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DISCOURSE II.

THE STEADFASTNESS OF JOB.

JOB Xiii. 15.

Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him.

HERE is nothing that affords so strong an argument against the particular providence of God, or that raises so many doubts and misgivings in the minds of men respecting the moral government of God, as those apparently unmerited disasters and calamities which frequently happen to good and virtuous people. Both reason and revelation teach us, that vice and wickedness are displeasing to God, and the objects of his aversion; and that virtue and goodness are agreeable to him, and beloved by him. Must we not, then, suppose that vice will be invariably punished, and virtue invariably rewarded by him, the moral and righteous Governor of the world; the one being opposite to his nature and will, the other agreeable to both? and yet do we not often see the virtuous man miserable, and the vicious man, in all appearance, happy?nay, the righteous man involved in the most distressing circumstances, in consequence of that very virtue which, we are taught, is so agreeable to the nature of God? and the vicious man flourishing in prosperity, even in consequence of that vice and villany which God hates and abhors? How is this to be reconciled with the providence of God, the moral Governor of the world? In no other way than by admitting that future state of rewards and punishments, of which revelation informs us, and which reason had long hinted to the more candid and thinking part of mankind.

If this life be only our time of trial, and the next life the season of retribution, we are wrong in expecting an

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exact distribution of rewards and punishments in this life; and the vicious man may here be happy, and the virtuous man miserable, without any impeachment of the moral government of God, the justice of which is only to be fully displayed in the next world.

This answer seems perfectly satisfactory, as far as it goes; but, I fear, it goes not to the bottom of the matter. If vice and villany be more or oftener successful in procuring the happiness of the world, than virtue and goodness, then the advantage in this world is on the side of vice; because more men will be influenced by present happiness, than by the distant prospect of that which is future. We must therefore look for some further solution of the difficulty before us; and if we take the nature of God and of man both into the account, it will not, I trust, be hard to obtain it.

That God is a God of truth, and justice, and goodness, cannot be doubted. He will, therefore, conduct his government so as upon the whole to produce the greatest possible happiness, not only to the universe in general, but to every creature in particular.

That the being of man is not confined to this world, but will extend into futurity, is a belief supported both by reason and revelation: That this world exhibits a scene made up of a mixture of good and evil, our own experience evinces: That the state of man in another world will be either in happiness or misery unmixed, we have all the reason in the world to believe: We have equal reason to suppose that our particular state will be happy or miserable, according as we conduct ourselves in this life. Let it be also considered, that our state in this world is short and uncertain; but in the next, will be fixed and eternal. The happiness of the next life is therefore of much more consequence to us, than the happiness of this; because it will be perfect in degree, and infinite in duration./

Must we not, then, in reason conclude, that God is principally concerned to secure the future, the eternal happiness of his creatures? That, considering this world as only preparatory to the next, he will conduct the af

fairs of it, so as to give men the greatest possible chance for a blessed immortality? If he sees, that an uninterrupted course of worldly prosperity would bind our affections wholly to this world, and entirely take off our attention from the next, leaving us neither leisure nor inclination to provide for our eternal state; would it not be mercy in God to interrupt our temporal felicity-to send cala nities to our aid, and make them the means of weaning our affections from the world, and of turning our thoughts to him, and fixing our confidence in him? Should any vice have acquired a particular ascendency over us; any evil tempers have taken deep root in our hearts, so as to endanger our future welfare; would it not be an instance of God's goodness, should he send afflictions and distresses upon us, if these only could be the means of bringing us to repentance and amendment of life? Or,

Supposing there was nothing amiss in us (an opinion which I hope no one will be forward to entertain of himself) but that God saw afflictions and calamities would increase or confirm our good tempers and dispositions, and thereby increase our capacity of happiness with him: Would there be any injustice; would there not be mercy and goodness in visiting us with afflictions, under such circumstances? Would any one attribute it to the want of tenderness in a parent, that he gave his child an education rather more rough than the common mode, that he might qualify him to enjoy an estate which he was to inherit, with more dignity and satisfaction; or to discharge an einployment that belonged to his family, with greater honor to himself, and advantage to the public?

There are two errors which men are apt to run into, in this matter. The one is the supposition, that God takes little or no notice of our conduct in this world; that he sits rather an unconcerned spectator, and permits virtue and vice, honesty and villany, to contest the matter between themselves; and that, therefore, there is in reality no great difference between them; but either of them is best, as it happens to succeed best, in promoting our interest. The other is the supposition, that worldiy pros

perity and adversity are to be considered as instances of the favour or displeasure of God; and that a man is just so much the favourite of heaven, as he is blessed with worldly prosperity.

That God never interposes, for the reward of virtue or the punishment of vice, in this world, we do not pretend ; but we do say, that we are not to expect an exact display of the justice of God in this world, but must wait for that future state, when his ways shall be vindicated to man, and every one shall receive the just recompense of his deeds: And this belief, we affirm, is supported both by reason and revelation.

The dispensations of God's providence are, therefore, to be regarded as the means which infinite wisdom and infinite goodness make use of, to correct the evil tempers and passions of men; and to lead them, through faith and obedience, to that eternal state of blessedness with their Creator, to which all those shall be admitted, who shall be found capable of enjoying it, in the day when he shall judge the world in righteousness by that Man whom he hath ordained.

The great lesson which Almighty God is endeavouring to teach mankind is that of faith, and trust, and dependence on himself-the only sure foundation of virtue and goodness. That virtue which is built only on popular sentiment, or public good, or the fitness of things, depends so much on mode and fashion, upon the caprice and sometimes the folly of men, that it cannot be permanent or entire. But the belief that God sees and regards all our actions, and the principles from which they proceed; that he will, in a future life, judge us according to the law of the gospel, and of that reasonable nature which he hath given us, and will reward or punish us according as our life has been-this belief fixes virtue on a sure foundation, carries its principles to the heart, and extends its influence through all the scenes of life; and, in conjunction with the belief of the particular providence of God, becomes the ground work of that firm faith and trust in God, which abides all trials, and remains unshaken by the storms and

commotions of the world, the temptations of vice, the allurements of pleasure, the strokes of adversity, and the smiles of prosperity.

The author of the text was a remarkable instance of the truth of what I have said; and indeed the most of the preceding observations presented themselves to my mind, when contemplating the history of so extraordinary a man. From the height of worldly prosperity, he was suddenly plunged into the depth of adversity; and that by such events as human prudence could neither foresee nor prevent. His wealth seized by rapacious enemies-his children crushed by unnatural deaths-bis body snitten by a strange and loathsome disease-the wife of his bosom fretting and tempting him to murmur and abjure his God-and bis friends upbraiding him as a vile hypocritical reprobate then suffering the vengeance of incensed heaven. Unhappy man! to what should he look for support, or where find it under this pressure of complicated misery! He could look for it, he could find it only in that firm trust and confidence in God, which it had been the business of his life to cultivate; and which the conscious innocence of his heart assured him, was not placed in vain.

When acquainted with the loss of his substance, and of his children; though oppressed with the deepest sorrow, he recalls to his mind a due sense of his own natural indigence and inability to supply his own wants, and trusts himself to that never failing anchor in all the battering. storins of affliction, hope and confidence in God, and submission to his will-" Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord!"

To the grating importunity of a fretful wife urging him to renounce the maxims of his former life, and to abjure his God, he answers, gently reproving her folly and impiety, with meekness and patience unparalleled—“ Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh: What! shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?"-Shall we place our hope and trust in