Religion our true interest, or, Practical notes upon the third chapter of Malachi the…Religion our true interest, or, Practical notes upon the third chapter of Malachy the…

13. God in Afflicting deals well with his Children, because he gives them that which makes amends for their Afflictions; he drops in the Oil of Gladness; he makes them gather Grapes of Thorns: John 16.22. Your Sorrow shall be turned into Joy. We see a Godly mans Sufferings, but we know not what Joy he feels: as we hear the roaring of the Sea, but we see not the Gold at the bottom. Philip Landgrave of Hesse said, that in his trouble he felt the divine Consolations of the Martyrs: Here was Honey out of the Lion. The Saints have been sometimes so sweetly enlarged, that they had rather endure their Afflictions than want their Comforts, 2 Cor. 1.5. As the Sufferings of Christ abound in us: so our Consolation also aboundeth by Christ^*. Saint Paul had his Prison-Songs, Act. 16 25. This Bird of Paradise could sing in Winter. God ⟨p. 228⟩turns the Waters of Marah into Wine; He keeps his Cordials for fainting. When the Saints taste most of the Wrath of Men, they shall feel most of the Love of God: thus the Lord candies his Wormwood with Sugar.

13. God in Afflicting deals well with his Children, because he gives them that which makes amends for their Afflictions; he drops in the Oyl of Gladness; he makes them gather Grapes of Thorns: John 16.22. Your Sorrow shall be turned into Joy. We see a Godly mans Sufferings, but we know not what Joy he feels: as we hear the roaring of the Sea, but we see not the Gold at the bottom. Philip Lantgrave of Hesse said, that in his trouble he felt the divine Consolations of the Martyrs: Here was Hony out of the Lion. The Saints have been sometimes so sweetly enlarged, that they had rather endure their Afflictions than want their Comforts, 2 Cor. 1.5. As the Sufferings of Christ abound in us: so our Consolation also aboundeth by Christ