ERMON XXXII. , 44$, 'ubmit to his Will : God will feed,your nature; though he will not feed your pride. Are you affrighted at the thoughts of sickness and pain ? Remember diseases are the servants of our Lord Christ, he can bid pains and. anguish of-bodygo or comeas he pleases; nor can they seize you without his commission) new tarry with you beyond his appointed mciment4 Commit your flesh to him as well as your spirit: He is a wise physician, and he will deal tenderly with you : He has worn flesh and blood, and has a sympathising heart, nor Will lie grievehis own members beyond what his wis- dom and his love sees needful. Are you afraid of perseòutiog enemies; that hunt you from place to place, and would pursue you even to the death ? Re- member that they are but the slaves of Satan, and theyand their masterare all in a chain, under the sovereign dominionof Christ your Lord. The wicked of the earth, in this sense, are called the hand of God ; Ps, xvii. 14. They are but asinstruments to exe- cute his divine purposes, and they cannot move nor act beyond his permission. He put a hook in the nostrils of Sennaèherib, that Assyrian wild beast, and a bridle into hisjaws; he suffered him to come and gaze at Jerusalem, then in one night the angel of death destroyed all his army, and the Lord put a song of triumph into the mouth of his people. In a time of persecution in the last century, some pions ministers were met together, expressing their mutual fears, and consultinghow to provide for their own safety : When one stood up in the spirit of faith, and said, We are all immortal till our work is done ; whereby he declared his lively sense ofthe restrain- ing power ofGod over the malice ofmen, and his assurance that God would preserve them in life, so long as he had any service to employ them in. . This was in truth a sublimethought A Roman orator or a Greek poet would have been admired and celebrated for it by all the critics: This was the.language offaith, and it had a sublime and glorious effect, it dispersed theirfears at once, and they went away rejoicing. VII. Recollect your own experiences of the goodness of God in carrying you through former seasons of danger and sor- row: Iwill remember, says David, the works of the Lord, and his wonders ofold; Ps. lxxvii. 11. I will remember the special deliverances I have obtained in times of most imminent peril. Think with yourselves how high the tempest of your fears has Sometimes risen, and God has sunk them at once into silencè: 'think how extreme your danger has been, when you have been perplexed in a wilderness of thorns, and have seen no way for your escape, but the eye of God hath found a path of safety for o 4 `
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