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not only to deny them, but even to mock at them.

I know how wicked people corrupt one ano ther with foolish and wicked reflexions: the fire of hell, it is true, was ordained for the pu nishment of devils: but if there be Christians, so called, who take part with the devil in his sin, they must expect to have their part in his punishment; they will be consigned to the company they have chosen. They who think with angels, and praise God with angels, will live with angels. They who think with devils must have their place with devils: they hate the ways of God, and mock at them; devils hate them, but they do not mock at them 3 they know too much for that; and in this they tempt ignorant men to be more wicked and desperate than they dare to be themselves; which is a fearful consideration. Devils who dare not mock at God, will mock at them for their folly, and accuse men before God as more wicked than evil spirits: and what can such men say for themselves? they will be speechless then, however rapidly and boldly they may talk now. To such false confidence as this is that warning given, in the same book from whence my text is taken-Rejoice, O young man in thy youth, and let thy heart cheer

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thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes-that is, go on in the ways of thine own passions and opinions-but know thou, that for all these things, God will bring thee into judg ment. Eccl. xi. 9.

That God will judge men hereafter, we have no doubt that he often judges them here, cannot be denied: and though all the laws of infinite justice, by which rewards and punishments are administered in this world and the next, are such as we can neither find out nor understand, still the reason is sufficiently clear, why good men are often punished in this world, and bad men are not.

It was observed above, that God can punish and forgive at the same time; because punishment from him, when it falls upon good men, is not the punishment of wrath and vengeance, but that of love and correction; it is therefore a sign that he forgives, and it ought to be so understood. It may seem a strange doctrine, that God should punish while he forgives; but it is certainly true. When Nathan said to David, the sword shall never depart from thy house; he said at the same time, the Lord hath put away thy sin, thou shalt not die. God herefore forgives while he punishes, and pu

nishes because he forgives. It may possibly be a privilege of the godly to suffer under him; and every wise Christian will pray, as many have been known to do, that they may have all their punisment in this world. If they are the sons of God, they must be corrected when they offend for what wise father is there who doth not correct his own children? It is a sign that they belong to God; who speaking to his people Israel, saith, You only have I known of all the families of the Earth, therefore will I punish you for all your iniquities. What a comfort is it under every affliction for a Christian to know, that his sufferings mark him for a child of God, under the care of the Almighty! He has little to fear, in life or in death.

On the other hand, when we see the wicked not only unpunished, but even prosperous, it is no sign that they are in a safe way, but the contrary; they are neglected and left to their own ways, because they are bastards and not sons: they escape in this world, because they are reserved for the punishment of another, and miserable will they be when the day of their vi sitation shall come! We see one in the gospel, possessed for a time of his good things, and faring sumptuously every day but how soon

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After this we have a particular account of the effect wrought upon the Pharisees; where we see how truth operates upon those that will not receive it.

Then there is the condition and disposition of those that do receive it; which we see in the account of the man himself.

And last of all, the Judgment of Jesus Christ upon both parties-" For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see, and they which see might be made blind.”

These things let us examine in their order: and first, the case; which, it seems, had occasioned some speculation among the disciples. They had reasoned thus; "As the misery of man is punishment, and as all punishment is for some offence, where could the offence be, of which a man brought the punishment into the world with him? so they asked their Master, who did sin, the man or his parents? They enquire curiously about the cause or beginning of the fact; but our Saviour answers in few words with respect to the end of it: they speak of the evil that was in it; he, of the good that would come out of it; that the thing was not designed as a punishment for the sin of any person, but as a case that would afford an opportunity for the works of God to

be made manifest: the man was born blind, that Jesus Christ might give him sight. What wisdom is here, in giving such a turn to the subject! How many vain, tedious, and fruitless questions about causes and beginnings might be avoided, if we did but consider ends and effects, and the good which there is in every thing which is easy to be seen, and is worth all the rest. How does the rain fall, says the Philosopher? is it by its own weight, or by the state of the Heavens? Is the cause in the water itself, or is it in the air, or in something else? What an opening is here for disquisition ? Whereas the answer of Truth and Wisdom is exactly like what we have heard already; "It falls, that the fruits of the earth may grow; that man may be fed, and may be thankful to the Giver of all good." That is enough for us; this is the best part of the subject; and here we are in no danger of being mistaken. The best way then to answer the great question about the origin of Evil, is to consider what is the end of it; what good comes out of it; this makes the subject at once plain and useful. Why was the man born blind? That the works of God might appear, and Christ might cure him. Why did man fall? That God might save him.

Why is evil per

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