531 / 674
DISC.
IX.)
NO
PAIN.
AMONG
THE BLESSED.
511
I
am
sure
we
may venture to
assert
boldly,
that,the
suf-
ferer
may
learn
the
evil
of
sin.
Even the
Son
of God
himself, when
he
suffered
pain
in
his
body,
as well
as
an-
guish
in
his
spirit, has told
us by
his
apostles,
that our
sins were the causes
of
it
;
he
bòre.-our
sins in
his own
body, on
the tree,
and
for
our iniquities
he
was
bruised,"
so
says
Isaiah
the
prophet
;
Is.
liii.
5.
and
so
speaks
Pe-
ter
the
apostle
;
1
Pet.
ii.
24.
And sometimes
the
providence
of God
is
pleased
to
point out
to
us
the
particular
sin we
are
guilty
of
by
the
special
punishment
which he inflicts.
In
Ps.
evii.
17, 18.
Fools are
said to
be
afflicted,
that
is,
with
pain
and
sick-
ness
because
of their
transgressions
of riot
and intempe-
rance.;
"
their
soul
abhors
all
manner of
meat, and they
draw.
near
to the
gates
of death."
Sickness
and pain
over
-
balance all the pleasures
of luxury
in
meats
and
drinks,
and make the epicure
pay
dear
for the
elegance
of
his .palate,
and
the sweet relish
of
his
morsels or
his
cups.
The drunkard
i,n
his
debauches,
is
preparing
some
smarting pain
for
his
own punishment. And
let
us
all be
so wise
as to
learn
this lesson
by
the pains
we feel,
that
sin
which
introduced
them
into
the world
is
an abo-
minable thing
in
the sight
of God,
because
it
provokes
him
to use
such smarting strokes
of
discipline
in
order
to
recover
us from
our
folly,
and
to
reduce
u_s
back again
to
the
paths of
righteousness.
" O
blessed
smart
!.
O
happy
pain,
that
helps
to
soften
the
heart of
a sinner,
and melts
it
to receive divine
in-
struction,
which before
was
hard
as
iron,
and attended
to
no divine counsel
:
We are ready
to
wander
from
God,.
and forget
him
amongst the months and
years
of
ease
and
pleasure;
but
when
the soul
is
melted
in
this furnace
of
painful
sufferings,
it more
easily receives some divine
stamp, some
lasting impression of truth,
which
the words
of
the
preacher
and the book
of
God
had before
incul-
Gated
without
success,
and
repeated
almost
in
vain.
Happy
is
the
soul
that
learns
this lesson
thoroughly, and
gains
a
more lasting
acquaintance
with the
evil
of
sin;
and
abhorrence
of
it,
under
the
smarting stroke
of
the
hand
of
God..
"
Blessed
is
the man whom
thou correctest,
O
Lord, and teachest
him
the truths
that
are written
in
thy
law_;"
Ps.
xciv.
12.
3.
Pain
in
the
flesh
teaches
us
also
"
how
dreadfully