and edification to the church of God, to the end of

time. The subject will lead us to consider,

I. The afflictions of Job.

II. His patience under them.

III. The design of God in permitting them.

I. We are to notice Job's afflictions.

It appears from the history of this patriarch, that he was distinguished in his day and in the place where he lived, by his piety and his wealth.

But it will be necessary that we should refer to his history, as it is recorded in the first chapter of the book which bears his name. In the commencement of that chapter we read, that "there was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil. And there was born unto him seven sons and three daughters. His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred sheasses, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the East." In that age of the world, riches were estimated, not so much by money, as by cattle. It appears therefore that Job was a very rich man, so that, in this point of view, he was considered the greatest of all the men of the East. But, under the influence of religion, he was enabled to resist the sinful allurements of wealth and greatness. His piety and zeal were of an eminent character. His religion was such, that men in general observed its effects in his conduct and conversation; and God himself bore testimony to its

reality and excellence. But Satan, the accuser of the brethren, suggested that Job did not fear God for nought; that by his religion he only consulted his own interest; and that if his worldly enjoyments were removed, he would "no longer retain his integrity, but curse God to his face." In order to prove. this charge to be as false as it was malicious, permission was granted by God that this holy man should be tried by the immediate loss of all that he possessed. Let us look at the particulars of this severe trial, as they are recorded in the latter part of the first chapter of his book.

"There was a day when his sons and his daughters were eating, and drinking wine, in their eldest brother's house."

It is evident by the history that Job himself was not present on this occasion; but perhaps he might be congratulating himself on the harmony and mutual affection of his children. But if so, his pleasing reflections were suddenly and wonderfully dissipated; and this day became to him a day of trouble, darkness, and distress. Sorrowful events are sometimes near at hand when we are little apprehensive of their approach. Deceitful calms not unfrequently precede terrible storms. "Man is born unto trouble as the sparks fly upward;" he ought not, therefore, to presume on long and uninterrupted prosperity. In his present state of existence, it becomes him to expect and to be prepared "to suffer affliction." We see calamities now descending upon Job like the sudden tempest; like repeated peals of thunder,

gradually increasing in violence, each discharge louder and more awful than the preceding one.

"There came a messenger unto Job, and said, The oxen were ploughing, and the asses feeding beside them; and the Sabeans fell upon them, and took them away; yea, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword, and I only am escaped alone to tell thee."

By this messenger Job is informed that he had lost five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred sheasses, which were taken by a roving band of Sabeans, a body of lawless plunderers, who lived by spoil and rapine; and that at the same time all the servants who attended them (one only excepted) were slain by the sword.

It does not appear that Job or any of his servants had given any occasion of offence to these Sabeans; but Satan put it into their hearts to commit this outrage, and thus this adversary of God and man obtained a double advantage; for he made both Job to suffer, and them to sin. When Satan has God's permission to do mischief, he will not want mischievous men to be his instruments; for he is a spirit that worketh in all the children of disobedience. While the former messenger was yet speaking, another arrives, and brings tidings of the loss of seven thousand sheep, together with the death of all the shepherds, by lightning, the fire of God from heaven.

This event seemed to be attended with circumstances peculiarly afflictive, because the hand of God appeared more immediately in it, than in the rob

doning mercy of God. For the inference, which our blessed Lord draws from the subject, is, that whatever men's profession may be, God will deliver them as wicked servants to the tormentors, to be punished with exact justice according to their sins, if they do not from their hearts--observe, from their hearts, which he especially regards-forgive their brethren their offences and trespasses.

Let us now attend, by way of more particular improvement, to some of the lessons which this striking parable is calculated to afford us.

1. We may learn from it how dreadful is the nature, and how awful are the consequences, of an unforgiving temper.

This in fact has been already noticed; but the subject requires, in this place, some farther amplification. Remember, my brethren, that we owe God We begin to a debt which exceeds all calculation. contract it from our earliest infancy; and as our days and years increase, so increases our debt. But, unless the amount be cancelled, we must be delivered to the executioners of divine justice, and be shut up for ever in that prison of misery, into which hope can never enter. We are, however, altogether unable to discharge this debt, or any part of it. Shall we then, weak and sinful mortals, laden with guilt, and unworthy of the divine mercy—shall we, who have nothing to depend on, but free forgiveness at the hand of God—shall we (I ask) be implacable towards But what a fellow-creature who has offended us? are the offences of a fellow-creature towards us, when

compared with our transgressions against God? The disparity, in the parable, between the debtor of ten thousand talents, and him of the hundred pence, is immense. The Jewish talent of gold was of the value of five thousand four hundred and seventy-five pounds of English money. Ten thousand talents, therefore, would amount to fifty-four millions seven hundred and fifty thousand pounds. But, perhaps some of you, my hearers, may find a difficulty in forming any just idea of such an enormous sum of money as this. Let us then take another view of the subject. If this sum, in golden sovereigns, were required to be carried in wagons, laden with two tons each, the number of vehicles required for the purpose, would be two hundred and seventy; and allowing a space of thirty yards for each wagon with its horses, they would make a train of nearly five miles. But the hundred pence do not amount to the sum of three guineas. Our blessed Lord seems to have fixed on such an immense sum as the ten thousand talents, in order to point out the magnitude, the number, and the weight of our offences against God; and to intimate our utter incapacity to make any restitution. But, however great the difference between the two sums owed by the debtors in the parable, there is still an infinitely greater disparity between our offences against God, and the offences of a fellow-creature towards ourselves; because, the scripture clearly infers that sin committed against God contains infinite demerit. Shall one man then seize another by the throat, who owes him a trifling sum, when he is himself infinite