Secondly^ By these trials integrity is cleared up, and the doubts and fears of many upright and holy ones allayed and quieted, re- solved and satisfied.
O what would many a poor Christian give for satisfaction in that great point of sincerity ! How many tears have been shed to God in secret upon that account ? Hov\^ many hours have been spent in ex- amination of his own heart about it, and still jealousies and fears hang upon his heart ? He doubts what he may prove at last. Well, saith God, let his sincerity then come to the test, kindle the fire, and cast in ray gold. Trials are the high way to assurance ; let my child see that he loves me more than these, that his heart is upright with me. I will try him by prosperity and by adversity, by persecutions and temptations, and he shall see his heart is better than he suspects it to be. This shall be the day of resolution to his fears and doubts.
The apostle speaking of heresies, 1 Cor. xi. 7, 9. puts a necessity upon them : There must be heresies, saith he, that they which are ap- proved may he made manifest. The same necessity there is (and for the same end) of all other trials of grace, that the lovely, beautiful, sweet face of sincerity may be opened sometimes to the world, to en- amour them, and to the soul in whom it is, to satisfy it that it doth not personate a Christian, but lives the very life of a Christian, and hath the very spirit and principles of a Christian in it.
3. Thirdly, By these trials, pride and self-confidence are destroyed and mortified in the saints, as much as by any thing in the world. We never see what poor, weak creatures we are, until we come to the trial. It is said, Deut. viii. S. " God led Israel through the desert, " to prove them, and to humble them." When we are proved, then we are humbled. Those that over-reckon their graces before the trial, see they must come to another account, and take new measures of themselves after they have been upon trial.
Ah ! little did I think, saith one, that I had so much love for the world, and so little for God, until afflictions tried it. I could not have believed that ever the creature had got so deep into my heart, until providence either threatened or made a separation, and then I found it. I thought I had been rich in faith, until such a danger befel me, or such a want began to pinch hard ; and then 1 saw liow unable I was to trust God for protection, or provision. O it is a good thing that our hearts be kept humble and lowly, how rich so- ever they be in grace.
4. Fourthly^ By trials grace is kept in exercise, and the graciou.s soul preserved from security and spiritual slothfulness. Trials are to grace what the estuations and continual agitations of the waters are to the sea, or what the racking of wines from the lees is to it : Were it not for our frequent trials and exercises, we should quickly settle upon the lees, and our duties wouldbe (as God complains of Ephraim) like sour or dead drink, Hosea iv. 18. flat and spiritless. " Moab
582 THE EESIGN OF GOD IN THE TlllAL OF HIS PEOPLE.
" hath been at ease from his youth, and he hath settled on liis lees, «« and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel ; neither hath he '' gone into captivity ; therefore his taste remained in him, and his " scent is not changed," Jer. xlviii. 11.
Much after that rate it would be with our hearts, did not the Lord frequently try and exercise them. Let the best man be without some trial or other but a few months, and you may find the want of it in liis prayers and conferences quickly. O what a tang of formality will be found in them ! And is it for the honour of God, or profit of his people, that it should be so ? No, the Lord knows it is not ; but how shall their spirits be reduced to their former zealous, heavenly temper again.^ Why, saith tbeLord, they must into the furnace again: " I will melt them and try them ; for how shall I do for the daughter *' of my people," Jer. ix. 7. I love them too well to lose them for want of a rod. Alas ! if I should suffer things to go on at this rate, what will become of them in a little time ? What delight can I take in their duties, when the faith, fervour, humilitv, and holy serious- ness of their spirits are wanting in them.^ I will therefore refine them as " silver is refined, and try them as gold is tried, and they shall call " upon my name, and I will hear them, and I will say, It is my people, " and they shall say. The Lord is my God." Zech. xiii. 9- and thus the Lcrd'chides himself friend again with his people.
Thus he recovers them to their true temper, and thus his visita- tions do preserve their spirits ; and when the Lord sees these sweet effects of his trial upon them, it greatly pleaseth him. O now, saith God, I like it ; this providence hath done them good ; this rod was well bestowed ; the letting loose of this temptation, or that corrup- tion upon them, hath made them find their knees again ; now I hear the voice of my child again.
Beloved, this is a blessed fruit and effect of our frequent trials: and how ungrateful soever they are to flesh and blood, that affects ease, and is loth to be disturbed, yet it is neceesary to the preserva- tion of our spirits.
5. Fifthly, By the trial of our graces Satan is defeated, and his ac- cusations of the saints found to be mere slanders. It is a very com- mon thing with the devil and wicked men, to accuse the people of God of hypocrisy, and to tell the world they are not the men and w^omen they are taken to be ; and that if their inside were but turned out by some thorough trial, or deep search, it would appear that re- ligion did not indeed live in their souls, as they pretend, but that they only act a part, and personate heavenly and mortified persons upon the public stage of profession.
Thus the accuser of the brethren suggests the hypocrisy of Job, chap. ii. 5. " Put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and " his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face;" q. d. Well might Job serve thee whilst thou hast been so bountiful a master to him ; he hath been well rewarded for all the service he hath done thee ;
THE DESIGN OF GOD IN THE TRIAL OF HIS PEOPLE. 583
but if thou stop the current of his prosperity, thou shalt ?;ee how quickly he will stop the course of liis duty ; A few lashes from thy hand will make him curse thee to thy face. But O what sliame and disappointment was it to that envious spirit ? What a vindication of Job*'s integrity, when under the greatest trials of his faith and patience, he still held fast his integrity, and shewed himself as great a pattern of patience under the cross, as he had been of piety in the days of his greatest prosperity ! Satan gets nothing by bringing forth the saints upon tlie stage, to be made a spectacle to angels and men, as it is, 1 Cor. iv. 9-