Seasonable Counsel or Advice to Sufferers, Part 5. By John Bunyan. This sermon was created with an artificial voice for the Audiobook Initiative on Sermon Audio. There may be mispronunciations or occasional repetitions. To report a mistake, please email us at info at sermonaudio.com and include the sermon ID or title of the message and the time at which the error occurs. We will do our best to get it corrected for future listeners. I have now done with that first head that was to be spoken to as touching the law and testament, which we have said was to be understood of the will of God spoken of in the text. Let them that suffer according to the will of God, that is, according to His law and testament. Now we have showed what it is to suffer according to that. We come to another thing, namely, The will of God means His order and designments. Second, that by the will of God we also understand His order and designment, for the will of God is active to dispose of His people, as well as perceptive, to show unto us our duty. He then that suffers for righteousness' sake, as He suffers for that which is good as to the matter of it, and as He suffers for that which is good, after that manner as becomes that truth for which He suffereth, So he that thus suffereth, suffereth by the order and designment of God. That then is the next thing that is to be spoken to, namely, God is the great orderer of the battle that is managed in the world against Antichrist. Hence, that battle is called the battle of that great day of God Almighty. It is not what enemies will, nor what they are resolved upon, but what God will and what God appoints. That shall be done. This doctrine Christ teacheth when he saith, Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows. He speaks in the verses before of killing, and bids them that they should not be afraid for that. Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear. Fear him which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell. Yea, I say unto you, fear him. Then he leads them to the consideration of this, that the will of God governs and disposes of his people to suffering. as well as declares to them for what and how they should suffer, saying, Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, etc.? Also, in Isaiah 8, 9, and 10, and in Isaiah 2, 12, and 13, you have in sum the same thing inserted again. But we will not stay upon proof. but will proceed to demonstration hereof. Pharaoh said he would I, that he would, but he could not touch so much as a thread or a ride of Israel, because the will of God was in that thing contrary to him. Saul said that he would have David, and to that end would search for him among the thousands of Judah. But David was designed for another purpose, and therefore Saul must go without him. Rabshake said that he was come from Assyria to Jerusalem to make Judah eat their own dung and drink their own piss. But God said he should not shoot an arrow there, and it came to pass as God had said. Jeremiah and Baruch enemies would have killed them, but they could not, for God hid them. How many times had the Jews a mind to have destroyed Jesus Christ, but they could not touch a hair of his head until his hour was come. Those also that bound themselves in a curse, that they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed Paul, were forced to be foresworn. For the will of God was not that Paul should die as yet. This therefore should be well considered of God's church. In the cloudy and dark day, all his saints are in thy hand. It is not the way of God to let the enemies of God's church do what they will. No, the devil himself can devour but whom he may. and as no enemy can bring suffering upon a man when the will of God is otherwise, so no man can save himself out of their hands when God will deliver him up for His glory. It remaineth then, that we be not much afraid of men, nor yet be foolishly bold, but that we wait upon our God in the way of righteousness, and the use of those means which His providence offereth to us for our safety, and that we conclude that our whole dispose as to liberty or suffering lieth in the will of God, and that we shall or shall not suffer, even as it pleaseth him. For first God has appointed who shall suffer. Suffering comes not by chance or by the will of man, but by the will and appointment of God. Let no man, said Paul, be moved by these afflictions, for yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto. We are apt to forget God when affliction comes, and to think it a strange thing that those that fear God should suffer indeed. but we should not, for we suffer by the will and appointment of God. Hence, they under the altar were bid to rest for a while, even until their fellow servants also, and their brethren that should be killed. Mark that, should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled. Wherefore, suffering for righteousness and for righteousness' sake is by the will of God. God has appointed who shall suffer, that is the first. Second, as God has appointed who shall suffer, so he has appointed when they shall suffer for his truth in the world. Sufferings for such and such a man are timed as to when he shall be tried for his faith. Hence, when Paul was afraid at Corinth that the heathens would fall about his ears, the Lord spake to him by night in a vision, saying, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace. For I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee. His time of suffering was not yet come there. It is also said concerning Jesus Christ that even then when they sought to take Him, no man laid hands on Him because His hour was not yet come. The times then, and the seasons, even for the sufferings of the people of God, are not in the hands of their enemies, but in the hand of God. As David said, My times are in thy hand. By the will of God, then, it is that such shall suffer at, but not until that time. But third, as God has appointed who and when, so he has appointed where this, that, or the other good man shall suffer. Moses and Elias, when they appeared on the holy mount, told Jesus of the sufferings which he should accomplish at Jerusalem. Jerusalem was the place assigned for Christ to suffer at. Also, there must the whole of His sufferings be accomplished. The saints are sprinkled by the hand of God here and there, as salt is sprinkled upon meat to keep it from stinking. And as they are thus sprinkled, that they may season the earth so accordingly, where they must suffer is also appointed for the better confirming of the truth. Christ said, it could not be that a prophet should perish out of Jerusalem. But why could it not be that they should perish other where? Were there no enemies but in Jerusalem? Were there no good men but at Jerusalem? No, no, that was not the reason. The reason was, for that God had appointed that they should suffer there. So then, who, when, and where is at the will of God, and they accordingly are ordered by that will. Fourth, as God has appointed who, when, and where, so He has also appointed what kind of sufferings this or that saint shall undergo, at this place and at such a time. God said that He would show Paul beforehand how great things he should suffer for his sake. And it is said that Christ did signify to Peter beforehand by what death he should glorify God. When Herod had beheaded John the Baptist, and when the Jews had crucified Christ, it is said that they had but fulfilled what was written of them. Our sufferings, as to the nature of them, are all writ down in God's book, and though the writings seem as unknown characters to us, yet God understands them very well. Some of them they shall kill and crucify, and some of them they shall scourge in their synagogue, and persecute them from city to city, Shall God, think you, say, Some of them they shall serve thus, and some of them they shall do so too? And yet not a lot which sum to this, and which to that, and which to the other trial? Doubtless our sufferings fall by the will of God unto us, as they fell of old upon the people of Jerusalem. It was appointed by God who of them should die of hunger, who with sword, who should go into captivity, and who should be eaten up of beasts. So is the case here, namely, as God has appointed who, when, where, and the like, so he has also what manner of sufferings this or that good man shall undergo for his name, Let it then be concluded that hitherto it appears that the sufferings of saints are ordered and disposed by the will of God. But fifth, as all this is determined by the will of God, so it is also appointed for what truth this or that saint shall suffer this or that kind of affliction. Every saint has his course, his work, and his testimony, as is allotted him of God. John had a course, a testimony to fulfill for God, and so had holy Paul, and so has every saint. Also, he that is to suffer has his truth appointed him to suffer for. Christ had a truth peculiar to himself to bear witness to in a way of suffering. John had a truth peculiar to himself to bear witness to in a way of suffering. Stephen had also a truth, diverse from them both, to which he bare a holy testimony, and for which he bravely died. If you read the book of Acts and Monuments, you may see a goodly variety as to this, and yet in all a curious harmony. Some are there said to suffer for the Godhead, some for the manhood, some for the ordinances of Christ, and some laid down their lives for the brethren. And thus far, we see that he that suffers for righteousness' sake suffers in this sense according to the will of God. Sixth, as it is appointed who, when, where, what kind, and for what truth, by the will of God, this and that saint should suffer, so also it is appointed by whose hand this or that man shall suffer for this or that truth, It was appointed that Moses and Israel should suffer by the hand of Pharaoh. And for this very purpose, said God, have I raised thee up, that is, to be a persecutor, and to reap the fruits thereof. It was also determined that Christ should suffer by the hand of Herod and Pontius Pilate. For of a truth, said they, against thy holy child Jesus, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together, for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. These are great instances from which we may gather how all these things are ordered from thence down hitherto. For if a sparrow falls not to the ground without God, she shall not be killed without God, not by he knows not who. And if a Christian man is better than many sparrows, it follows that God concerns himself more with, for, and about him than with, for, or about many sparrows. It follows, therefore, in right reason, that as the person who is appointed to be the sufferer, so the persons who are appointed to be the rod and sword thereby to afflict withal. Thus far, therefore, the will of God is it that ordereth and disposeth of us and of our sufferings. Seventh, as all these pass through the hand of God and come not to us but by his will, so how, as also long, is really determined as any of them all? It is not in man but God to set the time how long the rod of the wicked shall rest upon the lot of the righteous. Abraham must be informed of this. Abraham says God, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them, and they shall afflict them four hundred years. So the thraldom of Israel in Babylon was not only in the general appointed, but the time prefixed. How long? The time of the beast's reign and of the witnesses walking in sackcloth are punctually fixed, and that beyond which they cannot go. I know these are generals, and respect the church in the bulk of it, and not particular persons. But, as was hinted afore, we must argue from the greater to the lesser, that is, from four hundred years to ten days, from ten days to three, and so from the church in general to each particular member, and to the time and nature of their sufferings. And thus, in a word or two, I have finished the first two parts of the text and showed you what there is in Peter's counsel and advice, and showed you also to whom his advice is given, in which last, as you see, I have showed you both what the will of God is and what to suffer according to it. And particularly, I have, in a few words, handled this last to show you that our sufferings are ordered and disposed by Him, that you might always, when you come into trouble for His name, not stagger nor be at a loss, but be stayed, composed, and settled in your minds, and say, The will of the Lord be done. I will also say unto you this by the way, that the will of God doth greatly work, even to order and dispose of the spirits of Christians, in order to willingness, disposedness, readiness, and resignation of ourselves to the mind of God. For with respect to this were those words last recited spoken. Paul saw that he had a call to go up to Jerusalem, there to bear his testimony for Christ and his gospel. But those unto whom he made know his purpose entreated him, with much earnestness not to go up thither, for that, as they believed, it would endanger his life. But he answereth, What mean ye to weep, and to break my heart? For I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus. And when he would not be persuaded, says Luke, we ceased, saying, The will of the Lord be done. From what has been thus discoursed, many things will follow. As one, that the rod, as well as the child, is God's, persecutors, as well as the persecuted, are his, and he has his own designs upon both. He has raised them up, and He has ordered them for Himself, and for that work that He has for them to do. Hence, Habakkuk, speaking of the church's enemies, saith, Thou hast ordained them for judgment, and, O mighty God, Thou hast established them for correction. And therefore, they are in other places called the rod of God's anger, His staff, His hand, His sword, Indeed, to be thus disposed of is a sad lot. The lot is not fallen to them in pleasant places, they have not the goodly heritage. But the judgments of God are a great deep. The thing formed may not say to him that formed it. Why hast thou made me thus? To be appointed, to be ordained, to be established to be a persecutor and a troubler of God's church. O tremendous judgment! O amazing anger! Three things the people of God should learn from hence. One, learn to pity and bewail the condition of the enemy. I know thou canst not alter the counsel of God. Appointed they are, established they are for their work, and do it they must and shall. But yet it becomes them that see their state, and that their day is coming to pity and bewail their condition, yea, and to pray for them too. For who knows whether it is determined that they should remain implacable to the end, as Herod, or whether they may through grace obtain repentance of their doings with Saul. And I say again, if thy prayer should have a casting hand in the conversion of any of them, it would be sweet to thy thoughts when the scene is over. Two, never grudge them their present advantages. Fret not thyself because of evil men, neither be thou envious at the workers of iniquity. Fret not, though they spoil thy resting place. It is God that has bidden them do it, to try thy faith and patience thereby. Wish them no ill with what they get of thine. It is their wages for their work, and it will appear to them ere long that they have earned it dearly. Their time is to rejoice, but as in a moment, in what thus is gotten by them. And then they, not repenting, are to perish for ever like their own done. Poor man, thou that hast thy time to be afflicted by them, that thy golden graces may shine the more, thou art in the fire, and they blow the bellows. But wouldst thou change places with them? Wouldst thou sit upon their place of ease? Dost thou desire to be with them? O rest thy self contented, in thy patience possess thy soul, and pity and bewail them in the condition in which they are. Bless God that thy lot did fall on the other side, namely, to be one that should know the truth, profess it, suffer for it, and have grace to bear thee up thereunder, to God's glory and thy eternal comfort. This honor have not all his saints. All are not counted worthy thus to suffer shame for his name. Do this, I say, though they get all, and leave thee nothing but the shirt on thy back, the skin on thy bones, or an whole the ground to be put in. Two, labour to be patient under this mighty hand of God, and be not hasty to say, When will the rod be laid aside? Mind thou thy duty, which is to let patience have its perfect work, and bear the indignation of the Lord, because thou hast sinned against him until he pleased to awake, to arise, and to execute judgment for thee. But to pass this, are things thus ordered? Then this should teach us that there is a cause. The rod is not gathered without a cause. The rod is for, determined, because the sin of God's people is foreseen, and oft times the nature of the sin and the anger of the Father is seen in the fashion of the rod. The rod of my anger, saith God, a bitter and hasty nation must be brought against Jerusalem. An enemy fierce and cruel must be brought against the land of Israel. Their sins called for such a rod, for their iniquities were grievous. This should teach us with all earnestness to be sorry for our sins, and to do what we can to prevent these things, by falling upon our face in a way of prayer before God. If we would shorten such days, when they come upon us, let us be lovers of righteousness, and get more of the righteousness of faith, and of compliance with the whole will of God into our hearts. Then I say, the days shall be shortened, or we fare as well, because the more harmless and innocent we are, and suffer, the greater will our wages, our reward, and glory be, when payday shall come. And what if we wait a little for that? These things are sent to better God's people and to make them white, to refine them as silver and to purge them as gold, and to cause that they that bear some fruit may bring forth more. We are afflicted that we may grow. It is also the will of God that they that go to heaven should go thither hardly or with difficulty. The righteous shall scarcely be saved, that is they shall, but yet with great difficulty that it may be the sweeter. Now that which makes the way to heaven so straight, so narrow, so hard, is the rod, the sword, the persecutor, that lies in the way, that marks where our haunt is, that mars our path, digs a pit, and that sets a net, a snare for us in the way. This, I say, is that which puts us to it. But it is to try, as I said, our graces, and to make heaven the sweeter to us. To come frighted and hard-pursued thither will make the safety there the more with exceeding gladness to be embraced. And I say, get thy heart yet more possessed with the power of godliness, that the love of righteousness may be yet more with thee. For this blessedness, this happiness, he shall be sure of, that suffereth for righteousness' sake. 3. Since the rod is God's as well as the child, let us not look upon our troubles as if they came from, and were managed only by hell. It is true, a persecutor has a black mark upon him, but yet the Scriptures say that all the ways of the persecutor are God's. Wherefore, as we should, so again we should not. Be afraid of men, we should be afraid of them, because they will hurt us. But we should not be afraid of them, as if they were let loose to do to us, and with us, what they will. God's bridle is upon them, God's hook is in their nose. Yea, and God has determined the bounds of their rage, and if he lets them drive his church into the sea of troubles, it shall be but up to the neck, and so far it may go, and not be drowned. I say the Lord has hold of them, and orders them, nor do they at any time come out against his people, but by his license and commission, how far to go, and where to stop. And now for two or three objections. One objection. But may we not fly in a time of persecution? You're pressing upon us that persecution is ordered and managed by God makes us afraid to fly. Answer. First, having regard to what was said afore about a call to suffer, thou mayest do in this even as it is in thy heart. If it is in thy heart to fly, fly. If it be in thy heart to stand, stand. Anything but a denial of the truth. He that flies has warrant to do so. He that stands has warrant to do so. Yea, the same man may both fly and stand, as the call and working of God with his heart may be. Moses fled, Moses stood, David fled, David stood, Jeremiah stood, Christ withdrew himself, Christ stood, Paul fled, Paul stood. There are therefore few rules in this case. The man himself is best able to judge concerning his present strength, and what weight this or that argument has upon his heart to stand or fly, I should be loath to impose upon any man in these things. Only, if thou flyest, take two or three cautions with thee. One, do not fly out of a slavish fear, but rather because flying is an ordinance of God, opening a door for the escape of some, which door is opened by God's providence, and the escape countenanced by God's word. 2. When thou art fled, do as much good as thou canst in all quarters where thou comest, for therefore the door was opened to thee, and thou bid to make thy escape. 3. Do not think thyself secure when thou art fled. It was providence that opened the door, and the word that did bid thee escape, but whither, and wherefore, that thou knowest not yet. Uriah the prophet fled into Egypt, because there dwelt men that were to take him, that he might be brought again to Jerusalem to die there. 4. Shouldest thou fly from where thou art, and be taken in another place, the most that can be made of it, by taking the opportunity to fly, as was propounded at first, can be but this thou wast willing to commit thyself to God in the way of his providence, as other good men have done, and thy being now apprehended, has made thy call clear to suffer here or there, the which before thou wert in the dark about. 5. If therefore, when thou hast fled, thou art taken, be not offended at God or man. Not at God, for thou art his servant, thy life, and thy all are his. Not at man, for he is but God's rod and is ordained in this to do thee good. Hast thou escaped? Laugh. Art thou taken? Laugh. I mean be pleased which way so ever things shall go, for that the scales are still in God's hand. 6. But fly not in flying from religion, fly not in flying for the sake of a trade, fly not in flying that thou mayest have ease for the flesh. This is wicked, and will yield neither peace nor profit to thy soul, neither now, nor at death, nor at the day of judgment. 2. Objection. But if I fly, some will blame me. What must I do now? Answer, and so many others if thou standest. Fly not, therefore, as was said afore, out of a slavish fear. Stand not of a bravado. Do what thou dost in the fear of God, guiding thyself by his word and providence. And as for this or that man's judgment, refer thy case to the judgment of God. 3. Objection. But if I be taken and suffer, my cause is like to be clothed with scandals, slanders, reproaches, and all manner of false and evil speakings, What must I do? Answer, Saul charged David with rebellion. Amos was charged with conspiring against the king. Daniel was charged with despising the king. And so also were the three children. Jesus Christ himself was accused of perverting the nation, of forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, and of saying that himself was Christ a king. These things therefore have been. but one. Canst thou, after a due examination of thyself, say that as to these things thou art innocent and clear? I say, will thy conscience justify thee here? Hast thou made it thy business to give unto God the things that are God's, and unto Caesar the things that are his, according as God has commanded? If so, matter not what men shall say, nor with what lies and reproaches they slander thee, but for these things count thyself happy. Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and shall say all manner of evil against you, falsely lying for my sake, saith Christ. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven, For so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. Comfort thyself therefore in the innocency of thy soul, and say, I am counted a rebel, and yet am loyal. I am counted a deceiver, and yet am true. Also refer thy cause to the day of judgment. For if thou canst rejoice at the thoughts that thou shalt be cleared of all slanders and evil speakings, then, That will bear up thy heart as to what thou mayest suffer now. The answer of a good conscience will carry a man through hell to heaven. Count these slanders part of thy sufferings, and those for which God will give thee a reward, because thou art innocent, and for that they are laid upon thee for thy profession's sake. but if thou be guilty, look to thyself. I am no comforter of such. Third, the good effect of committing the soul to God's keeping. I come now to speak to the third and last part of the text, namely, of the good effect that will certainly follow to those that, after a due manner, shall take the advice aforegiven. Let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to Him in well-doing, as unto a faithful Creator. Two things from the last clause of the text lie yet before us, and they are they by which will be shown what good effect will follow to those that suffer according to the will of God, and that commit their souls to His keeping. One, such will find Him to themselves a Creator. Two, they will find Him a faithful creator. Let them commit the keeping of their souls to Him as unto a faithful creator. In this phrase, a faithful creator, behold the wisdom of the Holy Ghost, how fitly and to the purpose He speaketh. King is a great title, and God is sometimes called a king. But He is not set forth by this title here, but by the title of a creator. For it is not always in the power of a king to succor and relieve his subjects that are suffering for his crown and dignity. Father is a sweet title, a title that carrieth in it an intimation of a great deal of bowels and compassion, and God is often set forth also by this title in the Holy Scriptures. but so he is not here, but rather as a creator. For a father, a compassionate father, cannot always help, succor, or relieve his children, though he knows they are under affliction. Oh, but a creator can. Wherefore I say he is set forth here under the title of creator. First, a creator. Nothing can die under a creator's hands. A creator can sustain all. A creator can, as a creator, do what he pleases. The Lord, the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary. The cause of God, for which his people suffer, had been dead and buried a thousand years ago, had it not been in the hand of a creator. The people that have stood by His cause had been out of both as to persons' name and remembrance, had they not been in the hand of a Creator. Who could have hoped when Israel was going in, even into the mouth of the Red Sea, that ever His cause, or that people, should have revived again? A huge host of the Egyptians were behind them, and nothing but death before and on every hand of them. But they lived, they flourished, they outlived their enemies, for they were in the hand of a Creator. Who could have hoped that Israel should have returned again from the land, from the hand, and from under the tyranny of the king of Babylon? They could not deliver themselves from going thither. They could not preserve themselves from being diminished when they came there. Their power was gone. They were in captivity. Their distance from home was far. Their enemies possessed their land. Their city of defense was ruined, and their houses burned down to the ground. And yet they came home again. There is nothing impossible to a Creator. Who could have thought that the three children could have lived in a fiery furnace? That Daniel could have been safe among the lions? That Jonah could have come home to his country? when He was in the whale's belly? Or that our Lord should have risen again from the dead? But what is impossible to a Creator? This, therefore, is a rare consideration for those to let their hearts be equated with that suffer according to the will of God, and that have committed the keeping of their souls to Him in well-doing. They have a Creator to maintain and uphold their cause, a Creator to oppose its opposers, and hence it is said, All that burden themselves with Jerusalem shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it. Second, a Creator, A Creator can not only support a dying cause, but also fainting spirits. For as he fainteth not, nor is weary, so he giveth power to the faint, and to them that have no might he increase strength. He is the God of the spirits of all flesh, and has the life of the spirit of his people in his own hand. Spirits have their being from Him. He is the Father of spirits. Spirits are made strong by Him. Nor can any crush that spirit that God the Creator will uphold. Is it not a thing amazing to see one poor, inconsiderable man, in a spirit of faith and patience, overcome all the threatenings, cruelties, afflictions, and sorrows that a whole world can lay upon Him? None can quail him, none can crush him, none can bend down his spirit. None can make him to forsake what he has received of God. A commandment to hold fast, his holy, harmless, and profitable notions, because they are spiced with grace, yield to him more comfort, joy, and peace, and do kindle in his soul so goodly a fire of love to, and zeal for God, that all the waters of the world shall never be able to quench. I say some that is because his is headstrong, obstinate, and one that will hear no reason. No, say I, but it is because his spirit is in the hand under the conduct and preservation of a creator. A creator can make spirits, uphold spirits, and make one spirit stronger to stand than are all the spirits of the world to cast down. To stand, I say, in a way of patient enduring and well-doing against all that hell can do to suppress. Third, a creator. A creator can bring down the spirits that oppose and make them weak and unstable as water. The Lord, the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not nor is weary, there is no searching of his understanding. He gives power to the faint, and to those that have no might, he increaseth strength. Now, Mark, even the young shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall. A Creator can dash the spirits of the enemies with fear. God can put them in fear and make them know that they are men and not God, and that their horses are flesh and not spirit. When the enemy came to take Jesus Christ, their spirits fated, their hearts died in them, they went backwards and fell to the ground. They had hard work to strengthen their spirits to a sufficiency of boldness and courage, though they brought halberds and staves and swords and weapons with them to take a naked man. And although this is that which is not so visible to the world as some other things are, yet I believe that God treads down the spirits of men in a day when they afflict His people oftener than we are aware of or than they are willing to confess. How was the hostile spirit of Esau trod down of God when he came out to meet his poor naked brother with no less than four hundred armed men? He fainted before his brother, and instead of killing, kissed him. How was the bloody spirit of Saul trod down, when David met him at the mouth of the cave, and also at the hill, Hathilah? God is a creator, and as a creator is a spirit-maker, a spirit-reviver, a spirit-destroyer. He can destroy body and soul in hell. Fourth, a creator. As a creator, he is over all arts, inventions, and crafts of men that are set on work to destroy God's people, whether they be soldiers, excellent orators, or any other whatsoever. We will single out one, the smith, that roaring fellow, who with his coals and his bellows makes a continual noise. I have created the smith, said God, that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work. and I have created the waster to destroy. The smith, what is he? I answer, an idol-maker, a promoter of false worship, and one that makes instruments of cruelty, therewith to help to suppress the true worship. I have created the smith, saith God, that bloweth the coals in the fire, the idol-inventor, the idol-maker, the supporter of idol-worship. He is my creature, saith God, to teach that he has power to reach him, and to command his sword to approach him at his pleasure, notwithstanding his roaring with his bellows and his coals in the fire. So then, he cannot do what he will in the fire, nor with his idol when he has made it, the instrument also that he makes for the defense of his idol, and for the suppressing of God's true worship, shall not do the thing for the which it is designed by him. And so the very next verse saith, No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper, and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord. And the text saith moreover, I have created the waster to destroy. The waster, what is that? Why, the smith makes an idol, and God has made the rust. The smith makes a sword, and God has made the rust. The rust eats them up. The moth shall eat them up. The fire shall devour them. The wicked, saith the psalmist, have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow to cast down the poor and needy, and to slay such as be of upright conversation. Their sword shall enter into their own heart, and their bows shall be broken. All this can God do, because he is a creator, and none but God can do it. Wherefore, by this peculiar title of creator, the apostle prepareth support for suffering saints, and also shows what a good conclusion is like to be made with them that suffer for righteousness' sake according to his will, and that commit the keeping of their souls to him in well-doing, as unto a faithful creator. FIFTH, A CREATOR. A Creator can make such provision for a suffering people in all respects, as shall answer all their wants. Have they lost their peace with the world? Have they no more peace with this world? Why, a Creator can make, create peace, can create peace, peace, peace with God and peace with His conscience, and that is better than all the peace that can be found elsewhere in the world. Have they lost a good frame of heart? Do they want a right frame of spirit? Why, though this is to be had nowhere in the world, yet a Creator can help them to it? Have they lost their spiritual defense? Do they lie too open to their spiritual foes? Why, this a Creator can help, and the Lord will create upon every dwelling place of Mount Zion and upon her assemblies a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night. For upon all the glory shall be a defense. This is the work of the Spirit. For though the Spirit itself be uncreated, yet all the holy works of it in the heart are verily works of creation. Our new man is a creation. Our graces are a creation. Our joys and comforts are a creation. Now a creation none can destroy but a Creator. Wherefore, here is comfort. But again, God hath created us in Christ Jesus. That is another thing. The sun is created in the heavens. The stars are created in the heavens. The moon is created in the heavens. Who can reach them, touch them, destroy them but the Creator? Why, this is the case of the saints, because he has to do with the Creator, he is fastened to Christ, yea, is in him by an act of creation, so that unless Christ and the creation of the Holy Ghost can be destroyed, he is safe that is suffering according to the will of God, and that hath committed the keeping of his soul to him in well-doing, as unto a faithful Creator. And this I would have you consider moreover, The man that suffereth according to the will of God committeth not such a soul to this Creator as dwells in carnal men. A naked soul, a graceless soul, a soul that has nothing in it but sin, but he commits a converted soul, a regenerate soul, a soul adorned, beautified, and sanctified with the jewels and bracelets, earrings, and perfumes of the blessed Spirit of grace. And I say again, this is the work of a Creator, and a Creator can maintain it in its gallantry. And He will do so, but He will put forth acts of creating power for it every day. Sixth, a creator, he that can create, can turn and alter anything to what himself would have it. He that made the seven stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, he can make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water, our most afflicted and desolate conditions, he can make as a little haven unto us. He can make us sing in the wilderness, and can give us our vineyards from thence. He can make Paul sing in the stocks, and good Roland Taylor dance as he goeth to the burning stake. Jails, and mocks, and scourgings, and flouts, and imprisonments, and hunger, and nakedness, and peril, and sword, and dens, and caves, and rocks, and mountains, God can so sweeten with the honey of His Word, and make so famous for situation by the glory of His presence, and so rich and fruitful by the communications of the Holy Ghost, and so easy by the spreading of His feathers over us, that we shall not be able to say, that in all the world a more commodious place or comfortable condition can be found. Some have no this and have been rather ready to covet to be here than to shun and fly from it as a most unsavory condition. All these things, I say, God doth as a creator. He hath created antipathies, and He can make antipathies close and have favor one for another. the lion and the calf, the wolf and the lamb, the little boy and the cockatrice's den, he can reconcile and make to be at agreement. So, sufferings and the saint, the prison and the saint, losses, crosses, and afflictions, and the saint, he can make to lie down sweetly together. Seventh, a creator. A Creator can make up all that thou hast or shalt lose for the sake of thy profession by the hands of the children of men. Be they friends, relations, a world, life, or what you can conceive of. One, hast thou lost thy friend for the sake of thy profession? Is the whole world set against thee for thy love to God, to Christ, His cause, and righteousness? why a Creator can make up all. Here, therefore, is the advantage that he hath that suffereth for righteousness' sake. Jonathan, the very son of bloody Saul, when David had lost the help of all his own relations, he must fall in with him, stick to him, and love him as he loved his own soul. Obadiah, Ahab's steward, when the saints were driven even underground by the rage of Jezebel the queen, he is appointed of God to feed them in caves and holes of the earth. Yea, the very raven complied with the will of a creator to bring the prophet bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh at night. When Jeremiah the prophet was rejected of all, yea, the church that then was could not help him, he was cast into the dungeon and sunk to a great depth there in the mire. God the creator, who ruleth the spirits of all men, stirred up the heart of Abedmelech the Ethiopian both to petition for his liberty and to put him out of the dungeon by the help of thirty men. These now, as Christ says, were both fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, and as a loving wife or child. Two, hast thou for the sake of thy faith and profession thereof lost thy part in the world? Why, a Creator can make thee houses as he did for the midwives of Egypt, and can build thee a sure house as he did for David his servant, who ventured all for the love that they had to the fear of God and His way. David was thrust out of Saul's house and driven from his own, and God opened the heart of Achish the king of Gath to receive him and to give him Ziklag. David, when under the tyranny of Saul, knew not what to do with his father and his mother, who were persecuted for his sake. But a Creator inclined the heart of the king of Moab to receive them to house and harbor, 3. Is thy life at stake? Is that like to go for thy profession, for thy harmless profession of the gospel? Why, God the Creator is Lord of life, and to God the Lord belong the issues from death. So then He can, if He will, hold thy breath in thy nostrils, in spite of all the world. Or, if He shall suffer them to take away this for His glory, He can give thee another ten times as good for thy comfort. He that loveth his life shall lose it, and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. For, is thy body to be disfigured, dismembered, starved, hanged, or burned for the faith and profession of the gospel? Why, a Creator can either prevent it, or, suffering it, can restore it the very same to thee again, with great and manifold advantage. He that made thee to be now what thou art, can make thee to be what thou never yet wast. It doth not yet appear what we shall be, further than only by general words. 8. A Creator. Peter sets him before us here as a Creator, because he would have us live upon him as such, as well as upon his grace, love, and mercy. In Job's day this was bewailed, that none or but a few said, Where is God, my Maker, who giveth psalms in the night? Creator, as was hinted before, is one of God's peculiar titles. It is not given to Him above five or six times in all the book of God. And usually, when given Him, it is either to show His greatness or else to convince us that of duty we ought to depend upon Him. and not to faint, if he be on our side, for or under any adversity, according as we are bidden in the text. Let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to Him in well-doing, as unto a faithful Creator. Shall God display His glory before us under the character and title of a Creator? And shall we yet fear man? Shall He do this to us when we are under a suffering condition, and that on purpose that we might commit our souls to Him in well-doing, and be quiet? And shall we take no notice of this? Who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the Son of man which shall be made as grass? And forgettest the Lord thy Maker, that hath stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth? etc. Had God concealed Himself as to His being a Creator, yet since He presented Himself unto us by His Word under so many excellent titles, as are given to no other God besides, methinks it should make us bold in our God. But when, for our relief, He shall add to all other that He verily is a Creator, this should make us rest in hope indeed. Every nation will have confidence for their own gods, though, but gods that are made with hands, though but the work of the smith and carpenter. And shall not we trust in the name of the Lord our God, who is not only a god, but a creator and former of all things, consequently the only living and true God, and one that alone can sustain us? We therefore are to be greatly blamed if we overlook the ground, such ground of support and comfort as presented itself unto us under the title of a Creator. But then most of all, if, when we have heard, believed, and known that our God is such, we shall yet be afraid of a man that shall die, and forget the Lord our Maker. We, I say, have heard, seen, known, and believed that our God is the Creator, the heavens declare His glory, and the firmament showeth His handiwork, and thus He has showed unto us His eternal power and Godhead. Behold then, thou fearful worm, Jacob, the heavens, the sun, the moon, the stars, behold the earth, the sea, the air, the fire, and vapors, Behold all living things, from Leviathan and Behemoth to the least, that creepeth in the earth and waters. Yea, behold thyself, thy soul, thy body, thy fashion, thy building, and consider. Thy God hath made even all these things, and hath given to thee this being, Yea, and all this also he made of that which doth not appear. This is that which thou art called to the consideration of by Peter in the text. When he letteth fall from his apostolical meditation that thy God is the Creator, and commandeth that thou, in thy suffering for him according to his will, shouldest commit the keeping of thy soul to him as unto a faithful Creator, He that has the art thus to do, and that can do it in his straits, shall never be trodden down. His God, his faith, his faith, his God, are able to make him stand, for such a man will thus conclude, that since the Creator of all is with him, what but creatures are there to be against him? So then, what is the axe, that it should boast itself against him that heweth therewith? Or the saw, that it should magnify itself against him that shaketh it? As if the rod should shake itself against him that lifteth it up, or as if the staff should lift up itself, as if it were not wood. Read also Isaiah 40.12-31, and then speak, if God as Creator is not a sure confidence to all the ends of the earth that trust in, and wait upon him. As Creator, he hath formed, and upholdeth all things. Yea, his hands have formed the crooked serpent, wherefore he also is at his bay. and thou hast made the Dryden in the sea, and therefore it follows that he can cut and wound him, and give him for meat to the fowls, and to the beasts inheriting the wilderness, if he will seek to swallow up and destroy the church and people of God. Ninth, a creator is God. The God unto whom they that suffer according to his will are to commit the keeping of their souls. the Creator, and doth He take charge of them as a Creator? Then this should teach us to be far off from being dismayed, as the heathens are at His tokens. For our God the Lord is the true God, the living God, the King of eternity. We should tremblingly glory and rejoice when we see Him in the world, though upon those that are the most terrible of His dispensations. God the Creator will sometimes mount Himself and ride through the earth in such majesty and glory that He will make all to stand in the tent doors to behold Him. Oh, how He rode in His chariots of salvation when He went to save His people out of the land of Egypt! How He shook the nations, then His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of His praise! and his brightness was as the light. He had horns coming out of his hand, and there was the hiding of his power. Before him went the pestilence, and burning coals went forth at his feet. He stood and measured the earth. He beheld and drove asunder the nations, and the everlasting mountains were scattered. The perpetual hills did bow. His ways are everlasting. Then said the prophet, I saw the tents of cushion in affliction, and the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble. Was the Lord displeased against the rivers? Was thine anger against the rivers? Was thy wrath against the sea, that thou didst ride upon thine horses and thy chariots of salvation? So David, the earth shook and trembled, said he. The foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because he was wroth. There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured, coals were kindled by it. He bowed the heavens also and came down, and darkness was under his feet. And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly, yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind. He made darkness his secret place, his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies. At the brightness that was before him, his thick clouds passed, hailstones and coals of fire. The Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice, hailstones and coals of fire. Yea, he sent out his arrows and scattered them, and he shot out lightnings and discomfited them. Then the channels of waters were seen. and the foundations of the world were discovered at thy rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils. These are glorious things, those shaking dispensations. God is worthy to be seen in his dispensations as well as in his word, though the nations tremble at his presence. O that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, saith the prophet, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence, We know God, and He is our God, our own God. Of whom or of what should we be afraid? When God roars out of Zion and utters His voice from Jerusalem, when the heavens and the earth do shake, the Lord shall be the hope of His people and the strength of the children of Israel. End of Seasonable Counsel or Advice to Sufferers, Part 5.