Symptomes of growth & decay to godlinesse: in LX. signs of a living and dying Christian. With the causes of decay, and remedies for recovery. / By Francis Smith.

SIGN XXIII. VVHen you pray more for Afflictions being removed, than sanctified.

That is, not only mindless of Afflictions Cause, but indeed mindless of Afflictions end; it is easie and ordinary for persons under Af∣fliction to be brought to their knees to pray∣er; not only good men, but bad men in af∣fliction will be ready to cry for help, In their affliction they will seek me early, Hos. 5. 15. That is one of their first works, then they will mind to be doing, till then God is forgotten, they having lost much their spiritual feeling, but now being touched in their outward sen∣ses, they will cry for relief. Then wicked Pha∣raoh, that in Exod. 5. 2. could say, Who is the Lord that I should obey his voyce, to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Is∣rael go; in Chap. 8. 8. When his Land was ful of Frogs, cries to Moses to pray to this God

for him, he had but little before disdained: See that known text for this, Jonah 1. 5. Then every man, (that is, when they was in afflicti∣on) cries to his God; the tempest being great, and they all like to perish, not only cries to their God, but with a high hand saith to Io∣nah, What meanest thou O sleeper? arise and call upon thy God, that we perish not. So 2 Chr. 33. 12. Manasseh when he was in affliction, sought the Lord his God: By all which compa∣red, it is very usual both with good and bad men in affliction, to be early at prayer to God.

Now Affliction you know, we have in the last Sign proved, is Gods Furnance to try the Nature of every Mettal by; so that you may truly pass judgment upon your selves, whe∣ther or no you are of the dying hand; not by your praying, here you may deceive your selves, though you pray mightily, for it is ea∣sie to do so in Affliction; but if you pray more for Afflictions being removed, than san∣ctified; that is, put up strong cries to be eased of the trouble, but scarce possest with faint wishes to answer Gods design in the trouble; never inquiring, What have I done? or saying, I must be more humble, more thankful, more pittiful, more fearful, more careful all my dayes. What shall I do, saith the zealous man, to get good by this Affliction? his voyce cries

louder for spiritual advantage, than his pain for natural freedome. Let us think of this and deal plainly with our own hearts, and see what way the pulse beats most; for as the staff you set up, will fall one way or other; so persons being more or less spiritual, will easily disco∣ver it in Affliction. Israel of old might be read in this, and you know how God dealt with them, of six hundred thousand, there was but two, namely, Joshua and Galeb, that entered the good Land of promise; they early begun to show how carnal they was, Exod. 12. 13, 14. When they enjoyed their great delive∣rance from Egypts bondage, Chap. 15. then sang they Gods praise; but being put into some strait, they murmur presently, and wish to God they had died in the Land of Egypt, as Psal. 106. shews at large, where we may read of Gods dealings with them at large, and their dealings with God: while they had what they wanted, they were pleased and liked the Lord should be their God; but when (though for their own good) they were straitned, and did miss their wonted fulness, then they lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desart, vers. 14. We do not read it was upon their hearts to make any spiritual use or advantage of Gods different dealings with them; when they had not what they

would have, instead of learning to cease to murmur, they strengthened themselves in murmurring against the Lord, who was gra∣ciously careful for them, and suffered not a∣ny more straits to befal them, than what was in order to their truest good; although they were, as many now are, full of complaints, yet their greatest want was slackness to those strong cries that ought to be found in Christi∣ans, for a sanctified use of whatsoever doth be∣fal them, taking care to the one thing need∣ful, without which all Order, is Disorder, all Mercies, Miseries, all Blessings, but Cursings; What shal it profit a man, whatsoever he hath of fulness or scarcity, health or sickness, desire, or want of desire, if Gods end in all, and our happiness in all▪ be not gotten? to wit, that eternal Salvation that freeth from everlasting Damnation, that being the great work that all other works ought and must give way un∣to: But I shall proceed to the Causes, why persons pray more to have Afflictions remo∣ved, than sanctified.

• First, Ignorance of the Cause of Affliction.
• Secondly, Ignorance of the Necessity of Affliction.
• Thirdly, Ignorance of the End of Afflicti∣on

First, Ignorance of the Cause of Affliction;

No chastening for the present is joyous, but grievous, bitter and sharp, having with it an unpleasant taste to whomsoever it comes; therefore in it self certainly not welcome to a∣ny, although they bring it upon themselves; who is it that runs not from pain naturally, and will part with what is outwardly dear to them, rather than expose themselves to that torturing that attends some kind of Afflicti∣on? Now if as plainly and as certainly it ap∣pear. there is unwillingness as well in God to Afflict, as there is in the creature to chuse Affliction, then it will naturally follow, that there is a Cause, Ignorance of which is a main reason, why we pray more to have it remo∣ved, then sanctified.

For the proof of this, that there is as great unwillingness in God, from whom Affliction comes, to give it, as we to receive it: mind a little some texts of Scripture, 1 Pet. 3. 8. And who is he that will harm you, if ye be fol∣lowers of that which is good? in the words go∣ing before you have it thus written, But the face of the Lord is against them that do evil: That is, his favourable countenance is set a∣gainst such, and their portion is bitterness, Levit. 26. 17. But if ye be followers of that which is good, who will harm you? Here seems to be a holy challenge, to whatsoever may

harm us; as if the Spirit should have said, What indeed can harm you, if God be for you? and God will not be against you if you are followers of that which is good, For he doth not afflict willingly, nor grieve the chil∣dren of men, to crush under his feet the priso∣ners of the earth, Lam. 3. 33, 34. Wherefore then may it be said, Doth the living man com∣plain? the holy Spirit gives the answer; For the punishment of his sin. The joy of our heart is ceased, our dance is turned into mourning; the Crown is fallen from off our head, Wo unto us for we have sinned, Lam. 15. 16. A multi∣tude of Scriptures might be urged further to prove both unwillingness in God to afflict, and that the very Cause of all our Wo both temporal and eternal, is our misdoing; O that my people had hearkened to my voyce, and walked in my wayes, I should soon have subdu∣ed their enemies, and turned my hand against their adversaries, Psal. 81. 13, 14. Now in reason were the Cause of Affliction, considered to be only from our selves, procured by our misdoing, and sent with tendency to our men∣ding, we should surely pray more to have it sanctified than removed.

Secondly, Ignorance of the Necessity of Affliction, is a Cause of this Decay; the ve∣ry unwillingness of God to bring it, and the

creature to indure it, fully proves, that there is Necessity for it; there cannot be more un∣delightfulness in the creature to undergo lan∣guishing, than there is in God to put him un∣der languishing, How shall I give thee up O Ephraim? How shall I deliver thee Israel? How shall I make thee as Idma? How shall I set thee as Zeboim? My heart is turned with∣in me, my repentings are kindled together, Hos. 11. 8. When he was come near, and beheld the City, he wept over it: Luke 19. 41. Now Gods unwillingness, proves the creature can∣not live at any spiritual rate without it; and indeed Experience proves the same, Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I have kept thy word, Psal. 119. 67. David wandred from the Fould, and were like to continue till Af∣fliction spoke to him, he forgot himself and what he was a doing, The wicked, saith the Psalmist, are not in trouble as other men, nei∣ther are they plagued like other men; therefore pride compasseth them about as a Chain, vio∣lence covereth them as a garment; and what use do they make of it? they say, how doth God know, and is there knowledge in the most High. This clearly notes, that a condition freest from trouble or affliction, generally is attended with carnallest behaviour God-ward, When I had fed them to the full, they then com∣mitted

Adultery, and assembled by troops into Harlots houses, Jer. 5. 7. By all this it appears, that it is from ignorance of Afflictions neces∣sity, if we pray more to have it removed than sanctified.

Thirdly, Ignorance of the End of Affliction, is a Cause of this Decay; now the Cause be∣ing Sin, and the Necessity being to humble; the End is to save: Now all Gods dealings are mercy, whatsoever he doth to the creature, is like himself, and in it self is mercy, if he give us all we desire and would have, it is Mercy; if he keep us without it, it is Mercy; Health from him is Mercy, so is Sickness; Plenty from him is Mercy, so is Poverty; Health, Life, Strength, and such like Favours temporal, eve∣ry body will acknowledge to be Mercy; but their contrary few or none will account Mer∣cy, yet this is Mercy also; for this Checquer work the World is made of, some at the same time are wringing their hands for sorrow, while others are clapping their hands for joy; some with strait••, through Sickness and Pover∣ty are Weeping, others through Health and Plenty, rejoycing: Now the great difficulty is, how to bring the heart to look upon the state of Weeping as truly Mercy, as the state of Rejoycing: For which end consider, why we do account Health, Plenty, and such like

Injoyments Mercy, but because they have in them an esteeming and desirable good, a sea∣sonable and sutable good; it is the same with the contrary, they are as seasonable and as sutable, could our frail hearts so receive them, for they are as truly from the Lord as the o∣ther, and as truly have the same end in them. There are two great Ends in all God doth; one is his Honour; the other is our Salvation; now if God give us what we would have, his End is the same; and if he give us the contra∣ry, his End is the same; and Christians cer∣tainly misconstruing his End to be Mercy, is the Cause they misconstrue his Actions to be Mercy: That both are Mercy, read Exod. 13 17. There God led them through the wilder∣ness, an unbeaten way, where they wanted both bread and water, and yet both End and Action Mercy, to bring them to Canaan, and deliver them from harm by the Philistines: Remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years, through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein was fiery Ser∣pents, and Scorpions, and Drought and no Wa∣ter; that he might humble thee, and prove thee to the good at thy latter end. It is too e∣vident, that Israel construed this hard dealing from God, but it was great Mercy, as the text fully proves. Ignorance therefore of the End

of Affliction, is a Cause why we pray more to have it Removed than Sanctified.