STN DISCOVERED BY THE AFFLICTION. Jt)t any near relation, God may punish that fondness by a removal of the delight of our eyes ; or if dve have abused those who were near relations or friends, God may take them away to teach us to abuse his mercies no more. God can curse all our blessings. Prayer it may be has been neglected in a family, and that family has fallenun- der some stroke of the hand of God. Ifwe will not hear when God speaks in his word, he will not hear us when we speak in our lamentations under afflictions; " Because ye would none of my counsel I will not hear when ye cry." If we have wasted our health in vanity, God will bring diseases 'and weakness upon us to shew us our folly;' and wt find in less as well as greater providences an answer- ableness between the sin and the punishment. It is time for us to reflect. We may say God contends with us as a nation in which there is war*,, (although, blessed beGod, it is not in our land) but let us mourn over the sins of this nátion, that We may not be ,sharers in national sor- rows. God contendswith us as a Church of Christ, then we are led naturally to ask, Whether. we have waited upon. God with pleasure and delight in church ordi- nances ? Whether we have pleased ourselves more in social worship, and delighted more therein than in the society of the world ? It becomes us all to ask our own souls, Why does God contend with us ? God contends. with us as a church in lessening our numbers, by calling away those. who, were joined to us in the fellowship of the .gospel. Let us enquire whether or no we have re- ceived them with delight and joy, and embraced them.as from the hands of God, as a new additional mercy to us Whetherwe have longed for the kingdom of Christ, and rejoiced. in the increase of it as we ought? Happy those soul sthat have been made part'of his household, hismem- bers and family here on ,earth, that they may have a sweet and comfortable entrance into the family of Christ above ! This may be ground for us to rejoice upon their account, that God has fitted and called any away from this house, and inade them citizens in his house in glory ; r,q let us hearken also to what maybe the voice of God r,Troving us in such providences as these.; let us hence- i his was preached in the year 1702, during the war in the beginning of he reign of Queen Anne.
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