信心如何生出忍耐How Faith Works Patience

It is a constant, thankful, joyful enduring, with perseverance to the end of a man's life, all the trials that are grievous, how great, how long, how hopeless soever as to coming out of them; mortifying and compescing the inordinacy of opposite passions, as fear, grief, care, anxiety, which will arise upon such afflictions; with submitting to God's will, for God's glory, and his good pleasure's sake; still blessing and sanctifying God in all, waiting on God, and relieving one's self by faith in what is to be had in God, and from God, in communion with him, and from his love, in this life; in expectation also of that glory which is the reward after this life ended.

I might, in this place, confirm every word and tittle of this description, either out of examples of holy men or the rules which the word gives. But I omit the set collection of such proofs here, because that, scatteredly, up and down, in the particulars that follow, this will be found performed.

2D GENERAL HEAD

How patience is wrought

Brethren, while I shew you how patience is wrought, I do withal shew you the way and means to obtain it; for by the same it is wrought, by the same it is nourished and maintained. And I shall not go out of the text for this.

There are two principles here that work patience. The first is faith: ver. 3, 'Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.' And because, in Gal. 5:6, it is said, 'faith worketh by love,'—that is, faith worketh by love whatever it worketh,—therefore we must find also that love works patience. And that you have in ver. 12 too, 'Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.' Why doth he put in 'to them that love him,' whilst he speaks of him that endureth tentations, but because it is love enables a man to endure temptation? So that faith in the first place, and then faith working by love in the second

place, works patience or enduring.

And the confirmations of these two will give proofs to the latter parts of that description I gave of patience; to wit, those of the soul's relieving itself by faith, by what is to be had in God, &c.

I. How doth faith work patience?

Ans.—First, in the general, faith is the substance of things hoped for, and indeed of all things that are revealed in the word; that is, it makes them subsistent and real to a man's soul. Faith does this, as the eleventh to the Hebrews shews. And thereupon faith hath all the motives and considerations that the whole word affords, all which it brings in to the soul, and makes them subsistent to it, to support it in trials. All is let in by faith; that is the tunnel that fills the vessel. And by thus bringing home to a man's soul all the considerations the word affords, which may induce a man to patience, it works it. This is but general.

These considerations in the word are infinite, and I cannot stand to instance; I will only give what are most proper to faith.

First of all, Faith hath a privative, emptying work. It empties the soul of all its own worth, and righteousness, and excellency in its own eyes, and gives a thorough sight unto the soul of the sinfulness of sin, of its spiritual sins, and contrarieties of all in itself unto holiness and faith; and withal fully convinceth it of its just deservedness to be utterly destroyed, and therefore much more of its due desert of all or any afflictions whatever, they being any or all of them far less than destruction itself. And in the sight and sense of these faith lays the soul a poor, empty, naked, wretched creature in all spiritual respects, both in the sight and presence of God and in its own eyes. And this helps greatly towards working patience. You shall observe, in that golden chain of graces, whereof each latter link depends upon the former, Matt. 5:3–5, how poverty of spirit is placed first: 'Blessed are the poor in spirit,' that is, that are emptied of themselves, look upon themselves as having nothing, deserving nothing, able to do nothing spiritually. And this true poverty of spirit they have from faith wrought; for blessedness is only pronounced of them that believe, and of the fruits of faith in them, according to that, Rom. 4:7–9.

Then, secondly, follows, 'Blessed are they that mourn,' namely, for their sins; that in the second place. And then, thirdly, 'Blessed are the meek,' that is, those who, in the sight of their poverty and sinfulness, lie at God's feet, so subdued and affected as God may do what he will to them or with them. Thus it is with them when they are thus emptied, which is when they have seen their sins and deservedness to be destroyed, and are humbled for them and mourn for them. These foregoing dispositions work meekness, submission to God. They have nothing to say against whatever he shall do, but to justify God in all, and to condemn themselves. And all these make them willing and patient to take any thing well at the hands of God. It is an excellent speech, to our purpose, of the church in that humbled frame of heart you find her in, Lam. 3:39, 'Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins?' The church expresseth it as the most brutish, improper incongruity, unbecoming a man, such as there could not be imagined a greater. What I for a man to complain and think much at the punishment of his sins! a man to murmur, as the word is, against God! a sinful man against the holy God, his righteous judge! And it is certain that thinking much is the ground of all impatiency; and, on the contrary, a submiss temper of spirit unto God is the ground of all patience. But why doth she put in, besides, to convince such a one of the folly, injustice, and iniquity of it, that he is a living man; 'Why doth a living man complain?' Art thou alive? Art a living man still in this world? Then hast thou little cause to complain, whatever thy misery be. Whilst thou art alive, thou art not destroyed. Consider how hell and destruction is thy portion, and the due punishment of thy sins; and so thou hast infinitely less than thou deservest, and therefore thou hast no reason to complain. The church, out of her own sense and apprehension of this, had said before, ver. 22, 'It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed.' She saith not, that our goods are not consumed, or that our houses are not burnt; for indeed that was the church's very case when she spake this. Jerusalem was burnt, their women ravished, their goods plundered, their bodies famished, as you read in the same Lamentations almost everywhere. But yet there was a remnant of persons who were not consumed; and this, said she, is of the Lord's mercies, of his tender mercies, out of his bowels, as the word there is. And this being less than destruction, or being consumed, is her reason for that expostulation forementioned, ver. 39. As also of that her so great

submission, from that ver. 22 unto the 39th verse. You find the very same to this, as a ground of patience, expressed elsewhere, after the captivity ended: Ezra 9:13, 'Thou our God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve, after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds,' say they, 'and for our great trespasses.' Shall, then, a living man complain for the punishment of his sin, when it is so infinitely far less than he deserves? This consideration works patience, as it hath reason. If a man deserves to be hanged, drawn, and quartered, and he is but burnt in the hand, shall this man complain? Let that man down on his knees at the bar, and thank the judge or prince that he had not his due desert, the gallows. And the consideration of this is that also which makes a man accept the punishment of his iniquity, as you have it in Lev. 26:41, 'If ye accept the punishment,' &c.; that is, if ye kiss the rod. And what makes a man come to accept the punishment of his iniquities? Oh! the punishment of my iniquity is infinitely far less than I deserve, for, thinks he, damnation is my portion. This is the first thing that works patience, the consideration of our own deservedness to be destroyed, and this is from the emptying work of faith.

Secondly, Faith brings home to a man's soul the dominion of God, and the sovereignty of that dominion over a man's soul and person, to do what he will with them; and that may very well hush and quiet a man. In Job 9:12, 'Behold, he taketh away,' (destroys a city, a nation, suppose, as in chap. 12:23, 'He increaseth the nations, and destroys them; enlargeth the nations, and straitens them again,') and 'who can hinder him?'—as in that chap. 9,—'and who will say unto him, What dost thou?' As it follows, 'If God will not withdraw his anger, the proud helpers stoop under him;' or, 'the helpers of strength,' as in the margin, 'they bow under him.' He took away your goods, and who could hinder him? The fire burnt this city, notwithstanding all the inhabitants that were interested, and able to have quenched it; yet the strong helpers stood helpless, looking on, weeping, shaking their heads, and crying, Alas! For why? Who could hinder him? They all bowed under him. And again, Job 34:31, 'Surely it is meet to be said unto God, I have borne chastisement, I will not offend any more.' For, as ver. 33, 'Should it'—the evil or the good he is pleased to bring on thee—'be according to thy mind?' (Heb., Should it be 'from with thee?') that is, from what is in and with thee. Must he ask counsel first of thee,

and know what thy mind is? 'He will recompense it,' or dispense it as he pleaseth, 'whether thou refuse, or whether thou choose,'—that is, whether thy mind be for or against it,—'and not I.' (This is the speech of Elihu in the person of God, and on his behalf.) That is, Shouldest thou dispose of all these things for me, and not I myself? says God. This may and must silence all and every man, as well as it did Job there. For it follows, 'Therefore speak,' if thou hast anything to say against this, 'what thou knowest.' As if he had said, This is not to be contradicted, but to be wholly submitted to.

But, my brethren, faith brings home to the heart a message of a higher sovereignty, even of love from God borne to you, and tells all you that sincerely profess an interest in God, that God hath shewn his absolute dominion already towards you in saving your souls. It is an absolute dominion that, as Rom. 9 shews. And what else is the meaning of that speech, 'I will be merciful to whom I will be merciful?' It is a speech of dominion. Well, hath God shewed his dominion in saving thy soul with difference? hath he shewn it on this, the good side? Then truly thou mayest very well give him leave to exercise his dominion over all else that thou hast; thou mayest very well be content he shew his dominion upon thy lumber and thy appurtenances. He might have shewn his dominion in destroying both your goods and souls too, as he did the Sodomites when he burnt their city.

But, thirdly, Faith brings home the love of God, the soul's interest in God, with a communion and fellowship with God, which may well serve to strengthen patience in the greatest distresses. This you see in David at Ziklag, when the city was burnt,—I therefore instance in it,—and his goods all plundered, and his wives carried away. And David was greatly distressed, the people talking of stoning him. Then it is said, 'but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.' His interest in him, and the coming in of his love, as being his God, did hearten and strengthen him against all, 1 Sam. 30:6. Likewise, in extremity of famine, when there was not bread, nor oil, nor wine, nor meat to eat, this wrought the like, Hab. 3:17, 18, 'Although the fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no more

herd in the stalls;'—here are all those things enumerated as wanting that are the means to support life and nature, and it is the want of food and raiment for you and yours that you fear in the loss of your goods, and loss of your livelihoods;—'yet,' says he, 'I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.' A man hath all in God before him still. And faith brings home all in God, or carries the heart out unto God, to fetch in comfort from him, in these the greatest extremities. There are two things there distinct. He first says he will rejoice in the Lord, even in what the Lord is in himself: a God blessed for ever, Amen! And if God be happy and blessed for evermore, I cannot be miserable, says that soul that can rejoice in this, that however God enjoys a perfect blessedness; and I do so rejoice in that, that whilst God continues to be God, and these apprehensions and disposition of heart do but continue in me, I have enough. The second is, that he is my God, the God of my salvation; so Habakkuk, 'I will joy in the God of my salvation.' And then to be sure, while he is happy, I shall be happy indeed. 'The Lord is my portion, saith my soul,' Lam. 3, in the midst of those troubles. The Lord help us to faith!

My brethren, the love of God brought in by faith will help a man to bear up under any condition. You know that place, Rom. 8; he had triumphed in the love of God, ver. 31, 'If God be for us, who can be against us?' And ver. 35, 'Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or sword?' Mark his resolution, expressed thereupon, in ver. 37, 'Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.' That speech, 'Nay, in all these things,' &c., is a triumphant slighting of all he had reckoned up, and it was all any way formidable, or that might be judged opposite to our comforts in this world, which he had reckoned up; and yet speaks at that rate as if faith on the love of God and Christ scorned such low and weak and poor adversaries, as not enough, or not of might enough for them to try their strength upon; and is as if he had said, Are these all that come out against us, and threaten to hurt us? But are these all indeed? Nay then, says he, if these be all, we are safe enough; we are more than conquerors in all these. But how comes this to pass? It is added, 'through him that loved us.' Not only in that he, loving us, joins his strength to ours to support us, but it is also meant objectivè, that the love of God and Christ coming in fresh upon our hearts, the apprehension of that is

sufficient; and in that respect he says, 'through him that loved us.' It is objectivè spoken of Christ's love, as it is the object of our faith, and not assistenter. We are more than conquerors through his love taken in by us, and shed abroad in our hearts; and by reason that his love comes in and supports us under all, and helps us to conquer all. As faith hath all in God to rejoice in, and so helps the soul to patience; so especially it hath its love, in all sorts of distresses.

Fourthly, Faith tells us that there will be a good issue of all as to the other world; yea, and in this world also, in such things that relate to that world, Luke 21:18, 19. He had spoken before in that chapter of the greatest distresses that could befall men,—as, if you read the verses before, appeareth,—and also of such as should fall upon the people of God amongst them personally, as well as upon the nation of the Jews in their final desolation. And besides that common calamity which befell the people of God, with the rest of that nation, he says, over and above, they shall first 'lay their hands on you,' ver. 12, 'and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, and shall put some of you to death;'—it is in all three Evangelists;—and in ver. 16, 'Ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake.' But, says he, comfort yourselves with what will certainly be the issue: ver. 18, 'There shall not a hair of your head perish.' How? Not a hair of your head perish! What a strange saying is this, when he had said just before they should be persecuted and put to death! How doth he say then, Not a hair of your head shall perish? Why, because the issue shall be such as should make amends for every hair. The soul shall say, I have not lost a hair. Nay, besides, those of you they cannot put to death shall have a hundred-fold, and that in this life, as elsewhere, in spiritual blessings. And faith, eyeing these things, relieves the soul. Observe but what follows there as to our purpose in hand, for which I quote this place, in ver. 19, the very next verse, 'In your patience possess your souls;' the meaning from the coherence is, You may well possess your souls in patience, for I have told you the issue will be most blessed and glorious.

Fifthly, Faith brings in heaven as the reward of patient enduring; thus, in chap. 1:12 of our Apostle, 'Blessed is the man that endureth temptation:

for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord Hath promised to them that love him.' And this is the conclusion of his present discourse about patient enduring. 'When he is tried,' that is, when his trials are finished and gone through with; and his faith hath all along wrought patience in his course. It is persevering patience, or endurance, receives this crown. Other graces strive, but faith and patience, they are crowned. And further, in proportion it holds that as a man's trials and temptations have been, and his patience suitable, such shall the greatness of his reward be, and accordingly measured forth unto him. And faith in the intuition of that glory heartens patience, Rom. 5. Faith having caused us first to 'rejoice in the hope of the glory of God,' ver. 2, causeth us also to 'glory in tribulations,' ver. 3, in the strength of our hope in that glory. Which hope is said further to be increased in us, through tribulations working patience, ver. 4. As thus, 'patience works experience,' ver. 5, that is, many a fresh experiment of our own graces and God's dealings in those trials; and those experiences do work up a hope or assurance of glory (as 1 John 3:2) to that degree of firmness that maketh us not ashamed, not in respect only of the real disappointment of that glory at death, but not in a man's own hope thereof in his own heart,—for in respect to that hope of his this is spoken,—because that over and above, and besides those foresaid experiments, 'the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost' himself immediately, 'who is given to us;' which shedding, &c., of God's love is no other than the earnest and prelibation of that glory. And this is given as the reward of our patience