picturis ostroque rubenti Jactaris quà m si plebeia in veste cubandum'est Lucret. l. 2. will not reach to all Cases nor administer a Salve for all Sores a cure for all Maladies nor is it any kind of Relief against divers of the severest Afflictions whereto Mankind are liable The greatest Treasures cannot prevent a fit of the Gout or Stone or Cholick or Fever nor remove any other Distemper of the Body nor heal a wounded Conscience nor recover a lost Member nor deliver from Death nor profit in the day of Wrath. Riches are a great Blessing of God and for the most part tend considerably to facilitate the Owner's passage through this World and the greater share therefore any have of them the more cause they have to be thankfull for them But seeing there are great troubles of different kinds for which these afford no remedy it is a necessary piece of Prudence to look after some other more substantial Support that may stand us in stead where these fail 2. Where a Man's Wealth is most helpfull it is but a very uncertain Comfort because he knows not how soon he may possibly be deprived of it * Prov. 23.5 Riches make themselves wings and fly away as an eagle towards heaven They are a transient deceitfull Possession that like the Apples †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Joseph 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 l. 4. c. 27. Duo ibi oppida Sodomum nominatum aiterum alterum Gomorrum apud quae pomum gignitur quod habeat speciem licet maturitatis mandi tamen non potest Solin Polyhist c. 48. Edit Basil of Sodom seem beautifull and enticing at a distance but being handled turn presently into Dust or Smoak and so do us many times little or no good ‖ Quicquid longa series multis laboribus multâ Deûm indulgentiâ struxit id unus dies spargit ac dissipat Senec. Epist 91. After a Man has undergone a course of hard labour for many years together has busied his Brain in designing and his Limbs in acting that if possible he might advance himself and perhaps has at length had the good fortune to obtain his aim he knows not how soon he may be reduced to his former or a worse condition If his Soul be not immediately required of him as the rich Man 's in * c. 12.16 c. S. Luke's Gospel was when he had been just now contriving to enlarge his Barns and take his ease and enjoy himself yet all his store upon which he so highly values himself may be taken away from him and he may have but little profit of all the labour that he hath taken under the sun Instances †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Max. Tyr. dissert 35. are numerous in all Ages of persons who from the greatest plenty whether by the immediate hand of God against them for their Sins or by the malice or treachery of other Men or by their own Luxury and Imprudence have been strangely reduced to a low state to the great amazement of the Beholders Fires losses at Sea or miscarriage at home the wickedness of a perjured Villain the rapine of an Enemy some flaw in a Title some part of an Estate unjusily detained or some extravagant Humour of his own is enough to impoverish a Man in a little time though at present he seem to be as far from it as any But * Nempe dat quodcunque libet fortuna rapito Irus est subito qui modo Croesus erat Ovid. Trist l. 3. cl 7. where these and other like Causes concurr as oftentimes many of them do though one had the Wealth of Croesus he could not prevent his own ruine Thus it pleases God †S Luk. 1.51 52 53. to shew strength with his arm and to scatter the proud who are pussed up at the thoughts of their large Estates in the imagination of their hearts putting down the mighty from their seats and exalting them of low degree filling the hurgry with good things and sending the rich in the mean time empty away 3. A plentifull Fortune is not only an imperfect and uncertain Comfort to the Owner but it is many times an apparent means of his Ruine ‖ Eccles 5.13 14 15 16 17. There is a sore evil saith Solomon that I have seen under the sun namely riches kept for the Owners thereof to their hurt but those riches perish by evil travail and he begetteth a son and there is nothing in his hand As he came forth of his mother's womb naked shall he return to go as he came and shall take nothing of his labour which he may carry away in his hand And this also is a sore evil that in all points as he came so shall he go and what profit hath he that he hath laboured for the wind All his days also he eateth in darkness and be hath much sorrow and wrath with his sickness Where the Preacher not only declares that the rich Man's Wealth shall not accompany him into the other World but affirms moreover that in the mean time it frequently creates him a great deal of Care and Anxiety and Fear and Danger and * Nam illud praetereo quà m multi perierint possessionum aut opum gratiâ Lactant. de mort persecut c. 7. perhaps is the cause of his death at last exciting Thieves or his own Servants or it may be his Children or other his Relations to dispatch him out of the way to the end they may divide the Spoil amongst themselves Or else it exposes him to the Malice or Covetousness of some great Person whom he is in no capacity to withstand Which was the case of †1 King 21.4 v. 9 c. Naiboth the fairness and convenience of whose Vineyard made Ahab uneasie for want of it and thereby put Jezebel upon contriving his death to obtain it So ‖ Jussuque Neronis Longinum magnos Senecae praedivitis hortos Clausit egregias Lateranorum obsidet aedes Tota cohors Juv. Sat. 10. Longinus's plentiful Revenues and Seneca's stately and pleasant Gardens cost each of them his life which they lost only by having so tempting a Bait for the greedy Tyrant And thus it often happens that an * Sed plures nimiâ congesta pecunia curâ Strangulat Ibid. overgrown Estate raises the Envy of some and works upon the Avarice of others and so the Possessor comes to pay dearly for it For in the conclusion either he is secretly murdered or which is worse is taken †Ubicunque cultiorem agrum viderat Dioclesianus aut ornatius aedificium jam parata Domino calumnia poena capitalis Lactant. de mort persec c. 7. Cum opus esset Maximiano Herc. non deerant locupletissimi senatores qui subornatis indiciis affectasse imperium dicerentur ita ut effoderentur assiduè lumina Senatus Ibid. c. 8. off by false Accusation and a pretence of Justice and so is
* 1 S. Pet. 4.15 let none of you suffer as an evil-doer in any Case because so all your Sufferings will lie wholly at your own Doors For it is not the weight of any one's * Cum martyrem non faciat poena sed causa D. August Epist 61. Epist 167. Cont. Crescon l. 3. c. 47. Nam si poena martyres faceret omnia metalla martyribus plena essent omnes catenae martyres traherent omnes qui gladio feriuntur coronarentur Id. in Psalm 34. Non ergo qui propter iniquitatem propter Christianae unitatis impiam divisionem sed qui propter justitiam persecutionem patiuntur hi martyres veri sunt Epist 50. Sufferings but the Righteousness of his Cause that makes the Martyr Men may have imbibed false and perhaps very pernicious Principles and Notions and if these bring them into trouble they may suffer only as Hereticks or Schismaticks or Traytors not as faithfull Disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ Or if their Principles be right and Orthodox but they think to express their Fidelity to them by a lewd and vicious tumultuous or other immoral Behaviour and hereby bring themselves into Difficulties this is not yet to suffer as Christians not God but themselves not their Religion but their own Folly being the occasion of what Inconveniencies befall them in this case †1 S. Pet. 2.20 But to do well to keep within the bounds of Duty both to God and Man and yet to suffer patiently for so doing this is acceptable with God Wherefore it very nearly concerns persons in all places and upon all appearances of trial to see that they be rightly principled and have due Notions and Apprehensions of things before they venture to suffer for them least otherwise they offer the Sacrifice of Fools bearing only the due demerit of their own Guilt or at least the natural effect of their Imprudence instead of honouring God by a faithfull Confession of him But being once well assured in this point and having duly informed themselves of the Justice of their Cause and the necessity they are under of being true to it they must proceed vigorously against all the Difficulties that can attend it as not fit to be put in the Balance with that far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory which is promised to them that come off Victors in this Spiritual Warfare It is infinitely beneath the hope of an heavenly-minded Christian to stick at such Rubs as these and not rather to make his way courageously through all the transitory Impediments wherewith he finds himself beset * Justum tenacem propositi virum Non ardor civium prava jubentium Non vultus instantis Tyranni Mente quatit solida Hor Carm. l. 3. Od. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Just Mart. c. Tryph. No Threats or Frowns of the greatest Tyrant much less the insults of those of meaner Quality should ever drive him out of his Road or incline him to do any thing unbecoming his Character †Quà m pulchrum spectaculum Deo cum Christianus cum dolore congreditur cum adversum minas supplicia tormenta componitur cum strepitum mortis horrorem carnificis irridens insultat cum libertatem suam adversus reges principes erigit soli Deo cujus est cedit Min. Foel Octav. He should continually encourage himself by revolving in his Mind how pleasing a sight it is in the Eyes of the Almighty to behold his faithfull Servants struggling with Griefs bearing up against the severest Menaces and Punishments and triumphing over the noise of Death and the dread of the merciless Executioner and keeping themselves free from the unjust Commands of Kings and Princes that they may be at liberty to serve and obey their God only should constantly remember that God is the Supream Lord of all and ‖ Act. 4.19 c. 5.29 his Laws are therefore above all to be attended to and * Da veniam tu carcerem ille gehennam minatur D. August de verbis Domini Serm. 6. that his Terrours are infinitely beyond all that the most exquisite Malice backed by the greatest Power can possibly inflict here in this World And indeed they that labour not to bring themselves to that pass that they can readily undergo the greatest Indignities for their Saviour's sake shew but a mean respect to him and that they undeservedly bear his Name For who is there would not willingly serve him so long as it costs him nothing Who would not profess himself his follower whilst he finds it for his present advantage But to continue faithfull to him when it cannot be done without apparent and very considerable damage to persevere in our Duty to him in times of sore Temptations conscientiously and strictly to observe his Commands when we are like to pay dear for it this is the truest Criterion of our Love to him * In tribulationibus quis sit fidelis agnoscitur Sext. Pythag. Our Fidelity is best tried in troublesome times and always appears most illustrious when exposed to the greatest Hardships and forced to undergo the sharpest Conflicts and if it will not hold out in these Circumstances there is too apparent cause to question its Sincerity And I cannot therefore but think it a great mistake in any of us at any time to terrifie our selves and each other with a frightfull Scene of Persecution as though it were an intolerable burden and not rather to fix our Meditations on the other hand upon the admirable Comforts that usually accompany it and the unspeakable Benefits that will at length arise from it Instead of thus dressing up the Miseries of a Suffering Estate in all the most unagreeable Circumstances enough to transport us too often beyond the bounds of Patience we should do far better service to God and our holy Religion and take a much more effectual course for securing our own Eternal Welfare if we would make it our care to form to our selves a compleater and less partial Character of those Sufferings to which our Religion may at any time expose us not harping only upon the Prisons and the Fetters and the Gibbets and the Tortures the Reproaches the Banishments the Wants the Degradations the Confiscations and the Flames of Martyrdom which we are generally too too apt to be affrighted at but labouring to make our selves truly sensible on the other side of the admirable Consolations that mightily abate its Terrours which if duly attended to would make People almost in love with it * Bonum agonem subiturae estis in quo Agonothetes Deus vivus est Xystarches Spiritus Sanctus corona aeternitatis brabium angelicae substantiae politia in coelis gloria in saecula saeculorum Tertull. ad Martyres c. 3. that it is a Service highly pleasing to God and for the Benefit and Honour of his Religion and its Profesfors and that it wants not the support of his holy Spirit for
are wont to have a care of the things which have been produced by them Whence he observes the great vanity of conceiting God to have created so noble and well-composed a World and then to concern himself no farther about it This were to leave not Mankind only but all things else exposed to innumerable mischiefs and disorders and certain confusion and destruction and hence would represent Almighty God as acting with less consistence I say not then Mankind but then the meanest of his Creatures that are capable of acting at all Wherefore the gross absurdity of this supposal is a sufficient evidence of its falsity and consequently is a very good Argument to evince the certainty of a super-intending Providence III. As is also the Continuance of things in the state and order we see them in Nihil est quod possit sine ullo moderatore consistere Sic domus ab habitatore deserta dilabitur Navis sine gubernatore abit pessum Et corpus relictum ab animâ defluit Nedum putemus tantam illam molem aut construi sine artifice aut stare sine rectore tamdiu potuisse Lact. Instit l. 3. c. 20. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Just M. Arist dogm evers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Salust Phil. de Diis mundo c. 7. A Man cannot build a House but it will be thenceforward decaying and if neglected it soon becomes ruinous and useless and though no unexpected Accident happen to destroy it in a little time it perishes of it self except due care be taken to repair it Have a Ship into the Ocean and leave it there without any to direct or steer it and what else can be looked for than that it be lost especially if it be in a place of danger and the season prove tempestuous Our own Bodies in like manner frail and feeble as we are if not constantly supplied with food for their nourishment and sometimes with Physick for their relief against the frequent Distempers to which they are liable quickly moulder into dust And after all our care for their Preservation it is not long we can hope to prop them up before according to the course of Nature we shall be gathered to our Fathers Whereto if the many unforeseen Mischiefs be added to which our selves and all things else are every day obnoxious there is no appearance of security in whatsoever condition Whence then are we all preserved in being but from the good Omnia quae naturaliter propterea rectè feruntur Providentiae custodiâ gubernantur Apul de Habit. Doct Plat. l 1. Providence of God continually watching over us for our support Or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Phil. Jud. de legat ad Caium what else could possibly keep us as we are but that Almighty Hand of his from whence we at first proceeded And what clearer proof therefore would any one desire of a Divine Providence than that this being the case the face of things should however after so many thousand years remain much the same that was at first that the same Heavens the same Earth the same Species of Animals c. that were created at the beginning should thus continue from generation to generation He that can conceive this to be the effect of any thing else but an infinitely wise and uncontroulable Power need not fear to set up for the defence of any the grossest paradox in the World IV. The excellent Harmony of the several parts of the World that they are not only preserved in being Aequabilitatem motus conversionem coeli solis lunae siderumque omnium distinctionem utilitatem pulchritudinem ordinem quarum rerum aspectus ipse satis indicaret non esse fortuita Cic. de nat Deor. l. 2. c. 5. Nec enim tanta rerum magnitudo tanta dispositio tanta in servandis ordinibus temporibusque constantia aut olim potuit sine provido artifice oriri aut constare tot saeculis sine incola potenti aut in perpetuum gubernari sine perito rectore quod ratio ipsa declarat Lact. de irâ Dei c. 10. At cur dispositis vicibus consurgere signa Et velut imperio praescriptos reddere cursus Cernimus c. Manil. Astron l. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Salust phil de Diis Mundo c. 9. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Arr. Epictet l. 1. c. 6. but act by constant Laws and Methods plainly declares an invisible Hand of Providence over-ruling them If infinite Wisdom were to direct the different seasons of the year or appoint the course of the Planets or limit the returns of day and night how could they be expected to be otherwise than they are now all proceeding in due order and serving their proper end the glory of God and the benefit of Mankind If infinite Power were to display it self in the Government of the World what other effects of it could be hoped for than that it should prescribe the Sea its proper limits lest it should otherwise overwhelm the Earth should give us rain from heaven and fruitfull seasons filling our hearts with food and gladness should allow Man the dominion over the beasts of the Earth that they prevail not against him nor destroy him should cause those amazing productions which are constantly seen in Trees and Plants and Minerals should keep all the Elements in aequilibrio that neither of them may prevail over the other should dispose all second Causes to the best advantage and in fine should oblige them all to operate after the same manner that we daily see they do And if infinite Goodness were to unite with both these what more could be desired from such a blessed Conjunction than that all due Care be taken of particular Persons and of whole Societies both to preserve them in being and to supply them with all needfull blessings And why then whilst these effects appear should we any more doubt as Nunquid hi qui sub Romanorum imperio sunt quamvis nunquam viderint Imperatorem sed valdè per mare per terram separati ab eo cognoscent propter Dominum eum qui maximam Potestatem habet Principatus c. Iren. l. 2. c. 5. Irenaeus argues of their true Cause than they who lived in the remoter Territories of the Roman Empire doubted whether there were an Emperour at Rome when they were governed by him though by reason of their distance from his Imperial City they had never seen him That we have variety of weather suitable to our necessities that the Earth produces plenty of usefull fruits store of beautifull and fragrant Flowers Grass and Wood and Minerals of divers sorts that it furnishes us with food to live upon with cloaths to wear with materials for Houses to dwell in with medicinal Herbs and Waters and with ornamental Rarities that the Sea serves for maintaining Commerce through the several parts of the Globe that this also affords food and other considerable advantages that we have a healthfull Air
too little affiance in Almighty God If God's Promises be either not believed or not attended to what better can be expected than that People should be startled at every appearance of danger If their Dependance be more upon this Life's Enjoyments than upon God it is a vanity to think they will ever be persuaded to venture the loss of these for his sake They may be willing to serve him and may seem to do it with great eagerness whilst they can do it safely but when their Estates or it may be their Lives are at stake they will conclude it necessary to take care of these in the first place * Vera igitur Ciceronis illa sententia est nemo inquit justus potest esse qui mortem qui exilium qui egestatem timet Lactant. Instit l. 6. c. 17. Cic. de Offic. l. 2. c. 11. There is nothing that they apprehend requisite to this purpose but a fear of suffering will be apt to put them upon though in direct opposition to their known Duty At least it will byass their Judgments and make them ready to hearken to whatever has the shew of an Argument for encouraging them in the prosecution of what they conceive may most probably answer their design Some way or other they will be sure to consult their present Interest and Safety whatsoever the consequence may be in another state The dread they have of being miserable will excite them to try all means possible for preventing it without troubling themselves to enquire over nicely about the lawfulness of them Whereas on the contrary no sooner hath a Man learned to repose his trust in God as becomes a good Christian but he thenceforward undervalues all things else in comparison of an Interest in his Favour He knows whom he hath to rely upon and how little all his own attempts will signifie without the Divine Blessing which he can have no reason to expect whilst he goes out of God's way to save himself and again how little all the malice of his violentest Adversaries can hurt him without God's permission And when things seem at worst it is a great ease to his Mind to reflect that the Case may possibly be much better than it appears to him there may be a means of escape that he is not aware of or some considerable mitigation of his Fears or Sorrows which he is not sensible of but which when he shall come to understand it will give him cause to rejoice at what has befallen him Or come the greatest hardship that can be he is sure of an ineffable unconceivable recompence for it that if he be * 1 Cor. 15. ult stedfast and unmoveable always abounding in the work of the Lord his labour shall not be in vain in the Lord but shall advance him to an heavenly Crown of glory that fadeth not away and consequently that it must argue an intolerable weakness and want of Judgment not to secure to himself this inestimable Prize though it were by wading through a Sea of Blood So that upon the whole matter it is evident that a conscientious practice of this Duty is our readiest means of security against all Evils from whatsoever Quarter our only Palladium which whilst we safely retain there can be no danger of miscarrying It is * Habemus maximum tuae fomitem salutis veram de Dei gubernatione sententiam quod eam non casuum temeritati sed divinae rationi subditam credis Boet. de Consol l. 1. pros 6. the wisest method we can take in order to our own happiness at present and for pleasing Almighty God and obtaining a share in those eternal Rewards which are promised to all his faithful Servants in another World It is a kind of Heaven upon Earth a foretast of those incomparable Joys whereto we desire or hope to be advanced in a future state And indeed had persons but once arrived at this happy temper of Mind to be able to put their Trust wholly in God and comfort themselves in his All-sufficiency and his readiness to relieve them what an invincible Support would this be to them under their heaviest Crosses and Calamities What an abatement of all their fearful Expectations and with what refreshing hopes of a seasonable redress might they be enabled calmly to bear any the greatest disasters that befall them Could we but all bring our selves to this pass we might bid defiance to whatever threatens us as not able to make us miserable so long as our sure Trust is in the Rock of Ages and a never failing Strength might cry out with the before mentioned S. Cyprian * De Orat. Dom. Quis ei de saeculo metus est cui in saeculo Deus tutor est What can he fear from the World who whilst he continues in it has God for his Guardian and might resolve with the Prophet Habakkuk That †c. 3.17 18. although the fig-tree should not blossom non fruit should be in the vine though the labour of the olive should fail and the field should yield no meat though the flock should be cut off from the fold and there should be no herd in the stall yet we would rejoice in the Lord and joy in the God of our Salvation ‖ Ps 46.1 He is a ready a very present help in the time of trouble And could we but look upon him as our Rock and Refuge and stedfastly repose our Trust in him as such we should not need to fear * v. 2 3. though the earth were to be moved and the hills to be carried into the midst of the sea though the waters thereof should rage and swell and the mountains shake at the tempest of the same Nay †Horat. 1. Od. 3. Si fractus illabatur Orbis Though the whole World should crack and break in pieces about our Ears yet were there no cause to be dismay'd if we could but assure our selves that nothing should befall us even in this confusion but what should some way be turned to our benefit Of such unspeakable advantage is this Duty to all that are rightly exercised in it It is the best recommendation to the Divine Blessing and Protection the best Antidote against needless Fears and Cares the best support under Pressures and Calamities the best Preservation against the prevalency of those Temptations whereby the diffident and distrustfull of God's Providence are sure to be overcome and in a word it is the best and surest way to be Happy both here and hereafter This is that compleat Security that perfect Satisfaction and Safety mentioned by the Prophet Isaiah as annex'd to a steady Reliance upon God c. 26.3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee and for this very reason because he trusteth in thee CHAP. V. The Weakness and Incompetency of all Natural Means IT remains that I proceed to the last Argument I mentioned for inviting to cast our Care upon God
and may judge those methods most conducive to our good which either in their own nature or in their necessary consequence are most prejudicial to it like him that in a fright casts himself into the Water for fear of being drowned or runs into the Fire to escape burning or †Aegrotantes contraria delectant cum corpus hominis adversa valetudo possederit contra salutem suam à laborantibus perversa poscuntur Jul. Firmie Matern de err gent. like a sick Man whose Disease many times makes him most earnestly desire those things that are most hurtful to him whilst in that condition These Persons do not intend their own Ruine but not having the proper use of their Understanding by reason of an unusual commotion and disorder of the Animal Spirits putting them for the present besides themselves they cannot judge aright of what they do and this makes them act in direct contradiction to what they would if they were truly sensible of their own case And whilst Mankind in general have their apprehensions of things bewildered in like sort though not to the same degree what else can be expected than that they should be continually running upon one Inconvenience or another though not in so gross a manner We are neither competent Judges of what is really best for us nor how what we think so may be best obtained and must therefore inevitably lie exposed to multitudes of Mischiefs whilst we take upon us to be our own carvers 1. We know not what is really best for us Every one is sensible enough what it is he actually desires but who is it understands what state or condition of life is in truth most desirable for him Here we are all at a loss being too liable to wish for what if granted might prove no less destructive to us than Rachel's desire of Children was to her * Gen. 30.1 Give me Children said she or else I die But the accomplishment of this desire cost her her life instead of comforting her as she expected with the sight and enjoyment of her Off-spring For though upon the birth of her first born †v. 23. Joseph she blessed her self to think that God had taken away her reproach that lay upon her for her Barrenness yet no sooner was she made the Mother of ‖ c. 35.17 18. Children by another birth but she died of her hard labour When we leave it to God to choose for us we are sure we cannot do amiss because we have one in this case to take care of us who best understands our Wants and is best able to relieve them But when we seek to take this work out of his hands we are apt to run our selves into needless troubles for want of Judgment to discern wherein our true Interest consists * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Arr. Epictet l. 13. c. 15. This Estate that Preferment such a Post of Honour looks very charming but we know not what Mischiefs and Inconveniencies are to go along with it as its inseparable attendants which if we did there would appear far less cause to be fond of it We cannot foresee all the Difficulties that are to be undergone in order to it what canvassing there may be for it what sneaking and cringing there must be and what services undertaken to obtain it And when this is done and the prize obtained we are not aware what envy it may create us what perplexing cares for securing our Interest in it may incessantly molest us what other burdens it may bring upon us or how unfit our selves may be for such a new course of life Our Heads perhaps may grow giddy if raised too high and we may be in danger of falling lower than we are at present Instead of wholsome Food we may desire what in the consequence will prove meer Poison and in most particulars it is almost an equal lay as * Dr. S. ot's Christian Life Part 1. c. 3. n. 6. a late learned Divine speaks that we do so 2. And no less prone are we to err in the choice of means for the obtaining what we thus desire It is above Humane Capacity to dive into the wise Methods of God's Providence and fathom the measures he propounds to himself for the Government of the World or to discover the several windings of the train he lays for bringing his Ends about No Man is sensible what unforeseen impediments will arise to obstruct his most plausible Contrivances nor what may be the effect of them and how then can any one think himself able certainly to attain his End Had Joseph's Brethren aimed at his advancement they would no doubt have pitched upon any other method for it sooner than to sell him to the Ismaelites to be a Slave all his days Yet this they afterwards found to be the way whereby the All-wise God had determined to exalt him to the Government of * Gen. 45.8 Egypt to be a father to Pharaoh and Lord of all his house and ruler throughout all the land And on the contrary had †1 King 2.24 25. Adonijah known before-hand that his request of Abishag the Shunamite to be given him to Wife would have been the occasion of his Death and not of his wish'd Succession to the Throne of Israel he would never have entreated of Bathsheba to petition her Son Solomon on this behalf As neither would ‖ 2 Sam. 15.1 c. Absalom have tried by Flatteries and Fawning to steal away the Peoples Hearts whereby to usurp his Father's Crown if he had foreseen that this would prove his inevitable ruine In a word there is no Man sure not to be entrap'd in the works of his own Hands or ensnared in his subtilest and best laid Devices And therefore none if he certainly knew wherein his present Interest consists could yet have any reason to perswade himself that his endeavours for promoting it shall never have a quite contrary tendency But when neither of these are understood when we neither know what makes truly for our welfare nor by which means what we think such may be securely advanced what unpardonable folly must it be in any one out of a fond conceit for his own Abilities to trust to these for Safety and Happiness rather than to the gracious Protection of Almighty God or in other terms for any one to dare purposely to commit the least sin though for avoiding the greatest hurt 2. But the impropriety and disadvantage of these attempts is farther manifest because if we really knew wherein our present Interest consists and which were the most natural and usefull means for promoting it this one fault of their being sinfull and consequently displeasing to Almighty God were enough to defeat the whole design of them For 1. When it appears that God is about to inflict his Judgments upon us to endeavour the avoiding of them by any unlawfull means is no better than an attempt to frustrate