abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft." But in the midst of these sufferings, we never hear him crying out, Who shall deliver me from this unremitting distress? His inward corruption gave him greater pain than the evils of his outward condition; and his captivity to the law of sin was worse to him than prisons, and tortures, and death.

III. SIN is evil whether we feel it or not, and worst when we are most insensible of it. To be past feeling, in this respect, is the greatest curse we can possibly bring on ourselves; and the most desperate condition in which a human creature can be placed before his everlasting doom be pronounced, is when God saith of him, as he did of Ephraim of old, "He is joined to his idols, let him alone."

Affliction, on the other hand, though a bitter, is yet a salutary medicine; and though no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous, nevertheless afterwards it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness to them who are exercised thereby. Affliction is the discipline by which we are trained to glory, and honour, and virtue. If this world, indeed, were our only portion, there would be some reason, or at least some excuse, for choosing the pleasures of iniquity, rather than those sufferings which would embitter the short period of our existence in it. But the greatest error we can possibly fall into, is that of taking it for the place of our rest. To cure this fatal mistake, God visits us with afflictions. They are his messengers sent to teach us our true condition, what this world is, a fleeting scene of vanity and illusions; and what we ourselves are in it, pilgrims and strangers, hastening to another land of perpetual abode.

IV. IN affliction we are commonly passive, but al ways active in siu. The one is left to our choice; the

other is not. When we suffer in the cause of virtue, we are in the hand of our most faithful and everlasting friend; but when we sin in order to avoid suffering, we commit ourselves into the hands of that malicious, cunning, and eternal enemy, who goeth about seeking whom he may destroy. Affliction only hurts the body, but sin affects the health and well-being of that immortal principle, which is destined to survive the ruins of this earthly tabernacle, and to inherit happiness or misery for ever. Which leads me to observe, in the last place,

THAT the evil of affliction is but of short duration, but that of sin perpetual. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning; and these light afflictions, which are but for a moment, work out for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. Should they continue throughout our whole lives, yet even that is but a moment compared with eternity. The evil of sin, on the contrary, goes beyond the grave, and lasts as long as the soul itself, which it has polluted. The delight of it is soon gone, but the sting remains; the guilt and punishment of it pass with us into the other world, and there constitute the worm that never dieth, and the fire which is not quenched.

THESE observations may suffice to illustrate the general proposition, that there can be no greater folly than to seek to escape from affliction, by complying with the temptations to sin; or, in other words, that the smallest act of deliberate transgression is infinitely worse than the greatest calamity we can suffer in this life.

What hath been said, ought, in the 1st place, to serve for reproof to those who, so far from considering iniquity as more to be dreaded as a greater eyil than affliction, will not refrain from their ungodly and vicious practices even when their sin proves their affliction. To many,

alas! it seems to be as their meat and drink to obey the commands of sin, by fulfilling the lusts thereof. In vain hath the word of God and providence admonished them, that nought but bitterness is to be found in the path of folly. They still pursue that path, in defiance of their own experience, and weary themselves with committing iniquity. They-break through all restraints, not only when an angel stands in the way, but where ruin, misery, and destruction, stare them broad in the face. How many are to be seen bound with the cords of their own sins, from which they have neither the inclination nor power to free themselves? How many wasted and maimed by criminal indulgence? How many brought to poverty and rags, by riot and intemperance? "Who hath wo? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes? they that tarry long at the wine, they that go to seek mixed wine." Sin has had its martyrs as well as godliness, who, in premature old age, have been made to possess the transgressions of their youth, in all the bitter fruits of a body tortured with diseases, and a spirit wounded with remorse.

Let us then be warned, ere it be too late, against the fatal error referred to in the text; the preference of the momentary pleasures of sin, to the salutary discipline of affliction. Let us never allow ourselves to imagine, that any present pleasure or advantage of sin will compensate the dreadful evils which it carries in its train; but uniformly oppose, to every such suggestion of a deceived mind, that important and solemn question which our Lord addressed to the multitude, "What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul ?"

2dly. Let us examine ourselves carefully, whether our judgment and choice have been rectified on this important point. What is it that affects us with the deepest concern and sorrow; the adverse events in providence, or the sins by which we have incurred the loss of the divine favour? When the hand of God lies heavy on us, what do we desire with the greatest earnestness? whether is it to have the trial sanctified, or to have it removed? What is the chief object of your ambition? Is it to grow in grace, and in conformity to the image of God? or is it to become great, and prosperous, and powerful in the world? Were God now to put wisdom or riches in our choice, as he once did to Solomon, would we determine as he did? or would we grasp at the riches, leaving it to age and experience to bring wisdom along with them in the ordinary supposed course of things? In what character does Christ appear most amiable to us, as a Saviour from punishment, or as a Saviour from sin? Finally, in what view does heaven appear most worthy of our desires and wishes; as a place of deliverance from suffering, or as a state of perfect freedom from sin and infirmity of every kind, where we shall be enabled to serve God with the entire affections and powers of our whole nature?

By these marks let us try the real state of our characters, that so we may not pass through life with a lie in our right hands; but knowing that we are of the truth, may assure our hearts before God, looking for his mercy unto eternal life. Amen.

414

SERMON LXVII.

2 CORIN. v. 1.

For we know, that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

THE prospect of a blessed immortality is one of the most powerful supports to the people of God, amidst all the trials of their present state; and therefore hope is compared to an anchor, which being cast within the veil, keeps the soul firm and unmoved, so that nothing from without can disturb its inward peace and tranquillity. This was the true foundation of that courage and constancy with which the apostles and primitive Christians endured and overcame the most grievous sufferings. Faith presented to their view a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; in comparison of which their present afflictions appeared so light and momentary, that they were incapable of giving them much pain or uneasiness, as the Apostle more fully declares in the close of the preceding chapter. And being unwilling to leave such an agreeable subject, he further enlarges upon it in the words of my text: "For we know, that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." Death itself can do us no real prejudice; on the contrary, we have reason to welcome it as a friend, because, when it beats down these tenements of clay in which we are lodged, or rather impri