Twenty sermons preached at Oxford before His Majesty, and elsewhere

And as it is thus with us at our coming into the world, so we are to understand it of that little time we have above ground, our days are full of sorrow. But mark when I speak of sorrows here, we must not take them for such afflictions and sorrows as befall Gods children, for theirs are blessings unto them: Chastisements are tokens of Gods love, For as many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: (saith Christ.) Revel. 3.19. Affliction to them is like the Dove with an Olive-branch in her mouth, to show that all is well; but take a man that is under the Law, and then every cross whether it be loss of friends, loss of goods, diseases on his body, all things, every thing to him is a token of Gods wrath, not a token of Gods love, as it is to Gods children; but it is as his impress money, as part of payment of a greater sum, an earnest of the wrath of God, the first part of the payment thereof.

And as it is thus with us at our coming into the world, so we are to understand it of that little time we have above ground, our days are full of sorrow. But mark when I speak of sorrows here, we must not take them for such afflictions and sorrows as befal Gods children, for theirs are blessings unto them: Chastisements are tokens of Gods love, For as many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: (saith Christ.) Revel. 3.19. Affliction to them is like the Dove with an Olive-branch in her mouth, to shew that all is well; but take a man that is under the Law, and then every cross whether it be loss of friends, loss of goods, diseases on his body, all things, every thing to him is a token of Gods wrath, not a token of Gods love, as it is to Gods children; but it is as his impress money, as part of payment of a greater sum, an earnest of the wrath of God, the first part of the payment thereof.

It's the Apostles direction, that among the other Armour, we should get ⟨p. 50⟩our feet shod, that so we might be able to go through the afflictions we shall meet withal in this life,