A second volume of discourses or sermons on several scriptures

¹Fifthly, He whose Sins are Pardoned may rest assured, that whatever Calamities or Afflictions he may lie under, yet ther• is nothing in them of a Curse or Punishment. It is Guilt alone that diffuseth Poison through the Veins, as of all ou• Enjoyments, so of all Afflictions also and turns them all into Curses. Bu• Pardon of Sin takes away this Venom and makes them all to be Medicinal Corrections, good, profitable, and advantageous to the Soul. See how God by the Prophet expresseth this, Isa. 33.24. The Inhabitants shall not say they are sick: Why so? For the People that dwell therein shall be forgiven their Iniquities. When Sin is Pardoned, outward Afflictions are not worth complaining of: The Inhabitants shall not say, We are Sick▪ A Disease then becomes a Medicine, when Pardon hath taken away the Curse and Punishment of it. God hath two ends with respect of himself for which he brings Punishments upon us, the one is the Manifestation of his Holiness, the other is for the satisfaction of his Justice. And accordingly, as any Affliction tends to either of these ends, ⟨p. 79⟩so is it properly a Punishment, or barely a Fatherly Chastisement. If God intends by the Afflictions he lays upon thee, the satisfaction of his Justice, then thy Afflictions are properly Punishments, and they flow from the Curse of the Law, but if the manifestation of his Holiness be all he intends by them, then are they only Fatherly Corrections proceeding from Love and Mercy.

¹Fifthly, He whose Sins are Pardon'd may rest assured, that whatever Calamities or Afflictions he may lie under, yet ther• is nothing in them of a Curse or Punishment. It is Guilt alone that diffuset• Poison through the Veins, as of all ou• Enjoyments, so of all Afflictions also and turns them all into Curses. Bu• Pardon of Sin takes away this Venome and makes them all to be Medicina Corrections, good, profitable, and advantagious to the Soul. See how God by the Prophet expresseth this,