London's lamentation, or, A serious discourse concerning the late fiery dispensation that turned our…

O Christians, it highly concerns you to be•r all your losses cheerfully and thankfully. In every thing give thanks (saith the ¹Apostle) for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Chrysostom speaks excellently; This saith he, is the very ²will of God, to give thanks always: this argues a soul rightly instructed. Hast thou suffered any evil? if thou wilt, it is no evil. Give thanks to God, and then thou hast turned the evil into good. Say thou as Job said, when he had lost all; The Lord hath given, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. What evil hast thou suffered? What is it a disease? This is no strange thing to us, seeing our bodies are mortal and naturally born to suffer. What dost thou want money? this may be gotten here, and lost here. Whatsoever evils or losses therefore do oppress thee, give thou thanks, and thou ha•• changed the nature of them. Job then did more deeply wound the Devil, when being stripped out of all, he gave thanks to God, than if he had distributed all to the poor and needy. For it is much more to be stripped of all, and yet to bear it patiently, generously and thankfully, than for a rich man to give Alms, as it here happened to righteous Job. But hath fire suddenly taken hold upon thy house, destroyed thy house, and consumed thy whole substance? Remember the sufferings of Job. Give thanks to God, who could, though he did not, have hindered that mischance: and thou shalt be sure to receive as equal a reward, as if thou hadst put all into the bosom of the indigent. This he repeateth over again, and saith, thy reward being thankful, is equal to his, who gave all he had to the poor. To wind up your hearts to thankfulness and cheerfulness under this late desolating Judgement. Consider ⟨p. 180⟩1. God might have taken away all. 'Tis good to bless ³him for what he has left. 2. He has taken away more from others, than he has taken away from you, ergo be thankful. 3. You are unworthy of the least mercy, you deserve to be stripped of every mercy; and therefore be thankful, for any thing that is left. God has a Sovereign right over all you have, and might have stripped you as naked as the day wherein you were born. 4. God has left you better, and greater mercies, than any those were, that he has stripped you off: viz.