Nature of God, and our Relation to him; and II. From the Benefits of Virtue itself, and the Advan-. tages that accrue to us from our Afflictions.

I. It is an Obfervation made by Eliphaz, in the Book of Job, that Affliction cometh not forth of the Duft, neither doth Trouble fpring out of the Ground, but are difpofed and appointed by God, who has a fovereign Right and Dominion over us, and may therefore deal with us as he pleases, fo long as he leaves us in a State preferable to Non-existence. And, from this Confideration, the devout Pfalmift, in all the Calamities that befel him, was not only dumb, and opened not his Mouth, in any Murmuring or Complaint, because it was God's Doing, but even carried his Refolution to the highest Pitch of Refignation, while I live, will I praife the Lord, yea, as long as I have any Being, though deprived of every Thing elfe, will I fing Praifes unto my God. He had the Confideration before him of the numberless Favours and Benefits, which from Time to Time God had extended to him, and, if he so frequently received Good at the Hand of God, it was but equitable, he thought, that he fhould fometimes receive Evil. He confidered the infinite Wisdom of the fupreme Difpofer of Things, and implicitly believed, that there was an exact Harmony in all his Administrations, and that, at the laft Day, when we shall behold his Prefence in Righteousness, and this great and wonderful Scene fhall be laid open and revealed, every one should be fatisfied with the Beauty and just Conduct of it, though to us, who fit at a Distance, fome of its Parts feem very cloudy and perplexed. He called to Remembrance his paternal Relation, and knowing, that, like as a Father pitieth his own Children, fo is the Lord merciful unto them that fear him, he could not but perceive, that the Afflictions, he laboured under, were neceffary for the Chaftisement

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of his Faults: He therefore reflected upon his own State and Condition of Life, and perceiving that, as he was by Nature God's Servant, it was but decent for him to acquiefce in that Rank and Station, which he had appointed him in his large Family; that as he was a Sinner, and less than the leaft of God's Mercies, it was no more than his Duty to be content and thankful for any Thing on this Side Damnation. We will bear the Indignation of the Lord, fays the afflicted Church in the Prophet Micab, because we have finned against him; for wherefore doth a living Man complain, a Man for the Punifhment of his Sins? Since Afflictions are the natural Fruit of our Wilfulness and Misconduct, we ought always to caft the Blame on ourselves, and never dare to upbraid God's Providence: Efpecially confidering, that, were we much more innocent than we are, this World is not a Place of perfect Pleasure and Delight; that we came not hither to do our own Will, or enjoy our own Wishes, but are naturally born to Trouble, as the Sparks fly upwards, and need not therefore be surprized, if, in a Vale of Tears, we meet with fuch Calamities and Croffes, as are suitable to our Nature and Condition; that no Adverfity, either in Kind or Degree, is peculiar to us, but, if we take a View of other Men, and compare our Cafe with theirs, we shall find, that we have many Affociates in Mifery, many far worse, and moft as ill afflicted as ourselves: That it has all along been the Lot of the best Men, and greatest Favourites of God, to be exercised in this Manner; and that the Captain of our Salvation, a Man of Sorrows, and acquainted with Grief, was himself made perfect through Sufferings. If therefore we either look upon God, as the Author and Difpofer of all our Afflictions, or upon ourselves, either as Men, that are fubject to them, or as Sinners, that do justly deserve them,

it muft needs be great Partiality and Perverseness in us, to be difpleased, that we are not exempted from bearing, either the Wages of our Iniquity, or the common Burthen of our Nature: Efpecially if we confider,

II. Some of the Advantages, that do accrue to us from our Afflictions, as well as the great Benefits of bearing them with Patience. The Masters of Ethicks, who have looked into the Properties of the Mind, are generally of this Opinion, that Impatience and Discontent, under any Kind of Tribulation, proceed from a Poornefs of Spirit; argue a Man confcious of his own Weakness, and that he has not Courage to refift an Evil; whereas, had he but Resolution to face it, he would be fo employed, as to have no Leifure to complain; his Blood would be fo heated with the Senfe of Honour, and the Hopes of Victory, that the Blows and Smarts of the Encounter would scarce be felt. He, that in Patience poffeffes his Soul, is always eafy and ferene: His Spirits do not rife and fall with his Circumftances: The actual Suffering of Adverfity cannot deject him: He relies upon his Innocence and his God: Upon this Foundation he stands fixed like a Rock, and tho❜ Waves and Storms may pafs over him, yet he remains unfhaken, nor can all the Shocks of Adverfity ever deprive him of his Principles, or his Peace. He is perfuaded, that as God ftands in no Need of our Happiness, much lefs of our Mifery, fo be does not afflict willingly, nor grieve the Children of Men; and therefore whenever he is compelled to do fo, it is either for the Correction of our Failings, or the Improvement and Purification of our Virtues, that the Trial of our Faith, as the Apostle has it, being much more precious, than that of Gold, which perifbeth, though it be tried with Fire, might be found unto Praife, and Honour, and Glory, at the Appear

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ing of Jefus Chrift. For this is another Inducement to Patience and Refignation under all Conditions, that our light Affliction, which is but for a Moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal Weight of Glory, while we look not at the Things that are feen, but at the Things which are not feen; for the Things, which are feen, are temporal, but the Things, which are not feen, are eternal. And is there now any Room for fuch a Paffion, as Grief or Discontent, after fuch a Confideration as this? Can a Man, acting upon this Persuasion, be disturbed at any Accident, or be impatient in any Condition of Life? Can he murmur or repine at the Strokes of God's afflicting Hand, which he knows are given with a gracious Intent, which are prefent Interruptions, but future Enlargements of his Happinefs, like the mifty Vail of the Morning, which for a while shuts in the Rays of the Sun, but at length contributes to the greater Luftre and Triumph of the Day? Shall not I then drink the Cup, be the Ingredients what they will, which my heavenly Father has given?" My Father, who is too perfect, "to need my Mifery, though, in refpect of his fu"preme Dominion, he might afflict me as he plea

fes; who is too wife to mistake my true Inte"reft; and too good to prefcribe any Draught, but "what he knows is wholefome for me; who has "given me all the Happiness I enjoy, and parted "with more, for my Sake, than he can poffibly "take from me in this World: Has parted with "his beloved Son for my Redemption, and, in "lieu of what he takes, has provided for me an "Inheritance incorruptible; and fhall I then refuse "the Cup, which fuch a Father as this has given ?" No; I will count it all Joy (will the truly Christian Sufferer fay) when I fall into Temptation, I will be contented and fatisfied under God's feverest Difpenfations.

6. Of Inward Purity.

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URITY of Heart, in the general Notion of it, may be confidered in a double Sense either in Oppofition to Mixture, and fo it removes Hypocrify; or in Opposition to Pollution, and fo it removes Senfuality. In the former Senfe, it denotes the Simplicity and Sincerity; and, in the latter, the Sanctity and Cleannefs of our Thoughts and Intentions: So that, in the Senfe, wherein wę mean, at present, to take it, "the Pure in Heart "are fuch, as, meaning to recommend themfelves

chiefly to God's Acceptance, who fearcheth the "Heart, regulate, not only the external Conduct "of their Lives, but also the inward Frame and "Habit of their Minds, and conform, not only "their Actions, but their Wills and Defires, their

Thoughts and Defigns, to the Rule of the Law, "and to the Dictates of the internal Light of God "in their Soul: Such as fanctify the Lord God in "their Hearts; compofe the inmoft Receffes of "their Minds into an holy Awe and Reverence "of the Divine Prefence; fet a Law to all their "intellectual Powers, and fuffer not the leaft "Thought or Paffion to violate the Order either " of Reafon or Grace: Such, laftly, as yield no "Confent either to the Being or Stay of irregular "Motions; as delight themselves with no pleafing Recollections, no imaginary Scenes of their paft Immoralities; but fet themselves at the "greatest Distance from Sin, refift the very first "Beginnings, and, as near as they can, abftain' from the leaft Appearance of Evil."

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This is the moft refembling Idea we can frame to ourselves of the Pure in Heart: And, that it may not be taken for a mere Idea, or a Thing of Notion, rather than Practice, we fhall, I. Repre

fent