THE SIN, AFFLICTION, AND RESTORATION OF 2 Chron. xxiii. 12, 13.-And when he was in affliction, he besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, and prayed unto him; and he was entreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem, Heb. xi. 24-26.-By faith, Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he had respect to the recompence ACQUAINTING OURSELVES WITH GOD. Job xxii. 21-23.-Acquaint now thyself with Him, and be at peace; thereby good shall come unto thee. Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth, and lay up his words in thine heart. If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up. Thou shalt put Rom. iv. 4, 5.-Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt; but to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righte- SERMON I. SPIRITUAL BENEFITS OF SANCTIFIED AFFLICTION. ISAIAH XXXviii. 16. O Lord, by these things men live; and in these is the life of the spirit. OF what things does Hezekiah speak? Let us inquire into his station and condition in life; for these may, perhaps, assist us in answering the question. Hezekiah was a rich and prosperous king: he smote the Philistines in battle, and saw the Assyrians, his powerful enemies, cut off by the angel of the Lord. It is said that he had "a house of precious things, silver, and gold, and spices, and precious ointments, and the house of his armour." He came to the throne in the prime of life, at the age of twenty-five, and, doubtless, in full possession of health and strength to give the highest zest to all the pleasures of an eastern court. And now, perhaps, we are ready to exclaim, "It is evident of what things the monarch spake when he said, 'By these things men live, B and in these is the life of the spirit.' Surrounded by the dignities of rank, the refinements of elegance, and the gratifications of voluptuousness, he, doubtless, viewed these as the very end and delight of his being, and wished for nothing, knew of nothing, better or beyond them. He was amused, and was content; he was stimulated by pleasure, and was happy. Flattered and caressed, with every mode of self-indulgence in his power, he enjoyed the present, and saw no impending cloud to darken or disturb the future." No; very different was his character; very different were the things of which he spake. These words were not uttered in "the house of his armour," but in the chamber of his sickness; not at the festive table of his royal banquets, but upon the couch of lassitude and pain. The chapter before us begins with the portentous words: "In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death." The following is added as his soliloquy, when he had been sick and was recovered from his sickness: "I said in the cutting off of my days, I shall go to the gates of the grave: I am deprived of the residue of my years. I said I shall not see the Lord, even the Lord in the land of the living. I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world. Mine age is departed, and is removed from me as a shepherd's tent: I have cut off He will cut me off like a weaver my life. with pining sickness. From day even to night wilt thou make an end of me. I reckoned till morning that as a lion so will he break all my bones: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me. Like a crane or a swallow, so did I chatter; I did mourn as a dove; mine eyes fail with looking upward. I shall go softly all my years in the bitterness of my soul." What an affecting picture of misery! His life like the tent of an Arab in the desert, frail and capable of being removed or blown away in an instant! or, like the work of the weaver, beautiful in texture, rich in decorations, flowers and figures rising in gay profusion on every side: but suddenly it is cut off-the thread is broken-the loom is destroyed. Yet it was of such things, of weakness and affliction, of sickness and of pain, of desertion and despair, that the humbled monarch spake when he said, "O Lord, by these things men live, and in these is the life of the spirit." Let us endeavour, by a few examples, to verify his pensive contemplation; and this not with a view to excite useless sorrow, or to throw an unnecessary gloom over the gay images which we so fondly connect with this transient life, but for a holier and better endthat, with the inspired Psalmist, we may "so |