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a wicked man, come upon him by virtue of a covenant of works, and so are cursed unto him; but all the afflictions that come upon a gracious man, they come upon him by virtue of a covenant of grace, and so they are blessed unto him; and therefore he hath eminent cause to hold his peace, to lay his hand upon his mouth.

8. If you would be silent and quiet under afflictions, than dwell much upon this, viz. That all your afflictions do but reach the worser, the baser, and the ignoble part of a Christian, viz. his body, his outward man, 2 Cor. iv. 16. Though our outward man decay, yet our inward man is renewed day by day. As Aristarchus the Heathen said, when he was beaten by the tyrants, Beat on; it is not Aristarchus you beat, it is only his shell. Timothy had a very healthful soul in a crazy body, 1 Tim. v. 23. and Gaius, 3 John 2. had a very prosper ous soul in a weak distempered body. Epictetus, and many of the more refined Heathens, have long since concluded. That the body was the organ (or vessel), the soul was the man and merchandize. Now, all the troubles and afflictions that a Christian meets with, they do not reach his soul, they touch not his conscience, they make no breach upon his noble part, and therefore he hath cause to hold his peace, and to lay his hands upon his mouth; the soul is the breath of God, the beauty of man, the wonder of angels, and the envy of devils, Heb. xii. 9. It is a celestial plant, and of a divine offspring, Zech, xii. 1.

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It is an immortal spirit; souls are of an angelic nature, a man is an angel clothed in clay; the soul is a greater miracle in a man, than all the miracles wrought among men; the soul is a demi-semi God, dwelling in a house of clay. Now, it is not in the power of any outward troubles and afflictions that a Christian meets with, to reach his soul; and therefore he may well sit mute under the smarting rod. 9. If thou wouldst be silent and quiet under the saddest providences and sorest trials, then keep up faith in continual exercise. Now faith in the exercise of it will quiet, and silence the soul: Thus,

(1.) By bringing the soul to sit down satisfied in the naked enjoyments of God.

(2.) By drying up the springs of pride, selflove, impatience, murmuring, unbelief, and the carnal delights of this world.

(3.) By presenting to the soul greater, sweeter, and better things in Christ, than any this world doth afford, Phil. iii. 7, 8.

(4.) By lessening the soul's esteem of all outward vanities; do but keep up the exercise of faith, and thou wilt keep silent before the Lord. No man so mute, as he whose faith is still busy about invisible objects.

10. If you would keep silent, then keep humble before the Lord, Oh! labour every day to be more humble, and more low, and little in your own eyes. Who am I, saith the humble soul, but that God should cross me in this mercy, Job vii. 1.-18. and take away that mercy, and pass a sentence of death upon

every mercy? I am not worthy of the least mercy, I deserve not a crum of mercy, I have forfeited every mercy, I have improved never a mercy. Only by pride comes contention, Prov. xiii. 16. It is only pride that puts men upon contending with God and men: an humble soul will lie quiet at the foot of God, it will be contented with bare commons; as you see sheep can live upon the bare commons, which a fat ox cannot. A dinner of green herbs relisheth well with the humble man's palate, whereas a stalled ox is but a coarse dish to a proud man's stomach; an humble heart thinks none less than himself, nor none worse than himself, Gen. xxxii. 10. 11. An humble heart looks upon small mercies as great mercies, and great afflictions as small af Aictions, and small afflictions as no afflictions, and therefore sits mute and quiet under all. Do but keep humble, and you will keep silent before the Lord. Pride kicks, and flings, and frets, but an humble man hath still his hand upon his mouth. Every thing on this side hell is mercy, much mercy, rich mercy, to an humble soul; and therefore he holds his peace.

11. If you would keep silent under the afflicting hand of God, then keep close, hold fast these soul-silencing and soul-quieting maxims or principles. As,

(1.) That the worst that God doth to his people in this world, is in order to the making of them a heaven on earth; he brings them into a wilderness, but it is, that he may spe

comfortably to them, Hosea ii. 14. He casts them into the fiery furnace, but it is, that they may have more of his company. Do the stones come thick about Stephen's ears? it is but to beat him the nearer to Christ, the corner-stone, &c. Acts vii.

(2.) If you would be silent, then hold fast this principle, viz. That what God wills is best when he wills sickness, sickness is better than health; when he wills weakness, weakness is better than strength; when he wills want, want is better than wealth ; when he wills reproach, reproach is better than honour; when he wills death, death is better than life. As God is wisdom itself, and so knows that which is best; so he is goodness itself, and therefore cannot do any thing but that which is best; therefore hold thy peace.

(3.) If thou wouldst be silent under thy greatest afflictions, then hold fast to this prin ciple, viz. That the Lord will bear thee company in all thy afflictions, Isa. xli. 10. chap. xliii. 2. Psal. xxiii. 4. Psal. xc. 15. Dan. iii. 25. Gen. xxxix. 20, 21. 2 Tim. iv. 16, 17. These scriptures are breasts full of divine consolation: these wells of salvation are full; will you turn to them, and draw out that souls may be satisfied and quieted?

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(4.) If you would be silent under your afflictions, then hold fast this principle, That the Lord hath more high, more noble, and more blessed ends in the afflicting of you, than he hath in the afflicting of the men of the

world. The stalk and the ear of corn fall upon the threshing floor, under one and the same flail; but the one is shattered in pieces, the other is preserved: from one and the same olive, and from under one and the same press, is crushed out both oil and dregs; but the one is turned up for use, and the other thrown out as unserviceable and by one and the same breath the fields are perfumed with sweetness, and annoyed with unpleasant savours; so, though afflictions do befal good and bad alike, as the scripture speaks, yet the Lord will effect more glorious ends by those afflictions that befal his people, than he will effect by those that befal wicked men ; and therefore the Lord puts his people into the furnace for their trial, but the wicked for their ruin; the one is bettered by affliction, the other is made worse; the one is made soft and tender by afflictions, the other is more hard and obdurate; the one is drawn nearer to God by afflictions, the other is driven farther from God, &c.

(5.) If you would be silent under your af flictions, then you must hold fast this principle, viz. That the best way in this world to have thine own will, is to lie down in the will of God, and quietly to resign up thyself to the good-will and pleasure of God. Luther was a man that could have any thing of God; and why? why, because he submitted his will to the will of God; he lost his will in the will of God. Oh soul! it shall be even as thou

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