and his head reach unto the clouds, yet he shall perish forever like his own dung. They which have seen him shall say, Where is he? He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found; yea, he shall be chased away as a vision of the night. The eye also which saw him shall see him no more, neither shall his place behold him;" Job xx. 4-9. Though pride do compass them about as a chain, and violence cover them as a garment, and they are corrupt, and speak oppression, or calumny, wickedly, they speak loftily, or from on high. Though they set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth, yet surely they are set in slippery places. God doth cast them down into destruction. How are they brought into desolation as in a moment? They are utterly consumed with terrors; as a dream* from one that awaketh, so, O Lord, in awaking, (or raising up, that is, saith the Chaldee paraphrase, in thy day of judging, or as all the other translations, in civitate tua, in thy kingdom or government,) thou shalt despise their image, that is, show them and all the world how despicable that image of greatness, and power, and felicity was which they were so proud of. If such a bubblet of vain-glory, such an image of felicity, such a dream of power and greatness be all that the church of God hath to be afraid of, it may well be said, "Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils;" Isa. ii. 22. "For wherein is he to be accounted of?" Psalm exlvi. 4. His breath goeth forth; he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish. And, "Behold, the Lord God will help me; who is he that shall condemn me? Lo, they all shall wax old as a garment; the moth shall eat them up;" Isa. 1. 9. And, "Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law. Fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings, for the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wood, but my righteousness shall be forever, and my salvation from generation to generation;" Isa. li. 7, 8. The sorrows which so shortlived power can inflict, can be but short. You read of their victories and persecutions in the news-books one year, and quickly after of their death.

Use. Hence, therefore, you may learn how injudicious they are,

Or as Amyraldus Paraphras., "Cum olim evigilabunt, præsens eorum felicitas erit instar somnii, quod somno discusso dissipatum est: quin etiam antequam evigilent, in ipsa illa urbe in qua antea florebant vanam istam felicitatis pompam, in qua antea volitabant, reddes contemnendam, tanquam umbram aut imaginem evanescentem; in qua nihil solidi est.'

6. Nubecula est cito evanescit," said Athanasius of Julian.

When Julian's death was told at Antioch, they all cried out, "Maxime fatue ubi sunt vaticinia tua? Vicit Deus et Christus ejus." Abbas Uspargens. page 91.

that think religion is disparaged by such short and small afflictions of believers, and how unexcusable they are who yield unto temptation, and venture upon sin, and comply with the ungodly, and forsake the truth, through the fear of so short and momentary sorrows, when there is none of them but would endure the prick of a pin, or the scratch of a brier, or the biting of a flea, to gain a kingdom, or the opening of a vein, or the griping of a purge to save their lives. O, how deservedly are ungodly men forsaken of God! For how short a pleasure do they forsake him, and the everlasting pleasures! And how short a trouble do they avoid by running into everlasting trouble! If sin had not first subdued reason, men would never make it a matter of question, whether, to escape so small a suffering, they should break the laws of the most righteous God, nor would they once put so short a pain or pleasure into the balance against the endless pain and pleasure. Nor would a temptation bring them to deliberate on a matter, which should be past deliberation with a man that is in his wits. And yet, alas! how much do these short concernments prevail through all the world! Unbelievers are short-sighted; they look only or chiefly to things near and present. A lease of this empty world for a few years, yea, au uncertain tenure of it, is preferred before the best security for eternal life. Its present pleasures which they must have, and its present sorrows which they take care to escape. As Christ hath taught us to say about these worldly things, so the devil bath taught them to say about everlasting things" Care not for to-morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself; sufficient to the day is the evil thereof;" Matt. vi. 34. Therefore, when the day of their calamity shall come, a despairing conscience will perpetually torment them, and say, 'This is but the sorrow which thou choosest to endure, or the misery which thou wouldest venture on, to escape a present, inconsiderable pain.'

If there be any of you that shall think that present sufferings are considerable things, to be put into the scales against eternity, or that are tempted to murmuring and impatience under such short afflictions, I desire them but to consider, 1. That your suffering will be no longer than your sin. And if it endure but as long, is it any matter of wonder or repining? Can you expect to keep your sickness, and yet to be wholly freed from the pain? Can sin and suffering be perfectly separated? Do you think to continue ignorant and proud. and selfish, and in so much remaining unbelief, carnality, worldliness, and sloth, and yet never to feel the rod or spur, nor suffer any more than if you had been innocent? Deceive not yourselves; it will not be; Gen. iv. 7. Sin lieth at the door; and be sure at last it will find you out; Numb. xxxii. 23. "Behold, the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth, inuch more

the ungodly and the sinner;" Prov. xi. 31. "Judgment must begin at the house of God, and the righteous are saved with nuch ado;" 1 Pet. iv. 17, 18. God is not reconciled to the sins of any man; and as he will show by his dealings that he is reconciled to their persons, so will he show that he is not reconciled to their sins. If God continue your sufferings any longer than you continue your sin, and if you can truly say, I ain afflicted though I am innocent,' then your impatience may have some excuse.

2. Your sorrows shall be no longer than you make them necessary; and will you grudge at your own benefit? Or at the trouble of your physic while you continue your disease? It is but "if need be that now for a season ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations; " 1 Peter i. 6. And who maketh the need? Is it God or you? Who maketh you dull, and slothful, and sensual? Who turneth your hearts to earthly things, and deprives you of the sweetness of things spiritual and heavenly? Who maketh you proud, and unbelieving, and uncharitable? Is it he that doth this, that causeth the need of your afflictions, and is to be blamed for the bitterness of them? But it is your physician that is to be thanked and praised for fitting them so wisely to your cure.

3. Your sorrows shall not be so long as you deserve. It is strange ingratitude for that man to grudge at a short affliction that is saved from everlasting misery, and confesseth he hath deserved the pains of hell. Confess with thankfulness, that "it is his mercy that you are not consumed and condemned, because his compassions fail not. If God be your portion, hope in him; for the Lord is good to them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. It is good that you both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord; it is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth; he sitteth alone and keepeth silence, because he hath borne it upon him; he putteth his mouth in the dust, if so be there may be hope. He giveth his cheek to him that smiteth him; he is filled full with reproach; for the Lord will not cast off forever; but though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion, according to the multitude of his mercies; Lam. iii. 22-33. All that is come upon us is for our evil deeds, and for our great trespasses; and God hath punished us less than our iniquities; Ezra ix. 13.

4. Your sorrows shall not be so long as the sorrows of the ungodly, nor as those that you must endure, if you will choose sin to escape these present sorrows. Abel's sorrow is not so long as Cain's; nor Peter's or Paul's so long as Judas's. If the offering of a more acceptable sacrifice do cost a righteous man his life, alas! what is that to the punishment that malignant, envious Cainites or treacherous Judases must endure. What is the worst that man can do, or the most that God will here inflict, to the rep

robates, endless, hellish torments? O, had you seen what they endure, or had you felt those pains but a day or hour, I can hardly think that you would ever after make so great a matter of the sufferings of a Christian here for Christ, or that you would fear such sufferings more than hell. It is disingenuous to repine at so gentle a rod, at the same time whilst millions are in the flames of hell, and when these sufferings tend to keep you thence.

5. Your sorrows shall not be so long as your following joys, if you be persevering, conquering believers. What is a sickness, or a scorn, or a prison, or banishment, or shame, or death, when it must end in the endless joys of heaven! Oh, do but believe these with a lively, sound, effectual faith, and you will make light of all the sufferings in the way. "Nihil crus sentit in nervo," saith Tertullian, "cum animus est in cœlo;" Heb. xi. 25, 26, &c. The mind that is in heaven, and seeth him that is invisible, will easily bear the body's pains. Mistake not in your accounts, and you will reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us; Rom. viii. 18. "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, doth work for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things that are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal; " 2 Cor. iv. 17, 18.

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Use 2. And if it be but for a now that you must have sorrows, how reasonable is it that those sorrows be moderated and mixed with joy! And how just are those commands, "Rejoice evermore." "Rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven;" 1 Thess. v. 16. Matt. v. 10–12. Rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation;" Rom. xii. 12. How rational was their joy, who, being beaten and forbidden to preach, "departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for the name of Christ!" Acts v. 42. "Rejoice inasmuch as ye are partakers in Christ's sufferings. If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the Spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you; on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified;" 1 Pet. iv. 13, 14. It is a shame to be dejected under a short and tolerable pain, which is so near to the eternal pleasure, and to suffer as if we believed not the end, and so to sorrow as men that are without hope.

Doct. IV. Christ will again visit his sorrowful disciples. He removeth not from them with an intent to cast them off. When he hideth his face, he meaneth not to forsake them; when he taketh away any ordinances or mercies, he doth not give them a bill of divorce. When he seemeth to yield to the powers of darkness,

he is not overcome, nor will he give up his kingdom or interest in the world. When he letteth the boar into his vineyard, it is not to make it utterly desolate, or turn it common to the barren wilderness; for,

1. He hath conquered the greatest enemies already, and, therefore, there remaineth none to conquer him. He hath triumphed over Satan, death and hell: be hath conquered sin; and what is there left to depose him from his dominion?

2. He retaineth still his relation to his servants; whether he be corporally present or absent, he knoweth his own, and it is their care also that, whether present or absent, they may be accepted of him; 2 Cor. v. 7-9. He is their head while they are suffering on earth, and, therefore, he feeleth their sufferings and infirmities; Heb. iv. 15. And hence it is that he thus rebuketh a persecuting zealot, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?” Acts ix. 4.

3. He hath not laid by the least measure of his love; he loveth us in heaven as much as he did on earth: "Having loved his own which were in the world, to the end he loved them;" John xiii. 1. And as Joseph's love could not long permit him to conceal himself from his brethren, but broke out the more violently after a short restraint, so that he fell on their necks and wept; so will not the more tender love of Christ permit him long to hide his face, or estrange himself from the people of his love, and when he returneth, it will be with redoubled expressions of endearment.

4. His covenant with his servants is still in force; his promises are sure, and shall never be broken, though the performance be no so speedy as we desire. "Know, therefore, that the Lord thy God he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations; and repayeth them that hate him to their face to destroy them: he will not be slack to him that hateth him; he will repay him to his face;" Deut. vii. 9. "Ile keepeth covenant and mercy with his servants that walk before him with all their heart;" 1 Kings viii. 23. Dan. ix. 4. Neh. i. 5. and ix. 32. And it is the promise of Christ, when he departed from his servants, that "He will come again and take them to himself, that where he is, there they may be also;" John xiv. 3. and

xii. 26.

5. His own interest, and honor, and office, and preparations, do engage him to return to his disconsolate flock: his jewels and peculiar treasure are his interest; Mal. iii. 17. 1 Pet. ii. 9. Exodus xix. 5. He that hath chosen but a little flock, (Luke xii. 32.) and confineth his interest and treasure into such a narrow compass, will not forsake that little flock, but secure them to his