great SERM.

poor

against the knowledge of God, as the
and wife governor of the world; but a
refuge they are in the evil day. What com-
fort can any one have in looking to empty
infignificant words (for really chance and
neceffity are no more) under the doubtful
expectation of an overwhelming calamity?
But faith controuleth the fears of a religious
mind, for it representeth an intelligent, pow-
erful, and gracious providence, as fuperin-
tending all affairs, and directing all events
irresistibly; it refteth fatisfied in infinite
goodness, from which joyful hopes may be
formed even in the last extremity; it reflect-
eth comfortably on the experience which
good men have had of God's favour, reliev-
ing them, and giving an expected end to
all their troubles; for he hath been their
dwelling-place in all generations, as the
Pfalmift fpeaketh; and efpecially, embra-
cing the revelation God hath given, it re-
lieth on his covenant with his people, in
which are folemn promises fufficient to sup-
port their spirits even in the laft article of
danger, fuch as, that he will never leave nor
forfake them; he will give grace and glory,
and withhold no good thing from them that
walk uprightly; and, that all things shall

IV.

SERM. work together for good to them that love IV. God.

And as the foul of man, conscious of its fpiritual nature and independence on the perishing body, and of its natural defire of immortality, extendeth its prefaging views to an eternal ftate, and can never be thoroughly fecure against fear, without fome good prospect of a future felicity; this is the compleat confolation and fupport of the good or the wife man; he rejoiceth in the hope of the glory of God, in the midst of furrounding calamities; and when there is no hope of evasion this confidence is not abated. Fob refolved, therefore, that though God fhould flay him, yet he would trust in him; which, furely, muft import an expectation of favour from him after death. The chriftian religion propofeth this to us more clearly, for our Lord Jefus Chrift hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel; and therefore the very reason the apostle giveth, why we faint not, though our outward man perisheth, is, because we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not feen; for the things which are feen are temporal, but the things which are not feen are eternal.

What

What I have faid on this head, fheweth SER M.

in a great measure the strength of the wife man against forrow, fo that it will not be neceffary to infift upon it; we have no more to do than alter the fcene, to transfer the calamities of life from the profpect to the incumbency of them; and that which fupports the mind against the one, will be alfo a relief against the other.

The reasons why afflicting occurences are often fo fhocking to men that life finketh under the burden and pineth away in mifery, are, that we over-value the good things of which they deprive us; for in proportion to the affection of defire, fo will the grief always be; and because they are inflamed with an apprehenfion of God's wrath, and the concioufnefs of guilt maketh them to be confidered as penal inflictions of his juftice, on which account deliverance is defpaired of, Nay, the melancholy view of the mourner is lengthned out to the utmost duration of his being, that is, to eternity. Against all this, religious virtue is the fovereign and univerfal relief; it reprefenteth a more fubftantial enjoyment to counterballance the prefent pain, a reconciled God and an approving conscience, as a perpetual spring of joy, and an eternal weight

H 4

IV.

SERM. weight of glory to recompense the pain and IV. toil of the prefent ftate, which are, in comparifon, but a light affliction and for a mo

ment.

The fame principles and fentiments in the mind of a wife man reftrain immoderate anger, which, as Solomon faith, refteth in the bofom of fools, Ecclef. vii. 9. He confidereth the tranfports of paffionate wrath as the impotence of the foul deftroying it's peace; that no provocations or injuries which can be done to him in this world can affect his main intereft; they appear to him very inconfiderable things while he enjoyeth tranquillity within, and believeth God is his friend, who can make even his enemies to to be at peace with him, can affwage their malice or controul it's most violent efforts, and whofe loving kindness is a fund of fuperior confolation, even better than life itfelf, beyond which the utmost rage of men cannot reach; and, finally, as the great rule by which he formeth his temper and conduct is, the imitation of the Deity, he confidereth that nothing is more godlike than to forgive injuries, and be kind to the unthankful and evil.

But let us, next, confider the advantage of religious wisdom in delivering us from

the symptoms of weakness arifing from the SERM. paffions. The first I mentioned was igno- IV. rance and confufion; the understanding is fo darkened that it cannot difcern the way we should chufe, and form a just and deliberate judgment of things, which certainly is a great unhappiness. Now, it is the invaluable advantage of true wisdom, that it openeth the eyes, and fetteth things before the mind in a clear and full view. The teftimony of the Lord is fure, making wife the fimple, the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes, Pfal. xix. 7, 8. Whatever difficulty there may appear in the paths of virtue to the corrupt and unexperienced, they are all plain to him that underftandeth, and right to them that find knowledge. Prov. viii. 9. There is an admirable fimplicity in religion, and the highway of holiness, as the prophet calleth it, Ifa. xxxv. 8. is fuch that the wayfaring man, though a fool, fhall not err therein. Whereas the ways of fin are crooked and intricate, a man engaged in them still meeteth with one difficulty after another, and vexeth himself with unprofitable projects, which only tend to involve him in farther trouble, Prov. xv. 19. The way of the flothful man is an hedge

of