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his own merciful promise, makes all our bed in our fickness, we fhall furely find cafe in the midft of pain; and though the outward man feem to be perishing, the inward man will be renewed day by day.

Sometimes the people of God are afflicted in their relative capacity, and have much trouble on account of those who are bone of their bone, and flefh of their flefh. Some of those who lie nearest their hearts, are oppreffed with all the weight of violent attacks of fickness, or otherwife wear out a dying life under the languors of flow difeafe. A feeling heart cannot but be deeply affected in fuch cafes. Others of their relations are funk in all the depths of poverty and neceffity; while others, if not poor, are profane, and have not the fear of God before their eyes. They are violent oppofers of all that is good, and in them the words of our Redeemer are verified, "A man's enemies are they of his own house." In any of these cases the trial is heavy, and the christian is under the neceffity of looking to the Lord for relief and comfort, as in the circumftance last mentioned, the prophet Micah refolved to do. "Trust ye not in a friend, put ye not confidence in a guide; keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bofom. For the fon dishonoureth the father, the daughter riseth up

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against her mother. Therefore I will look unto the Lord I will wait for the God of my falvation: my God will hear me." As if he had faid, “I am willing to lose the favour of my father, my mother, my wife, my brothers or fifters, if I may but enjoy the favour and friendship of the God of my life. From him I expect all my felicity."

Thus in all outward troubles, the favour of God: is life. If it is inquired for what ends, and on what accounts it is fo earnestly defired in thefe circumftances, much might be faid in reply; but I fhall only obferve, That a fenfe of God's favour sweetens the bitter potion of affliction, and lightens the burden of diftrefs. Our heavenly Father most certainly corrects his children in love, in wisdom and in faithfulness. The end he has in view, is their profit, to make them partakers of his holiness, and to fit them for his heavenly kingdom. Affliction in itself is not joyous, but grievous, and if not alleviated by divine confolation, it would be still more fo. Hence the afflicted chriftian fometimes fays, "If I can but fee that the heart of my heavenly Father is towards me, while his corrective hand is upon me, I fhall be fatisfied. If he is pleased to wound me in the tendereft part, I fhall be contented, if I may but be affured that it is the wound of a friend. I will fay, "It is

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the Lord, let him do to me as feemeth good in his fight." But how can I bear the preffure of affliction without a fenfe of his favour!"

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Let the afflicted chriftian confider well these divine declarations, and take the comfort of them.. If ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not fons. We had fathers of our flefh, which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: fhall we not much rather be in fubjection to the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chaftened us, after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holinefs. By this fhall the iniquity of Jacob be purged, and this is all the fruit, to take away his fin. For whom the Lord loveth he correcteth, even as a father the fon in whom he delighteth. I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as filver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they fhall call on my name, and I will hear them; I will fay, It is my people; and they fhall fay, The Lord God."

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But befides the outward troubles which we have juft mentioned, there are troubles of a more internal and spiritual kind, in refpect to which, the favour of God is the beft relief. Such, for inftance, as arise from confcious guilt, and an ap

prehenfion

prehenfion of God's difpleasure, becaufe of fin. What can a guilty, condemned malefactor defire, so much as the Judge's favour? To one oppressed with the fear of God's anger, the only remedy is a difcovery of his love.

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Much inward trouble arifes from a fenfe of the power and prevalence of the impurity and corruption of the heart. This makes the chriftian often cry out with the apoftle Paul, "O wretched man. that I am, who fhall deliver me from the body of this death." A fenfe of the divine favour will lead us alfo to fay with him, "I thank God through Jefus Chrift our Lord."

The furious affaults of temptation are likewife very trying to the children of God, and affurance of his favour the beft fhield of defence, whereby they are enabled to quench the fiery darts of the wicked one. The temptations of the grand adverfary of fouls, who goes about as a roaring lion, feeking whom he may devour, occafion much trouble to the pious man. He often fays within himself, When fhall the happy moment arrive, that God fhall bruife Satan under my feet? O when fhall it once be? When the enemy comes in like a flood, may the Spirit of the Lord lift up a standard against him. When the meffenger of Satan comes to buffet me, may Jefus manifeft his favour, and fay G 3

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unto me,

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My grace is fufficient for thee, my ftrength is made perfect through weaknefs." May he who was tempted in all points like as we are, and who knows how to fuccour them that are tempted, fuccour me, and furround me with his favour, like a fhield. He knows how I am hurried and haraffed, and fometimes even terrified by the roaring lion of the bottomless pit, may he ftrengthen me with ftrength in my foul, to fight the good fight of faith, and make me more than conqueror through his love.

CHAP. V.

The Favour of God is Life to dying Perfons.

WE come now in the laft place, under this head,

to confider the words of our text with re

ference to dying perfons. In that awful period to which we muft all come, when we muft pafs through the valley of the fhadow of death, meet the king of terrors, and be perfonally engaged in close conflict with that last enemy, we fhall find, that an intereft in the divine favour will be of the greatest importance. When, not only all created enjoyments must be given up, but life itself must be re

figned,

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