This premised, much may be said of the good which God doth in, and for, and by his Children, by bringing them into, his presence in, and deliverance out of, Persecution; how God increaseth their Graces, heightens their Comforts, multiplies their Experiences, beyond what he doth any other time of their lives. I remember Augustine hath a Passage, (though being separated from my Books, I cannot name where,) That if a Person suffer death for Christ before Conversion, his Martyrdom shall be to him instead of Regeneration: But if you will not receive his Testimony about the first Grace, I am sure you'll not deny my next about the Exercise of Gracek. Our great Exemplar, though he was the Son of God, yet as he was the Son of man, he experimentally learned Obedience by the things which he suffered: And the Holy Ghost tells usl, It became him for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many Sons unto Glory, to make the Captain of their Salvation perfect through Sufferings. 'Tis hard to say what kind of Perfection Christ had by Suffering, but 'tis easy to observe how Sufferings tend to the Perfecting of Christians; they force them to a more severe examination of Heart and Life, and to a more thorough Repentance of what provoked God to lay them under Sufferings: then their Prayers are more fervent, and their whole Conversation more regular than at other times: so that I know not whether as well the former, as the latter part of that passage may not be a gracious Promise. ⟨p. 26⟩mIf his Children forsake my Law, and walk not in my judgments, if they break my Statutes, and keep not my Commandments; then will I visit their Transgression with a Rod, and their Iniquity with Stripes: nevertheless, my Loving kindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail: my Covenant will I not break, &c. In short, their greatest Sufferings shall be medicinal, not destructive; the more they exercise their Graces, the more they increase them: for here's the difference between an Earthly and an Heavenly Treasure; the one, the more you spend, the less you have; the other, the more you lay out, the more you augment the Treasure.n Hearken my beloved Brethren, hath not God chosen the poor of this World, those especially who are impoverished for Righteousness sake, rich in Faith? and according to our Faith are all our other Graces, and all our other Comforts;
This premised, much may be said of the good which God doth in, and for, and by his Children, by bringing them into, his presence in, and deliverance out of, Persecution; how God increaseth their Graces, heightens their Comforts, multiplyes their Experiences, beyond what he doth any other time of their lives. I remember Augustine hath a Passage, (though being separated from my Books, I cannot name where,) That if a Person suffer death for Christ before Conversion, his Martyrdom shall be to him instead of Regeneration: But if you will not receive his Testimony about the first Grace, I am sure you'l not deny my next about the Exercise of Gracek. Our great Exemplar, thô he was the Son of God, yet as he was the Son of man, he experimentally learned Obedience by the things which he suffered: And the Holy Ghost tells usl, It became him for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many Sons unto Glory, to make the Captain of their Salvation perfect through Sufferings. 'Tis hard to say what kind of Perfection Christ had by Suffering, but 'tis easie to observe how Sufferings tend to the Perfecting of Christians; they force them to a more severe examination of Heart and Life, and to a more thorow Repentance of what provok't God to lay them under Sufferings: then their Prayers are more fervent, and their whole Conversation more regular than at other times: so that I know not whether as well the former, as the latter part of that passage may not be a gracious Promise. ⟨p. 26⟩mIf his Children forsake my Law, and walk not in my judgments, if they break my Statutes, and keep not my Commandments; then will I visit their Transgression with a Rod, and their Iniquity with Stripes: nevertheless, my Loving kindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail: my Covenant will I not break, &c. In short, their greatest Sufferings shall be medicinal, not destructive; the more they exercise their Graces, the more they increase them: for here's the difference between an Earthly and an Heavenly Treasure; the one, the more you spend, the less you have; the other, the more you lay out, the more you augment the Treasure.n Hearken my beloved Brethren, hath not God chosen the poor of this World, those especially who are impoverished for Righteousness sake, rich in Faith? and according to our Faith are all our other Graces, and all our other Comforts;
- kHeb. 5.8.
- lHeb. 2.10.
- mPsal. 89.30, 31, &c.
- nJames 2.5.
