' E SPIRIT's WORit ON THE HEART. 593 for which God contends with him ; and the soul that liras unwilling to see it before cannot help seeing it now. 3. All other ways and means of discoveringsin may be evaded and shifted of but the Spirit of God will make thoroughwork, and he alone can do it. A darling sin that lies in the heart is very ready in excuses; we are apt to say it may be this word of God that others think suits my case cannot be particularly applied to me ; the re- proach ofan enemy is veryunjust to me; o? the providence of God speaks something else, and not to my particular case ; thus, they are all shifted off till the Spirit of God comes ; he breaks through all opposition, through the bars and guards of a beloved sin and discovers it to the soul, and will force him to see it. 4. Because the Spirit never deigns to give away his office to any creature. Now it is the office of the Spirit to. convince of sin ; for When he is come he will re- prove the world of sin." Sin may be written as with sun- beams, and yet we have not light enough to read it till the .Spirit points it out : it is therefore needful that we implore the Spirit of God that he would make afflictions of use 'to our souls, that he may teach us by every stroke of his afflictive providences what our present duty is, what we have omitted, and committed, and lead 'us into the path of peace. But for our caution, these three things may be necessary. - First, Let not Christians of a melancholy frame con- clude, if any such providences have befallen them, that theymust certainly be guilty of some great sins; for there may be other reasons for which God may exercise us with afflictions, wiz. to manifest his sovereignty, to discover bow much he is Lord of all, for the exercise of our graces, for the trial of our faith andpatience, and for the discovery of them. These sometimes are the ends of God's afflictive providences, as ivasshewn at large in the last sermon. He may take away the delight of our eyes and comfort of our life, yet perhaps there may not be so much ground to charge ourselves of having been guilty in these respects; yet we ought to attend to the calls of providences whensoever any such afflictions befal us ; but we ought not with melancholy to accuse ourselves falsely, nor to overload our souls. VOL.
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