2. Whatever success, prosperity, or comfort men acquire by sinful mediums, and indirect courses, are not sanctified mercies to them. This is not the method in which those mercies are bestowed* " Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues without " right,'' Prov. xvi. 8. Better upon this account that it comes in God's way, and with his blessing, which never follows the way of sin. God hath cursed the ways of sin, and no blessing can fol- low them.
3. Whatever prosperity or success makes men forget God, and cast off the care of duty, is not sanctified to them. It is unsancti- lied prosperity which lulls men asleep into a deep oblivion of God, Deut. xxxii. 13, 14, 15, 18. " He made him ride on the high places " of the earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields ; and he " made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the fhnty " rock, butter out of kine, and milk of sheep, fat of lambs, and " rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the fat of kidneys " of wheat, and thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape. " But Jeshurun waxed fat and kicked; thou art waxen fat, thou *' art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness ; then he forsook '' God which made him, and lightly esteemed the rock of his sal- *' vation. Of the rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and *' hast forgotten God that formed thee." Rare Jumantjaelicibm ara:. Rarely grateful are the rich.
4. When prosperity is abused to sensuality, and merely serves as fuel to maintain fleshly lusts, it is not sanctified. See Job xxi. 11, \% 13. " They send forth their little ones like a flock, and " their children dance. They take the timbrel and harp, and re- "joice at the sound of the organ. They spend their days in •' wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave."
484< DivixE coiTDucr ; oit,
5. It is a sign that prosperity is not sanctified to mciij when it swells the heart with pride and self-conceitedness, Dan. iv. 29, 30. "At the end of twelve months he walked in the palace of the <* kingdom of Babylon. The king spake, and said, is not this "great Babylon that I have built for the house 'of my kingdom, " by the might of my power, and for the honour of my ma- " jesty ?''
6. That success is not sanctified to men which takes them off from their duty, and makes them wholly negligent, or very much indisposed to it, Jer. ii. 31. " O generation, see the word of the " Lord ; have I been a wilderness unto Israel ? A land of dark- " ness ? Wherefore say my people, We are lords, we will come no *' more unto thee ?
7. Nor can we think that prosperity sanctified, which wholly swallows up the souls of men in their own enjoyments, and makes them regardless of public miseries or sins, Amos vi. 4, 5, 6. " They " lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, " and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the " midst of the stall. They chant to the sound of the viols, and " invent to themselves instruments of music like David. They " drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief " ointments, but they are not grieved for the afflictions of "Joseph."
But then positiveli/.
1. Those mercies and comforts are undoubtedly sanctified to men, which humble their souls kindly before God in the sense of their owti vileness and un worthiness of them, Gen. xxxii* 10. '• And Jacob said, I am not worthy of the least of all thy mer- cies," &c.
2. Sanctified mercies are commonly turned into cautions against sin, Ezra ix. 13. they are so many bands of restraint upon the soul that hath them to make them shun sin.
3. They will engage a man's heart in love to the God of his mer- cies, Psal. xviii. 1, compared with the title.
4. They never satisfy a man as his portion, nor will the soul accept all the prosperity in the world upon that score, Heb. xi. 26. *' Esteeming the reproach of Christ gi'eater riches than the trea- " sures in Egypt : For he had repect unto the recompence of the " reward."
5. Nor do they make men regardless of public sins ot miseries, Neh. ii. 1, 2, 3. compared with Acts vii. 23.
6. It is a sure sign that mercies are sanctified when they make the soul more expedite and enlarged for God in duty^ S Chron.
THE MYSTERY OF PROVIDENCE. 485
xvii. 5, 6. " Therefore the Lord established the kingdom in his " hand, and all Judah brought to Jehoshaphat presents, and he " liad riches and honour in abundance. And his heart was lifted " up in the ways of the Lord,'' &c.
7. To conclude, That which is obtained by prayer, and returned to God again in due praise, carries its own testimonials with it, that it came from the love of God, and is a sanctified mercy to the soul. And so much of this third case.
How may we attain unto an evenness and steadiness of spirit under the changes and contrary aspects of providence upon us f Three things are supposed in this case.
1. That providence hath various and contrary aspects upon the people of God.
2. That it is a common thing with them to experience great disorders of spirit under those changes of providence.
8. That these disorders may be (at least in a great measure) pre- ventedj by the due use and application of those rules and helps that God hath given us in such cases.
1. That providence hath various, yea, contrary aspects upon the people of God, is a case so plain, that it needs no more than the mentioning, to let it into all our understandings. Which of all the people of God have not felt this truth.'* Providence rings the changes all the world over. " He increaseth the na- " tions, and destroyeth them ; he enlargeth the nations, and " straiteneth them again," Job xii. 23. The same it doth with persons, Psal. cii. 10. " Thou hast lifted me up^ and cast me " down." See what a sad alteration providence made upon the church. Lam. i. 1, 12. " How doth the city sit solitary, that was " full of people ! How is she become as a widow ! She that was " great among the nations, and princess among the provinces, " how is she become tributary ! Is it nothing to you, all ye that " pass by ? Behold and see, if there be any sorrow like unto my " sorrow, which is done unto me, whei*ewith the Lord hath af- " flicted me in the day of his fierce anger !" And how great an instance was Job of this ti*uth, Job xxix. per tot. and xxx. com- pared ? How many thousands have complained w^th Naomi, whose condition hath been so strongly altered, that others have said as the people of Bethlehem did of her. Is this Naomi ? Ruth i. 19, 20, 21.
2. These vicissitudes of providence commonly cause great disor- ders of spirit in the best men. Look, as intense heat and cold try the strength and soundness of the constitution of our bodies, so the
486 DIVINE CONDUCT ; Oil.