God hath prospered him." This rule is, we fear, or indulgence; or those of his household; but for seldom observed. Yea some, by a perverse process, a moral and religious purpose. It is a sad reflec feel the disposition diminishing as the ability in- "Of other tyrants, short the strife; tion, especially in our day, for a good man to die wealthy. But if he must die rich, let him die rich towards God. Let him not at his last hour testify only his selfish regards. Let the benefactor appear as well as the man; and the Christian as well as the friend and the relation. While he provides for his own, especially those of his own house, let him not forget the Saviour who loved us, and gave himself for us; and whose cause has claims infinitely above all mortal interests. Thirdly, You are to improve your Prosperity, in a way of enjoyment. I need not say that there is a great difference between possession and enjoyment; and that many who have more than heart can wish, have yet no heart to use it. They are hungry in the midst of food; and are parched with thirst, though the stream is at their lip. Solomon more than once notices this wretchedness; and considers it as one of the sorest evils under the sun.It is worthy of observation that the Latin word for miserable has been applied to designate an individual who possesses, but cannot enjoy. And well may he be called a miser; for of all men he is the most mean, and abject, and comfortless. And no one can more oppose the kindness of God in furnishing us with the supplies of his Providence. For he obviously designs to show us, that he is concerned, not for our existence only, but for our happiness.He could have supported us by means of food, as disagreeable to our palate as medicine: but he has rendered our sustenance grateful and inviting; and though eating is necessary to life, no one eats to avoid death. Our senses might all have been the inlets of pain only, instead of pleasure. Can any one question whether agreeable sounds were intended to delight the ear; or agreeable scents to gratify the smell? Look at the trees in a garden, or an orchard. The fruit could have been produced without the blossom: but in this process his beauty appears in the one, before his bounty is seen in the other: and the eye is charmed as well as the taste. Well therefore does the Apostle say, "He gives us all things richly to enjoy." And there is therefore truth in the remark of the poet, "To enjoy is to obey." It is falling in with the indications of God's will; for he has given us an express injunction"In the day of prosperity rejoice." But with enlarged circumstances, be ye also enlarged. This is the case with a few we have the pleasure to know. Their fortune is a blessing to the neighborhood and the nation. Their rising in life resembles the rising of the sun; the elevation illuminates and enlivens and fertilizes; and joy springs from its beams. Their wealth is like the dew, raised indeed from the earth, but only to be filtrated from its grossness, and to descend in silent refreshment, and vigor, and life. So it was with Job. He was the greatest man in the east; and he was also the most generous. His substance is mentioned; but it was not his possession, but his use of it, that rendered him so estimable. I envy not the bosom of that man who can hear without emotion his touching and eloquent appeal. "If I did despise the cause of my man-servant, or of my maid-servant, when they contended with me; what then shall I do when God riseth up? and, when he visiteth, what shall I answer him? Did not he that made me in the womb make him? and did not one fashion us in the womb? If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail; or have eaten my morsel myself alone, and the fatherless have not eaten thereof; (for from my youth he was brought up with me, as with a father, and I have guided her from my mother's womb;) if I have seen any perish for want of clothing, or any poor without covering; if his loins have not blessed me, and if he were not warm-/ ed with the fleece of my sheep: if I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, when I saw my help in the gate: then let mine arm fall from my shoul Religion, therefore, instead of being an enemy to the enjoyment of this state, enjoins it. And it produces what it requires. We are not afraid to adin proportion as men are religious, they are prepared to relish prosperity; and that though others may possess more, they will enjoy most; for, even in this sense, "a little that a righteous man hath, is better that the riches of many wicked." der-blade, and mine arm be broken from the bone." vance it as a maxim capable of demonstration, that David also had acquired much wealth: but hear his acknowledgment. "Now I have prepared with all my might, for the house of my God, the gold for things to be made of gold, and the silver for things of silver, and the brass for things of brass, the iron for things of iron, and wood for things of wood; onyx stones, and stones to be set, glistening stones, and of divers colors, and all manner of precious stones, and marble stones in abundance. Moreover, because I have set my affection to the house of my God, I have of mine own proper good, of gold and silver, which I have given to the house of my God, over and above all that I have prepared for the holy house, even three thousand talents of gold, of the gold of Ophir, and seven thousand talents of refined silver, to overlay the walls of the houses withal: the gold for things of gold, and the silver for things of silver, and for all manner of work to be made by the hands of artificers. And who then is willing to consecrate his service this day unto the Lord?" Here indeed was accumulation; but the hallowed and felt as means of grace, while they design of it was not for the pleasure of possessing. bring us into communion with the Creator, addressIt was not for his own aggrandizement, or splendor, ed and adored in language almost inspired Religion refines and exalts our relish of temporal things. How low and despicable is a life filled up only with sleeping, and eating, and drinking, and trifling! A Christian rises above such an ignoble mode of being. Even in his enjoyments, reason unites with sense; and faith with reason; and devotion with faith. What is material is animated by mind; and what is animal, though its quality be not abolished, loses its grossness by intercourse with intellect and spirit. The earth grows richer by the reflections and touches of all that is heavenly. rose of Sharon and the lily of the valley acquire a kind of sacredness and divinity in their fragrance and beauty, when they remind us of Him who is altogether lovely; and the charms of creation are The fcels he is unworthy of it. He is a burden to himself. But a good man, says Solomon, shall be satisfied from himself. His rejoicing, though not his dependence, is the testimony of his conscience. Не is not free from infirmity; but he can say with David, "I was upright before Him, and have kept myself from mine iniquity." Religion makes a man grateful; and gratitude is a lively and cheerful temper: and though to be -And thus religion also enlarges as well as improves the enjoyment of prosperity. We readily allow that it forbids licentiousness and excess. But so does reason. So does health. Yea, so does pleasure itself. The moderate use of the indulgences under obligation to the mean and worthless, or to of prosperity, unspeakably exceeds in enjoyment an enemy, be trying; nothing can be more delightthe intemperate use of the glutton and drunkard.- ful than to feel and acknowledge what we owe to The very restraints which religion imposes are useful and necessary to give the more lively and potent relish to our participations. For who needs to be informed that the measure of enjoyment corresponds with the strength and freshness of the desire or the appetite? Thus the pleasure of eating depends upon hunger; and where no degree of this is felt, the most delicious viands would be insipid. The full soul loathes the honeycomb, but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet. Thus the unwearied do not welcome repose; but the sleep of the laboring man is sweet. It is therefore easy to see that temperance is the handmaid of enjoyment.By not impairing our appetites and desires, it keeps us from the languor and irksomeness of the dissipated; and by maintaining uninjured the capacities for enjoyment, it really cherishes and increases the resources which excess spoils and destroys. one we greatly esteem and love, and who is worthy to be praised. David therefore speaks of the "pleasant harp;" and says, "Praise ye the Lord; for the Lord is good: sing praises unto his name; for it is pleasant." And to show what a connection this exercise has with happiness, we are assured that it will continue in heaven, and perfect the enjoyment of the glorified. Religion also makes a man beneficent; and this also contributes to his happiness. What do the selfish know of the pleasure of prosperity, compared with those who love to do good and to communicate? Is it not more blessed to give than to receive? Can any gratification be so pure, so cordial, so divine, so fresh and interesting in review, as that which is reflected back into the bosom from the feelings and tears and joy of the partakers of your bounty? What voluptuary from his most studied and costly procurements ever tasted luxury like Job's? "When the ear heard me, then it blessed mo; and when the eye saw me, it gave witness to me: because I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him. The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy. I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame. I was a father to the poor: and the cause which I knew not I searched out." There is one view more to be taken of the subject; it is, the confidence in God which religion inspires. "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is fixed on thee, because he trusteth in thee." Why do not many enjoy what God has given them? They are anxious and foreboding. They suspend their satisfaction on some future occurrence-they may meet with losses they may come to want: thus "they are not in quiet from the fear of evil." But the soul of the Christian dwells at ease. He knows not what a day may bring forth; nor does he desire it. He has nothing to do with events. He knows that he is under the providence of his heavenly Father, who is able and engaged to make all things work together for his good. - But this is not the only way in which religion befriends the enjoyment of prosperity. We must remark its moral influence in rectifying our dispositions and removing the causes of disquietude and dissatisfaction. All outward things affect us according to the state of the mind, It is well known to every man, that a scene which delights us at one time, will be perfectly uninteresting, if not repulsive, at another. The object in this case is the same, but the medium through which it appears, and the feelings in which it is received, are changed. No one can deny but that the agreeable impressions of outward things is impaired by infirmity and sickness of body. But many are not aware, that it may be equally injured by a disorder of the soul. Yet so it is. A pain in the tooth, or in the joint, will no more preclude enjoyment, than the workings of jealousy, or suspicion, or envy, or anger, or revenge. Under the corrosion of these evils, a man must be wretched in all the entertainments of a palace, and all the scenery of a paradise. But religion forbids and subdues these selftormenting, as well as vile tempers. It teaches the man to love his neighbor as himself. It enables him to rejoice in another's welfare. It renders him an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no guile; and enables him to confide in others by judging of them from his own feelings of sincerity and harmlessness. Why is that man so cheerless and uneasy? Is he poor? Has he been robbed of his estate? Look at his portion. What one more thing can he desire? But all will not bend to his humor. All will not respect him as the first man in the neighborhood. He has the sorrow of the world that worketh death. A Christian does not feel this dis- loosed, and his knees smote one against another. He is meek and lowly in heart; and finds If a man was at the most enchanting banquet, with rest unto his soul. Here is another dissatisfied and a sword hanging over his head by a small and rot ease. peevish mortal. Nothing pleases him. He reflects upon every one around him. His house is the hospital of ill-nature, and every ward is filled with complaint. int. What is the cause? He will not own it: but guilt makes him fretful. He is conscious of some duty he has neglected; some sin which he has committed; some restitution which he ought to make; some connection which he ought to succor. This consciousness makes him uneasy. When censured, he knows he deserves it: when praised, he But this implies the previous adjustment of a case most awfully interesting. Belshazzar's entertainment was destroyed as soon as he saw a handwriting against the wall. Then neither the wine, nor the music, nor the company of a thousand of his lords, had the least power to charm: and though he was ignorant of the meaning of the inscription, he foreboded evil; and the joints of his loins were ten ligature, he could not enjoy it; or if he did, it must be by forgetting his jeopardy while yet his danger continued. The sinner is the enemy of God, and the child of wrath; and there is but a step between him and eternal death. The thought of this the reflection that I must soon, and may every moment exchange all my good things here for the worm that never dies, and the fire that never shall be quenched-why surely this is sufficient to turn all my joy into sadness and horror. To enjoy, therefore, in this state, I must forget my expo- to prevent. Is it then useless? And does it keep Sufferer! you think your case is singular, and tends to each part of religion, as well as the whole you are often urged to exclaim, "I am the man that The Christian's abhorrence of sin is not a thoughthath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath." "Be- less aversion-"How can I do this great wickedhold and see, if there be sorrow like unto my sor-ness, and sin against God?" His godly sorrow is row." But this is the language of self-importance, not a thoughtless grief-"They shall look on him and ignorance. "For there hath no temptation taken you, but such as is common to man." sure. Conscience tells me I have no right to take comfort. I must therefore creep forth and steal, while conscience is asleep. But will it, can it sleep always? How quickly may it be awakened! And then trembling takes hold upon me. My enjoyment, if it deserves the name, depends therefore on delusion; and this delusion is at the mercy of a thousand disturbers. If, therefore, I am not always in bondage, I am always subject to bondage through fear of death; and there is no peace, saith my God, unto the wicked. But the Christian being justified by faith, has peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. His anger is turned away; and as soon as he smiles every thing smiles. In his favor is life. Tell me, ye who are unpardoned and unrenewed, can you, you who have no hope of a better world, and no certainty of continuing an instant in thiscan you enjoy the comforts of life like one who knows that whenever he dies, to die is gain? That he has in heaven a better and an enduring substance? That he has a covenant right to all he possesses? That it comes to him with the good will of his God and Saviour? saying, as he partakes-"Eat thy bread with cheerfulness, and drink thy wine with a merry heart, for God hath accepted thy works?" "He looks abroad into the varied field Of nature, and though poor perhaps, compared We have seen how religion befriends Prosperity, by raising and increasing its enjoyments. But you ask, can it preserve? Yes. It insures the continuance as far as it is good for us. But we are not going to deny that every thing here is precarious. "Truly light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun : but if a man live many years, and rejoice in them all; yet let him remember the days of darkness, for they be many. All that cometh is vanity." Yes, your treasure on earth moth and rust may corrupt, or thieves break through and steal. Your health may be exchanged for sickness. Your friends may be converted into enemies. Your relations may be carried down to the dust. The soft and delicate hand may be forced to ply the oar of labor. You may not be known of those your bounty has fed. And after the morning sunshine, the noon or the evening of life may set in with dark waters and thick clouds of the sky. Is such vicissitude impossible? Improbable? Unfrequent? Let the day in which we live answer this. And such desolation religion may not interfere aloof when we need its aid? No. When it does not rescue us from the evil day, it prepares us for it. What it does not prevent it softens. What it does not hinder it sanctifies. It indemnifies the sufferer by inward supports, and future expectation. It renders every loss a gain. It turns the curse into a blessing. What will the worldling do in the loss of his prosperity? His portion is gone. His hope is wrecked. His heart is desolate. Refuge fails him. He curses God and his king, and looks upward. Or he lies down in his shame, and his soul prefers strangling and death rather than life. His time ends with one hell, and his eternity begins with another. But to the upright there ariseth light in the darkness. God is his refuge and strength; a very present help in trouble. He feels, but he is not miserable. He is perplexed, but not in despair. He is cast down, but not destroyed. He is laid waste, but he is not resourceless: "Although the fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds' feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places." But this falls in with the subject of our next Lecture; which will show us the Christian in Adversity. LECTURE VII. THE CHRISTIAN, IN ADVERSITY. "In the day of adversity consider."-Eccles, vii. 14. THE condition in which we have recently viewed the Christian is not a very common one. We felt the difficulty; and in the course of the Lecture were often led to make the PROSPEROUS the subjeets of reflection, rather than the objects of address. For when a minister enters his pulpit, how few among the godly can he see in his audience, that are set on the high places of the earth, and have the waters of a full cup wrung out unto them, and have more than heart can wish! But, of this kind, we feel no difficulty in the present service. We are no more at a loss to find persons to address, than topics to enlarge upon, when we treat of AFFLICTION. The inheritance of grief is as sure to mortals, as the laws of nature are inviolable" Man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward." Some parts of his destiny are less exposed, and less painful than others; but after every concession, life is a warfare, and earth is a vale of tears. "I hang the world in mourning?" It is Solomon, who saw its most favored aspects, and enjoyed its most envied resources; it is all history; it is universal observation; it is individual experience, that proclaims, "All is vanity and vexation of spirit." Who has purchased an assurance from accident and disease? Who has not enemies that oppose him? Cares that corrode him? Fears that dismay him? Disappointments that confound him? Who does not find in his comforts the elements of sorrow? In his possessions, the sources of danger? In his distinctions, the excitements of envy and detraction? In his affections, the seeds of anxiety and anguish? In his connections, the pledges of apprehension and bereavement? "E'en roses grow on thorns, But you ask-" How is it, not with the man, but with the Christian? Has the favorite of Heaven no indulgences, or at least, no exemptions on earth? Surely, if they had it in their power; surely, the friend would secure the companion of his bosom, and the father the child of his love, from every thing hurtful and distressing. If God was my father and my friend, he could by one volition of his will set me at ease; and would he suffer me to walk in the midst of trouble, to be straitened in want, and to pine away with sickness? If I am his, why am I thus?" Yet David said, "Many are the afflictions of the righteous." And our Saviour says to his disciples, "In the world ye shall have tribulation." And it is the Christian we are to view, this morning, In ADVERSITY. It is to "the elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father," that the apostle Peter addressed himself, when, to break the force of their surprise, he said, "Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you." No. Religion does not preclude the evil day; but it prepares us for it; and shows itself to most advantage, when all other resources must fail. We have a thousand instructions and admonitions concerning the spirit and demeanor of the Christian in tribulation: but they may be all summed up in the words of our text-"In the day of adversity consider." We enter upon our subject with one important remark. Whatever the people of the world may think of it, the religion of Christ is "a reasonable service." Nothing can be more distinguishable from groundless belief, from the enthusiasm of ignorant impulses, from a mere mass of unintelligible feelings. It commences in the renewing of the mind. It is carried on through the medium of thought. Nothing can be moral that does not arise from design, and is not influenced by motive. Spiritual agencies are not like the cures of a charm, of whose efficiency no account can be given. They are not like the forced motions of a machine insensible of its workings and results. Neither are they like the operations of the physical powers in the human body: these are carried on independently of the mind and will. The digestive action, the secretion of the fluids, the circulation of the blood, go on as well, if not better, when we are asleep, as when we are awake. This, it would appear, is too much the notion some entertain of the work of the Spirit. But this is the perversion of the language of Scripture. According to the sacred writers, as to religious influences, we are not only the subjects, but the instruments. What is done in us, is done by us. God is the author of every thing good: our progress is from him; but he does not carry us along in the way everlasting, but enables us to walk. He works in us; but it is to will and to do. We are not only impressed, but employed. Faith and repentance are the gifts of God; yet we believe and repent, and not God. This being premised, we observe, that religion arises from consideration. Therefore, God, complaining of the Jews, says, "My people do not consider." Therefore he cries, "Consider your ways." Therefore David says, "I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy testimonies." This ex whom they have pierced, and nourn." His confidence is not a thoughtless trust-"They that know thy name will put their trust in thee." His hope is not a presumptuous expectation-He is "ready to give a reason of the hope that is in him." His conduct in trouble is not the result of a natural hardihood, a brutal apathy, a careless desperationit is the effect of thought, scriptural thought, sanctified thought-" In the day of adversity consider." Christians! there are many things you ought to consider in the day of trouble; but we shall confine your attention to two only. The DESIGN of Affliction, and the RELIEF of Affliction. I. The DESIGN OF AFFLICTION, to regulate your DUTY. And II. The RELIEF OF AFFLICTION, to support your HOPE. The one will keep you from "despising the chastening of the Lord;" the other, from "fainting when you are rebuked of him." ? I. Consider the DESIGN OF AFFLICTION. Without this, you cannot discharge the duty of the condition. For what is this duty It is not only to possess your souls in patience-it is not only to submit yourselves under the mighty hand of God-but to acquiesce in the pleasure of the Almighty. It is not to say, "This is my grief, and I must bear it;" but "Here I am, let him do what seemeth him good." Nothing less is required of you, as Christians, than a willing, cheerful resignation. But this can only flow from a knowledge of him that smiteth you. You may yield, but you cannot acquiesce, without confidence in him. You may, with David, be dumb and open not your mouth, because he doeth it; and you may say with Watts, "Peace, all our angry passions: then -But you cannot render a voluntary, and cheerful, and grateful resignation, till you see the righteousness, the wisdom, and, above all, the kindness of his dispensations towards you. Therefore you are commanded to hear the rod-What does it say? "And in the day of adversity to consider"-to consider the ends he has in view in afflicting you. What are these ends? They all show that resignation is the most dutiful and becoming thing in the world. They are all founded in our exigences and advantages: but they are various; and none of them must be lost sight of. For a Christian will often find it necessary to turn to each of them before he can obtain an answer to the prayer, "Show me wherefore thou contendest with me." They include Correction-Prevention-Trial-Instruction - and Usefulness. First, Correction. How absurd it is to suppose that God will suffer his children to act improperly, and not reprove them! The very discipline shows that they are not abandoned. It is the language of the paternal heart-" How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? How shall I deliver thee, Israel? How shall I make thee as Admah? How shall I set thee as Zeboim? Mine heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled together." No; he "will not cast away his people whom he foreknew:" but this is the law of his house." If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments; if they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments, then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes." And these stripes regard sins of omission, as well as of commission. For God enjoins, as well as forbids; and we offend by refusing his orders, as well as by opposing his prohibitions. Yea, further, they regard the state of the heart, as well as the conduct of the life for "the backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways," Where no miscarriages have appeared to our fellow-Christians, what a fall is there often in our feelings and our motives! What a decay of devotion! What a coldness of love! What a want of gratitude! What a loss of confidence! What a waste of time! What a misimprovement of privileges! How does this enlarge the sphere of correction! And when all these calls for the rod are taken into the account, have we any reason to wonder that we are afflicted? Surely the cause for astonishment lies on the other side-that we so often escape; and that our chastisements are not only so few, but so gentle and tender. "I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against him." "Surely it is meet to be said unto God, I have borne chastisement, I will not offend any more: that which I see not, teach thou me: if I have done iniquity, I will do no more." Secondly, Prevention. It is proverbially and truly said, that prevention is more than cure. In no case will this better apply, than in our moral failures. Repentance will not always fully recover us as to this world; or hinder the natural effects of our conduct, from being entailed upon us for life. David fell by temptation, and was reclaimed and forgiven: yet his child died, and the sword never departed from his house; and his sin, in the scandal and mischief, was ever before him. Joseph was assailed by the same foe; but he was preserved; and thus sustained his peace of mind, and the approbation of his conduct, and the value of his reputation, and the usefulness of his character, and the benefit of his example. Hezekiah's "heart was lifted up;" and as the consequence, "wrath came upon him and upon all Judah." Paul was in danger from the same quarter. From his peculiar privileges he was exposed to high-mindedness; and we know not what injuries might have resulted from it to himself and others; but he was not elated. It would seem that he was ignorant of his jeopardy; but he had one to watch over him, who was wiser than himself, and could see effects in their causes. And how did he secure him? Lest," says he, "I should be exalted above measure, through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me." What this particularly was, we cannot determine: but it was-and this is sufficient for our purpose-it was a very sharp and painful affliction; and so anguished him, that he "besought the Lord thrice," that is, frequently and fervently, "that it might depart from him." Ah, Christian, if you could see things as they really are in their moral relations, how many of your sufferings might be explained upon this principle. You have perhaps examined yourself; and though you have always enough in your general unworthiness and imperfections to render you vulnerable to trouble, yet you have been able to discover no one duty that you have knowingly know neglected; no one sin that you have knowingly committed; no one idol that you have knowingly adored. But the case was this. You were not vain; but you were becoming so; and it was needful to withdraw the adulation and the incense in time. You were not avaricious; but you were becoming so; and it was necessary to lay waste the gain which made you think of accumulation. You had not worshipped the ereature; but the growing fondness would soon have made you kneel, had not the desire of your eyes been taken away with a stroke. We are little aware, now, of the obligations we are under, for our preservation, to the goodness of God; and the reason is, because the prevention which hinders the injury, hinders the discovery. But there are no blessings for which we shall be more thankful in the world of light, than preserving mercies; and we shall then perceive that the greater part of these were administered by affliction.These often answered the prayer, "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." These checked us; but it was in going astray. The hinderance was suddenly interposed; but the danger was immediate, and the next movement would have been into a pitfall. It was sharp as a hedge of thorns; but it was necessary to pierce us back. It was impenetrable as a wall; but it was necessary to make us despair of going on. At first, we felt that we did well to be angry; but a pause was admitted, and the disappointment induced reflection, and we said, "I will go and return to my first husband, for then it was better with me than now." Thirdly, Probation. It is for this reason that afflictions are so often called trials and temptations in the Scripture. They are in the nature of tests applied to our principles and dispositions; they are experiments employed to discover and display the reality and the degree of the evil or good there is in us. Moses tells the Jews, the design of the discipline to which they had been so long subjected in the wilderness, was to prove them, and to know what was in their heart, and whether they would keep his commandments or no. And without this process, others would not have believed, nor could they have believed themselves, that they were so unbelieving, so rebellious, so perverse, so ungrateful, as they were now demonstrated to be. Job was charged with not serving God for nought; and the accuser of the brethren said, "Hast thou not made an hedge about him, and about all that he hath on every side? But put forth thy hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face." How was this to be decided? God stripped him of all; of his cattle, of his servants, of his children.But instead of resentment and reviling, he worships, and says, "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life," says the defeated but insolent foe: But "put forth now thine hand and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face." And lot he is covered with sore biles from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head; and he takes a potsherd to scrape himself withal; and he sits among the ashes. But his lips murmur no reflection upon Providence. And when his wife, amazed at his enduring, asks, "Dost thou still retain thine integrity? Curse God and die," what says the sufferer?"Shall we receive good at the Lord's hand, and shall we not receive evil? In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly." A friend is born for adversity. But this last solace fails him, and his connections, instead of soothing him, reproach and condemn. But even now he looks up and cries"Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him." "Skin Was he then perfect in the trial? He bore the proof; and was evinced to be gold. But he was not free from dross. He partially failed in the process -and even cursed the day of his birth. And he, even he, left a complete example to be furnished, by one who was fairer than the children of men; who did no evil, neither was guile found in his mouth; who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, threatened not; but com |