William Bates: How To Bear Affliction

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[00:01:00] Revived Thoughts is a production of Revive Studios.

[00:01:07] This is Troy Angel and you are listening to Revived Thoughts.

[00:01:22] If they do not feel the blow, how will they take notice of the hand that strikes?

[00:01:30] In every episode, we bring you a different voice from history and a sermon that they delivered.

[00:01:35] Today, we're going to the late 17th century in England to hear a sermon by William Bates.

[00:01:42] The good old 1600s. Good old 1600s in England.

[00:01:45] Our favorite time to try to understand.

[00:01:48] When you say good old and you mean our favorite,

[00:01:51] you definitely are saying that with a hint of sarcasm, Joel.

[00:01:54] Because it's not that we don't love the Puritans.

[00:01:56] It's not like we don't love the work done there.

[00:01:58] But it can be, without a doubt, one of the most complicated parts of history to try to explain.

[00:02:03] And this is... we're saying this after five years of doing it.

[00:02:07] We're saying this after we did an entire deep dive on a fire in London

[00:02:10] that explained 20 years of English history.

[00:02:13] And even after all of that,

[00:02:15] whenever I have to pull up the English history section for a Puritan or someone that we have,

[00:02:20] I'm going all over like even the basic Wikipedia things like,

[00:02:24] wait, which faction is that?

[00:02:25] What group is that?

[00:02:25] Are they... what do I think about that group?

[00:02:27] I don't know what it is about this era that it's just...

[00:02:31] it does not stick in my brain.

[00:02:32] And it just feels like it's always complicated.

[00:02:35] And I'm always having to go back and forth and recheck my notes.

[00:02:37] And what did this guy do?

[00:02:39] And why did he do it?

[00:02:40] So at this point, I don't know that I'll ever 100% fully understand this century in England.

[00:02:46] I think it's just always going to be a little bit of a haze.

[00:02:49] I got there.

[00:02:50] Yeah, there's the certain milestones.

[00:02:52] There's the keystone events that I kind of structure my brain around.

[00:02:55] And that helps a little bit.

[00:02:57] And we're going to talk a little bit about one of those in this sermon that helps root us,

[00:03:02] anchor us in a specific event that happened in the mid 1600s.

[00:03:07] But before we do that, Troy, do we have any listener feedback to talk about?

[00:03:10] Yeah, we have one comment that I specifically wanted to read.

[00:03:13] This says, I love this episode of Troy and Joel's enthusiasm surrounding this particular history.

[00:03:18] If you're wondering what episode it is,

[00:03:19] that was our part one of the Taiping rebellion episode we put up a couple weeks ago.

[00:03:24] And if you're wondering where's part two, right now part two is on Patreon.

[00:03:27] We finished the story of what happens to Hong Xiuquan in China and his wild,

[00:03:34] absolutely crazy, weird life and how he ended.

[00:03:36] But right now the only way to get access to that is through Patreon.

[00:03:40] And you're going, well, I'll just wait till you guys put it up in the free feed.

[00:03:42] Ha, joke's on you.

[00:03:43] I don't know when we're going to do that.

[00:03:45] So you don't know when that's coming because we don't know when that's coming.

[00:03:48] So if you want to know and hear the end of that series,

[00:03:50] you need to jump on Patreon and get it.

[00:03:53] Go enjoy, listen to it.

[00:03:55] I think you'll love it.

[00:03:56] And you'll also have our Joan of Arc episode.

[00:03:58] You'll also have our Salem witch trials and our first crusade,

[00:04:01] all three deep dives that have never made their way to the public feed.

[00:04:04] So go and listen to hours and hours of history and content that,

[00:04:08] I mean, on this level, I don't know anyone else who's

[00:04:12] digging in deep and doing it from a Christian perspective on these kinds of topics.

[00:04:17] But this comment continues.

[00:04:18] He said, this is a fresh exercise to continue practicing discernment for all those who could

[00:04:23] bear the name of Christ.

[00:04:24] And boy, that is true.

[00:04:25] That episode is absolutely true in terms of when you listen to it,

[00:04:30] you go, wow, people needed to be more discerning of what was happening in China

[00:04:34] with this Christian pretend brother of Jesus Christ.

[00:04:38] And what was interesting to me about this comment besides,

[00:04:40] it's a very nice comment on our typing rebellion,

[00:04:42] but also the name of the person who put it up is Rain Wilson.

[00:04:46] And I don't know if you're familiar, but when I heard that name,

[00:04:49] I immediately thought of the office because that's the name of the guy who plays Dwight on the office.

[00:04:55] Now I'm pretty sure the actor who plays Dwight on the office is famous for being an atheist,

[00:05:01] but maybe not.

[00:05:02] Maybe he's listening to Revive Thoughts.

[00:05:05] Maybe he's our Revive Thoughts listener.

[00:05:07] He loves typing rebellion.

[00:05:08] So guys, there you go.

[00:05:09] As far as I'm concerned, this is Dwight Schrute endorsed now, Revive Thoughts.

[00:05:14] How many other Christian podcasts are you listening to that are endorsed by the office?

[00:05:18] So there you go.

[00:05:20] I'm sure somebody's going, what that worldly show, that's what you want to be endorsed by?

[00:05:23] Okay, let's focus on the positive.

[00:05:25] He's changing, okay?

[00:05:27] He's listening to church history now.

[00:05:28] So thank you, Rain Wilson for jumping in on Revive Thoughts and leaving that comment.

[00:05:33] Okay, William Bates is who we're chatting about today.

[00:05:37] Born in the year 1625 in London.

[00:05:40] Uh, interesting information around his childhood because several sources will say that he was the

[00:05:49] son of a distinguished doctor who was famous for writing a specific book here at Revive Thoughts.

[00:05:55] Hard-hitting research journalists over here.

[00:06:00] There's at least a little bit of speculation around the legitimacy.

[00:06:03] It seems like this book that this physician wrote that gives him his legitimacy,

[00:06:13] that gives him his legitimacy, it seems like it's probably actually written by a different person.

[00:06:20] So there was a famous physician during this time who probably had a son,

[00:06:24] but it's probably not our famous physician.

[00:06:27] Well, it might be, we don't know.

[00:06:28] It's unclear whether or not Bates' father was a doctor or not.

[00:06:32] He either had a father that was a famous doctor that wrote a famous book,

[00:06:36] or there just happened to be another famous doctor that people confused him with in his past.

[00:06:42] But either way, and because of obviously how we're talking about it,

[00:06:47] early life is pretty obscure.

[00:06:48] We don't know a whole lot about it.

[00:06:50] A lot of people from this era will, we have an idea of when they're born.

[00:06:57] Sometimes we don't even have that.

[00:06:59] This guy was born between 1631 and 1633, maybe in this plot.

[00:07:05] So early 1600s England was not good at taking notes.

[00:07:09] That's how I'll put it.

[00:07:12] But the next kind of milestone, the next paper trail that usually pops up on a person's lineage

[00:07:17] is their graduation from college.

[00:07:20] And so that's what we see here.

[00:07:22] When he was 22, he graduated with his bachelor's degree.

[00:07:25] He was registered as a Presbyterian in his area,

[00:07:29] and he went on to go serve in a church, a wealthy church in London.

[00:07:34] And churches like this church, so imagine like the fanciest, richest part of your town

[00:07:40] where all of the doctors and rich, you know, like lawyers and stuff go to church.

[00:07:46] That was kind of the environment, the area of this church that he started working in

[00:07:51] fresh out of college, right?

[00:07:52] And these churches, historically we see them, the people in charge there are usually highly

[00:07:59] educated people because they're usually talking to highly educated people.

[00:08:03] And so we kind of get a sense from this that he must have been a very well respected,

[00:08:10] done well in school, to be brought in on this church.

[00:08:15] Does that make sense, Troy?

[00:08:16] Is that the connection, the dot there?

[00:08:20] Does that connect there?

[00:08:21] Yeah, like for when we kind of, it reminds me of when we do an episode on Jonathan Edwards,

[00:08:25] and we'll say like he had a really smart congregation.

[00:08:28] So to be their pastor, you have to also be really smart because these wealthy, educated people,

[00:08:33] if they catch you not being smart, they catch you not, if they catch you as a fraud,

[00:08:38] they're going to abandon you.

[00:08:39] You're going to get slandered or whatever.

[00:08:40] So you have to be caught up on the latest trends in terms of intellectual thought.

[00:08:44] And you have to be able to speak on politics well.

[00:08:47] You have to be super well rounded in your knowledge and education and your abilities

[00:08:51] to keep up with a crowd like that, especially back then.

[00:08:55] Yeah, and articulate very well.

[00:08:59] And so this is all in an era where they are heading into, unbeknownst to them,

[00:09:04] the act of uniformity, formity, formity, formity, formity.

[00:09:08] We need to get like a sound effect there because this comes up periodically on this show.

[00:09:12] It comes up so regularly.

[00:09:14] That does need to sound like act of uniformity.

[00:09:17] We get like a voice.

[00:09:20] Charles II passes this law.

[00:09:23] And again, we've talked about this in other shows.

[00:09:24] It is a tumultuous time in England.

[00:09:29] There's a lot of things going on.

[00:09:30] But essentially for a time, King Charles II says that the Anglican church has the final say in the

[00:09:39] rule of how we're going to operate the church.

[00:09:42] So all of you Puritans, all of you people that aren't doing what the Anglican church is doing

[00:09:49] are breaking the law.

[00:09:50] And so some speakers that we've covered in this era go into these underground churches

[00:09:56] and they meet in the woods because if they get busted for having a Bible study or a service,

[00:10:00] they literally go to jail.

[00:10:02] Other people that we've covered in this series work within the Anglican church and think

[00:10:08] that they can be more effective preaching from inside the Anglican church during this era.

[00:10:12] It's kind of interesting.

[00:10:13] It's a fascinating look, a fascinating thought to look at speakers from both sides of

[00:10:20] this division that's going on.

[00:10:22] It's not a super long lasting act that goes on.

[00:10:26] But for a time throughout these people's lives, it is a, it's kind of scary because

[00:10:30] people are being arrested, including some famous people that Troy's going to talk about.

[00:10:35] It's a little crazy too, because I just have to remind myself, this is England.

[00:10:39] Like we think of England as a Christian country.

[00:10:42] The Protestant Reformation took hold in England really quickly.

[00:10:45] And yet here we are in the late 1600s.

[00:10:48] And if you're preaching the gospel, but not in the state sanctioned way,

[00:10:52] you're going to go to jail.

[00:10:53] And it just, it is blowing my mind.

[00:10:57] It always just blows my mind that that's England.

[00:10:59] It just feels like it should be somewhere else, right?

[00:11:01] Like where the church is persecuted, not in what's supposed to be this Christian country.

[00:11:06] This was a turning point in Bates' life.

[00:11:09] Many decided to sign up and continue working within the church, like Joel said,

[00:11:13] but there were those who resisted and they were persecuted for their lack of agreement.

[00:11:17] And some of the famous men, if you want to go check out some episodes, just off the top

[00:11:21] of my head, John Flavel is a great example, great preacher and has a great story.

[00:11:25] And John Bunyan, that very famous guy that you've probably heard of as well,

[00:11:29] famous writer of Pilgrim's Progress, also persecuted during this era and also went

[00:11:35] through all that.

[00:11:35] So two great examples of people to go check out who were involved with that.

[00:11:40] Now, when Bates decided to go against the church here and go against the Church of England,

[00:11:46] this came at a high cost to him because he was actually the king's royal chaplain during

[00:11:51] this time.

[00:11:51] So he had advanced very well, his wealthy church and maybe connections or just general things

[00:11:56] he did.

[00:11:56] And he was probably good at his job.

[00:11:58] He was a chaplain to the king.

[00:11:59] And he was very high up.

[00:12:00] But if the king is telling everyone, you have to sign this oath and you're the chaplain to

[00:12:03] the king and you don't sign the oath, you're done.

[00:12:06] Right?

[00:12:06] So he's giving up.

[00:12:07] This is a great personal cost to him.

[00:12:10] Now I couldn't quite figure out timeframes on some of these things, but it seems like

[00:12:14] afterwards his church continued to meet.

[00:12:17] From what I could tell, and I don't know, don't give me, do your own research, figure

[00:12:22] this out if I'm wrong.

[00:12:23] But it did sound like to me his church continued to meet or he kept meeting at his church.

[00:12:27] But it was almost like they just retitled everything.

[00:12:30] Like we're not having church, we're doing a series of lectures and this isn't church.

[00:12:34] This is our morning exercises.

[00:12:36] I don't know that that's exactly what he did, but at least that's what it looked like he

[00:12:39] had done where they kind of retitled that.

[00:12:41] And to be honest, where I live in Southeast Asia, if you've ever spent time in Asia, that

[00:12:46] is something that's actually quite common whenever you're, I remember in Cambodia and China, it

[00:12:51] was super common.

[00:12:52] Like if the government came out with some rules, you just renamed everything to fit the

[00:12:56] rules and now suddenly everything was okay.

[00:12:59] That was definitely a common thing.

[00:13:01] So I don't know if he was pulling one of those moves where he's like, we're not meeting

[00:13:04] for church, that's against the rules, unrelated.

[00:13:06] We're doing our morning exercises of intellectual discussion on our lecture series and we just

[00:13:10] happen to be using the Bible and it looks similar to a church.

[00:13:13] Right?

[00:13:13] I don't know if that's what the movie was pulling, but it's kind of what it looked like

[00:13:16] to me.

[00:13:17] Bates was still respected in England, unlike some.

[00:13:20] And he was still, he did suffer from all of this, the politicking, all the back and forth

[00:13:25] he was involved in a bunch of peace talks and compromises, but he was still a respected

[00:13:29] guy because he was such a famous guy.

[00:13:31] And he had been so close to the king before that it was kind of like where a lot of these

[00:13:35] guys suffered and went to jail.

[00:13:37] I kind of got the impression that Bates was kind of like, yeah, we're upset with you,

[00:13:42] but also you're our guy.

[00:13:43] So we're going to kind of give you a little bit more of a lenient sentence.

[00:13:46] So yes, he lost his job and, but I don't, I don't see, he didn't seem to go to jail.

[00:13:50] He didn't, it didn't seem like the king and the court in the country had the stomach to

[00:13:53] put a guy as important as him into jail.

[00:13:56] So he just had to kind of suffer a little bit of social standing, maybe a little bit

[00:14:00] on the side, but he didn't, he, he kind of, from what I could tell of all the guys we've

[00:14:04] covered, he just seemed to kind of come and go as he pleased.

[00:14:06] Like he would go do his lecture series and he would go into England.

[00:14:09] So it didn't seem like it affected him as much as it did some of these other guys.

[00:14:14] But one thing I think did affect him was he lived a pretty long life.

[00:14:17] And so he does not die until the year 1699.

[00:14:20] He actually outlives and sees the act of uniformity get revoked.

[00:14:24] He sees the Puritans get let back in.

[00:14:27] He sees all of this kind of persecution comes to an end.

[00:14:30] And you might be saying, oh, that's great.

[00:14:31] He gets to see it end.

[00:14:32] And I think that probably was great for him.

[00:14:34] But one thing he didn't, that you maybe don't think about is if you outlive that era,

[00:14:39] you also outlive all of the people from that era.

[00:14:42] And so he ended up being the guy who ended up giving like several of the funeral sermons

[00:14:47] of great men during that era.

[00:14:49] Probably the most famous of is Richard Baxter, who we've covered before.

[00:14:52] He's a wonderful preacher and he did a lot of great stuff in that time.

[00:14:55] But if you're the guy who outlives them all, it'd be kind of sad to have to give,

[00:14:58] you know, funeral sermon after funeral sermon for friends of yours that had

[00:15:01] stood together during times of persecution.

[00:15:04] And now they're all passing on and you're,

[00:15:06] the guy has to keep getting up and giving that sermon.

[00:15:09] He gave several of them.

[00:15:10] And I just thought to myself, man, that would be a really sad and hard thing to do.

[00:15:13] And we don't really think about that.

[00:15:15] The guy who's left at the end when all of it's over,

[00:15:18] who's seen the hard time through, he's seen the end,

[00:15:19] but he has to give those final funeral sermons for all his friends that didn't make it through.

[00:15:24] I just, I don't know if that one really made me feel a little kind of somberness for him.

[00:15:27] Like I bet that wasn't easy.

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[00:16:32] It blows my mind to think of what it would be like to be alive in an era.

[00:16:38] Because how long was the act of uniformity?

[00:16:41] How long did that run?

[00:16:42] I don't know that I had the exact number off the top of my head, but it's about 25 years.

[00:16:46] 25 years-ish.

[00:16:48] Imagine just being like 30 years old and then the government locks all this down and says

[00:16:55] you can't do this and you have to kind of be in fear and your friends are getting arrested and

[00:16:59] you go through that whole era of 25 years and then later in life when you're 55 or so,

[00:17:06] that you move on.

[00:17:08] Like things, different power comes in and then you can go back to the way it was.

[00:17:12] It's just so weird for me to think of.

[00:17:14] I don't know.

[00:17:15] I don't know.

[00:17:15] I don't know why it's an odd thing for me to wrap my head around because there's,

[00:17:19] I don't know, there's so much neat stuff that came out of that era.

[00:17:23] Obviously, we talked about Pilgrim's Progress being a direct result of what people had to

[00:17:29] go through in that era.

[00:17:31] And so to come out the other side of it and not be a victim of it, not be consumed by it,

[00:17:36] you know, not be hurt by it long-term wise is something I can't relate with or,

[00:17:43] you know, kind of imagine very easily.

[00:17:45] It's fascinating.

[00:17:46] Well, if I can take maybe a contemporary issue of a lot of, you know, what COVID did in the

[00:17:51] world with the lockdowns and all of that stuff.

[00:17:53] Like I still have students who when I ask them, like when they'll sometimes be like,

[00:17:57] I can't believe it's 2024.

[00:17:59] It still feels like in my head it's 2020.

[00:18:00] And obviously that's a little bit of a different issue.

[00:18:03] But I mean, imagine you have your church taken from you as a pastor and for two and a half

[00:18:07] decades you're preaching in barns, you're on the run.

[00:18:10] I mean, yeah, that's going to take some time to get to the other side of and you might,

[00:18:15] I feel like you're going to be nervous those first couple of times you're back in the pulpit,

[00:18:18] right?

[00:18:19] Like, are they going to come and get me?

[00:18:20] Is this all a trap or is this really actually, actually over?

[00:18:23] So definitely a man who went through a bad time of the persecution in England there,

[00:18:29] but he gives us this sermon about how to be patient through affliction.

[00:18:34] And so I think he's a very applicable person to give that sermon.

[00:18:39] Something that I think we can probably learn from.

[00:18:52] My son, do not despise the discipline of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by him.

[00:19:04] For whom the Lord loves, he chastens and scourges every son whom he receives.

[00:19:10] Hebrews 12 verse five to six.

[00:19:13] I will proceed to prove that I am a man who is not a man of sin.

[00:19:15] That it is the best wisdom not to despise God's discipline, nor quit when under them.

[00:19:22] For it is the only way to prevent the greatest trouble that will otherwise fall on us.

[00:19:30] It is said he who is wise is profitable to himself.

[00:19:35] That is either in obtaining good or preventing evils.

[00:19:39] First, when you ignore God's discipline, you deprive us of all those benefits,

[00:19:44] which were intended by them.

[00:19:46] God's end in discipline is to make sin bitter to our taste and make us despise that deadly poison.

[00:19:55] Sin that prevails by pleasure, by some things delightful to the carnal part,

[00:20:01] is mortified by what is afflictive to our senses.

[00:20:06] Repentance is a duty that best complies with affliction.

[00:20:10] For when the spirit is made sad and brought to sober-mindedness,

[00:20:15] it will more readily reflect upon the true cause of troubles.

[00:20:20] When the springs overflow, it is but directing the stream into the right channel,

[00:20:27] changing the object of our grief, namely mourning for sin, instead of sorrow for outward troubles.

[00:20:35] And then we are on the way to happiness.

[00:20:37] Physical sorrow over our condition leads to godly sorrow over our sins.

[00:20:44] The natural is first, then the spiritual.

[00:20:47] Now the despisers of God's hand that are unaffected with judgments are incapable of this benefit.

[00:20:55] For if they do not feel the blow, how will they take notice of the hand that strikes?

[00:21:01] If they are not softened with sorrow, how will they receive the divine impression?

[00:21:08] If they have no sense of his displeasure, how will they fear to offend him in the future?

[00:21:15] If the medicine does not work, how can it remove the poison?

[00:21:20] Secondly, the neglect of discipline not only renders them unprofitable,

[00:21:25] but exposes one to greater evils.

[00:21:28] When you ignore God's discipline, it provokes God to withdraw his judgment for a time.

[00:21:35] This the sinner desired, and thinks himself happy that he is at ease.

[00:21:40] What a miserable delusion!

[00:21:42] This respite is the precursor of his final ruin.

[00:21:47] It was the desperate state of Judah as God expresses it.

[00:21:51] Why should you be stricken anymore?

[00:21:53] You will revolt more and more.

[00:21:56] Isaiah 1 verse 5

[00:21:58] The words of an anxious father, who has tried all methods,

[00:22:02] counsel, kindness, correction to reclaim a rebellious and stubborn son,

[00:22:09] and finding no answerable effect, gives him over to follow the dangerous swing

[00:22:14] of his corrupt desires.

[00:22:16] No severity is quite like allowing him in his sensual courses.

[00:22:21] So when God has used many gracious ways to reduce the sinner by his word, his spirit,

[00:22:28] and judgments, but he is inflexible to the calls of the word, impenetrable to the motions

[00:22:35] of the spirit, and insensible to the afflicting providence.

[00:22:39] Then, after a combat with the rod, sin comes off unwounded, and the rod retires.

[00:22:47] This calm is more dreadful than the fiercest storm.

[00:22:51] Nothing can be more fatal to the sinner, for by this divine desertion he is given over

[00:22:57] to a robate mind and vile affections.

[00:23:00] He goes on undisturbed in his sin, and every day increases his enmity against God,

[00:23:08] and provokes God's enmity against himself.

[00:23:11] You cannot imagine the one who hasn't been softened to the grace of God by suffering,

[00:23:18] should suddenly submit when he is in pleasant circumstances and freely able to enjoy sensual

[00:23:25] satisfactions.

[00:23:26] If the whip and the spur cannot break and tame the unruly beast, certainly the rich

[00:23:32] pasture will never make him manageable.

[00:23:34] In the same way, God ceasing to punish the sinner at present is so far from being a favour,

[00:23:42] that it is the effect of his deepest displeasure, for it contributes to his hardening.

[00:23:49] It was the case of Pharaoh when any of the plagues were removed.

[00:23:53] Indulgence occasioned his apathy.

[00:23:57] When men are freed from the fire of affliction, they are more confirmed in their wicked courses

[00:24:03] than if they had never been afflicted.

[00:24:06] The scoffing at lighter strokes provokes God sometimes to bring more dreadful judgments

[00:24:11] in this life upon sinners.

[00:24:14] No man can endure that his love or anger should be despised.

[00:24:20] Nebuchadnezzar commanded the furnace to be heated seven times hotter for those who despised

[00:24:25] his threats.

[00:24:26] God tells the Israelites, if you will not be reformed by these things but will walk

[00:24:33] contrary to me, then I will also walk contrary to you and I will punish you with yet seven

[00:24:40] times for your sins.

[00:24:42] – Leviticus 26 verses 23-24 He will change the rods into scorpions and will scourge them

[00:24:50] for their continued rebellions.

[00:24:53] Will God remove his judgments while sinners are careless and unreformed, as if they are

[00:24:59] the final conquerors over them?

[00:25:01] No, he will multiply and strengthen them.

[00:25:04] It may be at first God blasts part of the estate and the sinner is not nervous of his

[00:25:10] hand.

[00:25:11] Then he comes nearer and snatches away a dear relation.

[00:25:15] And if still the sinner is unaffected, he strikes his body with a lingering or acute

[00:25:21] disease.

[00:25:22] And if still he is not concerned by God's displeasure, he wounds his spirit, makes him

[00:25:27] sick in sense and conscience at the same time, fills him with terror by the reflection upon

[00:25:34] his wicked ways and the foresight of that dreadful courtroom before which he must appear,

[00:25:41] so that although he cannot live, he dares not die.

[00:25:46] Though his earthly tabernacle is ready to fall upon him, he is afraid to go out and

[00:25:51] meet the supreme judge.

[00:25:53] If this does not work a sincere, thorough change, God casts him into hell to the company

[00:26:01] of those bold rebels that fought against God.

[00:26:04] For a time under the law a rebellious and evil son that neglected his father's reproofs

[00:26:10] was to die without mercy.

[00:26:12] In the same way, an unreformed sinner who kicks against the goads and refuses to submit

[00:26:18] to God's corrections will be cut off in his stubbornness.

[00:26:23] Justice will proceed to rejection and acts of vengeance against him.

[00:26:28] Quitting under discipline is dangerous to sufferers, for it makes them utterly incapable

[00:26:34] for their performance of their duty and incapable of receiving the comforts proper for an

[00:26:41] afflicted state.

[00:26:43] Let's start at the beginning.

[00:26:45] It renders them utterly incapable for the performance of their duties.

[00:26:49] Hope draws out all active powers of the soul.

[00:26:53] It is a great motivation to diligence and an instrument of duty.

[00:26:58] Despair, like a snowstorm that freezes the spring and binds up the earth that its fruits

[00:27:06] cannot appear, blocks the free exercise of reason and grace and cuts the muscle of obedience.

[00:27:15] He who is hopeless of a good outcome in suffering will neither repent nor pray nor reform but

[00:27:24] indulge barren tears instead of real duties.

[00:27:28] It is often the case that the same affliction is sent from God's displeasure upon his

[00:27:33] people for their sins and the method is the rage of men against them upon the account

[00:27:40] of their professing his name.

[00:27:41] Such is the wisdom and goodness of God that by the same fiery trial he may refine his

[00:27:47] servants from the dross and impurities and render the glory of the gospel more obvious.

[00:27:54] The hatred of religion and a blind fury may transport men to acts of cruelty against the

[00:28:01] But it is by the permission of the universal king who has the hearts of all in his hands

[00:28:07] and allows their rage for holy ends.

[00:28:11] The enemy designs against their faith but God's aim is to make them reform their lives.

[00:28:18] Now if either through strong fear or the stinging sense of troubles upon the account of religion,

[00:28:24] our courage fails.

[00:28:26] We are presently in a danger of falling away by denying our master.

[00:28:32] The faint-hearted person is usually false-hearted and for a lack of resolution, being frightened

[00:28:38] out of his conscience and duty, chooses sin rather than suffering.

[00:28:43] He then justly deprives himself of the crown of life that is promised only to those who

[00:28:51] are faithful unto death.

[00:28:53] Besides not only the loss of heaven but the torments of hell are threatened against those

[00:28:58] who withdraw from the service of God to avoid temporary evils.

[00:29:03] The fearful and unbelieving are in the front of those that will have part in the lake of

[00:29:09] fire and brimstone which is the second death.

[00:29:12] Revelation 21 verse 8

[00:29:14] How foolish it is when two evils are advised to choose the greatest of them, that is eternal

[00:29:20] death rather than temporary death, and of two goods to prefer the lesser, a shorter

[00:29:25] life with its conveniences on earth before that which is eternally glorious in heaven,

[00:29:32] by which it appears how much it concerns us to fortify and fix our minds by a steadfast

[00:29:39] belief of God's supporting presence with us in all troubles and of his gracious promise

[00:29:46] that in due time we will reap if we do not faint in well-doing.

[00:29:51] Next they are incapable of the comforts that are given for the afflicted, those arise from

[00:29:57] the belief that God loves whom he disciplines, for the least sin is a greater evil than the

[00:30:03] greatest suffering and his design is to take that away and from the expectations of a happy

[00:30:10] outcome.

[00:30:10] Hope is the anchor within the veil, that in the midst of storms and the roughest seas,

[00:30:16] the character of Christians is that they are rejoicing in hope.

[00:30:21] Romans 12 verse 12

[00:30:22] But when the afflicted are under fearful impression that God is an irreconcilable enemy

[00:30:28] and sadly conclude their miseries are past forgiveness, those divine comforts that are

[00:30:34] able to sweeten the most bitter suffering to believers are of no use, their deep sorrows

[00:30:40] are not like the pains of a woman that end in a joyful birth, but the killing, tortures

[00:30:46] of the gallstones that are fruitless to the patient.

[00:30:50] A stubborn grief and rejecting the comforts of God is the beginning of sorrow, the first

[00:30:55] payment of that sad debt of mourning that will be exacted in another world.

[00:31:00] Their use should be to excite us to those duties, to demean ourselves under the discipline

[00:31:06] of the Lord with a deep reverence and humble fear of his displeasure, and with a firm hope

[00:31:13] and dependence upon him for a blessed outcome upon complying with his holy will.

[00:31:20] With a humble reference of his hand, this temper is absolutely necessary with respect

[00:31:26] to God, upon the account of his sovereignty, justice and goodness declared in his discipline,

[00:31:33] and with respect to our frailty, our obnoxiousness to his law and our obligation to him, that

[00:31:40] he will please to afflict us for our good.

[00:31:43] This is the reason for that statement.

[00:31:45] Will a lion roar in the forest when he has no prey?

[00:31:49] Amos 3 verse 4

[00:31:52] Will God's threats and judgments have no effect?

[00:31:56] Whoever hardened himself against him and prospered.

[00:32:00] Are we stronger than him?

[00:32:02] Can we survive on an offended omnipotence?

[00:32:06] Can we, with an army of lusts, oppose the myriads of mighty angels?

[00:32:11] It is not courage, but such an enormous degree of folly and fury that we would think it was

[00:32:19] impossible that a reasonable creature was even capable of it.

[00:32:24] Yet every sinner, unreformed by suffering, is in this desperate condition.

[00:32:29] He stretches out his hand against God and strengthens himself against the Almighty.

[00:32:36] Job 15 verse 25

[00:32:39] Such a furious rebel was Ahaz who, in the time of his distress, did trespass more against

[00:32:47] the Lord.

[00:32:48] 2 Chronicles chapter 28

[00:32:51] But God has most solemnly declared that he will be victorious at last over the most fierce

[00:32:58] and stubborn enemies.

[00:33:00] As I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow to me.

[00:33:04] His power is infinite, and his anger put an edge upon his power and makes it more terrible.

[00:33:12] It is our wisdom to prevent acts of vengeance by humble submission.

[00:33:18] The duty of the afflicted is excellently expressed by Elihu.

[00:33:23] Surely it is fit to say to God, I have borne discipline, I will not offend any more.

[00:33:31] That which I do not know, teach me.

[00:33:34] If I have done iniquity, I will do so no more.

[00:33:38] Job 34 verse 31 and 32

[00:33:41] Add further, on another account, reverence is due to God's disciplines.

[00:33:47] For when love is the motive that incites one to give us counsel,

[00:33:52] though it is mixed with reproofs and his prudence is not great,

[00:33:57] yet a respect is due to the affection.

[00:34:00] Now God, who is always wise, chastises men from a desire to make them better and happy.

[00:34:09] He intends primarily to refine them, not to consume them through suffering,

[00:34:15] so that a serious regard to his hand is the most just and necessary duty of the creature.

[00:34:21] Briefly, every discipline should leave deep and permanent impressions upon us.

[00:34:27] The sense of God's displeasure should make our hearts mournful and mollified,

[00:34:33] broken and contrite, so that his will may be done by us on earth as it is in heaven.

[00:34:40] So let us always preserve a humble dependence and firm hope on God

[00:34:45] for a blessed outcome of all of our troubles

[00:34:48] and the support and tranquility of the soul arises from this.

[00:34:53] Christian patience suffers all things as well as love.

[00:34:58] Being encouraged by a continual expectation of good from him,

[00:35:03] patience confirms all other graces.

[00:35:06] And it is to the whole armor of God what our temper is to the material weapons

[00:35:11] that keeps them from breaking in the combat.

[00:35:15] Now to maintain a constant hope in affliction,

[00:35:18] we need to consider the reason for the exhortation as it is admirably given by the apostles.

[00:35:25] For starters, he is a judge invested with the quality of a father.

[00:35:30] The covenant of grace between God and Jesus Christ, our true David, contains this observable clause.

[00:35:38] If your children forsake my law and walk not in my judgments,

[00:35:43] if they break my statutes and do not keep my commandments,

[00:35:48] then I will visit their transgressions with a rod and their iniquities with stripes.

[00:35:54] Psalms 89 verses 30-32

[00:35:58] The love that arises from their relationship though it cannot hate,

[00:36:03] yet may be displeased and chastise them for their follies.

[00:36:08] Moses tells the Israelites,

[00:36:11] You will consider in your heart that as a man disciplines his son,

[00:36:16] so the Lord your God disciplines you.

[00:36:19] Deuteronomy 8 verse 5

[00:36:21] In children reason is not fully formed but is often cloudy,

[00:36:28] and they are not capable of governing themselves.

[00:36:31] They are only taught with sensible pleasure or pain,

[00:36:34] so that a father is obliged to join correction with instruction,

[00:36:40] to form inside them virtue.

[00:36:43] This is so far from being inconsistent with paternal affection that it is inseparable from it.

[00:36:49] For a parent to suffer a child to go on pleasantly in sin without due punishment

[00:36:54] is pure cruelty disguised under the mask of pity.

[00:36:59] For by the neglect of discipline he is confirmed in his wicked courses,

[00:37:03] and exposed to ruin.

[00:37:06] The apostle therefore adds,

[00:37:09] Whom the Lord loves he disciplines,

[00:37:11] as from the point of severest wrath he sometimes withholds a strike,

[00:37:16] so from dearest love he afflicts.

[00:37:19] Humble believers through a cloud of tears may see the light of God's face.

[00:37:25] For having elected them by special love to a glorious inheritance above,

[00:37:30] he dispenses all things here in order to prepare them for it.

[00:37:35] And all temporary evils, as means, are subservient to that purpose.

[00:37:40] So the sharpest sufferings are really from God's favour,

[00:37:45] since they are beneficial to our obtaining real happiness.

[00:37:49] The devil usually tempts men with a paradise of delights to have them fall into hell.

[00:37:55] God tries them in the furnace of affliction to purify and prepare them for heaven.

[00:38:01] Next, it is a strong antidote against quitting to consider that by virtue of the paternal relation

[00:38:08] he scourges every son whom he receives.

[00:38:13] For no troubles are more afflictive and stinging than those that are unexpected.

[00:38:18] Now when we are assured that there is no son whom the Heavenly Father does not discipline,

[00:38:26] we are less surprised when we meet with crosses.

[00:38:30] Indeed, there is hardly any kind of affliction that may come upon us

[00:38:34] that we do not have some instance in scripture of the saints suffering the same.

[00:38:41] Are we poor and lowly in the world?

[00:38:44] We should consider that poverty with holiness is a divine blessing.

[00:38:49] Jesus Christ, the holy and beloved son of God, but he had nowhere to lay his head.

[00:38:55] Are we under bodily illness?

[00:38:57] Good Hezekiah was struck with an uncomfortable disease as to the quality of it.

[00:39:03] And Gaius had a flourishing soul in a languishing body.

[00:39:08] Are our dear relations taken away?

[00:39:11] Aaron and David lost some of their sons.

[00:39:14] By their mistakes.

[00:39:15] Are our spirits wounded with the sense of God's displeasure?

[00:39:20] Job and Heman were under strong terrors, yet the favorites of heaven.

[00:39:26] Briefly, how many most dear to God were called to extreme and bloody trials for defense of the truth?

[00:39:34] How many deaths did they endure in one torment?

[00:39:38] How many torments in one death?

[00:39:40] Yet they were so far from fainting that the more their pains were exasperated,

[00:39:46] the more their courage and joy shone out to demonstrate his love.

[00:39:52] Just as the sky is never more serene and clear than when the sharpest north wind blows,

[00:40:00] it is the apostles inference.

[00:40:02] Seeing we are surrounded with such a cloud of witnesses,

[00:40:07] let us run with patience the race that is set before us.

[00:40:11] This is further enforced by the following words.

[00:40:15] If you are not disciplined and everyone undergoes discipline,

[00:40:19] then you are illegitimate children and not true sons.

[00:40:24] If God does not grant us the mercy of his rod,

[00:40:28] then it is evident we are not part of his fatherly care.

[00:40:32] The weed is neglected while the vine is cut until it bleeds.

[00:40:37] It is a miserable privilege to be exempted from divine discipline

[00:40:42] and by ease and prosperity to be corrupted and made ready for destruction.

[00:40:48] The apostle represents the special prerogative of God as the father of spirits, verse 9.

[00:40:56] And so has a nearer claim to us than the fathers of our flesh,

[00:41:01] and that he is not liable to those imperfections that attend the earthly relations.

[00:41:07] They for a few days disciplined us for their own pleasure.

[00:41:11] Human love is a troubled, irregular passion,

[00:41:14] mixed with ignorance and prone to the error in too much or too little.

[00:41:19] Sometimes parents are indulgent and by cruel compassion

[00:41:24] spare their children when they are faulty.

[00:41:27] Sometimes they are correct without cause.

[00:41:30] Sometimes when the reason is just, yet they err in the manner or measure of the correction

[00:41:37] so that their children are discouraged.

[00:41:40] But in God there is perfect union of wisdom and love,

[00:41:46] of discretion and tenderness,

[00:41:48] his affection without the least imperfection.

[00:41:52] He is always guided by infinite wisdom.

[00:41:57] Accordingly, the apostle declares to the Corinthians

[00:42:00] that no temptation has befallen them but such as is common to men.

[00:42:08] But God is faithful who will not allow you to be tempted above what you are able,

[00:42:13] but will with the temptation also make a way to escape that you may be able to bear it.

[00:42:20] 1 Corinthians 10 verse 13

[00:42:23] A careful doctor consults the strength of the patient as well as the quality of the disease

[00:42:31] and then measures the medicine so all the bitter ingredients,

[00:42:36] their mixtures and measure, are dispensed by the wise prescription of God

[00:42:41] according to the degrees of strength that are in his people.

[00:42:46] The apostle specifies the immediate end of God in his discipline

[00:42:51] but he disciplines us for our profit that we may be partakers of his holiness.

[00:42:58] This is the supreme excellency of the divine nature and our conformity to it is valuable,

[00:43:05] that it renders affliction not only tolerable but even desirable if they contribute to it.

[00:43:12] In the present state of our graces are imperfect

[00:43:15] Our conformity to the divine purity is like the resemblance of the sun in a watery cloud,

[00:43:24] very much beneath the perfection and radiancy of that great light.

[00:43:30] Now God is pleased to fashion us according to his image by afflictions.

[00:43:34] Just as a statue is cut by the artist to bring it into a beautiful form,

[00:43:40] he is pleased to bring us into temptations to try our faith,

[00:43:46] to work in us patience, to inflame our prayers,

[00:43:50] to mortify our carnal desires, to break those bonds which chain us to the earth.

[00:43:56] No discipline seems pleasant at the time but painful.

[00:44:01] Later on however it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those

[00:44:06] who have been trained by it.

[00:44:09] It is an allusion to the reward of the conquerors in the Olympic games who had a crown of olives,

[00:44:17] the emblem and shadow of peace.

[00:44:21] But true peace, a divine calm in the conscience will be the reward of all who exercise their

[00:44:28] graces suitable to an afflicted state.

[00:44:31] In short, the apostle assures believers that they are disciplined by the Lord

[00:44:38] to prevent their condemnation with the world.

[00:44:41] 1 Corinthians 11 verse 32

[00:44:45] The correcting rod delivers them from hell.

[00:44:48] This consideration changes thorns into roses and extracts honey out of the wormwood.

[00:44:54] If the way is stony or stormy that leads to blessedness,

[00:44:58] a Christian should willingly walk it.

[00:45:01] To conclude, from the consideration of what the scripture declares concerning temporary evils,

[00:45:07] let us lift up the hands that hang down and our feeble knees and make straight paths for our feet

[00:45:15] unless that which is lame be turned out the way.

[00:45:19] But let it rather be healed, that is, in our affliction let us take courage and resolution

[00:45:25] from the promises and live in a holy conformity to God's will,

[00:45:31] that the weak or faint may be restored.

[00:45:33] The first and last lesson of pagan philosophy was to support men under the storms to which

[00:45:40] they are liable in this fallen state, to render the soul as a rock unshakable by the waves.

[00:45:49] But their directions failed and so couldn't secure them from the impatience or despair.

[00:45:56] But the gospel that assures us of the love of God is sending afflictions for our spiritual

[00:46:03] and eternal good, is alone able to compose the mind.

[00:46:07] And whenever we faint in troubles it is either from infidelity or inconsideration.

[00:46:12] Inconsideration, it is impossible for a person to be a Christian and be incapable of comfort

[00:46:19] in the most afflicted state.

[00:46:22] For we are comforted by the Holy Spirit who is the comforter.

[00:46:26] The godly cure for our sorrow is to correct the sense of suffering with a serious belief

[00:46:34] of God's promise and we will learn to reconcile the roughness of his hand

[00:46:39] with the sweetness of his voice.

[00:46:42] He calls us from heaven in the darkest night.

[00:46:47] It is I, do not be afraid.

[00:46:49] He corrects us with the heart and hand of a father.

[00:46:54] A due contemplation of these things will produce a holy joy in the midst of suffering.

[00:47:01] Whatever things were written before were written for our learning so that we through patience

[00:47:08] and comfort of the scriptures we might have hope.

[00:47:12] Romans 15 verse 4

[00:47:24] There's a quote in the middle of the sermon where he says,

[00:47:26] If the whip and spur cannot break and tame the unruly beast,

[00:47:30] certainly the rich pastor will never make him manageable.

[00:47:33] In the same way, God's ceasing to punish the sinner at present is far from being a favor,

[00:47:38] it is in fact his sign of deepest displeasure.

[00:47:40] I don't know, when we go through hard times as Christians or just in general especially,

[00:47:46] but I think as Christians there's always kind of like a God, why are you letting this happen?

[00:47:50] Or God, I am in the middle of this ministry.

[00:47:52] I'm in the middle of this good work.

[00:47:53] Or my family has finally gotten to a good place.

[00:47:55] Or all these different, my job is fine.

[00:47:57] All these reasons why now is not a good time for punishment.

[00:48:02] And yet, I love that line of just like yeah, but you're not a beast,

[00:48:06] but you are needing to be tamed and made into God's image.

[00:48:10] And you don't tame and take a horse by just, you know, being its best friend.

[00:48:15] You gotta sometimes be a little tough on it, right?

[00:48:16] You gotta sometimes be, and that's what God is doing with us.

[00:48:19] When he's putting us through these trials and these tests and these hard times,

[00:48:23] it feels like he's abandoning us.

[00:48:24] But that's actually when he's really disciplining us and making us into his image.

[00:48:29] And if you didn't do those things, and if you had no suffering,

[00:48:32] and there was no sign, then that'd be a sign that God is actually quite displeased with you.

[00:48:35] And I know it's not the first time you've probably heard that.

[00:48:38] It's obviously coming from Hebrews chapter 12.

[00:48:40] But at the same time, I just think he did a really good job of reminding us

[00:48:44] that we need to be patient during those tough moments

[00:48:46] and be trusting in what God is doing in our life.

[00:49:00] Thank you for listening to today's episode of Revived Thoughts.

[00:49:04] Today's sermon was narrated by Lee Ridge.

[00:49:07] Thank you so much, Lee, for narrating today's episode.

[00:49:12] So I am going to make two asks of you today.

[00:49:16] The first ask is you should leave a comment and tell everyone,

[00:49:21] hey, to listen to this episode because you don't want to do,

[00:49:25] I mean, Rainn Wilson left a comment on this episode, you know,

[00:49:28] as listening to our show.

[00:49:28] That's true.

[00:49:29] So you certainly should be doing as well as him.

[00:49:31] He's a busy actor, right?

[00:49:33] So if he's got time to leave a comment, you certainly do.

[00:49:36] But number two, and Joel, I didn't run this by you,

[00:49:38] but I came up with it while we were talking.

[00:49:39] If you go to the Revived Thoughts website,

[00:49:42] you will find a button called contact.

[00:49:44] And if you click contact, there is a little recording button.

[00:49:47] You're going to hit that.

[00:49:48] You're going to click that recording button.

[00:49:49] And I want you to say act of uniformity.

[00:49:53] And I want to get a few people to say that.

[00:49:55] And if we like one of those people reading active uniformity for us,

[00:49:58] that will become our new call button

[00:50:00] for whenever we get to the act of uniformity.

[00:50:02] We'll just use the listener played act of uniformity button

[00:50:05] to let everyone know we're talking about the act of uniformity again.

[00:50:08] And I don't want to brag,

[00:50:10] but I'm pretty sure I just said active uniformity more times in a row

[00:50:14] than has ever been said in human history.

[00:50:16] So we're just setting records over here at Revived Thoughts.

[00:50:18] Lots of great things are happening.

[00:50:20] This is Troy and Joel, and this is Revived Thoughts.