is provided for thee; it is even a reign with glorious Christ thy Redeemer for ever and ever: And, haft thou any ground to be discontented or envious?

DIRECT. VII. Guard against repining complaints and discontented murmurings, against the Providence of God, under heavy Sickness and affliction.

WE see the murmurers and complainers are claffed with those that walk after their own lufts, Jude, v. 16. I know the people of God are liable to murmuring and impatience alfo under affliction; but there is a great difference between them and the wicked. I will have occafion to speak of believers murmuring afterwards, when I come to speak of their cafe in particular; but here I fhall handle the fin of murmuring in general, and as it appears inainly in the unregenerate, under heavy affliction,

This fin of murmuring is the froth of impatience, and fcum of difcontent; it is firft cherished by repining thoughts, and then vented by unfuitable complaints and expoftulations, taxing the adminiftration of Providence, as if God dealt too hard with us. Our very thoughts

are audible with God, yea, as loud in his ears, as words are in ours; but it is yet worse, when repining thoughts are not crushed, but fuffered to break forth into words tending to the difhonour of God.

Queft." But, is it altogether unlawful to complain of affliction, whatever be our cafe?"

Anf. Humble complaints are not murmurings, nor finful in themfelves, otherwife there would be no room for prayer, and for fpreading out our diftreffed cafe before the Lord. We find God's children making complaints in affliction; but when they do not complain of God, but to God, with an humble enquiry into the cause and meaning of his difpenfations, and laying all the blame upon themselves, as did Job, chap. x. 1, 2. "I will leave my complaint upon thyfelf. I will fpeak in the bitterness of my foul, I will fay unto God, do

not

not condemn me; fhew me wherefore thou contendeft with me." Thus the bleffed Son of God himself did in his diftrefs, when he cried, "My God, my God, why haft thou forfaken me?" But there, we may obferve, he complains to God, not of God; he hath not a hard word or thought of God, but expreffeth a holy confidence in God, "My God, my God," he hath two words of faith for one word of fear. He humbly enquires into the cause of the difpenfation, and defires to bring up his will to God, not that God fhould bring down his will to him: If it be poffible (fays he) let this cup pafs; however, glorify thy name, provide for thy own glory, and do with me what thou pleafeft. In this matter our Lord doth fet himself as an example of patience to us, teaching us to beware of impatient murmuring and quarrelling with God's Providence in our affliction; which many times we are guilty of, either when we harbour harth thoughts of God's dealings, or break forth into rash and unadvifed fpeeches; when we charge God foolishly, and complain either of too much feverity, as Ezek. xviii. 2, 25. Or of too long delay, as Ifa. xlix. 14. Or when our complaints are mixed with unbelief and distrust, as Pfal. Ixxviii. 19. Or when we complain more of our punishment than we do of our fin, and nothing will fatisfy us but deliverance from trouble

Now, to deter you from thofe murmurings and complaints in trouble, I fhall lay before you the following confiderations: 1. They who deferve worst, do commonly complain and murmur moft, and are moft ready to think they are hardly dealt with. The unthankful Ifraelites were still murmuring; ambitious Abfalom was discontented; bloody Haman, in the midst of all his greatnefs, cries out, "What doth all this avail me?" But humble Jacob faith, he was not worthy of the least of all the mercies and truth which God had thewed him. And holy Job bleffes God, and patiently fubmits, when he took from him, as well as when he gave

him.

2. Murmuring is a fin that God takes fpecial notice. of, and looks on it as an injury and affront done immediately against himself, Num. xiv. 27. "I have heard

the

the murmurings of the children of Ifrael, which they murmur against me." He that gives ear to the groans of his own fpirit, doth alfo hear the grumblings of thine, and will reckon with thee for them.

3. It can nowife benefit or relieve us in diftrefs. I may fay of finful complaining, (as Chrift of finful care) which of you, by complaining, can add one cubit to his ftature ? What eafe or relief can you get by contending with God? Nay, inftead of eafing you of your burden, it will make it heavier; as a child, the more he ftruggles with his parents, he is the more beatenThe Ifraelites were once within eleven days journey of Canaan; but, by their murmurings, they provoked God to lead them forty years march in the wilderness, before they could reach it.

4. Whatever be your diftress, there is no juft ground for complaints whilft thou haft thy life for a prey. Remember that word of the afflicted church, Lam. iii. 39. "Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his fins?" A man living, a man upon the earth, a man out of hell, hath no cause to complain, whatever be his afflictions. For, let him compare his fin and punishment together, and he will find there is no proportion: Sin is a tranfgreffion against the infinite God; punifhment is but an affliction upon the finite creature: Sin strikes at the very being of God: but punishment only at the comfort of the creature. So that whatever your punishment be, you have more caufe to give thanks than to complain, and to fay, with Ezra, "Thou haft punished us lefs than our iniquities deferve: It might have been a thousand times worse, if ftrict juftice had been the rule: It is of the Lord's mercies we are not confumed.

5. When you murmur under sickness, you quarrel with the meffenger of that fovereign God who gave you your lives, and can take them again when he thinks fit; and we know, meffengers ought not to be maltreated, or abused, whatever be their commission, and far less when they are fent upon a good defign. Now, if you confider the defign of this meffenger, and his errand to you, instead of fretting and quarreling at his coming,

you

you ought rather to blefs God that sends such a suitable harbinger and forerunner, to tell you that death is approaching, and that he vouchfafes to take fo much pains on you, to wean you from the world, and make you willing to be gone, by long continued trouble; when he might have feized you in a violent manner, and driven you away by main force, without ufing any means to obtain your confent. Have not many, who were moft unwilling to die, at the beginning of a fickness, been brought, by the increase and continuance of it, to be well fatisfied to leave the world, and long to be with Chrift? And was not this for their advantage?

6. Confider the great evil and finfulness of impatient murmurings, complaints, and quarrellings, under affliction.

1. Murmurings hath in it much unbelief and diftruft of God, Pfal. cvi. 24, 25. "They believed not his word, but murmured in their tents." They could not believe that the wilderness was the way to Canaan, that God would provide and furnish a table for them there, and relieve them in all their ftraits. So it is with us in trouble; we quarrel with God's providence, because we do not believe his promises; we do not believe that this can be confiftent with love, or can work for good in the end.

2. It hath in it unthankfulness. While we complain of one affliction, we overlook a thousand mercies. The Ifraelites murmured fo for what they had not, that they unthankfully forgot all that they had. Whereas, a thankful person is fo far from fretting, that God doth not give him every thing, that he wonders that God fhould give him any thing. "I am lefs than the leaft of all thy mercies," Laid Jacob. We are perplexed, faid Paul, but not in defpair; we have God to go to, which is matter of praife; but the murmurer unthankfully overlooks all his prefent, and forgets all his former mercies; and gives not God thanks for any thing. Becaufe God removes his comforts, his health, ftrength, and ease, for a time; all the years he formerly enjoyed, though moft undefervedly, are quite buried in oblivion.

3. It

3. It implies much pride and felf-conceit. He that. complains of God's dealings, fecretly applauds his own defervings. Only by pride comes contention. When men have a conceit of themfelves, they pick quarrels with God's providence, being apt to think they deserve better treatment at his hands; whereas the humble foul is fenfible he deserves nothing but wrath, and therefore lays his hand on his mouth when the Lord afflicts him.

4. It involves men into rebellion against God. When God strikes men for fin, murmurers fly in his face, and kick against his ftrokes, like bullocks unaccustomed to the yoke. They, in fome refpect, resemble that defperate apoftate Julian, of whom it is written, that he thot up his darts against heaven, when he was in diftrefs. They fulfil that word, Prov. xix. 3. "The foolishness of man perverteth his way, and his heart fretteth against the Lord." The repining heart boils with rage, against God and his difpenfations, like thofe wicked Jews when hungry and hardly bestead, Ifa. viii. 21. They fhall fret themselves, and curse their king and their God, and look upwards."

5. It imports much impenitency and unhumbleness for fin; and that we have feen little of the intrinfic evil of fin; and of our ill-defervings for it. Can we truly believe that our fins deferve hell-fire, and yet impatiently repine at sickness and leffer ftrokes upon our bodies?

6. It includes much atheism and blafphemy against God, and his infinite perfections, in feveral respects: (1) By our impatie t murmurings, we either virtually deny that things here below are governed by God's providence; or else,

(2) We tax his providence with unrighteousness in the management thereof; as if God did withhold from us what is due, or inflict on us what we have not deferved. O what atheism is this! Shall not the judge of all the earth do right? May he not, upon the justeft ground, answer every murmur, as Matt. xx. 13. "Friend, I do thee no wrong?

(3) We in effect grafp at the fovereignty, and ufurp the throne of the Moft High God, and would have the

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