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infinite value, freely offered to all, and of which no earthly calamities can ever deprive us? The riches of the Divine goodness and mercy in our redemption by Jesus Christ as far transcend all the treasures of this world, as the heavens are higher than the earth, as time is exceeded by eternity. The Christian whose mind has been enlightened to perceive the grace of God revealed by the Gospel, whose faith has embraced the promises of forgiveness and reconciliation, and who has felt in himself the, workings of the Spirit of Christ, drawing up his thoughts to high and heavenly things, must possess grounds of thankfulness, and a fund of support and happiness, which are infinitely beyond the richest sources merely of this world's good, and entirely independent of its influence or controul. It is, however, in the hour of distress and sorrow that the value of spiritual blessings is chiefly felt. We may, indeed, and, under the influence of the grace of God, we undoubtedly shall be at all times unfeignedly thankful for the mercies of Redemption; but when the earthly cistern is broken, or the human gourd withered--when the objects of worldly expectation and delight shall no longer blossom, or shall cease to yield their accustomed fruit-then is it, that the Christian does most emphatically rejoice in the Lord, and joy in the God of his salvation; then is Christ increasingly precious, his mediation more valuable, his yoke more easy, his promises of present and eternal rest more refreshing and delightful. It is under the pressure, or in the prospect, of affliction and trial, that the Apostles are seen to break forth into praise and thanksgiving for the unspeakable blessings which are treasured up in Christ; and it is in similar circumstances that his disciples have ever most deeply felt their value. If, then, such a disposition of mind be, as it certainly is, one greatly to be desired, and productive of important practical consequences,

the affliction which is the means of exciting it must be acknowledged to be eventually a blessing.

4. The loss or the denial of earthly good, and the increased conviction of the value of spiritual blessings, will, under the Divine influence, add greatly to the earnestness and fervour of the Christian in the exercises of devotion. They," says Archbishop Leighton*, "who have been used to the greatest heights of daily, devotion, yet in surrounding calamities pray more fervently and more frequently than ordinary, and this is to be numbered among the chief benefits attending afflictions; and it would surely be well worth our while to experience all the hardest pressures of them, if we may gain this: that the languor and sloth, and stupidity into which our minds and our souls are ready insensibly to sink, while all is calm and serene about us, may be happily shaken off by something which the world may call an unhappy event-that some more violent gust of wind may, fan the sacred flame, that seems almost extinguished, and blow it up into greater ardour." It was not till the Israelites sorely felt the bondage and the cruelty of Egypt, that they cried earnestly to the Lord for deliverance. Had the sunshine of royal favour, in which they basked during the lifetime of Joseph, continued to follow them, it is but too probable that they would have been wholly immersed in the idolatries and corrup tions of the surrounding people, and lost sight for ever of the land of promise. It will be happy for us, if with the Israelites, and "with the Psalmist," as the pious prelate just quoted goes on to observe, "we should sometimes sink in deep waters, that so we, who in prosperity do but whisper or mutter out our prayers, may from the depths cry aloud unto him. O, how frequently and how ardently did David pray in the deserts, and in the caves, and out of the deep! Our rows are cruel to ourselves, if they demand nothing * Meditations op Psalm cxxx.

but gentle zephyrs and flowery fields,
and calm repose, as the lot of our
life; for these pleasant things often
prove the most dangerous enemies
to our nobler and dearer life. Oh!
how true is that saying, that prayer
is fervent in straits, but in joyful
and prosperous circumstances, if not
quite cold and dead, at least luke-
warm. Oh! happy straits, if they
favour our correspondence with Hea-
ven, and quicken our love to celes-
tial objects, without which, what we
call life may more properly deserve
the name of death."-It may be
added, that together with the more
frequent and fervent exercise of
prayer, the word of God will become
far more valuable and delightful to
the afflicted Christian. There are
many parts of Scripture which can
only be rightly understood and cor-
dially received under circumstances
of trial. On these a new and holy
light will be shed by the Spirit of
God, and then will the Christian
truly say,
"Unless thy law had
been my delight, I should then have
perished in my affliction." Thy
statutes have been my songs in the
hour of my pilgrimage."

5. But as the increased fervour of our prayers for spiritual blessings, and additional delight in the word of God, is one of the consequences of sanctified affliction, it does also, by a happy kind of necessity, drive the soul to fly as it were to seek its refuge under the wing of the Divine Goodness, and to fix its hope upon God. And this is undoubtedly another most important advantage which the pious soul gains by adversity, that it calls or rather tears away the affections from earthly objects, when obstinately adhering to them. How strongly the love of the world is naturally rooted in our hearts needs not to be insisted on-nor how absolutely essential it is, both to our present peace and to our hope of heaven, that this should be subdued, and even eradicated. We are all naturally inclined to wish for a double paradise-for one in the present world formed of all the objects which

are, perhaps, in some cases innocently dear to us-from the uninterrupted enjoyment of which we desire to be translated to that which has been regained in Heaven. But this must not, and cannot be. There is but one paradise for man, which, if we are truly wise, we shall seek in the realms of unclouded light and purity. In the mean time, we must not be surprised, if He, to whom man is dearer than to himself, should defeat his plans, disappoint his hopes, and destroy the self-formed fabric of his happiness.

"Vere suos amat,"

says Seneca, "et severe Deus." God'
loves his children truly; but he
loves them severely. He will not,
therefore, indulge them in that which
may either ultimately prove their
ruin, or even be injurious, though
less fatally, to their spiritual welfare.
Like a wise and tender parent, he
chastises them in those particular
ways which may be most conducive
to their profit, that they may be par-
"He threat-
takers of his holiness.
ens," says St. Chrysostom," that he
may not strike-he strikes, that he
may not destroy." And, behold!
happy is the man whom the Al-
mighty thus correcteth-who by the
destitution of creature-comforts is
led to place his hopes in the Lord
his God, and whose expectation of
happiness is from him alone-who,
from the failure of the earthly stream,
is driven to the ever-flowing foun-
tain of living water, of which whoso
tasteth shall thirst no more-who is
weaned from worldly hopes and de-
pendences, and is persuaded deter
minately to fix his affections on
things above, where Christ sitteth
on the right hand of God. We may
profess to do this, and, in a certain
degree, we may really fulfil it, even
when surrounded by earthly bless-
ings-but such a disposition of mind
is far more generally the effect of
sanctified affliction; and wherever
it is produced, it affords a peace, and
even a happiness, which no circum-
stances merely of this world can
either give or take away.
* Juv. Sat. X.

jects of affliction. "My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations, knowing this," that the trying of your faith worketh patience." Now whoever considers the condition of man upon earth, the variety of calamities to which he is exposed, and the certainty with which every one ought to anticipate his own share of them, cannot surely complain, if by the all-wise and. gracious superintendence of his heavenly Father, some tribulation, which for the time may be deeply grievous, should prove the means of working patience, that temper of mind of which all have need, that after we have done and suffered the will of God, we may at length" inherit the promises." Indeed, of all the lovely train of heavenly graces which adorn the Christian character, patience under the chastening hand of the Father of our spirits, and resignation to the appointments of his unerring wisdom, and boundless, though sometimes to us mysterious, goodness, most eminently glorify God, and promote our spiritual improvement. They tend in an especial manner to produce that self-denying, subdued, and profoundly submissive temper, which is of the es sence of Christian holiness-which is precisely that disposition of mind which is both the safest, and, notwithstanding first impressions, the happiest, to be habitually maintained amidst the various changes and uncertainties of this mortal life-and which, by refining and invigorating the general character-by accustom

6. Nor will this comparative abstraction from earthly objects lead to habits of barren contemplation and inactivity. On the contrary, sanctified affliction, while it will tend to refine, and elevate the soul above this lower world, will ever be found to be productive of the most important practical consequences. It will lead the humbled and awakened Christian to far more faithful and diligent self-examination than he was previously accustomed to exercise. He will spare no evil habit in which he had before too much ac quiesced, nor any longer neglect the difficult and self-denying duties to which he may have formerly been unwilling to attend. The voice of God has been heard loudly calling upon him to go and sin no more, lest a worse thing befal him-to be zealous and repent-to strengthen the things which were ready to die-to give proof of his professed love of God and of the Redeemer-to fulfil the work peculiarly given him to doto forget the things which are behind, and to reach forth to those which are before, pressing towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Affliction, of which this is not in some measure the practical result, which is not, at least, followed by a most sincere desire and purpose thus to grow in grace, and to be fruitful in every good work, can scarcely be said to be sanctified; but where this is in any good degree effected, we may derive from it the heart-felt and exalted consolation which the Psalmist experienced, when he declared-ing the Christian pilgrim to morti"This is my comfort in my affliction; for thy word hath quickened me"-" Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep thy commandments."

While sanctified afflictions will thus tend to quicken the subject of them in all holy obedience to the will of God, it will have a particular influence on the great Christian graces of patience and resignation To produce these in the heart is evidently one of the most direct ob

fication, and the sacrifice of his own carnal and earthly inclinations to the holy will of God-and by enuring him to live and walk by faith, to look chiefly at things unseen and eternal, to place his supreme happiness and expectations in God, and to aspire after a state of unchangeable and endless felicity, forms the most direct and appropriate preparation for "the inheritance of the saints in light."

I will only add, as to the practi

cal effects of sanctified affliction, Christian; and which cannot be too diligently cultivated. But I must forbear. I have already trespassed: too much on the patience of your readers, and will only beg their farther attention, whilst, in conclusion, I introduce to their notice, or call to their recollection, the following striking passages from the discourses of a most able and energetic writer, which comprise a very important view of this whole subject.

that there is one other disposition to which it is peculiarly conducive; and that is, sympathy with the afflictions of others. "Haud ignara mali," says the soul of the suffering Christian, "miseris succurrere disco." The prosperous and the happy of this world may be benevolent, but they cannot deeply sympathise with the distressed. There is a peculiar tenderness of affection, which can only be learnt. in the Christian school of affliction, which softens without unnerving the soul; which leads it, with true generosity and lively feeling, "to rejoice with them that rejoice;" and, above all, to" weep with them that weep." Doubtless, to promote this sympathetic disposition, is one important part of the Divine intention in affliction; an intention which may be especially discerned in the kumiliation and sufferings of the Son of God. He was tempted or tried. in all points like as we are, and is therefore both "touched with the feeling of our infirmities," and "able to succour them that are tempted." It would be easy to enlarge on this most interesting part of my subject; for what afflicted Christian ever failed to derive some of his highest consolation in reflecting on his humble and infinitely distant, yet real correspondence, in suffering with his exalted and gracious Saviour. Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered." "For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, to make the Captain of their salvation perfect through suffering." Can any real follower of his Lord and Master refuse to be made like him, or to arm himself with the same mind, especially remembering the declaration of the Apostle," that if we suffer with him, we shall also reign with him?" This is surely a view which cannot but be both consoling and animating to the afflicted

See the exquisitely beautiful Hymn on this passage, in your number for February.

"Since the Son of God incarnate was made to pass through a state of very severe sufferings, before he ascended up into heaven; and since his saints and servants have, in this, respect, been required to tread in his steps; we cannot but know what our lot is like to be in going through the same world. Nor should we only learn to look for afflictions, we should be willing to find them, when we reflect that they have fallen so largely to the share of so many persons, better than ourselves, and of the Son of God himself. Nay, we should be even thankful for our sufferings, did we consider the ends for which they are inflicted on us, and the great good we receive from them."

"We thank God perhaps, when we do thank him, for prosperity, for health, plenty, success, and honour. We do well. They are the gifts of God's providence, and demand our acknowledgments. But they are not the only blessings his goodness confers on us. Adversity should be added to the number of his favours, and remembered in our most devout thanksgivings. Blessed be God, for pain, sickness, disappointment, distress; and every one of those various evils with which the life of man is filled, and which are the subjects of our hasty complaints; evils which are our greatest good; which afflict, but purify, tear and harrow up the soul, but

prepare it for the seeds of virtue." "Blessed be God, that he is not so unkind as to try us by the most dangerous of all temptations, uninterrupted prosperity; that we are not undone by the accomplishment * Dr. Ogden.

of our wishes; that he is pleased to chastise us with his legitimate children, and with his dear and only begotten Son; whom we hope to follow, through the gate of the grave, to a joyful resurrection, and to be received by Him into those mansions which he is now preparing for us in heaven; where he liveth and reigneth, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end."

I have only to add my earnest prayers, that such may be the blessed consequences of all our afflictions, and remain,

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1 Pet. i. 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

In these words are several things which deserve to be particularly noticed. May the Spirit of God as sist us in meditating upon them! I propose to consider them under the following heads.

1. To shew that true Christians are begotten again of God;

2. That they are begotten again to a lively hope;

3. That this is done by the resurrection of Jesus Christ;

4. That for this they hate great cause to bless God.

1. The true servants of God (such as St. Peter was) are begotten again of him. God," according to his abundant mercy, hath begotten us again." Do we ask, with Nicodemus, how can this be? Our inquiry must be answered in the words of our Saviour: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God." How this wonderful work is effected, it is beyond our understanding to comprehend. We know not how we

were formed at first, much less how we are born again. In general it may be observed, that all men who come from the first Adam, are conceived and born in sin; their nature is corrupted and depraved; so that they are prone of themselves to do evil, and unable to do any thing that is truly good. But when a man believes in Christ, the second Adam, and so is made a member of his body, he is quickened and animated by his Spirit, which, being the source and principle of a new life in him, he thereby becomes a new creature, a different kind of ereature from what he was before, and therefore is properly said to be born again, "not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." The Spirit by which he is now led and influenced is that of God himself; whence it comes to pass, that such a man is quite altered from what he was; he is become, as it were, another man : his whole nature is changed; he now partakes of the Divine nature; and is made, according to his measure and capacity, like God himself.

This is what the Apostle means when he says, "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away: behold all things are become new." His former false views, his unruly passions, and his inordinate desires of the things of this world, are exchanged for a new set of thoughts and affections. He has a new view and apprehension of God. There is a new bias in his mind, so that he is now as much inclined to virtue as he was before to vice. From a foolish, proud, sinful, and sensual creature, he is become wise; and humble, and holy, and spiritual; and all this by means of the new spirit that is put within him, whereby he is made a new man; no longer acted upon as before, by worldly and temporal considerations, but governed by the Spirit of God himself, and influenced by motives drawn from the eternal world. While other men are born

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