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been a Comforter to us, and have sealed us to the day of redemption; and say within ourselves in reference to the Spirit of God, as once the sons of Jacob said one to another in reference to Joseph, We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us. some such language, I say, will the soul in the hour of temptation bespeak itself. Ah, I am verily guilty concerning that tender Spirit of Grace and Comfort, which hath often said, O! do not this abominable thing which I hate; but I would not hear. Is not this he whose rebukes I have slighted, whose counsels I have despised, whose warnings I have neglected, yea whose comforts I have undervalued, and counted them as a small thing? Ah wretch! how just is it now that the Spirit of God should withdraw? that he should despise my sorrows, and laugh at my tears; shut out my prayers, quench my smoaking flax, and break my bruised reed? Well, if the Lord shall please indeed to bring my soul out of trouble, and to revive my fainting spirit with his sweet consolations, I hope I shall carry myself for the future more obedient to the counsels and rebukes of the Spirit of Grace.

10. By chastisements God draws the soul into SWEET and NEAR COMMUNION with himself. Outward prosperity is a great obstruction to our communion with God; partly because by letting out our affections inordinately to the creature, we suffer the

world to come in between God and our hearts, and so intercept that sweet and constant trafick and intercourse which should be between God and us. God's people offend most in their lawful comforts; because there the snare being not so visible as in grosser sins, they are the easier taken; we are soonest surprised where we are least jealous. Partly also for want of keeping upon our watch against lesser sins: while our hearts are warmed with prosperity, we think many times small sins can do no great harm; but herein do we wofully deceive ourselves; for besides that the least sin hath the nature of sin it, as the least drop of poison is poison; and that in smaller sins there is the greater contempt of God, inasmuch as we stand out with God for a trifle as we count it, and venture his displeasure for a little sensual satisfaction. I say, besides these, and many other considerations, which may render our small sins, great provocations, this is one unspeakable mischief, that small sins interrupt our communion with God as much as great sins, and sometimes more: For whereas great sins by making deep wounds upon conscience, make the soul go bleeding to the throne of grace, and there to mourn and lament, and never to give God rest, till he gives rest to the soul, and by a fresh sprinkling of the blood of Christ, to recover peace and communion with God: smaller sius, not impressing such horror upon the conscience, are swallowed in silence with less regret, and so do insensibly alienate and estrange the heart from Jesus

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Christ. The least hair casts its shadow; a barley corn laid upon the sight of the eye keeps out the light of the sun as well as a mountain. The eye of the soul must be kept very clear that will see God: Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God. Little sins, though they do not disturb reason so much as great sins, yet they defile conscience, and the conscience under defilement (unlamented) is shy of God, and God shy of it.

But affliction sanctified, as it doth deaden the heart to the world, so it doth awaken and soften the conscience against sin; the soul is made sensible of her departure from God, and of the bitter fruits of that departure, and now begins to lament after God in Augustine's language, "Lord, thou hast made my "heart for thyself, and it is restless and unquiet till "it can rest in thee." The soul hath many turnings and windings, but with Noah's dove, it can find no place for its foot to rest on till it return into the ark, from whence it came; and, when the soul hath been weather-beaten abroad, if God will please to put forth his hand, and take it into himself; when dearest relations are become strangers, as David complains, if God come and give the soul a visit; when the poor creature is in darkness and can see no light, then for God to lift up the light of his countenance, and shine with a gracious smile upon the soul, and say unto it, I am thy salvation; of what sweet and unspeakable refreshment and consolation is this to the afflicted

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spirit? And what a gracious condescension is this in God, that when the soul by prosperity hath waxed wanton against Christ, and sported itself in unspouselike familiarities with strangers, Jesus Christ should send it into the house of correction, and there by the discipline of the rod, correct and work out the wantonness of the flesh, and when he hath made it meet for his presence, take it into sweet and social communion with himself again! This is stupendious mercy and goodness, that cannot be paralleled in the whole creation!

11. God maketh AFFLICTION the EXERCISE and IMPROVEMENT of grace.-In prosperity grace many times lieth dead in the soul, which affliction awakens and draweth forth into exercise; the winter of our outward comforts proves not seldom the spring of our graces: frost and snow starve the weed, but nourish the good corn. Though faith and patience be of an universal influence in a holy life, yet affliction giveth them their perfect work. Of the times of persecution it is said, Here is the patience and faith of the saints; that is, now is the time for the saints of God to exert their faith and patience, and to let them have their perfect work: there is a work of patience, and there is a perfect work, the trial of faith worketh patience, (the sufferings whereby our faith is tried, as gold is tried in the furnace) it worketh, or (as the word Kategyála signifieth) it perfecteth: The cross exerciseth, and exercise perfecteth the grace of patfence:

as sufferings arise, so patience ariseth also; Be patient, brethren, till the coming of the Lord: i. e. do you bear the affliction, till Christ come and take it off. Let your patience be of the same extent with your sufferings. As patience, so faith is not acted only, but perfected by temptations. Sometimes the soul finds that faith lively in a suffering condition, which before it questioned whether it were alive or no; or, if affliction do not find it lively, it makes it lively in the same furnace of affliction wherein God trieth our faith, he doth refine it, and purifieth it more and more from the dross of infidelity. They are the purest acts of faith which the soul puts forth in the dark faith never believes more than when it cannot see; because then the soul hath nothing to stay itself upon but God., Sense, while it seems to help, renders the work of faith more difficult by doubling it: a man must first believe the insufficiency of what he seeth before he can believe the all-sufficiency of him that is invisible: We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. It is harder to live by faith in abundance than in want. The soul is a step nearer living upon God, when it hath nothing to live upon but God; yea, and when God is not seen, he is most believed. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Observe, and you shall find a great deal more of precious faith in that desertion than of complaint; faith (like Pharez) breaks forth first, My God, before forsaken: you have two words of faith for one