1 Before I was Afflicted I went Aftray, but now have I kept thy Word. And sometimes Afflictions are adminiftred by Way of Prevention: This St. Paul was fenfible of, and was therefore Thankful for that sharp Affliction of the Flesh, that was fent to humble him and make him know 2 Cor. xii.himself, left he should be exalted above Meafure, through the Abundance of the Revelations that had been vouchfafed him. They are the Method that Providence commonly uses for the Accomplishing Christians; for the training them up to Goodness, and building them up in their moft Holy Faith for the Perfecting of the Saints; for the Perfecting of them in Holiness here, that Col. i. 12.they may be made Meet to be Partakers hereafter of the Inheritance of the Saints in Light. Nor can there, in the Nature of the Thing, be a Perfect Accomplisht Chriftian without Afflictions and Troubles; Because there are many Excellent Virtues and Graces, that never can be well Attain'd, nor at all Prov'd or Exercis'd without Afflictions. There's no Occafion, nor Room in Profperity, for Patience and Christian Courage, and Submiffion to the Will of God, or any other Paffive Virtues, or for Conftancy of Hope and Truft in him. Adverfity is the Only Scene for the Trial and Exercise of These, and they are fome of the Nobleft Virtues, which make up 16. up and adorn the Chriftian Life here, and are the fame which fhall hereafter be Rewarded with the Brighteft Crowns of Glory. 'Twas thefe Good Fruits of Afflictions that made the Apostles Rejoice in them-We glory in Rom.v.3 Tribulations, (fays St. Paul,) knowing that Tribulation worketh Patience, and Patience Experience, and Experience Hope. They look'd only to the End of their Croffes and Afflictions; and fince they ferv'd to so good Ends, they not only bore them, but Valued them for their End's fake. When they were troubled on every Side, for This Caufe (fays 2 Cor. iv he,) we faint not, because though our Outward Man perish, yet the Inward Man is renewed Day by Day: For Our Light Afflictions, which are but for a Moment, fo they accounted even Theirs, (which were the Sharpeft of all Afflictions,) but Light and Short, when they were in the End to work out for them that far more exceeding and Eternal Weight of Glory. They were told that they must through much Tribulation enter into the Kingdom of God: But when fuch a Kingdom was at the End, they little regarded through how much Tribulation they were to pass in the Way to it. 'Tis the End that Crowns all; It is the End that must determine our State to Blifs or Mifery. As He is certainly a Miferable Man that is Miferable in the End; fo he only is Happy that is finally Happy, in the Iffue and Refult of Things. And whatever Way Providence shall fee the fittest to lead Good Men to their Happiness, though it were through Briars and Thorns; through Labours and Watchings, through Stripes and Imprisonments, and at last through the Terrors, or even the Torments of Death; yet I fay, If Providence does, even this rugged Way, bring them to Happiness, to Eternal Happiness at the Laft, it does fufficiently Acquit and Juftify itself, and God in all Things fhall be Glorified. All former Evils will then be forgotten; or it will be a Pleasure to remember past Labours and Sufferings, when we shall be got thorough them all, and shall Pfal. xv. be come to Dwell in God's Tabernacle, and to have our Reft upon his Holy Hill. This is the Wisdom of Providence, to prove Men's Faith and Patience, and Exercise their Virtues, and fhew them to the World for Examples, before it Rewards them. But the Fool, that has not Patience to wait the Iffues of Providence, nor Wisdom to understand them, upon every Unexpected Occurrence, either to the Righteous or to the Wicked, prefently Shoots his Bolt. Thus fays the Pfal. xcii Pfalmift, fpeaking of this very Cafe, How all the Workers of Iniquity that now flourished, fhould foon be Deftroyed for everBut an Unwife Man (fays he,) does not well Confider This, and a Fool doth not Underftand it. Therefore Therefore whenever he undertakes to vindicate Providence, he endeavours to perfuade Men well and wifely to Confider; and not to be Hafty in paffing their Judgment, according to Outward Appearances, or Prefent Accidents and Conditions of Life, which for the General part may be much the Same to the Righteous and to the Wicked, but were no fure Argument of God's Love or Hatred either Way; And whatever their Condition was at prefent, the Scene would foon Change: That they should therefore carry on their Eye to the Final Iffue of Things, and see how All concluded; And then they should be fure to fee, that Providence would do Both of them, both the Righteous and the Wicked, Juftice in the End: That whatever Changes or Rifques of Fortune either the One or the Other may run in this Life, contrary to the Judgment and Expectation of the World; whatever the One might Suffer, or however the Other might flourish for a Time, yet it would be but for a Time: Let Men but have Patience and wait the Iffue, and that then they should fee, that Both the One and the Other fhould have their End according to their Defervings. The End of the One is Destruction, the End of the Other Peace, and that Peace without End; for (fays the Pfalmift,) Their Inheritance fhall endure for ever. He therefore Sums up all |