I. WE are to lay down the Maxim, which does command, and may even compel, the Holy silence, that is to be ⟨p. 6⟩preserved under sad Things befalling of us. The Maxim is this; The Glorious GOD is He who does all that is done unto us, in the sad Things we meet withal; Whatever Afflictive Thing is done unto us, the Great GOD says, I am now to be Sanctified and Glorified as the doer of it. Of every thing that proves a stroke of Adversity unto us, we must make this Confession, Lord, Thou doest it. It was demanded. Hab. II. 20. The Lord is in his Holy Temple; l•t all the Earth keep silence before Him. The demand shall now be, The Lord is in thy Adversity, O Child of Earthly Man, do thou keep silence before Him. Whatever sad Things we meet withal, we have not the Right Thoughts of the Righteous, if we do not think, It is the Glorious GOD who has done all that is done unto me. Indeed the sense of this, That we have to do with a Glorious GOD, in all the sad Things which we meet withal, 'tis to be one Ingredient of the Holy silence wherewith we are to Glorify Him. It is not an Holy silence, but a Stupidity; yea, a Profanity, if our Patience have not the sense of a Glorious GOD, for the Principle of it. Come ⟨p. 7⟩then, Under our sad Things, this is the First Thing to be Laboured for. Be sensible of this, that in all the sad Things which befall us, there is the Providence of a Glorious GOD at Work; A Glorious GOD performing the Thing that is Appointed for us. Tis a Maxim never to be doubted of. Job. V. 6. Certainly Affliction comes not f•rth of the Dust, neither doth Trouble spring out of the Ground. No, All our sad Things, as well as our glad Things come from Above. The sad things which we suffer from and on the Earth, are not of a mere Earthly Original. The Disputers of this World, have in all Ages disputed on that Obscure Problem, the Origin of Evil. And in the Enquiries after it, there have been those who have not enquired wisely concerning this matter. The Ancient Pagans had a Notion, which the Manichees afterwards licked up, of a Good GOD, who Created a Good World, and covered it with a Shell of His Protection; But then Another God who broke the Shell, and made all Evil to break in at the perforation. This Notion prevailed very particularly with the Magians in Persia. But our Glorious ⟨p. 8⟩GOD, speaking of the Persian affairs takes Occasion to make this Challenge; Isai. XLV. 7.
I. WE are to lay down the Maxim, which does command, and may even compel, the Holy silence, that is to be ⟨p. 6⟩preserved under sad Things befalling of us. The Maxim is this; The Glorious GOD is He who does all that is done unto us, in the sad Things we meet withal; Whatever Afflictive Thing is done unto us, the Great GOD says, I am now to be Sanctified and Glorified as the doer of it. Of every thing that proves a stroke of Adversity unto us, we must make this Confession, Lord, Thou doest it. It was demanded. Hab. II. 20. The Lord is in his Holy Temple; l•t all the Earth keep silence before Him. The demand shall now be, The Lord is in thy Adversity, O Child of Earthly Man, do thou keep silence before Him. Whatever sad Things we meet withal, we have not the Right Thoughts of the Righteous, if we do not think, It is the Glorious GOD who has done all that is done unto me. Indeed the sense of this, That we have to do with a Glorious GOD, in all the sad Things which we meet withal, 'tis to be one Ingredient of the Holy silence wherewith we are to Glorify Him. It is not an Holy silence, but a Stupidity; yea, a Profanity, if our Patience have not the sense of a Glorious GOD, for the Principle of it. Come ⟨p. 7⟩then, Under our sad Things, this is the First Thing to be Laboured for. Be sensible of this, that in all the sad Things which befall us, there is the Providence of a Glorious GOD at Work; A Glorious GOD performing the Thing that is Appointed for us. Tis a Maxim never to be doubted of. Job. V. 6. Certainly Affliction comes not f•rth of the Dust, neither doth Trouble spring out of the Ground. No, All our sad Things, as well as our glad Things come from Above. The sad things which we suffer from and on the Earth, are not of a meer Earthly Original. The Disputers of this World, have in all Ages disputed on that Obscure Problem, the Origin of Evil. And in the Enquiries after it, there have been those who have not enquired wisely concerning this matter. The Ancient Pagans had a Notion, which the Manabees afterwards licked up, of a Good GOD, who Created a Good World, and covered it with a Shell of His Protection; But then Another God who broke the Shell, and made all Evil to break in at the perforation. This Notion prevailed very particularly with the Magians in Persia. But our Glorious ⟨p. 8⟩GOD, speaking of the Persian affairs takes Occasion to make this Challenge;
