, my God, and with job, though he slay me, yet will I trust in him, 
Psal. 22, 1. job. 13.15.  is a matter of great difficulty. Again, their Christian courage appeareth. 
b Dulce bellum i● expe●tis.  We think we are strong enough, till we be put to the trial. (a) As many vain cowards in the midst of their cups, 
c Marcet sine adversario virtus, Gubernatorem in tempestate, in acie militem intelligas. De divina providentia.  will make great boast of their valour, but when they come into the field, they dare not look the enemy in the face. Seneca, an heathen man, that never knew what that valour of a true Christian meant, could yet say of moral fortitude (a) that it withereth & becometh feeble if it have not an adversary to encounter withal. The skill of a Pilot is best discerned in the greatest tempest, and the courage of a Soldier in the hottest skirmish. So the fortitude of a Christian Soldier appeareth most in the greatest and heaviest affliction. How can it be known what courage a man hath to endure sickness and poverty, etc. if he always have his health, and abound in riches. Moreover their patience is by this means made known. Patience is a virtue which is always necessary for us, but if it be not exercised we shall have little use of it. As when a sword is rusted in the sheath, a man may be wounded by his adversary before he can draw it forth: so when patience is not tried, the Devil may wound a man to death, before he be able to defend himself with it. Last of all, by this means their love to God is most of all declared. It is not any thing worth for a man to love God, when all things prosper with him, & succeed according to his own desire. Now if a man should not love God then, even in the judgement of the devil, it were pity of his life. For he could say when the Lord commended job. Doth job fear God for nought? 
job, 1.9.10.  hast thou not made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands,, and his substance is increased in the land. Nay he that shall only love God in this respect, may seem to love him for what will you give me rather than for his own sake. But he that cleaveth unto God in the time of affliction, when all things go cross with him, that is a token of true love indeed. Thus we see how the graces of God's children are manifested in affliction, more than they could be in prosperity. As bricks if they be not thoroughly hardened in the fire, will by and by be dissolved; if they come into the water. So unless the graces of God's children be continually exercised, the least affliction that is will overcome them. Spices never give a sweeter smell, then when they are beaten to powder: so the graces of God in his children are never so fragrant & odoriferous, as when they are as it were pounded by affliction, according to that speech of the Apostle, 
Rom: 5.3, 4.  Tribulation bringeth forth patience, and patience experience, and experience hope, etc. Whereunto agreeth that saying of S. August. 
a Non frangit in bonis perferendi tolerandique virtutem, nec eradicat ex animo pietatem, sed exercitatam facit foecundiorem. De Civ. Dei lib. 1. ca 13.  Affliction daunteth not the patience & fortitude of them that be good, neither rooteth godliness out of their minds, but by exercising of it, maketh it more fruitful. And that of Bernard, 
b Ignis afflictionis examinat, non ex●rit, in Psal. 91. Serm 5.  The fire of affliction trieth the graces of the godly, but it doth not consume them.  
Thirdly, the Lord afflicteth his children to prevent sin to come. There is in the best of us such a mass of corruption, as that upon every occasion we are apt and prone to fall into sin: and therefore, for preventing thereof, it is necessary that the Lord should afflict us. As a skilful Physician many times prescribeth medicines to preserve from sickness: so doth the Lord use affliction to preserve his children from sin. 
Matth. 9.12  They that be whole (as our Saviour Christ saith) need not a Physician. So, if we were sound indeed, and had no corruption in us, we should not need to be dealt withal in this manner. But being corrupted and distempered as we are, we stand need to be purged and let blood by affliction.  
Foutthly, by afflictions the Lord doth give us some comfortable testimony of the resurrection to a better life. For seeing the godly are for the most, in this life so evil entreated, they may assure themselves, that in the life to come, there shall be a blessed change and alteration, 
Apoc. 21.4.  wherein God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shallbe no more death, nor sorrow, neither shall there be any more pain. But, 
Lu. 22.28, 29 30.  they that have continued with Christ jesus in his temptations, shall have a kingdom appointed unto them by him, that they may eat & drink at his table in his kingdom, etc. This is that which Abraham told the rich glutton being in hell in torments, Son, saith he, 
Luke 16.25  remember that thou in thy life time receivedst thy pleasures, and likewise Lazarus pains: now therefore is he comforted, & thou art tormented.  
Fiftly, by afflictions we are made conformable unto Christ. For he was not exempt from the Cross, as one saith well. 
a Deus filium unum habuit sine peccato, nullum sine flagello. Hebr. 5.9 Ma th'. 3.17 Cal Institut. lib. 3. cap. 8. sect. 1.  God had one son without sin, but none without affliction. Though he were the author of eternal salvation to all that obey him: yet he was consecrate by afflictions. Yea albeit he were the beloved Son of God, in whom he is well pleased: yet we see his Father was so far from cockering and pampering of him, that we may truly say he was not only exercised with afflictions, whiles he was upon the earth: but his whole life was nothing else but a continual cross. 
john 15.20  Why then should we look to be exempted from that condition which Christ our head was to undergo? especially seeing he did undergo it for our sakes, that in himself he might give us an example of patience. And therefore the Apostle teacheth us, that all the children of God are predestinated to this end, 
Rom. 8.29  that they might be made like to the Image of him. In a word, by afflictions the Lord doth seal unto us the assurance of our adoption. For as the Apostle saith, Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, 
Herald 11: 6, 7, 8.  and he scourgeth every son that he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God offereth himself unto you as sons: for what son is it whom the Father chasteneth not? If therefore ye be without correction, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards and not sons. Where we are taught, that we can gather no greater testimony, that we are the sons of God, than from the loving corrections which he layeth upon us.  
Last of all, there is a good end of our afflictions in respect of others. If we be constant and courageous under the cross, our example is a notable encouragement unto others to tread in our steps. If we be fearful and fainthearted, others may learn what frailty there is in man, 
Rom. 12.15 Hecr. 13.3  and may thereby be moved to pity us, as if it were their own case, as also to comfort us, and to pray for us: and to watch more carefully & diligently over themselves. To conclude, the way to everlasting glory, is by this means as it were chalked out. For hereby all men may see, that Whosoever will live godly in Christ jesus, 
2. Tim. 3.12.  must suffer persecution: and that Through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of Heaven. 
Act. s 14.22.  And thus we see the point is sufficiently cleared, that afflictions to God's children are no punishments of their sins, but that the Lord sendeth them for many other good ends and purposes.  
Use 1 The use of this Doctrine is very profitable. First, it serveth to teach every one of us, to judge wisely, as David saith, of the poor, and those that are afflicted. 
Psal. 41 1.  There is a corruption in our nature, which maketh us rashly conclude, when we see a man afflicted with some heavy cross, that surely it is GOD'S judgement upon him for his sin. So dealt the Barbarians with the Apostle Paul, when they saw a Viper leap upon him, and hang upon his hand, they said presently amongst themselves: This man surely is a murderer, 
Acts 28.3, 4,  whom though he have escaped the Sea, yet vengeance hath not suffered to live. Yea this corruption will even creep into the best of us all, if we do not endeavour to keep it out. As we see in jobs friends, who though they were otherwise men of great knowledge, and (no doubt) godly: yet when they saw the strange afflictions that GOD had brought upon him, they by and by, with one consent, pass their censure upon him, That he was an hypocrite, and that GOD had now found him out. 
job 8, 4,  As Bildad telleth him plainly, that his sons had sinned against GOD, and therefore that he had justly sent them To the place of their iniquity. 
job 11.6.  And Zophar bids him know, that God had forgotten him for his iniquity. Yea Eliphaz cometh to particulars with him. Is not (saith he) thy wickedness great, 
and 22.5, 6, 7, 9  and thine iniquities innumerable? For thou hast taken the pledge from thy brother for nought, and spoiled the clothes of the naked. To such as were weary, thou hast not given water to drink, and hast withdrawn bread from the hungry. Thou hast cast out widows empty, and the arms of the fatherless were broken. And where we see, he is not afraid to charge job with oppression and unmercifulness, as if these had been the causes of his calamity. And the Disciples of our Saviour Christ, when they saw a man that was borne blind, they straightway imagined, that it was either for his own or his parents sins. But we must know, 
john 9.1.2  that every cross is not a pursuing of a man for sin, as our Saviour teacheth in the Gospel, when he said to them that showed him of the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their own sacrifices: 
Lu. 13.1, 2, 3, 4, 5.  Suppose ye, that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans, because they have suffered such things. I tell you nay &c. Or think ye, that those eighteen, upon whom the Tower in Siloam fell and slew them, were sinners above all that dwell in jerusalem? I tell you nay, etc. And therefore, if any of us have been foolish this way, and have thought wickedly and uncharitably of our brethren, when we have seen them visited by the hand of God, let us learn henceforth, as Solomon saith, to lay our hand upon our mouths, Pro 30.32. lest we condemn the generation of God's children, Psal. 73.15. Saint Augustine hath a most excellent saying to this purpose: Although saith he, the godly and the wicked be alike afflicted, yet they are distinct the one from the other, there 
a Manet dissimilitudo passorum in similitudine passionum.  remaineth an unlikeness of the sufferers, in the likeness of their sufferings. For, as under one and the same fire, gold shineth and glistereth, and chaff smoketh: and under one and the same flail, the straw is broken is pieces, and the corn is purged: neither are the lees therefore mingled with the oil, because they are strained out in one and the same press: So one and the same violence rushing upon the godly and the wicked, trieth, 
b Tantum interest, non qualia, sed qualis quisque patia ur. De Ciu. Dei lib. 1. cap. 8  purifieth and melteth the one, but it damneth, destroyeth, and utterly undoth the other. h So great a matter it is, not what things one suffereth, but how he is qualified that suffereth. For one and the same motion causeth the dung to stink horribly, and the ointment to smell most sweetly: So that afflictions are like the red Sea, wherein the Egyptians were drowned, and the Israelites saved.  
Use 2 Secondly, it serveth to comfort all God's children in the midst of the greatest afflictions that can befall them. It is the infirmity and weakness of our nature to think, that affliction is a token of God's anger, and that if any extraordinary cross do befall us, we presently fear that God hath forsaken us. But as we heard already, though God afflict us with many and heavy crosses, yet we are never the less dear unto him, neither doth he love us any whit the less. An Heathen man, that never had experience of the love of God to his children, had yet a glimmering of the truth of this point. 
a Seneca De divin. provid.  Dost thou not see, saith he, that father's love their children far otherwise then mothers do? They would have their children stirred up betimes to undergo labour & toil, & cause them to sweat, yea sometimes to weep. But mothers desire to cherish them in their bosoms, & to keep them in covert & shelter: they would never have them weep, they would never have them sad, they would never have them take pains. In like manner (saith he) God hath a fatherly affection towards good men, and loveth them not effeminately, but manfully, and exerciseth them with labours, with sorrows, with losses, that so they may gather true strength and hardness: So that the greater that our afflictions are, the better may we be persuaded of the love of God: yea the more comfort we may take in them. For God having promised, 
1, Cor. 10, 13  that He will not suffer us to be tempted above that we are able: we may assure ourselves that God seethe we have strength to bear them, or else he would not put us to encounter with them. When a Captain hath a piece of service weighty and full of danger, he will not send a coward or a white-livered fellow about it, but he maketh choice of those that are stoutest, and of whose valour and courage he hath had most experience, and to them he committeth the charge of that business. So dealeth the Lord with us. In his great wisdom and mercy he proportioneth his afflictions, according to that measure of strength, which he seethe in us. When a Physician hath to deal with a Patient that is of a strong constitution, he ministereth to him strong purgations: But if he be weak and feeble, he prescribeth for him milder potions. In like manner our heavenly Physician maketh the cup of our more bitter or more mild, as he knoweth he hath given us ability to bear the same. And so long as he strengtheneth us by his glorious power, we need not care what crosses we meet withal: for we may be sure they shall not hurt us. For, as so many rivers which daily do run into the Sea, 
Sen. de divina provid.  and such abundance of rain that falleth continually into it from the Clouds, and such a multitude of fountains that spring from the middle of the earth, do not change, no nor any whit abate or diminish the salt savour thereof: so the violence and force of afflictions doth not alter the mind of a violent man, but he abideth in his estate, and whatsoever befalleth, he bringeth it into his own colour. And on the contrary side, there is no greater cause of discomfort, then when we are altogether free from aiflictions. And therefore one calleth a secure life, which is not subject to crosses, the dead Sea, affirming, that when a man hath nothing to stir him up, and prick him forward, nothing to try the constancy and firmness of his mind, 
Non est tranquilitas, malicia est. Seneca epist. 68  but lieth bur●ed in idleness, it is not tranquillity but a dead calm.  
Again, this is no small argument of comfort, that God beholdeth us in all our troubles and afflictions, as it is said of the people of Israel, 
Exod. 2.25  when they groaned under the bondage of Pharaoh, that God looked on them, and had respect unto them. Though they might think, in regard of the miserable slavery which they endured, that God had quite forgotten them, and his promise made to them and their fathers: yet it was otherwise, his eye did still behold them. Neithet doth the Lord look upon us, as an idle beholder, or as one that taketh pleasure to see our misery, but with compassion and a tender regard. As he saith in the former case, 
Exod, 3.7.  I have surely seen the trouble of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry, because of their taske-maisters, 
8.  and I know their sorrows. Therefore I am come down to deliver them, etc. 
9  And lo, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me, and I have also seen the oppression, wherewith the Egyptians oppress them. Where we see, that the Lord taketh to heart the afflictions of his children, 
judg. 10 19 zach. 2.8  And his very soul is grieved for their misery, and it goeth as near him, 
Psalm 56.8  as if a man should touch the apple of his eye. He regardeth their sighs and groans, 
Malac. 3.16  and their tears he putteth in his bottle: he registereth their words and complaints, 
Exod. 2 23  There is a Book of remembrance written for them that fear him, and all their cries come up to him. It is true, that the Lord sometimes seemeth to forget & neglect his children in the time of trouble. As our Saviour Christ being in the ship with his Disciples, was asleep, till the ship was covered with waves, and they were all like to perish. 
john 11 6  When he heard that Lazarus his friend whom he loved, was sick, he did not presently go to visit him, & to comfort his sisters, but abode still two days in the place where he was, so as Lazarus was dead & buried before he came there. But when he hath sufficiently tried & humbled them, he returneth & speedily comforteth them, and so disposeth of their afflictions, as he always enableth them to get the victory. For, 
Orig. de prin. lib, 3. cap. 2.  as they that had the oversight of the wrestlings and combats among the Heathen, did not suffer the combatants to begin the conflict hand over head, nor arm them confusedly, all alike: but making diligent examination, as they saw men's bodies and ages, they were careful to match like with like, and to furnish them with weapons fit for them: In like sort, the providence of God disposeth and ordereth after a most equal manner, all those that descend into the conflicts of this life, so as one encountereth with the flesh, another with poverty, another with sickness, another with infamy, another with persecution: and putteth upon every one of them divers kinds of armour, and furnisheth them with greater or lesser strength, as may enable them to overcome the enemy that is appointed for them. For God is not like the master of the games before spoken of, who when he hath armed the parties, departeth out of the wrestling place to behold the combat with the rest. But the Lord standeth by them still, and aideth and assisteth them at every turn, and continually succoureth them that are weaker with greater strength.  
And herein the Lord dealeth with his children, as joseph dealt with his brethren when they came into Egypt to buy corn. For as joseph himself was many ways tried of the Lord, before he was made Ruler of the Land: so he likewise many ways tried and exercised his brethren before he would make himself known unto them, or acknowledge them to be his brethren. First, he tried them, 
Genes. 42.7. et cetera ad 24.  whether they had truly repent, and were touched with remorse for the injury they had done to him, in that so cruelly and unnaturally they sold him into Egypt: Secondly, he tried them, whether they had attempted any such thing against Benjamin his brother German, 
Ibid. ver. 20  in that he enjoined them to bring him with them the next time, that he might see him: Thirdly, 
Gen 43.34  when they had brought him, he showed extraordinary kindness to him above the rest, giving him five times so great a portion as he did any of them, and all to try whether they did envy him or no: Fourthly, he tried them whether they loved their brother Benjamin so well, that when he alone was detained, 
Gen. 44.1. et cetera ad 14 and 33.  they would all for his sake come back again from their journey. Last of all, he tried them whether they loved their fathet so entirely, as that they would not return home without Benjamin, 
Ibid. verse 17, et cet.  which they knew would be intolerable grief unto their father. All this while no doubt his brethren were in great perplexity & much troubled; and still joseph made as though he had not regarded them. But his bowels did earn within him towards them, and his heart was as much grieved as theirs, insomuch as twice he was constrained to turn from them and weep. 
Gen. 42.24 and 43 30 and 45.1, 2, 3  And at the last he could refrain no longer, but he cried out, I am joseph your brother. So likewise Christ jesus our blessed Saviour, 
Matth 28.10 Heb. 2.11  who is not ashamed to call us his Brethren, doth suffer us to be exercised with many & grievous afflictions, and seemeth sometimes as though he cared not for us: but yet in the mean while, 
Hos. 11 8  his repentings are rolled together, and at the last, when he hath sufficiently tried us, he will manifest himself unto us to our unspeakable comfort. According as himself saith, He that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, 
john 14.21  and I will love him, and will show mine own self to him: That is as one well noteth, I will love him by trying his love and patience, and when I have tried him, I will manifest myself unto him. And though peradventure this manifestation shall not be by any outwatd deliverance in this life: yet at the day of judgement he will acknowledge them openly in the sight of men and Angels. Then he shall not be able to contain himself any longer, but shall say unto us with a loud voice, so as all the world shall hear. I am jesus your Brother, Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundations of the world. Matt. 25.34. For, as the Egyptians and all the house of Pharaoh heard the voice of joseph, when he revealed himself unto his Brethren, Genes. 45.2. So in the day of judgement, when Christ shall manifest himself to his brethren, heaven and earth, and all the Angels in heaven shall hear his voice: yea all the damned, & the whole house of hell shall hear it, and shall gnash their teeth for anger: and gnaw their tongues for grief of heart to see those whom they sometimes had in derision, and in a parable of reproach, whose life they thought to be madness, and their end without honour, 
Wisd. 5.3, 4, 5  to be now counted among the children of God, and to have their portion amongst the Saints.  
Finally, this is another argument of unspeakable comfort to the children of God, that the greater their afflictions are, the greater shall their glory be. 
1 Pet. 4.14.  As the Apostle Peter saith, If ye be railed upon for the name of Christ (and it is true likewise of all other afflictions) blessed are ye, for the Spirit of glory, and of God resteth upon you. And hereof we have a worthy example in joseph before named. For, after the manifold and great calamities which he endured so many years, he was exalted by Pharaoh, and as himself confesseth, 
Gene. 45.8  was made Lord of all his house, and Ruler through all the land of Egypt. And it is worthy to be noted, that for some thirteen years wherein he was afflicted, he was exalted, and ruled in Egypt for the space of fourscore years, as may easily be gathered out of the Story. 
Gen. 37.2 and 41.46  For he was seventeen years old, when his brethren sold him away: 
and 50.22.  he was thirty years old when he was advanced by Pharaoh: and he lived Governor of the land of Egypt, till he were an hundred and ten years old. Besides, such was the goodness of God unto him, that for the several miseries which he suffered, he received a several reward. For the hatred of his brethren he obtained the favour of the King and his Nobles. 
Gen. 37.19  For the contempt and scorn which his brethren heaped upon him, calling him Dreamer, etc. 
and 42.6  he was worshipped of them, with their faces down to the ground. For the particoloured coat which they stripped him of, 
Gen. 37.23  when they cast him into the pit, he was arrayed by Pharaoh with a princely robe of fine linen. 
and 41.42  In stead of the fetters wherewith he was bound in prison, Pharaoh put his own ring on his hand, and a chain of gold about his neck. In stead of the prison and dungeon where he lay, he was set upon the King's best Chariot save one, and carried in great pomp throughout the city. Whereas before he was contemned of all men, as a stranger, as a servant and a prisoner, he is now honoured of all men, by bowing the knee at the King's commandment. In a word, in stead of his father's house, from which he was exiled and banished, he had dominion in all the land of Egypt. So true is that saying even of an heathen man, 
a quanto plus tormenti, t●n●o plus erit gloriae. Sene●a de divin. provid.  The greater torment a man endureth, the greater shall be his glory afterwards. But howsoever the Lord doth not always deal thus with his children in this life: yet in the life to come, without all question, they shall find the truth of that comfortable promise, delivered by the Apostle, 
2 Cor. 4.17  Our light affliction which is but for a moment, causeth unto us a far more excellent and eternal weight of glory.  
Use 3 Thirdly, this Doctrine serveth to admonish us, that seeing affliction is the lot and portion of God's children in this life, that therefore we should prepare for it before it come. The Lord will not have his children come to Heaven in a pleasant way, that is strewed with rushes, as it were, but through many tribulations we must enter into his kingdom. 
Act. 514.22  As Bernard saith well, 
a Non est idoneus ad proemium, qui nondum paratus est ad patibulum. De coena Dom. Ser. 6  He is not meet for the crown that is not yet prepared for the cross. And therefore it is good for us to arm ourselves before hand, that when they come they may not hit us on the bare. We must be careful to store up grace and comfort against a rainy day, that whatsoever shall befall us, we may be provided to bear it. In our best estate, we must put ourselves in a readiness to suffer adversity, whensoever GOD shall send it. In our greatest abundance, it is good for us to think of want: in our prosperity, it is good to look for calamity: and in our perfectest health to remember that sickness may come. There is nothing that maketh all affliction more bitter and grievous unto us, then because it taketh us many times on the blind side, before we see it, or dream of it. Whereas misery that is foreseen and premeditated, doth little hurt us. Affliction is like the Basilisk, of which it is written, that if it see a man before he see it, it killeth him; but if he see it first, it hath no power to hurt him. So affliction is most terrible to those whom it findeth unprepared. Seneca, though an Heathen man, hath spoken well to this purpose: 
a Si non quicquid fieri potest, pro futuro habes, das in te vires rebus adversis, quas infregi quisquis prior videt de tranquil cap. 11  If (saith he) thou dost not make account, that whatsoever can befall, may come unto thee, thou givest adversity power and strength against thee, which, whosoever seethe first, hath weakened and abated. And in an other place: 
b Sapiens assuescit futuris malis, et quae alii diu patiendo leu●a saciunt, hic levia facit diu cogitando Epi. 77  A wise man accustometh himself to future evils, and those things which other men make easy by long suffering, he maketh easy by foreseeing.  
Fourthly, it teacheth us to be patiented in all the afflictions that God layeth upon us, because they are his loving corrections, in regard of our daily falls and infirmities. We may not say with job, 
job 6.2, 3  Oh that my grief were well weighed, and my miseries were laid together in the balance: 
and 34.6  For it would now be heavier than the sand of the Sea. And my wound is grievous without my sin: But rather acknowledge, that we have deserved far greater punishment, as David saith, 
Psalm 130.3  If thou Lord straightly markest our iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? If God should deal with the best of us according to our deserts, we were never able to abide it. And therefore as Bernard saith well, 
a Sustinete virgam corripientem, ne sentiatis malleum conterentem. In ps. 91. serm. 9  It is good for us to bear the rod of correction, lest we feel the hammer of confusion. The more we struggle and strive under the hand of God, the less we prevail, and the more we provoke him to displeasure, & cause him to use harder courses against us. As a father, having an unruly son, that will not take correction, binds him to a form. But the sooner we yield and submit ourselves to his will, and kiss his rod, the sooner we shall be delivered.  
Last of all, it serveth to reprove the Use 5 profane wretches of the world, who insult over the children of God in their miseries: and do not stick blasphemously to say, 
Mal. 3, 14, 15  What profit have these holy fellows by keeping Gods commandments, or by walking humbly before the Lord of Hosts? We never regarded God's service, but have wrought wickedness, 
jerem. 12.1  and tempted GOD all our lives, and yet we are set up and delivered. We have rebelliously transgressed, even from our cradles, and yet our ways do prosper, and we have wealth at will. But let all such ungodly persons know, first, that it is a grievous sin, to add affliction to those that are in misery. For howsoever God do many times severely correct those that transgress his Law, though they be never so dear unto him, yet he will not allow the wicked to insult over them, no more than a father that whippeth his son for his faults, will suffer his servants spitefully to taunt and reproach him. Again, the children of God, though they walk never so uprightly before the Lord, yet their reward is not in this life. 
1 john 3.2 2 Tim. 4.8  It doth not yet appear what they shall be. But there is a crown of righteousness laid up for them against the day of judgement: & when Christ which is their life shall appear, 
Coloss. 3.4  then shall they also appear with him in glory. And for themselves, though their prosperity be never so great for the present, yet it is inconstant, & shall not endure. 
Psalm 73.18  The Lord sets them in slippery places, & casteth them down into desolation, & suddenly are they destroyed, perished and horribly consumed. For even in the midst of their wealth, they are but fatted & prepared for the day of slaughter. 
jerem. 12.3  And thus much shall suffice for the first point, which I have the longer insisted on, because it is so necessary for us.  
It is good that I was afflicted.) This must be understood of crosses that are sanctified, when GOD giveth grace to make an holy use of them. It is true, affliction in it own nature, is evil, and a ●ag of God's vengeance, & a punishment for sin. But, as the bitter waters, 
Exod. 15.25  which the Israelites complained of in the wilderness, were made sweet by a tree, which Moses by God's direction cast into them: so the Cross of Christ hath seasoned and sweetened all afflictions to the children of God, which have grace to profit by them: so that now the nature of them is changed and altered, that they are no more a punishment of sin, but a medicine for the sinner. According to that excellent speech of David, 
a Non poena, sed remedium delinquentium. Psal. 94.12.  Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O Lord, and teachest him in thy Law. If the Lord do join his teaching to his correction, to cause a man wisely to make use thereof, it is a most happy and blessed condition. Whereunto agreeth that saying of the Apostle, 
Heb. 12.11:  No chastising for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: but afterwards it bringeth with it the quiet fruit of righteousness, unto them which are thereby exercised. If a man be truly exercised with affliction, he shall find great fruit and benefit by it. So then here we are taught, that affliction is very profitable and good for the children of God. That God, who by his mighty power commanded the light to shine out of darkness, 
2 Cor. 4.6  hath so ordered the matter in his heavenly wisdom, that even those things, which to man's nature, and to flesh and blood, are most irksome and wearisome, should be to his children most beneficial and wholesome. For (as the Apostle saith) All things work together for the best unto them that love God. 
Rom. 8.28  In that he saith, all things, he excepteth nothing. Not only prosperity but adversity also, not only good success, but losses and casualties: not health only but sickness: not life but death also, make for the good of those that be godly. And indeed, affliction doth not only minister comfort unto them, in that, as we have heard, it is a pledge of their adoption, but it produceth also many blessed and gracious effects.  
First of all, it is a means to purge out the dross of that natural corruption that is within us. So long as we enjoy prosperity, it is with us as the Prophet saith of Moab, 
jerem 48.11 Zephan. 1.12  we are like Wine that is settled on his lees, and frozen in his dregs, and hath not been powered out from vessel to vessel. So we are full of the dregs of natural corruption, till the Lord by affliction do refine us. Affliction (as one saith well) is unto the children of God, as the flail is to the corn, the file to the iron, and the fire to the gold: 
a Si aurum es, per ignem purgaris▪ si ferrum es, rubiginem amittis.  As the flail doth purge the corn from the chaff, which groweth up with it: and as the file scoureth off the rust that sticketh upon the iron: and as the fire purifieth the gold from the dross: So doth affliction, by God's mercy, purge away from us that chaff, that rust, and dross of sin, that is in our nature. The Goldsmith taketh not the gold out of the forge, till he see it well and thoroughly purified. In like manner, God doth not remove the afflictions of his children, till they be thoroughly refined. In a word, affliction is the Lords pruning knife, whereby he cutteth away from us all withered and unprofitable branches.  
Secondly, affliction that is sanctified, doth bring a man to the sight of his sins, and to godly sorrow, and true repentance for the same. 
a Oculos quos culpa claudit, poena aperit. Greg. in Moral.  As sin shutteth up a man's eyes, so affliction openeth them. And hereof we have a worthy example in the brethren of joseph. For the space of twenty years they were never touched with any remorse, for their unnatural cruelty, in selling of him to the Ishmaelites: till at the last, coming into Egypt, to buy corn, in the time of the famine: and perceiving joseph to speak roughly to them, and to charge them to be Spies, that came to see the weakness of the Land: and fearing imprisonment, or some other hard measure, than they began to call their sin to remembrance, and to say one to another, We have verily sinned against our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul when he besought us, and we would not hear him: therefore is this trouble come upon us. Genesis 42.21. As one that is fast asleep, will not awake unless he be raised by thrusting, or by some such violent motion: so many lie snorting in the long custom of sin, and never think of repentance, till the hand of God be upon them. And as the horse that rusheth into the battle, 
jerem. 8.6.  neither feareth the enemy that cometh against him, nor is terrified with the doleful groans of dying persons, nor with the noise of the guns, nor with the shaking of the pikes: so wicked men are carried headlong to sin, and neither fear the roaring of the devil, nor are moved with the miserable end of others before their eyes, nor terrified with the fear of hell. But as the horse running with violence, being checked by his rider with a sharp bridle, is enforced to stay his course. So, when sinners run into all excess of riot, the Lord in mercy, by one affliction or other, as it were by strong hand, pulleth them back, and causeth them to see their sins, and so bringeth them to repentance. So that we see that God useth his corrections as Sermons, to call his children from their sins, which many times are more forcible and effectual than any verbal preaching. According to that saying of S. Augustine, 
a Multi cum sentiunt poenam, corrigunt culpam, in Psal. 50:  Many men when they feel the smart, reform the fault. Now what greater benefit can there be then this for a man to be brought to unfeigned repentance for his sins, without which there can be no hope of forgiveness. And therefore Bernard saith sweetly. 
b Bene pungeris, fi compungeris, in Psal. 32.  It is a good affliction, that bringeth a man to compunction, and remorse.  
Thirdly, affliction is as a notable means to humble the children of God, and to beat down their pride. So long as all things go well with us, and we are free from the cross, our flesh is puffed up, and can hardly be kept under, the leaven of old Adam is in us, and maketh us swell in pride. As the moon never suffereth eclipse, but when she is in the full, and then she is always furthest distant from the sun: so likewise when we abound in outward prosperity, such is the foolish pride of our hearts, we are puffed up, and care least for God, till by some affliction or other he humble us and bring us down. Thus was it with the Prodigal son. 
Lu., 15.17. etc.  As soon as he had got his portion of his father, he was all on flaunt, & knew not himself, he could stand on no ground: but when he had wasted his substance, and was pinched with poverty and famine, his pride was daunted, & he was glad to come home by weeping cross. 
Gen. 16.4, 9  So was it with Hagar when she had conceived a child by her master Abraham, she was presently so lifted up with pride, that she despised her mistress Sara, because she was barren. But afterwards, when her mistress had dealt roughly with her, and made her run away into the wilderness, she cried p●ccaui, and humbled herself under her hands. Yea David himself, though otherwise an holy man, had a spice of this disease, as himself confesseth, 
Psal. 30.6, 7.  In my prosperity (saith he) I said I shall never be moved. For thou Lord of thy goodness hadst made my mountain to stand strong. See how soon a man is apt to forget himself, 
Pressu●a caruit, tumour exc●euit, Aug. in Psal. 51.  if he enjoy but a little prosperity. But alas, the case was soon altered with him. For as he saith in the next words, The Lord did but hide his face, and bring him into some affliction, and straightway he was troubled. And therefore, in this respect affliction is very necessary and profitable, because it causeth a man to know himself. As we see by common experience, when God afflicteth a man either with ignominy and disgrace in his name, or with poverty in his estate, or with sickness in his body, or with loss of children, or any such like cross and calamity, though before he were never so proud, and carried himself never so high, yet than he beginneth to droop, and letteth his feathers fall. 
a Plut in Apotheg. Reg: et Imp.  Antigonus, though an heathen king, when he was taken with a little sickness, and had recovered thereof, he could make this good construction of it, namely, that it was well for him that he had been sick and ill: for his disease had taught him, that seeing he was but a mortal man, he should not too much lift up his Spirit. And this is the goodness of God towards us, as Saint Augustine saith, 
a August. de vera Relig.  That because the sweetness of earthly blessings doth deceive us and puff us up, we should be humbled by the bitterness of affliction.  
Fourthly, affliction is a means to reform the godly, and to make them better: That which Solomon speaketh of children, is true also of aged persons, 
Prou. 22.15  that folly is bound in their hearts, but the rod of correction shall drive it away from them. And therefore, the Apostle saith well. That when GOD correcteth & chasteneth his children, it is but to Nurture them (as a loving father doth his son) for their reformation and amendment. 
1 Cor. 11: 32  When we are judged, saith he, we are nurtured of the Lord, etc. The Lord knoweth, that a son set at liberty, runneth into such licentious courses, that he is a shame to his father, and a grief to his mother, and therefore he will not suffer his children whom he loveth most tenderly, to go on in their sins, lest his name should be dishonoured, and his holy Gospel evil spoken of, but by corrections and crosses laboureth to reclaim them. As job saith, 
job 33.16, 17  He openeth the ears of men, even by their corrections which he hath sealed: That he might cause man to turn away from his enterprise, etc. And Solomon hath a speech to the same purpose, 
Prou. 6.23.  that corrections for instruction are the way of life, to keep and preserve a man from whoredom, and such like sins: 
a Felix necessitas quae cogit in melius. De praecepto et dispensat.  So that this (as Bernard saith) must needs be a happy and blessed affliction, that maketh a man better.  
Fiftly, affliction is an excellent means to enforce us, and stir us up to prayer. Yea, even they that never thought to pray, as Atheists, and wicked persons, when any trouble lieth upon them, are driven to pray whether they will or no. As the Prophet saith, That such as rebel against God, in the time of famine, when they want corn and wine, will howl upon their beds. 
Hosea 7.14  And David reckoneth up a bead-roll of such persons. 
Psal. 107.4, 5  Some that wandered out of the way in the wilderness, and found no city to dwell in, both hungry & thirsty, their soul fainting in them. Others that dwell in darkness and in the shadow of death: 
10.  that is, poor prisoners, being bound in misery and iron. Others being cast on their sick beds, 
18.  whose soul abhorreth all manner of meat, and they are brought to death's door. Others in danger of shipwreck, 
26:  whose soul meltsth for trouble, etc. Howsoever peradventure in the time of their prosperity, they cared but a little for the Lord, yet now they cried to him in their trouble, 
Verse 6.13, 19, 28  & he delivered them out of their distress: So that trouble and distress will make any man cry unto the Lord, and betake him to his prayers. So was it with the mariners that entertained jonah, 
jonah 1.5  when they were afraid of their lives, by reason of the mighty tempest that God sent upon them, they cried every man to his God. And the proud king of Nineveh, with all his people, when they heard the sudden destruction that was threatened against them by the preaching of jonah, 
and 3.8 2 Chro. 33.6  they cried mightily unto God. And that wicked Manasseh, who did very much evil in the sight of the Lord to anger him: 
2 Kin. 21.16.  shedding innocent blood exceeding much, till he replenished jerusalem from corner to corner: yet when God brought upon him the Captains of the King of Ashur, which took him, and put him in fetters, and bound him in chains, and carried him to Babel, then when he was in tribulation, he prayed to the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. Yea the godly themselves are never so fit to pray, as when they are in affliction. Though they be careful to pray continually: 
1 Thess. 5.17.  yet they never pray with so great devotion and fervency, as when some heavy cross or calamity is upon them. For then feeling their misery, and their own inability to help themselves, they more earnestly fly unto the Lord for secure. As the Prophet saith, In that day, that is, 
Esay 17.7.  in the day of trouble, shall a man look to his maker, and his eyes shall look to the holy one of Israel. 
Hosea 5.15.  And in their affliction they will seek me diligently, saith the Lord. In our prosperity we are all of us both good & bad, too full of security, as though we stood no need of God. As the Lord complaineth of jeconiah saying, 
jerem. 22.21  I spoke to thee when thou wast in prosperity: but thou saidst, I will not hear etc. And so David saith of the wicked that because his ways always prosper, 
Psalm 10.4, 5  and the judgements of God are high above his sight: therefore he is so proud, that he never seeketh after God. And the Prophet jeremiah compareth such persons to the wild Ass in the wilderness, 
jerem. 2.24  that snuffeth up the wind at her pleasure: and it is in vain to seek to turn her back, but in her month, that is, in her foaling time, than a man may deal with her. As the little Chickens, when the weather is fair, and there is no danger towards, straggle a great way from the Hen: but if any Hail shower come upon them, or a Kite hover over them, than they are glad to run under her wings for shelter. And as the Stag, when he is at liberty, will not come near a man: but when he is hotly pursued with the dogs, he will run to him of his own accord for succour: So it fareth oftentimes with us, when we are at ease, and nothing doth molest us, we turn our backs upon GOD: but when we are brought into distress or danger, we are glad to repair unto him for help. As one confesseth of himself (and it is our case aswell as his) 
a Si bene essem sine te, non venitem ad te.  If I could be well without thee, I would never come at thee. As the water when it is at large, and hath scope enough, runneth with a still and silent motion, but being brought into a straight, it maketh a great noise: In like manner, when a man is at large, he looketh not much to this duty of prayer: but when he is in affliction and straits, he will excite and stir up himself thereunto. So did the children of Israel, in the time of their bondage, they sighed, and cried, 
Exo. 2: 23, 24  and made their moan unto God. And we read in many places of the Book of judges, That howsoever in their prosperity they were untoward & careless of God, 
Chap. 3. and 4  yet when God raised up any new enemies against them, they cried unto him. And David saith of himself, that although before, while he thought his mountain to be strong enough (as we have heard) he was foolish and proud: yet when God hide his face from him, 
Psal. 30.2  than he cried unto the Lord and prayed unto him. And we may observe, that the most of his Psalms were made when he was in affliction. Yea our Saviour Christ himself, though all his lifetime he was much conversant in prayer, sometime rising early in the morning before day, 
Mar. 1.35  and sometime spending the whole night therein: yet he never prayed more earnestly, nor more fervently, then immediately before his passion: when, as the Apostle saith, 
Heb. 5.7  he offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears: yea he was so servant, that his sweat was like drops of blood trickling down to the ground. 
Luke 22.44  We see then by all that hath been spoken, that affliction is as it were a whetstone, to set an edge upon our devotion, and sharpen our hearts to prayer.  
Sixtly, affliction doth contain the children of God in obedience. It is with the best of us, as Agiselaus said of the Athenians; that 
a Liberi mali●unt, servi boni.  When they were at liberty they were nought, but when they were in bondage, they were good: so we in our prosperity do start aside like a broken bow, but when affliction cometh, we submit ourselves to the Lords yoke. The people of Israel, when the hand of God was upon them, either by war, or famine, or any other calamity, carried themselves very religiously, and walked in obedience unto his will. But when God carried them up to the high places of the earth (as Moses saith) that they might eat the fruits of the fields: 
Deut. 32. i3, 14, 15  when he caused them to suck honey out of the stone, & oil out of the hard rock: when he gave them butter of kine, and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs and rams fed in Bashan, with the fat of the grains of wheat: and made them drink the red liquor of the grape: then they that should have been upright, when they waxed fat, spurned with their heels: they were fat, they were gross, they were laden with fatness: therefore they forsook God that made them, and regarded not the strong God of their salvation. And this doth David confess of himself, when he saith, Before I was afflicted I went astray, 
Psal. 119.67  but now I keep thy word. And the Church acknowledgeth, that before the Lord corrected her, 
jerem: 31.18  she was like an untamed calf. Though man were created after the Image of God, and advanced to great honour, yet if God let him alone, 
Psal. 49.20  he will become like unto the beasts that perish, as David saith. And therefore, the Lord threateneth the rebellious jews, 
Hosea 2.6  that he will stop their way with thorns, and make an hedge, that they should not find their paths. Where he showeth that necessity requireth, that he should hold them in with severe Discipline and sharp corrections, comparing them to wanton and unruly cattle, which must be kept in with thorns and hedges, lest they leap out of the pasture, and go astray.  
seven, it helpeth to tame and subdue the unruliness of the flesh, that it may be in better subjection to the Spirit. The flesh is like an headstrong horse, which if he be fatted and pampered in the stable for a while, waxeth so frampold, as he can hardly be ruled, and brought to acknowledge his rider: So this stubborn flesh of ours, if it enjoy but a little prosperity, it straightway groweth so rebellious, that it will not be subject to the Law of God. 
Rom. 8.7  And as the horserider, to pull down the stomach of such an horse, taketh away his provender, and feedeth him with straw and chaff: and if that will not serve, handleth him roughly, and beateth him. So doth the Lord with our flesh: he taketh away those outward blessings which puffed it up, and made it swell, and loadeth it with one affliction after another, 
1 Cor. 9.27  that so he may beat it down and bring it into subjection. And this is a great benefit, to have the flesh, with the cursed lusts and affections thereof, mortified and subdued in this manner. For it is one of those deadly enemies of our souls, 
Galat. 5.17  with which we must fight and encounter while we live. Now as he that were to enter a single combat, with an adversary that were stronger than himself, would be glad of some body would first weaken and foil him, that so he might the more easily overcome him: In like manner, the children of God have cause to rejoice, that it doth please the Lord by outward calamities to tame the flesh, and to tread it under their feet, that so they may with less difficulty and danger get the mastery of it.  
Eightly, it is a means to withdraw our hearts from the love of the world, & to raise them up to the desire of heavenly things. Such is the corruption of our nature, that we dote too much on this world. We are like to foolish children, that would not willingly be weaned from the breast, and therefore their mother anointeth the nibbles of her breast with some bitter thing, to make them out of love with it. So, if we might have our wills, we would always hang upon the breasts of the world, & would never leave sucking, if the Lord did not powder our desires with the cross, and make them bitter to us. The children of Israel, though they were grievously afflicted in Egypt, to make them more earnestly desire to possess the land of Canaan: yet we see how hardly they were brought to departed from thence. Yea, when they were in the way to Canaan, they would often have returned back again into Egypt to their flesh-pots, 
Num i4. 3, 4 Exod. 16.3 Num. 11.5  their fish, their cucumbers, their pepons, etc. If they had lived in preferrment there, and enjoyed the fat of the land, as they did in joseph's time, 
Gen. 45.18 and 47.11  it would, no doubt, have been an hard matter to have persuaded them to departed. So it fareth with the most of us: we are in this world, as in a Sea of misery, never out of one danger or other, yet such is our folly, we love to be here still. What would we do if we never had any thing to molest us? It is a lamentable thing to consider that our minds should be so dazzled with the glittering show of riches, pleasures & honours, as they cannot look to heaven, that our hearts should be so oppressed and weighed down with covetousness and ambition, that they can not raise up themselves unto celestial cogitations, and that our souls should be so ensnared with the pleasant enticements of the flesh, that they seek for their felicity upon the earth. And therefore the Lord in mercy to prevent this evil, doth by daily experience of miseries, put his children in mind of the vanity of all earthly things, 
Caluin. instit. lib. 3. cap 9 sect. 1.  lest they should promise to themselves a constant and continual peace in this world, he suffereth them many times to be disquieted and molested, with wars, with tumults, with robberies, and other injuries: lest they should with too much greediness gape after brittle and inconstant riches, or should too much rest in those which they do possess, God bringeth them to poverty, sometimes by banishment, sometimes by barrenness of the earth, sometimes by fire, sometimes by one means, and sometimes by another, lest they should take too much delight in the comforts of marriage, he either causeth them to be vexed with the shrewdness of their wives, or humbleth them with lewd children, or afflicteth them with the loss and death of their children. And if it fall out that the Lord do spare them in all these things: yet, lest they should either swell with vainglory, or rejoice with foolish confidence, he chasteneth them with sickness and diseases, that they may learn how frail and unstable all earthly things are, and may lift up their eyes to heaven, where that incorruptible crown of glory is laid up for them. And thus the Lord in his unspeakable goodness many times diminisheth the health of our bodies, that we may more earnestly desire the salvation of our souls. He taketh away the things of this life, that we may more carefully seek after the things of a better life. So that afflictions are like to a great storm at Sea, 
Philip. 1.23  to make the godly wish to be in the haven. As the waters of the deluge, the more they increased, the higher they bore up the Ark: So the waters of tribulation, the greater they are, the higher they lift up the soul towards heaven: according to that speech of Bernard, 
a Per flagella domini spernuntur te●rena, amantur coelest●a. De coena dom. serm 10  By the Lords corrections we contemn earthly things, and love heavenly. And therefore, as Zeno 
b Diog. Laertius in vita Zenonis.  having suffered shipwreck, became the Scholar of Crates, and studied Philosophy, and after said it was an happy shipwreck that made him affect such excellent knowledge: So may we say much more truly It was a blessed sickness, a blessed poverty, a blessed imprisonment etc., that caused us to look towards the kingdom of heaven.  
Ninthly, affliction doth save the children of God from hell & condemnation. If God should let us alone, we would never rest till we run headlong to hell: as foolish children, if they be not hindered, will run into the ditch. And therefore, it is the Lords mercy, to lay the rod upon our backs, that so we may bethink ourselves of the danger wherein we stand, and may labour to prevent it. And this is that which job saith, 
job 33 16.18  that the Lord openeth the ears of men by corrections, that so he may keep back their souls from the pit, and that their life should not pass by the sword. And the Apostle hath a saying to the same purpose, 
i Cor. 11.32.  that when we are judged we are chastened of the Lord because we should not be condemned with the world When a man is desperately about to cast himself into the fire, or to drown himself in the water, can any do him a greater benefit then to prevent him and save his life? So there cannot be a greater benefit to us, then when we are ready to drown ourselves in perdition by our sins, that the Lord by his corrections should stay us, and hold us back.  
Last of all, affliction doth fit and prepare us for the kingdom of Heaven. As the Apostle saith of the Thessalonians, that by persecutions and tribulations which they suffered, they were counted worthy of the kingdom of God. 2. Thess. 1.5 As the parching heat of the Sun ripeneth the corn, and maketh it fit to be carried into the barn: so doth affliction ripen the godly, that they may be meet to be gathered into God's barn. And this is done two ways: First, because by afflictions ●as we have heard▪ we are purged and purified from our sins, which else would hinder us from coming there. 
Apocal. 21.27  For no unclean thing shall enter into God's kingdom. As gold must first be purified in the fire, before it be laid up in the king's treasury: 
Prou. 25.4  & as wheat must be cleansed from the chaff, before it be laid up in the garner: so must it be with us. Affliction is the fire that must purge us, 
2. Tim. 2.21.  to make us vessels of honour for the house of God: and the fan that must cleanse us, to make us pure wheat for his garner. In the building of Solomon's temple, 
1 Kings 6.7  all the stones were hewn and fitted in the quarry, before they were brought thither: and There was neither hammer, nor axe, nor any tool of iron heard in the temple while it was in building. So in the kingdom of heaven, which is the spiritual house of God, all the living stones thereof, must be hewn, and squared, and fitted by afflictions in this life. Secondly, affliction prepareth us for heaven, because it is a means to work holiness in us, 
Heb. 12.14  without which no man shall ever see the Lord, as the Apostle saith. We see then by all these gracious effects and blessed fruits which affliction bringeth with it, that David had good cause to say, It is good for me that I have been afflicted. And therefore we may conclude with Saint Augustine, 
a Percutis, ut sanes ●et occidis nos, ne moriamur abs te. confessed. lib. 2.  The Lord smiteth us that he may heal us, and killeth us that we may not die from him.  
This Doctrine (that we may make Use 1 some use of it) doth teach us, first of all, to labour to persuade ourselves of this great and excellent good that affliction bringeth with it, that so we may count it exceeding joy when we fall into it. 
james 1.2  I confess it seemeth otherwise to flesh and blood. For, 
Heb. 12.11.  as the Apostle saith truly, no chastising for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous. As children are loath to feel the smart of the rod, nay, they can not endure to hear of it; so is our corrupt nature loath and unwilling to taste of any correction. It is death to us, to hear that we must be punished & chastened every morning: 
Psalm 73.14  and that we must be fed with the bread of tears, 
and 10.5.  & have tears to drink in great measure. It is a weariesome thing to be always sick & languishing, 
and 107.18.  so as the soul abhorreth all manner of meat: to be continually full of cramps & aches and pains, so as neither a man's couch can relieve him, nor his bed bring comfort unto him, as job saith. 
job 7. i3:  But when he layeth him down, he saith, when shall I rise, and the night be gone? and, he is full with tossing to and fro unto the dawning of the day. 
4.  The like may be said of all other afflictions, they are as unsavoury to the flesh, as the white of an egg without salt. 
job 6.6.  And therefore our Saviour Christ himself, as he was man, 
Heb. 2 14.  and so partaker of our infirmities, felt in his flesh a loathness to have tasted of that bitter cup of his Passion, 
Matt. 26.38 39  his soul was heavy unto the death, and therefore he besought his Father, that if it were possible it might pass from him: 
a Sir in f●●ia, 5. in Parasc.  which speech, as Bernard noteth, seemeth to be the speech of the flesh, & not of the spirit, because he addeth a little after, the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. But we must not measure afflictions by the present smart we feel in them, but by the benefit that follows after them. For as we have heard, though the sense of the present grief be bitter, yet the fruit that cometh after is most sweet and pleasant. Affliction is to the soul, as Physic to the body. But as commonly that Physic which is most wholesome, is withal most untoothsome: so that affliction which is most profitable, is for the most part most distasteful. As the plant which they call Christ's thorn, 
Plin. lib, 24. cap. 14.  is extreme bitter both in the root and in the leaves, & in the branches; but yet is very medicinable (for the juice of the root cleareth the eyes, the seed bringeth down the afterbirth, etc.) So affliction, though it be in itself most bitter and unsavoury, yet the Lord our most skilful Physician, maketh most sovereign medicines thereof, 
Psal. 103.3.  to heal the infirmities of his children, whereby it becometh more profitable to them then (by reason of their corruption) prosperity could ever be. For as dead flesh, if it be kept in sweet water, will corrupt and be full of worms: but if it be kept in salt brine, it will be preserved long, and become wholesome meat for the use of man: so the children of God, if they abound with prosperity, are easily corrupted, but being exercised by the cross, they are preserved from the infection of sin.  
Secondly, it teacheth us to endeavour by all means; to profit by the afflictions that God layeth upon us, that so we may have experience of this good which they bring with them: that seeing God intendeth them for our benefit, so we may not by our own stubbornness and untowardness, pervert them to our hurt. It is as grievous a sin as we can commit, to harden our hearts when God's hand is upon us. As the Lord complained of the jews, 
jerem. 2.30.  I have smitten your children in vain, they have received no correction. And in an other place. 
and 5.3.  O Lord (saith the Prophet) Thou hast stricken them, and they have not sorrowed: thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a stone, and have refused to return. And so it is said of Ahaz, 
2 Chr. 28.22.  that in the time of his tribulation he did trespass more against the Lord. Let us therefore bless ourselves from this height of iniquity, and let us pray to God, to sanctify all our corrections and chastisements unto us, that we may be bettered and reform by them: So shall they be infallible arguments of his fatherly love towards us: otherwise they will be fearful tokens of his wrath, and certain pledges of our condemnation.  
Thirdly, it teacheth us to be patiented Use 3 under the cross: For as the Apostle saith, 
Heb. 12.9.  If we have had the fathers of our bodies which corrected us, we gave them reverence: should we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of Spirits, that we may live? especially considering that it is so much for our good. A man that is sick of a burning fever, willingly suffereth himself to be let blood, because he knoweth it is a means to abate the violence of his disease. A man that is pained with the stone, patiently yieldeth himself to be cut and tortured by the Physician, because he knoweth it is a means to preserve his life. A man that is wounded, meekly suffereth the Surgeon to launch and search his wound to the bottom, and with sharp corrosives to eat out the festered core of the ulcer, because he knoweth he can not otherwise be cured. Shall all these endure, and that with admirable patience, so much torment for the good of their bodies, and shall not we much more be willing, to suffer God's sharpest corrections for the benefit of our souls? especially, seeing our own sins have deserved the greatest punishments that GOD can inflict. 
Micah 7.9.  As the Prophet saith, I will bear the wrath of the Lord, because I have sinned against him. And therefore, let us learn meekly and obediently to submit ourselves to the will of God in this case. And as he sendeth afflictions with a right hand, let us not take them with a left. An old Courtier that had served Caligula, Claudius, and Nero, three cruel tyrants, Emperors of Rome, being demanded how he could escape the dangers of those times, wherein so many worthy Citizens were put to death. He answered: Even by taking benefits thankfully, and by putting up injuries patiently. If he could for his own safety subdue his mind, to bear with patience the open injuries of such monstrous tyrants: how much more should we submit ourselves with all meekness to bear the loving corrections of our most merciful Father? And howsoever it may seem, that God layeth heavier and sorer afflictions upon us, then upon many others: yet we must consider, that he knoweth the corruption and hardness of our hearts to be such as could not be subdued with lighter corrections. 
a Malo nodo m●lus cuneus.  An hard knot, as the proverb is, must have an hard wedge. The Physician maketh his potions milder or stronger, as the quality of the sickness doth require. In like manner the Lord tempereth his corrections according to our disposition: if he see us tractable, he dealeth more gently with us: if we be untamed and rebellious, he layeth it on, and maketh us feel the smart. Neither will he ever cease to follow us with one calamity after an other, till he have brought us to our knees, and caused us to humble ourselves sufficiently under his hand.  
That I may learn thy statutes.) Here the Prophet doth particularly declare that which before he had generally propounded. Where by Learning he doth not understand that contemplative and speculative learning which swimmeth in the brain, and is gotten by hearing and reading of the word of God: but that particular learning, which is gotten by experience. In a word, his meaning is this, that he felt the truth and comfort of the word, more powerful and effectual in his afflictions, then at any time before, and that made him more careful to live godly, when the cross was removed, and the trouble gone. From hence we learn, that the godly do feel the fruit of their afflictions, and are made better by them, when they are past and gone. They are not only good for the present, while they feel the smart, for so an hypocrite may seem to be, but the benefit of their afflictions remaineth with them all the days of their lives. A proof hereof we have in the example of Manasseh, who did not only humble himself greatly before the Lord, as we have heard before when he was in tribulation. 
2 Chron. 33  But when God was entreated of him, 
12.  and heard his prayer, 
13.  and brought him again to jerusalem into his kingdom, than he reform himself from his wicked courses, and restored the true worship of God. He took away the strange gods, 
.15.  and the Image out of the house of the Lord, and all the Altars which himself had built before, and cast them out of the city. 
16.  And he prepared the Altar of the Lord, and offered sacrifice thereon, and commanded judah to serve the Lord God of Israel. The like we see in that good king Hezekiah, 
Isa. 38.3.  who was not only religiously and devoutly affected in the time of sickness, when he was past hope of life (for there is none so wretched, but will make a show of holiness then) but when he was recovered of his sickness, 
9 etc:  he made a holy Song of thanksgiving, wherein he professeth the care that he would have of God's service for the time to come: So that we see, the fruit of affliction endureth for ever unto the children of God: otherwise they never made true use of it, they never reaped any profit by it. But I will not stand any longer in the prosecuting of this point.  
It serveth for the just reproof of all those that make a show to be somewhat good, in the time of trouble, but when it is gone, they are as bad as ever they were. So long as they feel the hand of GOD upon them, they promise great reformation, but all is but hypocrisy. For they are no sooner enlarged, 
2 Pet. 2.22.  but they return unto their former courses with as much greediness, as ever did the dog to his vomit. And herein they are like children, who while the rod is on their backs, promise great matters, that they will never do the like again but they remember that promise no longer than they feel the smart of the rod. And this we see in the example of Pharaoh, who so long as the plague was heavy upon him & his land, made no small show of repentance, and promised; that if Moses and Aaron would pray for him, that the plague might be removed, he would let the people go, they should tarry no longer. Exodus 9.27, 28. and 10 16, 17. But as soon as ever God had spared him at their entreaty, he was so far from performing his promise, as his heart was more hardened, then ever it was before. Iron, whilst it is in the fire, is soft, and pliable, and may be wrought into any form: but if it be taken from the fire a little, it straightway returneth to his former hardness. In like manner, many men, while they are in the furnace of affliction, seem to have soft & melting hearts, and make great show of remorse for their sins: but afterwards, their hearts become as hard as the Adamant. And thus men do use their repentance like an old germent, they cast it about them in a storm or a shower: but assoon as it is fair weather, they lay it by again. But let us be careful to make such an holy and sanctified use of our afflictions, when they be upon us, that we may be the better for them all our life after. This point is necessary to be enlarged, but I have handled it 
a In the repentance of Peter and judas:  elsewhere, and therefore I will insist no longer upon it at this time.  
FINIS.