by faith, and not by fight; and excellent is that paffage to this purpose, 2 Cor. iv. 16, 17, 18. " For which "cause we faint not, but though our outward man pe"rith, yet our inward man is renewed day by day. For "our light affliction, which is but for a moment, work"eth 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 which are not feen; for the things which are feen, are temporal, but the things which are not feen, are eternal."

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And therefore, if we do but feriously believe the truth of the gofpel, the truth of the life to come, the best external things of this world will feem but of small moment to take up the choiceft of our defires or hopes, and the worst things this world can inflict will appear too light to provoke us to impatience or discontent. He that hath but heaven and everlasting glory in profpect, and a firm expectation, will have a mind full of contentation in the midt of the lowest and darkest condition here on earth; impatience and discontent never can stay long with us, if we awake our minds, and fummon up our faith and hope in that life and happiness to come. Sudden paflions of impatience and discontent, may, like clouds, arife and trouble us for a while, but this faith, and this hope rooted in the heart, if ftirred up, will, like the fun, scatter and difpel them, and caufe the light of patience, contentation, and comfort to fhine through them.

And as we have the hope of immortality and blessedness fet before us, fo the means and way to attain it are easy and open to all; no perfon is excluded from it, that wilfully excludes not himself, Ifa. lv. 1. "Ho every one "that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath "no money, come ye, buy and eat without money and "without price.' Rev. xxii. 17. "Whofoever will, "let him take of the waters of life freely." Matth. xi. "Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy "laden, and I will give you reft:" The way to everJafting happinefs, and confequently to contentation here, is laid open to all. It was the great reason why Goł made mankind, to communicate everlafting happiness to them; and when they wilfully threw away that happinefs, it was the end why he fent his Son into the world to reftore

28.

restore mankind unto it. And as the way is open to all, fo it is eafy to all; his yoke is eafy and his burden is light. The terms of attaining happiness, if fincerely endeavoured, are eafy to be performed, by virtue of that grace that almighty God affords to all men, that do not wilfully reject it: namely, to believe the truth of the gofpel, fo admirably confirined; and fincerely to endeavour to obey the precepts thereof, which are both just and reasonable, highly conducing to our contentation in this life, and confummating our happinefs in the life to come: and for our encouragement in this obedience, we are fure to have, if we defire it, his fpecial grace and bleffed Spirit to affist us; and a merciful Father to accept of our fincerity, and a gracious Saviour to pardon our failings and deficiencies. So that the way to attain contentation in this life and happiness in the life to come, as it is plain and certain, fo it is open and free, none is excluded from it, but it is free and open to all that are but willing to use the means to attain it.

And I fhall wind up all this fong difcourfe touching contentation with this plain and ordinary instance. I -have before faid that our home, our country is heaven and everlasting happiness, where there are no forrows, nor fears, nor troubles, that this world is the place of our travel, and pilgrimage, and at the best our inn: now when I am in my journey, I meet with feveral inconveniences; it may be the way is bad and foul, the weather tempeftuous and ftormy; it may be I meet with fome rough companions, that either turn me out of my way, or all dath and dirt me in it, yet I content myself, for all will be mended when I come home: but if I chance to lodge at my inn, there it may be I meet with bad entertainment, the inn is full of guests, and I am thrust into an inconvenient lodging, or ill diet, yet I content myself, and confider it is no other than what I have reafon to expect, it is but according to the common condition of things in that place; neither am I folicitous to furnish my lodgings with better accommodations, for I must not expect to make long ftay there, it is but my inn, my place of repose for a night, and not my home; and therefore I content myself with it as I find it, all VOL. I.

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will

will be amended when I come home. In the fame manner it is with this world; perchance I meet with an ill and uncomfortable paffage through it, I have a fickly body, a narrow eftate, meet with affronts and disgraces, lofe my friends, companions and relations, my best entertainment in it is but troublesome and uneasy: but yet I do content myself; I confider it is but my pilgrimage, my paffage, my inn; it is not my country, nor the place of my rest: this kind of ufage or condition is but according to the law and custom of the place, it will be amended when I come home, for in my Father's house there are many manfions; many manfions instead of my inn, and my Saviour himself hath not disdained to be my harbinger; he is gone thither before me, and gone to prepare a place for me; I will therefore quiet and content myself with the inconveniences of my fhort journey, for my accommodations will be admirable when I come to my home, that heavenly Jerufalem, which is the place of my rest and happiness.

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But yet we must withal remember, that though heaven is our home, the place of our reft and happiness, yet this world is a place for our duty and employment, and we must use all honeft and lawful means to preferve our lives and our comforts by our honeft care and diligence. it is our duty to wait the time till our Lord and Master calls, fo it is part of our task in this world given us by the great Mafter of the family of heaven and earth, to be imployed for the temporal good of ourfelves and others. It is indeed our principal bufinefs to fit ourselves for our everlasting home, and to think of it; but it is a part of our duty, and an exercise of obedience, while we are here, to employ ourfelves with honefty and diligence in our temporal employments: though we are not to set our hearts upon the conveniencies of this life, yet we are not to reject them, but ufe them thankfully and foberly; for they are bleffings that deferve our gratitude, though they ought not entirely to take up our hearts. Again, though croffes and afflictions must be the exercife of our patience, we must not wilfully chuse them, nor run into them. Let God be ftill the Mafter of his own difpenfations, for he is wife, and knows what is fit for us, when we know not what is fit for ourselves. When he fends them,

ог

or permits them, our duty is patience and contentation; but commonly our own choice is head-ftrong and foolifh.

It was the error of many new converts to Chriftianity, that they thought, that, when heavenly-mindedness was preffed, prefently they must caft off all care of the world, defert their callings, and bufily and unnecessarily thrust themselves into dangers, that fo they might be quit of all worldly care and business, and of life itfelf. This the apolles frequently reprove, and fhew the error of it, and that justly for the truth of it is, our continuance in this life, and in our honest employments and callings, our thankful use of external bleffings here, and our honest endeavours for them; the endeavour to do good in our places, fo long as we continue in-them; our prudent prevention of external evils; are part of that obedience we owe to our Maker, and part of that exercise or task that is given us by him to perform in this life; and our cheerful, faithful, diligent converfation herein, is so far from being incompatible to Christianity, that it is part of our Chriftian duty, and of that service we owe to our Maker; and it is indeed the exercife of our patience, and the evidence of a contented mind: for whofoever grows fo weary of the world, that presently, with froward Jonah, he witheth to die, or throws off all, it is a fign of want of that contentation that is here commended; caufe true contentation confifts in a cheerful and ready compliance with the will of God, and not in a froward preference of our own will or choice. It was part of our Saviour's excellent prayer for his difciples, John xvii. 15. "I pray not that thou fhould take them out of "the world, but that thou fhouldt keep them from the "evil."

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The business therefore of these papers is to let you fee what are the helps to attain patience and contentation in the world, that our paffing thro' it may be fafe and comfortable, and agreeable to the will of God; and to remedy that impatience and difcontent which is ordinarily found among men; to teach men how to amend their lives, instead of being weary of them; and to make the worst conditions in the world eafy and comfortable, by making

Ff2.

making the mind quiet, patient and thankful.

For it is the discontented and impatient mind that truly makes the world much more uneafy than it is in itself.

Of AFFLICTIONS: The best Prepa ration for them, and improvement of them; and of our Delivery out of them.

JOB V. 6, 7.

Although affliction cometh not forth of the duft, neither doth trouble fpring out of the ground:

Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.

OB's friends, though in the particular cafe of Job,

J they were mistaken, yet they were certainly very

wife, godly, and obferving men; and many of their fentences were full of excellent and useful truths, and particularly this fpeech of Eliphaz, which importeth thefe two propositions.

1. That the general ftate of man in this world is a ftate of trouble and affliction; and it is fo cominon to him, so incident to all degrees and conditions of man. kind, that it seems almost as univerfal, "as that natural propenfion in the fparks to fly upward: no perfon of whatever age, fex, condition, degree, quality, profefsion, but hath a part in this common state of mankind : and although foine feem to have greater portion of it than others, fome feem to have greater and longer viciffitudes, and intermiffions, and allays thereof than others, yet none are totally exempt from it; yea, it is rare to find any man, that hath had the ordinary extent of the age of man, but his troubles, croffes, calamities, afflictions have over-weighed and exceeded the measures of his comforts and contentments in this life.

2. That yet thofe afflictions and troubles do neither grow up by a certain regular and constant course of nature, as plants and vegetables do out of the ground; neither are they merely accidental and cafual, but they are fent,