God's wrath upon us by the most heinous iniquities, yet if we humble ourselves under his chastisements, and implore mercy at his hands, we shall, like him, be heard, and be made stupen- dous monuments of his power and grace g. Did he ever regret the sufferings by which he was thus brought to enjoy peace with God? Neither shall we, whatever trials may be made subser- vient to this blessed end.]
But will the end really compensate for the means used to effect it ? Yes : and to prove that it will, we shall proceed to shew,
II. The blessedness of knowledge, though gained by affliction —
Such knowledge as we are speaking of, the know- ledge of God in Christ Jesus, is indeed inestimable. Let us view it,
1. As compared with the price paid for it —
[It is said by Solomon, " Buy the truth, and sell it not." Now as we have before spoken of affliction as the means of bringing us to the knowledge of the truth, we may, in popular language, call it, The price paid for knowledge. Whatever then the affliction be, we do not hesitate to say that it is richly recompensed by the fruit which it produces.
Suppose the affliction to be of a temporal nature: we have been bereaved of our dearest friends and relatives ; we have suffered the loss of all our property, and been reduced to very embarrassed circumstances ; our health also has been destroyed, so that we are sinking under an accumulation of woes. Suppose our case as distressing as that of Job himself: still, if it have been sanctified to our eternal good, we can call it by no other name than, A blessing in disguise. Did Job, when brought to a deeper view of his own depravity, and to a richer discovery of the Divine perfections, regret the sufferings which had been overruled for that end ? Did he not rather abhor himself for having judged too hastily respecting the designs of God ; and cordially approve of those dispensations, which in his haste he had been ready to condemn? Thus shall we also do, when once we have " seen the end of the Lordh." We may in our haste exclaim, "All these things are against me:" but at last we shall testify of all God's most afflictive dispensations, as Joseph did, that " God meant them for good1."
But suppose the trials to be of a spiritual nature. These are yet far more afflictive : " A wounded spirit who can bear ? " How grievously David was oppressed by them, we are informed
e 2 Chron. xxxiii. 11 — 13 h Jam. v. 11. * Gen. 1. 20.