The Author’s Preface
ALL. AFFLICTED AND DISTRESSED CHRIS-TIANS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD.
DEAR BRETHREN,
The choicest saints are born to troubles, as the sparks fly upwards, Psa. xxxiv. 19; Job v. 7; Psa. lxxxviii. 3, 4. Many are the troubles of the righteous. If they were many, and not troubles, then, as it is in the proverb, the more the happier; or if they were troubles, and not many, then the fewer the better. But God, who is infinite in wisdom, and matchless in goodness, hath ordered troubles, yea, many troubles, to come trooping in upon us on every side. As our mercies, so our crosses, seldom come single; they usually come treading one upon the heels of another; they are often like April showers, no sooner is one over, but another comes. And yet, Christians, it is mercy, it is rich mercy, that every affliction is not an execution, that every correction is not a damnation. The higher the waters rose, the nearer Noah’s ark was lifted up to heaven; the more thy afflictions are increased, the more thy heart shall be raised heavenwards.
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The reasons of my sending this piece into the world are these:
1. The afflicting hand of God hath been heavy upon myself, and upon my dearest relations in this world, and upon many of my precious Christian friends, whom I much love and honor in the Lord; which put me upon studying the mind of God in that scripture, which I have made the subject matter of the following discourse. Luther could not understand some Psalms till he was afflicted. The Christ -cross is no letter in the book, and yet, saith he, it hath taught me more than all the letters in the book. Afflictions are a golden key, by which the Lord opens the rich treasures of his word to his people’s souls; and this in some measure through grace my soul hath experienced. When Samson had found honey, he gave some to his father and mother to eat, Judg. xiv. 9, 10. Some honey I have found in the following text, and therefore I may not, I cannot be, such a churl, as not to give them some of the honey to taste, who have drank deep of the gall and wormwood. Austin observes on Psa. lxvi. 16, “Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul.” He doth not call them, saith he, to acquaint them with speculations, how wide the earth is, how far the heavens are stretched out, what the number of the stars is, or what is the course of the sun; but come, and I will tell you the wonders of his grace, the faithfulness of his promises, the riches of his mercy to my soul. Gracious experiences are to be communicated. We learn that we may teach, is a proverb among the rabbins: and I therefore, lay in, and lay up, that I may draw forth again, and lay out for the good of many. When God hath dealt bountifully with us, others should reap some noble good by us; the family, the town, the city, the country, where a man lives, should fare the better for his faring well. Our mercies and experiences should be as a running spring at our doors, which is not only for our own use, but also for our neighbors, yea, and for strangers too.
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2. What is written is permanent, and spreads itself further by filr, for time, place, and persons, than the voice can reach. The pen is an artificial tongue; it speaks as well to absent as to present friends; it speaks to them that are afar off, as well as those that are near; it speaks to many thousands at once; it speaks not only to the present age, but also to succeeding ages. The pen is a kind of image of eternity, it will make a man live when he is dead. Though the prophets do not live forever, Zech. i. 5, yet their labors may. A man’s writings may preach, when he cannot, when he may not, and when, by reason of bodily distempers, he dares not; yea, and that which is more, when he is not.
3. Few men, if any, have iron memories. How soon is a sermon preached forgotten, when a sermon written remains! Augustine, writing to Volusian, saith, That which is written, is always at hand to be read, when the reader is at leisure.” Men do not easily forget their own names, nor their father’s house, nor the wives of their bosoms, nor their offspring, nor to eat their daily bread; and yet, ah! how easily do they forget that word of grace that should be dearer to them than all! Most men’s memories, especially in the great concernments of their souls, are like a sieve or boulter, where the good corn and fine flour goes through, but the light chaff and coarse bran remains behind; or like a strainer, where the sweet liquor is strained out, but the dregs are left behind; or like a grate, that lets the pure water run away, but if there be any straws, sticks, mud, or filth, these it holds, as it were, with iron hands. Most men’s memories are very treacherous, especially in good things. Few men’s memories are a holy ark, a heavenly storehouse, or magazine for their souls; and therefore they stand in the more need of a written word. But,
4. Its marvellous suitableness and usefulness under those great turns and changes that have passed upon us. As every wise husbandman observes the fittest seasons to sow his seed; some he sows in the autumn and fall
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of the leaf, some in the spring of the year, Isa. xxviii. 25; some in a dry season, and some in a wet; some in a moist clay, and some in a sandy, dry ground; so every spiritual husbandman must observe the fittest time to sow his spiritual seed in. He hath heavenly seed by him for all occasions and seasons, for spring and fall, for all grounds, heads, and hearts. Now, whether the seed sown in the following treatise be not suitable to the times and seasons wherein we are cast, is left to the judgment of the prudent reader to determine.
5. The good acceptance that my other weak labors have found. God hath blessed them, not only to the conviction, the edification, confirmation, and consolation of many, but also to the conversion of many. God is a free Agent, to work by what hand he pleases, and sometimes he takes pleasure to do great things by weak things, “that no flesh may glory in his presence,” 1 Cor. i. 27- 29. God will not despise the day of small things; and who or what art thou that darest despise that day? The Spirit breathes upon whose preaching and writing he pleases, John iii. 8, and all prospers according as that wind blows.
6. That all afflicted and distressed Christians may have a proper salve for every sore, a proper remedy against every disease at hand, Prov. xxv. 11. As every good man, so every good book, is not fit to be the afflicted man’s companion; but this is adapted to his case. Here he may see his face, his head, his hand, his heart, his way, his works. Here he may see all his diseases discovered, and proper remedies proposed and applied. Here he may find argumen s to silence him, and means to quiet him, when it is the wo st with him. In every storm, here he may find a shelter, and in every danger, a city of refuge; in every difficulty, here he may have a light to guide him, and in eve y peril, a buckler to defend him; in every distress, here he may find a cordial to strengthen him, and in every trouble, a staff to support him.
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7. To satisfy some bosom friends, some faithful friends. Man is made to be a friend, and apt for friendly offices. He that is not friendly, is not worthy to have a friend; and he that hath a friend, and doth not show himself friendly, is not worthy to be accounted a man. Friendship is a kind of life, without which there is no comfort of a man’s life. Christian friendship ties such a knot, 1 Sam. xxii. 1, 2, that great Alexander cannot cut. Summer friends I yaluenot, but winter friends are worth their weight in gold; and who can deny such any thing, especially in these days, wherein real, faithful, constant friends are so rare to be found?* The friendship of most men is like Jonah’s gourd; now very promising and flourishing, and anon fading and withering. It is like some plants in the water, which have broad leaves on the surface of the water, but scarcely any root at all; their friendship is like lemons, cold within, hot without; their expressions are high, but their affections are low; they speak much, but do little: as drums, and trumpets, and ensigns in a battle, make a great noise, and a fine show, but act nothing, so these counterfeit friends will compliment highly, bow handsomely, speak plausibly, and promise greatly, and yet have neither a hand nor heart to act any thing cordially or faithfully. From such friends it is a mercy to be delivered. But for all this, there are some that are real friends, faithful friends, active friends, winter friends, bosom friends, fast friends; and for their sakes (especially those among them that have been long, very long under the smarting rod, and in the fiery furnace, and that have been often poured from vessel to vessel) have I once more appeared in print to the world.
8. Lastly, there hath not any author come to my hand, that hath handled this subject as I have done, and therefore I do not know but it may be the more grateful and acceptable to the world; and if by this essay others that
* Oh, my friends! I have never a friend, said Socrates. A friend is a very mutable creature, said Plato.
are more able shall be provoked to do more worthily upon this subject, I shall therefore rejoice. Thus I have given you a true and faithful account of the reasons that have prevailed with me to publish this treatise to the world, and to dedicate it to yourselves.
I would now give you a little good counsel, that you may so read the following discourse, as that it may turn much to your souls’ advantage. Many read good books, and yet get nothing, because they read them over cursorily, slightly, and superficially; but he that would read to profit, must,
1. Look up for a blessing. Paul may plant, and Apollos may water; but all will be to no purpose, except the Lord give the increase, 1 Cor. iii. 6, 7. God must do the deed, or else all that is done will do you no good. If you would have this work successful and effectual, you must look off from man, and look up to God, who alone can make it a blessing to you; as, without a blessing from Heaven, thy clothes cannot warm thee, nor thy food nourish thee, nor physic cure thee, nor friends comfort thee; so without a blessing from Heaven, without the precious breathings and influences of the Spirit, what here is done will do you no good, it will not turn to your account in the day of Christ; and therefore cast an eye Heaven-wards. How many are therein these days, who when they go to read a book, never look up for God’s blessing! Seneca observes, that the husbandmen in Egypt never look up to heaven for rain in time of drought, but to the overflowing of the Nile. How many there are, who when they read a book never look after the rain of God’s blessing, but look to the river. They only look to the wit, the learning, the arts, the parts, the eloquence, &c. of the author; they never look so high as Heaven; and hence it comes to pass, that though these read much, yet they profit little.
2. He that would read to profit, must read and meditate. Meditation is the food of your souls; it is the very stomach and natural heat whereby spiritual truths are author’s PREFACE* XV
digested. A man shall as soon live without his heart, as he shall be able to get good by what he reads, without meditation. Prayer, saith Augustine, without meditation, is dry and formal; and reading without meditation is useless and unprofitable. He that would be a wise, a prudent, and an able, experienced statesman, must not hastily ramble and run over many cities, countries, customs, laws, and manners of people, without serious musing and pondering upon such things as may make him. an expert statesman; so he that would get good by reading, that would complete his knowledge, and perfect his experience in spiritual things, must not slightly and hastily ramble and run over this book or that, but ponder upon what he reads; as Mary pondered the saying of the angel in her heart. “Lord,” saith Augustine, “the more I meditate on thee, the sweeter thou art to me;” so the more you shall meditate on the following matter, the sweeter it will be to you. They usually thrive best who meditate most. Meditation is a soul-nourishing duty, a grace-strengthening duty. Gerson calls meditation the nurse of prayer; lerom calls it his paradise; Basil calls it the treasury where all the graces are stored up; Theophylact calls it the very gate and portal by which we enter into glory; and Aristotle, though a heathen, places felicity in the contemplation of the mind. You may read much, and hear much; yet without meditation you will never be excellent, you will never be eminent christians. 3. Read, and try what thou readest; take nothing upon trust, but all upon trial, 1 John iv. 1, as those noble Bereans did, Acts xvii. 10, 11. You will try, and tell, and weigh gold, though it be handed to you by your fathers; and so should you all those heavenly truths that are handed to you by your spiritual fathers. I hope, upon trial, you will find nothing but what will hold weight in the balance of the sanctuary; and though all be not gold that glitters, yet I judge that you will find nothing here to glitter, that will not be found, upon trial, to be true gold.
4. Read, and do; read, and practise what you read, or else all your reading will do you no good. He that hath a good book in his hand, but not a lesson of it in his heart, or life, is like that ass that carries rich burdens and feeds upon thistles. Jn divine account, a man knows no more than he doth. Profession, without practice, will but make a man twice told a child of darkness. To speak well is to sound like a cymbal; but to do well is to act like an angel. He that practices what he reads and understands, God will help him to understand what he understands not, John vii. 16, 17; Psa. cxix. 98, 99, 100. There is no fear of knowing too much, though there is much fear in practising too little. The most doing man shall be the most knowing man; the mightiest man in practice, will, in the end, prove the mightiest man in scripture. Theory is the guide of practice, and practice is the life of theory. Salvian relates how the heathen did reproach some christians who by their lewd lives made the gospel of Christ to be a reproach. Where (said they) is that good law which they do believe? where are those rules of godliness which they do learn? They read the holy gospel, and yet are unclean; they hear the apostle’s writings, and yet live in drunkenness; they follow Christ, and yet disobey Christ; they profess a holy law, and yet lead impure lives. Ah! how may many preachers take up sad complaints against many readers in these days! They read our works, and yet in their lives they deny our works; they praise our works, and yet in their conversations they reproach our works; they cry up our labors in their discourses, and yet they cry them down in their practices. Yet I hope better things of you into whose hands this treatise shall fall. The Samaritan woman did not fill her pitcher with water that she might talk of it, but that she might use it. The application is easy.
5. Read and apply. Reading is but the drawing of the bow; application is the hitting of the mark. The author’s preface, xvii
choicest truths will no further profit you, than they are applied by you; you had as good not read, as not apply what you read. The plaster will not heal, if it be not applied. No man attains to health by reading Galen, or by knowing Hippocrates’ aphorisms, but by the practical application of them. All the reading in the world will never make for the health of your souls, except you apply what you read. The true reason why many read so much, and profit so little, is, because they do not apply and bring home what they read to their own souls. But, 6. Read and pray. He that makes not conscience of praying over what he reads, will find little sweetness or profit in his reading. No man makes such earnings of his reading, as he that prays over what he reads. Luther professeth, that he profited more in the knowledge of the scriptures, by prayer, in a short space of time, than by study in a longer. John, while weeping, had the sealed book opened. Men would gain much more than they do, by reading good men’s works, if they would but pray more over what they read. Ah, christians! pray before you read, and pray after you read, that all may be blessed and sanctified to you. When you have done reading, usually close up thus:
“So let me live, so let me die,
That I may live eternally.”
And when you are in the mount for yourselves, bear him upon your hearts, who is willing to spend and be spent for your sakes, for your souls. O pray for me, that I may more and more be under the rich influences and glorious out-pourings of the Spirit; that I may be an able minister of the New Testament, not of the letter but of the Spirit, 2 Cor. iii. 6; that I may always find an everlasting spring, and an overflowing fountain within me, which may always make me faithful, constant, and abundant, in the work of the Lord; and that I may live daily xviii author’s preface.
under those inward teachings of the Spirit, that may enable me to speak from the heart to the heart, from the conscience to the conscience, and from experience to experience; that I may be a burning and a shining light; that everlasting arms may be still under me; that whilst I live, I may be serviceable to the glory of God, and his people’s good; that nothing may discourage me in my work; and that when my work is done, I may give up my account with joy, and not with grief. I shall follow these poor labors with my weak prayers, that they may contribute much to your internal and eternal welfare; and so rest,
Your souls’ servant in our dearest Lord,