as God in his providence takes care to choose for them that which happens, they should greatly rejoice in such a dispensation.

After the belief of this fact, we should not listen to our passions, but enter into a kind of indifference, and commit all our concerns into the hands of God, since he is Lord of all events, and acts with judgment, and ordains every thing for the real good of them, who commit themselves to his direction. Thus the believer well knows how to distinguish what is agreeable to himself, and what is not. For piety does not make him insensible, nor destroy those affections which belong to our nature: but whatever sentiments he possesses, he submits them to the providence of God; and rests assured that what comes from it, is far better for him, than any thing he could have requested for himself. It is in this holy indifference, the christian should always live, ever renouncing his own will, and always submitting to the will of God,

OBJECTIONS ANSWERED.

But if God should expose his children to violent trials and afflictions, able to shake their strongest resolutions, this does not militate against the truth we have established, namely, that whatever he does, is always the best for his children: for by such trials, he advances their sanctification, fortifies their faith, withdraws them from vice, and

weans them from the world. By these trials, he makes them examples of patience in the church, and to contribute much to its edification, and thereby conforms them, in some degree, to Jesus Christ, who loved the church, and gave himself for it. By these trials, he consecrates them to himself; he makes his glory manifest and illustrious, in the power by which they are supported, and by the conquests which they, by that power, obtain; and by thus preparing them for promised glory. There is no affliction which shall not be recompensed by the good which is connected with it. There are no misfortunes which God, in his providence, does not make of excellent use to those on whom they fall, and to others, also, who wisely consider those

events.

We have a pleasing proof of this, in the example of Joseph. First, he was threatened with death, by his brethren; next, he was thrown into a pit; after that, he was sold for a slave to strangers; and there cannot, to all appearance, be a greater calamity. It is dreadful to be hated, particularly by them from whom we should receive the greatest marks of affection. It is dreadful to be torn from the arms of our kindred, and to be driven from our native country. It is dreadful to lose all hope of succeeding a father, and to be at once, reduced to poverty, after having been nourished and brought up in affluence. It is dreadful to be deprived of liberty, and to be condemned to perpetual bondage. It is dreadful, being innocent, to

be

be treated as a criminal, to be shut up in a prison among strangers, of a different language, and of a different religion; yet, behold such was the condition of Joseph; such was the choice which God made for him! But wait a few years, and you will see sudden and great revolutions: wait, till the God of providence manifests his designs, and you will perceive they were replete with mercy and wisdom. You now see Joseph in affliction and fear; you see him as the dead among the living; you will see him come forth from his prison, as from a tomb, and ascend a throne; you will see his brethren preserved in life by him, whom they were willing to destroy; you will hear Jacob blessing the Lord for having recovered his son; you will see the sovereignty fixed in the house of the king of Egypt, and his authority augmented; you will see the whole kingdom, and the neighbouring states, preserved from famine, and a door of retreat opened to the people of God, to increase and multiply, and to prepare a way to those great events, in which God was afterwards pleased to display the glory of his power.

1

We see not, indeed, every day, similar examples; the wonderful works of God are not continually so conspicuous; but where the men of this world discover nothing like it, the believer discerns some analogy. For instance, a man who is persuaded of the truth of the religion he professes, for that reason finds himself exposed to terrible trials. He is obliged either to abandon his profession, or to

renounce

He

renounce all his attachments, and seek where he can, a shelter from the storm. His mind is filled with nothing but alarming apprehensions. He must resolve to leave his neighbours, and break his best connections. He must abandon his business and settlements in life; and, at an age, when, perhaps, he has not long to live, he is obliged to form new designs, and to adopt new measures. must seek, in a strange country, that quiet he could not find in his own, at the hazard of being disappointed, and of his being exposed, either to contempt, or envy. He must expect a thousand vexations, and a thousand affronts, perhaps, without finding one real friend to mitigate his distress. His exile is both voluntary and involuntary; it has no infamy attending it, since the cause is glorious; but it has all the inconveniences of real banishment; since, as to any pleasure which he may promise himself, he has at least, as much reason to fear as hope. A man accustomed to live at his ease, cannot sustain such a change, without painful sensations; and, speaking after the manner of men, such a man is much to be pitied. But, let us not stop at what mere spectators perceive; enter into his heart; consider what passes there; behold the recompenses which God gives him, and what he has promised to bestow, and you will then find, his providence has placed him in a happy situation, provided he knows how to profit by it.

Such a man will not follow his duty without great conflicts. He will not, indeed, be in any

doubt

doubt whether he should renounce his profession; no, he always, remains unshaken, and resolves to do nothing against the lights and dictates of his own conscience: yet he cannot but consider his calling as grievous, and the yoke of Christ as heavy. His generous resolutions are obstructed by great infirmities; he will go where God calls him, but he cannot do it with delight; his heart frequently recoils, and the remembrance of the past, makes his present path seem the more uneasy: but these difficulties, and this distress, are only for a season. As soon as he begins to obey the voice of God, he commits himself to his protection: for God guides with a paternal care, those who are resolved to please him, though by so doing, they are persecuted by the world. He now assures himself the Lord will be with him, and this assurance, disperses his inquietudes. He passes through the waters, without fear of being overwhelmed, and through the fire, without the fear of being consumed. I mean to say, that his dangers, whatever they may be, do not confound him, because God is with him, and grants him his protection. He now begins to taste vivid consolations, by considering himself to be in that condition to which all the promises of God appertain. He is satisfied that he shall receive supports under all his wants in this life, and hopes, at death, to enter into everlasting rest. He considers himself as admitted into the number of faithful witnesses for the truth, and as walking in the steps of Jesus Christ, who entered into his glory by his sufferings, and by his detachment from

the