shine forth in the dead and the damned-namely, the injuries of all the saints avenged, and thine also together with them, if thou art a righteous person.

What wonder is it therefore, if, under and by thy present evil, God is taking vengeance on thy enemy, that is, the sin of thy body? Nay thou oughtest to rejoice in this blessed work of the infinite justice of God, which, even without thy requesting it, thus kills and destroys in thee thy worst enemy, that is, sin. If therefore thou shouldst condole with thy body, thou wouldst be found an enemy to the justice of God working in thee; and of this thou oughtest cautiously to beware, lest it should be said unto thee also, "Thou lovest thine enemies and hatest thy friends." And, as thou oughtest truly to rejoice with the justice of God when severely punishing thy sin; so, thou oughtest to rejoice with the same, when punishing sinners who are enemies both of God and men.-Thou findest, therefore, that the greatest good is to be seen in the greatest evils; and that we can rejoice in the greatest evils; not on account of the evils themselves, but on account of the infinite goodness of God's justice avenging us by those evils.

VIEW V.

OF THE GOOD ON OUR LEFT HAND.

Here are our adversaries who are still in this life: (for in our preceding View, we considered those who are damned and made like unto the devils:) we are to look upon those, therefore, who are still in this life in a different manner. The good, then, that is in them, is twofold.

The first good is, that they abound in temporal blessings: so that, even the prophets were almost moved away with envy: as in Psalm lxxiii., "But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipt. For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked." And again, in the same chapter, "Behold these are the ungodly who prosper in

the world; they increase in riches." And Jeremiah also, chapter xii., "Righteous art thou, O Lord, when I plead with thee: yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments: wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? they are all happy and deal very treacherously."

And why does God gratuitously pour out and lose so many good things upon them, but, that he might comfort us, and shew us how good he is to those who are of a right heart? as the same 73d Psalm saith. And, if God is so good to the evil, how much rather shall he be good to the good? Excepting that, he never tries the wicked with any evil, but he tries the good with many evils; that they might acknowledge that God is good, not only in their present blessings that they receive from him, but in those hidden blessings that are yet to be revealed; and that they might say to themselves with the Psalmist, in the same Psalm, "It is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord God." As though he had said, And even if I do suffer any thing from which I see that they are free, yet, I have a confidence that God is much more good unto me than unto them.

And hence the visible good things of the wicked, are to us an encouragement to hope for those good things that are invisible, and not to be moved at the evils which we suffer. Thus Christ, Matt. vi., bids us look at the fowls of the air and the lilies of the field: saying, "If therefore God so clothe the grass of the field, which to-day is and to-morrow is cast into the oven, how much more shall he clothe you, O ye of little faith!" And therefore, from comparing the good things in which the wicked abound, with the evil which we suffer, our faith is exercised, and our consolation in God increased. Hence, all things must necessarily work together for good unto the saints.

The other good, (which is the much more wonderful,) is, that even their evils are blessings unto us, through the good hand of God upon us. For although their sins are offences unto the weak, yet they are to the strong a cause of the exertion of the r strength, and an

occasion of conflict and the greater glory "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life," James i. And what greater temptation is there, than that multitude of the most wicked examples before us? In a word, this world is especially called the enemy of the saints of God: because, by its enticements and wicked works, it irritates, provokes, and draws us aside from the ways of God to their ways: as in Gen. vi., "The sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair-and they became flesh." And Numb. xxv., "And the people of Israel committed whoredom with the daughters of Moab."

So that it is necessary for us to be always tried with some evil, lest we should be taken with the offences of the world and carried away, and, through weakness, be brought to sin with them. Hence Lot is commended by Peter, 1 Epist. ii., because he had suffered much from the dreadful examples of the people of Sodom, and yet had by their means been more established in righteousness. These offences, therefore, must of necessity come, that they might work in us conflict and victory: but, "woe unto the world because of offences!" If then God work so much good in us by means of the sins of others, how much, ought we to believe with our hearts, he will work in us by means of our own evils, even though sense and the flesh may judge directly the contrary?

Nor does the world bring us less good from the other side of its evils: that is, its adversity. For those whom it cannot incorporate with itself by its allurements, nor devour by its offences, it endeavours to drive away by sufferings, and to frighten by the evils of punishment: thus ever attempting, either to ensnare by the examples of sin, or to exasperate by the tortures of punishment. The world, therefore, is our chimæra, with a fair virgin's head, a fierce lion's body, and a deadly serpent's tail. For the end of the world, both of its pleasure and its tyranny, is poison and death eternal.

As therefore, God makes us to see our own good in the sins of the world; so, that its persecutions might not be vain and useless, they are so ordained of God to work the increase of our good, that, by the very means whereby

they hurt us, they are compelled to do us good: as the blessed Augustine saith concerning the children which were murdered by Herod, He never would have been able to do so much good by his favour, as he did by his hatred.' And the blessed Agatha went to the prison, rejoicing as much as if she had been going to a feast; and spoke after this manner, If thou dost not cause my body to be well bruised by thy executioners, my soul cannot enter into paradise with the palm of victory: even as, a grain of wheat, if it be not well threshed and beaten out of its husk upon the threshing-floor, is not gathered into the barn.'

But why do I dwell on these less important remarks, when we see that the whole scripture, the sayings and writings of all the fathers, and the lives and actions of all the saints agree in this point:-that those who the most injure believers, are the most profitable unto them, if those injuries be rightly profited by. As Peter saith, 1 Epist. iii.," And who is he that can harm you if ye be followers of that which is good?" And Psalm lxxxix., "The enemy shall not exact upon him, nor the son of wickedness afflict him." But how shall he not hurt him when he often even kills him? Because, by hurting him he works his greatest gain! Hence we see, that we live in the midst of good, if we were but wise; and yet in the midst of evils; and therefore, all things are wonderfully tempered together by the overruling goodness of God.

VIEW VI.

OF THE GOOD ON OUR RIGHT HAND.

This is the church of the saints, the new creation of God, our brethren and friends; in whom, we see nothing but good, nothing but consolation; not however with our fleshly eyes, for thus seen they belong to the opposite View of evil; but with our spiritual eyes; though even those good things in them that are seen by our fleshly eyes are not to be rejected, but we are to be comforted in God even by them. For the 73d Psalm dared not to condemn all who have riches in this world; but saith,

"If I say I will speak thus; behold, I should offend against the generation of thy children:" that is, if I should say that all were wicked men who are rich, wise, and in honour, I should condemn thy saints, many of whom are such. And Paul also exhorts Timothy, 1 Epist. vi. " to charge them that are rich in this world that they be not high-minded;" thereby, not forbidding men to be rich. And the scriptures represent Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as rich men. Again, Daniel and his companions are said to have been in honour. Moreover, many of the kings of Judah were saints. Therefore the 73d Psalm, having its thoughts turned towards these, saith, "If I say I will speak thus; behold, I should offend against the generation of thy children.".

God, I say, bestows an abundance of these good things upon his people for the consolation of themselves and others. But these are not their proper good things: nay, they are but a mere shadow and figure of them: their proper blessings are faith, hope, love, and other graces and gifts: all which become common by love.→→→ This is the communion of the saints in which we glory. And who that believes may not here glory even in the midst of evils, for this is really the case: namely, that the blessings of all the saints are his, and that his evil is theirs. This is a most sweet and blessed view; which the apostle sets forth, Gal. vi. in these words, "Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ."

And, is it not a good to know this,-that, if one member suffer, (as it is written 1 Cor. xii.) all the other members suffer with it? and that, if one member be glorified, all the other members rejoice with it? Therefore, when I suffer, I do not suffer alone, but Christ and all Christians suffer with me: as he saith, "He that toucheth you, toucheth the apple of mine eye." Thus, others bear my burthen and they are my strength; the faith of the church props me up when trembling; the purity of others bears my temptations of lust; the fastings of others are my feast; and the prayers of others are engaged on my behalf. And, in a word, each member is mutually concerned for the other; so that the more comely mem