fitted by the wisdom of God to the strength and abiUty of our in- herent grace, Isa. xxvii. 8. " In measure when it shooteth forth *' tliou wih debate with it : he stayeth his rough wind in the day of <« the east wind.'" It is an allusion to a physician, who exactly weighs and measures all the ingredients which he mingles in a potion for his sick patient ; that it may be proportionate to his strength and no more ; and so much the next words intimate, " by this there- " fore shall tlie iniquity of Jacob be purged."
3. It is a good sign our troubles are sanctified to us, when they turn our hearts against sin, and not against God. There be few great afflictions which befal men, but they make them quarrelsome and discontented. Wicked men quarrel with God, and are filled with discontent against him. So the scipture describes them. Rev. xvii. 9. " They were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed " the name of God, which hath power over these plagues."" But godly men, to whom afflictions are sanctified, they justify God, and fall out with sin, they condemn themselves, and give glory to God, Dan. ix. 7. " O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto " thee, but unto us confusion of faces," &c. And Lam. iii. 3(). " Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punish- " ment of his sins !" Happy afflictions which make the soul fall out and quarrel only with sin.
4. It is a sure sign afflicting providences are sanctified when they purge the heart from sin, and leave both heart and life more pure, heavenly, mortified, and humble than they found them. Sanctified afflictions are cleansers, they pull down the pride, refine the earthliness, and purge out the vanity of the spirit. So you read, Dan. xi. 35. it purifies and makes their souls white: hence it is compared to a furnace, which separates the dross from the pure metal, Isa. xlviii. 10. " Behold I have refined thee, but not " with silver: I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction." But for wicked men, let them be never so long in the furnace, they lose no dross, Ezek. xxiv. 6. How many Christians can bear wit- ness to this truth ! After some sharp affliction hath been upon them, how is the earthliness of their hearts purged ! They see no beauty, taste no more relish in the world, than in the white of an egg. Oh how serious, humble, and heavenly are they, till the impres- sions made upon them by afflictions be worn off, and their deceit- ful lusts have again entangled them ! And this is the reason why we are so often under the discipline of the rod. Let a Christian (saith a late writer) be but two or three years without an affliction, and he is almost good for nothing : he cannot pray, nor meditate, nor discourse as he was wont to do : but when a new affliction comes, now he can find his tongue, and comes to liis knees again, and lives at another rate.
482 DIVIXE CONDUCT ; OK,
5. It is a good sign afflicting providences are sanctified to us, -when we draw near to God under tiiem, and hirn to him that smites us. A wicked man under affliction " revolts more and more," Isa. i. 5. " turns not to him that smites him/' Isa. ix. 13. but grows worse than before; formahty is turned into stupidity and indo- lence.
But if God afflicts his own people with a sanctified rod, it awa- kens them to a more earnest seeking of God ; it makes them pray more frequently, spiritually, and fervently than ever. When Paul was buffetted by Satan, he " besought the Lord thrice,'* 2 Cor. xii. 8.
6. We may conclude our afflictions to be sanctified, and to come from the love of God to us when they do not alienate our hearts from God, but inflame our love to him. This is a sure rule, whatever ends in the increase of our love to God, proceeds from the love of God to us. A wicked man finds his heart rising against God when he smites him ; but a gracious heart cleaves the closer to him : he can love, as well as justify an afflicting God. " All *' this is come upon us ; yet have we not forgotten thee, neither *' have we dealt falsely in thy covenant : our heart is not turned *' back, neither have our steps declined from thy way : though *' thou hast sore broken us in the place of dragons, and covered " us with the shadow of death,'* Psal. xliv. 17, 18, 19. Here you have a true account of the temper and frame of a gracious soul under the greatest afflictions. To be broken in the place of dragons, and covej^ecl with the shadoio of deaths imports the most dismal state of affliction : Yet even then a gracious heart turns not back, i. e. doth not for all this abate one dram of love to God : God is as good and dear to him in afflictions as ever.
7. Lastly, we may call our afflictions sanctified, when divine teachings accompany them to our souls, Psal. xciv. 12. " Blessed is ** the man whom thou chastenest, O Lord, and teachest him out of *' thy law." Sanctified afflictions are eye-salves, they teach us sen- sibly and effectually, when the Spirit accompanies them, the evil of sin, the vanity of the creature, the necessity of securing things that cannot be shaken. Never doth a Christian take a truer mea- sure both of his corruptions and graces than under the rod. Now a man sees that filthiness that hath been long contracting in pros- perity, what interest the creature hath in the heart, how little faith, patience, resignation, and self-denial we can find when God calls us to the exercise of them. O it is a blessed sign that trouble is sanctified, which makes a man thus turn in upon his own heart, search it, and humble himself before the Lord for the evils ©fit!
2. In the next place, let us take" into consideration those other
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providences which are comfortaliJe and pleasant. Sometimes they smile upon us in successes, prosperity, and the gratification of the desires of our hearts. Here the question will be, how the sanctifi- cation of these providences may be discovered to us ? for resolution to this matter, I shall, for clearness sake, lay down two sorts of rules ; one negative, the other positive.
1. It is a sign that comfort is not sanctified to us, which comes not ordinarily in the way of prayer. " The wicked boasteth of his •' heart's desire, and blesseth the covetous whom the Lord abhor- *' reth. The wicked through the pride of his countenance will " not seek after God ; God is not in all his thoughts," Psal. x. 3, 4. Here you see providence may give men their hearts desij-e ; and yet they never once open their desires to God in prayer about it. But then those gifts of providence are only such as are bestowed on the worst of men, and are not the fruits of love.