,transcriber's ,notes3 ,italic text is denoted by underscores4 ,small uppercase have been replaced with regular uppercase4 ,blank pages have been eliminated4 ,variations in spelling and hyphenation have been left as in the original4 ,,patience4 ,,by ,,james ,w4 ,,alexander1 ,d4 ,d4 ,let patience have her perfect work4--,james i4 #d4 ,,philadelphia3 ,,presbyterian ,,board ,,of ,,publication1 ,no4 #bfe ,,chestnut ,,street4 ,entered according to the ,act of ,congress in the year #aheb1 by ,,alexander ,w4 ,,mitchell1 ,m4 ,d4 ,in the office of the ,clerk of the ,district ,court for the ,eastern ,district of ,pennsylvania4 ,,advertisement4 ,the following meditations on ,patience1 though once delivered in substance to a ,christian assembly1 were written as a pastoral gift to an esteemed friend1 who had been more than two years confined to her dwelling by a dangerous1 lingering1 and sometimes exceedingly painful malady4 ,may the good ,lord carry his truth with a blessing to other chambers of trial6 ,,patience4 ,some words which are often in our mouths are1 nevertheless1 but little understood2 and some virtues which we are continually praising1 are hardly ever put in practice4 ,this is as true of patience as of any thing else4 ,every man needs it1 every man knows he would be the better for it1 yet every man falls short of it4 ,this1 ,i suppose1 was one reason why the apostle ,james teaches so emphatically concerning it1 ,let patience have her perfect work4 ,james i4 #d4 ,it would seem that the twelve tribes scattered abroad1 to whom this apostle wrote1 were in trials and needed comfort4 ,for the very first words of his letter are as if he stood over them and said1 ,be of good cheer6 ,my brethren1 says he1 count it all joy1 when ye fall into divers temptations1 i4 e41 trials4 ,these troubles tried their faith 7v4 #c17 and untried faith is uncertain faith4 ,the result of these trials of faith is patience4 ,the very word is derived from suffering1#a and if there were no pain there could be no patience4 ,if then patience is good1 trials are good4 ,and the great caution to be observed under such dispensations is1 that we lose not the fulness of the benefit2 that we content not ourselves with half the mercy2 that we stop not short of the entire grace2 for we may suffer and yet not profit2 therefore1 says the inspired teacher1 ,let patience have her perfect work4 #a ,in ,latin patientia1 from patior4 ,i4 ,patience is a certain temper of mind under suffering4 ,as we all are appointed to suffer1 and some of us to suffer greatly and suffer long1 we should do well to learn more of this heavenly art1 concerning which so much good is spoken in ,scripture4 ,in its simplest form1 patience is a calm and unshaken state of mind1 strongly bearing up against a present burden of distress4 ,this may exist without religion4 ,a ,stoic or a western savage may endure pain without a murmur4 ,malefactors have stoutly faced the torments of their penal death4 ,in respect to this1 the natural temperament of human beings differs4 ,some can naturally bear more than others4 ,they have more rigid fibre1 or less shrinking nerves1 more robust health1 or smaller sensibility4 ,the degree of pain is to be measured1 not by the force of the blow1 but the power of resistance4 ,that which would crush a reed shall leave no mark upon an oak4 ,when pain comes1 however1 it is well if we have even natural means of enduring it4 ,but practice1 discipline1 and exercise add vastly even to this natural fortitude4 ,fresh soldiers and new recruits quail and fly1 but the veteran has looked death in the face4 ,he who has endured once1 can endure again4 ,still more efficacious is the operation of inward principle1 adding moral motives to the barely natural power4 ,education has this for part of its work1 to teach the young to bear some burdens1 not to fall back at every alarm1 nor cry out at every pang4 ,stern determination will help one to sustain what might at first have seemed intolerable4 ,this is remarkably the case in great and sudden pangs of anguish1 for which a resolved mind has prepared itself4 ,though pains of mind are worse than pains of body1 they also may be endured by some with hardihood and tranquillity1 and this we call fortitude1 and in some circumstances patience4 ,by great skill and self-control in managing the thoughts and detaching the attention from distressing objects1 some are able1 to a degree which at first might seem impracticable1 to keep up quietude1 self-possession1 and even a show of cheerfulness1 under complicated bereavements1 mortifications1 and griefs4 ,all this may enter into the ,christian's patience2 but all this falls infinitely short of its perfect work4 ,christian patience adds to this a sweet1 childlike resignation to ,god's holy will1 in the affliction1 whatever it may be4 ,all merely natural or philosophical patience is cold1 gloomy1 sullen1 and unprofitable4 ,though it may refrain from tears1 it cannot smile2 for it hath no faith1 no love1 no ,saviour1 no covenant1 no ,god6 ,christian patience endures1 as seeing ,him who is invisible2 that is faith4 ,heb4 xi4 #a4 ,it looks up to the rod in the hand of a chastening ,father4 ,heb4 xii4 #f4 ,it considers ,one that endured such contradiction against himself1 and arms itself with the same mind4 #a ,pet4 iv4 #a4 ,it beholds every pang disposed according to a covenant transaction4 #a ,cor4 iii4 #bb1 #bc4 ,and it bows to all1 however distressing1 as ordered by the infinite wisdom1 justice1 and goodness4 ,lam4 iii4 #cg-dj4 ,therefore it is1 that the stoutest and hardest of worldly sufferers falls so far below the feeblest of ,christ's lambs1 when laid under heavy trials4 ,though pangs of anguish must now and then extort a sigh1 tear1 or groan1 the child of ,god still turns to him1 when smitten1 and kisses the paternal hand4 ,it is again faith1 believing that ,god doth it1 and that all he doth is wisest and is best4 ,it is submission1 yielding the neck to the yoke 7,lam4 iii4 #bg71 bowing down under the ,omnipotent hand1 7#a ,pet4 v4 #f71 and prostrating itself beneath the infinite and eternal will1 7,gen4 xviii4 #be47 ,it is resignation1 giving the whole matter into the best hands1 that ,he may undertake1 7,isa4 xxxviii4 #ad71 and undoubtingly referring every future event unto the ,god of the lilies and the birds4 ,matt4 vi4 #bf4 ,it is humility1 owning itself little1 and dependent1 and mean1 and unworthy1 and therefore willing to suffer4 ,and it is penitence1 bewailing sin1 pleading for mercy1 wondering that it suffers so little1 and remembering how light are these pains compared with the agonies of the lost1 or the vicarious sorrows of the ,lord our righteousness4 ,all this1 and much more1 is present in every case of truly sanctified ,christian affliction2 and this sheds a light through the curtains of evangelical sorrow1 which is altogether unknown to the most resolute of stoical heroes4 ,there is a third consideration1 not to be omitted in our study of ,christian patience4 ,the word1 as said above1 implies suffering and endurance1 but it includes another idea4 ,it has reference to time4 ,it is not barely willingness to suffer1 but willingness to suffer more4 ,nature would not wait a moment2 it would be delivered now4 ,grace leaves all to ,god1 and says1 ,my times are in his hand6 ,though the succour tarry1 patience can wait4 ,hab4 ii4 #c4 ,what grace is this1 thus added to faith and love8 ,is it not ,,hope1 the sister grace1 that abideth8 #a ,cor4 xiii4 #ac4 ,leaning on her anchor1 hope looks out from her post of observation1 casting the eye over a waste of billows1 and sweeping that dim horizon where as yet no sail twinkles along the distant line that unites the sea and sky1 but sure that though weeping may endure for a night1 joy cometh in the morning4 ,psa4 xxx4 #e4 ,he that hath been with her in six troubles1 in the seventh will not forsake her4 ,job v4 #ai4 ,here is a blessed pillow for the languid aching head1 a cool refreshment for the throbbing temple4 ,here is a secret cordial which has enabled many a child of sorrow to bear the heavy load2 when tribulation worketh patience4 ,rom4 v4 #c4 ,this hope is more than empty conjecture or vague expectation4 ,it is firm2 it is fixed4 ,its hold is above4 ,it seizes on words of promise and of covenant4 ,it is sustaining itself by the arm of the mighty ,saviour4 ,its spiritual cable grapples that which is within the veil 7,heb4 vi4 #ai71 and hence it maketh not ashamed4 ,rom4 v4 #e4 ,if it were ,god's way to send on his children only such trials as are pungent1 quick1 and brief1 however severe1 the test of patience would be incomplete2 but sometimes his rod lies long1 and the soul is made to cry out1 ,thine arrows stick fast in me1 and thy hand presseth me sore6 ,psa4 xxxviii4 #b4 ,how long wilt thou forget me1 ,lord8 ,psa4 xiii4 #a4 ,the very working of the remedy depends on this withholding of immediate cure4 ,yet the believing child learns to think and feel that ,god's time is best1 and is assured that ,he doth not afflict willingly1 nor grieve the children of men4 ,lam4 iii4 #cc4 ,and hope opens the window1 and even though no dry land as yet appears1 welcomes the olive branch borne by the dove of promise4 ,gen4 viii4 #aj1 #aa4 ,deep may call unto deep4 ,psa4 xlii4 #g4 ,yet the ,lord will command his loving-kindness in the day-time1 and in the night his song shall be with me1 and my prayer unto the ,god of my life4 7verse #h47 ,my soul1 wait thou only upon ,god6 ,psa4 lxii4 #e4 ,thus she cheers the night-watches1 and in the multitude of her thoughts within her1 ,god's comforts delight her soul4 ,psa4 xciv4 #ai4 ,the experience of the psalmist is made for such times of languishing4 ,many a solitary one has renewed the strain of ,david's pensive chord1 and sung with plaintive note1 ,i am shut up1 and ,i cannot come forth4 ,mine eye mourneth by reason of affliction4 ,lord1 ,i have called daily upon thee1 ,i have stretched out my hands unto thee4 ,psa4 lxxxviii4 #h1 #i4 ,the night wears heavily away2 the stars in their courses shine dimly2 no streak of eastern dawning betokens day4 ,yet the hopeful sufferer can say1 ,i wait for the ,lord1 my soul doth wait1 and in his word do ,i hope2 my soul waiteth for the ,lord1 more than they that watch for the morning2 ,i say1 more than they that watch for the morning4 ,psa4 cxxx4 #e1 #f4 ,and patience1 not worn out with waiting1 turns on its pillow1 and breathes itself to ,god1 saying1 ,my soul is even as a weaned child4 ,psa4 cxxxi4 #b4 ,it would not be difficult to fill up the whole tract with an account of those different circumstances of a human creature in which he must exercise this ,christian virtue4 ,but those to whom such details would be applicable are the very persons who need no prompter2 they know what their distresses are4 ,it is much more important to observe1 that there is no kind or degree of suffering which our ,heavenly ,father ordains1 under which we may not exercise patience1 and1 therefore1 as every human being is born to suffer1 there is not a single reader to whom this lesson is not important1 however much he may think the contrary1 in the pride and self-sufficiency of youth1 or health1 or fortune1 or good spirits4 ,and though certain persons in our fastidious generation grow intensely weary1 when time is bestowed in sustaining and comforting the broken-hearted--let such know1 that their time is coming1 and that even if now they have their good things1 and think their mountain stands strong1 they shall yet live to behold the day in which they must have a stock and habit1 yea a grace of patience1 or sink into extreme despondency1 if not despair4 ,in one view the suffering life of many ,christians1 and those the best1 is hard to understand1 for it seems at war not only with ,god's fatherly goodness1 but with his gracious covenant4 7,read ,jer4 xii4 #ab1 and ,psa4 lxxiii47 ,but we must never lose our hold of two cardinal pillars1 the very ,jachin and ,boaz of our temple3 7#a7 that happiness in this world is not the chief good2 the affirming of which is the radical error of all the common public economy1 and much of the philanthropy of the day2 and 7#b7 that the education1 or discipline1 or training1 or perfecting of a soul is so great and divine a work1 that it is worth a lifetime of distress2 so that no redeemed saint will look back on the longest sufferings of the present life as more than the scarcely perceptible moment before an eternity of holy delight4 ,angels look down and see poor sin-wounded creatures fighting against their chief medicine4 ,as has been said1 ,god does not afflict nor grieve the children of men willingly1 arbitrarily1 out of any love to see them suffer1 or any indifference to their sorrows2 but with a wise and definite end1 which will be revealed hereafter4 ,the entire process of ,christian endurance1 pain-bearing1 or patience1 from beginning to end1 in all its connection of parts1 is more deeply interesting to one who could read it1 than any drama ever enacted on the stage4 ,so it will one day appear1 when not only the particular sufferer1 but all the company of ,god's elect in heaven1 shall look back and see many a mystery of providence resolved4 ,they will rise to higher admiration of the divine plan1 when they shall be instructed why ,joseph had his youth oppressed by cruelty1 exile and imprisonment2 why ,david was a persecuted fugitive1 and a bereaved father2 why the apostles were as sheep appointed to the slaughter2 why the early ,christians were mowed down by the sword2 and why to this day they that will live godly suffer persecution4 ,they will recall ten thousand cases1 7for eternity has neither limits nor weariness17 in which some of the best of men have lain under pangs1 or in languishing from sore diseases2 or journeyed through a valley of gloom and depression2 or been marks for arrows from the bow of wicked fellow-creatures1 and more malignant demons2 and why others1 with hearts sickened by hope deferred1 waited years and almost lifetimes without seeing the accomplishment of their strongest desires4 ,when these several circles are complete1 and every covering removed1 and ,god's light thrown on dark places of the spiritual temple1 it will appear1 that this very divine product1 to wit1 holy patience1 has been as dear to the great ,architect of the ,church1 as is the costliest sculpture to the most devoted enthusiast in art4 ,and therefore we are exhorted not merely to have patience1 but to let patience have her perfect work4 ,,ii4 ,the perfect work of patience is plainly nothing less than the full and thorough carrying out of patience1 with unfaltering strength of soul1 in every kind and measure of trial1 unto the very end4 ,death closes all trials of the believer2 but until death he is to have his armour on4 ,there may be some reality of true ,christian patience1 and yet it may be very weak4 ,we must learn to bear up bravely1 and with the putting forth of a complete manful energy4 ,small encounters are useful to the raw recruit2 they exercise him in the virtues which in process of time make him a soldier4 ,he that bearded the lion and bear1 afterwards accepted the challenge of ,goliath1 though still a ruddy youth4 ,could we look on daily troubles1 as exercises set us by the ,master1 to fit us for the higher efforts of patience1 we should be saved much repining and many groans4 ,the great duty is always the duty of the day1 of the hour1 of this moment4 ,if our equanimity is destroyed by the trifles of a life generally prosperous--what can we expect of ourselves1 in the water-floods of tribulation which may yet roll in8 ,jer4 xii4 #e4 ,let us learn to bear with a hard hand on the helm1 before the tempest arises4 ,under the sense of ,god's supreme governance and paternal love1 and in expectation of reward and rest hereafter1 let us bow ourselves to the sovereign disposal2 bearing all that ,god sends1 and ,christ our ,mediator concurs in1 with a yielding1 filial1 believing soul4 ,patience may be said to have its perfect work1 when it withstands a great1 sudden and extraordinary affliction without being shaken4 ,uncommon faith is necessary for such an exercise as this4 ,indeed who has not cause to join in the prayer1 ,lead us not into temptation6 ,strong ,christians are the persons to whom this forefront of the battle is reserved2 to them it is given in the behalf of ,christ1 not only to believe on him1 but also to suffer for his sake4 ,phil4 i4 #bi4 ,it is ,job1 the perfect man1 who is carried through the unexampled conflict4 ,and the early believers to whom ,james addressed the words of the text1 were exposed to evils such as happily we know nothing of4 ,yet they needed the exhortation4 ,patience has its perfect work1 when it does not give way but holds out1 however long may be the trial4 ,even weakness may sustain a momentary attack1 and pungent anguish may be borne1 if it be soon over4 ,but to have day after day of pain1 and night after night of fearful watching2 to lie down heavy1 yet hoping for no alleviation in the morning2 to be wounded again and again1 and find increasing years bring new losses and deeper sorrows2--this has been the lot of some who were ,god's children1 and concerning whom it might well be said1 that though the outer man perished1 the inner man was renewed day by day4 ,no man can number the cases of hopeless disease1 tending incurably to certain and painful death1 which occur in every age1 and that among true believers4 ,christ's confessors have1 in more periods of the church than one1 spent large parts of their best years in prison4 ,millions have borne all the complicated ills of poverty all their days4 ,and those who have survived to old age1 have found it often one long disease4 ,all these have had need of patience1 and would not have experienced its perfect work1 if they had fainted in the day of adversity4 ,i can never forget a ,christian woman1 eminent for spiritual joys1 who was confined to her bed1 with a wasting and at times excruciating disease1 for about twenty years4 ,let not frivolous or superficial professors flatter themselves that those fair-weather graces which they boast of now1 will stand them in stead when long storms begin to howl4 ,unusual supports from the very hand of the ,spirit are necessary1 against such conjunctures2 and which of us can be certain that such shall not befall himself8 ,patience has a perfect work1 when it grows to be an abiding habit of the soul4 ,this cannot be1 except by repeated acts of faith1 submission and hope1 reiterated till they are like a second nature4 ,such endurance rests on settled principle1 and is an eminent work of the ,holy ,spirit4 ,there are few more noble characters we can give of any1 than when we say of a believer1 ,he is habitually patient4 ,the character is rare1 but we are invited to attain it4 ,whether the words of the apostle be considered as a command or an entreaty1 they equally imply that there was some effort to be put forth4 ,let patience have her perfect work4 ,place yourselves in the posture of being thoroughly and imperturbably constant even to the close of your mortal struggle4 ,this enjoins the forbearance of whatever is contrary to the meek and patient spirit1 and the acquisition1 preservation and increase of every good gift which is favourable to it2 for instance1 humility1 sense of sin1 godly sorrow and shame1 thirst for holiness1 faith1 hope1 courage1 love and joy4 ,indeed patience has its perfect work1 only where all sister graces are carried forward with symmetrical increase2 and whenever one of these is nourished into new strength1 it contributes so much to the solid habit of ,christian patience4 ,,iii4 ,let us consider some of the motives to let patience have her perfect work4 #a4 ,this is a virtue which is needed every day4 ,some excellencies of the soul are called out only by great emergencies1 but the world in which we live is so beset with vexations that there is not a day1 there is scarcely an hour1 in which we are not called to be patient4 ,the little events of domestic life1 connected with ordinary labour and service1 give the cumbered and troubled ,martha as keen anguish as is felt by the general of an army or the ruler of a state1 from defeats and revolutions4 ,the inward grace required must not be measured by the apparent magnitude of the burden1 but the strength of the sustainer4 ,spirits above perhaps look down on princes contending about the crown of an empire1 with as much contempt as we bestow on infants fighting for a straw4 ,but trials are not all equal4 ,sometimes1 as we have seen1 vehement surges of affliction break in2 and we know not on what day this may occur2 hence we must be ready every day4 ,all the days of our life we are going over one and the same course of ,christian duty1 viz41 submitting our own selfish will to the will of ,god4 #b4 ,increase of patience is increase of happiness4 ,though present happiness is not the great object of life1 it is one of the effects of religion1 to which we cannot be indifferent4 ,and what is very remarkable1 there is not a single religious act1 which does not increase our happiness4 ,properly understood1 the whole moral law1 whether at ,sinai or the mount of the ,beatitudes1 utters this one commandment1 ,,be ,,happy6 ,what is thus true of holiness in general is eminently true of this mode of it in particular4 ,pain almost ceases to be pain1 to a mind that fully yields itself to ,god4 ,that this is true in a much higher sense than ordinary ,christians suppose1 is apparent in the case of the martyrs2 7,heb4 xi4 #cb-di17 and we have known instances in common life where the most horrible maladies1 almost unmanning mere spectators1 have been borne with equanimity and even cheerfulness1 by disciples of ,christ4 ,patience disarms affliction4 ,if the patience were perfect1 the suffering would be annihilated1 as to its effect on happiness4 ,the reason why true ,christians sometimes endure great distresses before entire relief comes1 is not that patience is an insufficient antidote1 but that they have not patience enough4 ,and here observe a striking difference between the stoical hardness of a worldly mind1 and the sacred endowment which we are endeavouring to recommend4 ,a stout hearted unbeliever will now and then appear absolutely unshrinking under trials1 such as bodily pains1 calumny1 loss of children1 hatred and enmity of fellow-creatures2 but his shield is insensibility4 ,he has made the surface callous4 ,and in so doing he has stopped up the avenues as well of pleasure as of pain4 ,he has diminished his sorrows without increasing his joys4 ,now observe how opposite the case of ,christ's disciple4 ,he suffers too1 and triumphs in suffering1 but not by insensibility4 ,he feels the wound4 ,the thrill of a poignant infliction runs through his quick and sentient nerve to the centre of feeling1 as nimbly as in the most inconsolable and maddened unbeliever4 ,he is not stupefied2 he is not seared2 his temperament of genuine humanity is all alive to grief2 but it is also alive to joy4 ,and that joy ,god pours in1 so that he glories in tribulation also4 ,religion1 which has made his susceptibilities more tender1 opens new access for refined pleasures4 ,for loss1 he finds indemnity2 and for pain and woe1 a spiritual faith and hope1 love and joy1 which overcome and absorb them4 ,patience in such an advanced experience is no longer unfeeling acquiescence1 but a swallowing up of man's will in the will of ,god4 ,what abundant reason have we1 in this valley of tears and tombs1 to strive that patience may have her perfect work6 #c4 ,obedience to the requisition of the text conduces to true greatness of character4 ,religion1 properly understood1 is nothing else than a restitution begun1 of humanity to its perfect condition4 ,to be without religion is to be curtailed of the dimensions of man's character4 ,every state of mind and heart which religion commands is just so far a return to spiritual health4 ,no human soul can be truly great while ignorant of ,god1 alienated from ,god1 opposed to ,god1 slavishly in dread of ,god1 and out of communion with ,god4 ,each grace of the ,holy ,spirit tends to lift man up towards the ideal of humanity4 ,the trials of life bring all men into a certain conflict with adverse circumstances1 producing pain4 ,in this conflict many are conquered4 ,but the ,christian combatant finds every trial an occasion for bringing out latent reserves of a strength derived from ,christ his ,head4 ,when he suffers therefore sharply and long1 he is only like a soldier going from one battle to another1 and waxing hardier and more courageous after each success4 ,hear how ,paul1 long tried in this athletic effort1 expresses this ,christian magnanimity1 7#a ,cor4 ix4 #be17 ,i therefore run1 not as uncertainly2 so fight ,i1 not as one that beateth the air4 ,and ,fight the good fight of faith1 lay hold on eternal life4 ,there is reason to believe1 that no great ,christian character can be developed without some severe discipline1 that is1 without patience1 in its large and scriptural sense4 #d4 ,confirmed patience tends to usefulness in the ,church4 ,the very reverse is often thought by the sufferer himself1 especially if his trial throws him into solitude1 poverty1 contempt of brethren1 weakness of body1 pains of old age1 or separation from friends4 ,in the chamber of melancholy seclusion how many a soul has mourned that all opportunity of doing any thing for ,christ was cut off4 ,but this is a short-sighted and defective conclusion4 ,when ,god's infinitely wise and holy will is done1 then the great end of our creation1 and our redemption1 and our sanctification is accomplished1 so far as we are concerned2 whether it be by doing or by suffering4 ,if it were possible for a perfectly sinless angel to be perpetually bathed in sorrow by the will of ,god1 the pure spirit would accept the coming trial with a yielding bliss4 ,and when the perfectly sinless ,jesus1 who was very man1 sank in griefs which surpass comprehension1 he was accomplishing the purposes of the ,godhead1 and said1 ,not my will1 but thine be done4 ,now by sending trials and educing the grace of patience in repeated acts1 ,god fits the soul for labours incalculably beyond every thing it could have effected without this education4 ,and these very pains1 and the conduct of a believer under them1 becoming visible to bystanders and fellow-servants1 as well as to the ungodly themselves1 go up as a costly odour1 to magnify the grace of the gospel4 ,so that no sermons ever preached so loudly as the transient view of a suffering saint has sometimes done1 when in the fiery heart of the hot furnace1 he has been seen unhurt1 with one like unto the ,son of ,god4 7,dan4 iii4 #be47 ,in both ways1 therefore1 by preparing for action1 and by exhibiting the glory of grace1 patience tends to benefit the ,church4 #e4 ,finally4 ,patience when duly sustained leads to a great reward4 ,not in the sense of the ,papists1 who strike a commercial balance between pains and recompense1 and set off so much trouble in this life against so much merited blessing in the life to come4 ,but in perfect consistency with our belief that after all is done we are unprofitable servants1 that all heavenly good is merited by our ,saviour1 and not by us1 and that a man may suffer pain here which shall be swallowed up in greater pains hereafter1 we maintain and teach1 that in the case of true believer1 the gracious deportment of the soul under earthly affliction carries it forward to higher happiness than it would otherwise have reached4 ,for our light affliction1 which is but for a moment1 worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory4 ,by the work of ,god's ,spirit1 the soul that suffers receives greater capacity for eventual joy4 ,whoso bears ,god's burdens in a godly manner is made holier1 and more fit and able to take in the surpassing blessedness of rest4 ,and then our heavenly ,father1 who seeth not as man seeth1 does not measure our obedience on a physical scale1 by the amount and number of sensible acts1 as if he reckoned up so many deeds outwardly done1 so many palpable effects produced1 so many words spoken2 but by the quality of the inward affection and will1 which may be heavenward and holy1 and infinitely pleasing to ,god1 in a poor creature locked in a dungeon1 or motionless on a bed of illness4 ,where the soul pleases ,god1 there the great work of life is accomplished2 in an apostolic discourse or miracle1 in a gift of charity1 in a resistance of temptation1 or in agony on a cross4 ,patience1 heavenly patience1 under what ,god inflicts1 is more pleasing to him than thousands of rams1 and ten thousands of rivers of oil2 which is of itself the all-comprehensive motive to pious submission and endurance4 ,but what is pleasing to ,god1 as the fruit of his ,holy ,spirit1 ,god will graciously reward4 ,i know thy works1 saith he to ,ephesus1 and thy labour and thy patience4 ,i know thy works1 saith he to ,thyatira1 and charity1 and service1 and faith1 and thy patience4 ,because1 saith he to ,philadelphia1 thou hast kept the word of my patience1 ,i also will keep thee4 ,behold1 saith he to ,smyrna1 the devil shall cast some of you into prison1 that ye may be tried1 and ye shall have tribulation ten days4 ,be thou faithful unto death1 and ,i will give thee a crown of life6 ,may ,i not add with renewed emphasis the exhortation of our apostle1 though it struck strangely on the ear at first1 ,my brethren1 count it all joy1 when ye fall into divers temptations2 knowing this that the trying of your faith worketh patience4 ,o my brother--my sister--more patience will make us more like ,christ4 ,what are our sufferings to his6 ,meditate1 step by step1 on the degrees of his humiliation1 accompanying ,him whom your souls love1 from point to point of his unexampled sorrows2 and thus will you find sin grow more intolerable1 and suffering more light4 ,,the ,,end4