This is the summer fruit which grew out of the hard tree of the cross of Christ that he was put to bear, which was so sweet to his taste, that it made him disdain the dainties of his Adversaries, & disrelish these sour & unsavoury ⟨image 4⟩delights of the sons of men, which however they may at first seem to have some petty sweet in them; yet they quickly set the teeth of the eater on edge, & are found bitter in the belly & of a bad digestion: These were the quiet fruits of ighteousness that his servant reaped by hi sufferings for Christ, & that in such plenty, that out of his abundance, he sends some baskets of these sweet fruits abroad amongst his friends, both to bring up a good report upon his liberal Lord & Master, who allows on his followers, while they are pinched with penury of other comforts, full measure, heaped up, running over, & shaken together: And upon the cross of Christ also, to the end it might appear, that this burden is so far from embittering the life of a suffering saint, that by the contrary, as the sufferings of Christ abound in him, so his consolation also aboundeth by Jesus Christ. The publication then, I say, of these Epistles, seems in providence to be trysted on purpose, with the sufferings of his servants at this time, that we may be encouraged by his example, to a Zealous faithfulness, & a cheerful suffering, & may wax bold by his bonds, under, & in which, he did experience, much of the glorious liberty of the sons of God: How oft do we find him preferring his confinement, to all the sublunary contentments of his persecutors? here did he feed upon these pure & unmixed delights, which put such gladness in the heart, as expels all the Latent & lurking griefs that are there, and causeth the soul, while surrounded with all outward trouble to sing; while they feed upon ashes, & fill their belly with the east wind, who feast upon the tears of the people of God, and seem to have nothing else to interrupt their tranquillity, but how they may trouble the children of peace: It was under this restraint, & in this house of his bondage, when being shut up from, and spoiled of all creature-comforts, that he found the surpassing sweetness of the consolations of God, which taste best, when they are most free of the mud, & mixture of other enjoyments:
This is the summer fruit which grew out of the hard tree of the cross of Christ that he was put to bear, which was so sweet to his taste, that it made him disdain the dainties of his Adversaries, & disrelish these sowre & unsavoury ⟨image 4⟩delights of the sons of men, which however they may at first seem to have some petty sweet in them; yet they quickly set the teeth of the eater on edge, & are found bitter in the belly & of a bad digestion: These were the quiet fruits of ighteousness that his servant reaped by hi sufferings for Christ, & that in such plenty, that out of his abundance, he sends some baskets of these sweet fruits abroad amongst his friends, both to bring up a good report upon his liberall Lord & Master, who allowes on his followers, while they are pinched with penury of other comforts, full measure, heaped up, running over, & shaken together: And upon the cross of Christ also, to the end it might appear, that this burden is so far from imbittering the life of a suffering saint, that by the contrary, as the sufferings of Christ abound in him, so his consolation also aboundeth by Jesus Christ. The publication then, I say, of these Epistles, seems in providence to be trysted on purpose, with the sufferings of his servants at this time, that we may be encouraged by his example, to a Zealous faithfulnesse, & a cheerfull suffering, & may wax bold by his bonds, under, & in which, he did experience, much of the glorious liberty of the sons of God: How oft doe we finde him preferring his confinement, to all the sublunary contentments of his persecurers? here did he feed upon these pure & unmixed delights, which put such gladness in the heart, as expells all the Latent & lurking griefs that are there, and causeth the soul, while surrounded with all outward trouble to sing; while they feed upon ashes, & fill their belly with the east wind, who feast upon the tears of the people of God, and seem to have nothing else to interrupt their tranquillity, but how they may trouble the children of peace: It was under this restraint, & in this house of his bondage, when being shut up from, and spoiled of all creatur-comforts, that he found the surpassing sweetness of the consolations of God, which taste best, when they are most free of the mud, & mixture of other injoyments:
