A81235:192
Correction, instruction or, a treatise of afflictions
Correction, instruction or, a treatise of afflictions: first conceived by way of private meditations: afterward digested into certain sermons, preached at Aldermanbury. And now published for the help and comfort of humble suffering Christians. By Tho. Case, M.A. sometimes student of Ch. Ch. Oxon. now preacher of the Gospel in London.Correction, instruction or, a treatise of afflictions: first conceived by way of private meditations: afterward digested into certain sermons, preach'd at Aldermanbury. And now published for the help and comfort of humble suffering Christians. By Tho. Case, M.A. sometimes student of Ch. Ch. Oxon. now preacher of the Gospel in London.
London: printed by J.M. for Luke Fawn, 1652London: printed by J.M. for Luke Favvn, 1652
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
First, The Lessons themselves which God teacheth his Ephraim's in the School of Affliction: ex•gra. Is it not a blessed thing to be taught how to compassionate them that are in a suffering condition? yea, •aith the Psalmist, Blessed is he that considereth the poor, the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble, the Lord will preserve him, 1and keep him alive, and he shall be blessed upon earth, &c. he is blessed, and he shall be blessed, not in heaven only, but upon earth also; and that with a multiplied blessing: see a troop follows: Thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies; the Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of his languishing; Vers. 2, 3 thou wilt ⟨p. 170⟩make all his bed in his sickness: oh the blessedness of a compassionate heart towards afflicted ones! how easy must that bed be which God maketh? And, 2ly, is it not a blessed thing to know how to value our earthly comforts without doting upon them? to be thankful and yet not to surfeit? blessed is he that feareth always, i. e. that feareth a snare in all his earthly contentments: And, 3ly, if it be a blessedness to be conformed to Jesus Christ, then surely self-denial is a lesson which will make one blessed; If any man will be my disciple, let him deny himself and follow me, saith our Saviour Matth. 16.24. And, 4ly, Blessed are the poor in Spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven, 2and blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth: if heaven and earth, can make one blessed, then Humility is a blessed Lesson. And so it is, 5ly, To have our hearts discovered to our selves; corruption is matter of humiliation, but sight and sense of corruption is matter of comfort and ⟨p. 171⟩rejoicing: it is a miserable thing indeed to be poor and not to see ones poverty, Thou sayest thou art rich, 3but knowest not that thou art poor and miserable; but happy is that man to whom the Lord first discovers the hidden corruption of his heart, and then teacheth him to mourn over it;